Dare to Explore

For my 2nd layout this week, I would like to feature some more photos from the summer outing I've had with my close friends from my most recent workplace. As I've mentioned in my layout One Last Summer Together, my friends from my last workplace and I went to the pristine island of Potipot in Zambales. In the island, was a big wooden branch that was somewhat strategically placed in one part of the island. It's location was really perfect for picture-taking. We had so much fun taking pictures on the said location. Some of our pics were quite serious, but most of it were definitely wacky.

Journalling: Dare to Explore

Credits for this layout: Jejak Petualang Kit by Jak-ART-a Scrappers available at Aprilisa Designs; Baby Boston Font available at Kevin and Amanda.com; Summer picture with friends from Shy Arizala;

One Last Summer Together

I just had to spill this out.

Last week was not a good one for me. I was informed by my boss that I was included in the list of people who will be retrenched because our job position will already be scrapped out. Though we have a good and somehow generous separation pay, I must admit that it was not really pleasing. The thought that I won't be able to get a new job immediately, scares me, especially that I have a 4-year old son to support makes the situation more difficult. But I guess the second reason why I was saddened because I will surely miss the few people in that office whom I can call my true friends - those people who went out of their way to get to know the real me before passing their judgment, those few people who were true and honest, those few people who stuck by my side when almost everyone thought different of me.

I dedicate this layout to them. The pictures used in this layout were taken during our summer 2010 getaway in the pristine beaches of Potipot Island in Zambales. I will definitely remember and cherish this outing we had (though we were not complete that time) - and will surely miss the people I've been with during that outing. To my office friends - Glenda, Shy, Cae, Ara, Apple, Mae, and Joann - thank you for everything, most especially the friendship and the memories. :-)

Credits for this layout: Spring Dress Kit by Cristy Vanderwall available at Speedscraps.com; Vaguely Repulsive Font available at Dafont.com; Summer picture with friends from Shy Arizala;

Memories at Bantay Bell Tower

One of the "highlights" of my somehow-long vacation a few days ago was our trip to Ilocos province, a province located at the northern part of Manila. My mom, my brother, and I went there as part of a travel group which was handled by Travel Factor. We departed Manila on the evening of April 29, and arrived at Ilocos at 6AM of April 30. Our first stop was the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity St. Augustine Parish Church and the Bantay Bell Tower. It was an old church (which dates back to 1590 when the Spanish colonized the country. Coming near or going inside the church and the bell tower, one can see that both are made of solid bricks - a trademark of old Spanish architecture.

It is unfortunate that we don't have a picture inside the bell tower because my Mom had a hard time walking and climbing the long flight of stairs. Nevertheless, we had fun taking serious and wacky pictures (like the one in the layout), having the bell tower as our background.

Watch out for more pictures from our Ilocos trip in my succeeding layouts! It's my way of sharing with my readers/viewers the places they can visit here in the Philippines.

Journalling: MEMORY is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. || Mama * Cherick * Philip - Bantay Bell Tower - Ilocos Sur, Philippines - April 30, 2010.

Credits for this Layout: Starstruck Kit by List West Designs and Digi Diva; MemoriesWAFreebie by Agnieszkag;

May 2K10 Calendar Layout

How fast time flies. My one-and-a-half weeks vacation has come to an end. Back to work. Back to reality. Nevertheless, I can say that I had a great time during that short respite from work. I was able to process and obtain my Solo Parent ID (yehey for additional 7-days paid leave from work!!), was able to have a foot spa, was able to watch Ironman2, was able to travel up north to Ilocos (one of the northern provinces here in the Philippines), and most importantly, I was able to have some quality time with my family and my son, Zion.

Now back to my digital scrapping world. :-) The month of May is usually devoted to one of the most important women in our lives - our mother. Today, March 9, is Mother's Day. For this reason, I chose my Mom as my model for my May 2010 calendar layout. My mom went with me during my trip to Ilocos last April 30. Despite having a hard time walking, she managed to take care of her 2 children (my brother and I) during that loooong travel to Ilocos. One of the first places we've visited was the Bantay Bell Tower in Ilocos Sur. It was really a landmark that should never be missed when one visits the said province. More Ilocos pictures to come in my next layouts!! :-)

Credits for this layout: Family Ties Collab Kit by Jak-ART-a Scrappers; Love WordArt by Thaty Borges Designs; Calendar Template by Peppermint Creative;

Remembering HappyTeamLaklak

If there was one set of friends I will always remember, aside from my high school buddies (who are like sisters to me), it would be my first officemates at BPI. We were like in college during training, and adjusting to the real corporate world became easier with them by my side. One memorable experience I had with my very first officemates was our trip to Boracay last 2004. It was my first time to Boracay. And my first time in Boracay was made more memorable because I was with a bunch of people whom I was very comfortable with. I remembered how we saved for that Bora trip (we initially planned for Hongkong but due to booking problems, we ended up in Boracay.. hehehe..). I remember our One-two-three-pass games while gulping fruit shakes at Jonah's, our banana boat ride, our snorkelling (mis)adventures. I will always remember and cherish our gimmick-till-we-drop-nights at Bora while dancing to Squareheads' Happy - which gave birth to our group's name HappyTeamLaklak. And best of all, I will definitely remember (and miss) the sincere friendship and memories I've made with my first officemates. *sigh*

Credits for this layout: Our Friendship Kit from Jaelop designs available at Scrapbookflair.

Tahitian Goddess

I was going through the pics here in my laptop, trying to create some backups of the files, when I suddenly chanced upon the pics we had during our summer getaway at Golden Sunset last April. I went through the pics and was really amused when I found Glenda's pics while she was dancing the hula/tahitian. Everytime I remember the events that led her to be on stage dancing the hula, I can't help but giggle. All of us were actually surprised that Glenda agreed to go on stage and do the hula. But I definitely would like to give a thumbs-up to my friend Glenda for being a good sport, and a graceful hula dancer.

Glenda doesn't know that I will be creating and posting this layout. Well.. being an honest friend, I will tell her eventually that I created this layout, to give tribute to her being a good sport, and for making our summer getaway much more fun.

Journalling: Dance like nobody's watching.

Credits for this layout: Hawaiian Kit from Digiscrapdepot.

Little Schumacher

Among Zion's prized toys are his toy cars and motorcycles. Young as he is, he knows some car models like Mitsubishi Adventure, Toyota Fortuner, and Honda CRV. Although I must admit, he has his own way of naming these car models - "Enchum" (for Adventure), "Pichuchum" (for the Fortuner), and "Arbee" (for the CRV). He calls his little toy motorcyle "Onda" (I presume this is Honda).

For this layout, the pictures I used were taken during our trip to Tagaytay last May 1, 2009. Zion was enjoying his photo shots while he was wearing his race car driver jacket. He appears proud, happy, and contented while wearing this jacket. Even on our trip back to Manila, he still insisted on wearing the jacket despite the warm climate.

Credits for this layout: Boys Kit by Claudia Sachs Designs

Take Time to Explore

It was the last week of June 2008 when I first started to create digiscrap layouts. I thought it was just a "ningas-kugon" thing (i.e "ningas-kugon" in my native language means something that one is only interested in doing at the start, but later on one will lose interest in that thing). As the months passed by, I noticed that my interest in digiscrapping increased. It was no longer a task I did to "document" my son's growth milestones. But instead, my layouts already featured family members and friends, places I've been to, as well as funny and serious moments. I also remembered starting with Scrapbookflair in creating my layouts, until I finally leaped to Adobe Photoshop CS3. Digiscrapping became the outlet to unleash those creative juices that were suppressed when I entered my logic-filled job. It became my respite from my stressful Monday to Friday sched. I would like to thank my friends and sisses in Girltalk for inspiring me to start and continue pursuing this interest.

For this layout, I feature my brother walking on the shores of Bohol beach. He doesn't know that I was walking behind him while he was trying to look around the beach. In this aspect, I think my brother and I are the same - we are interested in exploring new things. And I guess this desire to explore is one of the things that helped me start and continue with my digiscrapping.

Journalling: Take time to explore the untravelled paths and secret gardens of the sweet life.

Credits for this layout: Gentle Spring Kit from Un-Leashed-Scraps available from digiscrapdepot.com. WordArt from tinadesigns.blogspot.com.

Girls of Golden Sunset

Now that we are having rainshowers and thunderstorms, I surely miss the warm and sunny days of summer. I miss the sunny days of summer during which I am able to take brisk walks without worrying of catching colds and flu. I miss the sunny days of summer especially the out-of-town trips with family and friends.

Once again, I reminisce on the days of summer in this layout. This pictures used in this layout were taken during a trip my friends (from the office) and I had last April 2009. We went to this resort called Golden Sunset located at Calatagan, Batangas. This resort is owned by a known Filipino beauty icon, Ricky Reyes. Overall, I can say that the resort and its amenities were great (except for the dinner buffet.. one should come early to appreciate the so-called buffet). We had the chance to swim in the resort's pools and jacuzzis, roam around the mini-zoo and outdoor museum, and spend the evening watching a cultural show performed by the resort's employees.

Credits for this layout: Why Don't We Kit from sweetdigiscraps.blogspot.com; Spring Mini Kit from kevinandamanda.com; Romantic Heritage Kit from snowsmoon-myworld.blogs.com.

The Calaruega Getaway

When I was a kid, I usually associate the month of June with two things: start of classes and the end of summer (which also means it's the start of the wet and rainy season). I'm not really sure if I ever liked this month because of these two reasons. Hehehe.. But time flies, and when I started working, my dislike for June was lessened by the fact that no more long summer vacation for working people. When I started working, my summer fun consists of the simple joys I have from spending weekends (and long weekends) with my family and my close friends.

To reminisce one of the summer activities I had this year, I chose to create a layout featuring me and my friends/officemates' trip to Batangas last April. Before heading off to the resort where we were supposed to go, we chose to pass by the church located at the hilltop area of Calaruega (also in Batangas). It's a serene yet breathtaking place where one can find peace and tranquility. And since it's my first time to visit the church and the place, I made three wishes. :-) We had a great time taking pictures in the said place because the scenic view matched the comfort and trust level we had since we're all friends.

Credits for this layout: Eight Days A Week Kit by Madame Wing available at madamewing.blogspot.com; Blooming Friendship Kit from JadyDay Studio designs.