August 2014

I started the first day of the month with my drain pipe trench project. I was in the "mood" after finishing a similar project for Jost Construction last month. I did other projects around and outside of the house the next day. I finished screwing the gutters I put on my garage for better stableness with the potential heavy snow on top of the garage during the long Minnesota winters. I also worked on my downstairs bathroom shelf (make it more stable too).

The 2nd weekend of the month, I went down to the Cities for a high school buddy's wedding. In fact, he had two weddings (traditional-Vietnamese & Cambodian and regular the next day). It was a great cultural experience and fun overall to celebrate a long time friend's BIG DAY! I also took advantaged of that weekend to help my older sister and her boyfriend "move" on Sunday. It was a productive and fun weekend!

On the 15th (Friday), I attended a friend's concert "October Ocean - FREE Debut show" at our new local church building. It was a great time to hangout with friends on a Friday night.

During this month long digging trench project, I was able to chat with many passer-bys. It was a great opportunity to chat with neighbors and community members that I haven't had time to chat with.

On Wednesday (20th), I was able to go the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre with my workplace to see "The Little Mermaid".

On Friday (22nd), my family and I went to the annual "great together"-> Minnesota State Fair . It was almost the perfect weather as it wasn't too hot and partly cloudy. It much more comfortable compared to last year as this year was less humid.

On Sunday (31st), my local church hosted a picnic and water baptism at Glacial State Park in Starbuck, Minnesota.

June 2014

I started the month while in the Twin Cities during my monthly visit. I went with fam to the annual "Grand Old Days", which was a showery-cloudy day. It was still fun to hangout with family as we went to this organic restaurant....

French Meadow

I ordered this "healthier" blueberry "organic pancake, which tasted somewhat dry. However, it was my first organic pancake and I know it's very healthy, so that made me enjoy it more. We missed my niece (Alyssa)being in the parade as we were still at my younger bro's house (watching cartons with my nephew Stefan), so she was a "little" mad :(. I went "hurriedly" went back to Morris after our get-together as I wanted to get home to see how my basement is after some torrential rains (3" reported fell over night) and more was coming. I came home and everything appeared ok, so I went to cover the front part of my house with some tar maps to divert the water coming from the metal roof away along the slight decline ground as far away from the house as possible. Also, I came early in case a college friend (Ryan F.) was coming early to visit, which I would later find out he was coming the next day.

Ryan and I would hangout at Pomme De Terre river by the dam to fish. I went to visit him and his friend along the shore after work as they've been fishing most of the day. It was good to see him as he's become a regular visitor here since he's been coming a lot with his involvement with the UMM Alumni Board.

On Thursday (5th), the first of four Talent Shows started at East Side Park, which has been a great annual summer community get-together. They had 11 acts, which is the most I've seen in years for the 1st week-mostly kids from St. Mary's School. On Saturday (7th), Chris tagged along with me to Alexandria to get some stuff for my on-going house projects at Menards. On our way to Alex, he took me to this Indian mound before going to downtown Glenwood (north of) highway 28, which I never knew existed until now. I'm very fond of Indian mounds as part of Native American history.

On Monday (9th), Ron N. came over to finish installing my windows (attic, kitchen, and master bedroom). It's his second time doing this as I'm doing a number of replacements as money comes. I can't wait to finally get all my windows redone. I'm also doing my on-going garage cleaning, which I was able to get some more "junk" (old windows, wood, etc..) as a "friend" replied to my tag on facebook that I'm trying to get rid of some building materials to make more room in my garage.

We (workplace) went to Benson for our annual movie-picnic for both Swift & Stevens County D.A.C. on Wednesday (11th). We saw this animation (Wizzard of Oz in animation) movie, which I wasn't able to watch all of it because of the "busyness" of my duty with work. My friends didn't like it, so I didn't really miss much. After the movie, we had a picnic at the Swift County D.A.C, which I played kickball (kicked a home run)for the 1st time in many years!

On the 2nd weekend of the month, I went to St. Paul for my regular visit (1st of 2 within this month). I helped trim branches for my dad, which he climbed a high ladder boldly despite me telling him I can do it! This apple tree has really grown since my mom planted (just threw it in the garden) this many years ago! It was Father's Day weekend, so it was a good visit "home". I was scheduled for my local church worship team, so I had to leave early Sunday morning (6ish) to get back in time before service (10am) for practice. After service, I would go with a friend (Chris) to the local golf course to the driving range. I couldn't believe how much water/rain Morris got after being gone this past weekend...

Some other places (e.g. roof damage at the Morris Public Library & St. Mary's School) in town would get water damage. I too had water damage last year from a rain storm, which was due to having no cover in my roof while putting on my metal roof. I took the shingles out already and I tried to cover the roof as much as I can, but water found it's way in. I finally was able to repaint some patches in my kitchen that paint came off due to the rain water leak on Monday-Tuesday (16th-17th). This was one of my summer to do projects and was able to get it done before "summer" officially started.

On Sunday (22nd), we (Morris Community Church) had the worship team from Nueva Vida Morris that I've visited/attend since they started years ago, come play music in our service. The pastor (Hector) later shared a message about "God's timing" for everything in our lives no matter what circumstances that is challenging we face. It was a great service overall as I brought a friend (Evan) from my workplace and he was on "fire"!

My last day of the month was my bi-annual dentist appointment, which I learned some tips to "better" take care of my teeth. Got any personal tips yourself?

Gratitude: Typhoon Diverted-Answer to prayer! Thankful on Monday, October 5th of 2009

Wow, I just want to give you an updated of the many prayers that were circulated around the world for this past weekend typhoon (2nd in a week+) in the Philippines. Many forecasters predicted this was going to be "deadlier" and more "devastating". This probably encouraged folks to "pray more"! Well, I feel it worked and I'm here to share this, so we will not forget God's goodness and grace! Thanks for everybody that prayed and I want to encourage you all to continue to do this. I don't want anybody to go back in living their lives the same "routine" again after this. Instead, I pray that this will encourage you to live your life more "to the fullest" and seek God on how you can do this. Life is very precious and tragedies like this one and others recently (e.g. tsunami that hit Samoa, earthquake that hit Indonesia, etc..) should make all of us "refocus" on how we live our lives (e.g. forgive one another because we don't know when we'll be our turn to leave this place, hug your love ones, don't take our "everyday" God's blessings for granted, etc..)

Please continue to pray for the relief efforts too! Here is one of many...

Samaritan's Purse , Franklin Graham

" Help Typhoon Victims in Southeast Asia
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 8:19 PM
From: "Samaritan's Purse Update from Franklin Graham"
To: "Mr. Sal Monteagudo"
Killer Typhoon Batters Southeast Asia

Dear Friend,

Hundreds of thousands of people are homeless and in dire need of food, shelter, clean water, and medical care after Typhoon Ketsana ripped across the Philippines and Vietnam. Torrential rains caused massive flooding and landslides that swamped entire communities and killed more than 300 people.

In Manila, the Philippine capital, the storm dumped about 16 inches of rain—an entire month's worth—in just six hours. Nearly 400,000 people have sought shelter in schools, churches, and other evacuation centers. The typhoon gathered strength as it crossed the South China Sea and inflicted extensive damage to homes and crops when it made landfall in Vietnam.

I have ministered in these countries many times over the years, and Samaritan's Purse has a strong presence in this region. Our staff and local church partners are working hard to bring desperately needed assistance to storm victims. As caring Christians meet physical needs in the Name of Jesus, we are earning a hearing for the life-changing Gospel. Our response in the coming days is crucial. Without adequate food and other basic necessities, those most vulnerable people-women, children, and the elderly-can quickly fall prey to malnutrition and disease.

To learn more about this disaster and what we are doing to help, click here.

Please pray for the victims of this typhoon and for our teams as they share the eternal comfort and hope that we have in Christ.

We ask for your prayers and your financial support (click here to donate), as we work to meet the growing emergency needs of people in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Sincerely,

Franklin Graham
President, Samaritan's Purse"

HELP Hagupit Bagyo Ondoy Typhoon Storm @ Philippines



more..
http://asian.goodnewseverybody.com/filipino.html

Gratitude: Relatives Safety in Recent typhoon in the Philippines-Monday, September 28th of 2009

I'm just thankful that my relatives are "alive" and "safe" with the recent deadly typhoon ("Ondoy") this past weekend in the Philippines. I didn't know how serious ("deadly" and "catastrophic") it was until I read the headline while checking my e-mail this afternoon when I got home from work. When my mom told me that her relatives (dad side unknown yet) are "alive" and "safe", I was very grateful. My mom told me that a couple of our relatives had some "water issues", but I'm just thankful and "bless" (see CNN article down below) they are "ok" as "things can always be replaced, but lives cannot"!

140 die in Philippine storm, toll expected to rise, from news.yahoo.com Monday, September 28th of 2009
Philippines flood survivors count blessings, from cnn.com Monday, September 28th of 2009
"...Still, Lim, 28, is counting her blessings. Her power is back on and she believes she can salvage most of her furniture. In addition, people she knows are still searching for missing friends and relatives in the flooding....
The floodwaters were beginning to subside in some areas Monday after a weekend that saw Manila hit with torrential rainfall caused by Typhoon Ketsana, which has since strengthened into a typhoon. Officials said the Philippine capital saw its heaviest rain in more than four decades. The water swallowed whole houses and buses. At least 140 people are dead, officials say...
"Right now the challenge is to find out how many people have actually died and how many people we have to take care of in terms of people who've been displaced," said Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines National Red Cross. He estimated up to 300,000 people have been displaced on the island of Luzon alone...

Philippine Flood Typhoon Ondoy UERMMC footage, September 26, 2009



Please keep the Filipino people in prayer as they are expecting some more rain with the latest forecast.

Any similar stories, prayer requests, etc.. from this typhoon or related "natural disasters" out there?

more..
http://asian.goodnewseverybody.com/filipino.html