summer lovin'

hello, blog world! (not that anyone reads this anymore...)

it has been quite a while since my last post, more than 1 year and 5 months to be exact. recently i have been thinking about blogging more and have started to look back at all my old bookmarks of the blogs i used to read. needless to say, i was inspired. i also have a little more time on my hands since my school is on summer vacay and i am finally done (for now) with my own personal education endeavors.

here's an update on what i've been up to lately:

• i'm a Master! a Master of Arts in Teaching, that is! i finally finished my project for my master's degree and graduated last spring from USF.
  
• i went to the Philippines. my trip in one word: hot.
• playing hostess to close friends visiting the Bay.
• thinking deeply about a slight career change. well, maybe not a career change exactly, more like a career redirection.
• weddings galore! which means, bachelorette parties, galore! traveled to Miami, Vegas, and SoCal all in the month of June. which explains why i cannot believe it is already July!
• 2 years married to my crazy husband.
• practicing for my annual ho'ike later this month.

after looking over this list, it doesn't seem like too much, but it has definitely kept me occupied. i am, for the first time in a while, enjoying these summer days of relaxation, quiet moments at home, and soaking up the sun we've been having lately. i am reading more, cleaning more, stressing less, going to the gym, and spending lot of quality time with David, who is finally back on the day shift! all in all, life is grand. that is not to say it hasn't been challenging, because it definitely has not been an easy ride the past few months. but when i think about the blessings i have and so much good that is happening around me, the tough stuff sinks into the background a little bit. it's all about perspective, right?

pictures!

CHARLES' 2ND BIRTHDAY

i love this picture. it really sums up the personalities of the 3 siblings. if you knew the type of people they are, you'd laugh at this pic...in a good way, of course!

uncle david and charles

birthday boy



CRUISE TO MEXICO, SUMMER '08

no, we are not trying these on for fun! standard emergency drill...

go for the GOLD, baby! we totally won at family feud, got these gold medals, and went around the whole night sporting the gold! so. much. fun.

the girls after dinner

view of the sea

we were on the bus to rosarito and there were these people that were singing songs that i've never ever heard of. they were young like us, too! so, maria and i started singing hiphop songs to our friends and they would guess the song.

** next picture post: em, fran, and chellebee's visit to SF! **

top 10 signs summer is ending...

10. fall clothes are displayed in stores

9. the cousins start a mad reading dash in order to finish their summer reading

8. you start to see commercials for the beginnings of new seasons for your favorite shows

7. the fog starts to roll in earlier and leave later (in daly city, of course)

6. there are less good movies being shown in theatres

5. your principal starts emailing like crazy

4. you start to train yourself to sleep by a normal hour, instead of 3 or 4 in the morning

3. the family just now starts talking about taking a summer trip. this summer

2. no more friends are planning to visit the bay area

1. you start having nightmares about the next school year

last night i had a bad dream. it was the first day of school, and when i walked into my classroom i saw the same students from last year sitting in shiny desks. there was one new addition to the class, a boy that i knew from high school who used to be so mean and sarcastic to the students and teachers back then. i ran downstairs with my "resignation" paper in hand, desperately searching for the principal. when i finally find him and hand him the paper, he refuses to accept it and i am forced to go back upstairs and face my new "old" class. instead, i try to run out of the school, but can't escape.

i seriously woke up sweating.

***

once again, i had a great, adventurous weekend. more to come later!

fading fast

a couple days ago i realized that i only have ONE MORE MONTH of summer left. can you feel my heart breaking? i'm so not ready to do anything more than sit at home watching tv and surfing the web. pitiful, i know, but oh so true.

don't get me wrong, i do try and get a daily dose of exercise in and go to the gym. i've been really into taking classes -- mostly cardio, some dance and the ocassional pilates session. most of the instructors use certain types of music to get people all hyped up, and sometimes they'll throw in a hip-hop song that i really like. when this happens, i totally sing along (well, more like lip-sync) and in turn will miss a step or totally do the wrong thing because i'm really just listening to the song and not the instructor. people look at me like i don't have rhythm, but really, it's because i'm so into the song.

i've been working out pretty regularly now and haven't seen too much of a difference physically. i figured out (with the help of my bro) that it's because i still am not eating as healthy as possible. i stay away from fast food most of the time (except when david insists on getting it!) and i totally cut soda out of my diet. but aside from that i'm not counting calories or anything. i hate dieting! i wish you could just work out and not have to control your diet and still lost weight. grrr...

so there a a couple new things that are going to take place in my life in the next few weeks. if you're interested, read on:

1. i'm joining my bro, sis, and cousins in dancing for their halau. my bro and sis have been dancing hula/tahitian for a long time, and my cousin, pj, just joined. i've been wanting to join for a long time but was either too busy or lazy. i'm so excited!


2. i'm meeting up with my church's young adult group! many, many months ago they passed out a survey where parishoners were to write down what they think the church could improve on. i made the comment that i hadn't seen the young adults active in the church, and that while the youth group was strong, the young adults were nowhere to be found. someone from the church contacted me and is coordinating a meeting with some other young adults and myself. we'll see what comes about from all of this. i definitely feel God's hand working...i wonder what he has planned!
   
3. i'm going on a cruise! to mexico!


4. i'm moving in with david. (more regarding this to follow later...)
   

so there you have it. life around these parts is never boring. oh, on a side note, check this out for your viewing pleasure! my david has invested in a very, very expensive camera and has been working on his personal portfolio. he's getting better and better every day at taking shots, and i'm really proud of how he's progressed.

here are just a few random photos from my good ol' point and shoot cannon!

the newest addition to the dioneda clan...noah douglass! he was a day old in this pic, which was taken about a month ago. the number of guys in our family are increasing!

my cousins and i at the most recent cotillion

mi familia...with all the s.o.'s included. this was at billy and pj's bday celebration at horizons in the city. my friends told me to hold my arm away from my body so it won't look fat...then they laughed when they saw this pic. suuuper posed.

and the following pics were from a night in downtown fullerton. that weekend was one of the best weekends i've had all summer. i'd almost forgotten how much i missed being around all my old friends...it's always good times with these people!

starting off sloooow...

you know how much we looove to dance!

i love this pic. except i don't like how derrick's hair looks. oops, i mean...i looooooove derrick's bangs in this pic. they look hot.

goodbye, fullerton. until we meet again...

help, i'm trapped!

last night i stayed at david's place while he was working the night shift at the hospital. he came home this morning, and after checking his email and finding out that his camera package was shipped out to my house today, left so that he could be over there to answer the door. i was still sleeping, so i stayed behind...

only to be woken up by a louder than life, piercing fire alarm. i figured it was a test (david says they do that periodically in the morning time), but it didn't turn off right away and it was starting to hurt my head! so i tried to quickly gather my stuff to leave...but the door would not open. the lock was stuck -- this had happened once before so i knew what the problem was, but that time david was on the other side of the door and was able to get in.

i tried desperately for 20 min. to try and get it open, but to no avail. that was at 8:45am. i've been wandering aimlessly on the internet since then, while formulating a plan in my head to escape should there really be a fire. i wanted to call david right away to rescue me, but i decided to let him sleep for a bit before i make him get up.

on another note...

i looooooooooove. love. love. summer! :) (um, don't ALL teachers?!) i randomly see families from school at the grocery store/mall/gym and they all ask me, "so....what are you doing nowadays?" in a tone that suggests i must be bored out of my mind. i am the complete opposite of bored. i stay up really late at night, wake up early/late depending on the errands i have to run that day, hang out with the family, go out on the weekends, visit malls with david and window shop. i'm not really doing anything super productive, except for wedding planning, and i'm loving it.

this weekend we're going to sunny southern california yet again for the dayz picnic. i've missed dayz so much and was excited to find that i'm available this weekend to attend the function. it'll be nice to catch up with old friends again.

whirlwind

the past few weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind for me, and i think i am just now beginning to let my feet come back to earth.

the first major thing that took place was graduation. i survived my first 8th grade graduation with minimal setbacks and almost no drama. did everything turn out well? absolutely. was it perfect? absolutely not, but i will work on nearing perfection in the years to come. did i accomplish everything i set out do do this school year? no, but my main goal was to simply survive, and that i did. they say that a class like the one i had this past year only comes along once in a blue moon. well, in all humbleness i would like to say that i paid my dues and i deserve a break for at least 5 years until my next challenging class walks through my door. ok, maybe 3 years...but still. at least i know next year's class coming up will be somewhat a breath of fresh air for me. i've already had them for one period this past year and know them pretty well. they're a lot calmer, more respectful, but albeit kind of nerdy. and, i mean that in the most endearing way. we'll see if they stay the same once the school year starts.

what other things have consumed my life these past few weeks? well, my cousin had a baby! we have a new baby boy in our family (pictures to come!) and everyone is excited. the cousins, david, and i have been into playing monops (our term for monopoly, of course) and rock band until 5 in the morning. i'm trying to get into the habit of working out and am thoroughly enjoying the workout classes at the gym. and, perhaps the most apparent thing taking up my time nowadays is the wedding. oh, this summer is turning out to AWESOME!

some things to look forward to in the next few weeks:

• visits from socal friends
• visits to socal friends
• birthday's galore
• girlfriend cruise to mexico
• getting ready for next school year
• ...and more wedding stuff

stay tuned for my next blog entry: random factoids about me! i was tagged by one of my dear friends....I MISS YOU, GIRL! chrystal said she saw you at the gary v concert...just singing away to his songs! i totally could picture you in my mind!!!

overwhelmed.

i finished packing up the rest of my stuff in my old classroom today. i was lazy to finish cleaning my classroom out right after school because i was just so anxious to start my vacation. since then, i've spent a week in socal and a week in vegas. i'll also be in socal this weekend for my dad's association's (CAUSA) party. tomorrow i'm going to bring all my stuff to my new classroom...my new school. stopped by there today, and this is what i found:

* tons of teaching resources
* multiple supplies (something i was lacking at my previous school)
* a thick layer of dust along all the bookshelves and files
* file cabinet drawers filled to the brim with lessons and units
* old & faded posters on the walls and bulletin boards
* miscellaneous desk decorations, none of which i particularly like

it's only my second year teaching and so i am still fairly new to the game. i'm not sure what to do because a part of me wants to sweep out everything from the classroom and just start anew. that's what i did last year (although there wasn't too much to sweep out) but it's just soooo much work to do for just one year! what if i don't end up staying at this school? and i'm the kind of person where my environment has to fit me and be comfortable. i don't know how comfortable i'll be with other people's stuff around...stuff that i really don't want to use.

oh well, such is the life of a teacher. i'll figure it out. right now i'm just a bit overwhelmed with the whole thing.

however, i'm also very excited for some other stuff coming up! i'm teaching 8th grade religion next year in addition to other subjects, and i'm sooo looking forward to it. so much you can do with 8th graders and faith. i'm also excited for this and this. summer '07 is proving to be very exhilarating thus far.

all star game was today. pretty exciting that it took place in the bay...i kinda wanted to go and party tonight with all the fans. too bad barry didn't hit any homers...ichiro's was pretty cool, though.

VEGAS was truly amazing. =) my cousin, pj, who turned 21 last friday, my bro, and my other cousins were pretty much drunk the whole time we were there. fyi - flying home after drinking all night and not sleeping is not a good idea. i had to navigate my 18-person group through the las vegas airport, check them all in at the counter, and get them through security. it took us almost an hour. by then, my hangover caught up with me. in the air, i was nauseous and throwing up the whole time. good thing i was sitting next to strangers...

i'll post pic's later...




* by the way, i'm having the same problem that gian is having...it won't let me post any titles! so weird...

it is summer, isn't it?

today i woke up at 10am and didn't get out of my pajamas (or take a shower, for that matter) until 7pm to get ready for church. you may be thinking that i had a lazy day, which i most certainly did not. the whole time i was working on my dad's souvenir program, which is really starting to stress me out. i've been working on it a lot yet i feel like i've made very little progress. on top of it all i have my dad who is even more stressed out than i am, breathing down my neck to see where i'm at with the project. ay nako.

the only thing that's giving me a bit of sanity is that we're leaving for BEGAS (aka, vegas) tomorrow! and we rollin' 18 deep, too. it's gonna be craaazy. but what's a dioneda family vacation without a bit of crazy? i can remember the last time we all were together on vacation together...they came down for my graduation 3 years ago and then we drove to vegas. before then, we took a trip to the east coast...now that, was crazy. try walking the streets of ny with 20 people in your group, half of them under the age of 18. luckily, most of us are over 21 now. i'm really excited...

i started the memory keeper's daughter a few days ago and am just beginning to get immersed into the story. it's about this woman who gives birth to twins; her husband delivers them and discovers that one of the babies has down syndrome, so he gives her away to the nurse who is ordered to drop off the baby at an institution (it's 1965, that's what they did with "abnormal" kids back then). the nurse ends up raising the daughter on her own. crazy. just the way i like it.

on a side note, i feel accomplished in the world of scrapbooking. i finished the scrapbook i was working on; i used ali edwards' everyday beauty kit and since it's a small book i had an easy time with the layouts. i dedicated it to my lola, and it is filled with pics of my cousins. i may decide to scan some of them and put them up. anyway, just waiting on some cj's to come my way...





** david wants us to buy grillz instead of rings. filled with diamonds. and engraved with a date. oh, what has the bay area done to my boyfriend?!?!

hello, summer!

a couple nights ago a stayed up 'til 4am scrapbooking. SUMMER is finally here...

it has been nice just being able to stay up late and wake up whenever i want to. such freedoms that have been unknown to me for a while now! i've busied myself with lots of reading (just finished flowers for algernon -- great book), creating, and vacationing. my week down in socal was wonderful, as usual. most of the time we helped david's sis and bro-in-law move into their new house. after finding out what they payed for their awesome house, i started to rethink my desires of purchasing a home in the bay area. it's ridiculously expensive up here, and every time david and i look around at places to live i get more and more discouraged. but, as david says, we'll get there someday. anyway, it was good to catch up with old friends again. yougurtland proved to be a very interesting place to be. my one major goal was to talk to fr. pat and attend mass at interfaith on sunday, and we were able to do both. i told david that one of the reasons i love fr. pat is because he is just so real. tell it like it is, no bs-ing, no sugar-coating, flat out real. i love that about him, and i think i like to see that in people in general. he told me i should basically give my former "boss" (who happens to be a priest) a piece of my mind. when i told him i was scared, he said to write an anonymous letter! he is too funny...

my fam just planned an impromptu vacay to vegas. well, they planned it and i had to book the flights. i was on the computer for almost 4 hours yesterday trying to find a decent price for flights to vegas for 14 (yes, fourteen) people. but it all paid off...$148/person (UAL) on www.cheaptickets.com! the only thing is that we're gonna be there for about a week. what can you do for whole week in vegas?!

got my hands committed to a couple other things coming up soon as well...

1. souvenir program for my dad's group's big event in july.
2. my cousin's debut (a night out in Hollywood, baby!)
3. Liwanag Family Ministry stuff.
4. going back to school.
5. scrapbooking. (i just needed one more for a list of 5 things. i know, i'm weird.)

so, this summer shall be quite interesting. lots to do. lots to look forward to. excited for the days ahead.

welcome, summer!