Goals for 2010

2010 is just two days away. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I'm not really sure whether I enjoyed 2009 as much as 2008, but either way, it has been a pretty decent year. I don't know why, but I am really looking forward to 2010. I think it might be because I can't wait to start school again...? I'm not sure. It's really weird that I am actually looking forward to school. I guess it's because I'm looking forward to living on my own again instead of being under my parents' roof. I've come to realize that even though I do miss my family and friends when I am away in school, I really like the feeling of being independent/responsible and not having to rely on my parents for food, laundry, cleaning up around the house, etc. I don't know, I'm just ranting now.

Anyway, I've set a list of goals for the new year. I hope that I can actually accomplish them... or at least find a way to motivate myself to accomplish them. :P

1) Raise my GPA
- Right now, my overall GPA is pretty embarrassing, and I admit that it's my fault. Although it is not super low, it definitely can be better... at least to a point where I can actually tell people what my GPA is. -___- In my own defense, it has gotten better than when I first started college.

2) Study more
- Okay, I can honestly admit that my study skills are pretty much null. I hardly ever study on school nights and I save most of my studying for the day before a test. I am amazed that I have actually passed all of my classes without studying/doing any of the reading. Despite that, i know for a fact that I can get better grades if I actually start studying. I think this may be one of my hardest goals to achieve considering my notorious reputation of being a huge procrastinator.

3) Go to sleep earlier/wake up earlier
- I go to bed really late. And I mean REALLY late. During Fall quarter, I had a class at 9AM that I hardly ever went to because I often went to sleep at 4:00 in the morning. This is one of my worst habits and I need to break it. Winter break hasn't been much help. In fact, this bad habit worsened due to the lack of responsibility I have when I'm at home in L.A. I am also one of the hardest people to wake up in the morning because I go to sleep super late. Hopefully, when the new quarter starts, I will be able to sleep at a semi-decent time (maybe around 12AM-1AM) and wake up 1 1/2 hours before my first class (10AM M-Th).

4) Go to the gym at least 4 times a week
- Ah, yes. The cliché resolution that pretty much everyone has on their list. Over the summer, when I was taking classes at UCSB for a month, I managed to go to the gym everyday for the last two weeks of session A. When I got home, I stopped working out altogether for the rest of the summer. When Fall quarter started, I promised myself that I would start going to the gym again, but that only lasted for two weeks. Hopefully this time I can actually go through with it, especially now that I am sort of motivated to not only lose weight, but also become healthier. My family has a history of hypertension (which is a fancy medical way [not really] of saying high blood pressure) and I do not want to put up with that when I am older. I also do not want to put up with being super overweight when I am older. I'm actually sort of proud of myself because instead of gaining the infamous "Freshman 15" when I started college, I've actually lost weight... around 25 pounds to be exact (not that much, but it's still progress) and I am making it a goal for me to lose more during the new year.

5) Eat healthier
- It's really hard to eat healthy when you're a college student due to A) lack of money to buy healthier food, B) the constant yearning for homecooked Filipino food, and C) pure laziness/lack of time. While point A is probably the hardest reason to overcome (due to not being able to obtain a part-time job in this economy), points B and C are the easiest to fix. I can try to allocate my money to buying healthier food, but it can get pricey sometimes. I spend most of my money on food anyway and during the Fall quarter I started buying healthier food, but I know that I can do better. I hardly bought that much junk food, anyway. :) Although I do miss homecooked Filipino food a lot when I am in SB, which prompted me to start cooking it (authentically laden in all of its oily, fatty, and caloric goodness), I can try to cook healthier. Point C I can try to fix by actually waking up earlier to actually eat breakfast instead of waiting to eat until lunchtime. I can also try to eat five small meals a day instead of eating two large meals and a snack (which I had been doing during Fall quarter).

6) Be more positive
- I think that I am a pretty positive person, but I know that there are times when I am super pessimistic, especially when midterms and finals come along. I have gotten better at being thankful for having what in life, but I also think a lot about material goods that I want and don't really need. I really need to change that way of thinking. >_<

7) Participate more in church
- I am proud that I have started to get more involved in my church in SB and that I have made so many new friends there. I am also proud that I have been going to church every Sunday (I only missed one Sunday because I was sick), I've been getting closer to God, and I have strengthened my faith. Despite this, I know that I can participate more and help out with the activities they have. Participating more will help me feel better about myself... and the fact that a cute boy who is really into human rights and activism goes to my church helps, too. ;)

Well, there is my New Year's resolution list. Hopefully I didn't bore you to death with my long ass rationales for each goal. I really hope that I can stick to these resolutions. It shouldn't be that hard with only seven goals, right? ;) Just kidding. I mean, how many people do you know have actually stuck with and accomplished their new year's resolutions? I don't know anyone who has done that. Oops, that was a negative thing to say and not a very good start at being more positive. >_< Okay, I'll shut up now. :)

What are your New Year's resolutions?

I luhh my Snuggie

Especially in this cold SB weather

All I Want for Christmas

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good girl this year. I have been getting good grades, I've been getting more involved in church, and I even did a face-to-face confession with our priest (and you know how difficult that is to do). I know that I've missed a few classes here and there, but I'm a college student; there are times when we just can't wake up in time for class. I have also been very nice to everyone I meet and I have been trying my best to constantly thank God for this wonderful life I have.

All I ask for Christmas this year is to please send me money to help me pay for a volunteer trip to Peru next summer so I can help teach impoverished children. I promise that is where the money will go to. If you are not able to send me money, please send me a list of people that would be willing to help sponsor me for this trip. Santa, please help this amazing opportunity come true for me. It will help me gain volunteer and teaching experience and it will also prepare me for joining the Peace Corps after college. I will forever be grateful. Thank you.

Love Always,
Vernice

So I deactivated my Facebook

in order to help me study for finals. It became a distraction and was one of the reasons why I was procrastinating. Interestingly, I found myself clicking on Facebook in my bookmarks after I deactivated my account. It's both funny/sad that I'm so used to doing that. Haha. Anyway, I deleted it from my bookmarks and looked forward to a couple more days of intense studying until my last final on Thursday. But, being the professional procrastinator that I am, I found new ways to procrastinate. Thank you, blogs. :P

Je me présente en français

Bonjour! Je m’appelle Vernice. J’ai dix-neuf ans. Mon anniversaire es le dix-neuf octobre. J’ai un frère et deux sœurs. Mon frère s’appelle Vince et mes sœurs s’appelles Vanessa et Veronica. Ma mère s’appelle Teresita et mon père s’appelle Rolando. J’ai une chatte et elle s’appelle Ikea. J’aime ma famille. Mon frère est très dynamique. Il joue de la guitare et il joue dans une groupe de musique. Mes sœurs sont moins dynamiques que mon frère. Mes sœurs sont très têtues, paresseuses, et indisciplinées, surtout Veronica. Ma mere est très sympathique, calme, et raisonable. Mon père est sérieux, réservé, et très artistique. Ma chatte est très mignonne, intelligente, et gentille.

Je suis du Los Angeles mais actuellement j’habite à Santa Barbara pour école. Je vais à l’UCSB pour l’université. Je prepare un B.A. en anthropologie et une mineure en education. Je veux être un professeur parce que j’adore les enfants. Ce trimestre, je suis un cours de français, un cours d’anthropologie, et un cours d’archéologie. Le trimestre prochain, je suis un cours de français, un cours de musique, et deux cours d’anthropologie. J’ai de bonnes notes. J’adore ma l’université. Elle est très belle et les professeurs sont très bon.

Dans Santa Barbara, j’habite à Isla Vista. Mon appartement est près de le campus. Mon appartement est vieux, petit, et mignon. J'adore mon appartement parce que je peux faire la cuisine et je peux avoir ma chatte habite avec moi. Je fait du vélo à mes cours. Il y a beaucoup des vélos dans l’UCSB. Nous faisons des vélos ici. Ce sont très populaires. Mon cours de français et mon cours d’archéologie sont sur le campus. Mon cours d’anthropologie est dans Isla Vista. Mon cours de français est loin de mon appartement.

Le lundi, je me réveille à 8h15 du matin et je me lève à 8h30. Je me brosse les dents et je me habille. Je pars mon appartement à 8h55 pour mon cours d’archéologie. Après mon cours d’archèologie, je pars pour mon cours de français à 9h50. Après mon cours de français, je rentre à mon appartement pour manger déjeuner à 11h. Après je mange déjeuner, je vais à la bibliothèque Davidson dans le campus pour étudier et faire mes devoirs. Après j’étudie, je rentre à mon appartement pour préparer le dîner. Je dîne avec mes colocotaires Maddy et Alyssa. Je me douche à 12h du matin et je me couche à 2h du matin.

Le vendredi soir, je regarde un film avec mes amis ou je joue de la guitare. Le samedi après-midi, je joue au tennis avec mes amis ou je fait du shopping. Pour le tennis, je mets un tee-shirt, un short, et des baskets. Le samedi soir, je fait la cuisine et je regarde un film avec mes colocotaires. Le dimanche après-midi, j’étudie et fait mes devoirs. Le dimanche soir, je vais à l’église avec mon colocotaires Maddy et Alyssa. Je me dors et je me réveille tard le weekend. Habituellement, je me couche à 4h du matin et je me réveille à 1h après-midi.

Je suis très bizarre!

Au revoir!

I've got a secret

and I am not going to tell you about it. :)