joint account

so i still haven't gotten around to writing something about the proposal but i'm planning to do that in our new account:

www.paulandjona.blogspot.com

so just check that out for that and other wedding-related stuff. i'll still keep this blog though and also my multiply because i foresee a lot of non-wedding related venting in the near future. . .

and if i don't get to come back again, merry christmas to one and all!

12/13/06

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

drivers everyewhere, beware! . . . and skating advice from me!

. . . i am licensed and ready to take on the streets of ohio! . . . but first i have to get insurance. . . oh and take care of a minor detail which is also known as a CAR. but i'm just saying, beware!

other than being theoretically-able to drive there are other perks to having this temporary permit:

1. i can buy beer/alcohol! on my own! and then not drink it. because the permit doesn't keep me from getting allergic to alcohol/yeast/hops or whatever it is i am allergic to.
   
2. i can go to bars/clubs without having to bring my passport
3. i have such a pretty picture on my permit! you should see it! it's probably my best ID picture ever

other than getting my permit, this past weekend have been productive/worthwhile in other ways. I went ice-skating for the first time last Friday. It was frightening for me as well as for the little children skating around me because by golly i am not letting go of that wall however nicely a little girl who is celebrating her birthday asks me to because, hey! i just can't! also if any of you reading this is planning on ice skating in the near future remember these words: PUSH DON"T PULL!!! because ice-skating is not like walking at all, contrary to what you may think (it really doesn't look like walking either but before that day i thought walking was the only way my legs could move). Because i tried the walking thing for one whole lap around the rink and it got me nowhere. but i should warn you, learning these wise words does not give you one other important aspect to this exercise which is BALANCE. which i am in total lack of. and for which i reckon, there is no cure. so i shuffled, and glared at people going over 0.001mph more than I, and clung to the wall. i swore i glided a couple times but it scared the heck out of me and i'd start saying nasty things and run into the wall (one of those times wherein having a second language comes in handy. . . so the little kiddies don't understand what you are saying). also for all you single people out there: GO SKATING. good place to pick up guys/girls whether you want to or not. just wait for them to stop by the wall and glide/shuffle/slam into them (depending on your skill level) and "hello strange person!". it's like ice hockey, but slightly romantic. but that did not happen to me at all, i promise. (or if it did, it wasn't romantic, really. . . hehe). also if you do decide to do this make sure that your significant other is not standing next to you. . . because that totally ruins the moment. and he/she could just as easily pick up some poor soul who has fallen on the ice. but by then it's all good all around! also ice skates leave marks. you have to tie them up as tightly as you possibly can and they hurt. but by the next day you really don't feel them because EVERTHING ELSE HURTS. but it's a workout. and there's ibuprofen.

in other news: christmas shopping almost done. thank you internet! it was also nice that i did more than half my shopping in september. also did some this weekend at the mall. i miss malls back home. you get so much more for your money. and the fact that you don't have to go walking around outside in near freezing weather helps too.

also you might be wondering why all these posts. well it's mainly because i am done with my course work! yey! and i got a B+ in my blasted biochem class. PLUS! i was soooo aiming for a B and i got a PLUS! how great is that?!?

that's my update for now. hope to have more interesting stories next time. babush!

bad blogger, bad

yo.

so sorry my poor, neglected blog. how long has it been since i've graced you with my presence? 2 months? i apologize.

so in the spirit of the season, i will now share with all of you. nuggets of wisdom? yeah right. exciting adventures? not really. random ramblings? most probably. so enjoy!

since last i was here (10/29 when i checked) many things have happened. that does not mean these are things that deserve to be immortalized (?) in cyberspace, but they happened nonetheless. there was. . . . hmmmm. . . me going to work. . . and class. . . and work again. . . . ooh! i started a ladies Bible study in my apartment which is sometimes nerve-wracking (apartment must be clean. i must be understood. tea must be had) but it's loads of fun on wednesday nights. . . also saw my first college football game. and it is my ardent belief that it is due to my rooting for the ohio state buckeyes this season that they have become number one. OH (can i hear an -IO?!?) . . . most of you probably have no idea what i'm talking about but let's just say i now know which direction football players ought to run towards and could promptly yell "run! run" at roughly the right moments. yey magical yellow lines! . . . also had my first taste of a real american holiday with, er, americans when i went to celebrate thanksgiving with paul's family in iowa. had to drive 12 hours there (and back) but it was fun (and tasty). and it's really not like i actually drove there. i basically sat and stayed awake (well, majority of the time at least).

so there. i hope that satisfies all ya'll's need for updates on my very interesting life. and now. i shall brave the cold. for it is taco tuesday (ole'!) and there is beef to be thawed. also, i need to study for my stupid final for my stupid biochem class in which i am not performing admirably so to speak. so pray for me on thursday. that i will not boo my prof and throw my shoe at him. and also that i may pass the exam. but mostly for the latter.

what do you do with the extra hour?

. . . because of the time space warp that happens during fall. . . also known as DST

i throw out trash that has accumulated in my room
i don't study for biochem
i sleep

what about you?

in places no one will find. . . .

celebrity look-alike thingy results. . . who is that korean guy?!?

4 boxes left. . .

moving sucks. everybody tells you that. they don't tell you how much unpacking sucks too. i'm half tempted to just throw all these boxes out and call it good. who needs all these paper stuff anyway?. . . burn them all. . . maybe not.

but how can i unpack when lucy lawless is singing with kenny loggins and jai rodriguez is singing "back at one" with brian mcknight?. . . and who the heck writes all those stupid puns for marie osmond? and exactly what is little richard high on?. . . ahhhhh, thursday night tv. . . very distracting. all my good intentions of unpacking, gone. ta-ta.

i've moved

. . . to my new apartment. . . our new apartment i mean, hanna's and i. finally said goodbye to the old one yesterday when i turned over my keys. rather bittersweet; bitter because that was my very first apartment ever so it holds a lot of memories, and also a full size bed and free cable and internet. sweet because i now save 200 bucks a month in my new one=) you can't have it all i guess.

i'm still in the process of settling in, what with about 70% of my possessions still in boxes and suitcases all over the apartment. i still couldn't figure out how i'd fit all my stuff (i.e. clothes and shoes) anywhere. hanna and i are trying to downsize as evidenced by the big mountain of stuff right smack in the middle of our living room.

i've also been having bad dreams since moving in. probably caused by my fear of falling off the smaller bed and also by my bad shoulder. i'm sure i'll get over it.

i'm still in the lab now and i think i'm just delaying going home because i need to unpack. better accept the inevitable and leave. *sigh*

(everybody knows) it sucks to grow up. . .

i need therapy

. . . for many, many things really but i'll tell you later what specific therapy i'll be getting.

so, i've been having a tough week overall. which sucks because you'd think the boss being on vacation would give the mouse time to play, or something like that. but no. i've been leaving no earlier than 5:30 pm for the past 4 days. and most of you out ther with real jobs are probably rolling your eyes and saying "boohoo" but i have a non-real job and non-real means i get to go home at 4:30 at the latest. and with the boss away, i don't even get any credit.

on top of all this, i found out that i need a visa to go see my relatives in toronto. and the country of canadia demands $70 for me to be able to apply so they can consider having me visith their great country 'eh. and this application of course includes photocopies of all my documents, letters from important people that i lose at every opportunity, ugly pictures that have to be taken twice because of incompetent photographers, my precious passport and did i mention i pay them $70 for all this? i've had some choice words for the country of canadia the past couple of days and she must appease me. i think ginormous waterfalls will not do it. maybe good shopping, we'll see. you better make this worth it canadia. 'til then i will not call you your proper name, canadia.

as for the therapy, i've been seeing a pt for my thumb. my thumb was strained and was therefore pretty much annoyed with lab work. so for 3 weeks or so, i had therapy on my thumb which consisted of ultrasound treatment and thumb/wrist exercises. slightly entertaining but the trek to the health center from my lab is less funny. today, i found out that i need to do more therapy. for my shoulder this time. it's still bothering me and everyone says it's better to get these things checked sooner rather than later so off i went to the sports doctor and that was the verdict. she said this usually takes a month. unless "therapy" involves a massage then this sucks.

this blog is running long but one more thing, i'm in the process of moving to a new apartment. and i discovered that i am what can be called a packrat. i hold on to things. like invitations to parties i never went to. or old tests. or little pompoms that fell of throw pillows that i could never sew back. and old burned out light bulbs. which of course makes it harder to pick through my things and pack them. is there therapy for that?

sbc packers. hehe.

tama na nga ito.

check my multiply

dami ng nangyari. seriously.

no more drama

so ganito pala nangyayari pag nagda-drama ako. . . interesting. i still have no idea what you all are thinking but:

jem: sure, why not
george: huh?
kaka: thanks!
prek: lalo pa nga e

at least now i'm sure that people are still reading my blog. and caring. and that's nice.

please stop asking. . . .

you all are just making me nervous, among other things. . .so quit it because it's not like it's up to me. . .

multiply

i've been updating this website more often than this one. easier to upload pics and stuff. . .

word cloud

mukhang cool pero di ko alam kung may meaning siya or what. nakuha ko kay frank ang link












halata bang walang magawa?

on other news. . . fish finally gave (embryos) after a week-long dry spell. was tempted several times to sing "let's get it on" to fishies in hopes of getting them in the mood ika nga. so now they give. at the end of the week. when my boss is not around. so i need to work even if i can totally slack off tomorrow. a friday of course and part of a long weekend. fishies really don't like me that much and are conspiring to keep me from getting a vacation. that's my theory anyway.

this is tiny, my giant pink gorilla 

tiny sitting down 

blogable

been trying to blog many, many times but for some reason, i'm having a hard time finishing anything i start. many good things have happened recently so i really would like to share 'em. let's see if photo blogger lets me. . .

woohoo. it worked. anyway, paul graduated last weekend. and this picture confirms what i've believed for so long. i am dating a dork. seriously, see those cords falling all over him? those are for several awards that he got. i think he got 4 out of a possible 5. he also got the most outstanding marketing student award. geeez. the dude makes me look bad with my B+ average.

his family drove up for that weekend too. that's his youngest sister heather. she's 16 and 5'8"! they drove up in their 15 seater van to help paul move to his new apartment. and to buy his new. . .

very blue full-size couch! i'm so jealous. . .

i also just got back from the international zebrafish conference held in madison, wisconsin. it was 5 days of eating and listening to talks and eating and listening/napping to more talks and eating. also ran into shiela there. . .

i did do some work while there. this is my poster that i had to stand next to for 3 hours. wasn't too bad really because people were nice and didn't laugh and point and call me "silly girl with silly poster. . ." which is what i was fearing. . .

also, university of wisconsin is right next to a lake. a body of water! sure everyone says it's soooo cold there in the winter but it's summer and it was gorgeous! i want a lake in my campus too. . . oh and these are my labmates kristin and myron.

wisconsin is known for its dairy. here's shiela enjoying ice cream made right at the UW union. shie and i actually got obsessed with the painted cows scattered all over downtown madison. . .

the police cow

2 artsy cows

"pasture bedtime"

o the wondrous cows! made shie and i very happy. . . or was it all the food and ice cream we ate?

last and definitely not least, i got a new baby. . .

ain't it cute?. . . still getting used to using it but so far so good. 8 GB folks. beats the crap out of a nano in my opinion since it's about the same price as a 2GB nano. and did i meantion it was pink? love it!!!!

that's it folks. things have been good this past month. a little stressful but all ended well =)

random. . .

• paul got a job! yey! na-realize na ang potential maging sugar-daddy! hehe. pero seriously, sobrang answered prayer. thank you lord!
• i'm on a diet. not yey. and i've been working out. i went twice this weekend. doesn't it suck that when you're on a diet, all you could think about is food? i'm sooooo cranky. . . kasi kulang sa kanin. which prompted paul to ask "couldn't you just exercise more and diet less?" yep, i'm that cranky i think i scared him. . .
• speaking of this weekend, we got to go to the big free concert featuring teddy geiger (of love monkey fame. . . oooh. just typing that makes me seethe at cbs. . .) and jason mraz! it was great! mainly because it was free. free things are always good. anyway, i'll post pics later. that teddy geiger kid is one cutie patootie.

yun lang. 3 more weeks 'til end of this quarter!

how i come to (partly) own a $400 vacuum and other updates. . .

i really just want to post some pics but i think this picture warrants some sort of explanation . that is paul and i in formal clothes. with a $400 vacuum between us which we like to call dyson (never loses suction. ever) believe it or not i (who my parents insists have a birthmark in an unfortunate place that dooms me to bad luck my entire life) finally won a prize in a raffle. and a rather nice one at that. well, technically, paul won it (this was at a formal dinner-dance thing at the college of business) since he purchased our tickets, but i was holding on to the winning ticket. now dyson and paul's dirt devil are both sitting in my living room, staring suspiciousl at each other. although dyson does it from inside its box since we can't even take it out of the box lest it decreases in value once we sell it on ebay. it's kind of ironic seeing a $400 vacuum sitting on a carpet that obviously hasn't been vacuumed for a while. This is another picture from the formal. i just think i look cuter in this one that's why i posted it.

also that weekend, paul ran a 5k at the college (which according to his classmates was to "cure" the boys and girls club of columbus. . . gets?) anyway, he did pretty well for someone who didn't really train much for it. he placed 50th in a pool of about 300 runners. i was mighty proud =)
next update is probably not obvious from this pic but apparently, i lost 4 lbs in the last 6 weeks. which makes it 6 lbs in the last 3 months. not bad for someone who's not even trying. my doctor actually said this is the lightest i've been since i started seeing her, which was about a year ago. so yey for not dieting and not exercising!

this weekend is our anniversary weekend! one year! can you imagine? typical though, that i have to work this weekend. again. for the third weekend in a row. bleagh. anyway, i'm making a scrapbook for him. which is not finished yet because, hey, i'm blogging. also, in case he's not too thrilled about that, i got him bruce springsteen's latest album and the one before, which if you know how terrified i was of bruce springsteen as a kid, seems like a very brave and sacrificial thing for me to have gotten him =) which is pretty good since i don't think sitting on my bum and ordering the cds in amazon hardly qualifies as a very demanding activity. this of course makes me anxious too about what he's getting me. i really don't want a repeat of the bill crosby debacle.

i think i stopped making sense five sentences ago. 'til next time then!

"what do ducks eat?" . . .and other scientific questions. . .

had my first lab class as TA yesterday. OMG. that was exhausting. it's a 3 hour class for introductory biology for non-majors/people-who-are-not-at-all-interested-in-biology. My students were actually not bad in the sense that they sat there and stared at me like i was crazy but they did not say anything about it. i really don't blame them because i was so disorganized and all over the place. it also probably did not help that even before i tell them who i am i immediately go on to take their pictures with a digital camera (to paste on info cards) because the other class needed the camera too. anyhow, the first lab activity was pretty easy and fun, well as fun as a bio lab activity can be. it included a "field trip" to collect specimens. since it was a little rainy, i opted to not take them to the woods on the far side of the campus but we just ended up going to mirror lake (pond really, with ducks). i knew it was not a good sign when, as i was struggling with the key box that holds the key for the lab room, i turn around and all of my students were gone! so i had to run down 4 flights of stairs and out of the building!

anyway, the object of the activity was to collect as many specimens as possible, bring them back to the lab, and classify them according to what you observe. specimens include both plants and animals. some classifications that stood out were "green stuff" vs "creatures", plants vs animals vs insects, and my favorite, "dead" vs. "alive".

one question they had to answer was whether the specimen they collected was a producer or primay/secondary/tertiary consumer.
someone asked me "what do ducks eat?".
man, was i stumped. "bread?" i said.
"so what does that make them?" said the student
"well, where does bread come from?" was my next question,
"wheat?" piped in another student
"so does that make them primary consumers?" asked the first student
"er, yes?" said the smart TA.

ain't that the most genius scientific repartee' you have ever heard?!? man, am i good or what? "what" would be the right answer to that. . .

also, seeing that i'm very, very, bad with names, someone had the great idea of giving me 6 students named matthew (4 in one class, 2 in another). what are the chances of that happening? at least when in a bind, i could just go ahead and call any guy matthew and there would be close to a 1 in 3 chance that i'm right.

so there. a new chapter in my life. . . as a molder of the minds of this country's future. . . kawawang mga kano =) dito na ba magsisimula ang pagkokolonisa natin? hehehehehehe.

Happy flower day!

apparently, that's what the first day of spring is called. . .

does anyone know what these are?

just curious. paul gave them to me last week. they're pink. and slightly strange. but still sweet.

he's in iowa now . . . =(

after a very long time. . .

i bought shoes online. . . again. . . couldn't resist. . . i'd like to think of it as my end of quarter reward?. . .and i was doing so well with my spending. . .

now i don't know how to put more than one picture in an entry. . . hmmmm. . . anyway here's a picture of the roses i got for coming back here. oddly enough, i didn't get any for valentine's. . . hmmmmm. . . i wonder why?. . . and you'll also see my christmas tree. . . my itty bitty tree that is being dwarfed by roses. . . poor tree. . . 

whoa. new picasa layout. uncharted territory. must tread carefully. how will this look like in my blog i wonder. in preparation for seeing kurt vonnegut tonight, i decided to upload some pics from my camera from after i got back here. all in all there were 8 pics. 3 were of the same thing. anyway, here's one from the cgsa winter retreat. notice how bad i look. i was fighting a cold all that weekend. much fun.

now to try this out. . . 

am i really this entertaining?!?

got this personality test from kaka's blog

apparently i'm an artisan, much like elvis, judy garland and liz taylor. . .

why must someone so entartaining have to learn how to write fake grant proposals? why? sure didn't say anything about being responsible. . .

thank you. thank you very much.

valentine's '06

just got back from kroger's. it's the day after valentine's. and there are no chocolates on sale! this is soooo wrong!

anyway, first valentine's with the boyps went well. he got me a present. i did not return it. so he's happy. plus got him a scarf too.

so what did he get me? he got me a card. with a box of those necco sweetheart candies. really sweet. plus tickets to a tristan prettyman concert next wednesday. which funny enough was what i was thinking of getting for him too. but didn't because i was too cheap=). plus 4 tango lessons for both of us. . . he does get a whole lot of brownie points for that. we went to the first one tonight. i was a little worried at first because, paul's great and i love him but he's not the best dancer out there. we only danced for the first part of the lesson because they make you switch partners so i really didn't know how he was doing. at the end of the lesson, there was a "free dance" and the instructor danced with him. she said he was doing well! i was so proud. and he seems to be enjoying it too.

so that was valentine's 2006 for me. hope all of yours were as sweet. . . now to figure out where the chocolates are actually on sale. . .

fave vacation pics

just some more pics from the trip home. thought i'd do it now while my neighbor is being generous with the wifi. enjoy.

p.s.
buhay pa kaya yung mga tuta?

john(l) and yoko(r) (or paul and jona, depends on who you ask) 

mel's gig 

"we are family. .." 

photon pips and friends at mel's gig 

pang-postcard 

picha, picha, picha pie. . . 

"sa likod lang ho ang hawak" 

quick blog, just to let you all know that i'm still alive (all meaning my sister and whoever accidentally clicks on a link to me from other blogs). couldn't blog from my apartment because of lack of internet (greedy neighbor won't share wifi, how do they do that?) so i'm doing this in the office. got through my 880 presentation fabulously. finished it 30 minutes ahead of time because people didn't have any questions. . . because i presented the heck out of that paper! yeah, that's right. am now thinking of making paper presentations a career, because, man, i'm good =). . . anyway, thought this weekend would be a little more relaxing for me. . . turns out i'm doing lab meeting next week and have to present another paper. . . i guess word gets around that i'm that good =)=). . .

on other things, my luggage has finally been put away (after three years or so). i've almost run out of pastillas and dried mango. but things are still good with the corned beef and luncheon meat. i'm starting to walk faster again (because it's so darn cold) and i think i'm finally over the cold my last week at home. . .

that's about it. still haven't gotten around to posting pics from christmas. will do that soon when my dratted neighbor decides to be nice and share his/her internet. . .

hmmmm. . . second blog of the day. . . still haven't had sleep since the last one. . . but i thought i might as well put my clock to rights and wait 'til my proper bedtime to get to sleep. . . hope i feel normal tomorrow. . .

anyway, just wanted to share this really sweet song. . . for christmas, paul gave me, among other things, a cd of songs that reminds him of me (awwwww). this song from the garden state soundtrack was track no. 7.


I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You
by Colin Hay Band

I drink good coffee every morning
Comes from a place thats far away
And when i'm done I feel like talking
Without you here there is less to say

Don't want you thinking I'm unhappy
What is closer to the truth
That if I lived til I was a hundred and two
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

No longer moved to drink strong whiskey
I shook the hand of time and I knew
That if I lived 'till I could no longer climb my stairs
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

A face that dances and it haunts me
With laughter still ringin in my ears
I still find pieces of your presence here
even, even after all these years

I don't want you thinkin that I don't get asked to dinner
Cuz I'm here to say that I sometimes do
And even though I may seem to feel a touch of love
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

If I lived til I was a hundred and two
I just don't think I'll ever get over you


awwww ulit. . . how sweet is that? . . . and i forgot to mention that when he picked me up from the airport, he had a pink rose waiting for me at the car ( he didn't bring it when he met me because he knew that i had 2 50+lb luggages and that it would most likely get crushed. . . he's not only sweet, but really smart too). when i got home, there were 2 more pink roses in a vase. . . he still does not understand why i like getting flowers, but he gives them anyway =). . .

it was really sad leaving home. . . but i'm also surprisingly glad to be back=) . . .

2005

jetlag! aaaaarrrrgggghhhh. . . hate it, hate it, hate it. . . i should be at work in 5 hours. . . but i woke up at 3 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. just had to have that queso de bola spread right now. so i did hoping it could help me sleep. so here i am. blogging at 4 am.

being awake at this time does not mean i am awake enough to write things that make sense . so i'm borrowing from ais's and jae's blog and trying to sum up the year 2005. . .

january

it's been 51hrs and 2 mins since i arrived here in columbus

february

i'm so sick and tired of being cold.

march

I'm done with my presentation!

april

finally got around to uploading pix from the indigo girls concert.

may

seeing as justine already "outed" me, i thought i might as well put in my two cents' worth. . . yes, yes, the seemingly impossible has happened. . . i am no longer single. you heard (read) me right, i, jona, have a boyfriend. . . i am not making this up.

june

alam kong na-sentihan kayong lahat sa huling post ko.

july

nothing new here really

august

so i haven't been blogging in a while

september

still alive. . . no internet in apartment. . . will blog soon. . .

october

delingkwenteng blogger na po ako

november

hehe. . . walang post

december

vacation time so brain not functioning

ok. so that sucked. apparently, nothing much happened from august to december. . . which is not true. hehe.

anyway, happy new year to you all! sana. . . makatulog na ako. . . ang labo.