Welcome 2022... Thank you 2021!

I am back after 2 months!

As I am doing this many many years ago, I always look back at how the year gifted me and my family with positivity and challenges. 2021 was patient with me in everything. I slowly went back to life after loosing my husband in October 2020. The battle with Covid19 is still here and the world is still very much affected. But life must go on...

Vaccinated!

The good news on the other hand is the invention of vaccines... We are all vaccinated! Thank you Los Banos for giving us these free protection.

My Lorenzo

He turned 17 in March! Although it is still pandemic, he choose to invited some few good friends over lunch at home. He graduated in Junior High School in July with an Academic Achiever and Loyalty Award from Morning Start Montessori School, Inc., Los Banos Branch. Now, he is taking Culinary Art for Senior High School at STI College Calamba. 

My Luigi

Luigi turned 28 in September. He is still the same responsible eldest son and big brother to Lorenzo, Bruno and Coco. The best part is, he has a girlfriend already! I am just excited and hopeful for his new found love.

Me and Myself

I am still with STI College... Although this year was really a tough one for all of us, I am still grateful because I have a job, I am earning and Lorenzo is free for SHS. I am still balancing teaching and administrative tasks as the General Education Program Head on my 6th year.

I went back to taking care of myself... after my December 2020 confinement due to acute anemia and loosing 35 pounds, I slowly went back to myself. I went back to walking, eating less, scrapbooking a lot and found a new hobby, digital scrapbooking in Shutterfly, which I created 4 albums for myself and 3 for others. I had more time to scrap this year. I was able to finish Georgina's pages and clean, organized and labelled my boy's albums.

After moving on a bit with my life... I always come back to thinking about my husband. This year, we celebrated his first Death Anniversary on October 1, 2021. We had the 9-day novena via Zoom with my family. Still sad because he is not physically here with me, but I am more at peace thinking about my dream a day after his anniversary. The white shirt guy and the long slow dance until I got up the following day.

I miss going out, shopping and visiting relatives. But I found my place here at home... in my little house with my two boys and my Mom. I realized, life is more than complete and a blessing.

I can only ask for God's presence and guidance in my everyday life. Travel mercies as I go out for work and Luigi driving me everyday. Good health for all of us including my brothers and their families abroad and my other relatives. Covid19 and the pandemic to end, so we can go back to our normal lives and forget about being anxious. I still have a grateful heart after all these.

Thank you 2021... Welcome 2022 for happy hopes and God's presences.

God bless us all!

 

Rhode Island Experience

I am back!

Been out from my scraproom for 4 weeks already... got no printed pictures to play with, plus I have been busy with work since school has been opened since last month. I got here my last layout before school opened and I want to share it with you.

Rhode Island... The summer place of my cousins Dionne and Donna and their families. We spent 2 nights there with the family, had boodle fight and hamburger dinners, went swimming, tasted the clams at Monahan's and visited the famous Point Judith Lighthouse. I had a great time bonding with my cousins and their families, and so were my boys. I used here Basic Grey and October Afternoon PPs, DMC threads, pom pom ribbons, buttons, paper flowers, peach blings and Tom Holtz ticket tag.

I just miss traveling! I wish this pandemic will end the soonest and go back to USA again to visit my brother and the rest of our family.

TFL!

 

Luigi's NYC Pages

New York City has always been a bucket list wish for every traveler... I am glad, I was able to bring my boys there before the pandemic. The places we visited there were all the ideas of my Auntie Linda and Uncle Bill, and everything was worth the memory making.

... and memory keeping! Here goes Luigi's NYC experience.

Family Time... Our family picture (minus Dodo) in the Empire State Building pictorial area. It was my 2nd time to come here and I was still amazed. They fixed the interior for great tourist experience. I used here Bazzill white cardstock, assorted PPs scraps, buttons, DMC threads, washi tapes, Memory Mist yellow spray and cardstock phrase stickers.

More of the City...  We rode the subway and came up in the Rockefeller Plaza station, and walked going to the St. Patrick's Cathedral at the 5th avenue. Our second day was another long walk and the first stop was the Empire State Building where we came up at the 86th floor Observatory Views. There were lots of memorabillas along the tour. Then we snacked at Smash Burgers just across the ESB. This multi picture layout was done in Bazzill white cardstock, USA PPs (forgot the paper brand), cardstocks, buttons and DMC threads.

More Arrows... I made this page for a Scrappin' Moms' challenge last year. More of the Empire State Building experience and bottom pictures were in the Ground Zero Memorial. I used here again Bazzill white cardstock, different washi tapes, assorted arrows from AC Thickers, Tim Holtz and cork arrows, buttons, DMC threads, Memory Mist yellow spray, cardstock stickers and Fancy Pants acrylic letters.

Ground Zero's Graffiti Wall...  I love this wall. I dragged the two boys to have their picture taken here. This was just across the World Trade Memorial area. I used this layout as my demo for beginners scrapbookers, this shows the use of shapes and scraps. I used here Bazzill white cardstock, scraps of PPs, cardstock sticker, DMC threads, Memory Mist yellow spray and buttons.

The Big Apple... Again another page of the Empire State Building experience. We also went to NYC's China Town where we had our dinner. On our way home, we took the New Jersey way and so we dropped by at the Liberty State Park and the old train station called Central New Jersey Terminal. I used here DCWV PPs, assorted PPs scraps, buttons, DMC threads and cardstock stickers.

I love NYC! I wish to come back the soonest and praying that this pandemic will be over.

Coming up is his Washington DC experience!

TFL.

My Sun and My Moon!

Sharing some more pages of my boys...

Lately, I have been playing with bright colors. I have been digging up on my scraps and embellishments. It is quite a challenge for me to decorate boy pages since I cannot always use flowers. When the sun is up and the moon is bright, it assumes a whole day of time, this was my idea when I was scrapping these pages. So my boys takes up my day and my forever!  Here goes ...

 

You are my Sunshine... Our children always have that sunshine effect on our lives which brightens and makes our family the happiest. Luigi is that for me. I used here Bazzill white cardstock, Basic Grey pps, assorted pps and cardstock, pom-pom ribbons, moving eyes, DMC threads, and Tim Holtz cardstock phrase stickers. 

Love You to the Moon and Back... The moon is million miles away and this just shows how long I can love you Chuy... and back! I used here DCWV textured cardstock, Basic Grey pps, assorted pps and cardstock, rick rack ribbons, moving eyes, DMC threads, and Tim Holtz cardstock phrase stickers. 

It's Thursday and I am looking forward for the coming weekend... I still have unfinished pages to play on, so see you Saturday!

TFL.

 

Comparing...

I cannot help but compare these two piglets! I compare them not to find who is the best among them. But rather, I compare them because they are two unique persons that came from Dodo and me. They may have their strengths and weaknesses, flaws and uniqueness, attitudes and desires... but one thing is sure, they are MINE and they are my greatest blessings.

Here is the same page I did some 15 years ago, and of course, they have their own ways even before. This made me decide to create an adult version. Here goes...

Took me awhile to create these two layouts because of the eyelet setting, but I had fun doing the punching over my husband's wooden chopping board. I used here Bazzill white cardstock, Basic Grey pps, Scenic Route pps, DCWV pps, eyelets, nylon strings, buttons, DMC threads, WRM metal letters and frames, AC Thickers fabric letters and paper flowers. 

It is still FUN to create! TFL.

At 50...

I am still in the middle of the 4th lockdown and still not reporting to work. I am 100% done with all my scrapbook pages and Project Life backlogs as of today. I am also done with my home chores and still pretty much enjoying my stay at home.

Here is a very simple layout. I celebrated by 50th birthday in 2018 and this is part of my backlog. I had fun digging up my flower stash to find the best rainbow colors to match my life as I entered my golden years. I aimed to use my old stash to really give justice to the word SCRAPS. So here goes... 

At 50... I had a simple celebration of my life on December 2, 2018. The theme was romantic rustic and had a dessert table of  cheese, biscuits, nuts and ham. And of course, main dish of all my favorite food and a carrot cake to blow my candles. Thankful for my family and relatives, my childhood friends and a few officemates who came to celebrate with me. I used here October Afternoon PPS, light violet cardstock, assorted flowers from Prima, MM and from Bangkok, stitch stickers, Scenic Route scraps for the leaves, We R Memory metals and AC Thickers foil numbers.

TFL as always.

 

Soar High Anak!

Here is another Junior High School graduation layout for Chuy. Chuy will be going to STI College Calamba for his Senior High School. School starts in mid-September and he is going to take the Culinary Arts track. Goodluck anak!

Sour High! I am a proud Mom, I'm sure his Dad too, is happy for his achievements. I used here white Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route and We R Memory scraps, buttons, DMC threads, AC foam thickers, pompom ribbons, MM transparent and arrow stickers, Heidi Swap glittered stickers, Tim Holtz ticket and Ranger inks. 

Keep on scrapping peeps! TFL!

Be Wonderful!

It's Monday and we are in the middle of the 4th lockdown here in the Philippines. Although I had my 2nd dose of the vaccine, it is still safe to stay at home and do other things... well, without being paid! :(

Anyway, I have lots to do at home! Aside from making scrapbook pages and my routine household chores, I am back to organizing my albums and repairing and embellishing some more pages. I am just happy to do this again.

The pictorial we had last June for Chuy's JHS Graduation have a lot of good pictures of my two boys. I just needed to create a little story to tell... here goes!

Be Wonderful Luigi! My eldest is a good cook, weekend biker and explorer, and a dog passionate. I used here Making Memories 12x12 Diecut Stamp base paper, some Scenic Route scraps, Prima chipboard  travel sticker, Echo Park cardstock stickers, buttons, DMC threads, paper die cut flowers, We R Memory metal ornaments, AC foam stickers and washi tape. 

Be Wonderful Chuy! My bunso is also a good cook in the making, stubborn but loving, and a basketball fan but felt sad because his playmate is gone (his Dad). I used here Creative Imaginations base paper, Simple Stories scraps, stickers and journaling card, Scenic Route scraps, AC foam stickers, pearls, DMC threads, paper flowers, wooden birdie button and washi tape.

I was browsing last night my list of finished pages since 2008, I realized I documented 1,632 pages both for my family and for service. I stopped scrapping for a year in 2016, I think that was the time I was busy adjusting to my full time job in the school. Scrapbooking has always been my tension reliever, my weekend relaxation and my mood changer. I will never stop scrapping until there are memories to keep!

Keep on scrapping! TFL!

 

Done with Junior High School

I would like to share my joy for this family milestone.  

Lorenzo graduated in Junior High last July 16, 2021 from Morning Star Montessori School in Los Baños. He received a Loyalty Award for that because he started schooling there since Pre-School. Hats off to his teachers for patiently guiding and teaching him... Teacher Helga, Teacher Loise, Teacher Greg, Teacher Neil and Teacher Bernie. An unexpected Academic Achiever's Award is a bonus for all his hard work, too. Thank you MSMSI and to his wonderful educators!

Junior High School... I will never miss a layout for this milestone! I just wish his Daddy is still around to see his achievements and happiness. Chuy experienced a roller coaster ride of adjustments during this highschool days. He was in Grade 8 when we left for the US for a month of vacation, he admitted that he had a hard time catching up with his lessons and exams. (We will not do this again, promise anak!) His Grade 9 was shortly cut off because of the pandemic and eventually continued home schooling for Grade 10. I would occasionally receive text messages from his teachers, reminding him of his submissions and other deadlines. Thank God, you were able to surpassed all these challenges anak! I used here assorted PPs, AC cardstock, washi tape, Prima flower, paper flowers from Bangkok, diecut flowers from old pages of a book, buttons, baker's twine, DMC threads, Simple Story stickers and cut outs,  and pearls.

 Let's have more memory making and keeping! TFL!