Colleen's Questions

A few days ago, Colleen of Carpe Diem, Gorgeous! passed on a blog award to me.

Meeting wonderful people is one of the things I have come to appreciate in blog world.

Colleen is one such friend.

A young Canadian woman who lives with Per, her husband, and their son William, in Mandal, Norway, she has become a special part of my blogging life.

The award came with a few questions for me to answer.

Below are my answers to Colleen's questions.

1. What was the last movie you saw and what did you think of it?

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader based on the book by C.S. Lewis.

It was great to see this book, which I read in the early 70's, come alive before my eyes. In this story, C.S. Lewis helps us understand the subtle nature of temptation, and the movie was able to bring that out so beautifully.

Aslan is still my all time favorite. As a symbol of Jesus Christ, the kindness of his heart... his gentle power... have truly captivated my heart.


2. If time and money were no issue, where in the world would you travel to?

Norway, is the first country I'd love to visit.

It has been mentioned as the world’s best place to live by United Nations for the sixth consecutive year. Norway boasts of almost everything that makes it really the best place in the world to live. Other than these good statistics, Norway, the land of the midnight sun, is a country of mountains, glaciers, fjords, and many beautiful ski resorts.

Info taken from here.

Scotland is another country I'd love to visit. There is something about Celtic spirituality that calls out to my spirit.




Greece is another country I'd really love to visit, particularly Kavala, which is the modern day Philippi.

The reason for this is that Lydia of Philippi is one of the first persons who embraced Christianity, and she was known to be a worshiper of God. She is one of my Christian models.


It is said that there is a church in Kavala that is called Church of Saint Lydia, named in honor of this woman. I'd love to be able to visit that place someday.


3. Would you ever consider living in a foreign country?

Yes. I wouldn't mind living again in Chiang Mai, Thailand. My husband and I lived there from 2007 - 2008, and my heart simply fell in love with the place and the people!

Read more about Chiang Mai here.





4. Where do your ancestors come from?

My mother's maternal great grandparents came from Spain.

My father's maternal great grandparents also came from Spain.








My father's paternal great great grandparents came from China.

5. What historical figure, (it can be recent history as well), would you meet if you could and why?

Though I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I was born and raised as one. I have a deep appreciation for my Catholic upbringing. Maybe it explains why the writings of Henri Nouwen and Teresa of Avila have both influenced and shaped my spirituality.


I'd love to meet Henri Nouwen. He is a Catholic priest that lived out a theology of weakness in an authentic way. Nouwen is my favorite author. His love for God radiated in all his writings. It is from him that I have learned to partake of communion often as my act of devotion to our Lord.

Each time you eat of the bread and drink of the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. - 1 Corinthians 11:26

Read more about Henri Nouwen here.


I'd also love to meet Teresa of Avila. She was the patron saint of the Catholic school that I attended for twelve years of my formative years, St. Theresa's College in Manila. A huge statue of St. Teresa stands in the chapel of our school. I have read some of her writings when I began to be interested in contemplation as a spiritual discipline.

Read about her and her writings here.





6. Which historical figures (again, can be recent) are you fascinated by?

Diana, Princess of Wales, will always be at the top of my list.














Jacqueline Kennedy is another favorite of mine.














Thank you, dear Colleen, for passing on this blog award to me. I had fun thinking about the answers to your questions!