2018 Year in Reflection

January

Below are just "some" of the highlights that I can remember through pics I've taken and went through recently. I thank God for the many blessings for being able to do all this..

Went geocaching with my sister and her husband in Fergus Falls..

Minnesota Vikings "Parody (Twins) Theme Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6CeVVESs0#action=share
*a little fun parody I made after another video I made of the "Minneapolis Miracle"

I didn't have tickets to the Super Bowl, but I was able to checkout some of the activities :

Sal reporting from St. Paul's Winter Ice Palce (1.28.18) https://youtu.be/HKeoZAfB_Rs more... USA: Minnesota-Super Bowl 52 Experience Visit smiletravelingblog.wordpress.com

February

My younger brother visiting Morris..

As he drove through before going to Fargo for a work-related trip.

The Winter Olympics going on in South Korea inspired me to go ice skating at the local rink..

I was able to snowboard only once (February 24th) the entire season during a winter storm as I love fresh snow..

March

Parody-"Walk Like a Minnesotan" (originally "Walk Like An Egyptian" by Bangles) by Crazy lil' Sal https://youtu.be/qsoxwacSYtw

Some of the challenges of the year were my sewer back-up..

I tried to rent this machine at the local hardware store, but it broke. I ended up calling a local plumber and got it taken care of.

I visited family down in St. Paul for my birthday, which my dad treated all of us to Brasa Restaurant (found by googling)..

Before heading back to Morris, I watched my niece's volleyball game with family..

April

It was an "April Fools" Cold Day, which I was in St. Paul to celebrate my Mom's b-day ..

Went to play some piano after getting inspired by watching a "friend's" performance at the campus..

During the celebration of my sister and mom (again)'s birthday together, some of us played the "big version" of Jenga!

We would later go out to eat (same restaurant-Brasa, where we went earlier this monht) and then go for a walk along downtown St. Paul's riverfront...

I also worked on car maintenance projects-spraying rustoleum (black) underneath my car to maintain the exterior protection and color from the "winter" elements of Minnesota.

May

My sump pumped started acting up, so I ordered a replacement

My co-worker and I took some clients to this annual "Special Olympics Track Meet" in Moorhead, MN..

My friend Chris and I drove to Minneapolis for one night to check out "Pulse Twin Cities"..

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Aftermath after taking part of the “worlds biggest pillow fight” at #pulsetwincities at #usbankstadium #minneapolismn @goodnewsminnesota last Friday @salphotobiz

A post shared by Saldapal (@saldapal18) on May 26, 2018 at 7:55am PDT

It was our first time at US Bank Stadium too!

I worked on my summer project early as we had some nice "early" summer-like weather..

Helped record the local high musical called Legally Blonde.

"Fill me Up" (originally by Will Reagan) by Crazy lil' Sal
https://youtu.be/N0Y88Zi0qEE

June

Hungout with some co-workers , friends, etc.. at Old #1 's cool patio view after watching Jurassic World..

It has been a rainy season and year overall after, so I left these tarps in the back and front part of my house to collect rainwater coming down my metal roof and sliding it a way as far from my house..

This prevents my sump pump working overload and keeps my basement "dryer"!

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight" ("Lion King" Disney Movie Soundtrack) by Crazy lil' Sal

https://youtu.be/ZBJmc-CKXyU July

I walked the entire lake of Nokomis (Minneapolis, MN) with an "old" friend that used to attend the University of Minnesota-Morris, which we were just "catching-up" on how we are both have been doing since (several years) we last "hung out" together..

I would later go check out Minnehaha Falls Regional Park, which I haven't visited for year and remember going to earlier as a kid too..

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I then visited another friend that went to UMM, but we both went to school together. We also caught up on what we've been up to since we graduated (different years). We saw each other years ago when a "close friend" (faculty) passed away :( in Morris..

When I first bought my house, I would use a "manual" (non-gas powered) grass cutter. It would take a longer time, but less noise and more environmentally friendly, plus a great workout! Life got busier and I started using my "gas powered" lawnmower that the previous owner of the house left and gave me. That was back in 2006 and it finally died! :( I decided to invest on a long term (when I get older and don't have the "energy" to keep pulling that string/wire to start it up!) "battery powered" lawnmower..

So many benefits, which I highly recommend!

I love swimming, so I joined some friends (co-workers) one hot day to Glacial Lakes State Park, which I would show a picture hanging up of an "old school" pic of our local church "MCC Softball Team" parade float back in the days...

I also had a great workout kayaking (*see #saldapal8 , pic taken by Paul J...thanks!)

I continued my summer project of painting some "spots" underneath my metal roof ..

Also, did on-going car maintenance by re-doing my windshield repair..

"Wavin' Flag" (originally by K'naan) Dance w/ Crazy lil' Sal

https://youtu.be/M6qPg2vx90M

August

We (family & I) celebrated Alysa's (my niece turned "teenager") birthday at Olive Garden

I took one of my ESL (English as a Second Language) students (from Brasil) to the Douglas Country Fair..

I took some time to volunteer for my workplace to "table" at the Stevens County Fair

As we were promoting our Open House fundraiser for our renovated building project.

I had my own personal house building renovation issue with my roof with this roof "sky window" leak..

I met some cool people while helping out with the annual Feed my Starving Children..

September

I started my own "moving" business-just for a weekend! :) I helped my sister and her husband move somewhat across the state by renting this U-Haul truck in Alexandria..

It was fun driving it, but the most difficult part was one area where I was trying to cross this double state highway. I was tempted to cross to the "medium", but there wasn't much space. Fortunately, I saw the news prior of a car accident that did the same thing and I learned from it. I decided to NOT take the chance and wait a little longer for a more "clear" traffic despite some "pressure" (car behind me). Let this be anyone's lesson!

Thanks to a couple of several friends that helped move (unload and load).! It was fun riding in the trunk from Pizza Ranch as we had a packed car of helpers.

I then went to the cities to drive one of my renters to the airport as he left for "home" :( We were able to hangout a little at the crowded Minnesota State Fair..

Minnesota: State Fair 2018-Scenes of Big Crowds (Sun. 9.2.18) https://youtu.be/MPlUZd2g6pY

I went to the cities again , but to celebrate my nephew's birthday. I gave this gift (children's Bible) to him...

We then went on a boat ride at Lake Elmo..

Thanks Chris and Paul for keeping me safe and helping with my needed to be done "sky window" caulking..

Metal Roof: Climbing for Maintenance Repairs-Caulking Circular Skywindow https://youtu.be/ip7W5LS-zqk

We (Morris Community Church) had our "last church fellowship service gathering" the church building..

We'll be meeting in rental and other places afterwards..

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October

Donated blood at this sports bar in downtown St. Paul while I was there for one weekend..

Got this gift from facebook..

(click on pic for description)

November

Harvest season brought a lot of "produce", so I'm thankful to God for my co-workers for giving me some healthy foods:

(thanks Nicole) and
(thanks Patty)

I went to Hmong New Year with family after Thanksgiving..

Minnesota: Hmong New Year (Nov. 24th 18')-Dance 1 https://youtu.be/UQnlgwuLm6

I would work on my parent's bathroom sink..

Learned new skills and applying what I've learned in the past too from past plumbing projects from my own home.

Karaoke-"Give me Your eyes" (originally by Brandon Heath) by Crazy lil' Sal

https://youtu.be/UKt1j24TnN8

December

I was a "last minute" fill-in as a client wasn't able to come to the annual ARC Christmas Program..

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I played one of the "prophets" during this "Christmas Story"

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Karaoke -"First Noel" (Hymn) by Crazy lil' Sal

https://youtu.be/P-qZCw5p-mY

Thanks for checking out my 2018 reflection, which I've been doing this for the past year now (used to do it monthly). It's an opportunity to "take a break" before "life gets too busy after the "holiday season"-reflecting on God's blessings !

February 2016

The first week of February was busy with my new photo-video project for a local resident in Morris. I would work on this almost daily after work on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the entire month. I saw it a blessing. On the 4th (Thursday), I would have to then quickly go to my local church for our monthly (every first Thursday) worship team practice (learning new songs for the month). I started the first weekend by getting "pumped" at Body Pump (fitness class) at the local gym. I then went to get my first fishing license in years to go ice fishing for the first time in my life...

...with a friend/co-worker (Paul J.) as another friend/co-worker couldn't make it. I brought various sporting equipment to make it more enjoyable as we waited for a bite (never got one-probably we made too much noise). It was fun to be out as it wasn't too cold (notice I was wearing my "fall" jacket only). It was like our pre-Super Bowl party!

On Thursday (11th), I went to the local elementary school to watch my first high school basketball game this season. I mainly went to give my support for the 2nd annual "Morris Special Olympic Fundraiser" (see pics). The game was actually fun to watch as the Tigers lost a "nail-biter" at the end.

The next day, my workplace would go to Clinton for the annual Valentine Dance. This was the first time I can remember we had above zero temps :)

We had President's Day (15th) off, so I took advantage of it to visit a friend (Cory) in a group home he was staying up north. I ended-up blessing him with some "healthy" grocery foods to promote "healthier" eating. I would be later blessed by winning a $30 dollar gift certificate from my pt-teaching job during a teacher's training meeting on the 22nd to a grocery store in Alexandria (where I bought the groceries from). Praise the Lord! On my way back to Morris, I stopped at Andes Tower Hills to do more snowboarding as they had a "holiday" discount :)

One of the parody songs that came to my mind earlier was the Ghostbusters and thought of "Bug" busters..

Music: Parody-“Bug Busters” (originally Ghost busters) by Crazy lil’ Sal

I went to the cities (St. Paul) for my monthly family-friend visit the 3rd weekend. I would spend some quality time with parents and my sister (e.g. went grocery shopping in our neighborhood) by sharing some pics I took from the past year.

I started a food blog recently and did one on French Toast..

Breakfast Starters: French Toast of Different Flavors

We have been having some newer students (e.g. Mexico, Brazil, etc..) for our weekly Wednesday ESL classes, which many of us happen to be at the monthly Community Meal the same time on Monday (29th).

December 2015

The last month of 2015 started with a presentation (Sal's Presentation on the Philippines: Spanish Connection) I was invited to do at the Jane Addams Project, which I have been attending since it started 3-4+ years ago at the local university..

It was an interactive presentation I wanted to do to bridge the diverse attendees. The karaoke idea would ended up being part of the end of the semester's party too (Friday, December 4th). I bought this microphone at the local Radio Shack and just attached it to my electric guitar speakers, which made an easy "homemade" karaoke machine that I can use for the future.

Going back, I would attend the local college campus IVCF service as a friend came back to lead a "healing service", which was just a faith builder for all. He would lead a bunch of other college students to do a "Treasure Hunt" the following day, but I wouldn't be able to come since our local church had our once a month group worship practice.

On Saturday, December 5th-I went snowboarding (my friend Chris came along, but he skied) for the first time in 2 years. I wasn't able to go to Andes Tower Hills earlier this year because it was just too cold. When it warmed up in March, all the snow melted quickly :( I had to warm my self up, so I went on the bunny hill first. After awhile, I would end up going on all the hills that were open and ended-up in the biggest hill! :)

I would spend most of the 2nd week by working on the videos for the recent musical I videotaped for the local high school-> The Addams Family Musical .

During the 2nd weekend, some long-time friends that moved out of Morris came back to visit. We would hangout at the newest Mexican restaurant in town..

It was good to catch-up and to know my friend Eric is doing a lot better since his surgery. The following day (Sunday 13th), I played a video (Spoken Word: “Who Am I….”...

... I previously recorded with a short -testimony at church during the annual "Christmas Program".

The month of December has many great holiday parties and one of them is the annual "Tea Party" at my workplace. On Wednesday (16th), the weather was "horrible". In fact, many schools around the area cut out early, but we kept going. We thought the numbers were going to be really down, but we had a better turn out than expected with the weather. The next day, I would play some indoor soccer with a couple of friends (Michael & Chris), which was my cardio workout for the week! :)

On the 18th (Friday), some co-workers (Paul, Oray, and Olga) and I went to see the highly anticipated movie "Star Wars: . I was so pumped up after the movie that I ended up making a whistling video of the theme afterwards-> Music: “Star Wars” movie theme (whistling). The next day, I went to Andes Tower Hills again and took a friend/co-worker (Oray) and "tried" to teach him to snowboard..

It was a little colder than 2 weekends ago, so I actually wore my heavy winter jacket instead of my fall one.

The day before Christmas Eve, I was invited to videotape the Christmas program of St. Mary's School at the Assumption Church. Prior to videotaping, I went to a co-worker's party she hosted for us. Unfortunately, I parked on the side of the road and got stuck. This caused me to be late and ended up having some technical problems with my camcorder. Fortunately (thank God), I was able to correct it in-time, but missed several performers (kids playing piano) :( .

My work (pt-job) called me the day before Christmas Eve that I didn't have to work the over night, but I ended up staying in Morris (instead of going to St. Paul early) to work on the recent Christmas Program video and other "catching-up" projects (e.g. cleaning my house). It was actually a great start of my 1 1/2 week vacation. I would end up going "home" (St. Paul) to visit family during Christmas vacation-weekend. It was good to see family and help my aging parents out.

I ended up coming back to Morris to deal with some home appliance issues (water heater got old and was done) after my housemate/renter emailed me the problem. I came home to find a "leak" around the water heater, which was sign it was definitely finished and "NOT" fixable. Prior, I stopped at Menards to scout out the available water heaters, but didn't pick one yet as I didn't have the dimensions. I look back and wished I just took the chance and got one, IF a friend/Morris resident (I saw there) that happened to be there could've been able to load it back to Morris. Anyways, I ended up paying this plumber (Chris from Elbow Lake) to do the job after a couple of friends weren't able to.

I was thankful to God that I got it fixed and replaced as soon as possible (within 3-days). Couldn't find a perfect time for this to happen. I would have to work my pt-job (overnight) once this last week of the month before I went back to the cities to watch a theatrical performance at St. Paul's Ordway Center -> Sound of Music. I've been anticipating in seeing this since I first heard about it coming to St. Paul back in August/early September. It was all God's provision as I tried to buy these tickets for last week's performance, but couldn't find any "good seats". I even was about to purchase some "bad seats", but the computer wouldn't let me charge it to my credit card. I look back at this and feel it was definitely ad "Divine" work of God as it's rare that my credit card payment didn't go through when purchasing online. I happened to be playing on the computer to check out other performance days later and found a date (31st) of an "added show" that was "last minute" added...Praise the Lord! I ended up inviting my parents and nephew. My sister ended up tagging along with her fiance (James), but couldn't get closer seats because they bought it later even though I emailed my sister the "last minute show added" the day I purchased it, but she didn't want to take the chance with the weather. I ended up taking a risk as I saw this as an opportunity that might not be open again!

My highlights of 2015..

September 2015

Fall season of ESL classes started with a new student from China at the Morris Literacy Project on Wednesday (2nd). It was a good way to start the new season after a slow summer. However, I had to leave early since I had rehearsals still for the Aladdin musical. We had a day off from rehearsals on the 4th (Friday) and it was the "last" Friday of no work for the summer season. I took advantage of the "last Friday off" by visiting a friend in Lino Lakes Prison with a friend, which it was a "life lesson" (map reading) adventure.

The next day (Saturday 5th), I attended the once a month community worship called Real Ministries. One of the guest speakers (Jenny) shared about J.O.Y, which I tied to my character (Jafar) in the musical play I was in and wrote this blog-> Disney Character: Jafar-"Why M-E?". I used this Labor Day weekend to not only write this blog, but to do other fun activities (e.g. biked to Pomme De Terre Park).

We had our last week of rehearsals before our two performances at the end of the week on the 4th (Friday) & 5th (Saturday). I did a lot of mental, physical, and spiritual preparations (see Music: Tips for singers with “dry” throats?). It turned out to be a great personal experience for me and a self-confidence booster.

I would continue my bike contest (e.g. going to Pomme De Terre Park) throughout the rest of the month as it was the last month of this competition.

I attended the 2nd annual "Storm the Planet Conference" at my local church. I would later share the importance of taking "notes" and now applying it in our daily lives the following Sunday during shares. During the conference, I was thrown a "curve ball" (unexpected life circumstance), which was just another faith builder challenge. I would later share this at church too -> Visiting those “sick” in the hospital .

On Thursday (24th), I attended my once a month worship practice for my local church in preparation for Sunday's worship team service. I was inspired to write this parody after practice..

I would try to ride my bike as much as I can towards the last days of the month and here were the results of this summer long competition..

June 2015

I started the month doing more auto body work (putting primer paint) , which I would work on it for the first 2 days. On Wednesday (3rd), my workplace took some clients to Benson for our annual movie outing. I never heard of the movie, but it was great. I ended up “searching” it online and found out the movie didn't do as well in the “big screens”. I personally thought it was such a good movie, I even made a blog (Movie: Musical-What was Your Favorite Song or Scene in "Strange Magic"? creativemusicartsy.wordpress.com) to remember the songs (soundtrack list) and twittered it.

It was the first of four of the weekly “Morris Kiwanis Talent Show” on Thursday (4th). I went to watch the remaining of the 6 performances after my local church “worship team” practice. I'm not playing our men' summer softball team again this year for the 2nd year in a row due to “physical injury”. My right arm is “healing” after arm wrestling with a “friend” that made an illegal move (stood up and used both arms to “try” to put down my arm, which made a “tearing” noise :( ). However, I wrote down on (Friday 5th) that I was able to curl 25 lbs, which is the 1st time to doing any type of this arm exercise since prior to my injury.

On Saturday (6th), I made my every other month trip to St. Cloud to pick-up a “friend” to visit our “friend” in Moose Lake. Unfortunately, it had to be canceled, which I wouldn't know till the “last minute” when I got to my “friend's” house and he told me he thought he contacted me by phone that he wasn't feeling good (e.g. stroke recovery). I took advantage of my time in St. Cloud by visiting my favorite eatery (N.Y. Gyro). I then went to Menards to pick-up more landscaping material.

I continued my on-going driveway project (rubber pavers) on Monday (8th). I'm buying a bunch a little at a time as I was hoping the price will go down, which it has (almost $1-2 cheaper now). On Thursday (11th) after picking-up the Morris Talent Show signs , I went to Willies and didn't realize I lost my wallet until a guy (Kermit, who told me he has seen me around when he used to drive the Morris Transit) came to my front door to drop it off. I was very surprised and was very thankful (Praise God)!. May God bless him :). He told me he found it in the parking lot of the grocery store. This is the 2nd time that a guy in Morris found my wallet since I've lived here, which shows the blessings of living in a small town like this one :)

On the 12th, I went home (St. Paul) for my monthly weekend trip, which is the first of my “Friday-off” 3-day weekend. My parents took me to their favorite restaurant (Cambodian) and then I went biking around Battle Creek Park. The next day, on our (mom and I) way to downtown St. Paul, a car was driving in the wrong lane (our turn lane) and nearly had a “head-on” collision. Thank God, that drive swerve backed to his own lane...thank God! I did my regular outing with my mom to the Asian grocery store (Dragon Star) and while driving, I saw a U.S. Postal Service “mailman” and I drove to catch-up with him and handed him my postcard I was going to drive further away to a postal office. Talking about..God's timing, huh?! :) After going to the St. Paul Cathedral with parents, I went bike riding again in the evening before sun set. I then did my longest bike ride since this local-national competition the next day (Sunday 14th). First, I went around the path by the pet park at Battle Creek Park before church and then to Battle Creek Mountain Bike Trail - Mounds Park after wards. I was hoping to go all the way to downtown, but the path was detoured due to a bridge construction on Warner Road.

On Monday (15th), I released another parody on youtube called "Rip It" (“Push It” by Salt N' Pepa). I had Mohr plumbing come to my house (Tuesday 16th of June) to clean my sewer pipe and use a camera to see the condition of it too. I had a "good" report, which made me decide to finish my landscape project after hints for me to finish it now instead of next year. This was big savings for me too! I had a funny incident at work too when I was “trying” to help a client by bringing her “safety belt”. I asked her if I can help her put it on, but she replied -”I'm going to have a staff help me” as she walked away ;).

On my Friday (19th) off, I also took advantage of my day off by working on my kitchen siding and driveway paving project. The following day, I went with "family friend" to visit his son at Moose Lake. It was supposed to be our last visit in this every other month long drive, so we were happy this could be the last. As I write this, the certainty of his situation is not fully known yet..please keep praying! We then stopped at Molitor's Quarry to watch the Minnesota Twins game and had my favorite sweet potato fries..yumm!

I continued on Sunday (21st) adding to my bike challenge by going 5.4 miles around the local (Morris) bike trails. Then I finished my rubber siding project in my kitchen. The next day, I went to the driving range with a friend (Micah), which I would have probably my best golf driving in terms of hitting it far and close to the flag number of times (w/ the help of the wind) ;)..

I practiced more of my lines for the up-coming performance (Kiwanis Talent Show) throughout the week as a "last minute" decision to enter in the local competition. I wanted to sing another song (Alladin's "I Can Show You the World"), but my duet partner didn't know this song. She suggested this other song, which was Disney also. I told her I'll do it depending how well I can memorize it. I decided to go all out on Tuesday (23rd). Wished we did this during the "adult competitive" round last week, but the number of participants (#14) made it more fun and meaningful (wider and larger audience) on Thursday, June 25th 2015...

On Friday (26th), I met with my local pastor at his house as he wanted to show me the newest bathroom project. We were about to go biking to Starbuck, but was postponed due to this project. While I was there, I saw a song bird (Cardinal)! I would bike 6 miles on Friday (26th) despite the postponement of our bike ride to Starbuck. I did more of the rubber paver project (2 rows at a time after a sale of $2.99). The following day, I decided to finish connecting the drain pipes in front of my house after waiting since last fall. It felt good to finish filling the hole with dirt.

I would continue the landscaping project for the next week as I did little by little. I was able to put mulch that I stored from last fall on top finally on Tuesday (30th). Praise the Lord..thank you for giving me the strength to finish!

February 2015

I started the month by going to a friend’s house for a Super Bowl (football ) party. It was good to get together in this national “holiday-like” special occasion. I never watched a full football game this season and this was the closest as I watched the first half only. The game can get too long, so I watched the first half as I wanted to just hangout over "great food" (chips and salsa dip) with friends. I wasn’t interested in watching the half-time performance, so I left and decided to "last minute" workout at the local fitness gym. I would catch glimpses of the half-time show at the fitness center and would leave after a good short 30-minute workout!

The following day (2nd), I had to drive to Alexandria for our quarterly consortium training-meeting with my GED-ESL teaching. It was good to see several folks from the Morris area helping with our program at the meeting.

On Tuesday (3rd), it was that time of the year to donate blood, which is always a great cause. I also feel an need of a new replenishing of my blood in my body, so this is one of the reasons why I love doing this too.

Despite the below zero weather on Wednesday (3rd), we still had several ESL students that came to class at the local elementary school. It was good to see some students we haven’t seen for awhile due to the cold weather.

On Thursday (4th), I had my first meeting with my voice lesson instructor (Kurtis) as we talked about my goals and expectations I want to learn for the next 4 weeks. I’m looking forward to learning new tips as I haven’t had voice lessons for several years or so when I took it with another person (Bethany) in our church, but I did it for only 2 -30 minutes. I plan to do 4 weeks -recommended by Kurtis himself to get more effective. I then would come back to the church building for worship practice as it was my turn this weekend for my once a month worship team cycle.

On Friday (6th), we started our every other Friday fitness class with some clients from my workplace. This is the one of best parts of my job! :) It was more focus on watching the safety of the clients or assistance (e.g. wheelchair clients needed help getting some exercise equipment) during the 30 minute class. It was very fun to watch them participate and have fun!

I would do my "lower body" workout the next day at the local gym after playing basketball as part of my cardio workout too. As part of my singing leisure fun, I did a karaoke song to Backstreet Boy’s “I Want it That Way (Karaoke by Sal on 2.14.15)

On Sunday (8th), I was part of the worship team and one of the songs ("Jon Thurlow Mighty Hand".....Ring in my finger") would stick out to me (usually comes after singing a particular song many times after numerous practice). This comes an ironic time as I was currently working on a wedding video project for a friend/former co-worker. One of the pics was this "ring" on the finger, which is very symbolic of a committed relationship.

I would pray for one of the people I work with at the group home and his back wasn’t feeling good. Well, the next day, he was moving around (sometimes too much and got in trouble) and didn’t have any back problems! Wow…praise the Lord for God’s healing!!

On Tuesday (10th), we had a winter storm , so work was 2 hours late due to the ice and slippery road conditions. I took advantage of the 2-hour late start by cleaning my basement apartment. Later in the day, I went to this "Black Lives Matter" forum at the local college which was a huge turnout. They had to divide into 2 separate groups to be able to better hear everyone’s voices on the latest national issue of Racism and law enforcement (e.g. Ferguson in Missouri and N.Y.C.). I couldn't stay longer as I had to leave for another event going on that same night-Spaghetti Feed Fundraiser for local UMM-IVCF mission trip to Arizona.

On Wednesday (11th), I met with my financial adviser (Allan from Thrivent), which was a good meeting on future finances!

The next day was my first of four voice lessons, which I learned some great exercise tips for my voice. The great comparison Kurtis shared is , as an athlete needs to stretch before his/her competition, they need to "exercise/stretch" to get their muscles ready-similar to our voices !

On Friday the 13th, I would drive the workplace bus to the annual Valentine "theme" dance at Ortonville. It was sunny, but cold and windy-just like it has been almost every year lately. The dance was fun and it was always great to get out of the workplace and our routine. I thank God for getting use to and from the dance venue safety as it was pretty windy (kept moving the bus as driving the flat prairie land does that around these parts of the state).

It was cold on "Valentine’s Day" (Saturday), so I spent indoors at home finishing some errands (house rental stuff) and projects (wedding video). I manage to go to the local fitness center to do my tricep workout.

On Sunday (15th), we had our 1st church potluck in our very new building (opened last summer)...for indoors! We had a potluck like event during the Storm the Planet Conference early September last year, but it was outdoors in the spacious green yard along the side of the church building along California Avenue.

We had President’s Day (Monday the 16th) off for the first time since I started at the DAC, so I took advantage of this day-off by doing taxes. I don’t want to procrastinate like 2 years ago when I finished the day of the deadline..I think I had to apply for an extension since it took longer than I expected. I learned my lesson and try to do it during a winter storm day. It’s too nice to do it when it becomes Spring in April. I would finish filing after days working on it, which I finished late Tuesday/Wednesday morning (2ish). I wanted to finish it so I stayed up late and wasn’t able to attend the weekly Wednesday bible-fellowship group I attend at Neil & Ruth’s.

I went to the cities the 3rd weekend of this month (20th-22nd), which was great weather for driving. On the day I arrived, I hung out with my brother and his kids. My niece gave me her favorite "hair dew" style. The the next day, I took my car to the shop to try to fix this on-going issue with my car stopping (engine shuts off at the stop intersection or just when I’m leaving my garage). I've taken it to the local shop in Morris and they couldn't figure it out. I even had a tune-up many years ago. I finally got it fixed after the folks in St. Paul looked at it. I found the solution after watching several videos on You Tube, which I credit the Holy Spirit (Counselor) giving me this "ah ha" moment! I had another encounter with "Folks with Signs Along the Highway Exit Ramps Part 2" as I was walking to the local auto shop to pick-up my car, but it wasn’t ready at the time. I feel like this area (East St. Paul) is a great place to "reach out". Later on Saturday, I went to visit my nephew and niece to "hang out" with them. I had some great quality time with them as Uncle Sal! :) The next day, I would order pizza (chicken pizza online (Dominoes) for my parents before heading out back to Morris in the 25-35 below zero wind chill advisory. I was prepared as I got my car ready in case I got stranded, but forgot to leave a sleeping bag due to the up and down winter season (warm and cold temp change). Thankful to God that I was able to get home safely! :)

On Monday (23rd), I attended the monthly Community Meal at Faith Lutheran Church, which I always look forward to a great "home cook" nutritious meal and getting to know my “neighbors” in the community. I had a great chat with a lady that I see at the local library all the time and her friend (who is the mother of a guy I know around town too)...small town!

I would eat out again the next day (24th) as I joined a couple of friends from work at Taco John. I lost a “friendly bet” on the Super Bowl, so I had to treat this friend a meal at Taco John. It was a good time to hangout! :)

On Thursday (26th), I attended a small workshop on "prophetic worship, which Cherish from that Storm the Planet conference equipped some worship team members from church and I. It was awesome. I hope to share some songs that God lays in my heart in future blogs as I’ve shared in the past already as God is always doing a “new thang” baby..Halleluah!

On the last day of the month (28th), I attended a ESL student of mine’s wedding at my local church, which was the first wedding of it’s kind at our local “very” newly remodeled church. It was a blessing!

November 2014

I began the month by putting up my new portable garage, which would take a week to finish (in-time before the early winter). After working on the portable garage (<-feel free to contact me for password to view pics) on the 3rd, I volunteered at Pizza Ranch to help with a fundraiser for our local church's future mission trip to India. Unfortunately, it was on a Monday, which was a very quiet. However, we were very thankful for them giving this opportunity to raise any amount for this cause. I would then return to the Ranch on Thursday (6th) for a joint UMM Alumn-Current Student supper. We were all given a discount (only $5 from our own-pockets) as a motivation to go to this annual event. I joined a couple of friends (Andrew and his dad) that I haven't seen or talked for awhile. It was good catching-up with them. On Friday (7th), I was hoping to finally finish putting the portable garage by strapping the cover that I already put the other day. As I was going to strap it, the wind started to blow hard and it took the whole cover off :(. I was so close too! If I just put one strapped in the right place, it would've held it. Unfortunately, the wind kept blowing and rained a little too, so I gave up! I decided to just work on it the next day. A friend (Matt) that was going to visit the area emailed me that he'll be in town, which I told him I wouldn't be able to meet with him with this portable garage cover dilemma. Matt offered to help, which I took that invitation and decided to "recruit" others to join us to make it a group project.

On early Saturday (8th) morning, I wanted to finish some last-minute fall projects before this impending snow storm. I finished early and I decided to do some prep work of the portable garage cover. Well, I felt God gave me this great idea to use my winter roof shovel poles to slowly gently move the covers-it worked! Praise the Lord! I told my friends that the cover was placed and we can hangout to do something more fun. I would hangout with one of them at a local fast food restaurant for lunch, but he wasn't up to hanging out with the others afterwards. Matt and I ended up getting together with a friend to fellowship instead. It was a great time hanging out! I would later join Matt with a couple of other friends at Bella Cucina to have a great talk and we ended up talking about our faith. It was a great unexpected conversation topic, which would be an endless continual topic and others via facebook.

I would do the finishing touches of the tie-downs of the covers on Sunday as the snow storm was expected the next day. I thank God I finished on time as the next day was a "Snow Day" (no work). I somehow was sick on Monday (10th), so I tried to sleep in a little longer with the day off. I decided to rest and watch a movie online.

On the 15th (Saturday), I attended Real Ministries, which was a great evening of testimonies people shared with the Thanksgiving theme. My housemate (Jin from Korea) would make Filipino Chicken Adobo on Sunday (16th). He asked me to give him some tips as he's really like this particular fish.

I went back into recording music again as I wrote "Shine Your Light for Him" on the 18th (Tuesday).

On Friday (21st), I used one of my vacation days to visit a friend in Moose Lake. The weather (30's and sunny) was considerably "perfect" compared to previous "winter" days the past 2 weeks. The following day (22nd-Saturday), I went to a one day Men's Life fellowship gathering at Hosanna Worship center. It was awesome to hear testimonies of men from the community I've known since living in Morris.

On (Sunday-23rd), I recorded another song called "My Christmas Story", which was my first "rap" song!

Thanksgiving fell on the last weekend of the month, so I went "home" (St. Paul) for the weekend. I was great to visit most of my family (including my Uncle Totoy at a senior citizen apartment residence) as my sister couldn't join us for the first time since she moved "out of town". I was thankful to God for a safe drive home as we had great weather most of the weekend.

October 2014

I started the month by donating blood as the American Red Cross Bloodmobile was in campus. I missed the last opportunity when I was in the Twin Cities during the summer due to miscommunication. I try to do this regularly as I feel a cleansing in my body and plus it benefits someone too medically. The next day, I went to worship practice at my local church. I also made a video of the song "Come Lord to Morris" as part of my recent songs inspired by God since the Storm of the Planet Conference.

The 1st weekend of the month was UMM Homecoming, which my friend Joey P. came to visit all the way from Jacksonville, Florida. It was the first year that our friend Shannon couldn't make it due to personal reasons. It was a great homecoming as I met old college friends, one from Louisiana.

On Monday (6th), I finally found the "water line" (just 2 inches or so next to the "sewer line") after getting some leads/advice from some local experts (e.g. utility guy that marks them and city engineer guy). This was such a relief as it helped me know where I can finally put the drain pipes in and what area to target whenever we dig to replace the sewer line. I also did another video "Don't be Afraid to Step in Faith".

On Friday (10th), I was so thankful to God for an answer to prayer (A "friend" that was in a vehicle accident late this summer is getting "better" and will be coming "home" soon after being in the hospital for awhile).

The following day, a friend visiting Morris from the Cities called me up to hangout with him and his family. It was a beautiful day to hangout at the WCROC Hort Gardens. Earlier in the day, I did Zumba with a friend/co-worker, so this got me "energized" for the day. On Sunday (12th), it was awesome to see a couple come to church for two Sundays in a row. What makes this exciting is this couple hasn't been to our "local church" for years. It's such a blessing to know how God has been working on them and never gave-up! Just like the story of the Prodigal Son. After church, I joined a "friend" for lunch at Don's Cafe as she shared about her trip this past summer to Honduras. Later in the afternoon, the worship team from my local church got together for a bonfire hangout at one of the family's place out in the country. We had a great time playing soccer and football before our "potluck" prior to the bonfire chat.

On Monday (13th), I was relieved to hear another prayer answered after sharing a facebook post on praying for friends in Japan. There was a forecast for the "world's largest storm" to hit this island country, but I believe many prayers (mine included) were answered as the storm downgraded-Praise the Lord!

After some dialogue on the "bullying" issue, I decided to write a blog about it-> "Ways to deal with Bullying as a “former” victim and bully too"

When I went to my part-time (overnight) job, I was asked by my co-worker for prayer (health issue), which I told him I'll gladly pray. The next day, he would tell me that he feels better, which was an answer to his prayer-healed! On the 16th, a friend I've been praying for almost a year declared that he's "cancer free". This was such a faith builder as another friend shared recently online declared this too.

I took my 1st week of vacation from October 18th-26th from both jobs, so I decided to head to St. Paul to visit family for a week or so on Friday (17th) after work. I enjoyed taking pics of the Fall color changes along I-94, particularly during a long traffic delay (1 lane only) around Rockville Minnesota. I'm always thankful to God for the safe drive home every time when I drive from Morris. The 1st full-day of my vacation, my parents and I went to this Vietnamese restaurant, which I like the soup. Unfortunately, my parents thought the sodium or MSG was too high (Seafood) for them as they didn't feel good afterwards. In the afternoon, I drove by Mounds Park to take pics of the fall colors around downtown St. Paul. I would end up taking more pics throughout my vacation of the fall colors as I drove around the Twin Cities. On Sunday (19th), I decided to check out this church (Church of Acts) along White Bear Avenue I've frequently drove by every time I'm visiting the area. It took awhile to start as the 1st service (8am) was just finishing and the 2nd service (10:30am) didn't start a little after 10:45am. It was a great service as the worship was rock music and there was a lot of dancing and interaction. The people were very welcoming as almost every member came to welcome me. I didn't get out of the service till a little after 1:30pm, which I decided not to stay for the potluck with time.

It was nice to stay in the cities during the weekdays as I was able to hangout with my niece and nephew after school. I would play soccer out in the back (Battle Creek Middle School Playground) a couple of days during the week as it was a warm fall week. It was still chilly as I had pants, but moving around kept both of us warm. On Wednesday (22nd), I took my mom to the Mall of America after picking-up my smart phone to a techy to diagnose the problem of my smartphone that stopped working, which I ended-up paying $40 to find out the "SIM card portal had some H20 and is not fixable" (found out a month later I just needed a working SIM card from my network service since it expired). Prior to driving up to M.O.A., we stopped over at the new outlet mall in Eagan, which I wasn't really pleased as there wasn't much compared to Albertville.

On Thursday (23rd), I decided to attend at least one of the three days of this conference on Islam at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. There was high security due to the prominent speakers (e.g. former Muslims that became Christians) sharing. I left the conference early so I can pick-up my niece and nephew from school. We had a great time later in the evening watching Veggie Tales videos and skyping with their parents (vacation and work related trip in Las Vegas, Nevada). My niece would end-up doing my hair, which I didn't realize what she did until afterwards. I thought it was so funny, that I had to take a selfie->

On Friday (24th), I rode my new used bike for the first time around Battle Creek Park. I brought my nephew to this school's carnival fundraiser. It was fun to see him having fun and playing all these games. The past two days has been great picking-up and dropping off both my niece and nephew to and from their individual schools. I told my co-worker the following week that this was great training to be a father...someday!

I left to go back to Morris the next day for a friend's pre-wedding party get together at the local bowling alley, which would be cancelled. It was good to be back "early" still as I had to do some yard work (mulch leaves before the coming winter). I was blessed to have a former neighbor (Craig) mow part of my yard. I also came back early for the 2-day conference Passion for Jesus w/ Bob Sorge: Day #1-Oct 25th 2014 "Covenant", which would be another faith-challenge-builder in my life!

I would come back to work on the 27th after a week long vacation. It was great to be back as many from work showed how much they missed me. I would follow the World Series and the Kansas City Royals lost a close one (2-3) against now 3x World Series Champions (the last 5 years or so) San Francisco Giants. I was a little disappointed as I was rooting for the Royals (hasn't won a World Series Championship in 29 years). On Thursday (30th), I attended a community gathering called "Estar in el Prairie Reception and Artist's Talk in Morris at the local art gallery (PRCA). It was great to see some people from various parts of the community and a friend (former resident) too...

It's been awesome to see the Spanish community slowly becoming more integrated here in Morris, Minnesota!