This year's Holy Week was unlike our family's traditional Holy Week Celebration. If in the past years we go out of town to do our annual Visita Iglesia, we decided to stay home this year, perhaps to stay away from places crowded with people. I hate to admit that I almost forgot the
reason why I (or most of us for that matter) was granted with this 5-day long holiday if not for our seafood fiesta. It served to remind me that meat is not allowed while celebrating the Holy Week. So, while others were busy going to churches praying and doing other religious practices,
forgive us for indulging ourselves in seafood and other yummy treats (hey! We did stay away from meat. hehe!). So let me begin sharing my Yummy Holy Week Experience.

On Thursday morning, I woke up with the smell of choco.. oh wait. No, that's not what happened. I actually woke up in an empty house as my thoughtful family decided to go out without me and without leavng a note telling me where they've gone to. But they did leave something delicious in our table for me to treat myself into - Churos with chocolate syrup! Talk about starting the day sweetly. My mum is fond of taking pictures of meals that she herself prepared(I think she did prepare this breakfast) so here's our breakfast meal.

Churos

After eating, I busied myself with cleaning up the house a bit for my 'rents not to yell at me for waking up late yet again. Hehe! An hour and a half after they arrived and I found out that they went to the Farmers Market to buy fresh seafood for us to eat for lunch and the following days. I was so excited with the thought of fresh seafood (I'm a real seafood lover!) that I volunteered to help prepare our meals for lunch. Yeah, you guessed it (or not), I cooked! I cooked Baked Mussels! I cooked and baked the sauce for the Baked Mussels myself! Yey! So, I present you with (drumrolls please!) Baked Mussels ala Aimee (LOL!) garnished with Parsley leaves on top to give it a distinct aroma and more for presentation.

Baked Mussels

Along with that, we had Mussel soup, Lato (cultured seaweed I think), and Tuna Sashimi! Yey! The meal was just so delicious that I forgot I planned on going on a diet during the Holy Week. Hehe!

Mussel Soup

Lato

Tuna Sashimi with Wasabi and Kikoman Soy Sauce

Friday came and we really didn't cook anything and just ate some fish and veggies, nothing fancy. But my Mum and I busied ourselves in the afternoon with baking Oatmeal Chip Cookies. Mike came for a visit and so he had the privilege of tasting the very first batch of Oatmeal Chip Cookies baked by his Hunny (hehe). When I asked for his opinion, he couldn't help but say the cookies were delicious or else.. Haha! Kidding! But our cookies really tasted delicious since they were fresh from the oven, they had that chewy soft and sweet taste. Yum! I can still taste it in my tongue! Hehe! These were the very first cookies I baked and so my Mum had insisted on giving Mike a jar of our Oatmeal Chip Cookies for him to take home to his mother. Hehe! And his mum loved it as well.

Oatmeal Chip Cookies

Saturday came and we went out to eat breakfast and went straight to Farmers Market again to buy fresh seafood for our lunch in my Lola's house in Antipolo. We had pretty much the same seafood course as last Thursday's and we enjoyed it as much again. We also brought along our Oatmea Chip Cookies for my aunt, cousins and Lola to enjoy as well. And they did! My lola loved it! Yey!

Sunday morning I woke up at the sound of my mum's voice waking me up and telling me to take a bath as we'll go shopping in Trinoma. That immediately woke me up. Hehe! So shopping I did at Trinoma! But since the weather was scorching hot that day, thanks to the summer heat, we bought ice cream on our way home. My mum is fond of presenting our food in a "fashionable" (for lak of an appropriate term. hehe) way and so when we got our ice cream srving, it came topped with marshmallows and a piece of a chocolate chip cookie. And what can I say? Yummy!

Ice Cream topped with Marshmallows and Cookie

Monday was a little bit of a drag for me since I woke up late, tidied my room and reformatted my laptop for the nth time. But thank goodness my parents consider eating good food very important and so we had salad and laing (funny combination thought hehe) for lunch and Pesto-Spaghetti for dinner. And for dessert - Oatmeal Chip Cookies served with warm green tea.

An Open Letter to That Person

Here I am pouring out my emotions once again and hopefully for the last time. Doing this, I hope to deal with the complicated and disturbing situation I've gotten myself into once and for all.

Dear ...,

Some friend you are. In my dire need, I've dared to ask for your help, your comfort, your caring gestures, only to have a door shut at my face. I asked for your help in the hope that you'll show me the same comfort and friendship I've bestowed upon you when you once found yourself in a dark time of your life.

I never asked for your friendship. You came offering it with your own free will. What I only did was what anyone would naturally do - accepted it. Little did I know that accepting it would only bring me to this situation that I never expected of being into. This is all new to me. Perhaps it's the reason why I came close to mistaking it for another thing, one which I dread. But it's a good thing a good friend lent me a listening ear and this issue has finally been cleared.

When things started to change, I tried to put up a wall but that same good friend told me that I should know when to put that wall down, enough to let other people know that they matter to me. That I did. And you could guess what happened next - I've only been disappointed at how you acted. This immediately led me to put up that wall again. And this time, I don't plan on putting it down for you anytime soon. Don't get me wrong. I don't plan on distancing myself away from you, I just don't want to be too attached anymore.

Others may get to the conclusion that I'm the victim in this situation. Perhaps I am, perhaps I'm not. After all, this is just one side of the story. Also, it's because that person doesn't know any of this, oblivious of what is happening to me right now. Another friend told me why fix something when it's not broken? So, I'm really not a victim. Because I think for that person, nothing's wrong, nothing needs repairing. And maybe that person's right. It could be that I'm the only one pulling myself deep into this crazy mess. But this is me. I'm comfortable at being honest with my feelings to the point that it has become my own flaw.

But I'll tell you this. I've always been a person who cherishes friendship so much that I could easily give out my trust and forgiveness without any second thought. And perhaps after writing this, I shall find myself forgiving you again, like I've done a number of times now. Forgiving you for the crime you did not know you committed.

Writing is my way of relieving myself off the negativities I feel. Being transparent at what I feel is what I'm best known for and I'm not ashamed of that. I just don't want to be a prisoner of my emotions.

10 DIVINE LETTERS: FRIENDSHIP --- KEEP IT.

Yuck emo! Charing! Lol!

XOXO (Hehe!)
Aimee

Getting Back to the Old Habit

... of blogging, that is.

I had to deal with learning the essentials of Web Analytics and working as one too that I've had no spare time to blog anymore. But that doesn't mean I'm not a blogger anymore! I may have left my work as a blogger but I'm still in love with it, in love with writing in general. Time may not be of my luxury right now but soon I know I'll have it wrapped around my finger! (Insert evil laugh here. Hehe)

Anyway, it's the end of February and what better way to celebrate it than to be a little nostalgic and reminisce all the laughs and great times that February gave me, right?

So, here they are, my February Memoirs:

* I Started as a Junior Web Analytics Specialist
* Got the increase that I want! Woohoo! (I'm telling you, The Law of Attraction is the best!)
* Celebrated my Hunny Mike's birthday with his friends at his hometown in Montalban, Rizal
* We got that much-awaited "letter."
* Finally went to Tagaytay with Hunny Mike for his post birthday/Valentine celebration. Yey!
* Applied for Sun Postpaid Plan. (At long last! I've been planning this since last year!)
* Started planning with my officemates for our Subic Getaway on April! (Subic sun, here we come!)
* Surprised Kupy on his birthday with two Jolly Spaghetti meals (which, if I may add, he gulped down in single eating. Haha!) and his own "Kupy Cake."
* Balay ni Juan birthday celebration of Kupy. (Vidoeoke and drinks till midnight! Yeah!)
* Met Rica Peralejo. She interviewed our boss about PSP, Xbox, etc. for her segment in Umagang Kay Ganda (which I wasn't able to watch. Too bad!) But you can't deny it, our company rocks the coolest! (Wha? Hehe!)
* Met our "hot boss" from the US. He shall remain unnamed for corporate reasons. Boooo!
* Got my Starbucks planner c/o my Tita Gigi. =D
* Got meself a purple phone casing! Yey yey yey! I so love purple! Oh and Aysa also got me a purple cork/white board! Now, how cool is that? I'm drowning in purple! But don't save me! =P

I just remembered a better way to celebrate the end of February - getting the much-anticipated load of bread! LOL!

Funny iMac Moments

Hehe! These are pictures captured using one of our company's designers' brand new Apple iMac! Saya lang! Hehe!

Their iMacs just came in today and so we were suddenly excited to check it out and capture some funny pictures as well! =D

Kissing meself! LOL

Fussball Khoriks! :))

Pastel Effect (?)

Normal. Hehe!

Figure it out! Haha!

Happy Koreans! LOL!

Beheaded Ed! Hehe!

The Ambiescent

Post Christmas Party Thoughts :)

Our company's Christmas Party at The Glass Garden was a blast! We won the Christmas Presentation Contest! Now, our marketing department has P15,000 to spare! Haha! Well, there are no definite plans yet as to how we will use the money. But anyway, the downside to it is that I did not win any of the prizes! Huhu! :(( But anyway, we really enjoyed our time! Next year ulit! Haha!

Here are some pictures from that night! These are taken from the multiply accounts of Nan and Ronan. And some are from Maje's and Rhiz' as well. :)

Check out more pictures from my multiply account.

They're the reason why I stay. :)

My Hunny Mike came to celebrate with us. :)
Curly me. Haha!
Jingle Bell Rock Moment =s
Giddy up giddy up! Well, we pulled it off! :)
My brother from another mother! =P
And another brother from I don't know where! =P
The Dancers :D
Hiphop Moment
Moment ko to LOL
Lovers Zacharoo and Sarah :)
Yey! We won 15K baby!

The Talent

Two minutes of staring at my computer screen and I literally didn't know how to put a mind-grabbing and interesting introduction to what I want to say. The backspace key was pressed a number of times in an attempt to make this introduction worthy enough for the whole content to be read. I don't know if this introduction was successful but this is the only way I can think of right now.

I guess what I am trying to say is I've lost the talent that I think I have - and now had - in writing. The realization came as I was reading a post a colleague made in her blogsite. It was just so well-written that I cannot help but realize that I haven't written such an interesting and promising article in quite a while. As a student, I had been praised for how I was able to put together words and present them in an interesting and in an almost-perfect-grammar way. I rejoiced. I finally have a God-given talent that I can cultivate and be proud of. And that I did.

Despite the negative and discouraging comments I got from my parents who kept on saying that they do not see that passion I have in writing, I kept on with my goal of being a writer. In the journalism school I attended, I studied with much excitement for the realization of my dream. Three years of reading, studying, doing reports, and writing articles and news and I was able to go out into the world with a diploma in my hand and good grades I hope to present to companies I want to be a part of. I was successful in my application as a web copywriter and so I began my quest to become a notable writer in time.

Fast forward to five months after entering the company and my dream suddenly became my worst nightmare. I had been told that my writing style had not been so well and that no improvement was made. I was crushed. I had been so sure that I am at least a good writer and then I have been slapped with the truth - that I need a lot of improvement. Okay, the truth really hurts. I blame myself mostly for what happened. I became so lax thinking that I was doing well and because I got such good grades when still in school. Apparently, I can't use that to defend myself against the truth because in reality, I had not shown the proof of these good grades through the work I was tasked to do.

I began thinking that what my parents told me was the truth - that writing isn't really for me. I had just been told that I was good at creating good articles and I've mistaken it as the career which I ought to pursue. Another slap there. Confusion clouded my mind and I became emotionally unstable. What was I to do? I knew at the time that I had to face this challenge and improve my writing but I just had no courage and motivation to hold on to that time.

It was a struggle to create even just a passable article. I'd like to think that I have been successful in doing that but I know it's a mistake to think that way. If I become lenient again, then I'll just be repeating and repeating this experience until I've learned my lesson. So, I'd like to think that I'm on my way there and that improvement is a never-ending process that I have to go through for the rest of my career life. That way, I'll finally be able to pick up the pins and needles that have hurt me so bad, never encounter and step on them again.

In time I know I'll be successful in fully reconciling with my God-given talent. But as of the moment, I'll continue on improving until I reach my dream. And because I am armed with encouragement from friends and prayers sent up above, I think I'll manage. I will become my dream.

God's Love

It’s really hard to go looking for God sometimes. Waiting for Him to appear is even harder to do. But the hardest I think is not acknowledging the fact that He will come and find you, living with nothing to look forward to everyday because you do not accept “the reality of God” that other people rejoice in and live with everyday.

God is waiting for us to accept Him, and then that’s the time He will come find us. Because even though He comes and finds us, yet at that time we do not believe in His existence, then we still won’t be able to see and feel His presence around us.

My comment on Tommy: Simple Story of God's Love posted on my friend's blogsite.