Day 5 - 10 Significant Events In My Life
Saturday, December 22, 2012
@2:37 PM
So I have decided to continue my 30-Day blog challenge in between regular life posts since I don't always have inspiration to write about things that go on in my daily life.
What's the topic of the day? 10 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN MY LIFE
These are not in chronological order or anything. I will just talk about events that I can remember as I go.
#1 - Moving to Canada
I was 8 years old when I moved to Canada and it was a big event my life because it was a start of a new life for my family and I.
#2 - Getting the lead in 'Alice in Wonderland' in highschool
This was really fun and I never thought I would ever get a lead in a play. This is was memorable because this was a time in my life where I was getting over my shyness of performing in public. Also, I remember it caused some drama with another student because she was pissed off that an Asian girl got the lead part because she has always been a try-hard actress. My drama teacher explained that just because I was Asian, it did not mean I was not good enough to play the role. Also, it brings something different to the play and not a typical white girl will play the role. That girl didn't like me for a while, let's just keep at that.
#3 - Meeting my Future Husband
In the fall semester of 2005, I met a guy who I became friends with at school. We went to the same highschool but never actually met each other until college. We developed a really nice friendship and eventually started dating the next summer and carried on our relationship to this day.
#4 - Getting Engaged
Of course, in continuation to the last one, we eventually got engaged too this year on May 11, 2012! Who would have thought a good friend of mine would end up being my future husband?! I'm the happiest I can ever be. Also, I can get married before my wish, 'getting married before I'm 30' hahahah.
#5 - Finding Out I am going to have a little brother
I was 17 when my mom decided to tell me that she was pregnant and I am going to have another sibling. I was shocked of course! I didn't think my parents were ever going to have another child especially at the age I was in. Being in the teenager mentality, I didn't know how to react. I was finally at a point in my life where I was coming on my own, had my social life and having to think about taking care of a child was mind-boggling to me LOL. But I love my brother. He's sweet, smart and he loves me too and respects me and I love having something call me, "Ate".
#6 - The year my uncle died.
This was a major event in my life that never really leaves my mind. He was like a second father to me. When I found out he passed away, I was so shocked that I could not even cry until the day of his funeral. I miss him very much but I know he's always with me.
#7 - Moving Out
I had already been dating my fiance for over 5 years now and he was living on his own already but I was still with my parents. The day had come where I did want to move in with him so that we can experience that with each other. My fiance decided to talk to my parents about it and then we talked about it all together. My parents said they were okay with it because I'm my own woman now who can make her own decisions and they trusted my fiance because he's pretty much part of the family now too.
#8 - Having 2 dogs
I guess if you think about it, this like 2 different things since we got each dog at a different time but just the whole concept of having two dogs is one big event for me. I have always wanted a dog and my fiance has always lived with dogs. Now ... we have two dogs!! One huge one and one teeny one. I love my babies so much. They make me laugh, smile, cry and I don't know how to live without them.
#9 - Buying our house
This was a major point in both our lives really because it is our first REAL home that we own and call our own. We have more space, levels, a beautiful park in our backyard ... it doesn't get any better than this.
#10 - Getting Accepted into the Accounting Program
After numerous attempts of what I thought I wanted to be "when I grow up", I finally figured out what I wanted to do as a career - accounting. Getting the acceptance letter for Accounting Diploma at KPU was one of the most exciting things in my life because it signifies the one thing in my life that I am actually sure about in the working world.
I am sure there are significant events in my life but those are the main ten that popped in my head so I guess they are pretty important then!!
Labels: 30days
Day 4 - Habit I Wish I Didn't Have
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
@8:59 PM
day 4 - a habit that you wish you didn’t have
This is an easy one for me; it's no contest.
Smoking.
Yes ... sadly I am a smoker. I am so young with a terrible bad habit that slowly kills me one stick at a time. To be honest though, I don't smoke as heavily as I used to when I was a little younger. Given the time or place or how heavily stressed I am, only those factors determine how much I will smoke in a day.
I do not smoke at home out of respect for my family. Yes, they do know I smoke and they are not too happy about it but what can they do? Anyways, I choose not to smoke at home just because I don't want to expose my little brother to it and I just do not want my parents to see me smoke a cigarette. I just feel weird about it. I admit though when no one is home, I will go out into our backyard and quickly have one but that is pretty much it.
I only smoke when I'm out with friends or with my boyfriend since he smokes as well. I also smoke when I am incredibly stressed out; I smoke very heavily. Something about having a cigarette really relaxes me. It's more of a psychological association thing really. I know that. I know that if I transfer that mode of relaxtion to something else, like a cup of tea, I could probably transfer my addiction to cigarettes onto something else less harmful to my body. Of course, it's not as easy as it looks.
I have tried to quit numerous times but I have never been perfectly successful. The longest I have ever quit was for four months but with a strange turn of events that I THOUGHT was a stress point in my life turned me back to smoking. My boyfriend and I have also tried to quit together but the stress of not having one and the horrible mood swings we both endure and take out on each other pretty much led us to quit quitting smoking. We must have "broken up" like 5 times in the times we have tried to quit smoking hahaha. We just get on each other's throats and it's not a good time. We do have a desire to quit someday. We just have to find a good time where we genuinely want to quit (which is really the first step to quitting) and stick with it. The first few weeks are always tough but I'm sure we would eventually get used to it. But for now ... we are still smokers and we know it's a horrible thing (and expensive thing) to keep doing.
I started smoking in highschool and don't ask me why. I still do not know why I started. I guess I was really stressed out in highschool about a lot of things and I was curious as to why people turned to cigarettes as a release. Little did I know that I would be hooked. I was one of those people that thought it wouldn't be so hard to stop. Naive. Even though I was just smoking menthols, I thought that I wouldn't get hooked because menthols seemed like a light brand that every social smoker would just smoke and never get hooked. I was wrong. Menthols ARE STILL cigarettes and still have nicotine and no matter what you say ... you will still get hooked whether it be you just have one a day to a "just a few" a day. Trust me. Menthols are just a lighter mintier taste and easier on your breathing but it's still a cigarette.
Just don't start smoking guys. It's a horrible habit. I wish I never started smoking but what can I do now? I need to find that will power to stop and it's not easy but one day at a time. One day at a time.
Labels: 30days
Day 3 Favourite Photo
Monday, March 28, 2011
@5:37 PM
Day 3 - A favourite photo that you have taken yourself and explain why
This is a photo that I took when I was about 17 or 18 years old. I was on a family trip in the summer of 2003 in Kelowna, BC. This was during a time when I did not even have a regular point-and-shoot digital camera, so I bought myself 2 disposable cameras for the trip to take some memories along the way.
I took this on the very last day of our stay in Kelowna at the nearby dock by our cabins. The scenery was just absolutely beautiful and peaceful and I just had to take a picture. What I didn't know was how beautiful the picture would turn out by just a simple disposable camera. Ever since I got this picture developed, I fell in love with it and right away, I framed it and it hangs on my wall in my room.
This picture is what started it all; my love for photography and capturing the beauty of the world around me with a simple action of a finger. When my boyfriend and I started to get ourselves into the world of photography, I looked at this specific photo in my room and told myself, "wow ... look at the potential I could have for taking the most beautiful moments of my life". It was this very photo that made me realize how precious photography was and it was this very photo that started my love for taking photos. It didn't even matter to me if it was a point-and-shoot
camera or a crazy DSLR or even a phone camera ... just taking a photo of a specific moment that would last forever in my mind (or on my wall) is just an incredible thing to me.
That's why I LOVE this photo and is one of my absolute favourites (if not, my ultimate favourite). Even though this wasn't taken by my Nikon DSLR, it still came out beautiful and it proves that it's not the camera that you use but the person who takes the picture.
I really do miss my D70 though ...
Labels: 30days
Day 2 - My Significant Other
Monday, March 21, 2011
@3:59 PM
DAY 2 - How did you and your significant other get together? If you don't have one, describe what your dream boyfriend/girlfriend would be like.
Hmmm ... I don't know how long of a story this will be. I guess the best way to really tell this story is to start from the beginning so you can see the significance of us getting together. Here it goes ...
It all started at my college sometime in the fall. I think it was close to about 8 or 9 at night because I was about to head home but without having my one last smoke of the night first. So there I was outside in the "smoking pit", smoking my cigarette and minding my own business. Then I noticed HIM walking by inside the school and it struck me that I knew this guy because I went to highschool with him. He looked very different from what I remembered him to look like and that's what struck me the most but at the same time it was no really no big deal at that moment. I see familiar faces all the time from highschool, that's what happens. I'm sure people who have seen me from highschol recognize me but that's all there is to it.
Then ... there he goes walking by AGAIN. This time, he stopped and peered through the glass and actually looked at me. I stared a little bit because I was a little confused. Was he actually staring at me or was I just in the way of his vision towards something else? So I turned around and continued on with my smoke. I heard the doors open and felt a tap on my shoulder. There he was standing right in front of me with a little shy smile on his face and asked, "could I possible get a smoke from you?" Oh ... so he was looking at me ... for a smoke. I handed him one and even a lighter. I thought he was going to walk away as soon as he lit it because most people do and just leave with a, "thanks". He stuck around and leaned against the wall and looked at me.
"You look familiar .... Do I know you?" He asked me.
"No. But I know you," I said back. He looked really confused.
"OH? How?"
"Richmond High," I said with a little laugh and he started laughing, "I'm sure I just look familiar because you might have seen me in the hallways or something back in highschool."
"Yeah ... I think I do remember," he said. From that point, we made our official introductions and very quickly got comfortable with each other. We reminisced about our highschool days and laughed quite a bit about the things he used to do. The entire time, I continued to stare at him and it really started to dawn on me how different this guy was. It was like night and day. The way he spoke, the way he walked, the way he dressed ... quite the opposite of what I remembered this boy to look like back in highschool. I didn't know what to make of it at this point. He was a good-looking guy with the black turtleneck, black slacks and puma shoulder bag with the cute hair ... , I couldn't deny it but all it was at that point was a nice, friendly guy keeping up a fun conversation with me. It surprised me because I'm normally not that friendly towards strangers ... at least to that extent of having a full blown conversation about everything and anything.
I think a couple of hours have already gone by because I noticed that I was only down to 2 cigarettes left when I started off with practically a full pack. My cheeks were sore due to the laughter we were sharing and my hands were numb because it was chilly outside. We were talking deeply about our love for music and our favourite artist at the time: John Mayer. Because of this one singer, we actually talked about personal things and I had never felt so comfortable. I finally had to end the conversation though and to be honest, I really didn't want to but it was getting late and I had to get home. We said our goodbyes and that was it.
That night started a chain of "smoking pit meetings" almost every night. It came to a point where I would want to have a smoke, hoping he was down there for me to run into. He always was and he would always say "hi" and welcome me and we would talk for hours and hours and I always made sure I brought my entire pack of cigarettes. There would be times where I would be half an hour late for my classes because I kept losing track of time. He was a new friend. It was so easy, so comfortable, I was myself and I enjoyed every minute with him.
Eventually we became good enough friends that we hung out a couple of times after classes to play some pool or grab a bite to eat together. We even talked on MSN all the time, laughing our asses off at our nonsensical conversations and eventually we talked on the phone a few times too.
We did lose touch after a while. We didn't talk to each other for a good few months because from what I rememember, his cousin from Australia was staying with him and his family for a year and of course, he had to accomodate him. Also I later found out that he was actually seeing someone for a little bit. I didn't care at this point. He was still just a friend that I enjoyed talking to. I did miss him but I just tried to do my own thing.
Out of nowhere ... sometime in May ... he calls me up. I didn't know who it was and and when he revealed himself, I was ecstatic. A little more ecstatic than I thought I would have been. I ignored it the feeling. Our friendship had started again and the continuous phonecalls and MSN all-nighters continued. I was denying my feelings at this point because I was always the type to be very cautious when it came to new people ... especially guys. Plus ... he was such a great friend at this point that I didn't allow myself to at all ruin it ONE BIT. I couldn't. The friendship was near perfect that I couldn't dare wreck it. There was a bit of tension though I would have to say. If your read our old MSN conversations, you could read and feel the tension between us. It was very cute, very cheesy, very humorous. I don't know how to explain it. We just never flat out said, "hey ... let's officially go out for dinner".
By June, I decided to invite him and his cousin to my birthday party at my house. It took A LOT of deliberation regarding this decision. I wanted to then I didn't want to. I made a lot of coin tosses, plucked a lot of flowers, made a lot of eenie minie moes ... and it all came to "INVITE HIM". And let me tell you ... I AM SO GLAD I DID.
He was the first to arrive and I was really really really trying to contain myself. I was really happy that he was able to make it. His birthday gift to me? His ONLY COPY of John Mayer's Concert DVD - "Any Given Thursday" which was really really hard to find at that time. I thought that was the most endearing thing anyone has ever given me. I didn't think he payed attention to that when I said I was missing that in my John Mayer collection. Also ... he brought his guitar and I thought he was going to play for me and my friends. NO ... "I'm playing for YOU ... later". So it was a fun day. Him and I were getting really close and joking a lot around each other. I was really enjoying myself because it had been a long time since him and I had actually spent any physical time together since it was always just MSN and phone calls. I was really surprised to see how comfortable we were with each other. We had a BLAST during the bowling portion of my birthday. He demanded that I be on his team and we were just inseparable for the day. I wasn't really paying too much attention to anyone else and I kinda felt bad about that. I tried to make my rounds to everybody but it was hard.
For the night portion of my birthday ... I had decided to go clubbing. I really didn't want to at the end of the night but I couldn't think of anything else. He said that he probably wouldn't make it to that because he's not into that thing. I was a little disappointed and he saw it so he assured me that he will see what he can do and he will try ... At least he tried.
He DID end up coming for the sake that it would be good for his cousin to experience the clubbing scene since and meet some more new people because his cousin has never done those kinds of things back in Australia. Regardless, I was happy that he was there but I WAS AN IDIOT. I was really really really drunk when he walked in. I was taking shots and drinking A LOT. I started to feel really bad at this point and thought that I had blown it. "I must look like a total drunken idiot," I told myself. Here he was, obviously taking the chance to come even though he hates clubs and there I WAS ... drunk out of my mind. So I had thought I had blown it and tried to make the best out of it. I asked him to dance anyway and figured why not ... at least make most out of the night. At the end of clubbing, everyone rallied upstairs and I could barely walk. I tried to sit next to him and I ended up on the floor in front of him. He helped out though and made sure I was doing okay. I just kept wanting to hand my head in shame. It was at this point that I realized that clubbing really does suck and is completely pointless. Anyways, it was HIM to decided to leave the club and get me sobered up and get me some coffee. Everyone agreed and we all went to Denny's since it was 24-hours.
He helped me walk the entire way to Denny's from the car and made sure I was standing and made sure my arm didn't leave his. I couldn't understand why he was doing this but at this point I just didn't want to fall on my ass. Once we all got inside and was seated, he was pretty adament to order me some coffee and even convinced the waitress to let me have my free birthday coffee even though the day was a couple of days late to my actualy birthdate. He even asked how I wanted my coffee and stirred for me. I was still very dizzy at this point and my head just would not lift off his shoulder because I was scared that I would throw up. But everyone else was a having a great time telling stories, laughing, recapping our day ... even he was making everyone laugh with charismatic stories.
I was finally half-sober. I was more aware of things but I still felt like shit. Then I noticed him slowly caressing my hand as if he was comforting me in some way underneath the table. I was really confused because I didn't know what it meant. Was he just being nice because I was feeling like crap or did it mean I thought it meant? I let him continue. I wanted to see where it went. Then ... he actually grabbed my hand and held it the whole time. That was an instant SOBER call. I opened my eyes as widely as they could go and my dizziness instantly went away. WHY IS HE HOLDING MY HAND? WHY IS HE RUBBING MY ARM? DID HE JUST KISS MY FOREHEAD? I wanted to start giggling but I stopped myself. I returned the affection discretely although I already noticed one of my friends trying to be nosy and figure out what we were doing underneath the table. I thought that this was a temporary thing because he let go to use his hands to demonstrate something and I thought that was it. He let go ... but NOPE ... he went straight back to holding my hand and massaged my fingers and my arm and it honestly felt like this was a normal thing for us.
When it was time for all of us to go home ... I got scared and I kept my distance. I was really really confused and I didn't know what to do. I had never gone through something like this before and I didn't know what it all meant. My friends said it was pretty obvious that he liked but I didn't know what to do with it. I just kept saying to myself, "well if he does ... he'll come back and ask me out ... IF he does ..."
I couldn't stop thinking about him and the night at Denny's from the moment I got home to the next day. I was anxiously waiting on my computer waiting for him to get on MSN and finally he messaged me. He ended up talking about what happened and he was actually just anxious about the whole thing. He was actually apologizing if he freaked me out in any way bout the hand-holidng thing. HAHA. He was just so happy that he made it out for my birthday and that he spent time with me and that we got to interact more with each other and pretty much revealved that he would like to be with me. I told him that I'm not that easy to be with but he said, "if you are willing to give me a chance ... I am willing to try".
That was that start of it and the rest was history ... It's been almost 5 YEARS now and we are still going strong. We always joke about that night of my birthday and it's great to have my birthday be such a significant memory for the both of us. So not only did I become officially an adult that night by turning 21, but I also got myself a wonderful boyfriend. That's why he always makes sure that I get an awesome birthday every year because it just means so much to us.
I don't know if you guys managed to read all of that because I don't know if you really care but that is our story of us and how we got together!
Labels: 30days
Day 1 - 30 Day Challenge
Sunday, March 20, 2011
@4:02 PM
Day 1 - A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
1. My full name is Sharleene but I prefer to be called "Shar" because everytime I hear my full name, I think I am in trouble of some sort.
2. I am taken and practically married. I have been with my wonderful significant other for almost 5 years now and yes ... I have come to a point where I would not know what to do without him in life. He's my best friend, my lover, my family and my everything.
3. I am fanatically obsessed with Hello Kitty. I have this strange goal to own every type of paraphanelia ever possible that has to do with Hello Kitty. Obsessed.
4. I consider myself pretty artsy I guess. I LOVE all aspects of art whether it be music, artwork, dance, photography, sculptures, etc. I love to draw traditionally and digitally (my favourite thing to do is play with my Photoshop), and I love anything to do with arts & crafts since I also knit and crochet.
5. I CANNOT stand being bored. Really I can't. It's a rare thing for me to just want to stay home and do nothing. I always have to be doing something.
6. I am full-on Filipino but I was born in the Middle East (Bahrain to be exact) but I currently am a Canadian Citizen, living in Vancouver, BC.
7. I actually understand some French but I am very choppy in speaking the language. I have been learning French since the first grade in Bahrain but my learning slowed down once I got to Canada because they are a bit slower in curriculum here and I pretty much learned everything I already knew when I got here so I never really got anywhere to far with it. I think I can hold a decent conversation though.
8. I have a little brother is who is 17 years younger than me. He does get mistakenly regarded as my "son" and sometimes I play along with it especially for the ignorant ones who give me dirty looks because they THINK/ASSUME I'm some dirty teenage mom.
9. I used to have a British accent when I was younger because I adapted to the speech of my environment living in Bahrain. In actuality, I sometimes still have it and I have to carefully suppress it when I speak because it just sounds very awkward to me and I do not like it one bit.
10. I may be short and look sweet but I do have a mean streak when I need to be. Just ask any of my old managers in my old jobs HAHA. My favourite quote from one of my old co-workers was, "Always watch out for the little sweet Asian ones. They'll fucking come and get you like a fucking cat!!"
11. I consider myself to be very bold and adventurous when it comes to style. I will wear any color, any style (as long as the items actually fit me) and same goes with hair. I am used to changing my hairstyle 6 times a year. I've gone really really short to super super long to whatever other mess in between.
12. Considering I am a very short girl, I rarely ever wear heels. It's not that I don't like them (because I think heels are actually very sexy and looks great with my legs), it's just my feet just can't take them! Time and time again, I've tried wearing heels and within ten minutes, I want to start crying because I am in soooo much pain and feel like my feet are going to fall off.
13. I am incredibly sentimental. I will remember the sweetest moments of my life and will always TRY to keep as many keepsakes as a I can. I already have 2 boxes full of random sentimental things from my boyfriend. I guess that is why I love photos so much.
14. I am a caffeine whore. I am THAT addicted to coffee that when I don't have my cup of coffee by 2 in the afternoon, I will start to get migraines. It will only take one sip for the feeling of euphoria and relief to set in. I also that immune to it however ... I can have a cup of coffee late at night and pretty much go to bed in the next minute.
15. I am an anime lover. I always have to watch some type of anime before I go to bed. Right now my love is Bleach. I get really attached to the characters and the storyline, especially there is a lot of action and a lot of romance. In addition, I also have a dark side because I also LOVE those dark, creepy themed animes too.
Labels: 30days
30 Day Challenge
Saturday, March 19, 2011
@4:02 PM
Like I said in my previous entry, I have decided to start a 30-day Challenge. I think it's a good way to get my brain going and a good way to keep myself writing since I express myself better in writing than in speaking anyway.
Here's my list:
day 1 - recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
day 2 - How did you and your significant other get together? If you don't have one, describe what your dream boyfriend/girlfriend would be like.
day 3 - A favourite photo that you have taken yourself and explain why
day 4 - a habit that you wish you didn’t have
day 5 - What are the 10 most significant events in your life?
day 6 - favorite super hero and why
day 7 - Talk about a tattoo that you have and the story behind it. If you do not have one, maybe show a picture of a tattoo you would like to have and explain why you want it.
day 8 - Write about a memory that you think is quite creepy or scary.
day 9 - something you're proud of in the past few days
day 10 - songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
day 11 - write a bucket list of things you want to do before you die
day 12 - write a poem to someone you love
day 13 - What are your biggest fears?
day 14 - a picture of you and your family
day 15 - put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
day 16 - What is your definition of true love?
day 17 - plans/dreams/goals you have
day 18 - write about a sweet memory from your past
day 19 - write a letter to someone
day 20 - a picture of something that makes you happy
day 21- Who is your best friend in life?
day 22- Talk about your guilty pleasures.
day 23- post your favorite quote or verse of scripture and why
day 24- what I would find in your bag
day 25- What does your name mean? Why were you named what you were named?
day 26 - The most romantic moment of your life so far. If you don't have one yet, what would you imagine to be the most romantic moment you would love to encounter.
day 27- Put up a recipe
day 28- Your favourite movie
day 29 - What do people notice about you?
day 30 - Your favourite tv shows and why.
Labels: 30days
Day 5 - 10 Significant Events In My Life
Saturday, December 22, 2012
@2:37 PM
[ ]
So I have decided to continue my 30-Day blog challenge in between regular life posts since I don't always have inspiration to write about things that go on in my daily life.
What's the topic of the day? 10 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN MY LIFE
These are not in chronological order or anything. I will just talk about events that I can remember as I go.
#1 - Moving to Canada
I was 8 years old when I moved to Canada and it was a big event my life because it was a start of a new life for my family and I.
#2 - Getting the lead in 'Alice in Wonderland' in highschool
This was really fun and I never thought I would ever get a lead in a play. This is was memorable because this was a time in my life where I was getting over my shyness of performing in public. Also, I remember it caused some drama with another student because she was pissed off that an Asian girl got the lead part because she has always been a try-hard actress. My drama teacher explained that just because I was Asian, it did not mean I was not good enough to play the role. Also, it brings something different to the play and not a typical white girl will play the role. That girl didn't like me for a while, let's just keep at that.
#3 - Meeting my Future Husband
In the fall semester of 2005, I met a guy who I became friends with at school. We went to the same highschool but never actually met each other until college. We developed a really nice friendship and eventually started dating the next summer and carried on our relationship to this day.
#4 - Getting Engaged
Of course, in continuation to the last one, we eventually got engaged too this year on May 11, 2012! Who would have thought a good friend of mine would end up being my future husband?! I'm the happiest I can ever be. Also, I can get married before my wish, 'getting married before I'm 30' hahahah.
#5 - Finding Out I am going to have a little brother
I was 17 when my mom decided to tell me that she was pregnant and I am going to have another sibling. I was shocked of course! I didn't think my parents were ever going to have another child especially at the age I was in. Being in the teenager mentality, I didn't know how to react. I was finally at a point in my life where I was coming on my own, had my social life and having to think about taking care of a child was mind-boggling to me LOL. But I love my brother. He's sweet, smart and he loves me too and respects me and I love having something call me, "Ate".
#6 - The year my uncle died.
This was a major event in my life that never really leaves my mind. He was like a second father to me. When I found out he passed away, I was so shocked that I could not even cry until the day of his funeral. I miss him very much but I know he's always with me.
#7 - Moving Out
I had already been dating my fiance for over 5 years now and he was living on his own already but I was still with my parents. The day had come where I did want to move in with him so that we can experience that with each other. My fiance decided to talk to my parents about it and then we talked about it all together. My parents said they were okay with it because I'm my own woman now who can make her own decisions and they trusted my fiance because he's pretty much part of the family now too.
#8 - Having 2 dogs
I guess if you think about it, this like 2 different things since we got each dog at a different time but just the whole concept of having two dogs is one big event for me. I have always wanted a dog and my fiance has always lived with dogs. Now ... we have two dogs!! One huge one and one teeny one. I love my babies so much. They make me laugh, smile, cry and I don't know how to live without them.
#9 - Buying our house
This was a major point in both our lives really because it is our first REAL home that we own and call our own. We have more space, levels, a beautiful park in our backyard ... it doesn't get any better than this.
#10 - Getting Accepted into the Accounting Program
After numerous attempts of what I thought I wanted to be "when I grow up", I finally figured out what I wanted to do as a career - accounting. Getting the acceptance letter for Accounting Diploma at KPU was one of the most exciting things in my life because it signifies the one thing in my life that I am actually sure about in the working world.
I am sure there are significant events in my life but those are the main ten that popped in my head so I guess they are pretty important then!!
Labels: 30days
Day 4 - Habit I Wish I Didn't Have
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
@8:59 PM
[ ]
day 4 - a habit that you wish you didn’t have
This is an easy one for me; it's no contest.
Smoking.
Yes ... sadly I am a smoker. I am so young with a terrible bad habit that slowly kills me one stick at a time. To be honest though, I don't smoke as heavily as I used to when I was a little younger. Given the time or place or how heavily stressed I am, only those factors determine how much I will smoke in a day.
I do not smoke at home out of respect for my family. Yes, they do know I smoke and they are not too happy about it but what can they do? Anyways, I choose not to smoke at home just because I don't want to expose my little brother to it and I just do not want my parents to see me smoke a cigarette. I just feel weird about it. I admit though when no one is home, I will go out into our backyard and quickly have one but that is pretty much it.
I only smoke when I'm out with friends or with my boyfriend since he smokes as well. I also smoke when I am incredibly stressed out; I smoke very heavily. Something about having a cigarette really relaxes me. It's more of a psychological association thing really. I know that. I know that if I transfer that mode of relaxtion to something else, like a cup of tea, I could probably transfer my addiction to cigarettes onto something else less harmful to my body. Of course, it's not as easy as it looks.
I have tried to quit numerous times but I have never been perfectly successful. The longest I have ever quit was for four months but with a strange turn of events that I THOUGHT was a stress point in my life turned me back to smoking. My boyfriend and I have also tried to quit together but the stress of not having one and the horrible mood swings we both endure and take out on each other pretty much led us to quit quitting smoking. We must have "broken up" like 5 times in the times we have tried to quit smoking hahaha. We just get on each other's throats and it's not a good time. We do have a desire to quit someday. We just have to find a good time where we genuinely want to quit (which is really the first step to quitting) and stick with it. The first few weeks are always tough but I'm sure we would eventually get used to it. But for now ... we are still smokers and we know it's a horrible thing (and expensive thing) to keep doing.
I started smoking in highschool and don't ask me why. I still do not know why I started. I guess I was really stressed out in highschool about a lot of things and I was curious as to why people turned to cigarettes as a release. Little did I know that I would be hooked. I was one of those people that thought it wouldn't be so hard to stop. Naive. Even though I was just smoking menthols, I thought that I wouldn't get hooked because menthols seemed like a light brand that every social smoker would just smoke and never get hooked. I was wrong. Menthols ARE STILL cigarettes and still have nicotine and no matter what you say ... you will still get hooked whether it be you just have one a day to a "just a few" a day. Trust me. Menthols are just a lighter mintier taste and easier on your breathing but it's still a cigarette.
Just don't start smoking guys. It's a horrible habit. I wish I never started smoking but what can I do now? I need to find that will power to stop and it's not easy but one day at a time. One day at a time.
Labels: 30days
Day 3 Favourite Photo
Monday, March 28, 2011
@5:37 PM
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Day 3 - A favourite photo that you have taken yourself and explain why
This is a photo that I took when I was about 17 or 18 years old. I was on a family trip in the summer of 2003 in Kelowna, BC. This was during a time when I did not even have a regular point-and-shoot digital camera, so I bought myself 2 disposable cameras for the trip to take some memories along the way.
I took this on the very last day of our stay in Kelowna at the nearby dock by our cabins. The scenery was just absolutely beautiful and peaceful and I just had to take a picture. What I didn't know was how beautiful the picture would turn out by just a simple disposable camera. Ever since I got this picture developed, I fell in love with it and right away, I framed it and it hangs on my wall in my room.
This picture is what started it all; my love for photography and capturing the beauty of the world around me with a simple action of a finger. When my boyfriend and I started to get ourselves into the world of photography, I looked at this specific photo in my room and told myself, "wow ... look at the potential I could have for taking the most beautiful moments of my life". It was this very photo that made me realize how precious photography was and it was this very photo that started my love for taking photos. It didn't even matter to me if it was a point-and-shoot
camera or a crazy DSLR or even a phone camera ... just taking a photo of a specific moment that would last forever in my mind (or on my wall) is just an incredible thing to me.
That's why I LOVE this photo and is one of my absolute favourites (if not, my ultimate favourite). Even though this wasn't taken by my Nikon DSLR, it still came out beautiful and it proves that it's not the camera that you use but the person who takes the picture.
I really do miss my D70 though ...
Labels: 30days
Day 2 - My Significant Other
Monday, March 21, 2011
@3:59 PM
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DAY 2 - How did you and your significant other get together? If you don't have one, describe what your dream boyfriend/girlfriend would be like.
Hmmm ... I don't know how long of a story this will be. I guess the best way to really tell this story is to start from the beginning so you can see the significance of us getting together. Here it goes ...
It all started at my college sometime in the fall. I think it was close to about 8 or 9 at night because I was about to head home but without having my one last smoke of the night first. So there I was outside in the "smoking pit", smoking my cigarette and minding my own business. Then I noticed HIM walking by inside the school and it struck me that I knew this guy because I went to highschool with him. He looked very different from what I remembered him to look like and that's what struck me the most but at the same time it was no really no big deal at that moment. I see familiar faces all the time from highschool, that's what happens. I'm sure people who have seen me from highschol recognize me but that's all there is to it.
Then ... there he goes walking by AGAIN. This time, he stopped and peered through the glass and actually looked at me. I stared a little bit because I was a little confused. Was he actually staring at me or was I just in the way of his vision towards something else? So I turned around and continued on with my smoke. I heard the doors open and felt a tap on my shoulder. There he was standing right in front of me with a little shy smile on his face and asked, "could I possible get a smoke from you?" Oh ... so he was looking at me ... for a smoke. I handed him one and even a lighter. I thought he was going to walk away as soon as he lit it because most people do and just leave with a, "thanks". He stuck around and leaned against the wall and looked at me.
"You look familiar .... Do I know you?" He asked me.
"No. But I know you," I said back. He looked really confused.
"OH? How?"
"Richmond High," I said with a little laugh and he started laughing, "I'm sure I just look familiar because you might have seen me in the hallways or something back in highschool."
"Yeah ... I think I do remember," he said. From that point, we made our official introductions and very quickly got comfortable with each other. We reminisced about our highschool days and laughed quite a bit about the things he used to do. The entire time, I continued to stare at him and it really started to dawn on me how different this guy was. It was like night and day. The way he spoke, the way he walked, the way he dressed ... quite the opposite of what I remembered this boy to look like back in highschool. I didn't know what to make of it at this point. He was a good-looking guy with the black turtleneck, black slacks and puma shoulder bag with the cute hair ... , I couldn't deny it but all it was at that point was a nice, friendly guy keeping up a fun conversation with me. It surprised me because I'm normally not that friendly towards strangers ... at least to that extent of having a full blown conversation about everything and anything.
I think a couple of hours have already gone by because I noticed that I was only down to 2 cigarettes left when I started off with practically a full pack. My cheeks were sore due to the laughter we were sharing and my hands were numb because it was chilly outside. We were talking deeply about our love for music and our favourite artist at the time: John Mayer. Because of this one singer, we actually talked about personal things and I had never felt so comfortable. I finally had to end the conversation though and to be honest, I really didn't want to but it was getting late and I had to get home. We said our goodbyes and that was it.
That night started a chain of "smoking pit meetings" almost every night. It came to a point where I would want to have a smoke, hoping he was down there for me to run into. He always was and he would always say "hi" and welcome me and we would talk for hours and hours and I always made sure I brought my entire pack of cigarettes. There would be times where I would be half an hour late for my classes because I kept losing track of time. He was a new friend. It was so easy, so comfortable, I was myself and I enjoyed every minute with him.
Eventually we became good enough friends that we hung out a couple of times after classes to play some pool or grab a bite to eat together. We even talked on MSN all the time, laughing our asses off at our nonsensical conversations and eventually we talked on the phone a few times too.
We did lose touch after a while. We didn't talk to each other for a good few months because from what I rememember, his cousin from Australia was staying with him and his family for a year and of course, he had to accomodate him. Also I later found out that he was actually seeing someone for a little bit. I didn't care at this point. He was still just a friend that I enjoyed talking to. I did miss him but I just tried to do my own thing.
Out of nowhere ... sometime in May ... he calls me up. I didn't know who it was and and when he revealed himself, I was ecstatic. A little more ecstatic than I thought I would have been. I ignored it the feeling. Our friendship had started again and the continuous phonecalls and MSN all-nighters continued. I was denying my feelings at this point because I was always the type to be very cautious when it came to new people ... especially guys. Plus ... he was such a great friend at this point that I didn't allow myself to at all ruin it ONE BIT. I couldn't. The friendship was near perfect that I couldn't dare wreck it. There was a bit of tension though I would have to say. If your read our old MSN conversations, you could read and feel the tension between us. It was very cute, very cheesy, very humorous. I don't know how to explain it. We just never flat out said, "hey ... let's officially go out for dinner".
By June, I decided to invite him and his cousin to my birthday party at my house. It took A LOT of deliberation regarding this decision. I wanted to then I didn't want to. I made a lot of coin tosses, plucked a lot of flowers, made a lot of eenie minie moes ... and it all came to "INVITE HIM". And let me tell you ... I AM SO GLAD I DID.
He was the first to arrive and I was really really really trying to contain myself. I was really happy that he was able to make it. His birthday gift to me? His ONLY COPY of John Mayer's Concert DVD - "Any Given Thursday" which was really really hard to find at that time. I thought that was the most endearing thing anyone has ever given me. I didn't think he payed attention to that when I said I was missing that in my John Mayer collection. Also ... he brought his guitar and I thought he was going to play for me and my friends. NO ... "I'm playing for YOU ... later". So it was a fun day. Him and I were getting really close and joking a lot around each other. I was really enjoying myself because it had been a long time since him and I had actually spent any physical time together since it was always just MSN and phone calls. I was really surprised to see how comfortable we were with each other. We had a BLAST during the bowling portion of my birthday. He demanded that I be on his team and we were just inseparable for the day. I wasn't really paying too much attention to anyone else and I kinda felt bad about that. I tried to make my rounds to everybody but it was hard.
For the night portion of my birthday ... I had decided to go clubbing. I really didn't want to at the end of the night but I couldn't think of anything else. He said that he probably wouldn't make it to that because he's not into that thing. I was a little disappointed and he saw it so he assured me that he will see what he can do and he will try ... At least he tried.
He DID end up coming for the sake that it would be good for his cousin to experience the clubbing scene since and meet some more new people because his cousin has never done those kinds of things back in Australia. Regardless, I was happy that he was there but I WAS AN IDIOT. I was really really really drunk when he walked in. I was taking shots and drinking A LOT. I started to feel really bad at this point and thought that I had blown it. "I must look like a total drunken idiot," I told myself. Here he was, obviously taking the chance to come even though he hates clubs and there I WAS ... drunk out of my mind. So I had thought I had blown it and tried to make the best out of it. I asked him to dance anyway and figured why not ... at least make most out of the night. At the end of clubbing, everyone rallied upstairs and I could barely walk. I tried to sit next to him and I ended up on the floor in front of him. He helped out though and made sure I was doing okay. I just kept wanting to hand my head in shame. It was at this point that I realized that clubbing really does suck and is completely pointless. Anyways, it was HIM to decided to leave the club and get me sobered up and get me some coffee. Everyone agreed and we all went to Denny's since it was 24-hours.
He helped me walk the entire way to Denny's from the car and made sure I was standing and made sure my arm didn't leave his. I couldn't understand why he was doing this but at this point I just didn't want to fall on my ass. Once we all got inside and was seated, he was pretty adament to order me some coffee and even convinced the waitress to let me have my free birthday coffee even though the day was a couple of days late to my actualy birthdate. He even asked how I wanted my coffee and stirred for me. I was still very dizzy at this point and my head just would not lift off his shoulder because I was scared that I would throw up. But everyone else was a having a great time telling stories, laughing, recapping our day ... even he was making everyone laugh with charismatic stories.
I was finally half-sober. I was more aware of things but I still felt like shit. Then I noticed him slowly caressing my hand as if he was comforting me in some way underneath the table. I was really confused because I didn't know what it meant. Was he just being nice because I was feeling like crap or did it mean I thought it meant? I let him continue. I wanted to see where it went. Then ... he actually grabbed my hand and held it the whole time. That was an instant SOBER call. I opened my eyes as widely as they could go and my dizziness instantly went away. WHY IS HE HOLDING MY HAND? WHY IS HE RUBBING MY ARM? DID HE JUST KISS MY FOREHEAD? I wanted to start giggling but I stopped myself. I returned the affection discretely although I already noticed one of my friends trying to be nosy and figure out what we were doing underneath the table. I thought that this was a temporary thing because he let go to use his hands to demonstrate something and I thought that was it. He let go ... but NOPE ... he went straight back to holding my hand and massaged my fingers and my arm and it honestly felt like this was a normal thing for us.
When it was time for all of us to go home ... I got scared and I kept my distance. I was really really confused and I didn't know what to do. I had never gone through something like this before and I didn't know what it all meant. My friends said it was pretty obvious that he liked but I didn't know what to do with it. I just kept saying to myself, "well if he does ... he'll come back and ask me out ... IF he does ..."
I couldn't stop thinking about him and the night at Denny's from the moment I got home to the next day. I was anxiously waiting on my computer waiting for him to get on MSN and finally he messaged me. He ended up talking about what happened and he was actually just anxious about the whole thing. He was actually apologizing if he freaked me out in any way bout the hand-holidng thing. HAHA. He was just so happy that he made it out for my birthday and that he spent time with me and that we got to interact more with each other and pretty much revealved that he would like to be with me. I told him that I'm not that easy to be with but he said, "if you are willing to give me a chance ... I am willing to try".
That was that start of it and the rest was history ... It's been almost 5 YEARS now and we are still going strong. We always joke about that night of my birthday and it's great to have my birthday be such a significant memory for the both of us. So not only did I become officially an adult that night by turning 21, but I also got myself a wonderful boyfriend. That's why he always makes sure that I get an awesome birthday every year because it just means so much to us.
I don't know if you guys managed to read all of that because I don't know if you really care but that is our story of us and how we got together!
Labels: 30days
Day 1 - 30 Day Challenge
Sunday, March 20, 2011
@4:02 PM
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Day 1 - A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
1. My full name is Sharleene but I prefer to be called "Shar" because everytime I hear my full name, I think I am in trouble of some sort.
2. I am taken and practically married. I have been with my wonderful significant other for almost 5 years now and yes ... I have come to a point where I would not know what to do without him in life. He's my best friend, my lover, my family and my everything.
3. I am fanatically obsessed with Hello Kitty. I have this strange goal to own every type of paraphanelia ever possible that has to do with Hello Kitty. Obsessed.
4. I consider myself pretty artsy I guess. I LOVE all aspects of art whether it be music, artwork, dance, photography, sculptures, etc. I love to draw traditionally and digitally (my favourite thing to do is play with my Photoshop), and I love anything to do with arts & crafts since I also knit and crochet.
5. I CANNOT stand being bored. Really I can't. It's a rare thing for me to just want to stay home and do nothing. I always have to be doing something.
6. I am full-on Filipino but I was born in the Middle East (Bahrain to be exact) but I currently am a Canadian Citizen, living in Vancouver, BC.
7. I actually understand some French but I am very choppy in speaking the language. I have been learning French since the first grade in Bahrain but my learning slowed down once I got to Canada because they are a bit slower in curriculum here and I pretty much learned everything I already knew when I got here so I never really got anywhere to far with it. I think I can hold a decent conversation though.
8. I have a little brother is who is 17 years younger than me. He does get mistakenly regarded as my "son" and sometimes I play along with it especially for the ignorant ones who give me dirty looks because they THINK/ASSUME I'm some dirty teenage mom.
9. I used to have a British accent when I was younger because I adapted to the speech of my environment living in Bahrain. In actuality, I sometimes still have it and I have to carefully suppress it when I speak because it just sounds very awkward to me and I do not like it one bit.
10. I may be short and look sweet but I do have a mean streak when I need to be. Just ask any of my old managers in my old jobs HAHA. My favourite quote from one of my old co-workers was, "Always watch out for the little sweet Asian ones. They'll fucking come and get you like a fucking cat!!"
11. I consider myself to be very bold and adventurous when it comes to style. I will wear any color, any style (as long as the items actually fit me) and same goes with hair. I am used to changing my hairstyle 6 times a year. I've gone really really short to super super long to whatever other mess in between.
12. Considering I am a very short girl, I rarely ever wear heels. It's not that I don't like them (because I think heels are actually very sexy and looks great with my legs), it's just my feet just can't take them! Time and time again, I've tried wearing heels and within ten minutes, I want to start crying because I am in soooo much pain and feel like my feet are going to fall off.
13. I am incredibly sentimental. I will remember the sweetest moments of my life and will always TRY to keep as many keepsakes as a I can. I already have 2 boxes full of random sentimental things from my boyfriend. I guess that is why I love photos so much.
14. I am a caffeine whore. I am THAT addicted to coffee that when I don't have my cup of coffee by 2 in the afternoon, I will start to get migraines. It will only take one sip for the feeling of euphoria and relief to set in. I also that immune to it however ... I can have a cup of coffee late at night and pretty much go to bed in the next minute.
15. I am an anime lover. I always have to watch some type of anime before I go to bed. Right now my love is Bleach. I get really attached to the characters and the storyline, especially there is a lot of action and a lot of romance. In addition, I also have a dark side because I also LOVE those dark, creepy themed animes too.
Labels: 30days
30 Day Challenge
Saturday, March 19, 2011
@4:02 PM
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Like I said in my previous entry, I have decided to start a 30-day Challenge. I think it's a good way to get my brain going and a good way to keep myself writing since I express myself better in writing than in speaking anyway.
Here's my list:
day 1 - recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
day 2 - How did you and your significant other get together? If you don't have one, describe what your dream boyfriend/girlfriend would be like.
day 3 - A favourite photo that you have taken yourself and explain why
day 4 - a habit that you wish you didn’t have
day 5 - What are the 10 most significant events in your life?
day 6 - favorite super hero and why
day 7 - Talk about a tattoo that you have and the story behind it. If you do not have one, maybe show a picture of a tattoo you would like to have and explain why you want it.
day 8 - Write about a memory that you think is quite creepy or scary.
day 9 - something you're proud of in the past few days
day 10 - songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
day 11 - write a bucket list of things you want to do before you die
day 12 - write a poem to someone you love
day 13 - What are your biggest fears?
day 14 - a picture of you and your family
day 15 - put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
day 16 - What is your definition of true love?
day 17 - plans/dreams/goals you have
day 18 - write about a sweet memory from your past
day 19 - write a letter to someone
day 20 - a picture of something that makes you happy
day 21- Who is your best friend in life?
day 22- Talk about your guilty pleasures.
day 23- post your favorite quote or verse of scripture and why
day 24- what I would find in your bag
day 25- What does your name mean? Why were you named what you were named?
day 26 - The most romantic moment of your life so far. If you don't have one yet, what would you imagine to be the most romantic moment you would love to encounter.
day 27- Put up a recipe
day 28- Your favourite movie
day 29 - What do people notice about you?
day 30 - Your favourite tv shows and why.
Labels: 30days
I'm Shar and I'm a simple young lady in her twenties going through life like everyone else does.