A much needed update: The Sequel

(I called this The Sequel because I apparently called a post A much needed update on 2015 :3)

Hi everyone! *waves at an empty crowd* Is anyone even following this blog anymore?

Still, I cannot believe I haven’t updated this blog in 6 months! How is this even possible?

Well, I suppose I could blame my busy student life (I could also blame my laziness *shrugs*) but I’m here now!

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*skims through the blog to her latest post* Whoa, I did leave you on a somber note there, didn’t I? I’m definitely in a better place now, so let’s list what has happened to me on the last few months, shall we?

1. On a birthday post almost 4 years ago, I said I wanted to buy a car. I was finally able to do it! (Although I still have to practice enough to be confident, this is one more step for my independence!)
2. My home is finally on its way to be repaired! For the time being, we’re still living at my aunt’s house, but things are definitely looking better -and I would be lying if I said I am not excited about my new room!
3. I always talk about my new obsessions on my updates so why would this one be any different?
   1. During the last few months I caught up with Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It was all fun and games until the day when it was cancelled. I was surely devastated, but NBC saved it! Which brings me to my second obsession- NBC is also the home of-
   2. The Good Place! Honestly, this show is amazing! If you haven’t watched it, please give it a chance. These past two seasons have been perfect and I’m hoping they keep surprising me. *crosses fingers*

      

      It’s always a good time to post this gif

   3. Anastasia: The Musical– If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably read my tweets about it (Especially about In a Crowd of Thousands). I’ve always been a fan of the movie, but the musical is magical, and I love everything about it and I’m hoping to see it someday. *heart eyes emoji*
   4. My Hero Academia– This one’s more recent, to be honest… but I watched the whole show in a week and honestly, I have no idea how I’ll wait weekly for new episodes. I guess I’ll have to start reading the manga *shrugs, laughing hysterically because she has no time)
4. I’m also currently watching 2 k-dramas at the moment: Wok of Love and Rich Man, Poor Woman. I’m not obsessed with them (yet) so I’m not counting them on my list 🙂
5. In terms of books, some of the ones I read and loved are The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Leah and the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli and I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman. As you can see, I haven’t read much during the past months… I need to fix this somehow.
6. In case you’re wondering about school (haha, I would too, after talking about shows for half my post), I’m currently taking 3 classes this summer (Biochemistry, Professionalism and Leadership -lol- and Pharmacy & the Health Care System). Why am I taking 3 classes, you may ask. Well… in order to follow my program’s core classes (aka the ones I needed to take last semester’s classes without falling behind) we had to drop these and take them during the summer session. This also meant that travel study is not an option this time. *crying*. I’m also expected to start my first practice after they’re over if things go my way, so cross your fingers for me, please!

Well, I guess this a nice update. How has your lives been? Let’s start a conversation on the comments! ^.^ I really want to work more on this blog again!

 

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The feeling of home

Hi, everyone! I have been MIA for a while for various reasons- mainly because of hurricane Maria (and more recently, I haven’t had much time to do anything but study.) Still, I wanted to share this. I wrote it around 3 weeks after the hurricane hit.

Before you read it, just know I’m kind of in a better place emotionally now, since uni has been an amazing distraction. I’ll probably write more about that later- but for now, here’s this post.

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I might have listened to Bridget Mendler’s ‘Hurricane’ more times than it is socially acceptable during and after a category 5 hurricane.

Okay, bear with me. You’ve more than certainly have heard about Maria’s passage through Puerto Rico during the past 3 weeks (?) Things were rough, they still are. And even I tend to forget that.

I lost my home’s roof in a category 5 hurricane and I forget that. How is that even possible? I have had more than a few thoughts about leaving.

Listening to the news and hearing about people crying while getting hot meals? Listening to the news and hearing people begging for water!

Puerto Rico’s economy was in a crisis, a bad one. And Maria made it even worse. A catastrophic hurricane hadn’t passed though my country in almost a century… and then we lived my grandmother’s stories about that hurricane that basically traumatized her.

I probably will remember those sounds for the rest of my life. The feeling that it wouldn’t ever end, that we were stuck on a loop.

Sometimes I wake up and think everything is normal until I see my surroundings and remember it’s not. That I don’t have a (physical) home anymore. And that sincerely sucks.

Category 5 hurricanes suck. And 3 weeks after that? Yep. Still does.

“At least we have milk”,
“at least we have gasoline”,
“at least we have ice”
“At least-” and we start comparing our situation to other people who are literally living without a roof or access to water, or food with no outside help whatsoever. I honestly hate this. I might -MIGHT- be okay, but this whole situation took a toll on me. And it has been almost a month, and some things have normalized, but I still have to enter my (former, destroyed) home- house to search for things I can salvage- several times. Honestly, seeing my room in such a state left me almost numb. I started looking for things almost methodically, without any feelings, until that was not possible at all.

I see the post-it’s from people who sent me messages- ruined. I see some of my books- the ones I couldn’t save- ruined.

And then I think- I should know I am lucky. My extended family lent us a house while we can rebuild. I have an apartment rented that’s basically intact, I am going to start classes again this week.

But still- intend to forget. I lost my home. And how do you go on from that? From the memories, from their childhood innocence that made you think things were better than they were?

I still don’t have the answer to these questions. I probably never will, but it’s nice to write these things.

I have cried a couple of times after Maria, for several situations but it mostly accounts for one thing: the loss of a feeling I probably won’t recover for a while: the sense of home.

“I’m Alive!”-Sia

*runs towards all of you, screaming “I am NOT GONE yet!”*

Hello! Long time, no see… (Since Valentine’s Day! Whoa…) *wonders if people are still interested in my posts*

This semester was draining… but good results came from it, so that’s great! *smiles at my brand new GPA*

Summer has now arrived (finally, after finals were postponed a week because of my uni’s strike…*), and with it a sense of happiness and peace I hadn’t felt since forever. Incredibly, I have not finished any books (apart from one I read during finals but that one didn’t count), so if you have any suggestions as to what in the world I can do to get rid of this horrible reading slump, they are mostly welcome. A little more than a month ago I tweeted a poll (see below)

What should I read next?

— natalie. (@AelinsFireheart) April 24, 2016

and I still have to keep my word. I’ll keep you posted on if I like Lady Midnight. I’ve been trying to listen to the audiobook… (trying being the main word. Perhaps it will work when I start working out this summer? Only time will tell)

Since I can’t read much because of the slump, I’ve been watching Korean dramas. My mother basically passed on her addiction to me. I’ve been also watching Les Interprètes, a Chinese drama, which is SO GOOD (and extremely addicting, so please do NOT do as I did and watch it slowly. Do not binge on 14 episodes in one day. It’s not healthy and you’ll run out of episodes soon.) I did not think I would enjoy something like this so much, but I love how it involves both languages in such a natural way!

A lot of things have also happened. My dad came here for 2 weeks… during which I was on my finals so I did not get to spend as much time as I wanted with him (boo…) BUT he did promise he would try to come here more often. I was not able to go to my brother’s graduation (Thanks, Developmental biology) BUT I did get a good grade on the class so it was (kind of) worth it.

In other words, I’m free, like Dobby (for the next 2 months, anyway), even though I plan on studying for the PCAT. *crosses fingers* I also have other plans for this summer… I hope I can do it all… (And keep this blog more updated, hopefully.)

*I guess that would have been a good topic for a blog post… but I did tweet about a lot of my thoughts… xD

P.S. Do you all like my new blog layout? I’m trying some things out. 🙂

 

 

Humans adapt; so will I.

One of my favorite quotes (even if it’s from one of my not-so favorite books, Allegiant) is:

“Change, like healing, takes time.” 

While hard events are going on in your life, it is hard to imagine if things will ever be okay again, whether things changed for the better.

One of my Biology professors once told me every living thing has something it is good at, something that comes by instinct. He asked us what we thought our superpower -for lack of a better word -was. (Let’s be honest. It’s a good question. Most animals follow patterns, have a function on the environment. What do humans do on Earth? I’m sure I spent like five minutes trying to answer that question) Finally, he gave us the answer: Humans adapt to their environment, and change everything around them. (Not that it’s always a good thing!)

That’s the answer to my previous question. Things will be okay, because nothing is forever, and we can adapt to those changes. Life during this past month hasn’t been exactly easy, but we’ve been slowly adapting to this new way of life; my brother, my mom and I videochat with my dad every night, and we are cooperating way more with each other chore-wise.

Things have been specially hard on my mom. They have been together for 25 years… This has been a learning process for all of us. We’ve all had to learn something. We’re slowly becoming more independent, and life does go on, even if adapting to those changes is definitely not easy. I’ve decided I’ll do my best… (Especially if I want to get into graduate school close to him and my mom, in the future). I most definitely miss life as it was some months ago, but I still believe in what I wrote a year ago: Some things do not happen because of a reason in particular, but you must do your best with what you have and fight for what you want.

Wow, reading this post you might think: Whoa, Nat is going through a rough patch and there’s no positivity in her life! But that’s not exactly true. There have been some nice things in my life lately. Yesterday, for example, was a particularly good day. I had my ACS initiation and had a good time with my friends.

So, that’s how life goes: There are some good days, and some not so great. But it is like that for everyone. I’ll get used to it in time. And I’ll be here, like I always am, to tell my story. 🙂

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TL;DR: I’ve been trying to get used to life after my dad had to move; it hasn’t been easy, but we’re all adapting to everything. Lately life has been nice, thanks to my friends, and hopefully I’ll still be here, blogging all about it. 🙂

PS: Yes, I got a new haircut. I did tell you about it on my last post but I didn’t show you all. 🙂

A much needed update

My last post was a month ago… so I really shouldn’t need to say that I had to skip the remainder of the weeks on Writing101 (I’m sorry, I really am. I was having so much fun!). Then again, things happened. (this post will explain) So many things did, and I had to take some time to just stop and think about how things are going to work now that my grandma has been gone for almost a month, and that my dad is working at Texas. (I miss him like crazy…it’s his birthday tomorrow, the first one where we won’t be together. It’s been two whole weeks.)

It’ll be a while until we can take a picture like this one again. These next two years will be long as hell. pic.twitter.com/2pHgxWhOxG

— natalie. (@AelinsFireheart) September 26, 2015

I’ve been through an adaptation period, so I might have been really cranky. Posting things during this past month would have meant angry posting -especially about my Physics lab. Ugh-  And that’s definitely not okay! My blog is my positive haven. My Twitter? Entirely a different thing. Some other, positive things have happened:

How. Did. This. Happen? #physics pic.twitter.com/upF27aS1nf

— natalie. (@AelinsFireheart) October 1, 2015

^^ I had really negative expectations about my Physics class… but I’m happy. My professor is seriously crazy, but he’s really passionate about this whole thing. (Kind of awkward, too, but that’s expected. I really like him.)

Well, this is it. A short one, But I owed it to you all.

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P.S: I also owe you a picture of my new haircut, but I really must go and study.:D

xoxo, Nat

This hasn’t been an easy year.

These past few days I’ve been focused on Writing101, and it has been amazing, but I haven’t talked about what’s happening in my life since the beginning of the school year, or even before that…

I promise I will post my Writing101 prompt later today, but I had to write this. It’s important.

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If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know these months haven’t been easy for my family, ever since last December. Some months after we thought everything was over, one of my aunts informed us that my grandma had hidden the fact that she had an abscess in her abdominal area. She got surgery –I was around that day, but I didn’t write much about that… Her surgeon informed us that it could be cancerous, and that she needed to check herself just in case.

After her initial radiotherapy, we all thought it all was over… but then she started complaining about pain on her shoulder –I’m pretty sure you know what comes next on this tale. We all thought it was all due to the remains of the radiation on her body, but we were wrong, we were so wrong. Her doctor asked for a chest X-Ray, and they found something on her lungs. It had spread. That was last month.

Right now, she’s at the hospital. I found out she was taken after I got home from Uni yesterday. Seeing my dad go through this is heartbreaking, especially as he had to get a job in Texas and he has to leave on the 26th. –My heart is just praying nothing serious happens while he’s out there… but my mind knows that it’s highly probable. And I hate that.

I know I can’t be selfish… We can’t ask her to stay if she’s tired. I just want her to be in peace. She has gone through so much this past year…

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This post was to vent as much as to inform people.

Please, go to the doctor. Please, go and get checked regularly, especially if you feel there’s something wrong. Please, ask your family to do so. If not for me, then for them. :’)

My precious… TREASURE!

You guys are going to get used to me writing everyday… You’ll get spoiled! (Not that my writing is that good, but I guess some people would want to know what I think about things. Oh, well. I’ll have to manage!

Today’s assignment for Writing101 is to write a prompt about one of six words they offered, and I chose the word treasure, even if another one of them kind of slipped into my writing. (oops? :D)

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When most people think about the word “treasure”, they think about money, jewels and pirates.

or this song:

A treasure is something that should be valued, that’s important to you. To me, memories are the most important treasure. Being able to recall perfectly a moment when you were truly happy, or perhaps a time when you were sad and someone lifted your spirits with a joke. These things cannot be stolen from you and you can’t get them by force, which makes them infinitely more precious than a trunk filled with gold… or a ring that can rule them all.

Another thing I consider as a treasure is time. Time comes and goes quickly, and sometimes we do not realize how ephemeral we all are. We live our lives and we take them for granted, so we spend our time in our rooms, in our cell phones, isolated from everyone else.

When it’s time to let go, though, we realize how much of that treasure we actually lost. And how much we wasted. How is it possible that we don’t appreciate the time we spend with our families? That most of the time we’re with them we are attuned to our cellphones/technological devices? I say this because I’m absolutely guilty about this, even this very second as I am writing this in a separate room from my family.

Time is a precious thing, and it will go on, no matter if we waste it or if we spend it right. So why do we treat it as it will go on forever? We’ll die sometime, someday we’ll lose the people we love… And yet we keep on ignoring this. And someday, we’ll regret it. We’ll regret not giving love to that special person, to the people who made you happy when you needed it the most.

And all we will have in that very moment… are memories. So we should cultivate them, have fun and be with the people we love.. because that is all we will have left in the end.

A New Semester…

Well, hello, people!

As you probably know, I was on my Christmas break… and now it’s over. I go back to Uni tomorrow. This past month was definitely harder than I expected. A lot of good things also happened, though. This break was a learning experience. I learned to stick with my family, as they will always be with me, no matter what. My family has been blessed with unity and love.

I have also been able to blog a lot these holidays, and I’ve gained a somewhat bigger and more supportive community thanks to Blogging 101! I will try to keep up with my assignments for the remaining days of the course. (I still have to do tonight’s!) My blogging experience has improved incredibly ever since I joined the course. I will definitely try to keep blogging constantly, since that’s the key to a good blog. I hope you stick with me as I figure this timing thing out. I definitely won’t give this one up.

Still, I do have my goals, and my mom helped me make a schedule. It might help me, as I really need to organize myself as much as possible. I have a severe procrastination problem, you see. I need to fight it, and to do my work as soon as I have it! As for reading, I had to set a lower goal in my Goodreads challenge, even if I did surpass it last year. I don’t know if I’ll be able to read as much this year if I want to improve my GPA. I have to start looking into graduate schools already and I have to look good for them! *insert wink*

Well, wish me luck, and I hope to see you later on this semester! (I will definitely be here for you.)

x

Nat