Happy New Year! :)

Happy 2009 everyone!

Quite late huh? Well, got really busy with still so little accomplishments I can say. hehe

Though for a change... Got a page that I want to share. The family to whom I will give this as a gift haven't seen it yet. I really hope they'll like it. :) Made this for my inaanak Drew, whose Christening was celebrated last December.

(sorry for the poor quality of the picture, took it with poor lighting, will take another pic of it once I get another chance)

------------------------

This little girl will turn three next month. Time flies so fast. :)

Merry Christmas! :)

Bonding Time

It's been two days I did not get to play and bond with her. The longest time I've had with her was when I had to read to her stories from her new Princess magazine before we both go to sleep. Yep, she also has her own collection of Princess magazine, that is my 34-month old girl :)

Haven't really scrapped for a while and it felt like months already. When I see my scrap stuff sitting in her room, I just let myself release a big sigh. I just really wish I can have time to scrap again (oh not to mention I haven't even started with Christmas gift wrapping yet!). Young as she is, she can probably see how I miss scrapping, she'll ask me with her sweetest voice "Mommy, scrap ka? Scrap tayo?" And I tell her, "Oh no baby, I can't do that now." And in my mind, I can only say.. "I wish I can and someday, when you are all grown up, that will be our activity when we want to bond." :)

These are some of our pics taken using our webcam while we were talking to her Ninang Faye and while I was creating this post :)

Fifth Year and Counting?

2003, we used to have a monthly team building which would include food, games and bonding with the whole team. I was still a "newbie" then, fresh grad. I was asked by my supervisor how do I see myself after three years... I answered her without much effort for I thought I had my life planned (yeah, I thought so then)... "I believe I will not be with AOL anymore." That was the plan. I never really wanted to stay with a company for as long as three years. As a fresh graduate, my mentality was that an Iska/Isko will not really stay with a company for as long as three years for he or she will always look for challenges and career growth.

That was then...

2008, September, I celebrated my fifth year at work. Not with AOL though but with eTelecare already. The awarding was done in Lewis Grand Hotel which is one of the newest hotels in Angeles City.



Here is token the company gave us.



2009, I have a plan. The probability of me going to that direction is 90%. That is how determined I am to make that plan happen. But I really do not know what will come my way. For now, I will enjoy the holidays with my family and try not to think of 2009 yet. :)

Just Wondering...

I AM A CARLISLE!

You are intelligent, strong willed and patient. A peaceful lifestyle and helping others is very important to you. You’re not a take charge kind of guy and sometimes rely too much on your feelings when you make decisions, but you always mean well and try your best to do what’s right.


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I am so loving him!!!

The way she kisses Bella, the words she tells him, the way he takes care of her, the way he stays close to her, so close that he is angry at himself and at the same time loving her more...

Who Am I?

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

_____________________________

I love how she loves her family. I particularly like the part before they played baseball, the way she talked to Bella and the words she told her.

Happy 52nd Monthsary :)

Fifty-two months passed and I am just happy we are still together, stronger. The way you hold me in your arms today, remind me how important really I am to you.

I love you, Daddy. :)

It's Been A While

As always... hehehe. Bad bad bad blogger, I know I am.
Got a lot of things to share now, at least. :)

(1)
I saw "Twilight" yesterday with hubby and now I understand why is almost everyone crazy about it. It felt like I wanted to fall in love over and over again. And who the hell would not fall for a guy as lovely as Edward! :)
I am now reading the book and I can't seem to stop! Gosh! No wonder why my Kumareng Yoyin couldn't stop herself from reading it even when we were in the middle of the mini-scrap jam at Ms. Nette's house. :)

(2)
After a few days of what I call the greatest turning point of my life... I came up with this..




(3) Better late than never, here is my take on Tita Ann's mini-jam's LO. Hope I gave justice to your nice LO! :)



(4) It's almost Christmas! Since I moved to the morning shift, I will definitely spend my Christmas eve this year with my little girl! Just so excited about it! I have yet to start with gift wrapping, just another thing I enjoy doing every December. I have to endure though the pain it gives my wallet. hehehe.

Merry Christmas everyone!

TFL!

This Joy I feel

How would you feel if the person you love tell you this...

"the only thing that you have to keep in mind is that we are together and our love will last forever"

Won't that light up your face? Won't that touch your heart?

Hmmm, ala lang! ! hehe

Changes in My Life

I was not so happy being lonely living without you
So I prayed so hard for your love in my heart I needed you
Then I looked up in the sky and I'm thinking why oh why,
These are all the many changes in my life
After all the caring and the laughter, no one is like you
I am not a preacher with a sermon, I'm so in love with you
`Cause to live without your love like the sun that shines above
Is the magic of the changes in my life
And Ill never forget your love
You and I we were meant to be
Sweet as rain falling from the sky
You and I
These are all the many changes in my life
Listen to these words I want to give you on our love so true
Dont forget I love you and I need you,
Ill always be with you
So just looked up in the sky and youll find out why oh why
These are all the many changes in my life
And Ill never forget your love
You and I we were meant to be
Sweet as rain falling from the sky
You and I
These are all the many changes
These are all the many changes
These are all the many changes in my life
(Instrumental)
And Ill never forget your love
You and I we were meant to be
Sweet as rain falling from the sky
You and I
These are all the many changes
These are all the many changes
These are all the many changes in my life
These are all the many changes
These are all the many changes
These are all the many changes in my life.

___________________________________________________________

After watching Singing Bee, I fell in love with this song, not because a lot of changes were happening in my life then but I just really like the song.

Only after learning some of the lyrics, did I realize that a lot of changes are really happening in my life.

Sadly, I have not scrapped for weeks now but there are valid reasons so that makes it all okay. I can scrap some other time when everything is okay already.

Weeks back, I planned for a three-straight-days rest. On my first day of rest, Alex got sick and all that she wanted beside her was "Mommy!" I guess all mother would agree, it is 50X the hurt when you see your kid sick. I am glad that at her age, she can already tell me which part of her body is hurting. She is the most lovely patient for she won't mind taking all the medicine you would ask her to take. On all three days, I was attending to her 24 hours. She can't sleep well because of her cough and when she wakes up she can't open her eyes because of her bacterial conjunctivitis. But she is okay now. Better than ever, she even gained some pounds actually. :)

Talking about changes, from being a vampire, I am now a morning person. I need to sleep early everyday because I need to wake up at 245 AM for my shift starts at 415 AM and our shuttle service is picking me up at 34o AM. It is really a big change in my schedule, routine and eating habits. I need not eat 24 hours everyday for I need not be awake the whole day and whole night. Some of my officemates already noticed a few pounds of me are gone. Only a few though, really few. Lol. I actually cried so hard when I knew I will be transferred to the AM shift and I cant say NO. But all is well in the AM shift, I realized. I can be in our house on the night of December 24 and 31. Alex will not be without a parent on Christmas and New Year's Eve unlike last year.

The biggest change, I can say that had really impacted my personal life lately is a ghost in the past who got back to make me feel what I feel today. But I am stronger I can say. Even my relationship with God. At the lowest point in my life, God made me strong and helped me got back on my feet. I have been here in earth for the last 26 years and it is now that I realized the true power of prayers.

Oh I also got a hair cut and I just feel good about it! I felt last the I lost five years of my age (because I feel like 36 rather than 26, it feels better to be 31! hehe)

With all the changes in our life, I realized you just need to always look on the brighter side of things, if not, you can't really move on.

Looking back

I was checking my friendster account, which I have not accessed in a while. And I saw my class pictures during my second and fourth year.



Fourth Year



Second Year high school



Fourth Year
Top Left to Right: Sey, Julie, Elaine, Girlie, Tin Lou, Mitch
Bottom Left to Right: Bujoy, Hazel, ME ME ME, Lai, Leen, Loi, Lou.

These were my friends in high school. Miss these girls much. We live in the same province, as far as I know, but some of them I saw last on our high school graduation. Hope we really can get together sometime.. Oh it is almost 10 years ago that this photo was taken.

These pictures bring back youthful memories which make me smile. High school uniforms (you wont have to think and plan what to wear the next day), black shoes, crushes (got a few, hihi), courtship, school plays, dance competition (yep, I used to and I miss doing that), Noli, El Fili (oh, those never ending questions), school bags, love letters (used to keep all of them in a box:) , test papers, slum books (oh yeah, gone crazy with this, one achievement of mine is to have all my crushes to sign them hoping I see my name or even a clue that they got some crush on me, too, haha, so teen-ish) , stationeries (collected almost everything I see in the bookstores), poems (yep, I used to compose) and the list goes on.

It is totally different now. Then, I won't have to think about loosing a job, paying debts, providing for family, tuition fees, salary increase, resume, subordinates, job applications, bosses, deadlines, performance improvement plans, forced leave without pay, and the list also goes on.

Oh well, despite all these changes and things I have to think about thank God I still am sane for HE gives me optimism and positivity. I am not sure why, but something big I think is going to happen and I feel excited about it. Oh, well, God will provide and decide. :)

Got my MOJO back :)

Here is a page I finished yesterday (my day-off) after a two hour sleep. Scraplifted Jamie Waters' Talk LO. I just love her pages. She scrap simply but she makes very eye-catching LOs. I also love the colors she uses, it so happen that I am not so good in using neutral colors.

Yummy Give Away, ANyone?

Saw this in Gracie's blog and it is simply irresistible. Hop on to Julie's blog for this yummy give-away! :)
Be sure to do it today before it is too late! :)

Big Bear Love

This is our baby Alex and her pediatrician, Doc Faye Natividad. She has always been fond of seeing Alex's photo albums and the scrapbooking I make, so I made this for her. :)

Journaling:
Dra. Faye took care of you the first minute you were born.
Since then, it's obvious, her love for you is as big as a bear.
Oh did I say, you both love bears? Yep, you both do!
Everytime we're in her clinic you will always hug her little brown bear,
so she gave you "Big Foot" bear. :)

Scraplifted a LO of a MM master, Caroline Ikeji, Saw the simple yet catchy LO in the MM mag Feb 2008 issue. Hope I gave justice to her LO, title is Moments with you. :)
The mag's specific article where I saw the LO I scraplifted featured a technique about crumpled-paper flower, so I also did that. See those two flowers on the left hand side of the LO? Yep, those are crumpled paper flowers (which I made) on top of the felt I also cut to get the shape of a flower.
It's also my first time to use multiple patterned papers since I have always been scared to tear them and use them in one single LO for they might not appear "nice" together. That "fear" of tearing and using precious multiple patterned papers is starting to disappear, thanks to Ali Edwards' book A Designer Eye for Scrapbooking with Patterned Papers. Though, amenably, I have yet to achieve that "gift" of being able to put different patterned papers in one page, without having to scraplift. hehehe.

Inspired by Tna (first time to use green cardstock) and Yoyin too (for she has that "gift" of putting whateve patterned paper she wants in a page and her LO will definitely look great).

Thanks for looking! :)

Now this sure is worth posting :)

Saw this on Tna's and Ann's blogs and it sure was tempting!
Hop on to Kristin's blog about this Eyelet Give Away which surely will make your day! Yummy!

Let us talk about...

small wishes coming true. :)

I really wanted to have my own circle cutter. I thought it would really be fun to have different circle shapes on my LOs.
And here is what I got this from the last Scrapfest; my own MM circle cutter (which included a mat) for 25% off and some scrap stuffs I also wanted to get (oh did I say I also got them with great discounts? hehe)




Oh wait there is more!

Talking about wishes coming true and great discounts, Tna and I visited Yoyin last Friday night and we really went gaga over the new stuffs Ms. Marissa sent us! Here are the great things I got! It included my very own tote bags, Ali E's book, bunch of thickers and oh the one I have long wanted to have to a purple crop-a-dile! :)

Thank you Ms. Marisa, you are a "scrap angel"! Mwah!

Scrapfest, the second time around.

the friends and supporters. :)

nice meeting you, diane! :)



idol in action.



photographer in action. :)

breather

There have been several resignations from our department. And every good bye or c u around, gives everyone different kind of feelings. People will just have to move on at one point or another. Reasons vary: for the good, for greener pasture, for they don't have a choice, to save face, to save sanity or simply because they just want to move on and be happier or free, period. I wish sometimes I can have that "choice" to resign whenever I want and do what I want to do without having to think about not being employed. That time, is yet to come. :) Honestly, I enjoy what I do. I enjoy the company of most of the people I work with. I like what I do for I am challenged, by the job, the people, the tasks, the customers/members and by the requirements. Though at times the job, the pressure and the people bring me to the bridge of my sanity. Oh well, what kind of job won't give you pressure and head ache? Oh, I don't think you can call that a job at all.

So much about work, here is a breather for me..


Journaling:
Oh so girly that is what you are,
with that dress I bought for your Christening
and headband that Ninang Almah gave you.
All dolled-up for your monthly check up!

Oh, I owe Ms. Marisa This

Hehe. I haven't posted the finished LO pala. So here you go!
Pasensya na sa quality ng pic, try ko picturan ulit. hehe

Our Little Flower Girl

Here is a mini-album I finished just last month, which was supposed to be done during the last Scrap Fest... hehe. at least natapos. :)

Sharing

Here are some of the lay-outs I finished in September. (Still have one I need to "fix". hehe) Instead of adding them on my previous posts, I decided to just put them all in a new post. :)



title: just some of the things the FIRST APO brings



title: you inspire me
journaling: to be a better
mother,
life partner,
scrapper,
everyday!

Was suppose to submit this for a challenge i wanted to join about using circles in a LO. But I was not able to because it is just now that i was able to upload photos :(
But it is okay, at least I got one finished LO last September 28, 2008!



tittle: Got Milk?
journaling: cute, cuddly, and oh so girly even with that toothless and "milkful" smile!

My Little Miss

We love her so much! She talks a lot, eat a lot, drink a lot of milk and sleep a lot! Don't we just love kids like that?
Oh, just want to share!
One morning, after attending to her needs, I sat on her little Boots (monkey friend of Dora) chair and placed all my scrap stuffs on her Dora the Explorer table. You see, that is my working table here in our house because I really don't have a dedicated room or even a table where I can scrap. Being the kid that she is, she just loves using my things and moving them somewhere around her room. So I had a deal with her, "Baby, we both play inside your room and listen to Barney, okay?" She responded, "Mommy, scrap ka?" Hehe. Little that I know, my two year old girl has been observing me the past days. And the word scrap is something that I haven't really used when talking to her but she knows scrapping!

You want to see how the room looks like? Hehe. Here you go!

Promise, I Tried

I have been trying to update my blog for the past three days so I can upload the pictures of my new LOs and mini-album as stated on the previous post. Sadlly, both PCs in the house aren't just so friendly lately when it comes to uploading.

The one I am now using belongs to hubby's sister, which just keeps on shutting down when I try to log in to the profile we have created or download anything. Hubby said, the PC needs reformatting so fixing this may take time, as no one here really has time to fix it (if I can, I would, but I don't know how, hehe).

Now how about our own pc? Hubby was trying to add some extra space and has been frustrated the whole morning yesterday trying to install the new hard disk he bought that he decided to just sleep it off. I actually felt for him. It was one of those times that I see him putting his whole heart and attention to what he is doing. However, trying to get that hard disk to be detected by the system and stuff just doesn't work! He log in to the internet (using this pc I am now using) to read stuffs, talked to some "tech-ie" friends, read a book and something wasn't just right. You know what I told him? "Daddy, let's just ask someone to come over and do that, go ahead and rest. It's okay, you were not able to make it work, Alex and I still love you." Haha! So did you see the connection?

At work? Oh no! I can't even take a straight 30-minute break! The story behind that? Well, let's just say, it's given, Call Center work is stressful + you need to accomplish commitments which you haven't really "committed" to do in the first place + you need to talk to customers when you really don't want to (supervisor calls) + you need to talk to your agents (to coach, and sometimes... when you really don't want to, hehe) + you need to take care of your people + think about your colleagues + follow your bosses' instructions + think about the future of the department + make sure all requirements are met (which are just really... ahhhm... unimaginable?) Opps! Was that me venting out? Lol. Well, this is the very reason I love blogging!
But don't get me wrong, I love what I do now. I get to "coach" and help other people do their work. I just really hope I get to have more time for my agents and less "to do's" in my plate every night.
So much for this post, need to get some more ZZzzz's before Alex wakes up.

After Almost a Month of Silence...

Friday, September 19, 2008, a day after my off, I filed a vacation leave and yes, that means two days rest. That also equates to logging in to the internet, getting to post something here (so my two kumares won't have a reason to talk about INSPIRING me, hehe), spend time with Alex. Oh and yes, SCRAP! But it is almost 4 in the afternoon and I haven't really scrapped anything today. hehe.

In the morning, Alex and I picked up the last piece of EAT SLEEP BREATHE SCRAP REPEAT shirt we ordered while the two of us are wearing our own. Yep, my little girl has her own pink ESBSR shirt and she looks just cute!

We also went to Enigma and bought a web cam and a head set for Mama Let to use. As soon as we get home, I installed the web cam's software and Alex won't just move her little "bam-bam" out of the computer chair She made silly faces, shouted like crazy and sung her fave songs "Crazy Love and Makulay ang Buhay (sa sinabawang gulay)" and we laugh our heart out. Amazing what new things can do to people.







Oh, not to disappoint my dear friends... hehe. I was able to do something yesterday. I finished a lay-out that has been seating in my cropper hopper for two weeks now. And I started a LO which is just waiting for a little journaling and it will be done. Some simple LOs, the first one is my own humble creation and the other one was scraplifted from a magazine I bought months back.

But wait! There's more! (hehe) I also finished a mini-album! This was the album included in the last Scrapfest! Now I can really say, at last!

I hope I get back my momentum again. I want to be able to use some of the stuffs I have already before I get the new supplies I ordered from Marisa that we'll probably be getting early next month... oh and before I get another "What last post was when?" Hehe. I sure love the AC Scrap Addicts! They just inspire when I need inspiration the most!

Good luck to Mareng Yoyin! She made it to Week 6 of Scrappin Moms Idol ' 08! Go go go!
Happy birthday Tita Ann!
Mareng Tna, Alex is craving for your most delicious cake everyday! hehe

Oh and by the way, just want to share, I am loving her creations... Jennifer McGuire.

Crop Party

another one from Scrapbooks Hawaii.
(got this one from Yoyin's blog.)

Manga

Saw Bjay's post about her Manga. I was amazed how she actually looks like the one she has created. AIM actually has the same feature before, forgot how it's called. But you can create your mini-me. Here's my take. It doesn't actually look like me, this is probably how I wanted to look like. hehe.

Cartoon-Face

Love these pictures of Alex. She certainly looks like she was just pulled out of a cartoon story. So I decided to scrap them. This is probably the most number of pictures I have tried so far in a page. Sorry about the quality of the pictures. Don't know how to play with the settings of our camera. Will ask hubby to help me out next time and will just update this and the previous posts. hehe

Journaling:
chubby cheeks; pouty lips;
toothless smiles; big bright eyes;
oh how adorable you are with your cartoon character face. :)

Pure Love

I made one of the Mondays of July while at my parents' house with my baby CADE Alexandra.
Just a simple lay-out I scrap-lifted from magazine I read. I love the LO because it's simple, not much embellishments, so it's really not hard to scrap lift it. hehe :)

Journaling:
PURE..
our love for you,
your heart, that is true,
the joy you bring,
and what CADE means.