BIG FAT LIAR! :P

As I am writing this, I am still not sure if I am going to post it or not, because all these years I am not really vocal when it comes to my 'relationship status' and stuff. Hey you, I know this might sound a bit cheesy, but hear me out. I am here to write how thankful I am for having Jason in my life. We have been together for 2 years now, 25th month on the 13th. Everyday I thank God for giving me such a wonderful guy like him. All these years, he has continued to be my cushion against everything, my human diary, my best sounding board. I am not blowing things out of proportion here, but unlike others, he has never disappointed me, he has never left me, he has never let me down. Cheesy, eh? I am indeed thankful for all the things he has done for me. I will try not to talk about him here more often because it's cheesy, and I want our relationship be private. But let me, just this once, to express how grateful I am. Sorry for being overly sentimental, I just find it hard to doodle my ideas when it comes to him. He is no out of the ordinary, but I don't know, there are a lot things about him that I find it hard to narrate.

If someone would ask me who I want to be with? I would simply say, someone who can understand that I am not perfect. Yes. I have committed a lot of mistakes, several times. Something that should not be done in our relationship. Not the cheating thingy, you should clearly understand what I mean. I lied to him. Now, I just have the audicity to blog here that I lied to Jason. From his simple words like, "Kumain ka na?" I would always say, "oo tapos na", even if I am not. To, "uminom ka na ng gamot?", I would say, "yes!" even if I am not yet. After all the lies I did, I realize that, Jason, does not deserve anything like this. In the end, I told him everything. I knew he will get mad at me. I knew I should accept what the effects may be. What I only kept in my mind that time was, he does not deserve a single lie, he needs to know everything.

Once again, I am so lucky to have him, he just told me not to ever do that again. He set aside his anger. His love for me never fails. Something I should really be proud of. I never wanted to be unfair to him, so I faced the consequences. After all I have done, he is still there, protecting and fighting for me and loving me, ofcourse. I would never let go of this guy. When pig's fly! He is a lot to lose.

Hey boy! I love you, quite a clichè but true. Truth is, I am the luckiest girl in the world to have you. :)

Out of Boredom

I thought I would make a list of some of my favorite books. Some of my favorites are really quite random. This is not in particular order. So here it goes:

BOB ONG BOOKS. From ABNKKBSNPLAko?, Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino, Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas, Alamat ng Gubat, Stainless Longganisa, Macarthur, Kapitan Sino, Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan to Lumayo Ka Nga sa Akin, I have been a greedy reader of Bob Ong's classic stories.

Bob Ong is a great artist, good communicator who can influence you through his words about life, love, politics, education, religion, drugs etc etc.

DIVERGENT TRILOGY. (Divergent. Insurgent. Convergent, 2013) Veronica Roth has created an epic world stuffed with action, adventure and major suspense. Divergent is one of the novels that had me jumping out of my seat.

Insurgent. The second book is SICK!!!! I utterly, unquestionably love that Veronica Roth picks up Insurgent right where Divergent left off. The book ends with a major cliffhanger that's going to kill me. DAMN IT!!! :P

DELIRIUM TRILOGY. (Delirium. Pandemonium. Requiem, Spring of 2013) This is a dystopian novel set in Portland where LOVE is a disease. Amor Deliria Nervosa. Can you imagine that? LOVE. AS. A. DISEASE???

The books are so terrific I want to cry a million buckets of tears. To those who loves YA/Dystopian novels, if you really want to be smashed in the chest by all that and a bag of chips, you need to read this series.

THE SHOPAHOLIC SERIES. The first ever series I have read. ^__^ I am obsessed with Sophie Kinsella novels. I actually read ALL. OF. HER. BOOKS!!!! :P

Sophie Kinsella is indeed an awesome author. I'm soooo looking forward to another chicklit of hers, and yell to the world that I read it because they are freaking coooool!!!!

I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER. I told you, I love Sophie Kinsella. I've Got Your Number is her latest stand alone book.

When I downloaded a copy of this, I practically spent the whole day reading the novel. Sam and Poppy! YAAAY!!!! K. Whatever! :P It's a chick-lit, hell yes, what else would you expect from Sophie?

A fun. Light read. It's necessary to say that there was never an irksome moment reading it. And it's one of those novels that makes me really laugh. I was actually, laughing out loud the whole time I was reading this. HAHAHAHA nevermind! :P

THE DEVIL AND MISS PRYM. The only Coelho book I have read so far. I am not a big fan of him. Sorry! :P But I just love this book so much!

A simple yet arousing story of good and bad. Good vs. evil. It is a book about about temptation and about the ongoing struggle for manhood and for our eternal souls.

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. This is a story of a kid named Charlie, who is starting in his first year in highschool. A story on how he thinks and interacts with his family and friends.

The story really helped me remember the joy back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days, when I was still a teenager, those times when we were still exploring unfamiliar stuffs. Growing up, eh? This one is definitely a goodread for those, like me, who have ever felt like they aren't being noticed.

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN. A deeply moving literary wonder. A masterpiece. Another must-read from Mitch Albom.

I have cried not only once but countless. This book gave me lessons in LIFE. :) It's an inspiring read. No doubt, with all the hindrance and inability to understand why there had to be all these stupid bumps along the way, throughout the journey. I wouldn't mind if this happens in heaven.

FOR ONE MORE DAY. Since I have this special love and admiration towards mothers, I decided to put this book at number two spot. I find it very touching and I can really feel the author's sincerity. And hey! I'm a Mitch Albom fan! ;)

A story of how a mother loves her child deeply, even in a way that they are often misunderstood.

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE. This book shares a lot of good perceptions about life and how to live well. It is like a piece of an outward sign how marvelous and great Morrie Schwartz had been so this book is truly a must-read! Trust me! It also helped me shape my perspective of what dying should mean. The author, Mitch Albom, captured my heart with this one. Surely, will capture yours as well.

I would imagine this list will be longer in no time. I am not a wide reader but certainly I LOVE to read. If you have made it to the end of this list, BIG THANKS for taking the time.

A blast from the past!

I am a college graduate. A Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduate. Let me share you my story. No one has ever told me to take up this course. When I was in highschool, 4th year to be precise, I was not yet sure what to take up, but as we all know, Nursing has been a monumental what-friggin'-ever-you-call-it in year 2000 and something. So I was like, okay I will take that, I will be just fine with that. Actually, in my younger years, probably in gradeschool, I wanted to become a doctor, a lawyer or even a CEO of a successful company. I also wanted to take Psychology, because I want to learn more about human behavior and to know what other people are thinking and why they choose to do certain things. I even took my entrance examination in UST, BS Psychology as my first choice, but my mom backed out, well that's another story.

As soon as I graduated from highschool, I already knew what I am going to take in College, BSN. Yes, BSN! I enrolled in Manila Central University, but eventually transferred to Our Lady of Fatima University, because of some matters. To put it briefly, in stages I appreciate every bit of this course that I chose. Little by little, I have come to realize that I can never imagine myself not being a full-grown nurse in the coming years. I learned to love Nursing with all my heart, do I have a choice? :p Nursing is not just nursing, it is an art. LOL! Seriously, it made me realize how to value the life that capital H-I-M above has given us.

After almost six years in college, 16 loooooong years of studying. I finally got my diploma. But I knew, that was definitely not the end of all. I needed to get my lazy ass and enroll in a review center, take and pass the boards ofcourse. Thank God I was fortunate enough to enroll in one of the best review centers in town, not to mention their top caliber reviewers. After 4 months of non-stop review, 10 hours a day, Mondays to Sundays, phew!!! The long wait is over. The night before the boards I went to sleep at around 9-10 pm, woke up at 4 am and went to church, to ask for His guidance, one last time before taking the PNLE. After 2 days of exam, finally, those 16 years spent in school, those hardships, those sufferings, it was all over! I know it will eventually compensate. I will just let God do the rest for me.

LORD, THANK YOU!!! FINALLY, I MADE IT!!!

No words can express how exactly I felt last August 20, Saturday night. I knew the moment I checked my Twitter and Facebook that, that was the time the result will be released, with all the status updates and tweets my former professors and lecturers posted. I was really anxious and pressured. Yikes! And then boom! The results were released, I saw my name. Yes! I. SAW. MY. FUCKING. NAME!!! HAHAHAHA! I immedietly texted my mom to tell her the goodnews. I felt like crying the moment I saw my name. You can't blame me, after six years in College, I finally got what I wanted in life.

Well ofcourse, I wouldn't learn to love this course without the people who shared with me the knowledge about Nursing. My Clinical Instructors, my Professors, the Lecturers, hospital personnels, MY SHIELD FAMILY (Monumento Branch), Karen and Cez and ofcourse, Jason, the one who believed in me when no one else did. And to all, whom I share every bit of struggle and joy of pursuing my chosen path. I had, like all of us, my ups and downs while pursuing BSN.

The main reason why I am writing this is that I want to thank my parents for their endless support, unfailing and unconditional love that they keep on giving me. I wouldn't be to where I am right now without my parents, they have been extremely supportive to me. And I was delighted I was able to give my parents my diploma and my license. They truly deserve everything.

Before all else, I can no longer thank God for making all these things possible. I have been through a lot, during lectures, out of town duties, 16-hour duties, reviews and stuff. Or whenever I can no longer tell anybody or whatever I was going through, God has invariably comforted me. No one knows precisely about the pains and the struggles that I really had in college. I am blessed with everything that I have learned. All the memories I had in college and even in my gradeschool and highschool days will forever be cherished.

Passing the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination was something that I really worked hard and prayed for. Something that could really make me the most happy girl in the world. The best gift ever! I guess when you really pray for something so hard and you really work hard to get it, God will give it to you. I can't really recall the time when I started praying for my license, from then on, I never stopped from praying and believing for it. And the long wait is over, I am really glad, I made it! :)

Just to brag a little, for all those who didn't believe in me, this one's for you guys! HA! ^____^

I AM TRULY GRATEFUL! I DID MY BEST AND GOD DEFINITELY JUST DID THE REST!

Love, Aprilyn Joy M. Gutierrez RN

Would you erase me?

I finally watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I heard about this movie a really long time ago, downloaded a copy, but couldn't find time to watch it. With all the school stuff and everything. Until awhile ago, out of boredom. I was decluttering stuff on my phone when I found the file.

The movie is based in a world where technology exists to erase a particular parts of your memory. It revolves around a couple, Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski, (Kate Winslet) though much of the film takes place in Joel's mind, who choose to undergo the process after a sloppy breakup and in taking over both painful and the beautiful parts of their relationship. There are a lot of things this movie does right. With a star-studded casts, the acting is fantastic! What else would you expect from Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, eh? The image of memories is so charming as well and absolutely, utterly smashes on the world of wistfulness.

Confused with the title, i googled it and it says that, it was taken from the poem, ELOISA TO ABELARD by ALEXANDER POPE, the story of tragic love affair where forgetfulness became the heroine's only comfort:

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd"

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is such a fucked up depressing movie, yet, still I love it despite the fact. Probably this will be added to my favorites. I love the meaning behind it.

Pandemonium, a sequel to Delirium

Description:

I'm pushing aside memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex. Pushing thoughts of Hana, and my old school, push, push, push, push like Raven thought me to do. The old life is dead. But the old Lena is dead too. I buried her. I left her beyond fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame. Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution to ignite.

Pandemonium, the most awaited sequel to Delirium has been receiving a bunch of good and bad reviews. Some of the readers loved it, others appeared to have been sourly disappointed and the conclusion alone has undoubtedly aggravated a strong response one way or the other from most readers.

The story followed a format that jumped between past and present, between "NOW" and "THEN". At first I was confused but gradually learned to understand it. I found this very interesting. The Then chapters pick up instantly after what happened to Delirium. After Lena's escape from Portland. She is now alone in the woods. The Now chapters are several months in the future. Lena has been with the Invalids ( the term they use for those uncured individuals.) and now living in one of the cities, (New York) feigning she was cured, but really working for the resistance.

As for the characters, Lena, the protagonist is much more engaging character in Pandemonium. Her development is entertaining and acceptable in the circumstances showed. I could really see her character unravelling. Though I miss the up beat, oblivious girl who grew to appreciate the meaning of love for the first time. There were fairly a few characters presented, Raven, Julian and Tack to name a few. Raven is one of those characters for certain you don't want to screw up with. Julian, at first I find him a bit dull. I thought his character was only fated to have a minor part in this novel. I was certainly proven wrong. ;-)

Lauren Oliver never fails to amaze me with her style of writing. So expressive, picturesque and emotional. Full of imagery and lyrical verses. Her writing is indeed beatiful. It helped me feel every emotion of her characters, especially, Lena. She's a genius writer, with the concept and all. I don't think anyone would dispute that.

I gave this book an amazing 4 stars. The twists and the turns of the story kept me in suspense. Hell yes, another cliffhanger at the end, but it was so worth the read. I am surely be thrilled to bits to see how Oliver will end the trilogy. Requiem, fall of 2013.

Here are some of the quotes from the book:

"That's a flip side of freedom: when you are completely free, you are also completely on your own."

"If you are smart, you care. And if you care, you love."

"That's the thing, we didn't really care. A world without love is also a world without stakes."

"Waste today, want tomorrow."

"The tunnels may be long, and twisted and dark; but you are supposed to go through them."

"You can build a future out of anything. A scrap, a flicker. The desire to go forward, slowly, one foot at a time."

WHAT IF LOVE IS ILLEGAL?

I am not a bookwhore or a nerd or something. I am not a wide reader as well. I only read what my friends recommend. I usually go for the tried and tested stuff. So if this post sounds like I know everything, then you're thinking it wrong. This is just my opinion. :)

Description:

Before scientists found the cure, people thought that love was a good thing. They didn't understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning 18. Lena Haloway has always looked forward to the day when she will be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable and happy. But with 95 days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: she falls inlove.

Intrigued by the preface of this novel. A world where love, a.k.a AMOR DELIRIA NERVOSA is coursed as a disease. Before turning 18, every citizen must undergo an operation, to 'CURE' them. I found the concept both unique and captivating.

We meet the protagonist, Lena, a seventeen year old girl that follows all the rules of the dystopian society but bit by bit, all over the book her friend, Hana, starts questioning her future. In this book, Lena becomes a stronger, independent and more self-loving person than we seen in the beginning. To me, it sounds like the fundamental context is that love makes you stronger.

Romance. Romance is one of the main themes of this novel. Lena and Alex couldn't have been more perfect together. The characters are great and well-crafted. Though the book started to be a bit slow, it has kept me in my seat and read non-stop. And I can't wait to see what the author has for them in the next installment.

This book is imaginative and it exhibits quick-wittedness. The writing is lovely and descriptive throughout the novel. The author has a way with words. (I love the passages at the beginning of every chapter.) Delirium left me teary-eyed and emotional. I give 5 amazing stars to Lauren Oliver for her amazing writing. I highly recommend this one.

LET'S GO CELTICS!!!

CAN YOU FUCKING TELL ME, WHEN DID YOU BECOME A FAN OF MIAMI HEAT? LIKE YESTERDAY? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! WHATEVER!!! :P

Hell, I'm not really disturbed or mad or whatever. It's just I am a bit annoyed with people like that. FAKE ASS, BANDWAGON!!! :P Maybe a little bothered not because the C's didn't win yesterday but because they didn't put up a good fight. It's okay if they didn't win but if they just atleast gave the fans, a great game then I am satisfied. Losing is part of the game, that's a common knowledge. But Lebron did a good job for Miami Heat. It was like Celtics vs. Lebron, eh?

After game 6, series was tied at 3-3, and the greens are heading back to South Beach.

We are down. NOT OUT.

If you think this is over, you are a piece of ass! Not yet baby! Given, that last game was our fault. C's did what they always does. Hello, nobody thought we would stand a chance against the Heat before the series. I had a lot of friends who told me that they thought it could be a clean sweep, then, hey! we won game 5, you know?

The fans chanted "LET'S GO CELTICS" up to the last three minutes of the game. That's what you called a TRUE FAN! HA! :P

Factly speaking, win or lose I'm satisfied this season. We already proved ourselves! We just proved we can win at home and on the road. We proved we aren't the underdogs. WE PROVED AGE IS ONLY A NUMBER!

and still...

I BELIEVE THE C'S WILL WIN GAME 7 AND GO TO THE FINALS!!! BECAUSE I AM A CELTIC!!!

LATERS, BABY! :P

I just finished reading Fifty Shades Freed.

What follows cannot exactly be rated PG.

If you haven't read it yet, or you have no idea what it is about, well yeah, it's got a lot of sexual content. I started reading Fifty Shades of Grey (Book 1 of the series) not realizing how bright-hued this ish is. Now that I am done reading the series, let me share with you how I feel about it.

Yes, I'm one those reader who couldn't put it down. I think Ms. E.L James did a wonderful job with the story line. Yay to her! But the writing? Quite frankly, for me it started to get a bit drudging. I don't wanna say drudging because deep in my heart was pounding for most of it. Probably the writing itself wasn't creative enough? I mean how many fucking times can a guy, "press his lips into a hard line" and how many times can he, "raise his eyebrows, surprised" and how many times can she say, "Oh my". All those effing lines were in the book atleast a couple of times each. And the one that really annoyed me was how quickly the author ran out of ways to describe orgasm.

As we all know it was originally a Twilight fanfic, like why the fuck? Fucking Twilight you guys! :P Obviously, I'm not fond of Twilight in general anymore, I gave this series a chance coz  had been hearing good stuffs about it. Yet after awhile, I realized, the more I searched for this tag, the more I started to notice that there were few posts saying good stuffs about the book. Then I realized something, when people say bad experience, they tend to dwell on it and let everyone know how horrible it is and to stay away from it. But when something is good, they don't really say anything. Based on that, I'm gonna say that this series was actually pretty good. There, yes, I said it. When reading it and you are fully aware that it was originally a fanfic, I was able to behold the similarities between the main characters in this series with those in Twilight.

Anastacia Steele = Bella Swan

Christian Grey = Edward Cullen

Kate Kavanaugh = Alice Cullen

Mia Grey = Rosalie Cullen

Elliot Grey = Emmett Cullen

Ethan Kavanaugh = Jasper Cullen

Dr. Grace Trevelyen = Esmee Cullen

Carrick Grey = Carlisle Cullen

I know that the whole concept of the story was BDSM/erotica, but was it really necessary for them to be at it constantly? I mean, one thing that was pretty annoying side was the fact that literally, every pages, Ana and Christian would be going crazy exploring each other's anatomy. LOL. The author could have toned that down a bit but now the more I think about it, the more I like it. HA! Is that bad? :P

I started reading the series first week of May and had been reading non-stop whenever I got a chance. (though I stopped reading after the second book to give way to Roth's Insurgent) I fell inlove with Christian Grey because of how fragile he was and how confused he was. I must admit I was in tears by the end of the last book. Christian Grey, Ana's Fifty Shades, was finally a whole person. He was no longer the Christian Grey who was shattered into thousands of pieces, the one who needed to be rescued. No matter how much he denied it, he was compassionate, love and child-like optimism at times. I was happy to find out that he had finally accepted that he was worthy of love.

I don't know, but it's probably just me, but the entire time I was reading this series, from the very first book, I picture Christian Grey as Ian Somerhalder. <3