How We Chose an Architect

For the longest time, we lived in rented accommodations. We eventually got a condo unit as our first owned home. My sister advised me early on that you can always change where you live. It was sound advice because we moved as our situation changed. We're now on our 8th home which we thought would be our permanent home.

During the pandemic we'd watch videos on houses for sale and architect videos. I remember mentioning to Sweetie I wish one of the architects we were watching would become our architect. That did not happen immediately and we got to work with several architects before we found the right one. 

Original plan of my childhood home made by Tito Bert Apolo, c1969 (before I was born!)

Last week, I posted about red flags when hiring an architect/contractor. We have a fair share of horror stories and that's how we learned through the years. We've also reviewed several proposals. Oftentimes, there were more questions than information that would put our mind at ease. 

We put our plans to build a house on hold because we felt we had not found the right people to work with. I was also grieving the loss of my Mom and clearing the childhood home was very overwhelming. My Mom had meter deep cabinets and she packed a lot of stuff in it. 

With home building on hold, we thought about investing some of our savings and that's how we met our current architect. We felt that our values were aligned. We shared with him what we experienced and he gave us a lot of advice. 

I was a program manager and details are very important for me. I used to make and review a lot of proposals/quotations/contracts, and over a year later we started the house build. Here's what we liked about our current architect:

• We started with a business relationship
• He was very patient and generous in answering questions
• He got to know our lifestyle, needs and wants before he started planning
• He adjusted the plans as needed and has been flexible throughout the project
• Most importantly, he's the only architect that gave a detailed costing which included professional fees (architect + a number of engineers), cost of materials, other building costs, and a list of owner supplied materials

With everything above board, we also felt that we had the same values as the architect. I personally dilly-dally whenever I need to make a big purchase, so I took my sweet time deciding. Mind you we started looking for an architect even before the pandemic. It took a lot of prayers and reviewing to find the right architect for our needs. I think the most important thing is finding one with the same values as us. 

The big bonus? We're working with the architect we wished for during the pandemic :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Happy, Restful Sunday

I hope you all had a restful weekend. We were so busy last week and needed the break.

Our cats are lucky, they rest anytime they want, haha.

We'll be starting the week without water again. Apparently, a third party contractor hit a pipe somewhere in Manila and we're all impacted in our city. Oh well...

#BeKind #StaySafe

Beautiful Narra Trees

When we headed out last Tuesday, I was surprised by the beautiful blooming narra trees, fire trees, bougainvillea, and golden shower trees. 

The stretch of Skyway we passed had a lot of glowing narra trees. I was amazed and could not recall when this last happened.

I guess the trees got a spurt of rainwater nutrition when it finally rained. Unfortunately, the blooms were gone in my area when we went out the next day. 

Now I want to have a narra tree in my future garden. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Watched Mandalorian and Grogu

We watched "Mandalorian and Grogu" today at the cinema. I was so excited since it's a Star Wars film and we haven't watched any movie in the theater for awhile now.

We watched the series through Disney+, but watching Star Wars films are better on the big screen. You can see many more elements of the film and nuances of the characters when it's a huge screen.

I enjoyed the movie. It wasn't really connected to the series, so you can enjoy it even if you didn't watch the series. We watched a recap of the series last night since it's been awhile since we watched the series. You don't actually need to do that since the storyline stands on it's own.

I have to be honest though, story-wise I think the last season would have been better as a movie. There were some things I was expecting that didn't happen. It made me feel it was a step back from the story. I still enjoyed it though since I super love Grogu.

Go watch it!

#BeKind #StaySafe

What's the Most "MacGyver" Thing You Did?

I watched a short video about MacGyver this afternoon. My generation grew up with him finding solutions using things you can find at home. The clip mentioned that whenever MacGyver blew up stuff, the producers would always give an incomplete recipe, so that kids at home won't blow up their kitchens. 

I never tried any of the things MacGyver did on the series, but I definitely "MacGyver" (do DIY) on some things. Growing up, I was always excited when we had projects that involved building things. Back then you have to figure out a lot of stuff. I remember making a display box for a stone collection. In 5th grade, we were tasked to use bamboo to make a diorama bahay kubo. 

We had to build a lot of stuff with stuff you can find at home. You're lucky if there's a stash of craft cardboard you can use at home. I normally had to make do with old folders and shoe boxes. Nowadays, I usually experiment in my garden and sewing projects where it's safer to DIY stuff. Sweetie's most favorite tools are cable ties, haha. For me, it's bamboo and garden tie cables. 

Anyway, you can watch the clip about MacGyver, here.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Eat Fermented Food Everyday

Since I had a "relapse", I went through another round of tests last week. My infectious disease doctor was back from her vacation and saw me last Wednesday. Good thing I was feeling better and my pulmo also cleared me from pneumonia even though my chest x-ray was still hazy (more on that later). 

Anyway, I was luckily feeling better by Wednesday because my ID doctor said I may be confined again. Whatever it was that ailed my tummy again was gone from my system. I had slight fever also but paracetamol whisked it away. I wasn't given medication but was told to eat fermented food like atsara or kimchi to help rebuild my tummy's good bacteria. 

Homemade atsara :D

Good thing I like pickled veggies like atsara and I also like kimchi, so it wasn't hard for me to re-align my tummy. I also ate banana everyday to stabilize the potassium level in my blood since it was in low normal level. I actually felt much better after a few days of it and I'm now back to eating more seafood than meat. 

As for my lungs, I remember now why it was clear during my APE. I had been religiously using my spirometer for over a month before I did my APE. I will start doing that again since it's important to save the healthy part of my lungs. In the meantime, I'll keep eating fermented food everyday.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Assembling a Quilted Bag

I'm still working on my yellow bag. It's as big as this quilted tote bag I made back in 2021. I just want something that will bring sunshine when I move around. 

Read to quilt and assemble!

I've been amiss with editing my sewing vids. I've just gotten so lazy with editing and taking videos. One day I'll get to it. In the meantime, we'll celebrate my Dad's birthday today. He would have been 93 years old. 

Happy birthday Dad! We love and miss you!

#BeKind #StaySafe