This is my second time going white river rafting in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The first time was with my bests on the Tieton River when the first LivingSocial deal was offered for it and of course my adventurous side got super excited and immediately texted them "we have to do this!" I am so glad that LivingSocial and Groupon continue to offer deals for activities like this because it's so much fun! And this time I was able to buy it for mine and my boyfriend's one year anniversary! We both love doing outdoor activities and this was PERFECT, especially
with the beautiful weather we've been getting early this year!
The deal I bought was through Orion and our leader Xander was awesome! It's a great group and they provide transportation the river, paddles, the raft, water boots, and a wetsuit. They just recommend wearing non-cotton clothing and extra clothes for afterwards. You travel with 3-4 rafts with 4-6 people each and go along the Wenatchee River, play games and survive the rapids. Your leader will shout out commands to help make sure you stay afloat!
I sat in the front of the raft! It was SO MUCH FUN! I'd highly recommend sitting in the front for a great white river rafting experience. You get to lead and get the most wet! It's such a rush.
Alright, well I'm going to be a little ghetto and post a screen shot of one of our photos from the photographers site (riverbooty.com) because I haven't received the hard copy yet.
April 6-20 I'll be backpacking through Thailand with Aleks (my boyfriend), Paul, and Nate! Words cannot even express how anxious and excited I am to explore! I've only been to the Philippines in that part of the world so I'm very interested to see how it compares. We booked our tickets at the end of November last year and I can't believe that the day is finally here! I am so proud that I was able to fit all of my things in my cool new Osprey backpack from REI. I'm notorious for over packing and at first I was like: are you kidding me?Two weeks in Thailand with only THIS much space?! *gulp. Alright, DONE!
Peace out America because we're going to Thailand! First stop Seoul, Korea for our layover! [insert airplane emoji here]
I am a quarter of a century old as of November 7! Thank you to all my family and friends who celebrated and/or greeted me a happy birthday!
Now that I am a year wiser I plan to be smarter about money saving, filter my apartment and stop being a hoarder, and really push to pursue my dreams/career.
I am learning more about myself and the world as I get older. I value every experience and interaction and try to take something away that I know will help me grow.
Six years ago on this day I celebrated the big 1-8! My parents asked if I wanted a new car or a Debut as my present and of course I picked the Debut! I only turn 18 once and I know I'm going to get a car eventually! (By the way, a Debut is a Filipino coming-of-age celebration. It's like the Latin American tradition of a Quineanera.)
Planning for my grand celebration was like planning a wedding- seriously, my 18th birthday was actually on November 7 but my dad was in Kuwait so we pushed it to March so he could be part of it and so we can have more time to plan!
Here is the break down of the main parts of what a Debut entails:
-Choosing an Escort (he would be the one presenting me to society)
-Selecting my entourage: 9 guys and 9 girls to be in my court and do the special cotillion dance which is a waltz (and making sure they can come to practice every Wed. for about 3 months, good times)
-Picking another 18 guys to be part of the 18 Roses dance (each guy presents a rose and slow dances with me for a minute)
-Picking another 18 girls to represent my 18 Candles (each girl had to give a speech to me about our relationship, memories, wishes, etc.)
And the rest is pretty much like a wedding with finding a dress, dress maker for the dress I designed for my the ladies in my court, venue, decorations, flowers, give aways, programs, invitations, choreographer, tux place, cake, DJ, slideshow, entertainment, food, hair/make-up stylists, videographer, etc.
The night went something like this:
Introduction dance of the Debutant, escort, and court
Prayer & food- performance, slide show while eating
Father Speech and Father/Daughter Dance (I started crying when I danced with my dad!)
The Cotillion waltz to "Only Hope" - Mandy Moore from A Walk to Remember
Speeches from my court
Dancing
Candle speeches, dances with my Roses
Cutting of the cake
My thank you speech
Crimson Haze step/dance performance (our high school dance team that I was a part of)
All in all, the point of this post was to share my grand cotillion waltz!
FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:
Such a magical and amazing night. One of the best nights of my life! I am so blessed for the family and friends I have in my life. They are all wonderful and have impacted me in some way. I will never forget and will always be thankful that they shared this special night with me!
My mom, sister, and I are going to the Philippines tomorrow for about 3 weeks! I am so excited! This is going to be my third trip to the motherland. The main reason why we are going is because of my cousin Allen's grand wedding! (check out their awesome site: http://www.allenaileenluna.com) I'm a bridesmaid, my sister is a junior bridesmaid, and my mom is sponsor! I can't wait to see how the wedding is going to turn out and to meet his fiance Lhayne (pronounced like the word "line"). I know that she has been planning this wedding for so long and I've heard rumors that there are going to be fireworks! So we'll see!
I am also really looking forward to going to Boracay! I heard it's been voted as one of the best beaches of the world! We weren't able to go during our last visit because there was a storm so hopefully we'll make it this time. *cross fingers*
It's going to be a fun-filled three weeks and I can't wait to spend time and bond with my mom's side of the family. I better practice speaking Tagalog! I hope it'll feel more like summer when I get back too. I better make sure I've packed everything and met the baggage weight requirements! See you later Washington!
I love recording random videos on my iPhone and I was excited when I discovered the Super8 video app! The app is free for a limited time and promotes Paramount Picture's film "Super 8" which premiers on June 10. The app has some awesome video features and can't wait to use them!
The iPhone App Store description says, "Using Super8 you can make your own vintage movies and add lens, filter and shake effects, arrange clips and scenes the way you want them; you can even add your own credits."
Here is a quick video I did at Pike Place Market a week and a half ago to test out the app!
Got any movie ideas? Let's make a video together! :)
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