Photos and more photos!

I know I've been so behind with my blog postings and all, but I still wanted to share some pictures that I took during our family's Thanksgiving dinner.

We had fried turkey this year!

Francis, DJ & Devin

My girl, Mya...isn't she cute???

The kiddos: Ross, Jaden & Jakey.

Jakey was pointing at Mya because she ran away

just when I was about to take a shot of them.

The Villamor family: Jerson, Lonessa & Bon

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Last week, PIC had their annual Employee Party. Our theme was "Festival of Cultures" and everyone had an awesome time, including myself. It was my first party with all the staff and everyone enjoyed themselves. Pictured below is a group shot of the HR crew that pulled this whole party together. It was all a lot of work, but it was all worth it in the end!

L-R: Evan, ME, Kamee & Angela

Christmas music

I was driving to work this morning and the song, Oh Holy Night came on the radio. I couldn't help but turn up the volume and sang along. I don't know what it is about the slow Christmas songs, but every time I sing them, it brings tears to my eyes. Maybe it's the tempo of the song, but it somehow brings me to my sad emotion. Of course the fun songs are like Jingle Bells or Rocking Around the Christmas Tree. Now those are the songs I'll dance to without an ounce of blues in my heart.


What's your favorite Christmas song and why? I would love to hear your memories.

Wow, it's been a while!

So much has happened in my life in the past couple of months. But I'll spare the details and do it in bullet point:

• I landed an awesome job at the Pacific Islands Club in September.
• My brother DJ turned 14 on October 17th. My baby brother, Devin turned 12 on October 28th.
• I watched my first Dodge ball game at PIC. It rocked!!! I think I'll actually play on a team next year.
  
• Thanksgiving was definitely sad without my dad and Uncle Lo at Thanksgiving dinner this year. Our Thanksgiving started out emotional and sad, but ended happy and filling (literally!).
• Floyd & I watched New Moon together...it was alright. The crowd in the theater made the movie more entertaining! LOL!
  
• My brother Ton turned 28 on November 28th

I promise to be more on top of my game with my blog! I can't believe how badly I've ignored my blog.

What's going on?

Today there was a Tsunami Watch going on. One of my friends was actually so worried, he picked up all his kids from school to bring them to higher ground. I, for one, was actually quite worried because although I enjoy an ocean view in my office, after hearing that the island was on a Tsunami Watch, I didn't care for that ocean view any longer! Luckily, the tsunami watch was called off. Whrew!!!

So what's going on with the weather? I know it's typhoon season here, but after all the recent tsunami's in America Samoa, earthquakes in the Solomon Islands, wow -- what's going on in the Pacific?

Have the people in the pacific been bad? Is God punishing us?

Ty what? Typhoon!!!

Typhoon Melor is slowly approaching our island. Yesterday looked like the perfect Friday EVER! But that's what was scary about it. It was like "the calm before the storm" and the people who have never been through typhoons couldn't understand why this typhoon was going to be a super typhoon in a matter of hours when we even had a gorgeous sunset yesterday.

I spoke to people and asked how they prepared themselves and everyone had a different reaction.

"I boarded up our place..."

"I bought snacks to last through the typhoon..."

"I bought a weeks-worth of food..."

"I got my beer and charged up my iPod..."

"All I need is my bottle of wine!"

Honestly, I didn't do much to prepare for this typhoon since the last typhoon I stocked up on batteries, food, etc. Floyd & my brothers are the ones who really secured the houses, etc. I live in a semi-concrete house so if this typhoon blows my roof off my house, that's it for me. So I just packed up most of my clothes and secured the other stuff. Funny thing was I was put in a dilemma where I had to figure out what was valuable and what I could live without.

The winds are just starting to pick up and I'm thankful I had a good night's sleep with air conditioning!!! I also have my battery-operated fan ready for back up....just in case I melt. Hahaha!!!

Prayers are scheduled every Sunday at 9am

Okay, so here's another post I have about religion.

I've been going to mass for my dad practically on a daily basis at 6am at the Mount Carmel Cathedral. I enjoy the early morning masses because it gets my day going. One day I asked my mom if we could attend Sunday mass at 6am instead of 9am and she said we couldn't. Besides the fact that I didn't want to argue with my mom, I just bit my tongue and figured I had to deal with it. Amazingly, she explained why. In Chamorro, she told me that the mass for all the souls who have died is only scheduled for only for the 9am mass on Sunday at the Cathedral.

ME: "But why is it only designated for 9am mass?"

MOM: "Because 9am mass is the misan animas (mass for the spirit of the dead)."

ME: "So you mean to tell me, I can't pray for my dad at 6am mass and only at 9am mass?"

MOM: "No. Ai adai, I don't know why it's like that."

ME: "That's so dumb!"

So apparently, if you didn't get the memo, please note that if you have a family member that recently passed away, you cannot pray for their soul(s) unless you're at the 9am mass at Cathedral. Your immediate cooperation and attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

GOOD LORD!

I LOVE MY JOB!

I recently got a new job. I'm so super thrilled because the together with the fact that it's the work I love to do, I also work in an awesome work environment with super fun, energetic and nice people! This is the beginning of a whole different career...and within the private sector, too!