Simple Ways We Keep Our Fire Burning

My husband has a very hectic schedule. Often times he would be out of the house so early in the morning to catch his morning meeting and goes home really late still with unfinished work, thus bringing his pending work in the house. I pity him sometimes but he's such a lover of his work that I feel I am the mistress and his job is his wife. But I appreciate the simple ways he makes up with me. A lot of times he is the one thinking on how we can spend our time together even if he has some work to do. And I love to reciprocate as well. The things that bond us together need not require huge amount of precious time. As the cliche goes, quality time is much better than quantity time. So what are the simple ways that bond us together and keep the fire alive? Here are some:

1. We wake up earlier than usual. If we have to be out of the bed at 6:00 am, we set the alarm at 5:20 am. The leeway time would be for cuddling and exchanging small talks. We will just be in bed, lazily enganging into hugs and embraces and others in between *wink*.

2. We make time to text or call each other in between work. Most of the time I am the one initiating this since my job is more flexible than his. So every lunch time, I never fail to text him and check on him, ask him what he would be having for lunch. Depending on his load of work, he replies and check on me in return. But I understand if he's too busy to do that since his work is unpredictable. But everytime he finds the time, he texts back, no matter how late it is to reply, or even call me through my landline phone. It's nice to hear from each other so to also break the monotonous of work.

3. We try our best to go home together and have dinner together. After work, I go straight to the mall where he could pick me up, even if it means I have to wait for like two hours for him to arrive. We do our best to go home together since our travel time is another opportunity for us to bond and check on whatever happened for the day. This is a best time since both of us are relaxed already and prepping up to end the day.

4. We always touch each other. Literally, that is. If he's reading the dailies, I will sit next to him and read my book or surf through the laptop, me constantly touching *caressing* his arm or his nape or his legs. Or if we are watching the TV, we would hold hands. Or I give him a massage.

5. We have an activity together. We jog around the UP campus every Sunday morning. *But I am now pregnant so I have to stop it. He still jog anyways.*

6. Discover new places during our free day. It is always nice to explore a new something--restaurant, mall, spa, whatever, with my hubby. I would rather discover it with him that with any other companion.

7. We have our own separate interests. We also have our individual likes and that is important. While he is so fond of current events and politics, I am so fond of lighter stuff like music, surfing the internet or movies. It balances both of us. He always have something new to share to me, and I have something to share in return. These contradictions always serve as a topic starter, and we always have something to talk about. We learn from each other too.

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Some Small Ways To Earn Extra Money

Gone are the days when the pinay wife just stays at home to look after her husband and take care of her growing children. These hard times, every modern pinay wife is learning how to augment the income their hardworking husbands are entusting them. Some even went out of their way to look for a promising job with a nice high paying salary to boot, leaving behind her image that used to be called housewife.

But there are some wifeys out there who are lucky enough to not be obliged to work. But I know, as a modern pinay wife, they are also concern of the status of their savings. I know deep in their loving hearts, they still want to contribute financially to the family no matter how small it is. Or if the money is really not an issue, I know how liberating it is to earn your own moolah and not just depend on the extras from the monthly budget.

So here are some tips on how to make extra money so you too can either contribute to your hubby or just have it for your sake.

1. ONLINE EARNING - since every household now a days has a computer and internet connection, and since every stay-at-home wives has the habit of checking the net every now and then, why not earn from it? There are lots and lots of get-paid-to sites that are sprouting by the day. Mind you, a lot of it too are legal and paying. Just be patient enough to study each site you want to be a member of, check if it is a scam or not. Google the site if you please, and read some of the feedbacks. These get-paid-to sites will not earn you big bucks overnight, but still it helps. I personally am earning from one get-paid-to review site and get-paid-to post site and I am enjoying so far. The earnings are not yet to tht high to flaunt, but still, little by little they growing and by the time I need the money, I know there are just there in my paypal account.


2. ONLINE SELLING - have you been to ebay.com? go and check the site and you will instanty have an idea that you too can earn by selling stuff in the internet. Online shopping is the "in" thing now since buyers can shop even without leaving the house, thus, making a huge saving of gasoline for the car, parking fee, and valuable time. And since population of online shoppers are continuously growing, why not take advantage of it? And you do not even need a capital and have to sell brand new stuff, for you know what? Shoppers are even fond of buying second-hand stuff that they know by heart they need! So have you got some useful, nice, presentable junk to unload? Why not take photos of those, post it in ebay, and wait for bidders to come. There are other buy-and-sell sites to choose from aside from ebay. Just take time to search these sites and follow the procedures on how you can sell your items there.

3. RESELLING / SELLING - This may need a few bucks for capital, but it is the profit we are after for, right? So go ahead, sell. You may start in your neighborhood (since you cannot get your feet out of the house, right?). You can sell detergent and laundry needs, or diapers for babies, or load for cellphones. You can even sell processed meats like tocino, ham, sausage, etc. Anything you know your neighborhood needs, offer it to them.


4. OFFER YOUR SERVICES - This may or may not require you a capital. It depends on what service you want to offer. Are you good in english? Maybe you can offer English tutorials to your friends' children if their having a hard time with that subject. Or maybe math, science, etc. I know of someone who charges 100 per hour for a tutorial, and she has like three to four kiddos in a day, earning her 400 a day, 2000 a week, 8000 a month. Not at all bad. Or maybe you are a good cook? What's your specialty? You can offer to cook, say, two dishes for your friend who will be having a birthday party. That won't be bad for a start. It can go farther thru word of mouth. Just let others know that you were the one who cooked what, so they will have an idea. I once cooked my specialty, baked macaroni, for my folks' occassion and everybody loved it, the visitors kept asking who cooked it. I bragged about it and told them I can cook for them too if they like. They got my number and I got several orders.


These are just some of the so many ways to augment your family income. This may start as little but eventually it will grow into a bigger one. Just do not spend the money you earn yet, let it accumulate first so you can grow whatever small "business venture" you engaged in.







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Pregnancy fashion

I am finding it hard to decide what to wear every single day. Since I am now 21 weeks heavy, I am more and more conscious of my protruding tummy. Most days I want to hide it, most days I want to flaunt it and announce to the world that I am carrying a baby. Good thing I am not having a love-hate relationship with my current wardrobe. When I learned that I am pregnant, picture of my mom wearing sailor-type tent dresses flashed through my mind. What a horrible phase for her, I believe! Good thing those days are gone for preggos like me have tons and tons of chic and stylish maternity styles to choose from without compromising comfort and bodily figure.

I gathered some pictures that can help preggy moms like me be inspired in choosing what clothes to wear. These are the clothes that I would personally wear too.




* i am liking the one in blue *


* this one looks chic and cool *





* the black for casual days, the white for dinner date with hubby,
the pink for everyday wear *





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My Pregnancy

Hubby and I constantly enjoy each other's company. We have endless dates on weekends, heck, even on ordinary days. We both love hanging around in malls, feasting on some food we always crave for. No wonder that in our two years of being together as husband and wife, we both lost our waist lines. In some days if we have the luxury of time, we would go out of town. It maybe in Tagaytay, Subic, Baguio or Sagada, just to have a breath of new, fresh air. We are loving the life couplehood is giving us, till we decided it is just about time to bring this bliss to a higher level. We decided to have a baby, finally.

Several months of trying to conceive, I finally got the good news from this pregnancy test I bought from the neighborhood drugstore. Two pink lines. Definitely a positive result. Pregnancy embraced me, and I welcomed it with open arms as well. My first trimester is very challenging. There are times that I could not eat, and times that I would binge. There are scents that I do not want to smell, even the fragrances that I used to love. My husband is all supportive of all the changes that are happening to me, and I appreciate him all the more. Now I am on my second trimester and everything is going well. I am done with the morning sickness and all the "negative" side of pregnancy. This phase is much lighter and easy to take. I am more energetic and more focused to my office work, as if I am not pregnant at all. I love maternity fashion these days and I am fond of beautifying myself. I am also much heavier now because my appettite becomes friendly again. And most of all, I can now feel the baby's movement and know already his gender.

I still have one semester to go. They say this last trimester is as difficult as the first, but who knows? Maybe I will have a different take on it. Maybe not. Whatever the last trimester would bring me, I will still accept it with my warmest hug. For everyday of my pregnancy is different and everyhting I experience all throughout this ordeal is to be treasured. For I know I am going to be a mother soon, and that alone is a blessing.





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How I Came To Be

I was 16 years old then, freshly popped out from an all-girls exclusive high school. I first sighted him on my college enrollment day. He was really tall, cute and striking. My eyes were glued on him. I was wishing that we could be at least classmates or if not, at least building mate. I saw him again days after when I went to the university to get my class schedule. He was in the same building again and he was getting his schedule too. Again, I wished for the same thing. The third time I saw him, I knew my prayers were answered. First day of classes and he was hanging out in the same classroom I was in. When the professor came in and asked us to settle, he grabbed a seat and stayed. He was my classmate!

He was friendly and nice. It turned out we were living in the same city and he knows some of my high school classmates. He lived twenty minutes away from my place. We clicked and we had the same circle of classmate-friends. Second semester, he gave me a card and formally announced his intention to court me. I always had feelings for him, from the day I saw him. November 16,1993 I officially had my first boyfriend.


I was so lucky for he was such a gentleman. I never had a single heart ache with him. There were minor glitches but that was all it. We never had major fights. We never had major break ups. I was only praying then for him to be my classmate but I was given much much more. I knew he was the one for me--the one I would be building my dreams with, the one who would father my children, the one I would grow old with. I could never imagine myself being with someone else.


November 16, 2005-- after eleven long years, we finally tied the knot. We waited this long with no regrets. And since then my life had never been the same. For I officially became a wife of the most loving man in the world, and I am loving every minute of it.



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