My parents visited our house in Bulacan last weekend. We haven’t visited it for months now and so we really don’t know what the current condition of the house is. But since my parents have to run an errand somewhere near that area, they decided to drop by to check the house.

From outside it is still okay as we just replaced the roofing and the exterior is newly painted but my parents said that it needs a lot of work in the inside. Like we need to change the toilets in the rest room (good thing I saw some nice Toto toilets that is even on sale) and we have to replace most of the tiles in the kitchen sink and dining area.

Our housing loan will be finish in a few months time and I know that hubby is really prioritizing acquiring a new loan for the renovation of the house. The only question now is if we will be staying there for good once the renovation is finish (I am a city girl and I don’t think I can live in the province. LOL) or if we will start house hunting for our small house in the city.

What are the things that I am looking forward to in the coming days?

• In just five days, hubby is finally coming home after being away from us for three weeks.
• The long weekend so I can just stay at home and hopefully will be able to reflect and rest.
• Our weekend stay at Shangri-La next weekend.
• My loots containing the stuffs that I ordered online from Old Navy for Bela and baby boy.
• Family get together to celebrate my mom’s birthday.
• The result of the “big thing” that hubby has been looking forward to.
• Seeing my college friends on Sunday as I attend the Christening of the daughter of my good friend and kumapeng Mheng and his wife Krystel.
• The small Easter party that my Tita Jie will be preparing for the kids in our family.
• Hopefully our family’s summer outing will push through.
• Holy Week traditions that our family observe every year.

Hope every body will have a blessed Holy Week!

I was chatting with my friend from Los Angeles this morning. It was just a short chat as it is almost 5 PM already from her side of the world and it is time for her to go home. But I am glad that we were still able to catch up with each other’s lives even if we just chatted for just a couple of minutes. She has been very busy lately that I rarely catch her online especially she is busy taking care of her now one year daughter, Audrey.

It has been almost six years already since I last saw her. I had training in Canada back in 2004 and on our way back to Manila, Howell and I visited her in Los Angeles where we stayed there for more than a week. She was so glad that finally, a friend gets to visit her that is why she and her now husband even took a leave so they can take us to places in Los Angeles like the Universal Studios and my favorite of all, they treated us for a three days stay in Las Vegas.

It was my first time in Las Vegas and since we are both single then, Las Vegas was really the ultimate place where we can party and just be free and have fun. We stayed at Circus Circus hotel where we enjoyed their buffet breakfast everyday, we stroll along the Las Vegas strip, tried our luck in the Casino, did some shopping in the various Outlet stores along the Vegas strip, did some window shopping at the high end stores inside the casinos, and just have fun, fun, fun.

Gosh I miss those days. How I wish I can just pack my bags and head to Las Vegas again. Right now, the closest thing that I can get in having a taste of Las Vegas is playing some Online Roulette and trying my luck in playing Blackjack Online. I am seven months pregnant now and I am sure that we won’t be able to travel in the next one to two years so I guess this is all that I can do to bring back good memories when we were at Las Vegas.

But hubby is saving up for a US trip for our family. We are just waiting for another training of Howell and if baby boy is already old enough to travel, we will surely pack our bags and head to Las Vegas and Los Angeles again.

You can view more pictures of our Las Vegas adventure here.

Yesterday was our 12th year anniversary as bf-gf. Bad me because I completely forgot about it and hubby was even the one who first greeted me in advance yesterday.

Yup it has been 12 years already…Howell is not here with me right now to celebrate our anniversary as he still has 8 more days in Micronesia before he flies back to Manila but he never failed to amazed me with how creative he is to show how much he loves me. And this time, he struck my heart again after reading his blog post:

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A Dozen of Us
12 years! And you never forget to say “I love you” so what else can I ask for… I guess you really had me at hello…???

You might have gotten a few of your dreams, but there’s more to grab and the best thing about it is you don’t have to, I have it all planned out. Don’t get too excited; just remember these moments while you are wandering…

1. Before your graduation day, you ranked 13th but because I wanted to re-compute it in the dean’s office, you end up 18th…Good thing the list says Top 20.
2. Did you know that your one of the few that ever climbed Mayon Volcano and rush down in about an hour because it’s erupting…? Hands up to you!
3. On your wedding day, another bride said thank you for your fireworks because her guests thought of it as theirs… ‘Loved that scene…
4. You don’t want to ride the gondola in Vegas because you wanted the real thing and so you did… Only after five years…
5. Speaking of lucky, you were able to ride the Maid of the Mist the last day it’s open to public for winter season…What a view ey!
6. You did not bought the Sex and the City tour package because you thought you know the streets and location only to find out that most are on the studio… But I had a great time walking… Next time, just get one with Bela…

7. You became “complete” the moment you held Ysabela her in your arms…
8. Did you know that you’ve climbed two masterpieces of Gustave Eiffel, the Lady in Green and Tower of Dancing Lights
9. After a good lunch, you gave a waiter a tip which you thought as 5 euros only to realize its equivalent is only 10 pesos. Go back there, pay your due! It’s the resto in-front of Copernicus’ Clock…
10. What can I say; you’re the greatest travel companion I’ve known. Just a little review on your world history. Anyway, I’m your tourist guide most of the time so no worries…
11. You’re so afraid of buying properties and now you’re gonna have three…four… more… Aren’t you glad you made those decisions? Just stay humble…
12. And now, you gonna have a Mama’s boy… Ain’t something amazing?

Love u mom! More than words can say!

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I love you too so much dad, “I love you beyond the stars” and I am really thankful that God has made our paths cross. If I have to live my life again, I will choose the same path and I will still choose you as my husband. I feel very lucky to have you beside me. I know I really don’t deserve the love that you are giving me but still you love me unconditionally….Hope you won’t change….Happy Anniversary!!

Before I continue reading carinsurancelist blog, let me post here first about our upcoming adventure. Well actually we are not going that far as I only booked an overnight stay at Makati Shangri-La. Howell asked me to look for a hotel in the Makati area where we can spend our weekend a few days after he arrives from his three-week stint in Micronesia. This will be our first time here and when I checked their website, they have a nice and big swimming pool so that alone guarantees a fun stay as I am sure Bela will really have fun.

Howell is still asking me though to check if I can still book a room at Camayan Beach Resort since Bela has been asking us to take her to the beach but I am not sure though if I can still book a room at such a short notice since it is the peak of the summer months already. But anyway, our reservation at Makati Shangri-La is already confirmed for April 10 – 11 so at least we are sure that we have somewhere to go already.

Thinking about this vacation makes me excited already but what makes me more excited is the fact that in just a few days, Howell will be right here beside us again and I really can’t wait already.

I posted in a previous entry here that we are having a baby boy for our second child. Howell and I are really excited. It has been almost five years already since I gave birth to Bela so it is like we are first time parents again. LOL.

Even if Howell is away, we have been discussing already on what name we should give our baby boy. We actually already agreed on a name but I will keep it as a secret for now.

I also started buying stuffs for our baby. I went to Hello baby store in Bel-air a few weeks ago and I am almost complete with all the baby clothes that my baby needs. Next on my shopping list now are:

1. We will be checking out baby strollers as we wanted to buy a smaller and lighter stroller that we can conveniently bring every time we travel or for short trips to the mall. Bela has the Graco stroller, which was given to her by her grand parents, but it is bulky and heavy that we end up just leaving it at home every time we go out.
2. BPA free bottles. I might just order this online as it is cheaper compared to buying it at the local stores here.
3. Breast Pump. I am not successful in breastfeeding Bela but I really wanted to give it a try for our second baby and hopefully I will be successful this time.

We are really counting the days so we can finally get to see, touch, hug and kiss our baby boy.

I am really happy today because Howell and I got to talk in Yahoo Messenger and see him via web cam. Howell was so happy too to see us especially her precious daughter and Bela even sang a song for him and recited the “All Things bright and Beautiful” poem. We chatted for an hour I think while the web cam was pointed at Bela so Howell can see what her daughter was doing while we are chatting.

But still I can’t wait for April 6 to come so we can see Howell again as I still find our situation difficult to bear because even though I know she will be coming back soon, I can't help but think about him all the time and miss him terribly. So I told hubby that there is no way that I will let him work abroad. Otherwise I might grow old fast thinking about him and the situation that I will need to try the top rated wrinkle creams listed on the site topwrinklecreams.net (click here to find out more about it).

I was able to talk to him again this evening and he said that he will go online again tomorrow at noon so we can see each other again even it is just via web cam. Hay, I can’t really wait for April 6 to come….

My next check up was supposed to be scheduled on April 10, but because of the accident that I had (which I blog here) last Sunday, I decided to take a leave from work Monday to have another ultrasound and Tuesday to visit my OB.

As per my last ultrasound, I am now on my 25th week and my expected date of delivery is June 23, 2010. I can’t believe that time flies so fast and in less than three months, we will finally be able to see our baby boy.

Hubby and I have been discussing and we promised that we really have to work hard and save to provide for the needs of our kids especially now that our family is growing, Problem is, hubby and I doesn’t know how to be frugal. LOL. But we heard that there are software programs available that can help us manage our family’s finances and budget. I was checking the site HomeBudgetSoftware.org and they reviewed and analyzed budget software that are out in the market to recommend the best home budget software to their customers that will really work and will really help their costumers manage their budget better.

All parents want but nothing but the best for their kids. All we wish for is that we will be able to provide for their basic needs, send them to good schools, give them extra curricular activities that will help develop their personality and raise them as responsible and God fearing individual so they will be ready to face whatever challenges life will bring them.

We took Howell to the airport last Tuesday night for his three weeks Temporary Duty to Kolonia, Micronesia. I hate it every time Howell has to leave. I know it is work and I can’t do anything about it and I know he has done this many times already, but still I don’t think I will ever get used to it. In fact, I haven’t had any decent sleep at all since he left because I can’t stop thinking about him (call me corny and cheesy or over acting but I guess that's how attached we are to each other). If only I am not pregnant, I would have use acne home remedies already because I am having acne breakouts again because of these sleepless nights. (I actually checked the site of BestAcneRemedies.net and what I like about them is that they actually evaluate each of the acne remedy products and they gather thousands of customer reviews before listing on their site the top 5 acne remedies which means that the products that they are recommending are reliable).

I received an email from him Wednesday afternoon and I was really glad and thankful that he arrived there safely. I actually checked his flight status from Manila to Guam and the plane arrived seven minutes early than the schedule but I did not get a confirmation for his Guam – Kolonia flight so I feel relieved after reading his email, because at least I know he arrived there safely.

Hubby kept on telling me that three weeks is just fast and before I know it, he is already on his way back home to Manila. I keep counting the days and wishing that hubby is already home as we are missing him terribly already…

We spent our weekend last week at Pan Pacific Manila. Howell has been bugging me to go on a vacation before he leaves but since we really have a busy schedule on the last two weeks that he was in Manila, we were not able to go out of town. And so, just to have a change in atmosphere, we decided to book an overnight stay at Pan Pacific Manila for some quality bonding time. Below are some pictures:

(Just look at my pimples and acne. If only I am not pregnant I would have tried any of the best acne treatment form the top 10 list that I found on bestacnetreatment.net. The treatment listed from this site is very reliable as they only recommend products that has been tested to be safe and effective, have received good feedback and reviews from their customers, and is affordable).

We left the house around 11 AM and we just had lunch at Wok Inn in Malate. We went straight to Pan Pacific after eating lunch and though check-in is still at 2 PM and it is only past 1 PM when we arrived, they still allowed us to check in early.

I unpacked our things while Bela is busy exploring our rooms and is enjoying watching Animal Planet while Howell took a nap. Around 3:30, we went to the pool area where Bela and Howell enjoyed a dip at the pool. There area number of other children there swimming and so we really had a hard time asking Bela to get off the water. It was already 6 PM when Howell and Bela took a shower and then we went to Robinson’s Place for dinner. We ate at Banana Leaf and then I went inside the mall to buy Bela’s PJs as I forgot hers at home and she won’t go to sleep without her PJs on while Bela and Howell did some shopping at Toys R’ Us. We went back to our hotel around 9 PM and we all went to sleep right away after a very long day.

The next day, we had breakfast at the Pacific Lounge around 9 AM and then went to the Pacific Grand Ballroom to watch the Pacquaio – Clottey fight. We thought that the main match will start at 10 AM but it was already 1 AM when the match between Pacquaio and Clottey started. Bela was enjoying the fight at first but she got a bit bored after waiting for more than three hours already and she can’t wait to have a dip at the pool. So I did not get to finish the fight and I went to the pool area with Bela so she can still swim for a few more minutes before we head to Philam Life Theater for her moving Up Day ceremony.

It was just a simple vacation but Bela really had a time of her life. She kept on saying that she wants to stay there forever. Hay, if only we can afford to…LOL.

You can view more pictures here.

Finally, the last installment for our SG – KL adventure last year (I know, this is a much delayed post already. But as the cliché goes, better late than never, right?).

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It is the last day of the conference and at the end of the day, we are scheduled for VIP tour at the Sky Bridge of the Petronas Tower. Since it is a VIP tour, no kids are allowed so I was not able to include Howell and Bela for this VIP tour.

Howell and Bela just went to the KLCC mall which is near the Petronas Tower after having breakfast. We were told by a friend that they have to be there early to line up to get the free tickets to go up the Sky Bridge. The ticket is free but is limited as they are only giving away 200 tickets per day. Howell and Bela were lucky as they were able to get the last two tickets for that day. Instead of going back to our hotel, they just decided to explore KLCC mall and the park near the mall. Bela played in the play ground and Howell was not able to stop her when she decided to take a dip at the pool. I was really laughing when I saw the picture as she was just wearing her underwear since Howell did not bring with them her swimsuit (eh malay ban yang may pool don. LOL).

The ticket that they got for the Sky Bridge tour is at 6 PM and they will be toured at the 41st floor of the twin tower. I on the other hand will be at the 42nd floor of the Sky Bridge for the VIP tour almost the same time as Howell and Bela’s schedule. We (the conference participants) were all hoping that we can go up to the top part of the tower since it is a VIP tour but the tour only includes the tour of the sky bridge. They are also very strict as I was hoping that I can go down at the 41st floor to meet with Howell and Bela but I was informed that for security reasons, I have to go down at the ground floor again and check if there are still tickets to allow me to go up the 41st floor. So I just met up with Howell and Bela after our tour inside the mall.

After meeting up with Howell and Bela, we went to the park as hubby said that we can take good pictures with the Petronas tower as our background from the park. Then we had dinner at CPK, bought some souvenirs at the Petronas Tower souvenir shop then went back to our hotel so we can still have some rest before leaving at 9 PM for our 1 AM flight.

We booked the cab driver that took us from our hotel to the mall that day to take us to the airport that night and he was the most generous driver I have ever met. Imagine, he treated us for some snacks as Howell mentioned how much we like Roti Canai and so he decided to treat us for authentic Roti in a restaurant near the airport. We are paying for the meal but he insisted that it is his treat for us.

We were still early for our flight but I have another boo-boo – we went to the wrong airport again. LOL. I asked my colleague who lives in KL since there is no terminal indicated again in our ticket and she told me that all international flights are at the International Airport and so that is where we asked our driver to take us only to find out when we are already inside that there is a budget terminal again for Cebu Pacific (gosh, I really hate Cebu Pacific now). So we took a cab again to take us to the Budget Terminal and thank goodness we still have enough time to catch out flight.

Bela was asleep the whole flight and she only woke up when we are already at the Manila airport. It was a nice vacation and I am really glad that we decided that Howell and Bela will join me for this trip.

You can view more pictures here.

We received a call from my grandfather’s sister the other day and she told us the bad news that her brother (our grandfather) was diagnosed to have stage 4 cancer. He is our grandfather who is living in our house in Bulacan and he is one of the closest relatives we have so we are deeply saddened by the news.

He is the second in our family who have been diagnosed with Cancer. The first one was my aunt (the sister of my mom) who died of cancer also. That is why my husband and I are really trying our best to live a healthy lifestyle because it is one way to help prevent cancer. We have also been reading about colon cleanse products and have been reading the unbiased product reviews from Coloncleanser.net. Thank goodness for this site as they already reviewed and listed the top five colon cleanse products out of the hundreds that are sold in the market. At least we won’t have a hard time already looking for the best product for us.

My grandfather is now undergoing chemo therapy and we are continuously praying that his condition will improve. Hope you can include my grandfather in your prayers too.

Last night, my sister together with her group mates slept at our house so they can work on their thesis overnight. I can see myself a few years back looking at my sister and her classmate. My thesis group mates are also like them who work double time and would be lucky enough to get 4 hours max of sleep just so we can finish our thesis.

I think their thesis is the only requirement that they have to comply before they can qualify for graduation. Soon, my sister will be out looking for jobs and I am sure she will not have a hard time finding one as Computer Science graduates are really in demand. Thanks also to job hunting sites like beyond.com where my sister can post her resume, find a job and get contacted my employers who wants to fill a job opening in their company.

I am sure my sister can’t wait to get out of school and be part of the professional world. At least that is how I felt when I was already on my 5th year in college as a Computer Engineering student. It would really be nice to earn my own money and not depend on my parents and I get to practice the skills that I learn from school.

My friend is already bored with her current job right now. She feels that she needs a new environment and a new adventure so she will get the inspiration again to go to work.

Our common friend recently enrolled in one of Regency Beauty Institute’s schools and so she is suggesting that my other friend enrolled here too so she can get the best training in beauty and fashion which can help her get a job in the beauty industry. Our common friend mentioned also that Regency Beauty Institute is a very affordable cosmetology school so my friend doesn’t have to worry about the tuition fee. Regency Beauty Institute also has the best facilities so my friend will be guaranteed to get the best beauty and cosmetology training. They are even connected to salon and spa owners so they can help their students after graduating to get a job. They even set up an online job seeking site so their students can search for jobs even at the comfort of their own home.

My friend was really happy when she heard about Regency Beauty Institute because it finally gave her hope in finding a new career.

This weekend will be our last weekend before Howell leaves for Kolonia for a temporary duty there for three weeks. He wanted to go out of town to spend some bonding time with us. He wanted to stay for overnight either in Subic or Batangas from Friday to Saturday but we just realized that Bela can’t be absent from school on a Friday because it is their general rehearsal. We can’t leave on a Saturday also as it is Bela’s Moving Up Day on Sunday.

So Howell just suggested that we check in to one of the hotels in Manila and so we booked an overnight stay at Pan Pacific hotel. It is also a good choice since they also have a viewing of the Pacquio-Clottey fight Sunday morning (the ticket is just a hundred bucks higher than the price in SM and it even comes with brunch and drinks). And since Pan Pacific is just near Philam Life Theater (the venue for Bela’s Moving Up Day), we won’t be late for the ceremony even if we will still watch the Pacquio-Clottey fight.

As I am typing this post, Bela and Howell is enjoying a dip at the pool then we will have dinner later at Robinson’s Place. Bela is just so happy and is really having the time of her life. Good Times!!

After our ultrasound yesterday and after learning that we will be having a baby boy, hubby and I got really inspired to work harder and save more for the future of our kids.

Our conversation then went to looking for investment options. Hubby said that it has been a hot topic in his office that it is the best time to buy gold coins since the dollar is not doing well in the market. Because of this, the value of gold is increasing so it is really the perfect time to make gold investments.

We immediately did some research and discovered the site of US Gold Bureau. US Gold Bureau can teach us how to invest in gold and can help us decide what gold investment is best for us. They have the best and experienced staff so we will be sure that we will get the best gold value in the market.

Hubby and I are really serious in making new investments this year and we believe with gold, we can never go wrong.

January 29, 2005 was the day I promised forever to Howell. We had a Lord of the Rings themed wedding since Howell proposed to me in front of hundreds of people during the Lord of the Rings premier night at Cinema 10 in SM Megamall.

We did not go all the way for the LOTR theme but we just had some things for the wedding where we followed the LOTR concept like the tables names (which we based on the places from the LOTR book). We also have a signature card and signature frame with me and Howell dressed up like Aragorn and Arwen. Too bad I did not learn about exclusivelyweddings.com when I was still preparing for our wedding so I can order one of their wedding cake toppers which I can even personalized based on our theme. What we did then was just ordered an LOTR toys online and that is what we use for our cake topper. It would have been nicer if we have a personalized cake topper from exclusivelyweddings.

But honestly, we really did not have a perfect wedding. There were a lot of glitches and boo-boos but are friends are wondering since we are all smiles all throughout the ceremony. Who could ask for anything more when finally I already tied the knot with the love of my life.