Crushed

My soul is torn into pieces

My heart is crushed
What a blow into my ego
What's left of me?
Bits of my dignity?

But incidentally, I got this verse from the Bible:

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

Photo Credit: here

Thanksgiving Prayer

Today, I asked a student if there's also a Thanksgiving holiday in Japan. She isn't sure but said maybe there isn't. She thinks thanksgiving is something that should be done everyday if not every minute of second.

I received this forwarded message through my mobile phone:

In a science class, the teacher asked her students to give an example of things which are countless.

One student answered:

WATER.

Another one answered:

SAND.

The other one answered:

AIR.


The teacher noticed that everyone was participating except for one. She called his attention and asked the same question.

"What are the things which are countless?"

The student stood up and said,

BLESSINGS.

Have you been counting yours recently?

I thank God everyday for the food on our table, the air that I breathe, the water for my thirst, for my family's good health and protection - and so on.

But the things that I am most thankful for this year are the trials that I went through.

My boyfriend left for Saudi Arabia January of this year and it has been so difficult since. I also lost a significant amount of money a few months ago. Things may have never turned out as I want them to, but I can now clearly see the purpose and rewards of trusting God even in trying circumstances.

My thanksgiving prayer is that you, too trust God even when everything is bleak and sorrowful.

Belated greetings of happy thanksgiving everyone!

It's 32 days before Christmas!

Streets are now decorated with teeming lights, Santa Claus is everywhere in town, houses and offices are decorated with pine-tree replicas and finally shops are getting busier with shoppers buying their gifts early - it's Christmas!


Christmas season always makes me happy. I always had break from school or work. There are many parties to attend and people to reunite with. There's feasting everywhere and the Spirit of Christmas makes people smile even to strangers.


This Christmas is going to be a little different. My boyfriends not in it. It's not going to be sad nevertheless. We celebrate Christmas because God came to the world to save me - now that's reason enough to be glad!

Let's countdown to Christmas!

Photo Credit: here

I want to give my parents a dream vacation

I've been bugging my parents to get a passport because airplane fares have been significantly lowered recently and they can avail cheap international flights at almost any moment they want to.

Retirement is every person's ultimate dream - the type where one can enjoy life to the fullest and just spend his days to enjoy what the world can offer.

I would have wanted them to go cruising from island to island and just enjoy old age. Well, apart from being too expensive, both of my parents have to see their doctors and buy their medication regularly so it wouldn't be very convenient to be away for a long time.

I asked my mother and she said having myrtle beach accommodation is leisure enough for her. She got excited. My father likes to go anywhere as long as they are together (talk about being in love even in old age!).

I'd have to save money for such trip and stay to myrtle beach hotel. I know it doesn't come cheap but after all, myrtle beach accommodations are worth the cost.

Dilemma

I want to wake up early
But I always sleep late
I am worried about my health
I'll probably suffer later

Being a night person isn't easy
I want to change
But old habits don't die simply
I have to make more effort
To break the routine
I've been all these years

Photo Credit: here

Need a translator?

Have you ever used Google's translation toolbar? I find it very useful because I can always get quick and free translations of web pages, documents and other web content from Spanish to English for example, Chinese to English or mostly Japanese to English.

I find it funny most of the time though. The English language has idioms, informal expressions and figurative parts of speech that would create confusion when translated directly. I guess other languages have also similar attributes. There is a significant difference too, with connotative and denotative meaning so although we could get some rough idea of the text, there are elements that are omitted or misunderstood.

If we are talking about formal and business documents, I guess there should be a need for an online translation to get the job done more efficiently.

If for example, a company is going to expand in another country a brand translation that fits in a socio-cultural context within which it occurs would be best.

Translia is a network of translators and clients. Try its free translation service today.

Making our marriage work before it starts

My boyfriend and I are reading this book by Harold Sala entitled, "Connecting: 52 guidelines for making your marriage work".

We are learning many things from this book except that we are not married yet. I bought it from the bookstore because he said we should start preparing ourselves and making things right even before we start and exchange "I do's '".

I have finished reading this book and rereading it now with my boyfriend through Skype's voice call one guideline a night. It's like a couple's devotional and bonding time for both of us and English lesson for him rolled into one.

So far, we're on the 37th page and we've learned what the author says are key ingredients in marriage: love, communication, forgiveness, humor, understanding and meeting each other's needs. We've also discovered ways on how to resolve the differences: talking about them, compromise, respect, and submit them to God.

We're going to have more of these lessons in the coming days.

Top Ten Dream Destinations

I thought of making a travel blog but I don't think I'm fit to do it yet. I haven't been anywhere except in the Philippines and Thailand. But I am dreaming of being able to visit many countries in the future, too. Well, I want to go to all but if I could only choose ten... I'd pick:

1. New Zealand
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
4. France
5. South Africa
6. Alaska/Canada
7. Southernmost part of Argentina/Chile
8. Japan
9. Spain
10. United Arab Emirates

New Zealand and Australia top my list because my boyfriend loves these places, too - something we love in common. We're hoping we can afford to go to either of these places for honeymoon. I've searched for accommodations in Auckland and accommodations in Melbourne, they're not so expensive anyway. There are cheap flights, too and many other flight fare cuts. I guess the only thing we have to worry is getting a VISA.

Anyway, we aren't getting married anytime soon. So we still have plenty of time to save and prepare.

I'm back to school

I want my brain sharpened again! I decided to go back to school!

So far, I think that my decision is great. I guess I am going to be a lot more productive than the previous months. Getting more tasks and deadlines in my hands requires me to multitask and to do things more quickly - which in turn makes me more efficient.

Working during the day and working at night, where do I put the time to study? Well, this will be a challenge for me. I've decided to enroll under the Professional Teachers Certification program at the University of the Philippines Open University. It's actually a kind of cyber schooling or distance learning, whatever you like to call it.

I am so excited to learn new things. I couldn't decide which masters program to take so maybe I can take just education units for the meantime.

What's great about cyber school is that I don't have to attend school physically (well, except for examinations and some tutorial sessions). What I don't like about it is that I have to study many reading materials that are given as substitute to lectures and classroom instructions.

Well, I am sure that everything will turn out well if I pour my heart into it. Wish me luck.

Photo Credit: here

Grab the chance to win $5, 000 in this contest

Don't you love the thrill of winning a contest with big giveaways? I do! And it's not so hard to join.
All you have to do is submit a video to the iLASIK Video Contest to win.

"You gotta see this video contest" is sponsored by Abbott Medical Optics, Inc, a campaign to promote ILASIK procedure, a recent innovation to help people who are suffering from poor vision or those who have to wear glasses or contact lenses, and other certain vision defects to regain or improve how they can see the world.

ILASIK technology is a painless surgical procedure that makes use of two lasers instead of a knife or blade. The first laser is used to scrape off an outer layer of the cornea and the second one to reshape it to correct vision problems.

To join the contest, there are three categories. A participant must submit an entry to any of these categories:

1. "My contacts are getting in the way of my good time"
2. "My favorite sport or activity would be so much cooler with better vision"
3. "You should see life after the iLASIK Procedure"

To get a higher chance of winning, a participant has to get as many votes as possible.

If you think you can make a video that relates to any of the categories given above, grab this chance to join and win now!

She bangs!

I've been sporting the same hairstyle for more than five years - long, straight hair. I've been wanting to change the way I look but my hairstylist refuses to make any drastic changes on my hair. My boyfriend also doesn't want me to cut my hair until our wedding day.

Sob.

I saw this picture over the internet and I wanted to have this style, too. I went to my favorite hair cutter to have it executed on me but he refused to!

Sob again. Here's the picture:

I tried doing a virtual makeover on my face courtesy of some website and this is what I've got:

Doesn't it look flattering on me? What do you think? Should I get a bangs or not?

Photo Credit: here and here

Sealed with a Kiss

If you haven't experienced being far from the people you love, you're lucky. The separation can be overwhelmingly painful! Thanks to modern technology, we can talk to our loved ones wherever they are at real-time through the internet and cellular phones.

There's still magic however with the old-fashioned letters delivered to our residential mail boxes and seeing the envelops of our letters sealed with a kiss.

I don't get letters often these days. I get letters from banks, the university where I am currently enrolled at (distance learning program), and utility bills; but I always hold my breath in excitement every time I see a stationery envelope from the mail box with my name on it.

Email messaging may be the common form of communication today but I think we still like the feeling of opening our mail boxes at night and seeing a letter addressed to our names, especially when the letter is sealed with a kiss.