seven is lucky, right?

(prepare for a photoheavy entry)

I somehow felt obliged to write a blog right now just cause it is the 7th day of August and the seventh month day of Winter. Though my shoulders really hurt, I wouldn't want to miss this eventful day.

I planned on really having cupcakes and cakes for today cause I thought that it's lucky for her to celebrate her seventh month since she was born on the 7th day of January and 7 is a lucky number. Get it? Okay, now my mind is just full of the number 7 so I'm gonna stop. lol.

But.. it has been raining like mad for the last couple of days and since last night, the panic has been raised. Floods here and everywhere and the rain just wouldn't stop. So instead of buying a whole bunch of cupcakes by Sonja and a cake from Red Ribbon, we settled for.. whattatops! hahaha.

So here are the photos of today....

she's feeling so winter-y

The Sacrament of Waiting by Fr. James Donelan, S.J.

The English poet John Milton wrote that those who serve also stand and wait. I think I would go further and say that those who wait render the highest form of service. Waiting requires more discipline, more self-control and emotional maturity, more unshakable faith in our cause, more unwavering hope in the future, more sustaining love in our hearts that all the greatest deeds of deering-do go by the name of action.

Waiting is a mystery - a natural sacrament of life - there is a meaning hidden in all the times we have to wait. It must be an important mystery because there is so much waiting in our lives.

Everyday is filled with those little moments of waiting (testing our patience and our nerves, schooling us in self-control.) We wait for meals to be served, for a letter to arrive, for a friend to call or show up for a date. We wait in line at cinemas and theaters, concerts and circuses. Our airline terminals, railway stations and bus depots are great temples of waiting filled with men and women who wait in joy for the arrival of a loved one - or wait in sadness to say goodbye and give the last wave of hand. We wait for springs to come - or autumn - for the rains to begin and stop.

And we wait for ourselves to grow from childhood to maturity. We wait for those inner voices that tell us when we are ready for the next stop.

We wait for graduation, for our first job, our first promotion. We wait for success and recognition. We wait to grow up - to reach the stage where we make our own decisions. We cannot remove this waiting from our lives. It is a part of the tapestry of living - the fabric in which the threads are woven to tell the story of our lives.

Yet current philosophies would have us forget the need to wait "grab all the gusto you can get." So reads one of America's greatest beer ads - get it now! Instant pleasure, instant transcendence. Do not wait for anything. Life is short - eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow you will die.

And so they rationalize us into accepting unlicensed and irresponsible freedom - pre-marital sex and extra-marital affairs - they warn against attachments and commitments - against expecting anything of anybody, or allowing them to expect anything of us - against dropping any anchors in the currents of our life that will cause us to hold and wait.

This may be the correct prescription for pleasure - but even that is fleeting and doubtful - what was it Shakespeare said about the mad pursuit of pleasure - "Past reason hunted, and once had, past reason hated." Not if we wish to be real human beings, spirit as well as flesh, soul as well as heart, we have to learn to wait. For if we never learn to wait, we will never learn to love someone other than ourselves.

For most of all waiting means waiting for someone else. It is a mystery, brushing by our face everyday like a stray wind of leaf falling from a tree. Anyone who has loved knows how much waiting goes into it - how much waiting is important for love to grow, to flourish through a lifetime.

Why is this? Why can we not have it right now what we so desperately want and need? Why must we wait - two years, three years - and seemingly waste so much time? You might as well ask why a tree should take so long to bear fruit - the seed to flower - carbon to change to diamond.

There is no simple answer - no more than there is to life's other demands - having to say goodbye to someone you love because either you or they have made other commitments; or because they have to grow and find the meaning of their own lives - having yourself to leave home and loved ones to find your own path - goodbyes, like waiting, are also sacraments of our lives.

All we know is that growth - the budding, the flowering of love needs patient waiting. We have to give each other a time to grow. There is no way we can make someone else truly love us or we them, except through time.

So we give each other that mysterious gift of waiting - of being present without asking demands and rewards. There is nothing harder to do than this. It truly tests the depth and sincerity of our love. But there is life in the gift we give.

So lovers wait for each other - until they can see things the same way - or let each other freely see things in quite different ways. There are times when lovers hurt each other and cannot regain the balance of intimacy of the way they were. They have to wait - in silence - but still present to each other - until the pain subsides to an ache and then only a memory and the threads of the tapestry can be woven together again in a single love story.

What do we lose when we refuse to wait; when we try to find shortcuts through life -when we try to incubate love and rush blindly and foolishly into a commitment we are neither mature nor responsible enough to assume?

We lose the hope of truly loving or of being loved. Think of all the great love stories of history and literature - isn't it of their very essence that they are filled with this strange but common mystery - that waiting is part of the substance - the basic fabric against which the story of that true love is written.

How can we ever find either life or true love if we are too impatient to wait for it?

Waiting is a good thing only if something is worth waiting for.

How will you know if it's worth it? Gut feel.

What if you don't trust your gut? Pray. You will be enlightened. Trust me.

Is it wrong to expect while waiting? It's not wrong, but it will increase your chances of heartbreak and disappointment if things don't work out in the end.

Is it good to expect while waiting? It is better to HOPE.

What's the difference between hoping and expecting? HOPING means you're open to either side of the coin landing though you're more inclined to believe that things will turn out well. EXPECTING means you're thinking single-track...which won't do you much good at all.

What's the difference between waiting and expecting? EXPECTING is waiting for something TO DEFINITELY HAPPEN. WAITING is staying where you are, but not necessarily expecting something to happen definitely.

Do you need assurance from someone you're waiting for while you're waiting? Ideally, yes. But realistically, do you really want assurance from this person? It's so easy to just point at something and make that the reason why you're waiting ("Because she said..." "Because he told me that...").

With WAITING, all you really can rely on are 3 things: your gut feel, your heart and mind. Just YOURSELF, not anyone else.

So should you wait? What does your gut say? How does your heart feel? What does your mind think? If they're saying different things, keep asking yourself these 3 questions (and pray!) until you get a solid answer.

THEN you'll know if he or she is worth waiting for. 

She believed she could so she did

I finally graduated from college!

The glorious day of finally walking up the stage and receiving a "diploma" has happened. It was especially touching for me cause I never got to march on stage for my high school graduation.

And wearing my black toga in the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center, I was able to make my parents proud as hell.

They were able to witness their first-born, their daughter finish college in the prestigious De La Salle University-Manila without paying a single cent for my tuition and fees. Of course this wouldn't be possible without the former Dean of the College of Education, Dr. Roberto T. Borromeo and the Vice Dean, Dr. Rochelle Irene G. Lucas aaaand the director of SFA, Ms. Severina Kikuchi. They saw the potential in me and my life will be changed forever because of them.

Lord, thank You for making me see why certain painful things happened in my life. It is all because You wanted to bring me to this day, to that moment when I can say to myself that Your plans are indeed better. Your grace and love is enormous and it is enough to pull me through.

I am indeed blessed! 

Here's to the Last Centennial Graduates of De La Salle University!

And here's to all those people out there who thought that the light will never come. I was once there but I was determined to succeed. :)

"Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon."

                  

Joanna Joyce O. Ang, 10941444

Animo Lasalle! ✯

brooke davis

"I’m not the most eloquent speaker, so I thought I would borrow a few words from Shakespeare. “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.” When life gets hard, when things change, true love remains the same. I look at Nathan and Haley and somehow I feel safer. I don’t know if I can explain that, but they give me hope. And I’m afraid to say it out loud, because maybe if life finds out, it’ll try to beat it out of them. And that would be a shame, because we all can use a little hope sometimes, you know? That feeling that everything is gonna be okay, and that there’s gonna be someone there to help make sure of that. So here’s to Nathan and Haley. Here’s to hope. And here’s to a love that will not alter." 
~Brooke Davis  S3/E22

for the guy I will marry =)

For you I give a lifetime of stablility, anything you want of me,
nothing is impossible.
For you there are no words or ways to show my love or all the thoughts
I'm thinking of.
'Cause this life is no good alone since we've become one I've made a
change
Everything I do now makes sense, all roads end, all I do is for you.

For you I share the cup of love that overflows and anyone who knows us
knows that I would change all faults I have.
For you there is no low or high or in between of my heart that you
haven't seen.
'Cause I share all I have and am, nothing I've said is hard to understand
And all I feel I feel deeper still and always will all this love is for you.

Every note that I play, every word I might say, every melody I feel
Are only for you and your appeal
Every page that I write, everyday of my life would not be filled without
the things
That my love for you now brings

For you I'd make a promise of fidelity, now and for eternity
No one could replace this vow
For you I'd take your hand and heart and everything and add to them a
wedding ring
'Cause this life is no good alone, since we've become one you're all I know
And if this feeling should leave I'd die and here's why
All I am is for you

Everything I do now makes sense, all roads end and all I do...
Is for you
Only for you

source

Never say die

"Success is not final, Failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

-Winston Churchill

Looking back, I realized how much things have changed from four years ago. I was a lonely girl with a hazy future. Three years ago, I entered La Salle with a beaming heart and an innocent fear. Now, I will leave the same institution with a grateful heart and a Bachelor's Degree. This wouldn't be possible without God, who has continuously granted me what is just for me. He has given me strength to surpass all the challenges and has given me hope that things will fall into place. And it did! Thank you, God. Thank you!! Thank you!! 

I would like to thank my parents for being there to support me and reprimand me in times it was deemed necessary. I still didn't turn out that bad, did I? Thank you to my family and relatives who were there to help me through and has believed in me all the way. Even if I have given you so much reasons to doubt that I can finish this, you still had faith in me. Ate Lovely, Kuya Larky, Kuya Mark, Ate Lady, Angkong, Tita Tnaj, Ninong George and all my aunts and uncles and cousins. To my Ama, Tita Baby, Lolo Dingding and Lola Naring I hope you're all proud there in heaven.

To my bestfriend, Jayzelle Lim, who despite the distance, never ever let me feel that I am alone, thank you! You were always there to make sure that I felt secured. Forever kakampi! 

To my friends from way back in HS, thank you so much for keeping in touch and for being there for emergency meet-ups and accidental overnights just because. Especially the three of the "solid four" - Jenine Tan, Eda Chua and Alvin Sy. My mother-dear, Inay Anne Kristina Yiu, thank you. To my guy best friend, Noel Chua, thank you for all the truth you made me see. To my ninang Jelly Ong, my tol - Myka Ang and Kristel Almaden, Victoria Tomas, Joseph Ang, Kristine Borero and Jhoanna Ong. thank you all for the random advices, conversations and love. Thank you for reminding me that real friends are there to stay. My other friends, Antoinette Ysrael, Ahia Oliver Lim, Christian Sualog and other friends I have met. 

To my college partner-in-crime, Hniah Javelosa, who has made my college life completely insane and hilarious, thank you. My first-friend-ever-in-Lasalle, Kaye Garcia, my college English blockmate-friends-  Meg Tiffany Go, Aron Sotelo, Jan Ralph Nunez, Eugenie Tiu, Tenny Mendoza, Precious Cruz and of course, Mel Samarita! My korean friends - Eva Yang, Sunny Min, Paris Lee, Bianca Kim, Jisoo Kwon, Sophie Kwon and the rest of the boys and girls. I wouldn't forget the ever loving thesis partner, Kristine Joseph. And to all my DLSU friends from all over the campus. You guys are all awesome!

Of course to my thesis mentor and good friend, Sir Ariane Macalinga Borlongan, who became a PhD even before he turned 24 (if I'm not mistaken), thank you for the inspiration to go for the things we really want and seek greater knowledge. Thank you of course for the trips to churches. I am indeed blessed. 

My other professors who have made an impact in my life - Ms. Gina Ugalingan, Dr. Shirley Dita, Dr. Tina Parina, Dr. Joahna Mante, Mr. Victor Gojocco, Ms. Ivy Alejandro, Dr. Leah Gustilo, Ms. Pauline Castillo, Dr. Gerald Abergos, Mr. Kevin Navea, Dr. Marianne Gaerlan, Ms. Neslie Tan and Dr. Sterling Plata. You all made my college life meaningful. Also, to my HS teachers, who have helped me see the greatness in me - Mr. Rodel Fajardo, Ms. Babylyn Bautista, Ms. Precy Abriam, Mr. Marvin Sumalbag, Ms. Rhaych Manzon and Ms. Janice Vistan.

To the Goddess of Literary Criticisms and all of Literature (for me), Ms. Antonette Talaue-Arogo, thank you for inspiring me and challenging me. You are my idol in terms of Literature! :)

Thank you to my one and only Robinson, who gave me so much inspiration. Thank you for the constant understanding and support that you've unconditionally given. For the wonderful moments and babies. Thank you for making me see that life is worth it. It will all be well, bhie, in God's perfect time. 

Thank you to all those who are genuinely happy that I have achieved this. I cannot thank you enough for the faith, support and prayers. 

The title is a reminder that things are not permanently damned, there's always a way, and if there's none, then make one. I hope I have become an inspiration to all especially to teenage mothers out there. There is light after a dark night. Make your dreams happen. Cheers!