Love and Relationships Archives

My One Word for 2018

January 1, 2018 · 7 Comments

Happy New Year everyone!!!! Welcome to 2018!

How were your Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations? Ours were pretty chill compared to how we usually celebrate. The weeks leading to the holidays were so stressful and hectic for our family so we decided to celebrate without stress as much as possible.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you for continuing to support this humble blog all throughout 2017. Our entire family is grateful to you guys! I hope you’ll continue to follow us in our journey especially because I have BIG plans for this blog this year.

2017: A Recap

I’ve been doing One Word 365 for the last several years. It basically means that instead of making New Year’s resolutions, you choose one word that will encapsulate all that you plan to achieve during the year.

For 2017, I chose FOCUS. I chose that word because we had a new baby then and as we all know, babies tend to be a LOT of work. Since our baby, Zander, is going to be our last child, I really wanted to pour as much of myself into raising him, especially in his first year.

Our son, Ziggy, also started first grade. Since I’m the one homeschooling him, I also wanted to focus on that. Our girls were also starting their last couple of years in junior high school. Since they’re busier in school and don’t live with us full time, I had to make the most out of the time that we do get to spend with them.

Basically, in 2017 I chose to focus on FAMILY and that’s exactly what I did.

How? Well, I scaled back on attending blogging events. I scaled back on blogging, period. I also didn’t accept new clients although I continued working from home part time with my existing client. I also scaled back on time with friends and other extra curricular activities.

What did I gain out of it? A closer relationship with my girls, despite our distance and limited time together. I was able to continue exclusively breastfeeding Zander (still on it now at almost 16 months!). I was able to support and accompany Ziggy in his new experience of joining weekly MAPEH classes. Lastly, stepping back career-wise allowed my hubby to step up on his (he was promoted twice in 2017!).

So, I can proudly say that 2017 was a good year for us despite some major challenges. I’m really excited now thinking of what 2018 has in store for us.

One Word 2018

I had a difficult time choosing my One Word for this year. I only finally decided on it last week, actually. It all boils down to my wanting to focus more on what matters most and to me that means getting rid of the things that matter least.

That said, my One Word for the year is ….. DECLUTTER.

Being a certified OC, I like things all organized. These past several years though, we’ve accumulated so much stuff that we’ve already run out of space to store all of them. This means that there are several areas of our house that are just too cluttered already. I want to clear our house of the stuff we don’t use or no longer need by the end of the year. (Will blog more about this in another post soon!)

A quick look in my closet and of my work station at home also makes me stressed lately. I no longer wear half of the items in my closet. My table is filled with lots of papers, planning and crafting stuff (happy kalats!), boxes from PR companies, etc etc etc. They’re all giving me a headache already so it’s time to finally purge.

I’ve also accummulated so many work files in my computer. A lot of them are from years ago. I need to get rid of a lot of them already. I’ve also taken lots of photos and videos of my family throughout the years. They’re all either in my phone, in my external hard drive or in several desktop folders. I want to organize them already for fear they might end up getting lost if I don’t.

I also want to declutter my personal relationships. There are just some people I don’t really connect with anymore. I want to reevaluate frienships. I think there may be some I just need to let go already.

Basically, I need to weed out the unnecessary, the things that no longer make me happy. At the end of the year, I just want to be left with a cleaner and more organized home and more importantly, a clearer head and peaceful heart.

So, wish me luck!

Do you also do One Word every year? Share me what your word is for 2018.

Love In Action

February 14, 2017 · 30 Comments

Today is Valentine’s Day. Normally, Valentine’s Day is not a big deal to my hubby and I. Sure, we sometimes give each other small gifts on this day but as far as I can remember we’ve only gone out on a date to celebrate Valentine’s Day once in the past almost 9 years that we’ve been together. Not that we don’t appreciate romance. It’s just that at this time in our family life, going out on a date is impossible because we can’t leave our little boys with anyone.

Besides, Valentine’s Day is so commercialized already. It’s not really about what material gift we can give each other on this day. What matters most is how we show our love for each other. We show love through our actions.

My hubby is a man of a few words. He’s not into small talk. It takes much prodding before you can get a full story out of him. However, when it comes to deeds, he doesn’t fall short. Even if he doesn’t say it, I know he loves me and our kids because of what he does for us. His love language is ACTS OF SERVICE. Some of the things he does for us include:

Cooking and Washing Dishes

Even though I’ve learned to cook a lot during the past 3 or 4 years, I still believe that hubby is the better cook. He likes to experiment with dishes. His creations are always tasty no matter if he just mixed up a variety of different ingredients. While he doesn’t have much time to cook during the week, he makes it a point to give me a break on the weekends and does the cooking himself.

Just this morning, on Valentine’s Day, he got home from work and proceeded to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for me and the boys. These are the mini pancakes with strawberry syrup that he prepared for me. Sweet!

When it comes to washing the dishes, I’m usually the one who does it. But when he sees I’m busy, he does it himself. I really appreciate this because we usually have to wash a lot of dishes since there are five of us in the house, sometimes seven. Good thing we use Bubble Man dish washing liquid. It just makes dish washing easier and faster.

We tried Bubble Man for the first time last year and we really loved it because it really is a safe, effective and affordable dish washing liquid. It doesn’t dry our hands at all because it doesn’t contain harsh chemicals, making it very environment-friendly too. Also, it removes dirt and grease easily, which means you spend less time washing dishes. The dishes smell good too! Bubble Man actually comes in three scents, Lemon, Calamansi and Antibac.

Plus, it’s safe to use for baby bottles! While I’m exclusively breastfeed our baby, we let him drink expressed breastmilk occasionally when I need to attend an event. So good to know I no longer need to buy a separate bottle cleanser for Zander’s bottles.

Fixing Things Around the House

Hubby is usually quiet but he’s always paying attention to everything and everyone around him. He’s always looking around for something to fix or repair. If there’s nothing to repair, he looks for stuff in the house that he can improve to make our lives better. Oftentimes, he’d see me having difficulty with something around the house and wouldn’t say anything. Little did I know, he was already thinking of ways how to make the situation better for me.

For instance, he made designed a shelf for my books and planners. He had it made then installed it himself at my workstation. He also DIY’d a magnet board for me – in purple, of course, because it’s my favorite color.

Taking Care of the Kids

He has always been a hands-on dad even when we didn’t have our boys yet. He helped me take care and raise my two daughters, Zoe and Ziya. Even if they’re just his stepkids, he never made me or them feel that he loves them any less. He’s always thinking of all four kids and is constantly coming up with ways to make them feel comfortable, happy and loved.

He takes care of baby Zander, changes his diapers, plays with him and puts him to sleep, even if he’s already tired from work. He tends to Ziggy when he sees I’m busy taking care of the baby. He provides for them to the best of his ability.

Being the dad, he also teaches our son, Ziggy, to help me around the house. As early as two years old, Ziggy already had his own chores. Now that he’s almost six years old, he can already do more in terms of house chores and my hubby encourages him to do that. Here he washing a wash cloth for me (still using Bubble Man!), which we used for a homeschool Science experiment.

All-around Driver

I don’t drive. I prefer to commute instead. But hubby prefers not to let me commute and would rather drive me to my destination. It doesn’t matter if it’s near or far. It doesn’t matter if he’s too tired from work. He would take me to attend blogging events or meetings. He’s supportive like that. It feels good to know he’s taking care of me.

I admit it’s sometimes frustrating whenever the hubby is silent. But I’ve since learned to accept him as he is and to appreciate the things he does to show us he loves us. After all, actions speak louder than words. I don’t trust words, I trust actions. Words mean nothing to me because actions speak the truth.

So this Valentine’s Day, rather than just saying “I love you”, show your loved ones you love them.

To my hubby, thank you for everything that you do for us. Always know that we appreciate you and are grateful for all that you do. I only hope you also feel our never-ending love for you. Happy Hearts Day!!!

We’re having a baby! Here we go again!

February 4, 2016 · 15 Comments

If you follow me on my two Instagram accounts, this one and this one, you’d have seen the announcement I posted last Sunday. If you missed it, well, don’t fret. Here’s the photo I posted then.

BabyAnnouncement1 — Posted on IG on January 31, 2016: “@joncarlmarinas and I were supposed to wait to make the announcement…but I’m too impatient! Lol! We’re adding a new twist to our roller coaster ride, ETA September 2016! Here we go again! ?? Of course I already have a baby journal in my #fauxdori. Haha! #BabyMarinas2016 #babynews #planningforpleasure”

Yes, we’re having a baby – again! This is the second baby I have with Kai but in total, this is my fourth (we’re a blended family, if you didn’t know yet!). Although this was definitely an unplanned addition to the family, we’re excited about it and have started planning for his/her arrival already.

We actually first found out last January 23rd, the day I went to attend an event for Cream Silk. My period was already a few days delayed by then and had decided that if it didn’t arrive that day I would go ahead and take a pregnancy test. The event ended that night and my period still hadn’t arrived. So before we went home we bought a pregnancy test already and I took it immediately after we arrived home. And the test was positive!

Oh my gosh, although I was half expecting it already I still couldn’t believe it. I had been wanting one last baby for a couple of years now and was beginning to lose hope that it would actually happen. So, for months now, I’ve been trying to accept the possibility that it just wasn’t in the cards for us and just continued planning for the life that we had. But as the saying goes, life happens when you’re busy making plans. And life DID happen! Surprise, surprise!

I also recently had to give up my major client, which is a huge sacrifice to us financially. I gave it up without a new client to replace it yet because I just couldn’t take the stress anymore. Several things certainly pushed me to go that direction but it wasn’t clear to me why. But I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason and that whatever it was, God would reveal it to me eventually. Just a couple of weeks later, we found out that I’m pregnant! Now I believe that God wanted me to let go of the stress first because it wouldn’t be good for the baby, especially because it played a huge role on why I was put on bed rest twice back when I was pregnant with Ziggy.

Anyway, we’ve already been on our first prenatal check up. No tests have been done yet because my OB thought it was still too early at 4.5 weeks (by now I’m already on my 6th week). But I’m now taking my prenatal vitamins and taking lots of well-deserved rest and relaxation. I’m super excited for the first couple of tests coming in a couple of weeks.

Our other kids are taking it well too. Ziggy kind of knew already. He had begun playing with a small teddy bear weeks ago pretending it was his baby brother. He even told me he thought I already had a baby in my tummy even before we actually found out for real. Some intuition that boy has! He’s really excited now and keeps hugging and kissing my tummy already. He’s going to be a big brother for the first time and that’s a big deal for all of us.

We ended up telling our girls the news over the phone last Saturday. We were planning to tell them face-to-face when they were supposed to stay over for the weekend but that didn’t work out because Zoe had a case of roseola prior to that day and my OB advised me to stay away from them for the time being. Apparently, it could harm the baby at this early stage of pregnancy. They both cried in shock when they found out. Haha! But they were laughing afterwards and made me tell them the entire story.

Anyway, I guess this marks the start of another one of my preggy diaries. It’s so surreal that I initially started this blog 5 years ago to chronicle my pregnancy with Ziggy. Now here I am 5 years later doing the same thing again!

Please help us pray for a healthy and safe pregnancy guys! And stick with us as we add another twist to our roller coaster ride!

On Love, Magnum, Paris and Superheroes (Our Valentine’s Day Story)

February 16, 2015 · 12 Comments

Valentine’s Day started a few days early for me this year.

A few days before Valentine’s Day, I came back to my work desk and saw this.

Apparently, hubby came home with this package of super yummy peanut butter and banana cupcakes and left it on my desk to surprise me.

So sweet, right? He’s not normally big on romantic gestures but he can be really thoughtful when he wants to be. This was super appreciated especially because it came in the middle of a very hectic work week. Thanks, Buhr!

Anyway, we didn’t have major plans for Valentine’s Day except for wanting to go watch Paddington the movie. The girls were out to spend the weekend with their dad and his family. So, it was just me and my boys. We just gave the girls some chocolates before they left for the weekend.

Since I wanted to give the hubby a surprise too, I decided to take them to SM Aura. All the while he was thinking we were just there to watch Paddington. Little did he know, I also planned to surprise him and Ziggy with lunch at Magnum Cafe. Hubby had been eyeing the restaurant for ages. So, I thought Valentine’s Day would be the perfect time to go.

He got surprised alright. Haha! Mission accomplished. Ziggy got so excited too upon seeing the Make Your Own Magnum bar, which I sadly wasn’t able to take a photo of. But I got to take a photo of this really cool wall installation that they have in the restaurant. They used Magnum bar sticks to make this. Really creative.

I loved the warm, modern look of the place. The staff were welcoming and accommodating. Some of them even stopped by at our table just to chat with Ziggy.

Everything in their menu looks delish! We ended up ordering the following: Baked Mussels in Fundido, Magnum Bolognese, Asian Steak Salad and for dessert, the Make Your Own Valentine Trio.

The Baked Mussels in Fundido is composed of Chilean mussels baked with seasoned crumbs, salsa, and homemade Mexican cheese sauce. I ordered this because it looked really good on the photo. I didn’t disappoint. I love it! You can’t go wrong with cheese and salsa.

Ziggy ordered the Magnum Bolognese because he loves spaghetti. This one is different though. It’s made of slow simmered minced meat with pomodoro, finished with Belgian chocolate shavings. So yummy! Ziggy wasn’t able to finish the whole serving (because it’s big enough to share) but he ate a lot of it.

Hubby has been ordering mostly salads recently whenever we go out. So it was not surprising that he ordered this Asian Steak Salad. It’s made of seared rib eye steak tossed with fresh greens, sweet corn, crisp wontons in an Asian style sweet-savory dressing. I love steak and so I was mostly pleased with this dish. I just wish the dressing wasn’t so citrusy.

Of course, we couldn’t leave the place without having a Magnum bar. Since it was valentine’s Day, their featured dessert was the Make Your Own Valentine Trio, which was perfect for us because there were three of us. What can I say about it? Magnum-rrific! It’s just too bad the girls missed it. But I guess that just means we have to go back to Magnum Cafe soon.

Afterwards, we went to Bonifacio High Street because the Paddington movie wasn’t scheduled until 8 p.m. When we got to BHS, we were surprised by several individuals in superhero costumes, who were giving away free flowers and free hugs to people passing by.

Ziggy was so happy to see Spiderman, his favorite superhero. He gamely posed with him, of course and high-fived him on more than one occasion. I, on the other hand, was given this really nice flower with a sweet message, by no less than The Flash. Hahaha!

There was also a fake Eiffel Tower in BHS where a lot of people were taking photos. It was nice to pretend to be in Paris. I guess, it would be extra special and extra romantic to spend Valentine’s Day in Paris. Haha! Someday I hope to do so, for real.

We went to see Paddington the movie afterwards, which is a great, funny movie for the family.

Overall, it was a pretty chill Valentine’s Day celebration. It might not make somebody else’s list of top romantic celebrations but I was pretty happy with it.

How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day? Do share in the comments!

The Day We Saw Pope Francis (and my favorite quotes from his visit)

January 25, 2015 · 24 Comments

I would be the first to admit that I’m not a devout Catholic in the truest sense of the word. However, I do have a deep, strong, personal relationship with God and my faith in Him has never faltered all throughout the ups and downs of my life.

Needless to say, I was very excited to see Pope Francis when I first heard he was coming to visit the Philippines. However, we weren’t able to plan on how to see him because of our schedule.

We spent the first couple of days of his visit at home, watching him on the live coverage on TV. I was deeply moved by him and his speeches and found myself crying several times while listening to him.

I made sure to watch the coverage of his Meeting with the Families at the Mall of Asia Arena. I wished I could be there but sadly, I couldn’t leave the house. So, I just watched everything on TV. Let me share with you my favorite snippets from his speech during the event that day.

Here’s my most favorite one. I am all for dreaming. This one definitely resonates.

As someone who has had one failed marriage, I can definitely say this is true. I plan on posting this message now in our house so that it can serve as a reminder to me and hubby.

Resting is definitely something I don’t get to do a lot of. But I know we, as a family, need to recommit to “resting together” especially in prayer.

After watching Pope Francis that day on TV, hubby and I decided we can’t possibly let this chance pass by without attempting to see him while he was here. So that Friday night, I booked us a stay at Midas Hotel and Casino for the coming Sunday, after studying his route for Monday morning, which was his last morning in Manila.

As much as we wanted to attend his Sunday mass at the Quirino Grandstand, we knew it wouldn’t be practical to bring our three kids there, including a rambunctious and restless 3-year-old. So, the next best option was to wait for him on the street, Roxas Boulevard to be exact, which is where he will pass by on his way to Villamor Air Base to take his flight home.

We checked in to the hotel on Sunday afternoon and watched his encounter with the youth in UST and his mass at the Quirino Grandstand on TV. Here are my favorite quotes from the Pope during the youth encounter.

I love how he made a special mention about women. I think there’s a need for people to be reminded of this every so often because women’s roles in society tend to be downplayed a lot.

This is a good reminder to all of us the importance of putting our thoughts and feelings into action. A lot of us think of doing good deeds. But if we don’t really feel it in our hearts and don’t do anything about it, then thinking is a waste.

I especially like this quote about love. This definitely holds true for me. We can even think of love in romantic relationships this way. It sounds like something my hubby said to me before.

I woke up at 4 am on Monday morning and couldn’t go back to bed because of the excitement. I woke up hubby and the kids by 5 am so that we can have time to have our breakfast first before heading to the street. Midas is located on Roxas Boulevard so all we had to do to see the Pope was to cross the street. We actually got a table with a view of the street so that we can see if people are flocking the barricades already. We actually saw policemen and people there already when we woke up.

We were expecting Pope Francis to pass by around 9:15 a.m. so we went to the street an hour before that. There were a lot of people milling about already but there was still lots of space available. I was actually very surprised by how nice the people were. They were especially helpful in assisting us to go over the islands to get to the other side of the road where the barricades were. The nuns in front of us even offered Ziggy some water to drink when they overheard him saying he was thirsty. They were actually live streaming the live coverage so that we would all know when the Pope is already on his way. If only everybody is this nice every day.

Let me just say, I really admire the policemen there who were manning the barricades. They came all the way from Calabarzon and they were already stationed by the barricades by 5am. I think what they have done to maintain peace and order during the entire Papal visit is admirable.

Anyway, we took a couple of photos of ourselves while waiting. I think this is the first time we did something like this as a family.

Finally, we heard from the live streaming that the Pope was on his way. Some of the police handed out white flags to wave but we didn’t get any. Everybody started standing up and prepared their gadgets to take photos. The energy was really something else. Thinking about it now still gives me goosebumps.

Then finally we saw his motorcade coming. I really tried my best to capture nice photos with only the use of my new iPad mini since our digicam is busted. Pope Francis passed by for only two seconds in front of us. It was so quick!!! But at least I was able to get some decent photos. Here they are.

This was the closest shot I got but someone’s hand is partially blocking the view. Of course, a lot of us were waving to the Pope so it’s all good.

The two seconds that we got to see him was so short yet so worth it. But I do hope he comes back again so that I can hopefully have a closer encounter with him.

His coming to the country means a lot to me, so much that I can’t even put it into words. Just thinking about it now makes me cry. It’s overwhelming to say the least. So, allow me to just revel in this feeling.

‘Til the next time, Pope Francis. Thank you for coming.