Random Thoughts

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Yes you read it right! I'm 5-6 weeks pregnant and indeed a great joy is coming into our lives. :)

No wonder I cried at "The Incredibles" movie when I watched it at Disney Channel. No wonder I've been craving for green mangoes lately. No wonder I was so sensitive to Hubby that we fought for three long days! And no wonder all I wanted during the Holy Week was to sleep and eat and didn't even want to go out!

Well you might also be wondering why I haven't been updating my blog lately. It's because I've been sick for almost two weeks now. After Alex, I got her cough and colds and would you believe, I even got sore eyes over the weekend!? I can't believe why of all the times I got these when I just found out that I'm pregnant.

The good side of it all is that since I have severe colds, I couldn't smell a thing! So that means my sense of smell is not that sensitive yet and morning sickness can still be avoided.

I can already feel that this one is going to be different from my first pregnancy. It didn't only start with cough, colds, and sore eyes but I think we are now somehow confident. And since Alex is always with me the whole day it seems like I get someone by my side (while Hubby is at work). Imagine the joy that I felt when I was eating crackers at our bed (to prevent morning sickness) and then Alex suddenly woke up and ate with me! I just felt ecstatic knowing that this will be (hopefully) more exciting than the first one. Not only there are more people (including Alex) who is going to look forward for this baby but also this baby will be welcomed in our home with more love.

So there. I know I've been MIA in your blogs for weeks now! Sorry about that! And your tags are looong been overdue. But I will make it up to you friends as soon as I get over the cough and colds and whatever is happening to my eyes. (*wink*)

Since January this year we've been in and out of the hospital. For checkups, Hubby's admission, Alex's vaccine, etc. And I can see how a medicare advantage we could have take if I was employed and given such benefit. With this I'm considering getting a health card so that the hospital bills would be less expensive for us. Any suggestions which one to consider?

Tagged by Jane. Thanks girl! ;)

How long did you date? 10 months.

How old is he? He’s turning 30 this July.

Who eats more? Well, I always a lot more than him. Especially on our first date. LOL! He was too nervous to eat! :D

Who said “I love you” first? Him :)

Who is taller? He is.

Who sings better? Definitely Him!

Who is smarter? I don't know. If about IT, I would be because I've been with IT for 8 years but when it comes to marketing stuff, He would be :D

Whose temper is worse? Me! hehe!

Who does the laundry? The helper. But he used to do the laundry and he knows how to operate the washing machine than me. LOL!

Who does the dishes? The helper.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me

Who pays the bills? HIM!

Who mows the lawn? We don't have a lawn :D

Who cooks dinner? The helper.

Who drives when you are together? Him. He doesn't want me to drive as much as possible.

Who is more stubborn? Him!

Who kissed who first? He did.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Him after a loooong time :D

Whose parents do you see the most? Mine

Who proposed? He did.

Who is more sensitive? Him!

Who has more friends? Me

Who has more siblings? Me.

Who wears the pants in the family? He does. :)

I love this tag! If you want to snag it go on and have fun! :)

Well, staying in the house for a week (I was working until Holy Thursday) seems boring but I was surprised that the time just passed by without us noticing it. It probably because we were having a good time and we really needed a rest after our last travel in Mindanao. I was able to at least clean up some stuff in our closet and I realized that I still got those platform shoes that I got a few years back. I used to love those shoes. I wear it almost everyday when I go to work. I was wondering if these shoes are still the in thing nowadays. I think if the company permits, the ladies would prefer to wear sandals right?

By Danielle Steel is the current book that I'm reading. I love it because I love Paris and I would love to read about it. My dream would be to be able to go there with Hubby but I guess not yet until a few more years. My most favorite part of the book is where the two characters met in an oceanfront property and spent the whole day there. I just love how she wrote the scenes and how she clearly described the setting. How I wish I could to Paris and spent at least two to three weeks there!

I know, I know, I haven't updated my blog for a long time! It's almost a week right? I can say that the Holy Week was the longest week for us. Alex got sick last Thursday after we did the Bisita Iglesias. And besides, as part of my sacrifice, I promised that I won't blog during the Holy days of the Holy week.

Can you believe that we were just at home for 1 whole week!? There were plans on how we will spend the week but since Alex was having a high fever, with cough and colds, we just couldn't take the risk. So we spent it at home taking good care of Alex, while I read a nice book by Ken Follett. We weren't even able to watch a DVD since we wanted to be at Alex's side all the time.

Anyway, I have a lot of pending assignments like New York Moving Company so please bear with me and warning you that my blog will be bombarded with those assignments and a lot of tags that I owe too!

Thanks for dropping by and hope that everyone had a nice Easter! ;)

Another date was set for Apols (with the Mommy bloggers) who will be leaving in a few weeks! We set the time of meeting from 5 to 7:30PM but we ended up going home around 10:30PM. LOL! It was a fun evening of never-ending chikahan and tawanan. I felt young again! LOL!

It was amazing to hear such love stories of the two Mommies who are now my idols! Wuhoo! Way to go Mommies! I won't mention their names anymore since it was highly confidential! LOL! I was able to hear a lot of tsismis as well which I didn't even know existed before. It just proves how much I was out of the loop (as always).

Anyway from Big Chill to National Sports Grill to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, I've gained a lot of insights (from Paid Blogging to Mommyhood to being a wife) from you Mommies. I hope to see you again next time! (*wink*) And oh, Jacqui, thanks again for the ride! :)

For more stories, check out the following post of Apols, Thea, Joy, Aggie, Jody, Kelly. And looking forward to Jacqui and Apple's posts! ;) Send my kisses to super behaved Austin.

Our fourth day started very early. We woke up around 6:30AM to prepare for mass at the Monastery of the Transfiguration. Bukidnon is actually known for this church. We were friends with the monks here ever since I was a kid so we won't miss hearing mass here every time we visit.

I just love hearing mass at the Monastery. Mass is so solemn probably because that it was built on top of the hill. You cannot hear anything except for the sound of the birds and the wind. Very relaxing.

The Altar



I was also glad that the Mass was celebrated in English. We didn't plan on bringing Alex because it was way to early for her, but she woke up early too! Maybe because she knew that it was her birthday and she needed to go to mass. LOL! She got bored in the middle of the mass so we had to take her out just to avoid distracting the people there. I didn't want the Priest to be distracted either. Anyway, right after mass we made sure that we took some photos...




The Spectacular view from the Church


That's the church at the back


The church inside...


with my Mom and my MIL






Alex was so in the mood! LOL!


If you happen to be in Bukidnon, don't ever miss hearing mass at the Monastery. They only have one mass every Sunday and it's around 8 in the morning.

Now, for the highlight of our trip - Alex's 2nd birthday party! It started around 3PM and all I can say is that it was a blast! :) For more stories check out the following...

Party Details

The Party

Thanks for looking! (*wink*)

Is going to be a working week for me. Although I really wanted to take a time off and reflect. I'm thinking of taking the Friday off. We planned to go somewhere quiet and some place we can relax. It's just near though. No need to take a plane or a boat. It's just a way to go away from the busyness of the city. Although of course I would want to go somewhere far and experience North Padre Island rentals. But I guess not this time.

Our third day (Saturday) was one of the busiest of all the days while we were in Malaybalay City. It was the day of the Street Dancing of Bukidnon's Kaamulan Festival. You see, I was born in Malaybalay and grew up there but ever since we transfered to Manila I haven't been able to experience Kaamulan Festival anymore.

The street dancing was wonderful! It started too early though around 7AM so Alex wasn't able to watch it. We left her with my brother who was still sleeping. Anyway our house was just 5 minutes away from the main highway so in case Alex would need me, I can just run. LOL! How I miss the life in the province were everything is so near.

The Kaamulan Festival used to be celebrated on Septembers but (I think) due to the rains on September they transferred it to March which is good because we were able to watch it, after such a long time. So it's like hitting two birds with one stone when we went home to Malaybalay, celebrating Alex's 2nd birthday and at the same time seeing the Kaamulan Festival. :)

Hubby did a great job in taking some photos during the parade. He was lucky because he was able to join the official photographers there. LOL! Sometimes he would even go to the middle of the street just to take some photos. I will just let the photos speak...

We got a good spot too. We were at the place where supposed to be the Mayors are. LOL! But since they were not present we were able to take their seats.





It was a fun morning indeed! There were 8 floats who entered the contest. I'm proud to say that my Tita was one of the judges. Hehe! I can't remember exactly who won though but if I were her it would be hard to choose because all the floats and the dances were nice!

As soon as I heard about the dangers of lead I've been cautious of it especially on choosing the right toys for Alex. And I just found out that not only toys have lead but also other devices such as defribillator. I recently read that there has been Defibrillator Lead Recall. On October, 15, 2007, Medtronic Inc. announced it was recalling its Sprint Fidelis leads from the worldwide market due to a risk of fracture, which can potentially cause a defibrillator to either fail or deliver unnecessary shocks. This is an issue that should be addressed properly and an issue that people should take seriously.

I got too busy on some stuff that I wasn't able to post this. But it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it because I really do and these awards made me want to blog more! Thank you so much ladies! (*wink*)

Thank you Jona for the Nice Matters Award!



Thanks to Jona, Eds, and Jesse for the Blogging Forever Friends Award!



Thanks to Abie for the Fab Blog Awards!




And from Jona for the Peace and Glamorous Award! Thanks sis!




And look what I got from Jacqui, Thea, and Joy!



Thank you so much ladies! So sweet of you! A big hug to you too! :)

I got a tag that made me remember my highschool days and our typing class. :) Thanks for this Eds!

72 words

Speed test

Anyone wants to snag this? Feel free to do so and let me know how it goes! ;)

As Hubby and I were talking about investment I also did a little research on what would be the best way to invest nowadays. I've read that investing in silver is a good way. Especially now that there are companies were you can purchase silver or other precious metals. One company that offers this kind of service is Monex Deposit Company or MDC. The sell silver and other metals that can be personally delivered. They can also provide a safe storage for you in at an independent bank or depository. What's nice about this company is that for over 30 years they have been America's sliver and precious metals investment leader.

I was so relieved when we finally docked to CDO and saw my Dad, Tito, and brother. The weather was still cloudy so I guess we made the right decision of getting out of the plane and taking the boat instead. Although it was a bit wavy around 2AM but at least we were safe and we will definitely make it to Alex's 2nd birthday party!

Our next agenda would be White Water Rafting! It was scheduled on Thursday but since the plane couldn't land, we moved it to Friday instead. I was having second thoughts if we would push through with it though because the weather was still bad. The guide then explained that the weather is perfect for rafting! Not to mention that it would be more challenging for us too!

You see, I've been going to and from Cagayan De Oro for several years now but I haven't tried rafting until this day. Hubby was so excited!

Getting ready to raft!







During summer it would be completely different. It would be too hot and the flow of the river is slower. So we were lucky that the weather cooperated with us. :) Here are more photos before and during our adventure!






That's me at the back! LOL!




Our Graduation Jump



After 3 hours of rafting (take note: everybody was required to row the raft especially during the rapids!) we were so tired but happy of course! It was one adventure we would never forget. Hubby and my sister even wanted to try the "advance" course but we didn't have time anymore. Hopefully next time when we fly back to CDO again. :)

To know more about CDO's White Water Rafting, check out their website.

After another adventurous yet successful travel to Mindanao I'm now planning again for our next travel. :) I used to have a goal that we will travel to one city in the Philippines and 1 out of town country every year. But I realized from last year's travels that it was budget consuming! So now, I don't know if we will still be able to accomplish that plan.

The United States is a nice place to go to especially that my Mom's petition is going to be granted this year. I even want to go to Florida and visit Disney World. Orlando Hotels are available anyway so we won't have problems with the accommodations. They have easy-to-use features and travel guides that would make our next Orlando trip a breeze! Oh, I can't wait for that! All I need is a visa.

As I've posted yesterday, we had a very adventurous trip! Our flight to Cagayan De Oro (CDO)was at 8:10 AM. We were early actually and we were (I think) 15 minutes early to the scheduled arrival time. But when we got to CDO airport it was so cloudy and windy. The pilot tried two attempts to land the plane but it was unsuccessful. The first attempt was so scary, the plane almost touched the ground then he realized that he will go overboard (since the runaway of CDO airport was so short, he suddenly realized that he was in the middle of it already), he then made the plane go up again which was a very scary experience. We were praying the whole time! He did another attempt but it was too cloudy that he decided to re-route the plane to Mactan, Cebu.

We waited in Mactan for several hours until we decided to go down and take the boat instead. Because the pilot said that he will try another attempt but doesn't really guarantee that he could land. And if not, they will go back to Manila. So this means, re-booking our flight which means we will be chance passengers and if we won't be able to take some flights we won't make it to Alex's birthday on Sunday!

It was a difficult decision because I know that MIL is not fond of boats. (Oh by the way, we were 7 plus 1 (Alex) so it was really hard to make a decision.) Boat is another alternative which is safer because there was no storm that time but only strong winds which is why the plane couldn't land.

Anyway, after waiting for so looong (the crew got our baggages from the plane after 1 to 2 hours! we had 15 baggages!) we were able to deplane only to realize that it was raining so hard! Good thing they had umbrellas but the plane "parked" very far from the terminal so we had to walk! I thought that Alex wouldn't like what was happening (it's not that she could understand it...) but she was having a time of her life! :)

We immediately went to the Cebu Port to purchase our boat tickets. Then we left our 15 baggages there so we could go visit Cebu City for awhile. Actually we just went to SM Cebu and stayed in Starbucks to rest. :D My Mom, Hubby, and Alex went to Sto. Nino Church to visit. Check out Hubby's photos of the Church...

Lola and Alex visiting Sto. Nino



At around 5PM we met again to have dinner and decided to have it at Gerry's grill. We were too tired to check out some other restaurants so we opted to somewhere familiar. Since my brother from Macau was with us, we ordered some food that he missed a lot like sisig, squid, pinakbet, and pancit canton. We had a great time eating there and were now finally relaxed after what we've been through in the morning.


Lolo and Alex


My sister and Mom



After dinner we then went to Cebu Port again and went to the boat. The trip was from 8:10PM up to 5:30AM the next day. At first it was a breeze but there were times that the waves were too big that I could hear the sound of it bumping the bottom of the boat. I thought there was a storm coming but my Mom said that it was usually the place where it's really wavy. Oh well, at least we finally got to CDO safe and sound. Alex slept soundly during the trip and I just realized that it was actually her first time to ride a boat! and I'm glad that she enjoyed it. :)

Coming up next, our second day in Cagayan De Oro. (*wink*)

While we were traveling I completely forgot to get some travel insurance for us. That's why when I knew that our plane isn't going to land on our destination, I was praying that the weather would cooperate while we look for another alternative. individual health insurance would be a must when traveling. Not only you will feel assured that you are in good hands but also hospital expenses won't be a problem too.

When I was back in my hometown I realized that cars were a necessity because houses were too far away from each other. Like for example my Dad's house which is located in the middle of the farm, if he needs to buy some stuff downtown he would definitely need a car.

But the thing is, cars were over used there because almost all the roads were rough and bumpy especially during the rainy season. Unlike the cars in midwest auto recycling wherein cars are good as new. They actually specialized in used engines and transmissions and has one of the strongest warranty nation wide. If I were to buy used cars and live in the United States, I would consider them definitely.

Hello, hello everyone! I'm finally back home and to the blogging world. After a very adventurous trip (read: plane didn't land because of weather conditions that we ended up landing in Mactan!) we were all so tired (but happy!). I have so many stories to tell and photos to share but please give me time to upload everything and unpack too. Alex had a wonderful party in my hometown too! The kids loved it. Will definitely post about it soon. Now that I'm home I will have to deal with weight loss because after eating a looooot there (we had parties everyday since Friday to Sunday) I have definitely gained weight! Anyway, have a great week everyone! Thanks for dropping by! I promise to be back with stories and photos and will visit your homes too! (*wink*)

Yes, you read it right she is turning two in a few days! I just can't believe it! I felt like I just posted her 1st birthday supplier ratings and here I am preparing another party for her (And getting stressed out because we still need to do more and so little time!). Where did all those days go? What happened to that one year? I felt like it just flew by and here she is, already a toddler!

Anyway, I guess I won't be able to stop the time. She is now officially a toddler and my baby has REALLY grown up and by next year she will be a PRE-SCHOOLER. Oh, I don't want to think about that yet (read: tuition, selecting school, progressive? traditional?)! Naaaah, I still have a year for that I guess. :)

Again I will be very busy for the coming days. But I will definitely be back with a lot of stories! (*wink*) So, for the mean time, I would just like to post some photos during Alex's first birthday (Hawaiian) party.

Have a great week everyone!