Time Flies!

A few more hours and it's February and just like that, a whole month is gone.  Before you know it, Christmas carols will once again permeate everywhere! Yeah, time can fly by like that.  I know because 2012 was such a blur to me!

But this year I am trying to slow down a bit and appreciate the life I have. After all, it was the main reason why I decided to take a leap of faith and leave my corporate job.

I've been taking baby steps and so far so good. One of the things I've managed to do was time management when it comes to the business. I do my best to be productive during business hours so that I can enjoy time with my family outside of those hours. Weekends and holidays are also sacred now and no amount of money offered will make me work on a weekend. Sorry.

It's not easy but doable. I now have the time to read and blog again! Woohoo! In fact I already finished John Green's "The Fault in our Stars" (which is a great book, by the way). I have other books lined up already!

So yeah, time flies but I ain't speeding with it. I am slowing down and savoring the journey.  February, I welcome you with open arms. Bring it on!

MY FAVORITE PART OF THE WEEK

My favorite part of the week is here! I love weekends because I get to spend time with the husbo!  The past 3 weeks have been hectic and sadly the husbo and I never got to spend time together.  He did made great efforts though and I am really touched. Now I've learned my lesson: never do office work on weekends.  

No major plans for the weekend. We will just laze in bed and watch our favorite TV series. We will probably do some malling next week when we're both recharged. :)

So that's it, just wanted to say happy weekend everyone! Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

How's your thanksgiving celebration so far?  I hope it was filled with fun and memorable times with your family and friends and I hope this day ends with all of us having a grateful heart.  I am thankful for so many things, both good and bad. Let's all learn how to live each day with an attitude of gratefulness!

For those in the US, how's the Black Friday sale? Oh how I wish I was there to fall in line too!

Anyway, enjoy your day everyone! :)

THE ILOCOS EMPANADA

I am back! :) Sorry for being MIA, we took a trip North for the second time this year.  This time it was for Tito Andring's funeral.  It was a sad event but it was nice seeing family again, especially our cousins from Hawaii (who I met for the first time).  We stayed there for a week - a week of living the simple life. 

The trip was memorable because I enjoyed eating Ilocos empanada for the first time.  I was able to eat it before but couldn't appreciate the taste of Sukang Iloco.  This time

Adoption

I remember during lunch a while ago. My colleague and I were talking about adoption and how the process is different here in our country. Both being addicts of the hit TV show FRIENDS, we also remembered that time when Chandler and Monica were going through the process of adoption. And I got to thinking, what is my destiny is to adopt a little child to take care of? I mean I would want one of my own, but with the hundreds of babies being aborted or just thrown, my heart just goes out to them. This is something to keep in mind and maybe talk to the husband about.

Another Wedding in the Family

My cousin is getting married next year and I am worked up with excitement! It made me reminisce about planning our wedding 3 years ago. I am often in contact with this cousin of mine, helping her out with whatever she needs. Of course I don't impose since I know it's going to be her shining day. I just merely suggest. And one thing I suggested to her, during the start of her Wedding Planning is that she go to weddingchannel.com.

This site is so comprehensive that visiting their site gave me a hundred and one ideas to do for our wedding. If our simple wedding was a testament of how this site has helped a lot of people, then, I strongly suggested to my cousing that she and her fiance go visit. Well, I haven't heard from her, the last time I tried to chat with her she said she was busy with browing that wonderful site.

One Fine Sunday

Ahhh..time, sweet time to update my blog! :)

Finally able to catch up with my backlogs at work. If being out of the office for 1 day gives me tons of work when i return, imagine the load when I am out for 5 days! That's exactly what happened when I was on emergency leave due to the husband's stay at the hospital.

He's doing well now by the way, and he might go back to work next week once he gets a go signal from the doctor.

So anyway, the weekend was a blast. I selpt all day Saturday, but Sunday was a different story. I had the most wonderful time with my in-laws! It was something I have been praying for, for the longest time. A chance to go out and bond with my in-laws. The timinig couldn't be perfect (well, it wasn't suprising since God's timing is always perfect :) ), it was my daddy-in-law's 65th birthday last Friday and his last day at work. So to celebrate his birthday and retirement we decided to bring him out to lunch. Good thing that Tita Bhie went here from San Jose to visit her kids. Cary and Amy (the husband's cousins) were also game with the plan and brought their kids with them.

We all trekked to Seaside Macapagal for lunch. As always we went straight to Julie's. We just love how they cook seafood. :) We had a sumptous lunch with a lot of stories and just basically bonding. For a moment, I sat back and watched all the laughter and stories everyone shared. I thanked God that my prayers were answered. Surely, after that tumultuous season a few months back, God has replaced pain with joy. It made the family bond stronger.

Let me share a few pictures:

Cary with daughter Mia bonding

Mia - isn't she just adorable?

Our family - Mommy-in-law, me, the husband and daddy-in-law. and yes, I had my hair cut :)

All of us :)

After the hearty lunch, we trekked to the mall of asia where we just sort of continued our chikahan and tawanan ;)

It was really a day to remember and of course everyone enjoyed with a heartfelt promise that family gatherings like these will be done more frequently even without an occassion.

I leave you my personal favorite shot while in the Mall of Asia.

isn't he adorable? The kid was just walking when his trousers kind of fell. hihihi! Have a wonderful week everyone!

The Weekend

I know this is late but, how was your weekend? I hope it went well and all of you had some rest and quality time with your families.

I had a wonderful weekend. Tiring, but nonetheless wonderful. The flurry of activities started Friday night - or rather Thursday evening. I arrived at the office at 6PM, Thursday evening and went home 12 noon Friday. Talk about back-to-back shifts! lol! I had some shut eye when I arrived home and what seemed like seconds of closing my eyes, hubby was waking me up because I was to accompany him on his doctor's appointment.

Saturday saw me, my father-in-law, his sister and her son and daughter riding the bus to the Mall of Asia. It was actually my idea. (For some time now I felt so cooped up in the house that I just wanted to go some place.) It just so happened that they haven't been there as well and would like to know what the fuss about that mall was. As was usual with any SM Mall, MOA was packed. And well, it was the weekend so there.

Hubby had to attend a friends wedding at the Shrine of Jesus so he met us after the reception. Since it was a wedding he went to, the camera was with him so I was only able to take some pictures when he arrived. Pity though, because the teens tried out Ice Skating for the first time and they were hilarious! LOL! I really wish I could've taken a video of them falling on their hineys! hehehe!

Here are more of the pictures:

Sunday was R and R day with hubby. We holed up in our room, turned on the AC and watched DVDs the whole day. We usually watch the movies much later than everyone else does, but I'd rather watch them at home than in movie theaters. Hahaha, laziness at it's best. ;) But, but,but, I am going to watch the Transformers movie in theaters. Wouldn't miss that.

So there's our weekend. How was yours?

No More Teachers, No More Books...

Or something to that effect.

I am on leave from work later! Wooohooo! Finally a chance to be with hubby longer and a chance to rest. I missed having this much time to enjoy. Let's see if my mojo's back too. ;)

Happy weekend everyone!

Overwhelmed

... is an understatement. My life for the past 3 weeks went by in a blur I don't even know where to start. March seemed to be a month of new beginnings for my parents and my in-laws.

My parents have finally settled into their new home. There are a couple of boxes to be unpacked and arranged but everything seems to be in order now. Phone lines have also been connected. I just wish my parents all the best in this new journey.

As for my in-laws, they are slowly recuperating from the crisis that they recently encountered. With A in a rehabilitation somewhere, they are now moving on, repairing the damage that has been done. It is not easy and we are all adjusting to it but if this means a better tomorrow then I'd stick by it.

I guess drained is what I am right now. With happenings in both sides of the family, I feel like all my energy was sucked out. And then there's work, but that's a different story for a different post.

So, enough about me, how have you been?

The weekend that was

I say, the best laid out plans...

...don't usually work out. LOL! I went home to my parents house last Saturday with this major plan to work on some scraps. So with my thinking cap on, my laptop and idea book in hand, DH with me to carry the heavy stuff (Thanks sweetie!), we trekked to my parents place in nearby QC. Alas! Upon arriving, my sister asked to borrow the laptop to work on a research project. As much as I love to scrap, I think my sister's school work comes first. lol! Well, inspite of not being able to scrap, I had a fun fun day with my mom and dad. We chatted the whole day and ate a lot! LOL!

i truly cherish every second with my family and I am thankful for the time given to us just to bond and all. No need for special occasions to see each other and talk. All we need is food, coffee and each other. :)

Sunday was a totally different story. I spent Saturday night downloading kits, papers and embellies. I was up til the wee hours of Sunday morning so needless to say, I slept half of the day Sunday, ate brunch and while trying to scrap at around noon, my eyes kept drifting shut! I couldn't keep these eyes open even for a second! I decided to sleep and sleep I did! LOL! Now, it's Monday morning and here I am just about done with scrapping. Just trying to journal what transpired during the weekend. :)

Oh and by the way, to all you digital scrappers out there, SSD has this really fun "look for the siggy" thing going on! Just look for the winning siggy on the SSD or DST forums and you get a gift from different designers of Sweet Shoppe Designs! I tell you, the gifts are really must-haves! So don't delay, this fabulous treat will end February 28. Go and visit the Sweet Shoppe Designs and DigiShopTalk forums now! Say hello if you're new. :)

And of course for some home-grown love, I'd like to say hello and welcome to my fellow Pinay Bebots who visits this blog! I tell you, the Bebots are a talented, beautiful bunch of ladies! You should see their layouts, they're awesome! So whether you're a new scrapper or a seasoned one, please join us! We're a fun, supportive and talented community!

I leave you guys with the 2 layouts I managed to finish during the weekend. Tomorrow's a start of another work week and I'm tasked to do some scheduling and forecasting so I might have my hands full in the next 5 days. Thanks for looking! :)

Credits Here

Credits Here