On Unanswered and Answered Prayers

PRELUDE TO THE ACTUAL BLOG ENTRY:

There was a time before when my blog contained most of my musings, thoughts and feelings. That was more than 12 years ago in Tabulas where I met 2 of my closest online friends including Roselle of Snapped and Scribbled.

When I decided to have this blog I thought of creating something that's more positive and I avoided personal topics but having read some of Maine Mendoza's blog kind of reminded me of my previous Tabulas blog where I blurt out what I feel and think without thinking what other people might think of me. She is an eloquent and expressive writer... I became curious of her since I watch Aldub videos every night to make me laugh and make this pregnancy fun and light--- have to be happy and not stressed according to friends :) 

So, going back, I am going to put more personal thoughts in this blog like I did before.

THE ACTUAL ENTRY:

Reading about blogs on  love gone wrong and the feeling of  helplessness and "dying" because your dreams of forever with that person has died kind of reminded me when I had my first broken heart. I wasn't that young already since I was in my 20's but it hurt a lot. Even if my claim on that relationship is 4-6 mos. only. Hahaha!

I was crazy in the aftermath and had a fleeting  of "I will wait you for you" drama even if I knew that I was dumped and it wasn't even a good relationship to begin with and with someone who barely shows who he is. I guess, I was tortured by my emotional investment. I prayed to God that I hope one day he bangs his head and realizes his mistake of letting me go.

There was even a point that I posted  the video of Sarah Geronimo's "I still believe in loving you"  and a friend cringed and commented "For heaven's sake, don't!".  I felt embarrassed by the comment but it was a wake up call to STOP holding on to my one sided and blind feelings.

So I went on with my life  and made sure I had some adventures and take risks in my career, in my masters and other aspects of my life. My prayers changed and I was asking God that if ever He will give me someone new to love I hope he would love me back in return. But I was not really that keen into having a new relationship. I was so focused on my career.

But God, has heard my prayers..so after 3 years, I met my bestfriend, my sweetheart, my husband and my lover. It was good He did not answer my prayers on getting back with the first one I prayed for but He did answer my petition on a new love. I got so much more than what I asked for, 

2 years ago my husband introduced me to Gath Brook's song - Unanswered Prayers and it all sums up how I felt with him... until now that we're about to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary about  a week from now. =)

So for those who are dying from broken hearts .. just wait... magdasal, enjoy life, accomplish more in life and darating din sya..... sa tamang panahon ;)

Stargazers

I love stargazers or as my Canadian cousin calls them , tiger lilies... not only because of their beauty but also the scent it imparts to the room when the flowers bloom. I am lucky to have been this plant by a friend on my birthday:

This was taken at the office. As you can see the flower buds did not bloom yet. And so I brought it home with me. After 5 days, i had this:

 Our room smelled amazing. And there were still 3 buds about to bloom. After 3 more days, the other buds bloomed and so I have this. Only one more left to open.

 Finally, all are open!

 

Right now, there's only one blossom left. The petals of the first flowers started falling when the last flower bloomed. I plan to keep the plant alive all throughout the years and I am researching how. I hope it would be a success.

These flowers reflect how loved I am by my friend and by God.

Country Road

My hubby and I have been scooter riding since we have been dating and spectacular views of mountains in Benguet or just cute cats along the road capture my attention.

During hot days, I appreciate riding under the canopies of trees such as this country road in Bineng, La Trinidad, Benguet - a 30-45 minute ride from Baguio City:

But it is also nice to ride around the city at  Camp John Hay, South Drive, Mines View and La Trinidad during night time when there is small volume of traffic and when the air is fresher and cooler.. I hope to post pics of of views we saw and see on the coming posts. 

Reconnecting Inside

Yesterday was a happy day for me despite the strong winds and nasty weather brought by Typhoon Odette in Baguio City.

Work was suspended by the mayor but I opted to go out and do my errands. After doing my errands I had lunch on my own, walked at Session Road and decided to have my hair cut and dyed. I bought some scratch lotto tickets and won 250 pesos after investing 70 pesos. :p 

For lunch, I tried eating a Ham and Cheese bread and coffee at Bread Talk. It was my first time to eat their bread. True! Because most of the time, when I am with my husband or friends, the place is always full and I am always hungry for heavy food. And let's admit it, I am a bit stingy with my money. Their bread is a bit pricey.

But boy, that bread is sure good. I understand completely why there are long lines at BreadTalk SM and in all their branches. And it was nice watching the bakers' bake bread while I sipped  my Cafe Latte.

I also enjoyed browsing books at National Bookstore and lingering in the craft stores.

I made a conscious effort to date myself yesterday because I missed doing things alone. I am an introvert. I am not shy. I am not afraid of speaking in public and confronting people but I enjoy being in solitude with myself. I am self-reflective although it is not so obvious. 

Before, in my pre-married life, I enjoyed crafts, books, staying at home, walking in the park by myself,  going out and eating out  and even watching movies by myself. But with my esposo with me,  I cannot do most of these things now because of other activities that we do together such as playing computer games, Wii, watching sports and movies at home and having other responsibilities.  I  enjoy tremendously being with him. However, once in  a while, I need to connect with my inner self and it is usually refreshing and energizing just like yesterday. :)

Angel of Hope and Prayer

For every delay for the past 2 years, I would excitedly test if  I get 2 red stripes. Sadly, it has always been 1.

I've been wishing and praying hard for those 2 red lines to appear on the strip. But every month, the results are always discouraging - the small pile of negative test strips is getting higher.

My cousin has shared to me this angel since it did wonders for her and her husband four years ago. Now they have a 3 year old boy. And they are passing the angel to me and hubby.

I am hoping that me and my husband's prayer..and our families' prayer will be finally heard. 

Lord, hear my prayer...

Lord, hear the prayer of thousands of women like me who wish to have their own child. Please grant our wish. :)

The Exhilaration of Finishing an Unfinished Business

Finally, my institutional research is done!!!

For the past 3 weeks I have sat on my chair in the faculty room finishing my institutional research. Colleagues keep on teasing me as to why I am in school when in fact I do not have any summer load this year.

I even worked on this at home last week. Sitting on my chair every night from 8 PM to 12 AM just so I can finish this. I play one game in Candy Crush for a break (damn, been stuck with Level 89 for days already!:p ). Last Sunday saw me seated on my chair the whole day as well. I just had a break to go to Church and have dinner with my hubby.

This was a backlog that took an entire year to finish. I worked on the first 2 chapters last year and it had to be finished that year but due to accreditation work I had to face and some school works for AY 2012-13, I never had time to sit on it.

And now that I have to take a semester off from school this year, I had to finish it before filing my leave.

Creating a research is tedious and tiring especially if you are still searching for the answers to your questions and the first hypotheses you have is not where the things you are studying are going to but somewhere else. Not only one somewhere else but plenty of somewhere else!! :p

But research is also fulfilling and  fun once you discover interesting things and you  know what to put in it. The ecstasy comes in when you can already see where you are supposed to be heading. 

This is the fourth research I have conducted aside from my Bachelor's Degree thesis and Master's Thesis degree. And I could say this was the most difficult institutional research for me ever! I even asked our Research Director if I can just change it because I was stumped with the topic I chose for 2 weeks. The answer was "NO" since my proposal was approved.

I wanted to get out of it because  the  more I dug deeper into facts, I knew I was in deep shit (or in quick sand -- for the prim and proper audience :p). My thought was I couldn't do this.And that helped me further from not doing it.

But when I realized I had to and I sat on it and concentrated on it,  I was able to make it and really got into it.

It was exhilarating to have it printed out this late afternoon and have it submitted early morning tomorrow. This is 81 pages of perspiration and hyperworked out brain cells. Let's not forget my aching shoulder and hands from typing and my sore butt from sitting.

Woohooo!!

Time to celebrate. My fourth research and maybe, my last? Right now, I just want to relish the victory with a KitKat.

Guitar Serenades

Once in  a while at least 2 times a week, my hubby would be playing beautiful background  music for me through his guitar while I browse the Web, read a book or while simply curling in bed near him . A very skilled guitarist, he never ceases to amaze me whit his talent and music.

Tonight he is playing the classical Air on a gstring. On any given night, it can be bluegrass, country, gospel, classical, modern.. but he is the best with classical music.

And with our wedding song, Moon River.

Lucky girl. That's me :)

Snatched Dates 2

Two cups of coffee  and Combos while waiting for the bus bearing the delivery we needed to bring home....

7-11's French vanilla coffee is our favorite :)

My tandem

My hubby loves to bike. He's been biking on trails, streets, mountains - everywhere since he was a kid.

Me? I don't know how.I can if the bike had a side car or balancer but to ride a bike with 2 wheels is a challenge for me because in the first place, I never attempted it. :p Hubby has been convincing me for three years already to learn to ride one. The problem is I am "always busy" and he is also "always busy" to teach me.

So, he came up with the idea of riding in tandem - that is, on a tandem bike. 

On the first attempt, I was nervous because he was the one doing the balancing and maneuvering while I should keep still with my arms and just match my pedaling with his.

On the second attempt, I was still nervous and we cruised on the short part of our flat street. My armpits and feet were a bit sweaty from my nerves. We were supposed to bike on Sunday on a track field but it was closed. I guess we need to  practice more on the street near our home.

I am hoping that I can be very good with this. For me to learn, I have to learn how to trust my hubby as my driver which somehow co-relates with our actual lives- to trust in him confidently that he will lead our marriage and lives in the right direction.

A teacher's fulfillment

A teacher's fulfillment comes from:

...students who live up to their potential:

...visits and invitations from alumni who chase their own dreams and fulfill them:

.. from knowing that you were able to teach your students well and you have made your mark:

A teacher's fulfillment comes from being with students and colleagues and having fun with them :)

Snatched Dates 1 - McDonalds Session Road

My husband and  I are both very busy as of the moment so setting a date can be difficult sometimes. That's the reason why when we go out on errands, we snatch a certain amount - 30 to 45 minutes of time -  to talk and eat while talking. 

So yesterday while looking for glucose strips for an uncle confined in the hospital we had an impromptu date at McDonald's Session Road. 

We were happy to be seated near the glass walls overseeing the traffic in Session Road. This brings back memories when my 2 cousins and I used to sit around that area eating our fries, coke and burger worth Php29 back then during college days. We made it a point to have a date every month or every 2 months.

:)  

Of course what me and my husband ate yesterday was so different with our preference -- and budget- back then with my cousins.

Honestly, we were famished since it was 9:00 PM when we had dinner. This is the view directly  along our line of view. Not much has changed since then except for the people  you see below. Before there were more or less 3 to 5 people we know who crosses this street. Now, not even one.

Bamboo Carving Exhibit

We had an opportunity to visit and enter  Baguio's white house because of the Ifugao Bamboo Carving Exhibit sponsored by the Philippine Bamboo Foundation and Tan Yan Kee Foundation. The exhibit was held as a tool for information and education campaign to reforest the Cordilleras. 

Most of the themes of the sculptures in bamboo revolve around the Cordilleran culture - the people, the houses, the practices, beliefs, etc.

These are some of the bamboo carvings that were displayed during the event:

 The one in the middle is a frog. You get the stick on the right side of the frog ( if you see a stick poking out, that's it :p) and then let it roll on the jagged edges found at the back of the frog. This mimics the croak of the frog..kokak kokak

 And then there's this chest with wheels... cute :)

There's this cute house also:

These are some other carvings that were made:

Some of the details of the carvings:

The swing of the figure on top really moves

 This one is from another carving... they love to swing :P

 front view:

side view 

These are from the exhibits found at the hands off area-- the white house's dining room:

don't piss the warrior or else  your head will be hanging in his hand 

For those who will be going up to Baguio this Lenten season, do visit the Bamboo exhibit to appreciate the talents of the Ifugao bamboo  carvers and to help in the reforestation efforts in  the Cordilleras. Entrance fee is Php 50 for adults and Php 30.00 for kids.

The exhibit is at the White House, along Leonard Wood Road before the Teacher's Camp Gate .

New blog, new perspectives

I am very excited to have my new blog!

It's been years since the last one - 8 years to be precise.

As I will be starting a new career some months from now - a career I am not sure I will love but have to do because of pragmatism- I had to think of things to do alongside it so that I will have a diversion. I remembered how passionate I was with blogging and how I wanted to be at it again. So, here it is.

In this blog, I aim to share everything that is good and positive. If there are troubles then I would have to post it with a good idea on how I have conquered it. Conquered. Done and successfully fought it. 

I want to focus on Baguio, on traveling, on food.....on all the good things . In short, this blog is all about the essence of life, love, fun, happiness, beauty --- all the wonderful, gorgeous things about life.

It would be fun if even just one soul would appreciate what I post but mainly, this is to express myself and to proclaim in shouting mode :p how I see, think, hear, taste and feel things.

Cheers! ^__^