“You are the closest I will ever come to magic.”
― Suzanne Finnamore
The Zygote Chronicles
family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family
My cousin Daylin got married a few months back and now she's carrying a healthy baby girl that is due to come out anytime next month! I can still remember Daylin as a little girl, all bungisngis and loud whenever her family would come to our hometown for the summer. Now she is a full grown woman, married, and with another life growing inside her. It boggles the mind, frankly, how time could fly so fast. It seems like yesterday when we were kids playing and climbing trees. I suppose we all have to grow up and have babies and build our families, and I am so glad to see Daylin building her own with the man of her dreams and very soon, the first (I hope) of many children.
I cannot wait to see this little person in the flesh, all pink and wrinkly as most babies tend to be. I can just imagine this little baby growing up to be a head turner like her mother. And with an excited family, complete with aunts and uncles and lolos and lolas on both sides to greet her arrival, I'm sure this little bundle of joy is excited to come out into the world too.
I have always wanted to make quesadillas at home since apart from burritos and nachos, quesdillas are right at the top of the list of favorite Mexican food that I have cravings for. It's a good thing that I found frozen tortillas at the frozen foods section of Lee Plaza, or my homemade quesadillas would never get done (for the life of me, I do not know how to make my own tortillas, even if I have a step-by-step recipe in front of me.)
Making the quesadillas was a breeze. I just laid everything out, sauteed the vegetables and shredded the cheese so that everything will be ready for assembly as soon as the tortillas were toasty. Everything was done in 20 minutes! Definitely making another batch again soon :)
My mom is one of the most amazing people I know, perhaps, the MOST amazing.Her faith, her ability to be kind in the face of situations that normal people use as an excuse to be unkind, and her unwavering reminder to me, my brother and my sister to pray and go to church every Sunday makes me wonder about how she does it. Perhaps it is because my mother is a praying woman, perhaps that's where all that strength comes from, and perhaps I should double up on my praying too. Mothers, too me, are amazing. They are counselors and doctors and drill sergeants and sisters and best friends. Perhaps you learn all these things when you have children, perhaps there is no other way than to be all these people rolled into one, but still, it is amazing how mothers face all these responsibilities head-on and still manage to smile and laugh and give wise advice when needed--- it simply boggles my mind.
To my mother, who is both my confidant and the person who gives me a good whacking in the head when I need it, Happy Mother's Day :)
“There is an ugliness in being paid for work one does not like.
Anaïs Nin
I was kind of hesitant about using this quote... I have been trying to remove even the slightest bit of negativity from my life, and that includes words that say 'no, don't, do not'... it may seem like overkill but I prefer it that way. I don't think we can ever have too much of positivity, and by that I mean the rational kind. Today is the day that I plan on hunching over my computer and finally starting the first 50% of my legal thesis. I have butterflies everytime I think about it. I want to get started on it, and I'm so lucky to be able to arrive at a topic that I am really passionate about, but the grueling technicalities of writing a paper, the formality of it all just makes me want to spend the day working.
Legal or scholarly papers have never been my thing. I have done two of them but still I would like to avoid them if I could. I prefer writing conversational pieces, which is why I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job. My clients often adamantly say that they want something to be 'conversational, please' and I would happily reply, 'With pleasure!' None of that friendliness in a legal paper, where formality and the use of pretentious legalese is often mistaken for good content (gaaaahhhh!!!) But still, I hope my paper will be able to contribute something. It deals with cyberlaw and child exploitation which are two areas where my interests meet, so I am part-excited at the thought of all the things I'm going to learn, part-dreading the tedious task of arranging the footnotes (I think I was born lazy and am still trying to overcome that habit as I approach my 30s). I really should start writing on my thesis instead of writing on this blog haha!
Until the next post!
“Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they would be here forever? If so, then you know you can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.”
― Mitch Albom,
For One More Day
It has been a pretty boring Saturday. I wanted to go to my hometown and spend some QT there, since I've been spending waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time cooped up in the house doing nothing but work (although I have to be thankful that I do have work, which I love). I've actually been spending the entire week just feeling sorry for all the good sunsets I just missed. I know, I have been talking about sunsets and how good summer sunsets are here, but I have not actually been seeing a lot of them lately which is sad. I am going to post another entry where I shot a spectacular sunset in Dauin so that's something I'm looking forward to. I've also been thinking about buying a new tablet for myself. Since I am flat broke I think all I can afford are the cheapest kinds but I do know that I want to buy the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt (check it out
here) since it is a quadcore tablet, (*yay*) so I'm quite interested to see how good a tablet P3,999 will be able to give me. Will definitely post something on that when I get my hands on that tablet :D
“Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are.”
― Markus Zusak,
I am the Messenger
portraits, portraits, portraits, portraits
Did this shoot with a Val, a good friend of mine from Nursing, the day after my cousin's wedding. It was a Sunday and although I felt like it was a great day to just hang around the house and be lazy, I was also excited at finally being able to do a shoot with her. See, I came across an Anytime Shoot did by Tonya Kae, one of my favorite photographers, and I just loved how she photographed a friend of hers--she captured the girl's smile, her presence, her friendliness so perfectly that I felt like "Wow, I want to know that person more!" (Yeah, I have those moments sometimes.) I actually talked to Val about it last year, but then the busyness of other stuff got in the way and I almost forgot about it, until she messaged me a few weeks back. I was thrilled that she still wanted to do it, since I didn't know anyone who could smile as genuinely as she does. Val is one of the kindest, gentlest souls I know, and this shoot was also a great way for us to catch up!
And by the way, guys, she's also single! (*wink*)
Val brought some stuff that she wanted included in the shoot, including a watch that her father gave her before he died and her journal. I remember her talking about her dad. I could tell from the way she talked about him that she was a daddy's girl, and his death was such a blow to her. But good memories always prevail even when we lose people we love and there is always the hope of another reunion, someday, somewhere, so at least we always have that to look forward to. Glad to have this shoot and catch-up session. Thanks Val!
