December 2009 Highlights

December is my favorite month of the year. The Christmas bonus, the Christmas shopping, the Christmas gifts, the Christmas parties and all the Christmas preparations are some of the things that made me love this holiday season. Of course, stress and some unexpected problems are always there but hey set them aside for a while. They are just spices of life!

For this year, December is another milestone for me for some reasons/highlights:

►EB with Jeanny. Yeah! Finally, I was able to met Jeanny and had a wonderful chat with her last December 11. For my 31 years of existence, it was my first time to go on EB. At first, I was so afraid that I might just bore her. Mas madalas kasi akong tahimik. But hey, hindi ata kami nauubusan ng kwento at parang ang bilis lumipas ng oras.

►Won and received prize from kg’s contest. Thanks God coz kg added two more prizes on her contest and that randomizer favored me this time. I think my new pen name/nick name got me lucky here as well. Hehehe. Thank you so much kg for these:
►Lots of gifts. Happiness is for all the gifts that I had received this year. A million thanks goes to:

jeanny for this:

redlan for these:

sheng for this:

my boss and officemates for these (and for some gifts that I failed to take picture):

►First Christmas at our new home. This year since it was our first time to celebrate Christmas at our new home, hubby and I decided to ask our family to join us. We let them traveled from the province to be with us on Christmas.

We prepared bags of candies & chocolates for the carolers. On the 24th of December, carolers started to arrive as early as six o’clock in the evening. KA enjoyed a lot. She entertained all the carolers. She danced as the carolers sang. And the funniest part, she shouted wala pang kanta…wala pang kanta…then she requested boom-tarat-tarat. After boom-tarat-tarat, ikaw na nga…ikaw na nga! Hehehe

Then, at around 8 o’clock (since maaga natutulog ang aking Santa Claus) I let her gave all the gifts.

Papicture muna si Santa ha:

For our Noche Buena we had bihon, sandwich, ham, fruit cake, chocolate cake and buko salad. Hubby and I also made sure that we had red wine for the ladies and alfonso for the heavy drinkers (my father & my father-in-law).

Though we only had a simple Christmas celebration at home, the joy/happiness brought about of being together for the celebration is immeasurable.

How about you? I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas celebration too.

Just dropping by to say Merry Christmas everyone!

Hey guys, two more days to go and its Christmas day. I’m a little bit sad for some work related concerns but I rather not discuss it here because I know it is a season for happiness. And that the inspirational quote that was sent/emailed to me today says:

Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things are.

Joy is not necessarily what happens when things unfold according to our plans.

~~Marianne Williamson~~

I know I have a lot of reasons to be happy. And one of them is because my family & in-laws are with us this coming Christmas.

Friends, I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

sweetness overload!

oh, tukso layuan mo ako. hehehe.

i know i have to observe my diet now. a lot of people already told me na ang taba-taba ko na raw. but hey, i can't really resist to this temptation. i am a choco addict eh.

hubby, gave me not only one but two giant chocolate bar.

and my boss gave me this milk chocolate as pasalubong from Switzerland.

uhmmm...yum! yum! talaga....

Tale of Gold

Childhood memories depict a complex landscape of fondling and adventurous happenings. Such are innocent faces with outmost energy for the lightness of life and the simplicity of things. What made it even more interesting are the stories of heroism, chivalry, fairytales and fantasy shared by the old ones for us to dream and be shielded from corrupting realities of hurt, discouragement and hopelessness. Consequently, I for one have nurtured interest for treasure hunting. The likes of Indiana Jones and The Mummy reminded me of the end-story of finding gold and the richness amidst the struggle.

Gold as symbol of the glory of life and the zenith over all sufferings has been my desire to achieve this very day. To find one seems an evasive reality. It will even take you a lifetime and expertise to master the craft of the search. Amidst these conditions, I have seen gold that is so obvious yet kept sealed from the chest of each ones blinded limitations. It is the gold in everyone. The unveiling of each precious individuality that deemed to celebrate amidst our differences. The gold that we hardly see for focus of non-essential things and for being of-this-world.

I know I still have the days of my life to find the golden ways of living and make myself a golden value to the order of destiny. I believe in the stories of my younger years that I can make, find and spread golden influence in my own special way. I know you can do it also for we are no different for being vulnerable, free and has the capacity to be gold.

this made me sad

house and lot for sale

Due to some financial needs, my husband’s cousin is selling his house and lot. The details:

Lot area: 80 sq. meters
House: 2 bedrooms with attic
Location: NGO compound, Upper Banlat, Tandang Sora, Quezon City
Selling Price: P 885K cash still negotiable plus a P200K Pag-ibig loan balance

For any inquiries, you can contact me through my email address at cutetisoy_26@yahoo.com .

What are you thankful for this 2009?

2009 has been a not so good year for me. It has been such a rollercoaster that there were lots of ups and downs. But it doesn’t mean that it’s a total failure for me. Of course I have a lot of things that should be thankful for.

I am thankful for the good health that me and my family have.

I am thankful for having an understanding, loving and caring husband.

I am thankful for having a smart daughter.

I am thankful for having a wonderful family.

I am thankful for the new house that we have.

I am thankful for all my friends that never fail to support me morally, spiritually and even financially.

I am thankful that during the typhoon Ondoy, my family and all my loveones were safe.

I am thankful that I still have a job despite the many challenges that came to our office.

I am thankful for having my blog and moving into the next level which is earning through blogging.

I am thankful for all the gifts that I received this year.

I am thankful for all the new books that I have and read.

I am thankful for surviving all the trials that I’ve encountered this year.

I am thankful for getting over those bad feelings and negative vibes that I encountered especially this last quarter of the year.

And of course, I am thankful because at the end of the day no matter how tough the situation is, I can still have a peaceful sleep.

******
This is my entry to the moleskine planner giveaway sponsored by avalonph.

on mathematics...

Mathematics is the most hated or the least favorite subject by the students in school. With the number of students that I asked on what their favorite subject in school is, mathematics seems to be not their favorite. It’s sad to hear though that my favorite subject seems to be a very difficult subject to all the students that I asked. But every student needs to face the reality that he can’t really finish his studies without taking mathematics subject. Even my nieces and nephews said that they are having a hard time passing this particular subject.

Glad to hear that now a day there are online tutoring services being offered. Their services offered include those of math help and algebra help that everyone can use from the comfort of their own home, with a lot of lessons and techniques from basics to the most difficult problems that they might encounter. Now students can spend less time searching the internet for the answers for their assignment and will have more time studying.

it's travel time

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
Saint Augustine

“Experience, travel - these are as education in themselves”
Euripides

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”
Lao Tzu

KG, who is currently enjoying her trip in Hongkong and Macau is having a contest in her blog.

The mechanics: you simply have to create a post stating three of your favorite places that you have traveled to and three places you dream of going to. They can be anywhere in the Philippines or the world. You may also provide a brief explanation as to why these are your favorite places and why you dream of going to these places.

Now for the 3 best places that I traveled to:

♠ Coron and Culion Palawan. My first plane ride destination was in Coron, Palawan and that was in 2002. We headed to Culion then to perform some work related assignments. It was also my first time to see beautiful corals in just 15 feet deep water in Culion.

♠ Calauit Island. My first trip to the zoo was in Calauit Island as well as my first time to see different kinds of animals including giraffe, zebra and a whole lot more.

♠ Boracay. The white beach, the party at night and the friendly people made my trip in Boracay memorable.

And for the 3 places that I dream of going to:

♠ Hongkong. Simple because I really wanted to go to Hongkong Disneyland .

♠ Bohol. I only saw chocolate hills in the pictures and that made me want to go there and see it before my eyes. And also want to see tarsier.

♠ Carabao Island. I actually saw this place featured in television last weekend and it made me wish to visit this place and compare it to the beauty of Boracay.

Yeah, I’m done with my list. Now, go and make your own list.