Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)

(I made this mask for my Romeo and Juliet project freshman year haha)

I forgot it was Mardi Gras today! Wow, haha I was wondering why I saw people wearing (green) bead necklaces, I was like, It's not St. Patrick's Day...

Time to give up something for Lent!

-give up myspace, facebook, probably more as I go along

-give up soda, asb food, starbucks, candy

-make limited time for blogging

-make limited time for music playing except if actually practicing

-try to fix sleeping pattern; do hw first then sleep, instead of nap then hw then sleep

-i'll think of more along the way :/

Today was late start! :) tomorrow I will go to church for Ash Wednesday, try walking around school with an ash cross across the middle of my forehead. Hey I'm Catholic and I ain't ashamed. 

I was invited to the National Youth Leader Conference thing :) I want to go to it. Hopefully I can experience it while I'm given such an opportunity! Washington, D.C. babyy.

You know what? I'm sad that I was put out of the last two songs for our choir setup, along with the other 3 retreat girls who didn't go to a competition because of our Confirmation II retreat. Really, I'm sad. ;( I was going to tell my mom to come watch me, but now, I'm not so sure I want to. :( I secretly think it's punishment for us choosing a retreat over a competition but now that I think of it. It's okay. The retreat was worth it, I'm doing this for God. But now I'll feel like I didn't contribute. Like I'm not part of the team. ;(

Lent begins.

Confirmation II Retreat (currently in the mood for filmmaking.)

Serious! I feel like making a short movie, it's like I'm craving this way of expressing myself. *Sigh. I would totally make a short film out of Sonia's French story x]. A French narration film. Sounds awesome, like Paris, Je T'aime. :)

Because you know, 

Anyways, so on Friday St. Lorenzo Confirmation II class left to go to Pali Mountain for a retreat. :) Because of the retreat, I couldn't go to the choir competition, in which our choir got 2nd place! :D Unfortunately I didn't actually contribute to such success, but the retreat was totally worth going to (sorry choir).

So recap!

CONFIRMATION II RETREAT at PALI MOUNTAIN

On the way to Pali Mountain, the road was dark and had many round turns. The back of the bus had some singing battle, which was better than watching Pirates x] Apparently it was really hot back there, for people started stripping down. Hahah.

When we got there, it wasn't as cold as I thought, but it made me shiver. I clung on to several people for warmth :) The hill down to the girls' cabins is crazy, you don't know how deep the next step will be; sometimes your foot gets stuck in snow up to your thigh. But I thought it was fun :) Snow is fun.

That Friday night we learned about calls from God, and how we are piecing things together in our life. I was in Neil's and Sarah's group, number two, color teal. :) We went back to the cabins after 12; I was in cabin 24, so it was a bit easier to get to than the other cabins. The snowy hill is hilarious. First night was quiet because we didn't know each other yet.

-----

Saturday morning got some good breakfast...meal was rather quiet because we didn't know each other yet.

Learned more about calls from God and piecing things together in our lives, with activities and such.

Within this day, we had a huge snowball fight, oh dear, it was funn. Very tiring however. x) I miss it already! haha. And then we made a snowman! I've never succeeded in a snowman before! :D TEAM WORK! hHaha. It was cute.

During break we played the pretzel game with our group, and it's an interesting game I haven't played before. So you get into a circle and grab different hands across from you, and as a team you try to untangle your knot that you made. It's possible! I plan to play that game again.

Before dinnertime, Neil wanted our group to do the peanut butter jelly dance. So we did. Then the blue group made a cheer, and our teal group danced to Spice Girls? Bahah, and so then people like Jason and Daniel and Crystal and Cynthia and more had like, this dance off. Neil did the Yes dance with Danny x] Hahah. Dancing. Yeeeah. 

Mark Kveton lead this activity in which we had to stand on one foot for five minutes, as an analogy for prayer. It keeps our balance and brings us back to the center.

Dinnertime, intense food mixing caused people gags and screwed faces x] People played the cup game, which Mark Kveton loved!, and we introduced mind games. 

When we got back we had the activity of crossing the line. There was tape on the ground and Neil named off plenty of things that if we did, we crossed the line. This showed how we were never alone.

After that was Adoration. Deeep. It was great to reflect, and pray, and talk to God, sometimes the intensity caused tears in my eyes. I was even more inspired by the people who I saw amazingly in touch with God, in incredibly deep prayer. I saw so many concentrated faces, it made me wonder if people ever smiled when praying so intensely. And I looked over to Sarah my group leader and saw that smile on her face. It inspired me. Her relationship with God seems so strong, I love it. Then I glanced to my right and saw the twins Andrew and Daniel locked by hands, and I started... bawling quietly. I told God how thankful I was to be in a world surrounded by love. I told Him I would be determined to spread it.

There was also confession. I was looking forward to this confession, but unfortunately I only got to say one sin. :( I was gonna list this long list.... I wasn't used to such a short confession. I want to confess my sins!!

Adoration lasted for a few hours, with music playing also. I wished the tent that we were in had a clear top, so that I could lay down and witness God's amazing creations, the vastness of the sky, the millions of stars that sparkle with light, and just thank Him so much and just reflect and learn.

After Adoration we went back to the Cabins where our cabin had a buncha fun playing all these mind games. Heeehee.

-----

Sunday morning we packed up.

Then we went back to the tent where we were reminded that this retreat, this Confirmation is not the end. It is merely the beginning. And yeah, well I'm scared that after confirmation I won't be as active in the church anymore, and that I'll lose contact with many friends. I'll be sure that won't happen. 

We also did prayer in this African dance thing and tai chi :)

We had brunch, and before that Cara told us about how the other little kids around the area had let all the girls go in line first in getting food, by choice. How sweet. :) 

Brunch was soo good. I ate so much. This time our group played charades for a bit, until Jay and Banks came and played the insane mind game of ABCD. I DON'T GET IT OMGSH! Bahha. I've never played that mind game before. I thought I got it, until somebody else said something different and then I lost it. Then they told me what it was after, but it stillll didn't work :\ unless someone doesn't know how to play it right x] I liked how Chris's "the top right pine cone of that one tree" got Neil all confused. haha, nice one.

After that, while groups were getting ready for mass, our group just chilled in the hallway playing more mind games...

Then mass, and it was done :(

After packing up our stuff, all the guys came down the hill to help the girls bring up our luggage; freaking fun! Bahha. The snow was unusually softer because of the rain, so it was even harder going up the hill, especially since we had luggage. They made an assembly line for a bit (smart) and after witnessing such an amazing sight haha, we played snowball fight and people slid down the hill (which I didn't get to do :(). After that we went home. :( Bye bye retreat, hello reality. 

On the way back home, Nemo was playing, and we were playing more mind games. MIND GAMES. way back home was real short. Sigh. REALITY :(

Retreat was great! I love Jesus yes I do, I love Jesus how 'bout you? 

I Left My Heart in San Diego

Valentine's Weekend at San Diego with Choir!

Rachel, wait for the pictures x]

FOOTNOTE: Hey you guys, I L.O.V.E. Katrina Briones! :) My cousin's a fantabulous singer, check her out, subscribe, do what you gotta do :D YOU WON'T REGRET NO LIE.

here's her valentine's day song x] she's cute:

My four day weekend (Friday I was absent due to fever) was fantastic.

I'm STILL SICK, though. 

I don't know, it's kinda like a coughing disorder now. -_-

Once we got around the San Diego area, we stopped by a plaza for food. I ate Filipino food. Mmm. Can't get enough of my own culture can I?

So in our choir's first competition of the season, we got 4th place!! :D

Trophayyy!

After that we went to downtown San Diego (where the sun sets amazing colors on the facades of buildings, stupid camera doesn't do moving pictures).

Went to Horton Plaza, an outdoor mall.

Valentine's day sirrr.

Shopping at Forever XXI with a lot of choir members. Hee hee.

Got a cookie cookie sundae thing with Rachel Banez. x]

Employee: Would you like me to slice up the bananas into the cup, or do you just want.. a banana?

Me: um, ...I'll just take the banana. ? 

After that we started walking to our bus. On the way there, some stranger thought we were from a foreign exchange school. Lol.

While waiting for our bus, the cold and sweets got us and the whole choir went crazy x] Choir bonding time.

Went to our hotel. Watched Walk to Remember and Cinderella Story. Hee hee hee.

Morning woke up to "all the single ladies, all the single ladies"/music videos. Ate. Then we went to SeaWorld! :D

I haven't been to SeaWorld since I was like six or something, and then when I got there, I saw this stuffed white baby seal, and like I dunno I just started crying, brought back childhood memories! It was my favorite stuffed animal when I was little, and I took it with me everywhere, and then I lost it. Years later my mom told me she had to throw it away because it got dirty or something. :( SO I BOUGHT ONE. AND I LOVE LOVE IT :D I named it Chou-chou/chowchow because Mary told me to since she bought one too. 

Sea World was fun. The Atlantis ride was stomach dropping :) All the sea critters were cute. I loved the polar bears, seals, and manatees the best. Sorry, the mammals. x) 

Yea it was fun.

OK bye.

Somethin' good for your eyes.

It's nearing Valentine's Day and I'm totally procrastinating by being on the computer right now. Why couldn't dictionaries have all the words I need instead of me going on dictionary.com?

Anyways, so my brother's going into filming, and he's got his thing called "Tabula Rasa Productions." (Yes, you might have heard of the phrase, "tabula rasa" before, you European AP kids.)

He's got some videos out there you might wanna watch, like the one I am about to show you, which is one of my personal favorites of his. (he was the cinematographer of this video, not director). It's a pretty cute video I think, and some shots I just lovee because they're so pretty :)

Nearing Valentine's Day and thought I'd post it, and also to advocate my brother's filmmaking :D Please watch!

Rough Cut, Bumped Into from Tabula Rasa Productions on Vimeo.

"I'm Proud To Be Me."

-Confirmation todayy.

-Piano, I needa stepp it up.

-Choir, competition at San Diego Saturday, gotta step it up.

I'm determined to fix my sleeping schedule. 

Why does it seem to be less and less time in a day, everyday?

I'm STILLLLL SICK.

The motivation I'm getting right now isn't helping me with the things I need to be motivated on! Now what is that?

LES ENFANTS DU SOLEIL. Who are you? I wish I could respond but I don't know who you are, and whether or not you have a blog I could respond to you on. 

Reading

The hardest thing about AP Euro is the reading. For me. 

I'm a slow reader, and it takes time.

But it piles on and on! I can't take so much reading. It's interesting, but it's hard to read so much in so little time. 

On the other hand,

I realized that I love reading.

I love reading articles

I love reading blogs

I love reading.

I wished I could just sit in the corner of my room where my lounging cushion seat is, sit by a window blinds open, with the sound of rain drops hitting the glass, have a little lamp light, chillax, relax, and just read a good book. 

Reading a book with a heart-thumping, seat jumping, mind thrilling, tear dropping, mouth gasping plot and a perfect combination of full, rich, beautifully picked out words.

Which is what I will do right now.

Unfortunately the rain has stopped pouring. 

PS: sometimes I just wished I had the SLR that captured pictures the way the world really looks like, which I'm pretty sure most do. Sometimes I just wished I had one so I could capture someone to depict how truly beautiful they are. 

Aloha For Now

Okay, so like I'm STILLL SICK and it's freakking annoying :(

But I felt like making a cover video :)

EDIT: tell me if the video's out of sync x]

So yea I heard this song from my neighbor Francis, and I'm glad he told me about it because it's suchhh a greatt song. Aloha For Now, by Kaleo. 

Kaleo: He's new, and he's Hawaiian. And he makes great music. Check him out. But don't spread the word 'till Katrina learns that song and Mourning Sunshine can cover it. BAHHAA. Justt keedding. Spread it.

Anyways, so one day I was in my "let's make pretty music on my piano" mood, and I came across a piano riff that sounded pretty. Then I realized it was too pretty for me have to thought of it. I knew it was from a song. But what song? Then I listened to this song again and realized it was Aloha For Now. Sounds much better on the uke though.

Ignore my ugly high notes because my voice is still messed up from sickness, and ignore my ugly piano playing 'cause I wasn't serious x] I posted this video only on.. here. 

HAHA. I found this video that I made a long time ago. 

The things I DON'T do when I'm bored

Haha, Kristen, in this video you'd see me doing the Chris Brown Youth Rally dance:

T'was raining today!

It's fun when you have an umbrella.
It was also Fuzzy Friday today, a day in which Walnut kids should act nice and kind and all that good stuff.

I did a good thing today! 
Haha, so at then end of lunch, it was pouring pretty hard, and there was this one guy who I don't even talk to, and he didn't have an umbrella! So I let him stand under my umbrella ella ella ey ey ey! :) I walked him as far as I could, since I had to go to class. Well I tried! 

Blha blah blha if i wanna talk about something, i'll talk later. I'm sleepy, and i still have to practice my piano songs for tomorrow's recital. x[ gahhhhhhhhhhh. i just want to sleeep. i mean, just relax. read a book and LOUNGE.

baha. I went out in the rainish today, but it wasn't raining so I just took this fun picture x]

Groundhog Day

Happy Happy Birthday to:

Rachel Banez! =18

Clarisse Magtoto! =15

Louise Martinez! =16 (dang freshman is older than me!)

The day went quick. 

Dudee, I just lovee how Euro AP kids prepare and react. 

It's hectic before class; everyone is either hustlin and bustlin aroun trying to share knowledge over European history in a time span of less than ten minutes, or complaining in regret of not studying well enough and/or expressing hopelessness. 

We take the test, we do the essay. 

Bell rings. 

It's hectic after class; everyone is either hustlin and bustlin aroun trying to compare answers or groupings on an essay, and/or complaining in regret of careless answers and carelessly forgotten details. 

We're such NERDS :) It's a good thing! Bahaha. -Nice reading from a different point of view ey?

The tree at our lunch area stinks like heck. I'd describe the smell to you but I wouldn't want to think about it. Sometimes bees are attracted to the nastiest smelling flowers.

Afterschool I met up with two of the birthday girls.

Louise, Kristen's cousin. & Clarisse, my old neighbor/godsister.

Afterafterschool, at home, I walked around the house imitating Krizzel. FUN. 

Played piano. Then I was invited to eat at Macaroni Grill for Clarisse's birthday! :)

Her sister Claudine has a thing for polygonial shapes, it's hilarious.

Clarisse birthday girl. Her cousin and her sorbet.

Birthday cake.

A family I've known my whole life.

Their cousins whom I've grown fond of.

Such an outing is happy for everyone.

The funny thing about Clarisse is that even though she moved away when we were still only little, it's like we're destined to be in each other's lives forever. Haha, cause like, it seems more than a coincidences that we've seen each other at the Village unplanned about twenty times, no kidding. Bahaha, destiny. It's trippy.

Yeh. I'm still sick. -___- GRRRR.

:( HEROESSS. I MISS THAT SHOW. I haven't watched it in a longgg time. :( I longg to watch it. Why didn't I.