One proud wife..Yes I am!

Yes, I am one proud wife! Why so? Let me share it with you...

My hubby is an Interior Designer/Contractor. He's designed a number of homes and commercial establishments and I have to say, not because he's my husband but he's really good with his craft.

First reason why I am proud is because he finally decided to get an office. My reaction to this? Yipee --- FINALLY!!! In the past, he would usually conduct business in our house which for me was sometimes intrusive --- somewhat invading our privacy because his people would go there and sometimes his suppliers. So you see, when he's at home, his attention is divided which at times saddens me. Before he decided to put up his office, I would often tell him to get one already and he would always say "di pa kaya" or he would postpone the idea. The reason for this is because I wanted him to practice the way of life that whenever he is at home, there will be no work unless he has to draw or he has to discuss something with his dad since his drawing table is at home and we live with our parents in law --- thats fine with me! At least now, no more business transactions at home!

Another reason why I am a proud wife is that one of his projects was featured in the latest Star Studio magazine. He designed and constructed a home of a male celebrity. As his wife, it was a kilig factor for me. Not only did the magazine show pictures of his work but also his name was mentioned in the article. Many thanks to his client who is also a friend of ours!

To my excitement, as soon as I got to the office yesterday and punched in my time card, I stepped out for a while and headed to the nearest 7-11 but they didnt have the latest issue of the mag. That didnt stop me, I went to Watsons which is at the end of the street because I knew they sold that magazine. While walking under the heat of the sun and that was like a 5 minute walk, I was telling myself "the latest issue should be there!" and yes they did have the latest issue! I showed my hubby's work to my officemates --- wanted to make it "yabang" a bit! They all gave the same comment --- the house is really nice! Hope they weren't lying! Hehehe! :-) Because of this article Gin was able to meet with another potential client --- hopefully it will push through.

To Gin my asawa --- I am so proud of you and keep up the good work! Remember I am always here for you and that I love you so much! :-)

The rules of four

I've been tagged again...but I am loving this tagging thing. Hehe! Who tagged me? It was ALMA! Thanks girl!

4 Jobs I Have Had:
Account Manager - twice
Sales Consultant
Admissions Officer

4 Movies I Watched Over and Over Again:
Titanic
Pretty Woman
Home Alone 1
Cinderella (Mary Poppins--hehe! thats five for me!)

4 Places I Have Lived:
Quezon City
Alabang

4 Shows I Watch:
One Tree Hill
Tyra Banks Show
Ellen Degeneres Show
Oprah

4 Places (Countries) I Have Been:
Hong Kong
U.S.

4 People Who Email Me:
Friends
Officemates
Boss
Husband

4 Favorite Things to Eat:
Sinigang na Baboy
California Maki
Tempura
Mangoes

4 Places I would Rather Be:
Boracay
Palawan
Europe
U.S.
Same as Alma..as long as I am with my hubby!

4 Things I Look Forward to This Year:
Buying a house --- check!
Successful pregnancy
Go to Cebu or Bohol
My promotion

To buy or not to buy? --- TO BUY!!!

I posted a blog last month about buying a property or not. Gin and I were choosing between the house of my friend or a condo along Sucat Road near PATTS. After numerous discussions, we finally decided to invest our money in the condo unit. Since for now, that is all we can afford. I haven't seen it but Gin has. Hehehe! He was the one who told me about it. According to him its really nice and it will be a very good investment. We are not going to transfer there but we want to have it rented out. We've already signed the papers today and will give it plus our reservation to the agent tomorrow. Then the agent will be the one in charge to file the papers for the Pag-Ibig housing loan. Once that is approved, Gin will make the down payment and the balance will be coursed through my Pag-Ibig housing loan benefit.

Gin and I are excited and thrilled because this is going to be our first investment. This is something we can really call our own and it was one my goals for this year --- to buy a house (well its a condo now) but at least I can cross that out already. Yipee!!! :-)

Hopefully in time, we will be able to buy a house so that we don't have to keep on renting anymore. Just need to take it one step at a time, Gin and I will achieve our dreams!

No Air

Do you have a favorite song? I am sure all of you do! I've got lots! But right now I am loving this song by Jordin Sparks entitled "No Air" which features Chris Brown. The first time I heard this song was when Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown did a live performance in American Idol. It was instant love for me! Hehehe!

The sound is different. It has a different tune and vibe to it.

Here is the video...hope you will enjoy it. :-)

Who is your Pinoy hero?

Who is your hero from the Phils?

This was a question that was thrown at the table by our boss during lunch --- Who is your hero from the Phils (at present)? To think that this is a question that we should be able to answer in an instant but it was the opposite!

There were 6 of us having lunch and we were all deep in thought. Thinking as to who we consider as a hero (take note: at present) and this person must be from the Phils. We found it so sad because names didnt come to us in an instant. When as Filipinos we should all have at least one Pinoy hero. It was discussed that if we were asked this question a decade ago...maybe it would be a lot easier to answer. People then were fighting for a cause, the country's welfare. But now? What do our current government officials fight for or do for our country? You sometimes dont event know what their real motive is anymore.

Our boss gave us until we finish the main course to come up with our personal Pinoy hero. Finally, one by one, each of us shared who we think is a hero. Here they are:

1. The founder of Gawad Kalinga --- through this foundation a lot of lives were changed.
2. A Granfather who was part of the Philippine Army during WW II who escaped the Death March and was recruited by the Guerilla unit.
3. Another Grandfather who was put in jail during the Marcos' reign because of his fight against the Marcos government.
4. A fellow student from UPLB who stood up against the corruption of PGMA and her constituents.
5. The frist female President of the Phils --- pursued what her late husband believed in and saved the Phils from tyranny.
6. A bank official who testified against a former president during his impeachment trial.

What is the common denominator of all these people we consider as heroes? Their acts of heroism were done for the country --- for the Filipinos! To save the little integrity our country has left and to give a good or hopefully better future to our children.

Our heroes did not do these things to benefit themselves and this is what heroes should be all about.

It is not to satisfy oneself but to give oneself for another so that everyone will be saved from all the evil in this world. That for me is a hero!

20 Questions

I was tagged by Sheryll. Thanks for the tag! :-)

Here are the rules: Remove one (1) question from below and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag eight (8) people in your list. Liste them out at the end of this post.

1. At what age do/did you wish to marry? 27 and yes I did get married when I was 27.

2. What color do you like most? pink and white

3. Have you ever shoplifted? NEVER

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most? Boracay

5. Which part of you that you hate the most? Being too sensitive

6. When you encounter a sad moment, what would you do? Cry

7. What are you afraid to lose the most? My family

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do? I'll donate part of it to charity, put up a foundation, share it with my family, buy a house and my dream car then put the rest in time deposit.

9. What do you loved the most last year (2007)? Celebrated my first wedding anniv.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you: I just met Sheryll and started reading her blogs today --- her son is so cute!

11. How do you cope with boredom? Surf the net or fix my stuff or our room

12. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most? I regret that I didnt start saving money since the day I started working

13. Which type of person do you hate the most? Pretentious

14. What is your ambition? To have my own business --- either clothes or food

15. If you had one wish what would you wish for? To be blessed with our own baby.

16. How did you celebrate new year? Celebrated it at home with my hubby and parents in law

17. It is already 2008, do you have a new year’s resolution? Yes but I am having difficulty fulfilling some.

18. What do you look forward to in 2008? Hopefully to have a successful pregnancy, buying a condo as our first investment and my promotion

19. If your life is a song, what title best fit it? Bless the Broken Road (female version --- the lyrics of this song perfectly describes what I have been through)

20. What was your most embarassing moment?

My answer to Sheryll's question is --- the superpower that I want to have is to be invisble!

Now I am going to tag Jan, Gracie, Nikki, Alma, Mec and Anna. :-)

Friends

"My coat and I live comfortably togther. It has assumed all my wrinkles, does not hurt me anywhere, has moulded itself on my deformities, and is complacent to all my movements, and I only feel its presence because it keeps me warm. Old coats and old friends are the same thing." -Victor Hugo

This is a quote a very good friend of mine used to describe the kind of friendship that we have. It is a given fact that a person can have lots of friends (as you could see in someones friendster, myspace or facebook accounts) but you have to agree with me that there are only a few you can really call your TRUE friends (to every letter of the word) --- which at times are very hard to find. Some may form friendships in an instant but for me those with real value are the friendships that have lasted a decaded or so. Wherein you have witnessed each others pains and joys. Despite all the flaws your friends may have, you will still love them for who they are or what they become! Friendship to me is not about quantity but the quality of frienships that you have. How come I have so much to say on what real friendship is all about? Because this is what I hold dear to my heart --- MY BEST FRIENDS!

I consider myself lucky because I have them in my life. Next to God and my family, these are the people that I cannot live without. They are all like sisters to me. A blessing indeed. People who understood me and stood by me at my best and at my worst. Through the years we've all known each other, nothing has changed --- well maybe our marital status, how we view life or do things but they are still the same people that I can run to when I am happy or sad. A treasure in my life that I will never trade for anything else!

For those who can relate to what I am saying --- arent we all lucky to have them in our lives? :-)

Losing Weight, Diet & Exercise

I am sure everyone (male and female - of all ages) have tried to diet, exercise and lose weight once in their life. Because I have! Gin and I used to work out in the gym religiously. Like 3 to 5 times a week. We were addicted to it --- well at least for the whole year of our membership in Fitness First. I guess thinking on how much we paid was the motivating factor. The result was that we both lost weight, firmed up and still eating all our favorite food but in moderation. That's what everyone wants right? I loved attending the classes. My favorite was this class they call Body Jam. Its a mix of different dance steps which will really make you sweat. When our 1 year membership ended, we chose not to renew it anymore because we started to plan for our wedding already and we couldnt afford extra expenses since we were the ones who will be shouldering all the wedding expenses.

Since then, I've had difficulty finding time to exercise on my own. No motivating factor I guess? But I always had reasons not to exercise. After our wedding, Gin and I enrolled in this gym near our house. But we didnt get to use it. Either I am too lazy or just dead tired! As a result sad to say I started gaining weight and same goes with Gin. For one, we both love to eat and with no excercise its but natural to gain back all the weight we lost. There were a few attempts to do those home video excercises (Hip Hop Abs) but I wasnt able to pursue it. I was trying to find a quick fix. My sister in law that time was taking this Chinese diet pill and she really lost weight. I said to myself "why not give it a try?" So I did! Man..I hated the side effects! I was getting cold sweats, pulpitations and I'd go to the bathroom frequently. I threw the damn pills away. It was a desperate move to lose weight --- never again!

One diet secret that worked for me (not really a secret) is the after 6 and no rice. I kind of lost weight doing that. But its still different if you combine it with excercise. That is really the key! Thinking of other ways on how to lose weight, I finally found something that works which I knew all along I just didnt have the will power to do it! There is this article online thats talks about it and here it is:

Yahoo! Health

Keep It Simple, Keep It Off

Keeping is simple is the best way to not only lose weight, but keep it off, too. There are some clear-cut certainties, rules, unchanging facts and formulas regarding weight loss that really never vary. If followed, you will lose weight.

So, for just a moment let’s look only at the facts - take emotion, psychology, and personal history out of the equation, and let’s look at the simple rules of weight loss.

Just the Facts:

1. If you spend more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. Just like your bank account, if you spend more than you put in, your bank account or, in this case your body, will shrink.

2. Adding (more) exercise, and not changing your diet at all, will cause weight loss only if you are burning more calories than you are taking in (as it states in rule 1). So if you are exercising enough to push the equation over to the deficit column (where you are basically in the red with calories - spending more than you are taking in), then you will begin to lose weight.

3. Reducing your food/caloric intake and not adding exercise will result in weight loss only if you have reduced food intake enough to tip the energy balance to the negative, whereby you are taking in less than you are expending.

4. Obviously, adding exercise, and reducing your caloric intake, will make it more likely that your equation will swing over to the negative – the weight loss side. And of course, the greater the difference between intake and expenditure, the faster the weight loss (or gain, depending on which way the equation swings).

To maximize your health and weight loss benefits, add exercise and reduce food intake.

I am not belittling the difficulty of losing weight, but there is a kind of simplicity to the plain facts. Still, few of us, if any, are able to be totally objective and mathematical about weight loss.

We have managed (or our society has) to make our bodies and our weight, emotional and social and psychological subjects, making it tough to take weight off simply, and harder to keep it off. And believe me, I understand, I am no different from you.

But I do realize one thing: Whether you are agonizing over losing 2 lbs or 200 lbs, looking at weight loss as a formula can provide you with some simple, practical, and effective steps that can be taken. And just knowing that this formula is fact, and works, just looking at the black and white of it and seeing that there are absolute and realistic steps that will lead to weight loss, may help someone, maybe you, who is struggling with body issues and weight loss.

So if you can, even for a brief period of time, separate out the discomfort, frustration, personal reasoning, and self resentment from prior attempts at weight loss that have failed, you may find the objective willingness to just keep moving forward in the equation – taking out a few calories here, adding a little exercise there, and so on – until the weight starts to fall away. And it will, if you stick to the rules.

I hope this helps you stay, or get back on, your road to better fitness.

My favorite toy

I spent one Sunday afternoon in my parents house and thought of searching the pile of boxes for the toys that I have collected. Luckily I found one big garbage bag that was filled with all my toys. Looking at them I couldnt help but go back in time...

While I was still at the age of 7 or 8, I clearly remember writing my eldest brother tons of letters because he was based in Chicago then. Everytime I'd write my kuya a letter, I'd always tell him about my day in school or what I have been doing. But there was this one toy that I'd always ask from him that I was really crazy about. What toy was that? It was the Cabbage Patch Kids! Everytime I'd get a reply letter from him I'd get so excited. From all the letters that I wrote him and asked for a Cabbage Patch as a gift --- either for my bday or Xmas, he was able to give me 3. One for my bday and two as Xmas gifts. Boy was I one happy kid!!! The very first Cabbage Patch he gave me was a black one wearing a little red dress, the he got me a clown and a premie. Then my collection didnt stop there, my parents got me the Cabbage Patch twins! What I loved about them is that all of them came with adoption papers and they had diapers on. So cute!!! I was the envy of every kid that went to our house.

Well being the youngest in the family, yes you can say I was sort of spoiled but it was still tolerable (i think!) My collection of Cabbage Patch Kids were always set up on my bed. I treated them like my babies. Sometimes I'd even bring ALL (yes ALL!) of them along when we go out of town. My eldest sister would get so annoyed with me because we had all these extra baggage. Hehe!

As I got older, my mom would keep on reminding me to preserve them because these are collector items. So I did! Up to this day I am proud to say that my Cabbage Patch Kids collection are still intact. Something that I might be able to pass on to my kid...if its a girl!

:-)

My trip to the doctor

I went to the Immunologist my OB recommended last Saturday. Gin and I had to be up before 8am because the clinic hours of the doctor was from 8 to 10am only. Good thing her clinic was just at Asian Hospital which is near our place.

As I was getting ready, for some reason I couldnt help but be nervous. Maybe I was already anticipating on what the doctor was going to tell me. We left the house a little before 9:30 and was in the hospital in 15 minutes. I didnt have to wait long. The name of the Immunoligst is Dra. Jovilla Abong. There were a number of N@wies who have APAS that also see her. So how did it go? I informed her what happened to me and showed her my records --- she took note of it and asked me to take another series of blood tests in PGH. She wants to make sure that I dont have the other kinds of blood disorders because what I used to inject to myself is useless if I have the other disorders that I have to be tested for and she was right when she said that the tests are expensive.

When I had my APAS test done, I only paid P4k. Dra.Abong asked me to have the following tests taken:

LAT
ANA
ATA
T4 TSH
Immunophino Typing 1

I called PGH and asked how much each test would cost. True enough I am going to spend more than P10K to have these tests done. I wanted to fall off my seat when the girl I was talking to started dictating to me the prices of each. But as I mentioned in my previous blog, if at the end of it all we will be blessed with a baby then its all worth it! Again --- "Do What You Can and Let God Surprise You!"

Once I receive the test results I have to go back to Dra. Abong and that is the only time she will prescribe the meds that I have to take. Hopefully I can get all of this done before the end of this month. We're done with the first step and more to go!