Of actualizing dreams and building homes

A family is never complete without a home. A shelter for everyone to stay to be safe under any type of weather. So, on our first year of marriage, we've set a goal to be able to build our own house within two years. Hopefully, through God's grace we will be able to do so.

However, money doesn't just grow on trees. We work for it and spend a lot of it. My husband makes money by designing houses, commercial buildings, roads, highways and bridges. He creates and brings to completion other people's dreams. I also work. We work together to build our home and the realization of our dreams.

Most people spend their lifetime paying for their mortgage. Although a house is a dead investment since you can't make money out of it (except of course, if you lease or let others rent it), almost everyone invests in one. Then, why not make it last for a lifetime? That means making sure the strength of the materials is reliable and everything is durable. While low cost building materials save money at first, however, in the long run, they'd need more maintenance and repairs which end up making us spend more money.

That's why we need to save more - to make sure we'd be able to erect a house that is at par with the standards.

My husband invests in professional equipment from drawing pens to steel tape to moisture meters to engineering software, quality that stands the test of time is very important.  He realized moisture meters are very important  in houses since moisture can affect the stability of wood, bricks, roofs and other materials. Being able to address moisture issues early on can save the household of the dangers that could potentially arise.

The design, cost and furnishings of a house are secondary. What's important is the safety and protection it can provide to everyone in the family.

We'd hope to have one soon!

How life came to be

How mysterious life is to me!

Do you know a man who can explain all wonders in the world to see?
To answer our questions, how we came to be?
These questions have haunted us, as old as time
Yet, there is nobody, who can explain explicitly
Life is a puzzle
Even in our modern society...

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As humans, it is our nature to be inquisitive. We want to know the answers to our questions. But, there are mysteries that are unknown to us like "when am I going to die?", "where do I go from here", "is there really an eternity?", and so on...

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I like the dynamic animation entitled "The WatchMaker" that I saw from this site. It gives reasons why it is easier to believe in creation than the theories of evolution of Science. Check it for yourself, if you ever wondered how time came to be.

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I have also written about my musings of life in my previous blog site.

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I've read this story from another blog site. I hope they don't mind my posting it again here. Anyway, I think the real author has become anonymous because some people might have not given the credit to the real person who made it, and has been since passed one to another. Nevertheless, here is the story:

God and the Scientist

God was sitting in heaven one day when a scientist said to Him,

"God, we don't need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing - in other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning."

"Oh, is that so? Tell Me..." replies God.

"Well," says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man."

"Well, that's very interesting...show Me."

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man.

"No, no, no..." interrupts God, "Get your own dirt."
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Who else can create something out of nothing besides God?

Minimize electropollution by going green

Everyone is exposed to electropollution these days. We absorb electromagnetic waves even without knowing it. The debate on weather they can cause harm to our brains and bodies is a stalemate. We doubt they could possibly cause damage to us,  but we could not stop using those devices that emit those waves anyway. Concerns regarding EMF stirred as more people use cell phones, laptops, microwave ovens and other wireless devices.

As much as possible, we'd like to stay away from EMF but in our digital world we always are glued to our smartphones, computer screens and other electronic gadgets for more than 12 hours a day. As I result, I can feel the strain in my eyes. On my last visit to the ophthalmologist , she suggested that I need to increase my intake of Vitamin B complex because it is good for the proper functioning of the nerves. She also reminded me to blink often - as often as I can. She said I should blink as often as I click the mouse and press the space bar.

I think those aren't enough. I've been having headaches today and I think the cause is too much muscle stress of my eyes. They have been working so hard, they need to relax and have a break. Well, sleep is the most important thing but I haven't been able to have as much as I need to. I am thinking of bringing in an ornamental plant in an indoor planter near my table. I've observed hospital rooms are often painted green and looking at green things brings healing and is very relaxing. Studies have shown plants absorb harmful frequencies and radiations released by digital components. 

I also want to bring in a small bonsai tree to be put on my table top. Others say putting cactus or aloe vera does the trick. But, most pots don't look good on top of tables. I found decorative planters that can be displayed over mine. There's a wide collection of  planters in eplanters.com.  

Sponsored links are brought to us by friends at eplanters.com

Pondering on

I am reading this book by Philip Yancey. Quite a hard book to read, actually. Not something you can enjoy but something that stirs your thinking and dares to ask questions you may have not courage to voice out. I love his  honesty in talking about his personal experiences and telling about how difficult it is to live in faith with a God who cannot be seen,  a God who's so full of mystery and a God who seems far away and unresponsive.  What do we say when people ask as about their doubt of His existence or when people scoff the faith we profess? I've only finished the first 90 pages and definitely determined to read through all of it.

Host, host baby!

Many people today are enjoying the convenience of working at home. Whether part-time, full-time or freelance, many people today can find considerably good income online. By being a programmer, blogger, content writer, tutor, database administrator, translator, virtual assistant or SEO expert, one can be successful. But it isn't easy as others claim. It requires hard work, motivation, dedication, discipline, skill, expertise, experience and netiquette.

I've been seriously contemplating on going full-time as an online freelance blogger or programmer. Some of my friends have made it real big and at times they could earn double if not triple my monthly salary. I could only dream of such money. Of course, don't get me wrong... I'm not all for the money but who isn't? I might as well try my luck.

Here's what I've decided to do. I planned on purchasing on own domain and blog host. I'll be doing blogging and programming on the side by practicing it on my own site with my own host. I've already bought my domain name but I couldn't decide on which web hosting service to use.

I need what others have to say. I need expert opinion.

So, here are my considerations:

I'm just starting out from scratch so I don't have much money to invest on expensive ones. I'll probably have cheap hosting, but one which will never let me down.

Excellent customer support is really important because I'd probably need to much help.

Reviews of satisfied customers would really matter. After all, if they are, probably I would, too.

Well, I really don't know what else to consider. Good thing they are always web hosting guides to help us out with the basics.

Merits of Distance Education

A few days ago, a friend asked me whether taking a course via distance education would be a good way to go and if it were at par with lectures conducted in a classroom setting. In particular, we were taking about taking a masters degree from UP Open University.

I started earning units from UPOU in October 2008. The pages of instructional materials to read, pace of the discussions, number of individual and group assignments and exams were the same vis-a-vis the same course in a normal university. The major differences include being not able to meet your faculty in-charge and classmates personally but instead interact with them through chat, email, discussion boards, forum and especially designed virtual classroom; and not having to physically go to school on each session but only during examinations. The whole framework of such system is the use of technology in providing education to learners despite their distance or location. Internet and hypermedia technology have been helpful tools that ushered in a more convenient way to study. Learners can study anywhere they are at any timezone as long as they have the tools necessary for them to communicate and participate in the discussions as well as to submit the assignments on time.

What I love about studying through distance education are:

- Flexible schedule. Learners can learn at their own pace and own time as long as they can follow the prescribed weekly schedule.
- Offers the convenience of being able to study anywhere. What could be more convenient than that?
- Money-efficient - no need to commute to go the school and hence no transportation cost, and no need to spend on lunch breaks
- Tuition fee is about the same

However, distance education is more suitable to adult learners since they are able to demonstrate basic  competence in computer /hypermedia technology; and are responsible for their own learning