Jump at the Sun

Monday, November 26, 2012

Mini Family Reunion

We spent last last weekend in Batangas with our relatives from Germany. My Tito Freddie and Tita Mila were happy to be back in Manila and living in their very own home in Lipa. It's actually the first time for them to live in their house so they were very busy looking for house stuff including modern bedroom furniture sets. What they got for now is a brown L-shaped sofa set that is just right for the size of the living room.

Their house is actually so exciting to decorate. There are wide walls, a spacious living room cum dining room and a cute little kitchen area. There are also three bedrooms upstairs and a veranda to boot. A lot more work is actually needed to furnish this house. It still needs a perimeter gate and some landscaping work around the house. But nevertheless, it's actually livable already. The area is safe and has fresh air and it's only a few minutes from the city proper. Given more time and a few more "balikbayan" visits, their house would be a nice place to live in and retire to.

Anyway, posting here a picture of us during our mini-family reunion. Tita Freddie and Tita Mila - it was nice seeing you again! We hope you had a comfortable and safe trip back to Germany. Take care always and see you again soon!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Too Blessed to be Stressed!

We a fun time in the Happiness Palooza event c/o Stress Management last month.

I'm definitely going to miss these guys next year. I'm so blessed to have been part of a great team of HR professionals. :-D

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Late Posting: Zoe's Musical Experience

Zoe's school organized a fund-raising event which asked parents to buy tickets to the Repertory Philippines' rendition of Wizard of Oz. This was held in Greenbelt OnStage.

Of course, we were ecstatic to go since we hadn't introduced Zoe yet to the beautiful world of the stage. Back then when my husband and I were still going out as boyfriend/girlfriend, we would consciously make time to watch those good musicals playing in town. We much enjoyed watching The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, They're Playing our Song, Rama at Sita, and many others.

Now going back to Wizard of Oz, immediately Zoe felt excited as she learned about Dorothy, her 3 new friends and the Wizard of Oz.

Here are some of our pictures.

Since it was a very great experience, we look forward to bringing our kids to upcoming shows. I'm pretty sure they would like it. By the way, Ticketamerica.com has The Book of Mormon Tickets for some exciting cities like Minnesota and New York or Pittsburgh. You can now go buy minneapolis the book of mormon tickets. Or if you are in the east coast, there are also new york the book of mormon tickets. Lastly, Ticketamerica is also selling pittsburgh the book of mormon tickets. Check out those as well.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Through Thick or Thin

I received this special gift last month from my circle group. It's a picture of the parents of St. Josemaria, or who we fondly call "Abuela and Abuelo".

If you watched the movie "There Be Dragons" you will see there a snippet of the simple lives of Don Jose and Dona Dolores Escriva. They were a Catholic couple whom God had chosen to be seedbed for the vocation of a great saint. They had filled the Escriva home with love and cheerfulness that even though God had sent them many trials and hardships in life (at one point, they lost their 3 younger daughters and went bankrupt). It was almost unimaginable how they faced all these problems with a lot of faith in God and serenity.

Reflecting on their lives, I would naturally would go to them for inspiration (and ask them for favors!) especially whenever we feel the pinch. I would think about how the Abuela maintained her dignity and elegance amidst severe money troubles and the lack of even the family's basic needs. I would also imagine how the Abuelo, while he lost his business and received the ire of many, continued to work and find ways to fend his growing family with true trust in God.

Their example alone gives my husband and I the strength to carry on our duties to our family. And like them, we rely on the grace of God to help us with our needs. :-)

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Random IG Pics

Obviously, I've been hooked on IG...

On Semestral Break

It's really such a fantastic thing to be on semestral break these days. Well, at least for Zoe. School ended last October 25 (when they had a Halloween party) and will resume on November 5. That's so cool, right?

Before we had the break, we celebrated Mother's Day in their school (where they had some lovely song and dance numbers for us moms). This was right after they finished their quarterly examinations and started the 3rd grading. We're really wishing the Zoe will be able to ace her subjects and garner another special award. She has been trying her best to improve on her Language, Reading and Religion and I really appreciate all her efforts to fare better than the last quarter. If I could, I would have talked her into having her own English tutor but looks like she can still handle her subjects for now. I heard about VarsityTutors and they provide just the right tutorial services for anyone who is struggling with difficult subjects in school.

Anyway, for now, I leave her academic work on the side and focus on less serious stuff while on vacation. So far, we have done several extra-curricular things at these times. First, there was the annual Trick or Treat event in our village. Zoe and Luigi dressed up as Jessie and Woody of Toy Story. They looked so cute together. It was like Luigi's first serious Trick or Treat event and he gamely went around the whole village trying to get treats from every house that's been tagged as a pit stop. The result? Well, they gathered two big bags of candies and other goodies that will probably last us a good month or so. Tooth decay, beware!!!

Well, another thing is that Zoe was able to join and attend her Daffodils Girl's Club once again. They already moved to another venue somewhere in Kapitolyo and we had to drive around to get to the place. Their activity the last time was making Thank You cards using recyclable arts and crafts. What she did, with the help of the other girls, turned out to be very pretty. Anyway, she's a big girl now. I left her there at the venue and then just picked her up after. And while she was there, the rest of the family went grocery-shopping at the nearby supermarket. Talk about time management!

To end, I just want to share with you some pictures taken from the Mother's Day event in Zoe's school.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Happy Birthday Mel

We celebrated my friend Melanie's birthday last week by going to our favorite videoke place. Our friends made the reservations and I went out to buy the cake for her. It was a lovely and tasty cake from Sugarhouse (Midnight Chocolate Cake).

We obviously all love to sing and to eat so it's really a no-brainer when it came into deciding how we would want to celebrate. And so we rounded up our (their) favorites: Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Celine Dion and many other current and old hits. Here's our group picture: myself, Cha, Mel, Sam and Thea.We ordered pizza, buffalo wings, nachos and drinks. They've been trying to learn how to stop drinking so the alcoholic drinks were at a minimal level (I didn't drink but just ate lots, hahaha).

Here's us really getting in the mood to sing and dance.

And I still remember this time - we were singing "Stop" by the Spice Girls but was so bad at the choreography!

Stop right now thank you very much
I need somebody with a human touch
Hey you always on the run
Gotta slow it down baby, gotta have some fun
Do do do do!
Do do do do!

Oh well, maybe next time we will come more prepared.

It's our anniversary month!

I've been neglecting this blog for some time (coz I'm secretly hooked on IG). But am taking a minute to post this recent photo of me and my ex-boyfriend. Hahaha. It's October and we are celebrating our anniversary once again.

Happy 7th Wedding Anniv!
Happy 14th BF/GF Anniv!
Happy 15th Anniversary as Friends! :-D

Thanks to Nina for the pic!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Swimming in September

My kids' birthdays this year fell on a weekend coinciding with the wedding of my best childhood friend C. Since I was assigned as the Matron of Honor during the wedding (more pictures about that in another post), we decided to bring the kids along to the place where the wedding reception was to be held and stay overnight there together with the family of the bride. The venue was at the Presidio in Sucat. The place was a nice condo community with units which you can rent for a reasonable price. It also had other amenities such as a function room, playground and swimming pool. Thus, the day after the wedding, we were able to take advantage to bring the kids for at least a half-day of swimming. Good thing we had the swimming pool all to ourselves and our friends that day plus the weather was just perfect.

Sharing some pictures of my kids Zoe and Luigi who turned three and six, respectively. See how excited they were to go to the pool.

Getting ready...

Brother and sister together...

Another shot...

Taken from where I was sitting...

Pictures with friends Ate Chezca and Jacob...

The kids really enjoyed and I vowed that they would stay in the pool all day if they had the chance. They were there for like more than two hours and enjoyed every minute of it. As for me, I was quite happy the area near the pool had an internet connection. At least was able to update my Instagram and other accounts. I even found the time to download smileys for facebook at MyEmoticons.com. Those emoticons will also be helpful to use for my gmail chat and email messaging. It's cool!

TAG is Back!

After a long hiatus, the TAG website is again updated and is sporting a new look!

Thanks to the brilliant suggestion of my friend Nina to go for a color that softer for the eyes, I was able to help out the team by installing and customizing a new light blue look for the site.

TAG stands for TV Advocacy Group, a team of volunteer women who have given themselves the task of monitoring TV shows and helping viewers to be sift through the good and bad. TAG was conceptualized in November 2004 by three pioneering ladies who were determined to make a difference in the field of television, the difference being to improve the content of our local television programming.

VISION

To establish an association of TV viewers who can effectively influence the content of local programming on free TV. This means getting network owners, producers, directors, stars and advertisers to hear the association’s opinion on particular media content.

MISSION
To positively influence the content of local TV programs in terms of:

values portrayed
decency in speech , dressing and action
contribution to intellectual development of viewers
promotion of healthy love for country
respect for religious beliefs

Come visit TAG's site now at http://tvadvo.com.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Silver Awardee

We had a fantastic surprise last week after learning that our daughter who is in 1st grade had received a Silver Award for the first quarter. Her academic grades and character assessment were good and this qualified her to get such award. Her Math, Science, Social Studies and Filipino were all at A while Religion and Language at A-. Her only B grade is for Reading. On the Character rating side, she mainly got O and VG.

We actually got to chat with our mentor and she shared all of Zoe's points of strength and points for improvement. We also had agreed to set a goal for her to do activities that will help improve her Reading and Comprehension. As a product of this, I really would try my best to find time to read and discuss with her more books so she will gain that confidence and real liking for reading. I understand that she only turned 6 years old last weekend and may be struggling to cope with her classmates who are about 1 year older than her. I might explore finding a tutoring service for her just like how many other parents are doing now.

Talking about reading, even when I was young, I really loved to read. This is evidenced by my thick glasses which I have now. Ha, ha, ha. My dad and I have an agreement that he will bring me to National Bookstore every month and he would allow me to buy 1 book every time. One day, I chose this book entitled "Heidi". I loved this book and was hooked on reading from then on. I explored the likes of Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Dickens and many many more (with no regrets whatsoever!). I hope I will be able to share this love for reading with my daughter Zoe.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Happy Birthday Zoe and Luigi!

My kids celebrated their birthdays last weekend. Zoe is now 6 while Luigi is 3. :-D We had simple celebration with family.

Like last year, we made our kids pick their own birthday gifts (with a fixed budget of course). :-) Zoe got a My Little Pony toy while Luigi got a basketball hoop set.

Their cousin Amane was present to celebrate with the kids.

For the party, we served spaghetti, bbq, lechong manok, pichi-pichi, cake and ice cream!

Before eating we sang the birthday song twice so both the kids get a chance to blow their candles. The party was actually held on Zoe's birthday since we were out of town (to attend a wedding) on Luigi's birthday the day before. More stories on that later on.

We love you kids!!!! Happy birthday!!!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Shopping this Weekend?

Ooohh! There are so many sale events going around town this weekend and the next that I’m actually locking up my wallet to avoid any unnecessary purchases. There is an SM 3-day sale and a Body Shop Go-Green Sale. So tempting too are the DC Shoes End of Season Sale and Planet Sports Sale. Whaa!!! There is no other solution but to control!

My wallet is already “aching” with payday being so many days away still. I really need some honest-to-goodness credit card advice so I can manage all my existing debts. For that, I need to know more about about credit cards and be able to look for creative ways to bring my credit down.

Indeed, money does not grow in trees. Money, as far as many are concerned, would have to come from a lot of hard work and a bit (and maybe a lot too) of knowledge and common sense. I think they go hand in hand since what is hard work when you just lose it to a bad investment or unnecessary purchases? Yep, I could say this because I’ve been a victim of all of these in the past. That is why I highly recommend that for hard workers (like me!) to try to look up those financial advice websites so you can get a good return for the money you earn.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Trip to Nuvali

Our family spent some time together at Nuvali which is en route to Tagaytay. :-) It was my sister's last day in Manila before heading back to Iloilo so it was a great chance for us to bond a little. :-)

Sharing some pictures.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Millionaire

I wanna be a millionaire, so freakin’ bad. La-la-la-la-la! This song by Bruno Mars is going round and round my head, especially during those days that decent living seems to be getting too expensive.

With the recent rains and flood coming our way in Manila and bills piling up, it’s been especially hard for many families like my own to even think of saving or investing when much of the money that is coming in, is going out. LOL. But I do want to feel a bit of hope. And mind you, the answer might not be getting a new and higher paying job. I read some timsykes reviews today and felt a bit better. We have other ways of making it good and it’s not always about getting a new job or selling your house to move to a smaller place just to save. As the saying goes – “Never say die”. J Try and try until you succeed. That’s essentially what I read about tim sykes. We need to be wise in our spending and investments.

So, if life is tough these days, then we just have to smile. Life is good. To be alive is great. We live for God. He gave us a purpose for being here. Right?