Shout Out to the World That I'm Grateful for...

How many times have you taken things for granted in your life? How many times have I taken things for granted in my life? Can you count all of them? What? Me? Well, I can't. So many times I took things for granted. Too many times I didn't speak the words I wanted to say. Either from gratitude to a simple apology of not acknowledging what an important position they had in my life.

Well, not anymore.
---

---

1. First and foremost, I'm thankful for my parents. I'm thankful that they brought me into a world of endless opportunities. I'm grateful that they're always so kind and considerate. I'm thankful that they aren't as strict as some other parents. Even if they were strict about things, it's only because they're always thinking about my well-being as well as my sibling's.  
2. I'm grateful for my siblings no matter how annoying or obnoxious they are. They're the ones that always keep me grounded. They're the ones I turn to when things get rough. I appreciate it when they knock me down a peg or two. It helps remind myself that I shouldn't take things for granted. For that, I'll forever do my best to have their back just like they have mine.
3. I'm grateful for my friends. I'm thankful that I always have a shoulder to cry on or a hug of comfort whenever I feel down. I'm thankful that I have people to call whenever I'm in trouble. I have people to come to that understand me and relate to me. I'm grateful that we can fiercely defend each other if any one of us gets hurt. I'm grateful that I have people there to stand by my side. For that, I will forever be in debt to the kindness they've shown me.
4. I'm thankful for my relatives. Even if we're a couple minutes away or a thousand miles, they always support me through thick and thin. Even the ones I don't know very well. They always wish me good luck and encourage me to follow my aspirations and my dreams. I can't seem to put it into words how eternally touched and appreciative I am for all things they've done for me.
5. I'm thankful for my teachers and the people that guided me through life. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am now. I wouldn't be me. They helped nurture me to the potential that I'm now growing into. There's still a long way to go, but , every time I take a step forward, it's because of their guidance that I'm going this far.
6. I'm thankful for music. Music is indescribable. It's my anchor that keeps me floating away in a sea of hatred and self-loathing. Music expresses the emotions I pent-up inside, and it calms me whenever I feel stressed or frustrated. Without music, I don't think I'll be able to live the life I live today with all the joy and happiness.
7. I'm thankful for the hateful words I've heard over the duration of my life. Without those words, I wouldn't be able to push myself to be the best I can be. Without these insults, I wouldn't be able to improve myself. I'd be stuck in a place where I'm good, but not as great as I should be. Those words helped me explore my potential, I'm grateful every time I think of them and how they pushed me to work better and be stronger. For all the hate I've heard in my life, thank you.
8. I'm thankful for books. Without books, my creativity wouldn't even be half its size as it is now. Books enlarged my knowledge of the world, and it helps create the best ideas when the time calls for it. Each and every story I've ever read contributed to every idea I've ever thought or came up with. For sure, I'll be grateful for them.
9. I'm thankful for my home. No, not the actual house (not that I'm not grateful for my house...) but my home. Home provides a sense of comfort. It provides a sense of safety. Home is the place where I feel most comfortable. I don't have to worry about being judged. Home provides the love I need, and I don't ever want to take it for granted again. 

----

----

I wish you guys a happy Thanksgiving, and I hope that you're a little more appreciative of the things you have in life!

Shout Out to My Blog Buddy! :D

Argh! I am so, so sorry! I had this as a draft for so long, but I kept forgetting to post it. D: Well, not anymore!
---
I'm just here to give a shout out to my blog buddy! You should check their blog! It's really cool! :D

http://brimadys03.blogspot.com/

Special Trip Post! Part VII First my Nose, Now my Feet!?!?!

It was not the shade of white I expected it to be. When I think of white, I think about snow. You know how light snow is...mostly. The "white" sand was just a shade of gray with flecks of dark yellow here and there.

Although, I can't lie. It was still rather pretty.

What I also didn't expect was how rocky and painful it was for my feet.

Obviously, I took off my flip flops in fear of them floating away from me again. What a mistake that was.

The ocean floor was littered with dried coral, rocks, and shells! My poor feet didn't expect it, so you can say that my reaction was quite comical to a few people.
---

This Was the Closest Thing I Could Find

---
It wasn't even over! Once I scurried away from the water and headed to the sand, the dread in my stomach was starting to sink in. Guess what? It was the same thing as the ocean floor! The only difference was that it was scorching hot! Luckily, I put on my flip flops to prevent the sand from further injuring my already aching feet.

My family had the same reaction as I did, but we didn't let it deter us. We heard from our guide that just over the dune in front of us was a rather beautiful reef with an abundant amount of fish. The sand dune was rather steep but the guide was right. It really was beautiful.

We carefully walked down the side to have a better view of the place. I was close enough to the water that it was lapping at my feet. Peering down, I could see little glints and glitters of movement. They were fish. Colorful, tropical fish. They were rather small; barely longer than my index finger. They were fascinating to watch, nonetheless.
---

*Shivers*

---

I stared, fixated, at them for a couple of minutes until my mom's squeal broke my thought barrier. As I moved my head to the side to look at her, I distinctly saw her jump away from her spot near the sea and stare at a certain area where a congregation of rocks was.

When she broke out of her daze, she exclaimed that she was pinched by a crab! Of course, I shivered at that. That's one of my irrational fears. Like, come on! What if a crab or lobster just suddenly pinches your foot as you innocently walked through the water. It's a horrifying thought.

After taking a slight breather, we decided to head back on the other side to take some pictures. Still, the horrifying image of a crab pinching my feet lingered in my thoughts. I was just happy that it wasn't me this time.
------


Hey, guys! As you know, Thanksgiving is a week from today. I'm here to tell you that I won't be updating on Thanksgiving Day. Instead, I want to spend that time with my family. To make up for it, I'll make sure to update my blog a little more (Goodness knows I need to...) and make an extra awesome post about my trip! Until next time!

The Loving Memory of Food! Crunch & Hershey's Krackel

I felt stressed quite a few times in my life. I mean, who hasn't? From panicking about tests to worrying about personal problems, I need something to sooth my nerves. In that case, it would be eating chocolate. Sorry, Blog Buddy, but chocolate is my baby.

Although, the two chocolates that top all the others are Crunch and Hershey's Krackel. It's just...something about them makes me happy. It had a sweet flavor with a slightly bitter after taste. Although, it wasn't as bitter as dark chocolate (I do not like dark chocolate). There was, of course, some crunch in there due to the crisped rice. The chocolate even soothes my nerves to the point where I can think clearly again.
---
Meme Break!

My Babies

---

There was one time where I was working on a project, and I was stressed because it was due the next day. In order to soothe my nerves I took a whole bag of Crunch bars, including a handful of Krackel bars, and started stuffing my face with chocolate. I know, I know. It's not good for you! That's not healthy! I didn't care at the time. All I wanted was to get the project done and get that A! Luckily, I pushed through it with the help of the chocolate.

I know it's bad, but trust me. I try my hardest to eat a minimal amount. Except for that one time when I ate a whole bag of that stuff. That was not a fun time. No, Siree. Nope.

Special Trip Post! Part VI Argh!!! My Nose is Burning!

...I know, I know. I didn't post last week, and, yeah, I feel really guilty and ashamed since I did promise you guys that I would post every Thursday. =( I'll make this up to you guys by updating the blog and posting one other post. It's about my favorite comfort foods! Anyway, here's the next installment, and sorry again!
---

It. Was. Awesome! The boat was all vshooom! It was also like vroom-vshoom! Can you tell that I was really excited?

I got so caught up in the moment, looking at the scenery and feeling the wind and sun on my face, that I didn't realize that we were already at our destination.

It was really pretty. The island, I mean. There was this huge rock wall in front of us, but it was shaped like a "U". The indent in the "U" was facing us, so in the center in between the walls was a sand area and chunks of dried up coral. I was actually more excited to go in the water instead. Cause, common, it's the ocean!
---
Meme Break!

Huh...

---

Hurriedly, I parkoured my way to the front of the boat to get off it using the tiny ladder (or staircase thing). My dad decided to jump off the side of the boat. I seriously don't know how he does it.

As I climbed down with the help of the guides, my sandal suddenly slipped off my foot and floated away from me. I quickly scrambled to get my slipper as the current was taking it farther and farther into the ocean. Luckily, I managed just in time, and I decided to hold my slippers instead of wearing them. As we set our supplies and things on one of the dried out coral formations I took that as an opportunity to use my new goggles that we bought in Manila. I quickly adjusted them so that I had enough time to go in the ocean. Hurriedly, I waded into the water, having my first taste of the ocean in years.

---
Meme Break!

Hmm...

---

...It was freaking salty. I thought I would be fine with it. I didn't think it would affect me that much. I guess that I didn't tighten my goggles enough since the water started to surround my eyes! It burned! If I thought it couldn't get any worse then I wished I thought differently.

My nose started to burn! Is that normal?!?! It burned even more than my eyes! Basically, I ended up flailing around for half the time because the salt was bothering me that much. My dad wasn't even fazed! You could say I was a little salty due to that.

After a while (a long, long while...) I got kind of used to it. The rest of the time I spent trying to find out if there were any fish. Guess what? There wasn't any. Although I did find a crab. *shivers*

That was about the time we had to leave in order to get to our next destination. We got back on our boat (you know how my dad entered the boat...) and waited patiently for our next stop. I heard the place had "white" sand.