Big Day

          Yes, my big day happened last July 3 at SMX Convention Mall of Asia - our graduation day. We left our house past 10 am and arrived at MOA at around 11 am as per school's advice but the program started at 1pm. We were tired and hungry but I didn't remember it that way because I was so happy and excited during that day. So to give you the glimpse on how my big day turned out, here are some photos:

With my mother

With my parents

With my classmates and our school's asst director

Resting while waiting - not used to wearing close heeled shoes

With my classmates

And of course our final moment on the stage

           The program ended at around 4pm and that's the time that I realized how hungry we were. We took our lunch in Mang Inasal with an unlimited rice meal and a big serving of halo halo, and we really max out our appetite with the unlimited serving of rice and their delicious special halo halo. Hey I need to be practical, right - no fancy restaurant for this special day but it was special for me because I'm with my parents and my kuya - sorry I do not have any picture of it because we were all preoccupied to ease our hunger that moment.

          So there goes my big day. Though not much happened but it was a very meaningful day to me - the fruit of my determination, the result of my hard work and the fulfillment of my dream all happened on this big day.

         Till then! Have a great day ahead!!!

Dream Come True

                  Hi guys! I finally got some few minutes to update my blog. I just want to share this wonderful news to the world and to the few readers who patiently read my blog. 

                  Yes finally, I'm a degree holder. I'll be graduating this July and I'll be marching in SMX convention wearing toga with my parents, professors and classmates. Though I was quite busy and tired lately with all the requirements and clearances that I need to accomplish for my graduation I still feel so incredibly happy knowing that I was able surpass one of the biggest challenge I have set in my life.

Stolen shot during our pictorial

                   Truly God is so amazing for making this DREAM come true. A wonderful experience and an unforgettable journey that I will truly treasure - this is my journey - the journey of a "Pinay Minimum Wager."

                 Till then. Have a wonderful day ahead. God bless everyone!!!

Random Thoughts and Updates

          I was carrying my niece, our new source of joy while watching the evening news yesterday.

7 day old baby sam-our new source of joy

I got lots of problems today and lots of problems were also happening in our country and in the world as well and that made me worry about the future of the little baby I was holding. Today, I decided to write down some thoughts that's been running around my head and some updates in my life too.

UPDATES

1. Graduation - Yes, I'll be graduating this July 3 and I went to school yesterday to file an application for graduation and work on my clearance.

2. Civil Service Exam  or LET - Still undecided what to take.

3. House Repairs Problems - I've been doing lots of repairs in our house but the worse part is the "roof" - ngayon nagpakita ng mga senyales ng tulo & I might need a laborer to fix it, "gastos na nman".

4. Lot Problems - Now the worst problem I am facing right now is the problem in our lot. I heard a bad news last week that someone was able to purchase the whole lot in our area (including us) with title signed by DENR head - Sec. Lopez before she left the department and that made me wonder, "pano natituluhan ang lugar namin as farmland, eh punong puno na ng bahay ang lugar namin at di lang basta bahay--hanggang 3rd & 4th floor pa yung iba. "Ano yun bulag kaya ang nag-survey? - sabi nila - malakas daw ang kapit sa gobyerno - "kaya mag-antay na lang daw kami ng notice".  Lets see what happens next...

THOUGHTS

1. Earthquake - We had lots of calamities in our country but for me the worst one is the earthquake and its getting nearer here in Metro Manila. My mother's been worried of the big one that might hit us, "di ba nakakatakot?"

2. Martial Law in Mindanao - I pray that it will be resolved sooner.

3. Environment - If there's one thing that worries me a lot about the future of our new generation today is the environment that's been deteriorating, trees are vanishing, climate change and pollution are worsening, "pano na ang mga batang pinapanganak ngayon."

4. Territorial disputes - If you read some of my previous posts you'll know that I have this "if only attitude", hahah. I've been watching about the news and documentaries on west philippine sea disputes and it made me think about it - "If only the previous governments were able to foresee that this will happen or if only they were able to secure our territory then this dispute may not have happened today" -- baka pagmulan pa ng gyera yan e, I pray it won't happen.

         I admit I have fears - fear on the status of the lot where we lived in, fear that I might take a wrong move on my career & fear of what our future will be especially for my nephew, my niece and future generations but I always pray that God will lead me where he want me to be, guide me on every decision I take, give me the strength to face all the problems that I might encounter in the future and the courage to accept the things that were destined to happen. I also pray for our country will be able to survive the crisis we're experiencing now and hope it'll be a better place to live in the future.

Just sharing my thoughts today.
Till then.
Have a great day.
God Bless everyone!

Home Improvement: DIY Part 5

          It's been a month since I last wrote a post here. I've been quite busy with the household chores, taking care of my nephew and a new member of our family - baby Sam. Yes, my sister in law gave birth to my niece last May 11 and we were all busy taking care of these two cuties & kulets.

          Those were the reasons why my home improvement project was put on hold for a while and up until now I'm not yet through with the painting works and house repairs. But I will still be posting the pictures of improvements I made just to compliment myself for all the hardwork I've done last month, "ang babaw ko noh?- pagbigyan nyo na lang po ang kaligayahan kong magbahagi ng resulta ng aking pagod".

    
          This was the original appearance of our house (photo above)  and after a month of hardwork this is present appearance (photos below).

          I also did some paint works inside & outside my brother's house (inside the cr only, outside -the front walls & columns only). (Note: It's my brother's car - not mine :)

    
           Aside from being tired, my credit card & wallet also suffered because the overall expenses went up to almost 2 thousand pesos, a bit higher than what I planned to spend. I made a mistakes of buying 2 - 4 liters of elastomeric paint (as advise by the sales attendant in hardware where I bought it, "ang daming sobra". The only consolation was that it was on sale during the time I bought it. Another mistake was buying 4 liters of gloss latex paint paint, "mas maraming sobra." - good thing my brother shared P125 for his room. But no regrets because I'd still be using those extra paints in some areas in our house.

    
 Here's the breakdown of my expenses:

  
          So there you have it - another experience shared. "Atleast kahit walang trabaho - productive pa rin." God bless everyone!

Palengke Time

         Five Hundred Pesos -"hanggang kelan kaya aabot to". I always hear those words from my mother and I understand her sentiments. "Hirap kayang mag-budget sa bahay lalo puro barako kasama namin". So I told her, let's go to "palengke" and let's see what we can buy there with five hundred pesos.

        So we went in a not so near wet market place in Pag-asa (medyo malayo po sya pero kayang lakarin) around 7am. They say that the price of vegetables & fruits is cheaper there and since its lenten season we planned on buying vegetables, fish and fruits only. After more than one hour of walking and roaming around, we were able to buy these:

Tomato - 1kg = P 20, Sweet Potato (kamote) - 1kg = P 35

Chinese Kangkong (2tie)- P 10, Kamote tops (2tie)- P10, Spinach (2tie) - P10, Saluyot (1tie)- P5

Pechay - P 10, Baguio Pechay - P10, Siling haba - P 5.00

Onions -P14, Garlic P11, Banana - P 15, Sitaw-P5, Star apple -P10

Galunggong 1/2kg=P60, Bilong Bilong 1/2kg= P65

Fresh Daing na Bangus =P50, Tambakol (3slices) - P70

                           Heres the breakdown and total expenses we had at our palengke trip. We still had a change of P85.00 from our P500 budget.

          We were tired when we got home. We rest a little while and told my mother that I felt like I did some exercise and jogging routine in morning. We then prepared and cleaned everything before finally putting them inside the fridge.
         So there you have it, our five hundred peso spending challenge in "palengke" at may sukli pa. We now have our meal until Wednesday or Thursday, "o di ba pinaabot hanggang Wednesday to Thursday ang P500".


Till next time.
God Bless!