Spontaneity

Early morning blog post before my laptop dies, because it's inevitable that I'll have plenty of photos to upload after the hectic long weekend that I'm currently anticipating!

This photo set was taken two days ago. The best photo taking opportunities always happen to be the ones that come about unplanned. Here's to a spontaneous school day afternoon at Green Timbers Urban Forest!

struggles and such

You are always alert and keenly observant. You are not truly satisfied with your everyday status and you are seeking fresh avenues which can give you the opportunity to prove your worth. You feel that there are still many barriers that stand between you and recognition - but one by one you will overcome them. Your tenacity is your one good point - like an English Bulldog, once you take the bite, you will seldom let go.

You are feeling very disillusioned at this time and you feel that you are being left out of things. You know - or you think you know - what you want, but you seem unable to exert the effort to achieve your objectives. As a consequence, you are feeling left out and neglected. You would like to be afforded greater security and fewer problems.

You feel very lonely and frustrated at this time but your shyness and modesty precludes you from establishing any deep form of relationship. You feel rather isolated and alone. You are egocentric and you believe that you are always right - well maybe you are - but you have a short fuse and are likely to take offence for the slightest reason.

You are feeling trapped by the situation as it stands at this time and what is more, you feel powerless to remedy it. You are stressful, angry and disgruntled. You feel that everything that you try to do to change the situation is thwarted and your hopes and aspirations all seem to be receding into the ever distant future. You have reached the state where you now doubt whether your dreams will ever be achieved and this is not only causing mental stress but heartache. You need to get away from it all - you need to have time to think, to recuperate, to be able to make your own decisions.

You are anxious about all the limitations to which you are subjected to at this time. You feel that you are not valued for what or who you are. You need OUT. So why procrastinate any longer - MOVE!

For some reason, it makes me so happy to find something that is able to depict my struggles. Although for the most part they're pretty negative, it's comforting when you know how you feel. I often have a hard time expressing myself.

For anyone who hasn't taken it yet, colorgenicstest.com is where it's at! Literally takes five seconds.

R: 1

It's time to take a break from a productive work day that began when I woke up at exactly 2:43pm! Inspiration and urges to blog always seem to strike at the most inconvenient times. I'm currently in the middle of one of the most stressful school weeks (other than finals). It feels as if everyone is demanding something from me and I feel the need to give each and every one of them 110%. The desire to please others is without a doubt one of the biggest energy drainers, but when others exert a happy atmosphere = happy Camille, so it all works out in the end!

The picture above is my writer's workshop project for English. I have no idea how this project fell in with all of our other writer's workshop pieces, because this one doesn't necessarily have to include writing. The point of the project was simply to reflect on the lessons we learned in 2011 or the goals we have for 2012 in any format at all. As always, my inner yearning to come up with something totally outside of the box took over and I ended up buying tiles and a bottle of Mod Podge. Since one of my 2012 goals is to finally renovate my room (this is the fourth year i've had this goal), I decided to make wall decorations - each focussing on a lesson/goal. Pretty content with the final outcome! Time to work on the less exciting homework: Math and Chemistry.

Captivating

I received a book for my birthday this year and I have to say, I have a good feeling about it.
I always adored the idea of being a "bookworm", but I never really had the time to open a book up. Wait no, actually I had plenty of time... but the books that I've picked up never really seemed to appeal to me. No matter how hard I forced myself to read, my mind would just doze off until the next page where I'd realize that I didn't understand anything I had just read. I've picked up - I don't even know how many books - in the past year, and dropped all but two. The two that I read the whole way through were both required novel studies for English class, so that really doesn't mean anything either.

Again, this book is different, and I have a good feeling about this book because it hits home.
I'm really tempted to highlight every single sentence in this book, but I've decided not to because I am incapable of drawing a straight line. Whenever I highlight notes for school I always accidentally highlight the line above and below. Curse unsteady hands!!

Instead, I've decided to just write out every thing that catches my eye. At least this way I can share and hopefully inspire others as much as i've been inspired.

"Every woman I've ever met feels it - something deeper than just the sense of failing at what she does. An underlying, gut feeling of failing at who she is. I am not enough, and I am too much at the same time. Not pretty enough, not thin enough, not kind enough, not gracious enough, not disciplined enough. But too emotional, too needy, to sensitive, too strong, too opinionated, too messy." (7)


"Aware of our deep failings, we pour contempt on our own hearts wanting for more. Oh, we long for intimacy and for adventure; we long to be the Beauty of some great story. But the desires set deep in our hearts seem like a luxury, granted only to those women who get their acts together. The message to the rest of us - whether from a driven culture or a driven church - is 'try harder.'" (7)


"Every woman in her heart of heart longs for three things: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty." (9)


"Women love adventures of all sorts. Whether it be the adventure of horses or white-water rafting, going to a foreign country, performing on stage, having children, starting a business, or diving ever more deeply into the heart of God, we were all made to be a part of a great adventure." (12)

"Now we know - many of those desires have gone unmet, or been assaulted, or simply so long neglected that most women end up living two lives. On the surface we are busy and efficient, professional even. We are getting by. On the inside women lose themselves in a fantasy world or in cheap novels, or we give ourselves over to food or some other addiction to numb the ache of our hearts. But your heart is still there, crying out to be set free, to find the life your desires tell you of." (19)

Winter Adventures

Update

Since this blog is pretty much my "School Break Journal", I guess i'll update it for the sake of updating it.
Last Wednesday was my 16th birthday, so I had a few friends over for dinner and a sleepover.
Since a picture's worth a thousand words, here are some pictures :)

ROAD TRIP

Hi everyone! I'm back from my week-long road trip down west coast United States. In the short span of seven days, my family drove through the states of Washington, Oregon and California.
Our first stop was Great Wolf Lodge in Washington. If you haven't seen their ads on TV, Great Wolf Lodge is pretty much a water park and hotel. They have amazing customer service, food, and food deals! It's definitely a great place to go for families with young kids. I believe the one in Washington is the only one on the west coast.

Our second stop was the state of Oregon. If you live in the west coast, you'd know that Oregon means only one thing... Shopping!! Oregon is the best place to shop because it is completely tax free! After this trip, I won't be shopping again for a long, LONG time.

Our final stop was the city of San Francisco. This city was the complete opposite when it came to tax. Everything has more than one kind of tax in San Francisco! I must say though, San Francisco is such a beautiful, and unique city. It's different city landmarks and forms of transportation truly distinguish it from any other city. The only thing I'd have to complain about is high prices and unorganized roads. GRRRR to people who speed through corners and cut in lines during traffic!!
My family did loads of exploring in San Francisco. We bought Wharf Passes which enabled us to see a lot of the city in a matter of two days. The passes pretty much paid for themselves, they were great! Through the Wharf Passes, we received a hop on hop off city tour, on an open top, double decker bus, a tour under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz Island by boat, a ride on a traditional cable car, a trip to the Pier 39 aquarium, a 4d movie ride pass and some free tokens to spend at San Francisco's biggest arcade.

This is a picture of the Painted Ladies. The yellow house is the house used on the set of Full House!!

The best way to end Summer is with the people you love most!

School starts September 7th for me!

Birthday Bonanza

Hi everyone!

Super short photo-journal post because the only actual going out I did this week was attending birthday parties.

Vanessa and I spent the day in downtown Vancouver and on Granville Island. The day actually started bright and early at 6am, because I had no other ride to her house but my dad, before leaving for work. We took the skytrain at 8am, where the only people that seemed to be taking public transportation were business men and women who were headed to work. Once again, we did some fine shop browsing, and came across a super cool hammock shop! The store associates were very friendly and kindly took a picture of us relaxing in their hammocks. The rest of the day was spent wasting time, eating crepes and setting up for her party. Coldstone ice cream included!

The second birthday of the week took place at Ina's house. We were fed a huge feast of quiches, shrimp, quesadillas, cheese sticks and spaghetti, all from Costco!! The day was spent catching up with friends on our summer vacations, watching scary movies (The Midnight Meat Train!) and of course, eating again.

To finish off my post, I would like to announce that I bought a pair of sneakers this week! Ina and I have been wanting a pair of Bensimon sneakers since our trip to Victoria in May. With the help of my friend Clarence, I managed to score myself a pair of $15 Bensimons!! (Yes, I'm so poor that I can't even afford to buy $15 shoes..) Anyways, I was actually so happy because these shoes went for $70 in Victoria. I called Ina up right after I bought them and she got herself a pair as well. I believe there were only two colours left and both were in our sizes. Talk about luck!!

I should probably head off and start packing now.
Next entry: Roadtrip down the West Coast #3! (Seattle, Oregon, San Francisco)

Overdue

Hi guys! It's been two weeks since my last post.. Wow.
It's been so long that I don't even remember what happened last week, oh my.
Since my last post I have had three phone calls for job interviews, a job interview, a sleepover, a family trip to the beach, work, and a relaxing day off spent on Granville Island.

Before the week started, my family had a little picnic at Harrison Hot Springs. Overall it was a fun-filled relaxing day of swimming, catching little fish, burying people in the sand, paddle boating and playing with my cousins' new dogs Sojou and Emily.





The rest of my week, other than my one day off, was spent at work. I completed my work experience in a big outlet store in Central City called Urban Behavior. I was a little bit nervous to work retail because of all the stories I've heard from my friends about coworkers gossiping on new employees, but I was proved terribly wrong. Working at Urban Behavior was the best first job experience ever. Other than the sore feet after standing in the same store all day and the intense hunger, it was a delight! My coworkers were the most amazing people. They were all so helpful and welcoming. I'll surely miss working there!

As for my day off...

Well, let me just say that it was a very laid back day spent with beautiful people. I left the house at 8AM since we wanted to start the day off early. We then took the bus from Vancouver to Granville Island and ate brunch in the public market.

The rest of the day was spent browsing through shops and boutiques and lying on the grass at Ron Basford Park near Emily Carr University.

To finish the day off we held a campfire and roasted some marshmallow's at Angelica's house.

Hope you're all having an amazing summer!

A Summer Of Firsts

I'm back! It's a little weird to think that I took such a long, almost two week break from writing in this blog. I thought that I'd be on the computer the most this week, of all weeks since I was home five out of the seven days; A lot more than my usual one out of seven days average so far this summer.

Last Thursday I finally checked off, "First Sleepover," on my list of things to do this summer. I have been allowed to have people sleepover at my house, sleepover at a cousins', or sleepover for school related activities for as long as I can remember, but this was my first sleepover at a friend's house for fun. Vanessa and I spent the night preparing 86 jelly sandwiches for an organization her brother created called C.A.R.E. - Creating A Real Equality. We wanted to add a little personal touch to the sandwich bags as well, so we made little cards of kind words and quotes that we stapled on to the bags. At 8AM Friday morning, we got up to personally give out the sandwiches.

On Saturday, I went to my first Anime Convention in Vancouver called, The Spring Festival. A summer of firsts as they say! It was a smaller convention so we left quite early, but taking pictures with all of the cos-players were way worth it!



We later went downtown to grab a bite of some delicious Red Velvet Cupcakes at the cupcake store.

Today was the only day of this week that I actually went out of the house. Rosabella and I were planning to take a lot of pictures today, but the gloomy weather ruined our plans. Instead we took the skytrain to Metrotown, where we still couldn't find anything to do. In all honestly the highlight of our trip to Metrotown was eating delicious Mrs. Field's Cookies.

Rosabella sure knows how to focus a camera, haha!

We ended up leaving the mall early and decided to go on a long walk instead. According to Google, it takes the average person an hour and 20 minutes to get from where we started walking, to our destination. Being much slower walkers than the average person, it took us a little bit longer. I'm still pretty proud of how far we walked. It felt good to be outdoors for a change.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Joandy for the Blogger Luxury Award and Hanna for the Best Blog Award! <3

*Sigh* Summer's moving by so quickly.