114 days until....

i can't wait!

come and follow me, i will bring you home

a couple days ago i posted about meeting with my parish's young adult group. well, we met today and it was quite interesting! see, when the lady from the church contacted me, i assumed she simply wanted to point me in the direction of the YA group so that i could be a member. after further conversations and emails, i got the feeling that she wanted to be more than a member. boy, was i right.

i came to the meeting not knowing what to expect, but i told god in my prayers that i would be open to wherever he wanted to take me, as long as he would be there to help. the lady introduced me to the core group of YA's, and we all had a mini faith sharing about where we came from, who we are, and where our relationship with god was. towards the end of the meeting, she proposed that i be the "leader" or advisor to the group. i was truly taken aback! she had no idea who i was...she only knew that i had a bit of "experience" with YA's, yet she trusted me enough to be an advisor?!

after she left the meeting and i was alone with the core group, i confessed to them that all i wanted to do was join and be a member. however, if they needed me to be more than that, i would definitely be open to it. i told them that i would do whatever they wanted me to do, because all i wanted was to serve. i had a flashback to last sunday when father mentioned in his homily that we should all take life as it comes. deal with what god gives you, and have faith that all will turn out ok. i tried to keep this in mind during our conversations, because i really started to get scared. i am afraid to take on so much responsibility so fast...i'm afraid to have these people depend on me to lead them. i guess it's that fear that helped me realized i was doing the right thing. when i was chosen to be a leader in liwanag, i was afraid. the person who chose me told me that if i wasn't afraid, then it wasn't meant to be.

since i've moved back i've always been searching for a way back to the church. i've been wanting to be more than just a sunday church goer. i always felt like he was calling me toward something, but i didn't know what. i'm not entirely sure if this is it, but i'm rolling with it.

i'm going to have to dig up the binders and email my resources (ahem, kirs and fran and angie) to help me remember all the stuff we used to do. i even mentioned to them my affiliations with log, audience, and dwtl, and they already want to do a socal trip to get ideas and more inspiration! i really hope my socal peeps would be willing to help me out on this one.... ;) they also have had no exposure to praise music! (i know! what a tragedy!) i'm hoping to especially help out in this department.

in liwanag, we'd always tell our members that our mission was to spread light to those in darkness. how easily we sometimes forget about this mission when we graduate and move on in our lives. i know i forgot...and quickly. maybe i wasn't ready to do it all again a couple years ago. who knows if i'm ready now? i certainly am not sure...but what i am sure of is that i trust god. if this is what he wants from me, i'll do my best to oblige.

so right now i'd like to ask you all for prayers -- prayers for the group and prayers for myself, that we do what is right in the eyes of God, and that we take our inspiration from the Holy Spirit. i've gotten through many difficult and challenging times due largely in part to the prayers of those i love, and i hope this time is no different.

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

forbes.com rated san francisco #8 on its top 10 best cities to buy a home list. just thought all of you who have ever considered moving up here should know. remember the cul de sac, people!?! anyway, we need more friends up here, so think about it! :)

prayers are needed...

for friend that is very close to my heart. she's one of my oldest friends and she's going through some tough and uncertain times. please help me in praying for her. thank you.

fading fast

a couple days ago i realized that i only have ONE MORE MONTH of summer left. can you feel my heart breaking? i'm so not ready to do anything more than sit at home watching tv and surfing the web. pitiful, i know, but oh so true.

don't get me wrong, i do try and get a daily dose of exercise in and go to the gym. i've been really into taking classes -- mostly cardio, some dance and the ocassional pilates session. most of the instructors use certain types of music to get people all hyped up, and sometimes they'll throw in a hip-hop song that i really like. when this happens, i totally sing along (well, more like lip-sync) and in turn will miss a step or totally do the wrong thing because i'm really just listening to the song and not the instructor. people look at me like i don't have rhythm, but really, it's because i'm so into the song.

i've been working out pretty regularly now and haven't seen too much of a difference physically. i figured out (with the help of my bro) that it's because i still am not eating as healthy as possible. i stay away from fast food most of the time (except when david insists on getting it!) and i totally cut soda out of my diet. but aside from that i'm not counting calories or anything. i hate dieting! i wish you could just work out and not have to control your diet and still lost weight. grrr...

so there a a couple new things that are going to take place in my life in the next few weeks. if you're interested, read on:

1. i'm joining my bro, sis, and cousins in dancing for their halau. my bro and sis have been dancing hula/tahitian for a long time, and my cousin, pj, just joined. i've been wanting to join for a long time but was either too busy or lazy. i'm so excited!


2. i'm meeting up with my church's young adult group! many, many months ago they passed out a survey where parishoners were to write down what they think the church could improve on. i made the comment that i hadn't seen the young adults active in the church, and that while the youth group was strong, the young adults were nowhere to be found. someone from the church contacted me and is coordinating a meeting with some other young adults and myself. we'll see what comes about from all of this. i definitely feel God's hand working...i wonder what he has planned!
   
3. i'm going on a cruise! to mexico!


4. i'm moving in with david. (more regarding this to follow later...)
   

so there you have it. life around these parts is never boring. oh, on a side note, check this out for your viewing pleasure! my david has invested in a very, very expensive camera and has been working on his personal portfolio. he's getting better and better every day at taking shots, and i'm really proud of how he's progressed.

here are just a few random photos from my good ol' point and shoot cannon!

the newest addition to the dioneda clan...noah douglass! he was a day old in this pic, which was taken about a month ago. the number of guys in our family are increasing!

my cousins and i at the most recent cotillion

mi familia...with all the s.o.'s included. this was at billy and pj's bday celebration at horizons in the city. my friends told me to hold my arm away from my body so it won't look fat...then they laughed when they saw this pic. suuuper posed.

and the following pics were from a night in downtown fullerton. that weekend was one of the best weekends i've had all summer. i'd almost forgotten how much i missed being around all my old friends...it's always good times with these people!

starting off sloooow...

you know how much we looove to dance!

i love this pic. except i don't like how derrick's hair looks. oops, i mean...i looooooove derrick's bangs in this pic. they look hot.

goodbye, fullerton. until we meet again...

help, i'm trapped!

last night i stayed at david's place while he was working the night shift at the hospital. he came home this morning, and after checking his email and finding out that his camera package was shipped out to my house today, left so that he could be over there to answer the door. i was still sleeping, so i stayed behind...

only to be woken up by a louder than life, piercing fire alarm. i figured it was a test (david says they do that periodically in the morning time), but it didn't turn off right away and it was starting to hurt my head! so i tried to quickly gather my stuff to leave...but the door would not open. the lock was stuck -- this had happened once before so i knew what the problem was, but that time david was on the other side of the door and was able to get in.

i tried desperately for 20 min. to try and get it open, but to no avail. that was at 8:45am. i've been wandering aimlessly on the internet since then, while formulating a plan in my head to escape should there really be a fire. i wanted to call david right away to rescue me, but i decided to let him sleep for a bit before i make him get up.

on another note...

i looooooooooove. love. love. summer! :) (um, don't ALL teachers?!) i randomly see families from school at the grocery store/mall/gym and they all ask me, "so....what are you doing nowadays?" in a tone that suggests i must be bored out of my mind. i am the complete opposite of bored. i stay up really late at night, wake up early/late depending on the errands i have to run that day, hang out with the family, go out on the weekends, visit malls with david and window shop. i'm not really doing anything super productive, except for wedding planning, and i'm loving it.

this weekend we're going to sunny southern california yet again for the dayz picnic. i've missed dayz so much and was excited to find that i'm available this weekend to attend the function. it'll be nice to catch up with old friends again.

did you know...?

i was tagged by my good friend *reen* to give 6 random factoids about myself. here they are, in no particular order:

1. i harmonize to songs i hear on the radio. just typing that sentence made me laugh. whenever a song comes on that i like, i randomly try to harmonize with the melody. sometimes i can pick out the harmony if i listen real closely, but most other times i fail. miserably. in fact, i think this random habit of mine has made my singing worse. and, if my harmony is really bad, i can practically hear joyce laughing at me in side my head.

2. i hate doing laundry. so much so that when i run out of stuff to wear, i go shopping. yup, i'd rather spend money to buy new clothes than wash the ones i already have. i think my old roomies can attest to this. actually, it's not only laundry that i hate doing -- it's any kind of housework -- dishes, cleaning, cooking. man, i am so NOT the homemaker.

3. while living in irvine, i visited a dance studio 3 times with the intention of taking a class. i chickened out all 3 times. the first time i just drove by and didn't get out of my car. the second time i made it to the clear glass window that looks inside one of the rooms and became a spectator for an hour. the third time was the same as the second...pitiful. my old roommate melissa even offered to come with me after i told her the story. alas, i think the opportunity of my career as a dancer has long passed.

4. i (secretly) wish i could be the mother of multiples. twins, triplets...sextuplets, maybe? see, i've been really into watching jon & kate plus 8 on TLC. i practically watch it anytime it's on! everytime i watch the show, i get this overwhelming desire to have kids. i realize that it's a reality show and that they probably make it seem more fun than it really is, but i guess i just loooove the idea of a big family. i always have. now, all this is coming from a woman with no kids yet. we'll just have to see if the desire remains the same after i have a couple.

5. i am very much an introvert AND extrovert. i love to be social, meet new people, be in the spotlight, and hang out with friends. i like hanging out in big groups, as well as small ones. at the same time, i need my moments alone. there are days (weeks even!) where i am perfectly fine staying at home or not talking to anyone. that's why whenever anyone asks me to describe myself i never know what to say, because i am so much the walking contradiction.

6. i love playing board games with my family. we first got into playing cranium a few christmas' ago. i introduced it to my family after playing it in irvine. then we became addicted to taboo. david and i also had a period in time when we would play sequence multiple times a night. (i was introduced to sequence by the very person who tagged me to write this post!) catch phrase made its way into our family parties -- and we have had some pretty funny catch phrase sessions. this summer, the name of the game is monops! 4 hour monopoly sessions are not uncommon in our household!

YOU'RE IT!:
1. david
2. franchu
3. regina
4. emely
5. derrick
6. gian (again!)
7. angie
8. kirsten
9. kathee
10. wing

let's see who responds FIRST!!!