I have been in a relationship for the past 3 and a half years. It has not been the most ideal of relationships but there is a genuine love and compassion shared by us.

Lost Opportunity.

I saw 2 kids in front of our house, as we arrived from San Juan. They had no slippers on, their clothes were not that dirty but you could see that it has some wear on it. The older kid was I think around 9 years old and thereabouts, and his younger sibling was around 3 or 4 years old. My plan was to give them some pastries and a water but when the gate opened for the car, they walked away. And I was somewhat confused if I should flag them down and call them back, which in hindsight what I should have done. I watched them walk away around the curb. Maybe 2 minutes later I got off the car and started following their footsteps and I reached the triangle where I could see far in the direction they took, but I couldn't see them. 

I couldn't see where they were. 

And I felt really bad. I can't explain it but I knew I should have reached out when I had the chance. I felt bad that I cried. It was so frustrating yet I knew it was my fault.

I hesitated. 

I went out of the house a few times in the next 10 minutes, hoping they'll come back this way. But they didn't. 

I ended up praying in my room, offered a small prayer that they be safe and be given food and water. And I asked for forgiveness because I hesitated. 

:(

Project Life: Week 8 and Week 9

Done with my Week 8 and Week 9. Posted it also on my Instagram. Whew.

Couldn't do it for a while since I was down with conjunctivitis, on BOTH eyes. Eew. So had to make sure I was cured before I could do anything relevant.

Week 8a.

Week 8b.

Week 9a.

Week 9b.

Japanese Lootbag!

Pasalubong!

I love pasalubongs. My sister just came for a week-long vacation from Japan and she brought home a lot of lip-smacking goodies!

I asked my sister what the Japanese characters say, and she said she didn't know. We were like, so what should we taste first, the one wrapped in green or or black? Hehe. If you have an idea what it says, can you tell me please, leave a comment. 

I wish I could save enough to travel like my sister. *sigh*

Mochi!

Pocky, our favorite! And Bouchard Belgian chocolates.

KitKat in Cherry Blossom and Green Tea.

More mochi!

Hmm. Dunno what it is but I tasted cinnamon. A bit hard, it's like fortune cookie bread, but quite thicker.

Royce Potato Chips covered in chocolate *which was divine.
And there was Nestle coffee too.

Pasta Night.

So I did my grocery shopping earlier today in Pioneer Centre. I bought some canned goods for my baon to the office, and some herbs, sea salt, low-salt soy sauce, etc, so I don't need to worry about what to eat during my lunch breaks or even breakfast.

For dinner, I cooked some pasta, and tossed in some fresh lemon juice, basil, black olives, capers, onions, and garlic. Seasoned it with sea salt. And dinner is served!

Here's the recipe, if you want to try it. *As a side note, this is my recipe, so if you want to change the quantity a bit for each ingredient, it's up to you. I love lots of garlic. I also love angel hair but I only had spaghetti.

Extra virgin olive oil
Dried Italian herbs *I use a mill
Sea Salt to taste
2 heads of garlic (Taiwan garlic), pressed and chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
Fresh Basil, chopped *I used some 30-35 leaves
100 grams of Capers in Vinegar, drained **I usually buy them by the small bottle (I heard that they have capers in sea salt, too)
250 grams of pitted and sliced black olives, drained
2 solo packs of spaghetti *I had these lying around in the pantry and they came with the Pinoy-style sweet sauce.
Juice of 1 lemon

I don't follow the instructions in the pasta pack, I just boil some water with a teaspoon of salt and few drops of olive oil. And then I don't actually stand there and mix the pasta the whole time. I just mix it every 2-4 minutes or so. And then I usually grab a noodle and bite into it, and when I'm satisfied of the consistency I just go ahead and drain it, and set it aside. I saute the onions first because I want them to be translucent, and then I add the garlic. I'm careful not to burn the garlic. Well, I use olive oil, but I still take a little precaution :) I then add the pasta. I try to add a bit more olive oil at this point, but not too much. I then add the olives and capers, and the lemon juice. After tossing everything a bit, I then add the basil. Season with sea salt. A few tosses of the pan and I'm done!

This picture doesn't give the food any justice. Sorry!

The reason I blogged this pasta creation of mine is because my 2nd nephew, Raymund, is a picky eater, and he actually liked this!

This tasted really fresh, because of the lemon juice, and the sea salt just kicked it up a notch.

Try the recipe out and tell me what you think! :)

Johnny Air Cargo and Silhouette Portrait.

So I have decided to scrapbook my life this 2013. I've spent many days making journal cards, looking at color combinations and trying to get the colors right, visiting great sites of crafty people all over the world for ideas, looking at Pinterest to check out free printables that I could use, and even getting re-acquainted with Photoshop and Picasa.

I was particulary interested in getting layers, depth, and texture, to my pages so I wondered how people were able to thinly cut paper to make it as a embellishment for their pages -

from michellewooderson.blogspot.com 

from seriouslybrains.blogspot.com 

I could cut the embellishments and the words but, knowing myself, I'd do a lousy job, and it wouldn't come out as nice as the ones above. So I did my research and voila - discovered Silhouette Portrait! I read the reviews and comments from the different blogs I visit and knew that I had to have it. So on February 9, I ordered one from Amazon, and had it shipped to Johnny Air Cargo Plus's service (New Jersey address). JAC then shipped it to Manila, and I received the package last February 24.

I bought the Portrait for $179 or around Php7500. I availed of the Super Saver shipping. I only had to pay JAC the shipping fee for the New York to Manila transit which was around Php3500. Not bad, since if I would have it shipped another way I would have paid more than what I actually bought! Or if I had bought the Portrait from a local store or sulit.com, it would have cost me double the price of the Portrait.

I'm pretty happy with the Portrait! I wanted to go back and do some embellishments for my past pages but I don't want to really spend time on that when I could be doing the things I have to do (aka priorities. hah!).

Here is the first cut I made -

fantastic!

I have also been tuning in to YouTube for Silhouette tutorials. There a lost of great videos out there.

Happy cutting!

Project Life.

So I have started my attempt to document my life, and I'm enjoying it, truly. I said to myself I don't want to be stressed too much when I started this project but there are times that I can't help but be stressed! When it strikes me, I just take a step back, and breathe. And then I think about the real reason I am doing this. For the memories that pass, and events I can share with my family and loved ones in the future. Sometimes a picture will tell a hundred stories! I don't need to document every single thing that happens, but I make sure to have my iPhone handy, and if possible, my camera (or even my sister's cam which is nicer).

Proud to say that I've been able to finish the weekly spreads religiously, usually finishing the spreads a day or two after the next has started. I only had a delay for Week8 (Feb 18 to Feb 24) since I wasn't able to leave the house because I contracted conjunctivitis, on both eyes. Ugh. So hopefully I can finish Week8 and Week9 by Tuesday next week (Mar 5). I am definitely crossing my fingers.

I wanted to post the pics of my spreads here on a weekly basis, but heck, wasn't able to (obviously) so I will  tonight. I also created spreads for 2011 and 2012. I wanted to do it monthly, but I didn't have the time, and I wanted to be on track for 2013. Want to post really clear pics like the blogs of other Project Lifers out there, but these IG pics will do for now. This is quite a picture-heavy post, so bear with me. I am a proud Project Lifer!

2011 Spread -

2012 Spread

2013 Cover and Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5 and Week 6

Week 7