Life is Funny Sometimes

Do you find yourself in an awkward situation? Well, truth be told, I am always in one. And luck would always find it's way to bring me into those "highly anticipated" moments in life. And by highly anticipated, I mean the most awkward situation you have never expected to be in. Just right after those moments happen, I have nothing else to do about it, but to just laugh, shake my head, and probably do a quick face palm and ask: "Did that just happen?!"

Let me tell some of my most memorable events that happened in my life since childhood.

The Boy who Cried... He just did

If I am not mistaken, it was my 1st year in grade school. Most probably, 1st grade. We just finished our primary class (This happened in church). And all the primary kids started running out to the halls and to the rooms where adults would have their 3rd hour block classes. (Most likely Relief Society and Melchizedek Priesthood classes)

And right after arriving outside, there were no people outside. Thinking that everyone left, including my parents, I started crying. Other kids just stared at me with confusion on why the heck was I crying.

Then the most embarrassing thing came, my mom showed up, and followed by the rest of the adults and the teenagers went out to the common area, the foyer and hallway. Then after, my mom looked at me with confusion then giggled because she found out I was crying because I thought everyone left without me.

Oh how that memory is just too hard to forget.... because that may be the very first most embarrassing thing I have ever done in my life. (Don't worry, there is more to follow)

AH! The Freshman Year

My high school classmates and friends will totally agree on this. I mean,  the whole school year was just a series of comical events. And I was like, 13 years of age. I was at the pinnacle of stupid and foolishness. And let me tell you, I have done things that are far from normal.

One of which is the time when it was wash day. (We had to wear uniforms, which is nice sometimes) I was just wearing my pair of jersey shorts because it was the heat of summer, and my body cools down too slow.

It was one of those chill days when we have no classes but we were required to go to school because we are preparing for some incoming school event. And all high school students were staying in one room to make stuff of which don't remember what we were making. I had a classmate (who is a chick) kept teasingly pulling my shorts to see my underwear. Out of annoyance, I shouted: "You know, you can always ask me to pull down my shorts to see my underwear!" And I pulled it down...... It was one of those times where I asked myself "Why the heck did you do that, you moron?!" 

I must say, chicks knew then that I have quite the "self-confidence" to be proud of my body. 

Disclaimer: I regretted every crap I did in the freshman year.

"Oh, Is He Your Grandson? No, He's My Son."

I served briefly in the Philippines Quezon City North Mission while waiting for my visa to come. Four months, to be exact. And within those period, I had 3 areas (ward boundaries) that I got assigned in. And the last area before I flew to Salt Lake City was called Lagro, somewhere in Fairview, Quezon City.

I was with Elder Hansen and Elder Ramos, who thankfully endured my zany personality. We were in one of our areas where we were about to get introduced to some people that were being taught by Elder Hansen and his previous companion. So it was me and Elder Ramos who were new to the ward.

We got to one of the houses that we planned to visit, and it was an older couple who were less-active member. And we went there and got to their place. The sister was carrying a baby that time when we visited over.

Of course, me trying to strike a conversation, I basically asked something about the baby she was holding. So this is how the conversation went:

Me: What a cute little baby! What's his name?
Sister: His name is ____ (I can't remember the cute baby's name)
Me: How nice! How old is he?
Sister: He is 4 months old. (This is a guess since it's been more than 2 years now)
Me: Aaawww. Oh, is he your grandson? (With innocence)
Sister: (Stared at me and glanced to her husband) No, he's our son.
Me and my companions: (Awkward silence)
Me: I am so sorry! I didn't mean to say that in a wrong way.
Sister and Brother: It's ok.

I face palmed myself right after we went out of their house and dragged my feet with regret that those words came out of my mouth. But of course, it was one of those things I had to pray for and repent about it..... I hope that couple will someday forgive me for my stupidity and ignorance.


There are more things that I have done that I would like to say but I am not sure to the fact that I might bore you guys in reading. But I may share more sometime soon. We'll never know.

Bottom line, we all make mistakes. And many of those mistakes will just make you giggle about it in a month or so. It's just too inevitable , and we make good memories on it. (Except for pulling down my pants)

And at the end of the day, we all will get a good laugh out of it.

Photos (Memes) courtesy of Jypsy Casia

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

There has been so much time that I have not put into (this) my blog. There has been just so many things that happened lately. And of course, I should not put it into any excuse about how things have gone in my life.

And it's been like a little or more than  year since the last time I made a post, of which I am truly sorry to say that I have been very slothful and mindless towards  my passion... to write what I feel. But you know what they say, we all have weaknesses, and strengths. And the only thing we can do about it is to become better people.

For the betterment of the people to feel better about my blog, here's a picture of me trying to look like a person from the past... say about around 1800's

Last transfer (or cycle) in my last area, Kodiak Island, 2015 around January or February

Feel better yet? No? Well, it was a good try ahahhahahah!

A Life in a Box

Considering the fact that I haven't been too active in blogging, I still think of it quite often. The only problem that I currently have in regards on updating my blog, I have no idea what to write on. Not to mention, it's like my journal already.... but I still keep a real paper journal just in case that when I get old, I have something to pull out to my grandchildren, and read some of the weird things that I have done in my youth..... I am not sure if it's supposed to be that way when you hang out with your grandchildren though. Oh well, I will just have to summarized the series of events that happened to me last few weeks.


Unemployed

As fate would have it, things are not getting well with what has been happening. I had to settle things out. Since I was working as a customer service agent, I made a decision to resign out of my job. It took me a lot of prayer, pondering, and consultation in order for me to get to that conclusion.

A lot of people thought I left the company due to the amount of compensation I got, but I basically applied for the job to gain some work experience. There is only one thing I can say regarding of such event, I have grown more mature than I was expecting. And for that, I am thankful for that experience.


Weight loss

Yes, I lost weight. How, you asked? Basically, it's easy! Get sick consecutively. If there is anything that I am very good at, it's at getting sick, and catching something that would cause me to become really ill. But hey, it gave me a leeway to shed some weight, and actually try to look fit (for some parts) with regaining my old beautiful physique. After losing some, I brought back some minimal amount of pounds so that I won't look sickly, as I looked like after recovering from sickness.


Reunion

If there is any description for my family, it would be that we are transient. We get out of the country (Philippines) a lot to work. First part was that my dad left to head to Saudi Arabia, then we headed there right after a few years of tenure-ship in his work, he was able to bring us with him in the Middle East. Not to mention, we go around places a lot too. But since, we moved back here in the Philippines, a lot of plans were made. To say the least was that my dad decided to go back to the Middle East to work, but not in Saudi Arabia anymore. He moved to Kuwait. There, just a few months after, my sister (oldest in the siblings) decided to move there as well. I, on the other hand, was my way to the mission field, though I had to stay for awhile due to some visa reasons And after 2 years and 4 months, I got to get reunited with my younger siblings. But of course, our reunions aren't really complete. Right after my brother stayed with us for awhile, he left immediately to work in United Arab Emirates, in the city of Dubai, where my dad was at.

And to cut the story short, my sister flew all the way from Kuwait, and my dad came back here in Manila to work some stuff here for awhile. It's great to have both of them here back for a little while. And I miss both of them, since it's been like 3 years from the last time I saw them.


So, I guess that is the gist of the events from the last 3 months that just came by. And now, off to veg out!

A Working Title

After a long time of not being active on updating my blog, I felt like part of me died.... just kidding!!! Ahahhahahaaah caught your attention, didn't I? Well, I have been thinking a lot of things lately. And I have come to realize how busy of a man I am. But hey! We find ways, right?

So anyway, me and my cousin have been talking about this idea of making a blog consisted of his artwork, and my literary skills (Yeah right?!). We are talking about making a Tagalog blog. But my brain is totally out for a vacation right now, so I would need some help from you guys.



Calling all Tagalog speakers (or wanted to learn Tagalog at least), I need some help on what should I title the new blog we are going to make.

Comments would be really appreciated. :)

"Welcome to the Reality of Life, Dear Jypsy!"

So lately, I have been in the process of getting employed. Since, I haven't worked things for my school, I finally decided to find myself a job. I have tried applying in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) under the employment of the Church. Thus far, I have no reply from them. It's all good though. So it seems that the job is not meant for me yet.

While browsing through the world of Facebook, I have come across some job advertisements, but it seems that a lot of them will either require me to have at least 2 years of college, or an experience in those certain fields of job. But lo and behold, I found a job that doesn't require me of both credentials. Without any idea of being hired, I gave it a try.

And with a very minimal confidence on myself, I still proceeded on doing the application. As I had submitted my name, I got a call from the company a day after. They asked me about my working experiences, and educational backgrounds. It seems that they were somehow accepting about my situation. And then, they scheduled me for an assessment test and initial interviews that would test my proficiency in the English language, and also asked about how loyal can I get when I actually start working. And so, I made it to the final interview. Somehow, when being interviewed for the account that I was going to be in, the operations manager was a little bit apprehensive due to the fact that I just woke up from a nap, and I was acting somehow a little bit weak in talking, and I was not energetic when I was answering his questions. But after doing a lot of prayers, the assessing manager informed me that I was hired, together with the other guy who I went to apply a job with.

After a couple weeks of waiting, I had the chance to have a job orientation and job offer, and the finale, the contract signing. Now, I am officially an employee to a company. And my job position is a customer service representative for a credit card company.

Well, many people have welcomed me into the demanding, and awfully stressful world of being an employee in the country. I should welcome myself then into it.

Welcome to the world of employment, Jypsy!!

I am in Love

Don't you just have that feeling when you think of that person who you really like and you think of being with them for eternity? And then suddenly, you just feel that that person is the right one for you? I always get it when I think of that lady who has been a best friend to me for years. Over time, I have come to ponder about it, and I sure have developed that love for that person.

But let me tell you a story on how we met, and how I fell in love with her.

It started when I first moved back to my home city, Makati. A wise bishop advised me to move to a different ward, since I live in Makati again. I moved into my home ward. And this soon-to-be-friend moved into the ward at the same time I did. We didn't really start getting to know each other until we attended Young Single Adult activities. The first one that we went to was a Valentine's activity. I was referred to her sister, and she was my Valentine's date. I had the chance to do a musical number, and I sang a Paramore song, and playing a guitar. I passed by their table, and she said that we should have a collaboration sometime. And so we did. Another YSA activity came, and we had something what we call a "Family Home Evening", since a lot of single adults have no family close by (parents and siblings). Afterwards, a sister who initiated another hang out time after the previous activity. We had a dinner in a restaurant with a karaoke bar. We stayed there until at least 3 o'clock in the morning. We laughed, we sang, and we had so much fun. Of course, with me loving music, I never back out on a karaoke. And for a lot of times, we sang a lot of duets together. And we sure blended like heck! It was lovely to the ears. We continued to attend activities until such time that we started hanging out just the two of us. We would go out to some plaza's, eat out, do a lot of random stuffs, and most especially- go to the temple. There came a time when we are both serving in the Youth organization for the church. We would go with the 12 year old's to 18 year old's men and women to find what they want to do in life. It was a fun experience, and definitely a learning experience for both us. There was more to handling youth people than actually caring for them and learning to love them as if they are your little brothers and sisters. We had so much fun for that.

As you all know, I served a Mormon mission. We both made a goal to go on a mission. We promised that we will do our best to return with honor, and become better people. And so we did prepare on doing so. I prepared myself, and so did she. I got called to Alaska, and a month after I got my assignment, she got her's as well. She got called to one of the provinces in the Philippines. It was truly a relationship that strengthened us each other without making any unnecessary commitments. And so, we had somehow an informal relationship. I actually didn't realize that I have feelings for her until such time that I actually left to serve for awhile in a nearby mission around Manila. I think the saying "You will never know that you love until you lose it beside you" is true. I was hurt for a moment because I can't see her for a span of 2 years. Apparently, it went longer than expected. The first 4 months were really hard for me. Knowing that I am only a bus ride away from both home and her, it was clearly a test of faith for me. But of course, I made a promise, first to the Lord, and to her that I will be ever faithful in and on my mission. And thus far, I did pretty good.

Afterwards, the Provo MTC made a big turnaround for me. Knowing that my mission didn't start until such time that I have entered the MTC, it felt long somehow that I still have 2 years left until I can get to see her again. But I still have the promise in my heart and mind that I will do all that I can to finish my mission with honor. There was no time for homesickness, no time to be idle, and most definitely no time to become disobedient. And so, I did all that I can to become that missionary I needed to become. We still kept in contact through email and letters. But on the last transfer that I had, I was impressed to ask in prayer on what I need to do when I get home, and if I needed to get married, who should it be. I focused mostly on the who part of my prayer. (Disclaimer: I was and still am focused on my mission when I was doing the prayer). And many times with those question, it would always come out as "Go ahead and she will be the one of which you need to be married with in the temple."

Well, if that is what I need to do, then like Nephi in the Book of Mormon, I shall say " I will go and the things which the Lord has commanded". Apparently, I just need to do something about it in order for me to really show my love for her, and most especially, to become more obedient.

Now, off to do some loving actions!

Now What??

Now that I am home from my mission, there is a multitude of things I really want to do. But first things first. And I have to be honest, I don't know which one I should do.

I am a huge goal maker. I love making goals and plans. But now that I just got home, it appears that I don't have any plans for next few months or so. So, I would like to ask some few suggestions on what should I do within this coming weeks and months that are ahead of me.