Just Happy In My Happy Place :)

Thanks to those who responded to the giveaway. It is still open, please visit here.  Okay. I am happy now :) Because at this point in my life. I am doing what I love.

• being with the kids at home
• and being with them in school anytime they need me there 
• doing my crafts
• teaching without having to leave the house
• planning menu
• cleaning and organizing
• taking photos
• keeping in touch with loved ones
• making gifts
• wrapping gifts
• selling
• blogging
• managing my online shoppe, ThoughtfulCrafts

Life is short. I must do my passion now. I must spend more time with the kids now. I must do the little things now. Even when it means, having to try to live really simply. Having to walk to the market everyday because it's cheaper than going to Cold Storage. Having to take the bus. Having to stay at home for the weekend. Having to love and appreciate what I already have. And forget about what I wish to have. 

But aren't these the things that really give us genuine joy? The little things? 

So I am happy. Thankful to dear hubby for being so supportive and responsible for providing us our needs and some wants at times :) Even more thankful to him for going with me to the Autism Partnership seminar last Saturday. I like going to talks with him. Maybe because it is in such event we met first. 2002 Singles for Christ International Leaders Conference. Haha! Sweet.

Most of all, I thank him for taking the boys out for swimming. So I could do my thing ... 

... happy ladies in my happy place! :)

... busy hands! 

... don't you just love the beautiful mess? :)

... finished layouts. Thank you ladies! :)

Yes. We scrapped! ThoughtfulCrafts' very first workshop was a blast! Thank you Mariae, Joan, Evie and Alice for being the first to respond to my invitation... can't wait for next time.

So I am happy. I am blessed. Not because I have a lot. I am happy because I have learned to appreciate the little, the simple and the now. I pray that I will stay this way :)

{just us} and a Good News!

Hello! Blogging live from Le Grandeur! 

God gave us this chance to spend 4 days without the kids.. It's a lovely time and place for a retreat but I miss my two rascals so terribly. Thank heavens for Skype, we managed to enjoy some make-believe tickles, hugs and kisses. I can never imagine doing these silly kiss-the-screen thingy for more than 4 days though.  I can't wait to get home...

However, I really believe hubby and I need this time. Just us. With God. I feel so blessed. Sometimes a little bit unworthy for everything I have been getting from this retreat. It's just too much of a blessing to know the truth about His perfect love for an imperfect sinner like me... 

These photos are not the "blessings" and the "everything" and the "Perfect Love" I was talking about. These are nothing compared to what I really meant. It's much much more deeper and substantial than that. I can't describe it! It is my prayer that you will know about it in His time :) 

Next topic! OMG! I have been keeping this for weeks and I'm glad the time has come to share the news...

My fellow scrappers know that I have been, since the very first time I used these rock stars, an avid fan of Dew Drops. I use these in almost all my projects and I am soooo happy and grateful to be part of the Robin's Nest Design Team! Congratulations to my fellow DT members!   Thank you Terri and Robin! Can't wait to start creating with you all =) 

prayertime...

Dear Father... please help me, give me strength to carry my cross. Please give me the grace to be humble. Take away my pride. Please purify my motives. May I do the things I need to do because I love doing it. Like I always have since high school days and not because of competition. Please grant me the serenity to accept and love those who are trying to copy me, put me down, reject me, or hurt me in any way. Because You love them too. You are working in their lives. You allow them to cross my path for a reason. One is so that I will always look up to you and cling to you.  I give you thanks for the people who appreciate and support me. But most of all I give You thanks for this little moment of prayer with You. Thank you for the peace and joy. Thank you for loving me.
Amen.

*poster/photo credit: pinterest

grateful

Dear Lizzy's latest Neapolitan line spells F-U-N! Creating a page and some cards with it is so easy and stress free... It's water color themed designs are so refreshing! And have you seen the stamps? Love!

See more cards and crafts HERE.

The layout tells of how grateful I am to God for this life I have. Far from perfect. Lots of struggles and difficulties but with no doubt a very meaningful and happy life.... A loving and supportive husband, 2 adorable kids, one quirky and silent the other one so bubbly and talks and does his things nonstop. I also want to make mention my cousin, my helper who's been with us since my oldest son was 4 months old. So thankful for a great and trustworthy help wo loves my kids. Makes me feel at peace when I'm away for work =) 

Work! It's also something I am grateful for. A regular 4 hour/day work is just perfect for me. Doing the things I love while still having an ample time to be with my kids in the morning. I always look forward to my busy mornings preparing them for school, doing my crafts, exercise and I get to dress up everyday. Train rides allow me to think deeper, pray more and tinker with my phone guilt-free haha! 

I believe if I had to tell you all, I may never want to stop. I just feel SO BLESSED and my prayer today is that God will always give me the grace to REMEMBER this feeling, this TRUTH. That I am blessed, that He LOVES me.  Eventhough many times I hurt him with how I easily judge others, how terribly selfish I am in my decisions, priorities and actions... how I miserably fail to be consistent in my prayertime... still He loves me. Where can you find a God as loving as that? 

May we all have a spirit-filled Lenten Season! 

Supplies: 

papers, stamps (American Crafts, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection)

dew drops (Robin's Nest)

others: buttons, twine, thread for stitching

latest events

Was in hiatus for more than a week because of ...

a.  instagram
b.  twitter
c.  Facebook (not much. don't like it a lot these days. when i open it and see the very messy wall i get  so stressed!)
d.  i was lazy
e.  life's so overwhelming  and had so much to tell i didn't know what to do hahaha
f.  all of the above

(Can you guess the answer?)

But i figured just a moment ago (because I'm still not in the mood to blog, to be honest), I want this blog to be a record of my life. All the good and the bad, I try my best to post every happenings and thoughts.... so I'll try, even just through pictures.

Picture #1. Few months ago until last week. I was so scared of the possibility of having melanoma. Would catch myself imagining, getting so worried, crying, thinking what it would be to have it. Paranoia isn't good I tell you.  Saw 5 doctors. Specialists. Cancer ruled out. Thank you Lord for my "new life"! I wasn't scared to die. I was scared of the thought to leave these three guys.... no need to elaborate....

Picture #2.  Was in the company of fun friends. Vincent's birthday at Bonifacio. A Filipino restaurant. Fun night with band and soooo delicious food. Especially the Laing!

Picture #3. Couldn't take the yummy laing out of my mind. Cooked it the following day. Thanks to mother and Nancy and google for making it happen. Thank you Lord coz it was good! Not bad for a first try :) *drooling now*

Picture #3. Last minute farewell bonding before Vanessa left for Germany. So touched because she only had a few hours left before leaving but she gave us time. (Will miss you Vane. Wish we had more bondings while you were here but I understand there are lots of people, loved ones who also wanted to spend time with you).

Picture #4. Mommyla's birthday yesterday. But I'm not sure if she had a very happy one because her brother, Tito Carlit was rushed to the hospital. He passed away Today. (We will miss you Tito. Say hi to Jesus for us).  Made this for Creative Scrappers sketch #175, using Bo Bunny.

Picture #5. Jodi, my favorite pretty, courageous student. Would want to spend more scrapping time with her. She will be the subject of my next mini-album class... Watch out for it! 

Whew! I feel so good after sharing all these pictures and the little stories behind! I realize now how I miss blogging... and whoever you are, reading this now, here's my love and prayers. God's love is just so good to have... and to give away. Goodnight! :)

finally ... my days are better! :)

After a few days of sulking, I started smiling again, yesterday. First,  hubby took me out on a date (with no advance plans). That was a few moments after I silently cried to God my questions, disappointments, doubts, fears about a few things concerning myself and other things. Hubby continues to be an angel who seems to know when I badly need an ice blend coffee, a slice of cheese cake, and a pair of listening ears. Thank you Baby!

Then right after that quick date, we proceeded to meet our group mates for word preparation. God spoke to me. Answered my questions. Took my doubts away. Never felt so loved by Him in the best way ever. So intangible yet so concrete. Didn't involve any material gift (we usually say "God loves me!" when we get a new house, car, a promotion, an answered petition). It was just a few lines from our readings. I felt peaceful. Joyful. Secure.  

I believe I'm back on my feet again! Stay tuned for more "better days" news! Love! Love! Love! :)

while waiting for EASTER...

I offer my days of silence, prayer, fasting, reflection, and thanksgiving for God's mercy and love...

*Photos were taken by hubby.

yesterday... today... tomorrow...

Yesterday, I received a great news. It's about something I used to just day dream about (would hop to some scrappers' blogs and drool on their side bars where their DT/GDT are displayed and wonder how it would feel) Now I can't believe it!  Made With Love appointed me to be GDT! Thank you so much Made With Love! You are my first love! *jumping up and down* More than the perks, what I value most about this whole thing are the learnings and the experience that I'm gonna get. I believe I know very little about scrapbooking. I just have the passion, the guts, but I'm still quite a newbie. Yes I've been scrapbooking since high school but It was only when we got here in Singapore that I really became into it. I'm honestly, extremely intimidated with this DT thing (and with the coolest people I'm gonna work with!) But I'm veeeeeeryyyy eager to learn. And I want to learn so so so much more.

Today --- and speaking of learning, I couldn't believe I was actually having a meeting with Aida Haron, MWL's DT coordinator. I used to just see her (many times!) at the store when I shop for scrapping goods. And it always felt like I was seeing a celebrity. There was one time I asked her about an ink, and she was kind enough to share some tips. That time I was soooo tempted to tell her "Hey, You know what I follow your blog"... etc etc... but I was too shy. LOL! Now, I work with her! She's my very first mentor, I suppose. I'm honored to have actually sat down with her today. She gave me very useful pointers for my class next month. I almost (I thought I) lost my phone because of excitement LOL! So embarrassing! For me she's one of the best scrappers in Singapore and I'm so lucky to be under her leadership. Even just for two months.
Also today, I saw my LO featured as gallery gem at Scrapbook Challenges! My second time at their site! Thank you so much! :)

Tomorrow and the next few days, I will be very busy with a lot of things. Two sets of party favors... MWL Class sample (I already got my schedule! yehey!)... Kuya's school and home activities....And I'm in the process of finishing this...

Miguel's Baptism Scrapbook. Almost done! :)

Yesterday, these bunch had a party.... and I wasn't there :( I can't wait for December, God willing, we may get together again. I just thank the Lord with the friendship I have with FEC. One-of-a-kind. We are like brothers and sisters. And yes, that's my brother, and two sisters in the photo (where's Nanay ni Abe?).I Miss you all. I'm happy we are all "together" again.

Yesterday, today and until Friday we're missing Daddy. He is away for a business trip. Have a great time in Bali, Trim Reaper. We love you! 

Uh oh...someone wants to play with Mommy. Miguel is giving me all his colored pens saying: "I want this!" (this is how we play: he gives me blue pen and wants me to write the word blue, then he reads it! Cuteness right?) I better go! Goodnight everyone. Sleep tight for we have a great God who loves us and takes care of everything....yesterday, today and tomorrow :)

love message

Sharing with you my fave pic today and some part of an email I received a second ago from a friend. Thanks Sookie! :)





"All throughout scripture, God commands us to love. In fact, 1 Corinthians tells us that love is the greatest thing. Love is all that matters on this earth, and it's all that will last in eternity. But do you realize that we are protected when we walk in love? When we are selfish or self-seeking, the scripture tells us that it opens the door to confusion and every evil work. But when we walk in love, when we choose to put others first, when we choose to be patient and kind and walk in unity, we are protected by love. We close the door to the plans of the enemy in our lives."


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

when it rains it pours *grin*

WARNING: This is one long selfish post. hehehe

My heart is full of gladness because within the same week, I received two bigtime blessings (for me these are H..U.G.E! I have very simple dreams for myself. And I can feel God is slowly but surely working on it! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!). These blessings are all about ME. hehehe. Is God trying to pamper me because it's Mothers Day on Sunday? How cute! I love You God! Thank you for loving me everyday of my life. I can feel you hugging me very tight right now...

Okay, so what are these "rain" that poured upon me?

First, my "Life Full of Wonders" LO won in Scrappers at SG challenge 32 (announcement HERE. Thank you so much Sookie, Marix, and all SASG ladies!) One thing that made me soooo happy is because the challenge was being hosted and judged by Iris Babao Uy, an internationally known Filipina scrapbooker.  She's among the top scrappers I really look up to. I dream of being like her someday! :):):) But I admit she's too talented to be equalled. So I'll just keep on dreaming, while doing my best, and at the same time, continuing to be myself. What's important is I love what I do now... every single scrapping moment is heaven for me. As the saying goes, "just do your best, God will do the rest!" *wink to God* hehehe

Second, I had a meeting with one of Made With Love's store owners, Elvira and I couldn't believe what we talked about! Kids classes at their store! I couldn't contain my joy while we were discussing things, I blurted out: "So you're making me teach at your store? It's really a dream come true!" LOL. I don't know how she felt about my honesty. But  one thing I'm sure about is that they will never regret getting me. Teaching and scrapping are my two passions next to taking care of my kids (and BB of course!) so I'm definitely giving it my all. I'm truly excited and happy about this new endeavor. One of the things that made me sad when we left our previous house was the fact that I couldn't hold classes anymore. Now God gave me a better classroom, the awesome, elegant, Sizzix scrap lab!

... the new scrap lab:

2010 is definitely my year! :)

Now I need to get started planning for the classes! *still in cloud nine*

packing our things ...

We will be moving to a smaller but definitely, for so many reasons, a better place for us.... one is, it's nearer to Kuya's early intervention center which will open in May. God really makes everything right. If we just let him take over.

*see the LBC boxes? those are for Mommyla, Lolo Papang/Lolamamang, and another box full of toys for K and B's cousins! :) It feels great to pack goodies to be given away to loved ones. I can't wait for them to open these :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

mixed thoughts...

house transfer...
our house in Cebu
dreaming of having our own house in SG.
Miguel, Josh, Reimar and Mikoy's birthday party
birthday invites
Cathy's gift boxes
Cathy's bookmarks
seminar this afternoon
LBC boxes
boxes for transfer
packing
unpacking
saying bye to my own scrap area
preparing the boys for the transfer
teachers house visit this Friday
Saturday scrapmeet
not knowing how to get to the scrapmeet venue
nice invite for the scrapmeet
excitement for the scrapmeet
excitement for having our own house in two years time
having a baby
vacation in the Philippines
arts and crafts business
feeling ambitious yet hopeful
grateful to people who show concern and help
deciding not to doubt...
believe in goodness
choosing the narrow path
tired
at peace
letting go
letting God.

"I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me."

Christ is risen!

He is truly risen!!! This is a very happy Easter for me. It's my hubby's first time to experience Easter vigil, fasting, the worship, staying up till 7am today... everything last night was just wonderful. Felt like I was in heaven singing with the angels! God's spirit is so powerful. Felt His love in a way I cannot explain. Truly it is His work that despite many challenges and tests, we are still in our NC Way community. The community that I onced disliked but have learned to really love. Because I have seen God's faithfulness and love in our lives. We need this walk. Thank you so much Lord. Christ is truly risen!!!

It's party time! Swimming at the Talams. Got to hurry and finish those easter presents for the little ones :)

so busy

'Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.'

Hugs ang kisses for everyone!

All About Me

First and foremost, I am God's daughter. He is my Father. He is King, therefore I am His princess. That truth makes me strong and fearless to face anything. With Him, nothing... no one can be against me. He loves me. He is my number 1 fan. Many times I don't feel I deserve such great love. But 100% of the time I believe He loves me no matter how bad I may be.

I am terribly fickle. I'm embarrassed to admit it's degree. I am temperamental, especially when my period's about to come. It is a crime to disappoint me. I think it's a disorder not yet discovered. I just breakdown when some planned or "promised" thing or event never happens. But most of the time, I am fun-loving. I love to laugh and smile.

I'm a happy stay at home wife to an amazing man, and mom to two wonderful boys. It is with gladness that I'm setting aside my teaching profession, while they're still in their formative years. I thank God everyday for giving me this role. I love my family, my parents, my siblings, nephews and nieces. I love my in-laws. I'm very blessed to have them in my life. I love my few true friends. I'm trying my very best to love my not-so-true friends too. But many a times it's just so difficult. I constantly need God's reminder. But little by little I think I am able to change for the better.

I enjoy scrapbooking (and I'm recently offering basic scrapbooking classes/tutorials for kids), baking, singing and playing my guitar, dancing, facebooking, twittering, blogging, selling. I hope and pray that till I grow old, I am able to do these things I really love doing in the company of great happy people. That would be heaven here on earth!

I love life's challenges, and overcoming each of them. I love victories. Most of all, I love the one who gives me all these things. I love my Father up there who never forsakes me. And with all the blessings and the blessings in disguise He grants me everyday, I pray that all my life, He will continue to give me the grace to always say and testify that He is enough.

{My Scrapbooking Resume}

Batam Indonesia --- MOMENTS!