Random Notes About Me...

1. I was born in Cebu's Community Hospital.


2. At the age of 6, our family moved to Manila where my parents taught @ FEBIAS College of Bible.


3. At the age of 10, our family went to the States so my parents could study at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL.


4. in 1974, I was back in Deerfield, IL to study @ Trinity College (now International University)


5. Our family traveled between the Philippines and the US via the American President Lines: in 1965 (Manila to Oakland, CA on President Wilson) and in 1969 (Oakland, CA to Manila on President Cleveland)


6. At 17, i was made to choose between my then-boyfriend (who became my husband anyway!) and studying in the States: i chose the States!


7. Began playing the piano at the age of 6; was accompanying worship service @ 10


8. Directed my first adult choir at the age of 17 (Caloocan Bible Church) when our choir director, Mr Haglund, went back to States on furlough


9. Became a MADS "sappy sophomore soprano" in 1972, along with Yvonne Cadd, Angela Simpson, Leah Eaton & Debbie Marocco


10. Favorite country during MADS' 1974 tour: GREECE


11. County I would most love to visit with my husband, kids & grandkids: IRELAND


12. Because of my rough freshman year at Trinity, my father resigned as President of FEBIAS College of Bible so that he and my mom could be with my siblings and me as we studied in the States. Many years later, dan and i did the same thing -- in reverse: we stayed in the states until all our children had graduated and were doing OK on their own


13. Majored in Psychology @ Trinity


14. During my senior year @ Trinity, a visiting professor of Telecommunications suggested that I pursue Communications and work for him @ NBC-Chicago. I was so tired from studying that I said "no." Definitely one of my "regrets"


15. Married in Baguio City


16. From 1982 to 1988, traveled every January to the US to stay for 1 month in order to retain green card status


17. Was a newscaster for DZFE & DZAS (Manila) in the mid to late 1980's


18. Was the late night news anchor @ GMA-Channel 7 in Manila, paired with Jimmy Gil; Took Tina Monzon-Palma's place for 1 week doing primetime news while she was on assignment in China


19. Responsible for developing the FDA (Funds Disbursement Authorization) program at Kaiser Permanente, a project given to me by my boss, Ben Rojas, the Asst Regional Controller for Kaiser-Southern CA. Kaiser is still using the process!!


20. Became a US citizen in 2007, 33 years after receiving my green card!


21. Asked to write the foreword to my friend Victoria Darragh's 2nd book on Healing for the Broken-hearted


22. Knows that I am what I am by the grace of God and that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"


23. Am thankful for lifelong friends (more than 30 years!), including Yvonne Cadd Everly, Angela Simpson Leuice, Leah Eaton Humphreys, Ali Aguarino, Em Perez, Lynette Tackett Wortham, Ruth Geisler Kostreva, Abe Navarette, among others


24. Am eternally grateful to God for the precious gifts of my husband, Dan; my children, Ashley, Justin & Erin; my grandkids, Josiah, Keilah, Jonah (still in the womb) and our 4th (still in the womb & sex still unknown)!!


25. Am extremely thankful that my parents are still around to see and enjoy their great grandkids!!

Our 1st Valentines' Day in Cebu

i just have to share what happened on our 1st Valentine's Day here in cebu... first of all, it RAINED all day. not just sprinkles, but hard rain! february is part of the dry season in the philippines, but this year, this month has been anything but...

saturdays are busy for us because we have chapel in the morning and intro to Greek class @ 130. after Greek class, we just lazed around since it was raining and we really thought that we wouldn't be able to go out that night because of the rain. it started to just drizzle around 5pm, so we agreed to go ahead and take a taxi to the marco polo hotel which is beautifully located where you can see the lights of cebu city on a clear night. i also wanted to check out cafe marco to see if it would be something that we might consider as a venue for the celebration of my parents' 55th wedding anniversary on march 20.

when we arrived at the marco polo, we were told that the cafe marco was fully booked for the evening. needless to say, we felt really dumb going there without checking to see if we could EAT at cafe marco. they were very gracious, however, and, after i explained to them that i was looking for a venue for my parents' anniversary celebration, gave us a little tour of cafe marco. it's really a nice all-you-can-eat restaurant, beautifully laid out, with many food choices -- american, japanese, korean, chinese, filipino. the cost, however, would probably make us go somewhere else: P984 per person!! compare that with grand majestic's dinner rate of ~P500/person or PORT's P299/person...

since we were rejected at cafe marco because we failed to make reservations, we decided to taxi down to PORT seafood restaurant at the waterfront hotel to try our luck there. it was already getting late and dan was getting very hungry. but, when we got to the front door to PORT, the very nice lady standing watch at the door asked us the same question we heard at marco polo: "Do you have a reservation?" dan and i just looked at each and laughed, not believing that, for the 2nd time that night, we were being turned away...! the nice lady told us that they could accommodate us at 9pm...!! dan told me that, at the rate we were going, we would probably end up eating our valentine's dinner @ mcdonalds...! we thanked the nice lady and turned to look for a taxi.

we had just taken a few steps, when, surprise! surprise! she called us back!! apparently, someone had just called and cancelled their reservation, and did we want to come in?!! we hurriedly walked inside before they could change their minds... :-)

we had never eaten at PORT at night -- we've only gone for lunch. we've always enjoyed our meals there, even though the buffet line can get very crowded. but, we were too hungry to care about crowded lines... we were just happy to get seated and finally enjoy a nice Valentine's dinner together -- somewhere fairly decent!!

it was nice to be out on a saturday night with the rest of cebu...! our waiter kept bringing us dishes to try out -- grilled bangus, lechon, buko pandan dessert... of course, we gave him a really good tip...!

next year, if we decide to eat out again, we will definitely make reservations... maybe we'll even try cafe marco!! :-)

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question from "Reflections from a Mother's Heart:"

Describe a memorable Valentine you received

i was 17 and dan and i had just become "boyfriend/girlfriend." NAKS!! i really had NO idea if he would give me anything for valentine's day and wasn't expecting anything. i was outside at FEBC with the rest of our "gang," just hanging out like we usually did after dinner. dan still hadn't arrived from school and we were kinda waiting for him to join us. when he finally came, i was SO shocked when he gave me 3 long-stemmed red roses!! i knew that he really didn't have a lot of money to spend, but it was more the realization that HE REMEMBERED that tugged at my heart!! i dried those 3 roses and they are still in my scrapbook that i put together during my junior & senior years at Faith...!!

dan and i have had many Valentine's days together since i was 17, but i will always remember the thoughtfulness and, yes, the love that he expressed to me that one special night in february!!