Ryan Says...

I just love this guy. (Unfortunately, he doesn't love me back. Haha. But I'm equally happy with the love I'm getting my the hubs and yes, of course, I love him more). I'm still hungover from watching The Place Beyond The Pines. I'm no movie critic so I won't post a review of that movie. Although I am strangely drawn to movies of this nature (Have you watched Drive and Blue Valentine? He was amazing on those movies, too.). And I just have to say this -- dress him in rags and he'd still look gorgeous. Haha. 'Nuff said.

Friday Inspiration

Somehow all this has proven to be true for me. 

Sending everyone good, happy vibes!

IT ALMOST THE WEEKEND!!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERY ONE! 

TIME TO RECHARGE AND RECONNECT WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

35

When my mom turned 35 years old, I remember thinking "wow, mommy's old already". I secretly searched for gray hairs but found only a few strands. (Hmmm so maybe she's not THAT old yet) But you see at 35, mommy already had 4 kids and was pregnant with our youngest and one and only brother. Two of those kids were already in high school and I'm pretty sure things weren't all pink and rosy in our home then. We were 4 kids with different personalities and all of which are strongly opinionated. It must have been crazy times for my mom then.

At 35, I don't think I can ever compare to my mom. But I'd like to think that I make her proud somehow. (my mom seems to be quiet a mind-reader she sent me a very touching message containing an almost identical thought early this morning)

I am a grown (haha finally yes!), independent woman. and I am raising the most adorable kid of her time. (haha, indulge me. it's my birthday!) What more can a mother ask for? (Mommy apir!)

This year felt a little different though. I don't feel the same level of excitement that I did in my past birthdays (as you know i'm a sucker for surprises and celebrations - even if they're just simple ones). I'm a little melancholic to be honest. Worry occupies most of my brain space these days I could hardly make room for HAPPY anymore. And I badly miss the old, positive me. (dear positive me, where art thou?)

BUT like a kid growing in phases, I guess adults constantly go through that stage too. (Or maybe we never really do stop growing in phases, no?)

I do wish though that I get through this phase soon as it is not really fun to be in.

For now, I bask in the warm thought that I was gifted with another year. A blessing that is very, very priceless to me and my family. Hopefully, I make good use of this wonderful gift again in the coming year. I hope to touch more lives, inspire more people in my own little way, help make this world a better place in any way I can. I hope to be a better mother, a better wife, a better sibling, a better daughter, a better friend, a better mentor.

I really don't wish for anything more. Oh maybe good health and more strength to endure more challenges in long distance running. I am very easy to please and the Lord seems to know that pretty well. :) And in retrospect, it seems I've been in constant celebratory mood since the beginning of this year. I've been receiving blessings bit by bit starting from the time I official finished my (first) marathon. I like it better this way, blessings trickling slowly than them pouring all at the same time. I'm not good at handling things when I'm overwhelmed, you see.

So today, I am reminded again of how lucky I am. Co-workers took a few hours off their busy schedules to work on a surprise for me. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this poster that (I was told) they've labored on for almost half a day yesterday. They collected greetings from all of the people I work with every day (even the people from Japan). I feel so loved. And one of my teammates, surprised me with cupcakes (which I really have a huge weakness on) from Larcy's which I've been dying to try for so long now. The day just couldn't get any better. 

my instagram caption for this was: "My #goal is to achieve that body by end of this year..." Hahaha. 
This was really hilarious

Ain't they dainty? Taste really good too! Not too sweet. Just right for me.

My daughter who has been singing the happy birthday song to me every morning since Saturday has been bugging me to reveal what kind of cake I am going to blow a candle from but I dismissed her request because I really wasn't in the mood for birthday candle blowing. Still somebody got me cupcakes with colorful candles to boot so later, the daughter and I will blow a candle together since I am bringing home a cupcake for her. :)

So much to thank for no? The gift of living and loving. It's all over. Sometimes you just have to open your heart wider to make way for them because some days it's just so huge you think something's missing but actually it's just so huge you don't feel it because your heart is not wide enough to receive it. 

Okay, I better stop. I don't think I'm making any sense now. But yes, it's a happy day. No room for melancholy.

Inspiration Friday

I thought my life at work can't get anymore tougher than how it's been in the past 3 months but apparently, it still can. That's how horrible this week has been for me. I would wake at 2am-ish and couldn't get back to sleep anymore. That's how bad my work issues have been nagging me. They hunt me even in my sleep. I was never the type who allows herself to be bothered at home by work but my life just seemed to have turned upside down these past few months (sometimes I look at the mirror and ask, do i still know you? wahaha joke lang). 

At 2 am, I am always close to pulling my hair and shouting at the top of my lungs: "Stopppppppppp!...I want my old life back." 

So bratty eh? 

But that's just a knee-jerk reaction really. A glass of cold water always does the job of cooling my troubled mind off. And I start telling myself, "you know you can do better than that." Then I start counting sheep and finally fall back to sleep at a thousand and one.

Several times this week, I'd catch myself deep in thought...with just one particular thing running in my mind -- can I just focus on being a mom and wife instead? I know I'm at my ultimate best (ultimate na. best pa.) in this role. Why can't I just choose to be that?

Again, so bratty. And immature.

When co-workers get so overwhelmed by work they usually run to me for inspirational stuff, and I often am able to give them a boost. But why can't I do the same for myself? It's so damn hard convincing myself THIS TOO SHALL PASS. 

BUT I do know for a fact, it will. So I probably should just stop at this point and picture a warm, sunny weekend   with my fab fam instead. Our garden has just been restored to it's old self I can almost here it calling out for us to set up a cozy breakfast table filled with our pinoy breakfast favorites. Yes, I should probably do that tomorrow. Or maybe on Sunday morning after completing our 10-miler.

Now that sounds like fun.

Okay so enough with the drama. I better start chanting what the poster above says. And I'm just really happy I have a very supportive family who are always ever willing to give me tons of hugs for comfort. 

I wish you a wonderful weekend ahead! Sharing some more inspiring words I got from Pinterest (along with all these other posters in here):

My A-Z (Little Facts About Me)

 Thanks Sha for tagging me (I love meme's and enjoy reading them).

Without further ado, presenting my A-Z:

A. Attached or Single? Attached and will never be detached. :)

B. Best Friend? Scarlet. (because we've been friends for so long and we read each other's minds -- ay ako lang pala i can read her mind wahaha)
Pero baka may magtampo, a have a handful of super close friends too. And you know who you are :)

C. Cake or pie? Hmm, I'll go for pie. But will take cake in the absence of. Hahhaa (what can i say, i have a sweet tooth)

Bag of beans' Apple Pie

D. Day of choice? Friday! There's just something about Friday that totally erases whatever crappy memory I have of the current workweek.

E. Essential Item? I dreaded saying this but now -- my mobile phone, i think. (I'm totally attached now. Sadly)

F. Favorite color? Green. Any shade of it, except for Neon.

green was actually my wedding motiff
(not very evident in the cake color but yes i love green)

G. Gummy bears or worms? Not a fan of either but if i really have to choose will take the sour worms.

H. Hometown? Belison, Antique (i know...you never heard of such place. but it's a very quite town and i always miss it!)

I. Favorite Indulgence? Dark chocolates and freshly brewed coffee (sorry that's two. i can't help it hahaha)

J. January or July? January because our family has a lot of celebrations in this month. And cliched -- but true, right? New Beginnings.

K. Kids? One adorable but mischievous kid. (probably going to be the one and only so i'm really trying to fill up my patience bank now)

L. Life isn’t complete without? My family. They are my most prized treasure.

M. Marriage date? 10.20.07

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 little bro and 3 little sisters (but they're all adults now and all bigger than me)

O. Oranges or Apples. Apples. Just because I'm too lazy to peel off oranges

P. Phobias? Mall crowd (hahaha di naman may term ba dun?)

Q. Quotes? "No pain, no gain" -- this was in my HS yearbook. still stands true till now esp when I'm training for a marathon. Hahaha

R. Reasons to smile? Tibs and Maia. God's providence.

S. Season of choice? Summer because this is when I get to take longer leaves at work and come home to Antique to reunite with my family

T. Tag 5 People. Almost everyone i know in the blogging world has been tagged. But just like Aimee's note: if you haven't been tagged yet and you want to join, feel free to tag yourself! :D

U. Unknown fact about me? Before I became a parent, the only nursery rhymes that I can sing/recite from memory is Jack and Jill and Twinkle, twinkle little star. Haha.

V. Vegetable?  The dark green leafy ones (Pechay, Malunggay)

W. Worst habit? Not prioritizing sleep. And cramming. (okay that's habits)

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Uhmmm ultrasound? Because it's more safe and reliable?

Y. Your favorite food? Anything with sabaw. (soup dishes)

Z. Zodiac sign? Cancer.

So that's about it. This sure was fun to do!

Scenes From Japan: Foodtripping in Nagaoka (Day 1 Neneya)

Chow time!

Day 1: Neneya

May 20, 2013

We found this restaurant after walking within the vicinity of Nagaoka Station for almost an hour. We were starving and extremely exhausted from travelling for almost THE entire day (left Manila at 9am, arrived in Tokyo at 230pm and checked in at Hotel Mets in Nagaoka at around 6pm already). We unpacked a few of our things for work, freshened up a bit and went down around 7pm to eat but to our dismay would find out  that most restaurants around the area close early (at around 730pm most shops are already closed). 

We were almost ready to give up and opt for a fastfood meal at the KFC store that we found near the Cocolo supermarket but decided to check out the other side of the road and found this gem of a restaurant at the second floor of a building that turned out to be housing several seafood restaurants as well. This was a private dining restaurant - meaning, every table is enclosed in a small room (the one we were ushered in was just big enough for my co-worker and me) - and we were expecting premium food prices but surprisingly, according to my Japanese co-worker was just right (not too pricey).

We opted to dine light so we ordered food that were mostly with veggies. The main course was a rice dish since the Niigata Prefecture is really popular for it's rice (and yes, sake).

Oh after taking a bite of our appetizer, my co-worker and me agreed the one hour walk was worth it. We took our sweet time finding a good restaurant to welcome us and we found just the perfect place.

Without further ado, I present to you photos of our day 1 foodtripping:

Even in a province like Nagaoka, almost everything is still automated. Even these doors are operated by those buttons at the left. Ah, the perks of being in a first world country

what looks to be canadian bacon on a bed of greens and some cherry tomatoes

munching on our appetizer with  a tall glass of my all-time fave dinner drink - Ume Sour to go with it

the sweetest, most savory raw cabbage i've ever tasted.
would've been best if they used less seasoning here but still it cannot be denied that
vegetables are the best here in Niigata.

Mozzarella slices on a bed of slightly spicy Kimchi.
Not very fond of Kimchi but it was really good combo here with the spring roll chips and the mozzarella slices

the highlight of this dinner. it was so good. but i forgot to ask what it was called.

Eating was probably my stress reliever on these back-to-back trips to Japan. But suffice to say, regardless of how much weight I've put on in just a week, I'm happy I had the opportunity to take my palate to explore the food offerings of this beautiful country.

We All Live For The Weekend.

DON'T WE?

from Pinterest

And if this gloomy weather's starting to dampen your Friday mood. Here's something to cheer you up:

DON'T WORRY. IT'S GOING TO BE ONE HELLUVA OF A --

all photos and poster in here are from Pinterest.