thoughts on genesis 1 January 2, 2007

there seems to be a pattern in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. when God spake, He saw something good. rather, He created as He spake and saw it was good. spake and saw. this little alliteration formed in my mind. then i started asking myself, “how can i apply this to my life?” i didn’t get an answer from God until i was brushing my teeth [last night]. as i pondered, i realized when we speak a payer, we can see something good. praise God becoz (sic) as i’m writing this He impressed upon my heart some related verses. for example, i know there’s a verse in James 1:17 saying that “every good and perfect thing cometh from above.” as a christian, trials ought to be seen as good things too. it’s not like i can easily pray that God will send me good things in the form of trials. i think when God’s answer to a prayer is a “no” or “you just wait child”, that can be considered a trial.

wow, i never realized that Bible reading can be this eye-opening…and fun as i discover that God can manifest Himself as a still, small voice in my heart.

my goal for this new year of 2007 is to consistently read my Bible and maybe even maintain a Bible Reading Journal. oh, right now it seems so easy to do becase of the fact i am on a Winter Break from school. may God help me to manage my time wisely so i can stick to this goal.

cheers,

sayin’ hello to 2007

i’m livin’ it; 2007 is 2 days old. this is my graduation year. it has finally come. wow, time flew fast. i chatted with my former AFCS classmate, Kathleen, and found out she would graduate college in 2 years. nyek! when she graduates, i am only in my 2nd year of college! that’s why when the AFCS batch of 2005 will have a reunion, i hope i can still join even as a saling ket-ket. in english, like an extra person in a movie.

it has also been my 3rd new year here in canada. the celebration only keeps getting better and better. the last day of 2006 fell in a Sunday. grace baptist church had a “watchnight service” [?]. basically, the sunday night service was extended up to midnight. there was short preaching from the men of the church, potluck dinner, a Christian movie, and a prayer time that extended into the new year. unfortunately, my family missed the prayer time because we were invited to the alipio’s house to celebrate the new year.

what’s really odd with my new year’s celebration was the absence of the usual 10-second countdown into the new year. i think it was overlooked because of time constraints. my family, along with tito sammy in a convoy, was still on the way to alipio’s at around 11:30 pm. however, i think everyone gathering around the table to pray while holding hands made up for the the miss of the countdown and the prayer time at the church’s watchnight service.

we didn’t leave the alipio’s house until 6:08 am. totally insane i should say! my biological clock has been disrupted so i had to sleep throughout the day, until about 4 pm. it was like flying into a different timezone, you know. well, no pain no gain. as the night wore on, I’ve laughed hard enough after seeing a couple of entertaining karaoke perfomances from Tito Sammy, Steve Guinto, Alvir, and Hannah. the next time i get the chance, i’ll upload a video of Tito Sammy’s rendition of “I Will Survive”.

since i brought macki, my new macbook, i got a chance to talk with a couple of my friends from the Philipines. however, i let kezzi use macki most of the time throughtout night as she talked to her friends and played Neopets games with Chrian later in the night. well, what about me? i ended up enjoying the karaoke performances and, oh yeah, showing off the MagSafe power adapter of macki to a 4-year-old girl. hey, what can i do? macki is so irresistible to kezzi. haha, jk.

happy new year to you,

rubai

merry christmas! December 25, 2006

2006 christmas is our 3rd one here in Canada. praise the Lord. this year, it only got better because we have Tito Ronald visiting with us. He is my dad’s coworker sa Fort McMurray, Alberta. anyways, this year, again, we were invited to come over and eat at somebody else’s house: the Paed’s house. apparently, they were the former owners of our current house.

here are some pictures, taken just after we got home from the Paed’s house:

P.S. Yes, i have a MacBook!!! More details on that later. by the way, this is my first post in my blog using my macbook! =)

cheers,

rubai

i got the job! December 17, 2006

at 10:40 am of december 17, 2006, an e-mail was sent to my inbox. the subject line read the following:

“Congratulations you are part of the team!”

in a nutshell, i am now officially hired to tutor Math 10 and Science 10 online for 6 months, 3 days a week or so, for $10/hour.

wow. i can’t believe it. God did answer my prayer even though one night (dec 14) i was standing in the middle of a 20-person crowd and nervously speaking about my thoughts on this project. i honestly thought that because i failed in the opportunity to “sell” myself to the employers, i would not be hired. i guess God have other plans.
other GP Sabres (our school name) were also selected to be part of the team:

Yousef, Rachelle, Sofie, David, Danny, Adrian

double wow. it seems that they hired everyone who applied for the job. hmm.

basta, i’m excited and nervous on tutoring kids within BC limits. after the excitement of learning i got the job, questions started forming in my mind. what if i can’t answer a kid’s question on Science 10? how about in math 10? what if ______? fill in the blanks, you get the idea. i also cringe on the idea of speaking to strangers (grade 10s) over the internet, through the use of a headphone, to explain my answers to them. i wonder if i am required to do that or not. *sigh*

well, despite the anxities i listed above, i am overall excited for this opportunity. hmm, since i got the job, maybe i should get that MacBook i’ve been eyeing on for months! rj is concerned he won’t have any computer time since i have to be logged on for 2 hours every 3 nights a week.

i’ll prayingly see…

cheers,

rubai

i like this quote November 29, 2006

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”

– John Ruskin

 

the weather tomorrow is…

 

 

 

sweet!!! more snow on the way…

 

lovin’ it,

 

why i want a wii! November 28, 2006

record snowfall = no classes today November 27, 2006

yes, the snow came and stayed! it snowed all day yesterday! it was awesome…and record-breaking—too early and too much of a snowfall.

i’ve never seen SO much snow in over 2 years of my stay here sa Canada. i don’t exactly know how many centimetres of snow fell yesterday but it’s a lot!

ok, how about this: when i walked outside yesterday, i stepped on ankle high of snow. Hmm, that doesn’t look a lot to me.

To give you visual idea, you just have to wait for my video of snowman-making, snow-throwing, and snow-related day right in our complex. That’s coming soon!

Later,

firefox 2 November 18, 2006

i already upgraded about 4 weeks ago. why don’t you?

Doubtful? Try the Five Minute Firefox Challenge. Or see some hilarious and clever Firefox Flicks.

P.S. i really hate the box around the firefox button above. if i remove it, i won’t be able to link to the Firefox download page. any suggestions

P.S. 2: no more annoying red box around the firefox button above. i just put “0” (yes,that’s a zero) in the Border property of the image.

pacquiao TKOs morales in 2 rounds!!!!

 

unfortunately, the pacquiao-morales fight 3 tonight was only available in pay-per-view.

but my ever handy searching skills paid off as i happened upon Kapuso GMA’s website and saw their newsreel. at first, i was doubting. did I read that right? i remembered myself doubting…more like in disbelief. i almost didn’t tell rj the good news because i really believed i didn’t read it correctly.

well, i told him eventually. and he had this genius idea to confirm it with his former classmate in AFCS, Danilie. and so i IMed her and she said:

oops. she said 3 ROUNDS! as i further my search for answers about the fight, 3 rounds is truly the fact. ABS-CBN’s website and INQ7.net confirmed my doubts. manny pacquiao defeated erik morales in 2 mins. and 57 secs. into 3rd round. wow.

rj was so ecstatic that he quickly have me type in his Windows Live Messenger :

PACQUIAO BEAT MORALES!!!!!

hehe. then, his friends started IMing him. i, on RJ’s behalf, gave them the details. whew. those moments i could really feel the filipino pride. i’m so proud of manny, of the Pinoys here in Canada, and around the world. i just missed Philippines all the more.

cheers,

 

another book series to read November 12, 2006

After church tonight, my wish has been fulfilled. After reading both the kids and adults version of the Left Behind series, I was thirsty of another book series to read. Well, Pastor Justin said that the Babylon Rising series is more addictive than the Left Behind series.

When I heard this, my inner woman said, “What?!! What could possibly be more addicting to Left Behind?” During my Left Behind reading era, I remember times when I can’t do homework, can’t stop reading so I could go to sleep, and can’t have my Bible reading time because of the addictive, thrilling pages of this eschathological series.

In the official website, the following hand-picked reviews from the readers erased my doubts and excited my reading appetite.

        “I loved it-read it in one night. I really enjoyed LaHaye’s Left Behind series, but this is a lot better in my opinion… more excitement and action. Keeps you enthralledand wanting to keep turning the page. I can’t wait till the next one.”                                —Scott A., Twin Falls, ID

 

“Michael Murphy, the hero of the series, is tough AND principled… a rare commodity among action heroes. While Murphy is a Christian, he is not a saint. He suffers loss, feels pain, and struggles with doubts. With incredible page-turning twists, readers are taken on a fantastic quest of adventure and suspense.” —Robert S., Washington, DC

I already placed a hold on both the Audio Book and Large Print Edition of Babylon Rising in Surrey Public Library. I absolutely can’t wait.

Maranatha,

rubai

another alternative name November 11, 2006

Your Hawaiian Name is:

Haimi Anani

What’s your Hawaiian Name?

driving skills blogthing

You Passed Your Driver’s Test

Congratulations, you got 7/10 correct. You’re a good driver – at least, when you want to be.

Are You a Good Driver?

my japanese name

Your Japanese Name Is…

Gin Imaidegawa

What’s your Japanese Name?

My Week in Numbers…

2 – Number of unit tests I have “aced”. Of course, through much prayer and study! 🙂

4 – Number of no-school days for my Remembrance Day weekend. Technically, 5 days because on Thursday (Nov. 9) I was out on an all-day field trip to the Advanced Molecular Biology Lab in UBC.

5 – Total number of people who went ice skating on Friday. Mario, Carolyn, Maria, Krystal and me laced up our skates (and for Carolyn and me, our helmets) in the North Surrey rec. At last, my week-long wish has been fulfilled. I realized I’m not that good a skater as I thought I was because I fell 2 times. Hehe.

8 -Through our lab activity part of our UBC Field Trip, I found out that I have the ALU insert in my TPA-25, which is found in my Chromosome 8. Basically, we did “DNA fingerprinting.” It was pretty cool but I conclude I have no future in the scientific field.

11 – My ranking in the first game of LaserTag with the Grace Baptist Youth. The admin commented on my performance as :”Very impressive OB-1.”

15 -Number of days until my earliest exam date to get my Novice license. That means I can drive on my own! Wow…I can’t believe it. When I was about 12 years old and still in the Philippines, I dreamed of being able to drive a car. Now, I’m living in that dream. Thanks be to God.

16 -The number of poses I did for my Graduation Photos today. I can’t wait for the previews! Since I didn’t really turn out well in the pictures (I looked kind of tired…) and the prices are ridiculously high, I think it’d be easy to choose which pictures to order.

47 + 5 + 6 = Number of regular-sized bobby pins, large bobby pins, and bobby pins with flower attached, respectively. What’s up with the bobby pins, you might ask. Well, last night, Sofie and I decided to go the salon together and get some hairstyling. She got a simple but smashingly striking flat-ironed hair. For me, an updo with lots of hair spray (and bobby pins!) and annoying stray hairs! 😉

Me in a skit… October 20, 2006

My first videography October 19, 2006

the blog’s purpose

3…2…1.

Okay, first post on the way guys!

So, why did I get a blog? Well, I’m in Grade 12 and I thought of blogging my first year college experience. Actually, I wanted to start my first post when I’m officially a college freshman. But, oh well, something in my life happened.

I got braces. Again. Just before I left for Canada, over two years ago, I went under orthodontic treatment for over a year. I didn’t get to finish my treatment in the Philippines so, unfortunately, I had to stop and take off my braces to give way for my retainers.

About two years later, after our big move to the SouthWestern Canada, God answered my prayers to get braces again! Yeah, I actually prayed for it. A long time ago that I can’t even remember. However, I can’t forget the day He answered (coz I have it written down here in my blog and in my school planner). 🙂

That day was October 17, 2006. Yes, it was a Tuesday and I have to miss class because my appointment was 1.5 hours long. Well, the procedure was…what should I say? I’m just excited to get braces!!! I realized that I dont’ get to wear the colorful elastic ties that day. Of course, I was gonna choose Green as my first color! And take note, first day pa lang one bracket off and I blame it on the A&W poutine I ate. Smart.

Next appointment: October 30, 12:30 pm

Argh, I have to miss part of Biology class for that one! Anyway, I can’t wait! 😉

Cheers,

rubai