The Life of Kye

Our plans this week include general cleanup and putting up some Christmas decor. It's late, I know, but the store looks a bit boring without them. We might attract more customers when we make the store look festive for the holidays. It's been really busy and this week is our last chance to decorate. Which reminds me, we need to decorate the church building as well, not in the common holiday fashion, but to promote Thanksgiving Day on December 24. On top of all these we still need to keep the business running and I currently have a design project. The good thing is I can freely schedule all these tasks. All plans have been settled, all schedules set. We just have to make them happen. This morning, I received one text that changed everything we had planned.

I just realized I haven't written anything for November... Am I that busy? Maybe. Am I procrastinating? Not really. I think it has more to do with not being able to focus on a task; not being able to gain momentum.

It's always a lovely sight seeing couples grow old together.

"Tamang hinala" When directly translated from Filipino to English it means "proper or right suspicion." However, this phrase is often said in a sarcastic manner, therefore  it's a suspicion that turned out to be false.

Sometimes, it is when we teach that we learn the most.

What does a day in the life of an architect/artist/blogger/doodler/housewife look like? Prepare to be blown away! Or not. Just kidding! Ideally, I wake up at 5:00 AM. Hubby and I start the day right by prayers and reading the Bible. We're not consistent, but we try our best to do this everyday. (But most days, he wakes up to pick up supplies and I go back to sleep.) I'm a very slow reader. I'm already behind schedule. There are times when I'm too lazy to read. Sometimes I am just too busy or trying to struggling to meet a deadline. I'm either too lazy or too busy.

What do you plan to do this weekend? via GIPHY What I'm actually doing...

I was hesitant to do this series mainly because of fear of how people will think of me. The general public has a habit of labeling Christians as self-righteous, hypocritical, judgmental, with a "holier-than-thou" attitude, and many more. Spiritual talk isn't appealing for those who do not believe them (unless it will make them rich.) Christianity has acquired a negative name through the years, and with my own history of mistakes and wrongdoings, I take part of the blame. Sharing your belief doesn't make you perfect, or holy, or pious in any way. I know some people who share verses and quote their pastors in a regular basis, but those proclamations do not necessarily match their way of life. When you share a quote whether it's from the Bible or a famous person, whether you like it or not, people will associate what you posted with your current life situation. You cannot separate your online status to your real status. You can't hashtag your way into r...

My dear sister, Am I still allowed to call you my sister? Maybe not anymore. Let me start over.

Here in the Philippines, when we say "trip trip lang" it means to do something spontaneous. It is something you do without any reason or thought: like when I suddenly decide to dip calamari in chocolate ice cream. It seems like a great idea at the time. It doesn't matter if in the end the calamari-ice cream will taste surprisingly good or, as expected, gross.

We've been living in Apartment B for more than a month now. It was quite an adjustment but not as difficult as moving from my in-laws to Apartment A . There's enough space for a bed and a cabinet, and nothing more. It's really basic. At least there's more privacy. Three days were spent just moving our things and cleaning the two units. We managed to fit all our clothes in one cabinet, drawers and an open clothes rack. There's also a loft meant for a single bed that we turned into a storage area. There's a small kitchen but I don't think we could manage to cook in it. The toilet is larger here than in Apartment A. The floor has ceramic tiles, a much better finish than in Apartment A. This is the size of a housing unit within Metro Manila for the budget of 5000 PHP (about 100 USD) monthly. Electricity and water bills are not yet included. If you think this is small, google how apartments in Hong Kong look like. This is how Apartment B looks like if yo...

How can a student survive a stressful year?

After spending two weeks in our transition home which is hubby's parents' house, we moved to an apartment space. For the next year or so, we call it home. Let's call it  Apartment A . Apartment A used to look like this. All apartment units are in this color. There's a limit on the changes you can make in a rented space. We had the walls painted white, replaced the light bulbs with LED and removed the vinyl tiles covering the floor. The previous floor tiles were warped and had some spaces in between them that gathered dirt. We planned to put floor tiles but we realized it's too much to spend on a place we don't own.

First of all, I am no journalist. I'm not a political analyst. I'm just a regular Filipino citizen just reacting to news. I have my own political leanings which may or may not be the same to whoever happens to stumble upon my blog and social media posts.

What happens when a natural homebody marries a nomad?

I was complaining about how slow the new washing machine operates. It was Monday night and I had to catch up with laundry. It was a rather tall pile of whites. I thought about trying the "soak" program and see how it works. The timer showed 1 hour and 30 minutes. The machine started washing at 7 PM and finished at 10 PM. Maybe the timer is paused whenever it lets water in, but I didn't expect it to take that long! I was getting grumpy just waiting for it to finish.

Closing time. Dinner time. The last batch of customers went home. We were about to roll down the metal doors and head to our own dinner table. What was supposed to be a peaceful evening became a tragic nightmare for many people in our barangay. In the night of May 10, 2017, around 120 families lost their homes to fire. Our street has always been noisy. At first, akala namin may away lang kaya may nagsisigawan. [We thought there was a fight going on.] It wasn't too long until we grasp what's really going on. We locked the store and went outside. There's a gigantic cloud of smoke just across the street. People outside the street are either panicking or watching the spectacle. The fire is close enough for us to worry but not too close to cause panic yet.

My first phone was a Nokia 3210 I got in 8th grade. (I'm stopping for a minute to reminisce about it... Wow. I'm old!) Fast forward to 2017. Now even kids own smartphones or tablets. It's amazing how technology has made smartphones an integral part of our daily living. We use our phones for so many other things, not only as a flash light or a calculator. The downside to this - smartphones are battery operated.

We should really be in the camp. I'm not used to being somewhere else during the Holy Week. I've been attending the yearly church camp since 1999. This is my first, and hopefully my last absence.

We've been mourning for two weeks now and we can't let anyone know what's happening. Church camp is such a big deal to me. I was never absent, not one day, not even an hour. I always made sure I'm fully paid, present and actively participating. It's a commitment I made to support the group I'm in even if it takes going to Divisoria to buy props, painting banners, dealing with group mates; I was there from preparation to the end. I take pride in that! Carrying a child is a much bigger deal... Unfortunately, God wants me to carry the child for only twelve weeks. The last two ultrasound results made clear that God has indeed taken our baby - no heartbeat, no fetal pole, no blood flow, and he/she shrank in size. I knew then I was going to miscarry anytime soon. My husband and I were still praying for a miracle while also preparing for the worst.

It should be normal to feel anxious while pregnant. There are serious risks especially in the first trimester. I should know. We lost our first baby last year.  { The Firstborn that Wasn't Meant to Be }   I know how the statistics are and I'm not 100% healthy to begin with.  When my husband and found out I was pregnant again, we were not as excited as we were the first time. There's a bit of excitement coupled with a lot of fear. What if it's blighted again? What if I miscarry? We even had a discussion whether to announce the pregnancy or not. Our previous loss somehow robbed us of the joy we're supposed to have. We nicknamed him/her Jellybean.

approaching the Kaybiang Tunnel Are you ready to lakwatsa ? [travel] Here are my travel essentials. The real challenge is fitting all these in one or two bags only. Let's get packing!

2016 was not a ten-minute roller coaster ride. It's more like riding vintage ship sailing for months on the unpredictable open sea. There were times enemies overtake and you have to fight for your life. There's loss, but there were also times when you enjoy the stillness of the ocean and the peaceful night sky (while still hydrophobic) . At least that's how I picture it.

photo from  PIXABAY You may think this is a serious post. ' Wag umasa. (Don't expect.) Charot lang 'to.

We finished decorating the church auditorium around 4PM in the afternoon of Christmas Eve. We went back to the store so our cashier can go home just in time for Noche Buena. Christmas 2016 | Old School Promotion Work It's a Filipino tradition wherein families stay up late to feast in the midnight of December 25. It's a big deal for us Pinoys to put out the best celebration-worthy meal for our families. You can say it's the local equivalent of Thanksgiving here in the Philippines. image from PIXABAY

First Christmas as husband and wife.  We're further away from tradition this year because of certain circumstances - December 25 falling on a Sunday, and Tatay spending Christmas in the hospital. Not the most ideal holiday ambiance, but we're thankful nonetheless. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, not the traditions. Responding to Stroke | The First Few Days We used a steam iron to "erase" wrinkles in the cloth. We spent Christmas Eve decorating our church auditorium.