ang gandang araw

Grabe, maganda talaga ang araw! It was a autumn day for sure! The temperature was awesome this afternoon. I had a delivery in Spanish Fork today and the road I drove on was narrow and lined with trees whose leaves were golden yellow. It was amazing! Driving with the window down, wearing my daffodil yellow sweater and kicks, sipping a cold coke- oh it was great! :)

Nagpapasalamat ako

Nagpapasalamat ako para sa maraming bagay sa aking buhay, pero ngayon ito ang mga bagay ay gusto kong bigayan ang pasasalamatan sa Diyos. Lagi nagpapasalamat ako para sa aking pamilya at ebanghelyo ni JesuCristo. Ngayon, nagpapasalamat ako para sa creativity, sweaters, comfort food, at kailigayahan. Oo alam ko nagpapasalamat ako para sa mga bagay yung araw araw rin, pero talaga busog ang aking puso ngayon. May kapayapaan ako sa heart at mind :)

A Windy Day with 'Open Heart' Happenings

I know I just blogged about fall, but fall is really here! Today with the wind and the chill in the air with the yellow and orange leaves blowing everywhere and crunching under my feet it was absolutly beautiful! Today, I want to share a 'open heart' happening I saw today. Earlier, when I was delivering flowers to the hospital today there was a little elderly woman attempting to cross 500 West. She made it across- alone. When I was leaving the hosptial the same little woman was holding on the arm of a guy who didn't look much older than 20. He was helping her back to the east side of 500 West. Frequently, you hear about helping "the old lady" across the street, but today I saw it in action! It was great! I'm grateful for goodness :)

I'm grateful for sisters!

I love my sisters! Mary is my best friend! As we've become older we become close na close! We do a lot of fun crazy and not so crazy things together. :) I'm glad that I can tell her everything; that I can laugh or cry with her. Sisters are important. I'm glad that I have one. I'm also thankful for my sister in law Jenny. She is a great friend of mine whose opinon and stories I enjoy and want to hear. I'm grateful my brother married such a wonderful girl. I'm happy and grateful to know I'll be with these two awesome friends of mine for eternity. This is a short entry- I know, but I just wanted to say I'm grateful for sisters!

Mission Reunion

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend my mission reunion. It was so great to see everyone! I loved visiting with President and Sister Hatch and the other missionaries I served with. Like, President says there is a special eternal bond with those whom you serve with. It was so great to see Jill- my anak! I don't get to see her as often as I would like, but we always have a blast laughing and catching up. :) I'm so glad that the Lord put us together and when He did! It was just a good time laughing, playing, speaking in Tagalog, and just remembering good times in the Philippines! :) It was good to see everyone, especially those who I don't have the opportunity to see often. Masaya talaga kagabi :) The group doesn't have everyone in it that came last night; which is too bad, but at least we got one! After the reunion we went to Sonic. I love that place their slushes are my favorite! It was fun to continue playing and chill outstide, even though, it was a little cold. It was fun to be downtown in Salt Lake. Much later I know there will be an awesome reunion with all we served with and served. :)

Fall- Pasalamatan

October 17 na! Grabe ang balis! It's halfway through October. I love October- I love the fall! Time to bring out sweaters and jackets, eat pumpkin, soups and crisp apples, collect leaves, play in the leaves, cooler temperatures with greater chance of rain and maybe even snow! I just love it! There's just this yummy smell in the air and great feeling during fall. In the movie You've Got Mail, Meg Ryan's character describes fall smells as "newly sharpened pencils and scotch tape". Fall is a season of gratitude and giving. It's interesting how it starts the giving and service for the year. It would be awesome to be more full of gratitude and giving at the beginning of the year. I'm yet again thinking about my 'heart awareness experiment' and evaluting how I'm doing. I know there is more I could do. I've been reading President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk about hope from October General Conference and I love what he says about faith, hope, and charity how they all increase from the other he says, "Hope comes of faith, for without faith, there is no hope. In like manner faith comes of hope, for faith is "the substance of things hoped for." Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith. When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity. The things we hope for lead us to faith, while the things we hope in lead us to charity. The three qualities- faith, hope, and charity- working together, grounded on the truth and light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, lead us to abound in good works." They really do all work together. My 'heart awareness experiment' really begins with faith leading to stronger hope and to have greater charity. This fall as I reflect on my heart awareness I want to continue to have gratitude and give with no deadline or slowing.

Oh, that awesome picture- I found on static.flickr.com.

Mental Health Day

Today, I gave myself a mental health day. It was definitely needed and now I feel refreshed! :) It was nice to chill in my pajamas and not comb my hair until 2:00 this afternoon. I made myself a nice healthy lunch- soup and apple wedges with peanut butter. After lunch I put on some jeans, combed my hair and cleaned up my mess of a room. So, see I was productive, even though I started out lazy :) When Mary came home from work we finished watching a movie we had started Sunday. It's so fun and a great blessing in my life that Mary and I have become so close as we have become older. We than had dinner. I drove Turner to work in American Fork and than Mary and I went to the Wal-Mart. I got some yellow shoes! Something that has been on my list of wants for a little while :) They are school bus yellow and super cute and will give that pop of color that I want! It has been a good day and good mental health day I feel like I said refreshed and ready for the craziness that is here and yet to come! I recommend taking mental health days to refresh and relax!

Humanities Test #1 score A!

Yes! I got an A on my humanities test! I was thrilled today when the test were given back to us and I had received an A on the test. At the beginning of class I was less than thrilled when the instructor said she would be giving us our tests back, but that she was disappointed and frustrated to think we all did poorly. I thought to myself maybe I was too confident going in... she than proceeded to tell us that a handful had received an A, a handful received a D, and the largest group was right in the middle. I thought oh, that's me in the middle I know. Tests are not my thing, even when I feel like I know the material. When I got my test I was as I said THRILLED to get an A! The semester started about 6 weeks ago and I feel like I've done well getting back into the 'college life'. It has been 4 years and I wasn't sure how it was going to be. One thing I did know was that it was totally right to start back to school this semester. I am enjoying it, even though it has added some extra craziness to my life. I guess extra craziness will always be added to my life, but it's a good craziness! :) Maganda ang buhay!

Missing Even Slight Homesickness

Today I have been missing the Philippines-more than usual. Earlier the air just seemed to smell just like it does in Laoag, especially during the rainy season. The moments I miss it the most I wonder if the time I spent there was real or just a dream. I miss the people, the food, the tropical trees, the sunsets, the crazy happenings from day to day, the rain, oh I just long for it some days. Namimiss ko talaga ang mga tao- ang mga kilala ko doon. Alam ko na sa pamamagitan ng plano ng Diyos makakakita ko ang mga kaibigan ko doon ulit. Maganda ang karanasan ko sa Pilipinas! Nagpapasalamat ako sa Diyos para sa tawag ko doon at mga karanasan ko at natatuhan ko bilang missionary sa Pilipinas. The rain- ang ulan- grabe malakas siya doon as in malakas saka ang sarap :) I enjoyed wearing my rainboots every opportiunity I got. Even the days I was soaked and stepped in not so fun big puddles and was surprised at how deep they really were. I will find a picture to post. Now, even though I miss the Pines, I am so blessed that I have all the memories I do! :) One day babalik ako doon hindi ko alam kailan basta may plano ako babalik even if sa aking panaginip lang :) Gagawin ko!

BYU Football Game and Zupas

Grabe hindi ako magaling sa pag-update ng blog ko. As you can see it has been a month since my last post. Kahapon, nag-attend ako ng BYU Homecoming Football game kasama ni Craig. Siya ang isang awesome tao. Masaya talaga ang date namin kahapon :) Nagusap kami tunksol sa jeans, pagkain, mga interest namin, music, pamilya, hawakan ang mga kamay, basta maraming talaga- ang sarap talaga magchica chica sa kanya. :) lalo kapag kaming dalawang lang. Nakilala ko siya noon taon sa aming ward at naging mabuting kaibigan kami agad. Hindi ko alam anong mangyayari pero enjoying ko ang friendship niya. Matapat talaga siya at admire ko yan sa kanya kasi lagi siya 'tells it how it really is' and I like that. Pagkatapos ng game pumunta kami sa Zupas para kumain. Masarap ang pakain :) Kumain kami ng soup at cake. That cake was masarap as in masarap siya :) It was called the sinful 7. Dang gina it was so good! It was fun to share the cake and make funny sinful faces :) Craig's was the best. As you can see :) Mine not so much. That's why I'm not showing you :) Magandang gabi siya, magandang chica chica, magandang date. :)