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!

Travel agents

There is a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction every time I book a trip. I like having my ticket or a receipt of my ticket in my hand, it gives that extra bit of assurance that I really am going somewhere. Now I do most of my research for my trips about 1 year in advance or 6 months at the very least. There are plenty of resources available to a person going on a trip. The internet is your biggest source with travelogues, blogs, sites like tripadvisor.com or expedia.com famous travel websites like fodors.com or frommers.com also the Travel Channel's website is a great resource to use. There are travel magazines, books, travel agents and people who have gone to the place you visit

Now I have used various methods of booking a trip before but I must say that my travel agent has been the best way to book at trip. I'm sure you have heard plenty of myths about booking and doing it yourself to save money. But my thing is . . .why bother with the hassle if you have someone else that can take care of it. Now the key in booking with a travel agent is finding a good agent. One of the best ways to do that is my word of mouth, this is how I found my travel agent. A co-worker recommended this travel agency and Linda is who I ended up working with, that was over three years ago and now for my major trips I use her. The thing is you need to find someone you are comfortable with, who listens to what you want and need and who works with you. It is just like choosing a hairdresser, you don't just pay them for their service they become one of your friends. I do research on my trips and then pass the information along to Linda, she does research on her end with the resources she has and I end up making the final decision based on a wide array of information. Look into www.travelstoreusa.com that is the company my travel agent works with and see if there is an office nearby. Go in meet with the agents and talk to them, get a feel for them and then use them as a resource. IF you lived in Sacrament I would highly recommend my travel agent, Linda. :-)

As of now she helped me book my next trip in November. I used Linda to book both of my trips to Hawaii, my trip to Paris and now South-east Asia.

Friendships

As I visited BJU and met up with some friends living in town it made me realized how varied my friendships were. I mean there was the fun loving Society guys-Phi Beta Bulldogs like Joey. Then there was the Science Building people like J.God, "Bob" and Peter who have these idiosyncrasies which makes them fascinating. Also you have the most unpredictable people like your new roommates every year and you never know who you get along with the people in the prayer group. I've been blessed to have been able to keep in touch with most of my former roommates and for the most part they were all very nice girls whom I've developed a friendships with like KB, Beth, and Ratchet. I think only the roommates my Junior year were the one's I never really befriended. We were total opposites then, I mean talk about a room that has four people exhibiting the four temperaments! Now if you've watched Under the Tuscan Sun, there is this one line that stuck in my mind. " You have to live spherically, in many directions." And if you look at my Christmas Card list, you will notice a variety of people from around the country working in various fields. But I digress...going back and seeing some of my friends who live in the area after five years was great.

Joey was still himself and marriage life didn't change him too much. His wife is so perfect for him and they balance each other out, she loves to laugh. Joey was telling stories about the guys side and all throughout dinner we were laughing. Darla was the same as ever, so sweet and with a big heart. She loves her kids, her ministry in West Greenville, and is kept busy with all her various activities. Beth was still full of energy and married life has been good for her. She has a good head on her shoulder. It was also great to see Laura again. I was pleasantly surprised that she is now a dorm supervisor but then she has the patience and heart for all those girls. And then there is J.God. . .whom I've managed to keep in touch with since graduation through e-mails, AIM and leaving plenty of voicemail on his cell phone so that he will eventually answer. Darla and I got to see him in his environment at Clemson. Well I hope you enjoy the pictures.

BJU pictures

I have been on campus at least once a day since I got here. So here is a collection of some of the shots I took around campus these past two days.

Eleanor's Wedding

Today was Eleanor Callison's wedding day. The main reason why I arrived in Greenville before my mother and brother. But before that Darla and I ran some errands on campus. One of the girls from my prayer group is now a Dorm Supervisor in Margaret Mack (according to the kind guy who helped us at Bellis Copy center where Darla had some laminating done). But when we stopped by she wasn't there, however I did get to see Miss Sarah. This lady is one of BJ's school fixtures, she has been working at the school when I came and it was lovely to see her again.

Eleanor's wedding can be summed up in one word: simple. There was hardly any decorations and we were there for only 50 minutes. (Of course we didn't see them cut the cake or throw the bouquet!) But it was short and simple, Eleanor's grandfather married them. Their wedding day was also the same day as Eleanor's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. So the grandpa was pretty emotional. There were only 4 bridesmaids and then the bride walked down the aisle. A nice sweet message about the meaning of marriage, ring exchange, signing of the wedding license and then the kiss. Boom! They were hitched. Short and sweet.

For dinner we met up with God, who is still the same crazy person. I forgot how tall he was but he wouldn't let me forget it. I took him and Darla out for dinner to celebrate his 30th birthday at Outback steakhouse. Then I went with Darla to her church and met all the wonderful people she has been telling me about. I also got to see her classroom. After church we wandered around downtown and ended up at Marble Slab. I had parked the car down by the Reedy river area and it was at least a 5 block walk up to Marble Slab. But as Darla pointed out, we walked off the calories we just ate from the ice cream going back to our car. All in all a nice pleasant day.