Word of Life

Do you remember these words? “Not my will but Yours be done.”

Perhaps we never thought of it, even if we were baptized and are sons or daughters of the Church. Perhaps we might have used this sentence as an expression of resignation—something one does when he or she has no choice. This, however, is not its real meaning.

Listen: in life we can go in one of two directions. We can do our own will, or we can freely choose to do God’s will. In the former, we will soon experience disappointment by attempting to climb the mountain of life using our limited ideas, our resources, our dreams and our own strength. All this, sooner or later, will transform our lives into an experience of boredom, inconclusiveness, dullness and, at times, despair. Our existence will be colourless in spite of our efforts to make it interesting; despite everything, the deepest part of us will not be at peace. We should admit it, for we cannot deny it. Furthermore, at the end of our lives, we will go without leaving a trace—only a few tears and then relentless, total oblivion. If, instead, we do the will of God, we will re-live Jesus’ words:
“Not my will but Yours be done.”

Let us imagine that God is like the sun. A ray from the sun falls on each one of us. Each ray is the divine will for me, for you, for everyone. Christians and all people of good will are called to move towards the sun, keeping to their own ray of light which is unique and distinct from all the others. By doing so, they will fulfil the wonderful and particular plan that God has for them.
If we do the same, we will find ourselves involved in a divine adventure we never even dreamed of. We will be, at the same time, both actor in and spectator of something great that God is accomplishing in us and through us, in humanity. All that will happen to us—joys and sufferings, graces and disgraces, significant events (success and good fortune, accidents and the loss of those dear to us) as well as seemingly insignificant events (routine work at home, in the office or at school), everything will acquire new meaning, since all these have been offered to us by God who is love. Everything that He wills or permits is for our own good. At first, we will accept it in faith and later we will actually experience that there is a golden thread connecting all the events of our lives, forming a beautiful embroidery—it is the plan of God for us. Maybe this prospect is attractive to us. Maybe we sincerely want to give a deeper meaning to our lives. Then listen: I will tell you when you should do the will of God. Just think for a moment: the past is gone and we cannot go back; we can only leave it to God’s mercy. The future is not here yet – we will live it when it becomes the present. Only the present moment is in our hands. In the present, we have to live the words:
“Not my will but Yours be done.”

When travelling by train—and life is also a journey—we usually remain seated. We wouldn’t think of walking back and forth to get there faster. But this is what we do if we live our lives dreaming of a future which is not yet here, or thinking of a past which will never return.
No, time moves forward on its own. We must remain rooted in the present and then we will reach the fulfilment of our lives here on earth. You might ask me: how do I distinguish God’s will from my own? It is not difficult to distinguish God’s will from our own if we remain in the present. I will tell you one way to do it. God speaks within us. Perhaps in the past, we have too often smothered His voice and now it is barely audible. But try to listen, God speaks to us (see Jn 18:37 and Rev. 3:20). He tells us when to study, when it is the moment to help someone in need, when to work, when to overcome a temptation or to fulfil one of our duties as a Christian or as a citizen. The voice of God within us urges us to listen to those who speak to us in His name; it helps us face difficult situations courageously….Don’t silence this voice—it’s the most precious treasure we possess. Follow it. We will then build, moment by moment, the story of our lives, a story that is both human and divine because we have created it in collaboration with God, and we will see wonders: we will see what God can work in people who say with their whole lives,

“Not my will but Yours be done.”


Chiara Lubich.

Thank you !

It's Thanksgiving, so much to ponder about and be thankful for all the wondrous blessings we recieved. But I think, it's not only during thanksgiving that we give thanks but every passing day. I feel so grateful and blessed to have such a great family. An ever patient, understanding and loving husband, a beautiful, sweet and adorable daughter. A family who always support me in time of need, give me strength when needed, who gives a hug when im down. What else could i ask for ?

Just be thankful to GOD for all of these and so much more. For giving me a chance once more to live life according to his will !

I am quite melodramatic today, im not sure if it's the effect of the holiday or because of this video I watched this morning. It really makes me cry...I really admire how much love a parent could give to their children.

I really want to share this...

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?¢. The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes' too. For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island . Father and son went on to complete the race together.now watch this:http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513

Dilemma no more AND my take on "Twilight"

I was able to work out my simple Dilemma last Saturday when, we attended Mico's (Donnie and Mel's son ) Birthday Party. When I mentioned the movie to her daughter Faye and her friend Trisha (both 10 years old), they were both screaming and stamping their feet in delight ! That day, I found my movie buddies ! We watched the movie yesterday with so much enthusiasm and excitement in the car. We were right on time as the movie was about to start when we enter the movie house. About 80% of people inside the cinema were female teenagers, who are tyring to suppress excitement to no avail.

I Became a Fan
The moment I finished reading Twilight, I instantly become a fan of Stephanie Meyer. I can't wait to buy the next series of her book. Of course, my ever loving and supportive husband instantaneously bought the book the very next day for me. I was quite captivated on how she makes some twist on the book, how she described and characterized the vampires outside the conventional norm. Making Bella as normal as she can be by making her fall in love with two conflicting people.

The Movie
I was so excited to see the movie as much as I anticipated the next book on this saga. During the first few scenes of the movie, I was like looking for something that I could not recognized. I tried on the next couple of scenes but still nothing. I keep on anticipating the next scene, but turns out differently. The chronological sequencing of events was messed up. I can't believed it ! I understand that they have to cut the entire story into an hour and so, but the storyline does not have to sacrificed as much. I can't believed that Stephanie Meyer has allowed this butchery to her book. The movie does not do justice at all, love story is very dry and boring, I don't feel the love between Edward and Bella. While Bellas acting is second rate, and Edwards sex appeal is oozing, Alice is graceful and vicious as I expected. Charlie is very good being a Dad to a teenager who struggled with the awkwardness in every situation. Rosalie portrays the role exceedingly, who is again ts Bella and Edwards relationship from the very beginning. Jaspers character makes me laugh, I like him though despite the fact that he delivers very few lines in the movie. There are few scenes that captures me, like the scene in the kitchen where they tried to make dinner for Bella. These are the kind of scenes which captures me in the book, where vampires do unconventional things. But the movie has invested in scenes and angles that shows how beautiful Washington is. Those were one of the best part, making me wish that I could be on those places one of these days.

I just hope that they will do much much better on the next sequel. This is just very frustrating ! Stephanie Meyer should re consider choices in script writer and director and should fight for a better plot of the movie with less deviation from the book.

TV Programs for Kids

A childs brain is like a sponge where everything they see, hear and learn are being absorbed without any filters. If you are a parent you are very much concerned what your child learns and watches everyday. With so much factors that affects their development, it is quite disturbing that you have no control on some these factors. But you can control what programs on TV they can watch.

Gabz has a few programs that she likes and of course mommy too, as it helps her skills a lot. Very entertaining, fun, interactive and of course educational.

1. WordWorld – this becomes on top of my list. It helps the child learns words and its meaning, alphabets, phonics, vocabulary. This is an amazing show! It is a PBS Kids program and has DVDs too. DVDs are available at Target.

2. Blues Clue - is a program where kids are encourage to participate, think and learn how to solve clues and puzzles. Things becomes alive that makes kids learn how to play pretend, make self esteem and of course have fun. I am always surprise how much Gabz learned in this program. The other day, she asked me if she could watch drum ear ? Huh ? What is a drum ear and what kind of show is that? Then she told me that it’s Blues Clue. It is an episode where Blue and Steve trying to discover the human anatomy. Gabz learns the sound of the heart, lungs, ear drum (which she means about drum ear), and so on.

3. Barney - I think everybody knows and love this Purple Dinosaur. Very interactive with real kids playing with Barney. Kids learn, alphabets, numbers, art, creative imagination, good manners and a lot more.

4. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Mickey and friends having fun in the clubhouse. Teaches kids, counting, alphabets, helping friends. Mickey together with his friends and Toodles who brings the Mousekatool who gives them things that they need.

5. Little Einstein - Sing and dance with Leo, Quincy, Annie, June and their Rocket ship. Learn music of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Korsakov, and a lot more. Identify and play musical instrument while on a mission.

6. Dora the Explorer - If you don’t mind your child to learn a few Spanish Dora teaches adventure interaction where kids participate, how to solve problems and obstacles, numbers, friendship.

7. Diego - is an animal rescuer who help animals in trouble. He has a rescue pack who transform into something that would help him overcome obstacles. He has help from his cousin Alicia, his friend Baby Jaguar, Linda the Llama and other animals. They mostly learn different kinds of animals, their characterisics and habitat. It teaches kids to love animals, and the environment.

These are the only few programs I could recommend right now. A lot more of these in Nick Jr, PBS Kids, Noggin, Disney, Sesame Street and a lot more.

Word World

Word World is a PBS Kids program, where wacky characters helps your child create words, identify letters in a creative and funny way. It helps develop your child skills in Spelling, Vocabulary,Cognitive, Phonics, Letter Identification and Language Development.

These funny characters, Sheep, Pig, Frog (Gabz favorite), Duck, Ants, Dog and Bear, create a word and transform into that thing. It is very cool and amusing. Gabz has this DVD about the adventure of Lucky Duck. She loves it, and she even imitates how Frog brush her tongue and that ducks or birds migrate every winter to a dry place.

This is lucky Duck.

By watching this program, she was able to learn words like Vine, vacation, barn and rake, these are words which she could not learn everyday. Her vocabulary expands, by just watching this DVD. Gabz, have just mastered her alphabets, and still beginning to learn small words. This really helps a lot, even helps to understand the meaning of each word because they associate the word to the actual thing.

I just hopes that they will continue making these kinds of program because it help a lot of parent and kids who loves to watch TV. This is much better than kids watching TV programs that has no educational impact at all.

Biopsy

Biopsy is a medical test involving the removal of cells or tissues for examination, this is the definition according to Wikipedia.

One type of biopsy is what they call Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy. I will explain the procedure step by step based on my experienced.

When you arrived at the center, they will confirm some personal information, then ask you to sign some documents for the insurance and some consent form. Then you will be taken by someone into a room, give you instructions to undress from waist up and will be given a robe which has an opening in front. You can sit in the couch inside the waiting area before they will bring you to the room where the procedure will be administered.

A technician will get your blood pressure, explain to you once again how the procedure will work, and asked you to sign a consent form for the procedure and some other paper works.

The doctor will clean the area of your breast, prepare the area by putting some cloth around it. Then she will locate the lump and inject a very fine needle into it to check if it is fluid or solid. You can see the needle go through your breast through the screen monitor. You cannot hardly feel it. When she makes sure that the lump is solid, she injects an anesthesia to make the area numb. There is a tingling sensation on it that is quite painful ( just a little). When the area is numb she injects another needle and pull a very tiny tissue for sample to be taken to the laboratory and examine under the microscope. Then they would know if the lump is cancerous or not. When they take a sample of the tissue you will hear a click (it startles me at first), but no pain. They do it three times.

After that, the doctor clean the area again and put an ice pack and apply pressure on it. This takes a few minutes until the bleeding subside. Then, the technician will get your blood pressure again to make sure that everything is ok. The doctor explains everything to you throughout the procedure. Then she put a dressing on the area where they inserted the needle. You will have the icepack in the next 20 minutes while you are on your way home.

Before you go home, they will asked you to have the dressing on for two days. You should not take a bath nor get the bandage wet. Then there is a paper that indicates what you can and cannot do after the procedure. They gave you a bag which contains, some Tylenol, ice packs, sponges, dressings.

Then, I'm good to go !

The procedure went well, and it is not so bad the way I expected it. I am still hoping and praying that the result will be negative though.

A simple Dilemma

I have a very simple dilemma here...ever since I finished reading the saga of Stephanie Meyer, I was quite fascinated by the Vampire character of Edward and wishing, that I would be Bella ! (Just kidding :-) ) The movie Twilight http://www.twilightthemovie.com/ will be in theater this week and my inner self wanted to watch it. But the problem is I have to watch it alone !! ALONE ! which I never did in my 30 years something of my life. Hmmm how I miss my girl friends and boy friends back home whom I could drag in the last minute, as long I pay for the movie and of course a snack along the way.

Maybe It's not so bad to watch it alone, there is always a first time in everything, right ? We'll see.

Mortgage - A complicated word to my brain

Yesterday, my husband asked me to make some research about Mortgages, financing, interest rates, insurances, closing costs, etc. etc. etc. These words are very alien to me, I heard these words before and know that these words are being used in buying or owning a house, but have no single clue the real meanings. My brain hurts, and feel like I was making a crush course on Real Estate. I could say that I have been quite productive, learned a few things, but I still need to do a lot more research and interviews. Too much things to absorbed for one day.

One thing for sure, Mortgage loan is very complicated and you have to prepare yourself with interest rates, APR, points, back & front ratio, and insurances. A must understanding of these terms is extremely needed before you take the plunge in buying a house, otherwise you might find yourself in real trouble.

Few months ago, we have been contemplating if we wanted to buy a house. Well, we have been considering a lot of things here:

* Should we buy a house next year, the next two years or maybe in five years ?
* Should we stay in the apartment ?
* How much budget we could afford.
* Do we have money for the down payment ?
* Type of housing we want (single family, townhouse, condo )
* Location & neighborhood (should be near the office - how far we could go, school for Gabz)
* Are we staying in this house within 5 years ?
* Are we ready for the responsibility and long term commitment ?
* Are we staying in this State for good ?

So many questions to reflect on, that needs decision. I guess this is one of the biggest decision we are gonna make in our entire married life. This is one decision we are going to make which will definitely affect our future, Gabz future.

Still in the process of digesting this questions in our system.

Barbie in Gabz Life

Sometimes I surprised myself on how much patience i have mastered over four years of being a stay at home mother. Life is very simple and mostly revolves around my husband and most of all my daughter. Over the last years it becomes a routine, I tend to forget how time flies, not like before where every minute and every second makes me feel like an eternity. House works and taking care of Gabz becomes so ordinary that makes me forget how crazy and brutal life outside our apartment. Just like the life of a Nutcracker that we have just watched.

Gabz, at an early age (age 2) becomes fascinated by Barbie . Yes Barbie ! It all started when we went home to Philippines for a few months. During our stay in Philippines, we lived in my sisters house. She has three daughters who loves Barbie, from dolls to accessories, to DVDs. Gabz love to play those Barbie dolls, but I guess at that early age, she doesn't know how to play pretend yet. She tried to strip all the Barbies clothes, she does not want any Barbies to have any clothes on, and we don't know why ? Every time her cousins put it back on, she just got pissed, and that does not make Ching too happy, poor kid. Ching is her youngest cousin in the house who loves her, but run out of patience and Gabz becomes a competition on the long run.

Anyways, when her Dad comes home to Philippines, he brought her a Barbie doll as present. She love it (just for a couple of days), but then my sister let her watched a DVD of Twelve dancing Princess ! Walaaa !!!!! Barbie DVDs becomes a part of our life. Everyday, she watched it over and over, until the DVD is broken. But then that does not stop her because her Tita who is "kunsintodora" bought her another one as parting gift when we left Philippines. Same routine happened, she watched it everyday, and of course being a parent who always wanted to give all the happiness to your daughter, we started to rent out Barbie DVDs from blockbuster. When target put some Barbie DVDs on sale at USD4.99 each, we bought 3 of them which she has not seen.

Today, we watched Barbie and the Nutcracker. At first, she got scared of the Nutcracker, but then I hold her and assured her that he is a good Nutcracker, I tried to fast forward it, and there came a Mouse King and its soldiers trying to kill the Nutcracker and later on make Clara very very tiny. From then on, she (and of course Mommy as well :-) ) got so absorbed and developed a dislike to the mouse king. She even danced with the fairies and Clara ! She is so funny, she tried to hard to danced ballet, but then as early as now, I could say that she need a LOT of practicing to do.

In the end, she gave me a BIG yawn. It is time for a nap. But when I asked her, she said NO and that she still wants to watched Nutcracker. I promised her that she could watched again when she wake up, and that makes her climbed up the bed to nap.

Super Gabz in a Giant Slide

Yesterday, we were invited to Bastien's Surprise Birthday Party at Jump Planet. Jump Planet is a inflatable party center, where kids could jump, pass through obstacle courses, climb up the giant slide and go through a giant tunnel. The place itself is nice, clean and most of all the kids has lots and lots of fun ! It gives me an idea for Gabz upcoming birthday. Here's the link, if you are interested. http://www.jump-planet.com/.

It was so funny because Bastien has no clue that he has a birthday party, his exact birthday was last Thursday and his parents make him believed that he has no party this year. When he was in the party venue, his Dad make up some story (which he really believed) before he was brought inside the room. Everyone were put inside a room with the lights off, when he came in the lights were turned on and everybody sing happy birthday ! The expression on his face was a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. I guess because he was suddenly put into an uncomfortable situation where he did not know how to react, but in the end he was so thrilled to see some of his friends and have fun !

Gabz on the other hand had a blast yesterday, it was her first time to play in inflatables. She was ecstatic the moment she saw those inflatables ! At first her Dad go along with her, because she have chosen the biggest slide inside the area. The moment she slide through, she can't stop. She climb the steps over and over !!! I was so pleased to see her face light up, too bad I don't have my camera with me to capture the moment. As you can see, I have to content myself with a mediocre result of the camera of my Google phone.

It's a good thing, her Dad asked her to try other areas, because the moment they went down we were informed that this side was restricted to us because it belongs to another party !!! hahaha...what a shame :-) We are supposed to be on another side of the place. Oh well, too much excitement I guess, we are not able to see those tiny signs. At 5:30, it's eating time ! how I wanted to drag that part of the party, I was famished ! Gabz cried the moment she realized that bouncing time is over :-(

Before 7:00 pm we are on our way home, with Gabz still have those unconsumed energy. But gave in the moment we step through our door. My poor princess, so exhausted that she sleeps through the night. Poor Mommy has to wake up at 3:30am because Gabz does not want to sleep anymore. Now, you know why I am writing this blog at this time of the day.

Our Little Princess

That's what she said she is. "A Princess" , but sometimes she would be a puppy for a day, Clifford the Red Big Dog the next day, Baby Bear the next, and so on and so forth, the list never stops. But for us, she would always be our little princess no matter what age she would be.

Gabz name as I remember, has been agreed when me and my husband was still dating. One day, we were talking about religion, and my husband mentioned that someday when we get married and have a baby, he wanted to name it Gabrielle. After the name of the famous angel who delivered the message to Mary.

Gabrielle, as we call her Gabz, Gabby, Gabbers or Gab-Gab (for kuya Brendan) was born in Montgomery Hospital in Norristown Pennsylvania, weighing 6.2 lbs, after 15 hours of hard labor. After two months trying to figure out in what world she is, we travelled her by car for 16 hours from King of Prussia to North Carolina. All through out that long travel, I never hear her complaint, that's how good she is. Not because she was still sooo small that time, but mainly because after our series of travels from one to state to another, she has no objections at all.

From age 2 months she started her travel from one state to another, starting from King of Prussia to North Carolina, then Plano Texas, Alabama, Missouri, back to Texas, then Washington. (This does not include side travels and vacations) Now she is 2 years old and 10 months. I guess she enjoys the travel as much as we have.

Im not so sure, why this is the only picture I could find in our folders of picture, (I tell you, we have tons of pictures, as her Dad makes it his hobby since Gabz was born). Hmmm I guess, it has been lost in those tons of pictures. I have to find a better one, younger than this picture. She has this beautiful picture, where

That swing were she is, has been a great help to me, when she was four months old, I used to put her there in the morning and position the swing in front of the TV and put the channel to CNN. She loves that, maybe because of the voices she hears or that she could see a lot of colors on it. But mind you, that really gives me a lot of time, to do a lot of things, thanks to Robin Mead !!!!

I will try to put in details next time our travels to different States. See for yourself how exciting our life before we settle here in Bellevue.

Bye.

Why did I do it ?

I can't resist a smile forming my lips, as I was starting to tap the keys of my computer. As you can see, I have been contemplating for quite some time if I should blog or should not. But then , here I am trying to put all this thought in my head in this computer.

I think, I just need to put all this thoughts somewhere, I could not let my husband listen to all these nonsense in my head all the time, which sometimes he really put up with it. He is really doing a good job, I could say as he never complaint about it, but rather makes me see the good side of a lot of things.

When you live in a far away land, with no relatives, a few social friends and the only means of chika you have is thru skype, writing is one of the best way of putting down those overflowing feelings and thoughts you have.

I never imagined in my entire life that someday I would be living in this beautiful place (aside from the weather of course !). Beautiful in its own, nature is magnificent, I have not seen any other state as green as this. Well, they will not call this a Green State if its not ! Summer, is the best time of the year which happens from April to August.

This is the picture of downtown Seattle, with its historical Space Needle and the magnificent Mt. Rainier at the background. This was taken courtesy of my husband, on our way home after a half day tour of the Seattle Zoo, which I will tell you on my next post.

Washington State, has a lot lot more to offer during the summer and of course even winter and or even on its ordinary days which is the rainy days. It rains here almost everyday, and if its not raining, the day is so gloomy that all you wanted to do is curl up in a sofa with a good book to read. Which for me seldom happened because, every time Gabz saw me carrying a book, she automatically comes up with a thousand ideas for me to drop the book.

Washington has a good website where you could have a better picture what this delicious State could offer you. http://www.experiencewa.com/home.aspx

That's all for now. Ti'll next time.

Have a great day !

Hello !

Hi there,

Welcome to listen and read to all my rants, complaints, our adventures, places that we have visited, and basically anything happening in our little life in Bellevue !

Hope you enjoy it !