Weekend Etc Etc

Hubby is doing the start-up with our new team member so I am left with the laptop and Seattle's Best free wi-fi! I'm glad Twitter is up and running already, was afraid this morning's downtime will take a while.

Now I'm blogging!


****
Was lying in our bed and looking idly at the window of our room when I noticed a bird's nest settled so nicely in the next room's aircon iron grills. No wonder I always hear birds chirping in the morning. Didn't know we have boarders in the house. Hmmnnn... they should pay a rent! Hahahaha!




I am really glad for my brother's portable DVD! At least Miggy and I can settle comfortably in bed and hang out without the jumping, throwing and running all over the place.

And of course, thanks to Barney for never failing to make my little boy happy!


After a round of Barney, the boy got bored already and so did I! SM Southmall is just around the corner and off we did!

Miggy loves the drums...

Loves the ball too...
I wonder if he will become a drummer or a basketball player?

I think the court pays more. LOL

New Moon

The full trailer is happening tonight at the MTV Movie Awards!

Click here for the trailer teaser.

See Rob and Kristen at the awards night!

Random thoughts and happenings

Ok. If it not for the label "senate" at the TV screen, I would have mistaken what was going on as a live entertainment talk show. That was totally entertaining more than enlightening! Poor hayden and katrina! Isn't it obvious that their scandal is being taken advantage of for political reasons? And why haven't they caught the one's responsible for the uploading and reproduction of the said video? Hmnnn.... And of all people who would lecture about morality?!?

***
We had a great time yesterday night. Our business appointments got cancelled so we decided to take Miggy to the kiddy salon for his long due haircut. It was only me, hubby and the big boy. And we had so much fun!


***
The H1N1 flu virus is definitely here! Number of confirmed cases is climbing up. But I wonder if we are taking it seriously? Well, I feel better now that we got our flu vaccine shots and we doubled our intake of vitamin c supplement. Nothing beats being alert and prepared, right?

***
Watched the 5 second trailer teaser of New Moon at Ryan Seacrest's site. Heard they are going to play the full trailer at he MTV Movie Awards. Can't wait! Click here for the video teaser.

***
Was definitely burnt out at work. It's not really for the work over load but for the routine! I am so bored!! Nothing, really, makes me so annoyed than getting onto a predictable day! I am definitely going to pursue what I want soon... I am thinking of getting into an Interior Design school, or take some photography lessons and get myself a professional cam. Or maybe enroll in multimedia arts?

***
Hubby's birthday is coming. And I have not yet decided on what to give him. He was actually checking on some PC games yesterday but he hadn't bought an external drive for the laptop yet so I am not also going to give him any games to dowload. His DOTA game is eating the lappy's memory space already (aside from the pics). I'm pretty sure hubby is checking this blog once in a while, so I'm definitely not going to announce anything about his gift. :-)

***
Read somewhere that the Hayden -Ruffa Mae video is already uploaded? How true is this? Shocking! If this is true, I am sure Mo Twister is having his last laugh. I can remember how furious Ruffa Mae of what Mo did when he interviewed Vicki Belo. But I hope it's not true though... or else.. I'm not sure what "senator" will do to Hayden. LOL

***
Will post some thoughts again ASAP.

:-)

Recent Week

Got this allergy attack for 6 days already but I am feeling better now. This is what I hate the most when June is kicking in coz this is also the time when my most hated allergic rhinitis starts to pay a visit. Antihistamines surely kills my day.

So what happened over the weekend?

**Almost every one I know has gone crazy over Hayden Kho's sex videos. Ask if they have a copy and they surely have- in their PSP's, cellphones, laptops and USB. Then they talked about who's really the victim over the whole mess. Here's my thought: Hayden Kho doing a video of his sexcapades is not really abnormal. Coz if it is then I think a lot of our male population are abnormals, right? Cut the crap of claiming saint. The wrong thing about it, though, is its release to the whole populace. That was supposed to be for personal viewing of the owner. But nonetheless, I pity the women (Katrina Halili, Maricar Reyes and the unnamed Brazilian model) in the movie clip. I am sure they are soooo embarassed and traumatized by its release.

**I presented the business plan Saturday night at our business partner's place. Almost all his guest were his co-borders in the second floor. Watching them kidding around and throwing funny comments on each other reminded me of my "ladies dorm days" during college. I remember wishing I had my own place then, but the fun, nightly girl talk and gossip and the many shoulders to cry on, made me think otherwise. It was a good 4 years stay- I learned a lot.

**I am getting hooked with Twitter! I surely love following updates from people I am interested in- Ryan Seacrest, Brian Gorrell, Jordin Sparks, Larry King and many others. I just wish though that friends will start twitting too. It would be lots of fun!! To all my friends: register now and follow me - http://twitter.com/m_gracebel :-)

**Read in the net about Hayden Kho's mother accusing Katrina of luring his son to use drugs. Now the PDEA is already in picture. This sure is getting uglier every second!

**Hope I'd be able to update often. Been busy with work and our business. Will post some thoughts soon.

:-)

Kris Allen is American Idol Season 8

Kris is cute and talented. No problem about that. But Adam Lambert is just awesome! But it's ok... I think Adam will continue to rock the world!

See finale story from E! Online.

Personality Test

Took the Facebook's personality quiz through birth month and here's the result:

Attractive personality
Affectionate
Shy and reserved
Secretive
Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic
Loves peace and serenity
Sensitive to others
Loves to serve others
Not easily angered
Trustworthy
Appreciative and returns kindness
Observant and assess others
Revengeful
Loves to dream and fantasize
Loves traveling
Loves attention
Loves home decors
Musically talented
Loves special things
Moody

Hmnnn...

What do you think?

The Official New Moon Poster from Ryan Seacrest

What can I say?

Thanks Ryan for this!
Follow Ryan Seacrest Twitter updates. Click here. And follow mine here.

Full Weekend

It was a very hectic weekend.

***

We attended our May Business Building Seminar at the PICC Media Center last Saturday followed by an early dinner with the team at Singkit in Harbor View. As always, I felt good being with positive and excited people once again. The seminar's empowering environment and our speaker's inspiring talk never fails to give me the best perspective of life, the power to dream high and big and the hope that a great life is coming ahead. The business had really tested how committed we are into reaching our goals in life- and I never give the credit to myself for holding on- I give the credit to my husband who's always there for me, our business mentors, our LOS, and our N21 family.

***

I changed my Sunday off sched to accomodate the Saturday function, so I had to report to work for half day. After lunch, me, hubby and Miggy headed off to SM Molino with a friend and her son to attend a Tom's World Event. Went home around 4pm, took a quick nap and then met with our business mentors Tita Nel and Tito Mar for counselling.

***

I was dead tired when we got home around 9pm.

Here are some pics over the weekend:

Dream house

When I visualize my dream house, I always see that cozy place- warm, welcoming, well lighted and ventilated. With just the right amount of furnitures and fixtures. Although I want my living and dining rooms in modern minimalist mode, the bedroom is a different setting. I want it close to nature, rustic, and creates that relaxing feeling where as if you're in the middle of a forest with warm leaves under your feet and the smell of the woods under your breathe. Warm, earth colors such us green, brown and rustic orange in your eyes. Imagine that scene inside your bedroom, wouldn't you feel relax and comfortable? What would be the right furniture for that? Something brown, rustic and heavy.

Hmnnn, i need to look now for the right rustic furnitures for my dream bedroom. Wish me luck for that!

Funny but so true!!!

Stumbled upon this great blog: The MousePotato and got this from one of his posts- Women As Explained by Engineers. My hubby is an engineer and I am pretty sure he would agree to this!

It's funny really, but it's soooo true.

Worth the wait!

What can I say?

It's worth the wait! The photo cards, the Borders Exclusive features, etc!

And this is something from the seller- film cell from the movie. Mine is #794 out of the 1500 produced.

Happy

I got my Twilight- Borders Exclusive Edition already!

Actual pic to follow!

I am happy!

When realization hits hard...

Ask me yesterday if I was being difficult as an employee to the company and as a staff to my boss and I would answer you NO. I was the best... I was indispensable... important. I had too much of an ego to the point already of being stupid... idiot.

And someone did tell me that before.

Did I accept it? Of course not! My ego and my pride was way to big to admit I was being stupid. I was perfectionist. No one can do a better job than me. I hurled criticisms at my teammates and always thought that they slow down any project that we had to finish. As if they were dragging me down from getting to positions. Even my bosses gained impossible comments from me. They were no good to be my boss. I was always better than them. So proud and mean! So self centered! After all, I was a choleric-sanguine by personality.

And then I came across an article in the net I didn't mean to read at all but I did. I'm really glad I did!

CONFESSIONS OF A RECOVERING IDIOT was all about me... or someone I can totally relate to. Because I was the same person. It was all about having to realize the painful truth that we have faults, that we are not perfect.. that we tend to look at others people's dirt in their faces without having to check our own reflections in the mirror first.

The article was so straight forward that I almost tried to see it as stupid before I even got to read the whole story. But the words of the author poured out reality in me. The words were never kind and encouraging at all to read by someone who can relate- but those words had cut through the shield of my stupidity. I was still trying to mend the shield mind you. But you see doing that will lead me again to the person I now realize was all wrong. I, too has never had the grace to accept criticisms, but I can hurl them back as fast as I could and as painful as it can get to the person. I was too sensitive that the slightest negative comment can ruin the whole day for me.

This confession had hit me so hard that I can't almost take it.

But I want to be a better person now.

I came upon such a powerful article not for me to say it's trash but for me to realize I still have the chance to a BETTER ME.

Busy

I have not uploaded the part 2 of Ilocos trip yet. I was so busy. Last May 1, we were off again to Tarlac for Miggy's bday party at our in-laws house the next day. We left few minutes after the party coz I needed to do some work in the office the following day.

And I became really busy....

You see, when Miguel came to us, my perspective, my priority changed. I knew I was not after a career anymore. What I really wanted was to take care of my husband and son and still have the lifestyle I want and the money to spent.

And deep inside me, I was looking for options. Glad to have found it though.

I can't imagine myself being this busy at work until age 65 when I have the choice to spend such time taking care of my loved ones.

I am smiling now... I can see the future ahead of me. And it's gonna be one hell of an exciting life!

Ilocos Trip Part 1

Miggy scared of the big waves. Dap-ayan inside the Museo Ilocos Norte
Miggy with the girls of Laoag Renzo Hotel... he was kilig!
Entrance of Museo Ilocos Norte
Daddy and son

More to come!

Random Happenings

I was so busy last week that I failed to update my blog of some things happening around. And I really don't have that much time to blog everything in details now. So here are some updates:

* We celebrated our 3rd year anniversary (April 22) with a dinner at the newly opened The Sizzling Pepper Steak at Festival Mall Alabang. We were supposed to go to Mingoy's Restaurant at ATC but we settled on trying the new place. Plus, we did not have much time to celebrate coz I needed to pack for our 5 day Ilocos trip.

* We left the house around 6am (April 23) for our super long trip to Ilocos. We made a stop at our in-laws place in Tarlac to visit and drop some stuff needed for Miggy's party on May 2.

* There were so many road construction when we got to Ilocos Sur that made our trip longer than usual. We arrived in Laoag around 8pm already.

* We didn't really went out and visit the tourist spots since we've already seen them when we visited the last time. We just brought Miggy to Fort Ilocandia Beach to enjoy the water and sea breeze, then we visited Museo Ilocos Norte. Of course, as always, we enjoyed the Ilocano food- empanada, Batac miki, pinakbet, tinuno, bagnet etc.

* My father threw a party for Miggy for his 2nd birthday. It was supposed to be a family dinner since Miggy will be already throwing a party at my in-laws place on May 2. But my father insists on throwing one.

* We met with our business mentors Tita Nel and Tito Mar and our team leaders during the IBOO.

* Met with some high school friends.

* Went back to Manila early morning of Monday. Dropped by in Candon to visit my mom's cousins and Tarlac to visit Upline Lota.

* It was a good 5 day vacation as we found the time to bond (me, Vergil and Miggy) with the family. We had enough rest and relaxation. And we would certainly go back and this time we would roam around na.

Will post some pics later.

Another Twilight Collection

Grabbed his impulsively while I was buying some office staff at National Bookstore. It was kinda cheap so it didn't hurt me at all. But I was disappointed with the content... and even the paper! But then it will have it's own space in my twilight collection.

The good news though is - the BORDERS Twilight DVD will be coming in next week already and I'm excited!

Quick Lunch

After fetching me from office, hubby and I decided to treat ourselves with a good lunch at Festival Mall. And we agreed to enjoy some good ribs!

Best ribs in town?

Vergil busy checking the latest sports news in his phone.
Me waiting din...

It wasn't long wait though.

It was a full and satisfying lunch.

I'm Addicted

I actually got to start watching the first season when I was pregnant with Miggy, but got bored and so I stopped. Lately, Vergil started to watch and I did too. And I finally got to the interesting parts so I am now hooked! We finished the first season during the Holy Week vacation and we hope to start season 2 over the weekend.

GQ Cover - who would you choose?

The Twilight sexy vampire against High School Musical's hearthrob.

I need not say my choice.

On Attitude

"We may not have a choice about what situations we find ourselves in, but we do have a choice about the ATTITUDE we bring into the situation. And that ATTITUDE can change the over all experience and outcome." - Sam Glenn

This is something that I really need to work on. I have promised myself from this day on to start the small steps in building a better me. And this is where I start. You see, my short patience and temper always puts me in a negative mood. Not so good situations always brings out the worst in me coz I never really try to think before I react. I always choose to react badly and never pause and see the lighter side of the situation.

Simply put, my negative emotions rules and not my logical mind.

I guess I'll be a work in process for a while. But at least I've already come into terms that my attitude needs a major overhaul!

Something for me and the hubby and the little boy

I needed to unwind a bit while waiting for Vergil. He met with his friend at ATC. Decided to window shop. Felt I deserve to spend something for the three of us:

For miggy

For me. I didn't not plan on buying the items but I saw the Baby Couture is at 50% off sale and I just cannot let it pass. Got the bag at a very cheap price. The flip flops... I was only planning to get one for Miggy but my feet was dead tired from window shopping and I felt I needed a pair.


For me and Vergil. Been looking for the book The Five Love Languages for a while now and was glad to have found an audiobook of it instead. Since we are currently on building business teams, got the other one... it might give us some good insights.


That's all. Don't have enough $$ to spend. But we are working on that. LOL.

Holy week vacation

Our Manang Irene invited us to spend the holy week at her brother's condo at The Fort. We agreed to go since our plan of going to Ilocos was cancelled. Our vacation was spent strolling in Bonifacio High Street, dinner and lunch at nearby restos (breakfast consists mostly of noodles, hotdogs and bread), visit at the nearest church- Sanctuario de San Antonio, Season 1 of Heroes, and a brief swim at the condo's pool.

Here are some pics:

Condo's entrance

My brother Rowel, my sister Badette and Manang Irene
Me and miggy

Miggy with daddy and Lola Irene

Along BHS

At the pool

Me and my brother
Miggy showing something to daddy

I'm Grateful

There are are times when we are faced with challenges in life that we feel like everything is falling apart. It is but a normal reaction, but not healthy at all. It is hard to stay optimistic when everything around seem to be falling on the wrong place... but you really got to. It is only when you remain strong that you will get to see the brighter side of what it seems a dark moment in your life.


My life is not perfect. Every now and them I stumble upon problems that can cripple me if not for the conscious effort on my part to remain calm and see what's good such challenges can give once I overcome then. And what helps me do that?


By being GRATEFUL.


You see, I have so many things to be grateful about that being put infront of hardships and problems is nothing as compared to what was already given to me. And of the many things, this is on top of my list:


My husband Vergil and my son Miguel.



I feel so blessed to be given such an understanding, kind and faithful husband. I admit that I am not always the perfect wife to him. I have my faults but he always understands. There are those times when I know I am being unreasonable and yet he finds the heart to say sorry to me just to patch things up. For him, pride is never a problem, as long as we are ok. Lucky me, right?

And our little boy? So cute and charming. Miggy was never a cry baby. He always has that smile for everyone and he loves saying Hi even to strangers. He seldom throws tantrums and he barely cries. Very receptive and active. Anyone can love him the moment he flashes those innnocent smiles.

Just thinking of them, I really feel blessed already!

For many people, when problem comes, they act as if it's the end of the world and they feel like they are doomed. I was like that once. But I learned to count my blessings and see things I should be grateful about. Do this and you will find that whatever worries or challenges that is bugging you now is nothing as compared to what was already given to you... and this will give you strength and hope.

So, start to list down things you are grateful about. And be thankful about it.

Blog your way to income

I love to talk about anything under the sun with my friends. But with our busy schedules, we seldom have the time to sit down and update each other. And we found out about blogging. And this had become our way of letting each other know the latest in our lives, our hearts and thoughts. And then came an opportunity for bloggers to earn thru their blogs. What used to be a plain journal became an income earning opportunity.

So what is blog advertising?

You see, in the world of advertising where a certain product or service is being promoted to increase sales or preference for the product, word of mouth is one of the effective method. When one person talks about a good experience over something, whether a good movie, a great product etc., and that person highly recommends it, it is not surprising that the other person receiving the recommendation will likely to try it, too. Blog advertising is the same way, bloggers are hired to review and post opinions about an advertisers websites, products or services in their blogs so that readers following the blog will get to know about it. And most likely visit or try the products and services. For bloggers, they will be paid for each posts approved.

So if you are like me, who loves to blog anyway, why not earn from it? And for advertisers who needs a better way of promoting their product, why not let bloggers promote your products? Be part of Paying Post. Paying post brings advertisers and bloggers together to our blogs making an opportunity for both parties to explore each others opportunities.

So bloggers, start your way to income!

Advertisers, click below:

advertise on blogs

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I am loving this new product for my permed hair.

Click here to see product.