it's Nina, omfg!

So how’s everybody doing?

Happy New Year all! And late Merry Christmas to you guys too! Ü I meant to update before the holidays but holidays are holidays. LOL. I did not get a chance but I am here now so worry no more. Haha!

My holidays was alright. Christmas was fun. I think it’s always gonna be fun. I enjoyed giving my presents to everybody and it seemed like they enjoyed receiveing them as well. I got a rice cooker and a set of pots and pans from Mitch (my brother), I got a sweater (nice one) from Diane, I got season 1 of LOST from my secret santa which was Macho (my other brother). I finally got my CHI hair iron and a case for it from my sister. I got a hot pink/blue Chucks from Christian (cousin). And if I am not mistaken, that’s all. And the day after Christmas, my boyfriend took me to BestBuy to have me pick out a laptop. I picked out a TOSHIBA one, not so expensive but it’s reliable. I am very happy with what I picked.

And then December 28, I got a surgery. I got my gallbladder taken out for having gallstones which was giving me horrible stomach pain for almost 2 months. I stayed home from work for a week. We then celebrated New Year’s Eve at my aunt’s like we always do every year. It was also my cousin’s (Christian’s) birthday. I could not stay long because I was still having some discomfort from the surgery. All in all it was great.

And oh, day before my surgery I was able to ski with my boyfriend (he snowboards though) and a bunch of other friends. I did not enjoy skiing (this was my second time) because the boots were very uncomfortable and I was being pressured by Andy to go on to the steeper slopes and stuff. I honestly had more fun when I went by myself while everyonelse went snowboarding. I felt like I even did good as a first timer… I mean, at the end of the 1-hr class I took, the instructor graded me as a Level 3 (there are 5 levels – 5 being professional). So I did really good. But when I went with Andy, I did the opposite! Oh well.

Anyways! I am working the office by myself today and I gots to go!

i got paid yesterday and blew about $300 after work today on more christmas shopping. i knocked off 4 more people yesterday.

and im working today but i will get off now in about an hour to do more shopping with my sister. then we plan on wrapping the presents so we could put em under the tree.

anyways, last night i attended a friend’s bachelorette party. well this bride-to-be is not really my friend-friend. i became friends with her through the groom. at the party i knew over half of the girls but the other half were just plain rude and anti-social (so not looking forward to see them at the wedding next week!). but i felt really bad for the bride-to-be cuz nothing was organized. she attended a bachelorette party over a month ago for one of my good friends. and i was the main person that organized the celebration and everything went smooth. but how could they have planned a bachelorette party like that with no idea on what they want to do? i said at first i was only staying out till midnight cuz i work today at 8am. but since i felt bad, i stayed till they closed down the local club/bar at 2am.

let me finish up at work and im outta here. have a great weekend everyone!

I am so proud of myself for knocking off 8 people on my list to give presents to in Christmas. 8 may not seem a lot of people but trust me, it is. That’s 2 days worth of shopping! It’s nice to look at a pile of things ready to be wrapped and be put underneath the tree. I am super excited. I’ve always liked playing Santa around this time of the year. I like giving presents; even if they’re small. Hey, it’s the thought that counts right?

Talk about bad economy: Americans spent 60.5 billion dollars JUST on Black Friday? I know I spent about $600 that day, but total of 60.5 billion? My gosh! The outlet that I went to for the midnight sale was packed. I would say it was more packed this people than last year when I went. And they were early this year. I remember hanging out at TGIFridays (right by the outlet mall) last year until 11 pm  (Thanksgiving day) because that’s when the parking lot was looking like a zoo. But this year I had to go to the mall at 9:30pm cuz people were pulling in and parking lot was a zoo. My friends and I were the early birds at the parking lot though, it’s ALWAYS a good idea.

But then we were too drunk to shop. We would go in a store and come out empty handed cuz we weren’t patient enough to stand in line to pay for our things. Nah, no excuses really cuz we were drunk. Well, honestly, even if I wasn’t drunk, I wouldn’t have stood up in line.

Anyways, I hope you all had a great thanksgiving. I shall be back before Christmas. :]

Hey everyone! It’s been F.O.R.E.V.E.R. I hope all is well. ü

I have been really busy these past few days. I’ve been working overtime (time and a half pay!) at work and it’s exhausting. It’s nice to see the dollar amount on my paycheck but I’m tired. I can’t really complain though because I need this money. Christmas is just right around the corner and I need to start shopping for presents & stuff. I took Friday after Thanksgiving to do another Black Friday and I CAN’T WAiT!! It sounds like a bunch of my friends are coming with us too. So, it’ll be more fun than last year. ü

I have gotten hooked on eBay lately. I buy small things, cheap things, that’ll ship quickly. I realized how much I’ve missed receiving stuff in the mail other than bills! Here are the things I have bought recently:

- MAC 224 SE Brush – $8.50 ($28 at the retail store; free shipping)
- 5 Pairs of Falls Eye lashes – $6.48 (free shipping)
- SMASHBOX PhotoFinish – $11.00 ($32 at reatil store; free shipping)
- Ultra 88 Shimmer Palette – $18.50 (free shipping)
- bareMinerals Mineral Veil – $11.00 ($25 at retail store; free shipping)
- 24 pcs Professional Make-up Brush set – $18.00 (free shipping)

OMG, it is so much fun. Little things to look forward to to checking the mail. ü I know I could do my christmas shopping online but I won’t. I’d like to see what I am getting for other people first before buying it. I’d want to touch it first and all.

And if you noticed all the stuff I bought was make-up-y stuff. ü I don’t know, I am just so into it right now. I love em! And it sucks cuz now I work the overtime, which I start at 7am … with all the make-up that I have, it takes me longer now to get ready and stuff so I have to wake up extra early. But hey, I’m lookin’ good though! HAHA.

Alright, this is how it ends. Later!

I thought I was a morning person. It never bothered me getting up in the morning (unless I only had a couple hours of sleep and/or drunk) when I have to. I get up and most of the time I am always ready to go.

What I didn’t realize is I never really wake up with anybody else on a daily basis other than my family until now.

Andy and I have been spending the night together a lot this past few weeks. He would stay at my place and go to work from there. And on weekends when we wake up together he would always want to talk as soon as he sees me open my eyes. Okay, my eyes are open but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am awake-awake, you know what I mean? So for about three mornings he would try to talk to me and I would always get irritated. It didn’t occur to me until the third/fourth day that maybe I am not a morning person. Maybe I always have this mood in the morning but never knew it because I never had anybody with me in my bed in the AM on a regular basis.

That’s when it hit me. I told Andy I am not a morning person and he said he knew it but he just likes messing with me.

I thought I knew myself, what was I thinking?

What are you guys dressing up for halloween as? Or are you even dressing up?

I almost forgot how cold it could get in the fall/winter season! I don’t think I am ready for this. I don’t even have my winter clothes yet. I gotta go get my winter clothes in my mom’s attic, soon. Like later after work. Heh.

Anyways, my room is looking more like a room now. Before last night all it had was the basic furnitures. It didn’t have my “personality.” I kept my stuff in 3 boxes for a months until last night. I had the motivation to do it. I washed my sheets, changed it to a new one, dusted everywhere, vaccumed and I did my laundry. I started doing everything around 6:30 and I was done by 10. I think I did a pretty good job don’t you think?

For the next 3 days I will be working from 7am and luckily I still get to go home on my regular time, which is 5 or 5:30. I can’t complain cuz I had a pretty easy week last week. I was off Monday, worked half day Tuesday cuz I found out my nephew that I was babysitting on Monday cuz he wasn’t feeling good was positive on the flu. And ofcourse he sees a doctor at my work. The word got around everybody and asked me nicely that I could go home and stay with him (his mom had the flu also). Really, the reason why they had me go home was because they didn’t want me to spread any germs. I was considered contagious then. And Wednesday I took the day off just because I don’t want them to get paranoid. I worked 7a-7p Thursday and my regular time Friday and Saturday from 8 to noon. It was pretty easy.

And that lead to a great weekend with Andy! We saw a movie Saturday night with my nephew and my sister. Sunday we woke up for brunch and went to Ihop. After brunch, we decided to take the train to go to Washington, DC to see a museum or 2. We ended up watching Dinasours on 3D at the Natural History Museum and by the time it was done all we had the time for was see the rest of the museum and we headed home. Then we helped my nephew with his homework, ordered pizza and hung out for a lil bit and went home to my place.

Pretty good weekend, I tell yah! Then this weekend, we’ve got a few birthdays to celebrate: My nephew’s 12th bday, Diane’s, Monet’s, Melanie’s and my mom’s (she’s in the motherland, though). We will leave Saturday morning to go to New York. There’s about 25 of us going. It’ll be insane. I can’t wait! I will definitely miss Andy.

You win some, you lose some. Yeah?

I’ve got these things going on right now:

- Webdesign project for my dad
- Wedding planning for my friend (wedding is in October!)
- Wedding to attend this weekend
- Birthday planning for 4 people in October
- Unpacking my stuff @ the house!!!

When I look at it in a list like that, it doesn’t look real bad at all. But it really is. It’s driving me nuts.

Exchange of emails between my brother and I … pardon my native language for those who can’t understand it.

From: Santiago, June P
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:39 AM
To: Nina Santiago
Subject: hey

di na tyu nag kausap ulet… kamusta ang place mo? Naiinip ka? like mahirap ba?

From: Charina Santiago
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:45 AM
To: Santiago, June P
Subject: RE: hey

It’s too quiet compared to mom’s house. I am not used to it yet, but I’ll get used to it soon.

Nasa bahay naman ako every night, so hindi ako naiinip. When I get home I try to unpack my 2 boxes that I have left. I do it little by little until I feel sleepy.

And I haven’t had a chance to TRY to cook anything. I need pots and pans!!!

I like it, but like I said, WAYYY quieter than usual. Thanks for asking.

From: Santiago, June P
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 9:25 AM
To: Charina Santiago
Subject: RE: hey

ok yun… just please… clean up your bathroom… babae ka pa naman… cooking eh saka na yun… u can buy naman na mga pang prito incase na magutom ka in the middle of the night… so good for you… keep it up…

From: Charina Santiago
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 9:28 AM
To: Santiago, June P
Subject: RE: hey

Malinis nga lagi ung banyo ko eh. Di kasi ako naliligo. Haha!

From: Santiago, June P
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 9:30 AM
To: Charina Santiago
Subject: RE: hey

hahaha patay tyu jan… mag iingat ka lang lagi sa pag uwi mo… kasi yung lugar na yun eh mejo di maganda lalu na sa may gas station… wag kang mag pupunta dun… mahihilig pa naman mga spanish sa mga malulusog eh .,…..

there’s a lot more after that. he obviously misses me. my brother and i have always had a tight relationship. andi it’s funny cuz I didn’t realize (until today) that we haven’t talked to each other since i moved out.

i love the technology!!

i finally moved to the new place sunday night. i still can’t believe how much stuff i had in my teeny-tiny room! it felt like my stuff just kept multiplying as i was unpacking them from the boxes! i still have 2 or 3 boxes left that needs to get unpacked.

on the first night that i decided to sleep there, my sister and my nephew decided to join me. but in the middle of the night, they decided to get up and leave. they couldn’t sleep: it was either hot, uncomfortable, weird noises etc. after they left, i called Andy cuz i couldn’t sleep and he was the only person i wanted to talk to. he kinda got pissed at me cuz he wanted to sleep with me in the first place and i blew him off for my nephew and my sis… who left me by myself in the middle of the night! it’s all good though.

i’d be lying if i said i don’t miss my family. i really do. their being loud, obnoxious and weird. i miss it. i ended up crying on Andy’s shoulders the 2nd night cuz i just didn’t know what else to do.

i am keeping my heads up right now. things could only get better from now on.

learn&live.

Around this exact date last year, I was blogging and getting myself together for a life-changing experience. (reference: 08.26.2008)

Last year at this date, I met the love of my life. Somebody I never thought would make me this happy. And to this day, it still feels like we just started going out. For short, there’s still that “spark.”

Andy and I went away for a 3 day weekend to Williamsburg where we went to Busch Gardens and toured the Colonial Williamsburg to celebrate our 1 year anniv and his 24th birthday. It was a nice cute get away from it “all.” We both didn’t want to come back but we had to. We went from one extreme to the other. It was really hard for me to fall asleep without him on our first night back. But sooner or later we wouldn’t have to worry about this.

Anyways, for his birthday I got him a cellphone (which we got prior to this weekend). And on the day of his birthday I got him a GPS which we used a lot in our trip. We would still be lost up to now if we didn’t have it! And he loooooved it. And then for our anniversary, I made him a scrapbook, a cute simple one. Again, he loved it. As he opened it he said he feels like he’s gonna cry and towards the end of the scrapbook, he did. I am just so glad that he liked everything I got him.

I am happy.

And today, our anniversary, he got me chocolate covered stawberries that he got from Edible Arrangements and got it delivered to work. My co-workers were so jealous (of the strawberries and of Andy! Lol). It had about 30 strawberries. It was good while it lasted! Hehe.

Now I am just counting down to the hours until he picks me up at home to go to nice dinner for another celebration.

Anyways, in ten days I will be moving in to my new place. Like I’ve said in the past, I am excited and nervous at the same time. But it looks like everything’s falling into its right places.

It is true that when it rains, it pours. <3

not only i am stressing out really bad about the whole moving out issue, i also am tired of work.

there’s 3 or 4 (depending if she decides to work, lol) ladies at the front i work with. but most of the time i feel like im the only one working and doing almost everything in the office. and they know it too. they made a remark before saying that i could run the whole office by myself. it makes me feel good that they think of me that way, but at the same time, duuuuude, help a sister out. you know what im saying!

i haven’t been this exhausted before. at the end of the day all i ever think about is laying in bed until i have to go to work again the next day. pain. in. the. butt.

don’t get me wrong, i like my co-workers but sometimes they believe in me a lil too much.

oh well. i gotta pay the bills/rent, so i gotta deal with this, right? all’s i gotta be right now really is be thankful that i have a job.

i know i shouldn’t ask for anything in return when i do something good for a [best] friend. but if i am the only one who is always there for her. and when i need someone, was she ever there for me?

we’ve been through this over and over. and i let it slide all the time but this time i think i have the right to say something.

she’s been inviting me to hang out and stuff and i know i don’t want to. which i told her already but she still keeps on calling and texting. i am getting to a point where i am pissed and will about to burst. which we all don’t want to happen.

i’m just done being the good friend that’s always there for her. i feel like she takes advantage of me. and when she’s done with her problem, she’ll totally forget she has me as a friend. i’m just done.

anyways, on a bright side, i am going away with Andy for 3 days this weekend. we are going to celebrate his birthday and i guess i could say we’re celebrating our 1 year anniv too. i am not gonna say what i got him for both occasions but he will like it.

i gotta get back to work.

i know i had told my mom that she doesn’t have to worry about me moving out anytime soon. i basically told her that i am just thinking about it for now. but, for the past week and a half, i have been really stressed out looking for a place to move in to.

and finally last night, i saw where i want to move to. it’s very close to my parent’s house, about 5 miles away. it ain’t that bad.

as soon as i walked into the house i just had that “ahhh, this is it!” feeling you know? and the couple i’ll be living with seem pretty nice. and i like the fact that he listened to what i wanted in a house and he said what he wanted and we’ve come to an agreement.

i am really excited about that whole thing but at the same time im shitless scared. but i will ge through this.

i plan to move in to the new place on the first weekend of september. woot!

after 22 and a half years of depending on my parents for almost everything, it’s time to move on.

i am moving out of their house and will be on my own for the first time. my parents did not take it too well. in fact, my mother hasn’t really talked to me like she used to. i understand, i know i hurt her and i caught her off guard but like i said, i have to do this for myself.

all i know now is that i am trying everything to make this all work out. i wanna have the same relationship with my mom like i did before i decided i am moving out. she and i have a close relationship and i would want her to be with me looking for places. but she won’t let me have that chance and i can’t blame her.

this is a very tough time for me. and with andy as well. it’s a very long story. i am sure that when i am in a better mood, i will def. find time to write it.

but for now, i will leave you at this.

i swear i am. give me a minute or two to get this thing straightened out.

bbl.

see, im even using IM talk! told ya im back!

Well well  well. Guess who’s back?

You have no idea how I missed blogging! don’t know what I was thinking when I stopped blogging. But let’s not worry about that. I am back. At least for now.

So how’s everything and everybody?

As for me, ofcourse a lot happened from the last time I blogged up to now.

Andy and I are still  dating. Just like any other relationships, we have our ups and downs. Nothing we can’t handle though. I think we both are mature enough to work our relationship out.

I honestly don’t know where to begin. I would like to continue blogging from now on. And I’ve actually promised Andy (awhile back) that I will blog again and start writing good things about him.

I guess this isn’t a bad start right?

Anyways, I’ve deleted a lot of my “links”, so if you would like to be added again, please do let me know. Email me or leave me a comment and I will add you as soon as I can.

I’ll leave you all with this for now. I’ve got so much to work on this website. Thanks!

Wow, it’s been almost a month since the last time. My internet at home has been down, or maybe it’s my laptop that has a problem. I haven’t really checked because I really don’t have time. I spent a lot of time with Andy this past couple weeks and a half. He was on vacation from work and all he wanted to do was spend time with me. That left him spending $500 something JUST on gas! Hah.

We also went to Jacksonville, NC to see Jasimine and her newborn baby Kaylen. She is adorable! OMG! It was just too bad I couldn’t hold her as much as I wanted to mainly because she’s fragile and I was scared I might hurt her and second, I still had a lil cough and cold then.

The night we got there, Jasimine, my sis, Andy and I went to a local bar (probably the ONLY decent one in J-ville, haha) called Hooligans. And I was shocked to see how good of a dancer Andy is! I did not expect it at all from a white boy. He ain’t bad at all. Then the next day we cooked pancakes, bacon and eggs for everyone. Yum. Yum!!

As far as my “issues,” they are still issues believe it or not. Most of them are personal which I don’t blog about but when I feel like sharing some stuff with you guys, I do write about it.

(have to get back to work, will delete/edit this later

I love where I came from, what I am and what our values are. But sometimes when I really think about it, it makes me think of how kind of ridiculous being me is.

There are so many things that girls/people my age are capable of doing and I am not. Not because I can’t do it but it’s  more because I am not allowed to do so. It’s kind of frustrating when it happens over and over again. Well I think anything is frustrating when it always happens (things that you don’t want a repeat of). I am trying really hard to explain how I am feeling right now but it seems like I am doing a bad, a very bad job. So just bear with me.

I grew up in a very strict/protective father-less family. I do have a father but I didn’t grow up around him until I was 15 years old. That age was very hard for me to adjust to have a father around. It was a mix of  happiness and disappointment at the same time. Happiness because ofcourse finally after so many years I was able to spend holidays with him that I was never able to growing up as a kid. Why disappointments?  Because I expected too much but those expectations were never met.

I thought my dad and I would have the perfect (there’s no such thing, but a thing close to it) father/daughter relationship but we don’t have that. We barely talk to each other for goodness’s sakes! And when we do talk we almost always end up arguing because we never agree on the same things. It’s kind of sad when I think about it.

But don’t  get me wrong, he’s a great dad but I guess he’s not as great to me as he is to my siblings. He’s  a great husband to my mom too. He’s a great brother, grandfather, son, friend and everything else. He’s a provider for us and he’s a great handyman! I really can’t complain.

When it comes to balancing my boyfriend and my family (mostly my dad), that’s when it gets hard. My boyfriend demands for things for me to do or say that I can’t. At least not right now. And it all involves my  being Filipino (values and culture: things I can never change and have no control of) and some preposterous reasons my father may have. It’s really upsetting.

Like I’ve been telling Andy though, just accept what I can offer for now and it it will all get better in time. I am grateful that Andy understands where I am coming from. All I am worried about though is how long will he be patient about it?

No matter what happens though, my family comes first. I am just hoping that I won’t have to choose between my love for Andy and my family. If that ever happens, I will most probably curse life forever. Forever. Not just mine, yours too.

Kidding. Goodnight you all. Have a great weekend. It looks like I have a great one ahead of me, minus the rain on Saturday.

*sigh*

I think I jinxed myself after posting my last post before this. Andy and I had a real first fight a day after my last post. We went to a party for his co-worker which went great until after we had to leave. Andy got a lil bit drunk and became loud and rude like he always is when he’s drunk. I didn’t like how he talked to me and stuff and when I dropped him off of his house (yes, I was his DD!) I texted him that I need to talk to him when he sobers up in the morning.

He then freaked out and called me names and stuff cuz he thought I was breaking up with him and stuff. We made up a couple days later though.

I get sick thinking about Andy. Not because I don’t like thinking about him but because I think of him too much. A lil too much if I may say. I’m just super inlove with him I think. It’s ridiculous! *sighs*

Soo.. new layout. How do you like it? It’s pretty neat I think. I tried to clean up some pages, added new ones and hopefully I’ll be blogging more again.

Btw, my friend Jasimine gave birth to a healthy baby girl yesterday morning @ 9:13am. Welcome to the world Baby Kaylen!!

click!

I have been seeing Andy for a month yesterday. Like always, it feels like we’ve been seeing each other for a long time. Although we have been talking to each other for a really long time now. Nothing much has really happened between us. We haven’t (Thank G!) had a real argument yet which is a great thing. The only thing that makes us kind of mad is when we have to part ways. It’s very frustrating. We both want to be together ALL THE TIME but ofcourse, we can’t. So at the end of the day, we just kind of get quiet and off of each other until we have to say good-bye.

Anyways! My mom hasn’t gone to work for the past 3 days because of severe stomach pain and numbess to her legs.  She was infact at the ER Tuesday night for it. They did some tests and she might possibly have a bladder infection and/or kidney stones! One of my brothers and my sister already had it and gotten it taken care of, this is my mom’s second history of kidney stones… I am just glad I haven’t had it and hopefully never will. It’s painfull just by looking at my mom with the pain she has! How much more suffering to it? Tsk.

So I am blogging from work today. I realized today that the internet is not blocked on weekends. I am here until 12noon (most likely 1pm) and we only have a few patients. It isn’t bad at all for a rainy Saturday. I like it actually. Maybe because I know that if I wasn’t working today, I’d be sleeping all day and letting my day go by. Blah.

I have been wanting to post pictures of Andy and I but I can’t … want to know why? We don’t have a picture together, yet! Haha. We are going to his co-worker’s TOTALLY the end of the summer party tonight and hopefully I’d remember to take pictures.

Ciao kids!