Apple Picking & Mini Donkeys!

Yes, Fall is definitely here. I feeeel it. My colleague invited me to go apple-picking with some of her friends, and I thought, WHY NOT? Although it rained on Saturday morning, as my colleague promised, it stopped when we got to Stone Ridge Orchard. Not only were there apples on the trees, but they were all over the floor. It makes me feel kind of sad and wasteful, knowing that people will not be picking the apples that are on the floor. It was still a nice experience, nonetheless.

The best part of this trip though, was not the apples. It was the mini-donkeys! Yes, they're real, and tinier, and cute. There's this guy named Steve, whose daughter went to college and told him that she joined the donkey club. He laughed at her, thinking what a silly club. He ended up researching about it, and 3 years ago, he started his mini collection. And now he has 7 whole mini-donkeys. What a story! Only people in the suburbs can do such a thing. And guess what. These things cost around $375 (MUCH LESS THAN A PUPPY/DOG!) Of course, there's a reason why dogs cost so much, because they're cute and wonderful creatures. Anyway, the names of the donkeys were Sweetie Pie, Flinch (Sweetie Pie's son), Romper, Stomper, Indiana, Dakota (Dakota's daughter... she was like extra-mini donkey), and Flame.

My favorite was Romper because he was a beauty. Steve said he's a little overweight actually, but it was because he was raised with horses who ate different things and thus he had a luxurious life and became fat. Now, he's just back here sharing a stack of boring hay with 6 other donkeys. Honestly, they were so darn cute and soft, and fun to pet, but they were so into the hay (for the whole time we stayed), they just got boring. Romper did come out of the hay stack once in a while (maybe because he was thinking about his past life with better food), but who knows. I liked that he knew how to remove himself sometimes. Romper's a different one. I felt it the moment I saw him.

Anyway... I'll just jump to a few of the pics I took. Enjoy!

 This was an apple I left behind because the other side was ugly.

 AH-MAY-ZING VIEW. And yes, I took this pic!

 I've considered sending this shot to an advertising agency. LOL

 Romper!! <3 font="">

 Misty cheesing all day after seeing these mini donkeys

Our failed attempt to take a selfie with Romper.

Glory Days

Hello again. I've managed to stay past 1AM today, and surprisingly I am still not tired. So here I am again, jotting down the recent thoughts I've been having lately.

I believe that I'm pretty much content with life at the moment. I never thought I'd say that since the day I turned 23. The month of my birthday was one of the toughest months ever. From May to June, I've stayed at work past 8 and even 9PM, and I think I've never been so stressed in my life. And I guess, without struggles, I wouldn't be where I'm at right now. All my hard work has been acknowledged and praised for which I thank God for. And those friends who stuck around me, tolerating my lateness on days I get off late, tolerating my complaints about work, and just there to listen and give me advice.

Perhaps it's the Summer vibes. I love seeing the sun still out after I get out of work. It makes me feel like the day is still young, and I have time to socialize and stay out. That I wasn't wasting my life at work only. Better yet, I feel like I'm at a steady pace, and I can actually complete my tasks and leave around 6:30. Of course, there are still many things on my plate, but as the month goes by, I know it will become a decently portioned plate that won't spill all over the place.

Tonight, I went roller skating with Evelyn, Sooin, and her friend, Tiffany. It was my first time ever, and I'm not gonna lie, it felt more difficult than roller blading and ice skating. But once you get to the rink, the DJ is playing smooth songs people can dance to while skating. I've never felt so... jubilant doing a sport. Everyone at the rink was so amazing, so in sync, jiving to the music happily. As I clumsily entered the rink, I felt a bit embarrassed to even move among these pro skaters. This woman next to me started smiling at me and she told me to hold onto the wall. I told her it was my first time, and she was telling how they've all been at my position before, so I should stay close to the wall, and if I fall, I'll fall, get on my knees and crawl back up. It's normal and nothing to be embarrassed about because they are all family here.

Maybe because she mentioned the family part, but it made me feel so much more comfortable. I just skated around the rink, watching people boogie, shake, clap and sway to the rhythm of the music. The carefree, lighthearted and happy vibes just exerted from all of them, and even though I sucked at skating, I couldn't help but to keep smiling and admire everyone else there. They were all just having fun, and their zone. The old, the young, the middle-aged. I just wanted everyone to give me hug and take my hand to dance with them. Of course, this didn't happen, but as I was smiling stupidly, this woman smiled back at me telling me she loved the breeze. This was my chance. I agreed and approached her slowly, asking her if she can give me any tips on roller skating. This woman told me that I needed my own skates first (without the stoppers). I told her this was my first time skating ever and she complimented that I was doing well. I asked her how to dance and skate at the same time. She took my hand and told me that I need to feel the music and let my body embrace it.

I almost shook my hips with her, but since I'm not a dancer, nor can I dance at all, it came out stiff and weird, and I told her that I can't dance :( Still she was very encouraging, and she told me that the music will come to me, and I should get my own skates and practice comfortably. Everyone there was just so awesome and friendly, and I wish I was always surrounded by such an amazing environment like that. So, I've decided that this is something I think I can be passionate about. Something that I can make my passion. Something that I can spend money and time on, and enjoy every second of it. Something that I can put on my resume, and tell people as an "interesting fact" about myself. But first, baby steps. I'm excited to go roller skating again. And I don't care if I'm always smiling stupidly at the rink. I just want to be skate and be part of the family - living these glory and care-free days.

Entering the Adult Life

Hello, it's been a long, long time since I've written here. Sometimes throughout the day, I would think to write in my blog... or my thoughts somewhere. I have so many thoughts boggled up inside of me that I find necessary to keep note of.

I'm proud to say that I'm an adult now. After graduating college in May 2013, I've lounged around in my house and wasted money without income for around 2-3 months. Of course, it felt great being care-free, but sometimes I felt useless.

So at the end of August of 2013, I got hired for this internship that paid $9/hr. Why not? It was a start somewhere. It was a small startup company, and I was a little excited and nervous. They only told me they wanted me for 2 days for now. Sounds good to me. Work 2 days, rest 5 days. I later found out that I was actually on a mini trial. Kind of like, if she's good for the first 2 weeks, then we're gonna keep her. Sooooo... obviously I was awesome. They asked me to come in 3 days/week. I was fine with that as well. And then suddenly, this other intern that was working 3 half-days/week decided to disappear without a word. This is when they told me to take over her days, and eventually, I was working the same amount of time as a full time would.

It was pretty alright on my first 2-3 weeks, I believe. However, things got busy pretty quickly. I usually took off at around 5-5:30pm, but I found myself, an intern, staying behind til 6 or 6:30pm. Honestly, I felt like a little bitch at work. Basically, interns are bitches. But I was a good one they caught. Because I'm very passive in the work environment, and not a person who can say no. 'Hey, can you do this for me? Can you break down these boxes? Can you deliver these here? Can you stay a little later?' Yes, yes, yes and yes. I said yes to everything they asked me to do. Because, honestly, an intern is in no position to say no.

The shy and soft-spoken Daisy finally got a little more comfortable with the company and her colleagues. I worked hard and people actually acknowledged my efforts and that's what made me like it. In my past jobs, I felt like just another intern, and if I were to take a day or two off, it wouldn't make a difference. Anyway, as November came, I got a raise! Wooooo!! One whole dollar of a raise. It was a tiny difference, but I stayed optimistic. One dollar is better than no dollar. And it was within 2 months, so not too bad, Daisy.

Of course I've complained here and there to my friends, and they told me I was underpaid and it wasn't worth working here. By the end of December, I was asked to become full time. It wasn't too high of a pay, but I took it anyway. Since my full-time life, I would say, I am comfortable with where I'm at. Comfortable with the people I work with, and comfortable with the system of how things worked. I've cried, I've laughed, and I've hung out with my colleagues after work. These are what adults do when they work together, but sometimes much scarier than I imagined.

Being an adult means much more responsibility, and much more responsibility means much more stress. A regular day for me would be 9am - 6:30pm or later. But my workload is always incomplete and I always feel like, even if I can get off at 5 or 6pm, I have many things left hanging that I must deal with the next day or within the next week. It doesn't end. Like really. To take one thing off my over-filled plate feels really great, but somehow that spot just keeps refilling itself.

Lesson I'm learning: being an adult sucks. I spend most of week in the office (I even go in on the weekends sometimes), I have less time for my friends and myself, and as much as you're comfortable with the people you work with, sometimes you still gotta hold yourself back, and not get too comfortable. Plus, you're so exhausted from work, sometimes you just want to go home, be unsociable, and sleep. I don't know how I stayed up so late during my college days, but I just can't keep my eyelids from dropping anymore. Yes, it's scary, and I must sleep now.