13

Somewhere you'd like to move or visit.

I would love to visit England.  Really, anywhere in Europe, I'd probably be eager and extremely willing to visit. Their culture is just different enough that there are visible differences, but there would be no difficult language barriers or anything of that ilk.  I'd also want to visit the Philippines.  I've never been, but that's where all my elders come from.  I think it'd be a good experience to visit the family there so I could at least have some idea of how life was for my grandparents.  It's good to have some family pride and knowledge about their history.

12

Bullet your whole day.

• Wake up.
• Go to breakfast with Tiffany. (I actually have a friend I got to breakfast with every Wednesday before school; her name is Tiffany.)
• Forget a pen.
• Borrow a pen.
• Take a sociology midterm.
• Forget photo ID.
• Run to car for photo ID.
• Turn in AP scoresheet to admissions.
• Don't use photo ID.
• Go to speech.
• Don't listen.
• Go to the mall.
• Return stuff.
• Shop.
• Don't buy anything.
• Pick up sandwiches from Safeway.
• Eat lunch at Eric's.
• Watch 21 Jump Street.
• Crack up.
• Watch Doctor Who.
• Eat adobo and rice for dinner.
• Watch the Voice.
• Play 66 and Rummy.

11

Put your iPod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.

8-bit Pimp - A-Rival
The Other Side - Bruno Mars
Track 13 - DJ Darthyoda
She Owns the Night - Far East Movement
Caught Up - Usher
Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You - Lauryn Hill
Simple Things - Usher
Romance - Frederick M. Noad
Diablo Rojo - Rodrigo y Gabriela
Stand Too Close - Motion City Soundtrack.

That was boring.  I recently reset my iPod, cleared the pictures, music, apps everything.  Those were some of the few albums that made it on my iPod in the last few months.

10

Discuss your first love and first kiss.

Blast to the past time!  Man, this brings up so many memories.  There are a lot of good, enough bad, and plenty of things that just were.  TJ is my first love.  He taught me a lot about what a good guy does and how I deserve to be treated.  I lucked out really.  He was a gentleman and a sweet guy.  My first kiss was with him too.  I remember dropping him off at home after a tennis game one day, and there was this path along the side of his house to his front door.  I walked him to his door, (like a gentlewoman!), and poof.  A short, sweet, movie-style first kiss.  I'm not exaggerating either.  When I say TJ is a gentleman, I mean it, and he kept the kiss  PG.  Honestly, if I could redo my first kiss, it'd probably be similar, if not identical, to that one.  And yes, we didn't last, but we're still good friends.  Sounds cliche, but it actually works for us.

09

How you hope your future will be like.

The one thing I know I hope I have in the future is good family and friends.  Right now, seeing my huge family gatherings and all the laughter and love involved, I know that's something I will want in my future for me and my  family.  And even if the amount of family isn't the same, I've seen friends with small families who create their own bigger families with their friends and their friends' relatives.  It's such a great way to find people who are gonna be there for you.

I honestly haven't thought much about my personal goals for my future.  I know I want a good job, but it's always been in the context of providing for my family.  I think that's why teaching is one of my to-do things for the future.  I really like being in the classroom and seeing other people begin to learn and understand concepts greater than just themselves.  It's gratifying.  One personal thing I do think I want for my future is a great library.  I don't know if it'll all be digital by then, but I love my books.  I can't imagine not reading for fun in my future.  Movies and everything else electronic is great, but in my mind, nothing beats being curled up in a comfy chair with a good novel.

08

A moment you felt the most satisfied with your life.

I'd been job searching for 7 months, I was feeling pretty pushed to the side in my relationship, and school was getting stressful.  I knew I'd be fine with school, I finally had a heart to heart with Eric, and I got an interview with Cold Stone.  It was the moment after the manager of Cold Stone called me, not 5 hours after the interview had ended, to offer me the job.  The second I got off the phone, I was screaming to my parents downstairs and woke up my dog.  I was so happy.  It was so satisfying to know that I got this job on my own. I got my first job through a referral, so I was always kind of unsure about my actual hiring potential.  Getting the job was my reassurance that I really am a valuable employee.  I wouldn't have been promoted or kept around if I wasn't.

07

Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.

Being born on September 19th makes me a Virgo.  They're usually described as perfectionists, obsessed with image and appearances, and unlikely to show emotions.  I'm sure there's a whole lot more that goes with this zodiac sign, but these are the traits that have stuck with me after reading several horoscopes and whatnot over the years.  I think these things can be said about me, but honestly, it's more like a guideline than a way of life.  I like looking presentable, but when I don't care about my outfit or my makeup I can let things slide.  I am a perfectionist, but I have my lazy days.  I used to hide my emotions a lot.  Now, I tend to let them be a little more apparent, even if I don't reveal the underlying causes to said emotions.

Looking at horoscopes in general though, I think a lot of people can say that they apply to themselves in certain instances.  A lot of the characteristics tend to be broad and can be observed in almost everyone at some point or another.  I understand the appeal of horoscopes and zodiac signs though.  It's a fun way of seeing if you can predict the future or just the next day.

06

Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.

1. I love Harry Potter.
2. I've read each book in the Harry Potter series at least 3 times.
3. I tend to re-read books that I like.
4. I love baking.
5. I hate pairing socks, but I don't mind doing the rest of the laundry.
6. One of my favorite comfy outfits are tights, boots, and a long sweater.
7. I love wearing hats.
8. I met my current boyfriend at work; they have a strict "no nepotism" policy.
9. Dating each other didn't keep me from getting promoted.
10. I used to draw caricatures. Now, my artwork is kept to the margins of my notes.
11. I love sociology and seeing theories occur in real life.
12. I traveled to Australia during summer after my sophomore year in high school.
13. I've eaten kangaroo tail cooked in a dirt pit at an Aboriginal community.
14. I've also swam over the Great Barrier Reef.
15. I love snorkeling in Maui.
16. I swam not 5 feet from a sea turtle and an eel, though not at the same time.
17. I jumped from the side of the boat into the middle of the Pacific Ocean without flotation devices, and it was exhilarating.
18. My hair has been purple, teal, red, and blonde.
19. I love board games, especially the geeky ones.
20. I can be really competitive.
21. My favorite class in college has been Intro to Marriage and Family for Sociology.
22. I crochet amigurumi and have given an owl, a droid robot, and a pair of pigs as gifts.
23. My favorite jazz piece is Rhapsody in Blue.
24. I'm currently employed at Cold Stone Creamery and can take home ice cream at the end of every shift.
25. So far, I have 6 piercings and am contemplating on getting more.
26. No tattoos yet, but I'm considering it.
27. I think I want to be a dentist, then teach community college.
28. My favorite color is purple right now.
29. I like making customized pizzas with my boyfriend from store-bought frozen pizzas.
30. I hate when people don't rinse their dishes and leave hardened food for me to wash.

I realize these weren't all interesting, but what I've realized about these types of posts are that the "facts" tend to be just random facts that follow one another.  It's an interesting way to look at the inner monologue of someone.

05

A time you thought about ending your own life.

How depressing.  I had one very short time when I first transferred high schools and was applying for colleges that the stress and expectations got really scary.  All I really remember is being scared of not getting into the colleges I wanted and failing and disappointing everyone.  I never sought help, I never told anyone.  It was a huge internal struggle that didn't last very long.  I realized how selfish and really useless way of dealing with my anxieties.  And honestly, there was just no way I would've been able to take my own life.  That's just way too big of a responsibility for me to handle.  Bigger than not getting into college.

Suffice to say, I'm still here.  Ending my life would have kept me from working and meeting awesome artists, from going to school and learning a whole lot about sociology, and from meeting my boyfriend.  It's a wonder that I ever considered ending my own life before, considering how much I love life now.  

04

Your views on religion.

I was a cradle Catholic.  I remember throughout my childhood going to mass, attending religious education, and going through all the sacraments available to the youth and teenagers at church.  Having a community at church was great; I knew there was always someone there to turn to if ever I needed it.  I don't say this to sell religion. I think if you believe in a higher power, that's great.  I also believe if you think that free will is more viable than some bigger being creating and planning everything, that's great too.  You're not going to suffer just because you don't go to a church or temple regularly.  The one thing that's stuck with me is the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  It's that simple.  Don't hate other religions because they're not yours.  It's ignorant and insensitive.  Beliefs are just that, what someone believes.  As long as they're not attempting to shove said beliefs down your throat, everyone should be just fine.

03

Your opinion on drugs and alcohol.

How ironic.  I just had a conversation with my sibling about substances.  I won't go into detail for his sake, but this is an interesting topic.  Let me start by saying that I do not have much life experience in this particular activity.  To be honest, drugs and alcohol is a really broad topic.  I mean, you could mean recreational drugs or prescription.  Rubbing alcohol or liquor.  Obviously, I think prescription drugs and rubbing alcohol are great advances in the field of medicine, exponentially greater than treating people through bloodletting and the like.

Recreational drugs and liquor though.  I think if anything is going to put you into an altered state, there are risks.  Whether it's worth the risks is really up to the person.  For me, I would probably pass on drugs of any kind.  Honestly, there is a lot of variety and different types of compounds that I just cannot predict.  Hallucinogens, uppers, downers.  I don't even know the jargon, and I won't even try to keep track.  As for alcohol, it's ethanol.  I loved chemistry, so I know the hydroxl group used in its formation.  Excuse the geek out, but I will drink.  There's probably a bit of exposure effect, but I think because alcohol is just a more visible activity, I accept it more.  They sell drinks at restaurants and in stores, but they don't have baggies of illegal drugs in "drugstores".  I guess, if there are major corporations developing, producing, and selling a product, it's not necessarily better for you than something that's homemade.  But if I'm trusting a drug user over a licensed product, there is something odd happening.

But really, that's just my opinion.  My opinion is based on very little experience in either category.

02

Where you'd like to be in 10 years.

Challenge already failed, ha! Anyhow, 10 years. Well, my plan right now is to finish my associate's degree within the next semester, get my bachelor's in sociology at SF state or Cal in two years, finish my pre-med general education back at DVC, then go to school for dentistry. That's about eight years of just school.  Phew, I never realized.  Let's see.  By the time 2022 rolls around, I'd like to be settling down.  Hopefully, by then, I'll have my own practice and be able to get married.  I keep telling myself that I want kids before I turn 30, but looking at my timeline, it's kind of a time crunch.

Man, I am horrible at this daily blog thing.  I saved this post, intending to finish it later, and I just didn't.  Oh well.  In summary, in 10 years I do want to be married.  I want a steady job.  I also want dogs, if kids haven't magically appeared yet.  And a cat, too.

01

Your current relationship, if single discuss how single life is.

Being me, I want to correct this first topic grammatically.  Seeing as it's not supposed to be a full sentence, I'll let it slide.

Anyhow, my current relationship is approximately 21 months old.  Eric and I started dating June 1, 2010.  He teases me about this whenever it comes up, but we had a "dating-without-titles" stage because being a perfectionist tends to make me cautious.  I've told him this before, but I don't "jump into things".  Thankfully, he was understanding about that, and a whole lot of other things as I'd soon find out.

I can't talk about any of my romantic relationships without mentioning my family.  See, my family is big, loud, and Filipino.  We are a close-knit group, honest to the point of brutality, but with love, love, and more love.  There's also a lot of laughter.  I was a little hesitant to introduce Eric to the family, not because he's white, but because when I'm with my family, my "crazy" tends to make an appearance too.  He was not at all thrown by the volume or amount of insanity that entails a Filipino family gathering, and I could not be happier.  He's ridiculously at ease with any of my relatives, joking and laughing along with them.  He's now gotten to the point where he whispers and gossips with my aunties about me, which you'd think would be annoying but is actually really adorable.  It's such a joy watching him fit in so well, and that's just the beginning of why we're so amazing together.

Knowing he handles the insanity of my family well, it shouldn't be a surprise to me that he deals with my own bouts of crazy so easily.  But it does surprise me.  I used to internalize everything and keep all my secrets, anxieties, everything inside.  It honestly scared me to tell anyone anything because there's just so much I've kept hidden.  Eric has been a monumental weight off of my shoulders.  When I finally let him see me freak out, he took it in stride.  I'd been afraid that it might scare him off, but he's stuck with me through everything.  He has his different way of dealing with stress, but mostly it's by grabbing me for a cuddle and a nap.  Even so, he's my confidant, and I know that I'm his.  It's really corny, I know, but I can tell him anything without even thinking of being judged.

Speaking of corny, I inherited my father's corny jokes.  It's hard to admit, but sometimes, I cringe when I tell one because I can hear his voice saying the exact same thing.  And Eric loves it.  Humor and laughter is ever present in our relationship.  That's great because I love being happy.  It's hard to express just how important it is that he is able to make me smile when I'm having a horrible day.  I suspect because laughter is such a huge part of my childhood that it has stuck with me and how I deal with my everyday life.  Suffice to say, he makes me happy in every way possible, in any of my moods, on any given day.  Bottom line is that I love him, and he loves me.  We're together no matter what dark days come our way (and there have been some very miserable days), and laughter and love still prevail.  Not to mention he's easy on the eyes, plays guitar like a rock star, and plays the geeky board games with me.<3

challenge accepted.

Here we go.

A little about me before this goes down.  I have a perfectionist streak.  I was an AP student, I'm currently a Sociology major, and I'm generally drawn to strange uses of the English language.  Strange here does not mean unintelligible.  I hate people who type like they're still in middle school and their shift button is malfunctioning.  I'm fluent in sarcasm and Harry Potter.  The rest, you'll probably be able to figure out in the next 30 days.