January 26, Birthday Gifts

If you have read my other blog, you will know that I received two birthday gifts, two real stone bangles from my dear husband. He is quite non-romantic type of person, so it was a surprised when he asked what I want for my birthday, and I told him I want a green Jade bangle. And viola! I got, not just one, but two bangles! A green Jade + a rose quartz. Cool! Thanks so much dearest!
 

Well, aside from that, I also got myself a gift. I’ve been drawn to handbags lately, something that I can use at the office, casuals or for everyday use. As expected I bought a bag, my first one from the Parfois line. It’s a maroon sling bag of faux leather (I think!) and the big deal was, the 50% off from its original price of P1998.00.

This bag will be of use when attending Sunday mass at our village, and inside you will find a 4oz feeding bottle, biscuit and baby wipes for the little girl. My birthday this year is sure fun and full of blessings. 

Thank You Dear Lord for my 37 years of existence and for more years to come.

January 25, Birthday Cake!

January 25th, 37 years ago a little girl was born. She was named January, after a character in a movie that her mother had seen during her pregnancy, and good thing she delivered the baby also in the first month of the year. 

But because of “doctor’s secretary issue”, she was registered under the name “Baby Girl”. Three years later, after mom had seen the birth certificate, she applied to have it changed, hence, the baby girl is now carrying the name of January, and that’s ME! J hehe

My 37the year of existence was celebrated together with my husband, two kids and my closest friends and sister in law at home.

Birthdays are not complete without the cake, that's the reason why I bought a small dedication cake at Goldilocks. 

Wonder why the cake looks like that? 

Well, while we were busy doing something else, the little boy picked up the cake, which unfortunately placed on top of the chair by our helper, that was within his reach,. The next thing we've seen, he was already carrying the box (with the cake in it) to the living room.

Anyway, it’s still looking like a cake… J

All smile for the birthday girl! Thank you Lord for another year!

Cute Costumes for You Pet

I always wanted a small dog at home, preferably a “pug”.  But that small wrinkly, stocky dog with large and prominent eyes is too good to be true for me. Aside from the fact that I do not have a budget to get this cute yet expensive dog, I don’t have the courage to take care of him.

Anyway, just in case in the future a Santa will give me one,  I will make time to take care of him and put him into these cute costumes.

The Star Wars Darth Vader and Yoda are really cute for Halloween.

And the one I’m so attracted at is the Triceratops costume. See, the dog really looks cute and Jurassic with the costume.

source

How about you, will you consider dressing up your pets with cute costumes?

Note: Photos not mine

January 21, Hands

I made a challenge for myself, for this blog. A photo challenge that I was only able to diligently composed until the 8^th day, and lay low for 13 days until today that I have to take a photo of my hand.

My hand that once wore a college class rings here that I have bought after graduation, after I passed the board exam and after I got my first few months salary from my first employment. Few years of wearing the college class ring , I got tired and decided to keep the ring in my jewelry box.  

For more than six years now, I seldom wear rings except this simple two-toned wedding ring.

This is how my hand, my fingernails looks like without the manicure, the nail polish that I like. 

Before the week ends I hope to visit my favorite salon for a nail fix.

Dinner at Rosario’s Seafood Restaurant and Chinese Cuisine in Butuan City

One of the usual things we do when traveling with the boss on business trips is checking out and dining in one of the known local restaurants in the city. Last week, together with my boss and 3 other colleagues went to Butuan City to attend the quarterly coordination meeting with our partners in the power industry. The meeting went smoothly as we finished all the tasks and discussions ahead of time, and had more time to relax since our trip back home was still on the following day. 

On the rainy evening of January 7, 2015 five of us on board our service vehicle, went to restaurant hunting until realizing that I have internet connection with me. I googled for the nearest and best seafood restaurant in town and found two listed on the net the “Island Seafood Restaurant” and “Rosario’s Seafood Restaurant” none of us have tried to dine in either of the two. So we decided, whichever is the nearest from our location based on the GPS and landed at the Rosario’s Seafood Restaurant.

Son Got A Guitar from His Dad

One of the many talents that we can help our child develop is in the field of music. If he is not good in singing, maybe, playing an instrument is his area.

Last December, I saw this photo of a guitar that my brother posted on his FB timeline. A locally made guitar that he bought from the craftsmen in Cebu City. According to him, inside the guitar case he found a flyer that states Send for our free catalog.. I wonder it he sent it back.

Anyway, I talked to my nephew and he was so happy to receive the guitar from his dad. Maybe next time I’ll visit them, I’ll make sure to let him play for me.  

Coffee + Cakes at Margie's Kitchen, Butuan + First Time Meet Up

While in Butuan, I got a chance to meet a fellow blogger, an online friend in person. She is the lady behind the blog The Unstressed. She fetched me at the hotel and off we went to Margies Bakeshop one of the best in the city, when in terms of sweet indulgence. 

The first thing I ordered when we arrived there was a cup of hot cappuccino. It was a rainy afternoon and something hot, especially coffee will boost me up. 

January 7, Water

I’m the still in the first week of my so called 365 day photo challenge and I am already slacking. I am getting worried that I may not be able to complete this. Wondering what came into my mind when I decided to challenge myself when in fact I am so sure that I am busy with my day job. Ha!

Anyway, I still have hope and determination to complete the challenge even though with the back log.

The very reason why I slacked because I went on a business trip on the 6^th of January to the  8^th. I was in Butuan City with my boss attending a meeting with our partners in the industry. 

This is a man made lake inside Almont Inland Resort in Butuan City, the finest resort in the heart of the city as advertised, where I stayed for 2 nights. I remember I also checked-in, here before and I must say it was the best, but that was years back probably because I occupied a deluxe room. This time we’re booked in one of the superior rooms located at the far end of the resort near the man made lake above. The room was indeed spacious but not relaxing because of the buzzing mosquitoes. Yes, there are mosquitoes, a lot of them, especially in the toilet. I had to call the housekeeping and had it sprayed. They probably forgot to, when they clean the room earlier. With the lake inside, expect mosquitoes to propagate. I hope the management can do something about it.

Care to share a water photo? Just place your link in the comment below and let’s exchange comments. You can check out my list for January 2015 here.

January 6, Me and My Friend

Today’s theme is for me to choose a photo of me and a friend. And I chose this very beautifully taken photo by our colleague during our Christmas Party last month.

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. ~Douglas Pagels

The pretty lady I’m with, is Ann my kumare (my son godmother), colleague and a friend. 

Care to share a photo of you and your friend? Just place your link in the comment below and let’s exchange comments. You can check out my list for January 2015 here.

January 5, Something Yellow

Flowers only bloom when they are ready. People are the same way.

You cannot rush or force them open just because you think it’s time.

Let’s Be Patient.

~unknown~

I chose a yellow flower for today’s theme. A sweet and brilliant yellow ground orchid that my husband’s sister in law is growing in her front yard.

With the cool temperature in the uphills of Bukidnon, these flowers will definitely bloom to their best. 

Care to share the something yellow? Just place your link in the comment below and let’s exchange comments. You can check out my list for January 2015 here.

January 4, Someone I Love

I think I am really getting into this challenge I made for myself. I am really getting excited each passing day thinking what photos I’ll be posting next.

Today on January 4^th the theme is “Someone You Love”. I’m sharing a photo of the three people that have filled up my life;  my husband, our son and our daughter.

They are the greatest gifts that the Lord God had given me, and I am always thankful to have them.

The photo was taken on December 25, 2014 at the Divine Mercy Shrine, El Salvador Misamis Oriental. 

Care to share the photo of someone you love? Just place your link in the comment below and let’s exchange comments. You can check out my list for January 2015 here.

Little Pink Flower to Welcome 2015

Welcome 2015!

Here's a little pink flower to welcome you 2015 in our lives. 

For "Flowers are the music of the ground

From earth's lips spoken without sound".

~EDWIN CURRAN, "Flowers"

Have a Wonderful Year to Everyone!

Today's Flowers

January 3, The Road Ahead

The road is almost empty, a clearer and smoother road ahead, can be a sign of a challenging yet less frustrations and loneliness year. Maybe also a sign of ease and happy year ahead of us. I’m praying. 

But even if life will take us to a bumpy road, with all the trials and obstacles, we are ready to embrace it because we know God will always be there for us.   

The photo above is taken early morning of January 1, 2015 along the national highway of Misamis Oriental.

Have you taken the road ahead of you? Care to share it? Just place your link in the comment below and let’s exchange comments. You can check out my list for January 2015 here.

January 2: Selfie

One of the very difficult form of taking photos for me is taking my own. But what is really a Selfie? According to Wikipedia “a selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a handheld digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.”

The first selfie word appeared in 2002 in one of the comments in ABC Online, an Australian internet forum. On 2010s, selfie initially become popular, especially to younger people and has gained more popularity over the years and that in 2012, the word hits the big time when the most prestigious Time Magazine deemed selfie as one of the “top 10 buzzwords” of the year. The following year, 2013 Oxford English Dictionary proclaimed selfie as the “word of the year” with word origin from Australia. 

Today, whatever social networking sites, selfie is a very popular thing. Though it is really popular, I am one person that is not into it. Not that I hate selfies, it’s just not really my thing, especially posting them on my social accounts. Today, for the sake of the challenge, I took a selfie shot. The first one was a mess, the second try is what you see right now. I even posted this photo (my first ever I think) in my FB account. Wow! I really have taken a step ahead by doing this selfie, by doing the 365 Photo-a-Day Challenge.

How about you? Do you love taking selfies? Care to share it? Just place your link in the comment below and let’s exchange comments. You can check out my list for January 2015 here.

Welcome 2015! New Year Sun

Goodbye 2014, Welcome 2015! 

Another challenging year has started and I together with our Lord God, my family and people around me, are ready to face it.

  

This year I am taking a Challenge, a 365 days Photo a Day Challenge that is also making waves in the bloggosphere. 

For the first day of 2015, I took a shot of the New Year Sun.

It was supposed to be a sunrise, but I was too late to capture it. Instead, I asked my husband to pull-over where these rice fields are along the highway on our way home after spending New Year's eve at his workplace and took this shot.

The photo was taken at 6:32AM January 1, 2015, Philippine Standard Time along the Municipality of Manticao, Misamis Oriental. 

Were you able to take your version of the New Year Sun? Care to share it? Just place your link in the comment below and let’s exchange comments. You can check out my list for January 2015 here.

Also linking this photo to SkyWatch Friday.