2014 Goals

Since it's going to be another year, this is (another) attempt on New Year's resolution. Hehe. I've learned from the hubby that in order to attain goals, you set small achievable ones for a reasonable time, so here goes my hopefully achieved-by-the-set-date goals:

End of January:
1. Get braces. (again. I lost my retainers so I've been without them for months now, my upper teeth started to get gaps again.)
2. Complete my APE. (I was suppose to finish this December but you know the drill, everybody gets busy with Christmas so there.)
3. Finish the book "Allegiant". (Feb.2)

End of February:
1. Lose 7 4 kilograms. (Starting weight: 73 70 Kilos. *insert sheepish smile here*) (Mar.22)
2. Plank for 2 minutes.
3. Jog continously for 30 minutes.

End of March:
1. Pass 1 Microsoft Certification.
2. Throw/give away unused things to unclutter the house. (Mar.15)
3. Renovate the house. (yey!)
4. Minimize allergy scars.

End of June:
1. Buy bookshelves.
2. Buy oven. :)

I'll update this list once their done. Crossing my fingers that they'll all be crossed out by the end of June next year. Hope you had a blessed Christmas. Happy New Year! :)

Photo from this link.

Christmas Day! :)

Papa would always say that every year it gets less Christmas-y. Houses are with less or no decorations at all, children don't do Christmas carols that often anymore and people are with less money to spend on gifts. It seems to be true but nevertheless, December is my favorite month and Christmas, my favorite occasion. 

I remember when my brother and I were kids, we'd hog mama in the kitchen, mischievously stealing a taste of the food being prepared for noche buena. My family celebrates noche buena - we'd wait for 12 am of December 25, say grace and share a meal of pasta, bread, hotdogs, ham, bacon and fruit salad. Those were the main stays. Christmas morning would be spent hearing mass and going to relatives afterwards to have lunch. I was rich that day. I'd collect at least P2000 from Ninongs/Ninangs and TitosTitas. :) 

I started becoming poor during the Christmas season when I hit highschool. I was old already and refused to take aginaldo. I'd tell my tito/a to just give it to my younger cousins. I then became even more poor when i started working and having god kids of my own. Aside from the aginaldo I prepare for the god kids, I'd also shop for gifts for my family and relatives. During December, the pay is given early and so it's a long wait before my pockets are refilled with the next pay. 

Since I got married, this has been our routine - Christmas Eve with my family and the next day with my relatives then we go home to Pampanga around the 28th and spend the rest of the vacation there. This year, our noche buena was still the same with the addition of hot choco and baked doughnuts H and I bought at Pan de Manila. The bonuses that I had were spent buying gifts - watch and Kobo for H, watch for papa, 2 blouses for mama (I already spent much on her birthday last November hehe) and 2 shirts for the brother. H and I also shopped for gifts to be given to some god kids, but the rest we gave aginaldo. This year, we got to save a little by giving nieces and nephews candies in a pouch instead of money. 

We were able to fit in the budget some office give aways too!

I was feeling guilty because we only got to attend one Simbang gabi and didn't even hear mass today. Hay. With all the things that made us busy, hearing mass and praying should be the most important. After all, Jesus is the reason why we celebrate Christmas. I should be reminded of that. 

Thank you, Father for sending Jesus to us. Merry Christmas! :) 

31st!

A year more and I'd belong to the ones they call "wala na sa kalendaryo". Haha. You know you're getting old when what you see in your Facebook feed are posts of weddings, births and baptisms. 

I want to thank H for coming with me to our City Garden Office Christmas Party and waiting for at least 4 hours for it to finish. I also want to thank him for the frui-quet he stressed about because it was supposed to be delivered in the office yesterday so I can share it with my officemates but then he miscalculated the order process which said deliveries are made a day or 2 after. At least, we had it today, my birthday. 

Thank you to the office raffle for my new phone. Now I can instagram anywhere hehe. (I didn't want to change my old Nokia E72 purple phone because I like it that much. Now, I don't have a choice :p, the old phone will be my pamana to my brother) 

Above all, thank you Lord for another wonderful year. Thank you for all the blessings and also for the challenges.