Chris Chronicles 1st Blogversary Giveaway

I was browsing several blogs in Bloggers Exchange when I bumped into Chris Chronicles and found out that she is having her 1st Blogversary Giveaway. I have really not been very active in this site because I have created a new blog The Non-Workaholic (the one I used to join  Bloggers Exchange), which has been created on the first day of the year and is barely three months old, so I used Heartbeat instead, to join the contest.

In my past experiences in contests or games that are usually drawn randomly, I consider myself the unlucky one. I never get to run onstage to claim a prize nor be notified for being randomly chosen as an entry winner. But despite those experiences, I did not deprive myself of still joining numerous contests, draws and the like. I don't let my chances be taken for granted, like what I am doing right now. So, if ever I would be picked this time (my fingers and legs are crossed for this), I would use the prize to give my sister a vacation treat since she's been doing great in school. My salary is not yet enough to grant her wish to have a great summer escapade, so if ever I win this thing, it all goes to her.

Again, happy first blogversary to Chris! More power and God bless.

Ms. Chris would also like to thank the following for being the generous sponsors:

Pinay Mommy Online , Proud Mommy of Three , The Domain Angel , Life’s Digital Moments , Eat, Drink, Blog , Caffeinated Muse , Reviewer’s Haven , Janet Speaks , The Travel Diva , Sketches, Yam’s Files , Mum Writes Again , Travels and Musings , Viva Pinay , Small Kids Big Dreams , Azumi ★ Kawaii Princess’ Story , Fab ♥ Momma , Kawaii Princess , Samut-Sari , Joys in Life , Paula’s Place , WAHM sa Pinas , Pop Ups of My Mind , Nursing Uniforms , Kero’s Celebration , blankpixels – The Geek Side , Certified Foodies , jared’s little corner of the world… , Travels and Explorations , Designer’s Depot , Work at Home Dad, Noobfoodie , The Smart Shopper , Living Life to the Fullest! , Happy Home Working , Life of a Filipina Blogger , Wahmaholic Designs, The Miscellaneous Me, Family and Home Living

Hello Love Month

photo source

This love month, all I wanna do is just talk about love, anything related to it or anything that I would relate to it. I call the shots here, thus I can post whatever I want. Hah!

What is love? It's the question frequently asked in slum books or autographs. Girls oftentimes giggle whenever they write an answer for this question. Maybe except for me. For when I first encountered that very same question way back grade school, I came up to my Dad to ask for a very witty-sounding answer to impress my friends.

I could only vaguely recall our conversation (in our own dialect of course, I'll just have to translate it to English):

Me: Pa, what is love?

Papa: *sings Love is the Greatest Gift of All*

Me: Pa! Not a song. Something very nice or unique, so that I will not have a duplicate answer with my friends (I was thinking of being different from theirs).

Papa: Love is a many splendor. Love is kind. Love conquers all. Love is..

Me: Okay, okay. I'll take the first one. Thanks!

I did not know what that meant but I chose it because it sounded good. So silly of me. But when my friends came to ask me what that meant, I was not able to give a good answer. I never really knew anything about it until I bumped into it when I was in high school and found out that it was also a song! My goodness, I was deceived by the sound of it and my Dad. But nevertheless, I looked up the lyrics and I understood what it meant. Somehow. Or not. Hahaha!

But there's one thing I learned about love. It is more important than life. I can say that one's life is worthless if you have not experienced to love and be loved.

The New Year's Resolutions

I was supposed to share the list of my resolutions as my first blog in this newly created site of mine as to welcome the New Year. I have even prepared a list already. But since something came up, there had been some changes. Nevertheless, I can still post my list. So here it goes.

The Achievable Ones:

1. Lessen caffeine intake. I may be considered a caffeine addict but I know, deep in my heart, I would be able to control myself. *fingers crossed*
2. Decrease alcohol intake. I don't wanna deprive myself from alcohol. A little is okay, but too much is a NO-NO. I've already had a fair share of my drunken moments. I don't wanna end up having an inflamed liver.
3. Quit smoking. I'm not a smoker. I just tried ages ago that I barely remember. Actually, I just started smoking in public on the last quarter of 2010. And I wanna end it before it gets worse. I don't wanna die early due to a lung problem, not to mention that I already have asthma.
4. Save MORE, spend LESS. I just wish myself luck on this. Haha! But well, maybe after what happened to me on the first day of the year (you can read about it here), I would be able to fulfill my goal perhaps.
5. Minimize partying. But that doesn't mean I should kill my social life. I can still find other ways to have fun aside from partying. To fully support resolution numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, I have to refrain myself from going out more often.
6. Be an early bird. Or maybe just TRY HARD not to be late. Me, my cousin and my friend will be moving together soon somewhere in Makati which is way nearer to my workplace compared to Cainta (where I am presently staying). So, if luck's on me, I bet I won't be having red marks on my time card. Hah!
7. Eat healthy foods. And that would mean incorporating fruits and veggies in my diet.
8. Exercise. I am no athlete, but I love jogging in the mornings and going swimming during the weekends. I hope would be able to engage myself to various exercises.
9. Learn how to cook real viand. I am really proud that I was able to cook Hawaiian Chicken. I only learned to do that when I was working already! And I got inspired to learn more!
10. Be more responsible. Don't tend to forget things ('coz I always do that). Get everything done once started. Double check every little detail of whatever it is. Bahala na maging OC.

The Seemingly-Unachievable-But-Not-So-Impossible Ones:

1. Gain 20-30 lbs within 6 months. I really am desperate to gain weight. How am I supposed to do that? Take weed tetrahydrocannabinol? LOL
2. Sleep at least 7-8 hours every night. We'll see about that!
3. Minimize internet surfing. Hmmm. I am already cutting down on partying, I cannot seem to risk another social activity. But, I'll try.
4. Stop being such a blabbermouth. Oopsie. I can't stand NOT talking. Hehe.
5. Grow up. I am still enjoying the peak of my youth. I don't want it to end just yet.

So, these are my list. I'll be blogging about my progress every first day of the month. See you around!

genies

"Your wish is my command." Sounds familiar?

Genies! --Do you believe in them?

I do! Because I can see them in my parents!

Believe it or not, parents are genies!

You don't know it, but what you want is what you get..

..because of them.

They grant wishes..even when you just think about it.

Save Yourself from the Past

I was browsing through my old scrapbook when I found a page full of pictures from my childhood captioned, “Save yourself from the past”. I didn’t know where I cut out that particular phrase, but I was struck by the phrase itself and began to ask myself, “Why did I use that anyway?”

The past is full of memories—both good and bad. And no matter how we try bring back or rekindle some old flames, it simply isn’t done—because past is past. But, is it really?

When I was in high school, a friend of mine wrote an article entitled, “Is past really past?” As I remembered, she was trying to point out that past really is past. We cannot do nothing with it but just reminisce and cherish the memories kept. And I agree with her with all my might, not because she is my friend, but because I believe what she said. It’s just that, there are some people who don’t seem to understand. They keep on bringing up issues that have long been forgotten and buried in the past. They’re prolly not thinking that the ones who are involved in the issue are getting uncomfortable even just talking about it. But then, those people who usually initiate the “bringing-up” are most likely to be those persons who are dear to your heart—your friends or even your family. Why is that? It is me now who can’t quite comprehend.

Yet again, I just wanna express that I am truly a future-oriented person. I always look forward. But that doesn’t mean that I am forgetting where I came from. It’s just that you don’t have to linger in the past when what matters is the present and the future. I may sound someone who is annoyed being pushed in an unwanted issue. Well I admit, I really am. That’s why I came to make this blog. I wanted the world wide web to know that I do not like being involved in some issues that are supposed to be kept in your memory chest.

amidst the wilderness..

It's been a tough week. And it seems like it gets worse as days pass by. Exam week is over, 1st sem has come to an end, but why don't I feel like celebrating? I can't even give a sigh of relief.

Finals exams started on October 13, Tuesday, and ended on the 16th, a Friday. Students should be going home by the 17th, that's a Saturday, but I presume only a few were able to grab the opportunity of going home and feel the luxury of their beds. As a graduating student (hopefully), we don't really expect to have a long semester break. We know that we have obligations and responsibilities to get done with which we can only do so during the sem break. We didn't have to complain anymore, because we are more than ready as you know. But despite all the preparations we had, there are still slip-ups.

The gravest of all that happened to me--us--is that when we lost our data in our thesis bio assay, which means we could not continue to our data analysis which is supposed to be passed a week after final exams. We all then felt so empty right after we couldn't find that journal (which contains our data) anymore. We've looked in so many places, we even met an accident (but not that serious though). We felt a bit hopeless when everything ahead of us seemed to blur. I can no longer describe how I felt exactly. I am a very positive person in nature, but i dunno where those negative vibes came from that kept on penetrating me. But then at last, optimism won victoriously over pessimism and hopelessness. We finally found hope. We may not be able to get our journal back, we can still have our grades--and that is to start back from the beginning, as in repeat everything in our bio assay starting from the preparation of extract, up to the pharmacological determination. There is still a little something in us that kept us going.

Amidst all these that happened to me, I am very grateful that I am still able to behave the way I should be--not totally getting deeply affected by problems, facing every circumstance with no fear and entrusting every little thing to the Father above.

I am also thankful that a lot of people has been very helpful and understanding of what we're going through. First, our parents of course, then our beloved adviser, our beloved teachers (though some don't handle a subject with us anymore), the stockroom personnel and student assistants, our dear Statistician, our classmates and friends, the USA security, the PACUBAS, Iloilo Sports Complex security, Iloilo Sports Complex care takers and canteen vendors, and a lot more people ( I may not able to mention everyone, but deep in my heart, God knows how thankful I really am).

the commercial shoot

Hey hey hey! Before you conclude anything, kindly continue reading my blog. I'm no actress, not even a model. It's just that in our Phar.Ad. subject, we were required to make a TVC, and so we became instant celebrity in our own little way. And I, was very much glad and willing to have become the director-slash-camerawoman-slash-co'actor-slash-script'writer-in-one of the whole shoot (i don't mean to brag and all,but you can ask my groupmates for confirmation *wink*).

It was a cloudy Wednesday, October 7, when we decided to shoot (when actually the assignment was given to us the past week and the deadline is on October 8, we barely have 24 hours left to finish EVERYTHING--shoot, edit, and final touches!). It was around lunch time when we started to shoot our second scene at the Pharmacy Lab for our "Biotech Laboratory" set up. We took us more or less 50 takes to get the scene right. When it's not the one who acts that makes a slip up, it could be the cameraman, or the one who holds the script written in the manila paper which serves as kodigo. Although we were all tired and hungry, we still decided to pursue going to sports complex to shoot all the remaining scenes to complete our commercial. After having lunch, we then headed to the covered gym of Iloilo Sports Complex to rent a badminton court for our scenes 1, 4 and 5 set up. It only took us a few takes because the whole scenes just came natural (chos lang!). Then after playing a few rounds (not anymore included in the shoot, we went to the oval to have our 3rd scene taken there and help the other group (April, Rosette, Cha2, Hannah) in their shoot who was already there waiting for us. And so, after a quite while, we're done with the shoot. Time to help others with theirs.

Besides the TVC assigned to us, we were also required to pass a radio/audio commercial and a print ad. It took us a while to have our audio done because it rained hard, and the raindrops are heard in our audio if we continue recording. So, we paused for a while and watched some guys who played soccer under the rain.

It was that day that I realized lucky I am to be a part of a group who does not complain and does her/his share wihout being told. I saw sense of responsibility and concern to each of our members. We weren't just doing the shoot for ourselves but for the team. We did not just do it for complying to what were required, we also enjoyed and had fun. I'm glad that despite all the hassle, all had gone smoothly. We were able to present our trimedia the next day with no delday at all! Kudos to all my team mates!

Pictures are available at Multiply and the videos at Youtube! Enjoy!