11 | January | 2008 | liv.e simply

My good friend Jeanne tagged me!

I’ve been tagged once before (sorry, salve, i just didn’t get around to doing your tag long ago… but i have to admit i knew nothing about tags back then! ha! you learn a little everyday!)

And part of my new year’s resolutions is carpe diem! so here i am, seizing the day with jeanne’s tag!

Here’s what Jeanne says on her blog’s tag:

You’ve been tagged:The rules of the game:
• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let’s see. Jeanne and I play on the same playground so I’ve got to do this real quick before the others finish tagging everyone else! 😆

Can’t tag Dawn/Dewnie, Veevs, LivE (woops! that’s me!), Carol, Susan, Jackie and Kari. (Were we random, Jeanne? LOL!)

Thank goodness my sistahs at Jessica’s playground got around to blogging big-time. That gives me more people to tag! hehehe 😈 So here we go!

7 RANDOM or WEIRD FACTS ABOUT ME: (You sure you want to know all this? Why not scroll to the bottom and hit the tags instead? 😆 )

1. My first name is of Dutch origin, my second name is from a French song during World War II meant to comfort the soldiers, my middle name is Asian in a huge way, and my last names (both maiden and married) are Spanish. My nickname, totally unintended, turns out to be Norwegian. I’ve got Filipino, Spanish, American, and Chinese blood coursing through my veins. I could be a poster child for United Nations! 😆 (But really, I’m just an alien deep inside).

2. Besides blood, coffee courses through my veins pretty much. I love coffee. Fresh brewed, with beans ground right before brewing. My friends and relatives have christened my home a Starbucks branch. I cannot imagine life without coffee. 🙂

hmmm. I didn’t realize it was this hard to think of random facts about me. >teehee<

3. I used to make scrapbooks when I was 16. The kind where you stick photos on acid-FILLED (not acid-free) paper, cut up captions from magazines, crop your photos, and stick to your heart’s content! Decades later, I discovered paper scrapping stores and quickly hoarded two lifetimes’ supply… only to store them where they remain untouched up to this day. Last June I discovered Jessica and her fab U&R course, got into the beta class, got pulled into the Dark Side quicker than you can spell digi-addict, and have never looked back. The very first digital layout I made was thanks to Jessica. In fact, the very first legit scrapbooking I ever made was due to Jessica. 😆

4. I used to dance ballet. From the age of 3 till about 12. I got to pointes, and learned how to tape my toes and preserve my Capezio shoes. I used to dance in the park with my ballet troupe for the purpose of providing cultural entertainment to those who were unfortunate enough to hang out in the park and therefore be forced to watch our shows. 😆 Used to take promotions tests for the next level with Dame Margot Fonteyn (is she still alive?) from the Royal Academy of Dancing in London. (She came to our country; we didn’t go to hers 🙂 ) Then I stopped because I wanted to concentrate on other things, like studies, doing crazy school stuff, and generally fooling around with life. 😀 I also got into theater, taking a summer course with the Philippine Educational Theater Association, and in the end we did a play on life in our country in the 60s, which was held at Fort Santiago–in a mini theater where serious, legit plays used to be held.

To this day there is nothing you can do, not even threaten me with a sword, to make me dance or act.

5. I used to climb trees as a child, and I loved going to the park and swinging from the swings till I reached the highest point, and right there I would jump off and soar into the wind and land on the ground. Luckily, I never broke any bones. If any of my sons did today what I did then, I think I’d have a heart attack.

6. I got my very first camera in the 6th grade. It was that elongated thing that used half of the 35mm film, black and white. If you got the colored film version, the photos came out really really really grainy. When I was in 2nd year high school, my dad upgraded my camera to a Minolta that used 35mm film. I felt BIG! 😆 I eventually graduated to a Canon Stylus, then to a Canon Powershot G7, and now I use a Nikon D40X. I love Nikon. I will always love my Nikon. I actually had it surgically attached to my body. (okay, so maybe I didn’t, but pretty close, the way it comes with me wherever I go.)

7. I was on the varsity volleyball team in high school, and when I was already working, I reached blue belt in Tae Kwon Do. I stopped when, in the promotions test for the next belt level, the girl I was sparring with was much larger than me, and her foot got caught in my dobuk (the white top and pants outfit for the sport). The referee at that time bellowed at me repeatedly, “Let go of her foot! Let go of her foot!” I stuck both my fists in his face and said. “I’m not holding her foot! She stuck it there herself!” 😆 I got my belt, but I quit after that. I loved the exercise, I loved the strength training, but I did not love the thought of losing teeth or breaking my nose while sparring (in fact, I did not enjoy sparring; I enjoyed the kicking and punching on my own).

Ha! That’s 7 facts that maybe you didn’t really want to know about me! (Can’t help wondering why anyone would even be interested in the slightest way in these, hahaha!)

So anyway, here’s who I tag now (sorry, sweeties, but this is how it goes! :D):

~~Noel~~ , Tori, Laurie, ~~Deb~~, Chrystal, Lisa, Lisa, ~~Dawn~~, Janie, and Heather! (thanks soooooo much for playing along, girlfriends!) ***MWAH!!!***

PS. Ack! Noel and Deb have been tagged by Susan! You beat me to the draw, gf!

Okay, I didn’t realize tagging was so difficult! 😆

I originally wanted to post this along with a freebie, but the way it’s going, I guess I need to post this and THEN work on the freebie!

See you in a bit!

There’s so much I want to do, and not enough time in a day to do it all! How many of you have felt this way? How do you handle it? Is there some secret you can share with me?

LOAD Day 10 & Daily December No. 6

Got this done this morning.

One of the lovely advantages of having 5 sons is that as they grow older, they eventually take over the task of getting the Christmas decor up, so that I am free to sit and watch them with a smile on my face, wondering how I got so lucky to have such great guys (and related to me, too! 😆 )

Tree Trimmers

Journaling reads:

last year there were three; now there are four of you working together to put up the tree and trim it. next year j will be old enough to join the fun as well. each christmas, year after year, i can just sit and watch you for hours, filled with quiet pride and gratitude. i am so lucky to have such great tree trimmers!

CREDITS:

Jessica Sprague’s Daily December template (altered); Michelle Coleman’s Topper & rivet (recolored); Katie Pertiet’s Grid Brush, HolidayOrnaments Brush, PostmarkedHolidays Brush, Emily Merritt’s Jolly Jingle Sparkles (recolored), Miriam Lima’s HolidayMagic paper, Atomic Cupcake actions

Word for the Month

Over at her blog, my dear friend Jessica mentioned Ali Edwards’ Word for the Year (another amazing lady there!)… with a twist: Jess has decided she wanted a Word for a Month instead. Given my own love for words, I totally agree with her! (Also, nice to have 12 words to live by instead of just one for the year! 🙂 )

I decided my word for January would be ADVENTURE.

noun: an undertaking; an unusual or exciting experience

verb, tr.: to venture upon; undertake or try

verb, intr.: to take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome; dare

synonyms: (n)risky venture, escapade; (v) take a risk, take a chance / related words: (n) project, task, undertaking, labor; (v) chance, attempt, try, seek

I think this is a great word to start the year off with: I’ve always loved adventures, whether of the real kind (the kind that took me to places as a kid) or the vicarious kind (the kind that I take now that I’m older, which normally I gather from museum trips, reading books and magazines, surfing the net, and playing around).

I also like that the related words (project, task, undertaking, labor) are so closely related to WORK. I have such a great respect for the dignity of work. I think working to your best capacities and abilities, in the simplest thing (sure, even in tasks as simple as cleaning your bathroom or picking up that piece of tissue lying on the floor) and offering it up to our Lord, is one of the best prayers and one of the best ways to give back glory to Him who has given us all we have.

Who knows what adventures lay ahead this year? Just thinking about it is so exciting! Here are a few that come to mind:

Adventures in Design: I love learning. I love the adventure of discovery, of finding out new things, of learning something new everyday. I guess that’s why I love designing so much: every kit is an adventure into the unknown! I see something in my mind and I try to create it digitally. When the vision and what I see on my monitor match each other, it’s such a WOW moment for me that I can’t wait to share it with all my friends! (hence the freebies 😀 ) I want to learn a lot more and experiment a lot more with Photoshop and designing. I need to open those new/old software CDs that have sat in my drawer (was once too terrified to attempt them, am more adventurous now), among them: CS3 and Xarax.

Every class with Jess is an adventure: I am so looking forward to our next adventure in March, which is when our Digi: In Deep course will begin its maiden journey.

Doing something I would not normally do: take a risk = adventure. I am normally what my people would call segurista. One who does not like taking wild chances; one who finds much sense in the saying, “better safe than sorry.” But nothing big has been accomplished by staying on safe ground when you could be sailing the high seas (with WISDOM, of course). So I think it’s a good time to attempt to go back to those days of abandoning fears and just jumping in with both eyes closed and fingers crossed (uhhh. I really think my Lasik adventure last Monday is a good case in point). 😆

Another case in point:

I am normally a shy person (I kid you not; even if it may seem unlikely. 😆 ) When I see friends I haven’t seen in ages, I vacillate between saying hello and re-introducing myself and staying away so that I don’t subject that person to a blast from the past that they may or may not welcome.

Last night, as hubby and I were walking (killing time while waiting for our dear friends Jun and Abby to arrive–we were having dinner together), I happened to see a guy who was very good friend of mine back when we were in university… but we happened to lose touch over the years (I distinctly remember the exact time we last spoke: it was when he invited me to his wedding to this sweet girl, who just happened to be a Philippine actress… and I do get really shy [almost reticent] around showbiz personalities, so I stayed away. And we lost touch after). Anyway, hubby said to me, “Well, why don’t you go over there and say hi?” So, very uncharacteristically, I walked up to A., said hello using the petname we in our group of friends used to call him back then, briefly saw a look of non-recognition pass in his eyes, and right after I gave my name. My maiden name, of course (we lost touch even before I got married). And with the mention of my name, there was recognition. It was quite funny, actually: watching his eyes was like watching the aperture opening of a camera, first small then becoming larger and larger. He said “Hiiiiiiii!!!!” and turned to the lady friend he was with, introduced me, and said “We’ve known each other since she was like ten years old!” I said “Yeah, we go waaaay back.” We exchanged cellphone numbers, and voila!

Fun. Always good to reconnect.

And as if that wasn’t enough: after dinner, on the way to our cars, Jun, Abby, hubby and I were walking and we chanced upon J.M., who was overseeing the opening of the Paul Smith store at this new mall. He said hello to Jun and Abby, and when Jun turned to introduce me and hubby, he looked at me and said “Hey, I know you!” to which I answered, “yup, we were at the beach together years back, with C., T. and L.”

Another blast from the past. That makes two in one night!

And then… not five minutes after… as we were standing by the driveway of the center of the mall, the car in front of us drove up, and who was about to get into it? Another friend from college days, now married to another showbiz personality. I had briefly spoken with him at the launch of the Our Father book, and reintroduced myself then… (one of those rare bold moments I had, but I was extraordinarily courageous then… after all, that was OUR launch. haha!). Anyway, he and his sweet wife were about to get into the car, and I said hello. And this time, I didn’t have to reintroduce myself!

And that, folks, completes Round Three. Three amazing blasts from the pasts. Hey, I should’ve been in Vegas. Maybe the slot machines would’ve made me rich tonight, given the three hits at adventure I got in just one night! 😆

Connections. We are all connected to each other in various ways. I think it’s amazing when events like this happen one after the other; makes you really consider what a small, small world this is.

Capturing images is an adventure: I want to play a lot with my camera and learn a lot more about what I can do with it. I drive my hubby crazy when I attempt to lug my Lowepro slingback wherever I go. The few times I am successful at resisting the urge to pick it up before I go out the front door, I end up regretting it (“Oh wow, do you see the lines that those eaves make? Geez! Wish I had my camera with me! See the pattern of the leaves’ shadows on the pavement! Geez! Wish I could take that, if I had my camera with me!” ). Yesterday, of course, was one of the few times I left Cameran at home (and regretted it), and so I was demoted to taking photos of lines and lights that amazed me with my cellular phone. Oh, the humiliation! 😆 But, it was the best I could do at the moment!

Speaking of Photography…

Have you seen this take of Annie Leibovitz’ shoot with the Queen of England? I found it very interesting, mostly because it IS the famed Annie Leibovitz, amazing woman photographer, best known for her photo of a very pregnant Demi Moore in her birthday suit on the cover of Vanity Fair way back. Another reason for my interest: it took me back to the time when I was in the fifth grade and knew all the trivia there was to know about the Royal Family (this coincided with the engagement of then-Lady Diana to Prince Charles, and with my first attempt at a short hairstyle a la Diana… eeeeuw! how embarrassing! 😆 )

Oh… have I introduced you to the royal fam? That’s Anne, Charles, The Queen, Prince Philip, Andrew, and the Queen Mum… and me, in front, with my very proper, English, royal smile. (Long hair tied at the back will tell you this was way back in ’97)

Meet the Royal Family