As you all know, Carlo and I went shopping today. We got to the mall at 10:30 in the morning and started shopping nonstop until 2:30 pm! This was the outcome of running to and fro like we were in ambush makeover:

SHOPPING BAG COUNT:

Carlo: 7
Arya: 3

WAHAHAHA! YES, PEOPLE. Most of the bags there are his. Guess na lang which ones are mine. :))) Clue, the Zara bag is not mine. =))))))

Carlo's so happy with his purchases and watching him with all those bags give me so much endorphins. Hahaha!

As my reward for tagging along as his shopping consultant, he bought me liquid leggings from The Ramp. Weee! <3

~*~

I finally have my Bad Romance cover up in youtube!

Do check it out and leave a comment. :) It would mean a lot!  :)

Ah, and I shall be out until Sunday because I'll be serving in the Youth Encounter. See you Sunday! Auf wiedersehen! <3

Today is the end of my week because it's Faculty Day in Ateneo tomorrow. Carlo and I will be going to the mall tomorrow to go shopping! Yeah, we're gay that way. :)) We're both very excited! Our first day dedicated to shopping! What could be a more wonderful way to celebrate our special day...which is today! :)

~*~

My week has been a week of adjustments and simple joys. It's been a hard week but surprisingly I am thankful because as I look back, all I can see in my mind is me throwing my head back in laughter and just being happy.

Despite the tedious task of load rev-ing, photocopying this and that, having to wake up early in the morning (with a broken body clock), walking in the heat, I AM STILL THANKFUL. AND EXTREMELY HAPPY.

And I think I know the reason why I feel so filled with positivity.

My spirit has been very dry lately. I've been out of touch with my God again and my body and soul acknowledged that. I had the capacity to push the thirst at the back of my head by bombarding myself with other issues that needed immediate attention (like preparing for my future), but somehow, the thirst would come back like wildfire when I least expected it.

It really was stupid of me of trying to cover a burning flame.

It was stupid of me to say to my God,

"Lord, wait lang ha? I'm busy eh."

I felt like I just gave my Daddy a big slap on the face when He just wanted to make me lambing (I'm actually crying as I type this. I can't contain the guilt, really).

Little did I know that He would drop little gifts throughout my week to show He's still there for me. The best way I can explain this is when it's like someone's leaving a trail of small gifts leading to a big big big gift at the end of it all.

And these tiny gifts were the people present in my life. People I knew. People I hardly knew. People I love. People I don't give the time of day to.

-Yana, who erases all my exhaustion and sadness of each day with a fleeting smile. She is a living miracle in my life.
-Carlo, who blesses me by telling me about the things he's learned from playing for the Feast. Or by calling every few hours to check if I'm okay.
-Hans, Coi, Mae, Russel, and Iyo, for being one of the reasons why I look forward to school.
-Nikki, for helping me realize that I am not in control of time. That I cannot fast forward to the future.
- Yaya Imela, for sharing to me her story when I asked her to sit with me during dinner time.
-For those who have affirmed and blessed me without knowing it, you encouraged me to pursue my dreams and love my God more and more.

I realized that he was slowly filling me up again. He was wanted to make me happy again.

And I'm brimming with love and happiness right now because of Him.

And the week's not even over yet.

I am serving during the Youth Encounter this weekend. Lord, I know your big surprise is there for me. :) I feel it. I'm so excited. :)

I guess what I'm trying to say is...have you counted your blessings this week? Have you tried opening your mind to see the positive side of things lately?

Have you given God a chance to hug you this week?

The week's not over yet. Let Him surprise you. :)

~*~

Blessed Be You Name
-Matt Redman

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say

I notice these people asking me who and how my teachers were back in the first sem. Coz duh, they're their teachers this sem.

Well, because I don't want my blog to be just a dump of the random stuff that happens in my life, I shall give tips and tricks on how to get on the good side of my teachers. Who knows? these little pieces of advice might jump your grade from a B+ to an A. Or an F to a D. Or whatever.

Let's begin!

Asian History: Ms. Stephanie Coo

Ah, the most popular teacher!
AC students, do not fear her. If you've passed the Triumverate (or at least one of them), you will be alright.
But it won't hurt to be extra extra careful!

1. It would be an advantage to be her beadle.
2. Recite. During orals, don't stutter or show you're nervous.
3. Show that you're not afraid of her. Be poised and confident.
4. Be courteous and greet her.
5. Always read what she gives. Or else she'll send you out.
6. Her tests are memorization. And even if she says not to write something down, write them down.
7. RECITE RECITE RECITE! She likes active students.
8. Try not to cut.

Sociology: Mrs. Susannah (sp?) Roldan

1. She's awfully nice. She's like a mommy. :)
2. Her tests are easy. Just read everything she makes you read and you will surely get an A.
3. You will tend to sleep.

Theology: Ray Aguas
1. IF YOU ARE IN HIS CLASS, YOU ARE INSANELY BLESSED.
2. His tests are easy. You will be sorry if you do not read what he gives. IM TELLING YOU.
3. Be prepared for surprise quizzes. They are dreadful. READ. THE. MATERIAL.
4. Don't talk in class.
5. You will not want to cut his class. You will not fall asleep.

Filipino: Mr. Alvin Yapan
1. He's an effing genius.
2. He's such a genius he's too deep for life. You will not dare skip a class.
3. Don't bother studying for his tests. :))))
4. He plays favorites. If you're a quiet class, he will like you.
5. He curves tests.
6. Good luck. :|

FA: Father Javellana
1. The cutest teacher in all the teachers of the world!!!
2. You will have to be an idiot to fail his class.
3. He's a tricky teacher. You think he doesn't know you and is not aware of what you do or what you submit. HE DOES. *DUN DUN DUN*
4. He's very kind. AND DID I MENTION SO CUTE!!! I WANT TO HUG HIM!!
5. During the one-on-one interview, he'll really test you if you know your stuff. And if you really deserve that A you wrote on that sheet of paper.

~ GOOD LUCK! :) I hope I helped!

Aside from the usual getting lost and entering the wrong classroom issue I have during the first day of every semester, the day went by quite smoothly.

8:30-9:30 Eco 12:
My teacher seems to be like my former SA teacher. He seems very kind but quite bland when he teaches. I hope he's generous with giving high grades, too. I suck at math. Meh~

9:30-10:30 Sci 10:
Iyo and I walked into a big classroom in CTC housing about 80 students for the whole semester. Simple question: HOW THE TOOTHPICK DO YOU LEARN IN A CLASS THAT BIG. TELL ME, ATENEO.

10:30-11:30 FLC: German
I walked into a teeny tiny classroom. We were very little. My teacher, Ms. Velasco is just so adorable! She's really kind and I volunteered to be her beadle. We learned a few mini-dialogues that day such as,

"Wie heist du?" - What is your name?
"Mein Name ist Arya!" - My name is Arya!
"WUNDABAR!" - Wonderful!
"Danke!" - Thank you

I had a classmate who kept spitting the words out like he wanted to speak like Hitler. "ACHTUNG!" "EEKKHH MAAKHH..."

He was my seatmate and because I was so annoyed with his faux Hitler/German accent, I moved to the seat right in front of me.

11:30-12:30 FA 102:
I thought I still had time to eat lunch. Apparently, I didn't.

Fast forward, I ended up going to G312 instead of G304.

Me: *goes inside classroom*
Class: *stares at me*
Me: *walks in the classroom trying to seem confident that it's the right room, puts down bag and walks out again to check the room number outside*
SHIT.
*dials friend's number on phone*
Me: Where are you?
Mae: Andito na sa classroom.
Me: *walks back into the classroom like everything's fine and dandy, gets bag, and walks out without turning back*

Then I meet Hans and Iyo in front of the door outside the wrong classroom.

Hans: Wrong classroom?
Me: Yeah. *still trying to sound normal and cool but really wanting to cry of embarrassment*
I*when we're far away na*
Me: WAAAHHHH!! NAKAKAHIYAAAA!! I HOPE THOSE PEOPLE NEVER SEE MY FACE EVER EVER EVERRRR!!!! DX

Fast forward: I was made beadle of FA 102 therefore, I am double beadle. :| I just wanted German. :(

2:00-3:00 Table Tennis:

Sign and leave! I WILL LOAD REV THIS TO T-TH. I SWEAR IT :|

~*~

My blessings today:
I got to see my block kada again!!! <333
I love my German class.
Hans made me libre.
Got to spend time with my friends before my PE class.
Getting home to see my YANA! <3!!

How about you? What's

I would like to apologize for not blogging for such a long time. A lot of things have been happening with work and with my little sister born into the world, life has gotten much fuller and just wonderfully crazy and dream-like. She's my lucky charm. I will introduce you to her later on.

WORK - Work is finally over. Because school is beginning in two days, I had to stop my job (which was planned anyway) and prepare for the next semester. I earned enough from it and I'm happy with how productive I've become this sembreak. It was a crazy and resume-worthy experience.

And thanks to my boss, I HAVE AN ATM CARD! Weee! It's my dream to have one and actually put in the card and type in the whatever stuff and pull out my money. I have yet to do that. :))

SCHOOL - I only got to register and enlist last Friday (can you believe) because I had to lift the hold order I had. I also got to see my grades and praise God, I finally got to achieve one of my dreams. I've finally done it and I hope to do it this coming semester. With GERMAN for my foreign language class. And Economics. :| Math = Doom

LIFE - Would you believe that my little sister is finally born? MARIA ADRIANA RAPHAELLE R. HERRERA. My gorgeous lucky charm 19 years my junior. She is such a cute button and I love her so much.

That's a birthmark on her forehead. I hope it disappears. Other than that beauty mark, she is a perfect little thing. She hardly cries. :) Thanks, to Carlo for the photos in this blog. :)

LOVE - Carlo and I have been very happy lately. We recently had a lunch date in CPK, watched This is It, and had yogurt. He also surprised me with an adorable headband (pink and purple). Which I lost to my (and Carlo's) dismay. *sigh* He and I are also very happy with Yana's coming to the world. He loves her very much and just loves it when I send him MMS's of her.

Random: I think he and I have the same motto in life: "LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE."

Thanks, love! :)

My two trophies in life captured in one photograph. <3

RAMBLE - We also just had a Jedi Gathering [it's an event where our closest family friends gather for dinner and drinks (for the dads) and just enjoy the night.] a while ago. Super chill and fun night. :)

Hope you all had a productive and fulfilling sembreak like I did. :)

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE. Always. :)