Happy Easter!

Today was spent quite simply. My family and I attended the 12 o'clock mass and spent the rest of the afternoon at my aunt's house in Chino Hills. A brown floral dress with a black coat and wedges was my outfit of the day! Spring is right around the corner!

I also want to share the outcome of the B.B. cream and filling in my eyebrows today! It looks pretty natural, right? I'm happy with it :)

"Self care" therapy.

Earlier this morning around 8:30am my mom and I snuck out to run a few errands. We're the early birds in the family! We did some "self care" as my mom would call it. It was more of retail therapy to me (even if it was just make-up)!

Yes, we both had a bit of a make-up haul. At Target, I bought a new mascara. I've currently been using Maybelline's Great Lash just to finish up the left overs my mom never used. I'm back to CoverGirl's lash blast fushion now! In addition to the mascara, I also invested in Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Perfector B.B. Cream. It was recommended by my mom, and when I tested it out at the store it went well with my skin! I was pleased to see that it was oil-free, too. I was also in need of a new bottle of make-up remover, so I grabbed this pink bottle of Maybelline's that Grace recommended since Neutrogena's was a bit too pricey. It saved me $3!

West Covina mall was our next stop. My mom has grown a bit of a boba addiction that she's always craving it now (but I'm not complaining), so we bought a large Milk Tea at Lollicup's! Yum! She returned a pack of eyeliner at Macy's, and then we went to Sephora. She's trying to re-build on her make-up kit because she lost hers at work. $100+ worth of make-up in there! What she brings it to work for I'll never know. Unfortunately, they didn't have Bobby Brown (her favorite) so she settled with one of Benefit's concealer.

Puente Hills mall was the last stop of the morning! My mom wanted me to get my eyebrows waxed. I've gotten them threaded once before, but I was a bit scared for waxing since there are chemicals involved. I sucked it up though, and the outcome was amazing! (See picture below). Waxed, shaped and cleaned! We were both in awe. Just for the fun of it, we went to the MAC at Macy's to see how they would look like filled in. It was such a jaw dropper! It looked way better, but still natural! Definitely shapes my face. My mom bought me the pencil he used (yes, it was a he) which I wasn't expecting because of how expensive MAC is. I forgot to take a picture of the filled in look, but I'll be sure to post one up once I do them on my own! I need the practice to make them look on point. Lol!

We came back home around 1:30. What a morning! I'm excited to try the B.B. Cream and fill in my eyebrows! I'll most likely be updating with the overall outcome on Monday. Mm, I enjoy our random mother daughter days. My mom is truly one in a million. ♡

Well, back to reality! Chemistry exam and Statistics quiz on Monday, and an English paper due Thursday. Eek!

The little things.

I had a bit of an off day due to a certain circumstance, but these little pick me ups helped me managed to get through!

My grades keep me sane. It's an automatic mood lifter when I receive a quiz/exam back knowing that I did well. Since they were only passed back for us to look at, the photo was only taken as proof because my family never believes me. Sigh, at least I'm making them proud. Or so I hope.

During my two hour gap, I met up up with Janelle, Andre, Rachel and Rj because they were in town. I needed to give Janelle the money for the Beyonce concert we're going to over summer anyways since I haven't had the time to visit Temecula the past two months or so. Even if it was only for a few minutes, I'm glad I got to see them. It made my day! True homies.

Six Flags (March 23, '13)

Yesterday I spent the day with my dad's side of the family at Six Flags for my cousin Kylie's birthday. All I wanted to do was stay home and sleep though because the week prior was tiring, but family first!

I applied more moisturizer than usual on my face for the extra SPF. Call me crazy, but I even brought an umbrella in case I needed it while we were waiting in line. I'm actually glad that I didn't end up using it though because the weather was surprisingly nice! There was plenty of shade around the park and in the lines, so it was bearable! I'm proud to say that I kept my skin tone, and I plan on keeping it that way. I refuse to get dark!

We spent the first half of our visit in the toddler area for my baby brother. He rode all the rides there like a brave little boy! We also played around in the ball pit (one of my favorites) several times. That place is all sorts of fun for all ages! At around 1pm we had the family meal baskets for lunch (hamburgers, chicken strips and fries). The more extreme rides came afterwards! The waiting times for a good majority of them were over an hour, but we pulled through. However, the wait in Goliath stood out the most. The guy in front of us started making conversation with me, and we made small talk before he introduced himself. "My name's Ricky by the way. Might as well since we're going to be waiting here for an hour or so." He made some good company, but from my peripherals I could see my family staring me down, LOL. That ride will now forever remind me of how I made an acquaintance with a complete stranger. If only I took a picture with him!

We left the park at exactly 8pm and headed towards my auntie's area for dinner at one of our favorite buffets there. Zen buffet! As you can see, I'm a sushi fanatic and proud! Don't worry, that's not all I ate. I had a few other several servings of some favorites of mine, including clam chowder! Then you always have to have the dessert! It was all so fulfilling! It's one of my favorite buffets, but there is still yet to be one to top Pala's.

We spent the night at our auntie's after this long day. My dad wasn't capable of dropping us off back to Diamond Bar let alone go back to Temecula. All the young ones knocked out at around 10ish while I worked on my essay due early this week. Yes, even after a long day I still have to fit school into the schedule somewhere! I knocked out around 1:30ish, maybe 2am. 'Twas a family day well spent! I'm glad that I ended up going.

'Twas a good day in Chemistry.

I usually dread Wednesday's because I'm at school from 8am-6:30pm. Today was no different, and if anything I was dreading it more than usual because of the fact that I had three different quizzes in Chemistry. The quizzes were on chapter two, nomeclature, and our post lab. I was up late until around 1:30am studying for them, too. That's the latest I'm willing to stay up because I need to get some rest for these kind of days.

My scores?
Chapter 2: 14/15 = 93%
Nomeclature: 20/20 = 100%
Post lab: 23/25 = 92%

Yes, all A's! I have a love hate relationship when it comes to grading anything in class because I feel so embarrassed if I don't do well, but when I do as good as this that's an entire different story! It gives me such a good feeling because it was never easy for me to grasp Chemistry. I've always struggled in this type of Science, so saying that I was happy about these scores would be an understatement. I've been keeping up pretty well, I would say!

In lecture, we spent the entire class period learning about electron configurations. As stupid as it may seem, after all the years I've spent taking a Chemistry class, this was actually the first time I really understood it. It seems much easier than I remember, so it made me feel a bit dumb. Lol, oh well! What's important is that I understand it now, right? :)

In other news, I would think to top it all off that I would get my Statistics exam back, but unfortunately I have to wait until Monday. Also, my outfit today was a "school girl" type look. It wasn't Instagram worthy, so I figured I'd post it up here!

Top: Jean long sleeve (lace white back not pictured)
Bottom: Black skirt, sheer tights, over the knee socks
Shoes: Oxford heels

Mm, I guess my quizzes today was the cherry on top to everything. I love knowing how well I'm doing in school, and it makes me happy. Priorities and time management. I have to keep it up!

Keck Medical Center of USC

I went to work with my mom earlier today! She had a class from 9am-11am and asked me if I wanted to tag along so she could use the carpool lane. Lol -_-. I guess I didn't mind giving up one out of the three days I'm able to sleep in. We had to leave at 7am so I woke up at 5am as usual. It's all morning traffics fault. At least it wasn't as bad as it is usually is during the week because it's Friday!

Since we arrived an hour earlier than expected, we decided to have breakfast at the cafeteria. "Ew, hospital food" is the first thing that came to mind. Surprisingly enough, it was a five star meal! I had an omelette and two hash browns. It was filling. My mom also gets discounts, so the overall price for both of us was only $5! I shouldn't have doubted it. It is USC after all. There were also so many different colored scrubs in the cafeteria that my mom explained to me which color represents what. Haha. She took me on a mini tour afterwards. I got to see the floor that her and my auntie work on and meet a few of her co-workers and even her boss! Seeing everyone at that desk (in the picture below) reminded me of Grey's Anatomy, and I got the typical "You look like your mom," "You look like sisters," and "An ganda ganda naman" comments from her co-workers. Filipinos, haha! That's all we had time for until she had to go to class. I did homework and studied in the lobby while waiting.

The REAL reason I decided to go however, is because I recently applied for an open position here as a caregiver (someone who takes care of patients one on one) on the weekends. I wanted to see the environment, and let me just say that hectic doesn't even begin to describe it. I would manage though. I'm good at adjusting. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to get this job. I want to get the feel of working in a hospital, and opportunities like this don't happen often! I can already picture myself in those scrubs, heh! ♡

So far, so good!

Three weeks into spring semester. I've been pretty swamped with school, and the time change doesn't help the situation. Restless is the word that comes to mind. As contradicting as it may sound however, I'm not complaining. I enjoy the feeling of being productive because it shows me how dedicated I am to doing well. I stress out, feel beyond exhausted, and give up my social life on the weekends if I have to just so I can catch up on my lack of sleep from the week prior and focus on school work. I'm glad I'm not doing it for nothing though, because it shows in my quizzes! I've aced all of them so far! Understanding the concepts (especially in Chemistry and Statistics) has never felt so good. My first essay was due today and first exams are this upcoming week, so I'm hoping that I do just as well.

You know, I regret not having the kind of mentality that I do now (ever since I started college) back in high school. The possibilities of how far I could have gone already are a bit depressing, and attending a community college never made me feel like I was successful. That's why I can't wait until I transfer to West Coast this fall. I'll be finishing up all of my higher division classes there, and then before I know it I'll be starting clinicals! I finally feel like I'm starting to get somewhere with my future, and that makes pretty damn happy.

De-virginizing my hair.

A few months ago, Grace suggested that I dye my hair a light brown. The thought never occurred to me, but the more I started thinking about it the more I wanted to! I want the color to somehow be what it looks like in the sun (the picture below), or probably a bit darker. What I'm afraid of however, is how often I would have to keep re-dyeing it if it continuously fades, or if I don't like the outcome of it. The same reason why my mom prefers that I don't go through with it.

I tend to over think when it comes to doing something out of the ordinary with my hair. I would like to think that it's one of my best features, and I love it too much to do something that I may regret later on.

Daddy's birthday celebration.

My dad's birthday was this past Tuesday (Feb. 26th) and we celebrated it last night at Pala. His girlfriend paid for a banquet room for us to hold it in. This was a surprise party, and as much as he tried to play it off you could tell that he put two and two together the day of. Family and friends were all there! There was also a slideshow put together about his life, and it made me tear! The pictures, music and captions showed me just how far we've all come -- Especially as a family.

It was a simple family/friends party with the good company, food, music, dancing, pictures, etc. I was glad to see that my dad was enjoying himself. That's all that really mattered to me. He's such a workaholic added to everything he has going on at home that deserves something like this. As old as he is he still acts like a kid at heart, and that's the best part about him. Ya'learn to love him! Half a century old and he's still going strong!

First week of spring semester '13.

I know I've been MIA for a while, but that's because I started school this week -- My last semester at a community college. I'll be attending West Coast University in the fall!

This semester I'll be taking Chemistry 10 (Introduction to General, Organic and Biological Chemistry for Allied Health Majors), Math 110 (Elementary Statistics), and English 1A (English Composition).

School Schedule:
M: 1:15-6:10pm (Chem lecture, Stats)
TTH: 2:15-4:20pm (English)
W: 8am-6:10pm (Chem lab, Chem lecture, Stats)

My MW (but more along the lines of W) are definitely going to be much longer days than I've ever had. 11 hours, my goodness. At least my TTH makes up for it since it starts later in the day!

As it turned out, my friend Leslie from my Anatomy class last semester is in my Chemistry class too, so that's a plus! My professor is Chinese and has an accent, so it's a bit difficult to understand him. I'm going to have to really listen if I want to catch everything he's saying. I'm glad that I have him for lecture and lab though. From what I can tell so far, he teaches almost the exact same lessons in both parts of the classes and I can definitely use that to my advantage in understanding the topics better.

My Statistics class isn't too bad. I'm pretty much already tired by then since it starts at 4:45, but I'll manage! My professor seems to have a great and clear understanding in the lessons, and I always think it's the most important subject to have one that does. Otherwise, I'd be pretty much screwed because I already have a bit of trouble understanding math sometimes as it is.

I have to say that English has to be my favorite subject so far though. We're going to be covering the topics of "monsters" in society, so need I say more? Vampires! Lol, finally some topics that I'm interested in. We had our first "practice socratic seminar" yesterday, and I was one of those students that she had to cut off because I talked over my limit! That's never happened to me before, especially in socratic seminars, so I guess you could say it was a bit of a confidence boost for me in that class. Oh, also! My professor sounds like the mom from the show Good Luck Charlie on Disney Channel! I knew she sounded familiar on the first day, but I couldn't exactly pin point it until I got home later that day and saw my sister watching it.

I'm looking forward to this semester. It's definitely going to be a busy one, but that's what I love! Aiming for that 4.0 once again!