#thankfulvera2018

The Gift

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I cannot imagine NOT having books. I am so grateful for books, for the love of reading, for second-hand/pre-loved books, for old-book smell, new-book smell.

I am never lonely, for as long as there are books to read. They are gateways to other worlds. Stories to dive into. Characters to get to know.

Stitches & Words | You’ll never be lonely surrounded by books

I read The Gift while taking a break from Earthsea.

The husband is away on an overnight trip with his team. Apart from the dogs keeping me company (or is it the other way around? After all, there’s seven of them and only one of me), there are a lot of books here to read.

While taking a break from Earthsea, I decided I’d read Cecelia Ahern’s The Gift. Lou Suffern’s story is a good reminder to look at how we are living – are we constantly in a hurry? Always feeling the pull of having to be in two places at one time? What is it all for?

In the seemingly endless juggle between work and family, I guess there is a case for such as a question as this: is it juggling if you constantly choose one over the other? Always choosing work, thinking that family cannot fire you. But is it true?

At the end of our lives, not all of us will have the opportunity to make things right. Not everyone will have the chance to make that lasting positive memory that we can leave behind. So why wait til the end?

Time is a gift. One that we cannot earn back or buy more of. Money can be earned, lost, then earned back. Just think about that for a moment.

Thankful for my Go-To Apps

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If I haven’t mentioned it before, I say it now: I am thankful for the Internet.

19 years ago, the husband and I met thru mIRC. We might never have met without the Internet. I say this because we had no common friends or interests, and we moved in entirely different worlds prior to knowing each other.

Today, I am showing appreciation for something more specific that requires access to the Internet: Apps that I use all the time.

Stitches & Words | Thankful for our Go-To Apps

  • Netflix
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook (and Messenger)
  • Viber (and Line)
  • WordPress
  • Gmail
  • Waze
  • Shopee and Lazada

Entertainment. Information. Inspiration. Communication. Creativity. Keeping in touch with loved ones no matter how near or far. Convenience. Feeding your inner shopaholic. These are just some of the things that these apps represent.

Yes, there is so much to be said about social media and it can be a real trap. We spend so much time scrolling through our feeds and many times it breeds negativity. We grow jealous of other people’s seemingly perfect lives, their always clean homes and workspaces, their travels, and even their OOTDs and food shots. How can they look perfect all the freaking time?! If that’s how you’re using social media and it affects you by making you feel like you aren’t enough – then I would be the first one to tell you to walk away from all of it.

I try to be conscious about NOT hiding behind the screen while in other people’s company and I do call out the husband whenever he’s on his phone too much while we’re supposed to be out enjoying a meal together, or hanging out.

More importantly, I firmly believe in using the Internet as a platform for spreading good, and for enriching ourselves and our relationships. It’s just like everything else in life, we are given tools that are neither good nor bad in or of themselves, it’s up to us how to use them, and to what purpose.

How about you? What apps are you thankful for and why?

**This month, I am doing 30 Days of Thankful

Our Favorite Restaurant: Zensho

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Something as simple as deciding where to eat used to ignite senseless fights like this one. When it came to Zensho though, it’s always a unanimous decision 🙂

We go there for either lunch or dinner, once every month. The serving staff are already quite familiar with us. On last month’s visit, it was a particularly busy night. Friends were going to meet us there so we asked for a table for four. To our surprise, when we were ushered to the next available spot, it was only for two. Apparently, the lady assumed we only needed a small table because she got so used to seeing just us two regulars.

Stitches & Words | Our Favorite Restaurant : ZenshoFor sure they don’t serve the best in Japanese cuisine in Metro Manila. But they serve decent food, at a really good price point. And most important of all – they have an eat-all-you-can promo for food that you order ala-carte.

I am thankful for Zensho, for all the comfort its food has brought us on every single visit; and for the all-too-familiar setting we love going back to specially when we need to do some stress eating!

**This post is still part of my 30 Days of Thankful series.

Thankful for My Husband

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I am thankful for my husband.

Stitches & Words | Thankful for My Husband

He takes on most of the house work because I don’t like doing them.

He spoils me with gifts (I’m not complaining!).

He does the dirty work – cleans up the mess our dogs make – so I can focus on giving hugs 😉

He takes care of me when I’m sick, and even when I’m not.

He loves me, even if he doesn’t always say it.

He isn’t perfect, but neither am I.

He is my favorite person, maybe not every day, but definitely on most days. 🙂

10 Reasons I am Thankful for Our Home

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Stitches & Words | 10 Reasons I’m Thankful for our Home

Stitches & Words | Street-view of our family compound. You can’t see our actual house from here. There’s home improvement on going at my cousin’s, at the moment.

  1. We live in a family compound.
  2. We’re practically rent-free (thanks Mom and Dad!).
  3. We’re near a hospital (there are two hospitals within our barangay, and there are 2 more that are also very near us).
  4. If we ever have human kids, they can walk to school where I walked to school! (Oh well sige na nga, there was a time when Papa (grandpa) took us to school, then my Daddy would also take me (and also sundo), and there was a time I took a school bus too. Pero walking distance talaga sya, so in high school I mostly walked to school. Hahaha). Oh, we don’t live in the same house from when I was a kid, but it’s in the same Barangay.
  5. We have so many memories in this compound.
  6. It’s very accessible. I really feel like we are in the center of Metro Manila. (Okay, so not the street our house is on, but this area in general)
  7. Work can be under 10 minutes away (after midnight, no traffic, and if work is in Centris or Cubao). Makati is 30 minutes away (also late at night hahha).
  8. If I seem to have fallen off the face of the earth and you can’t get in touch with me on social media or thru my phone/email, it is highly likely that there will always be someone here who would know what was up or how to pass along a message. When you fill out forms asking for a Permanent Address, this is it.
  9. We have a small house, but there’s just the right space for our dogs. And the hubby even gets to have a Lego room! And you might not believe how much books we’ve managed to stuff in here.
  10. It’s messy more times than it’s all spic and span, but it’s where I find comfort. There truly is no place like home.

So is this our forever home? Maybe. I still dream of a big house with a pool, and a garden that would have lots of flowers, and vegetable plots too. I still dream of living in the mountains, or near a clean and swimmable body of water. But right now, I am thankful to have this place to call home.

**Click link to read my other 30 Days of Thankful 2018 posts. That would make me #verathankful if you do 🙂

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