The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s 2015 Giving Journal

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, The Giving Journal 2015

I have a thing for paper and journals and calendars and to-do lists—they keep me going, they inspire me to be productive, not to mention, they actually make me productive. This 2014, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf‘s Giving Journal was my planner of choice, and it was a choice that got me right up to the very last page. This little black book kept me sane all year! And because it can fit whatever bag I carried, it went with me wherever I went.

Now, looking at the pages of my 2014 Giving Journal is like looking at a quick summary of 2014. It was a great productivity tool for the whole year, and now it makes for a good memorabilia of the year that was. Tiny tick boxes with checks and x’es mark the things that were accomplished and tasks that were set aside for later. Movie tickets taped on its pages, which are remembrances of those much-needed date nights. Washi tapes that marked holidays, design projects, special occasions. Bible verses scribbled on the pages’ margins, marking God’s go-signals, affirmations, and revelations. And sometimes, empty pages that marked days that were spent doing nothing.

This 2015, the CBTL Giving Journal was made even better. The size is bigger, giving more space for note-taking and more room for making plans. There are 4 colors to choose from (purple, green, orange and brown), and as you can see, I picked the brown one! ;)

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, The Giving Journal 2015

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, The Giving Journal 2014 and 2015

One other thing that Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has done extremely well last year was the community they built around this planner. The #brewyourbestyear and #brew2014 hashtags are widely used across various social spaces, and have become a source of inspiration for users and non-users alike. Their Facebook and Instagram pages are filled with quotes and prompts and beautiful imagery that will inspire you to create more and be more and dream more.

The best part is knowing that beyond the pages of this little book, CBTL is able to support less fortunate families by sending select children to school, which is the very essence of The Giving Journal.

In the words of our CBTL’s CEO: “The concept is very simple—it’s about reminding people that they can make a huge difference in their own and other people’s lives by growing to become the best version of themselves—to realize that their lives are brimming with opportunities to share and then prompt them to give back. As we all look forward to 2015, it is my sincere prayer that the Giving Journal can help all of us brew our best year, and that we will always be moved to love, give and serve.” Read more about it here.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, The Giving Journal 2015

I got mine quite early this year, sometime towards the first week of December, much thanks to the awesome people at Coffee Bean. If you haven’t decided yet what planner to use this 2015, I highly recommend CBTL’s The Giving Journal! It’s straightforward, it’s handy, it comes with lots of inspiration, and the design and typography are pretty awesome.

You have until January 11, 2015 to collect stickers and enjoy Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s yummy holiday drinks! The Red Velvet Ice Blended drink is my favorite. :)  Continue reading “The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s 2015 Giving Journal”

December Dawn

I woke up this morning to the sound of the rain. Stuck in a tangle of tiny arms and legs, I breathed in the familiar silence that comes with the beginning of each day—the calm before the storm, moms would say.

It was the morning before Christmas and I wanted to bottle it all up: all the feelings, the morning breath, the warmth that filled the room I shared with my little family.

I remember how I ranted one too many times about this most wonderful time of the year, which wasn’t always my most wonderful time of the year. There’s something melancholy about Christmas that I couldn’t quite point my finger at, and every year I grew a little more jaded and cynical and I just wanted the season over and done with.

Needless to say, I felt a shift in recent years. Suddenly there’s something to look forward to on Christmas. And year after year it has become merrier and brighter and more.. hopeful.

With two little kids running around the house and pulling ornaments off the tree, how can you not love Christmas? It never gets old—David and I would find ourselves looking at each other from across a room full of mess, and our hearts would burst with joy and gratitude to God for redeeming Christmas and making a family out of us.

This song played softly in my head this morning, and I thanked God once again for Christmasses and December dawns. It’s a beautiful Christmas love song that was composed and sung by two of my college friends, Reev (music) and Sheila (female vocals) and I often find myself wishing more people knew it!

It’s the anthem to my Decembers, and it’s on loop my Christmas playlist every year, just like Jose Mari Chan’s Christmas in Our Hearts.

Go ahead, have a listen. And I suggest you hug your loved ones a little tighter and longer as the song plays on. You’re welcome.

Merry Christmas! :)

Lyrics of the song after the jump.

Continue reading “December Dawn”

He Turned 31

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I had a memory lapse and thought we turned 32 this year. He looked at me, stopped for a moment as if he was trying to count years in his head and then asked, “are you kidding?” I wish I was kidding (that was a good joke, right?) but I really got confused for a moment.

Maybe some of us don’t intentionally stop counting birthdays after we turned 30. Maybe we just become forgetful. Or maybe we sometimes feel older than we really are.

We got him a cake this year! Although I intended to maintain my noncake tradition by making dessert shooters (I planned to stick little candles on them), in the end I thought this year should have a proper birthday cake, even though, as expected, I’ve been eating all the left-over cake ever since. By the way, there’s more cake in the ref as I type this.

So he turned 31 (yes, not 32) this week, and even though we’ve spent the past 3 years celebrating birthdays together, everything I said 3 years ago still rings true today. Still in awe, still kilig, still in constant wonder for being blessed with such a great man to journey this life with.

Happy birthday, D. I love you, don’t forget.

48/52: You’ll Always Remember Your First Home

Photographs of our twin daughters, once a week, every week, this 2014.

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Of course they won’t remember, but me and my husband? We sure will.

Those days we excitedly waited for their arrival, not knowing how much our lives were going to change.
That beautiful November morning we finally took them home from the hospital.
The nursery that we lovingly put together, which, after just a few months, turned into a walk-in closet of their endlessly growing amount of clothes and stuff.
Those looong nights and extended bedtime routines that, I’d like to think, made better human beings out of us, LOL.
And every moment in between that we never got to capture in photographs.

Oh how much we were changed in that house, from the time we moved in to the day we moved out. How much we have grown, from two clueless kids to a family of four in an instant, and how much God sustained us each step of the way.

So this is it. The last set of photographs from that garage. The last remaining photographs for this 52 Week Project are now taken in the new house, which for me marks the beginning of a new chapter in a way.

A special thank you to Ninong Nory and Ninong Dave, for extending their blessings to us with our first-ever home. We’re forever grateful. Thank you po.

More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here.

47/52: Counting the Days, Part 2

Photographs of our twin daughters, once a week, every week, this 2014.

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The first set of photographs were taken on a Sunday morning, freshly bathed, before we leave for church. The next set of photographs were taken in the afternoon of the same day, all sweaty from playing and running around. Toddlerhood is such a riot!

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Around the time these photographs were taken, most of their toys were already in moving boxes, and the girls were out playing in the garage more often than usual. They won’t remember it, but someday I’ll tell them stories about that place and how happy we were watching them grow from needy premature babies to toddlers who would pull our hands to the garage and then let them go, so that they can freely run around while we watch from a few feet away.

It’s not a walk in the park, transitioning to a new place, stretching our budget to meet the growing needs of our little family, raising toddlers not knowing exactly if we’re doing it right. But it’s true what older people used to tell us—you’ll really do everything, endure anything, for your children. Every. Thing. 

Just like what our Father in heaven would do for us.

A line in the book I’m currently reading goes,

“No sea is deeper than the ocean of His love. There is no army stronger than His hosts, no force greater than His throne of grace, no enemy who can overcome His direct and indirect work in our lives.

The reality of the Red Sea, in a word, is this: God will always make a way for His tired, yet trusting, children, even if He must split the sea to do it.”

~Robert Morgan, The Red Sea Rules

To be continued.

More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here.

46/52: Counting the Days

Photographs of our twin daughters, once a week, every week, this 2014.

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And so it began, the last few photo sessions with that wall in the background. We didn’t have an open garage in our new place, which means we have to take them outside the compound to get some sunlight. I’m really missing that open space, although with a bigger space inside the house, I doubt if the girls notice the difference.

A quick update on the twins’ milestones: Rain loves playing ball, and Dawn loves playing on puddles. Rain likes conversations, and Dawn communicates better through songs (so yes, we have to sing quite a lot around here). Where are the premature babies we took out from the hospital some two years ago, we always find ourselves asking. The days are slow, but the years are like, gone in a blink.

To be continued.

More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here.