Natalie Portman
Of course, it is none other than my favorite Hollywood actress – the very beautiful, glamorous, intelligent and talented Natalie Portman. I can’t help but show my love for her by doing a portrait sketch using pencil and charcoal. 🙂
Couple Butterflies
I am always a big fan of anything extraordinaire. Though a male and female pair in the Kingdom Animalia is far too common, I find it extraordinary to see butterflies that are a “couple.”
Yes, I found this pair of butterflies wandering and roaming together all the time around our garden in Bicol. As it is difficult and challenging to capture them when they are in motion especially during daylight, I took advantage of the opportunity to “hunt” them down one night so I could capture a photo of them. Lucky me, I found them perched on this particular plant “side by side.”
Aren’t they the sweetest and prettiest pair? 😉
9″ x 12″ Pencil Sketch
Never let your skill get rusty. Stay creative by always practicing, as they say. This is another birthday gift to a friend. As usual, I am not that confident with all my art works.
But it is enough gratification to hear him comment about it: “Sobresaliente!” 😉
“Bible Heart”
And I said:
“So he is a flirt. And you fell for his charms. Are you willing to sacrifice your happiness when he flirts with other girls even when you are already a couple? How long are you willing to take it further when you two got married and you found out his mistress is having his baby – and she is not the only one?
Complicated, it is. Is this the kind of life you wanted for yourself and your future children?”
SILENCE.
So I continued:
“When an inner voice tells you that something is not quite right and when you ask yourself where did you go wrong, that inner voice is the Holy Spirit telling you to REPENT for your sins.
You just cannot go on sinning and then keep on asking God to forgive you. That is not the way things go. That is not what the CROSS meant and why Jesus died for us.
Believe me. I went through the same thing.”
So what now?
“SURRENDER it all to God. Cut him loose. Pray for him. Pray for yourself. Talk to God.”
What if he asks for another chance? Should I give in?
“NO. It is not your battle anymore but God’s. His chances are with God and not with you. You cannot change him. Let God change him for who and how He wants him to be.”
I don’t think I can let him go just like that. I love him.
“Ask God if that is the kind of love that He wants you to have. If you don’t feel right about it, when you are constantly hurt, then ask God to lead you. God would never want to see us crying, to see us broken. He would not send His son, Jesus Christ, to this world and let Him die on the cross if He doesn’t love us.
On the other hand, God wants to protect us from anything evil, from anything that would break us apart, from anything that is unholy. He knows you can get out of that situation. He gave us CHOICES. And as cliché as this may sound, our choices define our destiny in life.
You need not ask yourself if you are going to choose him or Him. It should ALWAYS be Him. Above everything else.”
What are the promises I will feel better afterwards, that I can move on from this and that my life will change for good?
“That is why God taught us things such as FAITH and TRUST. They are the only two things that we can offer to Him in return. Seek Him more.
Life as a Christian, no matter how devoted you are, will never be that smooth sailing. Never forget that there is that other side of the coin, always – the good, the evil; the strong, the weak; etc.
But then again, you have your CHOICES, your FAITH and your TRUST in Him. You should never worry.”
So I thought to myself:
“We may have our battered hearts but never should our souls be tormented. They were meant to be pure, to be holy – untainted.”
So the reader said:
“But we are never perfect. Even the Christians.”
Then I guess you need to read the article again. 😉
Red-Orange Kusudama Origami
This is the tiniest origami flower I have made so far. Folding it has been the greatest challenge as it is difficult to fold an inch-big paper and make it relatively smaller. I colored this one with red and orange poster color to give it that more natural look. I created quite a number of this to decorate the flower box origami I made as a birthday gift to a friend.
If time would permit, I hope and pray I can do more of them, origami. 🙂
Broken Nigel
It happened a few hours before New Year. New Year’s Eve it is, a few hours before the clock struck 12 signifying the start of a new year – 2013. I never thought that it would happen. The camera has been with me for two years.
Yes, Nigel is my dslr camera. I have always loved photography and it was only recently that I have decided to start taking photos and make it as a full time hobby. Full time hobby would mean using the camera as often as I could at any given time. It served as an avenue for me to recover from a painful past.
Came our family outing wherein I was excited enough to capture the moments. It was a swimming event and everybody was busy carrying a lot of picnic stuff.
Then the unexpected happened.
We were on our way home, I was seated at the back beside my niece and I unintentionally placed the camera on top of the bags without tying the sling to the head rest of the back seat.
I didn’t hear nor feel “danger signals” at that moment and it was already too late to realize it when before I could go out of the car, “blag!” There goes my camera falling and rolling onto the pavement. My brother and Dad were both aghast when they picked up the camera. And yes, I am to blame. I was too confident that nothing will happen to my camera as I was always too cautious making sure that it is on the safe spot where it won’t get wet, where it won’t fall, etc. But you can never let your guard down, as they say.
So yes, that was the first “strike” on my camera. The LCD was broken. And I feared the worst – the camera will not be able to withstand the fall it won’t turn on anymore. But I was thankful though because the camera is inside the case and it cushioned the fall. It was the corner of the guard for the camera strap placed on top of the LCD that caused it to crack. It did turn on. And that was something I am so grateful for.
A week before I went home to Bicol, I bought an LCD cover for the camera. For almost 2 years I haven’t thought about purchasing one just until last year. Little did I know that this gut feeling/inner voice that urged me to do so is actually God trying to tell me in preparation for something big that’s going to happen.
Then a week after that, a relationship with someone very dear to me was severed. Emotional ties were tested up to the limit. It got broken too. That was a week after the incident with my camera happened. So now I was dealing with two things: an intangible and tangible one. And there’s one thing that they both have in common – both are broken. My next question then was, “why?” What is the significance of the two events? Most especially, what was God’s purpose why He made them happen?
Then it came to me that yes, both were meant to be broken. Why? I grew up to be complacent, taking things as they are, letting things stay as they are, unaware and unsuspecting of any danger. I was taken off guard, so to speak. I wasn’t able to fix both before leaving Bicol. Then there came the annual Prayer Fasting in our church. It started exactly the day when I arrived from Bicol carrying with me the “broken” stuff. The Prayer and Fasting placed me in that moment of thinking things through, asking for forgiveness, and talking to God regarding these matters.
Yes, both incidents were meant to happen upon my leaving Bicol. God reminded me what are the things needed to be “fixed” which I have started to be complacent about and start praying for it during the Prayer and Fasting. Yes, that is how amazing our God is. He leads us to the path where we should rightfully head. He sees the “strains” and the “burden” that we will carry if we do not take action and just let things dwindle along.
I went through all the hassle of having my camera checked up and was thankful when I found out that I don’t have to pay thousands and thousands of pesos to have it fixed. It was only the external LCD that was broken. Whew! Thanks to the LCD protector that I bought a week before my camera fell. It was the one thing that prevented the shock from penetrating to the interiors of the camera. It also prevented the LCD glass from shattering and falling into pieces. It was the one thing that basically held everything together.
The same thing happened to the relationship. I prayed for healing during the Prayer and Fasting. I asked for forgiveness and have sworn to let go of my pride, accept my mistakes and apologize. Yes, I may not be able to fix the relationship totally but because of God, He prevented the relationship from shattering completely into pieces. Because when that happens, it would be beyond repair.
The camera was fixed; the relationship was also fixed.
I am more than grateful to God for giving me the guidance and the discernment to follow what He wants me to do. Moreover, I am more than glad I have made the move to obey and trust Him. God is the one thing that held everything together even until now. He made it all possible so that things would be at the right track, almost perfect, and I may be at peace. More or less. 🙂
Maybe, I thought. Possible, perhaps. But YES, after they did serve my meal in a pan. 😉
Lo and behold!
Seafood Curry
Stainless pans for their seafood meals. I ordered Seafood Curry, Baked Alaskan Pollock for Dad, and since Mom and bro are not seafood lovers, they tried Grilled Chicken Peri-Peri and Barbecue Pork Ribs.
Grilled Chicken Peri-peri
Baked Alaskan Pollock
Barbecue Pork Ribs
Dressing
Iced Tea
And yes, two scoops of vanilla ice cream for dessert. *burp*
Vanilla Ice Cream
I must say that the pans added that extra “spice” to the entire dining experience. So, the next time you would want to try eating in a pan (not sure though if it’s fresh from the stove. *wink*), Fish & Co. is definitely the place to eat “seafood in a pan.”
Fork on a Table
Fish & Co.
Oh and wait, they have a giveaway too – mint-flavored candies.
Sweet, isn’t it? 😉
Candy Mint
When things get really serious and heavy to carry, this is how I digress – either I write, do arts, or play music and just recently, make crafts.
It became a newest past time for me and my sister. She made the really difficult butterfly origami (see photo below). Very pretty they are, aren’t they? I believe I’ll learn this another time as it is far too intricate for me. 😀
Swallowtail Butterfly Origami by my sister Ate Abeden
Before starting, I first practiced making a lily origami using a colored art paper through a Youtube tutorial – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWylGb8EyQw.
There are thousands of tutorials to choose from on origami-making uploaded in Youtube and I must admit I really had a hard time choosing which one should I do first as I wanted to learn all of them. I first made the single petal lily and the multiple petal next. It took me a whole lot dozen of them before I finally memorized the procedure without referring to the video.
Patience is a virtue, indeed. 😉
Lily Origami in Art Paper
After making them, my sister and I thought we wanted to make our origami crafts more “personalized” so we have decided to use a white paper instead of the regular colored art paper and painted them using poster color.
White paper and Poster Color
We allowed it to dry for a couple of minutes before starting to fold.
Two-tone
I used pink for the primary color of my lily and lavender as an undertone brushing with left to right strokes. Of course, a flower cannot stand alone so I made the stem origami using a color green art paper and a flower box origami using a black special paper.
This is the final result. Do make your own personalized origami as well. I assure you, it is so much fun. Enjoy! 🙂
Multi Petal Lily Origami and Flower Box Origami
Pink Rose
I would like to start this post with my warmest congratulations and a note of gratitude to my friend and fellow blogger miles and miles away across where I am now – ajaytao. 🙂
Ajay, I have been one of your constant followers and I must say that in as many ways as you can, you have definitely touched a lot of lives, inspired a lot of people and brought joy to many all around the world through your posts.
I know this will never be enough to thank you for all that you have done but please bear in mind that we, your followers, can attest to how much have you contributed in making everyone see the world in a whole lot of different perspectives.
Our prayers are with you always, Ajay. Be happy always. 🙂
I would like to acknowledge the privilege that you have given for nominating me for 3 awards as well. I am truly honored to be chosen by one of the best bloggers here in WordPress. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I definitely will pay it forward. 🙂
The Versatile Blogger Award
Inner Peace Award
Most Influential Blogger Award
“Moonlight By The River” 2013
Finally had the time to finish another art work. Thanks to Scott’s post for giving me the ‘nudge’ to start working with my colored pencils. 😉
I used colored pencils and black paper with silver speckles that now looked like gleaming stars. Ahhh yes, more to learn, more to improve. 🙂
The Journeyman's Moments 