Little accomplishments

Oh how I miss blogging! At first I thought the long holiday break would give me time to tend my much neglected blog huhu, boy was I wrong. I wanted to do a lot during the vacation but I don't know how time just simply flew by. I guess that's really the case when it's spent with the ones you love, which I don't regret.

Nevertheless, I was able to squeeze in some to dos or should I say little accomplishments specially when the kids were asleep. Allow me to indulge you a bit if you don't mind. For memories' sake narin ;)

1) Replenish my freezer stash - because unli-latching kami ni JD during the holidays, my milk supply improved and I was able to replenish my depleting freezer stash upto 3 days (just enough for quick out-of-town assignments at work).

2) "Sort of" finished my playroom project - as I've mentioned in my home decorating/decluttering posts here and here, I plan to do a simple storage project for the kids' room. This was my mom's idea actually. We were window shopping in SM and saw these little easy to assemble tables (parang Ikea lang) in various colors. I wanted really a parang bench with drawer bins underneath to store toys. But she said it's more expensive to have that custom made. At least these tables cost Php500 each only (if you have an SM Advantage card). Then we just covered some used cardboard boxes with scrap fabric, and voila! I also placed the wall decals we bought at SM Baby company for only Php45. Just two more boxes/bins to go. Hope I get to find the time.

Before

After

3) Manage our finances - Daddy A and I were able to take short trips to the bank during our leave to manage our funds and investments. Also, I chanced upon this great buy from National Bookstore at Php115 only. I vow this year to complete this monthly bill organizer and keep track of our expenses. It really helps kasi nakakakonsensya when you see how much you have spent the past month, and you can point out which are really necessities and which ones you can do without.

4) Post some blog entries - okay, at least there are a couple of entries, but the list of backlogs is still looong (see post). If only our internet isn't acting up, there would have been more.

Anyway, like I said I'm quite happy with the little accomplishments along the way. What's important is that I get to spend more time with my loved ones, those that matter most.

From our family to yours

What I learned in four years of marriage

As I've written in this post, Daddy A and I have been together for almost a decade (more than 5 years being BF/GF and 4 years of being hubby and wifey). But having a BF/GF relationship is so much different from being married. It's really different when you share one bed, one banyo, one toothbrush (hehe joke). Most specially once you have kids, and problems that are far more complicated than san tayo kakain or what movie we will watch. That's why getting married is not for the faint-hearted, those self-centered, and those who easily give up. You really have to be ready. Ika nga "hindi parang kaning isusubo na pwedeng iluwa kapag napaso" (not like cooked rice that you can spit out when it burns your mouth - ayos ba translation ko?).

It's not about looking for someone perfect, neither is it about settling for less. You just have to find that one person whom you can't imagine life without.

Just read this timely quote from a friend's FB post:

"He's not perfect. You aren't either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn't going to quote poetry, he's not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don't hurt him, don't change him, and don't expect more than he can give. Don't analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he's not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don't exist, but there's only one guy that is perfect for you."  - Bob Marley

Hope whoever reads this may find or has found the perfect one for you as well. Love, love, love =)

Another year down this crazy, exciting, wonderful road of marriage. Here's to forever dubs!

Post backlogs

It's December already and I have a plethora (yes big word hehe) of posts in my draft folder and lots of pictures in my tablet that I haven't documented yet. My backlog has piled up since the last week of October!

Hay, anyway, to make up for it...here's my best attempt to tackle them one by one. I don't like to do naman a round-up like I did for April to June. More pictures, more kwentos, more posts the better.

So just to summarize my list and tick them of one by one (bullet day I will finish you all):
JD's 4th month check up/Galleria day
Pico de Loro getaway
Undas 2013
Parent-teacher meeting
Weekend roundup - November 9-10
JD's 5th month
Christmas shopping at Trinoma and The Spa experience
Alice in Wonderland party
R's first stint as a flower girl
KKK, Mickey and friends Christmas at Megamall
Christmas shopping continued at SM North
Tagaytay short trip
Hulihin si Hello Kitty sa Megamall

Homaygad, meron pa pala to sa draft folder ko:
Travel posts (Days 3-5 of Daddy A's Korea trip)
Our HK trip
(well mostly all our trips)
Travel tips and essentials
R's first and 2nd birthdays - should've been in September pa

And for December:
Our Wedding - planning and all the chorva (since it's our anniversary month)
What I learned in four years of marriage

Hay talaga, gotta finish them all. Good luck to me.

DIY Christmas e-cards and gift tags

It's that time of the year again and I'm thinking of what our Christmas e-card concept will be this year.
What's more exciting is we are now four! It's also a great way of showing relatives and friends all over the world how our family and the kids have grown.

Just so you'll know we do a self-timer, a.k.a "sariling sikap" family photo and I just do the editing for our Christmas e-cards and labels. Laking tipid diba?

For the past years here are the e-cards I came up with:

In 2010 we had two versions, the Belen/Nativity:

and a bright red Christmas

In 2011, winter wonderland lang ang peg:

Last year, balls galore:

Hope none of them ends up in http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/ hehe!

I also did our personalized gift tags:

2010

2011

2012

This year, here's my draft:

Pero who knows, it may change, depending on our family photo shoot this year. I'm browsing through various concepts in the net for this year's e-card, here are some cool ones:
http://www.harvardhomemaker.com/100-photos-to-inspire-your-holiday-cards/.
Don't worry, we're steering away from these:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/hgrant/26-of-the-best-of-the-worst-family-holiday-cards

How about you guys, any ideas?