Bidding 2010 Goodbye

In less than 48 hours, we will bid goodbye to an incredible year. Two thousand ten brought in wonderful and amazing people and experiences in my life. Though my family continue to struggle in some aspects (i.e. financial aspects),  we received abundant blessings in some other forms. Allow me to list them down here in my year-end gratitude post.

·         We welcome the addition of a new family member – the adorable, Sir Leon.

·         My sister and I ventured into a new business opportunity which happens to be our favorite hubby as well --- the birth of our “UKAY CEBU” online shop in facebook.

·         I got promoted to Admin Manager (something that was unexpected) and my team also received a well-deserved raise.

·         I was surrounded by true friends who bare with me their soul, share with me their laughter and give without expecting something in return.

·         For having smart, healthy and loving daughters who melts my heart. Every.Single.Day.

·         Having an amazing husband who is selfless and provides for all our needs --- for being the coolest human being I’ve ever met.

·         For PAS and the endless learning opportunities, for giving me the chance to become a leader and for allowing me to meet wonderful people.

·         For hotel freebies, gadgets, appliances and house renovations

·         For parents visiting often.

·         Embracing a new exercise – RUNNING.

See? With all of these, I find it really difficult to let go of 2010.

But with 2011 comes a promise that everything will be a lot better, a lot brighter and a lot happier. I look forward to a lot of things in 2011 --- running my first marathon, running an association, running a family, running a department and running away from my fears, from misery, from debts (haha just kidding). I think 2011 will be all about running eh!

Seriously, I will try as much to be a better mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, employee, PASer and person in 2011.

Happy New Year from my family to yours!!!

Merry Christmas Y'all

I know it's been a while since my last post (again) and a lot of things happened during the two-month absence. I wish I have the luxury of time to write them all down here in this space. I know I promised to write as often as I can however, there's just so much things on my plate lately and probably in the coming days. So, my apologies again to whoever reads this blog. 

It's Christmas today --- something that the whole family has been waiting for. We had a party on my husband's side last night at Cebu Midtown Hotel. It was the first time that it was held outside Granny's house and not on the 24th --- a deviation to the yearly tradition. My husband was on top of everything from venue arrangement, entertainment, selection of food, kargador,driver and being the host among others. But I think it was good for a start considering the limited time for preparation. We hope to level up next year and also get the help of everyone in the family not just a one-man show.

Today, we lighted candles at Redemptorist Church after meeting my parents who are spending their Christmas here in Cebu. Then we head off to hearing mass at USC-Main Chapel together with husband's family. 

There's a handful of things to thank about this year but I will reserve that on my year-end post. 

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year ahead.

Halloween 2010

I know I've mentioned it before that one of my favorite events next to Christmas is Halloween. I always look forward to wearing costumes and all. This year, I didn't prepared as much and didn't tried as much to be creative as compared to the previous hallows. I just bought a "bonggang-bonggang" witch hat and voila! 

Now, the kids also had their first trick or treat at the mall. Both don their fairy wings and tutu (homemade by my sisters) but with a twist because they wore black top. We arrived at the mall past 3pm so there's little candies left for the kids. For half an hour, we went from one shop to another but their pumpkins were still empty. So I just bought a bag of candies and marshmallows from Hannahs and they were happy. Still, a few shops have some candies left and they were able to experience real trick or treatin'. It's just funny because Alex would froze at the store entrance and will never say a word so the doting mother would take over saying "candies?". And the doting dad was also in costume scaring the sh*t out of the kids. Here's some pictures to show...

Meet our new family member...

 

Meet Leon Anthony (Leon from my father's name "Leonito" and Anthony from the other grandpa "Antonio"), the newest member of the family, the love child of my sister A.You know it's true what they say that a baby changes everything and takes away all the bitter and odd feelings. I just wish for this young man to grow up healthy, strong, God-fearing and respectful despite the circumstances he was born with. I also wish for his mother to GROW UP (LOL) now that you're here.

Leon, remember that you are loved from the first time we set our eyes on you.

Oh Hello There!

Dear Reader of Two (or Three maybe),

All apologies for the extensive blog hiatus. Life happens and I was caught in between realities and responsibilities.  Although, I blame facebook and tumblr for taking over my blogging time. So many stories to tell, so many dramas to share and so many dreams to chase BUT allow me to compose them one by one… will be blogging soon! ... and hopefully this blog gets some pampering and a make-over. (crossing fingers)

Stay tuned will yah!?

xoxo,

momgoddess

Chasing Dreams: A Body to Die For

I must admit that my weight has always been a major, major dilemma. I've written about my frustrations in this blog and my other blog a couple of times. I made empty and broken promises of getting back in shape and cutting down on my food cravings YET I always fail miserably. Being this huge has been the source of my insecurities and paranoia. I can't fit into fashionable clothes and I easily get tired. 

My last straw (I hope it is) was when I learned about my body age through KARADA SCAN which was introduced to my fellow PASers in one of our GMMs. It measures one's body age and the amount of visceral fat in our body. Imagine my horror upon learning that my body is 43 years old as compared to my 31. I wanted to cry there and then but with my PASers around me, I just smiled like it really didn't matter to me. But truth is, I am ASHAMED because fact is, I really didn't take care of my body --- I wasn't eating healthy food. I was living a sedentary life. I don't get enough sleep often. I allowed myself to be exposed to free radicals like second-hand smoke, pollution and direct sunlight.

The following day, I posted this in my FB wall...

"...lifestyle change starts TODAY. More fruits, veggies and exercise....Good Luck!"

 

Boy, was I serious! I started eating more healthy food like fruits and vegetables --- we even joke around in the office that we only eat those that are made by God. Slowly, I was also encouraging my colleagues and told them about the reason why I'm doing this. And though it is such a hassle on my part, I started jogging around IT Park with Judee and Sylvette. We started with 1k then slowly increased itby running and brisk walking for 2 or 3 more kms. We even tried to registered ourselves to Milo 34th National Marathon but registration already closed when we submitted our forms.It would have been my first marathon. 

 

So, you see, I'm taking slow steps to getting back in shape. I hope I get to sustain this to achieve yet another dream of going back to my pre-pregnancy body.

Chasing Dreams: Photography

I got interested in photography when I joined a photo club way back college. It was made more intense when I took photojournalism class which was part of the Mass Comm curriculum back then. I learned about aperture and iso and shutter speed and how to compose a photograph. I always grab every opportunity to join photo-shoots outside the school. One day, Sir Bien Fernandez, our photography teacher and mentor, invited us to join a group of photographers for a photo-shoot in Camotes Island. I was around artists, the best wedding and fashion photographers in Cebu. Armed with my instamatic camera and a manual SLR, I tried my hands on this hobby. However, it was a very expensive hobby and I felt that I cannot afford to spend for the films, prints, filters and the camera.

Now, with the onset of digital photography, I am more in-love with this ART. I get inspiration from photo-bloggers who capture life’s best photographs and I keep on dreaming and wishing that someday I will be like them. At the moment, my idols are http://www.pinkletoes.com/ and http://www.aileensiroy.com/.  They’re living the life I so wanted --- one who captures life’s precious moments and nature’s best behind the lens. Everyday I drool over their photographs as well as their gadgets. Someday, I will lay my hands on this baby…

But for now, I am contented to capture whatever life has to offer using my point and shoot camera.