Tomorrow, I embark on the first adventure in store for me this Summer of 2012.

May it exceed my expectations, surprise me pleasantly, and be as meaningful as I think it will be. 

Here’s to 2 weeks in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap!

marian16rox:

You are free. Free to dream, to love, to laugh and find peace. Free to be you and happy.

I know I’ve already posted one at the actual start of the month but that was before some decision making and taking action and most importantly, exams.

Now that all the words that needed to be said, have been said, and all the things that needed to be done, have been done, it is finally starting to feel like Summer~

funnification-is-not-a-word:

She didn’t mean James Potter.

She meant Severus Snape.

(first quote: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter Two: A Peck of Owls; second quote: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter Thirty-Three: The Prince’s Tale)

*jaw drop*

I honestly just realised that.

                                             Haven’t seen these few candles in ages~

Apart from the happyfying cards, letters, and notes they bring for me, birthdays have, for many years now, been ordinary for me and nothing much to look forward to.

And after too many of that sort, I guess I’ve stopped looking forward to them completely - probably why I didn’t hesitate at all to leave the country last year and this year (I really need to stop making a habit out of it) around my birthday season. 

Maybe someday I’ll get back the child-like wonder where birthdays are concerned.

Till then, at least I still have my birthday wish and blowing out of candles to hold on to. (and if Mother ever agrees to let me get a birthday pie instead, I’d look forward to that too)

Anyway, I think this milestone deserves some reflection, even if I can’t muster any amount of excitement for it. 

Dread, maybe. Excitement? Not quite.

In a matter of hours, I’ll be bidding farewell to my teenage years. Those turbulent, tumultuous years where stereo-typically, I was supposed to have lived wild and recklessly. 

Instead, I refused to succumb to all that.

I steered clear of sex, drugs, alcohol, clubs and all sorts of debauchery and instead, chose fandoms to obsess over, nature walks to take, jigsaw puzzles to piece, and all other channels of stress-relief like bowling, bowling, bowling. 

Where there was once naivety, ignorance, and innocence,

                               there is now more worldliness, awareness and experiences.

Despite the peer pressure, the angst, the anger outbursts, I’ve made it through with my principals intact, kinships and friendships that matter still secure, and still true to myself and for that, I am proud. 

I’ve toiled through sleep deprivations, difficult relationships, juggled commitments and emerged victorious from the battles I fought.

I have tried and failed, loved and lost, but I have also sought and found, explored and learned.

I may not have had the most story-book worthy of teenage years, but I daresay that at least I have had a wholesome and educating experience.

Most importantly, I am thoroughly appreciative that I have been allowed to live this long.

So farewell, teenage years,

& May the next decade be all kinds of wonderful~ (:

kaileysunshine:

So pretty :o