Saturday, May 11, 2013

10 Words

Today's challenge is to sell myself in 10 words. I guess I'll go with 10 of my strengths.

I believe I am...

Adaptable.
Interdependent.
Helpful.
Child-like.
Resourceful.
Efficient.
Open.
Flexible.
Empathetic.
Loud. (You need at least one person who's loud in your team, right? Lol)

There you go. Sold? :)

Friday, May 10, 2013

"Think You're Pretty Special Now?"

Alright, so today's Blog Every Day In May Topic is: Embarrassing Moments.

Darn.

Just like when the topic was things that make me uncomfortable, I almost skipped today but I wouldn't let myself. I've done this challenge for 10 DAYS! That's some sort of record for me. I've been trying to think of an embarrassing moment to share but I just couldn't think of anything to write about. I have two theories as to why this is.

Number one, I don't really embarrass that easy. I'm passive aggressive so I make jokes about myself and my boo-boos before anybody else can. Sad but true. I don't take myself too seriously because I would rather find the funny in my situations than let me embarrass myself further by making a big deal out of things.

Theory number two is that I've blocked out all embarrassing memories. I'm pretty sure things are worse in real life than how I remember them.

So yes, I make an interesting psychological case.

So anyway, the best I can come up with is that time back in the Philippines when I was working as a Front Desk Associate. Part of my job was to assist office applicants so there were continuously people in my lobby. I think it's kind of an unspoken rule where all Front Desk people are visually appealing. I'm not saying I'm some sort of beauty goddess. I'm not. But I tried to carry myself well. I often get people hitting on me inappropriately. No biggie.

So one day, I walk into the office, feeling all pretty in my skirt and blouse and high heels. I walk in and there were 4 men and a woman on one side and 3 more men on the other side, all filling out application forms. I felt them staring at me as I got myself set up in my table. I didn't mind. I walked around a little bit, sorting out paper work and when I was in front of my table, my back turned to them, the girl comes up to me and says, "Miss, the zipper to your skirt is undone." I look down to the side of my skirt and true enough, my skirt was wide open, my underwear in full view. Mind you, it wasn't just open and underwear peeking a little bit. It was "BAM! Look at me!" open. I wanted to die. I ran to the other side of my table and tried to fix it. Turns out, I broke my zipper. I had to ask our security guard to get me pins.

I couldn't look at any of them after that. I don't think I've ever wished for anybody not to get a job like I did that day. I did not want to see them ever again after that. And needless to say, after that, I made sure to check myself extra times before I walk into the office.

Other moral to the story? Always have extra safety pins in your purse.


Thursday, May 9, 2013

A Moment In My Day

One of my favorite moments of the day is when I have cleaned my face, put my hair up and I get to decompress from the day I've had. Nothing like some quiet me time.

Happy Friday's eve, friends!




Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Just A Word of Advice

Trying to make it before the clock strikes 12.

Today, I give you a piece of advice via pinterest.


I hope you had a good hump day!

2 more days til the weekend. Hold on!


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

I'll Take The Ghosts, You Take The Spiders

I won't say I'm scared of lots of things. As I said in my previous post, I'm a trier. I would try things. Heights? I'd get very nervous but okay. Roller coasters? I'd freak out a little but okay. Ghosts? Meh. I believe in them and sure, they're creepy but I believe that if I respect them, they'd respect me.

Today's topic for Blog Every Day In May challenge is The thing(s) you're most afraid of. 

You know what scares the crap out of me? Spiders. I don't mind other bugs. I grew up in a country where cockroaches [and rats] are normal everyday (well, okay, almost every day) sights. But spiders? No, thank you. Especially not the big black tarantula, bigger than your face looking ones. Ya know? They're too fast and they stand there, staring at you. Mocking you. Like, whatchugonnadonow gurl? UUUUUUGGGGGGGH. I can handle many things. Just not spiders.

And you know what else? I kind of have Trypophobia. You want a crash lesson about what that is? It's this....

Well actually, in the interest of making my blog safe to the eyes, let me just give you this link. Check it out.

Did you feel that? Did you feel the hair on your neck stand in panic? No? Well, then, good for you. You don't have it.

Weirdly enough though, I get butterflies when I look at it but I can't seem to stop looking. So maybe I'm not really scared of them. They're just gross but I'm fascinated. Hmmm.. the wonders of me.

On a deeper level though, if we talk about what scares me, there's two things:


 - Physical pain - I think my pain threshold is lower than most people but it's mostly because if I feel pain and I know that I can't explain it to anybody and that nobody else feels it, I panic. I just straight out freak out and drive myself into full panic. I'm scared of getting hurt. I'm not afraid to die but I'm afraid of feeling pain. Does that make sense? That's also why the worse ways for me to go when my time comes is to die of drowning or burning. 


 - Losing a member of my family - No explanations needed. I know it's really selfish of me to actually wish this but if somebody's gotta go, I better go first. I don't think I can able to handle losing any one of them. I've lost my grandpa and grandma and those were the most painful things I ever had to deal with. Losing my parents or any of my siblings? That would just be the worse thing in the whole world and that'll probably drive me crazy.


So yeah, that's it. Those are the things that get the better of me. Do you have any weird phobias? Do you want to talk about Trypophobia? Isn't it fascinating?





Monday, May 6, 2013

Does Anybody Really Ever Know What They're Doing?

First of all, let me just say thank you for the warm feedback I got from yesterday's post. It was truly emotional for me to publicly profess appreciation for my Uncle. It made it extra special that I got to share it with him and also with a lot of people that we knew in common. :)

Anyhooo, Today's prompt is: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

Now, I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you what I do without actually just telling you my job title OR tell you who I am in terms of what I do with my life. Hmmmm.... tricky.

Let's do both things, shall we?

The first one's easy. I love what I do.


I touch children's lives. I have the power to tell them anything I want. My powers are ENORMOUS. If I wanted to, I can make your kid believe in all the opposite things. I can make children turn against everyone but I can also raise them to become kind people. Which is what I choose to do, you're welcome. I create opportunities for little people so they can discover the world. I create an environment where they don't feel threatened. I create an environment where they learn to be the BEST versions of themselves but also learn that being the best version doesn't mean being perfect. In my world, learning that the sky is blue is not just that. It means learning to differentiate blue and green. It means seeing the sky in all it's glory. Seeing the bugs, the birds, the clouds. Looking at the world doesn't just mean looking forwards. It means you look upwards, downwards, sideways, backwards, and occasionally, upside down too. It also means you know what to do with 15 kids who are hungry for everything, physically, emotionally, and mentally. There's no down time. There's no taking a break. You need to be 100% the whole time even if you don't want to anymore. You need to because 15 fragile human beings depend on you. You just have to.  It means you see the world in it's simplest, purest form because that's the only way your kids see them. But at the same exact time, it also means you see red flags. It means you can determine actual red flags and just personality quirks. It means you are able to provide extra support not just for your students but also their whole family. That's what I do.

For the 2nd one.. hmm...What do I do with my life?

I'm a TRIER. Is that even a word? I don't know. See, I even try words that I'm not sure exist. But yes, I try things. I'm a Jill of all trades. Master of none? Maybe. But I dabble on the most random, most unexpected, silliest, things. My spectrum of interest goes a long range from fashion to food to sports, to games, to photography, to books, to history, to math, to science. I try things because I'm hungry to learn. I'm desperate to find my place in the world so I look into every pathway in the journey. It's both a gift and a curse. A gift because I am able to easily adapt to things. I'm open minded and believe that everything deserves a chance to be tried out. If I find interest, I try it. If I end up liking it, then I keep doing it. If I don't, then I move on. Which makes it a curse. I don't easily develop strong connections to things (even people). I move on quite easy. If I find a hobby and it doesn't work for me, I don't give myself time to get better at it. I just move on to a different thing.

So yeah, I'm a trier. I don't know what to do with this trait yet. But in the mean time, I try to enjoy it. I'm in my mid-20's. That's what this is for, right? :) 



Sunday, May 5, 2013

You Can't Pick Your Family Members

Today's Blog Everyday In May prompt is Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member. 

I haven't met anyone through blogging that I already know enough to write about yet so I decided that I'll right about someone in my family. Mother's day is coming up but hmm....I don't want my dad to be jealous. And I can't just pick one of my siblings either. So then it came to me that I should write about somebody outside my immediate family.

Growing up in the Philippines, it's very common to live with your extended family. I lived in my grandparent's house my whole life before I moved here and crowded is an understatement. I only say that now that I know different  but at the time it was very normal to me. It wasn't a small house but we averaged about 9-10 people living there at a time. So yes, it was busy!  Maybe that explains why my voice is so loud. I had to speak over so many people! Haha

But anyway, let me tell you about one of the most underrated people in my family. Let me tell you about my Tito Paul. (Tito is Filipino for uncle.)


Tito Paul is one of my dad's brothers. He's funny, smart, charming, generous and very, very loving. Now, I can describe him to you and tell you all about the joys of having him in my family but I don't think I showed him much appreciation when I was growing up. Sure, I loved him and respected him. I knew he was my uncle who didn't have his own family and so he had all these money to buy cool things. He had a really cool, grown up room. He had a laser disc player (remember those?) before anybody else I knew had it and everybody had vhs; he had the biggest mirror that I have ever seen in my life; he always had cool movies and music in his room and he even had a/c in there! (Believe me, at that time, having a/c in your room was the bomb.) So yeah, he was superduper cool grown up.

More than being the person with the nicest room in the house though, I knew him as this disciplinarian who yelled at us with the biggest, loudest, deepest voice in the world. I've also witnessed him having heated arguments with my dad so I really didn't like him that much.  I didn't really know what they were fighting about but as a kid, anybody who yells at you and the people you love is NOT cool in your book.

As a preteen/ teenager, he was also my number 1 household nemesis. My dad was working in the states during my teenage years so it was him who kind of stood as a father figure and boy was he strict! He made sure my siblings and I ate our vegetables, cleaned our rooms, picked up after ourselves and that I was home in a reasonable hour. I spent a LOT of time with my church youth group and I admit, a lot of times, I was out so much later than I should be. In my defense, I wasn't doing anything crazy. I wasn't a crazy kid. I wasn't partying or anything like that. My youth group really did have meetings that ran late and I really did like hanging out at friends' houses than staying in my own. I remember one night, my mom was also out of the country in Thailand and I came home late and he freakin' kicked me out of the house! It was a big commotion. I don't remember many details but I do remember spending a lot of time on long distance phone calls from both my parents. I was so mad at him and I was sure that when I grew up, I would move my family and I away from him and then I can stay out as long as I want! (Oh, childhood dreams, how selfish and simple art thou.)

Fast forward to today, though, it's different. I think about him and I'd still remember some of the times he scolded me but then I'd remember all the times he would wake up early so he can drive me and my siblings to school or when he would drive us and my mom to church so we didn't have to walk even though it wasn't too far. I'd remember all the delicious food he'd make for us. He would even make special homemade pizzas for snack! I would also remember how much he took care of us and how everything he had in his cool room, he let me and my siblings use. He would let 4 stinky, greasy kids go and hang out in his room and watch in his cool tv (after washing our hands and our feet, of course). And with his cool, grown up movies, he would have movies for us too. 

And now that I think about it, he wasn't being unreasonable. He scolded us because he wanted us to eat our vegetables....because we'd be sick and unhealthy otherwise. He scolded us to clean our rooms....because we'd probably drown and get hurt in all that mess. Our room was a junkyard. And he scolded me because he wanted me home in a reasonable hour.... because who knows what would've happened to me? 11pm WAS a bad time for a 13yr old to be walking around the streets. Now that I'm older, I can see that all he really did was look out for us. He was just really doing what any parent would do. He was there for us. He scolded and yelled at us because he loves us.

Now that we're all grown, our relationship has changed. We don't live together anymore but he's there for us now more than ever. There's no more screaming and yelling now. Now, there's him bring us food that he cooked or if he discovers something that he really likes, he'd come and bring us some. Now, there's him inviting us to go to different places and there's him willing to lend us his car when we need it or even picking my mom or one of my siblings up from work if our schedules get too crazy. Now, there's him making sure that we have what we need and that I know the latest gossip about people we know in common. Now, there's only conversations and fun. I'm pretty sure our mess still drives him crazy but I guess now he knows he's done his part to make sure we know what we're supposed to be doing. 

I'm sure he doesn't know that I still have this letter he wrote me when I was 16 and going on a retreat for school but I'm gonna share it here anyways.



**Luke and Antioch were my church groups.** 
**If you don't understand Filipino, you probably won't understand 
a couple of words but you'll get the gist.**





I hold this letter very dear to me. It really is true how your parents say that what they do when you're younger don't make sense to you at that time but you'll appreciate it when you grow up. It's odd how this person I dreamed of running away from before now has a special room in the dream house I have for my family, how this person who was so scary to me growing up is one of the kindest people I know and I would give all I have for.

So yeah, you can't pick your family members but I'm sure as hell glad I got  who I got for mine. 


Saturday, May 4, 2013

We All Need A Little Push Sometimes

Day 4 of the blog everyday in May challenge is to post your favorite quotes. I'm really excited about this one since I LOVE collecting quotes. There's just something about them that's really empowering. There's a perfect quote for everything! I have a whole book of handwritten quotes that I find from songs, movies, books, etc. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to them. Side story: My sister posts inspirational quotes in random places in our house for when you just need a little lifting up. Not bad for the subconscious mind, no?

It was hard for me to pick what quotes to share for today's post but I decided to go with a few that everybody needs from time to time. I hope these lift you up and inspire you, friend.

Give you the push to get started........






And when you think you've failed....




Never give up because.........


And May the Fourth be with you. ;)


And as a bonus, just in case you need it, let this be your sign. *evil grin*




Disclaimer: None of the images in this post are mine. They belong to their rightful owners and makers. I have gathered them specifically for the purpose of this post.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Day 3: Things That Make Me Feel Uncomfortable

Today's post calls for "things that make you uncomfortable". I almost had to skip this one because I really don't know what to write about. I think I'm just a very awkward person and I find it hard to point out what it is that makes me feel uncomfortable. Haha



So for a long while today, I tried to think of situations where I would feel really, really awkward and uncomfortable and you know how sometimes when you think about something, emotions suddenly feel very vivid? Yea..I thought  of one thing. It came to me that the most uncomfortable I am is when I have to do small talk. I am one of the very few people I know who feel more comfortable addressing a group (like in public speaking, debate, performing or bossing people around  giving directions in groups) than having to talk to 1 or 2 people I hardly know. 


For example:

**Me in the school hallway working on bulletin boards when somebody, usually a parent I don't really know, turns the corner and we catch each other's eyes.*

Me: *smiles* Hey. 
Person: "Hi."
(I really want it to end here but they're still walking towards me. I can't just turn the other way so...)
Me: "How are you?"
Person: "I'm good, how are you?"
Me: "I'm well, how are you?"
......cue awkward silence........

Ack.

I usually then crack a stupid joke and make fun of myself and then it makes the situation better. But not really.

And oh, some words also make me feel uncomfortable. Like "snooze". It's such a strange word. I feel like I never spell it right and it just always looks wrong to me. Just look at it: snooze. Snooze. SNOOZE. SNOOZE. Right? Anybody else feel that? No? Just me?








Day 1: Here
Day 2: Here

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Day 2: I'm Gonna Tell You About Something I Know A Lot About

If you don't know why this is Day 2, read about it here.

================================
Day 2:  Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. 

Well, let me tell you this. I don't know much about a lot of stuff but I know the internet. That means I know Facebook. And do you know what I think it needs?



This button.

Now, hit the 'Like' Button if you agree. :)

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Day 1 of Blog Everyday In May. Day 1: Story of My Life and Outfit Post

A few days ago, I found through twitter this challenge about blogging everyday in May. If you've done any of the monthly photo challenges, this is just like that, except with blogging. You know me, I'm quick to jump into things like this. (You should also know that I'm doing FatMumSlim's Photo A Day Challenge again on my Instagram! Come join me!) 

Anyway, I really, really, really want to be more disciplined about blogging more regularly. As a start up blogger, it's hard for me to decide what to post. There's too many and at the same time too little things that I think I want to write about. Through this challenge, I hope to get myself out there more and be able to be confident in writing about different things and determine what I want this little space of mine to be.



Jenni from Story Of My Life came up with this idea and I thought I'd take on her challenge. She has different topics for everyday. This is great if you need blogging prompts. Check out the full list here. (Thanks for the challenge, Jenni!)



=============================

Day 1.  The story of your life in 250 words or less.

It's interesting how uninteresting I actually think my life is. I turned 26 yesterday. I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines and moved to Maryland, USA in 2007. I graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education and I've been working as a preschool teacher in a private school in Washington, DC. I have 3 siblings and we all live together with our parents in a tiny house. It's a Filipino thing. It definitely makes life interesting and I love it. My family means the world to me. I've also been together with my boyfriend, Aldene, for almost 3 years now. I like to believe in the good in people and I always try to tell myself that some days suck but in general, life is good. And oh, I have this blog and a youtube channel so I can meet people with the same interests and share my projects and thoughts about things - primarily in beauty, fashion, style and DIY. But since I'm interested in too many things, you'd probably find a little bit of everything on here and on my youtube. Cos that's just how I roll. 

=======================

I don't know how 250 words would look like but I'm pretty sure I made the cut. LOL

Do you wanna see what I wore today? Just clothes, no faces today cos I fail at taking my own pictures. :P

I need to get myself a camera remote.

cardigan: J.Crew; top: Charlotte Russe; jeans: Forever 21; sneakers: Aeropostale watch: Casio via Amazon*

I'll be back tomorrow!

#BlogEveryDayInMay