Today marks a decade.

A decade. 10 years. That's a whole lot of time.

A lot of things can happen in 10 years. Isn't it one of those staple interview questions, "How do you see yourself in 10 years?" Well, in all the interviews I've been in I always get asked that question, and I always say in 10 years I will be FABULOUS! Ok, so I admit I might not be that crazy during interviews, but in my head that's what I was saying!

***photo from lifeinaventicup.com

You might be curious as to why I all of a sudden decide to write about a decade. Well, as I previously stated in the beginning of this post, a lot can happen in 10 years. And for me, the past 10 years have been a h*ll of a ride. Yup, it's official, the bu and I have been together for a decade. We started dating when we were 12, do the math! :P haha.

at our College baccalaureate mass

That was us graduating from college, back then we were just 2 years together. Yes, we went to college that early, he always insisted he was Doogie Howser anyway! :P It's always nice to look at old photos of us together. It makes me realize I look like I never aged a day. ahahahaha...I kid. It makes me realize I am still head over heals in love with this guy. Uh-mazeballs.

So since this post is obviously going to be cheesy, I won't hold back. After all, 10 years is a lot of time and there are a lot of things to say. But since I don't want to bore you let me keep it in theme and share with you the Top 10 Reasons why I know my guy is THE guy for me.

10. He compliments my insanity. Let's all start with the obvious. I admit it, I am insaaaaaane! But there is system to this madness. Or is there? Hehe.

photo credit: Rina  Vivencio del Rosario

There are just times when you don't care what other people might say, you just want to do things because they're fun. Crazy Fun! It's even more fun when there's someone always there willing to be just as crazy as you. Although I would still argue he's crazier than me. With the bu, we like to act silly just because it's more fun that way.

9. He spoils me. The bu takes me and picks me up from work EVERYDAY. You don't think that's a big deal but if you take into account the fact that he works everyday as well as goes on duty at night, yup, that's spoilage. But that's not all, I have never gone to work hungry. He always makes sure I have something to eat. Not impressed yet, when I feel like being a brat and crave for crazy stuff, he agrees to drive to wherever just to satisfy my insane milk tea addiction, random chicken skin chicharon craving or give me my after drinking french fries fix even when I'm passed out on the passenger side.

But that's not all! I am a big baby, and this is where my cousins say I am a big cry baby. I don't like seeing, smelling, touching, or being near anything yucky. And the list of things that are yucky are as weird as cracks on the sidewalk to gross patterns on random objects. Ugh, just typing this makes my hair stand on end. So you can imagine how high maintenance a girl like me can be. Extremely. But the bu knows exactly how to deal with me. He knows when to mock me or make me feel better and he knows better than to tease me when I'm in a mood, most of the time.

The bu is a spoiler but he's also spoiled. It's all about finding the right balance and knowing when to give in or keep on pushing.

8. He always knows what to say to make me feel better. With him I am always safe. I have a weird quirk. Whenever I read something or watch something before I sleep I always get nightmares about it. It has happened for the Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and the scariest of them all The Walking Dead. It is not fun to wake up in the middle of the night to a dark room fearing the zombies have finally come to attack. :/ It's a good thing there's always someone to tell me that I'm being ridiculous and snaps me back to reality.

7. He makes me laugh. All the time. Random conversations with the bu will never be boring. He always has new material that never cease to crack me up. Sometimes I wish I had a camera running all the time just to catch him doing the silliest things. Whenever people meet him for the first time they always think he's this serious cause he gives off this serious-I-will-only-participate-in-intelligent-conversations vibe. But our good enough friends have seem glimpses of the crazy bu. Trust me, if you want to see the person I love spending time with, load him up with scotch and watch the magic happen. :D

Taken at the Evenstcape XV party where the bu decided he could down a whole bottle of Chivas. 

And here are a couple of photos we took at a wedding we went to in Boracay. Obviously we love to dance when we're drunk. But we love to make fun of ourselves even more. Jazz hands!

I believe that the key to a successful relationship is laughter. If you know how to make fun of yourself as much as you make fun of other people, hehe then nothing can keep you down. I can never stay mad at the bu because when he does something stupid, he knows ways to make me laugh. And when you're laughing you can never stay mad.

6. He calls me out when I am out of line. Growing up a middle-child-only-girl has both it's perks and drawbacks. The drawback, I don't have anyone to share clothes and shoes with. The perk, I was NEVER at fault. Yes, my childhood was crazy but it was always happy. So one can imagine the pressure of having to deal with a person who NEVER thinks she's wrong. There are times when I can be the most unreasonable person, there are times lang naman, not naman ALL the time. and the bu always knows when to tell me off and when to just ride it out.

I believe a good partner is someone who knows when to listen to you b*tch and whine but will be brave enough to tell you to your face that what just happened is your fault and that you should just suck it up!

5. He supports me in everything that I do. I've always been fickle. I'm a girl like that. It's a good thing I always have a sounding board with whom I can always bounce my ideas off of. He balances me out, gives me different perspectives to a certain situation.

What I love the most about our relationship is that there are times when we talk like adults, and there are times when at the end of the day, we can be the big kids that we are inside.

4. My friends think he's awesome and I think his friends are awesome. I love my friends and I cannot imagine being without them. They know every dirty little secret of mine and I feel safe enough to know that they will never sell me out. So how awesome is it that my friends get along with him and he can totally be himself when we're all together. They know how cooky-crazy he is. :)

with some of my friends in SG

with the bu's barkada last Christmas 

at one of the Zetan parties.

 3. He loves my family and my family loves him. I grew up in a clannish Filipino-Chinese family. That should be enough explanation of how important my family's approval is to me and how important getting along with them should be to the person I'm with. How awesome is it that every time I'm with family they always look for him. :D

2. With him, I am a better version of me. I can be cranky, bitchy, noisy and downright annoying when I want to be. There have been times when I'm too high strung I get ticked off at the smallest most idiotic things. It helps a lot when there's always someone there to remind you that at the end of the day we all should respect one another because we're all equal. :)

I don't take to alcohol well. At all. Obviously.

 The bu has always known what he's wanted in life and he's continuously working hard to get to his goal. It's admirable because there's really nothing that can stand in the way of him achieving his goal. When I was younger I really wasn't a good student. I took things for granted and only made up for it at the end of the quarter. Looking back I always wish I could have realized what a waste of time and talent that was. But things definitely changed when I met the bu. He was a nerd in the fullest sense of the word. :P But together we learned that a healthy balance is best. :) We strive to be better people not for each other but for ourselves. :)

right before getting drunk. what a fun night!

1. Being with him, I know I am always loved.

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.- Captain Corelli's Mandolin

So thanks bu, for a wonderful decade. :D I love you!