His happy happy birthday!

Taken from Facebook

We are ~5 hours away from the Canada border 

and we feel the pain! 

This year's spring has been struggling 

to move forward. 

Snow shows up uninvited. 

Rain drizzles longer than wanted.

Mr. Sun very rarely shows up.

The temperature went up to the 50's only once
since the first day of spring.
Oh, don't forget that wind whose unsolicited help make matters worst!

And yet, I will rejoice in the Lord, 
I will be joyful in God my Saviour (Habakkuk 3:18)
no matter how gloomy the weather can be..

The birthday boy!

Looking far..and wide.

Just can't take his eyes off that basketball!

Yeah, the Miami heat's playing so he's got to concentrate.  

After church and a sumptuous lunch buffet for his birthday..

Happy happy birthday, mahal ko (my love)!

Wish you more of the Lord's love
and abundance in your life

and in those you love (me included..teeheee).

BLUE Birthday Surprise!

Our plans for the weekend were put off 

due to some virus that, unfortunately, caught Nell. 

Although sick, 

he's definitely ecstatic 

to show he bleeds blue for his birthday!

Since he's recovering,

we went on with our usual Saturday routine

and decided to lunch out at our new-found eatery.

 Still Chinese… 

Of course!

But  a variant of Japanese made it more appealing.

"Smart, 

brilliant, 

beautiful, 

charismatic, 

all these qualities God has given me 

and that is why I gift myself to you 

on this occasion of your birthday. "

Happy birthday, Nin!

Love youJ


Oh yeah, my first entry to link up with Jessisca 
at Lovely Little Things...

Make sure to pay her a visit!

Post 3 Ohhh!

Because I was born in the Philippines,

this entry is two days late and

my celebration yesterday was belated as well.

REGARDLESS...

I was overwhelmed and still am

with so much joy in my heart.

The amazing man that I married

talked me into eating lunch with him at home,

RATHER than going Mexican as originally planned.

I agreed only because-

1.      I was expecting some lovely packages,

which he informed me earlier have already arrived,

and 2. He seemed flexible about postponing the Mexican plan for dinner.

The apartment smelled some YUMMY-licious seafood!

As my tummy angrily growled,

I quickened my steps

to uncover what’s for lunch…

But surprise, surprise!

Thanks to my mahal... ♥

Hubby sweetly prepared
a candlelight lunch.
Too ecstatic and extremely impressed

with his amorous tendencies,

I was speechless.

Hastily opened some more sweet surprises,
posed for some more shots

 and hurriedly got back to the office,
without actually opening the most awaited packages

that I went home for.

At night...

we went to church for

a revival service with the Romaines

where the Lord’s awesome presence

was evident, so sweet.

Then capped off the day with
a slice of  my red velvet birthday cake
and a toss of red grapes sparkling juice.

VERY GRATEFUL
once again!
Thank YOU Lord,
thank you all,
THANK YOU
 for all the L♥Ve!

I am BLESSED.

60- something

That would have been your earthly age! 

But there's joy unspeakable in knowing 

that you are celebrating 

a happier birthday 

up there...

I love and miss you Pang.

Belated

Happy birthday

to my crazy man...
 I U
always forever.

My 18th

That was 10 years ago. I was in the 2^nd semester of my 2^nd year in college patiently enduring the complexities of computer science then. While most teenagers plan and hope for a grand debut celebration, I envisioned mine to be one of those ordinary days in my life.

Let me reminisce....

I grew up with lechon (roasted suckling pig) almost always present in my birthday photos with most of my childhood/neighborhood buddies present in them. There were actually no games and prizes to make each celebration something exciting for us kids. All I remember is how my mom would personally organize and manage the menu for the party. She plays chef, my Aunt Celia is the assistant while I and my cousins were the little tasters of their masterpiece dishes and their official errand runners. Three or four of our Uncles play the butcher roles and two of them are in charge of roasting the suckling pig that will serve as the highlight of the celebration. The party starts with me, as the celebrant dressed in a beautiful birthday outfit, posing for a solo shot with all the food on the table. The fairytale-accented cake and the mouthwatering lechon are both scribbled with “Happy Birthday Donnalyn” on them. All my little guests will then surround me and the table for a group picture-taking. After a few more Kodak moments, everybody will sing “Happy Birthday” followed by the most awaited tsibugan (eating) time.

I can picture almost the same scenario on my first teen birthday except that my guests were not so little anymore. I was then given the choice on how I would want my birthday to be celebrated on my next teen years which got simpler each year until my personal preference ended up to treat each supposedly big day of mine to be something ordinary. I went to college in a city far from my family and no birthday celebration is a good way to spare my stingy self from spending my own allowance.

Fast forward to my 18^th birthday…I did not have plans of celebrating it but I wanted to do something special for myself. My hair, considerably long (for the world), became my object of affection. I went to the salon alone and you can figure the rest of the story. Back to my boarding house, I found everyone busy at the kitchen that left me dumbfounded when my landlord declared that we are celebrating my 18^th birthday. To ease the shame I felt, I asked about the expenses and was assured that I need not worry about anything. I can’t remember what exactly was served except that I know for sure that rice was present. Although nothing extravagant, my 18^th birthday was made special by people who cared and that meant so much to me. (This is just one of my best birthdays, by the way. Other meaningful ones, I hope to blog about someday...)

Reality is... that was 10 years ago- when life was a lot less complicated: when all I thought and be concerned about was to maintain a grade point average for my college scholarship, graduate on time and earn a good-paying job thereafter. As I look back, I see how I hurried myself up to get past that point in my life. Though no regrets, I wish that I had the kind of relationship I now have with Jesus as early as those days.

When I laid myself to sleep last night, it finally sunk in to me- I am 28. The increase in my age goes to show in the kind of responsibilities I am dealing with and the concerns that give me great deal of anxiety at times. Life has been tough and still is. Mine is a drama of battles won and lost. Some remain to be fond memories but some needs to be buried to its grave. What keeps life going though is the fact that Someone up there sees me through all the highs and lows.

Life is indeed tough but I claim to be tougher for I believe that “greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4).”

Still in great denial

But there’s no way of stopping the time… Suffice to say, it is officially my birthday in Philippine standard time. Thus, some of my Facebook friends already sent their birthday greetings by either sending me personal messages or posting them on my wall. Thanks to Facebook for reminding people about it that will hopefully increase the number of my very few birthday greeters (*Lol*).

I am staring blankly at the monitor screen as I force my idle mind to come up with something to blog about. So, I pause and think...one, two, three, four, five times…and still nada! Truth is…It has not sink in yet that it’s already my birthday! I still can’t accept the fact that I am another year older… (*Sigh*)

“I don’t know” was my answer to friends and loved ones who asked me of my plans a few days ago. If asked the same question now, I will still give the same answer. I don’t have any big plans for my birthday except for prayer service tomorrow. What happens after that will be something impromptu.

Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday, happy birthday...Happy birthday to me... Somebody help me sing! I need to convince myself it's indeed already my birthday.

Celfone with A Map

SO he won’t get lost in America. Papang actually meant a GPS. That’s what he wanted for a birthday gift. Of course he was kidding. That would be useless in the Philippines.

I called him this morning. It is still the night of September 1st in the Philippines. I greeted him happy birthday but told him I do not have a gift. He said never mind but reminded me again that he wants a celfone with a map when I come home.

My father has grown old. Neither him nor us knows how old exactly because his birth certificate was falsified by his father long time ago. I bet his mom is the only person that may remember but she’s passed away years ago. So there’s really no one who can tell now. Today is his birthday and he assured me that his father have not falsified the date.

I thank the Lord for this special day of Papang. I am so blessed to serve a God Who can turn around and make things happen. I can’t praise Him enough for all He’s in my life.

To my dear Papang, happy happy birthday! Thank you so so so much for all that you are to me, Nin and our family. I love you so very much.

Happy Birthday Nay!

She’s not my maternal mom and her name is not “Nay.”

Nanay is how some or most if not all Filipinos call their mom. I first met her in October 2007 when she, being the closest to the university, was requested by Pastor Jay to pick me up for church one Sunday. I found it awkward to call her by name since we usually address some name that depicts respect to our elders back in the Philippines. So upon driving me home that day, I asked if I could call her “Nay” and she sweetly consented.

Nanay Linda and Bitsy, the spoiled brat

I call her Nay from thereon and she, not only became a good friend, but acted as my adopted mom too. I lived with her after my 6-month on-campus course and I enjoyed every bit of each moment we spent together. She taught me a lot of things about America and I am grateful for everything that she’s been and is to me.

Happy birthday Nay! I pray that the Lord will bless you more and more and will keep you warm in His loving arms. I love you and thanks for everything…

Birthday boy

wearing his birthday gift...

Happy Birthday mahal ko!

To

The CRAZIEST




Yet

The MOST GORGEOUS(EST) Groom in the world

I love you Nin
and
I wish you nothing
but
Only the BEST...
xoxo

Happy Birthday Kath!

I did the math for you.
27 + 1 = 28
You're 28!
30 - 28 = 2
2 more years and you'll be 30!

May you have many many more birthdays to come.
May the Lord grant the desires of your heart.
Wish you all the best.
And I hope to see you soon!

Happy 102nd Birthday Ms Sarah!

That's her beside me and yes, you read it right. She's a hundred and two years young today. She's a very sweet lady, who used to be my seat mate on the van and even at church. She tells me a lot of stories about life that I'd love to hear and we'd laugh about it together. Though I really don't know her that much, I believe she's a very good soul.

This picture was taken on a Sunday after her baptism in Jesus' name. Sorry for the blur, I don't have another picture of her.