Reporting in

Okay so there isn't much to to report in right now. Between work (which there is plenty of including some mandatory overtime and prepping up to teach in our in-house Academy), going to the gym and trying to manage getting in some time for sleep, I'm keeping pretty busy these days.

Why I'm still single:
“They keep saying the right person will come along, I think mine got hit by a truck.”

“I think men are afraid to be with a successful woman, because we are terribly strong, know what we want and we are not fragile enough.” ~ Shirley Bassey

Why family is so important:
“The family is the corner stone of our society. More than any other force it shapes the attitude, the hopes, the ambitions, and the values of the child. And when the family collapses it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale the community itself is crippled. So, unless we work to strengthen the family, to create conditions under which most parents will stay together, all the rest — schools, playgrounds, and public assistance, and private concern — will never be enough.”-Lyndon Baines Johnson

“To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of others.” -Pope John Paul II

The importance of friendship:
"Every person is a new door to a different world."
- from movie "Six Degrees of Seperation"

"No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."
- Francois Mocuriac

Working out

I'm sorry that I haven't updated this thing in a while. But when I got back from SC I had to input my plan "surprise Jeriah" into action. Now I'm sure most of you can relate to the "battle of the bulge" here. =) But I have been trying to find ways to exercise since my job requires me to sit down about 10 hours of the day and then of course when you are sleeping you are still stagnant so that is about 8 hours which leaves 6 hours in the day for me to get active. So when I got back I decided to put the gym membership my dad signed me up for to good use. I met with a trainer who set up a weight loss program for me at 24 hour Fitness. So now I walk around with a bodybugg attached to my right triceps, which is an amazing gadget that counts how many steps I take, how many calories I burn and then I plug it into my computer.



Then I go online to www.myapex.com where I sign in and it uploads the data, compares it to what I input for my meals (I have do that manually entering every item I eat) then comes out with the balance of how many calories I burned versus how many calories I intake each day. The key is to make sure your out take is more than your intake. Now I haven't measured my weight since I started the program last week, but I have been meeting with my trainer 2x a week and I can feel my pants are a little looser. And man it is so hard to cheat on this program! Which is what I need, someone to make sure I stick to the program.

When I'm huffing and puffing during a workout with my trainer or on my own I found certain Bible verses come to mind. Philippines 3:14 and 2 Corinthians 12:9 are the two most common verses that keep repeating through my mind. Also that famous saying of Dr. Panosian "this too shall pass" comes to mind. Originally the plan was to surprise my brother since he keeps teasing me about how I'm too lazy to get up and move, but then I realized that isn't enough motivation. You can only do so much to please someone! So I've had to re-group and re-focus myself on why exactly am I allowing someone to torture me like the Isralites in Egypt at the time of Moses. =) And I realized I want to be in good shape due to the congenital heart problems that run through my family history and to relieve my stress since it all seems to accumulate on my shoulders. Now the focus isn't on my brother but it is on me. And there are times when a person has to be selfish and take care of themselves before taking care of others. Otherwise you will find yourself pulled in many directions and be so exhausted and running on empty. That is when you know you have hit rock bottom and must go crawling back to the foot of the Almighty and ask Him for grace to be filled in your cup until it is overflowing.

Reminiscing

I was scanning in some pictures for a CD that a member is going to make for our church anniversary and my mom brought out these old pictures. Man it seemed like college was so long ago! I can still remember coming into the room my freshman year and seeing this tall Russian girl and a lot of boxes, then this other tall girl comes in quietly looks around and leaves and I was thinking "Oh no! I have a Bojo for a roommate. I remember hugging my mom and sending her off with a wave telling her I will be home for Christmas and feeling really excited about finally being on my own. I only knew like one Filipina girl at that time but looking forward to discovering who I am. I remember that all four years I had memorable roommates, most of which I am fortunate enough to still keep in touch with and maintain a long distance friendship. The various science classes and projects like Vibrio, where we had to call our professor late at night and tell him the bad news about how we messed up and put the cultures in the wrong incubator so he had to come in on a Sunday and open up the building for our group to count and finish the report! Dissecting for two hours in the morning in Comparative Vertebrate, where we would go do that Breakfast-to-go thing and sit outside in the alcove of the Science Building eating breakfast then returning back to lab and dissect some more. Attending Basketball games, soccer games, late night Ice skating parties and Society Christmas parties.

So here are some pictures giving you a blast from the past. Enjoy!