Summer 2014 Highlights

Reminder to self: find time to write about this year's summer adventure.

Here are some highlights :)

Beautiful Mount Rushmore

Nickelodeon Universe in Mall of America

Kalahari Resort with cousins

Chicago

somewhere in North Dakota

Logan's Pass

Dear Summer, why did you pass by so quick? Thanks though for the happy memories this year :)

Celebrating Birthdays, Friendship and More!

Volcano cake for Lance's 8th Birthday

Again, busy as a bee mode! After recovering from my illness, I had this drive to try new recipes. I had to make up for my cranky mood the past few weeks. I was pumped up and tried Beef Bulgogi and Crispy Pork Belly with Asian Five Spice. Hubby made yummy Beef Teriyaki as well. Finally tried making egg tarts too as taught by my friend Jocelyn.

the marinade

marinating the beef

Beef Bulgogi

spicing up the pork belly

fried to perfection

best Beef Teriyaki ever!

egg tarts

Aside from the new recipes, our week was completed with our old favorites. Kare-Kare, Monggo with Pechay, Imbaliktad and Sweet Pork Adobo.

Kare-Kare: Pork Hocks & Beef  Stew in peanut based sauce

Green Mung beans with Bokchoy

Beef Stir fry in Vinegar

Sweet Pork Adobo

It was also a week of belated birthday celebrations. We held Lance's 8th birthday at home. I made my favorite recipes for Pancit Canton, Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken and I decided last minute (again!) to make a birthday cake. I settled for a Volcano cake since I am no great baker and volcanoes don't have to be pretty at all. The whole family helped in doing the cake and it turned out volcano like I think. We had hotdogs, pizza, chips and popcorn for the kids.

Happy 8th Birthday Lance!

toppings for the pancit

looks plain but yummy with my not so secret ingredients :)

my new favorite--baked sweet and sour chicken

Lastly but not the least, me and my good friend Meanne's belated birthday party!!! It was a night of delicious food, laughs, friendship and great company. For a second, I thought it was our other friend Ate fe's birthday too! Her loud voice and jolly mood can sure brighten up anyone's day hehe! Thank you Meanne for hosting a great party, loved the Bibingka, Roast Chicken, Squid, Shrimps etc. Everything was sooo good!

a table full of nothing but delicious food!

BURP! :D

Birds of the Same Feather, Coupon Together

It's the last week before Christmas break, few more days before Christmas and I haven't cleaned the house, no Christmas menu and  have not accomplished anything except for the gifts, a little Christmas baking and trips to the store with my coupon buddy, Jocelyn.

We received a good news though regarding our permanent residency papers, we ought to celebrate this good news but there's so much to pay so our Christmas this year will just have to be a very simple one. Next year will be a BLAST! Around December of last year, we were stressing about renewing our work permits. Now, it's all about completion of requirements plus the fees. I am really looking forward to a MERRY CHRISTMAS next year!

Aside from the good news, another highlight of my year was me getting too engrossed with coupons. I have learned a lot from all the ladies out there and we have this group called Coupon Darlings where we talk about almost everything even things unrelated to coupons. These ladies rock and I haven't even met them. Having the same interests really brought us together, I ♥ the group period. Thank you ladies and Happy Holidays!

Kiddie Parties!

Over the weekend, we attended Lance's bestfriend's 6th birthday party. It was actually hubby's birthday too but he was at work so we attended Alex's which was a costume party. Lance came as Commander Cody while Lei dressed up as a ballerina. The kids love wearing costumes and Halloween couldn't have come a lot sooner so thanks again Alex for requesting a costume party.

I would love to have my kids' birthday parties at home too. I would even go out of my way to select a theme and coordinate everything from the food down to the decor and loot bags but both of their birthdays fall on winter making it impossible to have an outdoor party. It would be more fun if it's held outside rather than cooped up inside the house and I could just imagine the noise.

I'm so excited for Lei, she'll be in school starting September. She'll have friends of her own and I'm sure she'll be demanding a party of her own in no time. Lance too is excited for his next birthday which won't be until January. They just couldn't wait so to make it worth waiting, I better come up with something really special for their next birthdays :D

BC Weekend

beautiful trees along the way

We went on a road trip to British Columbia over the weekend. It was supposed to be a 5 hour drive but we stopped several times to check out some places and pose for some pictures. We reached Fairmont Hot Springs a little after 3pm, about 7 hours or so of traveling.

First on the agenda after checking in was to eat a very late lunch. We unpacked all our 'baon' and we ate to the point of discomfort. After that very heavy meal and having rested for awhile, it was time to go to the hot springs for a very relaxing dip. We stayed there for 2 hours before heading back to the cottage to prepare for our grilled food feast.

Once again, we were filled to the brim, not only with food but with laughter as well. Having stayed in one cottage allowed us to spend more time with our friends, gave us reason to stay up late and just really enjoy each others' company.

I woke up early and decided to cook breakfast before packing once again. Our one and only agenda for that day would be to drop by at Funtasia which was right in front of Fairmont Mountain Bungalows where we stayed for some fun time with the kids. We ended up riding the bump cars which are nowhere near the bump cars I used to ride when I was a kid. But yeah, it was still fun and quite an adventure, several hard bumps and a headache afterwards and I was still hoping it wasn't time to go home yet.

An overnight's stay is never enough but it felt good to be out no matter how challenging it is to travel with kids. But more than the fun and quality time spent, I'm just thankful that we all got home safe :D

Blessings and Miracles

Happy times with our Lethbridge Family

This post is dedicated to our friends, who, over the past few days went through such a difficult phase but was rewarded with the BEST in the end.

Hunks of Lethbridge

Living abroad, as I've come to realize is no easy thing. It has its advantages and disadvantages. Obviously, the advantage is more on the financial aspect but the disadvantages start from the sadness that's dwelling (and never ending) in our hearts and second would be the uncertainties particularly in our case (we are still waiting for our Permanent Residency papers).

The BABES!

Our friends were not able to renew their work permits. Imagine their fear and worry over this unfortunate situation. Fortunately, the management was very supportive but then again, everything all boils down to legality and paper works, unsure of what their next steps would be and yeah, amidst the support of  friends and relatives, I'm sure it was more than nerve wracking and we, as friends can only say kind words, offer prayers and hope that everything will be alright.

Congratz Martinez Family!

And true enough, by God's grace, after five grueling days, the miracle has come. We all know that their PR papers will soon come but not this soon. Nevertheless, we are happy for them and hopefully, we'll have our own miracles too.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has 
   made the Lord his hope and confidence.                                                                                 - Jeremiah 17:7

A Day of Firsts

For the first time ever, Mark and I left both the kids with our friend Jocelyn. We had some errands to do and I had to be at a baby shower. So for the first time, I went out without my hubby and kids. I would say it was fun, a little overwhelming as it was a new experience for me. It was only for a couple of hours, I think I checked on Mark only twice but I surely missed my babies. It's good to be out though and have fun but for some reason I'm not used to not having my family around anymore. I'm happy though that Lei agreed to go to her Ninang Jocelyn's house, it was her idea anyway because she wanted to play with Mac. She's always been with me and when Lance goes on a play date she doesn't usually come or she'd ask me to stay with her. I'm just amazed with her progress and many thanks to our dear friend Jocelyn for having them. She is really good with kids and Lei adores her. Thank you once again from the bottom of my heart.

And now that Lei is not too clingy with me anymore, maybe Daddy and Mommy can finally go out on a date :D Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Goodbye Sheila...

Me, Sheila & Grace

I received a sad news this morning regarding the passing of a previous co-staff, Sheila. I informed another co-staff, my senior, Ma'am Chit. Another co-staff messaged me about it. It made me miss all my previous co-staff nurses at CC Ward. At times like this, you can't help but journey back to those happy moments with these people (happy happy while on duty) LOL.

I lost contact with Sheila from the time she surprised us with her resignation. It was no secret to us that she had a heart ailment during her time with us. Her cardiologist even told us to convince her to undergo an operation. She used to ignore her illness before and would even drink Red Horse as if she was the healthiest person in the world! After she resigned, I wasn't sure if she went abroad then went back to her native Baguio and worked as a clinical instructor. I found her again on Facebook, we just exchanged a couple hi's and hellos and that's about it, until this sad news.

CC Ward Outing '05, Sheila in a Superman shirt

Sheila, with tears in my eyes, I'm proud to have known and worked with you, we may not have been the 'bestest' of friends, but in my heart you will always be remembered. Do you still remember our endless conversations about love and relationships? How many times I called you stubborn? You used to ignore the fact that your days were numbered eversince your heart illness was diagnosed. You said you didn't care and you lived life as to how you wanted to live it, you lived by your rules and no one else's and I wished to God it brought you happiness until your last breath.

Our condolences to your family, and may you rest in peace, Sheila.

Winter Fun at Sugar Bowl

Lance and Lei on their way up

We finally brought the kids sledding yesterday and this time they went down the steeper side of the hill at Sugar Bowl. Last year both the kids were still afraid to go sledding as it was their first time to experience such. Over the summer Lance had been anticipating for snow so he could go sledding. Since it was too cold to go when the snow first started, Mark improvised so they could go sledding in our front yard. For weeks we maintained the snow covering our stairs which we discovered was a bad idea since the snow hardened and we really had a hard time cleaning up. I guess no more sledding at home after that and besides that's what the Sugar Bowl is for.

Alex, Lance & Mac

We headed there around lunch time and met up with Alex (Lance's bestfriend). The good thing was, we had the Sugar Bowl all to ourselves. The kids had so much fun including Lei who went down all by herself several times but we had to get her at the bottom since it was a long walk back to the top. I told her to just sled down the lower hill but according to her it was too low. Really a Tapang in the true sense of the word!

brave little girl