God’s mercies are new every morning and so are they in 2012! We are not going to enjoy recycled mercies this 2012 but brand new ones every single day still. When I come to think about how God has sustained me and my family this past years, I can only bow down in awe and gratefulness.

This past holiday, I have decided to lay low and just shove blogging to the backseat for once. Not worry about backlogs or working on drafts. Nothing. But that did not mean that I stashed our digital cameras away. On the contrary, they were as busy as ever, snapping photos here and there. So expect picture heavy posts coming up in the coming days and weeks over at MarriageAndBeyond.com

Blessings to all and may the Lord richly bless you and your family!

We have pretty much on a blogging hiatus since the holiday struck. Getting together with friends and loved ones during this season is awesome! We don’t just indulge in good food but also catch up on the things we have been missing from each other’s lives.

I got together with a few of my high school friends a couple of days before Christmas. We had fun having massages and the overflow of food at Wensha Spa. It was actually a birthday treat of my high school bff. Now, we are off to planning our Singapore getaway. Travel Jobs might just be one of the things one of us is eyeing but we do hope to have a grand and lovely time as we visit our good friend who is now a resident in Singapore.

A week until our 10th anniversary and I still haven’t gotten my husband a present! It is not as if there’s anything new with that. I was just really hoping I will be able to do things differently this year. It’s our 10th anniversary, for crying out loud!

But since I have a musician for a hubby and he’s been onto this particular electric guitar for a while now, a Epiphone Dot guitar might just be that he will appreciate. I think it’s something that he can use to record using his favorite Garage Band and iRig over his iPad. Now, the question is where to find this brand locally.

Christmas gift shopping officially started a couple of weeks back when SM Megamall went on a crazy midnight sale. We already bought gifts for most of our loved ones. Thanks to the huge discounts, we were able to get more value for our money.

But parking was a torture. Even the top most open parking area was swamped and it took my husband hours before he was able to park. We multi tasked as I went right ahead and shopped while he waited for a slot. I was practically done with all the shopping when he was able to park. Yes, it was that bad. It’s a good thing that I did not have to buy christmas gifts for brothers like most friends usually spend a whole bunch of time on. With all the good gifts we were able to get our loved ones for less, I take back my regret that night of going with the crowd. It was worth it.

I am 35 and loving it! Unlike most women who dread to reveal their age, I joyfully and with full of thanksgiving in my heart will shout it out that I’m 35! That number just about reminds me of how long God has been graciously providing me with every single thing that I need. Yes, God has been more than gracious, because even the desires of my heart that may very well trivial to a big God, He provides!

Every year is a reminder of God’s faithfulness in my life. I remember when I was 19 years old and was about to undergo lumpectomy. The possibility of cancer was just around the corner, given that my maternal grandma died of it. I made an appeal to God that He prolong my life five more years, just so I can live for His glory and make up for all the years I backslid. Guess what? It has been 16 years since! He has heard my cry and He continues to sustain me. No more turning back to my old ways. I used to drive behind the wheel that even the best roadside assistance plan won’t be enough to guarantee my safety. Handing that wheel over to God was absolutely the best thing that I’ve done in the world.

I confess, last week I felt that I was not the least bit thrilled to be flying again to Boracay next week. I so felt it that I even twitted about it. Oh well, it’s all different now. When I think why we booked that flight in time for Jeff’s 36th birthday, I got back to the purpose of the vacay.

My son and I are, in fact, now very excited to just get away. It is really neat that we are able to get hold of airline promos. The last time we purchased an airplane ticket on its regular price was in 2009 and we have flown quite a bit since. This time around, we did not spend a centavo more than P1,434 or approx $34! And that’s for the three of us already. That’s really cheap. To fly regular round trip to and from Boracay, one would have to shell out at least ten grand per head.

Anyhoo, today, my son got hold of his new goggles. He lost his old one. The department store area was on another building. Hoping not to have to hop to another building, we went from from one store to another in SM North. From one shop that is selling equestrian helmets, bags (where I lingered to window shop for a while) and finally a sports shop. We got him a good material made one. The one with silicon rubber. This makes the hold of the googles not painfully tight around the head unlike a regular one feels.

As for accommodation in Boracay, we’re actually using the free hotel accommodation I won last year at the Philippine Travel Mart! So we are practically flying and staying in Boracay for free. The money we got to save will most probably be spent on water sports, foods (lots of it) and shopping!!!

Dear husband never fail to make me feel special regardless of the occasion. Despite the lack of preparations this last mothers day, even as we just flew back from Davao by then, he still got me to feel pampered, loved and appreciated. More than the special things he gets me during special occasions: a gadget, perfume, bags, gold bracelet or whatever else, it is the quality time that we spend together that means more to me than anything else.

For this particular mothers day, I refused to let him give me anything pricey. He already got me a Sony Cybershot TX-10 the week before, so I told him that will be it. No major purchases until we got the construction done. The card that he got me that day was all I needed to know that I am appreciated by him.

I cannot count anymore the number of times I said that “Time flies fast!” Indeed, it does, like ever so swiftly. Now the baby that I used to carry with one arm and fit the length of my upper thighs I cannot anymore carry with everything that I am. You are 4 ft and you weigh almost 70 pounds. My six year old son is only 30 pounds lighter than me.

There was no way on earth I would have thought I will embrace motherhood as I do. When I was finishing up my college degree in UST a decade ago, I was set to choose the finest amongst the management jobs there were available. But the Lord has better things for me and I can never be more glad that I submitted. Submission was not exactly my cup of tea for as long as I can remember. But the refining that I allowed the Lord to do over my life was all worth it. I not only like myself more now, my insecurity of having a dysfunctional family made a way for me to pursue the kind of family that I now have. Not perfect, but centered on God. It is really true that “All things work together to those who love Christ…”

My confidence comes from the identity I have in Christ. This is something that we hope to impart our birthday boy. One of the birthday gifts he asked of us is a sibling. But since it does not look that God has got that planned for us just yet, we’re pressing on to continue to disciple the people that are in our church family, who we love all so dearly. The girls that I disciple, I consider my children no less. And Jed loves them all too. I am proud of the kind of person my son is turning out to be. I will continue to pray and raise you up in the fear of the Lord. I love you, my son!

Quality Time is my love language and the hubby’s is Words of Appreciation. It is almost impossible for me to utter words of encouragement or let alone words of appreciation when I feel that the husband is not spending quality time with me. I actually get out of sorts.

This is why we totally appreciate our devotion time together. It does not just force us to spend time together but totally reminds us that our relationship is a foundation that we continually have to work on. I was surprised that even though he was up to his neck with work, he actually still came up with a gift this V Day. While as for me, I failed to get that jack3d pre work out supplement I was looking into giving him as a present. I will make it up to him next time.

My hubby surprised me when the clock struck 12nn with a gift in his hand. This is a first time for us. He will usually tuck the gift in one of the places he knew I frequent around the house. We were busy packing away tonight. We are leaving early for a quick trip to Batangas. We will be back tomorrow in the afternoon.

Again, I failed to order even a simple postcard printing job just so I will have something for him for hearts day. He joked that he’s used to it and I know I really should do better. Good thing that his love language is Words of Affection. So I can very well just work extra on that.