Thankful at 30.

I turned 30 on Feb 25, and I can't help but feel very much blessed and grateful for everything that I have. I decided to take this time to reflect about all the things I am so fortunate to have.

A few things I am thankful for on my 30th year:

Boracay honeymoon

1. My Husband, Santi. I am not the easiest person to love and get along with, but he does a pretty darn good job at it. I love how he gets me and complements me in areas where I need improvement. How he always looks out for our family's well-being.

2. My kids, Santino, Ysabella and Giovanni. They are my life's greatest treasures. My life is complete now that I have them in my life. My ultimate desire was fulfilled when I became a mom to these three little munchkins. :-)

My bundles of joy!

3. Good health for me and my family. As one grows older, this becomes so important. We need to be healthy in order to be able to live our lives to the fullest.

4. Wonderful and Loving parents. I am blessed to have the most understanding, generous and prayerful parents on the planet. I am who I am because of them. Marrying Santi, I was blessed twice over with in-laws who share the same values and passions as we do and who are there for us and support us unconditionally. No difficult in-laws here!

our HH (some not in picture)

5. Our Household in Community. Santi and I are fortunate enough to have a wonderful support group of fellow young couples in CFC-FFL who journey with us and give very practical and helpful advice when it comes to family, marriage, relationships and everything in between!

6. Girlfriends. When you want to spend some QT with women you can share anything with, there's nothing like spending it with real friends who get you. I am fortunate enough to have those from all parts of my life- high school, college, in community, work and in extended family.

7. Family Catechesis and Liturgical Bible Study. This was truly God-sent to Santi and I. One night we just happen to have found ourselves in this small Sunday group learning the word of God and how alive it is in our lives. Santi developed it even more into Family Catechesis and we have been blessed to see families learning the work of God and being transformed through it. Check it out here- www.liturgicalbiblestudy.com

8. Our Yayas. They are practically like our children's older sisters or second parents when it comes to care and concern. We are fortunate enough to have great, honest and loving help in our home.

9. My work. I am blessed to be part of a company that is not only fun and interesting, but is a challenge to work in and puts family first.

10. This blog. It started out as a hobby and a passion for writing. Now, I have quite a number of blog entries that tell a story or special event in my life. I am grateful for this outlet, to be able to also express my thoughts and for others to (hopefully) pick up something good.

11. Our own home. We recently moved out of the motherhouse (or my parents backyard - haha) and delved into the independent life. I am loving it. It's a lot of work but it's all worth it. This was the best decision (and most natural I think :)) we could have ever made. We are making our own path as a family.

12. Milk tea. This just makes me happy. Add on extra sago and coffee jelly and I am over the moon.
13. Shopping in Divisoria. Simple joys and great finds that are great for the wallet!

14. Nightly walks with my husband. Santi and I recently started this habit of going on evening walks around our village. It's great exercise and a wonderful time for us to catch up and talk about anything and everything. A must-have in every relationship.

Meet Gordon

15. Cooking. I have recently discovered my love (and talent) for cooking! Will share those in my next blogs... but it's pretty exciting for me making meal plans and discovering new recipes and being able to actually do it!! :)

16. Gordon, our dog. The newest addition to our brood.



PHEW that's a long list! But then again, it's always great to take the time to look at what you've got and how fortunate and blessed you are to have it. ;-)

Change is Good.

After almost 30 years (just a few days short of) of living in Alpadi- the home I grew up in... I finally left. It is one of the saddest and happiest moments in my life. After spending 29 years as a daughter, 4 as a married woman and 3 as mother (now of 3 wonderful kids) in that HOAM or as my dad called it- Heaven On top of A Mountain, my husband and I felt that it had been about time to spread our wings and go on our own. It was indeed our own little piece of heaven, and I cannot help but feel a slight pinch or tug at my heart when I think and remember all the fond and wonderful memories I had growing up. Every major milestone and every important event in my life has been tied at one point or another to that place. But then as the famous saying goes, "The only thing constant in life is change" and I do believe that our decision to move out was a good change.

It's been a week already since we moved (to a much more centrally located area) and it has been the best decision we had ever made. I feel flattered when some friends (who have already come over) comment that when they come in our home it feels as if we have been living here for years.. and I like that. It validates the feeling of peace and contentment that I feel every morning when I wake up and every evening before I go to sleep.

It's just a few days before my 30th birthday. Others would want to get some lavish gift or go on an extravagant vacation, but I am very much happy to be spending my birthday with  my family. My family is my greatest treasure, and with our "big move" life just got even better. Although I will admit that it is quite an effort on my part, but one that I do and fulfill gladly. I've recently had a lot of "firsts" this past week- first time doing fresh market shopping (at a REAL palengke haha), first time doing real meal planning and the cooking! and just being the best wife, mother and homemaker I can be. I never realized how fulfilling it would be to have your kids and husband gobble up the food you make (it must be good! haha) or my son saying to me the first thing when he wakes up- "mommy, I love your banana bread" after I had just, for the first time, made it from scratch. My heart is full!! This I think is the best "gift" I could get for my 30th birthday. Everything else would just be the icing on top!

There is always room to grow when you make positive changes in your life. As my husband says, all it takes is a leap of faith. Make the effort and God will take care of the rest... and so far, God has not only lived up, but exceeded his part of the "deal"... What [positive] changes do you want to make but are hesitant to do?

I've got someTEA on my mind...

Excuse the corny heading. The fact of the matter is I am a milk tea addict. I am absolutely loving the fact that tea drinks have become quite the rage now... the only problem is, there are so many out there that it's getting quite confusing which one to buy. So for serious milk tea lovers like myself, I am continually in search of the best one out there.

My love affair with milk tea began 5-6 years ago in 7-11. Sago, pudding or whatever "pearls or sinkers" were not yet uso at that time. It was just honest to goodness milk tea. I have no idea what the brand it, but believe me it's GOOD. And for the price, if I remember correctly around P30+ for a huge bottle, it's quite the steal. Not to mention that packaging looks pretty authentic. ha ha! Have any of you tried this before?

So that went on for quite a while until the whole Zagu craze... I remember the super loooong lines at every zagu store, it was just crazy! But I was never a total fan of it since I found it too sweet and not very authentic. Until QUICKLY came along. I absolutely love their Taro-Taro... it comes with sago already and just for P55!! I was devastated when the number of outlets drastically decreased, but still grateful that there are still a few centrally located stalls to this date.

Then there was such a sudden boom in the whole milk tea business and all these stalls and small stores selling milk and bubble tea started popping up that it was already so hard to keep track on what was what! I must say, I have not tried all the milk tea places out there, but from what I have tried, I have to say that the Wintermelon is my favorite flavor. It's got that perfect taste of green tea (but not the yucky mapait kind) and sweetness (since you can control and dictate that now) of syrup, with those yummy jelly pearls.

By far the best one for me, and I'm not saying this because it's popular, but it's just really good, is the Serenitea winter melon flavor. Get the one with just 75% sweetness and sinkers like pearl and the coffee jelly ones are my favorite. The Hokkaido flavored one is also just as good.

Next up on my list is Happy Lemon. I've heard the "craze" over this.. sorry but this just doesn't make me happy. Salt and cheese with milk tea drink? seems like a recipe for bathroom disaster if you ask me. Anyhoo, I tried it and it wasn't anything great. But whatever floats your boat :) Maybe I should give it another try, but for now, no thanks. ha ha.

Lastly, I tried this small stall that also sold winter melon tea. Obviously a knock off from Serenitea since they even called the added jelly stuff "sinkers" and also had the percentage of sweetness you could pick from. ha ha. This one is Tea-rrific! -- that's the name of the stall. I got the winter melon one. For half the price (P55) of the Serenitea, it was good enough. A good enough sub when you don't have a Serenitea nearby or you are on a budget but just want to get the milk tea fix :)

Great. Ok now I'm craving for milk tea.