Books I Read: 2013

“Why do I read? I just can't help myself. 

I read to learn and to grow, to laugh  and to be motivated.
I read to understand things I've never been exposed to.

Reading for me, is spending time with a friend.
A book is a friend. You can never have too many.” 
― Gary Paulsen, Shelf Life: Stories by the Book

***

That is precisely the reason why I love to read. I read to learn new things, new words, new places, new experiences. Reading for me is like Harry Potter entering platform 9 3/4 and gaining access to Hogwarts Express that is eventually leading to Hogwarts Castle where new adventure awaits.

On that note, I'd like to share to you the seven books I read in 2013. I am frustrated with the stat. Hubby read about 20, I hate him! Haha!  

My top three favourite in this batch are: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (paging Lianne, I'm now a fan! Count R too!) followed by And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (seriously this guy is a genius!) and then The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

I loved The Husband's Secret because of how unpredictable the story is. It kept me guessing and getting the story wrong every page, every chapter. It's narrated in many perspective in a seamless way that I actually touched based with each character's humanity. It's funny and witty. It's sad and melancholic. It basically touches on life using a different kind of style I have never previously read before. It's also the second book I read that was based in Australia so I was curious to read about how its people view life, love, family and everything in between. I was also in love how the book ended. It left me a valuable lesson in life: to be compassionate about others, because we don't really know what they are going through or have gone through. There's always more to people than what we see in the outside. And this one thing is perpetually true: Do not withhold the truth. A simple one, yet hard to live by. The maxim "the truth shall set you free" is never been truer than true in this book. I'm not really a good book reviewer and this is not meant to be a book review. This is just me telling you how the book impacted me and how much I enjoyed reading it. 

For next year, I plan to read at least 30. That is a very ambitious goal I knooow but once we move to our new apartment, I will have more travelling time from home to work and vice versa. That travel time will be allotted to reading. I am planning on cutting off my social media time. I spent waaaay too much time in FB and Instagram that I failed to do what I really enjoy to do and what will help me grow more. Reading for me is growing and expanding my horizons. So cheers to turning pages and growing in 2014! 

One Christmas Morning

It is during these times that I miss Philippines the most. *Sigh (long and deep). It's already the second year that we are spending Christmas in Ireland. With us being together, I know I have nothing to complain about. We have made friends and family here, albeit not by blood, in the past two years that lessens the homesickness somehow.

It's just that it's really different in this part of the world. Christmas here isn't celebrated as loud, as warm and as festive back home, in my opinion. Or maybe it's just the cultural differences I haven't grown accustomed to. After all, it's just our second Christmas here. It might take a lifetime for me to get used to the silence of the neighbouring houses on this very special day. 

Nonetheless, Christmas is Christmas. Jesus was born and gave us a chance at eternity. As for us, we are together, cuddling each other on Christmas morning. We might not be the recipient of warms hugs and greetings from our loved ones today, but in God's time I know we will soon be. In the meantime, we take comfort that our parents, our siblings and our nieces and nephews are all healthy. That, alone, is the single most important blessing today. 

Merry Christmas everyone. It is my prayer that we remember the reason for this season---it's Jesus. If you have Him in your home today, everything else---the neatly packed gifts, the overflowing food on the table, even the presence of loved ones--- is just icing on the cake.

Maligayang Pasko. Merry Christmas!

We have started our Christmas tradition!

The goal is to start an annual Christmas tradition that we can pass on to our future children. Here's what we came up with.

Since we've gotten our first real Christmas tree, we thought of buying Christmas tree ornaments for each year, one from each of us. Then we will write the year that we bought it on the ornaments. In the future, years and years after, wouldn't it be fun to hang the ornaments chronologically? And then to recall the story behind them or the reason(s) we bought them?

So a day after we bought our tree, we strolled the shops in the city and then separately bought our Christmas ornament. Since the only ornaments that we had at first were the Christmas balls, cards and lights, these would make a great addition.

Here was Rolando's:

Here's mine:

Now onto the Christmas tree:

Let's see how this tradition will go! In the meantime, I hope you too are enjoying this Christmas season! :)

Our DIY Christmas Cards

One of the traditions that surprised me living in Ireland is that card-giving is still very much alive in this part of the world. Most people here still do send their Christmas greetings and wishes through a tangible piece of paper called cards. This is despite the fact that the whole wide world is getting "more and more paperless" these days.

If I remember it right, I rarely received any back in the Philippines and I'm not counting the tiny gift tags as proper Christmas cards. Don't get me wrong. I like gifts with tags, even without tags. :) It's just that for me, a simple card can mean so much. It's not always a "greener" year for most of us and there are seasons where all we can afford to give and bless others are cards. During these times, words personally written and thought of are more than enough to touch one's heart, to let others know that they are remembered, that they are loved. It is really the thought that counts people. 

To give you an example: Last year, we were recipients to a number of Christmas cards even though we didn't give any. It was our first Christmas here and receiving cards meant that we were part of something, that we belonged, that we were thought of.  It was a simple gesture that truly warmed our hearts on our first cold (temperature wise) Christmas ever.

So for this year, R and I bowed to send back some Christmas lovin' through a DIY Christmas card. I was inspired by buttons as a creative theme for this year so off to Pinterest I went and found these plethora of inspiration! (Pinterest never fails me).  We spent two nights creating these and we were glad we did:

Have a joyful season everyone! Hope you will remember that it's not always the material things that capture a heart. :)

***

Materials we used: white plain textured cards, buttons and craft glue (all from Arts & Hobby shop), used gift wraps, used ribbons and twines, and a calligraphy pen (or a simple pen will do). 

Our First Christmas Tree

Presenting our first Christmas tree:

Friends, the time came when we could already afford to buy a Christmas tree. Yay! We were both blessed to have jobs this year and we could, at last, be able to decorate our tiny home with more than just some DIYs. Last Christmas, our first Christmas as a married couple, the only Christmas decor we could afford to decorate our home with was this DIY advent calendar. Not that it didn't look good and festive enough, it's just a real Christmas tree is both a dream of ours. Yes, this is one of our little childish dreams that we carry in our hearts.

This is then how our journey looked like from buying our first ever Christmas tree to setting it up in our tiny home (all photos were taken  using an iPhone5, so forgive the quality).

Our first hunt for this tree started in IKEA which failed miserably because first of all, they didn't sell real ones and secondly, I hurt my finger and needed medical assistance to treat the cut. Oh well... We went home shoulders low but humour high singing this song to the tune of Oh Christmas Tree:

"Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree

Wala pa rin kaming Christmas tree..."

The week after, we went out to search for this tree again that would seemingly complete our second Christmas season in Ireland. Luckily we found this Christmas tree market at this busy street in Dublin almost just a street behind R's office.  From a row of almost 50 pine trees, we selected a medium-priced one. Well, actually I let this man choose, the reason for his precious smile.

When R insisted on a real one, logistics issue wasn't considered (i.e. how to bring the tree from market to home). We didn't have a car and since we were too frugal like that, R chose to hand-carry (or shoulder-carry?!) it home---a 15-minute walk if you weren't carrying anything heavy. Needless to say, it took a good 30 minutes or more to bring our baby home. But it did arrive to our house threshold alright.

Another challenge was how to place it in our tiny living room slash dining area. We cleaned and rearranged, tried dozen arrangements and we even moved the couch (not seen here) just to see how everything would fit together!  But that too was taken care of. 

The decorations consisted of basic Christmas balls of red and gold (bought on sale), a plain white Christmas light (that's not even musical but it was at least LED), and an angel topper given by an Ate from church knowing that we were buying our first Christmas tree ever. We were grateful. 

And after a while, here's our first ever real Christmas tree which just doesn't make this season festive, but warm enough to get us through another Christmas we are spending away from our families. Merry Christmas soon! :)

DIY Birthday Card

I pulled an all-nighter for this DIY birthday card (as usual, Pinterest inspired) but it was all worth it. When I saw R's surprised and definitely happy face in the morning of his birthday, it was all definitely worth the cutting and the gluing and the twisting.  I'm not really good at instruction, so for a step by step procedure, please see this.

This was just one of the many surprises I had in store for him and I'm glad I did it.

Tales of Spring

Blooms. This is what I will always remember what Spring is all about. :)

Spring and Soft Light

These two things have changed my life lately: spring and soft light. 

Spring. I have fallen truly, madly and deeply with spring blossoms or cherry blossoms.  If you happened to be friends with me on Instagram, you'd know that I have flooded my IG with sightings of pink blossoms day after day since April.

Soft Light.  I am loving the soft light brought about by the warmer and longer evenings of spring time. It's just so perfect for taking portraits as the back light has this dreamy effect on the subject. And on that note, I have been inspired lately to take photography more seriously, like enroll in a photography class.

This time of the year has surely awaken my senses. I feel more upbeat and more alive and I am inspired to write again and give some TLC to this neglected blog.

For A While, it Felt Like a White Christmas

Only it was March. Only everyone was anticipating for Spring. Christmas was over "three" months ago and it wasn't white. The idea of white and snowy one remained just that: an idea, a mere wish for the hopefuls like me who has never experienced snow, a dream that would be carried over to the next season when snow-wishing would began anew.

Christmas came. New Year came. Not one bit of snow fell. Then the Valentines. Then my Birthday. Then came along March. As the calendar moves towards the second quarter, our snow dream was replaced with these new exciting possibilities: cherry blossoms, warmer weather and longer days, in that order. But I think life's great surprises do happen sporadically in a year. In my countless experiences, I have known that God loves to surprise us, in ways and moments that would catch us off guard, in a good sort of way.

It was a holy week, a Wednesday. For unknown reason, I woke up earlier than usual, checked the weather (something that I learned to do out of necessity) and got the best surprise of the year ever: snow had built up in our tiny front yard! It was snowing so peacefully that for a while, it felt like Christmas, that for a while and for posterity, I wanted to call our loved ones in the Philippines to wish them a merry one! I just stood there at our glass door transfixed by the falling pieces that flickered midway in the air. I stood still and wondered what God was thinking sending snow in March, the beginning of springtime.

I could only think that this is His world. It's His call when to command a snow even if muggles like us wouldn't thought it's possible. You see, impossibility is His specialty. That's the lesson I would take away on that surprisingly snowy morning. Another dream in the bucketlist has been ticked. :)

The scenes while I rode the bus to my workplace. The snow didn't last long in the part of the city where we lived. I heard it lasted for days in some part of Ireland. 

Oooh, so till next snow-dreaming season!

A Week of Reflection

It was another holy week gone by in this fleeting life of mine, my first one since residing in a city where my faith walk has had its own share of ups and downs and bends and stretches.

For the past three years, holy week has taken a different level and meaning in my faith journey. This year, I committed to just slow down and reflect on God's goodness and greatness. I know this is something that I "should" practice everyday, but I'm still a work in progress needing a lot of molding and even pounding most of the time.

With my Instagram photos, let me walk you through my first holy week in Dublin and the reflections that came along with them: 

Monday Blues - On Monday morning, we walked our usual path and we were surprised to witness that ray of sun penetrating the thick grey clouds that enveloped and depressed the city for almost two weeks now. Finally, a little bit of sun would do this city good.

A stroll in the park Tuesday - I finally paid a lunchbreak visit to that park near the office and was charmed by those sweet daffodils in shades of yellow and white.  While I sat and ate and endured the freezing weather, I wondered what work it was that would make me happy, like truly happy. I lifted the question to God and that little pain I always felt when discussing about my career. At the end of the day, I felt grateful. I should be grateful. A lot of Irish folks had no job and couldn't find one in their own land.

Snowy Wednesday - I woke up earlier than usual, checked the weather and surprise, surprise: snow had built up in our tiny front yard! Oh, I had the best quiet time ever in front of the falling snow. For a while, it felt like Christmas and I just tucked my chin on my palms, wondering what God was thinking sending snow in March, a springtime.

Blue Skies of Thursday - What made my Thursday: I love you from my father, a boss who declared tomorrow a holiday, a blue skies, fluffy clouds and a pinkish sunset to gaze on while I walked from office to home.

Home Alone on Friday - So I learned that Black Friday is not a usual holiday in Ireland and it depends on your employer whether to call it an off or not. I was blessed to say I did spend the whole day at home in my pajamas while poor hubby had to work for one more day. I truly, madly, deeply miss my bum days.

Sharing on Saturday - We watched some clips from the Passion of Christ and we posted this question to our bible group: "What does the Passion meant to me?" My simple sharing consisted of this: "I just know that I need a Savior because I sin everyday." It still boggles my mind how Jesus endured it all, but one thing's for sure, because He loves me so much and it is one of my deepest desires to make something good out of this one precious life that He paid for in the cross.

Oh-Happy-Day Sunday - Nope, it's not about the Easter Eggs nor the Bunny. I know that for a fact, thank you very much. Behind those Easter Eggs was the celebration all around the world. To end this, I would just echo the words sang by the kids at our church with a hope that you too will know why we this week was holy and why today, of all the days, should be a one happy day. :)

"Oh happy day, Oh happy day

When Jesus washed my sins away...

Oh happy day..."

First Valentines Together

Our first Valentines together, not literally, but physically. Our love story will tell you why. This is just one of our firsts that I've been trying to document and memory-keep while I can. 

***

The morning of the 14th was icy cold as expected from the weather app: 5 degree. Days leading to Valentines, there's a certain buzz in the air in the city of Dublin. Gigantic red hearts and Valentines signage were all over town where as flower vendors were noticeably taking over time and obviously taking advantage of this season high fever. 

Our plan for the day: Sneaked out from respective work at lunchtime to have a quick lunch together. 

My plan: Woke up early and secretly taped a cheesy Valentine note on his laptop while he was still sleeping. 

His plan (that I didn't know of): Roses in variety of colors to hand to me on the morning.

As it turned out, both of us had plans to surprise each other. We didn't have a grand date nor grand gifts for each other as you can see. We simply appreciated the day for what it was---our first Valentines together that we weren't spending in Skype screen, in different countries and in different time zones. The past two Valentines had been like that. More than the love story, we celebrate the blessing of being together on this day. At the end of the day, no amount of roses nor chocolates can replace that blessing. 

If you are in a long distance relationship, it is my hope and my prayer that you too will be reunited with the one you love. Choose to be together no matter what. All kinds of sacrifices will be worth it in the end. 

Two. Thousand. Thirteen.

Well hello 2013, we're so glad you came! :) Today, January 1, is one of our many firsts:

1) First new year away from our beloved Philippines.
2) First new year in Dublin, Ireland (silence at 12 AM almost killed me, haha! it was a complete opposite of what I was used to. I guess that goes to say that nothing beats the celebratory noise and warmth back home.
3) First new year as husband and wife.
4) First Blessings Jar! And we intend to make one year on year to cultivate gratitude in our hearts. We even plan to pass this tradition to our future kids (ehemmmm)! How fun it would be to look at the jars lining up our living room, wouldn't it? :)

5) First time to make a list of our commitments to God this year.

The past year was full of leaps and bounds, of love and forgiveness, of endings and beginnings. I've learned a lot in 2012, needless to say. It's always been God who held me in the palm of His hands leading me on, showering me with His TLC in so many ways that Has always left me in awe.

So to You, my Awesome, Wonderful, Magnificent God, I offer this year with all the faith my heart could muster. :)