Monthly Archives: June 2009

What I've Learned From Being Part of a Big (Surrogate) Family

June 25, 2009 by Karess | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized
1. Learn to share. Whether it’s time, food, a good story, appliances,  your prior location to home, or simply how your day went, learn how to share it and not get freaked out when they ask. Yes, they really are bound to ask. Besides, you know you want them to :D
2. Always inform them of your whereabouts especially when you’re going home late. Tactical interrogation by a protective mother and a more protective older brother is bound to occur lest you forget.
3. Noise is inevitable, especially with four children at home with different temperaments and artistic tastes. Live with it.
4. There are a myriad ways of expressing love, and they are not limited to mushyness and corny-ness.
5. Hugs from younger siblings are comforting.
6. Banter with younger siblings is fun and stress-relieving. Especially when long-running jokes are involved.
7. Be not afraid to burp, or cry, or lose your composure in front of them. (Truth be told, I am still working on this. Especially the crying part when watching movies. However, I have lost my composure countless times, especially when insects are involved.)
8. You are a part of the academic research process, as well as various other processes that involve certain degrees of responsibility. Be prepared to answer questions. Also, be prepared to teach them how to get to the achieved result.
9. It is never too late to learn the basics.
10. At the end of the day, no matter how FAIL you’ve been, family is still family. Even if you were born from another mother.

1. Learn to share. Whether it’s time, food, a good story, appliances,  your prior location to home, or simply how your day went, learn how to share it and not get freaked out when they ask. Yes, they really are bound to ask. Besides, you know you want them to :D

2. Always inform them of your whereabouts especially when you’re going home late. Tactical interrogation by a protective mother and a more protective older brother is bound to occur lest you forget.

3. Noise is inevitable, especially with four children at home with different temperaments and artistic tastes. Live with it.

4. There are a myriad ways of expressing love, and they are not limited to mushyness and corny-ness.

5. Hugs from younger siblings are comforting.

6. Banter with younger siblings is fun and stress-relieving. Especially when long-running jokes are involved.

7. Be not afraid to burp, or cry, or lose your composure in front of them. (Truth be told, I am still working on this. Especially the crying part when watching movies. However, I have lost my composure countless times, especially when insects are involved.)

8. You are a part of the academic research process, as well as various other processes that involve certain degrees of responsibility. Be prepared to answer questions. Also, be prepared to teach them how to get to the achieved result.

9. It is never too late to learn the basics.

10. At the end of the day, no matter how FAIL you’ve been, family is still family. Even if you were born from another mother.

sunday lovely sunday

June 15, 2009 by Karess | No Comments | Filed in holiday
sunday lovely sunday
woke up at six in the morning, even if i slept at one. yes, friends, my body clock has been fine-tuned that way, and i like it. i love how it’s so quiet and peaceful in the morning (in our house, especially), how i wake up to chirping birds, and how the occasional cold breeze wafts through my room.
since i had a lot to do that day, i decided to attend the 9 am service at our church. i don’t do it very often, but for some reason i was looking forward to it–and now, i’m grateful i got to attend service that early. :) methinks i’ll be attending the morning service more regularly now.
when i got home from church, i cooked spaghetti, and ended up putting too much pepper on it. LOL! i could hardly eat because of its highly spicy qualities :(
after lunch i did some major cleaning on my room. truth be told, tidying up is quite therapeutic for me. for some reason the process of cleaning, wiping, sweeping, and scrubbing relaxes me. haha! i’ve made numerous comments about this on my other social networks, and in return my friends have asked me to clean their houses for them. i’m closing my doors now, too, so don’t expect a positive response from me on this one :P
i wrapped my new books in plastic after the room overhaul. it’s another seemingly boring thing that i like doing. i tend to be OC when it comes to wrapping my books. as i write this i’m racking my brain trying to explain why i like doing it, and i realize just now that we don’t really have to explain why we like certain things all the time! anyway, i received a bunch of new books for my birthday, from myself and other people, save for the one book i won in a contest :) here they are:
a tagalog bible
a tagalog-english dictionary
a pink (!!!!!!) campus 121 booklet
the grand weaver – ravi zacharias
this present darkness – frank peretti
how to understand the bible correctly – william girao
the bible jesus read – philip yancey
do hard things – alex and brett harris
i’m really excited to read all of them! :)
after bookwrapping, i grabbed dinner, tried an oreo hot fudge sunday for the first time, and read a book. nothing really fantastic there, but i love the fact that i had so much accomplished then, and i felt it was a fitting way to end the day.
thankfully the vaykay is over, and we’re all back to regular programming :D

woke up at six in the morning, even if i slept at one. yes, friends, my body clock has been fine-tuned that way, and i like it. i love how it’s so quiet and peaceful in the morning (in our house, especially), how i wake up to chirping birds, and how the occasional cold breeze wafts through my room.

since i had a lot to do that day, i decided to attend the 9 am service at our church. i don’t do it very often, but for some reason i was looking forward to it–and now, i’m grateful i got to attend service that early. :) methinks i’ll be attending the morning service more regularly now.

when i got home from church, i cooked spaghetti, and ended up putting too much pepper on it. LOL! i could hardly eat because of its highly spicy qualities :(

after lunch i did some major cleaning on my room. truth be told, tidying up is quite therapeutic for me. for some reason the process of cleaning, wiping, sweeping, and scrubbing relaxes me. haha! i’ve made numerous comments about this on my other social networks, and in return my friends have asked me to clean their houses for them. i’m closing my doors now, too, so don’t expect a positive response from me on this one :P

i wrapped my new books in plastic after the room overhaul. it’s another seemingly boring thing that i like doing. i tend to be OC when it comes to wrapping my books. as i write this i’m racking my brain trying to explain why i like doing it, and i realize just now that we don’t really have to explain why we like certain things all the time! anyway, i received a bunch of new books for my birthday, from myself and other people, save for the one book i won in a contest :) here they are:

  • a tagalog bible
  • a tagalog-english dictionary
  • a pink (!!!!!!) campus 121 booklet
  • the grand weaver – ravi zacharias
  • this present darkness – frank peretti
  • how to understand the bible correctly – william girao
  • the bible jesus read – philip yancey
  • do hard things – alex and brett harris

i’m really excited to read all of them! :)

after bookwrapping, i grabbed dinner, tried an oreo hot fudge sundae for the first time, and read a book. nothing really fantastic there, but i love the fact that i had so much accomplished then, and i felt it was a fitting way to end the day.

thankfully the vaykay is over, and we’re all back to regular programming :D

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my happy Independence Day

June 13, 2009 by Karess | No Comments | Filed in holiday

The day started off with a hearty breakfast at Something Fishy with Eunice and Tristan. Initially it was supposed to be just between Eunice and me, but plans changed along the way, and Tristan came along with us. Eunice marveled at the fact that breakfast dates were something nice and different, and I couldn’t agree with her more. After all, aren’t we all more used to the lunch, afternoon, or dinner dates with friends? That particular breakfast was refreshing and even if I was rrrreaaaaaaallllyyyy hungry then, I felt like I didn’t need to wolf down the food. Steady lang, kumbaga.

After breakfast Aze caught up with us; unfortunately he wasn’t able to catch up with the resto’s buffet breakfast, which only lasted till 9am. Our group decided to split up–Trist and I had coffee and read at The Coffee Bean, while Aze had breakfast elsewhere and was joined by Eunice. Nothing beats Chai Tea Latte. Yum.

After breakfast we drove to Fort Bonifacio to have lunch at Kuya Manny and Ate Claire’s house in Ft Bonifacio. Eunice is friends with them and really excited to go to their place, and admittedly I was curious to meet them. Kuya Manny is a soldier working for the Philippine Navy, and he and his wife were very hospitable and accommodating. It was my first time to meet the couple and their children, and I am amazed at how God is just so rawkin’ faithful to them! Kuya Manny also exemplifies leadership in action–his heart really was to serve people. His stories were also very encouraging and full of wisdom :) Ate Claire, on the other hand, was not just a FANTASTIC cook, but a doting and hardworking mom–and a really smart woman to boot! She’s gonna be studying her MA in Education next week and MAN am I excited for her! :D

We then decided to go to historic spots–Ft Santiago and Intramuros–that afternoon just for kicks :D I marveled at how Roxas Boulevard had a lot of flags on display. It was a pretty sight and Eunice’s camera was snapping away. The photos hopefully will be posted in a few days and I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves :) I had so much fun during the photoshoot because it relived my college Photography days, where I’d go to the same places to take photos for class. Nakakamiss talaga!

The evening events were quite a breeze–purchased yummy garguantuan ensaymada at discounted prices (!!!) at the Diamond Hotel, sang our collective lungs out on the drive to MOA, had Chinese for dinner (yummy, but ironic. . . how patriotic!), and drove home tired and very very happy. I had no idea what transpired on the drive home because I fell asleep on the car. XD A quirk quite normal for me, I might add.

So there, the story of my happy Independence Day. :)

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a long and happy birthday :)

June 7, 2009 by Karess | No Comments | Filed in holiday, Relationships

i turned twenty four technically yesterday. it was a whirlwind day because the day was packed with activity. . . :)

the highlights of the day:
* woke up early to participate at Operation Overdrive from 630-1130. super awesome!
* had coffee, read a book, and talked stuff with tristan. was given some triple-layer cheesecake :) hindi niya alam na favorite ko ang cheesecake. hihi
* had sinigang na hipon at max’s afterwards :) super yummy
* was super uber late for small group :(
* thought small group was over until they ended up SURPRISING ME :o had a hearty meal of tuyo, dilis, ensalada, raw mangoes, bagoong, and mountains of rice served on a banana leaf. . . with a dessert of crema de fruta, meringue, mikmik, and chocolate wafers :)
* received a “two-birds-with-one-stone” answered prayer. . . :)
* had dinner, laughs, photos, and songs with family and friends at home. :)
* ngayon lang nakapag internet . . . grateful for all your messages and greetings.

this was such a wonderful day and i could not ask for more. :)

thank you to everyone who made this possible . . . who took time to spend it with me :X hay. . . it deserves another blog for another time. . . :D

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