got about a month and a half of school left... it's insane how fast times gone. i go on about it all the time, but it's true! every time i take a minute to reflect, it's just crazy to see how amazing this year has been once again! always unexpected but perfectly laid out. maybe that's why i haven't blogged as much. there's just too much happening that i forget to put anything here, but i def want to get better at this just because i do have a lot on my mind and i need a spot to scribble everything down. i don't really care who reads this anymore...it's all really for me. i've come across a bunch of new experiences and i just want to be able to look back at this and laugh one day.. or cry. whatever works.

so in the last few months.. my lovely grandmother passed away, and a few days after so did a close aunt.  then my brother got into a car accident about 3 weeks ago which led to a 9 hour face-off surgery ... meaning 2 of the best doctors in the phils had to literally pull the skin of his bones on his face and piece his broken bones together, add some metal plates to fill in the blanks, and stitch his face back into place. pretty crazy but if you saw the car which pretty much burned down....you'll know that its a miracle that no internal bleeding or damages took place to screw him up for life, but instead just a broken eye socket, nose and cheek bones.. hence the intense face off, without a single stitch in sight btw (thats how good those docs were!)...so again, God is awesome in his mysterious ways and the mere fact that he has lived to tell the tale, and where he knows it or not, simply means that there are great plans for him in store! my lil bro just needs to listen now.

so while all that happened in one side of the world... in the other side, i've been living it up... while i've tried my best to grieve at my grandmothers loss, and pray for all the drama happening over in the p.i.... i've been having a pretty good time. i know it's not fair, and it's not me being heartless by any means.. but seriously, everytime something "bad" happens, after a quick assessment and the one on one with God... somehow i always end up being thankful for everything because i do believe that everthing happens for a reason... and really, what CAN i do all in the otherside of the world right? all i can do is be thankful and LIVE. so that's what i'm doing. living.

i love the summer time. summer is a blessing! weather's been awesome (even though "warm" here is not quite the warmth back home), and i also got to go to LA for a week! i was never a westcoast person but the break was coming up and again, things just perfectly fell into place... like my friends were jobless, just graduated, and were able to take work off, so i had to grab the chance...plus my visits kinda been waaay overdued, so it was time! so off i skiddaddled and with the only mission to see 4 groups of my friends, the tribe (hs homies from the pi), the pinsans (cuzos like reggie and his fam), the jakarta girls (charmaine, and jelena who flew in from tennesse just to see me!!!), and my hkis buddies (sarah and mary)... didn't quite know how it was all going to work out since i wasn't really familiar with the place and knew everyone lived far from each other...but without going it all out detail, it did!  

straight from the airport with the santos sisters!!!

my airport entourage. i love them! 

the next day@ this beautful house we rented in palm springs for yvette's bday..  so aka "yvette's house" 

we swan for 3 days straight... some of the homies who came

i knew this water cam would come in handy! :)

THIS IS HOW WE DO. AHH THE LIFE! :)

coming into the night... 

the few times we were out of the water. we did this. how can you not?

the next day.. random shots..

monday.

the pinkberry experience. the verdict: it's good but WAAAAY overrated.

dinner with the lacsons!

reuniiiiteddd with the fam. and it felt really really good!

moving the party to nic's@bev hills

c/o matt our photographer. haha

time to loosen up! 

one of the millions of pics we took. I LOVEEE THEM. did i say that already?? 

our good times that followed...

lunch with my youngins.

with my cuzo and his fam

my nephew!

rea flew in the next couple of days to meet up too! it was her first time in cali so we had to do the touristy stuff too. :)

4th of july

there were more of us.. but i don't really know the others. haha 

and finalllly.. reunited with my JIS GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

10 years LATER! HOLLAR!

with my sisters homegirl tasha

downtown LA

with some really amazing ladies i tell you! 

my last night.. :( 

soooo... it was a quick trip but remarkable to say the least! felt insanely good to see the tribe family again. it's been a while since i've been with people like that who really get me.. who i can be 100% real and stupid with. (wait, i was just in nyc with the other half of my jakarta girls.. haha.. but still...) it was also awesome to see jelena and charmaine. who knew we'd all be friends for this long you know? trust me when i saw that i am extremely blessed to have such awesome people in my life, although scattered... are there. the only people i unfortunately didn't get to see was sarah and mary, but will definitely make another trip out there to see them! :)

so after LA, it was back to the t.dot.. and another blessing.. my friend jen. i went to a house party downtown and met the dopest chick there. she's a lot like me.. super chill, loves music, can hang in the DAY AND night time, has more GUY friends then girls, and looking for GIRLfriends instead of guys.. so we, in a non-lesbian way, got each others number and hooked up the next day! so since i met her, we've been hanging out a lot. i'm so thankful for her because i've gotten to see different parts of the city more and really enjoy the true meaing of toronto summer: sun, beer, festivals (salsa fest, jazz fest, caribana fest, greek fest, beer fest, LOTS OF FEST!), chill out sessions, food, and people vibing. gone to scope out the local non-touristy scene and it's been some serious fun!

also, got to spend some unexpected time with tita gerry and tito frank, and the alwas hyper and lovable ms. debbie resurrecion! people like them remind me to keep on staying true to myself, so thank you for keeping me in check.

jen and i the day after we met

the party where we met

my partner in crime.

ooh.. and then guess who flew into town for a short short weekend? JASMIN AND SHRISHT! they along with a buddy from brussels were actually visiting an old roomate back when all 4 were in florence, and now lives in hamilton. they wer able to hit downtown for a couple hours so i met up and caught up with them. good times as always with those chicas!

sooo.. see what i mean when time is going by fast? and see what i mean when i am so blessed! don't get me wrong.. i get my dull days.. days when it's just school and back home.. but the moment i find myself in the "lonely" zone.. i snap myself out of it and i'm like, yo steph, wake up! you have so so much to be thankful for. quit whining and start thanking. and thats what i strive to do. stayin positive and trying to keep it as real as i can. 

there are a bunch of things i want to share too.. like the pressures of succeeding, growing up, struggling spiritually, being hit on, trying to find people to hang with, stepping out of your comfort zone, how asia is still the place i want to live in, how toronto is a happening city, how much i love chocolate.... all this other shtuff... but i'll save that for oprah! haha..

or next time at least...

soo.. i hope i mean it this time when i say, stay tuned.