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!