nada

Tomorrow is Father's day, and guess what? we haven't got any present ready for my dad and my father in law. Bummer I know, but there is always next time right? or maybe we can get something for them in the next few days to come, just when we have enough moolah to cover for that. Last year I was able to give my dad (he was here for a vacation last dad's day) one of those personalized gifts that I ordered online, a caricature art of him in an twenty by twenty four canvass. He loved it totally! it is displayed in their bedroom. But I still believe that it is not the present that would every occasion memorable, but its the presence and the love we give to every celebrant.
And to all the fathers out there specially to my husband.... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

3rd

Last June 10 was the 3rd birthday of my niece slash inaanak Julianna, we celebrated it the simplest way just like what her older sister had a few weeks back. Closest friends and family came to greet her on her special day, but as I notice there were only few gifts she was able to received. And yes, I wasn't able to get her a gift too! because we weren't got any spare time to run to the mall and get her a toy or something. If only there are clickable sites like www.buy.com where we can easily order some of the famous yet affordable best buy items over the net, I'm sure we won't have to attend a party empty handed with a gift.

the kids who were so happy while singing Happy Birthday for the 5th time! :)

the cousins blowing the candle

the super kulit celebrant Julianna

But anyways, there is always a next time to get her one, and yeah, although we weren't able to give her a gift, I were able to prepare some yummy gelatin for her party! I guess, it wasn't that bad after all, right?

Happy Birthday Julianna! We love you!

10 about us

RULES:
1. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
2. Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their ten things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 10 people to get tagged and list their breads.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

** since I'm already done with this personal thing on my other blog, just like Jown, I decided to list down our (me and hubby) random facts

1. We are now together for 8 years already and still counting blissfully - 5 years bf/gf + 3 years married.
2. We both love fried chicken, Adobo and Sinampalukang Manok
3. We both want to have the best future specially for our daughter that is why we make sure to at least have a savings accounts and save instead of going out and spending money.
5. We both love our cooking expertise! lol
6. He is easily tempered and I am not
7. We are learning so much to compromise
8. We are far from being a perfect couple, but we try our best to work everything as smooth as possible.
9. We talk before we sleep, about life, our future, our mistakes, our plans
10. We dreams and hopes of landing a job in another country and picking up from there.

sicky

Just when I thought that we could have a fun and memorable mother's day today, guess what? my daughter is sick! common colds and cough, simple I know, but we are so not used to seeing her down with such virus, now she likes to lay down every time instead of playing. We drove to the nearest Jollibee and brought her french fries but to no avail, no appetite at all. It breaks my heart seeing her like this. Then I realize that I haven't been updating my medical insurance monthly payment! darn, I should have settled it a few months back. My mom says that we must have it handy and ready at all times because we never know when emergencies can strike. I only hope that my daughter would get better soon, having no need to bring to the hospital and all. That is my mother's day wish.

cats

One of my aunt is into taking care of cats, in fact they got more or less nine cats in their household. I remember that ever since my cousin were small they were already used to having cats in the house as their pets, but actually owning them as one of the family. This coming June would be the birthday of my aunt and I am thinking of getting her a cat tree. I believe that she would be ecstatic to receive such thing, that would meant joyful moments for her beloved cats. I will just have to look for the cutest design available that are affordable and have it shipped in their place since they are based in the states and the renowned manufacturer is also located there. Quite practical idea rigght?

watercamp getaway

Last Saturday, my SIL Beegel invited for a family getaway at Josephine's Water Camp Resort. I couldn't remember the last time I went to that place that's why I was so surprised to see all the improvements and how it become so nice. And yes, we never thought that the place would be so jump packed with people that we ended up getting those pricey tables for rent located at the second floor, because even the inns and cottages are full and are reserved already. But it was all good! everyone enjoyed the dip and the pools! as for me, the red flag is up kaya puro chibog lang ako! lol

Anyways, here are some of the photos taken during our outing...

We took off around 9am already, not in mind that there would be a lot of people who are scheduled for a swim too. And it was a Saturday, it was a lesson learned -to arrive at the place a little earlier specially when no reservation was made whatsoever.


Now here's a photo snap of the mag-kuya: Myk and Olin -all ready for a dip! but the adults are still making hakot the foods and everything thats why they waited for like an hour before hitting the waters :)


A view near our spot, crowds are mostly still in their cottages because the sun is still scorching hot during these times, thats why only few peeps can be seen enjoying the lazy river and the fun pool.


And because we (hubby and I) are so unprepared for this family outing, we weren't able to get Olin inflatables kasi she only has her mini pool here sa house that she uses, no inflatable balls or anything, kaya we opt to buy her na lang at Water Camp, good thing they were selling a lot of items but marked up a little higher compared sa mall. You see here, Olin being carried by her yaya pointing on the pink princess ball while muttering "etoh etoh etoh, bibi!"


So we got her this... mini-boat type float that cost 150 bucks. Di ba, it's expensive and with the quality...not worth it, pero no choice Olin has to have one kasi...


Here naman is her cousin Gab so in love with the water! She has her Hello Kitty boat float that Olin really likes, kaya when she saw the float immediately she rides on it and pretends to drive! with shouting "Bipbip Bip!" ... guess we have a future race car driver eh?

Anyways, di nyo na naitatanong my tot were so afraid of the pool! as in, we didn't know why, maybe because maraming tao or malaki yung pool for her... were still not sure. Kaya we have to patiently wait until she can get a hang of it, cold blue water and all...


Look naman at her facial expression! ayaw niyang magpabitaw! grabe she cried her heart out loud for like 15 minutes. It was only Ate Mean who's with her during the first few minutes kasi the husband is still grilling the liempo, while I nasa may pool side lang watching and talking to her...


Until the husband came to the rescue! He can't bear the cries of her daughter kaya he leave the grilling thing to my BIL and quickly jumps to the pool and join the rest of the family... Only then Olin stops crying :) it was so nice seeing the two of them enjoying, I wish to join but then... red flag day :(

But of course, magpapahuli naman ba tayo sa picture-picture?! NOT! kaya kahit di makapag-swim, emote na lang to the max! lol.
First photo were taken before I pigged out the foods my SIL brought -- Liempo, Paksiw na Pata, Adobo, Mangga't Bagoong ni MIL, and Oysters! yes, first time to eat one piece of that slimy seafood... and considered it my last :) don't bother to ask why. hehehehe

We went home around 6pm already, everyone was so tired that Olin ended up sleeping while on our way home...

will be miss

My father will soon be going back to Florida, yes, his vacation is almost over. After two months of spending some quality time with us, he will again be headed to another six months of non stop work. We are all beginning to feel sad, because we will miss him terribly specially Olin who has learned to get used to his carry-all-the-time thing, for sure Papa will miss his grand daughter more. Tears will sure be flowing once again from my mom, I really hate good byes. I just hate it, if only he doesn't have to leave the country, but we all know that living a life here is a getting more and more difficult making no choice for most of the bread winners to leave and work in another country to provide a little more for the family. And besides the income he earns from his work my dad gets a lot of perks from his company like medicare part d and some other insurance benefits. This are some of the things he wouldn't be able to get if he works here, right? If only the government can make a little more effort in providing jobs, fathers and mothers wouldn't have to leave their kids. This is just another sentiments I feel and I'm sure a lot of people also have this kind of thoughts.

Visita Iglesia

here are my random shots from our Visita Iglesia last Maundy Thursday, or was it Holy Wednesday, oh yeah we had an anticipated church visits this year so it was all taken on a Wednesday... yada, yada,yada. Anyways, I'm supposed to arrange the photos accordingly but then my lappy is acting up thus I will just leave you with random snaps of yours truly :)

bdw, we had a Tagaytay church visits that is why most of the pics were taken at the beautiful city :) thank God for an uber nice weather too!

above is the ever famous Holy Spirit Adoration Chapel or the so called The Pink Sisters, wherein the nuns are actually wearing pink habits (?!)... what made this church famous are the cloister cookies that the nuns made by themselves -having a tag line 'baked by praying hands' ... so heavenly! and yeah, they also have this little space in the chapel wherein you can write your wish and petitions on a paper, drop it in the corresponding slots and voila, the sisters will be the one to raise that prayers of request in their prayers, so it's like a fast forward thing... well, if you know what I mean.

here are the cast and crew of the family :) the boys were not in the picture, having their pee-break :)

a photo of my two :) this is the second year of Visita Iglesia for Olin -she had her first last year when she was 2 1/2 months old. And of course my day wouldn't be complete without my solo-shot! lol... emotera!


my pops with his two bunso :)


the first photo is the uber big Crucifix in a floating kinda thing set up in St. Jude Parish at Trece Martires City,our first stop for our Station of Cross.


here's us -- on our 6th or 7th station


Holy Cross Parish -- Indang Cavite

Our Lady of Lourdes - Tagaytay City

Angels Hills -- Tagaytay City beside the Pink Sisters

we finished our church visitation around 8 pm already because we headed straight pa to Cavite City, and there are more than 10 churches pa! It was a tiring trip but spiritually fulfilling.

her summer

just when everyone is into summer outing and escapade, my sister and her schoolmates are into rehab hopping! you just got that right, it's actually part of their curriculum requirements as a Psychologist student wherein they need to visit a number of drug rehabilitation centers here in Cavite and in the metro, where they will schedule an interview with the organizations officers, doctors in charge and even those who are in the process of addiction treatment. well according to my sister's stories some patients are willing to share out their stories and their reasons of why they got into that big trouble, but there are those who are still in their denial stage that refuses to talk to them. I once asked her if she even gets bored with it or something, I mean, she should be enjoying her summer days going out with friends, hanging out in the mall or the beach or whatever but instead, she schedules a lot of drug rehab visits, and guess what? she enjoys what she's doing, I can tell from her stories whenever she comes home after the day of the trip. I bet my sister will be one of the best Psychologist in the country in the future. And I'm one heck of proud sister! :)

Visita Iglesia

We had our yearly Visita Iglesia (Church Visits) last Holy Wednesday, although it's supposed to be done every Maundy Thursday, but due to my cousin's schedule -who is by the way the one in charge for the van driving we had to do an anticipated devotion. We started out early because we had a schedule to follow since we decided to visit the churches in Tagaytay before we head to our yearly routine in Cavite City, the churches were all beautiful and serene, closer to nature and closer to God effect is what you can feel in every house of God we visits, but some of the old folks we are with had hard time reaching some of the high built churches, with so many stair steps to face they even wished for a stair lifts! it was funny how can they come up with ideas such as that, but because we are all there to had a little sacrifice they bear every inch of arthritis pains and joints aches while reaching the hilled placed churches. photos will soon be uploaded...

themed

We just came home from an afternoon dip at Oceana, Island Cove Resort with my in laws to celebrate my father in law's birthday, anyways as expected the resort was crowded with so many guests, tourists and locals gather to enjoy the afternoon sun with their families, food and drinks were also over flowing! kids and adults had their best smiles while splashing waters and enjoying the slides and the other activities available for everyone to use. meanwhile, while everyone are having a grand time, one side of the said resort are being dressed up for a scheduled beach wedding this coming weekend, of course i took a peek! there are beautiful swags being prepared for the mini ceiling and some decors that coordinates with the theme. The whole area was being beautifully made, I can tell that, by just seeing the decors they are about to put in the place, I wonder how their Beach Wedding Invitations look like, I bet it looks good too. With so many manufacturers and creators for themed events it is not so hard to get the desired personalized items you want during these times, just like the 1st Class Wedding Invitations website that features beautifully made invites and other personalized stuff for weddings and other occasions.

foodie

i've been in my so lazy mode for the past few days, isn't it obvious? a couch potato for the past four days already, yeah, four days and it's not so me right? i mean, for some time now i always stays in front of my laptop for a good eight to twelve hours in a day! especially after i resigned from work, i make sure to stay busy doing some writing opportunities and bloghopping, reading posts from other fellow bloggers, reading news and new stuff from different websites. i even try to join and register online sites like www.foodconnect.com for mommies and cook wannabes too! yes, you just read that right, i've been into cooking too, although it has been like almost three years since i started being in charge with the cooking and all, but its a totally different story now, with a kid in tow, food has to get some improvements too you know, it must be kid friendly and yummy so my daughter wouldn't have a hard time eating. so there, i make sure to visit food site for the latest recipes and food informations. actually, its really great, you know having a ready site ready to help whenever you experience lack of ideas on what and how to prepare certain meals the whole family would definitely love!

food tripping

last Sunday was another Tagaytay trip for the family. my MIL and FIL invited us for a whole day pasyal with so much eating galore! took off a few hours before lunch, had a feast at one of those Bulalohan's in the area... forgot to take pictures though--Olin was at her cranky-self that time kasi.... anyways after the lunch fest we went straight to PARADIZOO a sister branch of Tagaytay zoo where they sell out farm animals, the place was oh so far! my gulay! it almost took us forever before we saw the place! pictures are still not transferred from Amiel's phone though...
after the tiring long travel--what else? eating time once again! this time at Pancake House. FIL was craving for some pastries but then again my MIL directed us to a wrong resto! lol, all the time she thought Tootsies was a pastry shop or something, but when we went inside, it's not. Starbucks are fully loaded naman that time, tsk,tsk... akala ko magkikita kame ng White Mocha Frap ko! lol... so we then decided to have our snack at PH. i had 2 pcs Choco Marble pancake and Mocha Shake, so as FIL who had the strawberry version naman. the husband had some heavy snack, lol... pork chop meal or something... while MIL had pasta and sandwiches. and Olin of course was able to have a taste of everything!

after our Pancake House fest we then head to the Pink Sister's to hear the afternoon mass where we met my SIL and family.
dinner was capped out at Dencio's where we had sumptuous Pork Sisig, Crispy Tadyang, Tawilis, Buttered/garlic Asparagus, Ensalada, Spicy Chicken Wings and crab rice.
we were super tummy full and tired when we head home i tell you...i ended up sleeping at the backseat, Olin in my arms snoring! lol

flight back

my father is soon be leaving again for work, maybe in a month or less he'll be boarding on the plane and won't be home for another six months. anyways, speaking of flights, he recently decided to take another airlines for his back to US trip since he seems to get the impression of super high cost of charge of his previous flight, that is why he is asking my sister and i to look for affordable travel companies that are offering affordable price for flights. and so i learned about DialAFlight, a travel company offering flights and even travel ideas worldwide like arranging flights to the US, UK and even flights to India! gaining a lot of positive reviews from customers all around the world i might as well introduce this company to my father so he can get the most affordable and reasonable deal for his flight. by then we would just probably call their customer service hot line for more information and details the needed flight.

catering services

my mom is currently into catering services, well more of equipment and accessories rentals if i must say, since the cooking part is seldom for now. since she hasn't debuted in this line of business, its just that we have this everything a catering service can offer like tables and chairs, chafing dishes, lines for the skirting, center pieces, balloon artist, cake stand, buffet furniture like buffet tables and buffet cabinets among many others that are available for rent. you wonder why and how we got this stuff? because she used to run a school and company company for more that five years, thus making her capable of acquiring those equipments, hoping that someday she can finally start up her own catering business. that is why she is asking my father to support her in her desire to come up with the small business, she just need capital and a little advertisement for her to be known in our area, although there are many who every now and then orders from her different specialty foods and delicacies. my father told her that when everything else is settled, he would love to help my mom with her dream business, maybe when he retires from work, by then he could even help her with the said business.

business soon

my parents were talking about their plans in the near future, after the apartment construction they are thinking of building a small business wherein the family would take care of. but then of course there are financial issues that needs to be filled in, you see starting up a business even the smallest one requires capital, and at this point in time, that is the problem in our part. a family friend suggested to apply for a Business Loans that are provided to soon to be business owners in order to fund their establishment or something. there are so many financial institution that gives out offers and promos to interested parties just like the well known EZUnsecured.com site that is popular with their easy process and fast funding promise. that is what business owners would love to get interact with right? no more long time waiting only to find out that you've been decline or insufficient funds are the reasons you are going to get as a response from them.

sickies

I've been hearing so many news of kids getting sick these days, blame it on the crazy weather we have! imagine just right now while i'm typing this post, rain is pouring so hard! summer starts a few days ago but the rain seem cannot be stop up to this very moment. anyways, that is what keeping most of the kids infected with sickness, colds, cough and flu are just some of the common sickies infecting. with the high cost of everything specially medicines, getting sick is one of the hardest thing for parents, emotionally and financially speaking. it can slash a large amount of budget for the medicines and whatnots. that is why it is so advisable for parents to acquire medical insurance for each member of the family. one good example of this health provider is the one that offers individual health insurance in California where everything you need to know about health care benefits can be seen in their site. being one of the most favored health care insurance in the US, Kaiser Permanente provides great coverage for individual, family and even business across the country. this is one good example every health insurance provider must look after.

car loans

my father has been thinking of getting one of those available and featured online car loans, but is somewhat afraid of the responsibility he is about to take for a given years of the monthly amortization. you see, my father is so strict with regards to finances and buying things in partial payments, maybe because he doesn't want to get into trouble in case he wasn't able to meet deadlines and all. that separates him from the others that are used to getting most of their assets in terms, but of course there are also advantages in purchasing things in such manner you know. just like what up2drive auto loan specialist does for targeted buyers, they do finance all models and makers of cars and other automobiles straight with no hidden charges and even application fees are waived. being known for great service, they can provide your auto loan fast and easy with the help of their customer service agents. i'm sure my father will think about this thing further more, since he really wanted to acquire a new car which the family can use, we'll see since it still can wait for now.

when it rains it pours

and it is true! :) yesterday my childhood friend/kumare gave me this stuff as my pasalubong from her consisting of original sarong from Indonesia, Christian Dior Logo Lip palette, Lotion, Nenuco Cologne for the little brat and a stuff dog toy, Toblerone chocolates. giddy happy! :)

and here is what my father brought me yesterday :) three pairs of havaianas flip flops! woohoo! at meron pa... groceries, chocolates, at kung anu-anu pang anik anik! :)
syet, mukang ang laki talaga ng paa ko noh?! lol...

relax time

now that Papa is here, we are thinking of where can we treat him for a day or two of some fun and leisure time. besides the water spa we are schedule to go to next week, my sister suggested of bringing him to some place so serene and quiet for a day of relaxation, some fishing or just staying indoor with a great outback scene. i don't know if he would like to do some boating or something but anyways, we'll see. there is this one great place a few hours away from our home were we can bring him though, just like the same thing being offered at Covesatsml.com where beautiful recreation site is available for those who would like to experience some real relaxation time, with the VA Boating and other waterfront activities in the beautiful scenic beauty of Smith Mountain Lake. anyways, we'll just see if the plan will push through, i hope so, Papa deserves some relaxing time and a little of leisure too you know.