• emarrahcontessa
      • hello
      • Username: emarrahcontessa
      • In response to: "If you could be a member of any band, what would it be?" If I could be a member of any band, it would be Addison Road. I love their music and their lyrics are so honest that it just speaks to your heart.
  • emarrahcontessa's latest answers
    • Three Songs I Never Get Sick Of

      • According to studies, we are what we listen to. I'm not sure if that applies to me. I listen to just about any type of music as long as it has good lyrics. But here are the top three songs that I will never get tired of listening to.


        Belle of the Boulevard by Dashboard Confessional

        I love the acoustic version of this song with the violins playing in the background. I love this song primarily because of the music. And for someone who's not trained in music like me, I can tell that this is a well-composed song. And I also love the lyrics.

        Love is Waiting by Brooke Fraser

        This song is something that I can listen to everyday. It reminds me that love (the romantic kind) is just around. There's no need to rush to it. Here's my favorite verse from the song: "I can write a million songs about the way you say my name. I can live a lifetime with you and then do it all again. But like I can't force the sun to rise or hasten summer's start neither should I rush my way into your heart."

        So true. If it's really meant to be it will happen. Even if he goes to live in Siberia and I go to the moon, we will always find our way back to each other. There's no need to rush something that's bound to happen.

        Everything by Lifehouse

        The first time I heard this song was in a Christian skit I found in YouTube. It was a very powerful skit about how God created us for His pleasure but sin entered the picture and humankind was never the same again. It also perfectly describes how our hearts were wired with a longing for God and no matter where we go or what we do, He will always be everything to us.

      • answered by emarrahcontessa on 09/22/2010
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    • Me, Renamed

      • If I am going to change my name, I would change it to Helaena Sofie.

        Helaena because its other variant, Helena, means "torch" or "light". I just added the 'a' to make people pronounce it as he-lay-nah instead of the usual Filipino pronunciation, he-le-nah. And I like Sofie because it means "wise". I have always liked the name Sophia but now I think Sophie is better and to spell it as Sofie is even cuter.

        When I think about it, having "wise" and "light" in my name would be so cool especially now that I am a Christian. It would be a great way to explain to people why I live for God. I would tell them that I live for the God of the Bible because He is wise and all-knowing; His thoughts are higher than ours. And I trust in Him because He is my light and He guides me through life since I cannot do it on my own. That would be really nice indeed. But I'm not going to change my name even if I had the chance. I like my name.

      • answered by emarrahcontessa on 09/14/2010
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    • Never Leave Your Partner Behind

      • Catherine walks inside a room and talks to a woman about getting more linens for the hospital bed that was purchased a week ago for her mom.

        "That's about the other thing that wasn't covered by the doctor when he purchased the bed and wheelchair," Catherine said while rummaging through her bag.

        "The doctor?" the woman asks.

        "Yes, Dr. Keller. Our secret philanthropist," she said with a smile.

        "Uhh, I don't think Dr. Keller covered those things."

        "No, I'm sure he did. I spoke with him about it."

        "Mrs. Holt, if I remember correctly, $24,300 was given for the bed and wheelchair but Dr. Keller was not the main giver," the women said while going through a list.

        "What?" Catherine said, confused.

        "Of the amount given, Dr. Keller gave $ 300."

        "Then, who gave the other?" Catherine asked, shaking her head.

        "Your husband, Caleb. Caleb came two weeks ago and paid for everything. I assumed you knew."

        "Two weeks ago?" Catherine asked, trying to hold back the lump in her throat.

        "Yes. He told me not to tell anyone but I didn't think that included you."

        The woman continued telling her about when Caleb came to pay for it while looking down at a piece of paper but all Catherine could think about was that Caleb had paid for her mother's bed and wheelchair two weeks ago -- about the same time that she filed their divorce papers. She didn't expect this act of kindness from Caleb at all. Tears were falling down her face as she made her way out of the building.

        When she arrives at home, she goes directly to her room and rummages through her drawers, looking for her wedding ring which she tossed in one of those drawers weeks ago when she and Caleb had a big fight. As she finds the ring, fresh tears falls down her face at the thought that she could have divorced her husband without knowing about this. She picks up her brush and starts brushing her hair as she thought about the changes in Caleb these past few weeks. He was willing to work their marriage out but she wasn't. As more tears spills over, she picks up her blush brush and tries to put on makeup. She's going to go and see Caleb and tell him exactly how she feels but she just can't stop crying.

        I usually start tearing up at the start of this scene until the last when Catherine goes to the fire station, all dressed up, and tells Caleb why she loves him. And while she's telling him all that, he cries too.

        I love this movie because it's not like any other movies about marriages. This is a story about a couple who goes through a rough time in their lives. The guy (Caleb) is willing to work things out but the girl (Catherine) already had enough and so they decide to get a divorce. Although pride kept Caleb from telling his wife what he really feels, he goes to his father for advice and his father pointed him to Jesus Christ. Eventually, Caleb accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior and the Lord starts changing his heart. All throughout the movie, we can see that Caleb has lain everything at Jesus' feet as we see him on his knees praying for his marriage and doing good to his wife.

        My parents had been separated since I was two years old and my mom acknowledges that Jesus wasn't at the center of their marriage so everything fell apart. Maybe that's why I really love this movie. Because instead of holding on to their pride, they bow down to Jesus and let him save their marriage.

        Firefighters are told to never leave their partners behind in a fire. It is the same thing with marriage.





      • answered by emarrahcontessa on 08/31/2010
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    • What I Believe

      • I don't really know if I can describe myself as a religious or spiritual person. All I know is that I believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is real and that He sent Jesus Christ to die for my sins. And the more I understand this, the more I love Jesus because He has set me free from sin and the shackles of religion.


        Five years ago, I would never have been able to write that down. I was just a teenager who loves the world so much and would happily do away with church if not for my persistent mother. My whole life, I have been going to the Catholic Church but I never understood anything. Why do we pray and kiss images and statues? Why do we call on "saints" to ask them to pray for us? Why do we have to do this whole ritual of a mass all over again? To appease God? But if Jesus Christ already died on that cross in Calvary 2000 years ago to pay for our sins, why do we have to appease God through a mass? Isn't what Jesus did enough?

        I had all these questions in my head but I realized that no one is willing to give me a real answer soon so I just let it be. I became like a living-zombie. I didn't have any other purpose in life but to graduate and strive to become rich and, eventually, die. That was that.

        It was during my first year in college when God led people into my life who pointed me to Jesus. I was the usual "lost" freshman. Everything was new to me -- the place, the people, etc. -- and I was just feeling my way around. I went with people who drank hard and partied hard (although I never really drank. I don't know why I didn't give in.), I went with people who complained a lot about themselves, I went with people who were louder than a whole crowd (trust me. Even though there were only five or six of them, you'd feel like you're in a stadium.), I went with people who studied like there's no tomorrow (and I also went with people who procrastinated like there's no tomorrow), I hung out with the movie-addicts, the coffee-addicts, the chain-smokers, the social-climbers and the anti-social kids. It was just the time to experiment being with different kinds of people and observe them.

        Then I was chosen to represent our class (along with two others) in a university-wide spelling competition. I remember observing this one girl in my class who doesn't act like anyone else. She wasn't trying hard to be seen as someone else. In fact, she was comfortable with just being herself. I was always intrigued by her. She would get high marks in class although she wasn't anything like the overachievers in the class. She was even chosen as a leader for our speech choir and, instead of exasperation from uncooperative classmates, she showed great discipline. I could tell that she was really different from everyone but I just couldn't point at what makes her different, yet.

        I didn't place in that spelling competition but she did. And being the unbeatable spelling champ in my elementary and high school years, I was shaken. And I was even more determined to find out what it is that's different in this girl.

        I remember one night before the speech choir practice when there were only four of us. And that girl, being the leader, arrived first. And even though she complained why the others were late, she didn't just sit there and complain the whole time. She would also pick up her pink bible and study a verse they were supposed to discuss at bible study that night which she missed because of the practice. I was amazed because of the pink color of the bible and I was even more amazed that she would freely highlight some of the passages and even write on the sides. Back home as Catholics, I don't think we were allowed to do that. The bible is a super-sacred book that is only read in church (by the priest) and placed at the altar at home. More than that, I was amazed at how she would talk about church like she really enjoyed it.

        Then I met another girl in my college who is also a Christian. Both of them were going to the same church and both of them were praying for me. They would give me tracts and they would also bring me to college bible studies at their church. I was always happy to go so I can find out more about what they believe in. I was even more amazed to find out that in this little gathering of college students, there were young people who are so on fire for the Lord. They are so genuine in their faith and I could tell that when they worship, it's real. They read the bible like it's a letter from someone they love -- over and over again. It was love -- not mere religion.

        The more I went to these bible studies, the more I understood of God's love. He loves me so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross in my place as an atonement for my sins and the sins of the world. I understood that He died so I can be free to live my life for Him. And He was resurrected to tell everyone that everything He did on the cross is finished -- every sin paid in full -- and that He triumphed over death. The Lord opened my eyes to His truth bible study after bible study. In fact, it would be my favorite day of the week!

        I was 16 at that time when I finally understood that it's more than a religion or a creed. It's more than rituals and memorized prayers. But it's a relationship with the God of the universe. He's a very personal God and He deals with us on a personal level. And I needn't do anything to earn my salvation. I just had to believe in Jesus, accept the free gift of salvation, and understand that everyday is grace from God.

        I don't know if you call that religious or spiritual but to me it's neither.

      • answered by emarrahcontessa on 08/27/2010
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    • It's a spider! Nah, I don't care

      • Spider

        My earliest memory would probably be when I was three years old and my mom and I were living with an aunt in the US. Every time my aunt would be out on night duty at the hospital, my cousin, Kyle, would be sleeping in our bedroom.

        One night, I woke up to find my cousin fast asleep near the wall. And I noticed a black fuzzy thing near his head. I stared at it for a long time, trying to figure out what it really was. After some time, I thought that it was a huge, fuzzy, black spider and I remember wondering what it was doing so near my cousin's head. So I kept staring at it and after realizing that I couldn't really do anything, I went back to sleep.

        So that's how my earliest memory goes. I didn't even try to be a hero. I just...slept.

      • answered by emarrahcontessa on 08/27/2010
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