totoo na ba ito?

is it normal to feel slightly freaked out at the thought of paying mortgage for the next 30 years of my life????

thanksgiving

i am thankful for the forgiveness of my sins and my salvation.

i am thankful for a healthy and loving family.

i am thankful for the new house that the Lord has provided.

i am thankful for the love and support of my friends.

i am thankful for the good job that i have.

i am thankful for the prosperous life that God has promised and the thousands more promises that He keeps.

i am thankful that the Lord is all that He is.

what are you most thankful for?

no pain, no gain

no, i haven't started working out again. this is a different type of vanity for me.

i went to see a dermatologist from the philippines and had 'stuff' on my face cotorized and had a chemical peel. while the doctor placed a topical anesthesia, i still felt some sting and pain from the zapping off of the 'stuff'. but i hope to see clearer skin after several days.

sana effective to. sayang naman ang ibinayad at ang mild discomfort kung hindi.

finally!

we finally have the keys to the house! yey!

pictures tomorrow when the husband arrives. =)

no more bad news

The disappointment upon hearing we didn’t get the big new house took me by surprise. I was more disappointed than I thought I would be. So when I was driving home from work and listening to pastor paul shepard on the radio, I asked the Lord, ‘Lord when? When are we going to get our house?’ I went on and on about my questions and letting out my frustrations while the pastor on the radio was talking about God’s time line and how impatient we all are nowadays. I shut my mouth and paid attention to the pastor.

‘why are we all in such a hurry? Jesus waited 30 years before he began his ministry, and his ministry only lasted for 3 years. Why do we get so upset when we stand in line at the grocery store and there are 5 people ahead of us? Aren’t we supposed to be grateful we didn’t have to grow any of the food we eat? Just think about how long you would have to wait to eat that apple had you planted it yourself.’

God was speaking to me through the pastor’s message. So I said, ‘Ok Lord. I’ll shut up now and wait for you. You know the best time for everything and I will wait. You are in control; you hold my world in your hands.’ So I was driving, enjoying my silence and the renewed peace that the Lord gave me, when my phone started to ring. It was my real estate agent. I thought she was calling to let me know that we should start looking for houses again and start from scratch. But she said,

‘Almira, the first house you wanted…they lowered their price and it’s yours if you want it. You will have the keys in your hand before Thanksgiving.’

Can you imagine my shock?! All I could say was, ‘I have to tell my husband!’. So we hung up and I was frantically trying to get in touch with my husband. It wasn’t until evening that I FINALLY spoke to him.

So we discussed, we weighed the pros and cons

Pros:
· The house has the things we need (4 bedrooms, 2 baths)
· Kitchen is semi-updated
· 2 car garage, side by side with room for 2 more cars in the driveway
· It’s in a nice neighborhood with a BIG back yard for michelle to run around
· The BIG backyard!

Cons:
· It’s an older house
· The master bedroom does not have its own bathroom
· Will need to get new appliances (the previous owner took the appliances away!)
· It’s not as pretty as the new house
· Did I say it’s an older house?

We made our decision and called our agent and agreed to buy the house (driven mostly by the lot size and the great neighborhood). We will officially be homeowners by next week! Yey!!!!!

What have I learned in this whole process? That I am not in control. No matter how I try to steer things my way and get the outcome I want, the final decision is made by the Lord. I really really really have to trust him more and more. When has he failed me?

Just to let you know, our beloved pastor has the gift of dreams (like Joseph the dreamer) where many of her dreams happen in real life. She had a dream about two weeks ago and in her dream she asked Paul, ‘So when are you going to move to your new house?’ In her dream Paul answered, ‘November 26 po, Pastora.’ I called my mortgage lender today and he asked me, ‘When do you want to close the deal?’ I said, ‘Can we close by end of next week?’ And he said, ‘I’m emailing the loan processor as I talk to you.’ and he typed (he read it while he typed), ‘Can we close by Tuesday, November 25th?’ I asked him, ‘are you sure we can close that soon?’ and he replied, ‘Almira, we have all the documents we need. We could have closed last month if the seller got their act together.’ That means we can move in by November 26! Isn’t that a trip!!!!!!???? WOW!!! God proves that he is in control in all situations no matter how big or how small.

I’ve kinda stressed about the money we’ve already spent on trying to purchase this house, from the rate lock to the home inspection and I was upset that if we bought different house, that money we paid (and it’s quite a sum) will all go to waste because we’ll have to spend that money again on a house that we will buy. Can you imagine the details that the Lord takes care of to get everything we need together? He wasn’t kidding when he said, ‘I know the plans I have for you…’ He really knows what he’s doing and we are in no position to ever doubt what he can do!

I am ever so humbled by his graciousness. Sa dinami dami ng pagkukulang at pagkakasala namin, who are we to receive such abundant blessings from Him? *sigh* I encourage anyone reading this to fully trust in the Lord. To follow and obey his commands, to give your tithes and offering to your church, and to read and meditate on his word everyday. I don’t know where our family would be without the loving hand of God guiding us each and every single day. He is good! To God be the glory!!!!

good news and bad news

the bad news is, we didn't get the nicer house...


the good news (??) is that the first house agreed to lower their price.


what to do now? what to do...what to do....

south lake tahoe

we went to south lake tahoe for the weekend. michelle wanted to see snow but there's hardly any snow in the area. she was not completely disappointed though.

house hunter

It has been a mortgage roller coaster ride these last several weeks.Our family had our heart set on purchasing the house I wrote about previously, but it wasn’t meant to be. The house appraised for less than our agreed purchase price and I wasn’t going to buy a house for more than it’s worth. The bank that owns the house does not want to sell it for it’s appraised value (which means less than what we initially thought it was worth) so the deal is off and we’re back to square one.I was hesitant to write anything about that first house because I’m not in the habit of counting eggs before they hatch. But I thought the house was as good as mine…but God has other plans.

I wasn’t heartbroken because we didn’t get that house but I was frustrated the process took so long. I like the house, but I wasn’t attached to it. How can I be attached to something that’s not mine? So we started looking for houses again last week and saw 2 houses across the street from each other that I really, really, really like…not to the point of being attached, but I can totally imagine living in either one of them and feeling like a queen in my own little castle.We have totally outgrown our current home where Michelle has taken over every single bit of open space. There are now too much toys for too little a house, and my daughter just wants to add more. She’s already asked her dad for Donald and Daisy to add to her brood of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters. Once we get A HOUSE, she’s going to have a room all to her self and I can just imagine her wanting to pack as many Disney Characters in to her room. The question remains, WHEN are we going to get a house? I don’t know any more because dates seem to be written in sand.

We’re hoping to close on this house around December 15. I already imagine myself cleaning the house, baking my famous buko pie (ehem!), putting Christmas decorations and arranging presents under a real Christmas tree. I told myself that for our first Christmas in the new home, we would get a real tree, where ever that new home will be. Never mind that it’s a pain to dispose that real tree after Christmas, I want the smell of pine to fill up the house even for just one season.I’m looking forward to all the memories we’ll have in the house. But I can’t get my hopes waaaay up and set myself up for disappointment the second time around. *sigh* God will give us the house that’s perfect for us, in His own perfect time. =D

iha...

i made egg pie today. the texture isn't perfect yet, but it tastes really good. had my mom not stopped me, i would have wolfed down a quarter of the pie in one sitting.

my mom said, 'iha, nagdadiet ka...'

of course i stopped.


[my] mother knows best.

oh yes, he did!

rain, rain, go away....

she loves wearing her rain boots (bota) most especially. kahit hindi umuulan gusto nya isuot. sulit na ang binili nila mommy and daddy just watching her wear all of these. =D

click on hello kitty for more photos

o-ba-ma!!!

obama won the elections!

it feels great to witness this part of american history. we've come so far and achieved so much since the civil rights movement. i know that we all can't really be color blind but it's reassuring to know that we can set aside race and differences and elect a president based on credentials.

i am excited for my daughter and the generations to come because obama has paved the way for all colored people in america.

i have a lot of respect for john mccain. i think he's a very honorable man who also had great plans for our country. i honestly could vote for either one of them. but the thought of sarah palin sitting in the white house makes me shudder if anything were to happen to john mccain. and for that i can't vote republican this year. sarah palin is too green, waaaay too green and not ready lead the nation, even just as second in command.

CONGRATULATIONS PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!

I AM SO PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN TODAY!!!

go out and vote!!!

i don't care who you vote for, but pray before you do.

if you are eligible to vote, but yet you don't, you have no right to complain about which president takes office.

california academy of sciences

we bought a membership to the new california academy of sciences which gives us unlimited visits for one year. we want to take michelle there frequently and get her interested in the sciences.

since paul is here this weekend, we braved saturday's the pouring rain, thinking that many of the visitors would be deterred by the downpour. we were wrong! the parking garage was full and the museum was packed! we didn't get to see everything since it was so crowded but michelle had fun looking at fish and dinosaur skeletons. she's into dinosaurs right now. she would ask me to look for tv shows that feature dinosaurs (and no, not the cartoon kind but the jurassic park type of dinos) and she would watch them even if they are an hour long.

the cal academy building is one of the most eco-friendly buildings in the world (read more here) and it's a great place to take kids and get them curious about the world around them. here are some of the photos we took at the academy. more photos in future visits.

halloween

michelle was dressed as an angel for halloween. paul and i were hoping angelic traits would manifest on our darling little daughter who has been trying out patience a lot lately. =)

she loved her costume and enjoyed halloween. we didn't really go trick or treating at the mall because she got distracted by all the toys so we went toy window shopping instead. but after that, we headed to tselogs for some fun with the rest of her friends.

here are the photos.