A Christmas Resolution

Christmas and everything that comes with it -- the food, reunions with family and friends, the lights, the decors, the carols, the gifts are so hard to resist for me and surely for most people. 

Whether we like it or not, when you're drawn to all these things, you could easily become a victim of Christmas commercialism....and that's actually what happened to me!

I don't know why and I don't know how, but I ended up spending all my salary and and all my 13th month pay in a span of three weeks!  No matter how many times I try to compute my expenses, I still end up not knowing where the rest of my money went.

It's frustrating to buy gifts and have to think of the financial situation of the recipient.  What's ironic is that, I always end up giving something expensive to the one who can afford it, and giving something that's affordable to the person who's not usually able to afford expensive things.  Come to think of it, it should be the other way around. 

What's more is that, I always try to match the amount that I think my husband is going to spend for my gift, even though I know that no matter how hard I try I will never be able to match it because he earns several times more than  I do.

So now, two days before Christmas, I'm broke....and if I don't stop thinking about it, I'm going to have a terrible headache.  I have pondered about it, and I have reflected on it and I have come to a decision.  

Next Christmas, I would try my best to give nicer things to those who can't usually afford them and to only give what I can afford.  After all, the essence of giving is not in the price of the gift but in the thought, love and care that went into choosing and buying the gift.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Taking Stock

I found this idea on Pip's blog. It looked fun so I decided to make one myself.

Making: a script for the field demonstration
Drinking: tea
Reading: The Christmas Ball
Wanting: a new camera and pants that fit
Looking: for more nice things to give this Christmas
Wasting: time
Wishing: for a baby girl
Enjoying: my new tablet
Waiting: for my salary
Liking: telenovelas
Wondering: what I'll get for Christmas
Loving: kindle
Hoping: I'll finish everything on time
Needing: more than just two weeks of Christmas break
Smelling: like Clinique in Bloom
Wearing: a thin sundress
Following: tight schedules
Noticing: the photographer my sister hired for my nephew's birthday party didn't take any shot of me
Knowing: I'm loved
Thinking: I should be working now
Feeling: tired but wonderful

Now, time to work!

Some me-and-the-tree photos

There are so many things I love about Christmas but one of the things I love the most is the Christmas tree!

I don't know why but I go crazy every time I see one.  

I get all giddy and excited.

I just have to have my picture taken with it!

Oh, but this is a lonely tree...it doesn't have me!

What about you, what do you love about Christmas?

A year and a day ago

There are so many things I want to tell you today but I'm afraid some of them have to wait.

Today I am just going to tell you about how my Hunny Bed and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.
I've actually been waiting for it like crazy ever since he and I got married.  I wanted to go back to attend the Mass at the church where we were wed, and I wanted to sleep in the same room where we spent our first night.  I wanted to feel what I felt that day and the morning after.  Unfortunately, because of some events that happened, which I am going to tell you sometime soon, our wedding anniversary didn't go as I had planned.

Still, it was a special day which started quite late because we were too tired from our trip back to the Philippines the previous night.

We had Contis cake for breakfast. Yes, I know it's weird but we are, in our own different ways, weird.

Mom and Dad's gift to us

After breakfast, which should have been called brunch if it didn't consist of only cake, we drove to Tagaytay.

On our way there, we exchanged  gifts and look what Ruel gave me!

     Here we are at the church where we were wed.

Then we had lunch at Josephine's at around 2:30 pm.

A year and a day ago Hunny Bed and I said our I do's, promising to love each other forever.  As we start another year, I pray that God continues to protect and bless us, Toots and all our loved ones.  May He grant us with a strong and healthy baby girl of our own and give us many years of love and bliss.