i.e. versus e.g.

Have you ever wondered what's the difference between i.e and e.g.?

I am more curious about the meaning of them since they looked like acronyms for me.

Let's see here  i.e. v. e.g.

xoxo.arabella

Writing is not Enough

The Story:

My immediate boss modestly relayed to me that our super boss has some few comments on our wordings in the report submitted for his review. He mentioned that our vocabulary was limited, and he recommended a dictionary. In my mind I said, WTF??!

I felt upset on what I've heard. I mumbled to myself, "Kaya nga ako ngba-blog eh! Para gumaling ako sa English!" It is painful to know that blogging is not an assurance that you would be ace in English. And I realized it the hard way!

Thinking about it, I asked my husband about this unsatisfactory comments. And he advised me to read business news, and learn from it. So now, I make it to a point to read at least one business article each day. Does this helps? I don't know. But the confidence in me started  to build up again.

The realization here: to be able to become the best, you need to exhaust ALL the available remedies. For example, if you feel like you are fat, and that you wanted to be slim, it is not enough to skip meals. You do exercise regularly. You eat healthy foods. You sleep enough. You drink lots of water, etc. And that's where you can achieve your goals.

And if you fail, never give up. You are lucky enough to know that you are heading the wrong way, and that there's still a room for recovery and advancement .

Although blogging is an easy going form of writing, and doing a business report, on the other hand, is a formal (and sometimes legal) writing, it is imperative that we are not impeded to unlock other potentials on hand.

xoxo.arabella.

Just Borrowed

I was saddened by the trending pictures in Facebook seeing how children/babies became the subject of experiment of their parent’s foolishness and illogical sociability.

Three pictures are posted where a baby was tied in his neck and let him eat his food using only his mouth albeit the fact that he is nude in the cold hard cemented floor. My friend, Renz, also told me that there is another photo, where a woman, who probably the mother, took a selfie photo with her child with cigarette on the young’s mouth.

I hardly looked at the pictures. They made me sick and wanna puke. This is not morally right.

I verily believe that children are God’s blessing to a family. They are angels from heaven. They are just borrowed. 

BabyCakes

And a mother should feel blessed that amongst the women in this world, God chosen her to carry another being – a creation from Him. You can call pregnancy a miracle. And sure it is. And to get through the immeasurable pain of delivering a baby, is inexplicable. Let's say being a mother is not an easy job. But however hard our role here is, children should not be taken for granted. Ever.

Mothers, we watched our youngs during her nap time. Babies looked so peaceful when they sleep. Though fatigue and lack of sleep creeps all over us, it never came to our mind to leave them alone, right? To spend minutes or hours of our lives staring at our children already created a significant level of satisfaction. 

We lie them down in the most comfortable bed we can provide. We feed them. We bathe them. We tell them dozen of stories. We simply adore them.

We touch their arms and cheeks and feet. God so wonderfully creates a human being fragile enough for us to hold and cherish. And that's exquisite.

We never let even the tiniest single insect touch our babies' skin. We avoid too much noise that can wake our babies. That's us, mothers. That's how we care for them. That's the way of showing our love.

We are once a son, a daughter, a sibling. We are once a kid who plays around the park without minding about time, money, and work. We are once a child, who cries when we fell, but laughs afterwards. We are once a baby, who just sleeps and feeds and recognizes the mother who will always brought us to her arms – to hold, to hug, and to love.

It broke my heart to witness how the ethics and decency of people bent backwards where the social media now became the standard of goodness and popularity. But this I tell you. Lucky are those who can conceive a child for it bring nothing but a realization that there’s more to life than career, money, and success. Don’t let it pass.

xoxo.arabella.

Happy Mommy,
Happy Baby!

What this Little Girl Did Made Me Jumped for Joy!

I am a first-time mommy. All are new to me. There are sacrifices, change of priorities, and blissful experiences which right now I know I wouldn't trade for anything else.

We celebrated Mother’s Day last May 10. I am happy to be with my daughter during that day. She just turned three months old last 6^th of May and her Daddy and I are very proud that she is growing fast and advance.

That morning, I know that she got a lot of sleep because her mood is light. She laughed at me and she didn't cry. After a while, she wanted to lie on her front so I helped her. I turned on the camera on video mode and talked to her like we always do.

Watch how happy she is and how she say some words I didn't expect her to.

Have you notice the last few seconds of the video? I told Athena that I love her. And it seems like she wanted to answer me the same words. To many, it’s just baby’s funny little noises. But to me, it’s what can be the sweetest words a child could say to her mother.

Happy Mother’s Day to all! 

Xoxo.arabella

QLYSM

I married a man of enthusiasm and passion.

He, who never fails to surprise me, amazes me all the time. He acts mostly in unexpected ways that can melt everyone's heart. I always like that kind of attitude in him.

I married a guy who is more than proud to wear our wedding band than any other luxurious accessories.

The wedding symbolizes our forever promise to be together in this lifetime. Faithfully, he lives his life to that promise. And so am I.

I married someone who makes me his world.

A set of arms around me making me feel whole is what I always dreamt of. The attention he's giving me is a form of saying that I am secured and loved. With that, I am forever grateful to God for having him with me. He's definitely worth the wait.

I married the man of my dreams.

With him, I know that all my dreams already come true. He gives me the inspiration I need, the strength I require, the love I want, and the life I long to live. He completes me. How could I ask for more?


xoxo.arabella.

A Sign of a Promise

Yesterday, me and my fiance were supposed to go to a mall in Makati to buy some stuff for our home, but he had some petty arguments with someone dear to him, which set off his mood. So we postponed our plan and decided to do it later. On our way home riding a taxi, I noticed that he doesn't want to talked about what happened, and so I stayed quiet holding his hand.

And he squeezed my hand. Too tight. For too long.

Then I realized, maybe we don't really need to talk about it. Maybe he just wanted to feel me that I am there for him. Maybe he just wanted some peace of mind and he found it in me.

He is pissed, I can sense that! But the tightness of the hand proclaimed how he needed me. It gave me a reassurance of how strong we became together. Of how we became dependent when it comes to emotional struggle. Of how one should be sturdy when the other one is weak.

Until now, I never let go of that hand. And even if we are not together, I still think that he holds mine like how he did yesterday. It brings back memories of how problems dig you down, and how love lifts you up. It signifies two persons holding each other no matter what. It relives an important promise of being together for the rest of the time.

Pause for a Break

Five minutes more and I am going home from work. At around 5:40pm, I make it clear to myself that Work-Life Balance should be kept and so I would leave the office now. Otherwise, it will break my whole system as a human being. Yes! It may sound exaggerated but effective as it is.

At all times, we have to keep the balance in life. Some may say that we should take a power nap or a 30 minute break for the long day, or even a three-minute stop where you would not think of anything. Peace must come from within. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you must lock yourself in a library or plug ear buds until you won’t hear a sound. Let’s pause for a break where we can relax and rest, thereafter get back to work with such enourmous enthusiasm and energy.

 

My mantra now: I must go home. :)

Xoxo.Arabella

The Letter

Women are emotional. Agree?

Every move. Every word. Every action. Each has its own definite meaning.

And sometimes, things get out through cracks because of this.

Writing: a very timely work. What relation does it have with emotions?

It takes a lot of thinking - what to write, how to do it, and when to publish it. Writing is a form of outlet. A traditional and classic way of expression. A flow of feelings. A distinct but permanent proof of oneself. It balances emotion. It permits freedom. It serves as our wings to emotional high.

When you feel it, you know it.


So remember in all faces of writing...

Let the emotion move with every letter written, every punctuation placed, every space provided.

Let the hand work together with your mind - one and whole.

Let the harsh words left unsaid, the anger subside, the pain released, and the secrets be kept.

Let the world know now. Real time. Quick.









credits to http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/writing/images/27456811/title/writing-photo

And it's Friday!

Hello Blog and haler readers! :)

It's Friday today and everyone has already set their own dates, food trips, shopping schedules, sleep overs and believe me, overtime work.

One thing in common is that we would like to spend the night for ourselves, and as much as we could, we want to spend it with family or friends.

Friday is FREEday! We are individually free of worries, stress, sleepless nights etc... because we welcome weekends! :) Yeah. Everyone's dying for a break, I know...

Friday can also be FRIends DAY! :) Bonding moments.. Movie marathon, dinner, bar hopping, etc..
Cheers!

Friday may also be just another day of the week. Boring. But it happens!

So what's your Friday?

xoxo.arabella.

True Love

As cheesy as the movies' themes nowadays, do people still believe in true love? 

Speedy technology and affordable cosmetics, will you be able to definitely find "The One"?

Why am I writing this? Honestly, I also don't know. The topic just crossed my mind yesternight when I tried so hard finding sleep. Whew!

True love? Yes, I believe it exists - but not for me. Just like a lightning. You know it's there and it strikes into something - maybe a tree, a house, an electric post, or even just in a plain lot. However, I don't see it coming to me! That's how I see true love.

But how do I come up with this very description? Let's see factors. One, society. I am in the midst of a changing environment. My parents raised me to become a conservative one, and it's because everyone else does. But now that I'm a grown up, life becomes more challenging and exciting. Teens do lotsa stuff I never imagined happening before. And so it goes.

Two, myself. I keep on changing my mind! Well, don't we, women? I also don't have the characteristics of an ideal girlfriend. Haha! Not that I'm boyish! Haler. Maybe I have this a little Westernized attitude in me. Blah blah blah... Oh well. Remove that spotlight away from me!

Three, lifestyle. It's more fun in the Philippines! Nothing I want to do with my life now but traveling, reading books, shopping, food tripping, sleeping and writing. I guess you see no love in the equation. Hahaha!

Looking at Pinoys, I know that true love makes people see life very positively. The world revolves only for us and that's why we look forward in falling in it. The hurt we feel when we broke up from love is less than the happiness we feel when we are in love. So hopelessly romantic!

But for me, I am stuck with my lightning-love comparison. Well, that's how I see it. I guess it's a matter of prospective.

Can anyone help me see the other side?

xoxo.arabella.

How to Make Your Eyes Look Smaller?

Typical Pinays have big wide eyes. That’s given! And we are unique that way. But we cannot discount the fact that there are times that we would want our eyes to somehow become smaller like other Asian girls – Japanese, Korean, and Chinese etc... Maybe it’s because we wanted to be cute, or we are bored with our usual look. But whatever reason there is, we would love to have some new trend for ourselves and do some make-over.

It's Never Been That Easy

Anong konek sa title?

Wala. Dahil lahat ng ito ay kapwa imahinasyon ko lang.

Instinct. Kaya random. Abrupt. Kaya maikli.

Minsan nabasa ko. Sabi sa Twitter, ang tao daw parang panahon. Nagbabago.

Tama ba yun?

Thank you BIG !

Simply Bacolod - Ilo-ilo - Guimaras...

TRAVEL

We, the YL Club, booked our ticket to Bacolod roughly August last year via Cebu Pacific Air (www.cebupacificair.com). With less preparations and lots of prayers, we managed to enjoy our three days three nights vacation in Western Visayas.

The Schedule was:
June 12 night - arrival at Bacolod
June 13 - Mambukal Resort
June 14 - Guimaras, via Ilo-ilo
June 15 afternoon - Arrival at Manila

Luckily, we were so safe and blessed all through out our travel. Praise the Lord! (PTL!) Filipinos are hospitable at any parts of the country. We do not have any contact person, or any reservations to any hotel, but we were able to enjoy everything - find a good place to stay, nice weather to go around, kind people to ask, and yummy food to eat.

I never expected that there was a LPA affecting Manila during weekend. And so, apologies to our parents who almost stop us from going to Bacolod! But we're back and I'm blogging now so I think they don't have to worry anymore. hihi!

FOOD

Aftershock!

I have created this one so long time ago. Having the opportunity to post it, I hope that you can relate yourself on this. It's somehow random but anyway, people close to me and who really know me can tell that most of the "HER" is me... :) enjoy!

xoxo.arabella.

Voila! Face Enhancer

Today at Arabella's corner, I'm going to show you how a little beauty enhancer made my face look different. Here is my picture before the application.

Hot It is

It's Labor Day today but I don't feel like I'm celebrating my capability as a working citizen. Thfe weather is so hot and I'm a bit sleepy.... However, I got the chance to see a friend which makes my tummy happy. Hahaha!

Speaking of food, who craves for a mug ice cream?! Look below for the mouthwatering desserts around the corner.

That's Forever

One step forward and two step back. Man, how we wish that it’s always the other way around. But that’s how the world works, right? We never know what the future holds for us. That mystery in life remains to exist. What else can we do when things turn out of the way we never expected?

It all started with a “Hi!”, or even “Oops! Sorry!” Nevertheless, everybody can just be the Ms. Congeniality or Mr. Meet-and-Greet. There’s no definite beginning in friendship unless you tried to talk it out on your daily journal- write the date and list the entire meetings you have in a day. Thousands of random people surround us. We cannot discount the fact that every day, people cross our roads without knowing who will stay or not.  They may see you, ignore you, or stop by the corner and have a chat with you.

We are aware that friendship is a slow growing thing. We never look at it as a short term-relationship. Sometimes we deal on what’s presently going on like setting up hang–outs, parties, and get togethers, or even planning road trips, food trips, and reunions.  And as time flies by, we barely noticed that those are the moments we cherished and treasured. Those jiffies that we spent time with them are the memories we kept deep in our hearts. And when we tried to look back at the past, we recall a series of laughters, tears, and even heartbreaks which makes us all stronger and braver.

Friendship. A life-long commitment. A sacrifice. A pure bond.

But in this relationship, we are aware that there is no assurance. Every day, we face into a battlefield, where the ending is but a question. We fought as a front liner who deals with the problems firsthand, accepting all the gunshots and hit back with revenge. We play hide and seek. When we have the opportunity, we attack. But when we can foresee losing the battles, we retreat. If someone retracted from the war, we decide. Should we continue to fight for the things we believe? Or quit at it because we don’t see the fairness anymore?

People change and that is an absolute thing. What keep us holding on to this is that we learn to adjust, keep up, and reinvent the relationship. Acceptance. The key to a good relationship is when you accept the person as a package. Whatever is there inside the box, you just hold it and admit it without any doubt. A friend is a gift, like angel in disguise (boo! That’s a bit mushy.) We feel blessed and safe with them. We share secrets, embarrassing moments, kilig stories and surprises. We do things together – drink, eat, sleep, watch movies, dance and sing. That’s why we always wanted to be with them. And even in the midst of the war, we know the honestly of our hearts and it always belong to friends no matter what.

2012 Ends with a Blast

“Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” ― Brad Paisley

That's supposed to be yesterday's quote! Oh well, food is best in Media Noche. Really! With my mom's special skills in cooking, diet is banned on our home! Food! Attack! :)

And since we are just a few to celebrate the New Year's Eve, what we do is we made ourselves contented with the fireworks around the area. Making some noise is a must! We have some fancy torotots and a firework belt. You know something so noisy.

January first: rainy day. Anyhow, I still need to go back to Makati for tomorrow starts the work mode again. As they say, no matter how long the vacation, it would never be enough. Family bond is one of the best bond we can have, especially in this time of season. It's tiring and all but it's worth every second, right?

I hope we all got our new year's resolution. Me? I'd rather be more healthy this year. So I wanted to become a bit sporty this time. Jog and badminton and all. Hope it last a year!

2013 is another year added to our lifetime. The alleged End of the World remains to be  a myth. God will know only when and only how this world will end. Let's put up our Faith to that high level. God bless everyone! 

xoxo.arabella.

Pre-birthday blessings

Yey! It's 9pm. Last three hours of my 23rd year of existence. what duh?! So sappy... That's not so you Arabella. But anyway, before my birthday strikes, I just wanted to share how blessed I am for having such good friends by my side.

First, my office mates! We planned a year ago (so back then) to go on a trip -sort of out of town. And EK fit that! But we never got a chance to go for it since our schedule never met. Until this month that it came to reality! And I say... FINALLY! It's an advance celebration of my birthday and Ramjie, and a send-off celebration to Jefferson. We're just half of the group, with Mark and Renz, but it came out so well. I did enjoy- I know all of us have so much fun too. The day is so great, the weather is brightly enough with its scorching heat, and the new amazing rides are open now. What a day! We went wet and wild for the rides! Space shuttle, Disk-o-Magic, and skilled games got us hooked! It may be tiring after all, but surely EK brought us closer to each one.

Next, my dearest Adoras! Especially Rose Ann and TJ- the ever supporting couple I know. It just so happen that they invited me to watch the Breaking Dawn Part 2 - take note, on its first day of showing! At first, I thought, I would get bore or somewhat awkward knowing it's a sort of a date for the two of them. But then they told me that it's their birthday present to me and so I decided to enjoy their company. Breaking Dawn Movie was so great! The twist was mind blowing! I would be forever grateful to the both of them for making my birthday a bit special. (well, I'm really sappy right now.) Jen also joined us for a dinner, which I really indulged myself. Somehow, I'm craving for pizza and pasta and voila! Here's the free dinner at Papa John's.

Racq already sent me her advance greetings and thanks to that. We are having an overnight stay for the Adoras next week, and I'm very looking forward to it. 

I'm goin' to be 24 years old, but my heart stays where it is- young and free and healthy! This day would not be a day to celebrate if it is not for my mom. A mother who endured the suffering and pain of bringing me to the earth. And there's no other place to celebrate the birthday but at home where family bonds. Cheers Mama!! :) I love you dearest!

Ps. YL Mira and Love, be merciful to me! Make my birthday picture good okay? The winner will be the cover one, and the loser gets the primary :) YKR?

xoxo. 

Arabella.

I'm back to blogging!

Hi readers,


I'm going back to blogging and will start posting new blogs soon. It will be a continuous posting- defining various topics- on a monthly basis. Feel free to ask me anything you'd want to read as we go on.


It's goobloo time!


xoxo. arabella