On A Wonderful Day Like Today

Tried this out after seeing it in Andrea's blog. Check out this site - http://www.dumpr.net/ .

Congrats Pac-man! I heard that you won another boxing title! You make us proud to be Filipinos today. :-) More about THE fight here .

I'm so envious right now because my sister has all her travel plans settled for her visit to Sydney, Australia for the World Youth Day this July. She doesn't exactly define 'youth' in terms of age (she's even four years older than me!) but I think that with her outlook in life, she definitely falls in the 'youth' category! Right sis? Plus I think that she definitely deserves to experience this chance of a lifetime and be the first in our immediate family to see Joseph Ratzinger, a.k.a. Pope Benedict 16th in the flesh! So very lucky! [Ooopps! Just remembered that it was my Dad who was the first to see Pope Benedict! Totally forgot that he went nga pala to Rome last year to attend the canonization of Saint Marie Eugenie, Foundress of the Assumption Sisters). Lucky for him! Wish we can also go back to Rome soon!!!!] Anyway, what's good about all of this is that Don Javier Echevarria (the Father, as we call him), will be making a side trip to Manila after WY...

When my family decided to reconstruct our 20-year old home into something entirely new, my Dad started to draw makeshift house plans for our dream home. In particular, we all wanted a house that is American-style inspired, with a 4-car garage, three bedrooms, 3 toilet and bath and an attic. We started to search online for good sample Home Plans to aid us with our designs. My uncle from Germany also sent us lots of magazines that contained House Plans . We also looked at some Log home plans too and tried to incorporate this. With it, it turned out easier for us to finalize the design and set-up of our new home. We began building the new house in 2002 and the construction work took about 10 months to finish. In the end, our house looked very nice for our taste. If not for those house plans, we wouldn't have gotten what we wanted in a house.

When You're Gone Avril Lavigne I always needed time on my own I never thought I'd need you there when I cry And the days feel like years when I'm alone And the bed where you lie is made up on your side When you walk away I count the steps that you take Do you see how much I need you right now [Chorus] When you're gone The pieces of my heart are missing you When you're gone The face I came to know is missing too When you're gone The words I need to hear to always get me through the day and make it ok I miss you I've never felt this way before Everything that I do reminds me of you And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor And they smell just like you, I love the things that you do When you walk away I count the steps that you take Do you see how much I need you right now [Chorus] We were made for each other Out here forever I know we were, yeah All I ever wanted was for you to know Everything I'd do, I'd give my heart and soul I can hardly breat...

Prior to working, I never owned any kind of passbook or savings account. All of my money fit nicely inside my wallet and I never had to worry about it. But when I started working and earned my own money, my life became somewhat more complicated and I was forced to learn how to keep and manage my money well. I learned that with money comes responsibility. You need to know where to put your money securely. Good thing is that you can now track your bank and credit card accounts through telephone, mobile phone and the internet too. With all these innovations, technology has indeed made life easier. However, sometimes without proper safeguarding, one can fall victim to identity theft. At present, many people have reported getting hacked in the internet such as in their emails and their online transactions and that made them lose money and more importantly, their identities. That is why it's very important to protect your identity and the best way is to enroll in LifeLock . Based on Life...

...my favorite saint whose feastday is today, I am copying this prayer made by him and take it as my own: Come, O Holy Spirit: enlighten my understanding to know your commands; strengthen my heart against the wiles of the enemy; inflame my will… I have heard your voice, and I don’t want to harden my heart by resisting, by saying ‘later…tomorrow.” Nunc coepi! Now! Lest there be no tomorrow for me! O, Spirit of truth and wisdom, Spirit of understanding and counsel, Spirit of joy and peace! I want what you want, I want it because you want it, I want it as you want it, I want it when you want it.

I had few minutes to spare last night before my husband would arrive to pick me up in Makati so I decided to head for Landmark to buy some stuff for Zoe and for the house. The past days has been unusually more financially stressful for me with payday is still 2 days away. Bad, bad, bad. Anyway, entering the grocery, I brought out my cellphone and began computing as I put in every item in the cart. Good thing that in Landmark Makati, all goods have price tags in them (didn't realize how great this was until now). These are questions running through my head as I went around --- Now can I afford that jumbo pack of diapers or should I just get the small pack? Should I buy the biggest can of milk or settle for the mid-size? I didn't notice before that there were S-M-L sizes for eggs! Oops! Can I still squeeze in a can or two of corned beef or not? Tap-tap-tap. Decisions...decisions... The whole exercise was sooo stressful because I really felt the pinch. I texted my hubby saying how...

When it comes to any activity, a wise person would always use the right tools to do the work more efficiently and effectively. The same goes when using the internet. One should use the best tools to achieve what you need fast and quick. Thus, my husband always recommended using Mozilla Firefox for internet browsing instead of the other more common browsers. Why? Because from experience, it's user-friendly and the pages load faster, thus, saving lots of precious time while surfing the net. It's so easy to download Mozilla Firefox . In fact, my husband already has a Mozilla Firefox download for every computer at home. So far, so good.

I woke up yesterday and immediately came looking for Zoe. I felt panicky! Where could she be? I could not hear her giggles downstairs! Then I remembered that she awoke very early that morning and a few minutes later was already brought down her yaya. And since it was still so early, hubby and I snagged a few more minutes of sleep before preparing for another day's work. Anyway, I immediately went down to go look for the little girl. I went to the sala and took a peep outside through the glass encasement next to our main door. Here's what I saw: Taking a closer look, I stepped out of the house (in my PJs) and saw more clearly Zoe and her yaya enjoying the whole playground and basketball court all to themselves. The other kids and lola joggers are probably still sleeping coz they were nowhere in sight that morning. I felt a little a bit mushy upon seeing my baby girl already riding the swing all by herself. She's really getting bigger and becoming more independent. My little...

Thank you so so much to friends Tet and Pat from sharing this award with me. Pat, I hope we can meet soon! I just need to iron out some things out in the homefront but after that, I'll email you again or text you :-). Tet, thanks for visiting my blog often. I love reading your blog regularly too! This award is extra special because Crystal created it in honor of the donor who saved her sons life. Her son Noah had to have a heart transplant when he was just over a month old. This award is supposed to help raise awareness of the importance of organ donation. So, here are the rules Crystal gave: “The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same** As you may have recently...

Have you seen the commercials regarding this new Japanese show that is to be aired in the local channel entitled "Artificial Beauty"? That and many more are the evidence of how beauty can be so important. Plastic surgery has been gaining popularity in the last few years and oftentimes, this becomes one of the concrete answers to a person's search for beauty and wellness. Nobody can deny that much of a person's life, especially for women, depends a lot on one's looks. Self-confidence is often derived from the person's feeling of physical attractiveness. Some who have the financial resources resort to medical procedures such as southern california plastic surgery for a beauty transformation. Isn't true that it's now possible to lose that big belly by undergoing a los angeles tummy tuck ? With the most trusted and experience doctors, a person can even live a glamorous life like a fashion model with a breast augmentation in los angeles . Many things are i...

We had our share of Typhoon Frank during the weekend. No choice but to stay in the house and wait for the news. Now, who got caught in the flood? Read about it in my other blog .

I was reading through my previous blog posts and realized how many months it has been that I've been into blogging. I think that it's been a great journey being able to record my thoughts and write about the important events in my life and my family, most especially Zoe. Among my favorite posts was about Zoe's very first Treat or Trick event held during Halloween of last year. We had a blast! The theme of the party was Halloween Amazing Race and all the kids and baby boomers from the village, dressed in their in their scariest and cutest kids Halloween costumes , flocked to the village plaza to join the fun and games. We had to run around the whole village to be able to get to our clues and to the loots! It was so much fun. Back then, Zoe was just a baby who was just learning how to walk. Being so small, I couldn't find a nice Halloween costumes for her in the shopping mall. I just had to improvise and make do with a black and gold velvet gown with a matching black spid...

Did you know that we Catholics will soon celebrate a Pauline Year? It will be announced by Pope Benedict XVI on June 28, 2008, eve of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The Pauline Year will start from June 29, 2008 to June 29, 2009. This coincides with the upcoming 2,000th birth anniversary of St. Paul. I've always been a personal devotee of St. Paul. I think that he was a great saint. He was someone who had to strive extra hard to prove his faith and love for Jesus Christ and succeeded. His whole life showed the power of God's love and guidance. If you want to know more about this, click here and here .

Just got a text from my sister how bad the typhoon is in their place in Iloilo. They have no electricity and water since yesterday and some houses are flooded up to roof! Oh wow, that's bad. So pls. typhoon Frank, pls. pls. go away!

Are you deeply in love with your spouse or boyfriend? If you do, let's try how well you remember the moments in your life with him. But before you put yourself in the hot seat please read the rules of this tag first. RULES: 1. This tag should be pass on to your closest friends. 2. Visit the blog of the person you've got this tag. 3. Leave a comment on her tag post. Be sure to thank her for this tag. 4. Highlight and link all the list of people accepted this tag by visiting their blog site. 5. There are 10 questions that you need to answer but you will be the one to write the 10th question for the next person you want to pass this tag. 1. Sojourn 2. Jenny and Belle 3. Vina's On A Wonderful Day Like Today Here are your questions: Be Honest and True! 1. How did you meet your husband or boyfriend? Due to a common friend (his ex-gf, hehe) 2. Where did you went in your first date? Shakey's Greenbelt (already demolished) 3. When was your first intimate kiss? I don't know...

Well, it's something regarding the professional life, not mine, but that of one of my loved ones. Won't be elaborating much but it's really something that needs some a collaboration of many many people praying and kneeling down. Thanks and hope it all turns out for the BEST. :-)

How would you reward yourself after a long day at work? I'd say probably giving myself an hour or so soaking in the bathtub at home. Easy and convenient! Which reminds me, I haven't done that for a long time. Maybe I can do it tonight!!! Never mind the water bill this time. LOL. Red Bathtub Prints by Steven Norman I have been feeling so tired and stressed out at work lately that I took two days off to rest and rejuvenate. It was heaven!!! But after that, a mountain of work was waiting for me still. Hay.

Here is a picture of my food craving this week. I super loved every bite! Thanks to my Tatay for not forgetting! Last night, I dreamt that I was a few weeks pregnant (well, in reality, not yet but wanting to). Anyway, in the dream, I was inside a quiant little store selling both flowers and ice cream cakes. They had the friendliest people (ala Starbucks customer service) and I just felt so right at home in the place. Maybe this can be a good biz idea for me and hubby in the future? Well, not necessarily the combi of ice cream cakes and flowers but that sort of idea. What do you think?

I heard about the release of newscaster Ces Drilon and cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion as I awoke to the sound of the TV this morning. It's nice to hear that they've regained their freedom. But if they indeed paid the ransom or not, that's something I'd rather not dwell into. :-) Anyway, thanks be to God!

I've been interested in current events lately mainly because of the news about TV anchor Ces Drilon and 2 other men being abducted by some rebels in Mindanao. It is sad, sad news really. Is it true that they were asking for 15MM ransom for these people by 12 noon? That's an awful lot of money. But come to think of it, that's actually just a fraction of the guaranteed minimum prize money for tonight's power lotto draw by PCSO. Will the lotto winner ever think of donating 15MM for a good cause? Or are you also for the no-ransom policy of the government? Just a thought.

My friend at work came up to me today asking about the employee loan benefits that are available to us. She told me that she forgot to allot money for paying her annual car registration and insurance due this month. Since she totally miscalculated her budget for the month, she finds herself in a corner not knowing where to get the extra money needed to pay for her pending car obligation. I told her that she actually does not need to make a long-term loan from the company since she has a regular job anyway. All she has to do is to avail of a payday loan. You see, payday loans is best used by someone who has a steady source of income but who is in need of money right away and could not anymore wait for the next payday.

It's been 3 days now that I've been craving for buko pie. If you know me well, my taste buds have a mind of its own and almost regularly, it dictates a certain type of food that I just have to have. Do you experience this too or is this unique to me? Anyway, back to the buko pie, I asked my husband to buy me at least a slice. Too bad, we couldn't find a single shop in Manila who sells it. The nearest place that would have it would probably be Laguna. And as if by the cool coincidence, my Dad called up this morning and told me that he would be arriving from Batangas tonight. He asked me what food I liked and immediately I said BUKO PIE!!! Can't wait to go home tonight. I hope Dad didn't forget. P.S. Talking about cravings, I remember that I also had a Reyes BBQ craving last night. Will text hubby about it... LOL. 3 days to go before our 15K diet deal will culminate. I guess I'm clearly not going to win.

After a long and tiring day at work, I arrived home late yesterday evening and found a stack of insurance, utility and credit card bills at my desk. I took a deep sigh and worried about how we are going to pay for all of these. It was just payday last week but our disposable income is almost depleted. Blame it on the rising cost of gasoline and food stuff. I opened each one of the envelopes and started to mentally calculate how much more cash we would need to avoid default in the payments. I showed it to my husband and he told me that not to worry since he can still make a cash advance within the week. Good thing there is an available loan facility such as this. With it, we can manage our finances even if the next payday is still two weeks away.

My new-found online friend JenR sent me this tag! The rules: * 1.Determine your birthday month and get a word that rhymes with it or you can affix to it. Caps lock your birth month (ex: MAYday! JUNE dune, APRILicious, JULYvely, AUGUST pocus, parched MARCH…). Be unique. * 2.Your birth month plus the word affixed or rhymed shall become the tag’s title in your case. * 3.Get your birthday and add the digits involved. Example, if your birthday falls on the 25th of July, add 2 and 5 you get 7. * 4.Whatever is the sum, write a list of the MATERIAL gifts you wish to receive, the number of which shall correspond to the sum of your birthday. For example, applying the case above (in rule number 3), you will write seven (7) things you wish to receive. * 5.After your wish list, put your name and birthday in the Bloggers’ Birthday Directory, with a link to your blog/s. Note: when you add your birthday, please place it in a way that the dates appear chronological (January, February… 1, 2, 3) * 6.Pas...

Have you noticed lately how hard up most of the people are these days? Gasoline prices are so high not plus the cost of food and other commodities are also fast rising. When I was single, I never really bothered to know how much our monthly electricity bill was or how much was a liter of gas or the price kilo of pork or beef would be in the market. But now, I've been so conscious and at the same time worried about all of these household expenses and market prices that it makes me cringe in the stomach! As the mother of the family, I'm supposed to be in-charge of the family budget. I didn't realize that it can be so hard (which makes my Mom a genius for pulling it through all of those years we were growing up). And even with an increase in our salaries, it still seems as if money is never ever enough to pay for all our credit card bills, utility bills, grocery expenses, insurance costs, helpers' salaries and many, many others. Most especially when it comes to my credit c...

Thank you Kelly for tagging me! Almost forgot to do this meme. I'm feeling a little bit better today but work is super A LOT!!! Whaaa! RULES: 1. add your blog/s to the list. feel free to add all your other blogs. it’s okay if you only post these questions in one blog as long as you answer them. 2. get back to ME {refers to YEN} and i’ll add your blogs to the master’s list here! yup, another linking thingy but this one has 15 questions and you get to enjoy answering them too! 3. tag as many friends online you know. but you don’t need to be tagged in order to join. QUESTIONS: 1. when you buy a greeting card, are the words or the picture more important to you? the words 2. what’s your favorite kind of cake? estrel's butter icing cake 3. do you ever make gifts for people, if so what, or do you buy them? i used to make before but now it's impractical for me to do so. 4. what’s your favorite holiday? xmas 5. are you going on holiday this year? if so, where? maybe i...

I've been stuck at home since yesterday and was asking myself what's really wrong with me, with my body. My throat aches, my head aches, my ears ache, my back aches...What's wrong with me?! Arghhh! I must be really getting old (or maybe all of these are stress-related). Anyway, gotta get some more snooze today...ciao!

My dear husband turned a year older last Saturday and we spent the whole day together celebrating. First thing we did was to go to morning mass with Zoe to give special thanks to God for all the blessings He has been showering our whole family especially Hunny. After lunch, he and I headed to Power Plant Mall to catch The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian --- my so sought-after movie. :-) The movie was great and heck --- we enjoyed it a lot! We haven't watched a movie in the cinema for ages which makes a movie date sooo exciting (babaw noh?). Anyway, after the movie we strolled a bit in the mall and then decided to 'chill' in Starbucks where I bought him this -- and this~~ I super miss those days when we just lounge around Starbucks and just hang out or study! Back in my Ateneo MBA days we would troop to this place to actually study. LOL. Here's the birthday boy and his birthday cake: After some coffee and cake, we swung back to reality and decided ...

Ikaw ang bigay ng Maykapal Tugon sa aking dasal Upang sa lahat ng panahon Bawat pagkakataon Ang ibigin ko’y ikaw Ikaw ang tanglaw sa ‘king mundo Kabiyak nitong puso ko Wala ni kahati mang saglit Na sa iyo’y may papalit Ngayon at kailanma’y ikaw Ang lahat ng aking galaw Ang sanhi ay ikaw Kung may bukas mang hinaharap Dahil may isang ikaw Kulang ang magpakailanpaman Upang bawat sandali ay Upang mulit-muli ay Ang ibigin ay ikaw.

Here's another tag from Tracy this time. Thanks girl! Rules: 1. List 6 things that describe yourself today. 2. Add your blog to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. 3. Tag other online friends you know. This is me today: 1. No boss but rushing sooo many things at work. 2. Looking forward to Hubby's birthday tomorrow. Don't have plans yet!!!! 3. I'm feeling good - thank God it's Friday! 4. Still worrying about my electric, water and phone bills...tsk. tsk. 5. A bit sleepy. 6. Hungry! Is it time for lunch yet? Links: Creative In Me , Little Peanut , Me and Mine , Pea in a Pod , Sugar Magnolias , BLOGGERHAPPY , Berry Scrappy , Changing Lanes , Pit Stop , Kapturd , and so i am , Princess Bela , Our Journey To Life , My Planet Purple , Women xplore , Princess Vien , A Pcketful Of Happiness , As We Face Forever , Our Family Adventure! , My Random Thoughts , My World , On A Wonderful Day Like Today , House Everything Passing on this tag to Hailey , Jean and T...

Thank you to Jacqui for this tag! Very interesting. I'm a type O also. Hmmm.... I really don't know if I fit in this category. But I guess among the descriptions for the other blood types, I'm best described as a type O nga. How I wish lang that I can be a trend-setter and more self-confident. According to a Japanese institute that does research on blood types, there are certain personality traits that seem to match up with certain blood types. TYPE O You want to be a leader, and when you see something you want, you keep striving until you achieve your goal. You are a trend-setter, loyal, passionate, and self-confident. Your weaknesses include vanity and jealousy and a tendency to be too competitive. TYPE A You like harmony, peace and organization. You work well with others, and are sensitive, patient and affectionate. Among your weaknesses are stubbornness and an inability to relax. TYPE B You're a rugged individualist, who's straightforward and likes to do things...

"Don't forget to drink your medicine!" - that's what I always tell and text my Dad. It's because he always forgets and forgetting about it is not good for him. Ever since my Dad turned 40 years old, he has been taking daily medicine for his high blood pressure. When my Mom passed away, I took it upon myself to "look after" my Dad, especially not forgetting to buy medicine for him and reminding him to drink his medicine every single day. And so up to now, I always make sure that he eats the right food and drinks his medicine. Good thing you can now buy medicine so fast and easy. All you need to do is order from www.magicxpharmacy.com - online pharmacy .

Did you know that ever since Zoe started to talk, we try to teach her some basic words. Amongst her usual babbling (which she can only understand), she loves to say DADDY upon waking up, SUS (for Jesus), then DEDE when asking for milk, KAYKI (Kikay) for our dog and KAT to call her yaya. She also often says FISH and BURRR (bird) when she goes out in the garden to play. But how about the word MOMMY you may ask. Well, it's only this week that she "learned" to say it -- and it sounds something like MAMMMM-MEEEE. And as Hunny would tell me, her MAMMMM-MEEE is malutong na malutong. :-) Zoe, is the letter 'M' so hard to say my dear? Anyway, I'm just so so happy you finally learned how to say it. Love you tweet-tweet!

Found this interesting book from the Book Sale last Sunday while I was with my sister. I have started to read it and it's actually very informative. At 30 bucks, who would complain? LOL. Now I'm itching to go abroad with Zoe and Hunny! When kaya kami matutuloy? Anyway, I really plan to go back to that Book Sale outlet again to buy their collector's copy of Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Too bad coz I didn't bring more cash with me that day (my sister asked me to buy her loads of books for her birthday!). I just hope it's still there when I return.

3 tulog na lang! What can I give kaya to him? Any suggestions, friends?

We recently grabbed a new toy from McDonald's Happy Meal -- a Winx starlight! It's so cute! The little girl enjoys playing with it a lot! Hey, she's also wearing another Gingersnaps outfit which we got from the sale! Cutie!

As a kid, my parents always let us dress our "Sunday's best" when we have to go to mass on Sundays. I remember wearing all those nice dresses my Mom would buy for me and sister and it was how I learned that for God, we have to offer our very best whether physical or whatnot. Now that I'm a Mom, I always make it a point to dress up Zoe in her Sunday's best. I don't believe in making kids(or anyone for that matter, hehehe) wear super daring clothes especially when the family goes to participate in Mass. Besides, we are what we wear right? And in the case of kids who don't know yet what is modest & proper for them, it is up to the parents to choose the best clothes for them. As many of the people who pass by this blog may have noticed, I always love posting Zoe's pics here. She is so adorable and smiles so nicely for the cam. Don't you think so or am I just so biased? LOL! This Sunday's best dress is one of my "best buys" from the Gi...