8/27/11

Neophyte College Instructor needs your prayers...

Fall semester starts on Monday. For most students, back to school is pretty literal - back to homework and papers and projects and long sleepless nights for studying. This semester though, its not that basic for me. 

This semester, I will be on both sides of the classroom scenario. Twice a week, I am the student. Three times a week, I am the instructor. Yup -  And I am freaking out! On top of that, I am also a researcher 10 hours every week. And I also need to shape up my thesis. Yup! I am CRAZY.

This teaching thing is part of my program. Its optional, so only those who want to do the practicum do it. Why did I get myself into this then if it's optional?!?! Two things - I really want to be a professor [particularly in the Philippines] someday, and make a difference in young people's lives (here I go again saving my country one kid at a time), and I only get to teach at BYU once (who knows, but lets not get there for now). So I am doing this even if it takes more of my very little time. I know its crazy, and in the next couple of weeks I might not be in the zone, but I am grabbing this anyway.

I actually have 34 students only as of yesterday... still, this class is a FULL HOUSE!

So I need your prayers everyone... and I mean a lot. Last night, I had a dream about one of my students asking me a question I couldn't answer, not because I didn't know the answer but because I could not understand his British accent. I know... I am so anxious I am having NIGHTMARES!!! 

Carl is super excited... and very supportive. He said he's willing to eat on disposable plates or have microwaveable meals for the whole semester if that's what's going to make our life easier! Of course, he is going to be super busy too, with added responsibilities and the church websites expanding to localized versions. So if you guys don't hear from us in the next couple of weeks, don't worry because we're still alive - just buried under piles and piles of school work and job demands!

Oh, we have a crazy life!

8/15/11

We Heart San Francisco

Last weekend, we took our 5th out of town trip of the year - and 3rd trip to California (so far). Together with our friends Jayson and Norman, we drove to and spent the weekend in and around the city of San Francisco.

Reason number 1: PASSPORT RENEWAL. I know. I already attempted to do this last summer. But due to some complications with processing time, I ended up getting an extension of passport validity instead. This time, it was all smooth and easy. The Philippine consulate at Sutter St. in San Francisco opens at 9am, but you can get there early and put your name on the EARLY BIRD list. After 9, they take that list down and you would have to FALL IN LINE to get a number. So we got there at like 8:30 am and I put my name on the early bird list. We finished everything before 10 am! AWESOME... Now I have to wait for 6 - 8 weeks for my new passport (that means OCTOBER). I will have an official ID with my married name on it!

Reason number 2: RETURNING MISSIONARIES. Carl and Norman were companions when they served in San Francisco. Jayson served in Oakland. Now, those two missions have merged, and it is now called California Oakland/San Francisco Mission. It was crazy driving around Oakland and Daly City and San Francisco - on every corner, about every two minutes...I would hear something like: "That's where we did our laundry!" or "We biked this slope once and we were so tired!" or "Didn't Sis/Bro so and so live there? right?". They were having a blast... It was so fun to watch them drive by memory lane in a very literal way. They took a picture at the mission office (which used to be just for Oakland). They didn't take a picture at the former San Francisco Mission office at Sneath Lane, dunno why... but we attended church with the Serramonte Tagalog Ward saints - where Carl served his whole two years... YUP! You read that right, he never left the place!

Reason number 3: JAYSON &NORMAN'S VACAY. Well this was kind of how the San Francisco trip idea  came about. Jayson scheduled a vacation to the Philippines and Norman is taking a trip to Hawaii - with both trips, they could fly out from San Francisco and cut down the cost of an extra flight  from Salt Lake City. Were we jealous? You bet we were... Carl has not been home for 3 years now, and we miss Hawaii so bad! Its summer time everyone, who doesn't want a cool dip at Hukilau?!

Reason number 4: FAMILY & FRIENDS. Like I've already mentioned, the guys spent their missions in the area, and we did visit with some of the families they became really friends with. We also stayed with Carl's cousin and her family, and they were really awesome. Of course, I wasn't left behind with all these family and friends reunion sort of thing. I met up with college bud/org mate/ batch mate/ UP SocAn blockmate May. She is attending graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but she has been spending the summer in California where she has family. We all had lunch at MoonStar in Daly City and we had seafood overload. My sister in law also told the staff that it was my birthday (well, it was a couple of days ago) and so all of a sudden 3 staff members where playing a happy birthday drum song at our table complete with complementary cake and a picture of me and Carl! How about that?!


We love San Francisco. It sure is a very busy city, but if there is one place I would love to live in based solely on the weather - it will be San Francisco. It is my perfect weather over there. (Now I am daydreaming of a PhD at Stanford hahahaha!). And Carl - he surely did leave a part of himself in San Francisco, most especially with the Filipino Saints. 

8/10/11

3 years and a Silver... part 2

I am very blessed to have Jerevie in my life, knowing that we are now celebrating our 5 years of  togetherness (2 years of exclusive dating, and 3 years of blissful marriage) :). It was truly worthwhile to look forward each day- receiving the blessings, enduring the trials and a whole lot of lovin'. 

As she celebrates her 25th birthday, I cannot think of anything to give her but a simple and happy life - together. To be with my Cheeky (absolutely crazy in love with her when her cheeks turn red), is like skateboarding in the park. The day goes by as you skate and enjoy the breeze, take the ramp and you
have some bandages and a couple of sprains, then do your aerials and grinds again. This is life!
I ultimately savor the thrill and excitement that I would want to do it all over again!

To my lovely wife, thank you for being mine. Have a sweet birthday! :)

Steve Carrell - the man! 
date @ The Gateway


Juicy Berry - u guys hav mochi?
Enjoyed our fave yogurt

JV's fave - Red Chucks
Got her a new pair of sneakers

animal style baby!
a very healthy dinner


8/9/11

3 years and a Silver... part 1

WARNING: 
This post is going to be lengthy.
This is, after all, about something beautiful...


Carl and I have now been married for 3 years...

It was a Saturday morning on a beautiful Hawaiian day - August 9th 2008. Carl and I were sealed for time and eternity at the Laie Hawaii Temple... it was the beginning of forever.


A lot of things have transpired since that day, and looking back... we are literally astounded at how we were able to cope with the many challenges we faced. We are, at the same time, equally overwhelmed with the many blessings that we have received. It seemed as though the Lord gave us only what we needed, no more no less, as if He was trying to teach us the valuable principle of humility and dependence upon the grace of God. As our family and many of our friends might know, we've had our own share of trials... and there were times when we thought we just couldn't get through anymore. But our present circumstances proved otherwise. This is not to say that we have already been granted everything we ever wanted.... Its just that, looking back, we would have never thought we'll be where we are right now.

I guess it was about taking each day at a time, one trial after the other, and cherishing each blessing as they came. From our simple beginnings in Laie, the Lord has taken us to Provo after our taste of real life in Los Angeles. The Lord had, indeed, His hands working miracles in our lives more than we were aware of. While in Laie, I applied for a graduate program at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. While I was granted a scholarship, I was denied admission to the program I applied to. That, and Carl's graduation from college and promising prospects in Los Angeles, had us packing and we headed to Southern California. While there, Carl took consulting jobs one after another... and project after project he would usually go back to looking for a new one. It was during that very trying time when Carl turned in an application for an IT position with the Church Headquarters... and one night, while Carl was at work, I started my application for BYU graduate school instead of finishing my application essay for CalState Long Beach. What ensued in the next couple of months were truly miraculous.

We now live in Provo... Carl works as a Content Analyst for mormon.org and I am completing my Masters degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development at BYU. Even then, we still think about the future and what will happen next, or rather, what we should do next. Its not easy, its just proving to be more challenging over the years. And at times when we couldn't figure out what's next... we remember the days when the Lord literally carried us through some very strong waves and landed us where He wanted us to be... Carl and I strongly believe the Lord will do that to us over and over again, we just have to keep our faith and stay close to Him. Again, maybe that's why the Lord never gave us more than what we need - so that we continue to believe in the power of His grace.

On the eve of our anniversary, Carl and I watched our wedding video. It brought back so many wonderful memories - beautiful ones. It is heartwarming to look back where we started - how we started we almost nothing. Our bank only had $90. I vividly remembered what Carl told me while we were waiting for our wedding reception to begin: "Wag ka malungkot kung hindi maging kagaya ng plinano mo ang reception, kahit walang taong pumunta... ang mahalaga mag-asawa na tayo." (Don't worry if the reception doesn't go as you have planned, or if no one shows up... whats important is were already married.) He was absolutely right - and we were absolutely blessed. We have the most amazing family and friends. 

We have established a tradition that every year, on our anniversary, we will have pizza for one of our meals. That being reminiscent of our first meal at our first home... When we got back from our honeymoon and moved into our first apartment in TVA (BYU-H's married student housing), we ordered a box of pizza from PizzaHut. We had no pots and pans and the fridge was empty... we had pizza in the middle of our luggages and boxes in our tiny studio apartment. We've had so many wonderful meals together since that day... some more fancier than others (and I now have pots and pans and more!).... and our fridge has never been empty again. I was once told that the first thing you bring into your home when you move in is rice and water, that way that home will always have food for everyone. Honestly, I have always done that... but more than coincidence or superstition, I believe the Lord has His hands on whatever abundance we have had. I brought Carl food on our anniversary and we had lunch at their cafeteria. It was something simple, but very special. I love making meals for Carl...

In the past, we celebrated our anniversary with something a little extravagant. Our first year, we went to Universal Studios. On our second year, we spent the weekend at Hilton Garden Suites in Salt Lake City. This year, we decided to keep it close to home - very close. We decided we wanted something more memorable, not a fleeting feeling of joy and celebration. We worked on a project. We redecorated our apartment - nothing big, but the thought was that every time we come home, we are reminded by something that we have worked on together - something that signifies our efforts to work on our eternal marriage. We had a reasonable budget and we worked around it... we bought a coffee table, a TV stand, hung new wall decor, and fixed our couch (instead of getting a new one as originally planned). We also redefined our floor space and added a little decor. Not everything we planned in this project worked out as planned - but as Carl told me the very first day of forever: "ang mahalaga mag-asawa na tayo..."