☆0309☆

It's New Year's Eve and it's that time of the year once again for my annual "wrapping up" post. Although I think I am currently lacking in creative juices, I wouldn't want to let this year pass without making a post on the year that passed, especially because so many happenings took place this year, both bad and good . That's why, if you ask me to describe the year 2011, I'd say that it has really been one roller coaster ride.

The world saw many significant events this year, and it's the same for me as well. Events and whatnot that fall on the low points in my life this year include the passing of a number of relatives and family friends, the natural disasters that happened around the world (Japan, Southern Philippines, etc.), teenage hormonal imbalance & fights with my mom (HAHA), the withdrawal of 2 members from my favorite JPop group NEWS (yes, including that XD) and the loss of my beloved cellphone (that, too XD).

But more than that, I was showered with a lot of wonderful memories this year, too. My university life, both its social and academic aspects, definitely tops the list. Our exposure trips and outreach activities allowed me to encounter different types of people, and it's touching every time. It warms my heart to know that we've made them happy in our own little ways. This is definitely one of the main reasons why I love my course. I grow not only intellectually, but holistically as well.

Speaking of academics, it's been such a toxic year acads-wise. The last three months of my second sem in second year, and the whole first semester of my third year in uni (a.k.a. THE hell sem) have been very stressful. Nonetheless, I survived! We survived! :D I feel so proud of myself because of this, I can now say that I've fully regained my academic self-esteem. Haha. I feel very accomplished. All those "sabaw" days and sleepless nights were worth it in the end. I'm very thankful to God for guiding me all throughout :)

More than surviving the academic toxicity, my favorite moments in 2011 would have to be our block's bonding and winning moments :D Winning 1st place for the batch performance in the DBS Culminating Activity (1st runner-up for our representatives to the Mr. and Ms. BehSci-yad contest on the same event), 2nd place in the CAS Variety Show (a yearly inter-department competition which our department hasn't bagged a place in for some time) and bagging 10 out of 11 awards in the 1st Department of Behavioral Sciences Christmas Film Festival... how awesome can we get? ;) The numerous happenings this year also made us closer as a block, and that is what's awesome-est ;))

And of course, my favorite moments in 2011 would also have to include my bonding times with my best friends, most especially the impromptu hang-outs/night-outs which definitely made our bond stronger.

Lastly, there are our family bonding moments, my favorite being the Holy Week in Bicol, the random picture-taking moments with cousins, and my mom's birthday early this December which was really fun.

Looking back, I am truly thankful for each and every happy memory this year. Despite the bad things that happened, in the end I can say that I'm still bountifully blessed. Thank you, Lord, for all the blessings, and may the coming year be a brighter one for everyone! :D Cheers to a prosperous 2012~! Happy New Year! :D

Merry Christmas! :D

It's Christmas time once again, my favorite time of the year. I love Christmas because it's a season full of love, hope and peace. And of course, happiness and giving. Although life is quite hard for most people these days, it's good to know that we're still celebrating Christmas. ^_^

I am lucky and very thankful that I have good memories of Christmas. Every year, there will be a family gathering. We'll be playing games and taking lots of pictures. It's noisy and a bit of a riot, but it's really fun. I also have good Christmas memories with my friends. I totally love our Christmas celebration at school during my last year in high school.

We spent an entire week for celebration. There were a lot of activities, the first one of which was the Christmas program wherein we were tasked to do a play on the Nativity. I was one of the backstage people, being the one in charge of the background music and being a part of the props group as well. At first, it was quite stressful; we crammed the props and our rehearsals weren't very good. But when the time came for our performance, we were able to pull it off very nicely. The comments our teachers gave us made me really happy. We were able to prove to them that we're good not just at being naughty. Haha.

We also had a High School Night then. It was the first time our school had that kind of activity for us, and since we were graduating, we were really happy that we had the chance to experience that. Lastly, we also got to do some charity work during the last activity for our celebration. Kids from the lower socio-economic status got to enjoy during our charity program. It was fun and I have a lot of happy memories from that one week celebration.

This year, too, I have a lot of happy memories. To start the Christmas break, our department over at uni (the awesome Department of Behavioral Sciences :D) held the annual Christmas party and Carol Fest. There was also a Parol Making Contest this year. We didn't win it, but at least we emerged as the champions for this year's Carol Fest :) We only started preparing two days prior the Christmas party, so I'm really happy that we got it this time around! We also got to prove that we are good not only in being naughty. Haha! (I think I never got into a section or class that's considered by the teachers/professors as "good". Haha.)

A day after that, it was time to bond with my best friends and friends from high school. We attended our high school's Christmas concert (I always call it that, but the songs they sang weren't really Christmas-y, so I don't know XD) and got to bond with each other a lot this Christmas break. One of my best friends celebrated her 18th birthday last week (and her debut celebration is tomorrow), so we were busy preparing. Nonetheless, it was fun because as I've said, we get to bond a lot these days. I particularly enjoyed the crazy karaoke session we had last week ;)

I'm really thankful that I have fun memories of Christmas. This Christmas I hope to add more to those, and I hope everyone else gets to have fun, too. But before that, let's not forget the reason for this season: our Savior Jesus Christ is born :) Let's rejoice and celebrate His birth! :D

Finally, let us all celebrate Christmas by spreading love, joy and peace! :) Maligayang Pasko sa lahat! :D Shiawase ni natte, minna! ^_^

This summer, I got to go on a fun trip to Boracay with my family. We stayed there for five days, from the 12th to the 16th of April. It was fun and wasn't hurried, totally how a vacation is supposed to be. Unfortunately though, sad news welcomed me when I got back home, so I wasn't in the mood to write about it. It's just now that I've decided to finally write about my trip to Boracay. Here it goes...

( The best waves are coming... ^_^ )
I really enjoyed every day of my stay there in Boracay. It was such a lovely place and I'm very thankful for another set of wonderful summer memories. I hope I get to go back again after some time. I'm definitely looking forward to it :)