Pre-Spring Cleaning

Trying to empty my drafts folder on here of its DRAFTS! (big d-u-h?), but some of them, I think, are still worth posting unfinished (and I’m only doing these for the ones that I really don’t foresee having the time or motivation to actually finish). From 21 down to… 6! =) yayayyyyayayayayyy! lol

11/11/08 – Keeping the Faith

I was hashing things out with Devin this one night in the car on our way home from… something. Lol. I forget. But anyway…

I’ve talked to graduates of “Catholic” colleges, and I’ve been uneasy inside… but I couldn’t really figure out why till Dev and I talked it over. What’s been bothering me off is the failure to give credit where credit is due.

Basically, the way these graduates are selling these colleges to kids, you’d think that if they hadn’t gone to that college, they would have ended up completely lost, in terms of Faith and morals. But I am utterly convinced that if these people had not come from the families that they did indeed come from, it wouldn’t have mattered if they went to a “Catholic” [or a Catholic] college or not.

I have no doubt that college can have a positive effect on one’s Faith. But that goes for anything, doesn’t it? If we view something correctly, unite whatever it is, whether joy or suffering or something in-between, to Christ, then really, anything can have a positive effect on our Faith. I’m not saying their college experience did absolutely nothing for these people.

11/14/08 – The Silver Lining?

My assigned reading for this week was Wulfstan’s Sermo Lupi ad Anglos. Talk about scary.

“… Zealously understand also that the Devil has led this nation astray too much now for too many years and that there has been too little loyalty among the people — though they speak well! And too many injustices have ruled in the land, and there have not always been many people who have thought about the remedy as eagerly as they should, but daily one evil has been increased after another and unrighteousness has been exalted and many laws broken all too widely throughout this nation… we have earned these miseries that now weigh us down…
“… what is due to God has faded away too long within this nation in every region. And the laws of the people have worsened all too much… And widows have been wrongfully forced to take a man, and too many have been much impoverished and humiliated. And the poor have been sorely betrayed and cruelly deceived…. And infants have been enslaved through savage legal abuses far and wide throughout this nation… God’s law is hated and his teaching scorned…
“… And also in this country there are all too many lapsed apostates and hostile church-haters and savage people-haters and far and wide despisers of just divine laws and of Christ’s servants, and derisive fools everywhere in teh nation, who hasten into those things that God’s commandments have forbidden and for the most part into those things that always belong by right to God’s law…
“… Here there are manslaughters and kin-slaughters and priest-slayers and monk-haters. And here there are perjurers and murderers. And here there are harlots and child-killers and many foul adulterous fornicators… And we are by no means ashamed of this, but we are greatly ashamed to begin atonement as the book teaches.”

That could have been written today. Yes, rather harsh, but if we are honest with ourselves, totally true.

I’ve been having this conversation with my mom, and I’ve been musing over things when I’m alone in my room. Too little too late. The Faith didn’t become what it is overnight. It wasn’t watered down and dumbed down and neglected only recently. What we have become is a result of years and years and years of what they call ‘relevance’.

1/12/09 – 4th Annual YFC Cinci Youth Camp

Perhaps a more appropriate title would be The Confessions of a Crazy Camp Co-Leader.

I think the parents all agree that these past few months have killed me. In all honesty, I’ve thrived on it all. Yes, I’ve been stressed and moody. I’ll have to work on thriving on something without being stressed and moody. Not trying to make excuses for myself, but I actually didn’t realize I was so moody… I mean, I knew I was stressed, but I didn’t realize that it showed so much besides the fact that I’m finally dealing with teenage acne (oh, yeah, before November, I didn’t know what getting acne from stress was like). Apparently there was more to it than that. I was on the phone with Paolo after Camp… Monday night/Tuesday morning, and I started the conversation explaining how Mum had held me hostage for some time gaming before finally letting me use the phone, hilarious… Anyway — “You know, Ais, you’re very obviously not stressed about Camp anymore.” “… What do you mean?” “You haven’t laughed like that in a while.” I told Mum what he’d said the next morning. “Sorry to burst your bubble, Ais.” “I thought I was hiding it pretty well, Mum?” “No, Ais… you wear your heart on your sleeve.”

*sigh* I’ve heard the mommies were telling the kids that they’d been wearing me out. Bless their hearts. It was tiring. And I’m not 100% satisfied with this past weekend. Haha, yes, yes, perfectionist me, there were parts of it that simply didn’t suit me the way they turned out… but whatever, it’s over now, and I don’t look to be doing it again anytime soon, by heaven. Let the younger ones have their chance, I shall enjoy watching them all the more for what I’ve witnessed.

We’ll put it this way. There was a lot of what Kuya Vin called ‘legwork’ for me.

I left Facebook halfway through August.

Let’s see… 1289 emails since I was asked to deal with all of this. That was… September 13th.

God is amazing. I began the course on Anglo-Saxon literature on September 14th and completed the course four days before Youth Camp. Who knew that English courses would be a source of strength and counsel for someone attempting to co-lead a Youth Camp? It was wow. We addressed the virtues of Faith, Trust, Hope, Righteous Pride, Prudence, and Generosity in the lives of great Anglo-Saxon warriors. I learned again the need to have a correct understanding of suffering, the importance of remaining detached from the world, the reality of the Spiritual Battle that is entwined with the physical.

We didn’t have any prep meetings in September because the CLS was going on every Friday night. Looking back, I think God was trying to form me through that English course. Throughout the month, the hot topic between me and my closer friends was the upcoming election. I’m thankful that we didn’t know how it would turn out… we had so much hope… September 20, we had a ToB session. September 21, I was able to organize a Sisters’ HH at Gabe’s house at the same time as the Fraternal. September 24, I established the YFC Cinci Yahoo Group. September 25, I sent out my first invitation to Youth Camp; that was to Erin. September 26, FOCA first came to my attention. September 27, we had another Sisters’ HH at Matt’s house right before the ToB session. September 29, we had choir practice with Tita Chato. (Wow, I didn’t realize my month was so full…)

October… 2. The Debate. Between Palin and Obama. Oh geeze. And the CLS continued on Friday nights. October 4, I sent out an invitation to the homeschoolers, and attended Sycamore Homecoming. I left for AZ on Wednesday, October 8, spent a week there (which I have a very long blog post on), and came back October 15th, an experienced traveler :D with very tired feet. October 17, we had the CLS graduation.

2/04/09 – The Ladies get to wave their swords around, too, you know.

There’s a song, Someday You Will Be Loved by Death Cab for Cutie… and it seems to me a rather sad mix… of truths… but also of you-wish-es.

I once knew a girl
In the years of my youth
With eyes like the summer
All beauty and truth
In the morning I fled
Left a note and it read
Someday you will be loved.

I cannot pretend
That I felt any regret
Cause each broken heart
Will eventually mend
As the blood runs red
Down the needle and thread
Someday you will be loved

You’ll be loved you’ll be loved
Like you never have known
The memories of me
Will seem more like bad dreams
Just a series of blurs
Like I never occurred
Someday you will be loved

You may feel alone
When you’re falling asleep
And everytime tears
Roll down your cheeks
But I know your heart belongs
To someone you’ve yet to meet
Someday you will be loved

Oh geeze, the guy vs. girl wiring. It’s written all over the deliciously satisfying repeats of chorus. Yell ‘em out, why don’t you!!! or why don’t I =) while marching around, cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry and whatnot, looking pathetic and morose.

But I digress. Uhm… and I shall continue to, depending on how you look at it.

Hey, I applaud the dude. “I know your heart belongs to someone you’ve yet to meet.” Yes, yes, recognizing that is the first wonderful step, good for you.

I’m sure all ladies at some age or another dream of their knight in shining armour, the one who will ride in and defend them from all manner of evil, etc. etc.

I, for one, haven’t given that dream up for a fairy tale… but, ladies, we’ve our own battles to fight, too, on behalf of our handsome princes.

We, as Brothers and Sisters in Christ, have an obligation to each other to guard and protect both our own hearts, and each others’… which, mental note, could mean guarding and protecting someone from yourself.

Brian Butler, in the ToB for Teens, shares of his friendship with a girl, a girl whom he describes as having loved him more than any girlfriend he’d ever had. But they were never together, and they’re happily married to other people, and are still the best of friends. Did he never have feelings for her? Sounds like he did, the way he put it, fairly straight-up. So what happened?

Let’s take a look at guy vs. girl wiring.

Say a person is called to marriage, either to another human being, or to the Church. Whichever — or rather, whomever — it is, his or her heart belongs to someone. The question is, would you like to marry someone whose heart has not been entirely yours? who has only half a heart to give, or pieces of one broken from past relationships?

It’s totally natural and normal to have feelings for people that you probably won’t end up with. But is that any call to abuse them? If your future spouse is out there, don’t you want to be guarding your heart for them? and don’t you hope that wherever they are, the people around them are guarding their heart for you? Don’t you  hope that you’ll both have as whole hearts as possible to give each other when you finally meet up? Sounds like a pretty crazy dream, a pretty crazy hope. But it’s totally possible, if we just take the initiative to live out our obligations.

Guys and girls, being wired differently, have different battles to fight, and different things that they need to be protected from.

Mary Beth Bonnaci, in  Real Love, tells of a survey repeated several times with many different people — guys and girls are asked to make two lists; qualities to look for in someone to date, and qualities to look for in someone to marry. The results, she says, hardly ever vary. With women, the two lists are more or less identical. But with guys, it’s a whole different story. Their date-quality list doesn’t match their wife-quality list.

So heads-up, this is entirely normal. It’s the way guys are wired. But what that implies, then, is that the way girls are wired tends to make them much more serious much earlier on.

Maybe girls today sow their wild oats? because of how much the culture has changed, I wouldn’t be surprised — but I’ve only ever heard of the phrase used in regards to men.

If girls even consider dating ‘casually,’ then how much more casual is it normally for the guy? at least up until a certain age, assuming they get tired of the fling lifestyle, if they ever really indulged in it in the first place. But go back to that song; “I cannot pretend that I felt any regret, ’cause each broken heart will eventually mend.” Are the guy and the girl on the same page? That would be ideal. But science says that, more often than not, at least in the teen/early-twenties years, a girl is more likely to be unconsciously giving her heart away [or consciously] prematurely, and the guy is… well, not.

I suppose that’s why girl’s crushes get so extreme. It’s almost as if her emotions are invested in a situation always on a level higher than it ought to be… like… oh, what did Elinor say?  “You think I did not feel so very much? … I’ve suffered all the punishment of an attachment without enjoying any of the advantages.”

2/08/09 – *smiles*

Some things that made me smile recently:

• grapefruit + salt ~ a love for which I inherited from Papa :D
• thumb :: hand; hand :: arm ratio ~ Nino was holding my thumb while sleeping, and I found it funny that his four fingers around my thumb span the length from my knuckle to my fingernail; similarly, while he’s got his fingers wrapped around my thumb, I have my fingers wrapped around his arm, and my four fingers span the length from his elbow to his wrist. xD
• a teaspoon of amaretto in my hot chocolate
• watching/listening to Daddy play play with Nino

6/02/09 – I don’t want to be in a battle. But waiting on the edge of one I can’t escape is even worse.

Complete with Scottish accent, mind you.

But I digress.

I could almost wish that it were a physical one, rather than what it is — an emotional one. It would be nice to rip a pillow apart and have a bag to throw myself against just now. I really don’t want to be here. I didn’t want to come back. I walked into my room and yelled silently inside, “WHOA, I hate my room.” Living minimalist across the street from the Adriatic for three months taught me the true definition of ‘purge.’ I thought I knew before I left, but what a wake-up call, coming back. Nate says I’m having a culture shock. Maybe I am. Eggs here are dead. Balsamic vinegar and mozzarella di bufala cost an arm and a leg compared to home — yes, I’ve gotten comfortably used to calling Pescara that. I got comfortably used to many things. Among them were: no microwave; limited internet; snail-mail; limited communication with friends and family; tile floors; no rice cooker; no english TV (not that I ever watched it to begin with); … I’ve missed people, but I haven’t missed the place. And I haven’t missed anyone enough to want to come home — except Mama and Papa

It’s always easier to leave than to be left behind.

9/06/09 – Eating with your hands is an art.

In Bento Box in the Heartland, Linda Furiya tells of the way her father ate, which she [at an elementary-school-girl age] found very embarrassing (and was actually one of the reasons she never invited friends over from school). She describes how he would put the whole bone of whatever meat they were having in his mouth and work it with his tongue and teeth until it was completely clean before he spit it out onto his plate. It was apparently a skill that she would not have been proud to mimic.

All of my Pinoy elders possess this skill. All my life, I have been told to simot/said (that is sa-ED, two syllables). To leave not a single piece of meat or a single grain of rice. To think of the people who are starving and must dig through the garbage for their food, and not take the food on my plate for granted.

While I have a harder time with this at restaurants where I cannot choose my serving size, I am proud to say that at home, my family sometimes tease me, asking if I’ve licked my plate, too, because it looks as clean as it did when it came out of the cupboard — they exaggerate, and I do not! lol. But if there’s no sabaw (broth) with my kanin (rice) and ulam (whatever-goes-with-my-rice [that would be my translation, because my ulam is anything that isn't rice, and that could mean meat, fish, veggies, soup, broth {oh, yes. Sometimes I simply decide to have rice and broth, nothing else}]), I am proud to say that I am capable of leaving a very clean plate.

So here we are at the park having a picnic with lots of family on a Saturday, and I’m proud to say my tilapia bones are clean and shiny on my plate, but the KFC bones need some work… I’ll thank you random park people not to stare as you walk past with distaste plainly written on your faces. If you can look at us like that for how clean we leave our plates, then you clearly have no concept of poverty. Maybe I don’t, either — my life has been an easy one — but I’ve seen enough cardboard houses stacked under the highways back home to be properly ashamed of throwing my plate into the trash half-full.

Well, I think that was a sufficient intro to my weekend… let me see…

Let’s go back to Friday, August 21st. Mother made super yummy yummy chocolate zucchini muffins. I wrapped yummy yummy avocado and brown rice sushi. Nagsaing ako, and mother made bistik. Oh, and she made smoothies!!! We left the house in record time — less than half an hour after the time Daddy had originally set!!! Very proud of ourselves.

Nino slept, we feasted on Doritos and smoothies, dinner was.. well, everything else I listed above =) the kids watched Treasure Planet and I alternated between watching, sleeping, eating, and listening to my iPod in no particular order. We all had dinner at the same time, but I slept almost immediately after we left, and started my snacktime later than everyone else when the Doritos were more than half gone, I only watched a third or less of the movie due to playing Point of Extinction and King of Wishful Thinking and other delightfully upbeat *down* songs and wallowing in the beautiful blue sky, oh, and yes, I was appreciating the strength of my new glasses which surprisingly did not make my head hurt at all — I’m quite used to them now — and staring happily at the outlines of the individual leaves that I could now make out on the trees rushing by.

We got to Mama’s at around… well, before midnight? I’m pretty sure. OH, we passed this one church, I think it was Presbyterian, celebrating its 140th anniversary. I was half-awake, I think. At first, I thought, oh, that’s nice, that’s a long time. And then I woke up and thought. Wait, what? Only 140 years? That’s so… sad… I can name a Church that has 2000 years and then some to its credit, didn’t you know? =) Nino had just woken up when we arrived, pero sumama agad kay Mama. We feasted on arroz caldo and sushi, of course, before going to bed. I went to sleep at around 1AM Cinci time. Ninong was still on his laptop when I fell asleep.

do you embrace your faith or are you a cafeteria catholic who picks and chooses

catholicism requires a more radical committment than we may like

catholicism is hard fair hting to think

more important ot be part of the minority who has jesus or the majority of compromises

that in the eucharist we receive the body and blood soul and divinity of our lord … that abortion is always a sin… that living together comes after marriage not before… the contraception in marriage is an evil…

4/28/10 – the hit be double

Wow… well, today, I caught up on eight posts on Courtney’s blog, and am currently working on the 128 posts that I’m behind on at American Papist (I’ve brought it down to 97 ), and I don’t know what God’s trying to tell me, but there’s just too many posts hitting way too close to home. It’s starting to get to me.

And of course, as those of you who know me well have sometimes remarked on, Aisa’s mind goes off in tangents that sometimes take a while to follow, and Aisa in face-to-face conversation often switches from one topic to another at an alarming speed, which wouldn’t matter so much if the topics were related, but they’re usually not…

At any rate, bear with me. This is just Aisa…. brain dumping.

I found this article on Courtney’s blog, and then again on American Papist.

Besides the very obvious issue at hand — that of the conscience clause not being upheld — there’s a line here that refuses to leave me alone:

“I emigrated to this country in the belief that here religious freedom is sacred,” Cenzon-DeCarlo said.

My debates with Kuya Jhun from three and a half years ago came back to me.

4/29/10 – Samson

So. There’s, like, these guys that I know.

Mom: I just realized I have a thing for guys with long blonde hair.
Dad: Too late.

5/05/10

My morning began with pit bulls.

5/24/10

1348 ~ As I begin this post, I haven’t decided on a title yet.

I woke up feeling not too great today. So here I am at home, sniffling and trying to drink lots of water and stay active and wondering if I’m only imagining this whole feeling warm thing. There’s that saying that if you act sick, you’ll feel sicker. It’s so true. I’ve got a long list of things to take care of before the day is over. Yes, rest is on there, but after getting up, taking a shower, and more or less being ready to step out the door, I ended up sleeping in until lunchtime.

Nino greeted me with a hug =) Lunch was delicious, and I’ve had at least three cups of veggies already. I’ve gotten a load of laundry going. It’s nice to rediscover how therapeutic laundry is. And now I shall continue cleaning my room… currently listening to Jeremy Camp’s Let It Fade =) On my list for today is to blog a list of things I am thankful for, something I have not done in a while and that I feel would be both spiritually and physically beneficial.

• #1 ~ My family =) I love being the oldest of five. I love having parents who are open to Life. I am thankful for my Mama and Papa. I still sleep with my grandparents when we visit them. I have chosen to retain that privilege. I woke up at around 3AM Saturday morning and turned to see Mama hugging Papa. I lay awake for a bit meditating on what Deacon Madz said about how the greatest vocation crisis today is not to the priesthood, but to marriage. Mama and Papa just spent their 44th wedding anniversary in the Holy Land. I praise God for the example and testimony of Mama and Papa and Mom and Dad in the Sacrament of Matrimony.

1428 ~

• #2 ~ Devin =) I’m staring at a certain framed sheet of blue paper hanging right in front of me, above my desk. Our friendship has been one of God’s biggest blessings to me, one that He has allowed me to keep for very nearly nine years now, and still going! I praise God for Dev, and for her whole family.

1642 ~ I remember reading today’s meditation from In Conversation with God while we were in Italy last year. I remember focusing on the paragraph that reads,

“The filial disposition of the gift of piety is seen also in our readiness to ask again and again like needy children until we are granted what we want. In prayer, our will is identified with the Will of our Father, who always wants what is best for his children. This trust in prayer makes us feel secure, unwavering, daring; it dissipates anxiety and the unease that comes from depending solely on our own strength, and helps us to be serene in the face of difficulties.”

This passage has a new meaning for me, now. The difficulties I face now are nothing like I would have supposed they would be a year ago. That is such an interesting thought. But today, in this year, the lines that catch my eye are,

“Piety towards others leads us to judge them always with kindness which walks hand in hand with a filial affection for God our common Father. It disposes us to forgive easily any offences received, even very painful ones.”

Pray for me, please. Forgiveness is something I am struggling with at the moment. It is not so much a constant anger or disquiet, but rather, I am led to think for significant lengths of time that I have forgiven and am at peace, and then a little thing will spring up quite unexpectedly, a reminder in some unanticipated form, that will awaken whatever it was I thought I had put aside. I keep hearing… I wonder if you ever loved me just for who I was / when the pain came back again like a bitter friend / it was all that I could do to keep myself from blaming you. It’s also strange to not know who I have not forgiven for what sometimes.

~ seven days later ~

2050 ~ I was off for a considerably longer period of time than I’d anticipated. I suppose I ought to be preparing that prep sheet for tomorrow, but it shouldn’t take me that long, and I’m procrastinating.

My three days off were a wake up call, I was telling Mom and Jana… they were a reminder of why I have no ambitions to be a career woman. I spent my three days resting, but also cleaning, doing my old chores like laundry, playing with Nino, and overall just having a good time with the family. I know it won’t all be unicorns and rainbows, but

7/21/10 – I’m trying to ignore the pastries.

I’m sitting here at Bakery Hill at these new tables that are actually near an outlet and that have their back to the Bakery. Hence the title.

Expect a ton of randomness right about now.

I haven’t blogged in AGES.

I have also grown considerably more and more skilled in stating the obvious.

It’s only the fourth week of the term, but I am totally ready for this summer to be over. Basically, I’m taking a bunch of ‘easy A’ classes, and all they’re doing is trying my patience – with the exception of Cooking 5.

I enjoy my Kung Fu class. But every week, I like the technique less and less. Nate says that I should look on the bright side; at least I’m training. But this isn’t my old stubbornness over staying true to one school. Ok, maybe it’s partly that, but not all. It’s also the plain logic behind the techniques. A perfect example – in I guess what would be the equivalent to front stance, my front foot is to be turned in, such that my knee follows, thus supposedly protecting the groin. Unfortunately, I argue that it is ten times more important for my foot to be in a position which ensures stability, aka foot pointing forward, because it’s the easiest thing in the world to take a six-inch step sideways and completely nullify the supposed effectiveness of my front knee. And I’m in no position to keep my stance no matter where I get hit; turning my foot inwards throws me completely off balance. If someone tries to shove me, down I’ll go. I also do not like being told that the stance which I have originally been trained to take in sparring is stupid. I argue that you cannot maintain a cat stance 100% of the time in a fight, and you will have to, at some point, take up my ‘stupid’ fighting stance in order to transfer your weight from one foot to the other, which I do believe is actually very necessary when sparring. So… how about I just stick to my normal fighting stance and constantly shift my weight from one foot to another so that I’m always ready, like I was originally taught to? Ok, ok, end sarcasm. Nate’s right. It is good to be training again. And I guess I need a class to continue to train me in the art of biting my tongue. Last term’s was, of course, Cooking 4.

8/24/10 – I fell in love with NorCal.

With the weather, to be more specific.

Paco, Daddy and I left for the airport on Thursday morning, after roughly four hours of sleep on my part. I had on a sweater and jeans for the plane, but I had no idea I’d be needing either in NorCal. No huge issues getting through security and to the gate; waiting was the most trying time, naturally. We ended up playing ungguyan and pekwa and splitting a breakfast sandwich. I slept pretty much the whole of that first leg.

I thought we’d have a two hour stopover, but it ended up being tight, and we made it to our next gate with only six minutes to spare. As it turned out, the flight was full, and several people were having ticket issues… there was a long line of people who didn’t have seat numbers or something? so we ended up having time to grab something to eat really quick, and we were in the fourth loading zone, into the bargain. Whatever place it was we grabbed food from was apparently one of those everything-organic places, and I know that doesn’t mean much these days with government regulations, but it was a small margin of comfort… compared to where we’d gotten breakfast that morning… Oh. my. gosh. I suppose it’s a good thing, but also somewhat annoying… being a culinary student and shuddering as you watch the line, wondering how long the lids have been left off of the cheese, even if they’ve deli papers in between and on top. Blah. But our lunch place was nice. Very nice. And our lunch was delicious. I had a grilled chicken and spinach panini, and Paco had a ham, egg, and cheese croissant. Paco’s came with hash browns and mine came with a salad. I didn’t have time to take pictures. I slept most of our second leg, too.

When we’d checked in, the kiosk had informed us that the current temperature at our final destination was 57. YIKES. When we landed, it was 66. There was a light breeze, and the sun was shining, and the heat was nicely dry and not in the least bit humid.

We took the bus to the light rail station. All I had were $20s, and when we got my ticket first, I had a slight scare… I thought it had paid me back in tokens when I saw the coins coming out. What the heck was I going to do with $18 worth of tokens?! but upon closer inspection, it turns out they were dollar coins. Paco was THRILLED. I was less so, particularly because I had never heard of the person on the front of the first five that I turned over. Yes, I am that bad at history. But c’mon, do YOU remember Millard Fillmore and anything significant that he did when were learning about the *important* US presidents? (Please say no? because I don’t…) We bought Paco’s ticket and inspected the fine print and looked around the station for a map and didn’t find one. As it was, we ended up getting on the wrong one. I was having too much fun to be really concerned, but I had Paco check the map above and across from us. We got off two stops later and waited for the one that went the other way… which was about three seconds after we’d gotten off the first.

We had a good fifteenish, twenty minute ride. Gorgeous weather, my goodness. Forgive me, but I was so insanely thrilled at how many Pinoys there were everywhere. And I saw a Filipino restaurant that I wanted to go back to – goodness knows we had time – but we didn’t.

God had provided thus far, and I was praying that the Hyatt would not be hard to find… We got off at Great America and, lo and behold, there was the Hyatt right across the street from the station. Praise God.

I had foreseen possible complications with the front desk… Our instructions concerning the reservations were very vague. I suppose I ought to have had the… maturity? to panic slightly, but I was walking on air the second we stepped off the plane, so I didn’t even have the sense to call Mum and Dad while things were being sorted out. As it turned out, we did not have reservations at the Hyatt for Thursday night, and the person who had told me I would was not answering their phone. I called Ate Mary, but she was in a meeting, as I found out later. I did get a hold of Tito Leo, but that was not going to help me much, since they weren’t there yet, anyway. The front desk was extremely helpful and got me the number of the CFC contact they’d been working with. They even offered to call her for me, but I said it was alright. By this time, we’d been sitting around in the lobby of the Hyatt for almost an hour, and they’d been so terribly accommodating, asking if we’d like snacks or water, both of which we declined as we had almost two boxes worth of granola bars in my backpack. I called the number they’d given and had things sorted out within ten minutes. We did have reservations for that night, but at a hotel two stoplights down on Great America.

I called the Avatar hotel and found out that the shuttle had just left for SJC. They said it would be along for us in about half an hour. It ended up being closer to an hour, but that was ok… because we bumped into people from New Jersey who were in the same predicament, and they knew Vince, into the bargain. I texted Vince to let him know I’d met his friends.

The Avatar is COOL! Hahaha. Nope, no blue humanoids… just nice Pinays at the front desk… anyway… The first thing you see when you walk in is a glass case of old toy robots. Intense. As Michelle observed, the place looked a little sketchy from the outside, but the rooms were, in a word, fun. You know how modern can be totally overdone? This place had it just right. The furniture was brightly colored - neon pinks and blues and greens – and the sheets were

Before we share, let us all keep in mind that this is moreso a prayer than a song. Each line was truly voiced from the Holy Spirit. It was a blessing to be led by Him through music. As the lyrics fell into place, we envisioned the many faces of sisters around the nation. Though all our stories are different, this song represents what brought us together as a Sisterhood in the first place. It represents that special longing for Christ that is within our hearts as women of God. Let this be your prayer to Him. <3

ps. if you want the actual file of the lyrics/chords just message me your email. :)
pss. tag/share this with other sisters!

————————————————–

“A Sister’s Prayer”

Amaj7: x09999 or x02120
Emaj7: 079897 or 022100
E7: x76770 or 020100
A: x02220
Am: x02210

Intro (x2): Amaj7 – Emaj7

Amaj7 Emaj7
|—————-9———-7———|
|—————-9———-9———|
|———–9—-9———-8———|
|–9h11———-9———-9———|
|—————-0———-7———|
|————————————-|

Verse 1:
Amaj7 Emaj7
IT STARTS WITH ME TODAY
Amaj7 Emaj7
WHEN YOUR GRACE FELL LIKE THE RAIN
Amaj7 Emaj7
I’M GIVING UP, I’M POWERLESS
Amaj7 Emaj7
BUT LOVING YOU MAKES ME THE BEST

Verse 2:
Amaj7 Emaj7
YOUR TIME CAN ONLY TELL
Amaj7 Emaj7
YOUR WILL FOR YEARNING HEARTS
Amaj7 Emaj7
MY SPIRIT LONGS FOR MORE
C#m B C#m-B-A
GOD YOUR LOVE GIVES ME REST

Chorus:
Emaj7 E7
THIS IS MY PRAYER
A Am
TO BE HUMBLE, TO BE PATIENT, AND KIND
Emaj7 E7
OH LORD, YOU KNOW MY HEART’S DESIRE
A
SO TRANSFORM ME, LORD GOD MOLD ME
Am Amaj7
TO BE HOLY, A TRUE WOMAN OF GOD

9/14/10 – seven minutes before class…

Brad: Oh you kids. You make me so angry. ANGRY. I will destroy all of you. ALL of you.
Joe: *takes red pen out of Brad’s front pocket and throws it on floor at Brad’s feet*
Brad: *curses* *grabs highlighter from pen jar and draws it across

I can’t fall asleep and it’s all your fault.

Oh, KUYA. I miss them a lot. And that’s still my favorite song by them or anything they became, even more than Carnival.

I promise it’s not all doom and gloom… there are a million things I’ve wanted to tell about the past few weeks and the good times totally outweigh the downs. But the downs need out, too. So here’s the mish-mash in no particular order:

The Obi-Wan Kenobi of MCI

Chef Sheldon was truly our “only hope” throughout Receiving’s 1N12K prep. God bless him. I don’t know when or where it started or who started it, but I came in for work last Thursday and that’s what everyone was calling him =) He’s the best.

“… happy as we were, we can never go back.”

Easter meant a return to the Honors Room. Hm. Now… Nobody ever owned up to having drawn that next to my note… But then again, I haven’t really been asking around. It amused me. I have a couple guesses, though… most definitely one of the guys.

Being Schooled In Everything Street

Stevo and Brad; the Dream Team. Speaking of being amused, Kevin was down in Receiving being his usual annoying self and giving me a hard time… It was a Wednesday night, Brad and I were closing up and Stevo was skipping Spanish class. After Kevin walked out, I was all *grrrrrr* and Stevo started going on about how I shouldn’t take that from him and how I had to be harsh and how he and Brad were “schooling you in everything street, Aurora!” … Epic fail. I said something to the effect that the “schooling” was ineffective because I simply found everything amusing rather than taking any of it to heart. Brad and Stevo are so funny when they’re staring and speechless. Then again, they may not have been speechless, they may simply have been thinking how hopeless I was. Probably. So amusing =)

Slack Those Beef Cheeks

Kinda hard to do when they come in a block like this…

… like a huge blood popsicle thingy… Oh, look, wordpress doesn’t recognize “popsicle.” Or “wordpress,” for that matter! Anyway.. Dan dared me to lick it. Fortunately, I’ve never been one for taking dares. So the beef cheeks… yeah. They were slacked… somehow. Jay and Beth and Julz figured that it. It was so amusing, though… no plastic or anything. Just peeled straight cardboard off of it. Terrible. Oh, and a good four inches wider than a lexan. I think they had to put trays on either side of it to catch blood/meat that thawed off.

THE MONKEYS HAVE MULTIPLIED!

I don’t know when or how, but there are now three monkeys on the Christmas tree. AND I CAN’T FIND THE BRAIN.

Don’t Tip Over!

Buying Time

As chefs arrived to pick up their 1N12K reqs, one of us would offer to lead them to the room where they could sign all the aprons first. It was a way for us to buy time to build their req without them having to hang around being bored and wondering how much slower we could possibly be… you know? I wasn’t a VIP guest, I didn’t get an apron, but hey! Check it outtttt… Geeze, my camera phone’s not half bad, come to think of it. Meeting all those chefs was really, really cool. Granted some cooler than others, but overall very cool.

… your warm whispers keeping the noise from breaking through…

I don’t really make playlists for myself. Like, my playlists are mixes of, oh, you know, ’80s here and techno there… all my playlists come into existence because someone has given me music. All my music from Unc is in a playlist entitled Mirrorball; all my music from Ninong is under Lemonade; from Gabe, A Luminous Mystery; and then there’s all this music that Paolo and I gave to each other. I kept a [now incomplete] list of the stuff I gave him.. I think at the time, it was so that I wouldn’t burn doubles ever. And then there was the playlist with all his music for me. At first they were just “from Paolo” and “to Paolo,” and then it became full names, because for some reason we used to yell our full names at each other… and then things happened, and Paolo’s became “from the Paolo of April ’06 to February ’09,” and then eventually “Angel to Angelee” and “Angelee to Angel,” because Paolo was my youth camp angel and we never decided on an alternative to angelee no matter how much it sounded like.. something else, I forget what it was that we said it sounded too much like. Too lazy to pull up the conversation. I think at some point he was the angel and I was the sky or something like that. Anyway… Angelee to Angel still stands, but his playlist is now entitled “Death of a Superstar.” Inspired by a post by Mikey Foss… which, now that I read it again, wouldn’t make sense to anyone but me… Haha. But I guess… One of the hardest things right now is having lost, regardless of anything less or more, a best friend. I guess I haven’t really let any of that out onto my blog. But why not? This is what’s going on in my life; it hurts, and I’ve done things I regret, but nothing I’m ashamed of. Right now, I’m hurting because I lost my #1 best friend of junior/senior year high school. I’m hurting because I still think of a million things I’d like to share with him every single day, about how fast Nino is growing, the people I meet and deal with at school and work, the meditations, the missing Italy… the person I could do a run-down of my day with every day at the end of it all. Just like I used to tell him… talking to him was my relaxation and reward. It’s funny how long it takes for these things to sink in… I honestly just realized it two days ago. I was driving and it hit me, “Oh my gosh. I don’t have anyone to talk to anymore.” Who cares – cared – enough about all the little things that happened in my day enough to read twenty-something page emails word for word? I guess that’s why I haven’t been blogging. The things I think of sharing with the world… a split second later, I think, “Oh. Only Paolo would care.” It’s been a long time since I made it past the phase where I would have traded my life now to be back in senior year. But even if I wouldn’t go back and am happy with where I am, I miss Paolo. Why should I pretend any different? This is part of where I am. I have to accept that just as much as I have to accept that I’ll never get my best friend back.

Small + Sweet + Strong = Tiny + Bling = Sunshine = Steffy!

Steffy’s her own little sun, for sure. God bless her!

untitled

If You Don’t Want It, Please Don’t Req It =(

I think we pitched a whole bus tub of egg whites today… had to. Can’t refreeze them. And if someone reqs 20+ pounds of it and only uses a few ounces… well. That just sucks, doesn’t it? On that note… check this out:

Hummm…

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ Winter 2007 ~ untitled

This past Sunday was Vocation Awareness week, and the homily was given by a seminarian. He gave his background, and it was really an amazing story, how he’d had pretty much everything a body could want, honestly — and then he stepped back and said, “God. I know what I want for my life. But, God… what do You want for my life?” and he gave it all up to become a priest. He spoke of the shortage of priests, and he brought up that video… I think it’s titled Fishers of Men? I’m sure I’ve watched it before, I just can’t remember what the line was… it was a few months back. Something  like, “Who will give the Sacraments to the next generation,” or along those lines.

Really. It is quite a chilling thought.

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ Winter 2007 ~ Now let me see…

Saturday morning, we were packing for St. Louis. We went to the 4:30 Mass, and then Daddy dropped me off at B&N, where Liz, Terhi, and Michelle were waiting. We walked around and chatted and went into random stores here and there. Eventually we went to Rave and found Nate and Kit outside. From there, we walked around trying to figure out where to eat… and Liz got picked up. *wah* We went to the Fish Market, but that was crossed out… and then we went to P. F. Chang’s, but that was majorly full also… and then we went to Champs, but that was full… same story with Red Robin… xD so we ended up eating at Steak ‘N Shake. Bwaha. That was fun.

Busted

So… check out this water fountain…

Herbs Are Like Babies

This note deserves immortalization. (Is that a word?) Courtesy of none other than Steffy =)

ATTACK OF THE DROIDS

My Newest Toy

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ 2007 ~ Continuing…

with my Conference experience; here is Part II. (Part I)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3411&l=7512e&id=502520962

Now, where was I… oh, yes, we were in the BLC, right? Waiting for the previous session to end and our session to begin?

When we were finally allowed to leave the lecture hall where we had been waiting, we supposed that that meant that the people who had attended the previous session had already left. Wrong.

The hall outside was PACKED. Parent coordinators had their hands full keeping us “quiet,” meaning that we were perfectly welcome to talk, AS LONG AS we could still hear the directions they were shouting. They failed miserably, I’m afraid. I honestly don’t think that they were angry, though, just worried. I’d be, too, if I was trying to get hundreds of kids out in time for their next workshop, while there were hundreds of kids pushing to get in… Seriously, though — do the math, and you get an average of about 472 Youth trying to get into a workshop, and that doesn’t count Parent Coordinators or the people giving the talk and the rest of the service team.

Jorrel and I somehow got separated from everyone, and then I got separated from Jorrel. I knew that I was supposed to be going upstairs, but where upstairs, I had no idea. So I’m standing there, with my super-packed backpack making that much less space for everyone around me, and I’m one of the shorter people, being stepped on accidentally by tall people and being pushed and jostled around… Haha, no, it wasn’t that bad, but I did panic slightly when I lost sight of Jorrel. (Which, you must realize, was very hard, because he was one of the taller ones, right? :P)

There was plenty going on to keep you from being bored (and aggravated), though. One of the older (ahem, and bigger) Brothers standing right next to me suddenly shouted for a way to be made for him and his group (which consisted of about at least four more Brothers and two Sisters, and they had a reason… they might’ve been service team or something, I don’t know, but no one really seemed to mind) and they proceeded to make a train by holding on to each others shoulders and pushing through the crowd. Ehm, no, I would not exactly say that they were being rude, as long as you had the sense to take it the right way (that being the “all in good fun” way, and I got into the room before them, anyway! MUAHAHA!), and laugh at all the comments being yelled out in Tagalog. People took the opportunity of being packed very tightly together to play little pranks, like covering the eyes of the person in front of them, or picking each other up with the supposed intent of throwing them over the heads of the crowd, or hoping to go crowd surfing, which seemed, at the time, a very practical way of getting to where you wanted to go (thought it came to nothing, I promise you), and so you’d here little slaps and “ANO KA BA!” and helpless laughter. (By “helpless,” I mean something like a person is laughing and are failing to understand why on earth they are laughing, you know? …) I was hearing “Kuya! Nakalabas na ba sila?” or”Ow! Tinatapakan mo ang paa ko!” and “Nasan na si ____?? *yelling for whoever*”

FINALLY!!! I spotted Tito Leo, about eight feet away from me, and about six minutes of pushing to get through to. We got into the elevator, which brought us upstairs… to yet another tightly packed hallway, worse than the first. And here, I shall start referring to my pictures. :D Pic one… well, you can’t really tell what it is. That’s because it was me taking it… Pic 2 was Gabe attempting to take a picture for me; I’d asked for either Gabe or Jorrel to hold up my camera and take a picture of the packed hallway, but Gabe moved the camera too soon — he was deceived by the pre-flash flash — and so he managed to get a gorgeous picture of the speaker thingy. :D

PICTURE 3! is a successful attempt to give an idea of how it was in the hall, and you have to realize that we were only halfway along it, looking back, and so if you can imagine the hall to be twice as long as what you see in that picture… You see the elevator doors to the left? It was really hard getting in and out of the elevators, because we were packed wall-to-wall, obviously, and so it was rather alarming because you were trying to get in/out before the doors closed, and to get stuck right at the threshold was the one thing everyone was trying to avoid, and remember that pretty much everyone had backpacks or handbags or something, not to mention quite a few guitars and skateboards, and man was it HOT. But we were all laughing. Ah, and what made it EVEN CRAZIER was that, when the other session ended, we had to make a way through the hall for those people that were getting OUT!

I know how sardines feel. ‘Cept for being dead.

Did I mention the hallway turned two corners? Yupp. So, I take it back. What you see in that picture is only about 1/4 of the packed-hall experience. When we finally got into the room, half of us (the YFC Cinci) sat on the floor, but that’s ok; Gabe and Kuya were in the third (or was it fourth?) row from the front, Jorrel sat behind them and there was a seat next to him which he offered to me, but I let Lexi go sit there (pic 5), Gab and Kim sat on the floor in front of the pillar where I couldn’t see them, and Mariel and Ate Hazel (pic 4) sat next to where I was sitting on the floor, leaning on Kuya Mico’s wheelchair.

Oh, sorry — did I mention we were all wearing our YFC Cinci shirts? Mhmm, except for Jorrel, and we’d all bought the green Conference shirt that day, so Ate Hazel was wearing that over her Cinci shirt, though I believe she took it off later because it was extremely hot…

SO! Music Min. AWESOME WORKSHOP. (Well, they all were. :P) The talk was given by all the members of the Worship band (er, the main one — there was a separate band made up of just Sisters, for the worship during the Sisterhood Forum, where boys were NOT ALLOWED, but I’ll get to that later…) and I forget their names (believe me, I feel horrible), except for Brother Ian… maybe I’ll remember later… There was one dude there who looked a lot like Kuya Judd, now that I think about it… and had the same air of ease about him… lol.

The band took turns, and they talked about the difference between a musician and a music minister… About having your heart in the right place… How the worship really has to be Spirit-led… Ah, and they gave an example about last year’s Conference, and how they’d chosen one song, but they’d been feeling like it wasn’t quite the right song, and it wasn’t until they were about to start the song that they suddenly felt the Holy Spirit telling them what song they should be singing, and they just looked at each other and nodded, told the screen techs, and played that song instead, and that that song turned out to be the most powerful part of the worship. I wish I’d been there!! Everyone who’d been to last year’s Conference were all nodding their heads, and you could tell that they were surprised when they heard that that song that they remembered to be so powerful hadn’t been in the original plan at all.

Oh, one of the brothers said that if you didn’t have your heart in the right place, you shouldn’t lead worship. Having the heart of a servant is good, but you should also know when you ought not be leading (yet). Also to remember that what you’re doing, you’re doing to bring Glory to God, and it’s not about how well you play the guitar or how well you sing, that it’s all about serving and giving back to God the talent He gave you.

When the talk was over, we split up into groups by what we played; electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and vocals… I feel like I might be forgetting something… Anyway, I don’t know if Gabe went to electric or bass, I don’t know if Mariel went to slectric or acoustic, I don’t know where Gabriella or Kim went at all, Jorrel was with the drummers (right? …), Kuya Mico was, I believe, wherever Gabe was, Lexi either went to vocals or drummers… I think vocals… yeah, that’s right, because that’s where Ate Hazel and I went as well. It was kind of crazy because we all stayed in the same room, and each group was assigned a corner/the middle, and so all of the people leading those groups were all talking at the same time and trying to talk loudly enough so that everyone in their group could hear, and at the same time, obviously doing their absolute best not to drown out their band-mates. At any rate, it was a bit hard, but I think we were all ok…

We’d spotted Kuya Vin at the door about halfway through the workshop, but as we were on the other side of the room, and as I’ve already explained, it was packed, we couldn’t get to him until everyone was dismissed. When we finally got to him, we hung around and chatted for a bit, because lunch was next, so we weren’t in a major hurry.

Ehhh Kuya looked SO TIRED!!! (I also wasn’t 100% sure if it was him when I first saw him, because his hair was considerably longer…) We asked what had happened… Blehhh his flight was canceled and he had to sleep at the airport. Not fun. And so, now, Kuya Vin says he will most definitely be driving next time. (Unfortunately, ‘next time’ is in Seattle… *cough*)

We got separated on our way out of the BLC, because half of us took the stairs, and the rest went with Kuya Mico… I’m not sure exactly where that was…

We found the booths set up in front of the Student Rec Center (pic 6), and it was pretty tight, so Lexi and I went ahead and saved a spot in line for lunch. Uhm… this proved to be unnecessary, but give me a minute to get to that.

I met Ate Kai (pic 7) while I was in line, and when the others caught up, she and Kuya Vin started chatting about the discovery camp and stuff. :P We took lotsa pics while we were in line… pics 8 through 17. Ah, so now we come to why it was unnecessary for me and Lexi to save a spot. Well, as it turns out, Kuya Mico obviously need to be brought up the ramp instead of the stairs that everyone was in line for… Uhm, so… this is rather un-YFC-ish… but all of us, except for Gabriella and Kimberly, brought Kuya Mico up the ramp and cut the line and were allowed in as his… entourage. Where Gab and Kim were, I have no idea..

So, in part I, I told you to take note of the pasta? Bwee hee hee. So we all got in and I went straight for pasta and no one realized that I was gone, and then I’m indicating the pasta to Gabe and the others who were in the really long line for food… later, when we were all sitting down, Gabe was like, “You ate already?” and of course I’m going “That’s what I was trying to tell you!!!” and he goes, “Oh… I thought you were just waiting,” at which point, I simply threw my hands up in the air in helplessness…

Backtrack a little; I’d gotten pasta, and then I tried to see if I could find where in line the others were, I couldn’t get any closer to them than about 20, 30 feet? and with I think it was the salad bar between us… and that’s when I took pic 18 of Kuya Mico, the reason we’d all gotten into lunch easy in the first place, but then they still had to wait in line for another 15 minutes, because Gabe thought I’d been waving… :D So after standing and watching their progress in the line for about ten minutes, I turned my back towards them and faced the rest of the cafeteria… and right then, one of the booths emptied. Muaha. So I managed to get there right after the table had just been wiped up, and then I called Gabe and told him I’d saved seats for them, and eventually he sees me from where he is in the line, and I think he asked if I wanted him to get food for me, but I was like, “Huh?? I have food…” which I don’t think he quite got, because we still had that conversation about waving once we were all sitting down. So, yeah, I saved the booth, and felt kinda bad after a while because I actually finished eating before any of the group were even being served yet, but they finally got their food, and they all sat down (pics 19 and 20), and at once, I went to get ice cream. (:D I tormented them. S’ok. Gabe and Jorrel tormented me at dinner. I’ll explain later…)

When I was nearly done with my ice cream, and everyone else was either half or nearly done with their lunch, Gab and Kim showed up. Oh, muaha, Jorrel and Hazel (and I can’t remember, but I think Mariel, as well) had Gabe get drinks for them. :P That was hilarious…

When Gab and Kim showed up, I left so that they could sit in the booth with everyone… Ahh… I cannot remember exactly what I did. Haha. Oh, wait… Oh yeah, I went and got t-shirts!!! We’d all gotten our green Conference shirts earlier that day… so I got a North Central shirt (iJesus, muahahaha), a… I think South West? which is gorgeous, it’s white with a picture of hands holding a heart… Gah, I have to post pictures of them, they’re so awesome… and also a black shirt that didn’t have a region stated on it… I’ll post pics sometime…

We did a lot of calling each other that weekend, so I guess (can’t exactly remember) I called up Gabe, or he called me up, and I told them I was going to go ahead to the next workshop, and supposedly, we were all going to meet up there, but I guess they decided to go to the Fishers of Men workshop… Oh, I did see Ate Hazel and Jorrel, but I don’t think they saw me, so we weren’t all sitting together…

That workshop was the How Crazy & How Beautiful: Our Catholic Faith workshop, and I like what it says in the description on our scheds — ‘Think we worship Mary? You’re wrong. Is it truly His Body & Blood? You betcha! Learn more about our Catholic faith and why we do the thhings we do in this “Our Catholic Faith” Workshop!’ The spiritual director for CFC NJ gave the talk.. Fr. Lehman, I believe. He said that teens struggled most with three things. Two of those were Purity and Authority. Can’t remember the third. Possibly because he didn’t dwell on it so much compared to the other two. There were two sharings, one on Confession given by Brother Ian, and one on the importance of praying the rosary given by a very inspiring Sister that I am ashamed to have forgotten the name of.

The walk back to the Rec Center was a long hot one, but believe me, that was a BEAUTIFUL walk. You see, the chapel is kind of away from all the other buildings, so that it’s a nice peaceful spot.

I can’t remember exactly how I found everyone again… probably by use of cell phones… At any rate, we were all sitting together eventually, in our usual row somewhere near the front. This was our fourth and final workshop, the Theology of the Body.

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ Thanksgiving 2007 ~ Thanksgiving Break

xD was awesome!!! We got to Mama’s Wednesday night. Unc arrived sometime the next morning. I was still asleep… he and Ninong came into the room with the guitars and started playing VERY loudly and singing (yelling). And then Unc gave me a hug and told me to go back to sleep and he and Ninong were laughing as they walked out of the room. So I went back to sleep, but not for long… I got up eventually and mum laughed when I told her they’d woken me up

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ Winter 2007 ~ LONG Weekend…

Yesterday, we went to the Fraternal at Gabe’s house, where the Youth had a Core + HH heads meeting. We discussed a lot, finalized plans, etc. The dates for Youth camp and all manner of preparation have been set. We’re having a Sisters’ HH this weekend, and then the Christmas party two weeks from now.

We went to Tita Miemie’s after the Fraternal, but only stayed a few minutes… and then Tito Leo and Gabe and I went to the Underground, but then Gabe told us we could stay inside, anyway, and it was only 6:30 and the concert didn’t start until 8, so Tito Leo and I ended up going back to Tita Miemie’s. Lots of funny things happened there…

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ November 2007 ~ Discovery Camp 11/10-11/11

Oh Wow… where to begin? At the beginning, I suppose. xD

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12274&l=57c00&id=502520962

I arrived at Grailville at around 8 AM. Lexie was the only one there. We were let into the lower level of the retreat house, and Daddy and Tito Mavi got busy with the coffee maker. Well, Tito Mavi got a hold of Kuya Vin, and he said he was on his way. Eventually he arrived, and sometime after, the rest of the service team, and the YFC Cinci. Of course, there was plenty of squealing from us girls… er, well, more like me and Carmela. Haha. Squealing is a prerequisite of hugging. xD

SO! Everyone arrived… and the service team started setting up… I went outside and took pics 1 & 2. When I came back inside, Kuya Roland and I started sparring. No, I take that back. I started beating him up. Yes, that sounds more like it. MUAHAHAHA. We went over some forms.

Kuya Vin: Hey, Ais? I know you’re a participant, but, could I ask for your help with something?
me: Sure… what’s up?
Kuya Vin: Could you be in charge of registration?
me: Ehm… ok… why me? /:|
Kuya Vin: ‘Cause you’re my go-to girl. :D

I asked if I could have some help with that, so he called Gabe over, and Gabe… well, I asked him where we should be, and he went to the table at the far end of the room, and I followed, but then Kuya suggested the table by the door, so we moved over there, but then Gabe got a phone call… I think it was from Paolo. Amanda and Lexie insisted on making their own name tags (they downright refused to let me handle them), so I decided to just let everyone make their own and check them off as they made them. Gabe came back inside and told us Paolo wouldn’t be coming until 2 (as opposed to the previously supposed noon). While everyone was making name tags and I wasn’t crossing people off, I took some pics. (3 thru 7) While I was crossing people off, I noticed that Kuya Vin had written “Paolo San Miguel.” Well, that got a laugh…

After a bit, the Service Team called us over for an ice-breaker. (Pics 8 thru 10) WATERMELON!!!!! And I wouldn’t have lost if they hadn’t decided that I was out merely because Tito Leo had asked me to hand a paper to Gabe and therefore my attention was not on the round when it started, GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…. jk jk. I laughed. And anyway, I won at CO… Hahaha. Nahh, no grudges.

It got down to Ate Jane and Edgar. Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament. Heaven help us. Kuya Francis was the commentator. Kuya Jeremy was playing Eye of the Tiger on the guitar. It was absolutely hilarious. xD Ate Jane won.

After we’d calmed down and stuff, we were called to go over/learn some songs, and then a short worship. Kuya Jeremy led, and Ate Trina played the guitar.

After worship, Kuya Daryl gave us an intro, and then we had the first talk, which was Who Am I, given by Macy, with Kuya Roland as sharer. Macy talked about the need to discover ourselves, because God created us with a purpose, and He did not simply mean for us to take up space. She went over some physical and emotional changes that teens go through, and how they affect our life and who we become. After the talk, we had a few minutes to reflect, during which Kuya Jeremy played and sang Who Am I by Casting Crowns.

I can’t remember if we had the activity before or after reflection… Basically, they passed out paper and markers, and we drew who we were. Not self-portraits, mind; we drew symbols of who we were, of what made us what we are. We taped those up on the wall.

[If I remember correctly,] Kuya Daryl gave the second talk, which was Who Loves Me. Ehm… I don’t remember a great deal of that… it was mostly the family part that stuck.

Who Is My Best Friend

Who Do I Love

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ who knows when ~ It’s Long Overdue

Four years ago, 9/12/04 to be exact, an article was written by a woman named Margaret Boyce entitled Home-schooling Robs Children. It was the most appalling, horrible, false, inaccurate article, and even I, then an 8th grader and not as crazy about homeschooling as I am now, was more than slightly offended. I wrote a response to that article which I never sent in, but I came across my letter as I was going through my high school essays, and I’ve decided to touch up on this one, not in direct response to Ms. Boyce, but addressing all who happen to read this blog. I can’t find the article — I’ve spent the last 15 minutes searching for the article, but all links-to-article that I’m coming across are giving me a “no longer exists” error, ha! It’s nowhere in the Holland Sentinel’s archives, but you don’t hear me complaining, no; what a piece of trash — so all I’ve got to go on is what I cited in my original piece, but it’s quite enough for me, and to be perfectly honest, I’m getting worked up just re-reading my reply!

Firstly, there was the

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ Summer 2008 ~ untitled

Class just keep getting better and better. As I jogged up the stairs, I grinned and said, “Who’s betting there’ll be even more laughs tomorrow?” The response I got was certainly a very enthusiastic one.

LOL, we just had a great time yesterday. I ran down the stairs and found everyone in the hall, I skid and go “Whaa…” and Daniel goes, “Yeah. We just randomly decided to have class out in the hall today.” Well that brought a laugh. So we hung out until Paul got there and unlocked the door and let us in. Things were fairly uneventful for the first half of the evening. Then we were let out for break, and I, as usual, made my way upstairs, rather than off to CVS with everyone else. Well Daniel decided to come upstairs, too, for once, and we ended up chilling in the hall again (Paul had left, as well). We talked about music and school and stuff. That was interesting.

Everyone else got back before Paul did, so eventually everything else was being discussed; movies, sports, something about church parties… that was Kimball, teachers, students, particularly short girls… something about how Daniel had to run through the halls one day, and a very short teacher told him not to run and he whipped around cuz he thought it was a little kid and was like, “What’re you…” and then realized whoopsss that’s a teacher.. I can’t talk to her like that…. rotfl. And Kimball was acting out a scenario where he’s faced with… “Well, you’re older than me, but I’m looking down at you about 3 feet…” lol these guys. Oh, and Daniel T said, “Your face has been bothering me,” to Daniel H and eventually they figured out where they’d seen each other before (quiz team) and got around to talking about that.

Well we all filed in for class when Paul got there, and

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ Summer 2008 ~ Lackawanna Summer Raspberry Cake

No, I did not title it that in a desperate attempt to be original.

:D

No. Actually, there is no amazing this-is-the-cake-I-bake-every-single-summer on so-and-so-a-date story behind it. Hehe. But the first time I baked this cake was for an El-hen gathering at Lackawanna State Park some summer… so that would have been either ’02 or ’03. I’ve not made it since, but I remember it well because it’s the first memory I have of ever having attempted to bake a cake COMPLETELY by myself. :D Thus, I have gotten sentimental enough about it to rename it. (You don’t want to know the original title. It’s one of those incredibly generic ones. I also think my lovely cake deserved a much summer-y-er title.)

For the cakes:
3 cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Grease 3 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper, grease again, then flour. (If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is not to take shortcuts with that part. Do not NOT put parchment paper, please. Thank You.)

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer set on high speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Unpublished/Unfinished Draft ~ October 2008 ~ Cleaning Out/Updating My Reader

and catching up, too. Linking to some stuff I haven’t taken the time to read till now. But just wanted to share, for those who check this blog regularly (Hallo Sis, I know you’re reading… haha :D lol).

Catholics Should All Be Pro-Life

Guard Yourself

On Being Ladylike

A Kiss Is Just A Kiss

let me get this straight:

Dear Readers lol and now I simply must try that lazy bloggers post generator… I’m sure it would come in handy sometimes…

“Pro-Life, Pro-Obama” website launched

Post-goodbyes [Non-zombie version] a music vid of EF, by me =)

The Logic Behind Love; Part III

Hi hi, Sisters! Here I go again =) Moving kind of shook me up, but Ais is now back in her crazy-Ateish-theology-MAJOR-lets-get-it-straight-by-the-ToB mode. I hope you ladies think that’s a good thing :D

The Logic Behind Love; Part II

Hi hi, Sisters! See, less than 24 hours later, I already have more to write about… xD

The Logic Behind Love; A Hash-Out for My Sisters

Dear Sisters,

In light of my leaving, I’d like to leave you with a few things that maybe we’ve touched on, that you guys have mentioned or asked me about, but haven’t had the time to delve into together. No intros, I’m just going to dive straight into all this stuff, ok?

The Highs of December

How the blessings do pile up if we take the time to count them. I haven’t hands enough to count them all in one round. See me tick off my fingers as I count the things that have taken place in the course of 31 short days and start over when I run out –

• three Music Ministry Practices (so that would be three fingers)
• two Speakers Practices (and two more fingers)
• the completion of my Anglo-Saxon Literature course which resulted in an A+ on my term paper and my overall class grade
• the SHS Variety Show and re-connecting with old friends
• SHS Battle of the Bands
• Pacquiao vs. de la Hoya at the Almarios’ house
• Youth Camp
• Christmas
• St. Nicholas Day (OUR STOCKINGS WERE FULL!!!!)
• the CFC Christmas Party
• Daddy’s birthday
• Yena’s birthday
• Mama’s birthday
• NINO’s birth
• Mum and Dad’s 19th Anniversary
• Yena’s Nutcracker performance
• Yena’s birthday tea party
• relatives coming over (some of which I hadn’t seen in nearly three years)
• super awesome jamm session with Unc and Ninong and Kuya Vin and sometimes Mummy singing
• hanging out with the Nadermans
• driving all over the place on errands or para lang magpasyal with family
• date with Yenyenners
• lunch with the kiddies
• the re-appearance of the Caramel Apple Spice at Starbucks (I had at least three)
• long and lovely phone calls with two wonderful best friends named Devin and Paolo (four fingers? five? can’t remember)
• I’m sure we had a household/fraternal or two somewhere in there (go ahead and put out three fingers)
• Michael’s monthly Faith Unplugged
• a bunch of talks with Mum and Dad about important life-changing stuff (a whole hand, please)
• going through the pantry and laughing a lot
• bonding with CFC Titos and Titas

… and I’m sure there are more and more and more if I really take the time to think back day-to-day, but that’s all I can remember off the top of my head.

Yes, I’ve been stressed. Yes, there were times when it seemed like I hadn’t the energy to laugh, or even smile… but I want the world to know that when I look back now on all the things that happened last month, EVERYTHING makes me smile, even the stress. After all, the stress in particular, or rather the cause of the stress, was character building.

Hmm… I simply cannot decide whether to go forwards or backwards? OH WELL. How about I start in the middle? seeing as my list isn’t in chronological order, anyway.

I Believe in High Stakes

Heck, you bet I do. I think I’ve hit on the highest stakes ever. (*Maybe I should go edit my CREDO post…*)

I am loving this post, which, among other things, tackles defining the term ‘Cafeteria Catholic.’

Catholicism has to be taken and lived out as a whole, or not. In one of his homilies this past month, Fr. Tom reminded us that when we approach the altar, we receive all of Christ. All of Him. Not just bits and pieces. When we receive the Eucharist, we receive Christ in His fullness. And if we come to receive all of Him, then we are expected to live out all that He Is. Not just bits and pieces. How can we be truly One with Him if we deliberately fail to uphold all that He stands for?

But I wanted to hash this out even further. If we’ve settled the fact that Catholicism can’t be taken in bits and pieces, then let’s go further. Why not? IOW, why Catholicism? What does Catholicism offer that is so… profound, for lack of a better word… that we cannot afford to not take it as a whole?

Slowly, now. A bit at a time.

God created Man. Yes?

So then it follows that… as God created Man, He knows how we are meant to function? that He knows our full potential? that He knows all that Man was created to be? I think that makes sense, doesn’t it? He created us with purpose. God alone knows why we’re made the way we are. So let us say that we do not know everything we need to know about how to be human. We’re not like other creatures. We have free will. To use extreme examples, by our free will, we could choose to live like birds? but that would not be what we were created to be, yes? So that would be silly, because we would be failing to be… human?

God created the universe as a hierarchy; some things are “higher”, more valuable, and more important than others. Each human being may be equal in value in the sight of God, since all are made in his image; but irrational animals are not equal to human beings. They do not have rational souls, free choice, or the knowledge of God. If animals were equal to humans, eating meat would be cannibalism. ~ Peter J. Kreeft, Catholic Christianity

So, having established that, having free will, man could choose to act in ways that man was not created to act, to do things that man was not created to do, that if we act certain ways, do certain things, we could, if you will, fail to be human? let us move on.

We believe that Jesus Christ was [is] both fully God and fully Man, that He possessed two complete and whole Natures in one Person.

If we believe this, then what we, as Catholics, are saying is that we believe that the Catholic Church was founded by God Himself. We believe that Mother Church was not founded by men claiming to be inspired by God, or visited by an angel, etc. etc., but that God Himself, our Creator, entered Time in the Person of Jesus Christ and founded the Roman Catholic Church.

We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what is to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ’s death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: mere plans or diagrams to be left alone if they do not help us, and, even if they do help us, not to be confused with the thing itself. ~ C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Yes, that is Christianity. But I want to take this further.

I do not view Catholicism as a ‘religion’ the way Protestantism is a ‘religion’ or any other denomination is a ‘religion’. What the Catholic Church teaches is not merely a set of rules. It’s not merely a ‘how-to-get-to-heaven’ deal. At its core, the knowledge that the Catholic Church possesses is, quite simply, how to be human.

If God created Man, and if He knows how man is supposed to be human, and if Jesus Christ is God and founded the Church, then the knowledge that God Himself gave to the Catholic Church is how to be human. So Catholicism — forgive the crudeness — could be viewed as a hand-book on how to be human.

If you want to take it even further, God intended for Man to be perfect. If God intended for man to be perfect, then Catholicism is a hand-book on how to be the perfect human, because that is what we were created to be: We were created to be perfect. To be without sin, without error, without blemish! To be  pure and whole and holy and beautiful in every way, in all that we experience, in all our actions and our words and our thoughts, that our very being was meant to be perfect, perfect. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that beautiful?

In one of our discussions in ToB, I told my Sisters that I didn’t agree with the phrase, “Errare est humanum,” because really, to err is to not be human. Now, we are imperfect by nature, but we were not created to be. Our fallen natures are not a part of the original creation. Adam and Eve could have chosen to stay perfect, and then we might be all that we were created to be… but because of the Fall, we don’t know all that we need to know about how to live the way we were created to live. We need help. What better source than our Creator?

What more could we ask for than a hand-book on how to be everything He intended us to be?

Wow.

And that is why we cannot take Catholicism in bits and pieces. It’s not about Someone up there punishing us every time we make a mistake, it’s not a “do this/don’t do this or you’ll go to hell” thing, it’s so much deeper — It’s all there, everything that we need to become human, everything that we need to become perfect. It follows, then, that in failing to make correct use of that knowledge that God has given us so fully and so freely, we would be failing to be human?

Ouch.

Those are some pretty high stakes, eh?

On a side note, as I was hashing this out (with the help of my two best friends ever, much thanks to them =), one point that I want to clarify is the misconception that the Catholic Church is all for bashing all other denominations and denounce them as utterly and completely wrong.

Not exactly.

To use an analogy similar to the one Fr. Riccardo used in Common Ground (I changed it a bit, and sort of made it… more… colorful? lol, I hope no one minds), say there’s a box. That box contains all the pieces you need to build the perfect human. What the Church claims, then, is that She has that box, She has all the pieces, and that God Himself, in Person, gave Her that box.

I don’t doubt that various persons might very well have been inspired by Christ to do this and do that, to come to realize so-and-so. By our nature, we long for Truth, and Christ is Truth. In seeking Him, I don’t doubt that Protestants may very well have hit on truths that led them to disagree with whoever founded the denomination they initially belonged to and found those 3000 + other denominations.

But what Mother Church claims is that She has all the pieces. Not that other denominations are wrong, so much as that they do not have the fullness of the knowledge given to the Church, because the Church’s knowledge comes directly from God and is completely uninfluenced by the opinions of imperfect humans. IOW, they don’t have all the pieces. All other denominations are still influenced by the imperfect fallen human nature. The reason there are over 3000 Protestant denominations is because of the difference in human opinion. They cannot agree amongst themselves, they are not united.

Perhaps my next post should be on the four marks of the Church…

*Only* Ignorance

I’ve been musing over a great deal this past month… especially with the election coming up… A lot of things that are being done and said by people who are close to me are getting on my nerves :)

I just find it funny… that today, as I sat down to lunch, I opened Black Beauty to a random page… and here is what I read:

“I wish, John, you’d say a bit of a kind word to Joe; the boy is quite broken-hearted, he can’t eat his meals, and he can’t smile. he says he knows it was all his fault, though he is sure he did the best he knew, and he says, if Beauty dies, no one will ever speak to him again. It goes to my heart to hear him; I think you might give him just a word, he is not a bad boy.”

After a short pause, John said slowly, “You must not be too hard upon me, Tom. I know he meant no harm, I never said he did; I know he is not a bad boy, but you see I am sore myself; that horse is the pride of my heart, to say nothing of his being such a favourite with the master and mistress; and to think that his life may be flung away in this manner, is more than I can bear; but if you think I am hard on the boy, I will try to give him a good word tomorrow — that is, I mean if Beauty is better.”

“Well, John! thank you, I knew you did not wish it to be too hard, and I am glad you see it was only ignorance.”

John’s voice almost startled me as he answered, “Only ignorance! only ignorance! how can you talk about only ignorance? Don’t you know that it is the worst thing in the world, next to wickedness? — and which does the most mischief, heaven only knows. If people can say, ‘Oh! I did not know, I did not mean any harm,’ they think it is all right. I suppose Martha Mulwash did not mean to kill that baby, when she dosed it with Dalby, and soothing syrups; but she did kill it, and was tried for manslaughter.”

“And serve her right, too,” said Tom. “A woman should not undertake to nurse a tender little child without knowing what is good and what is bad for it.”

“Bill Starkey,” continued John, “did not mean to frighten his brother into fits, when he dressed up like a ghost, and ran after him in the moonlight; but he did; and that bright, handsome little fellow, that might have been the pride of any mother’s heart, is just no better than an idiot, and never will be, if he live to be eighty years old. You were a good deal cup you yourself, Tom, two weeks ago, when those young ladies left your hothouse door open, with a frosty east wind blowing right in; you said it killed a good many of your plants.”

“A good many!” said Tom, “there was not one of the tender cuttings that was not nipped off; I shall have to strike all over again, and the worst of it is, that I don’t know where to go to get fresh ones. I was nearly mad when I came in and saw what was done.”

“And yet,” said John, “I am sure the young ladies did not mean it; it was only ignorance!“

I heard no more of this conversation, for the medicine did well and sent me to sleep, and in the morning I felt much better; but I thought often of John’s words when I came to know more of the world.

They say that ignorance is no excuse, and I’ve always agreed, but my argument was based more on the fact that information is so easily accessed these days, and if people will not take the time or trouble to inform themselves and form their consciences as they ought — for consciences are formed, they do not simply happen; we went over that in ToB — they cannot make up lame excuses about not knowing where to look or whatnot. That’s ridiculous. Granted, you need to look in the right places, but that’s no excuse for not looking. There’s a world of good, good reading material out there. Start with the Bible, and with the CCC.

Anyway, the point is, this passage made me think more about it, in simpler terms than had occurred to me before. John is quite right. Ignorance is the worst thing in the world, next to intended evil.

I read somewhere that the only real failure is the one who fails to try. So true.

“Still, ‘Everything happens for a reason,’ is no reason not to ask myself if I’m living it right.“

AWWWWW!!!

:D A super super Happy Happy Anniversary to Ate Grace and Kuya Ray!!!!

“Purity is our superglue.”

WOW.

When I’m ready to be in a relationship, I want to be able to say that.

ToB went really well last Saturday. We discussed a lot of things… including the importance of recognizing the blessing in the state of singleness, with sharings from Ate Candice and Ate Joyce; separating infatuation/puppy love from real love, also brought up by Ate Joyce; the difference between being in love and loving; the Church’s teaching on the Sacrament of Reconciliation; the responsibility we Sisters have to our Brothers, and the responsibility they have to us, to guard and protect each others’ minds and hearts by our words and actions; the totally real possibility of having a really good, strong, deep friendship with a guy without being in a relationship, with sharing from Ate Candice; that the only thing that would really change, if you were to enter into a relationship with someone that you’ve had a really good friendship, with is that you would have a claim on their heart and they would have a claim on yours; and with that particular point came reviewing the purpose of dating in the first place — that is, to discern the possibility of marriage — and thus, if we’re not actually considering marriage, then we have no right to waste a person’s time or energy or affections; long relationships vs. long friendship and then maybe relationship, with sharing from Ate Candice; and lots and lots more that I cannot seem to recall.

Needless to say, the discussion was a long one, and I hope we all learned something by it, I know I did, and I hope all of us Sisters can live out what we’ve learned to be good and true and just.

And I hope the Bros had a good discussion. :)

Receive the Power

Gabriella suggested that I youtube this song — thank you, sis! Have to learn it :)

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Blurb!!!!!!!! A Review

xD Yup, my photobook came!!!! *super insanely happy*

A few tips to people who are new to blurb, tho.

1) If you originally designed it as a hardcover with a dust jacket, do not be disappointed when you decide to order the photo-wrap instead and find that the author’s blurb thingy on the flaps of the dust jacket are… not there. Because there is no dust jacket. Duhhh. Hn, I didn’t think of that… ah well. Anyway…

2) Do not be mislead by the preview. There is a barcode on the bottom right of the back cover that does now show in the preview, so don’t put anything there that you would prefer not be covered up. Heh… I did. So now, three lines of my poem are… not there. Hem, moving on…

3) Dark photos are definitely a no-no. The resolution goes weird. It ends up looking like paintings of paper dolls. Or something. Ah, and that includes photos on sunny days that were taken in the shadow of a tree or something. Using flash at night is iffy. Some nighttime shots w/flash turned out beautifully. As in, plain gorgeous. Seriously. Very very clear, etc. Others just didn’t. Weird. I guess I really can’t give an opinion on that point. You’ll just have to decide if you want to risk it or not. But definitely the brightest shots came out clearest.

4) There are two blank pages, one after the front cover and one before the back cover, that aren’t included in the preview on the Booksmart software, so just a note, you don’t have to worry about putting in those filler pages (unless you want more?) yourself.

So, yeah, I’m incredibly pleased with how it turned out. 7″ x 7″, I’d say about an inch or so deep, 1412 pics in 320 pages. I did count how many photos turned out less-than-satisfactory. 79. Eh, not a big deal if you do the math. What, 5.6ish? % bleh. But for the price and the other 1333 pics that turned out just fine (or even better than I had hoped), it’s totally worth the time I put in. Oh, one last tip, though –

5) If you’re making a photobook of your high school years, and you happen to be from a homeschooling family that does a lot of traveling and takes a LOT of pictures, I really would not advise attempting to fit it all into 320 pages of a 7×7 book, unless they’re headshots and you can fit 16 to a page and still see everything you want to see. On the other hand, if you’ve got shots at the Grand Canyon, say, and you want people to see the majesty of it all, and thus you really have no choice but to let one photo take up a whole page… yeah. 320 pages goes pretty quick. :D

~~~~~ UPDATE 091608 ~~~~~

*super sad face*

We had my grad party on Saturday. Wahhh my book is falling apart. Heh. It might also be because so many people looked at it/signed it. But I can’t help feeling that the binding is rather weak… I mean, c’mon, books that we’ve had for years and years, that all of us kids have grown up with, haven’t fallen apart yet. Bleh.

Well, I’m not saying I’ll never do it again… It could be due to the thickness or the dimensions or something. Who knows. The book that I saw at the Almarios was thinner and of a different size, and the binding on that one seemed perfectly fine.

But for the record… :( Here’s what I discovered was left of my dear little book, after everyone had left the party:

:( my favorite page came out!!

One More Week!!

Hehe, yepp. One more week of high school. *whew*

And then we’ll be going to St. Louis for a family reunion. *hyper*

My photobook is supposed to come tomorrow. *so happy*

We got a bunch of my senior pics printed, along with some of the group shots from the GA with Tito Frank. *yay*

We went to the Taste of Blue Ash on Saturday night, because Kenny Loggins was up at 9. *super awesome good time = sleepy*

So, yeah. This week is crunch week. The reason I’m on the computer blogging and not schooling is because everyone’s still in bed and thus I cannot watch either my a) Pre-Calc b) Physics or c) Chem DVDs and that would be everything I need to get done this week. Ah well. I wanted to finish this post last night, but I decided to sleep early and wake up early, and yay! that worked out. So here I am.

Friday night, we had a household at the Almarios, our first with this new HH. We got the Nadermans, Suchoskis, Almarios, and Kraimers. Fifteen kids altogether!!! not counting Buji. Insane. It was pretty rowdy… not at first, but nearer the middle, especially when the boys were allowed to run around as they pleased. Hmmm… lol. Well, let me see. We had a good worship, I think. We sang Now That You’re Near :D and that brought back good times. Once we got all the kids upstairs, we played a get-to-know-you game, which was amusing. We then attempted to play Animal Master, but I don’t think that works with too many people. Lol. And then things went all over the place. We played different versions of Rigmarole-type games. And then Matt decided to ‘translate’ tagalog. He’d make up the funniest stuff and then all of a sudden translate a particular sentence correctly, which would always be unexpected on my part. I think Jojo and Aya had fun. They’re sooooo adorable. We celebrated Jacob’s birthday xD So cute!! I’ve got a video of him blowing out his candles.

So yeah, that was a good household… I was sleeeeeepyyyyy when we got home…

And then Saturday was super insanely awesome!!! I think I already said that. Whoops. Hem.

We had the Fraternal and the ToB at the same time at Mariel’s house. Wheeeee so many birthdays!!! Mariel’s and Jon’s and Candisse’s and Gloria’s and Ate Candice’s and Kuya Vin’s! We celebrated Mariel and Ate Candice’s. ToB went well, half of the video was separate for the guys and girls. I think that was definitely one of our deepest discussions yet. Second would come the one from the session at Kuya Vin’s house.

After ToB, a bunch of us left for the Taste of Blue Ash, and the San Miguels offered, I believe, that we park at their house. We, along with the Almarios and I believe the De Velas, took that offer :D and we got there right as Tito Ver and Tita Flor were walking past. We had quite a time finding everyone and everyone finding each other and blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda… xD In the end, we crowded into the space that Tito Leo had reserved with four chairs. We turned those four chairs into six chairs, plus a blanket and a banig, and squeezed seventeen people into our area — the seventeen being us (6 [or 7, if you want to count Buji]), the Almarios (4), the De Velas (4), Tita Cynthia, Lola, and Paolo. Basically, the Moms and Kuya Mico all in chairs, and the Dads and kids on the ground. Oh, but I think Tita Fides was with us kids because Tito Don was in a chair and Matt sat on his lap some of the time. Ahaha.

Bah, it was much too dark to take decent pics of the group, but was funnyyyy. And actually, I think I enjoyed it better that we, all squeezed together, than if we’d actually managed to save 17 seats. We would’ve taken a whole row, but I think it was definitely nicer the way it was. Hmm… I’d estimate less-than-3 x 7 or 8ish? ft space. I didn’t make it all the way to the other end of the space, so I could be wrong. Maybe a little longer than that. Anyway, it was pretty hot, but no one complained, and while waiting for the concert to start (and some of our group hadn’t arrived yet), Kuya Gabe and Juli played Animal Master with us :D I think later, some of the kids played Watermelon, too.

YAYYYYY for Kenny Loggins!!! The VERY FIRST SONG was Danny’s Song *squealing insanely* followed by Return to Pooh Corner. Ahhhh!!!!!! And then the last three songs were Danger Zone, Footloose, and Forever.

We came back to Taste of Blue Ash yesterday for lunch after Mass, and I had a good look at the spot we’d occupied. Boy, did it look small in the sun, completely devoid of chairs and whatnot. (Ahaha and now that I think about it, there was a pile of shoes/bags/etc. in the middle of our area that took up enough space for another person to sit. But it was SO much more comfortable without shoes on.)

Hmm… to wrap up… some interesting quotes from dinner last night –

“Tomorrow, I rule Japan!!!” – Paco

“In one of my death matches…” – Yena

I suppose a little explanation would be welcome, eh? Haha it’s all from Age of Empires. Death Match is a mode. So Yeni was explaining that in one of the games in which she chose the Death Match mode, she built a maze of ballistas so that enemies would have to go through the maze and get destroyed in the process. Very cool strategy. *thumbs up* I am so trying that next time. And as for Paco’s, well, one more level and he ‘rules Japan,’ apparently, so good luck to him, but I think he was trying to get around to ‘ruling’ it last night, and it wasn’t… going… well…

Oh, we saw the Nadermans at Mass yesterday, and Aunt Bethany was telling us that she wanted to have a Princess and Knights tea party type thing, and I believe it was Harry Steve who said something along the lines of that he didn’t want princesses at the party, and, “I punt all da printhetheth.” (I punch all the princesses.) “I don’t think he quite gets it…” — Aunt Bethany. Rotflwtime. So adorable.

AHHH and now it’s time for me to go do schoolwork so that I can help Mum cook the rest of the day. Byeeee.