Otherwise Amanda: Celebrate Good Times

Last Saturday, October 15 2011, was a very auspicious day for our family, as my aunt put it. It definitely was. And also a very emotional one for my parents, especially my mom...here's why.

My graduation was in the morning. It was the 162nd Commencement Exercises of our school and we were the 2nd batch of students to graduate during its centennial year. There were over a thousand of us. Graduation is probably the most awaited, most counted down day in every students' life after I don't know, prom maybe? haha! So I think it goes without saying that this particular one, our College graduation ceremony, was extra special and the most significant one of all (after the ones we had in pre-school, grade school and high school) since it marked not just our completion of just another level in the educational system but of all 15 or so years of our lives spent in school, learning and honing our skills and talents, with our teachers and other mentors helping mold us into the better people we are now. It also marked the start of a completely new chapter in our lives, that of us as grown-ups, as mature young adults ready to conquer the world and make our mark in it. And what better way to celebrate both this end and new beginning than receiving our diploma and Bachelor's Degree in the presence of each other, our friends and family, most importantly our parents.

After more than a month of waiting, it was finally our turn to march down the stairs of PICC and walk up on stage to receive our diplomas from La Salle's Brother President, in our togas, while Pomp and Circumstance was playing. It was a very very proud moment for all of us.

I know it's small but if you look closely that's me on the stage
receiving my diploma from La Salle's Brother President.

With the girls and Peds. Of course we get a photo together!
College wouldn't have been the same without these friends of mine.

With my thesismates Bianca and Jikay. We made it!

AB-CAM!

Now that I think about it, I realize this whole thing was more emotional for me than I thought in the days leading to it or even while I was in PICC on the day itself. I had an amazing time in college! I can honestly say I learned some of life's more important lessons there and that I really saw and felt myself grow in the almost 4 years I spent there. I met a lot of really great people and experienced a lot of amazing things as well. When I look back and see my friends and all that, I can't help but think how blessed I had been all this time and how I wouldn't have had it any other way.

My parents were extra happy since I was the last child they had been sending to school in the last 3 to 4 years. Haha! This is their achievement more than it is mine, and I dedicate that diploma and degree to them. I don't think I have to get into detail for anyone to understand just how much they've done and helped me (and my siblings) get to where we are now, and how even after school they continue to motivate and inspire us. I would have loved to graduate with more than just a diploma for them, but seeing how happy and proud they are even without those extra stuff makes me happier and more content. And it just motivates me even more to do more to make them proud and provide for them just as they have provided for me.

Drama aside, after the morning program in PICC, we celebrated over lunch. It was a very small and intimate party, with just family from both my mom and dad's sides and Via, a really good, close childhood friend of mine.

my two lolos :)

family from dad's side

and mom's side

and us :)

with Via. We practically grew up together!

I haven't had a chance to celebrate with friends yet. I couldn't celebrate on the evening of graduation day and stay up late because I had to get up early the following day to go to CamSur to watch and support the DLSU Dragonboat Team at the CamSur Dragonboat Fest. Wooohoo!! We took the earliest flight out of Manila so we could catch up on the last day of the competition. Besides that, though, there was one other reason I had to get up early the following day...

At 3 A.M. Manila time, my sister got married in the U.S. ♥ On their side of the world, in a small chapel on the mountains of Tennessee, it was October 15, 3 P.M. when she walked down the aisle. She was wearing a simple white dress with a red ribbon on the waist and a bouquet of red roses. Red and white was the theme of the wedding. Red is believed to be for good luck, a nod to the Korean roots of her fiance--now hubby! We couldn't be there for the wedding, but our relatives from Ohio and L.A., my dads' sisters, cousins and aunt, flew in to TN for it and our cousin Katrina stood in for me as Maid of Honor.

Although we couldn't be there physically, we surely weren't going to miss it for the world! Thank God for Skype! My uncle set up his phone and called us so that we were there as well to witness the whole ceremony. We got to talk to everyone right before it started, including my sister! We saw for ourselves how happy and giddy she was, just as our relatives who were there told us. You know how at weddings people say it's the bride's dream come true? Well now, after having seen my own sister as a bride, I think I believe that's true. And thank God for Skype, really. I mean, it was more than amazing that we got to witness her dream come true, thousands of miles away.

the blushing bride spoke to us before the ceremony.

I thought my mom was going to cry! But she didn't, she just got a little teary-eyed. I guess she's saving it for their wedding here in Manila next year. Yes, they're going to get married here, too! And I have been tasked to organize it, something I'm very excited about. My sister would never get married without us :)

I think I might cry with my mom at that wedding, too haha. I was so moved while watching Kim Kardashian's Fairy Tale Wedding just earlier this evening on E! I was almost going to cry. It got me thinking about my own sister's wedding here next year and got me more excited about it. I haven't met her husband in person yet, but I have had the chance to talk to him online quite a few times already and like the rest of my family I support my sister on this. He's a very good man, my sister is in good hands. While I still wish we all could have been at their wedding in Tennessee, I just can't wait to see them both next year!

In Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kris Jenner always says how happy she is that their family just keeps growing. I understand that now. Our own family is just starting to grow, I can't wait for what's going to happen next. I welcome my new brother-in-law and am looking forward to welcoming a little niece or nephew in the near future. This is all so exciting!

My uncle who was at the wedding sent us some beautiful photos.