Disneyland California 2017

Well, this is a long overdue post here in my page. So here it is…

Disneyland, the happy place on earth. Siyempre everyone wants to go and we finally got our chance to. For those who would tell you that your kids are too young and they will not remember a thing, DON’T MIND THEM! IT was a delight to see on the eyes of a child how Mickey and Minnie Mouse come to life. You will not regret it so if you can, save na and go!

Mahaba habang kwento ito kase five days.. hope you reach the end..

I always plan our travel six months or more. Kung pwede ng a year of planning, ginagawa ko talaga to have myself prepared. Especially big money and isishell out so kelangan thorough planning talaga. Pinterest had been my bestfriend on this. Most ideas, tips and tricks I got from Pinterest.

PLANE TICKETS:

I bought our tickets through Orbitz.com. This site is my go to site talaga for plane tickets. I always get good ticket deals plus I never had any problem. I chose American Airlines. I flew before using this airline and okay naman ang service nila. Me free food and mababait ang mga employee. Total price of our tix was around $600 for 3 seats. My son since he is 3 may bayad na while my daughter is lap seat so libre pa.

Cons: I haven’t flown that long I guess na marami ng changes sa plane rides due to such and such kaya two days prior to departure, I checked in and I saw na magkakahiwalay kami ng seat. Well kami ni Gabriel magkasama and then my husband was separated. Not unless I pay for the seats then I guess magkakatabi kami.

Me bayad na din ang luggages. I thought na first luggages were free. Each checked in luggage is $25.00. I guess this were the part na I did not really look into kase I paid a pricey plane ticket na.

Tip: There are budgeted airlines in US domestic flights. I will go for Southwest which includes 2 free checked in luggage. Cons eh di mo mapipili seats mo. Other budgeted airlines are Frontier, Virgin America, Spirit Airline wherein you pay for your luggage and seat but your plane fare itself will not really cost more than $200 if you search early for tickets.

For those who have kids: prepare new toys for your kids. I went to dollar store and bought new coloring book at gumawa din ako ng lego kit. Picture in comment box. Patakbuhin din ng patakbuhin ang mga bata para mapagod. Bring their security toy/blanket. My little girl’s security blanket is a queen size and hassle man dahil sobrang laki but we brought it with us. Bring suckers for little kids para sa pag take off at ng di sila magcomplain about earpain. One of the mommies in the plane approached me and told me she used to put hydrogen peroxide on her daughter’s ears para mawala ear pain. I wasn’t able to concentrate if meron pa ba iba inilalagay or what so Im not sure about this one.

Moving on, we were sick the day before our trip. Though I didn’t prepare to be sick, I still brought my emergency medicine kit- Tylenol infant and child. Benadryl for kids, Tylenol for adults, Motrin for kids, Immune booster, cough syrup, Manzanilla, Tera Honey. I always bring this on all our travel kahit pa overnight or kabilang state lang. It is super indeed helpful. Salamat din sa prayers ninyo kase by Tuesday night, we were able to start enjoying our trip.

I hired Lansky services to pick and drop us off the airport. They offer car seats kaya super convenient. I preferred to just stay around Disneyland kase ayoko magrent ng car dahil poproblemahin ko pa rin ang car seat. Knowing California, I am also afraid to drive on their expressway- traffic, the fast and slow lane. Anyways, the trip is for the kid kaya sabi ko we will stay in Disneyland na lang. Lansky driver is mabait. Chinese ata mayari nito kase singkit mga driver. Malinis din ang car. Very convenient. I didn’t go for Uber kase car seat again. Safety first. Madali lang transaction with them. I just emailed and they reply right away. I asked them about how to reserve and then they make an invoice. You can pay thru paypal or credit card. Pick up is $80.00 and it includes one stop over to a nearby grocery store. Drop off is $75. They help naman with your luggage din.

ON CHOOSING A HOTEL:
We were suppose to stay at Best Western Plus along Harbor blvd kaya lang nagkuripot pa ako. The price per room then was $130.00 and I was hoping na magmumura pa siya. I wasn’t able to reserve our rooms not until 3weeks prior to departure and because of that, naubusan na kami ng rooms and the price increased as well. We ended up staying in Fairfield Inn by Marriott.

Pros with Best Western Plus:
• It is right across Disneyland entrance, by the stoplight.
• They offer free continental breakfast.

At Fairfield Inn, it is a half mile away from entrance of Disneyland. Pang- apat na hotel ata siya from the stoplight. Inside the hotel is Pizza hut on the third floor. Me maliit na pool, heated water. Me jacuzi din. We had a king size bed. Sakto for a family of four. Malinis. Everyday din sila naglilinis at nagpapalit ng towels and whatever you need. Other hotels I know don’t clean your rooms everyday not unless you requested it. Only problem was we found a one bed bug. Dahil sa kalikutan ni Gabriel. SO parang di siya ganon kaganda at kalinis dahil sa bug? They are renovating their above floors din so sa umaga me maririnig ka na magpukpok or something pero minimal pa rin. Me laundry area each floor. Each cycle cost $1.50. You need quarters if you need to do laundry.

Around the area of the hotel, in front is Panera Bread, few walk up north is Mcdonalds, Captain Grill. Another mile away is Anaheim mall- maliit lang na puro kainan. I saw Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs (we had dinner here). Marami pa iba kainan. Marami pa rin hotels along this road. Harbor Blvd is the area to go if you want to stay closest to Disneyland entrance talaga.

DISNEYLAND

We bought a five day park-hopper ticket that cost us $990. Walang bayad si Claire since she is less than 3. If I only knew earlier, pwede pa rin sanang walang bayad si Gabriel since he is so small. HE could pass for a two year old. Since we have five day tickets, meron kaming magic morning pass where we can go earlier for an hour prior to opening. Okay to for picture taking purposes dahil less people. Mas mabilis din magrides pag siempre kokonti ang tao.
Despite having five days there, feeling ko kulang pa rin. Towards the end of the week na namin narealize na let’s do this, let’s do that. Kase nga wala kaming plans of what to do. Basta play it by ear lang kung ano mangyari.

Tips:

1. Prepare your itinerary. (a) are you just going to see the characters (b) magrarides ba?

For the characters- download the Disney app so you can see what time the characters will come out and where will you see them. It really helps at least alam mo kung san ka pupuwesto at maghihintay instead na magikot ng magikot kahahanap sa kanila. Allow at least 10-15minutes for each character to line up. Pwede magpapicture gamit ang sariling camera dun sa official photographer. IN respect, tanggapin mo din ang photopass na ibibigay sa iyo. Magprepare din ng camera for some characters doesn’t have their official photographer as well.

For rides- me mga fast pass. We didn’t use this kase nagrides lang kami sa konti pila. PInakamahabang pila naming is Autopia. We did the Nemo Submarine, Ariel, Casey’s Junior Train, Storybook Land (gusto ko ito), carousels etc. For those with small kids, wag ninyo na ipilit iyong ayaw nila na rides. Like my kids don’t like anything spinning so kahit gusto ko magteacup, ayaw ko na since nakakahilo naman din talaga.

2. GO for a dining package that includes World of Color or the fireworks. It is so worth it to see the World of Color at California adventure. We were supposed to see this Monday on Gabriel’s birthday but we reschedule kase nga super sama ng pakiramdam namin. Thank goodness kase nacancel nila ang show that night since it was windy and very cold. And yes they could cancel a show. The next day we went and me choice sila for less wet or more wet. IF you think hilig mo magvideo, dun ka na tumayo sa may railings/more wet area. Mist lang naman talaga siya and ano ba naman iyong konting basa although it is just a mist. Prepare to bring na lang some blanket/jackets just incase and malamig din sa gabi so just be ready. We went and they were celebrating the lunar new year so they included a chinese story pa prior to World of Color. Basta this is a must see
3. The Electrical parade- paiba iba ata name nito depend on the season but it is still a parade at night with the characters. Ours started at 7pm. If you want a good spot, camp out at least two hours prior. Again, bring blankets. Maganda din ito. Pero super loyal ako sa World of Color or baka mas nauna ko nakita si World of Color kaya so-so na lang si parade.
4. Disneyland Fireworks.- Waley kami dito. Again, go for a dining package para magkaroon kayo ng reserve seats for best place para sa fireworks. Their fireworks were scheduled only for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Since low season, hindi siya everyday but I guess pag peak season, everyday ang fireworks. The best spot for the fireworks is in front of the castle. And we have this best spot kase we camped out 4hours prior. And then it RAINED!. Nabasa lahat ng blanket namin that we ended up going home instead. Di na naming tyinaga kahit last night na. More reasons to go back.
5. Dining- mahal food inside the park but our must have’s: Corn on a cob sa stall near Cinderella’s castle. Me chimi-changas din. Bengal Barbeue in Jungle Safari area is a must have. Super sarap nung spicy and chili nila. Meron din silang sweet (banyan). And the Safari skewer is a must too kase pantanggal sawa iyong asparagus nila. Mas prefer koi to kesa Vegetable skewer. Sa California Adventure meron Korean food (not sure if its only there because of the lunar new year pero meron sila pho, kimchi, barbecue grill.

Thank you to Macy at nilabas niya kami sa Disneyland. Hahahaha. We went to Anaheim Packing District. Iba iba food. Pinasosyal na food court. Masarap ang food and we really enjoyed eating away from the hotel. Sayang me malapit dawn a Chowking, nakakain sana ng siomai. Next time, itatarget koi to.

6. Shopping- mahal magshop peros siyempre masarap pa rin mamili sa Disney ng pasalubong. Mura ang mga pens. Mahal for me ang keychain ($6-7.00). Jackets are worth $40-50. I wasn’t able to see ang mga ref magnets. I am not into pins kaya di ako tumingin. Collectibles are so good kaya lang iniisip ko mababasag kaya I refrain myself from buying any except for the ornaments which I really collect.

There are two big shops for souvenirs. One is the World of Disney, along Disneyland Drive, right before you enter the parks and the other one is the shop sa dulo inside ng California adventure. Meron pa rin naman ibang shops na maliliit or specific shops like the one na puro astronaut sa may Tomorrowland or puro princesess sa Hollywood blvd inside California Adventure.

Thank you to Macy kase sabi niya pwede palitan ang balloons pag nagpop as long as you have the weights. Our balloons pop nung tumama sa ceiling ng hotel and we were able to get new balloons. A regular balloon is $9. Iyong umiilaw na balloon is $15.

Sinabihan din ako ng cashier nung bumili ako ng bubbles na if in case masira or di kasya iyong mga sunglasses for the kids that I can return it. Siguro the difference of buying inside eh matagal ang buhay kase nakailang bend na dun sa mga sunglasses eh hindi pa rin sila napuputol.

7. What to bring inside: Bawal ang wagon. Sayang lang ang pagdala namin kase di rin nagamit. We ended up renting stroller. 2 for $25. Thank you din ke Macy kase pinahiram niya kami ng stroller. It pays to know a N@Wie all over talaga. Our savior si Macy. Sabi nga ng asawa ko super bait daw. Kung super close daw talaga kami.. ☺

Bawal din ang trolley bag not unless you bring it like a handbag. Muntik na ipagbawal ang aming tripod. Buti na lang pumayag ang isang guard.

Bring water. Bring small snacks. Para pag nagutom, hindi palaging bibili inside the park.

Bring umbrella. Hayyyy iyong last day naming I trusted too much at di ako naniwalang uulan. WE have kapote and umbrella sa hotel. The temperature during our whole stay was in 50-70’s. Paglabas ng hotel, malamig, by the time we reach the park, pawisan na kami. At the end of the day, malamig na din so a light jacket will do. ☺

Bring a blanket. Always, always helpful. Pangcover sa kung anuman.

Wear comfortable shoes. There’s a lot of walking.

911

decluttering my house and I found this poem from St Paul’s Chapel.

Beauty and the Beast

Well, first off, if you have not watched the movie, DO NOT CONTINUE reading. I would give a lot of disclaimers because I can’t seem to sleep it off another night. Again DO NOT CONTINUE READING. But if you watched the movie, feel free to read and maybe we have same insights of the movie.

Maybe this is my first movie review in writing. And I am just a regular viewer. I seldom watch movies. I am not a real movie critic.

I love Beauty and the Beast. I watched it many times as a kid. I bought many cd’s and DVD’s and watched it over and over. I watched the play and still amaze on “BE my Guest”. I still get goosebumps when I hear the song “Beauty and the Beast”. I find myself singing with it. My next one is Snow White because of the seven dwarfs and “Hi-Ho, Hi-HO”. OH I love Dopey. When everyone is so in love with Cinderella and her castle, I barely care especially that blue dress gown she had. Who cares about the Prince? Well, this is not about them. This is about Belle, the weird, strange lady from the village. and the Beast.

I always believe that there is always something good on everyone. No matter how ugly one can be, there is something good on this person. He couldn’t be all that bad. Second chances. Trust. Choosing kindness despite.

When the news came out that my all time favorite Disney movie will come into life, I was so elated. Finally. They had Rapunzel, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and Cinderella of course, portrayed into movies, they seemingly forget Beauty and the Beast. But Spring 2017 is the day. And who doesn’t love Hermione Granger? I saw her grew up in Harry Potter, again one of my fave series movies/ book. She couldn’t be the perfect character. It’s her time to be given a chance to be other than Hermione Granger.

Months before the movie was shown, some well known critics have said that Emma Watson doesn’t fit to be Belle. And I just shrugged off this idea. For me, she is just perfect. This is Emma Watson. Hermione Granger. And the teaser came out.

“You can talk?”

And then of course there are these gay issues by more critics that came out prior to release of the movie. That it would not be good for kids and blah blah because Lefou is gay.. That there was a scene that Gaston and Lefou’s faces are too close to each other, they seem like they will be kissing each other. Baloney.

Well, here’s to the second scene, where Belle is coming out to this little town singing. It doesn’t seem like Emma Watson singing the song. Oh I love the secondary characters. They spent a lot of money dressing them up. They really look like the one from the old movie. They did very well. But Belle, her face doesn’t fit. The eye expression that should show more desire of progress on her little town.

Oh Gaston! I never find him good looking then but on this movie, he is so handsome #pogialert. How could he be? And when he sang, he hit all the notes. I love the part when he was saying words of praise, only to find out he is talking to himself in the mirror. This is a funny part of the movie.

Lefou was portrayed to be gay, showing admirations to Gaston, telling the three ladies that they will never had a chance to Gaston. I remember on the old movie, Lefou’s eyes twinkle whenever he look at Gaston. He idolized him a lot. I still love the song “Gaston”. I guess because he is gay in this movie, so he talks so soft. I think Josh Gad made justice to Lefou. The loyalty to Gaston and trying to do what is right. You can see it in the movie. The gay issues is not really noticeable if you don’t think about it.

And so Belle entered the castle. She seemed not scared. I saw Hermione Granger trying to fight, seek Voldemort. I didn’t see a different Emma Watson here. She’s like “I am ready to fight you, whoever you are”.

“Be my Guest”. Aren’t you supposed to be surprised on all these plates flying around? Where is the face? The amusement on Belle’s eyes? Where is “WOW”. She was just smiling there. It’s like “Okay, you fly. someone is singing”. She was not fed in the movie. They took the steak even before the first bite. Then they gave her a little cake. Oh well, guess that’s how it supposed to but WHY is she not amazed?? The secondary characters are amazing. They did a fantastic job. The production is well played. The song is still enchanting. The cakes and candles and feathers and what not are all “wow”. Except for Belle.

The library scene. At start of the movie she went on the village library with only 5, maybe 10 books. And Belle was shown this huge library, and she just STANDS there. She didn’t even touch the books? The face again of amusements and wonder? “WOW”. She didn’t climb the ladder and see what kind of books are there. She was given this how many storeys library and late reaction where she just laughed?

The yellow gown. The well known yellow Beauty gown. Didn’t I say they spend a lot of money for these secondary characters dresses and they all look like the one from the old movie? How come the yellow gown looked like they didn’t have that much money anymore? SO simple with a little embellishments, its not really noticeable. I guess they layered the gown so when she twirls, it would look good. She seems like she’s going to fall anytime when she was dancing though.

And for goodness sake, isn’t she cold? Why would you come out to the veranda with just your gown on a freezing weather? NO coat, for real? And it didn’t only happen once. There were many scenes that she was wearing her blue dress outside the freezing weather with no sweater on. OKAY.

And I don’t see her eyes in love with the beast.

How come the petal fell already and it took many minutes before she said “I love you”? Well i guess, it is to show that other living creatures will turn into antiques first.

So there it is. I still love this movie. I wanted to watch it again, maybe Belle will  be better the second time. Maybe I will see what I am looking for. Otherwise, right now, the movie is so-so for me.

52 Week Challenge

Here we are again. The 52 week challenge. This is my third year trying to complete the 52 week challenge. I am hoping that on this third year I will be able to accomplish it with pride.

It’s been really a challenge. I thought it was easy but as months went by, I wasn’t able to fulfill the requirement of depositing money on the account.

The first year I bought a mini-bank with a lock. Told myself I will put the keys somewhere I will not see so I will not be able to open it. I think I even gave it to my mother. I decided to do a $50 dollar increment. It wasn’t a success. Money was tight. BY mid year, I asked for the key and used the money I saved for half the year.

Second year came and me and husband decided to do the challenge. We challenged ourselves more by buying a vase. It is open so we should be able to defer the temptation of getting the money since it is accessible. It was good at first. We did the reversed $50 increment. Money is great at the start of the year due to tax returns and less expenses due to winter season. We are bound to stay home and not go out. Again, midyear, we have to use the money for the bills and other expenses we eventually had.

So this is the third year. I used just an empty bottle from one of my snacks and decided I will just do a $25 weekly deposit. It wasn’t the increment type and the original way of doing the 52 weeks but I am still hoping that I would be able to finish the 52 weeks depositing twenty five dollars weekly. At the end of the year, I should be able to save $1300.

I have noticed on the last two years that I probably am being too hard on myself trying to produce a big amount of money each month to save and yet my salary wasn’t even that big. I guess I wasn’t realistic enough. At first 50 each week is easy but when the increments go up, that’s when it gets really hard to make more.

I still don’t know where I will use the money but I just wanted to be able to see if I am able to save such amount. I know I can save such amount. But I really wanted to instill discipline to myself. I am excited. So let’s see. I am hoping I could give you my best progress at the end of the year.

Changing Lanes

It’s been a while since I have been in this job. I have made friends, maybe got someone pissed but I know for sure I had a family here. But life brings a lot of change and people do change as well. It saddened me that I have to leave this place. The regrets I have is because I would miss the people I worked with every night. They are wonderful. They are the most amazing and absolutely caring people I have known.

Change. The only thing constant in this world. Maybe I just really needed that pushed over so that I could realize how much my worth is. I know in my heart that the new place would bring me a new hope. A better perspective on things. A lot of learning. A lot of challenges as well. But I know as well that those challenges that I will soon have, I know they will keep me growing. It will be hard but that is how life is. The fruit of this journey wouldn’t be as sweet if I don’t sweat to let it grow. I should embrace it.

Letting go is the only way to moving on. Not unless we forget to let go of the past things that we didn’t want to have happened to us, then we wouldn’t be able to move on. There is greater glory in everything.

Silent no More

 

I am not a registered Filipino voter. But my heart is Filipino.

Like many Filipinos, everyone has been talking about the Philippine politics. Who will be the President? Who will be the next person everyone will call Honorable?

I pity my beloved country. It seems that there is no great person that could be called Honorable, the President. But I know as well that one has to choose and could not stay blind and not choose.

I do not experience the traffic in Metro Manila. Nor do I feel unsafe in my neighborhood. But I do understand that there are lots of crimes to be solved. I do understand that Filipinos need to be disciplined. Oh, I disagree. Filipinos are very much disciplined. Only in the Philippines, most are not disciplined. Filipinos everywhere around the globe knows how to follow the country’s law except for the Philippine law. Most have disobeyed the law. Most have wanted to be above the law. Most have wanted to take the short cut. Most have wanted the great deal without having to go through the right process.

Philippines is a third world country. Poverty is everywhere. Class C, D, and E comprise 2/3’s of the population. Jobs are needed to improve the lives of Filipinos.

I choose Yellow. Because I believe that the Liberal Party through Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo could bring the Philippines to greatness. Who cares? I am not a voter. My opinion doesn’t count. But I love my country, the Philippines. We need to continue Daang Matuwid. We need to continue the programs that have been started. and the programs that they have prepared for us.

Remember where they started? What did the Filipinos wanted? To eradicate corruptions. To bring to prison all the corrupt officials causing the country not to progress. And yes they were able to solve and deliver the Filipinos what they wanted. That is the main goal then. Philippines had the biggest typhoon in world’s history and the Philippines was on its lowest point. I believe that the current administration did what they could have done during that time. I believe that they deliver what they could deliver. I remember my sister not going home many days trying to find suppliers of goods and services for DSWD. There are paper works that needed to be processed for transparency and auditing. The Filipinos survived. My sister was able to survived her job.

Oh the soldiers were killed. and many more. In war, there is a battle between losing and winning. I salute all the soldiers and admire their love for country. and I believe as well that they are bound to die. I do not believe on the rumors that the government will kill innocent people. If I do, then I should also really believe that the aspiring mayor have killed a lot of people whether they are innocent or not.

I encourage all my friends and family back home to vote for Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo. These are two individuals who doesn’t need to give their lives to the Filipino people and yet they choose to serve the public. Roxas is an accomplished person. He came from a well-known family. He doesn’t need to be president to be popular. He is already known. He had made laws that helped many. Jobs that brought food to your table.  Medicines that heal the sick. To all my friends in BPO industry, I pray you would vote for him. This is probably not the degree that you studied in four years but the job you are in now is feeding your family. And the job that you have is what Roxas made for you. Robredo is an accomplished housewife. She doesn’t need to be vice president to complicate her very simple life, to fear everyday that she might get used to the perks of being the vice president. They chose to serve the country because they have good intentions for the Filipino people. They aspire to see progress for the Philippines, to the Filipino people.

Please vote wisely. One vote can make a change.

They may not be perfect. But they will serve the common good.

I do not like the aspiring mayor. He will not be able to solve crimes in six months, nor in six years time. I do not believe in the iron fist that he is telling everybody. I do not believe the Philippines have to go through extra judicial killings. I do not believe the Philippines need to fear for another martial law in the making. My hometown despite being just an island is a very peaceful and quiet place to live but our mayor didn’t have to go through the aspiring mayor’s process of improving the city. If only improvement and peace and safety, I wish to push our mayor to run for presidency as well.

Let’s vote RORO for a better and greater TOMORROW. From the eyes of an outsider, they will be the one to bring greatness to my country, the Philippines.

 

#SilentNoMore #RORO2016 #Marleni #RoxasRobredo

 

A dream is a wish your heart makes

“A dream is a wish your heart makes”

I was really never fond of Cinderella. but because now I have this big dream, my heart is so filled that it is the only thing I wanted to achieve.

“A dream that I wish would come true”

And I would make sure it would come true.

“Have faith in your dreams and someday, your dreams will come true”

“No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true”.

#dreamgoal2018

 

 

 

 

Little G goes Potty

Life had been busy. Little G is now three and I know we need to work on his potty. We are going to send him to school on fall and most schools don’t accept kids when they’re not fully potty trained yet. And we have hear so much stories that little boys are so hard to teach. I have read a lot of tips and tricks. Hit the cheerios. Let him watch Daddy go pee. Give reward after he goes to the bathroom. Let him sit with the iPad and install and new app that he could only play when he goes potty. Buy lots of underpants.

We did all those. except for the cheerios part. We started trying to teach him how to pee when he was about 30months old. And it was hard. He doesn’t seem to understand what we wanted him to do.

When he turned three, he started showing signs of interest on going potty. He has been watching Daniel Tiger and the neighborhood and one of the episodes was that Daniel went potty. Little G has been saying potty, potty. HE would go to the bathroom, sit down and pretend to pee then wash his hands. The singing part was very helpful. And we decided to take advantage of him going pee. We would have him sit on the toilet first thing in the morning and ask him to pee but still he cannot produce any urine. We gave him iPad to make him sit longer but no pee comes out. I bought starburst and told him that he would get one when he goes to bathroom and finally he was able to make urine. I told him he would get one if water comes out of his penis. Since he liked the starburst, he would always go to the bathroom and make himself pee. Thank God!

Two days! and yes in less than a week, we are diaper free. Little G goes to the bathroom and pee on his own. I wouldn’t say I really put too much effort. We probably only needed 10 starburst for him to ask to go bathroom. I thought the whole house will smell like pee since we have carpet but thankfully not.

It’s true what I learned on one of my mommy group. Boys learn when they are three.

Now next step is go number 2. We will see…

 

Happiness

The journey to this life was never easy. What I am today is because of all the people who have influenced me to be what I am. I believe I am a very strong, spirited individual. Independent. What I have achieved right now is the fruit of my labor. All the hard work. All the sacrifice. I chose this life I have. I may have had crossed a wrong path and followed a unwinding road but I was able to get back on track and fulfill this lifelong journey. I have concrete plans. And i was able to achieve it. And i will continue to try to achieve all my other plans. I have big dreams. For me and my family.

My two little kids now is my source of strength. They are the reason I am living. They are my life. I would do anything to protect them. To give them what they need. To shower them with my love. My two kids are my source of joy. They filled my heart with so much happiness. They take away my tiresome and gives me buckets of energy. Their smiles are precious.

My husband is my source of comfort. I can be who I am without having to pretend that I need to be superwoman all the time. My husband is my ground that reminds me that it is okay to make mistakes and through those mistakes, you get up and learn and do better.

I am happy. For what I am today i chose to find peace in my heart. I found contentment on little things that gives great comfort.

Apple Picking at Kuiper’s Farm

IT’s fall month.

Michael and I have decided to make our own family tradition and it includes apple and pumpkin picking. We did this last year and that was the first time that Gabriel ate apples.

We were able to do some pumpkin picking as well. I, myself enjoyed seeing those huge pumpkins. I only see them in pictures. I couldn’t believe they were true.Pumpkins of different sizes, color (there is a white pumpkin), texture (I thought they were all soft and clean).

Because this year is a little bit different, we skipped the pumpkin part. And it was Claire’s first time to do apple picking.

Gabriel still enjoyed it like before..

We wished we could have stayed longer but we had to go home.. Next year, we will definitely do it again. I can’t wait for Claire to pick her own apple. I’m sure she’s going to love it a lot.