2 things

one - last day ko na ngayon sa work. woohoo! ang saya-saya!

two - ang sakit ng ingrown ko. waaah!

Dear Diary

what to you do when you are offered the sun and the moon and the stars, things you have always wanted... but now that it's offered, you've actually decided to move to a different direction and the sun, moon and stars don't seem to matter as much anymore?

it's so tempting...

it's something that you've always wanted and you feel you deserve...

is it a matter of too late, baby!

and how do you say no to something like that?

help me, please!

You can give without loving,
but you can not love without giving.
- Mother Teresa of Calcutta

The Comeback Misis

I (re)joined the misis at wifespeaks thinking in the next couple of weeks, I will have more time in my hands, so I can have more time to blog. Thanks mga misis, for taking me back. And as the 2nd year anniversary topic for wifespeaks, here's my slumbook entry.

THE BASICS:

1. What is your (screen) name, and why did you choose that as your screen name?
ISLANDGIRL, because I'm a girl and I live on an island.

2. How long have you been married? Have kids?
3 years and 10 months married. We have a daughter who's 2 year and 10 months.

3. What is your favorite color? And how has your color preference influenced your life (if it has)? My favorite color is blue. Yes, I went to a college who's school color is blue.

4. What are your hobbies?
I love to chat and surf on the internet, I sing (and dance sometimes), I like to read.

5. What is your motto in life?
In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

6. Do you have pets?
Fish. Dati madami, ngayon isa na lang natira.

7. What are the three adjectives that best describe your spouse?
God-centered, kind, reliable

8. Give three songs that best describe you.


9. What satisfies you about the work that you do?
you get to predict the future and validate your predictions right away

10. Do you blog? Where? Can we visit?
here!


CHIKAHAN:

1. Define Love.
Love is a decision.

2. Kakaibang talento mo.
Kaya kong magchat, mag-blog, mag-surf, mag-email at magtrabaho ng sabay-sabay.

3. Share your adobo recipe.
Here's my rule - 1 is to 2. 1 part toyo, 2 parts suka. Depends on how 'masabaw' you want your adobo, but just follow these ratios. Then lots of garlic and peppercorn.

4. Describe your current screensaver/wallpaper.
It's a picture of Abby and her friend Lawrence on Christmas eve. Magka-akbay sila.

5. During your teenage years, what fad/s did you follow? Why?
I followed everything - denim mini skirt, bangs, tall bangs, and even taller bangs, the Demi Moore-Ghost hair style, Tretorn and K-swiss sneakers, Giordan backpack, those wallets that are made of floral prints that have velcro on them, making your wallet into a 'photo album' with lots of pictures of your family and barkada --- and lots more!

6. How many times have you had a broken heart? Which was the worst and how did you recover from it?
I've only had one boyfriend. And I'm married to him now.

7. If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?
To heal the hearts of those who are sorrowful.

8. What frightens you about getting old?
Getting old alone.

9. Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Chismis magazine and websites, and chocolates!!!

10. What's your favorite chore?
hmmmm... meron ba? Sige na nga cooking!

11. Describe your wedding ring.
It's a plain white-gold band with three small diamonds.

12. If you could have a tattoo, what would it look like?
Probably my initials, and hubby's and Abby's. RMA

13. What book would you like to be made into a movie? Who would you like to star in it?
The shopaholic series. I don't know who should be the star.

14. Share something that you do not believe in.
I do not believe in being content in a relationship. Cause then it starts to become stale. We should always thrive to make a relationship work.






:

1. First love never dies.
TRUE.

2. You can change your partner once you're married.
FALSE. Only he can decide to change himself.

3. The Philippines is worth it.
TRUE.

4. Women are moodier than men.
FALSE.

5. James Yap is innocent (Sorry Kris!).
FALSE.

6. 80s fashion is coming back.
TRUE.

7. Angels.
TRUE.

8. Good and bad luck come in threes.
FALSE.

9. Destiny.
TRUE.

10. It is better to have love and lost, than never to have loved at all.
TRUE.

TIPS:

1. What is you favorite skin care product?
I've changed so many times, but I think I like Aveeno a lot.

2. What do you do to keep fit?
What's fit? hehehe

3. Where do you do your bargain shopping?
Ross, TJ Maxx, Greenhills, Divisoria

4. Recommend an effective household cleaning item.
Swiffer and those new Clorox wipes.

5. Sex.
Enjoy it!

Full of grace

I just feel so blessed that 3 important symbols of my faith was recently here on island, and that we were able to share in the festivities for them.

Sometime December 2006, the image of Our Lady of Fatima was here. Unfortunately, we were still on our vacation when Our Lady visited our parish. Fortunately, she was here long enough for us to see her in one of the other parishes. She truly is one of the most beautiful images of our dear mama mary.

Then, early March, the World Youth Day cross was here. Hubby and I can't stop reminiscing when 12 years ago, we were very active in the WYD celebrations in Manila. And we were one of the first people who were able to touch the cross, since our Rover Scout group (college boy scouts - yes, I was a boy scout!) was part of the infrastructure, sites and layouts committee. Our team was there when the cross was brought in. And we had our picture taken too. (i'll have to scan it and show it later, but you probably won't recognize us, ang papayat pa namin sa picture!) Our team was even featured in one of the newspapers in the Philippines, as the writer is the father of one of the guys in our team.

So going back, on March 8, I was able to see, touch and kiss the WYD cross again. And what made it extra special was my daughter was with me to share the event. She may be too young to really understand the significance of this cross that the late Pope John Paul II gave to the youth of the world, but I know someday we will cherish this time together. (again, i don't have the picture, will post it soon)

Then last night, we were blessed again to be able to see the relics of the passion. They are 8 relics that are believed to be part of the passion of our Lord. There was one that is a sliver of wood of the original cross. Then a replica of the nails that was used to crucify Christ. Also an effigy of the veil that Veronica used to wipe the face of Jesus. A piece of wood from the table of the last supper. A relic from the crown of thorns. A relic from the shroud that Jesus was buried in. And... oops, I forgot the other 2. But anyway, I know some of these will not be the original, but they still symbolize Christ's love for us that He died on the cross for us to save us from sin.

Holy week is coming soon. Such perfect timing that we are reminded of the things during Christ's passion to remember Jesus' sacrifice... a perfect time for us to reflect on how God has truly touched our lives... how He truly loves us to His death... and how we should strive to stay closer to Jesus and be true Christians.

tumon bay music festival

i am a part of a group called MAGIS and we participated in the 3rd Tumon Bay Music Festival.

here are some of the pictures of our first night of performance.



tumon music fest 030307

note: there are 10 photos and 4 videos on this album

we were chosen to sing on March 8 in the Comman Performance for the festival under the open category. pictures of that soon.

then on March 9, we were awarded a trophy for actually winning in the festival. congratulations, MAGIS!

comment on the comments

dahil ngayon lang ako nag-upgrade ng blogger, ngayon lang lumabas yung mga comments na 2006 pa napost ng aking readers (naks!). sorry po at di ko nasagot mga comments ninyo. at baka too late na rin para sagutin sila kasi 2007 na e.

i hope to update this blog more often. dahil abangan at maraming pasasabugin this 2007.

meet enzo (aka lawrence, aka oyie)

sya ang best friend ni abby ngayon. born 3 months and 2 weeks after abby.... lagi silang nagkikita pag nagsisimba at nagpa-practice for the choir ang mga magulang. they practically grew up together. ang sarap panoorin na sabay silang lumalaki. ngayong pareho na silang makulit...




abby and enzo

if you can't view the slideshow, you can see the pics here.

buti pa ang manok, nangingitlog...
ako, hindi!

looking forward...

finally, matutuloy na rin ang bakasyon namin!

with the all the things that have been happening at work, it looked like there was no opportunity for me to take a vacation. so what's the use of those 18 days of vacation leave available? in my work, if you don't use it, you lose it. it can't be accrued for the following year, nor can it be encashed.

to explain my rant further, sometime mid this year, my boss resigned, in the middle of proposal preparations for the government's health plan!! i was planning to take a couple of week then (before i found out she was quitting) so we can spend time with family in the states, and also take advantage of the airline promos during that time. anyway, with my boss gone, i was the most senior member of the staff. also, from a head count of 4, we were down to 2, because the other person in the department decided to move to a different department.

so hectic june and july happened with me and my co-worker working tirelessly to finish deadlines that were for 4 people. (i imagine she racked up a lot of overtime hours, as for me, i racked up a lot of headaches, no over time for me =<)

august looked promising. we just finished negotiations with the government and it might be great to have a breather. then island boy tells me that the church will have a golf tournament fund raiser on august 26, of all dates, his birthday! so in short, we can't go because he'll be preparing for that event. but i sure was saddened because my whole family (save for us) was in chicago at that time to see my new niece, jadyn. well it's fine. there's still september right? and september looks like a free month for me, work-wise at least.

mid to late august, our pastor was appointed monsignor! the mass was going to be in september. and of course, hubby had to be there and he also had to help prepare.

btw, the golf tournament was postponed (what the...?)... and finally happened on september 23. so long stor short, august and september happened, and i still have full leave. islandbaby got sick, instead of using personal leave i just used my vacation leave for 2 days.

so here i am with 16 more days left. i've accepted the fact that i might just get my leave one day for every week, so maybe have long weekends of something.

you see october and november will be hectic for me as we will be having a number of projects for those months.

then a couple of weeks back, there was a promo for deferred payment using our credit card if we book thru a certain travel agency. then the week after that promo went out, the airline came out with promo fares to the states!

i had to ask permission from the ceo (i'm reporting directly to her now). island boy asked the pastor (well, technically he hasn't said yes, but he did not say no either). last saturday, we booked out flight and we're off to take two weeks vacation. yehey!

now the problem is how to we split the two weeks among all the people who want to see us. relatives in san diego, a have a good friend in l.a., my sister in bakersfield, my aunt in las vegas, and my brother in chicago. we definitely won't have time for canada. maybe next year.

anyway, i'm excited. finally a family vacation for this year. so looking forward to november...