Happy Half Year to My Someone

Six months ago God blessed me by placing Cason into my life and ever since then I've been the happiest I've ever been and I'm so thankful everyday for getting to be his! It's truly crazy how one person can change your life so much. And not only did God give me a love but he gave me a best friend and someone to help me grow in my faith and Christianity along with helping him grow in his.

Yesterday for our half year anniversary, Cason came over and I made him breakfast! Homemade french toast! Turned out delicious! I really want to start cooking more and learning new recipes so if you know any easy yet delicious ones I'd love to know!

Afterwards we went headed to a roller skating rink! (sidenote: I'm determined to buy vintage roller skates for myself sometime in my life) I only...surprisingly...fell once in the two or so hours we were there! I was proud! We took fun photos and goofed around and just had a blast!

Ended the night by giving him my present, walking around the fashion mall then going to my house to play video games cuz you know we're just thee coolest couple you'll ever meet! It was a great way to spend the six months we've been together :) If any of you have seen the movie Like Crazy, my present for him was kind of like the one Anna gave to Jacob! I made him a little scrapbook/journal/diary that I've been working on since we started dating and then I also got him Dark Amber cologne from Bath and Body Works and it smells so amazing!

And that's how we celebrated our six month anniversary!

I hope you all have a fun day today!

200th Post!

I can't believe it! Have I really posted about myself to everyone 200 times? I didn't even know I was interesting enough to make 200 posts about my life! It's amazing what a blog will bring out of you though! Through this blog I've really grown as a person. I've found more confidence in my writing and photography and this blog has also helped me decide what I want to do in my life! I never thought 200 posts later that this blog would be this big part of my life! I'm so glad it is!

So! As a little celebration here are some pictures from a few of my favorite posts from the past! A little trip down "blog memory lane" I guess :)

Wow! I can't believe it! 200 posts :D
Well I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had an amazing day today!

It was a pretty eventful day at my house!
Yesterday at 6:30 PM we went to the Christmas service at our church which was so fun and amazing! At midnight we had our traditional Filipino feast called Noche Buena followed by the long awaited present opening! Then, at 3 PM today I was able to see one of my all time favorite musicals in movie form! Les Miserables! I was in tears for majority if not the whole duration of the movie haha!
And I'd like to take this moment to do a little show and tell haha :)

I am completely in love with my presents! :D And luckily my family liked the presents I got them! I've already learned 3 songs on my new mandolin, drank tea from my tea tumbler, put the pins on my button blazer, positioned the owl on my display shelf and put the lens on one of my cameras :D This was definitely a success of a Christmas!

What all did you guys get?

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

Time to Breathe

Time to Be whatever I please,

Time to Relax for hours,

Time to Exhale all the stress,

Time to Appreciate the Lord in power.

Time to Transform ideas to reality,

Time to Hold love ones dear,

Time to Encourage freedom we  now have,

Time to BREATHE is here.

I finally have it!

Being a junior in high school while also being in photography and being in Ambassador on top of my school work, in which I take two AP classes and advanced math, time is little to none! But luckily I'm on winter break now and I can finally breathe! With my finals done, Holiday Spec over, and school completely out of my brain I can catch up on my own photography, this blog and hopefully I'll catch up on all the hours of sleep I've lost!

In only 2 days it'll be my all time favorite holiday! CHRISTMAS!!! Words cannot describe how excited I am! But, the hardest part about not having a job is getting presents for my family...didn't get them exactly what I wanted to get them but I still got them things they would enjoy :) It's going to be nice just relaxing with a cup of hot chocolate and my family. This is one well needed break!

Hope you all have a great winter break and a Merry Christmas!!!

Represent

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
- Colossians 3:17

This weekend for the first time in my life I went to a fall retreat with my church! A moment I've been so excited for for the longest time! It was absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend! It was a weekend of renewal for me, confirming my place in the Kingdom of God and feeling completely at place and welcomed by my small group who I have come to absolutely love this past weekend!

Everything was perfect. The weather was perfect, the leaves were beautiful, the people were welcoming and my mind was in the right place. I couldn't stop thanking God throughout the whole weekend for making me see the power of his love. We all go through difficult times and these past few weeks I've been really struggling with feeling wanted and accepted and I thank God so much for my beautiful small group for making me feel just that and knowing that I am indeed loved beyond compare.

I'm crying now in happiness because I know now that along with God's love I have the love of these wonderful girls that He's put in my life. He couldn't have timed it more perfectly. A common thing we talked about this weekend was how powerful and amazing God is for creating all these things around us. Like the song by Gungor "He makes beautiful things out of dust. He makes beautiful things out of us."

We kept on being awestruck over how beautiful God made everything for us this weekend. Without cell phones. Without worrying about boys. Without thinking about school. There were no distractions. Only God. Our eyes were opened to see all the beauty: the beauty of the leaves on the ground and the feeling of the sun on our skin, and the beauty of all the stars at night...which you never get to see in the suburbs...

Everything was just a blessing! I hope to keep this spiritual high up forever and make sure it lives on past this weekend and with the help of my small group, I really think it's possible.

So that pretty much sums up my weekend!
I hope you all have had an equally amazing weekend as well!

A Place in this World

we all have one...

Many of you know that my passion, other than singing and acting, is photojournalism and travelling. Being a junior has gotten me questioning everything I want to do in the future vs. what I need to do. I'm wondering if what I want to do is practical enough to live off of...but then I remember I don't want to be stuck in a job I'll be unhappy in. I've been struggling so much to find a happy medium with the two and I've researched beyond what a 16-year-old would usually care about.

With the help of my photography class and church I think I've found a way. I've become so intrigued by social commentary and with all the injustices in the world and for a while now something's been pulling my mind to think about all I can do to help or expose or just do something about it all. I just can't sit still knowing all that's happening in the world.

In photography class we watched a documentary called Born into Brothels showing the lives of children in Sonagchi, Calcutta who have been born into brothels and Zana Briski who teaches them photography. The lives of the children inspired me so much and the drive of Zana to help the children even more so.

Lastly, I wanted to introduce to you all my new idol: Barry Rodriguez. He is the founder and director of the organization, World Next Door which is a non-for-profit organization who's mission is to "use compelling journalism, hands-on mentoring and influential leadership to change ordinary people into wild-eyed revolutionaries for God's kingdom and to unleash them on local and global issues of social injustice." He just so happens to be the son of the head pastor in my church and was the speaker at the most recent service and I was able to talk to him! Being introduced to this organization was like looking at the future you've always wanted. Even though I have to be 20 to actually be a part of it, just knowing that it's out there is so uplifting and inspiring...it's the waiting game that sucks though haha so until then I'm planning on volunteering here at home, growing as a photographer and writing, of course growing more in my faith!

What do you guys think of World Next Door? And do you guys have a dream you're excited to fulfill?
Hope you have had a great day!!

The Hunger Challenge

Have you ever put yourself in someone else's shoes? Not just thinking about how they would be going through something but actually putting yourself in their situation? In the weeks that I've been absent from blogging I've become more involved in my church. Right now we're in a series about the six broken places in the world: Separation, Injustice, Hatred, Isolation, Broken Bodies and Minds, Decay.

We're on week two of the series and this week focused on the injustices and the systems of injustice in the world. Many of which include how much of the world is in poverty and have a hard time being able to feed their family let alone themselves. My family and I are taking part in a four week challenge to better understand what people in poverty have to go through on a daily basis and to put us into their mindset of what it truly means to be hungry and to give back. So this is what I'll be doing along with my church these next four weeks:

• Week 1: Rice and Beans - eat rice and beans everyday and donate unused money
• Week 2: Food Stamps - live off of the food stamp budget and donate unused money
• Week 3: Green Bag - fill up a food donation bag and bring it to church
• Week 4: Prayer 

If you're interested you can check out my church's website and can join along in this journey if you want!

Hope you all have had a great day!