Christ the Lord : Out of Egypt.

It´s the novel by Anne Rice that I started reading last year (maybe in October or November, no longer sure) and I only finished just 20 minutes ago. The good side is that I´m finally done reading it, including the author´s note. The bad side is that I just learned that there was only one chapter left (less than 10 pages) for it to be finished and I left it for 2012, grrrrrrrrrr.

Anyways, let me talk about the story of the book. It´s about Jesus as a young boy and how he learned about his true identity. It´s such a good read. The editor´s note is very inspiring as well. Anne Rice is raised as a child in an old-fashioned, strict Roman Catholic environment, but she broke with Church and in her belief in Christ when she turned 18 and been an atheist for 30 years. She got married to an atheist as well. But in 1998, she went back to the Church and renewed her belief in God. She consecrated herself and the book to Christ.

I´ll no longer tell more about the book or the author coz as I´ve said before, I am such a bad storyteller. So, I´ll just recommend the book to you. You will surely enjoy it.:) You can learn more about the author by visiting her website : annerice.com.

Actually, I´ve only learned about the author´s name when I started reading the book. Shame on me! I just visited her site a while ago and I learned that this book comes in a series. I want to read the other 2 and her other books, but most of all, I want to read her non-fiction book: Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession. I have to visit Happy Books soon.:) And ohh, Anne Rice will be added to the list of my favorite authors now.:) And another ohh, I just learned that the movie Interview with the Vampire, one of the movies that I can´t forget with Antonio Banderas, was based on Anne Rice´s novel. I learned a lot of things by visiting her site.:)

P.S. A big thanks to my friend, Sam, for the book. She works in a cruise ship and everytime the ship comes to Barcelona, she hauls a lot of books from the ship´s library for me (hehehe) coz she knows that I am such a book lover.:) Thank you dear, til the next books. hehehe.

The Math wizzard.

1 month or 2 months ago ( I am no longer sure, blame it to aging,hehehe), my SIL and my mother informed me that Hatifa (the eldest kid of my brother) was one of the 3 grade I pupils of San Isidro Elementary School (SEIS, my Alma Mater too) chosen to compete in the Math competition in our town of Pilar. Few days after, they informed me that Hatifa´s group won and that they´re qualified for the higher competition that will be held in Loboc Elementary School this coming January 19.

I am super happy for Baby Tifa´s ( we often call her that, but she´ll be 7 this June) achievement and super glad that she didn´t get our "math-challenged" genes.:) "Our" refers to my dearest, only brother and I, hahaha. Yes, we were and still are math-challenged, hahaha. And we both had low grades in our Math subjects which was a constant disappointment to our parents (especially our Mama) coz they´re both good in Math. What freaks my Mama the most was our inability to memorize the multiplication table, grrrrrrrrr. Shame on us, but I admit it openly:). I don´t know about my brother if he managed to memorize it, but I haven´t until now. So shameful!! But you know why I didn´t try my hardest to do it?coz I know how to multiply with my fingers, hahaha, something that made my Math teachers mad everytime they caught me wriggling my fingers.hehehe.

Baby Tifa with my brother during last year´s fiesta celebration. They told me that the kid loves accessories too, so maybe she got my genes for that.hehehe.

Anyways, back to Hatifa. Last night, I got a text message from Mama telling me that the kid had their periodical exam the other day and, lo and behold, Baby Tifa is the only one who passed the Math exam. Weeeee, she must have gotten her "math genes" from her mother (she´s good at Math) or the grandparents and I felt so relieved with that.hehehe.

God bless Baby Tifa and make good in the competition this coming Jan. 19! Mommy Julai loves you much and your siblings and Dodong Eric, as well.

The Google Chrismas carol.

Just want to share Google´s Christmas carol that I was able to video on my phone on the afternoon of Dec. 24 last year, just in case you missed it.:)

I really don´t have any idea that Google has some stuffs incorporated in their Google search engine to honor someone or when there are special occasions until I read  Miss Rei´s post : Relive Gumby and Friends through Google doodle. So, on Christmas eve as I was opening Google Chrome, I tried clicking the letter G out of curiosity and there it was! It made a sound and I clicked all the letters until I heard the jingle and then I played it 2 more times before finally taking a vid. hehehe. 

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012 everyone!

  

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness.
I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful,
and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.

May your coming year be a wonderful thing, in which you dream both dangerously and outrageously.
I hope you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and you will be liked,
and that you will have people to love and to like in return.

And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now),
I hope that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.
And I hope that somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

{Neil Gaiman | A New Year’s Benediction}

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I copied the words above coz I just find it very inspiring and I hope that it will inspire you, too. I first read it in her fb wall and then on her blog, so I just asked her if I can re-post it here. She didn´t reply yet, but I know she will give me the permission (hehe). By the way, I am referring to Ate Ai: my photography idol and goddess of goodness and love. You can visit her at  Aileen Siroy Blog. Thank you so much Ate for introducing me to Neil Gaiman. I googled his name immediately after reading it on your fb wall. Hope to read some of his books this year.:)

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Goodbye 2011 and thank you so much for all the lessons you brought into my life. I experienced happiness,fun, sadness, disappointments, resentments and all kinds of emotions but I appreciate them all coz each situation taught me a lesson or two and all those made me even stronger. And as I go forward with the new year, I will only bring the lessons and the positive things and leave all the negativities behind.:)

I wish you all a fruitful, blessed, colorful, wonderful, amazing and exciting 2012! And as early as now, I already claim that this year will be a great year for me and for all of us! God bless us all.


And ohh, I wore orange during the New Year´s celebration to symbolize my claim of a super great, colorful and amazing 2012.:) And I am super sure that it will be a great year coz my glamour organizer  (that I bought in early December) is also testifying to the claim coz it comes in orange, as well. hehe. 

New Year´s celebration at Ate Helen´s place.

My Glamour 2012 organizer.:)

7th Christmas away from home.

One of the many Christmas street lights here in Barcelona. Taken by Ate Bb with her Nikon D5100.

How time flies so fast! It seems like it was only few months ago when I wrote 6th Christmas away from home. And suddenly, it´s another Christmas away from home again!

It´s sad being far from my family during Christmas, but despite that, I am also happy coz my family are doing great back home and I know that despite the distance, we are still as close as ever and we will always be a one, big, happy family!

This Christmas is a bit sadder than the past Christmases coz I am away from my family, my Ate roommates are not complete coz Ate Ruma is in Pinas for vacation (I am happy for her), Ate Wil will be home in the afternoon of the 25th (so it´s only Ate Bb and the 3 other boardmates - Ate Jan, Lulugirl & Liana) and my dearest is not here, as well.:( But despite it all, the celebration must go on coz Christmas is not about me, but it´s all about Jesus´ birthday. It´s what we are celebrating on the 25th and hope that we didn´t forget the real meaning of Christmas. It´s HIM, the real STAR ng  Pasko.:)

And as always, no other country can beat the Filipino Christmas. Paskong Pinoy is truly the best!


Have a Merry Christmas everyone! Let´s let love, peace, kindness, forgiveness and joy reign this Yuletide season.

Taken at Kuya Joseph & Ate Venus´ place during their 10th wedding Anniv (Dec. 8), with their huge, lovely Christmas tree.

Love for humanity.

I just saw this video a while ago in Tito Moises´ fb wall and I just can´t go to bed without sharing it. I already shared it on my fb wall and I want to post it here, too, so I can watch it oever and over again.:)

The speech is very inspiring and it touched and moved me deeply! Everything Charlie Chaplin said in the speech is so true and I share the same dream and vision. The speech just reminds and encourages me to pursue my dreams, dreams not only for myself, but for others as well. (I want to see entire " The Great Dictator" movie).

Let´s not hate and conquer one another, instead let´s help one another as much as possible, regardless of religion, color, race, etc. And let´s always remember that the Kingdom of God is in every man, not only in one man or group of men, but in all men : you and me. Let´s unite and make this world a better, happier place!