Celebrate CHRISTmas..

(Diocesan Cathedral of St. Nicolas de Tolentine, Cabanatuan City)

The homily this morning, is about bringing the real essence of Christmas.. the priest asked:

"Ano bang tunay na pinaghahandaan natin? Pasko? o si Kristo?"..

Well what do you expect? people will of course, answer "SI KRISTO" because they know that it is the right answer, but in truth, it's really the occasion that they want to blurt out. Judging aside.. come on.. let's face it. But see I got this confusion of what really is the difference in preparing for Christmas and Preparing for Christ? I'm like "Isn't it Christmas is God's birthday? ergo, we celebrate His day and we celebrate Him? so what's the priest's point?"

Furthermore in his sermon, I finally got the "aaaaaah" expression. We Catholics believe that it is His birthday, so as with birthdays, we give gifts to the celebrator.

"Ano bang magandang maibigay natin kay Kristo?", father asked.

"Ito ay ang pagpapakumbaba (Humility), at paghingi ng tawad sa ating mga kasalanan (ask for the forgiveness of our sins)", He continued.

We used to do Christmas shopping to give our loved ones gifts and fulfill their wishlist, Then so, let's not too, forget to give gifts to the righful celebrator of this very special and wonderful occasion. These gifts won't even cost us a single centavo.

Let's continue giving him praise and yes, let's all humble ourselves before Him... admit our mistakes, and ask for forgiveness.

Add to that our forgiveness to those who sinned against us. As what one image is saying to my last post: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES...NO EXCEPTION...I know it's not so easy, but giving it a try would make a big difference. and celebrating CHRISTmas will be more meaningful... and I say more meaningful every year.

Eleven days to go! MERRY CHRISTmas everybody!! :) PEACE TO ALL :)

Names

I call myself the Singer-Nurse, an RnB Supahstar. Haha

My friends call me JC, Juan, Yatot, J-Deeg, J, Jhayz :)

My relatives call me Adu/Ado, Abdul, Juancito :)

My parents call me Plong ;)

Now I wonder how God calls me? ;-P

...So many names but one identity. Funny how people that are close to you give their share of baptizing you with another name aside from what is in the national statistics. Names that go with their personal remembrance of you. A name that expands its meaning throughout life, representing you and according to how they perceive you. Names that are sometimes only good to hear from the people who first called you that way, Because it has become a special tag of your relationship with that/those person/s.

See how couples call each other?.. baby, honey, sweetie and other cheesy hubby names that they can ever think of and sometimes spell it the hard, complex way just to get the UNIQUENESS stamp, (e.g., Bhaebeeiy for Baby, Hohnnee for Honey, and so on) ya I know i've been there. hahahaha.
It's like a personal signature brand of clothing..original, high-standard and quality, beautiful, and extra special.

That particular name's representation to the person will remain forever , even if the bonds between them break. Looking back, they'll still remember the reason why they gave that name to that someone, even if at your present, it already went away..a long time ago...

Just like with foes for life, frenemies and other pain in our asses...

We brand them with disgusting, evil and all the worst names we, again, could ever think of. Like its meanings are already the screaming dull words itself and no need to expound more.

And then wheels turn, the world conspires with peace and everything went nice,

foes and frenemies finally became close friends or if not became casual friends., Still, dating back to war times, moments are remembered.. but tagging them the worst way would be funny now even if it has the fugliest explanation why was it spelled/sounded the way it was.

Well.. nothing much here. just want to share.. I just realized that names are forever, not just the legal ones, but also those encrypted, embossed, engraved and all attachment vocabularies applied in the hearts and minds of people that are close, and even those that aren't so close to you. Even if we say "Let's forget about it", see it's actually more like of "Let's just not bring it up again"

So...

This is JC, known with a lot of nick names, but forever be declared a music lover, art fan, simple, happy creature, loving person, full of dreams, and occasionally crazy! ;)

And You? What's Your Name? :)

Step 1 to my USRN license

Surprisingly! just 19 days after I requested for my fingerprint card via internet from the Board of Registered Nursing in Sacramento, California,I have finally received it.

My very first step towards becoming a registered nurse in the United States. I kinda freaked out like it's already my exam date tomorrow! even if I know that it would still take months until I get my eligibility to take it.

For the reason that I haven't decided yet about some major factors: what state should I apply for and that how am I going to fill my application up since I still don't know exactly what to do? Well..I do and I can easily get tips and the "How to's" from my very helpful Friends, but, I think anxiety always get into my nerves whenever I deal with legal and important documents.

There's this fear that I might commit a mistake even with just the personal section of the form and that it may be a reason for my application's invalidation or something like that. The indescribable feeling of submitting the needed pages to be taken care of my school and the Professional Regulation Commission and just everything. Despite that, and as always, I never let my burning positivity lose its flame.
I was expecting the fingerprint card on January but maybe the Board of Nursing wanted to throw a Christmas surprise for me. Hahaha. THANKS! ;)

And...I guess I'll just apply for California.
God it's like a hush fell over my world after I received the letter. Even if this is just the first step and that I still have to undergo processes that are scrutinizing (some are mentioned above), I'm already excited, hoping for my luck and looking forward to my new becoming and the fulfillment of my dreams. As I see clouds clearing up for me in the upcoming year of the Ox.

I see this as an inspiration. a sustaining fuel to my engine. I'm grateful once again. :)

Bibingka is Christmas!

My first bibingka for this season! I bought three last night after attending the mass!

I love bibingka!.. Everytime I buy this rice cake here in Cabanatuan's Plaza Lucero, I always feel like Christmas bells are ringing around and Christmas songs automatically play inside my head.

Seventeen days to go before my most favorite time of the year.
I just wish I got money to burn so I can give my family and friends gifts aside from the love I can give 'em. But then again, due to nursing opportunities here in the Philippines that has been a bee in my bonnet, I am currently in this fix together with the other RN newbies. I ultimately wish us luck..

Nevertheless, it will never be a reason for me to dismay, and frown everyday.
I'll always have my million dollar smile. :D

Since it's the Yuletide season, I'm also excited of the Simbang Gabi with my Grandma and cousins..
I also look forward to my Family's simple Noche Buena, (and other family gatherings with sumptuous meals involved. ;-P) my get together with Friends and other parties that I wish I could attend, and of course, I wouldn't lie, I wish and hope for cash to land in my hands from people who's kind enough to recognize my situation. Hahaha

See? no reason for me not to enjoy the holidays!

I'm feeling it! I love the cool breeze! I will always love Christmas!

and I will always love bibingka, a personal symbol of Christmas for me..
and...I will buy some again, soon..:)

AND! GET READY TO SAY HELLO TO 2009!..
I call it:
"MY JUMP STARTER..."

THREE CHEERS!! :o)

Twilight and My thing about Reading.

Reading is a hobby I would want to learn, but every time I try,.. I fail. hahaha
Thanks to my bookworm friends, I still get updated of what's hot and what's not in the "World Library".

Bunch of thanks to the film industry too, I get to watch what I don't read. :D
though every time I watch a filmed novel with friends who have, prior to that, read the book, I always hear comparisons.
Unknowingly, They'd make me think: "Should I also read the book?"
Well...
NO..I won't.. hihi.
I'll always be fine the way I'd watch the film as if it was not from a novel and that it was the original, raw story, without knowing what has been missing or what was been inserted (you know, sometimes I see how fun it is to be innocent and clueless with something because you get to enjoy just EXACTLY what is served and not minding any strings attached you never knew there was.) unlike some people who, while watching does nothing but to compare the film and the book the entire show, then they would end up a little, if not disappointed big time and would have an eternal cumbersome feeling about the difference of the two.

And talking about a filmed novel, TWILIGHT (Stephenie Meyer) I think is one of the best novel-based movie I've seen.
I have never read it, neither touched the book nor any copy of it. I SWEAR..but i have been hearing stories from friends.

That it is a dark kind of romance fiction involving a mortal and a vampire.
That's all I know until I watched it.

I got hooked with the Cullens, the scenes, the soundtrack, the story, the setting, I love Alice's character, and I'd love to see what will happen next.

So after knowing that the sequel, NEW MOON could possibly be shown in 2010, (courtesy of IMDB) , I thought that it will be like a gruelling 1-2 years time of waiting.. Then I suddenly had the nudge to read,. (again after a long time ago) BUT! since it is a 4-series-novel, (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn), I cannot afford to buy since I want all of those together at hand in one time. :D

As a desperate solution, I searched the net for the PDF file and while i was browsing, I was like, "Oh! wait...why not an AUDIO BOOK??...what a bright idea JC!?" hahaha. With that, my life will be easier, I won't get sleepy out of trying really hard to read. (as it has always been my issue why I never succeeded finishing reading novels/long stories no matter how interesting they are.. ;-P)

At this point of time, uTorrent is still downloading it and i can't wait to "HEAREAD" it ;-)

and so before I end this blog, I will show you how hooked I am with the Cullen Family :)

Here it is:

You see? now I'm one of them! >:D
WANT ME TO BITE YOU?? >:-P