call

i see your skypename but everytime i'm green, it's always gray. have thought of calling thru landline many times na pero di naman natutuloy. sometimes i read ym msgs from you few days old na. facebook i guess is what i get to frequent now. so just wanted to blog and say i'm still here. hopefully makatawag na talaga ako today! muah!

iphone dream

Hi Kay,

papa and jenny thought iphone was a possibility when they saw the 199$ open line at best buy website. Could you ask about this sa best buy there? if walang ganito dyan, then its a no-go. they don't have 700 bucks to spare. hehe :)

last minute talaga ito. just had the inspiration to make iola's 2nd birthday party na baby einstein theme. if you get to drop by toys r us or some bookstore or party place, kindly pick up some baby einstein party stuff - plates, hats, whatever. i know this is a long shot. should have thought of this sooner. haaaaaaaaaay!!!!!

o sya. talk to you soon. thanks thanks thanks!

birthday wish

bestfriend,

pahabol sana. last minute shopping. a birthday wish of mine. i hope you can bring it with you.

its a lomo camera. model is HOLGA 135BC. available at amazon, here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Holga-135PC-Plastic-35mm-Camera/dp/B001E791FS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1240623077&sr=8-1
will pay you here. thanks thanks so much! mwah! see you soon!

next week

I can't believe that your arrival is just one week away!!! Wheeee!!! :) Im so excited! I heard erin's been repaired but still with a problem. So, shall I fetch you (or your luggage) with wadi? Just let me know :)

Pahabol on my bilins, can you kindly make sure that the maalox does not contain calcium? it turns out i've high serum calcium level. if the normal is 10.2, mine's 10.7. I attribute this to my daily intake of maalox multi with calcium carbonate. could this also be the cause of my palpitations and tremors? My thyroid function tests are all okay. Enlighten me pls :)

Also, papa would like to ask if there's a best buy (the electronics store) near you. Gusto magpabili ng iphone... alam mo naman, ito lang ang bisyo ni papa. If best buy is accessible, papa will have money transferred to your account asap. 16 gig ang gusto niya. hehehe

Hmmm, how are you so far? I can imagine you have mixed feelings about going home... hehehe... teasing :)

love love,
jo

12 hours

I guess you just have to add 12 hours, not a whole day, which is the time difference between phils and michigan.

I've a question for you. Where do you think I should spend my birthday, Cebu or Bacolod? :) 2 months ago aj and i booked a flight for cebu via cebu pacific's promo flights. We chose cebu because we wanted to go to bohol. But then I found out that mia (my cebuano college friend) had already left for the states, and that the dates we chose (which includes my birthday) are fiesta dates pala for Bohol. After we went to Museo Pambata and the reality of ielle migrating to Bacolod hit, I had the brilliant idea of going to Bacolod instead, that is, if you and ielle will be there. if i'm not mistaken, the dates aj filed are may 13-18, but will check with him again. what do you think? a chance to do all those things we planned during daf's wedding? last hurrah before you become "american?" hehe. let me know so i can make the necessary arrangements with cebu pacific asap.

also, as you do your last-minute shopping and packing, can i ask you please to pick up a few things for me?

• a bottle of maalox
• a wand of nice but affordable mascara (like covergirl or neutrogena, black, NOT waterproof)
• a ladies' briefcase bag na looks nice but affordable. budget ko for this is 2K only hehe. i need one that looks pang young consultant, like the OB girl from grey's anatomy, or yung pang-corporate look. i trust your taste. basically sana magkasya short-bond paper size. here are some samples:

this one i love. its from urban outfitters and cheap lang sya.

this one naman is from target, but medyo mahal. baka you might find a cheaper version elswhere...

ito rin from target. hope ma-gets mo lang yung look and feel through these pics. kung makuha mo yung exactly the first picture, i'd be so happy!!! if not, okay lang kahit ano. as long as you think bagay sa akin. and if possible, may body strap aside from the handles. any neutral color will do rin pla. thanks thanks. these will be a big help to me as i start my new job! later! :)

sob sob sob

Thanks for the heads up. waaaaahhhh! without your credit card i have no way of purchasing it, because i don't have a credit card of my own. I don't have any cash to send you as well, because I have no salary yet...baka may pa. oh this is sooo sad. sniff sniff.

how much is it ba raw dyan sabi ni aj? (baka may hope ako...nakita akong umiiyak hehe) its 20 thou here.

Just got back from subic for anniversary which was another family vacation with iola :) syempre, everything was about her -- from going to the beach so she could play to literally running to ocean adventure so she wouldn't miss the dolphin show (which she didn't get to watch because the loud speakers scared her and she was crying the whole time). she had so much fun, and aj and i are so tired, but happy of course :) hopefully next year she'll manage to sleep with lolo and lola... or ninang berdugs!

haven't posted din pics namin ni ielle sa museo pambata. this laptop of aj's has its usb port disenabled (office protocol) and nahihiya na ako to borrow ate nona's laptop. hanap lang ako ng timing.

when's your arrival? may date na ba?

credit card

Uh oh.. sorry, your notebook is in danger of not being procured! My credit card was discontinued coz of billing problems. Some charges appeared na di naman mine. The new one is being processed. If you want, you can send me the money via BPI na pambili or you can purchase through the net using your credit card and pa deliver mo dito so i can bitbit it home. Have been buying stuff for the sibs via teng's credit card and naka-ilang K na ako without realizing so di ko na madagdag ang sa iyo coz baka di mahabol ni teng ang pambayad.hehe.. All along akala ko pwede pa and today ko lang na realize na max na pla for the budget hence this SOS. Hope u read this soon enuf para magawan ng paraan if you want to buy the notebook. Just let me know if you need my BPI acct number or address here. muah!

pounding heart!

When i opened my email, i got a message from ECFMG telling me that my Step CS exam result was ready. Teng was asleep already and i just got off skype. Ielle was busy preparing for her fun trip with you and iola. I clicked on the link and i had to pause for a moment. My heart was pounding so bad i could feel the pulse up to my abdomen. Throat was super dry and all i could do was take shallow breaths. In that moment i hoped i'd always remember the feeling so i could call it up whenever i'm studying for the other steps. The dread. All these people standing in faith for me, praying. Whenever i pray for the result, i keep asking God for a favorable result more for the sake of those who prayed. I could handle failing if it was just me knowing but breaking it to the people who supprt you, ay, how i dread! I clicked on the link and closed my eyes. When i finally looked, the page contained explanations about the exam which i barely skimmed through and there at the bottom of the page were 4 boxes with the precious words PASS PASS PASS PASS. For every criteria that needs to be passed inorder to pass the Clinical Skills exam. I woke up teng with trembling hands.

Thank you for praying for me and for supporting me all the way. Even though you were the first person who said there was a difference in me when i told you how the exam went, i still knew i wasn't able to do my best thus everytime people asked how the exam went, i couldn't look them in the eye, i just mumble, we'll know by April. Apart from the grace of God and His intervention due to the weight of my prayer warriors, failure was what i expected. I hoped, deeply hoped to pass but my heart knew i didn't deserve it. Still the love and strength of God supercedes my shortcomings. Praises! Praises! Gratefulness! Joy!

online

pls come back sa skype. don't know what happened offline ka na raw. been waiting for you. been looking forward to chat with you. rare that i have webcam and skype. pls come back.

perfect 30th bday!

Where do i start? I got the perfect gifts which gave me perfect moments and it's still ongoing. Day before my bday, gianina brought me to the museum so she could take pictures of me and adrian. Every thursday, adrian and i watch the movie cars and have pizza day. So even if the parents have no plans they still go out every thursday so adrian and i could have our date.hehe.. In the museum, when i wander and adrian loses sight of me, he'd cry at the top of his lungs, "kikay!!!!". In the cars scene where mator tells mcqueen he's his bestfriend, we'd look at each other and say "my bestfriend" (it's a perfect scene for you and me too of course!hehe..) Then afterwards we had my pre-bday Pietro's dinner with everybody. Dessert was ice cream cupcakes. Really good!



Midnight, i blew my ballerina candle on my ice cream cake and opened gifts from my sibs. Ielle sent me kisses (she put on different shades of lipstick and planted multiple kisses on a tissue paper) and daph put it in a handmade envelope.
Have been bugging them to upload Ploning on our ftp site so they sent me a dvd.hehe..
Mak uploaded a video on youtube of ielle and him singing.
Daph sent me a beautiful 5 page documented prayer where they all signed on the last page. I swallowed a lot on page 1 to keep tears from falling but on page 2 couldn't hold it back anymore. The cover was a beautiful etching on a velum paper based on a picture of me sitting on a log watching the sunset.

Teng's gift was arranged in a way where i read a bday card before every article and as the gifts progressed, so did the cards. It started out cute and simple and ended with the last card hitting the deepest sentiments. The letters they had for me were full of love and depth in meaning. It was just the eve of my bday.
I love how my bday fell on a sunday coz i got God's gift too! The message dealt with my utmost fear (what if God will not grant us papa's salvation) and gave me a fresh look at Calvary. Was wiping away tears a lot! Then i saw on the bulletin that NIV is celebrating it's 30th anniversary and that they are going around america in a feat to create a handwritten Bible which will be put at the Smithsonian Museum in New York. It will take 31,000 plus different handwritings for every verse in the Bible and i got to write I Timothy 1:11. How apt! hehe.. They will print copies too so hopefully i'd be able to get an edition coz it will be limited. I can't even begin to describe how swak the Lord's gift is.
The girls we traveled to dc with celebrated with me too. We drove to Lansing which is an hour away to have seafood dinner and then watch the play Lion King. No wonder that play won so many Tony awards! There were life size elephants, giraffes, puma's, birds, etc on the stage! Birds flying to our sides and powerful voices that creates goosebumps. Oh, the effects were spectacular! The grass and how mufasa's face formed in the starlit sky, breathtaking. It wasn't phantom of the opera or any other play i have always dreamed of watching, it was Lion King and it did not disappoint.


It's a day now after 22 but the gifts keep coming. Teng took the day off and we're going to the spa as well as go to bridges like in Madison county. This one is a previous bridge pix though:)
Praise God from Whom Happy Birthday comes from!!!!

happy birthday!!!

Dearest Birthday girl-woman,

Last week daf asked me if i wanted to send a gift to you. that would fit in a long sized envelope and not weigh more than half a kg. I immediately said yes, though I could not yet imagine what would be the perfect gift that comes in that specific size. The deadline for submission came, and I still had no gift. Fed ex couldn't wait, so i'll just send it here :)

Balloons for you in colors as bright as your merry laughter

Thirty colorful candles on your...

sweet-as-you strawberry shortcake

There's more...

Presents that could not compare to your presence (hehe!)
let's open them...

A kitchen showcase for your stroganoff! (in miniature of course)

living room showcase - a place for your harp (and harpist, still in miniature)

bedroom showcase for your "naps" (still in miniature, antique white yan so i'll arbor it hehe)

And a picnic basket, for your adventures of course!

where you can pack a miniature verion of your cake

comes with a free...

and a hammock for your rest :)

missing you on your birthday. Hope it was filled with all the things that make your heart happy. love you!

smile!

Was on skype watching ielle make faces in front of the mirror when she suddenly turned and said to Daph, "look Mama, this is how baby iola smiles" then she smiled a dainty smile and she captured exactly one of iola's smiles! I saw iola in ielle! Classic magkapatid moment!

i-phone

bestfriend, kindly confirm this true tsismis from tracy. Apparently, they're selling daw iphone there yung 2nd gen na 8gig for 25 dollars?!!! Can you please confirm this? kasi if its true papabili ako 3 pcs please. nagpabili raw tracy and husband sa officemate nila going there this month. thanks! :)

CS!

this is it! tom is the big day... thanks so much for praying... may i be calm enough from the moment i knock on the door till i submit my patient note :)

para sa mga nagtatanong

funny dream

Last night, I dreamt that I was pregnant and going into labor. And of course you were with me. And we had the shock of our lives when we find out that i was pregnant with a... pig!!! I didn't have an ultrasound during my prenatal so I had no idea I had been carrying a pig in my womb all these 9 months. I was horrified and depressed. You were trying to comfort me but you were obviously distressed too. You kept looking for things to ease my pain, like this really comfy chair that you wanted to find so I could give birth squatting down. I couldn't believe, couldn't accept the pig in my womb. And then we bump into nini and she told us the same thing also happened to her! And then the next scene was teng was there na rin, inside the labor room. She tells us that it is possible to conceive a pig, because you swallow daw the embryo when you eat a pandesal and it gets implanted in your uterus! Syempre its medically hard to digest, but since it came from teng, i believed her with all my heart. I just don't know what aj will think when he finds out. Good thing I woke up! hehe!

Was watching KC serenade Sharon with this song when it suddenly hit me how aptly this fits as my "love song" for God. These were the thoughts that ran through my mind while listening to the song...

You are the one who makes me happy, (my answered prayers e.g. mak, boards, ielle)
When everything else turns to grey ( no matter the darkness, God's light keeps shining through )
Yours is the voice that wakes me mornings (guilt with oversleeping makes me think of God
and sends me out into the day (then makes me rise up then my day unfolds)
You are the crowd that sits quiet listenin' to me ( listens to my sporadic prayers, more like calling out)
and all the mad sense I make (foolishness through the years, things others won't comprehend)
You are one of the few things worth remembering (with such poor recall, my moments with God are unforgettable e.g. understanding the Good News at 4yo and getting saved)
and since it's all true how could anyone mean more to me than you. (amen)

Sorry if sometimes I look passed you (oftentimes i know)
there's no one beyond your eyes (my One and Only God)
inside my head the wheels are turning (with so many frivolous things)
and sometimes I'm not so wise (again, oftentimes)
You are my heart and my soul my inspiration (tears fall coz despite all, God is)
just like the old love song goes (just like this love song)
You are one of the few things worth remembering (let me forget all, except Your dealings with me)
and since it's all true how could anyone mean more to me than you." (praises!!!)

more grace

I'm so glad you replied right away! I was about to text you and then I put iola to sleep and then I checked again and there was your reply. I still can't get over it. I'm embarassed at the thought that she must have found out about my blog because of my everyday visit to hers... she must have some mechanism in place to know who views her page. yun lang ang maisip kong way for her to stumble upon my blog. haaay. To think I've been putting off writing about her - naunahan tuloy ako hehehe. Natatawa ako at the thought of how you'll tell gianina about this, or how she'll tell grace -- that the best friend of her grandson's nanny is thrilled she's read her blog hehehe :)

Today, I finally got my DTI certificate. After 3 days of going back and forth sa DTI, natapos din! It's one of the requirements kasi ng accenture for me to be their contractor. so say hello to the CEO of Fit to Work Wellness Consultancy! hehehe :) Praise God!

aral na. write you again tom.

regale shocker

today i opened the computer and got the shock of my life. Here's why.
Will wait for your response before i go on any further.

Thanks for the eagle picture, and for the thought behind it :)


PS. you have to click the word why above :)

tnx!!!

You mentioning about me belonging here made me think na oo nga noh ... if ever i would do residency and miss a lot of stuff coz i'm working, i'd rather do it here in comfort where there are no ants, flies and mosquitos. hehe.. just wanted to post this picture to let you know i was thinking of you while experiencing all these exciting things. thanks for praying!!!! muah!

everyday

Everyday, whenever I get the chance, I check our blog. And I just want you to know how glad you made my heart when I read your last entry. I love your pictures! And when you described beautiful DC, I felt like I was there too. wow. Jenny fell in love with Georgestown (I'm not sure if I got it right) when she was there. She says its a quaint town with the cherry blossoms. She'd love to live there daw. Your roadtrip sounded really really fun. And you got to visit peej too! I'm happy for you. I love being on "the other side" this time, hearing about your other-world adventures and imagining myself with you. You've been on this side for the longest time, its my turn now.

Wow, exam time is coming closer. I'm praying for you and will continue to do so. My stomach is turning into knots at the thought of you taking your CS... I could just imagine how you must be feeling right now! But somehow, I can sense you feeling that you belong there - even just for your residency training - so go for it! You can do it! I would just like to share this sentence from Pastor Narry's sermon last Sunday (which went straight to everybody's hearts - ask kaps):

God makes the possible impossible, in order to bring us to the place where He makes the impossible possible.

You can listen to the whole sermon here.

Today I ate a sandwich with a generous amount of cream cheese. It sure reminded me of you. Do you remember why? hehe.

more kwentos soon. Happy Aral!

Hi! The past two weeks, i've been tagging along with teng to the hospital to study. After many tries, finally found a place to comfortably aral, the residents lounge. Still a struggle to concentrate pero kahit delayed, i'm on to my last leg for pharma. Then aral na for Step2CS for the next 2 weeks. Will take it on Feb. 24 in Chicago. Please pray i would be able to communicate well sa exam.

Guess what? Teng's co-res got married nung saturday and so with two of her friends, we drove to washington dc which is just 30min away from maryland! I stayed with peej but since 10hrs ang travel, parang saturday lang talaga ang pasyal coz friday-sunday travel. Still, i got an overview of dc na overwhelming na rin. One week late nga lang ako for the inauguration. Naalala ko mga movies(forrest gump) and tv series(24) na napapanood ko yung white house, lincoln memorial, capitol, etc. Felt surreal to stand on those very monuments. While driving, we were listening to "delilah" on the radio, just like meg ryan in sleepless in seattle. Nakakaaliw pa yung car ng friend ni teng, may heater ang driver's seat and steering wheel so super comfy mag drive. Twas a really fun roadtrip! Looking forward to going back in April pag full bloom na mga cherry blossoms :)

So now i'm back to aral.. just wanted to update you before i open the books again. haay.. sana mkaaral ako ng ka-level ng 99 score na effort. hehe.. kahit yung effort lang :)

Tried the steps again and again but after this page, "After clicking done you can change your post and publish to your blog", nothing happens, dunno where the picture goes.

morning cow

iola fell in love with the cow in tagaytay. Every morning, when she wakes up, her first word is "cow." Everytime she sees the window, she asks to be taken out to see the cow. She loves it when the cow moos, and laughs whenever the cow eats grass. Here's a picture of her cow-sighting one early morning during the holidays in tagaytay.

posting pictures

How do I post pictures?

You can now upload photos to your blog(s) using Blogger Images; just click the image icon in the post editor's toolbar.

When you click this icon, you'll get a window that allows you to select an image or multiple images from your computer. Click the Browse button to locate the ones you want. Alternatively, you can enter the URL of an image that's already online and insert it into your post.

If you click the link to choose a layout, you can customize the way your images will appear in your post:

The left, center and right options determine how the text of your post flows around the pictures. The size option lets you scale the pictures to different sizes within this posting area. Note that the picture will still be uploaded in its full size; this option just determines how it's scaled within the content of your post.

Alternatively, you can post images to your blog using Mail-to-Blogger. This feature allows you to email posts with image attachments directly to your blog. For more information about Mail-to-Blogger, please see this article.

study week

real time

For the past 2 months that you've been there, we've been communicating mainly through this blog. There was a few short chats at YM, text messages for the urgent issues, but no webcam/skype yet thanks to my uncooperative laptop. Until yesterday, at ielle's birthday.

Seeing you in real time made the distance between us a stark reality for me. The confines of this blog has not made the space so felt as compared to seeing you there - on that unfamiliar couch, holding that unfamiliar microphone, kissing unfamiliar baby matthew. Before it hurts too much I remind myself that you'll be back on April. And when the time comes that your leaving will be a semi-permanent thing, I remind myself that God's grace will abound.

I now understand how ielle feels :)

Will reply to your previous post in detail post-saturday. Please pray for my preparations for my first ever exam for this subject this Saturday (I missed 2 important classes!), and for my first-ever meeting with accenture health and wellness team this thursday. Thanks. Mwah!

online!

How was geox? i hope, i hope it works for you! Forgot to update you that kaps wears them out after 2-3 months and pag di na refreshing or madumi na, there's no way of cleaning them kasi masisira ang technology so dispose mo na. Since you don't use it naman everyday, i'm sure yours will last longer. hehe..

O, ano kwento with ate nona? Spent the past 3 days sa chicago to get the feel of the city in preparation for my exam. hehe.. wasn't able to bring laptop, missed your chats with don and peej! Anyway, on our way home we discovered a place called Chocolate Garden tucked away in a gilmore girl kinda town, complete with antique shops, vineyards and an art gallery. Heavenly! Check it out sa net, sarap! Best hot choco ever!

Got gilmore girls dvd sets nung christmas and finally got to watch the first 2 seasons. Saw you and me in several scenes na naman. Reminiscent of the myriad scenes i associated with you in whatever we were going through at the time. Those kind of moments are the stuff that come to mind whenever aj teases you about this "bestfriend". Really makes me smile whenever he brings up that kulit joke. hehe.. I've been trying to come up with a picture that describes how it feels when we get teased. I guess it's like a stone with a wind huffing and puffing thinking it could blow the stone away and the stone just sits there smiling coz it knows the wind can never move it. But there's no way to explain in the wind's language that could make it fully grasp the futility of it's huffing and puffing. Does it make sense? Basta there is a deep sense of security that just doesn't waver when it comes to you.

Well, gotta go, gotta wake up early to play with matthew, our baby here. He's up at 6am and i'll help take care of him this week. sege,muah!

geox

aj's Christmas gift to me! Just bought it today, on sale! It's not the most comfortable shoe in the world, but i'm excited about the promise of no sweaty and smelly feet. I'm banking on kaps' testimony. I'm looking forward to wearing it tomorrow to church. Will take a picture of this much-awaited event hehehe

We're back to project 2 and old-style internet. No webcam, no headset. Hopefully laptop will be working soon. sayang talaga we weren't able to talk during new years day. will write more once we've settled down. Just had to check our blog and pen these few words.

Happy New Year!!!!