Would You Be Happier?

Thank God for some unanswered prayers.

Runaway - The Corrs

Something To Think About

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;

but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which

has been opened for us."

~Helen Keller

Peace.

It does not mean to be in a place where there is

no noise, trouble or hard work.

It means

to be in the midst of those things

and still be

calm

in your

heart.

You're All I Have

I keep listening to Snow Patrol over and over again. I'm addicted. I can't help it. It's goood. And, they're Irish!

Oh How We Grow...My first day being the age that I am.

I was browsing through some pictures in my computer. And, here are some pics that are embarrassing, but not too much. This was pre-digital camera days, so they are not necessarily the best pictures, but you get the idea. For the first pic: somehow, my parents thought that I would be fun to dress me up like a lampshade. Notice that I'm holding a bottle here. I love food!

Fat kid pic. Still holding a bottle. Still love food. I think that's all I did when I was a kid---sit around & eat. I didn't talk. I just ate. The parents never grew my hair out. I think it was 'cause it was hot in the Philippines. Maybe it was because they thought I'd be funny to have a fat kid with a round face running around. Well, more like sitting around. I couldn't run. I don't really know.

My 18th birthday. I seriously have to rethink that outfit. I mean, who wears tights and then open toed shoes?! I didn't know any better. These were the days when I thought everything I wear should be short. If the length of the dress or skirt passed my middle finger when I put my hands on my sides, it was too long. So, I shortened everything. What a concept.

This was a picture taken before Cheese (Charis) was going to meet up with her friends for prom. It was her prom, but Ballz (Maisa) and I thought it would be fun to dress up with her. So we found a couple of dresses in our closets, put it on, and took some pictures. We had a pose during those days too. This was before we invented the 'skinny arm pose' we do now. See our hand positions? They are all the same. We didn't plan it that way. We just know to do it.

Oh gosh. Prom & my baby blue dress. These were the days when I was so into baby blue. I made my prom date change his gold tie to silver so that it can match with my baby blue dress. I told him, "No, don't get dark blue, not brown, not gold, silver is the color to get. So we can match in our pictures." I wish I had my prom pictures with me, to show you that my date was putting his chin up. And, he did that in any other pic that he took. He told me he couldn't figure out why he looks weird in pictures. That is until I told him to hold his chin parallel to the floor, so it looks good. And, he did every since that point. I reformed how he posed in pictures. Life changing I know.

Crystal and me during our every Thursday college clubbing days and my weird haircut. I seem so out going in pictures, but I wasn't. I didn't talk much. Hard to believe, I know. But, I'm shy and I still am. Anyway, we went out almost every Thursday night that year. One time, we went to this USC frat party. My very first out of my college frat party. And, what happens? A bunch of helicopters surround the puny frat house & the loud speaker goes off saying, "CLEAR THE PREMISES NOW!!!" So, chaos happens 'cause it was ghetto L.A. And, outside were a bunch of cops in this marching line slapping their batons on their hands like somekind of Hitler march. Scary and odd at the same time. I never really knew why we had to clear the premises. It was just a loud party.

Sophomore year. College days. This was my sporty outfit days. Where my wardrobe consisted of sweatshirts and those sporty pants with the stripes on the side like you see in the picture. That was our R.A. in the middle. TJ and I waited for him everytime we did his rounds. My suitemates Cat & Nadia always made me pretend that I needed physics help AFTER I had already done all the required physics questions. It was just an excuse to hang out with the R.A. who was in our physics class. So dumb. No offense R.A., but you're not even that cute. But, it was fun regardless. Somehow that year, TJ and I hung out a lot 'stalking' boys. We signed up for the same guitar class 'cause we thought that the instructor was cute. TJ & I would miss other classes, but never guitar class. Good times, good times.

Temporary Shutdown

This blog is on temporary shutdown.

Too much of a distraction....be back by Thanksgiving!

call me!

"If I just lay here...would you lie with me and just forget the world?"

~Chasing Cars Snow Patrol

Halloween Parties Before Halloween

Halloween is so much fun when you're a go-go girl!

For Bubble Wrap Lovers

Try THIS

De-stressin' on stressful moments...

Chicago Marathon

See Kimmie run. Go, Kimmie, go!!!!!

Kim ran the Chicago marathon this weekend while I found the nearest Caribou, got myself a coffee and made friends with the other people who were not running the marathon and apparently had the same idea as me: to get away from the cold and get cozy with coffee.

There were so many people that everywhere I walked there was a person in front of me. Kinda like Disneyland on a really, really touristy day sans the rides. Yeah, it was making me nervous. In my head, I was thinking, "diseases...get away from me."

Forty-eight thousand people ran the marathon. For reasons that I would never understand. Hell, if I wanted to feel good about myself and get a medal, I'd eat some chocolate on the couch and buy myself a medal. Don't get me wrong though, it's very admirable to finish a marathon. All 26.2 miles of it. Kim finished at 3 hours 45 minutes---the time it would take me to fly to Chicago from California and wait at the airport. That's not much time.

Bamboo Room Fun

What do med students do after looooong hours of studying *ahem* I mean cramming???

This:

Booty grabbin'

Samer, Kimmie, George, Sulman, me

I dunno what I was doing with that coat

Herro Shounuck

Ashish and Manu going crazy with some heavy metal stuff

Shounuck going crazy with a tin can

These guys can play!

Sarosh and Sulman look confused.

Go Paul...go & strum that guitar.

Ashish and his groupies

Weekend Fun

Time

somehow goes by slowly when you're studying all day.

Sometimes I feel like I'm just staring at the same page over and over and never really getting anywhere. This is the life of a med student...

But, sometimes, I end up spending time with a few people. This weekend I've been hanging out with two different Catherines. My roomie from last year, Cat (above) and 'The Great' (below).

The Great is wearing my coat and trying to fix my phone because it doesn't ring when people call me nor do I get messages.

This is Jeane. The Great's friend she's wearing the hat that The Great gave me :) They came to visit me and while I attempted to make breakfast. Yeah, I know I need help with my cooking skills and my phone.

"S.O.S please someone help me

It's not healthy...for me to feel this way."

S.O.S ~Rihanna

APAMSA National Conference

Last weekend, I went to APAMSA's National Conference held at Washington D.C. This is the second time this year that I went to D.C. I think it's the midwest / eastern thing to do since it's so close by.

Me trying to cram some studying in the plane

The conference was at the Uniformed Services of Health Sciences campus

We rode a bus and they checked our IDs so that we can get into their campus. Oh, the politics of setting foot in a naval base.

We thought we should take a picture with someone in uniform. This is Art we got free t-shirts with his school logo from him.

This is Eric. He's from Wash. U.

Then, we found another person in uniform. This is Sameer. He was checking our IDs in the bus.

Deep Thoughts From Camille's Thoughtless Brain

"It's better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than half way up one you don't."

Welcome to my life. I am totally at the bottom of my ladder. And, to make it worse, I'm scared of heights! How in the world am I gonna get to the top? Sometimes I wonder...what if the freakin' ladder breaks? Then what? I'd just probably fall on my cushiony booty, ladderless, and with no place to go. I say, damn you ladder! You'd better have something incredible-wanna give-up-chocolate-better-than-ess-eee-ex for me in the end!

People, what's up with your ladder?

"Everyone knows I'm in over my head,

Over my head."

Cable Car ~The Fray

Micro Notes

Today is a beautiful day to just hang out and do nothing...I think I feel like that most of the time everyday that I'm here in midwest central. But, today I actually have to start reading my micro notes for that test on Monday. It's quite annoying actually. There's a bunch of words used the wrong way and I hate it! It bothers me so much that I actually have to white them out and re-write them. It's the OCD in me. Here are some of the stuff that bugs me:

Effects many organ systems in a susceptible host

umm....maybe some ppl should review the difference between 'effects and affects'

The expressed phenotype is usually less then the full potential encoded by the genotype.

This is first grade grammar: Than vs then. Gaah!

Certain medications slow peristalsis and thereby increase transition of gut flora across normal intestinal epithelial barriers barriers.

Got it. Got it. Need I say more?

"Lord knows I'm not you

And if I was I wouldn't be so cruel

Because waiting on love

Ain't so easy to do"

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing ~Jack Johnson

Hazel's Family

My friend, Hazel, and her family have been so nice to me. I spent a week and a half at her family's house when I was dormless and apartmentless, mooching off her family's food and activities. Her sister, Rosie (aka GERDie), her brother, Pierre and her cousin, David helped me move most of my stuff from the dorms to my apt last August. Then, a couple of weekends ago, they spent the night at my apartment because Danity Kane (DK) was going to be in Oakbrook. Yes, call us dorks or whatever, but we consciously planned to go see DK at Oakbrook Mall just because their song 'Show Stopper' was the song we kept hearing when we were moving. Total bonding moments there, I tell you. Anyway, we didn't get any autographs or any good pictures from DK, but we did see them and we got some serious shopping & eating done.

I think what I love about hanging out with Hazel and her fam is that they do the same things my cousins and I do---mostly nothing. We just hang out and do whatever. Most of all, whenever I go over her house, I just love hearing all the noise. It's so comforting, it's so Filipino....kinda like home.

"We show stoppin'

We show, show stoppin"

Show Stopper ~Danity Kane

'Tis the Season To Get Married 1

Catherine and Kurt's Star Trek Wedding

September 10, 2006

Cutting their cake....

Our Trekkie Family

Yeah, when we find a theme we go with it...

Purr-teee.

'Tis the Season To Get Married 2

Rachna and Preet's Wedding

August 19, 2006

This was the first indian wedding I've attended.

I love the colors!

Do you like our indian outfits & saris?

So, 'tis the season to get married AND for aspiring-hubbies-to-be to bend down on one knee and pledge their love. Rachna & Preet had an all day Indian wedding last August. My cousin "The Great" (Catherine) went where no one has gone before and married Kurt at the Star Trek Enterprise last September. And then, not that long ago, I got a phone call from a friend and he told me he was getting married!!! Yeah, so deja vu from My Best Friend's Wedding except I don't like him, I'm not psycho and wanna screw up their wedding, and I didn't fall off the bed when he told me. Okay, maybe it's not so My Best Friend's Wedding. But, yes. A good friend told me he was getting married :) and I can't help but think that we are all growing up...

Congratulations Mark & Grace!

"cause it's you and me and all of the people

with nothing to do

nothing to prove

and it's you and me and all of the people

and I don't know why

I can't keep my eyes off of you"

You and Me ~Lifehouse

Playing Doctor

I found this picture of Neepa and I double teaming Payal during ICM lab last year. Hehe. Don't I look like I'm hearing something?

What The Doctor Said

He said it doesn't look good

he said it looks bad in fact real bad

he said I counted thirty-two of them on one lung

before I quit counting them I said I'm glad

I wouldn't want to know about any more being there than that

he said are you a religious man do you kneel down

in forest groves and let yourself ask for help

when you come to a waterfall

mist blowing against your face and arms do you stop and ask for understanding at those moments

I said not yet but I intend to start today

he said I'm real sorry he said I wish I had some other kind of news to give you

I said Amen and he said something else I didn't catch and not knowing what else to do

and not wanting him to have to repeat it

and me to have to fully digest it

I just looked at him

for a minute and he looked back it was then

I jumped up and shook hands with this man who'd just given me

something no one else on earth had ever given me

I may have even thanked him habit being so strong

- Raymond Carver

Grey's Anatomy

I invited some people over my apt for this season's first episode of Grey's Anatomy. Being the med students that everyone is, everyone was busy. Sadness, no one made it except for the other Rose and Kim (whose idea it was to have people over in the first place). We had an awesome time catching up...

I love Grey's Anatomy because sometimes it's just so "medical school........"

Favorite Quotes: "I love you soon-ish."

"[Medical school] is high school with scalpels."

Antigua

I have been ignoring my blog for eons! I think I only write on this thing when I'm back here in Chicago. It's my way of procrastinating...I just noticed how I never put up pics from my trip to Antigua, Guatemala last July - August when I lived with the nicest & funniest homestay family, volunteered at a clinic, & had lots & lots o' fun:

Lake Atitlan sunset.At Tikal. Kim & I just climbed the top of a ruin temple

Volcan Pacaya. We had to climb this volcano at the butt crack of dawn when it was dark. I'm afraid of the dark & heights : ( But, here's proof that I made it!

"I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason,

bringing something we must learn.

And, we are led to those

who help us most to grow

if we let them

and we help them in return."

~Wicked Soundtrack