Tuesday, December 31, 2013

HAPPY NEW 2014 YEAR!!!


i spent my new year's eve with my sister and bro-in-law and their friends, selchuck and regina in alona northland resort. we had a simple dinner which my bro-in-law prepared sweated over (according to him.lol).

waldorf salad

rib eye steak

almonds for the waldorf

potato salad


the child in some of us

pancakes with ice cream and special sauce that  was surprisingly  fresh and has burst of flavors when it hits your mouth. I admit that this one caught me by surprise. i have prejudices against pancakes. they're only supposed to be for breakfast!


les and regina

from l-r: regina, selchuck, I, les & carsten

some fireworks  watching  on the terrace.

still trying to practice capturing fireworks shot





i am blessed that God has given me the family and friends that i have now - i'm grateful and hopeful today as we turn the page to all the experiences 2014 holds for me. and like most people i want to be excited and prepared for what God has in store for me this year. 

through the changing years and seasons in my life. the ups and downs. the easy and the hard. the expected and the unexpected. in want and in plenty. disappointments and problems... one thing remain constant - God is faithful. he remains the the strength or my heart and my portion forever.

p.s
boss, you help calm my anxiety and tendency to over think everything by reminding me of the simple reality that "He who promised is faithful."

Sunday, December 15, 2013

unread books

each little girl has something that she values, something that she treasures and kept to herself. something that she hold close to her chest when she goes to sleep… she puts on her lap when she eats and she carefully tucks or hide away from prying eyes and hands of a sibling when she takes a bath

as I girl the only thing that i kept is not a ragged doll, not a barbie, not even a cute hair tie. i kept tattered copies of hardy boys and nancy drew’s in my chest cabinet, the old looking ones that opens upwards and not side wards.

i remember that i have been sooo hooked with reading before; anything and everything that is written in english. just like what a lot of people say, books and written materials open up a whole new world for me. a world full of possibilities; nice places, smart people, amazing characters and heroes, they made me yearn for more. those made me want for more.

i read and re-read books that were available to me. i even remember scavenging a partly burnt book at the backyard of one of the bigger houses that was a kilometer away from our house. i felt that it was such a great waste seeing piles and piles of charcoal colored things that was once (I imagined) amazing reads.

when i was in college, i did not have enough financial support from my family; so i became a working student and was immediately assigned to cleaning the dining hall. that did not appeal one bit to my sensibilities. So i requested to be transferred to the school library. thankfully, there was an opening and i was absorbed right away. in this place again my love for the written word was given gigantic satisfaction. working students were only allowed to work three hours each day and get paid for P12.00 each hour; this was deducted directly to our tuition. i had work more than my share because i always volunteer to take the place of whoever cannot do their shift. in the end it was the school who owed me money! lol. it was an amazing time.

why, i’d be asked, am i drooling on and on and on about old books?

simply because now i am staring at about fifteen unread books or more on my book shelf and i do not have the slightest idea on how am i going to finish reading all of them! work has taken so much of my time.

okay, fine, internet and cell phone has taken so much of my free time. there’s this temptation called face book, instagram and youtube and surfing through blogs that has me neglecting my favorite hobby and comfort before.

never again….


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special shout out to Hazel Claire Navales - happy birthday sweetix!!!