pipik. pebol. peanut. popoy. audrey.

just when i thought i was at the brink of insanity, they rescue me. like a bucket of cold water. a kick in the shin. a slap on the face. an incredulous "what were you thinking, A?" i know they indulge my over dramatic whining, but they know it helps me get through the day. slowly. but i'm getting there. where i remember i'm not stupid.

and we start laughing.
so, thank you. :)

answers.

i have always hated math because everything is so absolute, but right now i would give anything for an equation with only one right answer. clean. complete. finite.

to my future husband -- a prayer

this is beautiful. a dear friend of mine, chinky, posted this in her blog. she said her eyes welled-up in tears when she read this. well, so did mine.


To My Future Husband
by: Hillary Isaac

I prayed for you this morning.
I have been praying for you for awhile now but stopped
Because I thought I finally met you.
He seemed almost as wonderful as I know you will be
Gentle and loving and caring
He was nearly as adventurous as I know our God made you
For a while his smile was the brightest I'd ever seen
But then I discovered, he simply isn't you.

I have traveled much distance and suffered much pain
I know that if you could, you would have protected me from all this
But our time to meet is not yet now
So in prayers and in faith is where we'll be.
The heartache I went through nearly made me lose my faith
That you might still be out there being fashioned for me
I nearly gave up and thought I could never love again
But He tells me that YOU, yes you are the one.
But our time has not yet come.

I pray for your job, for your health and for your family
I know they are wonderful and loving and funny
That they're nearly as crazy as my own crazy family
And how you all love animals and cooking and traveling
And you will take me to an underwater adventure
Just you and me.
I pray for your walk with our God to be strong
To grow ever deeper and for your faith to be stronger
I pray that your life will be a stellar testimony
To reach those I can't and meet those I won't.

I pray that I keep learning and growing in wisdom
That God continue to mold me and change me
That I might become a godly wife to you
One whose heart is strong and loves fiercely,
Whose trust in her husband is anchored on the Almighty.
I pray for a humble spirit that respects and submits
And covers you in prayer and supports you in everything.

Til the day we are brought together
I will cover you in prayer
And continue to walk this path that He has set out for me
That as I journey to my destiny and fulfill His purpose in me
You and I, in our lives, bring God all the glory.

blah blah blogging yet again

anyong haseo!!! haha, i'm not korean, but on a recent cebu trip i was mistaken for one. by koreans no less. i was a bit peeved at first, and it started to show, then i felt guilty because they were kinda nice.

going back,
hello.

i was planning to study all summer in preparation for my last 2 semesters in law school and the BIG exam next year, but plans change. i haven't opened a law book since march (suppress panic at this point). no, i haven't been abusing my snooze button, and no, i haven't been pigging out (that's usually what my dad thinks i'm doing.) i was trying to be productive actually.

early april i headed out to manila for the philippine inter-collegiate debate championship (pidc: the sun life cup) staged at the UP diliman campus with a bunch of the xu debate circle members, not to debate, but to shop (kidding) to adjudicate. i was there for a whole week. it was nice seeing debate friends (hey brian d! hey chinky! hey cookie!) and getting back into the whole "debate scene" once again, except that i felt old, and a tad bit silly being there. everyone was so serious, and i was, well, just pretending to be, LOL! it was great though knowing i still had my adjudicating/acting chops intact, and the free coffee didn't hurt either. and i got to visit my friends reviewing for the bar exam this year too. it did cost me some major moolah, but oh well, figured i needed a diversion from the usual home-to-school, school-to-home routine. it was my idea of a vacation. yup, vacationing with haughty, argumentative and opinionated debaters. it was great.

just after a day when i got back to cagayan de oro, i had to leave for davao city. as a project for the mindanao region of FCCY (fil-chinese catholic youth) a bunch of us from cdo together with some fccyers from ozamiz took a 6-hour trip to davao to conduct a youth camp/encounter there-- its a 3-day religious retreat which serves as an entry-point in joining FCCY. the camp site, Christ the King Charismatic Center, was, to put it bluntly, like an old, abandoned public school converted haphazardly into a bootcamp-ish retreat house, that lacked window screens, paint, furniture, and was more abundant in insects, specifically mosquitoes, dust, and pig pen-like, grimey toilets. i'm not complaining. it was perfect. seriously. i always have a deeper appreciation for the stripped-down version of camp facilities as opposed to the hotel-esque ones we usually have in cagayan. in previous camps similar to the one we had in davao, where attendees were forced to be uncomfortable, like the one we had in iligan last year, fewer things take away the emphasis from what's truly important--GOD. so bring on the grime! bring on the dust! bring on the mosquitoes! bring on the pigs! (not really, hehe) because with these, you become more appreciative of the finer things in life as well as focus on GOD more. what i'm saying is, in times like these, i prefer bear necessities as opposed to luxury. grounding is what it does.
and on our last day in davao we were treated to a instant tour of the city. and we did the whole tourist, picture-taking thing despite just the meager hours we had. malling, food-tasting, sight-seeing-- all these were done in a span of, what, 4 hours? our davao hosts were just fun. i miss them! can't wait for them to visit cagayan. "i love you" guys! (hahahaha!)
so, after the whole davao stint, i had to start planning the leadership workshop for the mindanao region of FCCY. slated on may 29th to the 31st, the workshop is a congregation of all the leaders and future leaders of FCCY learning from each other in the hopes of bettering fccy chapters all over mindanao. i'm so excited! not only is cagayan de oro the hosting chapter, i'm excited because we decided to hold it at mapawa nature park. the latter is known for its watering hole, zip-lining, horseback riding, and all that jazz, but, its best kept secret in my opinion is its sweet and cozy bed and breakfast inn that was once the pelaez family ranch. i'm really praying for a huge turnout this year, hoping that people will take advantage of this opportunity because, contrary to cynics who say otherwise, LTWs are not rendered useless. i have high hopes for the leaders this year, and if people have lost hope on the gift that is fccy cdo, they should assess it not for its past mistakes but for how its humbly recovering post conflicts. so my fingers are constantly crossed. and i'm feverishly praying day in and out. "if God led us through it, He'll lead us through it," as peanut would say. and i totally agree. vehemently.

my birthday.

i turned 25. woot woot. its weird if your birthday is sandwiched between your mother's and your sister's, even weirder if both your parents forget your birthday given that, for the past 25 years, your mother has been celebrating it on the 15th, and pebbles has been celebrating on the 17th. so, imagine my protest when for some bizarre reason, BOTH my parents forgot my birthday on the 16th. i think this is attributed to two things: first, the fact that i am 25, and it has been roughly 15 years since they broke out on candles, cake and balloons, and second, due to the unfortunate phenomenon of being in your 50s. all is forgiven though.

so what was i up to on my 25th? nothing much. oh, except for that tiny fact that my hubcaps were stolen and i had to sit in the mall security office for a good 2 hours to deal with a fake-crying 12 year old thief. happy birthday to me. again, all is forgiven.

this year marks ACE IT REVIEW SERVICES' 3rd year in the college entrance test reviewing business. my business partners len and marco and i continued our sure-fire formula of preparing high school students to take that inevitable college entrance exam. hoorah for ace it! and good luck to all the students! (check out http://aceitreviewservices.multiply.com/ )

cebu. my favorite progressive city in the philippines. my dad insisted that we took a trip together as a family. he had a whole spiel prepared--how this trip was probably the last one we will ever make because we were soon gonna get married. jeez. just because pebbles and albert just recently became a couple doesn't mean we girls are soon leaving home. so off we went to cebu. to eat. to shop. and to eat again. cebu will be remembered for island joe, outpost, flame it half pounder burgers, s'barro, IRON MAN, kamekichi ramen, rustan's and achi bea's book, conversations with a fat girl.

and so, the month of april was dedicated to 5 things: (1) pidc, (2) the davao youth camp, (3) my birthday(!), (4) ace it review services, and, (5) our family cebu trip.

now its the merry month of may. ignoring the humid days and the rainy nights, may is turning out to be a quite peachy month. my highschool friend karen just got married. and aimee was home for a few days! yey! karen is the first one by the way, among my close friends in high school to be tying the knot. she and badick have been together for 5 years now, and 4 of those 5 years they've been apart (badick is working in cebu, karen in cagayan de oro. sounds familiar?) the wedding was just sweet. and i am not exaggerating when i say she was the loveliest bride i've seen. i didn't mean to get all sentimental during the ceremony but there i was, with badit and aimee, desperately trying, but miserably failing to hold back tears as karen was walking down the aisle. i am so happy for karen and badick. their love and maturity is so tangible you almost want to get married yourself. which, by the way led me to think about me, my age and yes, marrying. and until now, i'm still thinking. just thinking. in a few years perhaps. :-))

mindanao leadership!!!

support! :-))

http://superapay.multiply.com/photos/album/23/FCCY_MINDANAO_LEADERSHIP_TRAINING_WORKSHOP#

FCCY Mindanao Leadership Training Workshop

come and see! email me at aa_uyang@yahoo.com

Mindanao Region Updates

sunny smiles all the way from mindanao! hahaha, i feel stupid after saying that. :-)) ok, so, i just wanted to share to everyone what your mindanao friends have been doing (apart from complying with perry's request to post an update.) last april 11, 12 and 13, monique (regional steward for mindanao), moy2x, ijae, mark, ryan and kerwin (ozamiz fccyers) along with peanut, audrey and i (fccy cdo) travelled 6 hours to davao city to facilitate a joint youth camp for fccyers from davao and cotabato. the camp was staged in an unassuming, boot camp-ish retreat house, Christ the King Charismatic Center. there were 13 participants in all, and a couple of other attendees from the davao chapter-- reinna, pau!, clarisza, ronna, val, france, glenda, kokay, jenie, jainnie, kyra and CA, and the cotabato girls-- sister lourdes, honey, april and iris. moves were made for the davao chapter to organize its governing body composed of the different ministries, and many thanks to God, a new core council was formed, with Reinna Ang as the new Spiritual Ministry Steward, Kyra Tan as the Assistant, along with the different leaders per ministry-- Pau Te for Love and Fellowship, Justin Ching for Music with CA Ang as Assistant, Nika Tan for Finance, Ronna Ang for Liturgy, and Clarisza Tan as Chapter Secretary. We are really optimistic that the Mindanao Leadership Workshop will be well-attended this year. so keep on praying people! to see pictures of this event, visit the following links:

http://superapay.multiply.com/photos/album/20/FCCY_youth_camp_davao_april11-13_2008?replies_read=16
http://niqgirl21.multiply.com/photos/album/72
wishing everyone continuous blessings from above! :-))

His,
apay

juno.

i was just floored by this movie. honest to blog. Ellen Page is phenomenal as Juno, a witty 16 year old forced to grow up hyper-speed because of a pregnancy induced by her adorable best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) the latter oozing with undisguised naïveté. Bleeker is likewise 16 years old, a marathon runner, who uses color-safe bleach to preserve the golden glow of his running shorts,eats red tic tacs for breakfast, and who's the "coolest person juno's ever met, he doesn't have to try." the screenplay by Diablo Cody is just whip-smart, but who better to pull-off an exponentially cool Juno than the one-time x-men shadowcat Ellen Page? the opening exchange between Juno and Rollo, the convenience store guy (played by Rainn Wilson, Dwight, from The Office) might overwhelm you a bit, but the dialogue is so funny that its easy to overlook the exaggeration, the self-conscious, over-cleverness of it all, and just appreciate it for what it is--a totally well written, smart script that wouldn't work if it weren't for the well-acted parts-- the dry humor of Jason Bateman, the realistic interpretation of Jennifer Garner as mom "desperately seeking spawn" (her one dimensional acting in previous films weirdly suited her here), the spot-on performance by "Junebug's" dad, JK Simmons, not to mention Juno's stepmom, character actress Allison Janney, the experienced indie-direction of Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking), Michael Cera's credible performance as Bleeker, and of course, the Academy nomination-worthy performance of Ellen Page. although, this movie did have its flaws--how it force-dealt with the topic of abortion in a pro-adulthood way wouldn't sit well with the conservatives, especially since the adoption option, though well-meant, wasn't necessarily a consciously thought-out choice. plus, it makes you wonder about present-day high school dynamics. how in the world could Juno possibly manage to keep her self-confident wit despite typical high school trauma, you'd ask, i mean she's not THAT smart. but, Ellen Page's interpretation of Juno is successful in a way most movies centered on a character only dream of achieving--over and above Juno's brazen smarts, you can see through the nuances of her character. she manages to add emotional layers--balancing between her "flippant, wised-up facade" and the fact that she isn't quite as "smart or as capable as she thinks she is." the fact that she's not really that confident about "the ways of the world" peeks through her performance--a message some people might confuse to be the correct one. JUNO will most likely impress moviegoers recently exposed to the likes of Sidney White or Alvin and the Chipmunks (as i have been.) ask me if its worth watching this film? thundercats are definitely go.

survey. narcissistic things.

[001.] Change your eye color, what color would they be?:
* blue-black. is there such a thing? :-))

[002.] Have any hair color in the world, which color?:
* midnight black. no reds and greens for me. i am so not adventurous.

[003.] Instantly be fluent in one language, which language and why?:
* mandarin for its practicality, french for its impracticality.

[004.] Instantly be able to play an instrument, which instrument and why?:
* the chelo. because when you tip it to the side, chelo? you gotta bass!

[005.] Get any job in the world and be good at it too, which job would it be?:
* cnn correspondent. shoe designer. chef.

[006.] Live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
* anywhere that's on the top 10 happiest-people places list.

[007.] Join any band, which band would it be?
* tough. dave matthews'?

[008.] Have any superpower, what would it be and why?
* stop time. by the click of my ruby slippers.

[009.] Summon up one of your favorite memories, which one would it be?
* can i summon up a fake one instead?

[010.] Magically alter any aspect of your appearance without any pain whatsoever, what would you do?
* tricky. shrink me up a bit?

[011.] Eliminate one bug from the planet, which one and why?
* can't. "pledge of commitment to a litter-free corpus christi" still ringing in my ears.

[012.] Bring any TV shows that went off the air back, which ones would you bring back?
* sex and the city. zelda.

[013.] You were president, what changes would you make to your country?
* pull a lee kuan yew.

[014.] Could become an animal, which animal would you be?
* i love pandas but i don't think i'd wanna be one because of their lack of survival instincts. an armadillo? kidding.

[015.] Eliminate any class from your schedule, which would it be and why?
* won't.

[016.] Eliminate one season, which one and why?:
* won't as well. :-)) love the sun! love the rain! typhoon season i guess... is there such a thing?

[017.] Improve one of your five senses, which one would you improve?
* sight. hands down.

[018.] Instantly become famous, what would you want to be famous for?
* for my spirit? :-))

[019.] Change your name, what would you change it to?
* er, madison? i don't know.

[020.] Paint your room, what colors would it be?
* colors that "hurt the eyes" according to my mum. or maybe just white.

[021.] Be an instant millionaire, what would you do with the money?
* keep some, spend some, give some.

[022.] Meet any famous person, who would you meet?
* oprah winfrey - only if it falls on her "favorite things" show. if not, kofi annan.

[023.] Master one school subject, which subject would you choose and why?
* needing divine intervention, i'd say taxation.

[024.] Visit any planet, no matter how far or how bad living conditions are, which would you visit?
* saturn!

[025.] Spend an unlimited amount of money in any one store, which store would it be?
* zara. or mango. or the supermarket!

[026.] Go back to one of your younger ages, what age would you be again and why?
* 9. grade three.

[027.] Get one piercing and/or tattoo
without any pain, what would you get?
* i don't mind tattooes, but piercings i don't find appealing.

eep.

there's only so much secret signs you can give out to a person before other people start getting weird on you.

mere anticipation.

labels. just when i've made it my unofficial life's mission to combat women stereotypes, i fall into my own trap. i am flat-out kitschy. inexplicably emotional. deliriously happy. ok, so the latter description doesn't only apply to women, but i am, weirdly enough, very happy lately. and its the eye-ticking, neurotic kinda happy, the kind of happy you get when you think God is playing a joke on you and you're laughing along. crazy-woman happy, you know? BUT, it's not because my life is handing out presents, nor is it because i have tons of obvious reasons to celebrate life, to throw confetti and dance like a dervish--i don't--and that's precisely why! i am crazy-happy because i know that eventually, after digging through the muck i'm in, after wading through this never-ending abyss of "why me?" garbage, i will prevail. i can just imagine myself jumping out and celebrating. and THAT, makes all the difference. i can't wait. just imagining the inevitable triumph is enough to make me the happiest camper. and i'm NEVER optimistic. so clearly, this is a deviation from the usually sane and lucid me. i am digressing. and i pray it's in a good way!

P.S.

i'm sorry i can't write in specifics. because i think if i did, you would NOT believe what i'm rambling about. trust me. it would be the last thing you'd associate with me. maybe not THE last, last, but it's definitely remote. im blabbing. sorry.