Once Upon a Time.

You’ll never forget the experiences and the little joys where you put your heart into. Wherever you maybe, all the experiences from the past that have contributed alot on you who you are today will always be irreplaceable. I am not perfect. I can tell the world that I am a sinner. But once upon a time, I was a warrior. I was a real worshipper. I was a speaker. I was an ATE. And a Role Model to the young ones. But, I am imperfect..

Once upon a time, there was this young girl who joined a community called by God. Youth For Christ. That was May 24, 2003. She was small, wearing off shoulder blouse, with jeans and flat rubber shoes plus pig-tails. She was this friendly young kid who was attending the youth camp that same date. The environment was so not-pristine to her since she was used to attending camps and fellowships when she was a Kids for Christ. She has made a lot of friends. She knew what she joined. She was aware of the environment. She loved being there. As time went by, she was asked and invited to be a leader. An ‘’ate’’ for the KFCs. Without any hesitations, she said Yes. She was excited to serve. And she was accustomed of spending her weekends with the kids whom she learned to love a lot. She attended leadership trainings, fellowships, retreats, etc. But she was imperfect.

 She met a lot of people who inspired her. She met people whom she has found so amazing and she looked up to them. She was able to share herself to others, she was not afraid that she was a young leader.  She was dedicated to her service. She was motivated. She was eager to tell the world how great life is when you have Jesus. She was not extraordinary. She enjoyed being in the community. Being herself, dedicated to her work. Loving everything that she was doing. She would rather spend the weekend at service than staying at home or going at the mall. She loved everything that she was doing. She was not hesitant to serve. But she was imperfect.

She loved to sing Worship songs despite having a dreadful voice. The songs of praise were her outlet. According to her, you will see the real her when she worships. She was never afraid of kneeling, raising her hands so high, when she worships. She loved the feeling of worshiping the Lord. Her one on one with the Lord.  She added, ‘Nothing beats the feeling of being high for the Lord’.

She was humble. She made a lot of friends. The friends that good or bad, are still her friends. She spent sleepless nights in service but she didnt get tired. She begged for her parents’ permission to attend a conference and serve even if she was sick—because she wanted to serve. She had difficult times of having money in order to go for service, but the Lord has always blessed her.

She had a lot of predicaments in the service, but she was able to surpass them all because she had great brothers and sisters and she was way tough.

She had a beautiful YFC story. Once upon a time, she was once awarded a hero. And once upon a time, kids who knew her would run onto her and hug her like she was an angel and a clown. 

But she was imperfect, and a sinner. She stumbled so many times.  Stood up so many times.

She's no longer active. She may no longer be a leader, but her story never ends. Up to this moment, her heart continues beating and keeps in mind everything she learned.  People never knew her excess baggage.

On the other hand, she is still small. The small girl who is trying to keep everything on track. She keeps on loving.  She’s still a warrior. A worshipper by heart. But Role Model no more. She is still tough, and way better. But she still struggles.   Her story is tear-jerking. But she will be forever thankful of her life’s struggles. Without those heart-rending moments in her life, she may not be able to withstand with broken legs and she may not be able to fully understand how great life really is. She is a wounded warrior. But her scars are her layers of armor. But as the song says, ‘Deep inside this armor.. the warrior is a child’

She served. She fell. She stumbled so badly. She withstood the hurricane. ------She is a sinner. She is imperfect. Her story of love, happiness, joy, victories and defeats are never ending…

THIS IS MY STORY. And my story is incessant.

----This is one of my favourite blogs. I almost cried. Dear Lord God, thank you for loving me every day.--  This is a Glimpse of my YFC story. I will forever treasure the moments I had in Yfc.  Being a YFC was one of the best things in my life. 

Blessing in Disguise.

It’s October 1, 2010. Supposedly, we have no classes. But there was a scheduled Grand Case Pres. 2 weeks ago,  I was like flabbergasted when our Class president included my name on the case presenters (2 representatives from our class). I didn’t like the idea. I had to attend meetings and stuff which I learnt to enjoy and love after a week. So there have been so many dramas and quandaries on our case.

…....

I just got home. It’s raining cats and dogs. I had no umbrella so I got a little wet. It’s been a tough week for those who are behind the case study. The scheduled Grand Case Pres was moved on October 7 which at first I didn’t like but we all realized that it is a blessing in disguise. There are tons of revisions, issues and shortcomings. So thank you, Lord for making it possible.

One thing I’m in no doubt at this moment. We will kick in a notch on the 7th. We will be geared. And we will be ready. We will be well armed.  

Losing yourself.

To be yourself in a world that is trying to make you something different is one of life’s greatest accomplishments.

Just before I started typing this blog, I was watching America’s Next Top Model Cycle 14 (I’ve been a follower of that). And I really love it when the girls do photo shoots, their make-ups, their hair.  Ahhh.. FABULOUS! Oh well. I am not a model though. I’m somewhat petite actually. But, I have once dreamt of being a model. Funny though. So yeah. And watching that a while ago, I thought of what is that something that I am not really scared of doing when it comes to posing for pictures with my friends, or whoever. (Not posing for any whatsoever just picture taking with people). So I thought of this: Sometimes, all you need is just to lose yourself. What do I mean by this? I just portend that.. We people do not need to be always browbeaten on how we may look. I get it; there comes a stage in our lives that we will be super conscious on our looks. But…  hey, lose yourself a little bit!

Let us not make this world change us. We don’t need to be always beautiful; Losing yourself sometimes means that, Hey,  I am real.  Do not be stuck on your comfort zone, sometimes we just have to leave our comfort zones to really assess ourselves.  Do whatever you’re comfortable doing, be real.  There are no perfect girls in this erratic world. Perfect girls aren’t real and Real girls aren’t perfect.

Just rock and roll! 

Simple Pleasures.

True happiness does not depend on what life brings your way, it is what you bring to life. The line that I will forever have off pat. I have actually seen this line on my Tita’s notebook of songs and quotations.

I was raised very well by my parents. I have grown with so many unfussy things given to me. And just like everybody, I have my own set list of my simple joys. The little things that make me go outlandish. The little things that can put a huge smile in my heart in a snap. The little things that I must say: My Simple Pleasures in Life.

1.    FOODSTUFF.

Back when I was so little, Papa used to hand me pasalubongs. And Hello Panda was (and still is) my favourite. Love it to death!

Ice scramble.

Have you ever tried buying for some sort of street stuff like skrambol  being sold by some kuya’s/manong’s riding on their own tricycle selling some street food including ice scramble ofcourse. Ooh. How I love it! So yeah. I was actually happy to have heard that there are chains of ice scramble being sold at the mall. Yeee! Love it.

Pizza. I am so inlove with Pizza. Here’s a Trivia that only Pat knows why I loved Pizza. Remember Nick Carter of Backstreetboys? Well. Okay, since I super love Nick and all the stuff that he loves which includes pizza. There, I learnt to love pizza. Silly, right? 

Jollibee’s N2. Spag + Yum =LABEET! ( I used to be Jollibee’s kiddie member back when I was.. uh..uhmm…4-5-6-7?) and Mcdonald’s Mcflurry. MY FAVORITE!

2.    GLEE.

I am a GLEEK! All right, Glee Marathon? I can lie all day on the sofa just watching Glee. I am not a super avid fan. But I must admit, I am really inlove with Glee. Watching Glee makes me feel like I am still on my teenage life, you know. Glee is SUPERB!

One of my fave Glee Eps. Tina's version of True Colors. :D

3.    CATCHING UPS

College has been a quandary or let’s say a hassle getter. I could hardly see my friends for some sort of reasons that they’re up on something or the other way around. But the best part is when you get to see your same old friends and you do a lot of catching ups like you just own the world. Even if you’ve been miles apart, the same old good and true friends will always be there.

 ABNOYS!

SCG! 

 Noy and Lo

 with Hollisters.

with TBs.

4.    The HAREBRAINED ME.

I actually love making fun of myself and I enjoy it, heaps. Not to the extent that I wear makeup, okay? I don’t exactly know why I love doing those silly acts which I and my friends can laugh our asses out. People who do not know me wouldn’t really think of me as that, maybe because of some impressions they put on me. Whatever, but I really don’t mind those impressions at all. It’s my simple joy, just being my whole silly wacky self.

5.    SURPRISES

Who wouldn’t love surprises?

6.    THE SIMS 3.

Sims3 Baby! I have been dreaming of building and designing a home. You know, seeing my kids being nurtured well. And TS3 is the perfect place to be. I do enjoy it. I can stand 24hrs straight playing Sims. When I get bored or just too lazy to function, I do the Sim-ming stuff. It keeps me busy and makes me forget the external stressors.

7.    CHUCKS!

I don’t wanna collect a hundred pair of chucks but I hope to be having at least 15 pairs. I got 4 now. Chuck Taylor + Jeans + Tshirt = that’s me.

8.    Hey, Barbie!

Hello, all my life I have wanted Barbie dolls. I grew up with the boys’ stuffs around and honestly, I’ve never really had a beautiful Barbie. I would rather prefer cars to collect. But hey, I am girl. Although I grew up with guys’ stuffs around I am a thwarted Barbie doll collector. So whenever I drop by to the mall. I’ll have a long time staring at those picturesque barbies. And that really makes me happy, even by just staring.  ☺

9.    IN HIS STEPS.

This little thing is my source of relaxation. It’s the time when I talk to God and discuss so many stuffs with him. This is my best relief.

10.  My nephews.

Seeing them becoming cuter, sweeter and more knowledgeable just makes me a proud Tita.

11.  Mama’s Post.

Social networking has been a phenomenon. And yeah, Mama has been quite addicted to Facebook applications. And it is super fun seeing her indulging into stuff like facebook.

12.  Letters you’ll always remember.

I had these letters 4 years ago, some were 6 years ago. Letters written for our retreat by my friends. Letters that whenever I get to read, I’d smile and tell myself: nothing beats being a high school.

13.  BLOGGING.

I am frustrated writer. I am not that dweeb or stuff. But I have this little thing in writing. So yeah. That is the reason why I have this littlekiddomeann.blogspot.com =)

14.  GrandPa’s rocking!

My Lolo.. He’s been sick with this Prostate Cyst and Ive been serving as his little nurse. And everytime I see him smile, exercising, going to work, having a good BP reading makes me feel good. It’s a medicine in my heart. Seeing him still rocking our world.

15.  Papa’s love.

Ever since mama has gone to Canada, Papa’s has been EVERYTHING. A day isn’t complete without him. He knows what I want now. It just surprises me when he does stuff that I will never expect him doing (don’t need to mention). He is really a sweet Papa.

There is more. More and more. As you can see, most joys were from my childhood years. I don’t know. Being a kid just lives forever in me. I don’t easily forget the things that make me happy. Even these little things written here. That’s how I am when I was a child, never forgetting the little happy things. My simple pleasures.

Rushrush.

Written on Sept 26 '10. 

It has been a very busy, brimful and stuffed week for me.

Let’s start with Monday. We attended this seminar for TB. But we hardly listened to the speaker because we were super bored and stuff. And we felt like we’ve tackled that for the nth time. So what we did was just chit-chatting, we did all the laughing. After the seminar from 8am-11:30 I guess, my group mates and I decided to go to SM to have lunch date. We went to Mang Inasal. Why? Because of one good reason: unlimited rice. Plus its cheaper there. And that was my first time not to use spoon and fork at a public place. I super enjoyed it! I was messy but people don’t care because my hands aren’t theirs. Yes, hands. I used my two hands to do the munching on the chicken and rice. Yeahh!  So after the lunch date at Mang Inasal, we hurried back to school to attend Carl Balita Review Center’s seminar at 1pm. We arrived just on time. So as Mr. Balita just started everyone seemed to be so attentive. I must say, CB is really a motivator. The seminar just made me a lot determined to graduate and become a Registered Nurse (with God’s help) in the near future (next year).

Tuesday. Hello Emergency Room @BRH. BRH or Batangas Regional Hospital. I was glad to have seen that although it is a government hospital, there are rooms for IM, Pedia, OB and Surgery at the ER. That means to say, well organized. Hassle free. I was assigned at Internal Medicine (For Respiratory problems) together with Kimmy and RG. I was a little bored so what I did was I continued to jot down my drugs studies (15 drugs study) while we are free and no patient to be given care. I also needed to finish them all because I have a meeting to attend for our Case Presentation on Oct 1. So I got to finish 12 drugs. 3 left. Before the end of our shift, my classmate and I had this little misunderstanding which we resolved. After the shift, I went to school alone and waited for our so called meeting at 5pm. The meeting just started late. And I was anxious because I haven’t studied my 15 drugs which are to be reported the next day. We were just surprised when they said that we needed to finish the topic assigned to us at the casepres. Such a hasslefeck. It’ll be easy if there are no drugs studies to be studied but yeah. They needed the papers the next day. I was a little worried though, but I just kept a positive mind. As soon as I got home, I immediately got started with the part assigned to me and continued to get done with my drugs study. I got finished but I wasn’t able to study them all. So I said, bahala na. I’ll just do my best.

Wednesday. The first activity for the day was the drugs study. Good thing, I was not the first to be called. Our CI was just trying to squeeze our brain. She has deducted a lot. Every wrong answer makes a deduction of 5 from your 100% score. Fortunately, I passed although I was just the only one who passed. We were assigned after at the OB. Had a good day though. Smooth sailing.  What I learned: Never go to a battle unarmed.

Thursday. How I love this day. Assigned at SURGERY. My most favourite. It was in surgery where I got to really see the real life cases. I cant tell them all. But in there, Ive seen what they really call EMERGENCY. In that area, there are so many things that we have learned. 1^st, never ever forget what you’ve learned and experienced from your past duties. NEVER. 2^nd, it takes a lot of common sense to be a nurse. It really does. After the lunch break, I was assigned together with Kimmy at the Minor OR. It was only the two of us who got to enter the Minor OR. I assisted in Excision of a tendon cyst at left hand. So yeah! It was a long long day for me. It was tiring. But tiredness covered up by the lessons I learned.

Friday. Our Last day! Yahoo. Started with Case reading. Kim and I was assigned to report on CNS infections that we reported very brief.  Kim and I was assigned at Pedia. I couldn’t believe that we had almost 15 patients in less than 5 hours. We were able to lower the body temperatures of those hyperthermic kiddos. Wahoo! After our 7am-3pm shift, I walked off to school for our the Victory Party to the nursing players who participated in the previous Pistakasan. We were recognized. Yay! After that, I was with Meldrick and we waited for the meeting for the Grand Case. The grand case is such a hassle for all of us. The presentors, and some members of sections 9-15 stayed at the Library to try to finish the paper, discuss, get nerd, and yeah. Mentally drained. Kidding! So I was able to reach home past 8. I was tired, dozy and physically and mentally exhausted. But I had a blast. I was amazed on how the people that I got to meet think. They are smart and good analysts. Two thumbs up for them!  Friday.. Oh Friday, I fell asleep with the laptop on, atleast  I was able to somehow edit my part.

Saturday. Sleep Deprived. I needed to go to school to finish the papers. Yes! I was able to finish it. Haayy!  As a solace, I met up with Pat bought snacks and we did the dvd marathon and we fixed whatever is needed to be fixed in our relationship.

Super had a full blast. A week full of LESSONS learned. J