Gratitude: June 2012

I started the month by playing tennis later in the evening because the weather was too hot earlier in the day. I played with a couple of friends of mine as we worked on our power serve!

The first week of the month started with some graduation open houses, which I did my special photography to create a personal photo card to some graduates...

On my way to my 2nd open house on Saturday out in the country (going to Alberta area), I accidentally hit a pheasant that was walking across the highway. It was my 2nd time I've hit this type of rural prairie bird. This time, I didn't suffer any damage (grill was smashed in my old Chevy Blazer many years ago, which happened also out in the country going to Fergus Falls). I it thought it would be a waste to just leave it sitting on the middle of the highway, so I decided to go back and bring it home. I decided to cook it that night as it's fresh "meat" (see photos)! I googled online on how to cook it and ate some of it that night!..it's ok.. I would eat more later in the week, which I wished I cooked some wild rice next time.

After another graduation open house the following day (Sunday, June 3rd 2012), I worked more on my basement. I spent close to 3 hours on setting-up the kitchen sink.

On, Monday, June 4th, a high school buddy of mine had his 2nd baby. Congrats dude!

Summer is usually quiet at our weekly ESL/GED classes at the local elementary school. But, with the help of the recently newly formed Jane Adams-they connected us with their students that were attending this past school year. Since the 1st week of June, we've been getting students from the local dairy farm each week!

The 1st Kiwanis Talent Show of the month was on Thursday, June 7th. I decided to try something new this year by taking pictures and videos of this great community event. I planned on going each week no matter how busy I am as I wanted to be consistent. There are so many people that miss this event week by week and it'll be nice to have a place where they can watch what they missed each week....

I was able to play the 2nd game for my softball team after the show, which I would end up batting 2 for 3 (2 singles,1 run).

It's been so hot lately that I decided to mow late in the evening on Friday after work. I then treated myself by going swimming at the local fitness center as my way to relax after a long week.

For the second weekend, I took a couple of friends (Eric & Kazu) to Douglas County for this "Dairy" event (invited by an active volunteer of our weekly ESL/GED classes) ..

We took advantage of being in the county by checking out Carlos State Park, which I've never been there myself. It was "ok", which I thought would be more fun if I had kids.

Then as we down back to Alexandria, we last minute decided to check out Casey's Amusement Park..

On the following Sunday that same weekend, the weekly "Spanish-speaking" church had a bilingual service..

It was great event to unite both church congregations for the Morris Evangelical Free Church. They had a potluck prior to the service, which was a great fellowship time. Unfortunately, there were not many folks from the "Spanish-speaking" church during the potluck. However, as you in the video above, it was a great turnout for the service.

I went 2 for 3 again on my softball game on Tuesday, June 12th. I'm averaging 1 game a week only as I told the team that I want to play just a reserve due to my accident last year. However,I get tempted to want to play more, but trying to play it safe.

"A couple of friends performed a great worship song"

I went to the cities the 3rd week of this month to help my dad around the house. He's reaching that age that's hard for him, so I helped him with tearing down an old exercise bike and little erands around the house. It was good father-son time with it being Father's Day weekend. The following day, we took my dad out for dinner (Grand Buffet-Chinese food), but he ended up paying for all of us without us knowing!

I then went geo-caching for the 1st time since a long time! My sister and her b.f. invited me to join them in West St. Paul. I was able to do my other hobby of photography as I took scenic pictures (and videos)as we walked around the neighborhood. It was getting very cloudy, so we started to head to our vehicle and got a little showered. This was nothing compared to what was to to come later on.

That same day going back home to Morris (while listening to the longest game so far at Target Field-15 innings), I ran into some "turbulence". I drove through a storm between Pope and Stevens County....

I started the 4th weekend of the month by playing baseball (hitting, fielding, and catching) with some buddies (Chris & Kazu). It was fun to enjoy a Friday night.

more...

Gratitude: May 2012

I started the month by going to our regular Adult Basic Education training (ESL & GED) in Alexandria, Minnesota. After, my friend and I went to Menards to pick-up some ordered carpet for my basement. We would find out there was a tornado or severe t-storm that hit a town south of here (Melrose), which I was more thankful for missing this system going to and from Morris. We would arrived in Morris after they got hit severely too.

The following day, we had some more students (ESL & GED) that had their last day of classes. We celebrated (had ice cream cake) the last day of 2 from China. We were very fortunate to have these two as they were attending the local university for just this year and they wanted to learn more English by coming to our weekly class. It made me feel more special with their desire to come to our clases.

Then on Thursday, May 3rd-It was the annual "National Day of Prayer", which I watched a internet live stream from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. It was encouraing to see young adults on fire for God

On Friday, May 4th-I launched "Sal Photo-Videography" group on my facebook account, which I felt would be a great way to "show off" my past, current, and future photo-video work. I decided to upload pics from last year's college graduation and one short video as my first album.

I'm thankful to God for a successful surgery (e.g. throat) that my mom had on the 4th, which she was able to leave home the next day after resting over night.

On Sundays, I've been attending 2 church services (1st-local church and 2nd-Spanish serivce). I was very much blessed in both services. The first one, I had a friend that shared about "prayer" and how we need to be challenged to "pray" more effectively by seeking His desire. In the second one, it was cool to have a friend that I haven't seen for 3 years come to the Spanish-speaking church service as she returned back to Morris recently.

My housemate (Kazu) graduates this week (Saturday, May 12th 2012), so we did a pre-BBQ party at Clayton A. Gay Hall. It was fun celebrating..

The graduation was outdoors, so I was looking forward to taking some better pics then last year..

Following the graduation, my housemate/renter (Kazu) and decided to do a post-grad BBQ celebration in my backyard. It was great weather and thankful to God for another nice day for another BBQ!

It was Mother's day the following day, so I made sure I called my mom as my Dad took her out to Red Lobster to celebrate. At the Spanish church service, we celebrated Mother's Day by doing a BBQ outside-guys grilled!

The next day (14th), I finally had the chance to start my garden (see pictures). We had an early thaw, which many folks around here already got theirs started. It was good to get it going as I planted old corn seeds and many other plants that were given to me for free from co-workers. I would do more yardwork the following day, which was much cooler (70's compared to 90 the day before).

I went to Duluth the 3rd weekend with Kazu as I dropped a couple of friends visiting a family member in Moose Lake. We did a quick tour of the city as I was able to hang out for only and hour before going back to Moose Lake to pick up my friends.

The last weekend (Memorial Weekend) of the month, I went to the cities to help with moving (stuff from my mom's to dad's). It was an unfortunate move because of the mortgage, but "good" came out of it as it brought my parents (see on-going family re-building story) back to living together. more..

Gratitude: April 2012

It was April Fools day on the 1st Sunday of the month and I was able to do "fool" some close friends after church when we got together at Taco John. We were talking about a friends' daughter's up-coming wedding and I decided to pretend I was engaged. I was able to get them for about a minute until a friend realize it was April Fool's Day!
I did more work on my basement by working on my staircase (e.g. priming and sheet rocking). I would do this on Monday through Wenesday of the first week. God provided more funding for this on-going basement project as I got called to fill-in on my part-time job. I did the over night shift, which works well! My workplace had a special Easter mean on Wednesday (4th) as we try to some special meal before the "big" holidays. I ended up going home (St. Paul) the following day with the 3-day holiday weekend. I had a yummy Gyro at the famous Clearwater stop along I-94 (between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities) before heading home. Not as good as Pappy's in East St. Paul, but still good!
On "Good Friday", we celebrated my mom's birthday. We went to the Hmong Village for lunch (e.g. great spring rolls). Then my brother took us to Chucky Cheese as we played endless games with my nephew and niece.
On Saturday, I took my mom with me to IKEA to get some stuff for my kitchen (sink cabinet), which we had a coupon for FREE breakfast (if you turn in your receipt, which I forgot :().. We continued our mom's birthday celebration by taking her to Great Moon Buffet. We were talking about the origins of mom's name, which Necita means "nice" when the American soldiers came to the Philippines. This name was given by my grand parents (mom's side) after the American soldiers told them this.
Then on Easter "Resurrection" Sunday, my niece and nephew watched some Bible videos online. My niece started talking about dinosaurs, so I went too look for a Bible-focus creation video on dinosaurs. She watched with interest! I believe it's important to teach children the other perspective or view from what they teach in the "liberal" public schools.
I had Monday off after Easter (the 1st since I can remember as we've had to make-up these days by working due to "snow-days" previous winters). I spent this day by doing my taxes as the deadline approaches, which I ended up applying to do it past the deadline with new data I had to put in since I became a landlord 2 years ago. I also did some painting in my basement to make it a productive day as part of this 4-day holiday weekend!
We had our usual Spring "freeze warning" as it was during the late night-early morning hours between the 10th and 12th. Some folks got to their gardens early with the early "warm Spring temps", so they had to cover their plants. On Wednesday, April 11th-we had another farewell party for one of our ESL students. He was from Harbin, China where they were famously known for their ice castles (just like St. Paul!).
The following day, I was able to finally donate blood after a year wait. I had a crazy accident at work last year involving with a lancit needle (see Gratitude: March 2011 )..
During the second week, I attended a special church service at Hossana Worship Center on prophecy. The speaker encouraged the local church to reach to the community. I wasn't able to go the service the next day as I was helping out at a friend's wedding and then went to this local community event at Common Cup spearheaded by Jane Adams..

I couldn't find someone to attend a play by local homeschoolers in Glenwood's Central Square, so I decided to attend a play on racism at the local campus. I ended-up meeting a fellow Filipina (from San Antonio, TX), who was part of the play and are "friends" on facebook.

I went to the cities for the second weekend this month to attend an annual conference my local church is a part of. I went to Menards in Alexandria first to order some carpet (with pad) and was able to make it to the end part of the worship of the Friday evening conference. It was actually encouraging as I got a word of encouragement that God is Immanuel (with me), which was a confirmation of encouragement as I feel I do lots of things on my own (just got to acknowledge I'm doing it for the Lord and He's with me). I would then come back to Eden Prairie for the Saturday morning session (about reaching out to our surrounding community and being equipped with the right tools-spiritual gifts) of the conference after sleeping at my mom's house Friday night. When I was home for awhile, I shared a site that was a tribute to Filipino soldiers involved in the Bataan Death March during World War II with my parents. It was good to do this! Later in the evening after the conference, a friend on facebook invited friends to come hear her share stories in an event called "" by Asian Christian Fellowship at Bethel Unviersity...

On Sunday morning before heading back to Morris, my mom was curious what I learned from the conference this past weekend. I shared with her and she was interested about more of the "speaking in tongues". Thus, I prayed with her for more of this!

We've had some great early "summer-like" weather this Spring, so our softball team had their first practice of the year on Tuesday, April 24th. It was great weather and I did pretty well hitting in batting practice as I've been practicing with a heavy practice bat during the off-season. During this last full-week of April, I did various house projects (e.g. ceiling tile, clean basement in preparation for the carpet, etc..)

As part of Asian Awareness month in April, I attended the famous local "Taste of Asia" (used to plan this as a college student back in the days)...

Taste of Asia 2012 album

..I like to show my support by attending as many of these events sponsored by the Asian Student Association.

I would attend a couple of more eating festivities as the month ended (e.g. my workplace's annual board-staff appreciation dinner and an end-of-the-year potluck in Jane Adam's first successful year).

Gratitude: March 2012

I started the month with an early birthday present from some friends that used to live in Morris. They bought a cake as we watched a show on Major League Baseball Network. Earlier, we visited a friend out of town and the weather forecast on the internet said a "5-7 inch snowstorm". However, I decided to call a local motel for a personal opinion on how "bad" the weather was there and it wasn't as bad. This was just an example of how one should not trust technology (weather forecast)!

I participated on another weekly (Tuesdays @7:3pm this year) "Jane Adams" (see Espanol Services) get-together on March 6th 2012. It was awesome to see a couple of friends that I've invited in the past before, which was each of their first time. This is another lesson to never give-up when inviting friends. During the event, they showed an article (campus paper) of publicizing this weekly community event. I was encouraged to see a couple of photos I took from the first event from last Fall, which I can add to my photography portfolio!

On March 7th, I joined some fellow local church family members in the weekly eat and fellowship. They meet ever Wednesdays from 5p-7pm, which we can come and go for a quick meal with each other. This week, the them was pasta, which we each bring a pasta dish. This was a great time to touch basis with folks from church instead of just doing it on Sundays only. I had to leave a little after 6pm to participate in my weekly ESL-GED classes I volunteer at the local school. I brought a friend who has volunteered in the past, but hasn't been able to come for a while. It was a blessing to have him help to use his gifted skills of working with computers.

With "March Madness", I wanted to "do" than "watch" sports, so I went to the local fitness center to play catch (baseball) with my Kazu. I saw a couple of other friends, so I played soccer with them too. We would go to Alexandria the next day to watch a movie at the theater there, which would be my first time to do so in more than several years. It was my fist time there since it was remodeled many years ago. Before going to the movie "Act of Valor", I attended the annual "Spring Expo" in-town and was blessed to win a FREE burger (locally produced)! I say blessed because my intention to attend this event was to get a burger, which I rarely or don't even like eating red meat at all. I decided to get one as an exception since I knew where this burger was coming from (locally grown)!

On Sunday, March 11th (Daylight Savings Time) after doing the overnight (sleep shift), I went to my local church to help with Super Church (Sunday School). Prior to teaching, a church family member shared a testimony of how she got healed during worship service after asking God for healing (for a cold)! She then encouraged folks that needed healing to have folks around them to lay hands on them for prayer. This reminded me of my own personal testimony (see Healed from Head Concussion? , goodnewseverybodycom.wordpress.com) from last fall, which I would personally shared with her via email. Later in the evening, I would get together with a couple of friends for a movie night (rented from the local university)-Mongol (Oscar-nominated movie of Genghis Khan ).

The next day, I did more of my house basement remodeling project by working on the wood floor tiling. The day after, I got an early birthday present from a co-worker who won a birthday cake from a community cake walk.

On our weekly Wednesday ESL classes, we had a presentation by one of our students unfortunately leaving home (Pakistan) the end of this month. We did a farewell party for him as we learned more about his home country.

I have a health testimony to share, which I have to attribute to health living habits. Every two years, I have a physical exam as part of the required credentials when renewing my Class B (CDL) License for driving the bus fro my job. Well, I wanted to do well-particularly with my eyes. I've been doing my eye therapy (switch eye patch from left to right eye in regular basis) to improve my "lazy eye" disorder. Well, after doing this for a significant period of time, it has improved. Praise God!

For my on-going basement project, I did my ceiling (sheet rock a small narrow section by the vent and stair way), which would be a week project as I did little by little each time.

I spent my birthday weekend in the cities by showing my housemate around my birth hometown of St. Paul. We've been trying to do this earlier this year during winter break, but it didn't workout for his schedule. We first went to this Chinese restaurant (Tea Garden) at the UofM Twin Cities campus (Stadium Village). I joined a close friend of his-along with his friend's relatives for a get together. The next day, I took him to this new batting cage facility (Lake Elmo). It was my first time here and we had more fun taking rounds in the cage without the pitching machine, which I recommend trying next time. My housemate bought this cool kite earlier, so we had my niece and nephew join us in the open field behind the townhouse.

It was probably a perfect (windy and sunny) day to go kite flying! Then the day we left for Morris, my family took me and my housemate out to a Chinese buffet in West. St. Paul. It was a great weekend in the cities! On our drive back to Morris, the temperature was around lower 80's. It was so hot that I had to turn the AC on our ride back (also on our way to the cities this past Friday)!

My birthday celebration continued throughout the week at my workplace as they have been like family since I started in December of 05'. A co-worker made a homemade blueberry (favorite) pie on Monday and then more goodies on Wednesday (celebrated with another co-worker who had a birthday the following day)! I've been very blessed to work with the people here.

On Tuesday, March 20th (1st Day of Spring)-A "short-term" friend (Hafiz was in Morris for less than 6 months for a special program here), his housemates, and I got together for one last night. We hung out in a couple places in town as we celebrated till late in the evening. He will be certainly missed!

After passing my eye exam last week in renewing my drivers license, I nearly passed the physical exam given by my personal family doctor. Like I mentioned earlier, I have to attribute it to healthy lifestyle (asking God for self-discipline on foods I eat)!

On Saturday, March 24th-I had a long busy day! I was able to do more ceiling work and then enjoyed part of the afternoon by attending the annual CNIA Pow Wow. I hung out with various friends as I was able to catch-up with friends I haven't chatted for awhile. Later in the evening after doing some early "Spring-cleaning" (kitchen on main floor), I joined my housemate to celebrate his birthday along with his friend. We treated him out to Bella Cucina.

The following day, I decided to drive solo to St. Paul to participate in the annual "Philippine Day". I was originally plan on taking my housemate, but he was occupied with homework. Here are some highlights from this event..

After the event, I went home with my sister and her boyfriend. They both had some other plans, so they dropped me off with my niece and nephew. I decided to take them outside and play to enjoy the weather before going back to Morris. It was a worth one-day trip, which I haven't drove to the cities like this for years!

Throughout the last week of March at the local college, it was the annual World Touch Cultural Heritage Week. The theme this year was on Native Americans, which has always been enlightening for me to learn about this specific ethnic-cultural group. That is why I love this annual event as it gives me the opportunity to learn more outside of the "book" or learn what was hardly taught when going to school.
-Monday: Artist shared about various social issues and asked the audience (mainly college students) what are the biggest issues facing us today in this community? He then based his artwork on this theme. There were a lot of "issues" brought up, so he decided to focus on one (history of Boarding schools).
-Tuesday: Screening of this short documentary of an infamous event in Minnesota history.
-Wednesday: Origins of Names was the theme in this evening of different panelist representing different ethnic-cultural groups. What's the origin of your name?
-Thursday: Dinner: Award Banquet

I started the weekend by doing more of my basement remodeling project as I've been busy most of this week. I was able to finish casing the stairway, which took only 4 hours!

It was too nice out on Friday, so I decided to go out with a friend to join some other friends to play cricket. It was my first time playing. Friday was like batting practice before playing a pick-up game the following day..



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Gratitude: February 2012

I started the second month of the year doing more work in my basement. I worked on putting a vent for my oven/stove; however, I had to have some barriers (wires) in the path for this vent. During this particular project, I had to cut part of the joist (supporting the main floor) to move the wires away. Unfortunately, I got a little too aggressive with my handsaw and accidentally chipped one of the wires. Fortunately, I stopped short enough before any more serious further damage. It created a spark and burned part of the blade. Thank God it didn't electrocute me! The lights upstairs (bedroom) unfortunately went off and I had to just turn on the circuit breaker. I then had to patch-up (with electrical tape and duct tape) the small cut in the wire.

The month started with more "unusually" warm weather as it hit the 40's during Groundhog Day (2nd), which was fitting for the 1st International Student "Spring Festival" at the local university. The next day, I got an update by mail on my "close to borderline diabetes" level. It's been close to 5 years when I was diagnosed "borderline" and ever since I've been more health conscious in my eating. Well, the numbers turned out well as I'm in a good level and just need to keep maintaining it!

On Super Bowl (Giants beat the Patriots) Sunday, I went to a local restaurant to watch the game with a local resident (see frequently at the local fitness center) to just have a conversation. We see each other regularly and just wanted to "talk". Unfortunately this guy has full blown cancer and was very pessimistic about nearing the end of his life, so I encouraged him that he can still "fight" it. We ended up talking about my faith and ended up sharing a brief testimony how God has changed me.

The nice "warm" weather ended on Friday, February 10th as it was another cold day (below 6) during our annual Valentine Dance at Clinton, Minnesota with my workplace (D.A.C.). However, we had a great dance and it kept us all warm!

The second weekend, I went to the cities for my monthly visit. My mom, sis, bro, and I went to this new Korean restaurant (Fresh Korean Fusion) in our neighborhood. The following day, I spent quality one and one time with my nephew and then to Savoy's Pizza with my brother (along with his kids) as my be-lated birthday gift. It was a great time hanging out.

It's been a basketball frenzy this week with "Linsanity" and that inspired me during a "pick-up" basketball game (Thursday, February 16th) with my former softball teammates. My legs ended up hurting for several days due to cheap shoes (running) I used for playing, so I ended up planning to get basketball shoes before I play next. As I rested during the weekend, I watched the live funeral memorial service of Whitney Houston (see Pop Diva).

Most Sundays, I go to two different church services (English and Spanish). I was asked by the local Spanish church to help with day care, so I've been volunteering watching the infants on Sunday afternoons. It's been more training as a future father! On Sunday, February 19th-I came to Morris Evangelical Free Church for a birthday party by a friend. I ended up bringing my special camera to take pics.

The following day (20th), I went to special "Soul Food Dinner" (sponsored by BSU) at the local university. It was part of a African-American History month celebration.

I finally finished my ceiling tile project during the last weekend of the month. It was tedious work and was very content about finishing this project that I've been nervously planning for a long time. I turned out easier than I expected! Between my project, I would go to the local DQ (2 blocks away) for their annual 50% of "Customer Appreciation Day". I ate lunch and dinner throughout the day!

I ended the weekend with this faith building service (1st-morning church service with 2 other local churches 2nd-evening) on "Faith & Home" (see GoodnewsEverybody.com Family, Believers, Brethren, Brothers, Sisters, Unity, etc...)...

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I highly recommend this message to everyone-especially parent(s) raising kid(s)!

The month ended with our 1st and ended up being our last (so far as of March 24th 2012) "Snow Day" (see GoodnewsMorris : Winter : 2012) we had a +8" inch snow blizzard. It was actually a blessing for folks at my workplace as we haven't had a day off since our one-week winter break before 2012 started. It was a great day to catch-up on house work and I was able to snowboard (2nd time only this whole winter season)!..

I invited some friends (one from Pakistan and two from Bangladesh), which it was their 1st time ever to go sledding!

Gratitude: January 2012

The warm winter from 2011 continued on till 2012. We had temps reaching 50's (F) on Thursday (5th), which I played football (catch & throw) and basketball at work during my noon break. I then played more basketball with a client of my mine at my other (part-time) job out in a nearby playground on Saturday (7th). That same weekend on the following day, I went to play baseball at the nearby campus with my friend/renter/housemate (Kazu). I can't remember ever playing baseball outdoors in this time of the season! Later in the evening on Sunday, I went to the see an inspirational film that's been talked about at my local church. I was glad I saw it (with a friend from Pakistan) as it really challenged me to be a better "man"...



"ABOUT COURAGEOUS, THE FILM AND THE SONG The Film: Courageous, the new action-packed movie from the creators of Fireproof, is a powerful reminder of the impact fathers have on their kids"¦and the legacy they will leave for future generations. Courageous:"


I'm also attending a weekly "men's bible study" (Spanish-speaking) with the newly local "Spanish-speaking" church (Morris E-Free Church's Iglesia de Nueva Vida->Church of New Life).

Our 1st two weeks of ESL/GED classes we just had one party after another! The first Wednesday we got back, two of our students (from China) made some dumplings (fish, pork, and beef). It was basically my supper that evening! Then the second week, a GED student brought a blueberry pie and some other "goodies". Then the 4th week, we celebrated "Chinese New Year", which we didn't have Chinese theme food (I brought some "mexican" theme snacks as a "last minute" thing and Ice Cream bars).

I"m taking advantage of the "somewhat" cold winter season by doing my basement remodeling project. I worked on ceiling tiles, floor tiles (wooden and ceramic), and putting a vent for my "hood vent" (oven). I cool "God-timing" story happened on Saturday, January 21st when I was getting more supplies at Menards in Alexandria. My friend (Chris) and I drove in my small Toyota to pick-up some "elongated" ceiling tile part, which I would had to maneuver and fit in my "dinky" small car. Well, my neighbor(Craig) happened to be there with his friend. I then "last minute" asked if he could put this "elongated" material in his pick-up truck..wow, huh? God is watching!

On Monday, January 16th was Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. After work, I participated in the campus-community march...





We then walked to the Morris Senior Center for a warm "home-cooked" meal for the monthly Community Meal (usually the 4th Monday of each month).

The nice "warm" winter came to an end for a short several days or so (18th to 20th) as we had 17 below zero (with wind chills reaching close to 40 below zero) Thursday morning when I got up for my monthly (3rd Thursdays) "Stevens Forward" meeting.

On Thursday, January 26th -I had the opportunity to take some clients from my workplace to the annual "Minnesota Twins Caravan". This year, it was held at Pizza Ranch.

We finally had enough snow to go snowboarding on the last Saturday (28th) of the month. It's been snowing off and on, but it would melt off and on. It wasn't the best amount of snow (some grassy areas-see video down below, but probably the best I can go snowboarding all winter so far behind the Morris water tower.



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The same day I went snowboarding, I was featured in the local paper (see Sal Monteagudo, Community Activist: Mentoring across cultures By: Judy Riley, Special to the Sun Tribune, Morris Sun Tribune Published January 28, 2012, 05:00 AM morrissuntribune.com) for my community involvement, which I would like to say I'm thankful for my "Extraordinary" God (Heavenly Father). I "try" to serve Him in everything I do, which I pray I continue to give Him the glory.

Gratitude: December 2011

I began the last month of the year by working out for the first two days. I renewed my annual membership at the local fitness center and won 10% off, which is lower than my friend (Hafiz) who won %50 off!!

On Saturday, December 3rd I took a couple of "new" Morris residents to Alexandria for the weekend. We first stopped at Glenwood along the way to visit the local county museum as it was FREE, which was part of an open house fundraiser.



After the open house, we drove just 15 minutes north to Alexandria to attend the annual theater performance every Christmas holiday season of "Gospel According to Scrooge". ..



*I ended up writing a blog on this play's plot after a recent conversation regarding family gatherings during the "holidays" (see Restoring Relationships on goodnewseverybodycom.wordpress.com


The following day was the annual Christmas Program that many of the clients I work with at the DAC performed. This year, it was held at Firth Lutheran Church.



"Santa and Mrs. Claus handing gifts and posing with clients for pictures after the Christmas program"


Sport Update: The Minnesota Vikings continued to add to their losing season by getting defeated (on Sunday, December 4th of 2011) by the Denver Broncos (Tim Tebow, who was born and raised in the Philippines to American missionaries).

On Tuesday, December 6th my friend (Hafiz) and I attended our last Jane Adams Project (see espanol services) get-together. It was "muy" (very) festive (Feliz Navidad)...



The year is coming to an end, so I had to use the remainder of my vacation time from my full-time job. I took a 4-day weekend the 2nd week of the month to finish some "stuff" (e.g. house projects). I celebrated a ESL student of mine's birthday at Don's Cafe for a late breakfast and continued to celebrate with my closest friends the next day with her at Bella Cucina.



I spent my last day of the 4-day weekend by attending the monthly gathering (learning more about applying our spiritual gifts) at my pastor's house. We had a guest (Stu) that shared on "knowledge" and "prophecy" (see MCC December 2011 Newsletter by Jan N.). I personally got a word of encouragement on "restoring relationships" (see blog above), which was just a confirmation! Praise God!

We did more "end of the year" holiday celebrations as we had our "last" day (Wednesday, December 14th 2011) of our weekly (Wednesday's) ESL-GED classes..

The following day (Thursday, December 15th 2011), we had our annual "Christmas Tea Party" (had a record over 120 recorded guest-families, friends, etc.. of our 70 or so clients)...




My co-worker continued our tradition from last year by ringing the bell for Salvation Army. This year, we added a reindeer with us and did it for 2 hours at Pamida. One thing I really noticed compared to last year was the customers weren't as "smiley" (see Is it really the "Most Wonderful Time Of The Year ?" blog I wrote afterwards)




The third weekend of the month, I took more hours from my vacation time by having a 3-day weekend. I spend it in the cities with Hafiz as I wanted to show him my hometown where I grew up. We went to several big popular tourist places..

Friday, December 16th (Downtown Minneapolis)

Macys 8th Floor A Day in the Life of an Elf


Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis

Saturday, December 17th (Mall of America in Bloomington, MN)




"Hafiz and my mom taking a break during our 3 mile walk around the 3rd largest mall in the world"

The last day of this weekend, I showed Hafiz the popular Summit Avenue (west of downtown St. Paul) and then more of downtown Minneapolis before dropping him off at the bus stop (Megabus-cheaper than Greyhound). Ironically, it was located across the Metrodome where the Vikings had a game with the defending 2010 Champions (Saints). They were tailgating across the street. I wanted to spend time with my niece and nephew, so I ended up playing soccer outside (40's) with him for awhile before playing games at Maplewood Mall. I then headed back to Morris for another short-week.

It was another week with more Christmas parties at both of my jobs as I didn't eat supper several times this week because of the supper-like snacks at the parties! On Tuesday, December 20th-I took a former student (Int'l student from China) along with his friends and mine on a drive through Morris to look at the various Holiday lights (the most spectacular display was the mobile homes along Lake Crystal)!

My 10-day vacation from my full-time job started Friday, December 22nd till tomorrow (Sunday, January 1st of 2012), which I would spend it "occupied". I got 42 hours right away within 3+ days (28 hours straight at one group home) with much of it "holiday pay" to help fill in the hours of co-workers that wanted the holiday off to spend time with their families. I didn't mind as I "try" celebrate Christmas "every day". I'm currently finishing my "end of the year" stuff (e.g. photos, videos, blogs, etc..) at my mom's house. It's been a great remainder 6-day vacation from both jobs as I spend it with family (e.g. open gifts late this past Tuesday when I arrived from Morris after dropping off Krishna-from Nepal-at the Greyhound bus station, watched "Soul Surfer" and other "family videos" with family (including my 7yr. old niece and 4 yr. old nephew) Wednesday, rode along with my bro's family around the Lights Display at Phalen in St. Paul, drove my mom to do various errands, etc..) and friends (will be spending time with them New Year's Eve tonight as Hafiz arrives from Ohio by bus, my housemate/renter arrived last night from S. Carolina after a 6 hour delay, etc..).

more coming & have a blessed New Year!!!!