Tied The Knot

Last Friday was the wedding of Ruben, one of our relatives. He's the same age as my youngest brother. He was one of the groom's men during my wedding, my sis and my 2 brother's weddings many years ago. I thought before that he didn't have plans to get married and just wanted to enjoy the life of being a bachelor but God works in mysterious ways. He sent Ruben his better half, all the way from Spain. Actually, Ruben's oldest sister introduced them to each other and they met personally when the lady came here on vacation a couple of years ago. She is 8 years his senior but love knows no bounds. We thought he just wanted to go to Spain, thus he wanted to marry her. While I was talking to him a few days before their wedding, Ruben was so happy and bubbly. I can see that he's in love. They may have some misunderstandings but I told him it's just normal in any relationship. I advised him that he need to be broad-minded and try to work out their differences. They need time to know and adjust with each other.

By the way, they were married in a civil ceremony by the mayor in our town. It was attended by just their close friends and relatives. It was my first time to see and meet his bride. You really can tell that she is a lot older than the groom but I know a lot of married couple in the same situation and there marriage worked out fine.

The mayor did a good job in officiating their wedding. He also gave a very good message and advise to the couple. He handed the couple a pair of wooden shoes, we call it suwekos in our dialect as a gift to them. This is a way of promoting this handicraft in our town. Laoac is known for suwekos and tupig.

After the wedding, it is a requirement by the mayor that all the couples he married will plant a tree to preserve mother earth. He also gave the couple a tree to take home and plant it in their home.

Then, we all proceeded to a newly opened restaurant called Flying Fish for their reception. We all enjoyed the foods there and there were 3 yummy cakes from Red Ribbon courtesy of the bride's family. After the reception, the newly married couple went up to Baguio for their honeymoon. To the newly weds, I wish you all the best and love, love, love each other!

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I Cast My Vote Today

It's a great privilege to exercise the right to suffrage and every people should vote wisely. I am glad I got to cast my vote today. Being a dual citizen, I can vote here in my native land again. I had to register last year during the last day of registration. It's been many years since I voted here because I was out of the country for many years. I went to the voting precinct around 2:30 PM and I was glad that there were not a lot of people there. I voted for those whom I know would be of service to the people and also those who have a good PR. I don't care about those candidates in my hometown who only know you during election campaign but are so snobbish when they don't need your vote.

I heard through the grapevine that vote buying was so prevalent especially in the remote areas. Candidates were giving away to the voters cash money, sweet corn, chicken, vinegar, longaniza, etc. People were already used to that. They said that their ballpens couldn't write the candidate's name in the ballots without cash or freebies. So sad but true. I won't sell my vote. It's my right to chose whom I want to serve my country. There's this senatorial candidate who is a leader of a religious group. I don't understand why he wanted to be a politician. To me, it's more noble to serve the Lord than anything else. The Scriptures said, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24 KJV      

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He's Feeling Better

Hubby was not feeling well yesterday. He had a diarrhea early in the morning but he just told me about it after lunch. He asked if I have something for it but I said I don't have any. I told him not to take anything yet so he can have a bowel cleanse. Prior to that, I cooked goulash the other day and he ate a plateful and he even had a second serving. 

In the late afternoon, he felt kinda weak because he's been on his throne a few times already. I got worried so Dominica and I walked to the drug store in our town and bought him some pills for diarrhea. I admit it's been a while since I went walking and I really enjoyed the walk back and forth. It was already around 6PM and the wind was blowing on our way back home. It felt so good. I want to go back on my walking routine again. Anyway, I have Dominica who's willing to go walking with me.  I wish I could get hubby to go walking with us. He need it badly too.

Hubby took the pill I bought for him when we got home. Then I boiled lemon grass for him which I got from the garden. I gave him the tea and I took some too.  He didn't eat supper but I gave him a couple of saba bananas so he can have something to digest in his stomach. Today, I asked how is he doing and he said he feels better.  

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Helping A Girl

Hubby and I got a 12 year old girl in the house. Her name is Dominica. She's one of the kids that I teach in Sunday school class in our church and she come from a very poor family. Her father is a farmer and her mom is a stay-at-home wife taking care of her 4 young kids. Dominica's oldest sister used to work for my late sister and she helped her go to school too in her last year of high school. Now, she's working in Manila as a maid to help their family. Dominica will be in first year high school and her parents can't afford to send her to school. Their house is a way off to the public high school and they can't afford her fare and daily allowance. Hubby and I have seen how hard working she is because their house is just beside our church. She takes care of her 2 younger siblings and help in house chores. She is also very faithful in attending Sunday school since we started and very good in memory verses.

Hubby and I decided to help her by taking her to our house and help her go to school. I talked to her mother about it and of course to her and they agreed to my offer. She will come to the house, help me do house chores and in return, we will send her to school. Anyway, the public high school here is just a walking distance from our house and there's no tuition fee. Students are just required to just pay a small amount for the whole school year. We will give the girl a daily allowance for her snacks and if they have projects then we will buy it for her. We will buy her school supplies and uniforms too. She came to our house two weeks ago and  she's been helping me in doing house chores. She's very young but very willing to learn and very obedient. I gave her instructions in what to do in the house. I taught her how to pray before meals and now she's very good in it. I also encourage her to read her Bible in her spare time. We pray that we'll be a blessing to her and she'll be a blessing to us.

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Favorite Dish

Hubby and I love sea foods. In fact, I prefer it more than meat. I love the Omega 3 that I get from it. I used to go to a nutritionist in Texas and she recommended to me to eat fish especially salmon and tuna. I have no problem with it because I love fish and I can eat it everyday. I don't have to worry about fats and cholesterol which I get from meats. The only drawback is that, salmon is pricey. This doesn't stop me from buying it though. There's this website where people can buy seafood online and they will deliver your order directly to your door the next day. Cool isn't it?

Just looking at those sea food photos online make me drool. It makes me want to cook again one of my favorite dish, Baked Salmon. My hubby love this dish and every time I cook it, it's always a hit. I got the recipe from one of my friends. She invited us one time in their house for dinner and she served this dish. It was really delicious so hubby requested me to ask for the recipe and I did. Since then, I've been cooking baked salmon every time I buy this fish. It's very nutritious and delicious and yummy to the tummy.

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House Furniture

Finally, I was able to take some photos of our house the other day. I've been writing about the house renovation of our family home which we made into a duplex but never had the time to post some photos here. So, here are some pics that I took in our living room and kitchen the other day. We bought the living room set last month and I like the design.

The frames on the wall are my cross stitch works. I made them when I was still single when I was working at a public high school in our town. I remember almost all the teachers there were crazy doing cross stitch during their spare time. I still have 3 finished cross stitch works that need to be framed. Below is the 32 inch Sony LED tv that hubby hanged on the wall.

We were not able to buy a dining set because I didn't find one that will fit our house at the store where we bought our living room set. We only need a small set, just a 4 sitter because our space is just limited and hubby and I didn't find one that we like. We need to go see other stores but for now, we just settled with our old, round monobloc table and chairs for our dining room. The important thing is we have a chair and a table to sit and eat.

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