Do you realize how much sacrifices your parents have done for you? We are greatly pampered by the unconditional love of our parents, but oftentimes we take them for granted. We’ve caused them problems and heartaches but their love for us is never broken nor shaken. When we were younger, our parents worry about the bills and we let them do most of the errands around the house while we are busy playing and having fun, not so enthusiastic about helping them out. They toil without complaining to continuously bring food to the table and to make sure that the family is intact.
Eventually, the table will turn. When we start our own family and have our own house and bills to pay, maturity kicks in! We learn to care less about ourselves and more about our loved ones. We try our best to always make them happy and we work really hard to provide the best care we can give them. The important things come first and priorities are set in stone. We become more like our parents!
I remember what our Mom tells us every time we make mistakes that upset or annoy her. She’ll say, “when you have your own family someday, you’ll understand what I’m saying!” And yes, she was not mistaken! Now that I am married, it’s like a déjà vu. What my parents have experie
nced in the past are happening again… but they’re happening to me! It’s indeed a vicious pattern and cycle of life! I love my parents a lot, and I have come to appreciate them even more… now that I am married and now that I have a family to take care of! What about you, how much do you value your parents? -Mabel-
Eventually, the table will turn. When we start our own family and have our own house and bills to pay, maturity kicks in! We learn to care less about ourselves and more about our loved ones. We try our best to always make them happy and we work really hard to provide the best care we can give them. The important things come first and priorities are set in stone. We become more like our parents!
I remember what our Mom tells us every time we make mistakes that upset or annoy her. She’ll say, “when you have your own family someday, you’ll understand what I’m saying!” And yes, she was not mistaken! Now that I am married, it’s like a déjà vu. What my parents have experie
nced in the past are happening again… but they’re happening to me! It’s indeed a vicious pattern and cycle of life! I love my parents a lot, and I have come to appreciate them even more… now that I am married and now that I have a family to take care of! What about you, how much do you value your parents? -Mabel-Living thousands of miles away from the Philippines can be difficult at times for Filipinas like me. I moved here about 4 years ago, and yet, my taste buds have remained a hundred percent Filipino. I have everything that I need here, but oftentimes I crave for food that is nowhere to be found here in the US!
Picture by MonkeyDLuffy of Flickr
Kinilaw: The freshness of raw fish cooked in vinegar is complimented by the flavorful taste of tomatoes, onions, lemons, and several other ingredients. This dish has marked a special place in the hearts of every Filipino- especially the ones abroad like me.
Kinilaw: The freshness of raw fish cooked in vinegar is complimented by the flavorful taste of tomatoes, onions, lemons, and several other ingredients. This dish has marked a special place in the hearts of every Filipino- especially the ones abroad like me.Picture by o sara of Flickr
Lato: I am crazy about this seaweed. My mom prepares this as a salad combined with tomatoes, ginger, lemons and onions-- dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. Lato is a type of seaweed which is rich in iron, iodine, calcium, and vitamins A and C. It is grape-like in structure, and is soft and succulent in texture.
Picture by Geekdope of Flickr
Manggang hilaw: nothing can top the crunchy unripe mangoes in the Philippines. A few days before my “red week” starts, I get the urge to eat this fruit. It’s great when you dip it in shrimp paste or fish sauce (bagoong). Most pregnant filipina women experience an intense appetite for this fruit during the early stage of their pregnancy.Picture by Simply Anne of Flickr
Bibingka: a classic Filipino sweet rice cake. It’s a delicious treat served during special occasions in the Philippines. I’ve always wanted to make my own bibigka here but never got around to it. I am not an expert cook too so I don't have much confidence in my cooking skills. I only know a handful of recipes and that’s about it! Picture by The_geek of Flickr
Banana-q/Camote-q: commonly known as a street food coated with a thick layer of caramelized brown sugar, and threaded on a thin piece of bamboo skewer. This is traditionally served as a form of snack.Picture by PocketLim of Flickr
Lechon Baboy: Roasted Pig is usually the highlight of every occasion and festivities in the Philippines- birthdays, fiestas, graduations etc. The crunchy skin is to die for! It is usually dipped in either soy sauce with lemon, or in ketchup. Sarap!!
Picture by Elmer Nocheseda of Flickr
Malunggay soup: This is a very affordable yet very nutritious meal for the family. You can add fish or chicken to make it a delightful soup recipe. In the Philippines, they say that lactating mothers and pregnant women should eat more of it to aid in the production of breast milk. How true? I don’t know! Picture by eddie "gutierrez" de leon of Flickr
Biko: this recipe is made of glutinous rice (malagkit), coconut milk, and brown sugar. It takes a while to cook it and it requires a long period of constant stirring. My mom usually prepares this together with “Binignit” during All Souls Day.
Now I’m ready to book a flight for the Philippines!
A cold front moved in yesterday and rain poured down hard last night. I'm happy that it did, because I have been wanting to get a few droplets so I could take a break from manually watering our lawn every single day. We don't have sprinklers yet so someone has to provide some TLC for the grass. On the other hand, wishing for rain has it’s own down side too, because my husband Mike spends most of his day working outdoors- I don’t want him cold and soaked in the rain!It’s funny because household chores and the likes are some of the things that I was not so mindful about during my younger years. I was more concerned about myself, my appearance, school, and friends. I guess I’m getting old! I have learned to embrace responsibilities now as maturely as possible. It’s a great feeling though! It feels wonderful to have a sense of independence and strength.
Anyhow, it turned out to be a pretty relaxing day today. The sweet breeze of the holidays is stirring my excitement. Halloween is coming up soon and I'm very eager to see all kinds of costumes worn by cute little kids running around the streets. The treats are ready too, and I stored them away somewhere safe to avoid sneaky people from pigging out on the kitkats-- including myself!!
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas also. We are planning to merge the celebration of Thanksgiving and our housewarming party next month. It will be fun to see my in-laws and close friends again. Christmas will be very special too because it will be the first time that we spend it in our new house. I'm sure it will be a memorable one for Mike and me! -Mabel-
Anyhow, it turned out to be a pretty relaxing day today. The sweet breeze of the holidays is stirring my excitement. Halloween is coming up soon and I'm very eager to see all kinds of costumes worn by cute little kids running around the streets. The treats are ready too, and I stored them away somewhere safe to avoid sneaky people from pigging out on the kitkats-- including myself!!
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas also. We are planning to merge the celebration of Thanksgiving and our housewarming party next month. It will be fun to see my in-laws and close friends again. Christmas will be very special too because it will be the first time that we spend it in our new house. I'm sure it will be a memorable one for Mike and me! -Mabel-
We need Friends for many reasons,
all throughout the season.
We need Friends to comfort us when we are sad,
and to have fun with us when we are glad.
We need Friends to give us good advice.
We need someone we can count on,
and treat us nice.
all throughout the season.
We need Friends to comfort us when we are sad,
and to have fun with us when we are glad.
We need Friends to give us good advice.
We need someone we can count on,
and treat us nice.
We need Friends to remember us
once we have passed sharing memories
that will always last.
Brilliante Award From: Emirie of Mixed Reflections
I Heart Ur Blog Award From: Candi of My Candi and Rechie of My Hideaway
Butterfly Award From: Benchiegrace of Life Rocks , Anne of My Little Home , Lollii of My Kawaii Life , and Irenie of Sweet Heaven
Friendship Poem From: Jeff of Life As Experienced Daily
We are passing these awards to Jaidie, Atenean101, Dhemz, Mhay, Tintin, Kikai, Raine, It Mom's Corner, Suzanne, Twerlyn, Mentor, Rosemarie, Cely, and to all the bloggers who spend their precious time posting new interesting topics for everyone to read! Feel free to grab any of these awards if you feel deserving of such prize. -GMG-
once we have passed sharing memories
that will always last.
We extend thanks to our dear friends for gracing our blog with flattering thoughts of admiration and appreciation. We are very grateful for your awards!
Brilliante Award From: Emirie of Mixed ReflectionsI Heart Ur Blog Award From: Candi of My Candi and Rechie of My Hideaway
Butterfly Award From: Benchiegrace of Life Rocks , Anne of My Little Home , Lollii of My Kawaii Life , and Irenie of Sweet Heaven
Friendship Poem From: Jeff of Life As Experienced Daily
We are passing these awards to Jaidie, Atenean101, Dhemz, Mhay, Tintin, Kikai, Raine, It Mom's Corner, Suzanne, Twerlyn, Mentor, Rosemarie, Cely, and to all the bloggers who spend their precious time posting new interesting topics for everyone to read! Feel free to grab any of these awards if you feel deserving of such prize. -GMG-
Happy 60th Birthday Dad! We're telling you...
You cannot have a slice of your own cake today!!
But don't feel bad...
because the love that we have for you
is the best kind of icing you'll ever have!
We love you always!
-GMG-
I happen to accidentally run into a baby delivery video on Youtube. There was no warning or information about the content...or maybe there was but I overlooked it. The video started playing and I had no idea that I was in for a not so pleasant surprise. I was basically clueless the first few seconds of what was going on in the video, until it started to look really freaky. When I realized that a baby's head was slowly popping out, I closed the tab instantly! My jaw dropped seeing the teeny-tiny hole painstakingly stretched out into an unimaginable size. I know that a baby's birth is supposed to be special and beautiful, but I was not prepared to see that yet...not now!! No wonder why some dads pass out inside the delivery room. They probably can't handle the feeling of excitement and stress at the same time!
Picture by Dan Reynolds WEBSITE
The idea of having a cute adorable baby to care for is very exhilarating. But the excruciating contractions and the never-ending cycle of pushing is something that I can live without! I already told Mike in advance that someday when I get pregnant and when I'm having my labor, nobody is allowed to look down there except the doctor! LOL But of course in reality, I'm pretty sure that my energy would be so drained to actually care about it!
To all the brave moms out there.. you have my utmost respect and admiration! I salute you ladies for the months of carrying the baby inside your womb and the strength you've all shown during the hours of agony in the delivery room. I don't know how you ladies did it but I'm hoping that someday, I will be brave enough to bear the whole process too! -Mabel-
Picture by Dan Reynolds WEBSITE
The idea of having a cute adorable baby to care for is very exhilarating. But the excruciating contractions and the never-ending cycle of pushing is something that I can live without! I already told Mike in advance that someday when I get pregnant and when I'm having my labor, nobody is allowed to look down there except the doctor! LOL But of course in reality, I'm pretty sure that my energy would be so drained to actually care about it! To all the brave moms out there.. you have my utmost respect and admiration! I salute you ladies for the months of carrying the baby inside your womb and the strength you've all shown during the hours of agony in the delivery room. I don't know how you ladies did it but I'm hoping that someday, I will be brave enough to bear the whole process too! -Mabel-
My dad has been long suffering from the complications of diabetes. For a long time, he refused to believe that there's still hope for his condition through hospitalization. His illness crippled him causing his legs to swell, turning his skin yellowish and giving him major breathing problems. It’s very alarming to the family knowing that a loved one is fighting for his life. A couple of weeks ago, he expressed his goodbyes to the family saying he might not be able to live long enough to see his two daughters again and witness his future grandchildren grow. My heart was shattered into pieces when I talked to him on the phone, hearing him say that he is very tired and he is ready to die. Right at that moment, I felt like he’s drifting away- ready to accept his fate, awaiting for his journey ahead...and never coming back.Last week we were able to convince him that he needs to be admitted to the hospital. He’s pessimistic about recovering through hospital care because he has heard a few horror stories and death experiences of neighbors and relatives in the hospital. They all left their families behind cringing for all the financial burdens caused by the piles of bills charged by the hospital for their services. My dad thinks his condition is hopeless and he said if he's going to die anyway, might as well die without leaving serious debt to the family. But all these negative thoughts faded when he got admitted and started to feel a lot better with the great patient care he received from his doctors and nurses. The doctor said there’s no need for surgery or any intensive treatments like dialysis for his kidney- they gave him a lot of pills to take though. His swollen legs are shrinking now, which we're really happy about. His breathing is a lot better also but they’re still seriously monitoring his sugar, blood pressure and creatinine levels. Hope is strongly growing inside our hearts again. I am very thankful and very optimistic about his recovery. Although everything is not back to normal yet, the important thing is that he'll recover slowly. I love my dad and I would love to see him live many more happy years with his family. -MABEL-
Do you remember what it felt like to buy your first house? Yesterday, we finally closed on the house that would have been ours before Hurricane Ike side tracked our plans. Mike and I are both excited because this is our first major purchase as husband and wife. We are a bit nervous too about the impact of change in our lifestyle now that we have a house to pay for. It's a great financial responsibility and there will be adjustments to do when it comes to our budgeting. Now that we have a mortgage payment, we’ll need to set aside the nonessential things and concentrate more on the important needs. It will not be like it used to be where we could eat out anytime, travel at will, and shop by urge.The whole process of buying a house was very overwhelming! We walked through over 30 homes before we figured out what we really wanted to have in a house. It was fun but at the same time it was challenging and time consuming! But our eagerness to start a family in a house that we can call "our own" has offset all those tiny hurdles along the way.
After closing the house noon of yesterday, we worked our butts off to box up our things and transfer all our furniture to the new house. We were a little pressed for time because we only have one and a half days to move everything and clean up the apartment. We've been working like crazy for two days in a row now!
Although there are pressures, I'm still ecstatic to start the interior decorating! My mind is restless thinking about the endless possibilities of how we'd like the interior of the house to be. I am not a professional designer but this is the best chance for me to incorporate my sense of style and taste when it comes to decoration.. but of course Mike's opinion matters a lot too! Mike and I have different tastes... so we need to compromise in some areas to arrive on a decision that will make both parties fairly satisfied. This is where we'll be living for years so we have to be comfortable with the atmosphere and whole setting of the house. We are thankful for being so blessed with all the things that we've achieved in our marriage. I can't wait to continue our life together and build a family in a house that we will soon call home!! -MABEL-
After closing the house noon of yesterday, we worked our butts off to box up our things and transfer all our furniture to the new house. We were a little pressed for time because we only have one and a half days to move everything and clean up the apartment. We've been working like crazy for two days in a row now!
Although there are pressures, I'm still ecstatic to start the interior decorating! My mind is restless thinking about the endless possibilities of how we'd like the interior of the house to be. I am not a professional designer but this is the best chance for me to incorporate my sense of style and taste when it comes to decoration.. but of course Mike's opinion matters a lot too! Mike and I have different tastes... so we need to compromise in some areas to arrive on a decision that will make both parties fairly satisfied. This is where we'll be living for years so we have to be comfortable with the atmosphere and whole setting of the house. We are thankful for being so blessed with all the things that we've achieved in our marriage. I can't wait to continue our life together and build a family in a house that we will soon call home!! -MABEL-
Noise reverberated throughout the bedroom as the loud sound of a commanding alarm clock went off. I lazily curled up under the blanket trying to avoid the annoying sound keeping me away from m
y peaceful slumber. As I was comfortably lying on the bed, a sudden spark of idea came to mind. A simple gesture of appreciation through a short message will help my husband cope with the daily stress he encounters at work. I hastily moved towards the kitchen while Mike was enjoying his usual morning hot shower. I grabbed a pen and a paper, and as thoughts started to flow, my hands obediently scribbled over the flimsy piece of paper. My eyes glowed with enthusiasm as I was finishing up the letter. I hopped down from the chair and rushed to the parking lot anxiously imagining the surprised look on Mike's face when he finds the letter on his truck seat. I went into the truck... and there, I left the note sealed with all my love:
y peaceful slumber. As I was comfortably lying on the bed, a sudden spark of idea came to mind. A simple gesture of appreciation through a short message will help my husband cope with the daily stress he encounters at work. I hastily moved towards the kitchen while Mike was enjoying his usual morning hot shower. I grabbed a pen and a paper, and as thoughts started to flow, my hands obediently scribbled over the flimsy piece of paper. My eyes glowed with enthusiasm as I was finishing up the letter. I hopped down from the chair and rushed to the parking lot anxiously imagining the surprised look on Mike's face when he finds the letter on his truck seat. I went into the truck... and there, I left the note sealed with all my love:I thank the Lord everyday of my life for blessing me with a partner who’s love has always remained unfailing. With your love, I found my shelter… you nourish me and you protect me. You’ve provided me love more than what I have ever hoped for.
When I feel sad, your arms are always there to wrap me with those warm comforts. When I cry, you wipe away my tears with your firm but gentle fingers. And when I feel like I couldn’t stand the pain anymore, you are there to carry me until I become strong enough to stand again.
From time to time, I utter the words I love you to express how much you mean to me. I hope you feel the truth behind these precious words…because these words mean you are my life, my happiness, my strength and my forever love!!! I am yours until the end of time…
Love, Mabel
When I feel sad, your arms are always there to wrap me with those warm comforts. When I cry, you wipe away my tears with your firm but gentle fingers. And when I feel like I couldn’t stand the pain anymore, you are there to carry me until I become strong enough to stand again.
From time to time, I utter the words I love you to express how much you mean to me. I hope you feel the truth behind these precious words…because these words mean you are my life, my happiness, my strength and my forever love!!! I am yours until the end of time…
Love, Mabel
Our hearts are full of love right now so we are shelling out friendship awards to our devoted fellow bloggers. Our experience in blogging has been so much fun because of you guys!
This award was passed on to us by our friends Sara of News From Nola and Rechie of My Hideaway. We would like to share this award to our special friends to let you know we are delighted to read your writings and stories. The world of blogging has opened a new door for us to expand our horizon in discovering new things and meeting wonderful people.
This Friendship award was bestowed to us by benchiegirl of Life Rocks, Rechie of My Hideaway, and Tintin of Footnotes and Paper Trails. A bunch of thanks to you ladies! Some of you might not be too enthusiastic about this whole idea of award distribution- but if you help these awards to propagate, it will be greatly appreciated. Let's give them more attention and let's spread some more love to the world! :)
We are granting both of these awards to blogger friends JUDITH, CONY, TUMBLEWEED, JEAN, DALE, ARNIE, JOANNE, CASHMERE, NAOMI, CELY and BINGKEE.
-GMG-
This award was passed on to us by our friends Sara of News From Nola and Rechie of My Hideaway. We would like to share this award to our special friends to let you know we are delighted to read your writings and stories. The world of blogging has opened a new door for us to expand our horizon in discovering new things and meeting wonderful people.
This Friendship award was bestowed to us by benchiegirl of Life Rocks, Rechie of My Hideaway, and Tintin of Footnotes and Paper Trails. A bunch of thanks to you ladies! Some of you might not be too enthusiastic about this whole idea of award distribution- but if you help these awards to propagate, it will be greatly appreciated. Let's give them more attention and let's spread some more love to the world! :)We are granting both of these awards to blogger friends JUDITH, CONY, TUMBLEWEED, JEAN, DALE, ARNIE, JOANNE, CASHMERE, NAOMI, CELY and BINGKEE.
-GMG-
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