Day 73: My Last Hurrah as a Thirtysomething

Just looking at the pictures highlighting the past year of my life made me realize how time truly flies so fast. It seemed only yesterday when I celebrated my 38th birthday and now here comes another natal day, making me one year older. This is going to be my last year in the thirties and it seems that everything else in my life seem to be at the end of a chapter or ending (more on that in later posts, don't worry).

I've had a tremendous outpouring of blessings all throughout this year and the biggest one of them all was finally realizing what being a Christian truly means and having a personal relationship with the Lord God. He has opened the floodgates of my mind and heart to His word and promise of eternal life. And it is now that I realize how difficult it is to live life once you get closer to Him. He will test and challenge you all the time to know whether you're His true disciple or not. It might be weird to understand how this can be considered as my greatest blessing this year but it truly is...As I continue to be tested, rocked and shaken, I get molded and reshaped in the process.  I am now a work in progress...having a lot of downs than ups but still trying to get up each time I fall.

Lately, I've allowed myself to be troubled and afraid of these things that signal the end of certain parts of my life. God knows I've wallowed in so much fear, anxiety, grief and self-pity already. Known to be a natural pessimist, I can't seem to get my thoughts to be positive about what's in store in the future. While things seem to be going on south, I have the tendency to think that it's all downhill from here...

Now that I'm facing the big 40 just around the corner there, my biggest wish and fervent prayer is that God helps create in me a more positive outlook, one that is bold enough to look at the future and say "I'm ready, bring it on!!!".  I hope that He continues to allay all my fears and allows me to believe that indeed when He closes a door, He opens a window.

The greatest sign that He is just around, ready to take me under His care was already manifested early today, when my Facebook wall and mobile phone filled up with a barrage of greetings and well wishes. Knowing that I am loved by family, relatives, friends and loved ones boosts my confidence to face another year of my life. Your overwhelming show of love, support and care will keep me going. My heartfelt gratitude to all of you for remembering and keeping me in your hearts and minds.


Finally, to know how deeply I am loved by those closest to my heart makes everything worthwhile and meaningful. With them by my side, I know I can overcome anything...


This is hubby's birthday gift to me...I was in tears from start to finish...such a precious gift of love...

This time from my two girls...what a great birthday gift!

Day 215: Our Little Explorer

CeeJae is a daredevil! 

Not even 1.5 years old yet, she's not afraid to try many stunts or stretch her physical abilities. One of the things that fascinate her is going up and down a flight of stairs. For some reason, height does not scare her...with her, it's quite the opposite - it challenges her.

For now, she has discovered her unique way of  going down the steps...with a firm grasp on the rail, she slides down each step by sitting on each one until she reaches the bottom.

A few months from now I know she'll learn to go down the stairs the upright way but in the meantime, I'll leave my little daredevil to her own tricks.

Day 140: Telltale

In my previous post, I marveled on my beach tan and new hairstyle. What the photo on that entry failed to show is what I'm featuring here.

You don't have to look closely to notice the telltale signs of age...it's screaming right at you. That's right, within my crowning glory nestles hundreds of silver strands, glimmering and shining for all to see. I'd have to say that premature graying runs in my family. My maternal grandmother has been sporting the coolest all-white 'do for decades now. My Mom has shared the same color in the last 5 years...imagine my current hairstyle in all-grey.

My stylist has tried to convince me more than once to have coloring and highlights done. He says it will do my short style justice. Wow! I'd love to but breastfeeding since 2006 has prevented me from going the dye route. If my 2nd daughter decides to follow her Atchie, it'll take me until 2012 (at the earliest) before I can consider having my locks colored. For the time being, let the silver in my hair remain as a symbol of growth and maturity.

Day 22: Love, seasoned by time...

I was searching through my hard drive for photos and I chanced upon these two here...
The larger photo was taken last March 2009 during my birthday our anniversary (the two occasions are 2 days apart, hence the slight confusion) and the smaller one was maybe circa 2003 or 2004.

Although you could see very similar faces (alright, give or take 5 lbs...), the more recent one shows so much more character. Maybe we were more innocent when we were younger? Or we didn't know as much?  And of course, the experiences were much different.

Ours is a love that has withstood the harshest of weather and continues to grow and evolve at present...much like the dishes I concoct in my kitchen, we've been seasoned so ever gently by time.