"This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie 'The Graduate'. The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only love two things. The first was her long dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Tom meets Summer on January 8th. He knows almost immediately she is who he has been searching for. This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story."

Just because we are deeply in love with someone doesn't make that someone the one for us.

Now, I don't know how to explain the part where Summer said, "It just happened," or something along that line anyway. We won't know until that happens - that moment when we'll just wake up and know, what we were never sure of with the others we loved. And that's just the way it really is - a magical experience, if I may say so.

"You were right about destiny. You weren't just right about me."

Yeah, we always tend to put the label "He's the one," or "He's the right one" to whoever we're with at the moment as long as we feel that "love." Of course, this is a natural reaction. I mean we wouldn't be seriously dating someone if we don't think it will lead to something better in the future right? But sadly, that's not the way it works. If it's not meant to be, it won't be - this will always be difficult to understand and accept by someone whose heart has been broken. Then we go through that heartbroken cycle, one of the most painful things to go through. And then we just snap back to reality and then understand the bigger picture and finally accept that some things are not meant to be - and it's not always a bad thing. :) I can go on about this, but many of us who've experienced love and breakups already know the drill.

"Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin, and they end, with no lasting memories made in between. Most days have no impact on the course of a life. May 23rd was a Wednesday."

What day will be mine? I don't know. But that day will come. And then I'll just know. ;)

The Three-Month Ordeal

. . . is over, finally. I can breathe.

As with every beginning, I believe the first three months are the most trying months people have to go through. It's just a relief right now that our first three months here in Richmond are over, now I can only expect great things and opportunities to come our way.

The three months we've been here had been spent discovering this fine city in the midst of Vancouver - exploring city's common places, tourist spots, beaches, parks, great amenities, learning the transportation ways, and getting acquainted with its lifestyle. It was fun while it lasted.

Being in a new place is exciting and refreshing for sure and I love that I came here. But of course, since this meant being away from friends and family I've been with my whole life, it took quite a toll on my emotional health. I was in an emotional imbalance as the days passed by and the homesickness seems to be unbearable at some point. I began to question what I am doing here, is this move worth everything I've given up for? Just regular depressing issues of someone who has moved a thousand miles away from her home to pursue a better life - or in better and shorter term, homesickness gone worst. Well, I regretted thinking that way, after all, I've prayed hard for this to happen. I just thought I was mentally prepared for what I was about to go through. And well, as you can see, I learned I wasn't, the hard way.

But enough, li'l ol' me (emphasis on little, haha!) is back to being the positive me, now that I think the storm's over. Whew! We made it through! :D So, from now on, I can only expect great things to happen and to look forward to. But I'm still thankful for this ordeal, for it opened up an opportunity for me to be closer to God. He really did help me a lot and my relationship with Him improved. I've learned to really trust and have faith in Him and to draw strength from Him. And wow, it worked wonders in my life! It was hard to trust that everything's going to be okay especially when you feel the exact opposite but don't lose that trust and faith in God, and you really won't lose your way. His promises won't ever be broken.

Going through this phase has made me become really appreciative of what I have and everything's that happened in my life. I remember reading this story in a book called Our Daily Bread back in my highschool days, and it goes something like this - A boy and his sister were walking up a mountain and the girl complained that there were so many rocks and stones around that it's getting harder to climb up, she complained that she was getting bruises because of those. Her brother's answer was simple,

"But the rocks and stones are what we step on to climb our way to the top. How are we going to get there if not for these rocks and stones?"

The very answer we're all looking for everytime we're experiencing a rough time in our life. Reading that, I guess that's when I've learned to become optimistic in everything that I experience. :)

"Everything ends well for anyone who believes... in God."