graduation.

i woke up early today to attend my brother's graduation at Hope. :) we came an hour earlier and we were able to choose a good seat. it was good to see old faces of my teachers before. five years ago, i also walked in the same chapel, which is now called Hope Theater Hall. :) they renovated it and it's so different from the one we used before. it's better, more improved and equipped now. :)

we had a family picture before the program started. here's my step mom. i think this is the first time i'll be posting a picture with her in it. we're not really close, but we're civil. :) she's nice though. i think im just used to without a mom. ;)

here's Papa and Hans. :) my brother is taller than my Dad now. haha. ;)

and here i am with my little brothers. :) i love them!! and i'd do anything for them. :) the program started at 9am. the honor students entered first, then each class marched in led by their respective advisers. Hans' adviser is Mrs. Carreon, which was also my adviser when i was graduating. :) we sang the national anthem and school song. some students delivered their speech. but the part i liked most aside from when Hans went up the stage was the encouraging message delivered by a guest speaker, Ms. Belen Lim. she's a very successful woman, but all these success only made her humble. and it made me admire her for that. she shared her experiences when she was a student, the lessons she learned throughout her 30 years in the banking industry, and her turning point during a church camp. :)

speaking of camps, we're off tomorrow to Pampanga. and we'll be back on Sunday afternoon. i know that God will work in this conference. i pray for revival and restoration. just like a line in a song says, "Our heart, our desire, is to see the nations worship.." . nothing is worth more than giving your life to the Lord. :) even though i have a lot of failures, i know that i'll always be going back to the Lord. because of His unfailing love. :) we may be hard, put a wall around our heart for fear of being rejected and hurt again, but trust me, open your heart to Him, give Him all the pieces, and He'll mend it for us. :)

have a happy Holy Week everyone! :) share soon when i get a chance. :)

and tomorrow is always gonna be better than today.

TGIF

hello friends! :) so sleeeeeepy today. but im happy it's Friday already. :) in less than a week, i'll be in Pampanga attending our annual summer conference. i can't imagine it's so near already. anyway.. here are some pictures of what has been going on in the past few days.. aside from work. :)

Hannah already graduated from kindergarten. :) with honors in both English and Chinese class. im proud of her. :) next year, she'll be in grade one already. :)

last Tuesday, this beautiful girl turned 10. :) im happy to see her grow into a sweet, young lady. :) we celebrated her birthday at Korean Village in Malate. yum foods! i loved their ice cream too that i bought some and brought it home. :) twas a great night with family. :)

yesterday, Joy, Grace, and i went to visit Faith and her baby boy - Zion, who's one week old today. :) he's so tiny and red. babies indeed are adorable. :)

here's my Dad and i. :) taken in Fort while strolling around the new Burgos Circle. we had a nice dinner in Cafe Juanita then capped our meal with desserts in UCC. :) sorry for the quality of the picture, it was taken only with a phone cam. ;)

and last but not the least, here's what keeps me busy lately.. Plants vs. Zombies!! haha. do you play it too? i saw my cousins play a couple of times before. even my brother plays it. and out of curiosity, i tried, and well, i got hooked. :) it's a fun game and i love it. :)

that's all for now. im running late for our visitation. :) bye! hope to update soon. :)

TEN

Happy 10th Birthday Shobe!! :)

you're all grown up now. but you'll always be my baby girl. :)

i love you with all my heart. ♥

an encouragement.

"Life is full of things we can't do anything about, but which we are supposed to do something with. He himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame because of the joy." -Elisabeth Elliot

i am posting it here in case it is an encouragement to any of you in your current circumstances -- and so that next time great challenges enter my life (because they will), i may be reminded of our call.

quick post.

aileen and me. photo taken last week. haggard! tired and exhausted here.

when we are lazy to walk some more steps, we eat here at Genki Cafe which is just at the ground floor of Sanctuarium. we love their Tonkatsu rice topping and Kani Salad. :) for a change from the usual fastfood.

i just stayed home today. :) can't believe that another week is about to end. it's nice to be home alone.. i just realized how hard it is to have ten people under one roof!!! it just gets too noisy at times and you can't help it. when im older, i want a small family. :) im not a fan of big groups. even when it come to friends. it's HOT again today. nothing new. and i don't know whether to stay in the room or outside. i just kept wandering here and finally decided to have a long bath without using the heater. and that made me feel better. :) we cooked spaghetti here at home, and i fixed my table. saw some of my handouts and notes during college and missed the old days. :) when the sun was about to set, and it's okay to walk outside, i went to Yogi Haus with Dus and had some frozen yogurt. :) yummy!! :)

till here. church tonight. :) bye!!

then there's this...

intruder.

who do nothing

but think of herself.

no matter what it takes...

as long as she can benefit

from it.

i really

abhor her.

i tried many many times

to learn

to forgive,

to be kind,

to reach out.

but no,

i can't do it.

most especially

when i see her

hurt the people

i love.

she wants to be

the top of everything.

but i don't admire

nor look up to her

at all.

why?

because no matter

how many things

you know,

money you have,

expensive your clothes are,

you are still full of

pride.

and i don't see any

love in your heart.

you annoy me.

get into my nerves,

and i find you real ugly.

i hate you.

so sick,

and tired of you.

it's always been you.

you destroyed

a lot already,

and i won't let this

go on any longer.

getting my thoughts out

So here i go...

spent three days at the Sanctuarium with my cousins. visitors are few during daytime. so we spend time talking about just anything. time is fast when you're there. i wonder why. when people come, the same stories are told, same questions answered.

on Sunday afternoon at 2pm, we left Sanctuarium and headed to Manila Memorial Park in Dasmarinas, Cavite for the burial. we walked twice. family and friends walked alongside our family. and i saw just how everyone's support comforted the family. the service was quick, and was done within an hour.

these past few days, im spending time with Aileen. we are finding some important documents at their home that are necessary to transact some things like cancelling credit cards, paying bills and transferring of funds.

yesterday, my Dad was rushed to the emergency room because of hypertension. his blood pressure went up to 180!! =( i was so afraid and im not even home to go to the hospital right away. i felt so helpless and terrified. =( my brother was with him, and after 1 hour, the doctor sent him home and gave him meds and advised him to rest. can you do me a favor? please pray for him. thanks.

it's so HOT!! the dams are drying up, power running out which results to rotating brownouts, and plants are dying too. i can't imagine that it's been three months without rain! while it's still snowing on some parts of the globe. earthquakes are everywhere too. i receive news via text everyday and hear about earthquakes. you probably heard about the 8.8 magnitude quake at Chile last Saturday. it's scary. it's stronger than the one in Haiti. but both brought great damage. when that happens here, im sure buildings will collapse right away. *sigh* the end is really near. i don't think we still have 20 more years. 10 maybe? or 5? well, who can tell. nobody knows.

guess i'll stop here. i'll lie down and rest for awhile before going to church for the prayer meeting tonight. it's been awhile too.

thanks for your time, friends. :)