Your life in 20 kg

Since the receipt of the news that my New Zealand application is a go, I found myself incredibly busy filing visa applications and submitting last minute requirements. And just last month I was met with even greater news. My bestestfriend LT would be joining me as well!! Same CAP course, same university, same dates. God is so good.

/deep breath./

I have barely a month left until I leave. I have left my job and now can focus on other things. Things like spending quality time with family and friends, baking, catching up on sleep (man did i lose a lot of that while I was employed,lol) and preparing my stuff for when I leave. And oh my goodness.

PACKING.

I have been looking forward to this day for the past 4 years. And now as I am faced with it… I am left at a loss.

As LT so aptly put it… “how do you pack up 20kg of your life?”

I never knew packing could be so stressful. How do you cram memories and necessities into one bag? Downsizing most of your things to just 20kg… will be quite a challenge.

And as you know… Challenge accepted. As long as I have my warm clothes, my journals, my Apple, my camera and my stuffed Rilakkuma and cow… I’ll be good to go.

I hope.

/back to repacking/

Mañanita (photo-heavy post ahead)

June 9-10,2011

For a week both the ICU and INT units were stressing out on an impending VERY IMPORTANT DATE.
The occasion? Our beloved Ma’am Lorna’s birthday.
How could we adequately show our appreciation for our supervisor? Where do we even begin?
For her understanding.
For her undying patience with us.
For suffering sleepless nights from making our schedules work, because of all the schedule requests (all marked with PLS VERY IMPORTANT! LOL).
So last minute the guys decided on giving Ma’am Lorna a mañanita.
At first I was like, wth is a Mañanita? All I could think about is /I love my manita, yes I do/ haha@___@
A Mañanita, I soon learned, is actually a practice wherein a celebrant is serenaded at dawn (or in our case, midnight) to help welcome his/her birthday. People bring in food and have a little get-together and eat. I was excited, because I have never been part/gave one before. And surprising our supervisor? Should be fun.
And it was also a chance to test my budding photography skills. Shameless, I know.XD

We’re here! Candles ready 😀

A one, a-two…

Ma’am Tess, our INT coordinator joined us:

Ma’am Lorna, left speechless, touched by our small gesture 😀

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MA’AM LORNS!

A very happy ma’am Lorna. No, really. This is happy. ^___^

LET’S EAT!!!

Mañanita success!

Aaaand, one for the road. It’s 2AM now *A*! But, job well done, guys!
Exhausted, we ended the night morning on a wacky note, stuffed with pansit and bam-i, and happy. Off to bed now, for duty calls once more.

Once again, happy birthday, Ma’am Lorna! Your ICU-INT family (mga “anak”) wishes you all the best life has to offer, good health, and more blessings. Thanks for being our SUPERvisor!<3

 

 

Back to Baking

I’ve always loved baking. It’s something my mom passed on to me, and I guess I’m pretty decent at it. I’m no cook(the most I can do is boil water), but at least I can bake!:D
After a long hiatus from baking, I took the time from my day off to get back into it. I’d been eyeing this recipe for Campfire Cookies since last month. They sounded delicious, and looked really simple to make.

I had my sister help me chop up the marshmallows, because they were a bit too large.

Scooped up the dough with an ice cream scooper to make uniform cookie dough balls Aaaaaand…. VOILA!

Yummy, gooey moist cookies with soft marshmallow centers. Unfortunately, the marshmallow spilled over onto the pan, and as they cooled, stuck hard onto it. :< So my mom cleverly suggested to put them in cupcake/muffin tins, and it worked!
Plan B:

Hooray!:D
And mom bought pre-made pizza dough earlier, so we snacked on pizza afterwards. Mmmm…bacon.

I also had a leftover cream cheese bar, so we whipped up a no-bake-cheesecake too. But I forgot to take a picture of it.X<
I realize how much I'd missed this, but then I also have to learn how to cook. I may be living on my own soon, and my talent at boiling water can only do so much. I'd pestered my mom into writing down her recipes into a notebook, and as much as I have the technical knowledge of cooking, I have little hands-on skills.
I think I may have to have my mom give me a crash-course on cooking. Wish me luck. @_@