Monday Inspiration - Week 4

In keeping with my own gratitude scrapbook journal, this photo from the Facebook page of Love and Inspiration caught my eye:

Indeed, our days our filled with wondrous blessings. We can choose to view a partially-filled glass of water as half full rather than as half empty. With gratitude in our hearts, much joy abounds.

Here's to a positive week ahead!

We Got Gold!

Allow me to brag the latest feat of my daughter, Trish. We just came home from the Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association's Taekwondo where she got the gold medal for the Junior Novice Flyweight division.

This makes me one proud momma!

This is her first (and final) year at her school's varsity team and her first time to compete in a sparring tournament. It was indeed very fortunate that she brought home the gold after all the hard work and training. Many thanks to her coaches who taught her well. Many thanks too to her teammates who showed support by boosting her ego when she needed it most. Their team's camaraderie is exceptional as they all boosted each other on and off the mat. All in all, their team hauled off 10 gold medals and a number of silvers and bronzes as well. It is no wonder then that they are the overall champions for the Juniors division for the sixth straight year! 

the Miriam College High School Taekwondo Varsity Team 
and their coaches in their proudest moments

Hats off to these young ladies who all fought fiercely with their hearts! Congratulations Trish! You have made us proud once more. Mommy loves you :*

TGIF Laughs

Woohoo it's Friday ... the weekend starts in just a few hours! And what better way to start this day with a laugh :D

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Thank you Ate Dang for the link ;)

My Latest Reads

Late last year, I asked one of my best friends from high school to recommend some good reads as I found my books to be on the stale side. I missed getting absolutely absorbed in a good book which I haven't felt/done since Harry Potter 7. To be frank, I have been let down with some over hyped titles.

I may be biased but I'd say that my best friend is quite an authority as she reads and reviews books and blogs about them too. In the "blogosphere", she is The Guiltless Reader and her blog makes me proud. :) She gave me quite a number of recommended titles and authors and half the fun lies in the search in our local bookstores.

Last Wednesday, I finally found the title I wanted at Fully Booked in Promenade, Greenhills. I grabbed it as soon as I saw the copy on the Best Sellers shelf.

Suffice it to say that this book was such a compelling read that I finished it in less than 48 hours (I would have finished it sooner but I have kids, a husband and a home to take care of)! I haven't felt light-headed from spending too much time in bed because I just could not put down the book. The story is absolutely moving, a number of emotions was evoked in me. I smiled one minute and I cried after a few pages. This is definitely a must-read and I would urge my eldest daughter to read this soon.

Yesterday, I took my two younger girls to a second-hand book shop called Bookay-Ukay along Maginhawa Street inside  UP Village. I have seen this shop several times but this was my first time to go inside and scour the shelves. Armed with the list of recommended reads and authors which are saved on my trusty smartphone, I patiently looked over the titles until I saw something by Jasper Fforde from the Thursday Next series. The title seemed to reflect exactly the mood that I was craving for.

As for my girls, well, they didn't leave the store empty-handed. Zoe found one and didn't want to leave the shop without it. This is a first in a series and should she enjoy it, I hope we could find the other titles easily.

I was so giddy when I saw this next book. I remember borrowing this series from my grade school library. I had no qualms in getting  this book for Fiona.

The three books totaled 670 pesos, quite a setback considering we got second hand books. But the titles were hard to find so the shell out was a bit justifiable. But while my wallet was a few hundred bucks "poorer" when we left the shop, I am sure that my girls and I will be richer with the words from our latest book hauls. For this, there is absolutely no price tag.

Loving Mondays

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What's there to love about Mondays? It signals the start of an often busy and harried work week. Waking up early is the hardest part. The commute to and fro from our home to the office is now a big pain as traffic along EDSA is at it worst on Monday mornings. I could go on about why and how I don't like Mondays, but then I vowed to start the week with positivism, so here goes ...

Today, I am viewing Monday in a whole new light. I am looking forward to a productive week at the office. By counting my blessings, I must say that I am truly grateful for my job and the monetary rewards which allows our family some form of luxuries every now and then. I am thankful for the drive and the passion to meet our work goals and for the relatively easy relationships with my colleagues and staff. All these make "working for a living" bearable and fruitful.

Have a great Monday!

Sweet Sixteen

This Monday's inspiration is my eldest daughter who turns sixteen today. 

My first born. As they say, huge expectations are set with being one. With this, she has brought out the worst and the best in me as we battled amidst her teenage angst. I have made adjustments and concessions, as well as stood my ground with my "non-negotiables", all in the name of raising a teenage daughter. 

Through all this, I am hugely proud of how much she has matured and gained self-confidence. She is now one of my best friends, my style consultant as we share shoes, clothes and bags. We find that we are so alike and yet so different, but there is much respect between us. 

In her young adult life, I can proudly claim that she has accomplished much - with her studies and extra-curricular activities. In a few months time, she'll be graduating from her high school, but that's another story. With the grace of God, I must have done something right by her after all. 

Happy Birthday Moochie! May you continue to shine and be an inspiration - for me, your dad, your sisters and to all those around you. The world is out there for you to explore. And while things may not always be handed to you on a silver platter, know that we always strive to give you the best that we can. Know too that we always have supported you and your endeavors and will continue to do so. Never forget that we love you most.

Fiona's 8

We didn't throw a birthday bash for our littlest kid's 8th birthday but that didn't mean we didn't celebrate her birthday. In fact, Fiona's birthday celebration took all 8 days of fun-filled activities. Let me recap:

Day 1 - December 23. A day before her natal day, she bought a toy on her wish list - a Play-Doh Ice Cream Maker. She used aguinaldo money that she got from her ninongs, ninangs, titos and titas from HB's office. That happy silly smile just could not be erased from her face.

Day 2 - December 24. We prepared merienda for HB's side of the family. We all sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew out a candle (yes, that's a tea light candle because I forgot to buy a real birthday candle - my bad! Thank God our wee kid didn't mind.) 

Day 3 - December 25. Christmas Day with my side of the family. To celebrate and to share our wonderful blessings, I treated my brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews and niece to Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. It was Fiona's first time and this was such a priceless moment.

Day 4 - December 26. Well, we chilled on this day and stayed at home. We watched a video about a parent's love.

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Day 5 - December 27. What's the holidays without a trip to see the original C.O.D. Christmas Show which is now in Greenhills? Ever since the mechanical puppet show was revived in Greenhills a few years back, I have never failed to bring my girls to see the show. This was a tradition I grew up with and I happily continue the tradition with my own kids now.

Day 6 - December 27. A trip to the mall and our littlest kid hauled 2 pairs which were on sale at the Payless Shoe Source. I guess she'll grow up to be a shoe-lover kind of gal.

Day 7 - December 29. HB surprised us with tickets to the Zoobic Safari. Albeit a bit tiring, the experience was one of a kind and indeed enjoyable and memorable.

Day 8 - December 30. Before we headed home, we capped off our Subic trip with a meal at the Meat Plus. Each one of us had a wonderful time but our littlest kid seemed to be the happiest of us all! 

Eight wonderful days to celebrate Fiona's eighth birthday. Lucky eight = lucky kid! 

Monday Inspiration

It's the first Monday of 2012!!! 

The Holidays are officially over and it's back to work for me. To start off the week positively, every Monday, I will be posting inspiring thoughts or just about any mundane stuff.

As my very first Monday Inspiration, I'd like to share this:

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Pinterest led me here, a wonderful and inspiring site by Monica Wright. It is a site about scrap booking which was a passion of mine about a decade ago. I got into the craft of scrap booking a year after I had given birth to my second daughter and my first one was starting her Kindergarten years. I made albums but also left a lot of unfinished ones because it was an expensive hobby - with photos to develop and all that hype about choosing acid and lignin-free materials which were mostly imported and costly. With a family just starting out, there were more important priorities for our limited resources. So I shelved my projects. And then I started working again and as they say, life took over. But through all these years, I yearned to be able to find time to make pages which chronicle the growing up years of my girls and showcase our family travels. I was able to finish one for our first family trip to Boracay back in 2007, but that was it. Even with the advent of digital scrapbooks, I have secretly yearned to de-stress by cutting, pasting and making page lay outs. Like reading with Kindle vs. physically flipping book pages. Over the years, I continued to purchase scrap book materials which became available in our local bookstores, hoping for the day I would have time to sit down and "create".

Last week, I found a notebook which would become my scrap journal of all things I am grateful for.

Now I will find time to do it. One page at a time. My project for the year. A gratitude each day. 

"This journal will be an exercise in becoming aware of, and recognize, all the joys 

and blessings in my life. And to be thankful for them." - Monica Wright

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New Year's Cheers

A toast to all that was good (and the not so good which taught us lessons) and for all the good to come!!! May we all have a Blessed 2012 filled with Love, Joy, Peace, Good Health and Happiness ... 

Cheers! Happy 2012 to All!!!!!!!!!!!!!!