Saturday, January 21, 2006

ao1 gangsta's fo' life.

check it out.

http://www.walkforlifewc.com/index.htm


2.5 miles, easy.

...but of course, supporting the cause is what's driving us to attend this walk today. let's pray it'll be a peaceful one. i'm sure it will be, but then again you never know with these things! hurray for choosing life.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

not again.

so i'm here in a deserted lounge on the usf campus...all by my lonesome because nobody in their right mind would be on campus during winter break. and, why, you might ask? i locked my keys in my car. again. i really do not know how many times i have done this since i had a car (waaaay back in the day during high school), but i know it exceeds the number of fingers on both my hands.

i'm a little scared because no one is around, but it's ok because there's security cameras all around and if something happens to me at least it'll be captured on tape. yikes! =/

anyways, i just finished my last intercession class...we had group presentations today on various topics concerning exceptional children. i must say that although i absolutely hate group presentations, i think i may be getting used to them. i just think it's so hard to coordinate your schedules with other people, and there are some who free up their time to do the work and others that either don't really have the time or don't want to put in the time. then, sometimes if you're busy on the day everyone is free, they look at you like you committed a crime! but it has gotten better because my school chums (as em calls them) and i have been getting to know each other more and we're actually quite close nowadays! they're a unique bunch, though i think some of the girls may still be stuck in high school. oh well, what can you do.

can i just say that i am suuuuper excited for this weekend?!?! i can't wait to go to socal and have fun with everyone!!! i really wish i could get there on friday, but i have work till the late afternoon and all of the cheap flights in the evening were booked up....so, i was able to secure a flight for saturday for only $49!!! isn't that a steal? well, it's only for one-way cuz davey and i will drive up on monday, so it all worked out. i can't wait...it's all i can think about! :) geez...how pathetic of me! well, this is what happens when you get older...you live for those rare weekends when you can party it up, relax, and spend time in the company of good friends without having to worry about anything else. oh, how i miss socal!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

vocations

for all you teachers out there...

Like Captured Fireflies
by John Steinbeck

In her classroom our speculations ranged the world.

She aroused us to book waving discussions.

Every morning we came to her carrying new truths, new facts,
new ideas cupped and sheltered in our hands like captured fireflies.

When she went away a sadness did not go out.

She left her signature upon us.

The literature of a teacher who writes on children’s minds.

I’ve had many teachers who taught us soon forgotton things.

But only a few like her who created in me a new thing, a new
attitude, a new hunger.

I suppose to a large extent I am the unsigned manuscript
of that teacher.

What deathless power lies in the hands of such a person.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

you go and talk to Him...

i know i've expressed my difficulties with prayer lately, but today there was a turnaround. and it all started with a conversation...

i was making my way toward school, away from studying at starbucks and getting my daily dose of caffeine when a buddy of mine called me to continue our earlier conversation that took place a few hours before. it was a simple conversation -- no more than a few short minutes. she asked me where i was going and i told her i was off to pray at the big SI church before i would head over to class that would last for 5 hours. because prayer hasn't exactly been prevalent in my daily life i considered my trek over to the church to be significant, though i hadn't thought about what i was actually going to pray about while i was there. i just knew that i wanted -- no, needed -- to pray. then she said, "ok, you go and talk to Him." we promptly said our good-bye's and see you soon's...all the while those words hanging in the air with me not even fully noticing they were there.

i walked into the church and toward my usual spot (in front of the tabernacle with Mama Mary and the Baby Jesus on top), sat down and realized i didn't know how to begin. geez...just a few weeks without prayer and i had already forgotten.

i became aware of my friend's words at that moment...talk to Him. and that was all i needed to begin a heartfelt conversation with someone whom i missed very much, and who missed me even more.

thanks, my popular friend.
how i miss thee.



Friday, January 06, 2006

if i could just sit with you a while...

so it's been really hard for me to pray lately. i don't know what it is, but something's just not right. and the sad thing is, all i have to do is make the first move and i know He'll make it all right again. another sad thing is that there are so many people that need prayers...and it's not helping anybody if i indulge in this separation.



on a brighter note, i was able to talk on the phone with some friends that i really miss!!! one of my resolutions was to k.i.t. more with everyone...now that is a challenge for someone who doesn't naturally like to talk on the phone like some people do (*ahem* reegis catalla...), but it felt good to talk with them if even only for a few moments. hurray for books, marathons, and growing pains!




i really miss this...=(

...if you could just hold me

moment by moment

till forever passes by.


Monday, January 02, 2006

i've been sitting here contemplating on whether or not i should write a 2005 year in review blog seeing as though my memory is pretty much nonexistent most times and i don't think i can recall many things from this past year. but, after much thought i decided to give it a go...after all, the year was indeed quite interesting:

2005, a year of growing up: in the professional sector, i made quite a few accomplishments i had not anticipated. i got promoted to supervisor and was fully in charge of my first case! i had to learn how to make executive decisions and how to handle crazy parents (of whom some were crazier than their kids, sad to say!). it was also very challenging supervising tutors working on my cases...i really had to get used to giving constructive criticism and reprimanding some that weren't getting the job done. that was really difficult, especially when i had to confront one of my tutors who was leaving early during sessions...she quit the next week. i also had to learn how to handle money, which i can honestly say i hadn't really handled it at all. i'm still working on that, and with each penny saved (if even that) i get a little better.

2005, a year of friendship: i made so many new friends that i felt like i've known for hella years, and deepened my relationships with one's that i "grew up" with at uci. some friendships suffered greatly due to "rumors" and long months of non-existent keeping in touch. but, in the end all things were made beautiful and i can truly say that the friendships i've hung on to are worth more than gold. i remember the clubs and dances we rarely went to...the weddings we cried and didn't cry at...the drama we usally go through and was not at all surprising (our friendships wouldn't be as exciting without a little drama here and there!)...the rallies and concerts looked through different eyes...and the music.

2005, a year of music: and what a beautiful sound that music made throughout the year! noon mass choir sang beautiful enough to be compared to as a choir of angels. ao1 went off the charts, not in popularity but in heart and struggle. no matter what it was that we were unsure or nervous about, i always loved those few moments right before we were about to start a worship when everything sat still and our hearts were at peace with Him. those few moments of assurance from God made all the valley's worth it...and no matter what came before or after, the moments inbetween when we could be seen lifting our broken souls in prayer to God will always rest in my heart as some of the most profound moments of my life. my heart will not rest, until it rests in you...

2005, a year of drama: enough said. just kidding! what would we do without the exciting episodes of never-ending drama?! our lives would be quite dull without it.

2005, a year of losses: JPII gave his lasts breaths on April 2nd, 2005. we were driving to david's bball game and i remember not wanting to believe it because i was so counting on him to live until the next world youth day in germany (which was also a loss since i wasn’t able to go…but i guess it wasn’t in His plans.). but as much as i was upset about his passing, i was thankful for his life and the significant impact he made in mine...and in the world. totus tuus.

2005, a year of gains: pope benedict XVI was elected…he answered “yes” to God’s calling for reasons yet to be seen. david and i were both fortunately crowned as dons and the door to an educational opportunity was pushed wide open! furthermore, i was again given the chance to work with children at a private school, AND teach my own little class on the fundamentals of Catholicism. fundamentals are the building blocks of fun!

2005, a year of good-bye’s: i said good-bye to a world that has made the most impact on my twenty-four years of life thus far, and sometimes i think that i wasn't ready to yet. now, every time i’m in a church during mass, my physical body is there but my heart is somewhere faraway, peacefully lying amidst the brown walls, dirty carpet, and spirit-filled friends of interfaith. with every one bread, one body sang, i pray that my voice carries those 400 miles south to the place where it all began. i miss it so much…but i realize now that i have to just let it go and concentrate on the things right in front of me.


and here we are, on the dawning of 2006 and i foresee it as a year of FOCUS. focusing on bringing light to my family, my friends, and my david. a focus on a new life and new beginnings. a focus of faith and love. a focus on a revolution of hearts






thank you, kj, for a new year.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

the things you'd do for a picture...

HAPPY 2006!!!

well, my new year's didn't exactly start off on the right foot! we actually missed the freakin' countdown!!! so, nobody in my family was paying attention...we were talking and eating and just goofing off when somebody says, "hey it's 5 minutes till the ball drops!" so we scrambled to get the wine ready and passed it out to everyone. my uncle shouted, "two more minutes!" and so i told my dad to take a picture of my brother, sister, and me. out of the corner of my eye i see my two cousins jump high in the air (we always jump when the clock turns to midnight...supposedly it makes you grow. go figure...) and i think to myself "are they practicing or something?" and then after the picture is all done everyone is greeting each other happy new year and we've missed it!!! =/ i think my uncle meant 2 SECONDS and not 2 minutes. no one even shouted out the coundown as we usually do!!! grrr....well, i suppose the good thing is that i have a picture of me and the sib's taken exactly during the first seconds of 2006. wowmomwow.


so i basically started the new year off LATE and taking a PICTURE...sounds like classic dee, huh?!

5...4...3...2...wait a minute!




before the drinks...






after the drinks...

haha, yeah right. look at my two innocent cousins trying to "act" drunk.




our signature jump at midnight. anyone else's family do this?!?!