Throwback Thursday: Mom and Dad's Journey

I stumbled on old family photos when I was looking for a nice photo of Mom. I found an album where I gathered scanned photos of their wedding and anniversaries. My parents spent 51 years together. Their love story spanned so many decades. They spent a very long, fruitful life. 

25th

35th

45th

50th

Aside from growing a family, my parents spent a lot of their time for social and religious causes. They were heavily involved in the building of our parish church. Daddy also used his skills to ensure our community was protected and had proper utilities (ie water). They were active members of the Knights of Columbus and CWL. I learned a lot from their activities and I guess that's also why I enjoyed doing projects that was going to benefit communities. 

I dreamt of my parents last week. We were on an outing abroad. They were so happy together and wore matching yellow outfits. This was how they looked (photo taken months before I was born). 

It's strange I dreamt of them months before I was born. I knew it was before I was born because there was another photo together with my cousin, Tina, when she was a baby (taken the same day). Oh! I just realized that I was probably growing in my Mom's tummy when the photo was taken. She said I was probably made on Holy Innocents Day (hehe). I guess they were sending their love from heaven and telling me everything will be okay. 

Love you Mom and Dad. Please watch over us from up there. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Breakfast Date with Sweetie

Sweetie surprised me the other day when he told me were going to go grocery shopping in person. I was shookt! I've been ordering groceries online since April 2020 and found his request unusual. I guess I've been moping around since Monday last week he probably thought I needed a change of environment. I was even more shookt when he told me we'll have breakfast out. OMG! This was all new to me. 

We attempted to go out yesterday, but I woke up with a headache so it was postponed. I barely had any sleep last night (#anxiety), but I pushed myself to get out of bed. I looked forward to eating something other than oatmeal (my cardio's mandate is to eat oatmeal for breakfast). Ahhh, it was such a joy to eat at Cafe Breton. The last time we ate at Cafe Breton was many years ago when Sweetie kidnapped me for a quick date. 

I got the excalibur and Sweetie got the dracula. The crepe was delicious as usual. It was my first time to try the excalibur and the combination of ham, emmental cheese, fresh cream and asparagus sauteed with onions and mushrooms was really tasty. I paired the meal with a cup of cappuccino. It was absolutely fulfilling since we waited years to eat there again. 

After breakfast we ran some errands. I was almost wiped out by noon, so rested at Krispy Kreme. They have a nice bundle for 2 at only PhP225. It includes 2 iced coffees and 2 original glazed doughnuts. It was a great refreshment and it's always a good idea to be full before doing groceries! Hahaha. Of course, we brought home food from Makati Supermart Coffee Shop for our late lunch with Miggy. 

It was a great day to go out. Still taking a lot of precautions and socially distancing ourselves to be safe. I was able to make 3k steps and it felt good, but I was pretty wiped out halfway through our grocery list. Probably need a check-up soon just to be on the safe side. 

Have a happy day everyone! Let your light continue to shine. 

#StaySafe #BeKind

New Home Experiences and Discoveries

Living in a condo is honestly much easier than living in a house. We did condo living for ten years and got used to the convenience of living in one. Whenever we felt like going on vacation we'd just up and leave. We never worried about security since that's provided by the building. Living in a house requires you to have someone around all the time. 

It's almost a month now since we moved to our new home and here are things I've learned:

1. When you live in a house there are things you need that you don't need in a condo, i.e. garden hose, shears to cut grass and shears to prune tree branches, a rake and a Nimbus 2000 (walis tingting).

2. Inverter appliances is the way to go. Our electricity bill was so far lower in the past month compared to our condo. Well, I will have confirm if this is still true in the next three months. I thought it was due to zone pricing, but upon checking the kwh was actually the same. It must've been because we switched to inverter appliances. 

3. Condo association dues are much, much more expensive compared to a landed house, like >3x.

4. You're going to need to have a directory of people/companies who can help you to fix things or help with home management. Good thing I have friends who have businesses I can count on, i.e. Squeaky.ph for home cleaning, a neighbor who does landscape lends her gardener when needed. There are apps too, but I get wary using it because they tend to overcharge (I was trying to get help to fix my Mom's roof, but they were obviously overcharging us. What they don't know is my Mom and I used to export furniture so we know how to price stuff). 

5. Sourcing for groceries has become a sport for me. I've had to be  smart about it because online groceries don't sell everything online. Oftentimes you have to find the store of the brand on Shopee or Lazada and you're forced to buy stuff in bulk. Having to purchase from different brands means you have to pay for shipping multiple times. I know it's probably more profitable for them, but it's not good for me as a consumer. Unfortunately, I have to be more cautious since I'm high risk (and the boys too), so I can't just go out and buy groceries. Well, at least it's disciplining me for overbuying. 

6. It's been a bit harder finding homemade food where we are now. Our condo community had a classifieds page where home cooks and bakers would post food for sale. It was oftentimes cheaper than resto meals and the servings was good. This also allowed us to get to know our neighbors. 

7. I also miss our neighbors who sold fresh fruits and vegetables. They normally source them direct from farms and were much better than those sold in supermarkets. I'd buy from the fruit/veggie stores, but usually they sell by the kilo which is oftentimes too much for us. I don't want food to go to waste. Maybe I can think about splitting fruits and veggies with my Mom. 

8. More floor space to clean. I think the best decision we made this month is finally buying a cordless vacuum cleaner! It has really helped us keep the dust away and it's much easier than using a walis tambo (even though it's Scotch Brite one lol). Mopping is a pain, but at least I just need to do it once a week. I'm still thinking about how to manage our wood floors. My Mom trained me how to use a bunot when I was growing up. I could probably still do that by parts, but the waxing part will be a huge pain. 

9. Basura day is twice a week. We used to clear our trash every night and just had to go down to the basement to throw it when we were still at the condo. Now we have to carefully wrap everything since the trash collector only comes twice a week. Sweetie decided to buy two large trash cans to use as storage. Our neighbor told us to leave the trash outside the night before because the collection doesn't have a set pick up time. 

10. Every new sound still startles us. When we hear a kalabog somewhere everyone comes out of their bedroom to check, haha. We're still getting to know our new home. We're also trying to understand how things work. We've so far had to run to our contractor especially for things that require electricity, i.e. half of the garden lights aren't working again. Good thing the contractor promised they'll fix anything within six months of move-in. Whew!

And the last thing we had to go through the past few weeks is battle ants and mosquitoes! The mosquito issue was easily fixed when I got a bunch of citronella plants. They were gone immediately! The ant war is still ongoing and we tried several solutions to reduce the infestation. I think we're winning now. Will update in a few weeks. 

I have been fully focused on organizing our home the past month. The only thing I've been able to create is a 3.5 yard curtain for our crazy huge window. I haven't touched my sewing machine since I made it more than two weeks ago. Aside from being together with my boys 24/7, what's also important for me is I'm able to breathe better. I've had less asthma attacks and I'm more active now. I still take naps when I feel unwell, but it's not as often compared to before. Yay!

I'm super looking forward to progressing with organizing our home. Maybe next month I can finally fix my closet noh? Haha.

#Home56 #NewG190 #StayHome #BeKind  

Joyride to the 44th Floor!

It was my first time yesterday to be more than 3 kilometers away from our home. We had to go out for an errand in Ortigas. To avoid traffic we went through SLEX, C5 then went through McKinley, BGC and we experienced the new Estrella-Panteleon Bridge. I was surprised to see many new buildings in the area and baffled how we got to the Kapitolyo area so fast. There were so many new developments I got confused where we were already, LOL. 

Unfortunately due to heavy traffic we reached out destination at noon. They were already on lunchbreak, so we had to wait. Sweetie was wary of having me walk far from our destination so we ended up in the hotel next door because there were no waiting area in the office we went to. We were also avoiding crowded places, so we ended up in the 44th floor of the hotel. True enough the resto was empty. We ended up having an instant date with a nice view of the mountains in Rizal. 

I honestly don't remember the last time we dined out. Ah, I think the last time was at Starbucks Raffles Hospital just before we went home. We already considered it a date since we went out sparingly. I told Sweetie I hope we can have a longer joyride in early January. Maybe just go somewhere to eat and see nice views for a day. We've also been super tired lately from the move. My Fitbit actually said I needed for rest, hehe. 

I was happy to do our little errand. It became a joyride and a date! I'm already used to staying at home, so will just want to do this every so often and only if it's really needed. I haven't even been to the mall or a grocery. I don't miss it anymore since I can just do my window shopping by scrolling through Lazada, Shopee, Amazon or my favorite fabric shops. Just add to cart and just leave it there until the want fades away. I usually delete the items in the cart a few days later when I realize I don't really need to buy anything (unless it's my fave milk tea heehee). 

P.S. Hope to unearth more clothes in the coming days. Ended up wearing an un-ironed dress when we went out hahaha. 

#Home49 #NewG197 #Xmas3 #StayHome #BeKind  

Joyride!

Sweetie made a proposal yesterday. He needed to warm up the car and asked if I wanted to go and chill with him. So down we went to the basement after hanging laundry. Got in the car and laughed at the absurdity of what we were doing. 

Then Sweetie decided to go around the property. He had to drive really slow. It was fun while it lasted and the cold car aircon was a welcome respite from the hot afternoon. At least we were able to go out and maybe that's what we can do sometime soon (i.e. go to Tagaytay and get drive-thru!). Still need to be cautious. 

We don't get bored just being home. There's a lot of things you can do at home. I've been a lot slower doing things, but at least I've been able to tick off important tasks like getting our real property tax paid (thank God for neighbors who do services for a small fee!). I've been wanting to sew, but home is a huge mess now. Maybe things will be better next week. 

Anyway, we got ourselves a "Welcome Home" cake from Red Ribbon. I've missed their mocha cake and will likely get it's equivalent from Goldilocks in a few weeks. Oh dear, my chubby cheeks are back. I really need to go back to home-cooked meals soon. I'll get Miggy to help make some adobo tomorrow.

Thirty days before Christmas! 

#Home22 #NewG224 #Xmas30 #StayHome #BeKind  

Adulting 101

To be honest, I only learned how to manage a home when Sweetie and I got married and moved to our own home. I remember I was shocked when Sweetie said he preferred not to have househelp. We always had helpers at home which meant I focused more on my studies/work, other activities than learning how to cook and home management. 

We had a lot of misadventures when we moved to our first home. We shared this on our "Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal". Our brand new washing machine almost blew up. Our sink billowed white smoke. The worst was the septic tank incident. My Mom eventually took pity on us and got someone to help clean the house and do ironing once a week. I think she got worried we might eventually end up hurting ourselves trying to learn the ropes of home management. 

Here's what I learned through the years:

1. Pay your bills on time. Aside from utilities, always pay your credit card bills in full. That also means do not spend beyond your capacity. Save if there's someone you need to buy. 

2. Invest in good appliances. I learned this from my Mom. Her appliances really last a long time (her Whirlpool fridge is as old as Miggy!). The Union fan I brought to Singapore ten years ago, came back home with me. 

We used our first washing machine for 9 years.
It was still working when we gave it away because we decided to get a bigger one.

3. Your first home may not necessarily be your last. This was advise given to me by my Ate. We've lived in 8 different homes in the last 11 years. We moved based on need and our lifestyle. Now that we're permanently home and we won't be traveling we'll be settling in a permanent home now.

4. Budget to save, work to be financially free. I set aside money for savings before I spent it and eventually adjusted it based on the goal to be eventually financially free. I'm not financially free yet and still working on my strategy. 

5. Enjoy the chores. Yes, you need to embrace the fact that chores will always be waiting for you to do. I enjoy doing the laundry and have a science on how I do it. I feel so satisfied when I'm able to complete it. Sweetie took over it the past year, but I started doing it again yesterday. I ended up feeling unwell though, haha, but I was happy I was able to do it again. 

6. Get help where you can. You can't possibly do everything. We continued to have someone come in once a week to do cleaning and ironing for us. Before we went home last week we had our place deep-cleaned. It would have been dreadful if I ended up inflamming my sinuses with dust, hehe. 

7. Ask for help if you need it. It's been very useful for me to check the posts of our neighbors when they need help for something. I normally check previous posts first on our group before I ask questions or I ping a friend or neighbor to ask directly. I needed to have our sliding door fixed and easily found recommendations on who to contact. It's fixed now, yay!

8. Think twice before buying home items. It takes me years before I finally decide to buy something, i.e. my KitchenAid stand mixer. I always ask myself if I'm really committed to it and I set goals I need to meet before buying something. I'm also changing my grocery buying strategy since we ended up throwing away a lot of stuff before we went home. I will strictly adhere to my meal plans to make sure I only buy what's needed. I'll also probably put in an inventory system so we don't duplicate stuff. 

9. Do tasks by parts. What worked for me was setting tiny home goals per day since I have to manage my energy. I would set one reachable home goal a day. This way I don't end up procrastinating, haha. Give yourself a treat when you complete the task. 

10. Stay healthy, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Too much of anything is bad for you. Don't forget to love yourself. 

Remember, there's no formula to be a perfect adult. Just do what you think is right for you. Our parents had to help us in the beginning to show us the way. Eventually my Mom said we were already doing well and she believed we could do anything now. I still ask my Mom things when I'm in a bind hehe. 

#Home14 #NewG230 #Xmas38 #StayHome #BeKind  

Newlywed Feels

We've been crazy busy organizing our home and planning our next steps. It feels like Sweetie and I are newlyweds again, haha. I remember that time we moved to our first home. Most of our things were borrowed from our parents' house, i.e. the sofa and our dining table. We had our beds made by my Mom's carpenter. We didn't need to buy a lot of things since we were able to use all the practical wedding gifts we received. 

It's almost 12 years now since we tied the knot. We've lived in about 8 different places in 2 countries. Living that way was hard. We had to manage two households for the past ten years. It was fun while it last, but as you grow older you yearn for permanency. We never planned to live that way, it just happened because of the work opportunity I was presented ten years ago. 

And now that we're back home we're working on re-connecting where we left off ten years ago. It feels like we're newlyweds again planning for our future. We've been living off our suitcase the past two weeks and have just started to explore our untouched closets. We giggle as we find clothes that don't fit us anymore. We're also going through what we left at our Manila home in January 2020. 

It will probably take a month or two more before we can have some normalcy at home. I hope we can finish in time for Christmas. Gotta get moving also so I can start quilting again (sewing machine and stuff is still in the box). We've been so distracted with... eating. Hahaha. 

Sweetie went out to have his car battery checked. Viola got a good washing too. Our neighbors and the building cat can't leave marks on it anymore hrhrhr. Sweetie got us yummy lunch -- Binalot! Yay! We've been craving for this for a long time now. Sarap-sarap!

And we'll have yummy puto Binan and sapin-sapin for merienda later. 

Gotta go now for other online errands (pay bills) and work on the kitchen again. 

Happy Monday everyone!

#Home12 #NewG232 #Xmas40 #StayHome #BeKind  

Love is All Around Me

Following the stressful day I had yesterday I'd like to sit still for a moment and celebrate happy moments. It's the season of love! A few months ago my nephew, Gabby, got engaged. This was followed by my cousin, Precious, and now my niece Carissa just got engaged too! 

Ahhh, so much love around me! I shed some tears after watching the Carissa's engagement video. She obviously had no idea it was about to happen. I'm so happy for her and wish I could attend her wedding. I missed Gabby's engagement because I was napping! Arggggh. And Precious got engaged at the beach. 

The kids have really grown up. I used to watch Gabby when he was a baby when I got back from school. Chase after Carissa and Patricia when they were little. We did a lot of Christmas family trips in Indonesia when they were growing up. I remember when I was newly broken-heart Carissa told me, "It's okay Tita, you'll be okay." She was 12 years old and dispensed moving on strategies to me. I was so shocked I immediately got out of my hole. Hahaha. 

It's been years since we had everyone in the same place. Makes all the time we used to spend together more precious. What will probably happen is I'll see them again someday with little ones running around. But for now I'll just enjoy this warm, fuzzy feeling that love brings. 

It was also just fitting that yesterday my good doctor sent me some macarons! To be honest I'm not really fond of macarons (I prefer broas), but I'm always game to try new things. The macarons was made by his niece. I must say it's the best macarons I've tried! The sweetness level is perfect! If you're in Singapore and want to try it just order via the Macbites IG account. 

Don't forget, today is St. Jude's day 4 novena. 

CB////*Yr2/194 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/215 #NewG256 #Home12 #Xmas64 #StayHome #BeKind 

14 Years!

Today Sweetie and I are celebrating our 14th year together as a couple! We just usually recognize it as a special day and don't do anything. We decided to just celebrate our wedding anniversary when we tied the knot. We'll probably have leftover adobo for dinner tonight haha. 

Circa 2007 in Baguio

Everyday is still special with Sweetie. We resumed filling up the 3-year couple journal. Our last entry was 5 years ago and then the journal got lost when we moved. I found it recently while sorting out stuff. It's been fun to read previous entries. I'm kept on my toes when answering because Sweetie always finds a way to be witty. 

Sweetie's my rock. He is "subok na matibay, subok na matatag"! We've been through a lot especially "in sickness and health". We have surgeries and hospitalizations in our arsenal now and we know we can weather anything together. 

Let's look back at our milestones -

The proposal

The wedding

Need to find time to re-upload our wedding vid hehe.

The first day at home

And we have random videos of our life together on my YouTube channel. I originally wanted to post more vlogs, but I got busy. Tried posting  more last year, but I'm shy and I have an ongoing debate with myself about privacy haha. 

We're soon transitioning to a new phase in our lives. We're both really excited about it and look forward to be reunited with Miggy. I think we didn't do so well being empty nesters. We were just not ready yet. We probably need 20 more years with Miggy around haha. Every night I pray for us to have a happy and loving home where we could create more joyful memories together. 

Thank you Papa God for finding the right one for me and for continuing to write the best love story a girl could have <3

CB////*Yr2/171 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/194 #NewG276 #Home35 #Xmas87 #StayHome #BeKind

The Day After the Wedding

Chanced upon our after the wedding photos last night. I was uploading old photos to the cloud and got curious on what happened after our wedding more than 11 years go. 

We checked out of the hotel the day after the wedding. Good thing my parents brought home all the gifts. We went straight to our new home, a 3-bedroom apartment we rented from my Mom's friend. Of course, Sweetie carried me inside our new home. Back then I was so easy to carry haha. Here's the video --

Our new home was a huge mess when we arrived. The first thing we did was put some order to our new home.  After fixing our home we opened gifts! That was super fun to do. I still have a list of everything we got and we're still using most of what we got. 

We were saved from preparing food because we went to my parents' home to eat and they sent back a lot of food for us. The first meal we ordered was Binalot! 

I guess we were able to go to SM Hypermarket because we also ate some maki with leftovers. Sweetie also made a salad (I can confirm his red sando is still alive until today hahaha). 

The next few days was spent attending a gazillion family reunions. Mom and Dad also celebrated their golden wedding anniversary a week after our wedding. We only started to settle down after the second wedding. The weeks that followed were very eventful. I was able to blog most of it on our "Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal" blog. Reading about our first cooking attempt, the first laundry day where our new washing machine broke down, and almost poisoning both of us is so hilarious. 

Our logo by Miggy and Gail dela Cruz Villanueva.

Since our first home we've lived in six other homes in two countries. We learned a lot since we tied the knot more than 11 years ago. We've had our ups and downs and a smattering of challenges. Our love and faith has kept us solidly together. And everyday still feels like those first few weeks after our wedding. The adventure continues :)

Day 6 Gratitude Challenge, A Smell You Love. When I was young it felt weird when my lola and titas would smell me like they sucking the life out of me. The funny thing is I do the same now especially for babies! Haha. My nose is super sensitive so I don't like overpowering smells (or anything that smells for that matter). I guess I love the smell of the people I most especially love.

CB///*Yr2/92 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/119 #NewG354 #Home128 #StayHome #BeKind 

My Greatest Gift, My Sweetie

Today is Sweetie's birthday! I stayed up until midnight last night to greet him. I sat quietly waiting for him come out of the kitchen so I could greet him. I also wanted to give him my gift which luckily went undetected when it arrived via courier (I hid it in between button and fabric deliveries haha). 

He was surprised to see me waiting for him and doubly surprised with the gift. He had no idea he received the box two weeks ago haha. The funny thing is he thought I got him an external hard drive! He kept mentioning it to me the past few weeks, but I prefer to give fun gifts for birthdays. I normally reserve practical gifts for Christmas. I got him a limited edition Calibur Optimus Prime from Takara Tomy (I'll let him explain more about it haha). 

I am grateful everyday God found me the right one. I never had an easy life, much less a rosy love life, but I was always hopeful that one day God would answer my prayer. Sweetie came and filled my life with love. With him I discovered a new kind of love. We just clicked instantly. Mind you, we are complete opposites in many aspects. He's organized, I'm chaotic. He prefers Western breakfasts, I'm a silog person. We opt for competing brands. He's masandal tulog, I take so long to fall asleep. He's the extrovert, I'm the introvert. 

Miggy feeds my will to live, Sweetie is the strength to hold on. I realized that when I woke up to a Disney movie dream last Monday after an invasive diagnostic imaging procedure. Many would be scared and anxious about going through medical procedures. I'm able to keep calm because Sweetie's always there for me. His love helps me power on everyday. I thank God everyday for writing our love story the way he did. 

Happy birthday my Sweetie! Love you forever. 

CB///*Yr2/74 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/101 #StayHome #BeKind  

Love, Love, Love

I woke up to good news today. My cousin got engaged! It's happy news amidst the pandemic. It was what I needed since I didn't have a good night's sleep. I'm so glad I had the chance to meet my future cousin-in-law in Manila. Ahhh, love truly makes the world better. 

One of my nephews also got engaged and will be tying the knot later this year. I have another cousin who's about to give birth. Happy news makes me feel so grateful that my family has been healthy and secure in the past year. 

The news made me realize that life goes on. We all have our challenges. It's just up to us how to adjust to the trials. We can't just sulk at home and wait for the pandemic to end. I expect it's going to be a long time before things go back to what it was before. I wish though I could be at the life-changing events of my family when it happens. 

Congratulations and best wishes Chris and Precious! 

CB///*Yr2/65  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/92 #StayHome #BeKind 

Sunday with Sweetie

Spent the day with Sweetie at the hospital. He's now free from the wires and can walk around the room. We spent the afternoon on the couch watching videos. He'll be coming home soon :)

CB///Yr2/1  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/28 #StayHome #BeKind 

Courage

I'm not used to being alone at home. I'm used to traveling and being away, but I'm never really left alone at home. Sweetie is still at the hospital. I hope they'll discharge him tomorrow. 

I couldn't help but be teary eyed when I left him at the hospital. He looked so forlorn because he's not used to being the patient. I'm usually the patient. He was so rattled yesterday I had to keep telling him that everything will be okay. I must admit I was a bit scared also, but I had to be courageous for both of us. 

I gave Sweetie tips on how to survive his stay at the ICU. Luckily the nurses taking care of him were the same nurses who took care of me -- mostly Filipino! I also told him that it's a good sign when the doctor does not see you right after a test is done. Usually if they do a test on you and it's followed by a visit from the doctor or instructions for more medication, it may mean you're not stable. 

So luckily Sweetie was moved to the ward today. We're just waiting for the doctor to explain why his BP shot up. Hopefully it will just require some meds and a lifestyle adjustment (okay, no more grilled liempo!). 

Can't wait for Sweetie to be back home! I shall use his pillows for now hrhrhr. 

CB///365  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/28 #StayHome #BeKind 

11 Years of Sweeties

A few weeks ago a friend's friend who we met for the first time thought that Sweetie and I were just a couple. We laughed out loud when he said he thought we were not married yet. We were both so kilig because that meant we looked young! Hahaha. 

Eleven years ago, Sweetie and I tied the knot on boxing day. It seems just like yesterday to me when I walked down the aisle to be wed to my one true love. As many married couples would share, it's a roller coaster ride as you journey through life together. 

In the last eleven years, it's only been this year that we've been together constantly. We were LDR for 5 years before Sweetie moved to Singapore too and in-between that I traveled a lot for work. This year has been exceptional since we had to be together 24 hours a day for many months. I must say, Sweetie has been the best person to be stuck with at home. He's been my rock.

To be honest we haven't really planned how we'd live our life. We had no idea that we'd eventually live in Singapore. What's been important for us is to keep the family together. It was really hard for both of us when Miggy moved back home because he's always been there. We haven't seen him for more than ten months now, but we constantly communicate everyday. 

I think the reason why my friend's friend thought we're still an unmarried couple is because we're still very sweet to each other. We've been like that since we got together. We still surprise each other, I troll him a lot, and we show our affection a lot to each other. We laugh a lot and just know when we need each other more. I guess it boils down to what my Mom advised when I was single, "Aside from love, marry someone who has the same values as you". 

Happy anniversary Sweetie. Cheers to more fun and loving years together! I love you <3

CB//261 #StuckAtHomeDay/291 #StayHome #BeKind

How to Make Your Love Last a Lifetime

Today is my parents 56th wedding anniversary. We had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary back in 2010 with a simple renewal of vows and a party with family and friends at home. It is going to be a milestone year for me as I have been asked to be a godmother for two weddings. I honestly got freaked out the first time I got asked and it took about a year before I was ready to accept an invitation.

My parents imparted on us the seriousness of marriage. As the old saying goes, "Hindi yan tulad ng mainit na kanin na pwede mo na lang iluwa" (It's not like newly cooked rice that you could just spit out). Your love should go hand in hand with commitment.

I never saw my parents fight when I was growing up. The only time I saw them not talk to each other was after their golden wedding anniversary. For three days they did not talk to each other and refused to say why. I panicked and called up my siblings to let them know. It was a bizarre experience. And then on the third day they just started talking again and explained that they had forgotten about what they had argued about. My Mom explained to me later after Dad passed away that they would fight, but agreed to never show it to us.

My parents were great role models for me. I had stumbled a couple of times along the way, but my Mom always reminded me that when I find a spouse he should have the same values as we had. I remember making a very long list of the ideal guy. The only item that Sweetie didn't get was to have straight hair (haha). Finding the right one is another story I will tell on another day, but here's a list of bilins from my parents before I got married and some stuff I've picked up from them.


1. Put God at the center of your family.
2. Always settle your differences before you sleep.
3. Give and take. Negotiate.
4. Talk, always. Laugh everyday and be playful.
5. Be on time all the time. Follow the 5Ps.
6. Be happy to be in each other's company and do things together. (My parents rarely went out and were always together).
7. Share your friends!
8. Budget very wisely.
9. Live simply.
10. Family first.


My parents lived a very simple life. We lived on a bungalow with lots of space which took my parents 15 years to pay. We rarely took out of the country family trips (only 3) and usually stayed with relatives. Their idea of a family vacation was taking a rode trip to go to our hometown in Bicol where we'd live in a nipa hut by the beach. Our home was also like a mini-farm. We had fruits and veggies growing in our backyard and had chickens, quail, kuhol, dogs, cats, birds, fish etc. as well. Eating out was a luxury. We were simply just together all the time.

We are far from being a perfect family, but my parents strong marriage always kept us together. Their original wedding date was supposed to be January 2, 1960, but because of a very strong typhoon they had to move it the next day. Their marriage may have started from a disaster, but their resilience and their commitment made it strong and a love that is forever.