Just came in from a vacation but boy, the saying goes that you need a vacation from another vacation holds true for me now. It is so hard to get back to the groove after a relaxing trip. In fact, I find myself checking online some next possible getaways including cruises, out of the country trips or even just renting one of those Kissimmee Vacation Homes. But with my current condition of being pregnant, we have to shelf first those trips under our bucket list. The husband promised we will tick off more places in the coming years. I look forward to that, much more to the idea of bringing the kids. Traveling just really gives me a sense of high. It makes me regain focus to life and strive more to achieve our goals to conquer more places. Oh how I just love to travel, travel the world perhaps! Excuse my day dreaming mode!

Now, I need to get back to reality…snap, snap, snap…back to work!

How time flies so fast! It feels just like yesterday. We are celebrating our 10th year wedding anniversary on this beautiful island. This is our tropical escapade. We finally set our feet in Lagen Island, El Nido Palawan. The place is so serene. It is so relaxing. Husband and I are really having the time of our lives here. Perfect scenery, sumptuous food (buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner), island hopping, beautiful room which no disturbances. You cannot see any corner tv stands as there is really no TV or DVD inside the room.  It makes you appreciate more the beauty of the place.  Here are some pictures of our room..

I have been in hiatus again from blogging personal stuff as things are really pretty busy. Oh well, what’s new? It almost May already, I can’t believe how months are passing by so fast. The husband is pretty busy too with his work as he is working on some projects with ITIL Resources. He has been going for some out-of-town trips often lately.  Since we got from the US, work is taking its toll on us plus the fact that we are also on the way.  But our 10th year wedding anniversary is just around the corner so we are looking forward for our quick getaway soon.

Nothing is worse than building a set of stairs without the proper stair treads. Stairs need to have a very sturdy foundation and after a sturdy foundation they need to be well built. If you are going to be doing a set of stairs with more than a dozen stairs it is a good idea to make sure all the risers properly fit with the treads. This will ensure safety and the quality of your staircase. Stair railings are another element of the banister you want to make sure is very sturdy. If someone loses their balance and falls they will reach first for the handrail. If it is sturdy it will save someone from getting injured at your house.

When you are planning on building a new stairway it is a good idea to decide what type of treads you will need. If you are going to be covering your treads with carpet there is no worry of getting a beautiful tread. If you will have carpet and false tread caps you can go with a particle board to serve as you treads. This will save time and money in the construction phase of your new or remodeled staircase. If you aren’t going to cover your treads you want to make sure you purchase a high quality tread.

The annual culminating activity of Miriam College Child Study Center is on! This year’s play is entitled: Sama-sama sa Musikahan! I am one proud mom as my dear Bianca has few lines to say for this play. She’s really very active and dances well. I was very happy with her performance as she said her lines loud and clear. Every year, we make it a point to really support our kids with this annual play. I even recorded the entire performance using our HD Camera which I just plan to share to our families abroad. I have yet to tell them to probably use vlc player download so I can share the videos to them.

Bianca’s role is a guitar…

house where we stayed for 3 days in Lake Arrowhead, California. It’s such a nice house with 3 bedrooms. 3 toilet and bath, and even a little spa room with spacoverdirect spa covers. Amazing! I can live in such a cottage house. It’s very homey. And with the weather, it’s a lovely place to stay. When I went out the front door, I saw these…

And then we went to the Big Bear Mountain to enjoy mountain sledding…

And we just lounged around the park after…

And notice the icy lake…

The birds were walking on the lake!  Oh, I miss this place.  I wish to go back!

All geared up for Margaux’s 7th Birthday. I’m one excited mommy. The theme of her birthday party will be Rockstar Concert so I prepared it to be a real awesome concert! I even ordered few sony headphones as prizes for some games so it would really go with the theme.  Though, I am getting anxious already as I still need to do a lot of things for the party like finalize menu with the caterer, finalize program with the host, mock-up of the table setting and finalize overall stage and venue design.

For the meantime, let me share her birthday invitation which we are releasing already this coming week.

Uh-oh! What’s up with the weather lately? It’s been very hot the past few days and feels like summer already and now, it’s been raining like there is a storm. Time to dose up the kids with Vitamin C to boost their immunity. I hope we won’t get sick with this weather. It was so cold last night. I remember how cold it was when we were Reno last December. Our thermals cannot take it with negative 8 degrees in Celsius (-8) to negative 12 (-12) on some nights. My SIL had to lend me her mountainhardwear to cover up. We have to layer with multiple jackets as well.  But nevertheless, we enjoyed so much our stay there. We had so much fun in the Ski Resort.  We went to Squaw Valley Ski Resort.  Below are some of our pictures.  We look forward to go back there again!

I think I need more storage space for my clothes, shoes and bags. I already occupy like 70% of our cabinets in our room. I also have my long dresses and other formal clothes in our guest room. My bags are also occupying a space in the guest room. I wonder if we can build more storage cabinets with whatever is existing now. I am kidding my DH that we should expand and extend our house by building another room just for our clothes. Apparently, with just about 3 years in the new house, we have so much clutter to keep already I hope we could find time to de-clutter once school is over.

I can tell, Margaux really loves fashion! She must have got that from me Who knows, she’s going to be the next Monique Lhuillier that would conquer the world! How I really wish. She has been telling me she wants to become a fashion designer. She has been doodling some clothes in her notebook and she so loves her fashion angel toy where she can use stencils to create different dresses.

The other night, I was surprised to see the above posting in their room. More so, I am proud that she knows how to multiply

Just sharing…

Oh, before I read more about contactless card from the news, which is becoming a popular choice now for credit card companies to avoid fraud and threat, let me talk about my Bianca first. She’s becoming adorable now. She calls me in my mobile landline almost every afternoon after coming from school. She would tell me how her day went in class and will request my permission always if she can play outside. She’s been a very sweet daughter too. I’m excited that she have small line on her own for their upcoming annual stage play in school! I’m one proud mommy!

Oh, summer is just around the corner and I am wondering what activities I could have for my kids. I am thinking to either enroll them to a voice lesson class or could be a piano lesson class. I want something music related this time. My eldest said their music teacher showed them a mitchell banjo in class. She is somehow interested on how to play that folk instrument. I wonder if there is a summer class available for that. What about you, what are your choices for summer class/activities of your kids?

I went with my girlfriends in Binondo to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It was a fun activity. We witnessed a number of dragon dances/parade and of course we did some serious food tripping!
I enjoyed most the latter part. We also went to meet a feng shui master so we can determine the amulets we need for this year. I bought my lucky bracelet as well as few amulets/charms to place to my bag. I also got coins to put in my wallet all the time.

Here’s my lucky bracelet…

Down to our last 10 days so got to do some shopping already! Although, we were in Las Vegas during the Boxing Day (December 26) and I was able to score some great pieces! (wink!) Tomorrow, will be going to the mall to get those make-ups from MAC and Chanel. I am planning to try also some eyelash growth serum from a beauty store I saw in Promenade Mall. I have to get the lipsticks that my friends asked me to buy. I hope all stocks are available.

Hectic schedule has taken its toll on me for the past few weeks so that explains why I do not have any postings just yet. Sorry about that. Life is pretty busy but still amazing! Currently on vacation here in California and we are just having so much fun! It’s great to be reunited with families! My kids are enjoying their stay and even saying that they don’t want to go back to the Philippines! Oh, but we just can’t! It will be the last 10 days of our vacation and we look forward to making the most of it. For the meantime, let me share few pictures from our wonderful time here…

Hope everyone is having great holidays as well! From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I just love my job! It’s all weddings and more weddings. I love the details of all the weddings we have recently. One has a vintage theme in Cebu, another one is an Autumn Theme in a hotel, a Rock n Roll Party Theme and today, we have a Spanish Theme. I love the idea that even souvenirs are varied. Apparently, even cohiba cigars can already be given as tokens. It’s one of the many souvenirs we have for tonight’s wedding.

Weddings nowadays are entirely revolving. And I love that I am becoming a part of it. I am witnessing all of these new trends unfolding before me.

I just love my work!

Whew! Someone thought that I am losing weight because of detox opiate! Are you kidding me? It’s the most offensive comment I ever received. No, I am losing weight because of too much stress and too much work. I work even wee hours in the evening because there are tens of emails to answer and tons of paper works to finish. The only consolation of being this busy is that I have really lost about 10lbs already! Clap, clap, clap for me! Maybe, I should work hard more so I can even go back to my pre-pregnancy weight!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s almost a month since my last post. Work has been tremendous recently and I cannot even think how to squeeze everything and try to finish all my pending tasks before we go for a major vacation before the year ends.

November got pretty busy since we had a couple of events. Most of it as well came in last minute. Not that I am complaining. I am actually grateful for the blessings from the One up above.

December will completely be the busiest month with me finishing 4 events before we leave and try to complete all turn over for all the events I will be leaving to my team while I’m away. I am now even thinking if I need to even lend my desktops to my staff as most of my files are there. There are tons of documents to even turn over to them.

Now, I am getting anxious for things to be done soon so I can look forward for the grand vacation with my family.

To our dear Bianca, you may be 5 years old already today but you will still be our baby forever! We love you very much sweetie! – Daddy, Mommy and Ate Margaux

I am sure everyone’s wish is to be debt-free in the next coming year. I am glad we are gearing up our plans to pay off all our bank loans and mortgages already. My credit cards have been free already and I am very happy about it. I have zeroed out most of my outstanding balances from my card. Well, getting ready for another round of shopping in outlet malls in the US come December. I am sure my card will get a lot of beating during those times. So now, I doubt if I would truly be debt-free by 2012. Maybe, I can say, before the Chinese New Year? lol!

A couple of weeks back, I had a chance to visit the husband in his office. I was surprised to see how nice and huge his room is. His room is actually located at a corner office. He even has his own restroom. Although I think he needs a better coffee table and chairs for his small meetings. Well, apparently, his requisition has not been processed yet. Oh by the way, he is actually looking for some qualified people for available posts in their office. They are offering Case Management Manager Jobs for those who can meet the qualifications.

We are off for a quick trip next weekend to celebrate our 2nd daughter’s 5th Birthday so the husband sent the cars already for maintenance. Another expense! Oh well, good thing it is not as expensive as an rv repair. It is just expensive sometimes to maintain vehicles. But of course, we cannot get by without one. Insurance fees are also coming in next month. Oh well, for the meantime, will just look forward to the trip that we will have.