Holidays

Since my wife is in Samar and cannot hop on like she usually is accustomed to I told her I would take up the slack so people didn't think she fell off the planet. KC and I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. I also want to take the time to tell her I love her so much and this is "our" year T!!!!

Catching Up!!

It's my first post again after quite some time of being away from the blogging world. I don't even know where or how to start this right now. I just feel so out of words yet, deep within me, I have so many things to share.

A lot of things had happened. Some of them are just mere protraction of what has been going on in my life in the past 3 months. I feel so ready to let my thoughts out. I feel like I've been doing nothing but heap them inside and now they just can't wait to find their own way out of that seclusion. I am feeling helpless. I want to give in. I want to let this all out of me this instant!!

But before we get to that, I just want to do a little "warm up" first. I have been away for almost a month, haven't posted anything since then, and today, I feel so new again - so new, like I feel as if I'm typing now my very first post ever. I guess this is how being away for so long makes you feel. My oh my, I have so many things to catch up with!!

In the mean time, I want to say Thank You to Ate Janis for giving me a beautiful award. I'm sorry I wasn't able to post it here, but I placed it together with the other awards I got on the lower part of the left sidebar. Thank you very much! :)

I think I will end this for now. Time for me to get some sleep. I still have a long day tomorrow. I have a lot to take care, especially that I only have so much time left to get things done before I leave back home to Samar this Saturday.

And by the way, my husband is back in the States now. He left on the 24th of November. I miss him so much that it hurts every time. But this is our life at this time. No other choice but to deal with the distance and being far away from each other. We believe that here very soon, God will bring us together and no one has to leave the other to go back home, because we will then be home in the arms of one another - to start our life together, forever :)

So many things to tell ;)

We're Together Again!!

My J arrived here at 1430 on Sunday. It was a quick flight compared to the 13-hour long trip from LAX to Taipei and from there to Manila. We're together right now and we're staying at a hotel. I wasn't able to write anything about his homecoming because I made sure my time will be spent entirely for my husband. I am just so happy he is home now!! We'll be checking out tomorrow and will fly to Samar on Thursday. We'll be away for a couple of days but I will be taking lots of photos this time ;)

I won't be staying long. Still going out with the husband tonight ;) Hope you all had a nice day!! See you soon..God bless!!

Yaay, I'm Baffled!!

Tomorrow, my family is going out together to watch a Halloween marathon where participants will get dressed in their best Halloween costumes. I'm so looking forward to this one because I haven't been to an event like this in my whole life. The problem is, I have a lot of appointments tomorrow!! Aww, this could lead me to an inevitable destruction. [Hahaha]

I am suppose to clean my room tomorrow and hopefully finish everything up before sunset. I think we will leave here probably before dinner time.

Tonight, I got a phone call from Talal. He said he's coming here to get the box that his family sent him from Saudia and if possible, he want us to meet at Robinsons tomorrow. I think he mentioned that he's coming with a friend. They won't stay here long. They will just go back to Dagupan in the afternoon. I think I should go because we haven't seen each other for 2 long years now. I mean, I can always clean up my room on Saturday. It's even better because it won't get too dusty till my husband comes. You know Manila, there's no way you can crystal-clean something and come back an hour later and it's still the same as it was before you left it. It's not possible here. That's one reason I don't clean my room days before his arrival. I usually do it the day before he comes. (Come on, I'm not making excuses here..*grinning*)

Anyway, Talal and I [and his friend] will meet in the morning or he told me, maybe after lunch. I don't know which one, but he said he will send me a message to let me know the exact time. Oh, well I'll go and see him and then I will just leave before 5PM. In this case, I won't be late for my family's night out :) [I hope]...

Just a little confused if I'm handling things the right way or not right now. Well, I'll let things be. For now, I need to get some sleep and I still have a long day tomorrow :) Goodnight everyone!!

Our Unforgettable Malaysia Trip

Again, my husband left me a surprise on our Multiply. When I hopped online to see if he's still on, an e-mail popped up and the only word I uttered was "Wow!!" when I finally got to take a look at what's inside the e-mail - a link to the photos taken during our trip to Malaysia on August 17-20, 2008.

It took this long before J was able to post our photos because he got so busy with work. I'm happy that he took the time today to do this. He knows it will surely put a smile on his wife's face ;) Mahal, thank you so much and I appreciate this a whole lot!! mwah mwah mwah I love you bunches and bunches, kiddo!!

Here's what he wrote on Multiply for the album description.

This was a miracle in the making as I was able to fly my wife out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Even though it was short lived because of how the flight schedule was from the airlines it was the best time I think we have had yet. Being able to see my wife during deployment was the best thing I have experienced yet in my career. We were able to eat at Malaysia's only revolving restaurant and it was very romantic, well at least I hope it was for my wife ;) The experiences I have been able to have with her will carry on to our children when we have them. Mommy and Daddy have definitely went to some places and we have many more to journey to. Mwah mahal ko!!!

And here are our photos. They're not much, but each surely does hold remarkable memories that would last us a lifetime.

The beautiful Petronas Twin Towers at day time and nighttime
[view from The Federal Kuala Lumpur, Revolving Bintang Restaurant]


These were taken on our way to the Petronas. I think we walked a good 2 miles to get there!!

[John and the giant soda!!] & [KC at the Revolving Restaurant enjoying the moment with her husband]

That's us...Enjoying the great meal and romantic ambiance of the place...
Taken hours before I had to leave back to the Philippines...

J's right when he said "The experiences I have been able to have with her will carry on to our children when we have them." It's true, we capture photos using our cameras, but the real images and the memories behind them are forever kept and treasured in our hearts :)

Our trip to Malaysia was truly a miracle, a wonderful blessing that we will forever be grateful to God for. We didn't even have enough time to plan for it. J just suddenly asked me on August 8 if I would like to fly out to see him and get to spend time with each other during their port visit. I thought he was just joking at first, but later that afternoon, I went out to print a copy of my flight itinerary :) He even forwarded to my e-mail the copies of the hotel reservation and the hotel transfer voucher that I also printed out together with my itinerary. I knew then, he was really serious.

We almost didn't make it because of some card problems we encountered while J was trying to purchase my ticket. And at the airport, on the night of my departure, I almost ran out of money because I didn't know I had to pay for the Tourism Tax with an amount of P1,620.00 aside from the P750.00 at the Immigration. I had to convert my money [in USD] back to PhP just so I'd be able to make it through. At the time, I already had converted my money to USD for the hotel deposit. You can't imagine how nervous I was at that very moment when I looked into my wallet and found out I may ran out of cash. But God saw right through our hearts the desire and longing to see and be with each other even just for a short time and that we weren't giving up, so He made a way where there seemed to be no way!! All in all, I only had a total amount of P200.00 [$4] left in my pocket. I even only bought a cup of noodles and a bottle of water on the plane. But, everything was worth it :) I stayed up the whole flight, reading and listening music. I couldn't sleep. I was just too excited knowing that I was going to see my husband again and in a country we both had never been to before. In other words, it was both our first time in Malaysia!!

The whole flight to Kuala Lumpur only lasted 3 and a half hours. We left here at exactly 2100 and arrived there at 1210 - that's 20 minutes ahead of the actual time of arrival. After filling up the disbursement form, we then went to wait for our turn to be asked by the Immigration officer regarding our purpose of travel. I got asked by a lady and the only question she asked me was, "How long are you staying here?". I answered right away, "Three days." Then, she stamped my passport [I got 30 days on it] and off I went!!

When I went out of the airport, the hotel transfer was already outside waiting for me. I didn't have a hard time looking for him because he was right outside, in front of the exit way and was holding this sign with a big, black print that read "Mrs. K.A.C. The Federal Kuala Lumpur Hotel". I was greeted by his warm and kind smile, and although I was already starting to get really tired, that simple gesture of his brought me back to my senses and somehow made me smile as well. He took my suitcase and escorted me towards the waiting car. One thing I will never forget about that night - that was my first time being inside a right-sided car. They drive on the right side of the lane. I was a little bit intrigued as to how it would feel, so when the car started moving, I realized I also started liking it :) In fact, I enjoyed all the way to the hotel. I forgot about being tired and all that. All throughout the whole travel, I was wide awake. I didn't want to miss a thing. Though it was early in the morning and dark outside, I still got to admire all that were in front of me. I said to myself, "Finally, I am here. Oh, so this is Malaysia?! It looks so much like Philippines!" Honestly speaking, everything that I saw there reminded me of my own country. I didn't compare the two because I know each is unique and beautiful. There were just some things I wished we have here as well, at the time. They got really wide lanes there, not-so-heavy traffic, clean air and surroundings!! I admired how disciplined they are for keeping their places clean, air pollution-free. I loved the whole time we were walking outside. In fact, we even decided to just walk all the way to get to the Petronas Twin Towers instead of riding in a cab. It was hot, but still it felt great.

I talked to the driver the whole time. We introduced each other by name. His name's Nabeel, a Malaysian. But for me, he looks more of an Indian. He was so kind for answering all my questions. That was my way, too to at least break the ice and make the whole travel comfortable for both sides. We had a nice and sensible conversation that night that we almost didn't notice we were close to the hotel. My oh my, the whole trip from the airport to the hotel was close to one hour!! Yes, that's how far. There was no traffic and Nabeel was driving quite fast, yet it took us that long to get to our destination - The Federal Hotel in Bukit Bintang.

Anyways, after checking in, I went straight to our room. The moment I was inside the hotel, I suddenly felt so tired again - and at the same time, really sleepy. John was not supposed to arrive till later on that day, so I spent the whole time alone in the room. I wasn't able to fall asleep until, I think, 0330. The room was huge and I felt so alone and empty. All I had in mind the whole time was my husband. Oh, how I couldn't wait at the time for him to be there next to me!! I couldn't wait to see him, hug him, talk to him, and above all, I wanted him so bad, but I know I had to hold back all those emotions. He was on his way anyway. It required a lot of patience out of me, though convincing myself he'll soon be next to me. I was just so over excited to finally see my dearest husband again!!

J arrived at exactly 1330 later on that day. Not on the actual time he first told me he was coming. Supposed to be, he'll be at the hotel at 1000, but he said that the ship was an hour away from the city and he still had to take an hour-long bus ride and a cab to get to the hotel. Mind you, when I realized he wasn't coming yet, I cried. I was crying because I was wanting so bad to see him and I was ... hungry!! You read it right. I haven't had my breakfast and lunch. I wanted to wait for him. So, when he rang the doorbell, I ran to the door and opened it - and there he was!! I kind of acted as if I wasn't that happy to see him - the heck, I was!! I just felt so relieved that he was finally there with me that's why I was in my quiet mood as what he calls it. But the moment J pulled me close to him and hugged me, I gave in to all the feelings I had been holding back since the night before. When I heard him crying, I automatically cupped his face with my hands and wiped his tears away telling him it's all right, we're together now - and then ... we kissed :) We kissed so passionately, neither of us wanted to stop. I loved that moment. And I love how he smiles when we're kissing. I'm sure you already have an idea as to what happened next ;)

We stayed in our room till 1630. We went out for a little walk and looked at stuff and bought some items from stores/shops just near the hotel and we went down to the Delaney's Irish Pub to meet up with his buddies from work at 1700. I was a bit nervous but so excited that I was going to finally meet them in person :) They were all so nice and funny and I must say, I enjoyed my time with them.

After that, we left the group. J and I went to this Indian restaurant and had dinner there, then we went to the Salsa Havana just inside the hotel and played pool. We made a bet - loser will do whatever the winner says or asks ;) I LOST!! Well, yeah, tell me about it!! We went back to our room after finishing the game and to make the loser pay ;) We both went to sleep with a wide, wide smile on our lips...Aww!!

The following day, we went out to look at some more stuff, bought souvenirs, and had lunch at the Planet Hollywood. Then, we went to the Petronas. We didn't know it was that far, because from our hotel, it looked so close, so we decided to walk all the way there. We only found out that we actually walked 2 miles when we were in the cab on our way back. But we had fun, though. We got to see the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and really nice places along the way. We bought souvenirs from the Petronas Souvenir Shop. Later that evening, we had dinner at the Revolving Bintang Restaurant on the 18th floor of the hotel. It was a very romantic dinner - a memorable one for us. Everything was perfect that night, I didn't want it to end. But I had to leave back to the Philippines and J had to go back to the ship. We were still planning on going out that night after our dinner, but we decided to spend our remaining time in our room for more intimate moment together. At 2130 that night, J took me to the airport for my trip back home. It was his first time to experience having me flying out and leaving him behind. And on the phone the following day, he told me how it made him feel after I left and he went back to the hotel alone and I wasn't there anymore. Well, I told him, that's how I always feel every time he leaves back to the States. Now, we both know how it truly feels.

Leaving is hard, but sometimes it is even harder for the ones who are being left behind.

The whole trip was truly a blessing!! Everything could have remained dreams if God wasn't there to help us through. It was an experience that we'll truly remember for the rest of our days. We may haven't gotten a lot of time together, but God made sure we'd get the best out of our short vacation - beautiful memories that are worth-keeping for a lifetime.

That's how the whole trip went. Kind of long, isn't it?! I should have posted about this a long time ago, but I couldn't because there were no photos yet to go with the story. I hope I didn't bore you or anything. And thank you for your time reading :)

The Wifey is So Excited and Happy!!

I bet everyone here already knows how excited I am about his homecoming. Needless for me to say it, but sheesh, what can I do?! I just can't seem to stop saying that I am, again and again - I AM SO FRIGGIN' EXCITED!! ;) As a matter of fact, the closer it gets, the harder it is for me now to get enough sleep. Honestly speaking, since last week, I've been getting an average of 5 hours of sleep. I would fall in and out of sleep because I'm always thinking - thinking of him - of a lot of things, especially once he gets here. If he were to come tomorrow, I'd probably stay up tonight and just sleep whenever he's already next to me in bed the following day :) I won't mind staying in bed the whole time on the first day. Anyway, that's even part of our plan ;) [Aww..]

By the way, my husband surprised me tonight over the phone when he told me he's going to treat me out to a movie, and guess what movie we're going to watch? It's no other than High School Musical 3!! I was like, "are you serious?!" when he told me because it was something totally unexpected for me. I mean, knowing how my husband dislikes Zac Efron (because I've got this huge crush on him..hahaha), never did it occur to me that he'd want to take me to see this movie. He said, it's to prove that there's no hard feelings. Hahaha!! ;) It was supposed to be his surprise when he gets here knowing that I'd really be surprised if he were to do that, but when I mentioned that a friend of mine offered to treat me out to see a movie and I said yes and picked HS Musical 3, J had no choice but to let his little suprise leak. Aww, sorry Mahal!!

I didn't go out. I would love to watch the movie more with J and I'm so looking forward to it :) Yaay, what's he going to do if he sees and hears me screaming like hell once I get to see Zac Efron on the big screen?! Hmmm..I'm crossing my fingers.........

I'm also more than excited with the fact that this is my first time welcoming my soldier home from deployment. But, I am a bit saddened with the thought of me not knowing what to do to make that day special - something he'd be happy about when he finally arrives. I am thinking of some things but I just couldn't seem to produce a concrete plan as to what I'd prepare or surprise him with. To add to it, I don't even know yet what to give him as an anniversary present :( This is when I feel less of a wife!! These thoughts are really eating me up from inside. It's dispiriting me. I have no job, therefore, I have no earnings of my own. And no money means I can't buy anything for him. I depend on him right now for almost everything. If only I have a job like before, this would not be a problem.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be resourceful :) Gifts don't have to be expensive, but you still have to spend regardless of the price, am I right?!

I'm really thinking what to do. Can anybody help me, please?! ;(

Getting Closer

The husband is now in a country that's just hours away from me ;) In fact, we now have the same time. It's where he'll be flying out from to get here very, very soon :)

I was awakened by a phone call this afternoon [I fell asleep reading ;)] and when I got up to answer the call and saw the number on the screen, I knew then that it was him and where he was calling me from. He told me that his days being on the ship finally had come to an end, though he is going back there tomorrow to get the rest of his stuff and to sign something regarding his leave. That's pretty much it and he'll be on his way home to me ;)

He told me he that bought a new suitcase because he didn't want to use his military duffel bag all the way here. Every time my husband travels here, he travels as a civilian and he does not show any gesture, anything that would make people suspect that he is in the military. He's so extra careful when it comes to that. Something I've already learned to grasp completely because as his wife, I am a part of it. I have my fair share in keeping this little secret as safe as possible whenever he's on travel as an ordinary citizen. I'd say it's kind of hard sometimes, especially when somebody ends up asking me what my husband does for a living and I couldn't give the right answer. It's just that, I am so proud of what he does and by hiding the truth, it makes me feel less of a Proud Military Wife that I keep saying I am. Although I can tell about his real job to close friends, there are still limitations which I completely understand. And even I, his own wife, don't know a lot about his job. My husband trusts me, but there are just some things that are meant to be kept from us. Not because they want to, but because they need to as part of their job :)

All right, so much for that...

I am just so happy that he is almost home now :) Just few more days and my soldier is finally in my arms again!!

My Soldier is Coming Home Very, Very Soon!!

I'm just so happy that in a couple of days, my husband will be home with me!! He was able to take his leave ahead of time and we're so thankful to God above for allowing this to happen. J worked so hard on having his leave request approved and God has rewarded all his efforts. I can't thank my husband enough for doing everything he did just to be with me and for us to be able to celebrate our first wedding anniversary together. Although he didn't get to have a longer time with me, at least we were given more than what he had when he came here in April-May before he left for deployment. This is such a wonderful blessing that won't be possible if God hasn't been always there for us :)

We still haven't decided where we should spend our anniversary, but we did agree that we'll talk about it when he gets here. At least, I got our plane tickets for Samar taken care of ;) I've got a story to tell about that one. I mean, what I had been through just to make sure I got us our plane tickets. I'd say, it was a test for me as to see how determined I was to get it done. And I'm thankful I beat that one. God made sure I won't give up just like that - without me fighting and doing my best to get what I needed.

Gracious, I'm so excited!! It's sometimes hard for me now to sleep at night knowing that in a couple of days, I'd be sleeping again next to the man I love the most and just the thought that I'll be waking up with him laying next to me, just gives me this joy I can never put into words. I can't wait to finally hold my soldier in my arms and just be held in his for as long as we want to. And above all, I am just happy and thankful to our Almighty Father that he's coming home safe and sound :)

I'm happy for those who will get to see their love ones, too very, very soon. They're all on their way home :) God has been so good for keeping them all safe and for guiding them while they were out there doing what they needed to do. He has never left their sides nor allowed anything bad to happen to each of them. I know not all will get to go home just yet, but I'm sure God will stay with them until they're able to. And to those who lost their loved ones out there, my prayers are with you. I know God will send them to continue looking after you, making sure you're all fine and doing well. They didn't leave us with nothing. They left us with something we'll always be grateful for and proud of - we are living a free life because of them who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for us. We will always be so proud of each of our heroes and they will always be remembered!! Thank you for fighting still for our freedom!! We can never repay you just as much, but our prayers are with you always.

A countless thank you very, very much to all soldiers out there - from a Proud Soldier's Wife :)

They all went to church, except me

Since we're only staying here at our Aunt's for a couple of days, I didn't bring extra clothing with me. Today, I'm paying the price of not doing so.

They all went to church, except me!! I could have borrowed shirt from my younger cousins if that's only the case. But, what I need is an extra underclothing and it's something that I don't like borrowing from anybody. I consider it as a very personal thing. Dreidelle brought an extra one with her, so she was able to go with them. We didn't know that we'd be staying here until today because that wasn't the plan. We were supposed to be home yesterday, but Dreidelle's appointment at her school was canceled so our vacation got extended. Well, I guess we always have to expect some things to happen in cases like this one and be prepared all the time. Just like what my husband always tells me about the five Ps. I should have known better. I should have brought enough clothes with me. But then again, nobody knew this was going to happen. Lesson learned - next time, whether the plan is to stay for a couple of days or longer, bring enough clothes. We'll never know what's going to happen next. It's always a good thing when you know you're prepared.

Right now, I'm all alone!! I'm about to start watching a movie here. My younger cousins rented movies last night and we only got to watch one of them. I'll just kill my time doing so and at the same time while I wait for my husband to e-mail me back. He must be in bed still right now or busy doing something.

Well, have to start the movie now. I will just hop online again later. But before I log off, I just want to say thank you to all of you who never fail to visit my blog and leave me messages. I am so sorry I couldn't reply you because I'm still on vacation and just like what I said on my plurk corner (whatever you call that..hehehe), my time right now is for my family. We don't get to spend so much time together like we've always wanted to, that's why we're making the most out of our short vacation. We're leaving back home today after lunch because classes will start again tomorrow for the second semester. I will just write more about our vacation when I get home. What I can tell you now is, we're having a great, great time here with our family and honestly, we still don't feel like going home. We don't want to, but we have to...

So, I'll see you again :)

Done Editing My Blog

At last, I'm through editing my blog. I noticed last night that I haven't changed my blog's design since I started blogging, so I took the chance last night to do it. By the way, I am home now but we're still going back to Aunt's house this afternoon. Our vacation isn't over yet and we're all going to watch Dione's pageant at her school this afternoon at 1500. She was chosen to represent as Miss Japan ;) We just needed to come home because we have some important things to do. Dreidelle needs to have her photo ID taken for her school registration. Clovis is going to check on enrollment updates, and I need to go to the agency to buy our tickets for Samar. Like what I said, the card didn't go through, so J just sent the money for the fare.

Ok, so about my blog -- I was having a hard time awhile ago deciding on what color I should use. When I couldn't figure out which one and I was kind of running out of time, I then decided to just put them all together. [hehe] They're J's and my favorite colors :) It's not much, but I'm glad I was able to get it done. I worked on it for 3 straight hours. I haven't really had enough sleep yet because I woke up at around 0400 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I edited my blog to make use of my time.

Well, got to go now. I will hop online again later on today. I hope your day goes well :) Ingat and God bless!!

We're Home Alone

Well, right now, it's just me and our youngest cousin, Dione. Aunt Ezena and Uncle Robert are both downstairs, while the rest had gone out to The Serendra to pick some shirts up and basically just to hang out. I wasn't able to go out with them because I'm having stomach upset :( while the little one needs to review for their second periodical exams tomorrow. She's really sweet because she's taking care of me right now :) She let me drink warm water awhile ago hoping it would ease my stomachache and every now and then, she'd ask me if I'm feeling better. Yeah, she's such a very sweet, caring, and thoughtful little angel. She's 10, but for us, she's still our little baby :)

As my way of saying thank you to her, I'm helping her with her lessons. We just finished reviewing Math and English and what I did was, I gave her problems to solve and then she handed me her paper once she got through answering each of them and we checked her answers together. She did pretty well ;) Now, we're reviewing Science - my favorite subject of all time, but we'll have to find out if I still have the same knowledge about the subject like I used to. Let's see if I'm smarter than a 4th grader ;)

Update on the ticket:
I wasn't able to purchase our tickets online. Same problem occured, though I used another credit card this time. I told my husband right away about the problem, so we came up with the same solution - him sending the money and me, buying the tickets from the agency. He already sent the money yesterday, so hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.

I will need to go home tomorrow though we still love to stay here at our aunt's longer because they won't give the money unless I'm there to personally receive it. But, I'm thinking of coming back because Dione has an affair on Friday afternoon and she wants us to attend. We will do our best to be there for her :)

Trying to purchase tickets

I'm here right now trying to purchase our tickets going to Samar. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but hoping the card would go through this time. I'm having a little difficulty with the card information. I'm exchanging e-mails, too with my husband right now because he's helping me out with the credit card. But due to the slow internet connection on the ship right now, he couldn't reply right away and as a result, it's taking us a bit long to get this thing done and over with. Now, I have to start from the very beginning because it said error on the site. Hmm, I hope that was not because of the credit card.

But in another note, I am really happy with the price of Cebu Pacific Air fare. Round trip tickets for the both of us only cost P6,588.32 and honestly, that is quite cheap. That's why we want to be able to buy now before the prices change as they're subject to change anytime. I can only pray now that the card will go through!! *crossing my fingers*

We'll be staying at our Aunt's for 2 days!!

I'm so looking forward to staying at our Aunt Ezena's house for two days :) My cousins, Dreidelle, Clovis, and I will leave here later on today at 1500. We were just at their place last Sunday for Thea's birthday but we didn't get to stay for the night because Dreidelle had to go to school the following day to take care of some things.

We've always loved staying at our Aunt's place. It's our second home here in Manila. When we were young, every time we'd come here for vacation, we had always stayed at their house. It just feels good being there and getting to spend time with our younger cousins, AB, Thea, and Dione. The last time we stayed with them for a couple of days was in December last year and in January after New Year's Eve. We spent Christmas and New Year with them and it was a blast!! We would stay up late just talking, watching movies, or doing funny stuff on one another. And we got to visit our grandmother's younger sister, Lola Lilia and some of our family members on New Year's day. We all had a great time :)

Even if we live in the same city, we seldom see each other because of our busy schedules. Sometimes, it would take us months before we can actually have the time to pay them a visit and the same thing goes for them. That's why it always feels like we've never seen each other for years every time we get to be together, especially when it comes to our youngest, Dione. She's always the one who'd ask us to stay longer. Sometimes, she would do stuff to keep us busy on purpose just so we'd lost track of the time hoping we'd end up staying there for the night ;) Now, it's going to happen. Not only that we will be there for a night, we're staying there for 2 days! I can already see the excitement on her face and the fact that we'll be spending more time with them surely will make our little angel very happy :)

Oh, by the way, here are some photos we took in December when we went out. These were actually taken on Christmas Day at Robinsons Galleria :)

(clockwise: KC, Clovis, our youngest cousin, Dione, Thea, and AB)

(with Dreidelle and Dione)

I will still blog even if I'm there and I will check on updates if I get a longer time to stay online. For sure, I'll be busy doing other stuff and knowing our little Dione, I won't run out of things to do for sure. She never gets tired and she's always up with something to keep you busy like her ;)

Just For Fun: Ten Facts About Me

All right, I must admit -- I just feel so bored right now that I suddenly came up with something as crazy as this one out of nowhere. Well, just think about this as 'my way of keeping me sane'.

These are just the not-so-private facts about me. Just some of those that I'd like people to know without having to scare them away from me [hehehe]

- TEN FACTS ABOUT ME THAT NOT EVERYBODY KNOWS -

>> I'm so scared of cockroaches and thunder. Fear that (I think) I'm doing my best on working to overcome.

>> I never wear make-up. Not only that I simply don't like putting something on my face and I don't know how to apply it, I'm allergic to cosmetics. The last time I used make-up was in the 6th grade. I went home with a red and itchy face that lasted for more than a day.

>> When I'm studying like for exams, I always have a music playing in my room. The sound makes me more focused on what I'm doing and I can easily understand what I'm studying about. Weird, isn't it?! :)

>> I used to be so boyish - literally. I loved doing boy stuff more than the girly girl ones. I used to dress up like a boy. I hated wearing skirts and dresses. If I was left with no choice but to wear either one during special occasions, I always put on shorts underneath. Too short to get noticed ;) It only ended when I turned 14 years old.

>> I had a fight with a boy same as my age when I was 9. It was not because I got myself into trouble. It was a boxing game I joined in during our barangay's celebration of San Isidro and I won!! That made me somewhat proud of myself knowing that I can actually do what boys can. But when my grandparents found out what I did later that evening, I got chewed out.

>> I can't sleep at night without wearing my pair of brown socks which I call MoiMoi. This may sound gross to you, but I seldom wash MoiMoi. I hate the fact that I have to sleep at night and it's still soaked. One time, my mother sneaked in to my room, grabbed MoiMoi while I was away and washed it. They all ended up laughing and teasing me when I was about to lay in bed that night and I cried like a kid because my socks weren't dry yet.

>> I was already in 2nd year college when I found out that the word "mustache" is actually the hair growing on the human upper lip. I know what it is called. What I didn't know was that the word is spelled as m-u-s-t-a-c-h-e. I used to say it as it is written "must`ache" (like headache) every time I'd encounter that word. I even once wondered what kind of illness is mustache!! Wow, that was really pretty dumb of me!! ;)

>> When it comes to heart matters, I had my first crush when I was 13. His name is Ben. Before we became friends (that was not until we were in our Sophomore year), we hated each other so much. We were even brought one time to the school's Guidance Councilor's office to settle a very childish argument that made us the talk-of-the-class the next day. After that, we remained good friends up to date :)

>> I had my first boy friend at the age of 18 (if you'd consider that as one). It was an online-based relationship. We never met in person (never been touched, never been kissed), but the relationship lasted for four years!! And all those years, I never dated anybody nor did it even occur to me to go behind his back just because he wasn't around or we haven't met, yet. I stayed true and faithful to him. He's an Arab, by the way and he's from Palestine. Just 5 months after the break-up, John came into my life :)

>> My first date ever, believe it or not, was with John - my husband :) I have never gone on a date before. I was too scared to accept invitations and during those times, I thought I was still too young to be going out with guys. Not to mention that I don't really like going out that much, not unless with family members or close friends (in group). I could only recall how nervous I was during our first few private moments together. I was so scared I might do or say something wrong to him and displease him because everything was so new to me. I had no sufficient idea as to what was going on. I was clueless but at the same time, I was loving the fact that I was actually (already) learning and discovering new things with him ;)

***********

Well, there you go. Just ten but looks like I wrote more than a hundred. [Hahaha] I had fun, though. If you want, why not try it out yourself as well?! Tell your friends some things about you that they don't know, yet. They probably are just too shy to ask you ;) Have fun!!

EntreCard Inconvenience

That hasn't been funny at all! It took me what, like an hour trying to log on to EntreCard. I tried awhile ago, but it simply wouldn't let me through. My friend, Ate Anne usually gets the same problem, too and tonight, we encountered it again - probably at the same time. Boy, this can really be vexatious sometimes...*sigh* I gave it another shot after a good 20 minutes, and voila it worked!! I'm actually happy that I was able to view the droppers' blogs and got to drop them ECs, too. And for the first time ever in my history since I registered on EntreCard, I was able to drop a total of 21 Entrecards tonight. I know it's still a very small amount compared to those who can drop up to the daily limit of 300 ECs, but still I'm happy that I did drop 21 tonight. [Hahaha] I'll work on improving that one *wink wink*...

Entrecard dropping can be really fun. I never thought about it that much before. All I had in mind was, giving the same courtesy to the person who dropped you an EC is what this is all about. But, I was wrong! Through dropping entrecards, I get the chance to visit other people's blogs, read their interesting stories, learn new things, and make new friends. This is really fun and now, I enjoy doing it :) I hope I'd get to drop more ECs here soon.

Weekend Photos: Deployment is Nearly Over

These are photos of J taken before they left the area and after they successfully did their missions. He's so ready to be back home!

(I actually don't know what kind of camera they used in taking the first photo)

Over the phone, he told me that they did a lot of fun things during their last 3 and a half days of stay there after they got back from doing missions. He was able to go and buy more stuff he needed and for the family of course. And the most fun things they got to do were; they went to a camel farm where he got a chance to feed a baby camel. He said he's got photos but will show me when he comes home. They went to the actual location of the bridge that connects Saudia and the place they were at and he said the experience was so amazing. They also went snorkeling and I kind of teased him for that. I said to him, you'll go snorkeling where? In the desert sand? [hehehe]

I'm so happy for my husband that his job gives him the opportunity and chance to experience these things that most people can only dream about. At his age, he's been to many countries, seen many places, and has seen a lot about life in different angles, in different views and aspects. That is probably why my husband thinks and say things the way he does and I am so proud of what he knows, what he understands, and his eagerness and willingness to learn more about things in general. And above all, he has been to those places I've long been dreaming to visit since I was a kid and I'm so happy that at least for now, one of us actually has been there and has stories to share to the other. Maybe, in God's own good time, we could travel back there together and have the time of our life!! For now, I am pretty content just seeing them through photos that he sends me. Knowing he's in every photo makes me feel I was there, too the whole time, especially how well he tells the whole story :) I'm so looking forward to listening to the rest of the story about his whole deployment when he comes home. And it's going to be very, very soon :)

Shattered Hope

September 2 was the last time I heard my sister said my name and she wasn't mad at me .. yet. That was few hours before the incident that brought us to where we're at right now, happened. Till now, me and my sister haven't talked to each other. It's been what? More than 6 weeks? This is something really serious. In all my life, we've never been in a situation as worse as this one. And I don't get it. I mean, why now? After all we've been through as sisters, why would she let something so petty like this totally wreck us apart? I should be counting more on her because she's the big sister and I look up to her. What I really don't understand the most and what really hurts me so much is, the way she makes me feel as if it was all my fault - that I started it. We both know the fact that it was neither her or me who started this whole mess. It was her husband. I am not trying to pinpoint anybody nor put blame on one person. I am just saying who started this crap. He did, and now my sister hates me for something I am not aware of - for something I never did. If he wasn't stupid to kick a 3-year old and if he didn't try to hurt my sister, none of this would have happened.

I hate the way my sister has been acting lately. She acts like a kid. I had showed motives to her that I was ready for a reconciliation, but every time I did, she'd always shut me off. She's the one who's staying away from me.

I know my sister better than anyone else. She is not like who she has become right now. Everybody can tell. I am trying here not to say anything more as I don't want to drag somebody through the mud. It's just that, I've had enough. I want to finally put an end to this, but how am I suppose to do it alone? She hates me. And because of that, she is hurting me. She has never hurt me this much before. And what makes me feel really sad about this whole situation is, she hates me for something that they actually were the only ones involved in. I don't know what to think anymore or how far I can endure being in the same house and actually not talking to each other. You won't believe that sometimes, for one whole day, I don't get to see my sister and we've been at home the whole time. It's because they won't come downstairs if I am there. They'd only come out of their room when they know I'm already back inside my own room. We're basically living in an unhappy home right now and this is not healthy on both sides. She now is hurting me on purpose because she knows I have nobody here to literally defend me, while she has her dissembler husband to back her up.

But there is one thing I am certain that my sister can never hide away from me no matter how hard she tries to cover it up with all those fake laughter and happiness that she's trying to make us all believe in. I can see it in her eyes that she is unhappy. She may deny it, but I know her better. I have seen everything that she's been through and I was there during those times she almost gave it all up. And I actually feel sad about the fact that she is unhappy with her life right now. I want to reach out to her and talk to her just like before and see if there's anything I could do to help her out. I miss those times when she'd just barge in to my room, lay down on my bed and start telling me stuff about her. That, right there was my sister. Not the one that she is right now. She looks more like a stranger to me than my sister.

I have all my hopes shattered. I am completely helpless now. I don't know what else to do anymore. All she has in her heart for me is hatred. She has hate crawling through her system and I don't know how I can ever get rid of that. All I want is to have my sister back. I miss her so much!!

Right now, I am also counting down the days for something aside from my husband's arrival. It's my sister's husband's trip to the US. He is leaving on the 28th. And I'm happy he's going away. Maybe then, when he's gone, things will change around here. He's actually the one causing trouble and I just can't wait him out of our house!!

Just For Fun: I type 74 correct words per minute!!

I just stumbled upon this site while I was looking around trying to keep myself busy. I thought it's fun so I gave it a try. It's all about testing how fast you are in typing. Not the mere number of characters you can type in 60 seconds, but the correct common words that they provided for you to follow and type down.

I am not that good when it comes to typing. I only had been tested once when I applied for a job at a call center. And although I can type a total (minimum average) number of 500 characters per minute, I didn't know then how many correct words I can actually type in 60 seconds - until today when I took that typing test online. I only did it for fun, but turned out to be quite serious when I finally started typing and saw that timer counting down. This test will actually tell you how many characters you can type per minute, the correct and wrong ones from the words provided for you. Here's my score :)

74 words

Typing Test

Try this one, too and see your own score :) And above all, just have fun doing it!!

Zwajy jay aLa aLbat fi esbw3aeen ;)

I feel more than just ecstatic that my husband will be coming home in a couple of weeks. We finally got his itinerary and as a matter of fact, he printed out a copy right after he received it. What a week it was for the both of us because it took five days before the agency was able to really forward the copy to my e-mail. Now, everything is good to go :) We're both counting down the days and wishing we can just fast forward the time and then make it stop from ticking once he gets here so he doesn't have to leave right away. Hay, I really can't wait!!

What bugs me sometimes is the funny truth that, the more I think about it, the more the wait seems longer. And the closer it gets, the more anxious I become.

On the other hand, I am pretty excited of his homecoming!! This is going to be my first time experience as a military wife welcoming a husband home who has been gone on a 6-month deployment. I'm so full of mixed emotions right now and I still haven't decided on what to do or what to give him on the day of his arrival. When he came here in April and I picked him up at the airport for the first time as my husband, I bought a bouquet of flowers (his favorite color) for him. This time, I want it to be something different. Not only that I'll be welcoming the love of my life home, I also will be welcoming a Soldier, a Hero, and he deserves something extra special. Now, the problem is, I'm left so clueless on what to do. I already came up with one, but I'm hoping I could do more for him. I know it doesn't have to be that all mushy and everything, I just want to make him feel that I'm joyful and grateful to God to have him back, very much loved, and that his wife is very, very proud of him :)

So, that's it. Countdown is almost over. It really is goodbye deployment and hello homecoming :)

At last, we got the itinerary!!

Earlier, I ranted about an agency who took so long to forward the itinerary of my husband's plane ticket to my e-mail. It was all because they didn't know that the staff from their main office who, actually was supposed to be the one to forward it to me, forgot to do so. They told me that he said he would send it and in fact already did, but turned out to be the other way around. Or he might have but to the wrong e-mail. I'm not sure about that excuse. How could he not know where to send it exactly when he already saw an e-mail from me that I sent them on Monday? It's something I find hard to believe in.

Anyways, I went to their office where I purchased the ticket from and told them that I still haven't received anything from them. They were kind of surprised to know the truth because all along, they've been thinking that the other staff has already forwarded the itinerary. Well, he didn't. And up to that very moment I went there, he still hasn't done what he was supposed to do. They had to call him twice to verify. Good thing, though is they helped me while I was there and made sure I got what I came there for before having to leave the place. They even let me use their computer to log on to my Yahoo account to check on the itinerary if whether it has been sent or not. We waited and in between waiting, they'd call the staff from the main office to confirm if he already happened to send the copy to my e-mail. We waited for a good 15 minutes before I actually got it and you can't imagine how relieved I felt at that very moment. I then now have my husband's itinerary!!

They did apologize, but this time, when I said it was all right, I meant it. It wasn't their fault and they did their part as they had to. It was the other staff's mistake and they're not to be blamed for something they never did. I got completely upset and let its toll get into me without finding out first what actually had happened. It was the wrong part on my side. But, not trying to defend myself or anything, I think nobody can blame me for how I reacted to the situation because I was made to wait that long when I need not to in the first place. Anyway, that's past now and I've learned my lesson. I hope they, too learned something from that incident so no other costumers get to experience the same thing I did. I'm happy now and thankful to God that on that same day (Thursday), I was able to forward the itinerary to my husband and he printed out a copy right away :) Not too obvious that he's excited, too. [Hehehe] He keeps telling me for I don't know how many times a day, that he can't wait to come home and be with me and actually wake up in the morning having me beside him to wake up to, and I feel exactly the same way he does. [winks*] He probably doesn't know how excited I feel as well that I will get to see him and hold him again in my arms :)

A Little Letdown at the Moment

I kind of feel a little disappointed in that agency where I purchased my husband's ticket from. I went there Saturday and bought the ticket and they told me they will forward the itinerary to my e-mail the following day (Sunday). I took their word on that hoping they'd keep it but only to my dismay when I checked my inbox and I didn't find anything. At first I was like, all right I'll give them another day or two because I also was told that they'll be sending that itinerary from their main office perhaps so I'd figured out it might take them a little while to get it done. But Monday came by, then Tuesday, Wednesday, and now it's already Thursday and still, no itinerary! I e-mailed them on Monday hoping I'd get an answer, but nothing. I decided to call yesterday and I was so relieved when I got to talk to one of their ticketing staff (although he wasn't the one who issued me the ticket). I relayed to him about my concern and he even apologized for not being able to send the itinerary right away. I said it was all right though deep inside, I was a bit upset for making us wait this long when right from the start, they had told us they'll send the copy like right away. I have the right to feel that way, haven't I? It's their duty to address their costumers' concerns and keep their words on whatever issue that has been discussed and agreed upon. The guy I spoke with assured me he will send the copy of the itinerary. I waited the whole day yesterday, but still nothing!! Now, I'm at my wits end and I'm going there today to tell them to make sure that itinerary gets in to my inbox before the day ends or early tomorrow. My husband needs that badly and there's no more time to waste. If I haven't paid for that yet, they could have it for as long as they want. But it has been paid in full and as a costumer, it's my right to ask them, if not demand, to do something as such, if we need to. This is not proper anymore. This is not how they must treat their costumers. With what they're doing, people would lose trust in them, like what had just happened to me. Next time, I'm not going to count on their words anymore!! I just don't understand why it's taking them this long to have a small task like that done on time. I really feel thwarted right now. Any costumer doesn't deserve such treatment. This has to stop!!

Here I Am ... Again

After losing internet connection for a week, here I am blogging again. It's nice to be back and I sure did miss a lot while I was gone. I don't even know what to do first - check on updates or post entries. I want to do both but I know it's just not possible. It requires time to write and come up with something that's interesting to read. And I, right now, am not in the mood to write anything at least worth your time reading. I don't know why but that's how I feel at this moment. Maybe because it's way past those times when my mind was really set to do blogging but I had no internet connection. I'm jam-packed with so many things to write about. The problem is, I feel like I will run out of words if I tell all about them. In addition to that, I don't know what to write first. My mind is a total blur right now. I guess I'll just have to write one story at a time. I'm just glad to have the connection back and I will slowly start posting again to catch up with those times I've missed doing so.

I also was able to edit my blog, though I'm not quite finished yet. There's still something I am trying to learn how to do at the moment and I just hope I'll get it right. One wrong move and I will jeopardize everything that's why I am being extra careful. Oh boy, CSS codes can be very complicated sometimes!! But it feels good that at least I'm learning and kind of getting the hang of it :) I find it fun experimenting on new stuff, especially with the codes and it even feels a lot better when I end up getting the result I've wanted. It could be hard if you're not too familiar with the codes but that's the fun thing about it. You try doing something you have no idea about, and at the end of it, it's like you're rewarding yourself with a job well-done if you were able to follow simple rules and instructions and came up with how you really wanted it to be.

In the mean time, I will do my hardest to remember what I've been wanting to write down from the past week. It's such a shame I got too lazy to type them using the notepad so I'd just have to copy-paste them here and I'll be good. I did write some, but clearly not the ones I think I will post here and let the whole world read them. Well, I guess just for now they're meant to be kept private - most of which, rantings. Those days I didn't have the internet connection had completely drained me of all the ideas and stories I really have been wanting to tell to all of you. I feel like I'm back from scratch - absolutely no idea about which is which and what should come first. I guess I just need to give it some time and soon enough, I know I'll get to figure things out :) I have plenteous time to kill. It's vacation now and blogging will definitely save my not-so-busy days...