Celebrating Christmas 2008 (part 1)

Haven't been around lately...I'm sure some of you knew the reasons, and for those who were unaware, you will know as you read along! :).

Anyway, our christmas preparations was tough and both I and hubby were so much in pressure to beat the deadline for only 10 days to complete everything before Christmas day!

Honestly, we didn't have any rest coming home from our 8-day trip in California, Nevada and Arizona respectively. We arrived back home on Dec. 13, and completely settled down morning of Dec. 14, and catched up for church in the afternoon, still on our jet lags. We still didn't have any single christmas decor at home...not even the tree was up, not started our christmas shopping for gifts, etc...

Monday (December 15), I started to get panicky, hubby had to go work, (he had tough day there), and the house turned into a mess for all the preps I did, while we decided to shop nightime, and the weekend. (Thank God, all was done smoothly).

Our gift wrapping session was done separately. (I did mine upstairs, and hubby did his own down the basement). I couldn't join him since he said he'll be wrapping things for me :). Our wrappings were completely done exactly at Christmas eve! Yey! at least we beat the deadline! LOL!

The next day was exciting. I woke up 11:30am and hubby said it's time to open gifts! As usual, excitement comes with me at this time of the year :). We usually start it with a brief bible devotions and prayer before opening our gifts.

The Gifts:
I gave 12 gifts for hubby...(thank God, he loved all of them :)). And I had 13 gifts from him. Usually, the first part of the day is I and hubby taking turns in opening our gifts under our tree at home. The second part will be a traditional Christmas dinner at mom's house after which we take turns in opening our gifts as well. Both I and hubby gave 22 gifts for mom, George and Jesse. They are giving us many presents every Christmas as well which make most of our day exciting!

I received 12 gifts from mom, 8 gifts from George, 1 from Jesse plus gifts from hubby... It's more than 30 gifts!!!!Overwhelming, isn't it? That's how Christmas is in the family! The fact that shopping for clothes is getting expensive nowadays, it's as good as I had shopped for clothes for the whole year! ...all gifts! at no extra cost!

Thanks a lot mom and George!

Hope you had all the merriest Christmas ever! HAPPY NEW YEAR one and all!

"Christmas Rush"

It's already past 1 in the morning, still tired and exhausted from a non-stop work for our christmas preparations.
We only had 10 days to prepare everything before Christmas since we came back from our trip.
So, I had tough days, from setting up the christmas tree, getting the hanging ornaments back to their hanging spots, (I had 3 days digging the box for this), shopping for gifts, gift wrapping....more shopping, more gifts, and more wrapping until wee hours in the morning {{{yawn!!}}}! I also included some things for our next balikbayan box :). I want to get it completed before we go home to the Philippines on April and at the same time be able to be there when the box arrives!
Thank God, we had half of the gifts given away! It's nice to feel and know we are sharing our blessings...a great fulfillment :).

I am still less than halfway done.
Please help me pray for good health. It seems my body is reacting towards stress. I got this sore throat that becomes unbearable during the night that makes me cough...disturbing.

Hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

Glad to be Back Home!

Finally, we arrived back home safely last Saturday night at 9:30pm (Maryland time)...very tired and exhausted from a long trip. We had a connecting flight in Denver to Baltimore. It was quite a hassle tracking out the time since we left California. I only adjusted my watch when we reached Baltimore.

We thought we could get that sleep we were wanting when we reached home, but when hubby turned on the TV, Pacquiao-dela Hoya fight was on for a replay! Good thing was there was no commercial ads, so it was as good as watching the live fight! We went to bed around 3:30AM...and both dropped down like dead!!! LOL!

Well, there are so much things waiting to be done for christmas, which means I would be super, dooper busy for christmas. I still have to let the tree up and put up holiday decorations, wrap gifts, do laundry, etc...I still am having jet lags, but I need to start doing something and I am not sure when can I get back to my blogging job. I missed some blog opps since I was on trip, but that's okay, I enjoyed it and was worth it :).

More photos to  share as well, but I'll find time for that :).

Hope everybody is having a good time this Christmas!

God bless!

We're Back in Anaheim!

After spending 3 nights in Las Vegas, and a 1 day tour in Grand Canyon, Arizona, thank God, we arrived Anaheim safe and sound tonight. The trip is long (by bus), but we had fun the fact that all we did was eat, drink, watch movie, hop off at bus stops for quick stretches, and did some quick shoppings too! :).

Our Grand Canyon tour was great! It was a 17 hours tour, but seeing one of God's masterpieces is all worth it! It was cold up there, but we were both well wrapped and warm. Can't wait to share lots of our photos, but I am still in the state of grogginess, quite tired and sleepy.

I missed my online neighborhood for a day and a half, LOL!

Anyway, hoping I can share the photos too soon. Time for me to take my beauty rest...hubby is already snoring!! :)).

See ya'll next time.

Our New York Trip - Nov.29,'08

We finally did our New York trip last Saturday. The cold was unbearable, almost close to freezing. Although, we were well-wrapped, the fact that we were in the outdoor for the whole day is still very cold.
We were able to visit ground zero (the twin towers/World Trade center), which is now a busy construction site, and the Statue of Liberty in Ellis Island. There are so much places to visit, but a one day visit isn't enough. We spent so much time waiting in long lines that took us more than an hour wait just to board the ferry going to Ellis Island where Statue of Liberty is. Perhaps, it was because it was on a weekend. Our wait was actually longer than our visit to the statue that only took us to 20 minutes to see it. Then, we had to hurry back to the bus stop on time, and getting a cab was a real challenge...heck! It was difficult to get one. We were at the middle of the street waving for a taxi, and we ended up chasing the empty cab just to get to our bus...
Anyway, that was fun and a good experience.
On to our next trip on December 6. CALIFORNIA-LAS VEGAS-ARIZONA. That would be another story folks! :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Snow Flurries Today - Because It's My Birthday!! :).

I actually woke up super late today! I had to work  on the new church website with a new domain, so it is always challenging :)....as late as 3 AM!

Before I woke up, the first words that came out from my mouth..."thank you Lord" for giving me another bountiful year...it's my birthday, and it's snowing!"

My husband greeted me early in the morning with a birthday song (with his own tune..LOL!) and a cake on bed! I guess I was blowing the candles in a wrong direction, because I was really super sleepy!...so we decided to have another second candle blowing tonight, with photos :)).

Thank you Lord!

Another Early, Surprise Birthday Gift!

Yesterday, I received this at our doorsteps...it's the key lighting piano that I once saw in Skymall magazine couple of months ago. Of course, somebody took note about it (again) and sent it to me :). I told hubby how I wish I can play the piano well as I love to listen to music. Thank you again beloved...:)).
Now, I still don't know how to play it, but I am working on it. I still have to refresh my mind on the basics as I had some piano lessons before wayback 2 decades ago...hahahaha!!! Good thing is that it can teach you the proper fingerings, plus it has a song book with musical sheets, just in case you want to play some songs there. I always love listening to people who know how to play the piano...still wishing I can play that well.
Now, I have to find time to work and practice on some songs. Another leisure time added for me which isn't bad...I won't get bored! :).
See ya later folks...I can't wait to press the DO, RE, MI...:)).