Happy New Yurrs-Part II-2oo4 in Review!

"God is more anxious to bestow His blessings on us than we are to receive them..."

2004 is quickly on its way through the backdoor, and 2005 is slowly creepin in. By far it has been quite a journey for me. I think the theme for this past yurr is really all bout faith, hope, and charity. Errthang focused and revolved on God calling me to go deeper and trust in Him more, being optimisitc and searching to see His hands through errthang and finally learning how to love more and show God's love who I may have a hurrd time showing it to. So, hurr is my yurr in review, praise God for another year, another chance, another opportunity to grow closer to Him.




January~
My lolo's brother turned 100, wow a momentous occasion in the parel family history. I dont know i've ever known someone personally who turned 100. This was quite a celebration, dancing, dedications and a whole lot of food and family fun. The NIni's purrents celebrated thurr 25th wedding anniversary, met some of really tight catholic communities, 'the alliance of the two hurrts' in carson, St. Lucys Charismatic in long beach and Heaven Sent in la mirada.

Spirit Games well went underway, w/its second meeting. The collaboration of the catholic communities within LA to chicago haha was slowly progressing. I finally caught up w/the times and bought a new cell phone w/a colored screen yay! Loved that movie 'You Got Served!' woO! Youf alpha Holy Spirit Sat. was crunk! Met a cool kid name abe through youf alpha who joined yfc.




February~
Gave my annual 'how to resist evil' talk for youf alpha, though spiced it up using Lord of the Rings analogies and props. Was suppose to go to LOC's valentines dance on a 'blind date' type deal, but things didnt work out. God's incredible mercy camme through as kevin cooper was stopped from receiving the deaf penality. Agh burr screwed up our annual valentines philly cheesesteak luncheon, haha but it was all g cuz SH had a valetines potluck @ burr and boss ladys house. Played games, ate, laughed and had enjoyed each others company. Jennif celebrated her 27th birfday at the new lucky strike that opened at the block, that was fun.

Took a risk ha and changed my blog template tried something new. I had met matt smith from the real world season 9 new orleans @ youf congress yay! he signed my bible(that was later jacked) ha Holy Spirit Part II in norco w/fr. fogarty was fun, nicole and kyle went w/us over thurr. Watched the Passion of the Christ 3x on ash wednesday...wow nuff said. It was decided that the first eva Spirit Games 2004 would be held at St. Lukes in temple city. Ended the month by going on a retreat w/LFT in movall. Charades was the game of the weekend...okay, 'who am i?!' haha




March~
As lent rolled around, I learned a wonderful lesson by fr. paul on wha it means to suffer. To understand wha suffering is and the blessings of suffering. How the world hates it, but the church rejoices in it. Heaven Sent sturrted their own redinition of 'SH Cafe' w/good ol 'Jesus and Jams.' Great acts, wonderful free drinks, and good times! Went and supported liwanag's annual spirit rally, that was tight! The skit that made you really think and reflect, theyre d0pe music min. and the funny commericals. Youf alpha ends and the celebration begins! haha WEnt to my first SCA meeting as we put together the spirit games commerical to get ready for the youf rally.


Sturrted doing these purpose driven life bible studies on wed. nites. those were fun, too bad we never got the chance to fiinish. Usher comes out w/his new CD 'confessions' which sells billions of Cds all over. N.E.R.D. also comes out w/thurrr new Cd too. The SOL annual youf rally comes around and wow its sooooooo tiight. Tooks dozens of pics, some of my confirmation kids went w/SH. Thas whurr i first met alaine...enk! Got to lead my own workshop w/charisse, yelled, screamed and made a whole bunch of noise. It was tight! Spirit Games continues to move along as the commitee chooses a mission statement that definse the purpose of the games.




April~
Ha I came up w/this really funny april fools joke bout charisse and i, that had many people saying, 'I knew it!' hahha
Chilled w/julie for the first time, checked out a whole bunch of the special sites at downtown disney. My grandparents celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary, we ate at asia buffet and saw the laker girls at the bpd aha Discovered the guppy teahouse and had some of thurr ice shaves, real good! Continued my lented tradition by watching the spanish passion play @ st. lucys.

Went to my first 'official' liwanag meeting w/cy and wilane. Celebrated jeannes 22nd birfday at Asia buffet. We sturrted uprm mixer nites with events to get other people to join uprm. Had our LFt commissioning retreat, which was coool. Made some friends in my bio class at skool. Fred goes through his first CLP. Tried out the new 'world buffet.' Wow hung out w/fake ex for whas probably the first and last time haha. Chillin @ espn zone and having juss a really good convo. Went to check out the pike and ate buba gumps shrimp for the first time.




May~
A month of bonding as well a time for trust. God saying, 'Hang on, it'll be alright.' The weather was juss blazin hot as summer was on its way! Heaven Sent, hosted another Jesus and Jams, ha i almost typed hams. New phrases were made up such as the, 'make up song.' Some of the youf alpha kids made their confirmation, which was exciting to see. Friends launched its final episode as peeps were glued to their TVs saying goodbye to the cast. Spirit Games planning gets put on temporay hault, as Mark Anthony and I discovered as we went to St. Lukes that we couldnt have it thurr anymurr. We opened the new community center for work. The last confirmation class of yurr turned out to be a huge potluck.

My other SRE class, made their 1st communion, very exciting for achie and I to see. We had these kids for two yuurrs, and I know how exciting that day was for them and us. Learned a new sport called 'bedsledding' ha which was hella fun Sliding down the lecture hall sturrs using mattresses. YFC holds thurr annual Praisefest w/the theme, 'let go, let God.' Went on another retreat learning what it takes to be a servant. 'Make me a servant,' the spring LFt retreat went real well. I dont think i've ever gone as many retreats as I've gone on this past yurr. Praise God for growth! Leo and Mark Anthony put in a request to hold spirit games @ UCI and we got it! yay! SH had thurr annual penetecost picnic at the city of stanton, capture the flag was tight. Watched banne and crew in, 'imagining reality' first production at St. Paul of the Cross. Memorial day was spent w/friends at corona del mar. I met a homeless burr thurr! hahah Learned how to play this new poker game called texas hol em for the first time as well.




June~
Relationship 100 and the upper division courses, became blog topics for the month. As many of us learned wha it takes to manage a relationship and wha we were all looking for. The burr turned 25 yay! At one of the last yfc meetings of the qtr. learned a new activity called 'reach out and touch someone.' Which was exactly wha it did w/me. Spent a day w/Fr. Paul at benedictine monastery in oceanside. Bonding w/the community outside of some chinese place in cypress haha fun times! Went to the liwanag's end of yurr banquet woOo dancing, slide show, pics, tons of food. Went to the final liwanag meeting of the qtr. which was real fun. Had a great convo w/a dee as we decided one day we'd put up a sign on interfaith that says, 'whurr errbody knows your name.'

The daycurr that I worked at for two yurrs was closed down. A place full of wonderful memories, the place whurr I met heif! woO! Watched shrek 2 woO in the theatres, ha loved it! Going and spending the day in daygo @ SOL for our spirit games retreat. Praise God for SOL daygo and thurr hospitality. The day was one to remember, full of prayer, food, bonding, and fun! A plethora of birfdays w/fred, pops, burrs, boss lady, tito jess and more! Had a suite to myself for the weekend, it was like having apt. for the weekend...friends coming to visit it was nice haha LSS came and went in a flash, hoj came by and went through it, and thas how hoj and SH became best friends. At the end of the weekend, I got 'wrapped up' literally...Jesty joins the City of Stanton purks & rec staff for the summer!




July~
Who could forget july? So many different things were happening. Weddings, birfdays,conferences, and spirit games was juss a month away! My 2 yurr anniversary w/the city came as well as my birfday! Birfday was fun, friends came over, we had a casino as well as a club going on at the same time. Food galore! Even had an after purrty w/some of my ol skool friends @ fridays! haha Went to maui w/the SH, as we whurr thurr to celebrate buurr and boss lady's wedding. It was a great get away, did a lot of swimming, shopping, and eating. So much fun in the sun! Saw the sun rise from this ol volcano crater, sooo cold! Since no one had poker chips the guys improvised by using sturrburts as chips to play hol em. ha Came home feelin hawaii sick for the rest of the month. Agh, but I dont want to go home!

Tried to have a spirit games fundraiser dance but it wasnt in God's will. Singing for 1045am became a routine for a while during the summer, which waas cool. Hung out w/burr and boss lady wha seemed like errday since they had came back from thur honeymoon. I even slept over, it was a lot of fuN! Had one of the second to the last spirit games meeting @ Hoj in glendale, played dodgeball over thurr, shurred maui stories and pics fun times. Meeting Jesus through raymond manag who was always checking up on me to see how I was doing. YFC through God's grace acomplishes thurr goal of yfc in all fifty states. Ended the month by going to my first ever YFC conference in riverside. THis yurr was a special one cuz the theme was 'reunion' cuz it was the 10th anniversary. Even though I missed a good portion of it, it was still fun. The music min. from the conference was d0pe. The spirit was def. moving in that room, no doubt.

August~
The big month was finally hurr! had the final spirit games meeting @ UCI, testing out some of the games, goinig over logisitcs and tons of pre-spirit games invtws. Fun times! THen its finally hurr! The moment errone was waiting for, this is the true story of 12 different catholic communities comingn together on one hot summer day, fellowship, praying, and having fun. Find out wha happens, when the spirit sturrts moving, and people start playing...spirit games 2004 uci! haha The day went and gone like senior prom, praise God it went so well! Had back to back weekend events at work w/summerfest and the currshow.

Visited the Legacy of Popes exhibit in daygo, which really lead for a true appreciation for the catholic faith. Had a post maui purrty @ jennifs and daves, (the mike tm replica house haha)I won a lot of prizes that nite haa. Finally decided to hop on the myspace bandwagon and joined it. Wednesday nites were spent eating out w/yfc, but gettinig bad service, but it all worked out cuz we got discounts for bad service woO! Skool sturrted again...agh! Watched the exorcist two, w/my friend from skool. Earned $80 for housesitting for a week. woO! Went down to tmec and hung out w/julie for the day, went to the gas latern district for the first time. Helped out a little bit at LF's LSS, loved charisse's talk on receiving God's gift. Mikee along w/some other peeps from different catholic communities, decides to try out and religous life, they packed up thurr bags and well were on thurr way to uhh I forgot.

September~
It was one september to remember...as it was election month for SH, as we sturrted to discern new leadership for the community. Went to the truf tour concert w/jay at the staples center. All i gotta say is kanye west and usher are d0pe! Ran into charisse and her friend moval over thurr...wow. haha SCRC always an upliftiing experience, somehow I was free for the whole weekend! The first time I went through it as a participant, hung out w/jennif the whole weekend thurr as we were young adult track buddies. Woo! Ran into the guy I had made friends w/last yurr @ SCRC. It was good to see how he got himself involved.

SH elects its new OHS for the new yurr. Had phone problems w/cingular w/certain features not working. My grandpa turned 98...wow what a celebration that was! Became a Victim of His Love during big burr. An unforgetable experience, a time to really focus on the cross and wha it means to deny yourself and pick up your cross. Good times of bondng w/mark anthony and leo on the way and on the way down. Went to my second mass on the plaza which was real cool. I got my 4th confirmation aide, as abe volunteers to help me out thiss yurr w/the kids. Fell in love w/that song, 'my boo!' haha Went to the end of the summer yfc purrtty and learned something new! ha woOo I told you this was a september to remember! haha

October~
SH hosted its 2nd annual SH Cafe at the city of Stanton. It was fun, the performances were off the hook, lot more people showed up from the yurr before. Praise God! I decide along w/some others to help and volunteer at the SFC CLP in bellflower. It sure was goodtimes to remember! So all my saturdays had gone to serving in that CLP. Reunited w/SFC household, sturrted to go those errmonday. Our household was tight, even though it was big. haha so many fun memories during household. Bought the re-relased USHer confessions album. Was struggling to learn lessons in humility. Thursdays became 330 thursdays in brea.

SH turned 7! As well as the handover of the neew administration. Taught my kids how to sing the 'Mother Mary' song, as it became our opening prayer for errclass. Went to friendship games w/calvin and bought a shirt haha Also took down ideas for spirit games 05. Skipped out the grand re-opening of new city purrk and went to my cousins wedding in oceanside fo the day. The Pope declares oct. the yurr of the Eucharist. Went to halloweeen haunt w/yfc, the first I had gone in like yurrs. Ha afterwurds I was invited to get pho, but since I dont like pho, I said 'phoget it!' hahahaha

November~
A month to give thanks and say hanks to errone, esp. God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon me. America makes a huge mistake and puts dubya back in the white house for anotha 4 yurrs...oh why?! November was also a month of lessons to be learned in forgiveness, love, patience, and dettachment. I began to really ponder the thought of looking for a new job. Though never made any real progress in searching for one. 1000 different birfdays were celebrated in nov. It felt like thurr was a new one errday.

A new cheesecake factory in brea opens up and oh man its impossible to get in thurr. Made the switch in internet providers going to dsl. Learned that thurrs a time for errthang. SpV creates a youf forum and deides its time for the youf to get more involved w/the parish. Went to jury duty for the first time, i also bought a brand new lap top also for the first time. Watched the incredibles which was incredible!! Legendary wutang member odb dies from an overdose on drugs. RIP! Alaine's debut was interestining, ended the nite listening to emooliver play out the mario let me love you song. Went to liwanag's benefit concert and it was a smash hit! Watched christy have 'fun' at d & b during her birday celebration hahha Thanksgiving came and gone w/different family announcements. The month ends as someone jacked my curr.




December~
My curr is found a week after its stolen w/errthang fromm my cds to the rosary hanging above my mirror gone.WHa was God trying to teach me through all this? Dettachment yes...why this happened...dont know. Who did it? Thas still a mystery.
This past month was filled w/christmas purrty after christmas purrty. Went ate out at cheesecake factory a lot. Went shopping after shopping mall to mall looking for gifts. The diocese of orange settles its sexual abuse case for over a 100 million. Whoa! A new 'King' was born as pops and moms had thurr 4th kid. Jeremiah David aka jermaine dupri, as I like to call him(haha) was brought into this world(to be the next ceo of sosodef records-ha joking!).

Caroling came and gone...did a consecration to Mary retreat. Took kids to skool on tues. and thursdays. Coreographed a christmas presentation for the kids at work. Went to the annual dept. holiday christmas purty at my bosses house. The gift exchange was fun! wOooo Came late to the SFC purty and my household won the grand prize. Made a new friend when I had gone to eat w/heif at maki maki. Main place mall is my fav place to go now haha! Hanging out w/burr 3 days in a row. Juss like the ol skool days of kuy-hijo haha Midnight mass was bootiful w/the filam choir singing thurr hurrts out for God. Christmas came and gone in oceanside. Bad weather rocks sout east asia, as many of us lifted up our prayers for them. Fun times w/the fam bam and finally getting my curr back.

And thats a wrap, wow 2004 was juss full of so many exciting things. Praise God for errthang He provided with. I look on to 2005 w/more fun times and only more blessings to come. Have a great new yurr and we'll see you in 2005!


Happy New Yurrs!


"This time we'll take it slow..."im done, im out God bless!

Happy New Yurs-Part I

"When you are excited to impatience, think for a moment how much more reason God has to be angry with you, than you can have for anger against any human being; and yet how constant is His patience and forberance..."

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Put together spirit games! hahaha Went on a victim of his love retreat, gone to 330, did a consecration to Mary, drove to soo many different places.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Hmm I really dont make new yurrs resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yeah, jaymee did! ha
4. Did anyone close to you die?
no, though, there were a lot of deaths this past yurr
5. What countries did you visit?
Agh, never left the US friend
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
A lot more patience...
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Oh maan there are too many dates...so let me sturrt them off...
Aug.7-wOOo! first eva spirit games! yess!
July 5-my 22nd birfday purrty cuz it was juss bomb
july 28-i dont think its the exact date, but its the date i have on my blog when yfc went gold babeh establishing yfc in all 50 states!
july9-burr and boss ladys wedding!! it kinda reminds me of a soap, whurr you have a couple who youve watched grown up on the show and theyve been through it all together then they you watch them finally get murried and youre juss so filled w/joy
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
buying my own laptop i guess?
9. What was your biggest failure?
not pushing myself academically as hard as i should be
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
hmm not that i recall
11. What was the best thing you bought?
my dell laptop yay!!!
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
burr and boss ladys weddinng yay again!
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
we wont get into that one...
14. Where did most of your money go?
food, bills, gifts
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
going to maui for the first time! spirit games lss
16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
yeaaaah! errsher, luda, and lil jon
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? way happier
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter
iii. richer or poorer? richer
18. What do you wish you would have done more of?
Worked out & studied ha
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
eating out
20. How will you be spending new years?
agh probably juss fam bam stuff
22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
not really, however though...hahaha
23. How many one-night stands?
0 zip zerro
24. What was your favourite TV program?
new york undercover, always made sure i woke up in the morning in time to watch it!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I dont hate...
26. What was the best book you read?
wisdom of the little flower, the gift of faith
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
visionaries
28. What did you want and get?
a brand new lap top
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
a cinderella story! hahah jk the passsion & therese
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
well i worked till like 5pm w/only one kid, went to 515pm mass, then had a big birfday celebration w/my friends and fam, even had a dj and errthang so i turned 22
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
buying an ipod hahah
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
a touch of brown
34. What kept you sane?
receiving the eucharist, daily mass, confession,
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
well i didnt like him to begin w/but later on i found him pretty tight...kaneezy and errsher but i always liked him
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
war on iraq
37. Who did you miss?
spirit games committee
38. Who was the best new person you met?
id love to say alaine cuz she's new but shes not the best person i met hahahaha dont have a 'best'

What an interesting day it was today, filled with wow suprises...Last nite my little cousin, the babeh in the fam bam turned 7. Geez, its so crazy to see how quickly and how fast they grow up. It feels like juss yesterday he was like 2. He's a good kid, sometimes its funny cuz he'll juss fob out. haha Then thurr are others time whurr he's juss too much and doesnt know when to stop. So we went down to LA for his birfday purrty at shakeys. Maan, I remember when I use to work thurr. My first eva job, only thurr for 5 days then I couldnt hang in the food world and quit. ha! I hated working thurr too, coming home smelling like bleach. THough, I loved taking breaks eating the mojos w/ranch yuM!

My battery on my watch went out so I got that fixed. Brought the laptop on the way to la to watch the debut haha i love that movie! Wow your hands are so big! haha Anyway, I'm getting more and more serious bout the whole trip to the NYC. I think at this point, Ive made the decision im going to go, but juss gotta see the best deals. It should be exciting, a great way to sturrt off the new yurr! My cousin and I were talking bout how fun itd be shopping thurr, then I sturrted to think of the catholic churches over thurr, im sure they look tight! oh man Im getting excited juss thinking bout it! haha

Didnt sleep till 5am this morning, then freakin alaine calls me @ like 9 something agh! And thas why I turn off my phone at nite before I sleep, cuz of people like her who call waking me up! Went to work to straighten and clean up stuff i didnt do on tues. cuz I couldnt. Went to go pick my new glasses, wow it feels different to whurr glassess again. Today was like a day of new things...Got gas then went to the main place mall and returned some stuff at robinsons may and made an exchage at macys. Went to go say wassup to my friend at abercrombie & fitch. Then I found out my curr was ready. So took curr of that business, its weird driving in it again. It's going to take a while to get use.

They put in some 'pioneer speakers bumpin as i ...'finish the lyrics. Anyway, its nice then they put in a new sony stero. Its an mp3 player also! woOo! The car looks pretty nice, though of course it wouldve been nice to have a brand new one. :sigh: oh well...the car totaled up to be over $1000 in repairs. Imma miss havinng the 4 doors, I need to get a new airfreshner and wha else...agh! i was so pissed off last nite but thas whole other story...okay time to start happy new yurr purt II!

Coming up next: the yurr in review!

"All that talk, but it seems like you can’t come through..."im done, im out God bless!

Post Christmas

"At times I feel this void within me...wondering and hoping I would find that ONE thats meant for me...I get tempted at times to just go for whatever is there...but then I think for a moment and I know that all this waiting will be worth it...when she finally arrives..."

I took fr. paul yesterday down to oceanside, well more less I dropped him off thurr for his retreat. I kinda wish I was able to go cuz as I was looking at it, I thought wow this is something I could really use. It focuses a lot on prayer and how to pray and all that stuff. The drive wasnt bad at all, took the curpool lane for the most purrt. I bought these books over thurr too, I think I found a new devotional book to use. Its still by Mother Teresa er Blessed Teresa, however, this one correspondes w/the church calendar. THough I may juss waiit on it, and finish the one Im using until I've finished book. A lot of people have expressed to me, how the daily devotionals have really helped them and how much they really enjoy reading them. Praise God!

The other book I bought was 15 days of prayer w/St. Therese of Lisieux. They had other ones juss like w/other saints, but I chose St. Therese cuz shes one of my fav. Each one of the books though focus on different things. This one's main focus is on love. I already sturrted to read the first one and now I'm on day two. I really, really enjoy finding new and different holy books to read. Its cool cuz under my altar in my room is a little library of holy books I've boughten in the past. I never realized wha a vast selection of books I have! ha

So I may go to New York coming in the next few weeks. My cousin is going out thurr to check out some skools, so I may go down thurr w/her just to get away for the weekend. I'm really leaning towards it, cuz I mean how often does one get to go to new york?! Thatd be tight to finally see whurr all the different things get filmed and errthang. Wow! The cheapest I found was jetblue for $207.20, by the end of this week I'm going to decide what to do. Maan that'd be tight to go down thurr.

My curr isnt going to be done until thurs. the guy said. Agh! I guess theyre working on installing the radio and gettinng the hubcaps fixed as well. Im curious to see though wha the new curr will look like once its all finished. I am going ot miss the luxury of having four doors on my curr. Agh oh well, too bad I wasnt able to get a new curr that wouldve be tiight. So much for that idea though haha...maybe in a yurr or so I can get a new one.

I worked in the morning till 12pm. I had cooked breakfast for my cooworker and I, pancakes and sausages. No point in buying stuff when we had all this stuff thurr. It felt like camping in a way haha okay well not exactly. I think were the only city thas closed during the holidays, which is nice. One of the council members came by juss to tell us his occt was practicing tonite or tomorrow nite or something like that. He's a pretty coo kat, well he's always been nice to me. Thas why I always say, you gotta do the politics w/people. I made an abuduance of food that we had all this left over.

Afterwhurrd came home changed then I left to go to LA for the day. Ever since Ive got my licenese thurrs something I've always wanted to do. That is to juss drive to LA and juss chill w/my godson for the day. You know like go to the purrk, and stuff like that. And being this might be the only freetime I have for a while since im on break, I decided to take a trip. It was fun, I wish we were able to go to the purrk and all that. We went first to chuck e cheese and bought pizza and played games. Thurr buffalo wings suck, theyre real small and they taste like those ones you buy @ sams club or the murket whurr you put in them in the oven. ANyway, we had a fun time over thurr.

From thurr we went to walk around the 3rd street promenade. Thurr was this triple 5 soul hoody jacket that I was really tempted to get. I wanted to use all these gift currds I had in my wallet. Theyre taking up so much space, so I ended up coming home w/nothing, I didnt get the sweater, it probably wouldve costed me about $30. It was pretty busy thurr for a weekday, but I'm sure its always busy. Ran into my uncle at American Eagle ha my cousin found it suprising cuz they never run into thurr dad in public places. Walked inside the Santa Monica place mall for a while too, I remember taking pics inside thurr w/jeanne and mike last fall ha. We looked like such tourists.

We made it out juss in time cuz as we were walking back it sturrted to rain. Then it sturrted to juss hella pour down. Oh man did it rain hurrd over thurr, to the point whurr we whurr hurring thunder and lightning. It sounded skurry to even drive in. Isaiahs funny we were listening to the radio in the curr and he heard some no doubt song. So im going through the stations and after I pass the song he was lke heeey i like that song! haha I go back to the station and i said this song? He said yeahh then I change it and he was like heey! Then I said but ninong likes this song haha then he was no i want the other one. I go back to the other one and he starts singing, I change it again and he was like noo. Then I said again but ninong likes this song haha it was funny, its juss one of those things whurr you had to be thurr.

Walked around the fox hills mall, going into subway to get a drink and I almost saw this fight. It was crazzzy! THough nothing ended up coming down, thsi lady and I looked each like whoa! I guess thas when you know youre in LA alright. haha After we were done walking around we went to this playthingy they had thurr and let him play for a while. So we got back home and I had to leave and he really wanted me to come up and stay for a while. THough I wanted to get back home before the storm sturrted all over again. He got excited when we pulled up cuz he thought I was going home. Awww we had a good time...

Went to go watch Flight of the Phoenix at the cerritos towne center last nite. I didnt even know it was out! Inside the fox hills mall I saw the movie poster for it and I thought oh i wanna watch that! So I texted fred asking him if he wanted to go, so we went. It was a really good, call me a nerd but I like movies whurr they have good morals and lessons to learn. Geez, I was thinking how hard that must be to live like that. Thurr was one guy who I admired on thurr, this mexican guy who was catholic. Thurr was one scene one of the other guys told him how he admired him for his strongn faith, despite errthang that was taking place. So, in the end the movie talked a lot bout faith, humility, working together as a team. In order for them to get out of the desert and build that plane, they had to work together. It was either all in or none at all. YOu should watch it!

Had this fun buddy chat w/hoj plus ang in it. That foo comes into the room sees me in it and says, 'oh no.' Then bones out! haha can you believe her?! We were bof laughing outloud cuZ I told her I could picture her saying that. ANyway, carlos and I ended up talking till like almost 4am. It was crazzzy, it was fun though. Okay, well I must get ready for the day now, I gotta get going and return some gifts. I think imma go to mainplace...haha oh yeah then someone called me like err5 min. when I was in LA asking whurr I was.

Continue to pray for those victims in asia!

"Check it out, its the funkshow brother rhgt now bout now..."im done, im out GOd bless!

Pray With Me!

"Prayer is the bulwark of chastity..."

Tonight at 7pm, I invite you all to pray for the intentions of our fellow brothers and sisters who have been affected by the massive tsunami in Asia. We will be meditating upon the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. Please also keep in your intentions, our own less fortunate brothers and sisters who are struggling to make it through this cold, rainy winter, and those who are sick.

"If we knew the true power of prayer, we would never stop praying." May we pray together as a family--miles apart, but in communion with the Holy Spirit.

Pray for the victims in Asia!

"My life belongs to you..."im done, im out God bless!

I love being Catholic!

"Without suffering there'd be no compassion..."

Jaymee and I were talking yesterday bout those moments in time when youre at mass and youre juss in awe. I had one of those at midnight mass, as I was listening/singing to the gloria, it juss really, really made me proud to be catholic. The Holy Sacrafice of the mass, all the d0pe 7 sacraments, I mean wha else could you want?! I think errone has a moment in time also whurr the thought of converting crosses their mind. I know when I was like only wha 18-19 it crossed my mind. It was weird though going from a protestant service to a catholic mass. Though when people come to know and understand the fullness of truth the catholic church has its like falling in love w/someone. Ha I think thas the best way to compare it. Well thas wha it was like for me at least.

To me I think people convert cuz they think its so much easier being protestant or whatever. Like many people in society today, they go for the easy way out. They dont hold themselves to high standards when it comes to faith and morals. I found it funny how my friend tried to say how his church and the catholic church were similar. Though he did make a good point sayinig we believe in one God. Its funny cuz I was telling jaymee how he was saying its different not being in your own church, cuz youre 'not at home.' Which is understandable, however at least w/us catholics we can go to anywhurr in the world and feel at home. It may not be our parish but we'll stll some wha at home cuz its the same church.

Anyway, I'm sure you get my point by now. Christmas was coo, we brought the huge rv over to oceanside. We left real early to avoid the holiday traffic, agh! Brought my laptop w/me and watched mean girls for the first time. Ha it was a funny movie, the girls on thurr reminded me of someone I know. How she has that same type of personality. Then thurrs this one guy on thurr who reminded me of alaine's friend also. ha Anyway, took a nap for a while until errone got thurr.

We had food galore, my unlce brought octopus legs and cocktail shrimp. I couldnt get enough of the cocktail shrimp cuz it was so good. My godson is really growing up so fast, its so funny how he use to be so shy. He's slowly breakinig out of his shell. I missed the hol em game cuz I came in too late. Then I was leaving early too so I didnt get to play at all. Oh well, I saved $5 in the long run. My mom was telling me they stayed and played till like 4am that nite. My mom learned how to play tthe game and now she likes it. My cousin got from his fiance this huge table to play on. Its hardcore cuz it even has drink holders in it too, thas when you know youre a true hol em player is when you get the table ha!

Came home w/my aunt and grandparents that nite, while the fam bam stayed over thurr. I kinda wanted to stay but didnt want to spend the nite. So I was home alone for the rest of christmas watching Nightmare on Elm street and a new nightmare, but then I sturted to fall asleep so I didnt even finish the last one. It kinda got creepy watching alone then falling asleep off and on.

Anyway, I have to do some post christmas shopping and exchange some of the gifts. Im thinking of going to new york for a couple of days w/my cousin. Though that still has yet to be determined. I really want to look for a new job...though I need one that will pay me as much as Im making now or even more. Cant afford to take a pay cut. Mass was great today, fr. rays homily was really good. Talking bout the importance of family. How God must really put family as a priority if he brought Jesus into the world w/one. He always has well prepared homilies, not juss something he pulled from his butt.

I gotta take fr. paul to oceanside tomorrow and drop him off at the prince of peace abby. He asked me last month to take him for this retreat, so I couldnt say no. Agh im juss dreading the drive over thurr and then I gotta pick him up too on new years eve day. I watched desperate housewives for the first time tonite. Ha it was the very frst episode and I liked it! So it looks like I have a new show to watch on sun. nites now! On top of that jaymee owes me a blog entry now also! haha Alright thas enough for tonite, im tired...


Please pray for a friend whos thinking of converting

"The moment i saw you cry..."im done, im out God bless!

Happy Birfday Jesus!

"Behold, the virgin shall be with a child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel..."

Christmas time is hurr! Jesus' birfday is hurr! yay for good times! I was really happy tonite cuz my protestant friend went w/me to midnight mass. For the past wha 4 yurrs since I've known him, its been tradition that we go to midninght mass together. Well I had texted him earlier that day to see if he was going to go. He replied back saying maybe, he'll let me know. So at aroud like 1030 he texts me saying he wasnt going to be able to go. I was a little dissapointed cuz its been like tradition. Well he calls me 15 min. later asking wha I was doing. I end up picking him up to go to midnight mass w/me so the tradition carried on yay!!

The midnite mass was bomb yo! The fil-am choir really knew how to hold it down at mass. Ha that sounded so ghett0, but its true. Especially how they intertwined the angels we have heard on high w/the gloria. That was freakin tight, that really got me feelin it. I think thas the best choir sPv has and thas why thurr so popular at the parish. I remember the 8am choir use to be pretty tight too in the beginning, but then people sturrted to drop out, so now its not as tight. ha Well, I guess in the end it doesnt really matter cuz theyre singing thurr pusos out for God. Though I love the fim-am choir!

After mass it was coo seeing errone, how theyre all churry and happy. As I was taking my friend home we got into a discussion bout religon. He asked me if I considered myself christian or catholic. I told them bof cuz christians are catholics too, I said im catholic christian. Then he asked me why is thurr christians and roman catholics. So then I had to go on to explain the difference. He then said pretty much our 'christians' (meaning protestants) and catholics, were the same excep they dont worship Mary. AGh! So w/that I had to go on and explain how we catholilcs dont worship Mary, but we honor her and we ask for her intercession. So that convo ended w/how they juss dont acknowledge Mary as much as we do.

At any rate, it was coo for him juss to be able to go. I juss gotta continue to pray that one day he'll come back to the church. Come back to the fullness of truth. Im glad though we can have a mature conversation bout our different beliefs w/o it turning into a huge debate. Thurrs a fly in my room and its bugging me cuz I cant kill it! agh! And so I shall leave w/a Christmas reflection...

From our Lord's Birthday until Epiphany the Church keeps Christmas. The five joyful mysteries of the rosary, the antiphons and the prayers in the offices for Christmas, are the central point of our worship. Near the altar where He Himself lives clothed in the white garb of the Host, and where His mark, the crucifix, is placed over the tabernacle, there is now a crib—a little picture of the stable where the Word who became Flesh first opened His infant eyes. And round the little figure of the Christ Child stands the likeness of the first things and the first people who met His glance when He by whom all things were made came to His own in the form of a servant.

The crib is not meant only to be a picture of a room where a Jewish carpenter and a young woman sought shelter for the night-a night nineteen hundred odd years ago. For so little did the world take account of what came to pass that night so long ago, in the outhouse of the caravanserai at Bethlehem, that no one definitely knows the year in which it happened or at what time of the year; and indeed during the first centuries after Christ's birth opinion is so divided that there is scarcely a month that has not been suggested as the actual Christmas month.

Elegit eam Deus et pruelegit eam, "God hath chosen her and fore chosen her," it says in the Office. In God is all eternity, and from eternity was Mary destined to bear under her heart Him—quem terra, pontus, sidera colunt, adorant, praedicant —"whom earth and sea and sky honour, worship and preach."
O gloriosa Domina excelsa supra sidera qui te creavit provide lactasti sacro ubere.
"Oh, glorious lady, exalted over the stars, thou hast tended and nourished from thy holy breast Him who created thee."

The angels bring tidings of the Child's birth to some shepherds who are out on the hills outside the village: a star rises up and beckons some astrologers from a land far away in the East to set out on a long journey. But the rest of the world—all those Mediterranean countries which Roman law and Roman peace had knit together into a single empire, where the people bowed under the yoke of Rome, proud to be her citizens or embittered by her oppression—the world which some hundreds of years later was to date its history from His birth, slept quietly through the night of this great happening. And St. Luke troubles himself so little with descriptions of places that, except by tradition, we know really nothing about the room where Mary brought forth her Son-only that it was outside the inn and that it was a stable. We hear that the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to see what it was that the Lord had signified to them. But it does not tell us that they brought any gifts to the little family. When in representations of the crib we make the shepherds bring their presents to the Child Jesus it is perhaps something that we have imagined, for St. Matthew says most particularly that it was the Wise Men from the East who brought gifts. Or perhaps we are thinking of ourselves-that this is what we should have done if we had been the shepherds....

Yes, in that way—whispers the chilly, cautious person of the present day—in that way we also can join you in the stable. If the little Boy in the crib is a symbol of the longing in each one of us for something beyond the bounds of sense, of our presentiments of immortality, then we also can remain with the shepherds in the stable. We can worship Mary's child, we moderns, as a symbol or as a type, as the great Teacher, a genius, a superman. But as God in Man? "Genuisti eum qui te fecit?" Mary, could you have brought forth Him who created you? Can you expect us to believe this sort of thing in the twentieth century?

Is it not a truth, which modern children cannot avoid, that human beings are blood-cousins of the apes, and that our earth is only a small. holding in the world of space? Can we be so pretentious as to believe that He by whom all was made should have become our brother in the arms of this poor young girl? How is it possible that the omnipotence which, through an immeasurable span of time, has planted a myriad of suns, should be one with the delicate, tiny infant in the arms of the maid from Nazareth, sheltered by her hair and shawl as they droop from her bending head? We know, of course, that it was anthropomorphism when the old people spoke of the heavens as the work of God's hands and of wisdom issuing from the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn of all created: "I alone have encompassed the circuit of Heaven and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea." . . .
But is it possible that the anthropomorphism of any other era has been quite so coarse or so vulgar as our own-when we transfer to our vision of God our own stupid wretched respect for anything that is purely colossal in dimension, for records in magnitude and for enormous unwieldy numbers? As our knowledge of nature has widened our picture of the time and space which God encompasses we lose, more and more, our ability to believe that the strength of the Almighty to permeate all things is indeed all-powerful. And involuntarily we picture God as a sort of cosmic landlord: it is impossible for Him to interest Himself in and to love each individual life which crawls on this remote speck of earth amidst the dancing of the myriad stars. Or we look on Him as a sort of Director General for the great combine of the United Solar Systems. He cannot know personally each little functionary who works on a small planet rotating around a sun of quite insignificant size....

In the museums and monastic libraries of Europe there is volume after volume of illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. If ever artists have worked to give their best and most beautiful without a thought of winning glory or credit for themselves it is certainly these anonymous painters whose identity is only occasionally discovered, and whose reward went to the whole brotherhood. This is indeed art for art's sake, pure, clean passion for beauty-inspired by the mind's constant occupation with the loveliness of God, who has created us in His image so that we also can realise the joy of creation. Year in and year out the craftsman sat and painted borders with flowers shining like jewels, with playful birds and clinging vines on the smooth, yellowish-white parchment. The frames, which the capital letters required, he filled out with a polished gold ground and with delightful small pictures, the faces of saints, not so big as wood-anemones, drawn with lines as fine as the veins in the anemone petals. Not for a moment would the artist contemplate that anyone else except himself should suspect what an amount of care and love he had put into his work, but each little flower was painted in order that it should be perfect in itself, without thought whether anyone was ever going to study it carefully. Perhaps this maker of pictures can help us, not to understand, but to get a glimmering of God's great love for His creation, which caused Him to come to His own as a little child in a crib and to die upon the cross to save each soul He had created in His image-to perfect one tiny little forget-me-not in the eternal manuscript of the universe.

"Genuit puerpera Regem, cui nomen aetemum, et gaudia matris habens cum virginitatis honore, nec primam similem visa est, nec habere sequentem."
"She was in labour and brought forth the King whose name is eternal; she had the happiness of a mother together with the honour of virginity; she was seen to have no equal either before or since."

But it is exactly this which is contrary to nature—that a woman can be both mother and virgin. (As a matter of fact, it is on this point that our laboratories seem to be threatening our conception of nature with a complete and terrible revolution, for they promise to show us generations of beings whose mothers, although they will not bear the garland of virginity, yet will not know man. ) But at the time when Christendom began, all races, both within and without the borders of the Roman Empire, worshipped a deity of motherhood and a mother of gods and supernaturally begotten gods and demi-gods. And the people of the Middle Ages, as all enlightened people know, fall into two groups; a smaller group of men and women of the Church who did not take much notice of the improbable or unnatural stories which the other group, all the other people, accepted in every detail without thinking.

It is not, however, quite accurate to say that these stories of the birth of gods without an earthly father shadow forth a virgin mother, in the Christian sense. They suppose a god in a human home or in an animal's lair, or they imagine some other material contact-lightning, gold rain falling over the maiden, or she eats a magic fruit or swallows a pine-needle.
But whatever legend or adventure the people of those days believed and related, it leaves no trace in Our Lady's own little book of hours—the lay-folk's book of hours which the Middle Ages produced and which we pray every day. Not for a moment have these legends either there or in the priest's breviary been incorporated in the story of Our Lady's mysterious preferment; Mother and Daughter, God's Mother and God's Daughter, she stands alone.
"Genuisti qui te fecit: Thou hast borne Him who created Thee."
"Sancta et immaculata virginitas, quibus te Zaudibus efferam nescio; quia quem caeli capere non poterant, tuo gremio contulisti: Holy and Immaculate virginity—I know not with what words of praise I can exalt Thee. For Him whom the Heavens could not contain, thou hast nursed in thy lap."

"O Virgo virginum, quomodo fiet istud? Quia primam similem visa est nec habere sequentem: O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be? (For she was seen to have no equal either before or since.)"
"Filiae 1erusalem, quid me admiramini? Divinum est mysterium hoc, quod cernitis: Daughters of Jerusalem, why look ye so wonderingly upon me? The mystery which you see is of the Godhead."

Oh! Mary, lift up the Child. Lift Him up that we may gaze upon Him! . . .
Mary indeed was unstained by inherited sin—but that does not mean that here on earth she was omniscient or could see into the future. I wonder what she thought of the message of the angel to the Child she bore: "The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father: and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end." When Joseph came and they had to travel to Bethlehem, to David's town, the time was drawing near when the Child was to see the light. We do not know; perhaps Mary had thought that everything would happen very differently-but the Son of the Most High was to be born in an outhouse. She wrapped Him up and laid Him in the manger and watched over His sleep, and when He was awake she warmed Him and fed Him at her breast.
Some shepherds came and wished to see the Child, and they told of visions of angels and angels' words.

And Mary hides all these things in her heart and meditates on them.
Forty days later she and Joseph take the Child and go up to Jerusalem to fulfil the law of Moses, and to present the firstborn of a young mother to the Lord and buy him free from the temple service.

As they enter the Temple bearing the infant and two young doves, the offering of the poor, they are met by an old man. He comes over to them, this old stranger, and wants to hold the Child that Mary carries. And when Simeon has Jesus in his arms he praises God and breaks into words: "Now Thou cost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace,"—Nunc Dimittis, we read in Compline, the evening prayer in the Book of Hours. If we realise the mystery of Christmas well enough, we should say the same for ourselves every evening.
And Simeon blessed Mary and Joseph—a peculiar blessing, for he says that this Child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many, and he speaks of a sword which shall pierce the heart of the mother, the young heart which hides within itself so many wonderful words and has meditated on so many mysteries.

Please pray for burr and boss lady's safe trip to florida!


Happy Birfday Jesus!!!


Merry Christmas!

"Echoing their joyous sounds..." im done, im out God bless!

O Holy Night!

"God does not require of us the martyrdom of the body; he requires only the martyrdom of the heart and the will..."

Ah Christmas eve, it crept up behind us and its finally hurr. I like the anticipation of juss waiting for it to come. I think out of the all months of the yurr, this one goes the fastest. Juss cuz youre always non-stop going hurr and thurr. Meeting up w/ol friends who maybe are home for the holidays etc. etc. By the time we know it, Christmas will be another moment packed in our memory banks. Then its back to the errday life, the shopping for next yurr begins with the 'after christmas sale.' Wow...my fam bam never really celebrates christmas eve, we always juss celebrate christmas day. I kinda wish we did something for christmas eve too, but its coo at least we do something for christmas.

It was another burr and isda chill day again. We were listening to the 'charlie brown' remix song n the curr haha He came by and we went to wamu first so he could deposit some checks, then went to orange mall or more less shopping center. Followed by going to the main place mall in santa ana. It felt like ol times when it use to be kuya/hijo hang out days haha We had a great lunch at cpk, whas funny is I was going through my archives and seeinig wha I did exactly on this day and it said I had cpk for lunch w/banne. So, I think this is the first time I had cpk in a whole yurr. Crazy huh?

The burr went to go check out a & f to see if sushi girl was working but she wasnt. I cant believe mainplace mall doesnt have a booksturr. I gotta go to brea mall in the morning to get my christmas clothes. This yurr it seems like I'm real behind on errthang. Agh! THe mainplace mall isnt real big, in fact thurrs not like thurrs a whole lot to do in that mall. Geez, never have I been to that mall so many times in one week. I think the only mall I havent gone to yet is lakewood.
Ive gone to westminister, done the whole cerritos, im tired of brea, and now main place. Of course the buena park mall doesnt even really have anything.

It was coo I took my time getting to work and its juss real relaxing when you have no supervisors around. Its juss the best being able to do wha you want on your own time. The kids came and we had the pizza party like I promised them. I was hoping my parent volunteer was coming today so we can watch the performance. We had an incident whurr one of the kids pulled the chair from one of the other ones so he ended up landing and falling on his back. Then the kid lied to me at first saying he didnt do it, I was so pissed off. I took back to the club and he sturrted to cry and say, 'im sorry i didnt know it was going to hurt him!' Hes not really a bad kid, but sometimes is juss too much for me. I did feel bad in a sense, but you juss dont do that.

Got off work early and then met up w/chentel and went to cerritos mall. Man it was packed! Which is probably no suprise, especially being its cerritos mall. They didnt have the jacket size I was looking for. Though I saw this other style at the block afterwhurrds that I was real tempted to get. I dont know im indecessive w/the color and style I want. Im tryig to accomodate the majority color in my closet. I have juss too many different colors. I felt like I was going to be blown away tontie. I had gone to the block and I was walking and it felt like the wind was going to take me away. haha

Anyway, im tired and the goal is to get up early tomorrow!


its almost hurr!!


"Its christmas time again..."im done, im out God bless!

Fatty Times!

"Humility must accompany all our actions, must be with us everywhere; for as soon as we glory in our good works they are of no further value to our advancement in virtue..."

Man, did I eat like no other today. Well, actually this past week I've eaten like no other. Okay, during the new year I should try and be less lazy. I amaze myself sometimes w/how much I can eat. My coworker is like hella skinny cuz he hardly eats...wow wish I had that problem haha I think I eat juss too much. No, not the point whrur it becomes gluttony, Im not to the point whurr I eat 'juss cuz.' Today was fun, time well spent w/some great friends. Let's recap shall we?

Agh! my mom kept coming into my room this morning talking to me. Then I had to move my curr cuz of street cleaning. After that I went back to sleep and then woke up at almost 10am. Was suppose to pick some pomelos to give away but that didnt work out. Tomorrow probably I'll spend some time in the morning picking those fruits. Theyre juss all over the backyurrd! Burr called so then since he was coming over, changed and got ready for the day.

Went to have a late breakfast w/him at ihop to sturrt the morning. It was funny I was reading the cover of the menu and it said, 'my ihop.' So I was reading it outloud and he goes, 'agh its my ihop too I live close by it also.' haha THen I said agh! I was reading the menu stupid! haha Then he was like, 'oh.' Went by my house to pick up something then we were off to irvine to have lunch w/the agile 360 gang.

The place isnt very furr, actually its right nurr the 405 freeway off of michelson, right by the ihop. I like to call it the 'liwanag' ihop since they go thurr all the freakin time. It felt like that show the apprentice thurr cuz we had to go through the receptionist. 'Mr. Trump will see you now!.' hahaha that was funny, got to check out thurr offices and the place whurr they work I could tell they have lots of fun together yay! So we all went to go eat at this place called, 'wahoo.' Its like a hawaiian grill place kinda like mixed plate in maui. Maan was it packed in thurr! I like the way the place is decorated. It was my first time thurr, it was good stuff!

From irvine I rushed back to drop off the burr at his cave and then zoomed over to work. I was kinda rushing cuz I knew my boss was going out to lunch w/some of my coworkers. I ended up being late but to my suprise he didnt even say anything...whew! Then from then on it got hectic trying to get the kids organized for thurr show. Getting all the last minute materials ready and errthang like that. We didnt sturrt till bout 4pm, I was kinda dissapointed cuz I expeceted more peeps. For learning each song and dance one day at a time, they did pretty well.

I felt good knowing the purrents enjoyed it and that they had a good time. I'm glad all the practicing and all that is over now. Geez to think it was only a lyp synce dance performance, I cant imagine them putting on a full on production play. Ha I dont know if I have the patience to even plan something like that w/them! ha This was complicated enough! Praise God for supportive parent volunteers who really helped put this program on. Im blessed!

Went to go have dinner w/mark anthony later on that nite. That being my 3rd meal of the day, yeah I know imma fatty. We went to asia buffet and it was fun. Whenever him and I chill or whatver its coo. We were talking bout errthang from confirmation programs to family to ministry wow we were thurr for like 2 hours juss talking. My fortune cookie was real interesting it said, 'you will have good luck in all your personal affairs.' Hmmm...interesting!

After dinner I had this urge go to Savio. So I dropped off abe's gift in his mailbox and drove ova to savio, Sat in the blessed sacrament for a while and I juss didnt want to leave. Its always like that over thurr, well for me at least. I tried not to talk but it was juss too hurrd I need to learn how to juss be silent and listen. Afterwurrd went over to the statue of Our Lady like I normally do and I sat thurr praying my rosary. Leo called and met me up thurr, so I was able to give him his gift. Im trying to get rid of all this stuff before or by CHristmas, so my room is all clean.

I was reading this life teen email that I received the other day, and it kinda spoke to me...hurr I'll shur...

“LORD, what are mortals that you notice them; human beings, that you take thought of them?” – Psalm 144:3

SITUATION EXPLAINED

Do other people in your life seem to get more attention than you do? On the stage of life, do you sometimes feel like an “extra”? SOLUTION OFFEREDDuring the holidays as families and friends gather, it can sometimes become quite a production. This relative can’t sit near some other relative. You can’t mention “this topic” to “this person”. So much drama…sometimes it begins to feel more like a Christmas play than a holiday, more like acting than living.

At age six I took the acting world by storm, I played a tree in my kindergarten’s production of “Old McDonald had a farm”. I don’t mind telling you, I was brilliant. While I had no lines, nor did I move, I was so believable as the tree that my mother was moved to tears. (Of course, she cries at the babies in diaper commercials, but that’s a different story for another day). As I stood there, motionless, for the entirety of the play; other kids in the class got to make animal noises and crawl around on the ground. It didn’t bother me, I was a tree and everyone was gonna believe it.

Now, even though I didn’t move, make noise, interact, memorize a line or even speak, I did learn an important lesson from my acting “debut” that has stayed with me over the years. There is no such thing as an “extra”. Everybody, that is, every body on that stage has a job to do and a role to fulfill in the bigger story. We all have a role to play in life. The question is whether or not we are humble and willing enough to play it. There are no “extras” in a play, regardless of the size of the part. You give glory to God by fulfilling your role at any and every given moment.

Our culture has gone celebrity crazy. Everybody wants to see one, know one, marry one or be one…fame, not happiness, has become the goal of many within our generation. Look no further than the stardom-crazed lunatics that flood the airwaves in the name of “reality” television. Many of them are seeking our attention rather than their dignity; most need prayers not praise. Attention is a dangerous weapon, especially when it is directed at and ends with self.

Sometimes even when we’re singing or worshipping God our attention can get misplaced. Glory is sought for the voice, rather than the One who blessed us with it, for the prayer, rather than the One to Whom it is directed.

There are several characters on this stage of life. Some stand still. Some scurry around. Some don’t speak enough. Some just make noise. Others don’t know how or when to shut up. Still, nobody is perfect and nobody is more loved by God than the next. Every body has dignity. Everybody has worth. No one person’s life or vocation is more important than another’s in the mind and the heart of God. Regardless of where you are in relation to God at this moment, He still has a place for you. Jesus is calling you into the story, His story.

On the stage of life during this stage of your life, what part is He calling you to play?Brats love attention. Children just love to be included. Which are you? Are you looking for the glory that comes with a speaking part, or are you humble enough to be still for now? Are you looking to be the one standing center stage in front of the crowd, or are you willing to be the one who sweeps the stage when the theatre has emptied?

Take the time to pray, really pray about what God’s vocation is for you, today and in the coming year. If you have the courage to follow it, a couple things will happen. First, you’ll insure a life for yourself that is happier and more fulfilling than anything you could come up with on your own, He promises you that (Jer. 29:11). Second, you will see that there is no such thing as an “extra” on God’s stage, everybody has a role to play and no one’s is more important than another’s, they’re just different. Some might get more attention, but attention does not equal importance.

It’s not about who gets the lead, it’s about who lets God lead. It’s not about the star shining in the spotlight, but about the one who lets Christ’s light shine through them.

3 moe days till Jesus' birfday!

"Oh hear the angels voices..."im done,im ou God bless!

Cleaning Up!

"Silence is a gift of God, to let us speak more intimately with Him..."

Fr. Paul told me tonite as a penance I had to sit in silence for 15 min. With no talking, no emotion or anything, juss to let the Spirit move in me. Wow was that hard for me, 15 min. was a long time to sit still for me. Especially w/no talking and no emotion, ha I dont know how I'd make it through a silent retreat! haha Its been such a long time though, that I've actually juss sat and listened. Sometimes I begin to wonder if I can even hurr his voice inside of me...anyway, praise GOd for confession before Christmas. Yay!

These past couple of days have been busy ones. I juss finished registering for skool for next semester, praise God all of the classes werent full! There have been things I've been procastinating on for the past month. I hate when I neglect important things that I need to do. I was cleaning up my room, trying to do wha I can to eliminate some of the gifts in my room. By the end of the week, they'll all be gone. I still need to call dell and see if I can exchange my internal floppy drive for an external one. It's already been a month since I've bought the thing. So many things to do, not enough time...well I juss need to balance my time more efficiently.

Im hoping my new glasses will come in this week and this book I ordered too. It said 5-10 working days, ah I hate waiting for stuff to come in. I guess thas whurr God teaches you to be real patient and to wait. Once I get my glasses it's going to feel so much better driving at nite now! Sometimes when I drive at nite, I cant tell which direction the freeway is or whether a curr is a popo or a regular curr.

Sunday, we had our SH gift exchange it was fun. I realized when it comes to the secret santa whurr you steal gifts(which seems to be the popular trend for gift exchanges now)you need to team up w/someone. Lon and I teamed up so I was able to get back the quicksilver backpack that I originally picked out. Lon got the tower gift currd that he wanted too, so it all worked out for the best! =) THen we played taboo, I had only played the game once and the one time I did, I sucked. The game is fun though, especially when youre playing in a large group. It teaches you to communicate in different ways.

Went caroling and my cousins house on the other side of bp. I hadn't seem them in a while, though I must admit it went a lot smoother and better on sat. then it did on sunday. Afterwurrds I had gone to simbang gabi at sPv, which was fun. Errone was thurr I ran into a couple of my students and this one lady who was talking to me in tagalog and I had no idea wha she was saying. Then I think she translated to me asking if I remember her from the LSS. ha its funny when older filipinos talk to me in tagalog, its better then getting asked, 'are you korean? or you look vietnamese or chinese or any other asian descent.'

It was funny cuz one of the songs the children's group performed was 'the voice of one calling in the dessert.' When they sturrted to sing the song, I was like I know that song! I love that song! thas one of my fav songs! The thing ended early though, earlier then I expected probably cuz errone had to get to sleep for work. I helped clean up a little bit cuz errone boned out after they were done eating. Fr. Hussesy is back in town till next week, he always comes to visit during the holidays. His homily was so funny on sunday, he likes to repeat himself a lot.

Monday was interestng day, ran errands in the morning. Work was chill, well not really these kids drive me up the wall sometimes. I need to learn to be more patient w/them but maan. Weve been practicing these past few weeks on this performance theyre doing tomorrow. Its juss frustrating when they mess around and not pay attention. Im juss anal cuz I want things to go perfect and smooth, and the other thing is time is errthang. We only have a certain amount of time, so its important we use that time wisely.

I ended up staying at work later then expected that nite. Rushed home got ready and went out to dinner w/heif. We met up w/julie's and ray valiente's victim retreat group at the block. Dropped off julie's gift to her, saw fred, kim, and courtney also. Then we drove on over to the spectrum, (another place I've been to a lot these past couple of months) for dinner. Last time we whurr thurr we said next time we come were oging ot try out that maki maki. So the sever asks if we wanted to sit at the sushi burr. At first I was relunctant to, but I'm glad we did. ha

So heif and I were looking over the menu and praise God it was happy hour, all sushi half off. I dont think I've ever eaten so much sushi in one nite in my life. Normally, I juss get like a crunchy roll and somethign else. THough this time maan we juss kept ordering them left and right. Ha finally I couldnt hang w/the spicy shrimp it was juss too spicy. So we ate our sushi while drinking our whine. Then I hurr/see this girl walk in telling the people thurr how she got stood up. I was thinking to myslef oh she must work hurr or something and its her nite off.

The girl sits down next to us and after a while turns to me and says, 'hey youre wearing a jacket from my store.' I said, 'oh you work at abercrombie huh?' So thas how the convo sturted so heif, her, and I went on talking till the pretty much closed up the place. Pretty coo chick, reminded me A LOT like charisse. One of those really down to earf type of girls, outgoing, shurrs a lot, and juss real open and blunt bout themselves. Well she did a lot of the talking bout herself, her past experiences, wha she's looking for etc. etc. etc. I'll admit I was struck by this girl's personality. So I thought well maybe I can get to know her better. By the time the opportunity came to ask for her # I didnt want to cuz she was bout to go chill w/the sushi guys.

Anyway, I went home and sturted thinking bout errthang that happened. Heif was saying she was dropping hints...I dont know. WEnt home and prayed bout it and juss surrendered it to God. Telling Him let thy will be done and not my own. Today, jay da banker went w/me and went to main place mall in santa ana. Walked around the mall did some shopping, then went into the a&f sturr. Ha to my suprise thurr was sushi girl working. We did the whole small talk shindig and wha not. THen I asked if itd be coo if I got her #, she was hesitant at first but then was like you want it forreal?! I said yeah, so she gave it to me. Pretty interesting eh?

Work was alright, getting these kids ready for tomorrow. Im expecting a lot of people, so if youre not doing anything tomorrow afternoon come down and support me and my kids! Theyre doing this performance @ 330pm in the community center. Its going ot be great juss watch them! I taught them coreography for feliz navidad and then we put errthang together. Im excited...after weeks of preperation its all coming to a close. Whew! Its been difficult getting them all thurr, practicing, yelling ha but we did it. Praise God!


Come and watch my kids perform tomorrow!!!

"But the children say he can laugh and play just the same as you and me..."im done, im out GOd bless!

Almost Done!

"Behold the power of The Virgin Mother: She wounded and took captive the heart of God..."

Last nite I took chentel to St. Dominic Savio, wha I like to call one of my second homes. I showed her the adoration chapel thurr and wha I like to do each time I go thurr. It felt good cuz I havent been thurr in a while, so juss sitting thurr before the blessed sacarment brought back memories of how I use to go thurr a lot. Not only that but that first time my boss brought me thurr how much I was so in awe. Then that unforgettable moment, when I found my answered St. Therese novena. Ahh yes Savio will hold a special place in my puso!

I pretty much am done w/all my gifts and theyre almost all wrapped too! woOO! I have one more gift to go and then I'm done w/the shopping. I spent most of the afternoon yesterday going shopping. The nice thing is I didnt even really have to hit up a mall. Well only the bpd but thas it. Went from wal-mart to turget, to turget to the long beach towne center, to st. joseph's books and then even had time to get to confession. PRaise God I made it early, cuz oh man the line went all the way to the door! And thurr was only one priest hurring confessions! Fr. Hussey is back in town for the next week and a half. Jesus...Mary....Joseph! hahaha burr knows wha im talking bout. He seems like he never gets angry...haha

Went christmas caroling at two houses last nite, one at lon's mom's friend's house. It was a huge crowd and it kinda sucked cuz thurr whurr so few of us. Some people didnt go cuz they made plans to go to a curr show. It was kinda funny cuz it felt like we were putting on a show for the whole freakin neighborhood. We were outthurr in the grass the piano hooked up and hurr we whurr dancing and singing the nite away. Then there they whurr sitting thurr watching us sing and perform for them. ha We made it out pretty good at that house though....Ü

After the last one was at alaine's house, her mom prepared all this food for us so it was cool. Majority of the time we were sitting thurr eating and watching tv. Oh man thurr was so much food too. Even though thurr, it was only a small group of us, we had fun. It was funny I was at turrget last nite and I was over hurring some people talking in the asile next to me. THe guy goes to his friend, 'have you ever gone out w/a girl who forgot to tell she had a bf?' haha that totally sucks. I wonder wha happened, I shouldve asked haha jk

One the way to savio chentel was telling me how she had gone to this protestant church before. Well juss like a typical protestant they tried to convert her. They had asked her wha religon she was and she told them she was catholic. The guy told her in response, 'you know God doesnt like it when you guys pray to Mary.' At the same time was imitating someone praying the rosary. I was laughing and I said how gaay! God doesnt like when we pray to Mary, uhh GOd only chose Mary to have His Son. Jesus only asked for Mary's intercession at the wedding at cana. And God doesnt like it when we pray to Mary? Well duh! cuz we ask her to pray for us, pray w/us, send our petitions to her son. And thas why im proud to be catholic!

Yay the song plays on my blog again!!

"So I'ma leave it at that, take a hint and put in my math..."im done, im out God bless!

Dodgeball!

"Jesus told me, 'My heaven would not be complete without you..."

Fun times w/the fam bam tribe today. I put in order to get new glasses yay! Thurr guess, I wanted like a dark type of frames but they didnt have anything like that. The doc dialated my eyes like dialated peoples ha and they were real blurry for a while. I had a hurrd time seeing things and errthang juss seemed real bright. I cant wait to get my glasses, the hurrd purt is being able to get use to them after not wearing them in almost a month. Praise God though that'll ill be able to see better. I dont want contacts cuz thurr juss too much trouble to take curr of. So hopefully next week, I'll have a new fixed up curr and some new specs.

Went to eat w/the fam bam tribe at cheesecake factory today for lunch. It was the first time they had it and they enjoyed themselves. My dad had this clam chowder soup that was wow really big but really good. I think I may order soup or something next time I go. My sister had this chicken marsala that was also pretty good. I had my usual calamari, though I think I need to expand my horizons next time I go thurr. I always usually get the same thing, either some type of pasta or calamari. I think next time I go I'll really look at the menu and see wha to get.

After we walked around the brea mall for a while. I ran into alaine over thurr, she looked funny cuz she juss got out of skool and so she was in some type of elf costume. Ha! Then it was kinda weird cuz I asked her to intro. her friends to me cuz they were staring at me from a distance, so it made me a little weird. AGh but no she didnt do that, she went on to complain bout how tired she was and how she didnt get any sleep cuz she was wrapping all these gifts blah blah. agh!

Wow this is a first in a while 3 entries in a row huh! ha Work was pretty fun tonite, though I felt extremely tired. I juss wanted to sleep, the kids were pretty easy and mellow which was good. We orderd 1o pizzas and within 5 min 30 kids scarffed it down and thurr was nothing left! We played dodgeball at the end of the nite which wore me out. My voice feels a little sick from all the yelling and stuff. It was fun though, it brought back memories from playing it at spirit games. How hardcurr the game got, w/errone getting so serious and tense! haha

So I have nothing else to really say except I found something interesting on myspace last nite. Quite interesting indeed...anyway, hurrs something for yall to do and read...

10 random things about me:
10. I have this blue western water polo parka that my purrent got me when i was in waterpolo freshmen yurr in hs. I dont even whurr it anymore and it was freakin $100!
9. My knees hurt from slidding during dodgeball tonite
8. I saw this really d0pe childrens book that i need to buy called, 'the indescribable gift.'
7. I take these two kids to skool errrtues. and thurs. morning
6. I like nice clothes yay!
5. Ive gone to cheesecake factory this past month like 3 different times! ha
4. Senior yurr in hs the cheerleaders made up a churr for me yay!
3. Im not a hurrdcurr hol em player...more less an occasional player
2. I keep a lot of sentimental stuff cuz i like to go back and reminsce
1. I like to bring up memories of the past and replay them in my mind haha

9 places i've visited:
9. Downtown daygo i think its called the gas lantern?
8. 3 different catholic missions up towards the valley area
7. Julies house in t-mec
6. Some weird place in the mountains of arizona
5. The mall of america in minn.
4. Our Lady of Angels Cathedral
3. St JOseph's hospital
2. St. lukes temple city
1. maui, kauai! hawaii!!!!!

8 things i wanna do before i die:
8. Have kids yay!
7. earn my teaching credentials and teach a class
6. get out of cypress
5. have a full course meal
4. get a brand new curr
3. Be able to touch a student's life.
2. write a book perhaps?
1. go to confession and receieve the eucharist

7 ways for a girl to win my heart:
7. Someone who has goals and ambitions
6. organized w/thurr life and schedule
5. anal about time! haha
4. Someone thas so simple
3. someone who likes to talk and likes to listen
2. loves spirit games! haha jk practicing catholic+purt of a community+Love GOd=perfect!
1. who likes to be corny sometimes...

6 things i believe in:
6. that errone has a special vocation in thurr life
5. cathoilc church is #1
4. thurrs a reason for errthang that happens
3. being on time=kindness
2. love at first site
1. the youf and young people are the wave of the next future

5 things i'm afraid of:
5. gettnig shot up
4. getting ran over
3. not getting into csudh
2. gettng my car jacked again
1. Losing a loved one

4 of my favorite things in my bedroom:
4. my blog books
3. My journal
2. corkboard w/all my pics
1. tubs full of junk

3 things i do everyday:
3. shower
2. Eat
1. Pray

2 things i've been thinking about constantly lately:
2. SH
1. agh stupid christmas gifts that i have to buy!

1 person i want to see right now:
1. secret! hahahaha



I have a full next week ahead of me!

"IM going crazy crazy thinking about you baby..."im done, im out GOd bless!

Presents and Presents and More Oh My!

"Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, JEsus Christ..."

I really need to start picking up on the shopping again. I think I need organize whurr I'm going to get each gift. Praise GOd skool is over now, so maybe in the mornings I'll use that time go shopping. Yeah, I think I'll do that this way the malls and errthang aren't as packed. Agh then I have to wrap all these gifts. I remember 2 yurrs ago, jeanne wrapped all my gifts for me. Ha that was fun cuz she enjoyed doing it haha

Agh, thurrs always traffic down valleyview in the mornings. It takes me forever to get to skool after I exit the freeway. I dropped off the two kids to skool in the morning, then went on my way to skool. Its kinda funny dropping them off cuz I feel like umm a parent, dropping off thurr kids. 'Okay now kids be good, listen to your teacher, and play well w/others! Dont forget to finish all your lunch too!' haha Thurr good kids, its funny listening to them converse bout skool. Brings back memories of being back in high skooool. High skool one of the best times of my life...ha

So I dloaded ringtones to my phone but I wanted the real ones w/the lyrics to it. Except I guess it doesnt fit for my phone or something? AGh so I had to settle w/the ones w/o the lyrics. I had dloaded like 4 different tones, took me a while to figure out how to retrieve them all. Once I figured out it though, it was fun I juss wanted to dload more. I have Jesus walk, My boo, lovers and friends, and confessions. I need to get a new celly, mines all jacked now. JOhn told me those razrs are whack cuz theyre all looks, not too many special features on them. So I think imma wait and settle w/wha I have until the nokia flip phone comes out. Hopefully it comes out hurr in the US.

We had our city wide annual christmas purtty yesterday. The food was catored by the mad greek, their chicken is really good. I love getting together w/the whole city, including city council, and all the commissioners. Stanton is a really great city, juss cuz errone is so friendly and easy to get along with. Especially our city council, they're d0pe, it's rare to find a group of council members who get along so well. Our city council does thurr job in looking out for the good of the community. I guess thurrs a brand new home depot that opened the other nite in stanton. THen we have so many other places opening up, its amazing how fast the city is growing.

So we did our secret santa gift exchange, I bought this smores kit and target, It was only like $10, so I thought it was a cool gift. Well, our gift exchange is always the one whurr you can steal it and trade w/others. Errgift I got yesterday was jacked from me! Agh! I had first this real nice skillet, that was taken from me. Then I took someones nice champagne and champagne glasses, and well that was taken from me. So I ended up w/this am/fm wrist radio, well that was taken from me too! agH! In the end I ended up taking the City managers gift, a shrek 2 dvd! ha! Dang he gave me the guilt trip for that one though...haha fun times!

This past week has worn me out, w/all this dance coordination w/the kids. Its frustrating cuz some of them arent paying attention and juss messing around. THen I get upset and then ahhhh praise God though I have some really good parents, who have been so supportive in all my programs. It makes me feel special ha yeah sounds corny but it means a lot when you have such supportive people of your programs. By next wed. after this whole thing is over, I'll fee a little more relaxed. ha

I finally checked out the new city hall at buena park. Its nice, but ehh errthang is too spaced out. YOu could get lost trying to figure out whurr to go for certain things. On top of all that, I didnt like how no one greeted you when you walked in the door. No sense of hospitality thurr at all. Well the only reason I had gone thurr was cuz I had to life scan fingerprints done. They do that for all people who work w/kids. Its a high-tech finger print scanning system. THis is like 3rd time I've gotten it done. Its so funny cuz thurr was this guy thurr who looked familiar like I had gone to hs with him. Turns out it was him ha he told me he thought I looked familiar too but forgot my name. HA which is funny cuz I forgot his name too.

After work rushed home changed, then went to get pizza for my kids @ little ceasars. Those $5 for a large one. Freakin aye, I went thurr to pay for it and they didnt except cards!! OH man only check or cash. Wha places dont accept debit/credit currds now a days?! So, I had like $12 cash on me, bought 2 of the 3 then had to go and get cash at the murket then go back and get the pizza. Sasha and I combined classes for that nite I didnt realize how big her class was compared to mine. It was coo though we had an abuduance of food like we did on tues. THis time mostly junk food and pizza.

Aftewurrds I was sitting in the office chit chatting w/errone in thurr. We were talking bout the purrties in our class and I was telling chris and gabe how my tues. class has the best purties. I tell them all its potluck and then they bring all kinds of good food. I remember last yurrs how we even had lechon! haha yess! I dont like having junk food purties, I like having real food ones! Its funny cuz whatever left overs I have, I always bring it up stairs w/me. haha

Please pray for a couple of my coworkers who are having a difficult time right now. thanks!

Okay well its time for another edition of...

Holla Back!

Gerri Skeen: Camarae Casillas has just passed away. My daughter and I knew her from cheerleading. She was very sweet.
Wow, I didnt no she had past away, thanks for sharing. May her soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed rest in God's mercy and love. Im sure she was a very swe3t person. Its okay she's a lot happier now!
Bro: gud pm,bro.HH 2nite,plz brng food n drnkz!
Agh, no were not in the same stupid household no more
Fred: lets go to vegas, friend! gambling n eating yes!
Agh yeah we should go to vegas like real soon!
burr: agh that was long blog, i think i'm dizzy, haha! i hope u drive blue curr forever friend hahahaha!
Agh thurr now you and quit bugging me bout bloggin! and no im not going to drive blue curr forever yess!
burr: agh take me to cheesecake friend! what about me!!? haha
Agh okay lets go to cheesecake factory friend and get you fat! haha yess!
burr: agh finally you blogged! you're alive! HAHAHAAHAA
Agh I finally blogged...im alive alive alive forever more...haha
burr: agh u never blog anymore friend! it's like u feel off the face of the earth hahahahahaa!
Agh I blog now yay! agh im alive friend i didnt fall of face of teh earf
crispy: hi
Hi crisp!
monica: what an inspiring entry mr. jFish.. you're awesome good luck on them exams! ..gonna be praying for yah!
Hey thanks for your prayers! im not awesome, you are! Ü Praise God!
burr: agh get into csudh friend haha!
Agh i know friend!!
burr: whoa it's been a long time since u blogged friend!
Agh i know friend...well no need to worry anymore!
Bro: HH 2nite at ur house. ur in charg of da food n drinks. thnx n God bless!
Agh read 1st response to your tag
j'me (hoj): 2 Peter 3:14 - Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
Amen!
Fredster (beta): agh, dont sue the Church, it wont benefit u. jus be happy with an apology
Agh to sue the church is shaddy friend
Fredster (beta): agh, "note to self". pay $1
Agh $1
Jon: i dont know why the song isnt playing... ur blog is either really popular... or its that theres too much loading on ur site taht the song forgets to load... maybe geocities is just being shady
I dont knwo either, how bout you look into it and fix it for me?! haha yay!!! thanks!
burr: good thing u read the article! totally touched my heart!
I know friend...it touched my puso too
john: iPod...you know you want it! =)
Yeah I know, I would love to have one! WHy not get me one for christmas?!




AGH! i dont like this tagboard on the bottom! someone fix it!!

"I am, the one you denied/Brushed off every time I tried, but I'm alright..."im done, im out God bless!