~ MARIANA'S TALES ~

Love's Bravest Choice

2015-02-13T21:37:00.001-08:00

I was reading a book entitled "Pure Womanhood", I found a prayer for purity at the back portion and saw the name Gioretti. " St. Maria Gioretti, Pray for us" I never forgot her name "Gioretti". I was asking myself why is she the saint of purity and chastity?

I'm a Marian devotee and a member of Total Consecration To Jesus through Mary family. We had a meeting last Thursday on our plans this year. Bea, a friend and a leader mentioned "Gioretti" and how she became a saint by preserving her purity as a sign of her Big Love to God, so I asked Bea her story and she told me how she remained virgin at her last breathe, she was almost raped by a neighbor named Alessandro but she resisted and shouted "No, it's a sin! I will not do it!, God will not allow it".

Before her last breathe she forgave Alessandro and said

"Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him...and I want him to be with me in Paradise."

Read more further for Maria Gioretti's story and Alessandro's conversion.

October 16, 1890
Maria Goretti is born in Corinaldo, Italy to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini.

October 17, 1890
Maria is baptized in the Church of San Francesco in Corinaldo.

October 4, 1896
Maria is confirmed by Mons. Giulio Boschi, Bishop of Senigallia.

July 5, 1902
Maria was mortally wounded at 15.30 by her neighbor, Alessandro Serenelli, who attacked her with intent to sexually abuse her. He was 20 years old.

July 6, 1902
Maria dies at the age of 11 years, 9 months and 21 days, after forgiving Alessandro.

June 24, 1950
Maria Goretti is declared Saint in St. Peter's Square by Pope Pius XII, becoming the youngest officially recognized Roman Catholic saint ever.

Her Story:

The daughter of humble sharecroppers, Maria and her family moved to the little town of Ferriere, Italy in 1899 in search of work .Desperately seeking to support his family, Luigi Goretti struck up a bargain with Signor Serenelli, who had a son named Alessandro.The two families lived together in a building owned by Count Mazzolini.

Maria quickly matured in grace and holiness in the eyes of friends and other acquaintances. After losing her father to malaria, she developed great strength and maturity. Her charming modesty, cheerful obedience and the serious, but free acceptance of a hundred thankless home chores distinguished her from the other children who would play in the dusty streets of Ferriere. Perhaps the highlight of her life was her First Holy Communion, which she dutifully prepared for and awaited with great anticipation. She truly seemed to be advancing "in wisdom, and age and grace before God and men."

Lured by the passions of his day and nurturing the dark side of his soul with impious reading and thoughts, Alessandro Serenelli had been a thorn in lovely Maria's side. He propositioned her on several occasions and harassed her with impure suggestions. On July 5, 1902, he would be denied no longer. As she once again rebuffed his sexual advance, shouting, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!", Alexander lunged to the deed, stabbing Maria 14 times.

Doctors in Nettuno tried to save Maria's life to no avail. After 20 painful hours of suffering during which she forgave and prayed for Alessandro, Maria entered Heaven fortified with the Last Sacraments. Her last earthly gaze rested upon a picture of the Blessed Mother. It was July 6, 1902.

Almost fifty years later on June 24, 1950, Pope Pius XII stood on the steps of St. Peter's in Rome and pronounced Maria Goretti a Saint and Martyr of the Universal Church to half a million people. He proposed her as the Patroness of Modern Youth and set July 6th as her feast Day. Her mother, and her murderer, attended the canonization ceremony together.

This was the triumph of the little girl who loved God and hated sin.

Maria Goretti had led a very ordinary life. But in spite of her simplicity, her great faith and love for God made her truly extraordinary.

Alessandro Serenelli : A story of a miraculous concversion

His Story

Serenelli was born into a peasant family. His father, John, was an alcoholic and his mother died in a psychiatric hospital when Alessandro was only a few months old, apparently after trying to drown her newborn son. A brother of the young man was interned in a psychiatric hospital, where he died. Alessandro's father worked as a coachman and a laborer but was unable to keep any job for a long time because of alcoholism and moved to Paliano to work as a Métayage. Here Serenelli knew the Goretti family with whom he established a relationship of cooperation and neighborliness. Unlike many of his contemporaries, the young Alessandro attended school until the second grade, learning to read and write, but already at the age of seven, he was sent by his brothers to work as a cabin boy to help the family. At eighteen, his father called him to work with him in Paliano.

In 1902 Alessandro, nineteen year old, who had never had sex with a woman and was described by all as a very shy young man, quiet and shy, began to harass little Mary, then ten years old. In testimony given by him, it is possible can find this sentence, pronounced before the brutal incident: "After the second attempt in my mind was formed more than ever the intention to succeed in the vent of my passion and I conceived the idea to kill her if she continued to resist my cravings."

On 5 July 1902, he returned to the house and threatened her with death if she did not do as he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and warning Alessandro that he would go to hell. She desperately fought to stop Alessandro from raping her. She kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" Alessandro first choked Maria, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her eleven times.The injured Maria tried to reach for the door, but Alessandro stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.

The psychiatric made during the process found him capable of consent but he recognized that the conditions of his absolutely miserable life when a young man, and repeated cases of Mental disorder and alcoholism of his family to some extent attenuated his responsibility.

With due process, Serenelli was sentenced to 30 years in prison: he avoided life imprisonment because according to the laws of that time, he was not yet of age to be subject to that penalty. He was released from prison in 1929, after serving 27 years. Of the 30 to which he had been sentenced, one year was remitted by the general pardon to all prisoners after the Italian victory in I World War, and two were in recognition of good behavior.

In the days which followed, Alessandro lost his appetite and grew nervous. After six years of prison, he was near the brink of despair. Then one night, Maria appeared to him in his cell. She smiled at Alessandro and was surrounded by lilies, the flower symbolic of purity.

From that moment, peace invaded Alessandro's heart, and he began to live a constructive life.
On the night of Christmas of 1934 Alessandro begged forgiveness on his knees from the mother of Maria Goretti, who forgave him, because her daughter had done so on her deathbed. Having worked sporadically as a farmer and laborer, Serenelli eventually retired to a monastery of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, where he served as their gardener and porter.

In 1950 Maria Goretti was canonized by Pope Pius XII with her murderer Serenelli present as she was raised to the altars.

Serenelli died from complications of a fracture of the femur following a fall on 16 May 1970, in a convent at Macerata. He was 88 years old.

Alessandro's last words:

"I'm nearly 80 years old. I'm about to depart.

"Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself.

"My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried.

"There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life.

"When I was 20 years-old, I committed a crime of passion. Now, that memory represents something horrible for me. Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me. I still have impressed upon my heart her words of rebuke and of pardon. She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer. Thirty years of prison followed.

"If I had been of age, I would have spent all my life in prison. I accepted to be condemned because it was my own fault.

"Little Maria was really my light, my protectress; with her help, I behaved well during the 27 years of prison and tried to live honestly when I was again accepted among the members of society. The Brothers of St. Francis, Capuchins from Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant. I've been living with their community for 24 years, and now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother, Assunta.

"I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children. I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life."

Signature, Alessandro Serenelli

Love and forgiveness.

Happy Valentine's Day to us all! :)

source: http://www.mariagoretti.org/

TRICK OR TREAT

2014-11-01T19:16:00.001-07:00

I researched the history of trick or treat on the net and found this and I quote "Trick-or-treat is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money) with the phrase "Trick or treat!" The "trick" is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given to them. In North America, trick-or-treating has been a customary Halloween tradition since the late 1920s. It typically happens between 5:30pm and 9:30pm^[1] on October 31,^[2] although some municipalities choose other dates.^[3] Homeowners wishing to participate in it sometimes decorate their private entrances with artificial spider webs, plastic skeletons and jack-o-lanterns. Some rather reluctant homeowners would simply leave the candy in bowls on the porch, others might be more participative and would even ask an effort from the children in order to provide them with candy. In more recent years, however, the practice has spread to almost any house within a neighborhood being visited by children." - Wikipedia

Halloween is one of the most awaited activity in the office. We stayed late at night to decorate our cubes and make sure that it looks spooky to the children. It was very stressful because we were hitiing 2 birds with one stone, we had to decorate while finishing all deliverables to the client making sure they are on time.

I was supposed to have dinner in the upper photo but I cancelled it because there were so many things to do. I was the one who initiated the dinner but I was the one who cancelled it, funny right? I know I left my friend disappointed that night but I'll make sure to catch up with him this week.

We really had fun that day and ate our lunch together at Brown cup and I ordered Hungarian sausage with cheese but was not satisfied with the serving if there's a sunny side up egg on the side would really made a difference but thank you to Leslie and Mildred for feeding me with their extra rice and left over pork chop.

Priceless friends

Yummy but cannot satisfy my big appetite. hehe :)

I really envied Ludge's meal. I will really go back to Brown cup and order this! Thanks Ludge for giving me a part of the pancakes. :)

After the sumptuous lunch we headed back to the office and slept. But for me no sleep happened because my dad called and invited me over for a family lunch. I said NO but my father insisted so I gave in.I was really full that day! While with my family over lunch, Leslie texted me for Ludge's make-up so I hurriedly went back to the office and was shocked to see a flock of people and children with their costumes waiting for the elevator to open. There are 7 elevators in the building but that afternoon was different, it was really a busy elevator afternoon and you really have to wait.

I was cramming over Ludge's make-up, I was really scared that it will not turn out the way I wanted it to be, I didn't want to fail Ludge's expectation on the "zombie look" he tried to achieve. I was praying the whole time while doing the make-up asking for God's wisdom on what to do next with Ludge's look because first of all I'm no good at scary make-up looks, I just researched in Pinterest and followed diligently the steps there. God is really good though it didn't turned out the way it should be but still Ludge won as the BEST zombie look that day.

Congrats Ludge :)

November 1 (All Saint's Day) I spent the entire time with my family at family park. At first I thought it was just a joke that we will go to Family Park but NO they were really serious and I told my parents we could spend it somewhere like in the house why Family Park? But I ended up enjoying the seesaw. I miss playing like a kid.

MAGNUM FOR THE FAMILY

Ate Kay with King :)

Enjoy the weekend everyone. :)

bible verse for this post is " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

God Bless.

MY CHRISTIAN FAMILY

2014-10-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I am attending the CFC-Singles for Christ Christian Life Program weekly every Saturday for the past 2 months now, its a 3 month (12 weeks) program with different topic every session. I joined because I was looking for a community where I can share my love for God and his son Jesus. I'm not a newbie in this community as a matter of fact at age 4 I was already a CFC-Kids for Christ member and was singing praises and worship at that early age, when I turned 15 that was the time I joined CFC-Youth for Christ and everything in my life changed. My view for life and love changed not because I learned many things while serving but I experienced a tragic unimaginable event, something I shouldn't have done in the first place. I fell hard and broke myself to pieces. It don't matter to me now not even a bit. Learning is way far from experiencing! Learning gives you knowledge but Experiencing gives you wisdom and a lesson. I left the community without saying my farewell and promised to myself not to ever return again! Oh yes I didn't, it took me 9 years to return, it first started last year when my cousin keeps on bugging me from a text message, calls, private messages to join the community, And yes for 1 year she received a BIG NO from me. Good thing my cousin didn't give up on me and just last September I agreed on attending.

Last week our session was about Christian Family and how important family is in the society, In the sharing it was stressed out that world peace should start in the family. The basic unit of the society, a place for teaching and training of children, a place for training leaders of the church, and a domestic church. Sad to enumerate but today the world is becoming more materialistic that God's plan for the family is not happening. God has lost His central place in the family, The family itself is losing its importance and little did we know that our family is under attack by evil forces.

As a christian we are called to be as followers of Jesus, who came to the world to die for us. We are called to make a decision that we want God's plan to happen in our family. Take time and give attention to the task of building a strong Christian family. PRAY together as a family - THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER. Fathers should take steps to assume full responsibility for the spiritual and material needs of the family. Fathers alongside the mothers should provide all the needs of their children and teach them how to be close to God - Start them young.

After the session, we gathered around and had a discussion as a group. My leader handed over 2 letters. I asked from whom but from the back of my mind I knew it was from my parents. I was hesitant to read it in front of them because I know completely myself, I am a crying baby, emotional, OA and I fell so unguarded that time and wasn't ready for any emotional leak! When I opened my mother's letter tears fell and I couldn't stop myself so I told everyone in the group that I'm so moved by my mother's letter, it was really full of emotions and gratitude. On the other hand my unexpressive father told me he loves me and always remember that even though I can't hear him say I love you but his actions speaks louder than words.

My mom's letter encourages me more to be true to God, I am stronger now though still in-progress. But I know now where I am going and I'm going to the path God has prepared for me. She also stressed out to put God first in everything and that's what I'm doing now. Trust me I'm having a hard time giving God selflessly. But I'm getting there. I am making new plans in life and serving God and His people is now on TOP PRIORITY. Please pray for me on this! Also in the talk we were reminded that FAMILY starts from 2 individuals bounded by love and marriage and as early as now, we should be praying to God a suitable person that can bring you closer to God. This is noted I said to myself, I've been praying to God that whoever that person is, let him come and stay forever and never leave because I don't like break-ups it's so depressing, maybe God is really listening to me because He gave me a lot of time to think for certain guys, they stick around for awhile but they don't endure the test of time. After all Timing is everything. I sometimes ask myself is there something wrong with me? Then the answer is NO, there's nothing wrong with me, it's just that he is not what God prepared for me. The Lord knows that whoever that guy will be, he will have the very BEST of me. - so no pressure!

Ephesians 6:1-4 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

What you are in the family extends to what you are as a friend, as a friend I am very sensitive and I really make sure to make them feel special, because that's what I learned from my family to treat people with IMPORTANCE.

CHEERS TO 3 YEARS!

2014-09-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Woah! Let me welcome myself in blogging again! It's really been awhile. I read somewhere that it's hard to spot change everyday but when you look back everything is not the same, everything is different, there are things you might want to do the other way. But of course NO REGRETS to the choices you've made! I keep on asking God what is really my purpose? How can I do things differently? until now I'm at my own quest for searching my relevance in this world. There are desires of mine that I find it so hard to reach no matter how hard I try and as a human it's normal for me to cry out to the Lord. All of us have battles in our lives that we are silently fighting, hoping that someday we can overcome it. All what is happening to me is what God's plan for me. He is the engineer of my life, so I lift it all to him. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" declares the Lord "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9.

No matter how many crosses we carry there is always a reason to be grateful. Nowadays finding a decent job is hard and here I am celebrating my 3 years in my job.

I celebrated my 3rd year "employment" anniversary last week. I got hired by Accenture last September 19, 2011. This is not my first job but this is where I found genuine happiness. Happiness in working with people that are understanding, caring and kind.

Accenture hired employees by batch, so in my case we were 11 when hired and yes we are still alive and kicking in the company except for Alvin who is now in Australia. Before our anniversary celebration typhoon Mario hit Cebu and paralyzed the workers in coming to the office on time due to heavy flood in the city. Jake was trapped in his place and was absent during this year's celebration.

We celebrated it at Duz grill (click the link for their website) at 33A Fourth Street, San Antonio Village, Apas, Lahug, 6000 Cebu City.

The food was great and the personnels were very accommodating.

Food photos grabbed from Cha Lato. We enjoyed our lunch as batch mates. Let me show you our throwback celebrations over the years :)

2012

2013

I just didn't celebrate my anniversary in 1 day but I spent the whole week last week celebrating it with the people I love and treasure.

I really love to spend time with these guys. My respect and love for them are high as the highest mountains. They are very transparent and real. I really find sincerity in them. Thank you for coming along and saying yes to me when I said I was craving for La Marea's salted caramel brownie cup. Sorry gays for the craving blame it on the hormones! hahaha...

That night after I spent it with my high school best friends, Mel and Iyes. We are 4 in the group but Des is still in Australia and very focus in her studies I supposed. Can't hide it but I am waiting for December to arrive for Des to be back home for Christmas. :)

We ate at Brique (click the link for the website). A place good for dates.

Lucky us! We didn't have any reservations made that day but we were accommodated right away.

After having dinner we decided to look for somewhere to talk so I brought them to Fujinoya.

Since I said my goodbye to coffees last July, my recent obsessions are teas and fruit juices (not powder).

Last Friday I wrapped up the week with my officemates over a not-so-pricey dinner. But it was so full of laughs, jokes and chitchats. Chowabunnga offers yummy food at a very affordable price, when I say affordable it means that my dinner was only for 100 pesos and it was already a Katsudon.

So to end this post, Let me raise my pink moscato champagne and CHEERS TO 3 YEARS and MORE in Life and Love.

(Thanks Mike Lora for this drink)

MARGARETTE

2014-04-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

no words

only photographs

MARGARETTE

model : Earl Margarette Pepito

HMUA : Debbie Buot

Location : Crown Regency Hotel

Photographer : Marian Jo Ortiz (me)

ACN - IWD Photoshoot

2014-03-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

Accenture celebrates International Women's Day

Strong

independent

boss

creative

one of a kind

These photos were taken at our office.

Thank you to all my friends who helped me and assisted me in this shoot.

Happy Women's Month :)

KUALA LUMPUR 2014

2014-03-08T05:57:00.001-08:00

You might be thinking I'm in Hokkaido, Japan right? hahaha.. that's an ad in Bukit Bingtang, Kuala Lumpur but just so timely Japan is really one of my many dream vacation destination.

I went to Kuala Lumpur with my Highschool girlfriends last February and it was filled with a lot of adventure. It was an unplanned vacation, Desiree was booking her flight back to Australia and saw that AirAsia was on sale and offered direct flights to Cebu-Kuala Lumpur before you have to go to Manila to be able to reach Kuala Lumpur or opt for a coach from Singapore. The seats were on sale and without any hesitations Des booked for all of us. I cannot forget the last call from the airport personnel for us and we ended up laughing and running towards the plane with our super heavy luggages. The girl on the check-in counter forgot to give us immigration papers to fill up so when we reached the immigration officer and asked for the paper, we said we were not given one so we called the girl who attended us and hurriedly filled up the immigration paper.

We even witnessed a shoot for a commercial and made a conclusion that it's really not easy to be a part of a shoot. We were standing there for half an hour and they repeated a specific scene for almost an hour. gooooosh!!

I enjoyed my weekend in Kuala Lumpur and as a photographer it's always a must to take photos when you go home and I must say technology with smartphones now is advance compared before. My latest phone can be as great as my Canon Dslr in some ways and of course with a help of an app.

(photos below taken with Iphone 5s edited through VSCO cam app)

Let me share to you our funny adventure going to the Petronas towers, We thought it was just 2 blocks away from the place we stayed since we can see the building where we stood, so we walked and walked and noticed we already walked for almost an hour hahaha.. We were tired and exhausted when we reached the buidling and to our dismay we were not allowed to have a photo to the stage so we ended up just sitting on the fountain side. That's why I don't have a photo of it on my dslr, I tried but I guess my 17mm - 50mm f/2.8 lens wasn't good enough maybe if the stage wasn't closed that time it would be possible. Well Iphone photo is not bad at all right??

Berjaya Times Square - the tallest and biggest mall I ever strolled so far :)

Our main transportation to Genting Highlands

Batu Caves

His name is Noman, a Bangladeshi in Malaysia, my friend interviewed him about his life while he was cooking our dinner and I was moved by him. He works in Malaysia to send money to Bangladesh and I remember all the OFW who work abroad to send money to the Philippines and mind you it's not easy. Noman is a polite and dedicated man. I felt bad for not eating much the food he cooked but kimchi was not my thing that night.

When you travel make sure to eat at local cafes and try their food. You will be amazed :)

Cannot wait for another travel

This reminds me that I need a travel buddy who loves to travel and is not lazy booking flights. Last week my officemates were booking flights and I was looking for a companion to go to local tourist spots and found no one so I said to myself if I'll be having someone in my life he should be willing to travel and be like Dora. Anyways just a thought! hehehe

VALENTINE'S LUNCH AT CAFE GEORG

2014-02-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

My officemates decided to celebrate Valentine's Day as a team and appointed me as in-charge for everything. I chose Cafe Georg because it's near our office and I love their desserts, pastas, fish, veggie salads and everything on the menu!

You can check out their menu here. (So you can check out the menu list and prices)

It was Valentines so what did you expect? Traffic!!! Grrr!!! We rode a cab and it took us so long to get there, the traffic in Banilad area was crazy as hell. secondly the restaurant was full good thing I made reservations beforehand. Third since the restaurant was full and manpower was limited, we heard other customers complained on how slow food was served, though our desserts were served very late and it took around 15 minutes to arrive on our table, we stayed calm and patient because we saw the faces of the waiters tensed jumping from one table to another. We even saw the owner helping out with on the counter. Can you imagine how busy that day was? It was really ridiculous!

I ordered fish fingers with veggie salad not because I'm on a diet but because my dress is fitting and no area for additional space for rice and I ordered carrot walnut cake for dessert. hehehe..

So after our lunch we hurriedly went back to the office and was shocked that still the traffic was everywhere. So we walked back to the office, after all we were very much ready for a walk to burn the carbs.

Thank you to my officemates who said yes on this invitation. We should dine more, eat more, laugh more and enjoy each other's company.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE :)

Name: Cafe Georg
Type: cakes & pastries, Intercontinental
Telephone:(032) 234 0887
Operating Hours:
10:30 AM to 10:00 PM Sun - Thurs

10:00 AM to 11:00 PM Fri - Sat
Branches:
- G/F MLD Building, Banilad, Cebu City

CAFE NORITER

2014-01-12T00:29:00.000-08:00

This Korean cafe has been circulating all over Cebu City as the cutest place to hang out with friends or lovers. Months ago you have to line up to get inside and the queuing was crazy!! It can take you 2 hours to be seated. That's how crazy it was metaphorically speaking. Whenever my cousins or friends suggests this place I always say "Can we find another place where we can be accommodated right away? I hate waiting." not until last month my officemate invited me in this place and I said "YES".

I ordered their best seller and fell in love with place. It feels like being in a house full of post-its. It's like a playhouse and at the same time a photo booth.

After all it was never too late to explore the place.

Glace forgot to properly fit in the wig to her hair.

Can someone show me the way to New York City? hehehe...

HAPPY US :)

MENUS

Cha and Glace showing the Korean peace sign :)

CARRIE FROM DOWN UNDER

2014-01-11T01:13:00.000-08:00

Carrie is a cousin of a best friend of mine, We first met 5 years ago when we had dance rehearsals for my best friend's debut. She's a Filipina-Australian studying in Adelaide, Australia. She's here in Cebu for a vacation. We had this shoot in Citylights Garden Condominium. Thanks to Mely for offering the place and Desy for the clothes. I shoot together along with Kaye Patrick Pableo.

I am not a fan of editing too much, I just want to fix or enhance a photo but for the 2 photos below I wanted to achieve a sun kissed look so I put more yellow and red. Let me know if it looks good or not.

Thank you

PHOTO JOURNEY FROM OCTOBER TO DECEMBER

2013-12-24T22:43:00.002-08:00

It's been two months since my last post and that saddens me because it reflects that I'm a bad blogger. I left this page unattended and I didn't open this for 2 months now and saw on the page stats that for 2 months this reached 1,320 views and there's nothing to view. Sorry guys :(

Honestly I have a problem with the sizes of my photos and it can only be solved if I reinstall CS6 so I can easily change the size of the photos without distorting the quality of my photos but until now I don't have that installed in the computer, for the meantime I manually change the size of my photos through HTML and if I have 20 photos to resize I have to manually edit the 20 photos and that is so tiring and time consuming.

This blog without photographs is nothing!!!

So that's my assignment to have that software installed in the computer, hopefully before this year ends.

I have to catch things up with my blog so again I have to apologize that I have to summarize all my photo journey for 2 months in 1 blog post.

Last October 5 2013, Scott Kelby, a famous photographer held his annual photo contest and this time it's a worldwide event and I joined that event together with my photographer friends and officemates Kpat and Lord. We went to CarCar City, Cebu and did street photography. That day was hot and very humid but that didn't stop us from walking the long streets of CarCar City. I live in Cebu but it was my first time to take photos of that area and that made me happy.

My officemate asked me if I can shoot with him for an engagement photo shoot and I said Yes. I was able to shoot 2 engagements in 1 month pheeeew!!!

JOHN AND ROWENA

JESTONI AND HANNAH

John and Rowena tied the knot last November 18 and Jestoni and Hannah tied the knot last November 30.

Congratulations to the Newly Weds :)

October 31, 2013 - Accenture Trick or Treat Event

I was one of the photographers that time and capturing photographs of my colleagues in their costumes was very memorable.

November 2 - We went to Jonah's house in the province. He lives somewhere far from the civilization and we experienced going back to basics. We also went to the Lady of the Rosary in Alcantara.

November 16, 2013

Yolanda Mission

We went to Northern Cebu and witnessed the after math of the super typhoon Yolanda. It was not a walk in the park mission we experienced a lot of hardship that day as volunteers but everything was worth it!

Seeing the smiles of the people living there breaks my heart for I always question God about my life's hardships but that time I was grateful for what God has given me.

December

Christmas month

My teammates had dinner at Cafe Marco and had our photo at the hotel's staircase :)

It took me 5 hours to finish this post Wheeeew!!!

I want to wish you a Merry Merry Christmas.

P.S. I didn't change the size of the photos so the quality of the image will stay the same, having no photoshop installed is really a dilemma right??

Bye Bye :)

PAPA'S BIRTHDAY AT FERIA

2013-10-09T07:40:00.000-07:00

My family decided to celebrate my father's birthday at Feria. I fell in love with their Chinese food, california maki and shawarma.

Their desserts are also mouth watering and very delicious.

saw this very cute baby girl so I didn't let her got away without snapping some photos of her.

My father is my fashion police officer. He is my commentator if I wear something not pleasing.

I learn from him that wearing appropriate clothes and looking good are very important.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA

I LOVE YOU :)

CHEERS TO TWO YEARS

2013-09-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

September 19

Anniversary date.

September 2011 when 11 new roll-ins joined Accenture. We created a friendship full of respect and dedication to work.

We call ourselves solid because after 2 years we are still complete as a batch.

HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY SOLID

The boys

The girls

Roy didn't like the idea of having a group photo, he find it OA!!

yet he was the most ready with his chinese collar vest.

IRONIC!!!

Jake and I took the initial exam together, final interview together and joined Accenture together.. HAHAHA

We had our Anniversary dinner in Yogu Yakiniku

YUL AND TIN WEDDING

2013-09-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

I love weddings
it's the sweetest thing ever.

September 18,2013

Yul and Tin tied the knot in Sacred Heart Parish and reception followed after at Casino Espanol.

I wasn't able to take a lot of photos this night because the table where I seated was near the couple so there were many official photographers blocking my view hehe :)

CAFE CAW

2013-09-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

I make sure to catch things up with my family and friends, my cousin invited me last week to chill somewhere but I spent it with friends so I promised to make it up with them the week after so I brought them to Cafe Caw.

Cafe Caw a new dessert shop at SSY Business Center in Lahug. They offer sweets that you will surely love. I fell in love with their red velvet cupcakes though their coffees lacks sugar for me but you can ask for an additional sugar but I still prefer coffees from CBTL or Starbucks hehehe.. I hope they can improve their coffees.

I love their interior it reminds me of candy and my colorful childhood. The music played in the back ground as I remembered are all KPop so I assume the owner is a Korean.

I want to grab all their red velvet cupcakes and bring them home. I got addicted to that thing!!!

red velvet cupcakes at 60 pesos

drinks at 135 pesos
cookies at 50 pesos
2 cookies at 75 pesos
paired with ice cream 30 pesos per scoop

You must try their cookies and their truffles.

Their crew are also very calm and honestly they serve well :)

their hot brownie cup is also very delicious and at 95 pesos :)

My cousin, ate Kaye looks like a Korean here right? or more like Chinese?? Let's be safe She looks like Asian! ehehe :)

Don't you adore their lamps?? They are so cute

I want to bring home the chairs badly

MY LOVE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

2013-09-15T07:43:00.001-07:00

I love to capture memories

I love to capture laughter, tears and true emotions that's why I love photography. I'll be turning 1 year old next month in this hobby and it feels so good looking at where my money goes with the accessories and gears. I want to practice this hobby and someday become a professional wedding photographer.

We don't know what the future beholds let's just take one step at a time.

Never stop chasing your dreams.

LET'S SHOOT :)

ALL GIRLS SATURDAY PARTY

2013-09-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Last September 7 and 8 I spent my days with my College friends. The name of our group is TRUE FRIENDS TFs for short. We make time to meet but it's impossible now to be complete because of work and family.

We celebrated Aby and Gera's 23rd birthday that night and had a blast at MO2 Club and slept at Crown Regency :)

making funny faces for the camera

Junie

Karen

Dinel, Junie and Karen

Singing Happy Birthday :)

Chocolate cakes

They want me to be on the picture so Karen wrote my name on her phone hehe.. funny!!

Nikita, Mitch, Gera and Aby

getting ready to party

up for a party

That weekend was a blast!!!
(photo grabbed from Mitch)

THE IMPERFECTLY PERFECT FATHER

2013-09-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

I grew up well under the roof of my disciplinarian father, he was very strict before and a straight forward man. He was never a soft spoken person maybe that's where I got my frankness and being out spoken. While growing up he never sleeps if one of his children is missing, he makes sure that there's food on the table, he checks if we dress up well and looks presentable. My father is a very responsible man though he is not perfect as a father he tried everything to give us a good life and for me that is all that matters.

I can't seem to understand him before. There were times I wished I had a different father, a cool father, a father who will not scold me if I'm 15 minutes late from the agreed time, a father who doesn't mind if I stayed out late but as I age and learn about life I started to understand him completely.

All I can say now is that it's so rare to find a responsible man, and I'm blessed God gave me a father that selflessly gave everything for his children.

He will turn 51 next month and I'm gonna spend more time with him given the luxury now, If I will have a man in the future I'll make sure that he is more likely my father, responsible, God fearing and a true gentleman.

"You are worth a lot, don't go and mess with any boy, Love when you're ready and not because of pressure. Study well, don't give me problems with school, Choose friends that will bring out the best in you" -- My father's never ending line when I was still in school and I really followed his words I surrounded my life with positive friends in school and didn't linger with boys and now my father's line is "Choose a guy that will not cause stress in your life" HAHAHAHAHA...

He will never be replaced in my heart, He is the first man and the last man I will love and cherish :)

(A face without make-up)

ANOTHER FISCAL YEAR FOR ACCENTURE

2013-09-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

Every year Accenture PCS celebrates Year End Party. In Accenture one fiscal year starts in September and ends every last day of August. Last year's Year end party here

In that last year's post I mentioned that one photo was my primary photo and this year another Year end photo is up on my facebook and used as my primary photo.

current primary photo on Facebook

The theme for this year's party is neon. I don't want to buy a new dress or a new accessory for this event, so I looked for old stuffs on my closet and grabbed whatever neon accessory mixed them all together and voila i had an outfit for the party.

Every girl needs a LBD (Little Black Dress) that saves her on whatever occasion.

What I love about this little black dress is that it fits me well and it's a bustier dress if you know what that means.

Got this dress from an officemate who sells online and it was such a good feeling that it suits me perfectly. Before I bought the dress I had a lot of questions like will it fit my bust area? how short is it? what material is used? It's hard when you buy online as you only see them but not really feel the material and all but I was lucky enough for this dress.

This Liz Claiborne bag is a gift from my aunt. It was my first time to use this bag ang the color of the bag matched the theme of the party.

My over used Nine West heels

I can't seem to choose on what heels to wear that night. I was torn between the two but still I opted on my overused trusted yellow green Nine West heels.

I haven't used these Terra and Agua violet wedges. I need another event for these shoes. Another Accenture event please?? I haven't been out to party and socialize lately I prefer to stay at home and study photography or read photography blogs so my heels are really resting in my room. I usually go out if there are photo shoots and use my over used fit flops and not heels.

Here's a photo of me. I don't have a photo of myself from shoes to hair so I grabbed from my friend's

For the team contest our team had given the best of what they can give and finished as 1st place. NOT BAD.

I love this photo of Bush and the girls

After the party we went to The Loft and chilled up with a ladies' drink

Every event there'a always a photo booth and unlucky for me this year I don't have one boooo!!!

but I was able to join my friend's photo booth session

TOP FIVE TIMELESS ROMANTIC SONGS

2013-08-25T06:35:00.001-07:00

I'm a music lover and I usually update myself with new tracks yet I stay in love with timeless pieces that will never fade with time.

A romantic song is one of my favorites.

I'm sharing my favorite love songs that I find timeless :)

5.) Just a kiss - Lady Antebellum

The lyrics of this song and the melody amuses me.

The video begins with a young woman, Joy, entering a train and discovering an iPad in her backpack. The iPad has a video of her boyfriend with a sign written in French words that mean "Don't forget about me," and also some videos of the couple's travels throughout London, Paris, and Berlin, after which the couple bid each other farewell. A subsequent scene shows Joy's boyfriend finding her sitting on a train seat and they share a kiss. Joy is then seen awoken from sleep as a man named Brady, who looks exactly like the boyfriend in Joy's dream, sits next to her. Brady apologizes for waking her and asks if she minds if he sits next to her. The two make introductions, and Joy mentions her dream. Brady then takes out his iPad case (exactly the same case as the one Joy had in her dream), and smiles at her. Joy smiles back, having experienced this deja vu moment. - Wikipedia

4.) Terrified by Katharine Mcphee ft. Zachary Levi

Katharine's voice is magical :)

"Terrified" is the second single from American singer Katharine McPhee's second studio album, Unbroken, which was released on January 5, 2010. The song features singer/songwriter Jason Reeves. The song was written by American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi and Reeves. - Wikipedia

3.) Marry me by The Train

I love this song so much!! the title of the song is the most romantic words ever... I love the harmony, the melody, the lyrics, the video and the band it's a WHOLE PACKAGE

The music video for the song was directed by Lex Halaby. The concept of the video consists of three main outlets - it starts off with separate shots of different couples sitting on a couch and reminiscing about the start of their relationships and the details of how they met. The rest of the video alternates between two different environments, starting with a diner in which a love at first sight moment occurs between Pat Monahan and the waitress of the diner, played by Anna Camp, when their eyes meet. The second alternate environment is the band performing the song, with drummer Scott Underwood on piano and Jimmy Stafford on guitar, with a gray background. The story of the video progresses with the waitress looking at the table where Pat was sitting only to find that he has left, causing her to become regretful of not taking a chance to talk to Pat. The waitress eventually runs out of the diner, hoping that her true love has not gone far, but is disappointed to realize that that's not the case. She then returns to the table where Pat was sitting and finds that he's left his hat. She looks up to see Pat return to the diner, their eyes meet, and he smiles. The final shot of the video shows two steaming cups of coffee on either side of a table in the diner. - Wikipedia

2.) All the love in the world by The Corrs

I love this song personally because I find this a reflection of myself. A girl who believes who has everything, a family that she loves and loves her, friends that will always be there for her, A career that keeps her busy and happy but every time she looks back she misses one thing and that's her heart. She's afraid to love thinking its not gonna work out, Afraid to be rejected and afraid to open up. She needs someone who will prove to her that love is not an illusion and gonna stood up for her weaknesses. She needs someone who really sees her and gonna stay for a lifetime and just for a moment.

"All the Love in the World" was originally included on their third studio album, "In Blue" (2000).^[1] The song was later included on the soundtrack of the 2001 romantic comedy film America's Sweethearts, starring Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack.^[2] It was released as a promotional single to the film, with a remix version being available in its soundtrack^[2] and in a promotional single (which includes the album version, as well),^[3] and with a music video with scenes of the film being released to further promote it.^[4]

"All the Love in the World" was written by The Corrs (Andrea, Caroline, Sharon and Jim), while Robert John "Mutt" Lange co-wrote and produced the song. - Wikipedia

1.) I knew I loved you before I met you by Savage Garden

This is my ultimate favorite romantic song.. This song depicts a love that is meant to be. Falling in love with someone whose characteristics were embedded in your mind right before you met him. When a time comes you finally say the words " He is the one ".

The music video was filmed by director Kevin Bray in August, 1999 on a New York City Subway set that had previously been used on the sitcom Seinfeld.^[1] It features Hayes playing out a romantic plot on a subway train, with a female passenger (played by American actress Kirsten Dunst) as the object of his affections. At one point, the train comes to a stop due to a power outage; red emergency lighting comes on and everyone in the carriage joins hands. Hayes, who is sitting opposite his aforementioned love interest, extends his hand to her. As they touch, the video cuts to a montage of the couple walking through a park, bathed in sunlight, laughing and holding hands. The video then cuts back to the carriage as the power comes back on and the train pulls into the station. Hayes and the woman exit with the other passengers, and share a fleeting glance before going their separate ways. Shots of the band performing alone on the subway platform and in the carriage are interspersed throughout the video. - Wikipedia

Hope you like my top 5 romantic songs. Tell me yours :)

Happy weekend everyone.

THE RANCH RESORT

2013-08-21T08:05:00.002-07:00

Last August 17 and 18 we had our Year end party at The Ranch Resort in Toledo City, Cebu. I love how it feels to be connected back to nature. I love the scenery it's so picturesque. They have a pool, a farm and zipline, too bad wasn't able to try their zipline.

The ranch resort is a best place to have photoshoots or pre nuptial shoots. I gotta go back there :)

Thank you Accenture Dot Com for this year end party and next party to watch for is the Accenture PCS Year end Party wohooooo!!!!

They are just strict if its already 12 a.m. you are no longer allowed to stay near the pool or roam around the resort. You have to stay in your respective rooms. Weird right? hehehe.. Only in THE RANCH

free videokeee for me..

American Bulldog

WHAT I LEARN IN CREATING AWESOME VIDEOS

2013-08-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

I used the word awesome because I got good feedbacks on my first ever video. I thought my video will be a disaster and just another plain youtube birthday dedication video but whenever people tell me "Oh I see so much effort on your video" then it means they can tell I put a lot of time, dedication and creativity. I really worked hard on my first video mainly because the person I was dedicating it was a hard-to-please kind of guy, We love to take photos together and when I let to see him my photos before he was honest enough to tell me the areas I have to work on and sometimes his words challenged me to do it better and as time flies by and I got to learn more photography techniques and spent more time learning the craft his words of appreciation on my photos were already cheering me up and inspiring me to shoot more.

I never tried editing a video before, the reasons are first I don't have an editor as great as the videographers are using in creating fabulous videos. second my only editor is Imovie and honestly I am uneducated to use it, at first look on Imovie I was already confused how to run the thing. third I don't have a project to start with.

So I gave video making a try. I searched in Youtube on how to operate the only editor I have, I also experimented the editor and lucky enough it was easy as A-B-C and the process of creating videos was fun and I'm loving every single of it. I worked on my videos for 3 days every after work and just polishing every details.

To summarize everything the things I learn in creating videos are

1.) Gather all videos you need
2.) make sure to capture videos that create memories
3.) videos should show the subject's personality
4.) Pick the right song for the video make a research
5.) Have a master plan, before everything you should already have a vision on what the output will be.

Like photography I consider videography an art that creates lifetime memories in motion

Here's my first youtube video

WHY I LOVE SURPRISING MY FRIENDS

2013-08-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

I love surprising my friends on their birthdays. If time and availability permits I wish I could do it to all of them but sadly I am quite busy lately yet I never missed greeting a close friend on their birthday. I make it sure to save it on my phone and write it down on my planner in case my phone will be stolen. I remember when I was in college and had limited financial resources I organized surprises to my girlfriends on their birthday and buy small cakes for them. There was even an instance we asked permission from our teacher to spare a little time on his class so we can throw a little surprise on our friend and he gave us a go signal and even participated on our surprise. 2 years after that surprise a teacher asked us to share to the class something that you will never forget in your life? and my friend shared to the class the surprise we gave her on our birthday and I was happy that she treasured that day. There was another surprise I organized on my friend's birthday that was almost ruined by the rain, It was June and I was out with my another friend looking for a chocolate cake and we didn't bring umbrellas that afternoon and we had a hard time looking for taxis and I ended up crying for the misfortune we encountered but in the end we still surprised my friend with our uniforms super wet.

A friend asked me these questions :

why do I love surprising friends on their birthday?

First because I grew up doing that. When I was in Highschool birthdays were really a big thing. Whenever someone will celebrate her birthday our teacher will always makes sure that there will be a little classroom celebration. I spent my highschool in an all girls school so it was a norm to give letters, balloons, hugs and kisses to the celebrant and when I reached college I had all the luxury of time organizing surprises because my time was not divided by friends and a boyfriend it was all for my friends LUCKY THEM HAHAHA...

Is it my custom to greet my friends at 12 midnight on their birthday?

Yes. Until now my bestfriend with different time zone makes sure to greet me at12 midnight (GMT+8) on my birthday. There was even a time that all my girlfriends will have a game on who can greet first on the celebrant but if it's before 12 a.m. you are disqualified. So girly and immature doings right?? hehehe... You can't blame me I grew up doing that but one thing I will never forget was the time I drunk too much alcohol and wasn't able to greet my friend at 12 midnight and greeted her the next morning and she really reacted so much like I missed her birthday and to think I still greeted her on her birthday but not at 12 midnight so I said sorry and from that time on I never missed any birthday without greeting at 12 midnight.

What do I usually give on birthdays?

I give cakes. Its the sweetest thing ever on a birthday and a little message.

What do I get on surprising my friends?

I don't get anything but I gain friendship and loyalty. A simple greeting will make their day so why not greet? It doesn't cost anything yet it means so much to someone.

Do they surprise you in return on your birthday?

Every birthday I don't expect a surprise because I might be surprised that there's no surprise HAHAHA but yes my friends surprise me and never fails to greet me on my birthday.

Leslie's 23rd birthday. I love her so much that on her day I went out looking for a chocolate cake and a letter for her birthday. She inspires me to love life.

Salie's 23rd birthday.

I cut 23 papers and handed out to 23 of Salie's close friends and let them wrote down what they like about Salie and Their wish for her. Secretly we asked her friend from Manila to answer questions about what he likes about Salie and it was all fun!!! and our friend also suggested to print the man's face and do a mascot.

And for my 23rd birthday my friends gave me 23 messages and 23 cupcakes.

MAITRE CHOCOLATIER

2013-08-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

Aby and I was looking for a place where we can sit down and at first we thought of Starbucks or Bo's but I was craving for chocolates so the very first that came to my mind was Maitre Chocolatier cafe and boutique. They served chocolates in all forms woaah truly HAPPINESS.

I wanted to try their Spicy Chocolate Drink but was afraid to taste how spicy it is so I sticked to Classic Chocolate Drink.

Classic Chocolate Drink - P150

French Toast - P105

French Toast + Classic Chocolate Drink

Nutella Panini - P128

Nom Nom Chocolate Drink

with Aby

Inside the cafe

If you want to buy imported chocolates they also offer it on their variety of chocolates displayed.

No one can ever go wrong with giving chocolates to girls, Its still the sweetest thing ever :)

An ordinary day to eat and drink chocolate while catching up with a friend.

BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY VIEW IN LIFE

2013-07-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

“No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

I remember when I was 9 years old my mom bought books for me to read like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery books. Those where the times in my life my being imaginative and my creativity developed. I started to think outside of the box.

That changed 10 years after, I was 19 when I started reading Self help Books and get rid of any mystery and fiction books because from the name itself "self help" I NEED HELP!!! I totally was so mad at the world and was outrageous with everything. Then I saw a book my mom bought "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho and after reading it I learned a lot about life, love, family, friends and God.

In the book The Alchemist, I see myself in Santiago's character as a person that is lost in this world. Santiago gave up everything to look for the treasure that he dreamt, he even left his family and Fatima, the girl in the dessert that he loves. He spent most of his life meeting a lot of people with different personality and Santiago learned a lot from each one of them. I remember the positive guy who touched me so much. I really admire his optimism. The part when his 10,000 dollars was stolen and all he said was "well atleast it's not 20,000" that alone made me think that no matter how harsh the world is to us there a lot still that suffers more than we do. In the end Santiago returned home and realized that his true treasure is HOME :)

Second book from Paolo is Eleven Minutes, Maria, a prostitute okay let's rephrase... Maria, an ordinary girl with an extraordinary life. I recommend this book to all girls who wants to value "love making" so much, I say this books tells us to wait for that right time with the right person to come and for those who thinks that they are already damaged this book is also good for you. This book can give you hope to live a new life forgetting the dark past. For me who is hopeless romantic and still believes that there is a man in this world that will love me unconditionally this book lights me up all the time. :)

Another Paulo Coelho book is Veronika Decides to Die, Veronika is from Slovenia who don't want to live anymore for a very crazy reason ( read the book for you to know) it's actually very funny, so she decided to kill herself overdosing with pills but unluckily she survived but was told by the doctor that she only has 1 week more to live. She was happy that she's gonna die but days before her scheduled death she fell in love... She did everything in the name of love with the remaining hours she had.

Another Paulo Coelho book is Witch of Portobello, Athena was born differently from others but she only was a person with exaggerated emotions. For those who is lost and wants to find their self I recommend this book. From this book I learned to keep my emotions to myself and suffer in silence and not let anyone know you are hurt for it will not do anything good to you but only an act of surrendering your weakness. In this book I was thought to cry and to be strong no matter what...

Here are quotes from Paulo Coelho's books

“What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch of Portobello

“You are what you believe yourself to be”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch Of Portobello

“Because all my life I've learned to suffer in silence - Athena”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch Of Portobello

“when mouths close, it’s because
there’s something important to be said.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch Of Portobello

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
― Paulo Coelho, Alchemist

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“Be crazy! But learn how to be crazy without being the center of attention. Be brave enough to live different.”
― Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die

“Love fills everything. It cannot be desired because it is an end in itself. It cannot betray because it has nothing to do with possession. It cannot be held prisoner because it is a river and will overflow its banks. Anyone who tries to imprison love will cut off the spring that feeds it, and the trapped water will grow stagnant.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch Of Portobello

“Faith is not Desire. Faith is Will. Desires are things that need to be satisfied, whereas Will is a force. Will changes the space around us,...”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch Of Portobello

“People learn twenty-five percent from their teacher, twenty-five percent from listening to themselves, twenty-five percent from their friends, and twenty-five percent from time.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch Of Portobello

“Nothing in this world happens by chance.”
― Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die

“Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn't have the courage to say "yes" to life?”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

“Now that she had nothing to lose, she was free.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

“I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It's all a question of how I view my life.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

“I’ve learned that waiting is the most difficult bit, and I want to get used to the feeling, knowing that you’re with me, even when you’re not by my side.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

“I am two women: one wants to have all the joy, passion and adventure that life can give me. The other wants to be a slave to routine, to family life, to the things that can be planned and achieved. I'm a housewife and a prostitute, both of us living in the same body and doing battle with each other.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes