It feels good to know you made somebody happy. But if you hear and see this happiness comes not just from 1 but 17 children, the feeling is just overwhelming!
The thanksgiving party was another event that humanized me and my husband. Every now and then, we all need to experience such because it teaches us to share what we have and be selfless. Like what my husband always says, "God blesses us so we can be blessings to others".
A quickpage comes in handy when you want to create a layout in just a snap of a finger. Rummaging through some of the QPs I downloaded a month ago, I was glad to find this freebie from Yari. It's from her At Last kit which is ideal for weddings and engagements. Rightfully so, I used one of our wedding photos to complete the layout.
For the journal, I had to use something that speaks about what the photo shows. I have to thank Faith Hill for her song entitled This Kiss. And so it says:
Have you ever thought about happiness as a manner of traveling? Most people try to count or remember the times when they are happy. What if you couldn’t remember the last time you weren’t happy? Can you imagine the difference in your life if you made happiness an essential part of living your daily life? Today is a great day to start making this one of your goals. Try to travel through life exuding happiness and reap the amazing benefits! -SPARKPEOPLE
It has been more than a month since I felt excited to work on any digital scrapbook layout. Finally feeling a touch of inspiration, here's what I made out of a free kit I got from Lutine. It's a freebie kit she calls Because of Sea and Lutine generously shares it for us to download. 
The journal I wrote for this layout is from a song by Kevyn Lettau which says - Sunlight / Bring Me the Love I Need to Guide Me / Shining Deep Inside of Me. To make it more personal, I added 3 photos from my travel adventures with my husband. So why use a journal about sunlight? Simple. I miss seeing Mr. Sun beaming his smile on us. C'mon! When was the last time you've seen him here in the Philippines? He's always been hiding beneath those scary gray clouds.
A 3-day weekend up ahead of us. Is Mr. Sun going to shine on us as we visit our departed loved ones? I am hopeful of that.
Exactly a month ago, Filipinos experienced the most destructive typhoon in the country. Typhoon Ondoy's wrath was unbelievable as it damaged hundreds of millions of properties. Families lost their homes, furnitures, letters and photos of valued memories. Some, in a tragic way, even lost their kins and loved ones. Both the rich and the poor were left devasted. My husband and I were not spared from it.
What seemed like a typical rainy Saturday morning of September 26 turned out to be truly disturbing as the water went up on our street. We've seen the muddy water quickly rise up as we monitored on the terrace of our building. About 6 hours of heavy rains, the 1st floor units on our building were already submerged. Seeing just the roofs of one-storey houses on our street, we knew the muddy flood water reached a record of 7-8 feet. 
We still consider ourselves lucky since the unit we are renting is at the 3rd floor. Except for some clothes left at the laundromat in the same subdivision, all our valuables were left dry. Our only struggle was being stranded on our building for 3 days without electricity, unable to leave since our subdivision was still submerged. On the 4th day of typhoon Ondoy's wrath, with flood just ankle-deep, my in-laws rescued us in their black Mitsubishi Adventure. For about 10 days, we stayed with them safely in Novaliches. 
Our country is no stranger to typhoons. But typhoon Ondoy's wrath is not an act of God. It was a nasty price we had to pay for exploiting and abusing nature. Ondoy slapped us with the bitter truth of how our government has neglected an effective implementation of urban planning. It is disheartening we Filipinos have to learn our lesson the devastating way.
View more photos HERE.
*I sadly lost interest in my internet life for a month. If you witnessed typhoon Ondoy first-hand, you would understand me. After watching houses submerged in water, seeing countless of mud-covered properties being dried up on streets days after is an even more depressing sight. It made me appreciate the basic necessities in life. It made me hold on to memories more. It made me highly value my loved ones. In essence, the heartbreaking experience made me love and embrace the simplicity of life.
