Christ is risen, Alleluia!
... and that, my friends, is the real essence of easter, despite all the commercialism surrounding this important Christian feast.
** the lil girl enjoyed easter egg hunting though and it was her first time (and not only did she do it once, but 3x today!). here are our easter pics. Happy Easter everyone!
it's black saturday and also the husband's birthday. his birthday normally falls on a holy week so he's not used to celebrating it... but tonight, i declared to be sushi night... he's the one who made them though...
happy birthday to my beloved and very talented chef!
** more sushi bday pics here
on good friday, remember that Christ died for us....
let's contemplate on John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"
a maundy thursday...
if you can read a whole novel without stopping and not being able to put the book down for hours, you can also do that with the Holy Scripture... you know what though? even just 5 minutes of bible reading could bring you to great lenghts in your relationship with God...
the rosary on a holy wednesday...
** copied from St. Josemaria's Friends of God (Mother of God and our Mother), point 290 **
Look: in the eyes of our Mother Mary we never cease to be little, because she opens to us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, which will only be given to those who become little children. We should never separate ourselves from Our Lady. How should we honour her? By keeping close to her, talking to her, showing her that we love her, pondering in our hearts the scenes of her life on earth and telling her about our struggles, successes and failures.
When we do this we discover the meaning of the Marian prayers, which the Church has always used, as if we were saying them for the very first time. What are the Hail Mary and the Angelus if not loving praises of her divine Motherhood? And when we say the Holy Rosary, which is a wonderful devotion which I will never tire of recommending to Christians everywhere, our minds and hearts go over the mysteries of Mary's admirable life which are, at the same time, the fundamental mysteries of our faith.
a holy tuesday indeed...
it's not too early to start teaching your tots about Jesus... you can start with books like this. it consists of short stories from the Bible about Jesus and colorful pictures.great for story-telling time :)
With our acts of service we can prepare an even greater triumph for the Lord than that of his entry into Jerusalem. For there will be no repetition of the Judas episode, or that of the Garden of Gethsemane, or of that dark night. We will succeed in setting the world alight with the flames of that fire which he came to cast upon the earth. And the light of Truth - which is our Jesus - will enlighten men's minds with a brightness that never fades. (St. Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, 947)
what better way to kick start the spring activities than by hiking through camel's back park trails with friends! and boy despite the weather at high 50s, we were really sweatin' it out! it was so refreshing just looking at this pond, so we rested in here a bit before we carried on and hiked the noon away!
*more pics here
to our dear friend, art... good luck and God bless on that new journey. cheers to the fresh beginning! you will surely be missed by your baranggay boise family :)
*pics from fafa art's despedida dinner at chopstick gourmet buffet
this is joel's baby bear. her sleeping companion... i really wish that someday soon she can really sleep with just her and her little "bi ba ba" and blanca (the lil doll blankie).
... it's time to vote for american idol! .. who's your bet this season? i cheering for crystal bowersox! she's the one to beat!
In the deep pit opened by your humility, let penance bury your negligences, offences and sins. Just as the gardener buries rotten fruit, dried twigs and fallen leaves at the foot of the very trees which produced them. And so what was useless, what was even harmful, can make a real contribution to a new fruitfulness.
From the falls learn to draw strength: from death, life.
-St. Josemaria Escriva (The Way pt. 211)
*pic of our parish, our lady of the rosary
since it's officially spring, the husband waved hello to yardworking. yep, it's just never-ending... but as long as he likes it, i'm all for it!
the lil girl had fun watching this wiggly earthworm that the husband accidentally dug out from the earth (about a 3rd of it was also wiggling about a meter away from this poor thing... thank God they regenerate... or don't they??)
we had been reunited with our rockband after more than a year of collecting dust by our family room. it feels good to play! yep, even with the lil one tapping, beating, strumming or simply messing with yah. wii still rocks!
it's the last day of winter... hello spring!
spec:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 65 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Fired
overspeeding, rather... the meter's saying ~70mph and i was driving on a 55mph freeway, tsk tsk tsk
specs:
Camera: Nokia E66
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 4.9 mm
Flash: Auto, Did not fire
it's been two days that we're having nice spring weather so we went out to the park yesterday for joel to enjoy the playground. then today, daddy and joel played hoops at the subd court
specs
Camera: Panasonic DMC-LX3
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 5.9 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
looking for a different twist to veggies, our iron chef at home looked for a different vegetable recipe to do. and he came across gado gado, which i only recently found out to be indonesian. it's really really sarrraaappp!!!
here's how he did it (sorry i couldn't remember the exact measurements, just google it ha).
1, blanch various veggies in salted water. we used, green beans, bean sprouts, potatoes, carrots, broccolli. we also added in some fried tofu.
2. make the peanut sauce. directions for the peanut sauce:
a. Saute chopped garlic and chopped onions in oil over medium / low heat
b. Add peanut butter and coconut milk and stir until thoroughly mixed; cook until first bubbles appear
c. Add soy sauce, sugar, and tamarind juice (we just used 1/4 cup of dissolved sinigang mix --> just 1/3 of the small pakete). add chili powder too if you like it spicy.
d. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir frequently.
3. pour the sauce generously as you would a dressing on the blanched veggies and serve.
i'm actually sooo happy with how this picture came out. i just used the "food" scene setting on my camera, no flash, no editing (i seldom edit anyway since i am that lazy). it's just so vivid. and it kind of justifies how it tasted. mmm, mmm, good!
specs:
Camera: Panasonic DMC-LX3
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 5.1 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
camera shooting directly at our telly while doing "the office" marathon this evening. this exact shot was taken at the start of a particular episode from season 1 entitled "dwight's speech". dwight was so nervous doing his dunder mifflin salesman of the year speech. but i'll stop there just in case you haven't seen it. the ep is just so hilarious! you should watch it! :D
specs:
Camera: Panasonic DMC-LX3
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/2.4
Focal Length: 7.9 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
teaching religious education at our lady of the rosary (our parish church) every other sunday is one way of responding to God's gifts... aside from giving back, i also learn at the same time, and it also helps me feel more youthful being surrounded by these smart and witty 3rd graders. i tell yah, their questions and comments can vary from trivial to "where-on-earth-did-you-fish-that-out-fr om" types. fun and exciting!
specs:
Camera: Panasonic DMC-LX3
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 5.1 mm
ISO Speed: 320
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
it's pacman vs clottey night via ppv at our friend's house. while the parents were intently watching the fight (which by the way wasn't as exciting as pacman's previous fights), the kiddos were all playing and running around so we had a lot of mishaps here and there. here's daddy trying to dry out some spilled water over the carpet... and yes, that little foot is kulet's. she and the other kids were just looking at daddy as if nothing happened... ah, kids! ;)
specs:
Camera: Panasonic DMC-LX3
Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/2.5
Focal Length: 9.3 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
the lil girl refusing any help as she gets the token in in one of the arcade games at chuck e. cheese's during kayla's 1st birthday.
"tuck-e-cheese", as she fondly calls the mouse, and the park, are her happy places on earth... for now. let's wait til she steps foot on disneyland...
specs:
Camera: Panasonic DMC-LX3
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 5.1 mm
the sun beaming at your face as you drive towards work while admiring the streak of nice patterns on the clouds... oh, what a wonderful morning!
specs:
Camera: Nokia E66
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 4.9 mm
Flash: Auto, Did not fire
... still steaming hot in the pot!
what better way to do tv show or dvd marathons than with a bowl of freshly cooked nilagang mani?
specs:Camera: Canon EOS 40D; Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60) ; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 135 mm; ISO Speed: 200; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: On, Fired
(here's lyka posing at the alturas lake during our summer camping in '06)
she's a Toyota Highlander '06, a v6 4w drive suv. we made sure that we'll get a 4w drive for the snow and icy roads during winter (pero madulas pa rin, hmm). she's already over a year old. but we stilll love love her!
(taken at mccall frozen lake during the winter festival feb '07)
... yeah right!... it was freakin' freezin' cold that day, but since we were walking under the sun all day, a bottle of 7-up was simply refreshing! ahhhh...
we were on our way to the winter festival at mccall (feb'06) despite the heavy snowstorm that hit the area that day. you can read all about it here.
haaay.. i miss the beach!
well, it seems that it would take another year before we could go to the beach again :( ... that is if we could go home during the summer :(
