Blessed are you!

If you woke up this morning
with more health than illness,
you are more blessed than the
million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced
the danger of battle,
the loneliness of imprisonment,
the agony of torture or
the pangs of starvation,
you are ahead of 20 million people
around the world.

If you attend a church meeting
without fear of harassment,
arrest, torture, or death,
you are more blessed than almost
three billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator,
clothes on your back, a roof over
your head and a place to sleep,
you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank,
in your wallet, and spare change
in a dish someplace, you are among
the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive,
you are very rare,
especially in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile
on your face and are truly thankful,
you are blessed because the majority can,
but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them
or even touch them on the shoulder,
you are blessed because you can
offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message,
you are more blessed than over
two billion people in the world
that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways
you may never even know.

[thx emma!]

different ways to deal with your stress:

1. take it out on your siblings and friends. this course of action is quite commonly seen generally around assessment times and when emotions are running high. however, this action carries a level of high-risk to all persons involved and doesn't really help you deal with your stress at all.

2. sit down at the computer and do as much as work as you humanly can, omitting food, rest, and a life. though this may lessen your workload slightly, you end up at the end of day dissatisfied and really tired. you're more irritable and grumpy because of lack of food and energy and you drop exhausted into bed every night, wondering why you still bother to get up the next morning. stress levels gone down? nope.

3. forget about your work and have a jolly good time doing whatever you want. all this does is hide all your stress until the night before an assessment is due and you are almost on the brink of mental and emotional collapse, when all your stress is suddenly released and it's time to face reality. not to mention that sinking feeling you get everytime you get an assessment handed back because you know that you didn't do your best...

4. have a balanced life. do work regularly, and have fun as well. don't stay up late every night trying in vain to finish assignments- work done at 1:30am is generally not of very high quality. rather, go to bed early, and wake up the next day feeling refreshed and energetic, and get your work done twice as fast! makes sense, doesn't it?

seriously, yr11 and 12 may sound scary...but it's not. with a bit of time management and self-control, you can get your work done, and still manage to have a life! *gasp* whether you think it's far away, or it's too close, the reality is that yes, in less than 2 years, HSC will come around...and it's a good idea now to learn how to deal with stress. because if you can't manage your workload now...what is it going to be like when you are facing the HSC? and it's also a good idea to keep a little perspective. HSC isn't everything- it's not the end of the world if you don't get into your first uni choice.

and finally, remember that God is in control. He is always here if you need him, all you gotta do is pray. He is your Creator, and loves you beyond what you can imagine. Whenever you feel stressed out, try praying...

"Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 1 Pet 5:7

armed and fabulous-->

went to see Miss Congeniality 2 today, at the request of my sister...and i have to admit; it was actually really gd! funny and original, and not a bad way to spend an afternoon! wanna see the trailer?? click here

i've had such a busy and rewarding weekend- bbq on friday, lion king musical on saturday, baptism on sunday, and movie on monday- it's been so nice to forget abt schoolwork and assessments for a while...oh and guess what? my mum's coming back from HK this friday!

Baptism~*

Congratulations Emma, Kevin, Joanna, Jonathon and York!! it was a great privilege and pleasure to attend the baptismal service today at WR hall, 2:30pm....we had 14 people all together who were getting baptised, 5 of whom were from our english congregation...it was amazing to hear your testimonies and great to see you speaking out for Christ and witnessing for Him!

photos- click on thumbnail to enlarge:

for many more photos go to: http://flyingdreams.dotphoto.com

LION KING the Musical!!

today has been a perfect day. *big grin* me, shaz and kiki went to Capitol Theatre to see LION KING today...and it has definitely lived up to my expectations!! we arrived around 12-ish, and had lunch at the nice jap restaurant downstairs, then we took sticker photos, and finally- 2pm arrived and we were ushered in....i've never been inside Capitol Theatre before, but it's lovely- a little bit gothic even! the performance, the costumes, the lighting, the music, it was amazing, spectacular, magical, an unforgettable experience! this was also my first time to see a musical and now i can't to see another one! (hopefully les mis next time??) and afterwards we went to PassionFlower for afternoon tea...and when i arrived home, dinner was ready and waiting- and Star Wars starts very soon! could a day be more perfect? (well yes...but anyhow) OOH, i almost forgot- i bought the soundtrack...and i just know it's going to be one of my favourite CDs ever....i'm probably going to listen to it all night...

pics:

ever played taboo?

today was so much fun! went over to Ed's house around 11:30 for music practice + bbq. first thing, everyone else arrived half an hour late because of Frankie's COFFEE MACHINE (ahhem...) anyways, for the bbq we had tons and tons of meat- eg sausages, steak, chicken wings, as well as sushi (thx Emma!) plus dessert which we didn't actually end up eating, including Jeff and Ed's joint birthday cake...

music practice was really gd! i can't wait till SPARK, it's gonna be so incredibly awesome- our band is going to blow ur socks off! seriously, it's gonna be as gd as kyc! well, we think so anyway =)

afterwards we played this game with the others called Articulate. it's like a mix between Taboo and Pictionary- u have to get the others on ur team to guess the word but ur allowed to do actions, and how ever many cards u get, that's how many places u move on the gameboard, and every place has a different category; anyway, that was laughter to the max especially 'microscopic fries' which was actually 'microchip' and 'anchor-boo' which somehow was meant to be 'ankara'??

anyhow, it was a great way to spend Good Friday, being with church friends and having great fellowship; great memories including big Joey at the snooker table and Vicky stuck behind him, Ed's lovely clean pool, the dropped sausage, and of course- my wonderful comeback to one of Ernie's many sad jokes (hehe) "be careful Valerie, one of those chicken wings isn't cooked properly; it's diseased..." and i said, "oh really? which one's that? the one that u touched?"

Asians and Indians cannot do business together..

click here!!!!! turn up ur sound!!

Hilarious stand up comedy bit about how Chinese people cannot bargain.

it's a small world after all

u ever had one of those days, where u kept getting the feeling that any second u were going to bump into someone u knew? well, today i didn't have that feeling so what happened next was quite astonishing.

firstly tho, school was alright today, my SDD assessment went quite well i think (what with our teacher giving us big hints now and then with the traditional *wink wink* *nudge nudge*) i also got tests and assignments back for geography which i was pleased abt...we did another prac for chemistry, titration isn't really that bad actually...oh and i handed in my ext eng essay and did my presentation on frankenstein (phew, over and done with!)

anyhow, i raced or power-walked back home so that we could have enough time to go to koorong (Christian bookstore) as i needed to buy presents for a certain someone =) and so i was there, browsing books n such- last time i saw jeff there, and this time, i was looking at some bookmarks, when someone said "hey" and i turned around and there was Dan! (my sunday school teacher) i got quite a shock, well, pleasant surprise...and my Dad saw Uncle Freeman there, and also Uncle Wilson and Aunt Clara...now that was weird enough...then we went to carlingford village for dinner...while i was on my way to the azn supermarket i saw kelvin! and then, when we were actually eating dinner, Ambrose and his family walked in....it was really peculiar....after that i kept expecting someone else i knew to jump out from behind a bush and surprise me again...

just goes to show...the world's not as big as u probably think....i mean, for a lot of new people i meet, they know a friend of a friend of a friend whom i know from ages ago... everyone's so...connected... a question that popped into my mind as i was writing this is, people have a lot of friends nowadays, aquaintances and colleagues, and people they keep in touch with. but if u died tomorrow, how many of those people would turn up at your funeral? i believe greatly in having a few close friends, over a hundred aquaintances....quality over quantity is my thinking when it comes to friendship.

what's with umbrellas?

alright, here's the thing. 7:00 am walking to school this morning, and the weather was just, horrific...rain, wind, (i half-expected cucumber-sized hail to suddenly drop from the sky) the sun wasn't even up and here i was in my SUMMER uniform attempting to walk to school for an early extension maths class. sounds fun eh? and, my mini-umbrella wasn't really living up to its name....at all....

seriously, one day someone should come up with an umbrella that not only opens when u press a button, but closes when u press another button thereby avoiding that situation when you're trying to get into a car but then have to fiddle with the umbrella to get it to close and then when you finally get into car you're dripping wet and so is your half of the car. great!

u know what else we need? an umbrella that covers your whole bdy...because right now, my bottom half is literally drenched...because umbrella makers have to realise; that rain doesn't fall vertically from the sky...now and then, it comes at angles just to annoy us....so i reckon, we need an umbrella that extends down like a giant bubble...of course, there is the slight problem of not being able to walk....but that's a minor detail really, we can fix that later...

other uses for your humble toilet

winter weather

it's always around this time of year that the weather is like this: the mornings crisp and cold, and the afternoons sunny and clear....it's lovely autumn weather, but a bit too cold for me...i'd much rather have summer again with the long hot days and the crickets chirping in the distance....*sigh* i dread winter....i hate the dreary clothes, the flu, the ever-present rain and mist, the icy sheets, the biting wind....in fact, i wish i had a cup of hot chocolate with me right now...instead of my maths books piled up all around me and a soft comfy armchair with a pillow and a blazing fire burning brightly...but no, i'm stuck here in the library with the horrible fluorescent lights and grey skies, grey carpet, grey walls....and the yr10's over there just won't shut up even tho the teacher's asked them to be quiet abt 5 times in the last few minutes...is this my world?

no. my world does not consist of what is around me, but rather, what God has given me....strong Christian family, supportive friends...He's given me salvation, and an intimate relationship with Him, He's given me purpose and meaning in my life, He's given everything I need to live a life worthy of Him...

"Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

Praise be to the Lord my God, how awesome is the Lord Most High!

CAMP~*

got back from camp...really really tired, but it was really gd fun! yeah, we went clubbing =P nah, what i mean is, we went to golf camp...the accommodation was so much better than last year, and the food was quite edible (surprisingly) and altogether a lovely chance to get away from school and work and just spend some time relaxing...

best thing: watching The Notebook!!! i cried soo much...it's one of the best romantic movies i've ever seen...*sigh* i really wanna watch it again, or get the soundtrack or smthing...soo good!! and on the bus back, we watched The Italian Job, which i wanted to see since ages ago, and i liked that as well!

worst thing: there were two cockroaches we found on the first night...and i was the one with the insect spray, and i seriously sprayed half the bottle and the cockroach ended up swimming in white foam until finally it drowned. eugh.

not so great thing: i'm so sore- everywhere! all down my arms, my shoulders, my neck, my back, my hips, my legs...it's amazing how physically fit u have to be to play golf

oh yeah, photos are up: http://www.dotphoto.com/
username: abgirls
password: friends

Congratulations Aaron and Amy!

click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

for more photos go to: http://flyingdreams.dotphoto.com

password: friends