Day 241: Downtaaaawn

My friends and I (G.O.B) decided to go to downtown to hangout. We just planned it yesterday night and actually set out a pretty good plan for today. This was actually a hangout for Charlotte, since we haven't seen her in a while. Since she hasn't arrived at downtown, the rest of us decided to walk around. In this picture we were in Chinatown. These men are playing Chinese Checkers. By the looks of the game, it was hard for me to understand it. Anyway, I had a really GREAT time today guys! It was so much fun walking around downtaawn and recording the moments via camera with you all! Haha, we should do it again in the future when we are not busy. Anyway, our plan today was to meet Charlotte then eat lunch with her, head to Chinatown and shop there for a while, then head to TD square and shop while I exchange a clothing (sewn incorrectly), then go to Body Worlds OR watch a movie if not that. We ended up doing a WHOLE lot of other things and taking pictures of places we've been to. Also, we didn't end up going to Body Worlds. Instead, we went to Prince's Island and took pictures there haha. It was a fun day. So much things happened in between but I'll let the photos remind the moments and the things we did hehe. Today's experience was fo'sho what we needed before school starts! :D

Day 240: Washroom

My family went to downtown today.. to shop. Haha, we haven't done any shopping so we decided to go downtown instead of the usual malls we go to. I took this picture using the reflection of the hand dryer if you were wondering.

Day 239: Studying Abroad

We got this souvenir from the Philippines..obviously ahha. Anyway, I took this picture because I was thinking about studying in the Philippines after High School. It was just a thought... so I don't think it would be anything serious. Though I did thought a while about it and even asked my mom, "What if I did? Would you let me?" We had this conversation a while back, about how I should just go to the Philippines and study there. Then I asked that same question and I could see her going uneasy about it lol. I guess she thought I wouldn't consider it. But yeah I asked it again today and she told me to ask my dad haha. *sigh* I can't believe it's my senior year... but at least I get to spend it with amazing people! :D

Day 238: Family Day

A Family Day event was set today at Eagle Lake for the Couples for Christ, Singles for Christ, Youth for Christ and the Kids for Christ. We had mass first thing and then later on ate. There were a lot of people too! Then there were games and cheers for each groups. Our YFC cheer was not well done, since we made it at the spot. Then we decided to just sing Just the Way You are by Bruno Mars with a Ukulele! I took this picture of Arielle during mass... even though I shouldn't have. I remember the priest talking about The Confessions of St.Augustine. I'd like to read that in the future. I also remember that if we claim to be something... like being good people, we should celebrate it by going to church. He said something about a man saying to a priest that he knows a family that is very good, but doesn't go to Church. How can you claim to be good if you don't celebrate it? Something like that... >.< Anyway, I met new people today too :D Good day!

Day 237: Last Day of S.HOU.T!

This morning, after the girls woke up and got ready for the day, the boys prepared something special for the girls. We couldn't even go to the kitchen! It said "No girls allowed beyond this point!" It was something special indeed and as we kept guessing in the basement, three boys finally went down stairs and told the girls what was on their menu.. in other words, what they prepared for the girls for breakfast! Then we came up and lined up. No one wanted to go first, so I decided to go in first. I thought everyone else would follow but they closed the door and all the boys were clapping and saying "Yaaaaaay!" lol. I proceeded to one of the seats around the table. That same thing was repeated for all the other girls too. And as they were coming in and receiving standing ovation, some of us started to read the little diamond cards and the letters on it. I admit, some of the messages were really cute! Haha like, "Are you tired? 'Cause you've been running through my mind all day!" And a lot of other cute messages. After eating, the boys presented to us a song.. and some dancing haha. After one special rose given to a girl, all the other boys took a rose and gave it to each of us. IT WAS SO CORNY! Hahahah but cute. Anyway after that and the things in between, we went to downtown and attended mass at St. Francis Church. After mass we were surprised by an AMAZING (G)RACE! So each house were given clue card and had to find the person around after doing all the requirements to get the next card. It's like Amazing Race. After a whole lot of funny, crazy, interesting things in between, our team finally went home. We had around 4 hours to finish the race. We were last... lol. The consequence? We washed the dishes. Then one of the teams cooked us dinner. They cooked barbeque steak. It was really good!

After that and a lot of things in between, we had our last and final talks/sessions. I was tired and I'm sad to say that I almost fell asleep near the end of the talk. This was when the emotional part came actually... just like how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, we were freely given the chance to wash the feet of our friends. By washing their feet, we let that person know that we are willing to serve him/her. I didn't get to wash everyone's feet, but I did get to wash a few. I thought I wouldn't cry (others began crying) but then a brother took a bucket and a cloth, came toward me, washed my feet, hugged me, and told me some things that got me crying. Then a few more came to wash my feet, and it was hard for me to stop the tears from flowing. It was just that meaningful to us. I'll miss this S.HOU.T! I really will.. especially the new bond and friendship we developed. No need to be sad though, since there'll be more of these in the future! HOORAH! :D

Day 236: Not in Order

Second day of S.HOU.T! Last night a friend told the girls a couple of scary stories.. in the dark... with a flashlight.. past midnight. Haha, I slept pretty well after that actually. A few more people came today too. We went to St. Thomas Moore Church to attend mass. For breakfast we were presented with cereal from the Blue House (New Born Blueberries). They did a good job behind the meaning of their food preparation. We did more talks/sessions. My team made CHICKEN ADOBO during lunch!!! And to expand, we didn't have enough ingredients but we cooked it anyways. After over 30 mins of waiting, we tried it and it tasted pretty good! It wasn't the normal chicken adobo taste, but everyone liked it :D We played more cards. We were caught again by the "barkers" for breaking the house rules (complaints, talking in tagalog etc). Punishment? This time, it wasn't an easy one. It was night time and we were told to go outside... to jog. Actually these punishments are called "love punishments". They are not meant to make us feel bad, but rather to help us because they want to look out for all of us. And in order for everyone to get that and the house rules, we went jogging. I was dead tired by the second lap, then on the third.. somehow my body functioned like an athlete and the only thing that was annoying me was my heavy breathing... which wasn't even doing anything to make me tired. I was just.. running. Then we stopped and finally learned our lesson. Had more talks. Made sushi for dinner! Each group had the chance to make their own. It tasted great! My team washed the dishes. We had a Forum at night. There was a girls forum and a boys forum. A lot more things in between from morning to nighttime. *sigh* I wish I was able to put these together with meaning, but so much things happened that all I want to do is list out the things I want to remember. Anyway, I can't say these are in order... but yeah I'll add more when I remember them just for my sake of remembering when I want to in the future.

Day 235: To Remember

Today was a good start for S.HOU.T! We went to church first in the morning, saw some friends from Edmonton, went to our venue, met new friends, and the usual but unique awesome things that happen in YFC. Things that you guess will happen and surprises that you won't know will happen 'til much later on. One thing that happened today was that we had to minimize our baggage. They gave us plastic bags to get the necessities such as towel, clothes, shampoo, soap, etcc and also the unmentionables... (panties and etc lol). The rest such as cell phones, ipods, Nintendo DS and etc were not allowed in the bag. They also gave us little notebooks to take note on the talks/sessions, things we learned and I guess to doodle and draw. Then we were put into "houses"/"groups". I was in the red house and named ourselves "Old Spice" LOL. I didn't really cared about the name, and since there were boys in my team I decided why not. There were a lot of things that happened today, but I guess I'll just list some of them for me to remember it in the future:
- The Green house (ahaha so green) who couldn't think of a group name and was picked to make lunch first. (They made hot dogs :) Yupp, we had to make our own food on our own but had the leaders to help us out when needed. We also had to present our food and what it meant to us..so we had to organize it in a way and find a meaning behind it.
- All the groups teaming up to make dinner (spaghetti, salad (my team made salad), juices, etc.). I organized the food and the amount I wanted... only to find out that we had to give our plate to the right and feed the brother/sister with our plate. I was pretty sad for a while... as the plate I got had little salad and my original plate had a lot.. lol oh wells.
- The whole teams getting caught by the "barkers" for breaking the house rules such as leaning against the wall and couch while in session, complaining, talking in tagalog (we had to speak in english since some couldn't understand tagalog), some swearing and etc.. PUNISHMENT?! We did some push ups and this other exercise..mountain climbing I think lol dunno.
- Playing cards at night was SO MUCH FUN! I learned a lot of card games.. hopefully I remember them all!
A lot of other things happened but I guess I'll stop for now. I'll probably add the rest some other time!


**P.S** Sorry if this might be boring to you, but to me it's an important part of my journey in becoming a real servant and in serving the Lord. I'm learning a lot in the process... and pardon me for my not so well memory but I'll try my hardest to take in the things I've learned to heart and apply it to my life. I might lose my way in this journey, but I trust and have faith that God will bring me to my place in this world. Alrighty, I could say more but that will be all for now. THANKS FOR READING! :) **

Day 234: Summer House Training

I'm going to be away from home from Wednesday to Friday for this Summer House Training for YFC. I think their acronym is SHOUT! Not sure about the details since we were told about it so suddenly. I wasn't so sure if I should go or not but hey, what better way to start the school year than worshipping and developing a closer relationship with God?? And so I'm off to go for tomorrow! But first I need to pack what I need. >.<

Day 233: First Portrait Shot

I've noticed I haven't posted a photo of me in here...not one at all. SO since my mom told me to try some of my old clothing (to see which one fits and which one doesn't anymore) I decided to do a little photoshoot of myself. This marks my first self-portrait of the whole 233 photos! And yes, that clothing is a little wrinkly..and I'm no expert in fashion so I hope this is pretty good enough haha.

Day 232: Surrounded by Presents

This kid got so much baptism gifts! AND got so much money too! He's ballin' alright. He got more money than what I have in my wallet LOL. Ah how sad. *sniff sniff* Haha, well anyway thanks Jill, Maria and Jomar for the present! My mom liked your card and your messages :)

Day 231: Baptism

Today is my little brother's baptism! Don't he look handsooomee?! My original plan for the 21st was to volunteer for a One Rock event along with other Youth for Christ volunteers. Forgetting that the 21st was my brother's baptism date, I said yes. So days after I got curious and asked my mom when Nathaniel's baptism was and found out my mistake. I then told my friend I couldn't volunteer, as his baptism was more important to me. Anyways, I hope there's another event like that next summer and hopefully I'll be free then to volunteer! Also, thanks to my friends who came that day! What would I have done if you guys weren't there?? >.<

Day 230: Preparations

The whole day we were preparing for Nathaniel's baptism tomorrow. My dad was finishing up the basement renovation, my mom, auntie, cousin and uncle were preparing some food (marinating for tomorrow and other things) and desert, my brother helping my dad and me babysitting Nathaniel. Arielle was pretty much watching Treehouse and appearing from one place to another lol. When the day turned into night, my dad finally (almost-just a few more fixes) finished the basement. The others were almost done preparing the food and my left shoulder was feeling heavy from Nathaniel's head resting on it. Anyways, we'd have to wake up early tomorrow for the baptism ceremony!

Day 229: Quadruplets

I was experimenting with cloning and decided to clone my little baby brother. It looks so cool!

Day 228: Heey You

Hey little cutie :)

Day 227: Stray Cat

On the day that Calgary's sky looked like poop, there was this cat. It was a stray cat, it had no home. I wanted to be friendly enough to have him/her come closer, but then the cat ran away. It must had been through tough obstacles and felt too lost and hurt, so it couldn't trust me. Especially the thought that his owner might have abandoned him/her. So it ran... trusting no one. If somewhere along its journey, might he/she feel hope.. and gradually trust.. then maybe it can find someone. Someone to understand his/her pain and its lost days... maybe then this cat can find and begin a new life..and finally feel like home again.

Day 226: Vitamin D Level

Last Thursday, I had to go to a doctor's appointment to discuss my blood lab results. The doctor said that everything else was fine EXCEPT my vitamin D level. She said the normal level for that is between 100-200.. and unfortunately for me, my vitamin D level was... waaaay below. It's not even near 50. It's waaaaaay below. SOOO I have to take these pills for 3 months or something. I gotta take 2 calcium pills and 4 vitamin d pills. At first, I was having trouble trying to swallow them down.. especially the calcium pills. I almost threw up trying to swallow those! Every time I tried to swallow it, the muscles at the back of my tongue would contract and bring it back out. But eventually I found a way to trick myself and swallow it... by eating food and hiding the pill beside the food then swallowing them at the same time lol. I don't usually take pills so this is why it's a little difficult to swallow them.

Day 225: Birds Outside

My dad said that the birds outside are a little happier since he put some food on that case. I grabbed the camera quick and tried to take a decent photo. BUT there was a branch in the way, so I had to shooo those birds away for a while and took the branch off. These birds are really jumpy, they won't stay still for 5 seconds!

Day 224: *Wink Wink*

Am I posting too much Nathaniel pictures?? Hmrmm haha well bear with me, this child's cuteness is too strong to ignore!

Day 223: Dress Up

LOL. My auntie dressed him up that way, and I only took the picture because he looked too cute! Haha, even with female clothes, it's hard to resist smiling to this little cutiee piee.

Day 222: Trying to Draw

I'm really lazy right now with the family drawing. I need to try and finish this before next Saturday.. so I can give it to the mother of the family and move on with my summer. *sigh* I'm trying not to draw too fast, or else the likeness will be bad for sure. But I guess I can draw faster on the clothing and draw slower on the faces. That's an exception. But of course, this won't be no sloppy drawing though. Just a little faster than usual. Wish me luck!

Day 221: Goodbye, Avatar Series

I finished watching ...Avatar: The Last Airbender Series and I feel really sad that it's over :( I really really liked the show, and a part of me wishes I lived in that kind of world. Like the world of Pandora from the movie Avatar. Though they are a whole lot different from each other. Mann it's crazy how wonderful-ly awesome humanity's imagination can be. It's crazy how AMMAZZING God's creation is. Just amazingly awesome. There should be a better way to say how awesome it is, but my teeny little brain can only come up with these words at the moment.. -__- Yeah.. if you have the time, you should watch The Last Airbender series. Maybe you'll like it too!

Day 220: Still Watching Avatar

Watching the Avatar: The Last Airbender series... and this was what I could take a photo of for today. Too caught up with the episodes!! Even when I'm trying to draw, I put the reference window on the left side and the Avatar video on the right side of my screen. Though I know it would slow down my drawing, I'm just lovin' it too much to not set my eyes on the action! So... I guess I end up with little progress. >.< What the hey, I love this show :D

Day 219: Cleaning Dusty Places

I found this as I was cleaning an area of my room today. I'm not really in any rush so I'm taking my time to organize and throw away some things I don't need. I guess I can say that the dusty parts are not so dusty anymore? Haha, yeah.. I'm slow when cleaning dusty places, since I get allergy reactions such as itchy eyes and a runny nose.

Day 218: Helix Eraser

I got a new type of eraser! It made me so excited, I continued to draw the Glee drawing I was working on lol. I'm actually more than 50% done, but now I have to focused on the family commission and try to finish it before school starts!

Day 217: Sushi

I made sushi today! For the first time! Yup, it tasted pretty good too! Thank goodness for the game Personal Trainer Cooking (Nintendo DS.. lol. wut.. it helped big time!). Yeaah, I'm no cooker.. but I'm learning in the process! Though this isn't really cooking.. but hey, it's still food :)

Day 216: Hello Bear & Kitty

I was cleaning part of my room today (will be cleaning more lol) and I realized how these origami of mine are completely hidden from anyone to see. So, I took them out and decided to put them up somewhere else. I joined them with the other stuff toys I have displayed and are probably the last ones to be joined... since the area is full. Though I only cleaned 25% of my room today, I feel pretty proud about it. Haha. :D

Day 215: The Kids Next Door

So I got stuck outside trying to make sure that Arielle won't run towards the street. A while later these kids showed up! They saw Arielle and decided to try to make friends with her, but being the little two year old she is and only knowing some words, she became shy and said to them, "No! Mad me!".. then she smiled..a very friendly smile. LOL. Haha, she just kept saying that when we told her to go make friends with them. Eventually, these kids sat down as you can see from the picture. Then one of them asked to hold Nathaniel and I decided to take some photos of them. They actually live just next door so we might see them again the next time we sit in front of our house.

Day 214: Doll Stroller

So my mom decided to put my little brother on my little cousin's doll stroller. LOL. He fits too! The downside is the wheels don't turn like real strollers do. So we have to make sure Arielle doesn't turn the stroller too fast or else Nathaniel will fall along with it. He is having a pretty fun time though isn't he?

Day 213: The Last Airbender

Starting to watch the Avatar series.. and honestly, I'm enjoying it! :D

Day 212: Partaaay!

Just before we left for a party, it rained like crazy! I'm not kidding, it was as if our house was underneath a waterfall or something. We even tried my uncle's huge umbrella- which looked strong- but then it flipped the other way around! lol Well I guess that didn't stopped us from going to a family friend's party. Haha, and no.. it's not Nathaniel's birthday. My brother found this hat and put it on Nathaniel. I thought it looked cute.. so here's the picture for the day!

Day 211: Pokemon!

I played a new game on this Diamond Version of Pokemon- since I found out the Pokemon I played back then was a different version. I played for hours lol and I'm trying to stop myself from becoming too addicted with training my pokemons. And yes, I did nicknamed ChimChar "Cutiepie" as I had no other nicknames in my head at the time. LOL.