If You're Wondering...

Hi, everyone!

I know I haven't been posting much lately. But I assure you, I am still alive! Maybe just a little bit busier until the next few months, but still alive! I just realized that my blogger posts required more time to arrange and write, so I have not really set aside special time just for this site yet. However, please stay with me. I have a pending post and a short story related to it to be uploaded soon. For the mean time, we could still keep in touch in between posts! If you have a Tumblr account (or an internet connection), you could go check out my personal/semi-photo blog, Bucket of Smiles. I only created the blog a few weeks ago for no reason, then eventually, turned it into a semi-photo blog. In here would be photographs I have taken, and a glimpse into my personal life. More like a real blog blog, if I'm allowed to say it. And if you're wondering, the reason why I chose Tumblr, was because of its convenience. I also do not have to write especially long articles, so I seem more alive there.

But I promise I would still be active here, posting regularly. But most likely not as often as I did last year. I am, God-willing, graduating this end of the school year, thus my schedule would be much crazier.

I would be definitely honored if you follow my Tumblr blog, too! And maybe I could follow you back if you have a Tumblr account. That would be awesome.

Thank you so much for sticking with me. I love you with the love of the Lord. :)

You could also click on the screenshot of my Tumblr blog and be directed there!

Before I Turn Nineteen

This is my last night as an eighteen-year-old! Hurray! Toss the confetti and strike the gongs! Haha.

I was thinking of something fun to do while waiting for midnight (which had been a romanticized tradition), so there we were with my sisters, sprawled on their bed, having our own session of photo shoot. Being too tired to set up a DSLR camera in the room, we decided to use our mom's iPad instead. It was, after all, just a fun shoot to kill the time. So brace yourselves for a ton of photos of me and my sisters I'd shamelessly display on this blog. These are unedited, by the way. I'm catching up with the time, you see; it's almost midnight.

This is my pretty sister, Kaye. She's four years younger than I am, so that makes her 14, turning 15. I did her make up, but unfortunately we didn't manage to take a decent photo. In fact, I'm posting a lot of selfies here as they were the only ones that seem to work. Haha. This is what you get when you compromise on camera quality. But hello, it was almost midnight anyway.

And this is my other pretty sister, Anne. She just turned 11 a week ago. Despite her fascination for games for the guys, she was more thrilled than any of us when she knew I was going to put make up on her.

And this is me. I know, these are just selfies. But I couldn't do anything with the horrible lighting. Haha. Maybe soon, I'd have a more formal shoot with these girls. Actually, I was supposed to have a pre-birthday shoot a while ago, but my dad was too busy with a documentary film he's working on. And it was raining hard. So this happened.

This had been fun, but I really have to wash my face now. I still have a ton of make up on, and after having denied makeup since a couple of months ago, my face seems to have forgotten now how it feels like on my skin. Plus my eyes are getting dry as I still have my contacts on. Besides, it is almost midnight. The Lord and I still have a date, so...good night, loves! See you when I've turned 19! :))

P.S. I'm supposed to write something deeper tonight. And I shall, but only after the talk I'd be having with the Lord in a few. I know I used to be emotional at nights like this. And I will be...again. But not until I get this posted. There is a time for everything. :)

Letters to Juliet (Part 1)

Last semester, the different departments of our college had set up booths along the hallway for our CASS days. This is basically just a week our college [College of Arts and Social Sciences] celebrates. There are sports, cultural and literary contests that the seven different departments in the college join in - a traditional way the students in our Institute practice special weeks like this. The booth display had only been a part of all the fun, but that's what I'm going to talk about today.


Spearheaded by our Org mayor, the English department decided to construct a classic booth that best represents our program. I do not know if everybody is aware of this, but most English majors are hopeless romantics. Now that's an understatement. You skim through a handful of my co-majors' blogs and all you'd probably find is poetry and pieces that tell of how desperate they are to attain the ideal world they had always believed in (myself, included). In unintelligible noises of agreement, the officers decided that along with a riser we could all display our books on, a portion of the booth's wall would be dedicated to students' letters they could send to us. We called the wall "Letters to Juliet" after the movie.


I had become a secretary of Juliet then. I answered the letters, but deep inside I knew I was a Juliet - the one they were writing to. And because we promised the senders a response, I shall post their letters and my responses here. Too bad, the responses had not been posted at the booth last semester as we didn't have time left and the booth had to be closed. Still, a promise is a promise, so here you go.

Dear Juliet, 

Please tell me what right do you have to answer our questions. You also have your own story. TELL US. :) 

-ME :)

Dear ME,

People ask me. Why wouldn't I answer your questions if they are, after all, questions?

And yes, dear, my story is already out, thanks to Shakespeare. He has already done the storytelling. Read it! :)

With love,
Juliet

Dear Juliet, 

What if the person you love does not love you?  

-GIL

Dearest Gil,

You continue loving anyway.

XOXO,
Juliet

Dearest Juliet, 

Forever. 

<3 :)

To the moon and back.

-Juliet <3

Dear Juliet, 

How can I find the right guy for me? Unya dili man gud ko gwapa, lisod kaau mangita. xD
Then last one. How can I move on from my past nga kabalo man unta ko nga gibinuangan rako niya. 

-R

Dear R,

"There is a ton for an elephant, and a speck for an ant."

I had once read this from an Indian novel. Love is an abstract thing that demands abstract supplications. Aesthetic properties are for "attraction", but never for love. Didn't you know this already? Never tell yourself that you are deprived of love because you "think" you do not "look" beautiful enough. All of us are beautiful, though of course, we could never attract everyone. Besides, all we have to wait for is that right man.

Do not find a man. The Lord would create ways for the two of you to meet at some point.

As for your last question, never play at the edge of a cliff. Go to the village and occupy yourself with activities to keep your mind off this.

You are still young and there is still a long path to tread. Move forward.

XOXO,
Juliet

Dear Juliet, 

How can I move on? 

-I'll wait for your answer

Yes, hello.

We are not supposed to dwell in the past especially if that past has done us more harm and hurt than happiness. Do not pick on your scab. The more you do it, the more it would take for it to heal.

Occupy yourself with activities and saturate yourself with the Lord's love instead. The more you experience Him, the lesser your past becomes. I urge you to step out from the shadows, and start with the way you think. The Lord makes all things new. You are meant to move forward.

With love,
Juliet

Dear Juliet, 

How to live a blessed human life? 

^_^

^_^,

Live for the Lord and be the channel of His love!

Love,
Juliet

Hi Juliet, 

If the world will end tomorrow and isa ra ka person akong dapat i-save, kinsa man ang dapat nako -save? Akong Mama, akong Papa, akong bana, or akong anak? 

-Smiley

Dear Smiley,

Naa kay power to save? O__O

-Juliet

IS AB ENGLISH DIFFICULT?

Contrary to popular belief, AB English IS difficult in its own way. This difficulty could never be saved by plain studying and memorization, I tell you. :)

Then again, I do not think there exists a course in IIT that is not difficult.

Juliet :)

Dear Juliet, 

Sige siya'g papansin sa ako pero maulaw ko mu tan-aw sa iya. Gusto ko makabalo kung naa ba siyay feelings nako. 

Please do answer my question! 

-J

Hi, J!

There is a time for everything. You will know at the right time. :)

For the mean time, do not over-assume things. Most of the time, we get fooled by what our brain wants to think. He might or might not like you, but just to be safe from wounds, do not assume yet. Take your mind off the questions if you do not want to be hurt.

Guard your heart.

Kisses,
Juliet

Dear Juliet, 

Get well soon!

THANK YOU! I received the flowers. They're beautiful!

XOXO,
Juliet

Dear Math, 

I will revenge on you. Gi-down ko nimo, but time will come ikaw napud ako i-down. 

From: Romeo

Dear Romeo,

Mura'g namali ka ug address. Naa sa pikas purok si Math. Don't worry. When we'd meet, I'll tell her you sent this!

Kisses,
Juliet

Dear Juliet, 

How do I catch all the pokemons? 

With love,Biankers Bananers 

P.S. I'll be waiting for your reply. I don't care if it's forever. </3

Dear Biankers Bananers,

Oh, no! You let them out? Call the tanod!

Kisses,
Juliet

P.S. I just found one in my basement. Come, quick! It's soooo cute, we have to take a picture of it.



Well, that's it for the first part! There is still a ton of questions I am yet to answer, but I am too tired for that now. I will, however, surely post the second part, if you'd still want more. Until my next post, loves!

Does A Throwback Post Count?

Working on a new post, I found this among my files, so I decided to upload it. After all, a blog deserves a real "bloggy blog" post once in a while. It's a filler, but hey, I do not want to move it in the recycling bin either.

On a normal Monday, I’d just spend a few of my hours on my two major subjects. The rest of the day usually falls into house chores or personal time. Yesterday though was a mashed-up Monday, I’m not sure if the whole week had been jammed into it.

Our puppy died. Kiri had only been barely eight months old when he caught a virus from our neighboring dog, Tom-tom (who died a week before Kiri did). Actually, I do not know if I’m supposed to feel extremely mournful over Kiri’s death. After all, I had witnessed how he had seizure attacks every few minutes, and they weren’t a pretty sight. His joints twitch and he falls back, shaking, banging into a few of our appliances, before he salivates, and shakes some more. A few times I cried along as I stared helplessly at the terribly-looking dog, I did not wish him to live yet suffer more.

Thankfully, Koko, our other dog, didn’t catch the disease. But we did separate the two dogs when Kiri was still alive. It would be too big of a blow had he died too. Still, I do not know if that’s enough to compensate for Kiri’s passing. I could still recall how Daddy was burying Kiri and Koko just howled and dog-cried. That was weird. I started crying myself when I suspected Koko knew Kiri’s gone for good.

We had a quiz on Odyssey in our World Literature class. This could’ve been one of my most favorite classes had the two blocks not been merged. I had always sat in front, but yesterday, my seat had already been taken, so I had to move to the back where I could barely hear, where elbows touch elbows, and where everybody had to squeeze in their seats. This isn’t supposed to be the set-up. Major classes are supposedly small and, well, major-like, but when our professor decided to merge his two classes (despite objections) for his convenience, this happened.

After class, my classmate began telling me how she’d probably complain to the department chair about the unfair set-up. “This isn’t right!” she whispered in frustration. “This is probably even illegal.” I nodded and deep inside I wished we were back to our original schedules.

For our Current Issues and Trends in Language Teaching class, we finally had our exam. It was actually a relief when I flipped the test paper and saw how every item was an essay question. I did mental cartwheels. Objective types of tests aren’t actually where I’m good at. Thankfully, essays had become my academic saving items. I could not say I perfected the exam (essays are not the types you perfect in here), but by God’s grace, it hadn’t been bad either.

I left my keys dangling on my scooter since ten in the morning, and I only realized that around six in the evening when I decided to go home. Inside I was getting panicky and I was still absorbing the fact that my scooter could have already been stolen. Hannah and I dashed to the parking lot and I held my breath as I saw the scooter there, but without the keys. Praying was the only thing I could do right then.

It was kind of funny now, looking back, because as Hannah and I were discussing where my keys could have been, a guy on his own motorcycle stopped beside mine, and he was rummaging through his bag while listening (I suspect) to our conversation.

“Naa ra oh,” he told me, smiling timidly, and holding out my teddy bear key chain and my keys.

Okay, so if I tell you my eyes went wide, I’m not exaggerating. I could just not believe that a stranger in today’s age could still be that kind enough to keep your keys that you had absent-mindedly left on your motorcycle. That was embarrassing, but I’m too happy to think about how embarrassing it was. Thank you, Jerome! The world is a better place with people like you around.

Speaking of good people, I also had the privilege to be treated to my favorite street food, Balut. My friend, Matt, had promised to treat me to balut if he’d play basketball again with our church-mates at the court just a hundred meters from home. Kuya Tan-tan, on the other hand, only stayed with us, entertaining us with his sense of humor. (He refused to eat balut, explaining how it triggers hoarseness. He was so serious I almost believed him!)

Sigh. I would like to label this Monday as a good day. After all, I slept quite in a joyful mood, assured by the Lord’s promises that I had stubbornly questioned days ago.

I'm jammed in a busy schedule now, but I sure am hyped for my upcoming birthday. Okay, I'm not the least expecting a "celebration". You know, with all the food and glamour, especially because I know just how much we had spent for my thesis paper and my sister's birthday last Sunday. But the fact that I'm a year older is enough to send me rejoicing. I couldn't ask for more. 

Now I guess I have to evacuate the internet world and head on to my notes. I still have an exam tomorrow and here I am, lounging in social media sites without signs of guilt. Until now, anyway. ;)

Hello, 2014!

I wanted to write.


Seriously, I do. But over the holidays, my sense of organization had apparently messed up; I no longer had clear topics for my blog posts. I also don't get it because I thought I had a lot to tell. Turns out, I only am suffering from a little writer's disease I lovingly call "mushy brain."


But what exactly happened over the break? Let's see.


Aside from traveling back and forth Western Mindanao, I finally started gathering data for my thesis paper which involves the collection and translation of Subanen tales. It exhausted me terribly, but I'd have to say it was worth it. I also had finally started forming a project the Lord and I are working on. I'm not supposed to tell, but when I finally do, I pray that everything would already be in its perfect place.



2013 had been a tension-filled year. In here were, so far, the heaviest moments I had had. I say heavy, but not entirely sad. Aside from being legal on this year, the Lord had lifted me up to another dimension and perspective. I had been a traditional Christian ever since I was a little girl, but on 2013, the Lord had taken off the bridle, and Christianity had never been so colorful. I praise God for this special privilege.


As for 2014, I still do not know what the Lord has set for me. All I know is that this would be a new season - a year of fresh blasts in faith. I know this is for you, too. So join me in this roller coaster ride, headed towards the advancement of His kingdom, headed towards the prize.



There are more revelations to come, and I am more than excited, knowing that this year would be even better than the last, in Christ.

P.S. I would be uploading new posts soon, and probably a new header! Hey, 2014 does deserve a new look, doesn't it?  *wink*