Sunday, July 20, 2008

A True Honor

I’m not very good at putting my thoughts into words, so I’m relying on this to speak for itself.

Yesterday was my brother’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Earning Eagle Scout is a huge deal, and I’m really proud of my brother. He’s worked toward this award for years and he has earned every bit of it. That being said, the ceremony was nice, long, but nice. It mainly consisted of different leaders that have been influential in my brother’s scouting career and life sharing memories and thoughts about my brother and how he has grown. Many of the speakers began with the first time they met Tommy, recalling his outgoing personality and big heart. They all talked about that summer camp and how Tommy was sort of an adopted member of their troop, sitting with them at meals because by chance he seemingly always wound up in line at about the same time as them. Several hours into the ceremony, it was finally my brother’s turn to make his speech. He wouldn’t let anyone see it before the ceremony so we all had absolutely no idea what he was going to say. Tommy told stories about when each leader had made or begun to make an impact in his life, defining moments, how Mr. W scolded him for giving our mom attitude, how Mr. M took his knife when he used it to cut down another scout’s canopy (that’s another story), and eventually he got to Mr. R. Tommy had told us that the boys from his old troop had teased him, but left it at that. Tommy started telling us how the boys would throw his food on the ground and step on it, how they ran his sleeping bag up the flag pole, and how they lied to him, saying that their leader had gone to the office to call our parents to pick him up from camp, and how he raced down to the office only to find that they boys had lied, the leader was not there, but also that walking back from the office how the boys tripped him, tied him up with a rope, and began kicking and teasing him. He recalled how his troop’s leaders sat by and did nothing, but at that moment Mr. R was walking by, and stopped the boys, untied Tommy’s legs, Mr. R truly saved my brother that day. But Tommy went on in his speech, thanking more people for their support, help, and guidance. All the chairs on the stage were full, but Tommy said “I would like to give one more award out. Now this isn’t an award because you did something consciously in a specific moment, it was for doing many things over many years, even though conscious, you weren’t aware of it. You have supported my beliefs and actions without question almost every time. I would like to award my last mentor pin to my sister Katie.”

I was so honored to be mentioned at all, but especially to know that I was up there with people like Mr. R, people of strong integrity and with great compassion. I don’t know exactly why I wrote this blog, I guess it’s a testimony to and a reminder of the potential our actions hold to impact others’ lives, great and small, I just wanted to share my feelings, whatever they may be, because to be honest I’m not really sure myself.

|/
|\atie

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Just Wanted to Say...

Music is bliss. Pure, pure, bliss.

~Jenn~

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Materialistic??? Idealistic????

My birthday is coming up in less than a month and I started thinking about stuff I want. Then I felt really shallow because I am so blessed to have a home, family, and friends. But a blessed person can't help wanting more materialistic things in life. Well some people can: monks, nuns, etc. Sometimes I wish I could be famous and have money that I can give away to charities and actually work with those charities. But for now, I am still growing up and still dealing with school and life.

Going back to my materialistic/idealistic birthday wishes:
1. Meeting the Jonas Brothers XD
2. Look at that awesome bike to the left, WOW. The only bike I have ever owned is the barbie bike my aunt gave me when i was 9. I currently don't have a bike to ride.
3. All my summer assignments to be finished (That's more of work on my end.)
4. Breaking Dawn -> I already know I'm getting this gift for myself. :)
5. DVDs: Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
6. Gift Cards: Borders, iTunes, Target
7. CDs: A Little Bit Longer, Wicked soundtrack, Prince Caspian soundtrack
8. Current Events: Iraq War to end, gasoline prices to go down
9. My Braces to be off before Homecoming
10. A Wonderful Birthday Party :)

Last week I spent time with the family in Vegas and I went to the beach on Sunday. During that time, I was totally reminded about this person I liked the entire year. By Sunday, I finally decided to let the crush I had on him go since it was going nowhere. Each day I think I'm in love with the idea of being in love. However, I believe the love I think about is the idealistic love that are in stories and movies, not in real life. In real life, true love is hard to find and you have to work hard at keeping that love alive. Who am I to say that? I have never experienced that kind of love. While in Vegas I was reminded of him when I heard the Christina Aguilera impersonator sing Beautiful. Then I watched the water show at Bellagio and the song My Heart Will Go On (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YuuazFWPNE) came on. At the beach, I wrote his name 12 times in the sand and watched the waves wash his name away because I saw it as a symbol of letting go. I promise myself this year that I won't get so caught up in liking a guy, but instead be really great friends with the guy.

/\/\

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Korea --> Doremifasolrasido --> The Meaning of Life --> My Testimony --> Sheltered Life VS Real Life --> My Future??? --> Start Looking!

So I took a trip to Korea and recently came back a couple days ago. It was so much fun!!! I have to admit that I miss it already, haha. NOT the mosquitos OR the hot, humid heat, though. Those were baddd.... -__-...

On the flight home I watched this Korean movie... erm... about 4 times... I can't remember how many times actually, but I know it was at least 3, and maybe I started it a 4th time but I think we had to leave the plane at that point, lol. It was called 도레미파솔라시도 (in English it's DoReMiFaSolRaSiDo... or DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo, I guess...), and it was based on a fanfiction that got really popular, LOL. The guy who wrote it actually helped write the screenplay, XD. I should read that fanfic somtime...

Anywayz, the point is that I totally got hooked on the movie and the music. -____- Someone save me... I fell asleep with the music in my head and woke up with it in my head too... omg this is getting annoying, lol...

Well that was random. Just needed to get it out, I guess, since the people around me would get annoyed if I started gushing about it to them yet AGAIN, XD.

You know what? How come ppl in this world don't think about why they're here? Eh? How come? Why do ppl wake up, go to work, eat lunch, go back to work, and come home for dinner, and start that routine over again the next day? Maybe they go out to have fun with their family and friends on the weekends or even weekdays... but why? What's the point? Hmm? And why do they not ask themselves that? Do they just expect to be born, live the best life they possibly can (and what is the definition of having a "best" life, anyway?), and die? Have their light dwindle and fade just like that? Huhh? Is that it? 0_o Why do they freakin do that?

Woa. A paragraph of questions. >.>;;

But I've been wondering about this a lot recently. Sure, some ppl will respond by saying that the meaning of life is just to be with the ones you love, and to make the best of what you've got. Or some might think that life is for finding who you are, and coping with whatever situation you have, and growing from that - learning from it. Enjoying life (or making the best of it) till your time comes. But is that enough? When you die, everything stops. Family doesn't matter, cuz you won't have them anymore. Who you are doesn't matter, cuz you've stopped existing in this world. All your possessions are gone. Your beautiful body, with your hair and your makeup and piercings, tatoos, stylish clothing you spent so much money on, will deteriote and be swallowed up by the Earth.

But I was also thinking... how do people continue living when they suffer so much on this Earth? I'm guessing a lot of the people alive right now have thought of suicide at least once before. Maybe only some, but those people are there. And then there are those who DO commit suicide. They were driven to such misery that they just wanted to stop feeling. To stop existing. To rest, I guess. To be honest, I've felt that feeling before too... sometimes I just want to... rest, you know? Like, it would be so much easier to end things cuz then you don't have stress, or pain, or emotional pain, or heartache... I haven't thought of suicide, but I guess that feeling of wanting to "rest" is the closest I've gotten to it. I hope it doesn't grow in the future.

In fact... I'm sure it WON'T grow in the future. Cuz I have Jesus. I had so many problems with Him and God and accepting him and all that shtuff in the past. I didn't understand Him, or why He was doing all this to us, or why He even let us hurt and suffer here... why He didn't just save everyone, cuz He has the power to do that, ya know. I just had so many questions... I just didn't understand... and I didn't like myself either... for having these problems. And deep down I felt like God didn't really love me. For the STRANGEST reason I thought that God DISLIKED me, even. I felt like I was weird, cuz none of my friends had this problem. I mean, they might've felt similar, I guess, but you can feel alienated even when you're not... -____-...

This feeling lasted for a month or two... it was torture. You don't know what it's like thinking crazy thougts like your own creator doesn't like you... I think I covered it pretty well. I'm pretty spazztic with my friends. But my moodiness would come thru sometimes...

Then one weekend I went to a praise band lock-in at my church. And I met God there. It was amazing. I opened up my heart to Him there like I hadn't done in so long, and I just felt His love and reassurance. I had to trust Him! And He loved me even tho I didn't even like myself! I couldn't believe this kind of love exists... lol every time I feel His love I start bawling, XDDD. Geez... you'd think I'd get used to it.. but nooo everytime He shows me just a little of His love for me despite my messed up mind I start crying like crazy. Lol. Oh God, thank you so much...

I came back to school after that weekend, a new person. I'm sure no one at school could tell, but it was my heart that had been healed. I was so joyous at that period. :) I swear I wanted to hug everyone there, but I tried to contain myself. I only hugged a few friends like, once or twice each. ;) I just... wanted to show them God's love. I guess that's what they mean about when your heart overflows good acts come from that...

I remember one sermon my pastor had. It was dedicated to those in the youth group going off to college. She said to remember God, and not to leave Him just cuz you were "free" in the world now. She said that everything you do has consequences... and out there in the real world, it's not gonna be small consequences like, small bouts of depression (like the ones I had! I started listening attently at that point...) that might only last a few days, maybe a few weeks. In the real world, you might get depression for years. You might even want to do suicide. College students often do... (esp. in Asia. Those poor students... I just want them to relax!!! Don't throw your precious lives away for grades... you lost ppl, please don't do that...)
It's not like once you get to college you start thinking about suicide. I hope not. 0_o But she had a point. I left church today thinking how sheltered my life really was. My life... right now I'm living in a fake world, protected by my parents and school and shtuff.... but when I go to college I'll be by myself, out in that big scary world. Isn't that a scary feeling? Exciting, maybe? Well, for me it's a scary feeling. I don't even know what I want to do with my life yet. Do you know how nervous that makes me? I don't have a freakin clue. Not. A. Single. Clue. I wanna... marry a rich guy and have fun for the rest of my life, lol. Jk jk, XDDD.

Lessee... what are my passions... music. Oohhh, music. Thank you God for giving us ears to hear and instruments to make music with. And THANK YOU for the human voice! It's so beautiful... every single voice I hear... and you ppl who smoke, you're ruining your beautiful voices! That makes me sad. I feel sad every time I hear a person who's damaged their voice with smoking... and then I wonder what they might've sounded like before... something really beautiful, prolly. Even ppl who can't sing well have interesting voices to listen to when they talk. And the goofy, squeaky voices are funny to listen to! ^^ I like them all...

Erm, anwyayz, music is a big passion. But I can't make a career out of that! What could I do? I can't play piano well enough to make it out in the music field, and idwant to teach students piano all day... and I'm def. not good enough at flute. Which kinda depresses me, actually. -___-
And I can't compose music like my friends can! They're amazing! What am I to do among a world full of so much talent....? *sigh*...

Lessee what else... (wow I'm listening to this one song by DoReMiFaSolRaSiDo on repeat right now... and I'm still not tired of it! lol... someone help me... T_T...)

I love writing. Not essays, although sometimes when I'm fired up about the topic and actually CARE about it writing essays can be interesting... even fun sometimes. But I really love writing stories. They all suck, of course, but I'm writing one right now that might turn into something... i dunno. I have low confidence in this area. And it doesn't help that some of my friends are AMAZING writers.... it makes me happy reading their stories, or pieces of their creative writing, cuz I feel proud of their ability - amazed sometimes - but at the same time I start feeling depressed about my own story, lol. That's wrong thinking, right? *sigh*... I gotta get my head straight!! >:(

And essay writing doesn't REALLY help in life, does it? Well, it depends on what I want to do... so I gotta pick something that has to do with writing essays???? God help me.... no, really. God, please help me. I don't know that the hell I want to do... this half-assed crazy idea of going to help ppl in Africa is floating around randomly in my mind, but idk if I have the courage to do it, or HOW to do it, or if God wants me to to that for Him... do you, God? I need some clearer hints here...

...what the heck is this blog supposed to be about??

...O_O...

Why am I so random.... T_T....

I guess what I was trying to say was... you have to find something to latch onto in this life. Something to give you meaning. A purpose. Otherwise, what good is life? Everything is temporary. Even your lover. Even that one person you love the most in the whole wide world - that one person you'd die for. That person will die one day, and so will you. Maybe it'll be of old age, or maybe they might end life on purpose. Maybe you'll do that one day (I sincerely hope not).

And don't just sit there and go on with your life, WAITING for that meaning to come on to you!! It's waiting for you!!! What the hell are you doing, sitting there in your chair and being miserable for the things that happened today??? Wondering if you'll ever find out why you're here!! Get the hell out of your chair and start looking already!!! It's not that hard to find why you're here. All the bad days, bad moments, and shitfilled times of your life are temporary - but so are the good ones. Don't get so caught up in the material things of life that you fail to take care of your heart... your soul. Don't let it become empty. Or lonely... Or damaged. And if it's already these things, there's a cure. Just find it. No matter how many times you fall into these things, I swear there's a cure. I've been treated, so I know.

*sigh* My posts are so random, I swear. And they don't make sense either, lol. XDDD

Well, here's to hoping I helped SOMEONE out there....

~Jenn~

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Rambling as a result of boredom and music.

This is an entry in my journal I wrote a bit ago, intending to post it on here:

So. Today was pretty cool. I spent the first couple hours on neopets...I'm ashamed. I could have been working on summer assignments or something. But it's summer! Why they give us homework and expect us to still think of it as vacation is beyond me. So of course I don't want to give into such a corrupted connotation of the word vacation. I'll do anything besides homework over the summer. Even neopets. Yep, I'm getting that desperate.

I'm listening to "I Love the Night" by Blue Oyster Cult at the moment. It really does make you calm...I'm also at a party. My brother's wedding is tomorrow. Oh, my brother. I could go on and on about him, but it's kind of a boring topic. He and I have never gotten along. He didn't even say a word to me tonight. Later he'll brush it off as because he was distracted--since I know he loves making it seem like he really cares about me and my sisters, when he really just wants attention. I wish I had put that song I wrote about him to music...it would certainly give him a glimpse at why I dislike him so much. I guess it doesn't truly cover it, though. The lyrics oversimplify how everything was when he still lived at home. Thank God he moved out.

Ah, now another song. "Where do I Go" by Marie Digby. It always amazes me how much I relate to this song. I have no idea where I'm going. I wonder if it is a mistake for me to keep liking this guy. I hate myself sometimes. I hate that I'm afraid, that I have no faith. I hate that I might be totally and completely wrong about this. And I hate that I can't stop it...that I really do have no control over what happens to me today, tomorrow, the next day...I just have to go with it and accept my lack of control. Keep praying. And hoping for answers.

"To Build A Home" by the Cinematic Orchestra. I found this song so randomly, on imeem. But I fell in love with it. I have no idea why...no clear reason. Something about it gives me this naive feeling that there's always hope, even in times of sadness. The song is so simple, but so insanely deep. I love it.

Haha, disney music. It's on shuffle, by the way. And "I Just Can't Wait to be King" just came on. Disney gives me a happy, warm feeling inside, no matter how I feel at the moment. I love it :)

Now I'll skip a few songs...But I'm rambling now, and you're probably losing interest. So I'll try not to mention any more songs...it'll be hard.

So...back to my day, cause I feel like going back to it. That is where I started, right? It's weird that I got so off track...anyways. After wasting time on my computer for a while, I actually got out of the house! I met my friends at a park nearby, where we hung out, laughed, played Apples to Apples...in fact, we spent a lot of time trying to come up with something to talk about. It makes me sad that there always has to be a reason, something to say, that we can't just be content with nothing. That's definitely not clear...I wish conversations were easier than they really are. I wish people would just say, "Wanna chat?" and I'd say "Sure!" and the conversation would roll out without hesitation. I wish I wouldn't need a reason to see or talk to someone.

I wish this party would end! Or that I could leave, at least. I know a total of...13 people out of the probably 80-something people that are here (yeah, there's probably not that many). And everyone in that 13 is off branching out. I'm here alone at a table. Not talking to anyone. I suppose it's my choice, that I could be branching out with them and talking to the people here. There are lots of old people I've never seen in my life. They probably have stories to tell, wisdom to share.

Maybe I just don't want to listen.

~Stephanie

Monday, June 23, 2008

Just Dreaming

This school year went by so fast and I can't believe I'm an upperclassmen. It's weird thinking about the privileges, rights, and responsibilities I'm gonna have in the upcoming years. But I will not waste time worrying about the downsides to all of that and other pessimistic situations. I haven't seen any of my friends for almost a week and a half and a few are out of town/country. I'm gonna call one of them to see how he/she is doing after I post this blog that probably sounds like it is going in different directions or grammatically incorrect. Summer is the best time to hang out with them too because we all don't exactly have homework and tests. Although I kind of do because I'm taking an online computer class. YEAH ME!!! (I was being sarcastic there. I think it took me 2 years to finally realize when someone was being sarcastic.)


I am totally addicted to Harry Potter and the Twilight series. Harry Potter made me realize how much I liked reading. Twilight is an idealized true to life romantic fairytale dealing with vampires and werewolves. Its an amazing series and if you are trying to find a good book, I highly recommend this to you. The next installment in the series Breaking Dawn comes out on August 2nd just in time for my birthday. :)

Recently I spent some time at the beach with the family. I went boogie boarding for the first time in two years so that was awesome. We stayed until sunset and as usual I was day dreaming. My sister took pictures of the beach and the sunset for her school project while I sat down on one of those sp
ringy things to wait for a swing. Going on the swings and watching the sunset is one of my favorite things to do. While I was waiting for the swing, I started thinking about my dream boy who I can easily talk to and is always there for me. But I think that guys is going to be around for a while. I believe I'm better off being just friends with boys for the time being. Although I probably will continue dreaming about those perfect moments when the music plays and I meet my dream boy.


On another note, I finally got my guitar!!!!! XD I've gotten some of the cho
rds down for Hello Beautiful by the Jonas Brothers. Yes I admit it, I'm crazy for the Jonas Brothers especially the youngest one Nick, but a girl can dream. It's healthier for me to crush on a celebrity I have a small chance of actually knowing rather than get stuck infatuated with a real guy because it throws me on a roller coaster ride of emotions. My 17-year-old cousin from the Philippines is arriving this Saturday. Hopefully he can give me some helpful tips with the guitar. He plays the acoustic and electric guitar. Next week we're going to Las Vegas to gamble. Just kidding!!!! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Maybe I'll meet that dream boy of mine.


/\/\

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Selfish

Emma's last post definitely inspired me. It made me feel really bad about how selfish I am.

It's like every single day of my life has to revolve around ME. We're having steaming hot weather here in California--it's literally BAKING when I go outside. So I've been staying indoors a lot, trying to find ways to occupy my time. And it's really hard. Several friends are away on vacation. My inspiration for writing dwindles on sunny days like these. So I sit at my computer clicking the "Facebook" button over and over again. I switch songs on my I-tunes, listen to the same ones over and over again. Wait for someone to send me an IM message. Get annoyed and play my guitar. And then get annoyed because I'm not good enough yet--I'm so limited by my skill, even though I do know quite a bit, when I think about it.

But my point is that I get annoyed at my own boredom. I'm not satisfied with the fact that, besides the lack of things to do, I'm at a pretty good point in my life. I let the heat and sweat get the better of me, even though I have the fan on high in my room at this moment. I'm really not that hot indoors. Worse things could be happening than a prolonged period of sunlight.

I'm incredibly selfish like that. I always focus on my own problems, my own wishes, everything about my own life. And I get mad when things don't go the way I wish they would. It's like it's impossible for me to step outside my skin for even a minute and think about other people and the problems they have.

I wish I could change it...I wish I could sit here in my room and keep smiling as I strum out a new song on my guitar. I wish I could only be sad for other people. I wish I could be happy with my life and step away from it for a bit to let it run its course. Complaining won't get me anywhere--it will just make me even more annoyed.

Ahh "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz just popped into my head :] I love that song! Every time I listen to it I feel happy. It gives me hope and gives me this feeling that I need to keep enjoying life and look past the bad stuff. "Look into your heart and you'll find that the sky is yours."

~Stephanie