Here are a few sites that will help out around the house and aid in healthy living.
The first is, www.northeasthomesteading.com
and
http://vegetarianmealsfortwo.weebly.com/
I hope everyone checks these two sites out. They are pretty awesome sites.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Arrival to the Philippines
After a long day of traveling yesterday, we finally got to the Philippines. We were welcomed by a team of Rotarians, who were all too kind. A little jet lagged and not sure what to expect while going through customs, the Filipina Rotary met us and guided us through. It turned out that one of the Rotarians from is a retired pilot for the Filipina Air force and expedited us pass customs. It’s nice to feel important every once in awhile.
We stopped for a few pictures before heading off to our hostel for the night. The trip to our hostel took about 15-20 minutes through what seemed to be a poverty stricken portion of the Philippines. While looking out the window, I noticed that the streets were really crowded with a younger crowd. When I say young, I mean, pre-teen to people in there 30s. As we drove, I noticed a group of children sleeping on a street corner. I asked our escort why there were so many people hanging out at 1:30 in the morning on a Sunday. He just replied, this city never sleeps.
We got to our hostel, and again were welcomed with open arms. The hotel manager, Lorraine, gave us shell necklaces and showed us to a dinning room were there was pasta and meat sauce waiting for us. I wasn’t that hungry so I had a courtesy meal as we sat at had a brief chat before heading off to bed.
We stopped for a few pictures before heading off to our hostel for the night. The trip to our hostel took about 15-20 minutes through what seemed to be a poverty stricken portion of the Philippines. While looking out the window, I noticed that the streets were really crowded with a younger crowd. When I say young, I mean, pre-teen to people in there 30s. As we drove, I noticed a group of children sleeping on a street corner. I asked our escort why there were so many people hanging out at 1:30 in the morning on a Sunday. He just replied, this city never sleeps.
We got to our hostel, and again were welcomed with open arms. The hotel manager, Lorraine, gave us shell necklaces and showed us to a dinning room were there was pasta and meat sauce waiting for us. I wasn’t that hungry so I had a courtesy meal as we sat at had a brief chat before heading off to bed.
And We're Off!
Today is the day; the start of our journey is finally here. Buzz, buzz, buzz; my alarm goes off and I jump up in a panic. Like a child on Christmas morning, I’m filled with an overly exciting emotion accompanied by both anxiety of joy. I go through my checklist one last time before moving my luggage outside. Cliff and his wife show up a few minutes early but I’m already outside waiting.
We arrive at the airport early to check in, not realizing the 50-pound luggage rule; I’m hoping that my bag will check in without a hitch. Fingers crossed, and eyes closed, I put my bag on the scale and to my surprise, and it was under the allowed weight. With that out of the way, all we had to do was sit and wait for the other team members to arrive before we move to our private conference room in the united airline members only club.
Time passes, and it becomes time for us to board our first plane on this three-plane journey. Our first flight, to Detroit, went off without any problems. They boarded the plane and we all made our way to our assigned seats. While waiting in line to go to my seat (11E) I notice that I have a middle seat. I start to pray that I do not have to sit between two large people. What do you know; I had to sit between two large people. With no arm room on either side, I contemplated the new rules for larger people. At first, I did not mind giving up my two arms rests but as the flight continued I began to grow a little annoyed at the rudeness of row partners. Sitting there quietly reading “No Impact Man” I tried to ignore the inconvenience that was place onto me. I got to a part of the book where the author, Colin Beavan, speaks about how we are people of convince and to be happy we have to let go of that convience and live our own lives. I then, put my nose back into my book and continued reading until we landed in Detroit.
Once in Detroit, we had about 20 minutes until our connector flight took off. This flight would take us from Detroit to Japan. Before boarding the plane, Lew, Ben, and myself decided to get cheeseburgers and french fries as one last “American” meal. Who knows when we will see a cheeseburger again? Chowing down on our American diets, we board the plan and again find our seats. Due to some techniqual problems, our flight was delayed as we sat on the plane. I’m not exactly sure how long our delay was, I dozed off for the entirety of the delay, upon waking up, we were ready to take off. Second in line, the pilot announces as we start backing up. Lights flicker, video screens come on, and we are airborne once again. It has now been a few hours on this leg of the trip and we already had a good meal and a glass of wine.
At the present we are flying over Canada. The flight will fly us over Canada, over Alaska, to the east coast of Russia, then down to Japan. In all, this portion of the flight is a total of 12 hours. Looking at the information screen located at the front of the cabin, it is -54 degrees F. Once we land in Japan, we will be able to stretch our legs for a hot second before boarding one more time for our final destination.
There is now an in-flight movie playing, I’m going to check this out, it looks pretty awesome. It’s appears to be a clay-mation film staring two foxes who are up to no good. How can you trust a fox that dresses in a suit?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091124/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_hostages_killed
I will be heading here for the month of March for a Group Study Exchange. Should be interesting!
I will be heading here for the month of March for a Group Study Exchange. Should be interesting!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Eyes behind me
What a couple of months, so many feelings in such a short period of time. The funny thing is, in the grand scheme of life, 6 months is not even a spec on its timeline. Such an insignificant amount of time with so much meaning to one's heart. Even now, I sit and think, what once was and if I will ever capture that feeling in my life again. I met a person who seemed so lost in the universe, so alone in society, so bitter towards the lucky; that I fell in love with her almost instantly. What if...
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I gots me a wii
Remember back when you were a child and the biggest thing in your life was to finish the next level to the Super Mario Brother’s game. Nothing else in the world mattered more than jumping on that end flag and watching those brilliant fireworks go off. The joy of accomplishment and glory rained down on you like you had just won the Super Bowl and you were going to Disney World! Last night I regained that feeling.
Last night April and I went to GameStop in hopes of purchasing a Wii. I had looked at prices online the entire day and decided it would be just as cheap to go to GameStop rather than hoping to find a deal on Craigslist. It seems like everyone on Craigslist was out to make a profit on their used or “barely used” systems. GameStop offered a 30 day refund on their systems so I went with them.
After purchasing the system from GameStop we went to the blockbuster to rent a game to play that night. We rented a cheesy game and April set up the wii for me so that it is compatible to my wireless internet. After making our characters and exploring all that the wii has to offer we played the Mario Party 8 for about a half hour until we decided to buy a game online. It was a choice between Super Mario Brothers or Super Ninja Turtles, April suggested we go with Super Mario Brothers 2 (with lost levels). This game is more difficult than regular American version and was it ever.
Myself, not having played on a system in some years did horrible. Having trouble beating the first level, April, destroyed the first level and kept going. We played for some time until she had to go home. After dropping her off I came back and played for a couple more hours. I discovered some secrets and made it to 3-1, which isn’t that bad for having the hiatus that I have had.
Watching the fireworks boast and my arms raised in the air in victory I got a sudden feeling of accomplishment. I went to bed happy that night knowing that I had made a good purchase and that Super Mario Brothers 2 is going to be defeated in the next month. If playing video games and drinking soda until the wee hours of the night is wrong, then being right is not for me. Like I said before, I missed the boat a long time ago and I never caught up and I never will. It’s too much fun swimming around in my ocean.
Last night April and I went to GameStop in hopes of purchasing a Wii. I had looked at prices online the entire day and decided it would be just as cheap to go to GameStop rather than hoping to find a deal on Craigslist. It seems like everyone on Craigslist was out to make a profit on their used or “barely used” systems. GameStop offered a 30 day refund on their systems so I went with them.
After purchasing the system from GameStop we went to the blockbuster to rent a game to play that night. We rented a cheesy game and April set up the wii for me so that it is compatible to my wireless internet. After making our characters and exploring all that the wii has to offer we played the Mario Party 8 for about a half hour until we decided to buy a game online. It was a choice between Super Mario Brothers or Super Ninja Turtles, April suggested we go with Super Mario Brothers 2 (with lost levels). This game is more difficult than regular American version and was it ever.
Myself, not having played on a system in some years did horrible. Having trouble beating the first level, April, destroyed the first level and kept going. We played for some time until she had to go home. After dropping her off I came back and played for a couple more hours. I discovered some secrets and made it to 3-1, which isn’t that bad for having the hiatus that I have had.
Watching the fireworks boast and my arms raised in the air in victory I got a sudden feeling of accomplishment. I went to bed happy that night knowing that I had made a good purchase and that Super Mario Brothers 2 is going to be defeated in the next month. If playing video games and drinking soda until the wee hours of the night is wrong, then being right is not for me. Like I said before, I missed the boat a long time ago and I never caught up and I never will. It’s too much fun swimming around in my ocean.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Phillipians here I come?
It was a Saturday in October when I heard that I had been selected to go to the Philippians. It was a very strange day and a lot of emotions where felt this particular day. I woke up early this Saturday, for two reasons; April had to finish her laundry which she had started the previous night and I had to travel across state to meet some folks about a trip to work with another Conservation halfway around the world.
We woke up in a hurry; April turned to me and asked how long we had until we had to leave. Without taking thought into the question I replied 8 minutes, which sounded about right. April then rushed out of bed to finish her laundry so we could get into Philadelphia in time for me to be at the meeting on time. We successfully did just this.
On the way down to the meeting, I stopped for a Turbo at Dunkin Donuts (which is coffee with a shot of espresso); I added an extra shot of espresso for good measure. I was nervous and at times I can be rather shy when meeting new people. I got to the dinner about a half hour early so I decided to read some of the morning paper and have another cup of coffee. I saw the rotary folks come in one at a time while I waited for the meeting to start. About 10 minutes before the meeting started I snuck my way into where the rotary members where and I introduced myself to the panel of members.
Unaware of how the morning was to play out, I started rambling about something or the other until a gentleman told me to come out into the dining area and order some breakfast. I ordered the French toast but before the breakfast was in front of my face, the person whom I thought was leading the meeting told me to come with him. I followed him back into the room in which I had just left and was formally introduced. I had just been selected to go first in an interview situation.
Now, with my heart racing and my palms sweaty I reluctantly told the panel of what were now the interviewers that I was pretty nervous and to take it easy on me. Taking several deep breaths, I started to answer their questions and I tried to be as charming as possible. While this process was underway, I started thinking to myself how uncomfortable I was sitting there being drilled about my personal life and also my knowledge about the Philippians. It even dawned on me during the interview that I had no idea what the rotary club was and what it stood for. I knew we were going to partner with the rotary club located in the Philippians but I did not know what for. I had to stop the interview and ask several questions of my own. After I thought I bombed the interview, this older gentleman asked me a question about conflict and how I would handle myself in such a situation. This really threw me through a loop. I answered the soft spoken man, I never go through my day worry about what conflicts may arise. Conflicts take two willing people who dispute over a common purpose. If we know who we are and we know where we are going, a conflict should not arise. We can not let other people influence who we ultimately are. If a conflict does arise while living in close quarters we can defuse the conflict by take a minute to really think about what we are trying to accomplish, even if this means leaving the situation and thinking about the conflict. We then can re-evaluate the conflict and come back to the problem at hand and resolve like human-beings. I thought it was weird that they asked a question about conflicts within a group but I guess they don’t know who I am anymore than I know who they are.
After the interview I went back to the table where my breakfast was. Now cold, I ordered a coffee and sat with the other candidates trying to go on this trip. All nice, not all going, they went in one at a time. I stayed until the last candidate went in for his interview until I went home. On the drive home I felt violated and used, felt like a lonely dog trying to get a bone from a master who was never around. It was a long and silent ride back to my house as rain started falling.
Once I got back to my house, I went for a nice long walk with Utah and then met up with a group of people for a bachelor’s party. I couldn’t get the interview out of my head and it was making my stomach very upset. About an hour into the bachelor’s party, the rotary called, they had made up their minds. I was officially accepted to join their team in the efforts to work along with the Philippians’ Rotary in a human health community service.
I was totally blown away, still am, but I guess what was once a fantasy is now becoming a reality. Even though this is happening, I feel as there are better qualified people for this opportunity. April is an amazing person and she volunteers without ever asking for anything in return. My mom was always in an argument because she wanted to volunteer more. There are even people here at the Conservation who volunteers on a local level where as I sit and observe from the outside or I through in opinions but never really get involved. Others deserve this more than me but I am going to do my best to make this opportunity a starting block for volunteering.
We woke up in a hurry; April turned to me and asked how long we had until we had to leave. Without taking thought into the question I replied 8 minutes, which sounded about right. April then rushed out of bed to finish her laundry so we could get into Philadelphia in time for me to be at the meeting on time. We successfully did just this.
On the way down to the meeting, I stopped for a Turbo at Dunkin Donuts (which is coffee with a shot of espresso); I added an extra shot of espresso for good measure. I was nervous and at times I can be rather shy when meeting new people. I got to the dinner about a half hour early so I decided to read some of the morning paper and have another cup of coffee. I saw the rotary folks come in one at a time while I waited for the meeting to start. About 10 minutes before the meeting started I snuck my way into where the rotary members where and I introduced myself to the panel of members.
Unaware of how the morning was to play out, I started rambling about something or the other until a gentleman told me to come out into the dining area and order some breakfast. I ordered the French toast but before the breakfast was in front of my face, the person whom I thought was leading the meeting told me to come with him. I followed him back into the room in which I had just left and was formally introduced. I had just been selected to go first in an interview situation.
Now, with my heart racing and my palms sweaty I reluctantly told the panel of what were now the interviewers that I was pretty nervous and to take it easy on me. Taking several deep breaths, I started to answer their questions and I tried to be as charming as possible. While this process was underway, I started thinking to myself how uncomfortable I was sitting there being drilled about my personal life and also my knowledge about the Philippians. It even dawned on me during the interview that I had no idea what the rotary club was and what it stood for. I knew we were going to partner with the rotary club located in the Philippians but I did not know what for. I had to stop the interview and ask several questions of my own. After I thought I bombed the interview, this older gentleman asked me a question about conflict and how I would handle myself in such a situation. This really threw me through a loop. I answered the soft spoken man, I never go through my day worry about what conflicts may arise. Conflicts take two willing people who dispute over a common purpose. If we know who we are and we know where we are going, a conflict should not arise. We can not let other people influence who we ultimately are. If a conflict does arise while living in close quarters we can defuse the conflict by take a minute to really think about what we are trying to accomplish, even if this means leaving the situation and thinking about the conflict. We then can re-evaluate the conflict and come back to the problem at hand and resolve like human-beings. I thought it was weird that they asked a question about conflicts within a group but I guess they don’t know who I am anymore than I know who they are.
After the interview I went back to the table where my breakfast was. Now cold, I ordered a coffee and sat with the other candidates trying to go on this trip. All nice, not all going, they went in one at a time. I stayed until the last candidate went in for his interview until I went home. On the drive home I felt violated and used, felt like a lonely dog trying to get a bone from a master who was never around. It was a long and silent ride back to my house as rain started falling.
Once I got back to my house, I went for a nice long walk with Utah and then met up with a group of people for a bachelor’s party. I couldn’t get the interview out of my head and it was making my stomach very upset. About an hour into the bachelor’s party, the rotary called, they had made up their minds. I was officially accepted to join their team in the efforts to work along with the Philippians’ Rotary in a human health community service.
I was totally blown away, still am, but I guess what was once a fantasy is now becoming a reality. Even though this is happening, I feel as there are better qualified people for this opportunity. April is an amazing person and she volunteers without ever asking for anything in return. My mom was always in an argument because she wanted to volunteer more. There are even people here at the Conservation who volunteers on a local level where as I sit and observe from the outside or I through in opinions but never really get involved. Others deserve this more than me but I am going to do my best to make this opportunity a starting block for volunteering.
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