the latest dish :)

We were kind of slow with blogging this month, and we have really good reasons... which means, there's a lot to share on this post. The stories do pile up... so its time to dish them out.

Carl's been pretty serious studying for his his PMP certification.Its a credential offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) to certified individuals in the project management field. Carl started working for the LDS Church as an IT Project Coordinator in March, and being a certified PMP will surely add to his working knowledge in the field. He spent a lot of hours studying, sometimes until he'd "hit the wall" - meaning he's had information overload and will soon crash down. It all paid off though because he passed the exam when he took it on the 21st. Carl is now a certified Project Management Professional... in fact, the first thing he did after passing the exam was order business cards with his name printed as Carl Lorenz M. Canlas, PMP.

Carl's STUDY WALL

On the other hand, I have been pre-occupied as well. Aside from studying for the TOEFL (which BYU is requiring me to take before they reconsider my application for graduate school...I took the test on the 22nd), I've been spending at least 25 hours each week at the LDS Employment Resource Services in Riverton as a Service Missionary. It is a wonderful opportunity to come to work everyday and be of help to our brothers and sisters in their efforts to become more self reliant. With my current "non-eligible to work" status due to the stipulations of my visa, I realized (with a lot of Carl's help) that if I can not work even when I would have been offered one, I will do my best to help others find something for themselves. So every week from Monday to Thursday, I go to the Riverton Office Building wearing my missionary badge and doing the Lord's work.

Yes, people stare when they see me having lunch with Carl.

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Leisure wise, Carl and I have been pretty absorbed into other stuff too!

We've become fans of Dancing with the Stars Season 10...and we both think Evan Lysacek is really good. Though we now know that he lost to Nicole Scherzinger, I still like him a lot!

Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya's Paso Doble is our ultimate favorite routine

Of course, its NBA Playoffs time! Carl and I are hard core Laker fans - because Carl thinks they are amazing, and I love Kobe Bryant. We were so ecstatic when they defeated Utah Jazz, and we didn't care if we now live in Jazz town. (Thanks to Louie Liad for hosting Game 4). We are now hoping they beat the crap out of Phoenix Suns.

Oh, and because Carl is now a certified PMP, he took me to Outback Stakehouse for dinner on the 22nd. We were so full - fuller than when we ate at Makinochaya in Honolulu or Hokkaido in Long Beach (and those two are buffets). Their Blooming Onion is way better than fries, and their signature steak melts in your mouth. The best thing about dining at Outback that night was we only paid half of our bill. Carl received a $25 Outback gift card from work... because he's been so good with his job!

Did I mention we can have a free Blooming Onion on our next visit?

A couple of other fun stuff, we enjoyed a couple of fun Mario Wii games with Micah and Shey when they invited us over for lunch last Saturday... and Micah taught me a really cool African board game similar to the Filipino Sungka. Also, Carl and I are TRYING to be SEMI-VEGETARIANS...that is, less meat diet. Speaking of "vegetarians," we've purchased our tickets for Twilight Saga: Eclipse which opens in theaters on June 30th... and like Carl promised, we'll be watching Eclipse - IMAX!

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We've been tremendously blessed by our Heavenly Father. We've literally seen the Lord's hands in our daily challenges. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Jordan River Temple to feel closer to God's presence and offered Him our deepest love and appreciation for all that He has done for us. It also feels good to attend the temple with Carl because, even though I attend the Salt Lake City temple almost every Thursday by myself, spending a quiet moment together in the Celestial room is whole different spiritual experience.