Stress eating

Alleviating my sadness with this. And so I hereby dub a grande sized banana chocolate frappuccino and a ham and cheese danish (as) my sad meal. 

In other news, I find that the smell of printed paper, like that Starbucks brochure in the picture, perks me up like no other. Its smell is almost identical to that of a cheap Christmas wrapper. What is that? Newspaper print? #weirdaddiction

*eat eat*

Ok, I can't seem to finish my danish. I'm full. I'll just enjoy the rest of my drink then.

Of quality time and manga

K E E P I N G  T H E  L O V E  A L I V E

Mon and I make it a point to have boyfriend-girlfriend time every weekend. I say "boyfriend-girlfriend" time kasi it's more kilig that way, diba? "Husband-wife" time sounds boring. Haha.

Even from when we were still dating, we never were the maluho kind of couple. In fact, our dates sometimes took place at the nearby sari-sari store. Our food? Cheese Rings and Royal Tru-Orange sa plastic. I stress "sa plastic" because softdrinks somehow tastes different pag nasa plastic, diba? Or maybe that's just me feeling nostalgic. Anyway the point is, we enjoy each other's company a lot and so we never felt like we have to go to an expensive place just to have boyfriend-girlfriend time.

But we do go to expensive places once in a while. It's part of his continuing courtship, if you may. Kasi aminin, nakakahaba ng hair kapag dine-date ka ng boyfriend mo sa mahal diba? Nakaka-flatter na ginagastusan ka pa rin paminsan minsan. ;)

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

E V E R Y T H I N G  I  K N O W  ,  I  L E A R N E D  F R O M  M A N G A

Ok, that's an exaggeration since ngayon lang naman ako nagbasa ng manga. Haha! Pero totoo na madami ka talagang mapupulot sa pagbabasa nun. 

I just actually finished reading one. My first manga! Ang saya saya makatapos ng 102 chapters in just a few days. #feelingaccomplished #mangarock

I wonder how the Japanese think of such witty stories? Nakakatuwa at nakaka-inspire kasi talaga. I think everyone should read at least one manga in their life. One can really learn a lot from it. Like, the manga I just read made me think that in life, there is no such thing as too late to do what you want to do or too late to be anything you want to be. Even if you consider yourself mediocre, with hard work, you can still achieve anything you want. Just don't give up and never surrender!

I look forward to the day when I will be able to share with Lex the life lessons that I have learned from manga and anime. Pero dadating din kami dun. For now, I'll let him enjoy his innocence in his picture perfect world where everything is rainbows and butterflies and cotton candy and milk. ;)

My thoughts on a quiet Friday afternoon

I got this from Pinterest

I wonder if anybody in this world, in this life, can or will say this about me? I often think about it. If I didn't exist in this world, like, if I've never been born, what difference would it make in the lives of those people I've met? Is there a life that became better because of me? Have I touched someone's life in a way that he/she will never forget? Have I inspired a person to move on?

Sometimes I also wonder, if it wasn't me who was born, someone else would have been born, right? My parents would have had a different child, my sisters would have had a different sister. Maybe they could even have had a brother! My friends would have had a different friend. My husband would have had a different wife. Again, what difference would it have made in their lives?

An interesting thought.

By the way, this is not a self-pity post. This is actually just me thinking out loud and wishing that someone's life had been better because I'm in it. Happy Friday everyone!

Being the best

I slept very late some nights ago. As it often is these days, my mind is preoccupied with the idea of success and failure (i.e. what it means to be either one of it). But something about what I had read earlier that night on my Facebook feed led me to realize one thing and that is people often think about success and failure but easily overlooks what's in between: mediocrity. But more on that later.

The next night, my husband imposed one new house rule: that we stop using our gadgets from 11PM-6AM everyday. He stressed the importance of having enough time to sleep but I knew he had in mind the fact that I was so weak the next day, I had to depend on a caramel macchiato to keep myself awake enough to attend a playdate.

At face value, that rule is very easy to follow. Drop whatever I was doing (which is really just checking on my social media accounts), sleep, and continue on the next day. But you and I know that it's not that simple. And as I reflected on my reluctance, I realized that the reason I was so hesitant to follow the rule was because my heart was not in it.

Then I remembered what I heard in church last Sunday about discipleship. The pastor said that the concept of following Jesus is really very simple. What makes it hard is because it is not easy to do. How many of you know that people, at the sight of any inconvenience, go and run for the hills faster than one can say RUN?

Applying that to my situation, the real deal is that I didn't want to give up my unligadget time at night.

And then I was reminded that when I married my husband, I vowed to submit to him all of me. I married him because I decided that he is the perfect man to lead me and my children in this life. I told myself that I will willfully and happily submit to his leadership. I may be inconvenienced by his rules, but I will follow him. That vow stands strong then, now, and forever.

Just as God is our Father, Ruler, and Lord of our lives, we should submit to His perfect will without any hesitations. We may not understand the purpose of all His rules, but we can be assured that it will only do us good if we follow it wholeheartedly until the very end, with no delays and no distractions.

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. 

- Jim Elliot

Translation: A person is not a fool to give up all the reckless ways of the world to gain eternal life by being good and following God.

If you're wondering what happened next, I did agree with my husband's imposition proposition to limit our gadget use. Not only because I have to (for the reasons I stated above), but also (and more of) because I decided to put my heart in order and set my priorities straight.

In the last few weeks, along with my thoughts on success and failure, I've also been concerned about how I do things and how for the longest time I feel like I'm living a life of mediocrity. And I decided that I am so tired of that. I am tired of being just in between. So from now on I'm going to be the best. I'm going to be a success.

But what does it take to be a success?

Being a success, in my opinion, means doing your very best, and not being successful as how the world perceives success, in each and every aspect of your life, whether it be at work, your finances, your relationship with God, your health, your relationships with other people.

So whether it's honoring one's husband's rules or deciding to really follow Jesus in your life or even the simplest thing like finishing a long overdue blog entry, let's be a success. Let's be the best that we can be in each role that we play. Let's be a success is each area of our lives. It's time to stop mediocrity and make the most out of this one life we're given.

Disclaimer: While I may be mediocre in some areas, I am at least proud to say that I've never been a mediocre wife or a mediocre mom. I've always given my family the best of what I can give; time, attention, love, and even material things. My husband says I am the best on where it matters most. And because he thinks that, I would like to think that I didn't do so bad.

No place I'd rather be

My baby boy stirred beside me, rousing me from my slumber. It was midnight. And although I've actually been sleeping for only a couple of hours, it certainly feels like my body has regained much strength, as if I've already slept for 8 hours rather than 2. I felt my bladder screaming release and got quite annoyed because going to the bathroom at this hour only means two things. I'm going to fully awaken my sleeping brain and spend the rest of the night awake, or I can crawl my way to the bathroom and convince my semi-awake brain into thinking that I am still asleep and to not let go of what little sleep is left. Unfortunately (or fortunately!), it was the former.

I succumbed to my desire to check my social media accounts in the middle of the night and after about half an hour into it, I gently rolled over to my husband's side and whispered that I can't sleep. Unfortunately for me, the husband has not an ounce of strength to spare to keep me company. He dozed off before I even finished my sentence.

And so there I lay in my state of wakefulness, staring into what just earlier in the night were fully charged glow-in-the-dark stars in our bedroom ceiling and decided to write down my one and only thought this peaceful night.

The reality of the moment is this, I am squished in between my sleeping husband and baby. And as I feel the warmth of their bodies on either side of me, I think, there is no place I would rather be than here. I may be the only one awake at this time but I don't feel alone at all. My heart is full.

I smile as I offer up a silent prayer to the Lord, thanking Him for His goodness and grace. And for the gift of here and now.

As I stare at my son in the darkness, I can see the outlines of his face, the gentle waves of his hair, the slight pout of his lips, and I think, "Hey, little guy, I look just like you!" I smell his hands, catching a whiff of milk that had dried up from his most recent feeding. I memorize his scent. I stay this way for a while, staring, drinking him in, until finally a bout of sleepiness envelopes me and I sleep, deeply and blissfully into the night.

Ramble Schamble

Two Sundays ago was a busy day. As in. 

We were supposed to meet a friend of mine in Taguig. And since we seldom leave QC during the weekend, we decided to do our pending to do's in Taguig/Makati/Magallanes area. Our scheduled itinerary was full. Meet my friend, lunch, get parents' albums, get maternity prints, visit SM Aura.. However last Saturday night, something suddenly came up with my friend so he won't be able to meet us the next day. I thought we won't push through with our planned activities already but alas, natuloy pa rin kami! So finally, we were able to pick up the parents' albums (of our wedding) and the prints of my maternity shoot last December. I was also finally able to set foot in SM Aura.

SM Aura being a premier mall, my expectations were a bit high. Well actually ok naman ang impression ko but I just didn't expect that the place would be so small. But I guess I'm just used to SM North's wide passageways.

We didn't do anything much in SM because we had Lex with us. We just ate lunch, went to Baby Company to buy some toys then uwi na.

Let me just say that I love Mona Lisa Ristorante! The food is even better there than in Cibo! Coming from me, that is saying A LOT because Cibo has been my favorite pasta place for the past 5 years. Price at Mona Lisa is Cibo-ish lang rin, if I remember correctly. No pictures, I'm sorry. Too hungry. Too excited to eat. But here's Lex inside Mona Lisa. :)

Lex: Daddy makes such funny faces!

After eating, we stopped by Happy Lemon for "dessert". Mon got Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese and I got Milo Dinosaur.

Next stop was Baby Company, where I spent so much time looking over each toy! I'm trying to find a toy for Lex because I feel like he doesn't have much toys to play with at home. Honest. You might think we're spoiling him by giving him lots of toys but we're really not.

Just a quick segue, I've always thought toys were unnecessary. But then I read somewhere that toys, especially the educational ones, greatly encourage a child's play IQ. Some toys actually teach children perseverance, critical thinking, and strategy. It's not something trivial and of no value. May use din pala sila.

Anyway, I was looking through shelves and shelves of toys before I finally decided what to buy Lex. Siyempre Mon contributed with the decision also kasi kung hindi, hindi na kami makakaalis ng Baby Company!

We gave one toy muna kay Lex, assess how he reacts to it. Aba naman, masayang masaya ang batuta! Ayaw bitawan.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I just got a new laptop at work. Tell me, mas gaganahan ba akong magtrabaho kung bago ang laptop ko? Hmm. We'll see, we'll see. :)

A laptop means lesser wires and a cleaner workstation!
But it also means that I'll be impervious during brownouts! Hehe.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Lex attended a children's party for the very first time! It was my friend's daughter's first birthday party last month.

Maxyne's Baby Einstein themed party

This is Lex's only picture at the event. Tinulugan niya kasi. Haha! Toink.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Lex celebrated his 6th month birthday last July 9. Ang saya saya ng batuts! Normally, pag-uwi namin ni Mon after work, tulog na yang si batuts. Miracle of miracles, nung 6th month birthday niya, gising pa when we got home!

Lex: Really? For me? Wooowww!! Chocolate!!!!!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I will miss breastfeeding! I'm still breastfeeding now but I feel like milk is slowly drying out already. :( I never thought I would feel this because during the first two weeks of breastfeeding, wow, painful! But after a couple of weeks, I got over the pain and enjoyed it from then on. 

Still a breastfeeding mommy!