Chasing Dreams

4/52: And suddenly, they’re walking

February 1, 2014July 21, 2020 RhizaLeave a comment

Photographs of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014. Week 4.

Dawn & Rain: Practicing their little legs and knees. They’re almost walking now. Still a little wobbly, and sometimes needing support, but oh my, they’re walking!
Rain: Was the first one to walk, and she’s the twin who makes more careful and steady steps.
Dawn: Is just learning to walk, but she’s a little more daring, fearless, and excited. :)

I can’t help it. I captured too many pretty shots! Time for some photo dump.

More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here. Linking up with Jodi.

Friday Five: Home Office Inspiration for Small Spaces

February 1, 2014May 13, 2019 RhizaLeave a comment

Hello. How are you spending your long weekend so far? Me? I spent a good part of it daydreaming about home office spaces. Here are some of my Pinterest finds.

Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The thing is, I’ve been struggling with working from home for months. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to work from home. I’m blessed to have this special work setup where I get to work from home two days a week and report to the office 3 days; And while I wish I had more work-from-home days, I’m happy to have the best of both worlds, having a real office, and being able to work from home too.

My main struggle is not having a real work space at home. We live in a two-bedroom apartment and much of our space has been consumed by these two tiny humans and their ridiculous amount of toys and clothes. Without the luxury of my own space, our dining table is my makeshift office desk, which is basically 10 baby steps away from where the twins hang out during the day. Again, pros and cons. Yay, I can see them while I work, and I can take a break to play with them anytime I want. Boo, they can also crawl up to me and interrupt my work anytime they want. (Well, the boos can be yays too.)

This year one of my personal project is to convert a corner of the spare bedroom (which is part our helper’s quarters and part the twins’ walk-in closet) to a little office space where I can lock myself in during the day. Thankfully, Pinterest is a good place to find inspiration.

I almost entitled this post “Realistic Home Office Inspiration for Small Spaces” but changed my mind because realistic is a subjective word, and what’s realistic to others may not be for me. I had to control myself from pinning pretty home offices with huge desks, floor-to-ceiling shelves, bulky cushioned office chairs. I had to pick pegs that are realistic to the small space I’m working on, and the existing materials I have.

My little project is still a work in progress; In the meantime, ‘m pinning stuff and taking notes of what I want to apply in my own home office. How does your work space at home look like? Let’s share pictures! Also, check this out: 50 Scandinavian Home Office Designs. Drool.

SBCC’s 40th anniversary, and photographs of my family

January 30, 2014May 14, 2018 RhizaLeave a comment

I’m still totally smitten about this set of photos we took during our church‘s 40th anniversary. It was a special day, and I’m sure many people will remember this day with deep gratitude in their hearts, blessed to be a part of SBCC at such a time as this.

I myself am blessed to belong to this church for the past 30 years (that’s right, since birth); to have seen her grow to what she is now, to have grown with her, and through her. (Check out also my posts when SBCC turned 38, and 39.)

I realized I didn’t take a lot of pictures this year. I’ve always been the picture-hoarder type of person, making sure I was present in every group shot, or, that I got a picture taken with everyone. I guess that’s the memory-keeper in me, always finding ways to remember people, events, moments.

This year, we only took a handful of pictures but I’m happy with my remembrances. This is exactly how I want to remember SBCC’s 40th year: Celebrating God’s faithfulness with family. The family I was born in, this little family of four that God has so generously blessed me with, and my little spiritual family—these girls I disciple—whose lives have been such a blessing to me this year.

How about you? When was the last time you took a picture with your family? Do you treasure those photographs too?

3/52: Mommy’s Little Helpers (Not!)

January 27, 2014July 21, 2020 RhizaLeave a comment

Photographs of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014. Week 3.

Dawn & Rain: Were helping me get the groceries out from the box, so that I could put
them in the pantry. (That’s right, I choose to call this “helping”.)
Rain: Has this crazy fascination with boxes and baskets and anything she can fit herself in.
Dawn: Was happy to find her favorite yoghurt drink from the box of groceries.

Be still my heart. :)

More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here. Linking up with Jodi.

Website Design, Branding, and Logo Refresh for Matus Jewellery

January 26, 2014December 29, 2019 RhizaLeave a comment

Matus Jewellery is one of the most sought-after wedding ring suppliers in Metro Manila and they came to us initially for Website Design and Development. They already had an existing website at that time, but after discussing with me their requirements, we ended up doing an overhaul of, not just their website, but their branding as well.

By the way, we love Matus! Our wedding rings are actually made by them, so I didn’t think twice when I was presented with the opportunity to work on their website.

Here are some of the pages from the full Brand Identity Guideline I made for them: Continue reading “Website Design, Branding, and Logo Refresh for Matus Jewellery” →

Weekends like this

January 26, 2014May 13, 2019 RhizaLeave a comment

It’s that moment when you start to wonder, where has the weekend gone? I know where mine went. It went to a place where time is irrelevant, me-time plans are given up to expend yourself for others, and hours fly by because you just never run out of things to do!

When I was single, weekends were for shopping, watching movies, meeting up with friends, going out of town, sleeping over a girl friend’s house, and staying up late. When I got married, D & I would watch last full shows or dine out on Friday nights, oversleep on Saturday mornings, and do whatever we feel like doing the rest of the day.

Oh how much has changed since then.

This particular weekend, the days seemed to have blended into each other, leaving me with a blurry recollection of things that made up my weekend—grocery shopping, cooking for and hosting a birthday lunch party for my brother, cleaning up the after-party mess, cleaning up the house, cleaning up the bedroom, endless Despicable Me marathons, nap times, playing forts, bed time stories, and sneaking in a “grown up” movie while the babies were asleep (we finally got to watch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire!) in lieu of a date night.

Seriously, I can’t even remember having opened my laptop the whole weekend. Except last night when everyone had gone to sleep, and I had to whip up a quick article for work. Even the last hour of my day was not for myself.

Today, the girls and I missed our Sunday worship. There’s some measles virus going around and my husband and I thought it best to put the twins on a temporary isolation. Just the same, in the quietness of our little home this morning, God’s message to me was to keep a spirit of gentleness, especially in times when I feel worn out and on the verge of losing it. I’ll never stop being amazed at how God knows exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it.

I don’t know what my point is for this post, really. I just know that this weekend has left me feeling tired and wishing for an extended day of rest, and yet, I wouldn’t say that my weekend was wasted either.

How do you explain this feeling, anyway? I feel like there isn’t a word to describe this. I never felt this before I became a Mom. It’s like, you know you’ve set aside things that make you happy, in exchange for things that are more important and more meaningful, and while a part of you is frustrated over not being able do what you want to do, you know that your choice made you, surprisingly, happier. Anyone know what I’m saying?

How about you? How’s your weekend like?