Carbonarra on Thursday!

I'll be cooking Carbonarra for the first time on Thursday as per request by my little, uhmm.. no, my biggie-sized-smartie-cutipie-nephew, Akiko for his 11th birthday. Hahaha! He has grown so big now and will soon grow taller than me. Pfft! He's currently a Grade 5 student in a Christian private school.

He told me a week ago what he wanted me to do for his birthday. He wants me to cook and prepare a packed-lunch for his 19 classmates and his teacher. The thing was, he wished me to serve them Carbonarra for a change! He told me that whenever one of his classmates celebrate their birthday and treats them, it was always Spaghetti and Fried Chicken. So I replied, "Ohh, okay." Then I was like, "Shoot! I have never cooked Carbonarra." Hahaha!

I immediately went online after that conversation to check for ingredients and searched on YouTube on how to make Carbonarra! (Few instances where I'm grateful for all these technology advancements we have!) Hahaha!

Good luck to me on Thursday! ;-)

Happy 11th on Thursday, Akiko!

Hold Me - Jamie Grace

What a better way to start the day with a happy heart: listening to Christian Songs online and suddenly I landed on this Christian Music Video. I instantly fell in love with the lyrics and melody. Superb! ;-) 



Hold Me by Jamie Grace ft. Toby Mac

Lyrics

INTRO:
[Toby Mac:]
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me) x 3
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you, the way you)

VERSE 1:
I’ve had a long day I just wanna relax
Don’t have time for my friends, no time to chit-chat
Problems at my job, i'm wonderin’ what to do
I know I should be working but I’m thinking of You and
Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down
That’s when Your smile comes around

CHORUS:
Oh, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way you hold me, in Your arms I’ll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love You more than the words in my brain can express
I can’t imagine even loving You less
Lord, I love the way You hold me
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh whoa, I love the way You hold me
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh
[Toby Mac:]
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me) x 3
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you)

VERSE 2:
Well You took my day and You flipped it around
Calmed the tidal wave and put my feet on the ground
Forever in my heart, always on my mind
It’s crazy how I think about You all of the time
And just when I think I’m ’bout to figure You out (figure You out)
You make me wanna sing and shout

(CHORUS)

BRIDGE:
I’m so grateful and thankful for all You’ve done
Wish I could tell You in a short story or poem
But, all I have is my voice and this guitar
And You have my heart

CHORUS 2:
Oh, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way you hold me, in Your arms I’ll always be
You take each and every day, every day, every day
Oh, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be
You make each and every day, oh-so-special!
I love the way you hold me, in Your arms I’ll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love You more than the words in my brain can express
I can’t imagine even loving You less
Lord, I love the way You hold me
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh whoa, I love the way You hold me
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh I love
[Toby Mac:]
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me) x 3
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you, the way you)

OUTRE:
[Toby Mac:]
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me) x 2
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me, hold me, hold me)

Hillsong♥

After the not-so-successful-songleading of mine last Sunday (haha), our Music Director assigned me again for the next Sunday afternoon service. Despite all the countless mistake I made during the service, I'm so thankful that the Music Team still believes in me. And that is something BIG and a relief especially for starters like me. I've to know that someone believes in me. So instead of turning it down, I decided to take it thinking it will be a good training for me, too.

Just this morning, Angelo introduced me to this song he found over Youtube. 'I will worship You for who You are' is the title of the song performed by Hillsong. I am currently working on it and thinking to include it in my line up for Sunday as my opening song. :)

My FIRST and hopefully won't be the last.

It's almost four in the morning and for thirty minutes I was staring blankly on Mimi, who by the way is my 5 month old female basset hound whom I share my bed with.

So to clear my head off, I decided to head on the computer and extract something out of it. As if there is something to extract from to begin with. Hahaha!☺

Today is Sunday. (Happily flashing my super excited smile.) When I became a Christian four months ago, Sunday had always been the day I impatiently look forward to. Haha! It actually thrills me to know that Sunday is just around the corner. More especially today.

You know when they say that there's always the first time in everything... mine is today. And to cut the story very, very short.. lol this afternoon, I'm gonna be singing in our church, in front of the pulpit as the Song Leader. *dies in joy* Hahaha!

I'm not sure if I'm really this ready, but one thing I know for sure... there is nothing I can remember where singing has been this fulfilling. My heart is bursting with so much joy and passion each time I sing for the glory of God. I just know deep in my heart that though I'm still lacking as a Song Leader, I know my voice and my dedication for singing are enough reason to continue and believe in myself because when I became a Christian I only sing and dedicate my voice to glorify my dearest savior. I just sure hope that God would still be proud of me sakaling bigla na naman akong ma-mental block mamaya at makalimutan ang lyrics ng kanta dahil sa sobrang kaba at taranta. Hahaha! So help me God! ;-P

♥♥♥

Jesus Christ The Prince of Peace Fellowship
Sunday second service: 3-6pm

Song Leader: Denise

LINE UP

Welcome Song: Halina't Sama Sama
Opening Song: Maghari Ka
Joyful/Praise:
  Come
  For All You've Done
Solemn/Worship:
  I Will Come
  For You Alone

♥♥♥

To God be the Glory! :)

Friday Weddings: Color it Black!

It's every girl's dream to look like a princess on their wedding day. It's undoubtedly one of the most important day in a girl's life. For flaunting a head turning look on the wedding day itself, one needs to keep with the latest Bridal Fashion Trends.

Colored Wedding Dresses are very unusual especially in a country like Philippines. Generally, brides-to-be still prefers the traditional way of wearing a white gown on their wedding. But not all brides, especially in this generation, opt for this traditional color choice. Fashion evolves. It tends to change depending on the latest trend and season, same goes with fashion style in wedding gowns. Colored wedding dresses are gaining popularity and have skyrocketed in the past year. Even some of the world's most notable fashion designers are boasting more colored wedding dress collections.

Now, there are modern brides who goes out of the traditional and tries to wear colorful wedding dresses. I, on the other hand, dares to be bold and out-of-the-box and wanted to try BLACK for a wedding dress. Whattchathink? ;-) Hahaha. I know, right? Black wedding dress, would you dare to wear? *wink*

These are my top three:

Boots is really my thing. Haha! I really love to wear them! If I get to marry in the future, you will definitely see me on them! ;-)

Okay. I know BLACK scares you, because I do, too. It's easier said than done. Yet if my future groom agrees with it, I will grab the opportunity on wearing them in my special day. :) Sometimes it's okay to take a risk and go out of your comfort zone once in a while.

Nevertheless, if you're still undecided or uncomfortable, go subtle. If you want to wear a black wedding dress, but don't feel comfortable doing so because of some personal or family-related reasons.. or if you're simply on the fence and are certain you will never reach a decision, a great solution is to go the traditional route, with a twist. A white wedding gown with a dark or any colored sash or dark shoes. :) But whatever decision you may reach in the future, just listen to your heart and follow it!♥

SIXTY: Day 20 to 39

Twenty days had passed since my last Sixty Random Things About Me entry. Yes, 20 days. I deliberately let twenty days to just slipped away so I wouldn't have to blog each of the entries I missed one by one as it will look so obvious that I missed them. Apparently, the idea of having them altogether in just one entry is all the more.. obvious. HAHA! Well, saving time and effort is not a bad idea after all. :-P

But ultimately, for some reason, I just got bored from writing and couldn't elicit anything interesting and exciting questions from my empty head. Lol. Reason on why I ceased blogging. For a while, the very least. Since the subject of this entry is anything about me, I came up with this not-so-brilliant-idea. Hahaha! Will post 20 random questions and answer them.

Let's see how random I can get..  :)

Here goes the Q and A portion!!


20. WHAT IS THE MOST ANNOYING THING THAT SOMEONE COULD DO TO YOU?
            - My first instinct answered none. But then I realized that it's boring to answer the way I did. So.. I think it would be.. desperately drawing my attention when I'm busy doing just any thing. I think that could sort of annoy me. Sort of, take note. Haha! You know that thing called Patience? I have loads of them stored in me. Lol. I don't easily get annoyed. Try me. *grin*

21. HAVE YOU EVER HAD YOUR HEART BROKEN?
            - Thrice. :'(

22. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY?
            - I'm not picky when it comes to men. Anyone who sees me for me, loves and accepts the real me, who is kind-hearted, who respects their mother and more importantly, a God-fearing person.. that will perfectly do. If he's gwapo or cute.. that's just bonus! :)

23. WHAT IS THE WEIRDEST THING ABOUT YOU?
            - Aside from dancing in front of the mirror and sometimes counting my steps when I walk, I also love the smell of burning leaves. You know that thing people do in the morning, sweeping fallen leaves off in their backyards and burn them? In tagalog we call them, 'nagsisiga'. I love the smell of them. I got it from my mother. She, too, loves the smell of it.

24. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB IN THE WORLD WHAT WOULD IT BE?
            - Seriously?? I would have answered Fashion Designer, Lawyer or President but it's very predictable. (Only if you had read my previous entries.) A detective or a pilot, or perhaps an international pop singer artist will be in the list!

25. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
            - Binge on anything, but more on pasta, pizza and burgers and watch romantic comedy movies afterwards. Would that count as fun? Coz' that sounds fun to me. ;-P

26. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?
            - Three. I have two female Basset Hounds and one male Pug. :)

27. WHAT'S THE MOST UNUSUAL THING YOU KNOW HOW TO DO?
            - That I can play Flute. In fact, I'm good at it. I was a part of the Flute Orchestra in our school when I was in High School.

28. WHAT FOOD COULD THEY NOT PAY YOU ENOUGH TO EAT?
            - Liver, the most, and any local exotic food that I simply cannot stomach to smell and worse, eat!

29. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CANNOT SAY "NO" TO?
            - Who would dare say "NO" to a free meal or dinner treat!? Hahahaha.. ;-D Anything that's free!!! Lol.

30. WHAT IS THE SORT OF RELATIONSHIP YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AND WHY?
            - Long term, of course. Who would want to waste time and effort, and invest emotions and love only to fail in the end? Of course, we all wanna spend our lifetime with a person who is willing enough to do the same in return, right? And someone who is willing to accept your flaws and love you without having any conditions. A relationship that is built mainly in trust, acceptance, loyalty and love. A relationship that keeps no record of wrongs. A kind of relationship that puts God in the middle.♥

31. WHAT WERE YOUR LIFE CHANGING MOMENTS?
            - When I became a Born-Again Christian. It was the best life changing moment in my whole life's existence. Everything has changed since then on. Sabi nga sa bible, sa book of 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new is here!"

32. HAS ANY MOVIE MADE AN IMPACT ON YOU?
            - Since I watch movie pretty much like a lot (and I recommend that you watch them after reading this) here is my Top 5:  1.) 3 Idiots - It's a Bollywood movie. In case you heard/read it for the first time, you go and figure it out yourself! Haha. Twas' the most recent movie I've seen and one of the best so far! At least in my taste. Its about making choices for yourself and the friendship that was created by the three in the movie is just so amazing! 2.) Pay It Forward 3.) August Rush 4.) Under The Tuscan Sun 5.) The Count of Monte Cristo.

33. WHAT WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD LIKE?
            - Always one of the boys! ;-) I was outnumbered by them all the time during my childhood days. No, in fact, I was the only girl who enjoys to play with them in the neighborhood. Probably why I could easily get along with guys first more than girls.

34. YOUR IDEAL VACATION SPOT?
            - Dying to see the beauty and romantic sunset mood of Santorini, Greece and the breathtaking sunflower field of Tuscany and the Lou'vre Museum in Paris. They're on my bucket list!♥

35. DO YOU LIKE SPORTS?
            - I don't, I guess. I hardly watch sports channel. But I do play Chess. I love swimming and table tennis.

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
            - Green and red bellpepper, white onion, mozarella and pepperoni.

37. NAME ONE THING YOU WORRY ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF.
            - Perfume and conditioner. (Sorry for answering two. Haha!)

38. SCARY MOVIES, TRAGIC FINALE OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
            - Happy Endings. Don't they go through enough drama to hell deserve that? ;-)

39. HOW MANY PAIRS OF JEANS DO YOU OWN?
            - Nine.. and need more. ;-)


Done! Pheew!

Sheesh. Twenty random questions in one sitting, how's that, eh?!

My July's Theme Song ♥

♪♪♫ I have died everyday waiting for you,

Darlin', don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more ♫♪♪

Every time I play this song on my playlist, hindi ko mapigilan mapangiti, mag-daydream at ma-in love. Actually, in love na ko sa song na to. Hats off to the composer!! Ikaw na.. ikaw na ang in love teh!! *WINK*

Sunday.Sundae

Shoot!!! I owe too many post to my Sixty Random Things About Me challenge! Will write very soon. :)

For the meantime, I'm so happy to share that today, for our church's second Sunday service this afternoon, I'll be singing in the pulpit neither for a special number nor as a back-up but a Song Leader.

I know it's too early and too soon for me. But with the help of my four beautiful sisters in Christ and talented Song Leaders and mentors, who first believed in me, I know I can do this! Thank you Princess, Hazel, Helen and Me-ann. For all the support, encouragements, good words and patience, maraming salamat!

Yesterday, as we were practising the first joyful song in my line-up, I suddenly stopped and ran towards Helen. I was crying a river. Hahaha! Crying like a baby! I suddenly realized that I wasn't ready yet. But thanks to the BIG THREE: Hazel, Helen and Princess whose support are immensely appreciated. You guys really know what words of encouragement to say. Hahaha!! ;P Kidding.

Thank you rin of course sa aking mga little boys na mas hinahabaan ang pasensya para kay Ate Denise dahil sa walang humpay kong kakatawa, na kung saan ay dapat seryoso tuwing oras ng practice. Hehe. Sa maraming pagkakataon na hindi makapasok sa timing ng kanta. Bwahahaha! Sorry, guys! I'm such a newbie. ;P At sa marami ring pagkakataon na sablay ang intro ni Ate Denise, laging wala sa bagsak ng gitara at sa timing talaga! Hahaha. Thank you Nicko, Christian, Jay-R at Angelo, sa mga talented kong gitarista, keyboardist at drummers.

Salamat din sa aking mga little angels na kasama ko sa pagba-back up at sa pagti-training maging Song Leaders. Thank you Dianne and Donna. Thank you guys! Malakas lang ang loob ko dahil alam kong kasama ko kayo at hindi ako nagiisa. I'm so proud of you two! :)

But more importantly, Thank you, Jesus! I would have never become like this if it weren't for you. You're all the source of my confidence, my strength, this passion and this talent I have in singing--it's all because of YOU. :)

Up until now, hindi pa rin ako super confident sa idea of being a Song Leader. It comes with a great sense of responsibility. It also means that I have to strengthen more my faith and my spiritual mind and soul. But nonetheless, because I have Jesus in me.. my heart is in a very happy place right now. Everything is smooth sailing. Of course, there will be many times that I'm gonna have to face fear.. but because I have Jesus beside me, I'm ready to face them all! Sabi nga sa Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Hanggang ngayon kinakabahan pa rin ako at natatakot magkamali, but I know God is with me. Bahala na si Lord mamaya. Kung magkamali man ako, mataranta, makalimutan ang lyrics, magkamali sa pagpasok at mawala sa timing, I know Jesus will still be proud of me. After all, I'm doing this to glorify the Lord who created me, my Maker. :)

Ang gagawin ko lang ngayon ay ienjoy ang moment na ito. :)

By the way, I'll be sharing the pulpit with my pretty co-Song Leader, Dianne. She'll be singing the first three half of our line up and I'll be responsible to deliver the last three songs.


♥♥♥

Sunday Afternoon Service (3-6pm)

Song Leaders: Dianne and Denise


LINE UP:

Welcome Song: LANGIT (Dianne)
Opening Song: MINAMAHAL KITA (Dianne)
Joyful:
SAYAW (Dianne)
LAHAT SAKIN (Denise)
Solemn:
IKA'Y KATAGPUIN (Denise)
IKAW LAMANG (Denise)


To God be the Glory!☺

A blessed Sunday, everyone!♥



PS.
After this, I'm gonna treat myself for a Chocolate Sundae for a job well done! ;-) Hahaha. Pampalubag loob sa sarili. LOL.☺

Happy Fourth of July

Because yesterday was a holiday in America, thanks to my mother who remind me of the celebration, I suddenly remember that it was also the same date my High School friend celebrates his birthday.

He was named after the Philippine-American Friendship Day, the very reason I never failed to remember his birthday until yesterday. Nonetheless, Happy Fourth of July, Doc! I wish you nothing but all the happiness and love the world can offer. You are such a kind-hearted man and a beautiful person in and out. Continue to be a blessing to other people. You truly are an inspiration. God bless you heaps! ;-)

SIXTY - Day 19

Sixty Random Things About Me

Nutella, to diieee for! ;-)

SIXTY - Day 18

Sixty Random Things About Me

If I'd be stuck in an island with only one kind of food to binge on, it would be pasta! Any type of pasta with red sauce on it will do. Spaghetti, Beef Lasagna, Baked Zitti in Ragu sauce, Penne Arrabiatta among many others will surely make my tummy happy! ♥

Pasta Madness :)

Penne Arabiatta in Red Orange, Baguio

I forgot the name of this pasta and the restaurant. But it was where the movie "One More Chance" was shot in Cubao Expo.

Seafood Gambazetti in Bigoli, Trinoma

Seafood Marinara date with my bestfriend, Roffel. Napoli's, SM Fairview.

 

Papa John's dinner date with my HS barkada.

Baked Zitti in white sauce and Spaghetti in Ragu Sauce.

Sbarro is l♥ve.

SIXTY - Day 17

Sixty Random Things About Me

Who doesn't love roadtrips? Motorcycle roadtrips, for a change. Especially when you're with the coolest people to share it with. :)

June 01, 2011. Antipolo Roadtrip with my bestfriend, Roffel, alongside King, her husband and three other people. Photo taken during one of our many stopovers.

August 21, 2011. Six days after my birthday. A roadtrip gift from my bestfriend. :)

SIXTY - Day 16

Sixty Random Things About Me

Favorite perfume collection: Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea; Elizabeth Arden's Lavender and Sunflowers Limited Edition.♥

SIXTY - Day 15

Sixty Random Things About Me

15. My favorite number! ;-)