EricaOrange

A Start of Something New

2011-01-03T02:30:00.000+08:00

Well, this isn't High School Musical. This is my New Year post. I wasn't able to make a year-end post because my mind is all cluttered. My travel blog has been in hiatus for a long time and this personal blog has done no progress either. I've been thinking and I've been thinking a lot. Over thinking is a weakness of mine. I tend to think too much about too many. I guess I'm crazy.

I was silently struggling for the past year. I've been questioning a lot of things including the existence of God, who I am, and what the heck is wrong with me. I thought I was all good, I thought I was well grounded until I took Introductory Philosophy for the second time around more than a year ago. I had one of the most respected professors in the Philosophy department as my professor. She's known in the University for teaching Philosophy really really good and she would make you think; she would make you question. And I did. I still haven't found answers to my questions. I was really really close to believing that God does not exist. I guess there are no answers, that's why it's called faith. Logically, there may be no God. But why am I in tears? I don't know

Maybe there is after all? And I am crushed inside because I know deep down inside that I have hurt Him. I questioned. I doubted. Maybe if going to church was optional for me, I think I may have stopped attending a long time ago. Looking back, I can't believe this is actually happening to me. I was brought up in a Christian church. I was very active. I went to a Christian school for 11 years. My faith was so strong back then. I can't believe I am losing it know. And I don't like the feeling of it.

Last Christmas Eve I suddenly bursted into tears while the church choir was singing. I miss being a part of the choir. I guess I miss serving the God I used to believe in. But how can one go back when you have done something terribly wrong in the past and instead of having support around you, to help you get get up, you find yourself being like a cast away. You feel like the everyone and everything has turned it's back on you. And guess what, it freakin hurts.

It's been 3 years and I haven't really moved on. And it sucks big time. I haven't prayed since then. I refuse to pray. I don't like touching my Bible. I just want to let it be. I don't know.

I was in Powerbooks Greenbelt last September and I found myself in the spiritual/inspirational section of the bookstore. I knew I was losing faith and I needed something to help me. Maybe a book? I bought a book and a devotional. I haven't read the book till now and I just touched the devotional today. Technically, it's already January 3. To me, it's still January 2. So I am just 1 day late. So let me share what it says:

"God is the God of forgiveness and second chances. By admitting our areas of failure, and committing to turn from past wrongs, we are allowed a fresh start."

It's 2011. It's a new year. I guess this is the perfect time to start all over. So is there a God? Have faith.

This emo-ness is already long. I guess I should wrap it up.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that my major goal for 2011 is too start all over and build a new relationship with God. How and where to start? I dunno. I'll ask around.

Cheers to 2011!

Holidays Movie Marathon: Catching Up with 2010

2010-12-23T15:43:00.000+08:00

And because our trip to Baguio was cancelled, I guess I'll be just staying in the comforts our home for the rest of this term break. Initially, I really don't know how I would be spending it. If I only had the money, I'd hit the bookstore and buy lots of Fiction / Fantasy Books: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (6), The Spiderwick Chronicles (5), A Series of Unfortunate Events (13), The Lord of the Rings (3), and finally The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero. Wow, I guess that's a lot and would even cover my reading list for the entirety of the next trimester. But then again, that's only IF I had the money. So, what to do? what to do?

Thanks to Team Kaladkarin (my new found friends from the EK trip I just had) I know now what I would be doing till January 5 comes. So Robbie posted this question in our mini facebook group: What is your TOP 5 MOVIES FOR 2010? And the truth is, I could only answer two. Yes. That's Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon. Well, aside from the fact that our family isn't a beach or resort goer every summer; we are also non regular movie goers. There has to be a great reason why we're watching a movie. Either one of us is celebrating his or her birthday (How To Train Your Dragon), or the movie is just so great and excites us so much that my sister and I couldn't stop asking mom (Toy Story 3), OR the movie would give me an academic incentive (Wall Street). So what a better way to spend my term vacation by having a movie marathon and catch up with what happened in the movie scene of 2010.

First on my marathon list are the movies my Team Kaladkarin friends voted for:

Easy A

The Social Network

Despicable Me

Inception

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

And then I looked for a 2010 movie list to see what other titles might interest me, like movies I intended to watch but I never had the chance to cause I am so freakin busy in school or I am simply broke. LOL. So 7 more movies were added to my list:

Legend of the Guardians

Alice in Wonderland

The Last Airbender

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Theif

Going the Distance

Eat Pray Love

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

And another 6 as soon as good copies become available via the other way of getting movies. =P

Tangled

Megamind

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Tron: Legacy

Yogi Bear

Gulliver's Travels

How about you? How are you spending your holidays?

Choosy Yelly.

2010-11-30T17:45:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a holiday, and to my family, it was the perfect time to go and visit my lolo's grave. So as I was preparing Yelly early that morning...

Yelly: San tayo punta?
Me: Sa cemetery.
Yelly: Anu sakay natin? ----- Ayaw ko sakay sa bus mommy.
Me: Sige, maglakad ka :))
Yelly: Gusto ko taxi *and then puts a big grin in her face*

How can a 3 year old kid be so choosy with means of transportation and learn to prefer taxi over a bus? O.o

If I was the one who won the 741,176,323.20 lotto jackpot...

2010-11-29T23:54:00.000+08:00

If I was the one who won the 741,176,323.20 lotto jackpot...

1. I would pay Yelly's tution in full.
2. I will set aside money for Yelly's tuition till college considering all factors.
3. Send hubby back to school, no need for you to work now!
4. Buy hubby a good pair of eyeglasses
5. Buy hubby a nice, cool, durable backpack. Make that 2!
6. Pay debt.
7. Buy a nice condo unit in Makati. I can't wait to live in a place that is soooo conveniently located!!!
8. Buy a car.
9. Buy a family van.
10. Buy a pick-up.
We never had a car :)) I lived my entire life commuting to here and there.
11. Buy mom a nice 10 hectare farm in Tagaytay.
12. Build mom a nice vacation house in that farm.
13. Take mom to Silang and go plant shopping! :))
14. I'll take my bestfriends and my family to Bangkok and go shopping for lots of bags and clothes.
15. Go on a tour in Europe and spend months there!
16. Take mom and my sister to Japan.
17. Take hubby to Africa. Safari. Safari. Safari.
18. Take Yelly to every Disneyland on Earth.
19. Buy Yelly every kind of Barbie there is!
20. Buy DLSR
21. Take Professional Photography classes.
22. Take Baking classes
23. Build my own bakeshop empire.
24. Enroll Yelly in Ballet classes.
25. TOUR THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD with family and friends :) SOOOO FUN :3

Ok na ako. hahaha.

Getting it the hard way.

2010-11-29T23:24:00.001+08:00

This is a photo of me taken last October 24,2010. Fat, I know. I don't even look THAT fat in that photo cause the dress fits me good plus the cardigan does its job great.

And this is a photo of me taken back in 2004 or 2005, 2nd year highshool. I ain't thin back then. But I sure am slimmer compared to what I am now.

Dear, I am human and I am a lady. Of course I am not happy with my body now. Marunong ako mainsecure. I want to lose more than 40lbs and be able to fit in those pretty clothes. Sobrang arte ko! Ang dami kong gustong bilin at suotin. I want to be confident on how I look. Dagdag mo pa ang magaganda at payat kong bestfriends. Sinong hindi mababaliw sa pagpapapayat?

Sabi ng nanay ko, ningas kugon daw ako. Di ka pilipino pag di mo alam kung ano ang ningas kugon! hahaha. Magaling lang daw ako sa simula. Eh sino pa ba ang mas nakakakilala sakin ng pagkatagal-tagal kundi ang nanay ko. So siguro nga totoo? hahaha. Tamad din ako. Soooooobra.

Pero it definitely sounds wrong na pagpapapayat nalang katatamaran pa? at lalo namang kung ang pagpapapayat ay puro sa simula lang? Sobrang naaawa na ako sa sarili ko. Ito na ang pinakamatabang state ko sa buong buhay ko and I'm not getting any slimmer, pataba ako ng pataba.

One thing I don't do lately is to get myself new clothes. Sobrang ayoko talagang bumili ng mga bagong damit for I fear that I may like the way I look even though I am fat! Nooooooooo! Lalo akong mawawalan ng motivation pumayat kapag nangyari yun! T.T Kawawa naman ako. And for the record, I'm not overweight --- I am obese. @_@

Lahat na yata natry ko na. Slimming tea. Cosmo 5 day diet. Banana diet. Water therapy. Fitrum. Cosmo Body. Fit n' Right. Gym. Aero-Taebo. Bike. Jog. Fasting? Wala namang nangyayari!!!

Siguro kaya ako ningas kugon kasi maikli ang pasensya ko. Gusto ko may nakikita akong pagbabago. So pag feeling ko wala namang nangyayari, ayoko na. Haaay nako. Ang sabi nga ng nanay ko, "Hindi yan overnight!" Nga naman! hahaha. inip inip inip.

So ayan, eto ang latest losing weight drama ko. Nestle Fitnesse + Jillian Michaels. Why do I get this feeling that this is going to be effective? ;) Maybe because for the first time I'll be putting diet and work out together. I think I should've done that waaaay before.

Dear Nestle, please sponsor my diet. Kidding! Hahaha. Bought a box of Fitnesse and checked out the meal plan suggested:

Breakfast: a bowl of Fitnesse with low fat milk, fruit, a cup of coffee
Lunch: Balanced normal meal
Dinner: a bowl of Fitnesse with low fat milk, non fat yogurt

And because I am broke, I simply searched for the cheapest low fat milk in the grocery and grabbed the only non fat yogurt there. And upon checking out the counter, it was only then that I found out the everything in my basket was Nestle! Choose wellness, choose Nestle! ;)

So a box of Fitnesse is good for 6 servings. So what I did was I divided the contents into 6 separate ice bags just to make sure that I don't eat more than what I am supposed to.

And I couldn't believe that a serving of Fitnesse is only this small. I mean, seriously? Starting the day with only this little? After 2 hours, I'd be famished already!!

But oh my, mix it with milk and this whole grain cereal would immediately fill up your hungry tummy! Serious! I'm impressed. Eating this both for breakfast and dinner already cuts a lot of calories for me. I'm used to eating a lot every morning so that I have lots of energy to kick start the day. And I also end up eating a lot in the evening because of stress. So sticking to this food program has a huge effect already on my calorie intake.

And for the work out part...it's Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred!

It's super hardcore, it's killing me! My body hasn't adjusted yet. I feel like I'm gonna die whenever I work out. Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred is a 20 minute work out: 3 circuits of cardio, strength and abs. I suck in cardio. Super duper mega hingal! Feeling ko effective to, nakakamatay kasi ang feeling! hahaha.

Let's see. Tatagal kaya ako? ;) Gusto ko na pumayat at magshopping!!!

Yelly's got kulit logic!

2010-11-13T22:46:00.001+08:00

My 3 year old is such a brat! Napaka-damot ng bata na yun.

Everyday, Yelly's used to buying food from the school canteen before her class starts. She'll make me buy french fries, lollipop, orange juice or popcorn. Tapos pag-hihingi ako sa kanya or kukuha ako, sasabihin nya,

"Akin 'to eh!"

Syempre sasabihin ko,

"Eh ako bumili nyan eh!"

At wala na syang magagawa kundi bigyan ako. HAHAHAHA!

Just a couple of days ago, Yelly asked for popcorn.

"Mommy, gusto ko popcorn"

"Ok."

"Bigyan mo ako pera. Ako bili."

At wala akong kamalay-malay sa umaandar sa isipan ng batang to. Iniisip ko,

"Wow! Gusto na matuto maging independent."

Binigyan ko ng pera at sinamahan ko sa canteen. Eh sakto time na, so nilagay nalang namin sa lunch bag nya yung popcorn. Di na niya nakain yung popcorn niya, sa break nalang nya siguro.

Uwian. Sa service nya, nilabas nya ang popcorn nya. Di pa pala kinain. Pinabuksan sakin at binigay ko sa kanya. Kumuha ako.

"Ako bumili nito eh!"

WHAAAAAAAAAATT?! Kaya pala gusto niya siya ang bibili ng popcorn niya, para mawalan ako ng karapatan kumingi! HAHAHA napaka-adik XD Well, Sorry nalang siya. Sinagot ko,

"Eh pera ko yun eh!"

Bwahahahaha. At wala na siyang choice kundi bigyan ako. =P

Revamp.

2010-09-24T00:52:00.001+08:00

I have so much to share! My brain's being talkative lately ;) I shall bring this blog into life and put my day to day journeys and insights that are worth sharing and some things I just couldn't keep to myself. I've been thinking too much for tara-na.com and it boxed me cause it's a niche blog for food and travel. I couldn't just share stuff about random things in there all of a sudden! I would just be destroying it's purpose. So here, let's talk about random stuff here. I have no money now to buy a new domain and there's no hope mom's gonna get me one. So yeah, I guess I could get used to blogger after quite some time. I want to share a lot of things and I need another blog to keep and this is it. :) ericaorange.blogspot.com <3

What A Cute Sea Lion!

2010-06-07T23:18:00.000+08:00

I am indeed blessed with such sweet and caring friends. I can be really shy at times but I tell you, I can really be noisy and crazy with these people around me. One them is Reena, she used to be my blockmate when we were still in the College of Education. She's one of my very first friends here in DLSU. We both shifted out and we rarely see each other. I saw her today! The student organizations are having their annual recruitment week and we happened to be both active in our own professional organizations. It just so happened that our organizations' booths are merely across each other. I really miss her! Surprisingly, she gave me a present today for birthday last April. So sweet!!

CUUUUTE! She gave me this really unique and cute baby sea lion mug. <3 Reena always goes for the cute stuff! :)

Thanks dude!!

I hope Yelly won't break it :|

a 20 year old girl with a 3 year old baby

2010-05-31T12:34:00.000+08:00

Shocks!! Last night, I was covering Yelly's books with plastic cover. Everything is sinking in slowly. Today, I would be back to school. And my little girl would be going to school already in a couple of days. Shocks! Can I freeze time? I feel like I am not yet ready for this. I can't seem to let go of my little girl.

Anime Me!

2010-05-24T17:27:00.000+08:00

Check this out! This afternoon, my sister and I have been morphing people into manga characters! LOL! And this is me if I were an anime :) Pretty huh!

P.S.
I'm keeping the morphing site a secret! hahaha!

Running for Free Concert Tickets of the Then & Now Massive Music Festival 2010

2010-05-21T21:31:00.000+08:00

One of the most craziest and memorable times with hubby! I dragged him at the last minute to SM Mall of Asia to claim the free gold concert tickets for that night.

The Contest and The Free Tickets

FlairCandy.com and WhenInManila.com gave away 8 sets of 4 silver tickets for 4 weeks and a pair of VIP tickets. All you have to do to get a set of 4 silver tickets is to join the Facebook pages of the two sites plus the page of Massive Music Manila. Then you have to post on either blog page, tag all three pages and three of your friends that you intend to bring to the concert, and tell them why they should give you the tickets. It's that easy!! And for the pair of VIP tickets, you have to create a video blog instead of just posting on the Facebook wall.

The Attempt To Win

I tried my luck on the last 2 sets of 4 silver tickets. I posted on FlairCandy's wall and waited for a week to see who won. Unfortunately, I didn't win. Haha! But that's ok. ;)

One More Chance

Saturday morning - on the day of the concert itself, I found this on my Facebook feed:

YES!!!! Got more tickets for the concert TONIGHT!!!! Leave a comment on When In Manila with tags to FlairCandy and Mellow947 and let me know why I should give them to you. Also Tag your friend who you would bring! Will announce more winners at around 4pm.

Try Try Again

Wow! They got more tickets. More tickets = more winners. Could I be one of them? I won't lose anything if I try again, will I? So yeah, I tried my luck and tried to come up with the best reason why they should give me a pair of free tickets. Upon posting my entry, I saw another entry which I thought was so creative. He used the title of the songs of the artists performing that night in his entry. Thinking that they are only giving away just one more pair, I told myself that I was not really meant to get those tickets and just forget about it.

On With A Normal Day

I was no longer hoping that I would win. At around 2pm I went to church to attend our cell group meeting. We finished at around 4pm. After that I had to go to the Public Market to get Yelly's uniform. Then I learned that her blouse wasn't finished yet because the pockets weren't attached yet. The seamstress was waiting for me to give her the school patch, which I told her before that we would be the ones to attach it instead. So I had to wait for 30 minutes so that she could finish the pockets. At this point of time, I wanted to check my Facebook account. Yes, a part of me was still hoping to win. I got home at around quarter to 6. Opened my laptop, checked my Facebook account, checked the messages.

Surprise!!

DJ Vince was in my inbox!!! I won 2 gold tickets for the concert!!! Hooray!!!

The Twist

But wait, I had to be in SM Mall of Asia by 7pm SHARP to claim the tickets. This is because DJ Vince and Hannah would be doing interviews with the artists. Oh no! MOA?? by 7pm? What time is it??! I have no money! I haven't told mom yet! This is so unplanned! What was I to do?? And yeah, DJ Vince said that they would not wait for anyone. Waaaaaaaa!

Begging Mom

Of course, the first step is to obtain mom's permission. I was like,

Ma, sorry. This is so sudden! Pero kasi, I won free gold tickets for a concert tonight! Can I please go? Please? Super sayang 'tong opportunity na to. Minsan lang naman to eh. Sayang yung tickets, gold din yun!

Thank goodness she let me watch the concert! *hihi* And then I went,

Ma, pwede humingi ng pera? Wala akong pera eh.

Seriously! My wallet was empty. No school = no allowance. No sideline. Buti nalang ang bait ni mama nun.

Dragging Hubby

I called hubby's home but he was not there, so I just texted him instead. I told him that I won the gold tickets. And we need to go to MOA ASAP. As in NOW NA!! Waaaaa because we have to claim the tickets by 7. Of course he was kinda pissed off because I made him hurry so much!

LowBatt

My cellphone's battery is getting low! I was not able to charge it anymore. My phone died even before I was able to meet hubby. Oh no! How am I supposed to text or call DJ Vince?

Running at the Highway

I live far from the Highway. It's already 6:30 when hubby and I met. Waaaa! So I almost run across the highway without even thinking! Geez. I wanted to catch the first bus that we saw. Thank goodness we made it.

Awful Traffic in Cavite

People from the south sure knows how heavy the traffic could get here in Cavite. And unfortantely we were caught in heavy traffic as we were nearing Coastal Road. Argh!!

An Attempt to Contact DJ Vince

And there's no way I could text DJ Vince to let him know that we are on our way. My battery is dead. And his number was in my phone memory. So inserting my sim card in hubby's phone won't work. I texted mom using hubby's and asked her to open my Facebook account to get DJ Vince's number in my inbox. Errrrrr. Unfortunately, mom replied and told us that we had no internet connection at that time. Rawr!!

My Phone Opened For A While

My phone usually opens for a while after some time. I tried and it did! I was able to forward DJ Vince's business card to hubby and also text him to let him know that we are coming and we're near MOA already. I know he said that they won't wait for anyone. And I understand that they would be interviewing the artists. I'm just taking chances. Anyway, hubby told me not to expect anything so that I won't get disappointed. And that I should be open to the possibility that we might not be able to claim the tickets.

Missed the Cab

Arriving at Baclaran, we just missed the yellow cab. Argh! It's already full. So we had to ride the next one and wait till that one's full. Boohoo.

Run!!

We arrived at 7:30. We were 30 minutes late. Argh!! We had to meet them at Krispy Kreme Store. So, Run!!!

They're Not Here

As we approached Krispy Kreme, I started to check everyone around - outside and inside the store. Hubby asked me if I knew who I was looking for and I told him that I already saw them at iBlog6 so I won't have a hard time recognizing them. They were not in the store. Sad.

There They Are!!!

As we were about to leave, I saw someone with a laptop in the store across Krispy Kreme. It's DJ Vince!! Woohooo!!

And that's the story of the two free gold tickets for the Then & Now Massive Music Festival 2010! :) Haha!

I just got my gold trophy! Weee!

2010-05-18T16:16:00.001+08:00

What an achivement! LOL!

Oh my gosh!! I feel so happy right now. I can't believe that I finally earned my gold trophy for Plants Vs. Zombies!! Wahahaha :D

Oh well, maybe you have earned yours long before. And maybe your longest streak for Survival: Endless is 100++ but that's okay. :P I'm not really addicted to the game. I just play Plants Vs. Zombies whenever there's something wrong with our DSL and there's no internet connection here at home, like now! Hahaha! And you're wondering how am I blogging? Notepad! LOL! I wanna write about my trophy while it's still hot! LOL!

Okay, so I admit I got addicted at first. Who didn't? Haha! I was really determined to finish Adventure for the first time. The Zombies ate my brains only at the 3rd to the last level, without cheating. Honest! And then after I got my silver trophy, I played very seldom. And it's only now that I get finish playing everything and finally earned my gold trophy!! Yipee! Finally, all of my hard thought strategies has finally paid off.

Now, that gives me an idea! What if I make a compilation of the strategies I personally thought of and used in the game and then share to other people? Hmmm, but who would be interested? I bet everyone's already done with this part of the game, except for my sister! Haha! And now everyone's just competing with the longest streak at Survival: Endless. Hmmm. Oh well, let me know if you need some tips. I'll gladly share them with you. :)

Uninspired, No more creative juice flowing

2010-04-26T12:38:00.000+08:00

Rawr. I want a new layout for this blog. But for some reason, I couldn't make the orange layout. I feel so uninspired. It's usually easy for me to conceptualize layouts and make them. But this time it's different. It's taking me weeks to come up with the orange layout that's perfect for this blog. I want it now, but I can't. What's with orange? Is it Villar? LOL!! Kidding! Huhuhu. I hope before this week ends I could get my new orange layout. Sigh.

Mataas ang Pangarap

2010-04-25T19:33:00.000+08:00

LOL!! Natatawa ako sa sarili ko hahaha. Ang taas ng pangarap ko para dun sa main blog ko. Nangangarap kagad ako na magkaron ng PR, kahit PR 1 man lang. Wala namang masama dun di ba? Ang pangit kasi ng PR 0, baka kasi isipin ng iba na banned ng Google yung website ko. Kaya maya't-maya ang check ko dun sa PR ng blog ko gamit ang iba-ibang PR checker. Tapos kanina may PR checker ako na nagamit, pati yung age ng domain ko chineck. Natawa ako. 27 days pa nga lang pala yung domain ko! hahaha, 2 months na yung blog ko. Pero kasi yung 1st month nun nasa i.ph. Natauhan ako bigla hahaha. 27 days pa nga lang pala ako, naghahanap na ako ng PR hahaha.

Sending my Yelly to school...

2010-04-16T23:49:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, Yel and I went to her school for enrollment. And it was only yesterday that I realized and it finally came to my senses how hard it is for a parent to send his or her kid/s to school. I wonder how my hubby feels, since he is the one working for Yelly's tuition. I wonder how my mom feels...

I was with my sister last Monday. We went to UST for her reservation and of course I learned how much her tuition is for her first semester. It was only last Monday night when I saw my mom's face looked the way it was. She was looking at my sister's schedule of fees. Next school year is going to be a tough one and we could feel it as early as now. No more unnecessary expenses. Next school year, there will be two college students for the first time. Next school year, there will be three students for the first time. Two college students would be joined by a pre-school student. College education is expensive, and so is pre-school education especially for nursery.

I couldn't help myself. I just suddenly burst into tears when we were about to eat our dinner that night. I felt pressured. Tuesday would be my first day of finals - cost accounting, first in line. I felt the need to do good with my exams. I just have to! I'm not in just some university - my mom spends a lot for my La Sallian Education. And I couldn't help but feel guilty of my 6 units of failure. That's already 12 thousand pesos. 12 thousand pesos was lost because of algebra and philosophy. And why am I blaming the subjects for the loss? Shouldn't I be blaming myself instead? Now, I felt how irresponsible I was. I couldn't afford another failure anymore.

I have no one to blame but myself. Surely, I could say that I didn't learn good studying habits from my past school. I get to be first honor always with minimal effort. And with no effort at all, I still manage to belong to the top 5 of our batch. But it's my fault that I was contented with what I was having. It' my fault that I let myself be happy go lucky. It's my fault that I settled with such attitude, and now I am paying the price. I'm no excellent student inside the university.

Adding to the guilt is my Yelly's tuition fee. I told hubby that I don't want my mom to feel any expense related to Yel's schooling. Yel isn't my mom's responsibility. But what can we do? Our savings wasn't enough. We had to borrow money from my mom to pay for Yelly's tuition for the mean time. We borrowed so much already, but still it was just enough for Yelly's tuition. We haven't bought her uniform yet, her school shoes, her books, her materials and other stuff she needs for school.

I don't want to ask more from mom because in 2 weeks it'll be my sister's enrollment. And then next month, it'll be my enrollment. I hope hubby's salary just before the school year starts would be enough to cover the things we still need to get for Yelly. And when school starts, we need to pay for our fare everyday and Yel needs baon. How is hubby's salary going to be enough to cover all of those when our priority is to pay back Yelly's tuition fee? I am going crazy! I just want the best for her.

My calling cards for iBlog6 are ready!

2010-04-16T21:55:00.000+08:00

*hohohoho* I told you so! I am the best crammer in the world! Yesterday I still have no calling card for tomorrow's blogging event, not even a decent layout. And today, just before sunset, I had them in my hands already!!! *clapclapclap* Of course I am not going to iBlog6 unarmed. ;)

When I woke this morning, I opened my laptop immediately to finish the calling card layout that I started 2 weeks ago. But it was hopeless, I'm not in the mood to play with photoshop and my creative juices aren't flowing. So I opted to use calling card templates instead. Thank goodness I found airopia.org and I got myself an orange template that I could use! Hoorah! And after editing it a bit, there I have it, my very own calling card in softcopy!

I know a lot of stalls in Divi Mall print calling cards, but I know that it's really crazy to go all the way to Divisoria from Cavite just to have a box of calling cards printed. So after lunch, I searched for a shop in our town that could print my calling cards. Sadly, I found none. :( Well not really, I actually found two. The first shop that I found that prints calling cards couldn't produce my cards today because the one incharge in making them is in Mindanao! While the second shop is too costly. So therefore I have no choice but to go and rush to Divisoria because I don't know where else I could have it done!!

At quarter to 3, I was already in a bus bound to Manila. At 4, I was already in Manila. At quarter to 5, my calling cards are already ready to be printed out. And at 5:15, my calling cards were already right in front of me!! Yehey!!!! And by 7pm, I was already home. :) *hihi*

I do hope that I would have a great day tomorrow and meet lots of new friends. :) See yah at iBlog6!

The term has finally come to an end!

2010-04-15T23:55:00.000+08:00

At last! And so I thought that the term would never come to an end. LOL, kidding! Well, I know for a fact that the 3rd term is the longest term of all; the one that you'd have to endure forever! *insert prof's evil laugh here* After all those hardships, finally, the summer vacation is here! hooray! And so is it summer vacation already? Of course!! But I'm afraid that I couldn't relax yet. My mind is still stressed out thinking about my grades, which I am still one week away from knowing. So therefore my mind would still be stressed out for a week because of my hanging grades. Oh how I really wish that I would have no failures. Oh puhlease!!!

And while my mind is stressed out over my precious grades, I shall be attending iBlog6: the 6th Philippine Blogging Summit on Saturday, April 17, 2010 on UP Diliman! So at last, I could finally see how UP looks like. *grins* This would be my first blogging event, so I am really excited! Which reminds me that I should come up with my calling cards ASAP if I don't want to miss a lot of networking opportunities. ;) I am looking forward to meeting lots of bloggers and as well as making new friends from the blogosphere. This would be the event that would mark the start of my summer vacation, so this experience better be good. ;) Now, how do I make that calling card? hmmmm....

The Orange was sick :(

2010-04-14T07:46:00.000+08:00

Yeah. I got sick just this past weekend. I had flu. *boohoo* I got sick the weekend just before my final examinations!!! just grrrrrreat! So in other words, I really had a very unproductive weekend. I wasn't able to review for my finals. I know, I know. I am the best crammer in the world! But you know, you couldn't cram reading 9 chapters of an economics book, right? And you you couldn't cram worksheets for cost accounting, right? But I sure could cram memorizing those formulas for business math later! So yeah, busmath later. My final final examination for this term!! Hooray!!! And so after that, I have to catch up with my blog posts, there's so much in queue already. I really apologize for that. I'm like half a month delayed already. o.O *boohoo* Oh well, I just have to write and post this before studying so that I could clear up my mind a little. See yah tomorrow on my next post at tara-na.com :)

The School Year has officially ended...for them and not for me!

2010-04-05T21:49:00.000+08:00

*Sigh* 2 more weeks of school for me. My sister just graduated from Highschool last March 28. Highschool has officially ended for her. And just this morning, she had her report card already! As for me, I still have 2 more weeks to go. This week is officially the hell week. That point in time when students cram for their class requirements just before finals week. *Sigh*

And to top it off, I could really feel that the school year has officially ended for most schools and universities. Buses bound to Manila from Cavite normally reaches Lawton. But now, they don't anymore; turn at Vito Cruz! Which is beneficial to me because it so near DLSU already. And the buses are not crowded anymore. On the other hand, I am fully aware that there are no more students at Taft, except for us! And oh, before I forgot to mention...there are no more student rates anymore!! - from 22 to 28 pesos *huhuhu*

Hooray! AVP Practicum next school year!

2010-04-05T10:07:00.000+08:00

Hooray! What a way to start the week :) Weeee! After a year of being a young officer and patiently manning our booth every term, I'm finally an official officer of our organization :) AVP Practicum next year! Woohooo! Congrats to the other incoming officers of Young Entrepreneurs' Society - DLSU for SY 10-11! Let's work together for the success of our organization :)

History and Kasaysayan.

2010-04-04T15:24:00.000+08:00

the post that got me my Google Adsense account

each and everyone of has our own history or kasaysayan (filipino translation).
before, these two words are just plain words to me. but now, they make me smile.

let me start with my KASPIL1 class during the 2nd term of last academic year.
Mr. Chua, my professor, introduced this subject by defining the word kasaysayan.
from the word kasaysayan we could derive two words, saysay and salaysay.
saysay means value, worth and importance and salaysay means story.
kasaysayan is a story that has value, worth and importance.

during the third term, i took up HUMAART (humanities and the arts).
and at some point of discussion, our professor, Mr. Espiritu, taught us that by splitting words we could actually know their meanings.
for example, the word understand could be split as under / stand, to understand means that one should "stand under" the tree of knowledge.
another is the word impress which could be split as im / press, to impress is to "press in" a person to leave a mark.
as for history, it could be split as his / story, a history is a story of our own, a personal story.

combining kasaysayan and history gives us a personal story that has value, worth and importance.

we all have our past --- our own history, our own kasaysayan. we all have a personalstory that has value, worth and importance, whatever that past may be.

there are a lot of people that i know who are trying to run away from their past, a past that continues to haunt them, or simply a bad experience that continues to interfere with their present lives. i believe that everything has a reason. the experiences that we encounter as we face life molds us, whether it may be good or bad. the obstacles that we overcome helps us to become a better and stronger person. Even though we get tripped sometimes, there will always be a lesson that is waiting to be learned. Mia, a close friend of mine, told me that if we get tripped we must learn the lesson that it wants to teach us, If we don't learn the lesson from it, it will continue to repeat, creating a pattern in our lives and we will not be be able to be freed from it and move on, so we must learn.

Joseph the dreamer was sold by his brothers but he ended up saving nations from the famine. God can use use our lives too to serve as a blessing to other people's lives even in the simplest way and simple things can help make big things happen. it is all in the attitude on how we would be facing life.

so again, we all have our past --- our own history, our own kasaysayan. we all have apersonal story that has value, worth and importance, whatever that past may be.

How I got my Google Adsense Account :)

2010-04-04T12:50:00.000+08:00

It was in May 2009 when I created my first blog on Blogger. I just waned to have an online journal where I could share my thoughts and learnings from everyday life. I wasn't really aware at that time that people could actually earn from blogs by displaying ads from companies like Google.

When I was setting up my blog for the first time, I noticed the last tab - monetize. I was curious, so I clicked it. What I only understood is that Google would be placing ads on my blog and I could earn from that. And so I signed up.

I published my first entry. And then I got busy cause of school - you see, I'm a frosh at that time. And that's the end of that blog I made.

I thought Google didn't approved my account because no ads showed up at my blog. And maybe the reason is that my blog didn't have enough content - I only have one post. Oh well, that's ok. It's not a big deal after all (at that time).

March 2010, I became interested in blogging again. As I do my research about blogging, I learned its income potentials. Google Adsense sounds like a good opportunity. I knew that I had to wait for atleast 6 months before I sign up for Google Adsense so that the chances of getting an account is higher.

And then I found Marhgil's post entitled - A sure way to get a Google Adsense Account! It requires you to make an english blog on Blogger and make your first post of at least 200 words. Then you use that blog to apply for your Adsense account. And in 24-48 hours you'll get your account approval. Marghil said that he hasn't heard of anyone getting denied on Adsense using this approach.

And so I remembered what I did a year ago. That's exactly what I did! And so I thought, now you are going to hear about that someone who got denied using that approach!

I checked my blog, no ads. I logged in and checked the monetize tab.....and there it is - my approved Google Adsense account! Wahahahahahahaha! I didn't know I was suppose to install the ad codes for the ads to show up! LOL! Amazing! Now I don't have to wait for 6 months just to get that Google Adsense Account - cause I already have one!

my first cent from google adsense

2010-04-04T00:33:00.000+08:00

March 29, 2010 - I bought my own domain and a web hosting plan for the first time

I wanted to create a personal travel blog and I intend to keep it running for years. I got my own domain to increase my motivation. On the side, I was also thinking of long term plans - like monetizing it. And I am aware that if want to monetize it, having my own domain is an advantage and is better in the long run.

March 30, 2010 - I was so excited! I immediately made my opening post and I finished my blog layout that day. I want it to be as pleasing to the eyes as possible. I have an eye for layout design. I want to learn web development and design someday.

March 31, 2010 - I began importing posts from my old travel blog, which was just 1 month old.

April 1, 2010 - I suddenly remembered that I applied for Google Adsense a year ago. And to my surprise, the account was approved.

April 2, 2020 - I started installing Google Ads on my blog. I know my blog doesn't have enough traffic yet. I only have 10 unique visitors. But I believe that there's nothing wrong in taking chances. An opportunity could be missed if I would still be waiting for 6 months before I use Google Adsense. I believe that $1.00 in 6 months is better than $0.00 in 6 months.

April 3, 2010 - I have earned my first cent from Google :) I know it's nothing compared to how much probloggers are earning. But I believe that it's a good start. Anyway, $0.01 is still better than $0.00 right? :)