A Blogoversary Special: My Zip Whiz Wish

Your mom blogger's humble "Small Steps" blog is turning a year older exactly a week from now. In line with this milestone, allow me my dear readers to share with you, everyday for a week, special moments I treasure as a blogger. This will be forever woven in the tapestry of my mind and being.

I grew up under my lola's care and guidance and her constant reminder way back then was for me to always take small steps. . . take small steps. These three words guided me as I turned from an ugly duckling into a lovely and healthy goose :-)

Being a blogger made my life turn 180 degrees. Life's monotony was broken as I embarked on my journey as a blogger. I was able to meet many exciting and selfless people and I found an avenue wherein I can express myself freely. I felt like a butterfly finally out of my cocoon. Interesting things kept on pouring in. Even my dream of being a zip whiz for a few seconds was fulfilled all because of blogging. It never dawned on me before that I'll have the chance to savor the goodness of the Lord by being able to see from up, up there the beauty of the earth He created. Out of the experience came out a new Inkai with a more thankful heart and optimistic view towards life.

Come join me in my journey as I celebrate my first year in the blogosphere!
Journey with me as I continue taking small steps towards greater heights!

By the way, friends, you need not buy any material gift for me (LOLs) . . . . all I need is your love and comments if my blog is worth your while. So what are you waiting for? Comment na. . . now na :-)

sayōnara ushi , harō taigā

haro taiga (hello tiger)

As the year of the tiger ushers in, I am hoping for myself to have the determination and bravery of the tiger in facing all odds. Also, for everybody affected by the recent calamities and tragedies, the author is wishing you to have the resilience of the tiger.

As I bid my goodbyes to the year of the ox, I am also leaving my huge thanks for this blissful year. This is the year wherein I had . . .

. . . a job promotion (of course, coupled with higher salary rate)
. . . a very, very much better relationship with my peers and relatives
. . . the joy in experiencing of seeing a child graduate with high honors and eventually had the chance of entering one of the best universities
in the country today
. . . the best of everything when it comes to business, relationship and work
. . . financial freedom from debts
. . . the realization that good health is still one of the
most important thing in life
. . . the opportunity of finding more and more friends in
the truest sense of the word
. . . the discovery that in blogging there is- the opportunity to be heard,
to help and to express one's self
. . . the acceptance that the not so nice things are bound to happen to remind us on what and how good things are!

sayonara ushi! Arigato gozaimasu

Merry Christmas From Us!

Arnel, Jinky, Rafee, Tina, Patricia, Gwen, Sam and Jasmine

wish all of you

a merry and bright christmas

and a prosperous new year!

Goodbye and Goodluck, Good Girl

The very beautiful DOLE XII Med-Arbiter, Atty. Jade Jamora

Atty. Jade with equally stunning cousin Jinky Pacquiao

Hi, folks! I am dedicating this post to a very good friend and co-employee who is now about to leave the DOLE portals for the better after three (3) years of dedicated service.

Atty. Jade Jamora is one of those persons I admire most. She is young, efficient and very talented. An achiever during her school years and a stunner as a young and principled lawyer. A dutiful daughter to her parents and a loving sister to her siblings.

This charmer holds one of the highest positions among the roster of DOLE Officials in Region XII. She joined the department three years ago and right there and then she earned the respect of her co-employees and clients by performing her tasks and functions with utmost sincerity and professionalism. She is one government employee I am very proud of and I perceive to be worth emulating by our people in public service.

Now that she is about to leave us to serve as Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial Court in Gensan, I have this profound wish for her:

May she continue to shine in her new workplace and the folks at RTC
will realize sooner than we did
how lucky they are for having Atty Jade in their midst!

Thank you, Atty Jade! Goodbye and goodluck, to one of the nicest young ladies I've known!

nota bene: pics above grabbed from Atty. Jade's site

The Champ Turns Thirty-One

(our champ, photo grabbed from Bren Evangelio's collection)

12.17.09

The lord of the ring turned a year older. Friends from politics, business, sports, showbiz and all walks of life came in droves to celebrate this important day of our boxing champ. His family were also in full force to celebrate said special day with him.

Spotted during the people's champ grand birthday barty were political bigwigs like Sen. Manny Villar ( the pacman referred to him as the upcoming President of the Phils.), Gov. Bongbong Marcos, Gov. Chavit Singson, DOH Sec. Duque and many others. Manny's friends from showbiz ( Cesar Montano, Philip Salvador, Bayani Agbayani, Lito Camo, Onyok Velasco, et. al.) were on hand also to provide entertainment for his visitors. Seen busy table hopping was super Pacmom Dionesia wearing her much publicized purple gown. Gensan and Sarangani biggies were in attendance too.

Other highlights during the celebration:
- The celebration started with a Holy Mass;
- Food served by five caterers overflowed but many still went home with stomachs half empty, half full;
- Drinks overflowed courtesy of Ginebra and San Miguel
- Jinky sang a song for her beloved hubby;
- Pacman kids together with their cousins performed a dance number;
- Mom D dedicated a ballroom dance to her son;
- A brand new car, laptop, E63 nokia phone, digicam and whole lot more items and gadgets were raffled off. A Pastor went home with the the biggest prize; and
- Centerpoint band, Jay Cayuca, Lito Camo and a bevy of national and local stars provided entertainment for the evening.

To sum up, the stars, almost stars, no stars and stars no more came out to greet and celebrate the D day of the champ!

Here's a glimpse of what the author and her friends were up to on 12.17.09.
(Tnx to Sir Ormz and Sheng for capturing these moments on cam)

Ganda Ever So Much with 2 pinaganda ever ni Ms. Donna Mae Congson

Dat's Onyok and Bobby Pacquiao with Sheng and Inkai

pretty companion of Sir Ormz beside him, Meh, Sheng, Avel and Marthin Millado

A Time to Thank Thoughtful Friends

Plains and Prints Eve eau de toilette ( I love the scent, tnx Alms!)

Christmas is for sharing and thanksgiving. Allow me to thank here my dear friends who continually share their blessings with me and my family. You are all so nice, guys! BIG thank you from the bottom of my heart!

All variant of Goldilocks brownies (the kids luv it, tnx Boss Frank!)

My first ever Lacoste bag ( I love it more than my Celines and Victoria Secret, tnx Ma'am Maggie!)

Unforgettable gift checks from Kamiseta

(my first time to shop at Kamiseta without looking at the price first, tnx for this Sir Toto and Ma'am Grace!)

Worth mentioning also are goodies from dear balikbayan friends - thanks Ms. A and Janet!

It's a big honor also on my part to be receiving gifts from the following thoughtful and dear friends, to wit: Mesdames Cecil, Wanchin, Doris, Tess, Joan, Emmie, Esang, Ellaine, Beth, Olive, Nedy, Annalou, Presy, Sally, Celine, Floreza, Mila, Lucia, Mercy, Letty, Beng, Evelyn, Norlyn, Florence and Sirs Remie, Paul, Dondon, Robert, Herman, Brian

To God be the glory, for a blissful and wonderful year 2009! I'm thankful for the gift of life, the gift of my family and most of all, the gift of beloved friends! Life was easy because of you!

I love you, guys!

Thoughts to Ponder This Christmas Season

As we enjoy this christmas season, I wish to share with you, my dear friends, an e-mailed piece from a friend at Petron Corp. This is something to ponder on as we celebrate a simple but meaningful christmas.

1. Don't compare your life to others.
2. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
3. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past that will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more.
14. You don't have to win all arguments, agree or disagree...
15. Call your family often.
16. Each day give something good to others.
17. Forgive everyone for everything..
18. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
20. What other people think of you is none of your business.
21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. So stay in touch.

Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

GOD heals everything.

However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

The best is yet to come.

When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

from: Arnel, Jinky and the kidz