Counting our blessings

Its been a very rough time for my family, but I truly believe God doesn't give us more than we can handle. Even now, during this very scary and uncertain situation God finds ways to show his love and compassion. My parents have always open their doors to students from all over, from San Diego to the Philippines, without any expectation of receiving anything in return. During my mom's stay in the hospital a group of 6 UP students came to visit. Three of them had stayed with my parents back in '03 & '06 as part of the UP Concert Chorus. What they did for my mom was so amazing, even I had a hard time keeping myself from crying. Thank you to the 6 of them...you brought joy into this hospital room!! 

(You can download the audio file if you don't see a player Dahil Sa Iyo - UP Alumni Concert Chorus members)

Faith

Hilda and Carla

I've been blessed to work with such an amazing woman. She reminds me everyday about what is important in life through her actions and words. Today she sent me this from www.dailyword.com and I thought it was worth sharing:

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

FAITH

I have faith beyond all doubt.

If I feel unsure about the direction of my life, I take a deep breath, remembering that faith is my sure foundation. It is the basis upon which I build my life. When the winds of change are blowing and my future is unclear, I remember Jesus' words to his disciples: "If you have faith and do not doubt ... it will be done."

I stand on this promise, knowing that I have the strength of God within me. So I not only stand firm in the face of adversity, I move forward with confidence, trusting the faith that emanates from the core of my being to guide, support and encourage me. I am a messenger of God's love and an emissary for the power of faith. All things are possible.

If you have faith and do not doubt ... even if you say to this mountain, "Be lifted up and thrown into the sea," it will be done.--Matthew 21:21

I LOVE FREE - Music: Cage the Elephant: Shake Me Down on KCRW

Free Music!! Yes there are plenty of places to download some great free music out there! I typically stop by KCRW and Amazon.com for some daily freebies. Today on KCRW it was Cage the Elephant: Shake Me Down from the show Today's Top Tune on KCRW. I LOVE FREE!

My day off list

Things to do on my day off:

1. Sleep in
2. Clean apt
3. Laundry
4. Finish up crafts from last year
5. Go to gym
6. Pick up brother from LAX
7. Go to 85C & Lollicup
8. Drop off brother with other brother in Irvine

Now if only I could get out of my comfy bed! Or maybe I'm still not done with #1...

DIY Office Calendar

Banksy Office Calendar

I've always tried to utilize whatever is at my disposal for my craft projects (partly because I'm strapped for cash or too impatient to wait to go to a store). I came up with this calendar a couple years ago and have had it up since. Working with student files means that we have a endless supply of file folders and no one will miss 1. Giant paper clips hold the 8.5x11 sheets used for the months. I came up with an InDesign template (happy downloading) that I take 10 mins to update every semester. Finally, I used a Banksy piece for the background image; I will probably never get tired of seeing it and its like having a piece of art on the wall. Actually, now that I think about it, the Banksy image was what made me want to make this calendar in the first place!

Who wants a piece of Cake?

I'm so excited for the Cake show at the Troubadour in February! Found this in studio performance they did up in Sacramento of Daria and it got me all pumped up again!!

Trader Joe's - its a wrap!

Gift for my boss

I always forget to bring one of my gabazillion tote bags into Trader Joe's and so I 've got a stock pile of paper bags. I found that these bags have come in super handy for wrapping books that need to be dropped in the mail (Side note I love half.com and all the suckers...I mean grad students...that buy my used text books). Yesterday I noticed the Christmas graphics and realized the bags would be great gift wrapping paper!