Travelog: Oregon Coast 2009

Hearfelt thanks to all...

R.I.P. Auntie Ellen

My Grandma and my Great-Aunt Ellen had been friends since my grandfather died over 35 years ago. Everytime my Grandma would come to the U.S. to stay with us for a bit, Auntie Ellen would take care of matters in the P.I. for her and for my family. I remember every year on my birthday, she would send a boxful of my favorite Pili-nut candies (you can't get them anywhere else except for the town where my mother grew up) that she would have handmade and hand packaged just for me.

Her son and my mother grew up together in a little town in the Philippines. My grandfather was the Mayor of this town for two terms and since his own father had died when he was young...my Uncle followed his footsteps and became Mayor a few years ago. My Uncle is up for re-election this month. And yesterday, in broad daylight, as she was heading off to my Uncle's campaign headquarters to help out, someone shot my Great-Aunt Ellen thru the forehead. One shot.

My mother just came home and told me about this 5 minutes ago. And now she is left with the hard task of telling my Grandmother that her best friend of 4 decades is dead. Not because she was hated. Not because she was a bad person who deserved it. But for the simple fact that she had birthed and raised the man who just happened to become Mayor.

I don't write this just for me...I write this so that all of you may understand that in places like the Philippines, this kind of vigilante guerilla "warfare" still exist. Where it doesn't matter if what you stand for is the right thing or the wrong thing. Where even in a tiny, almost inconsequential little town up in the mountains, people take issues into their own hands and to hell with the government. I'm no good at this stuff...talking about things I don't know. But I do know this, the next time you decide to complain about the government, the next time you complain about the President and whether or not you like them. The next time you decide to complain that this country is on it's way to hell and back, remember that it is for the simple fact that you live here...in this very country that you are a citizen of...that you are given the right to voice your opinions as much as you want without fear of repurcusions much less of being gunned down in the middle of the street.

I will be accompanying my family to a special memorial here in the States for her this Sunday. Her nephew, another Uncle of mine, is a priest at a local church in a city close by. Please pray for her soul, even if you don't believe in prayer. And please pray that whoever did this will be brought to justice (as much justice as possible given the nature of things down there).

R.I.P. Auntie Ellen....

from left to right: my Grandmother, my Uncle the mayor, Aunt Ellen, my dad, my mom, the Vice Mayor...

WARNING: Makeup Tutorial

Special request by my good friend, Jessie... She only reads this blog and doesn't look at YouTube or my other blog, so sorry in advance for the makeup video on my non-makeup channel.

Hope you like this Jessie, let me know how the makeup turns out!

Dumpy to Decent and a QUICK update!

Well... this week just hasn't been going too great. NOT great at ALL!

This weekend, I got sent to Portland, Oregon (about a 5 hour drive) to attend a symposium for my work. Not too horrible any other time except I completely missed out on SeaFair (including the Blue Angels whom I LOOOOOVE...for obvious and not so obvious reasons).

Wait, I lied. I didn't completely miss SeaFair...we caught the nasty ass traffic coming back home.

Then last night, Monday...on the way home from church...

(I decided to go to mass on monday since I missed it sunday)

(you'd think God would give me a break for being such a good girl...but NOOOO)

Anyway, on the way home from church...I ran over and completely decimated a poor little raccoon. Yeah...I KILLED an innocent animal. ON THE WAY HOME FROM FREAKING CHURCH! And the worst part of it all was I saw it's poor little wifey still on the sidewalk. And since I was staring at the wife racoon I completely missed the fact that the husband racoon was smack dab in the middle of the road until...

*THUMP*

Didn't anybody tell those damn things that they are wearing concrete highway colored camo?!?! What the hell are they doin tryin to cross the street in the dark?????

I wanted to gag and cry...

Then this morning (probably because I was so upset about the murder I commited) I woke up late because I forgot to set my alarm. :(

Did I also mention that today was my last day at my lab?? Yeah, Im officially (kinda) unemployed now. And what better way to show up on my last day than unshowered and harried and completely lost and unfocused.

Whatever...at least I looked good.

Recreation of my morning for you all to follow.

(and yes, I did this whole thing in 11 minutes FLAT. From waking up to makeup to hair to throwin on some jeans and a shirt...whoever said you can't look gooorgeous in 10 minutes was lying to you!)



Im gonna go put on some sappy movies and go to bed.

The Boy is Back in Town!!!

Yay! In honor of my buddy Jon coming back from a 6 month "mission" from the great out there...an oldie but a goodie!

Me thinks it's time to head back up them thar hills and shoot us up some good eatin! Y'all come back now, ya herr?!?!