Etc. Archives | Page 156 of 254

when daddy was gone.

October 11, 2011~ Etc.

*i want to thank each one of you that commented on my previous post.

i’m grateful for your sweet, encouraging comments whenever i’m being a baby.

i think that’s why i love “venting” on the blog.

because i know you ladies(and some men) got my back! and will make me feel better

when someone, eh hem, cough cough, isn’t. 😉

and YES! i do have readers! and awesome ones at that. 🙂

you know how i told you my husband hardly goes out on his BNO(boys night out)?

well, on saturday he went on his second BNO since we’ve been married 4 1/2 years.

and both of them have happened very suddenly, like his friend would call him up

just a couple of hours before and ask him if he wants to go with them to whatever.

for my GNO i would call my girlfriends and plan it out and set a time to put in our schedule

like a week in advance but my husband and his friends don’t really call each other

and say, “hey, what are you doing next week thursday? do you wanna go with me to

(whatever)? okay, write it down on your planner/phone and don’t forget! i’m so excited,

i feel like i haven’t seen you in like FOREVER! oh my gosh, what are you gonna wear?”

i guess it’s more manly to just say, “hey, whaddup bro? what you up to? cool, cool,

do you wanna check out (whatever) in a few hrs.? cool, cool, see you in a lil’ bit then. peace~”

so away my husband went on a saturday night out of the blue

and since he hardly goes out with his boys, my girls had quiet a shock.

they had no idea why their daddy had left them during dinner time

and away with his friend, instead of leaving them to go to work in the morning.

so this is their reaction after daddy left.

p.s: do you like my little one totally fake crying? except ’till the very end, of course.

my oldest saw the calendar with his pictures on it while crying and

crying even more, she reached for the pictures and asked me to get it down for her.

then she held it all night long and refused to put it down and even fell asleep

cuddling with the pictures of daddy in her arms like it was a soft, furry teddy bear.

i showed it to my husband when he came home and we had a good laugh.

and i told him he needs to go out with his boys more often.

have you ever read the book men are from mars and women are from venus? well, it’s an interesting book with many stereotypes(but i guess you can’t talk about every single case so you do have to direct it to the general) and i know there are always exceptions, but there’s a lot of truth in it in some cases for me and my husband.

for example, it’s been awhile since i briefly skimmed it, but there’s one part that goes something like this.

wife after coming home from work: “ugh, i had a terrible day at work.”

husband: “why? what happened?”

wife: ” i can’t stand my boss. she is so bossy, condescending, blah blah blah….”

husband: “just quit your job then.”

wife: “……wait, what?”

husband: “if you hate your boss, then just quit your job!”

wife: “that’s not what i’m saying…”

wife gets even more frustrated than before and just leaves while the husband is confused and has no idea why she’s mad at him.

well, that’s me and my husband for ya. my husband and i just had this conversation today.

me: “i haven’t really enjoyed blogging for the past few weeks. i just feel like no one really reads my blog. in the beginning when i started blogging and only my friends and family read it, i had way more comments that i do now! and then i see other blogs who have around the same amount of readers as me or a lot less, and they get way more comments! i mean, not that i blog just to get comments, but i just feel like no one reads or cares for my blog! i put a lot of time and effort into my blog, especially when posting my sewing tutorials and i know other blogs who put a lot of time into theirs and offer their readers recipes/craft/sewing/fashion/photography tutorials and they don’t get much comments either, so it’s a little discouraging when i see blogs who post like two pictures and two sentences about going to go get ice-cream and they get like 100 comments of something like, “oh my gosh, i love ice-cream too!!!” and i’m thinking, really? seriously?”

husband: “then stop blogging then!”

me: “i can’t, i have sponsors…”

husband: “just get rid of them and just stop blogging!”

me: “uh…. jay, i’m just trying to vent, i’m just trying to say…. ugh, never mind.”

husband: “i’m just saying, no one cares about stupid blogs.”

………..

one thing i learned on my mission, when you had to be with your companion for 24/7 and always had to be in a sight and hearing distance, is that when two people truly love each other and they’re both genuinely good people, and you happen to get offended by another, you have to remember that the other person never intentionally tried to hurt you and it’s a big misunderstanding.

so even though my husband sounds like a jerk(at least in my ears haha), he is genuinely trying to help me with the best intention in his mind. but it’s hard to remember at the moment when i’m frustrated because i’m not looking for him to solve the problem, i just want someone to understand and validate my feelings. you ladies understand, right?

but oh husband, i’m so, so grateful that you definitely make it up plus much more in other areas. and i wouldn’t want to have these kind of conversations with anyone else but you. 🙂

raspberry picking.

October 6, 2011~ Etc.

we went to an orchard to pick some raspberries so i can make raspberry jam

and to eat it fresh of course. our girls loved it because as you pick them youself,

you could eat as many as you want. okay, okay, i loved it too,

i was hungry when we went but by the time we were finished,

i was so full of raspberries. man, i was one happy girl!

it was so beautiful there and there’s something about being so close in nature

and hand picking fresh fruits(because you can hand pick not-fresh fruits;)

that makes you more grounded and helps to realign your priorities in life.

and on our drive home, my husband and i talked excitedly

about living in a 40 acre land one day and owning an orchard full of raspberries,

blackberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes, and whatever else we could dream of.

my husband also wants to own an animal farm but are you kidding me?

there is NO way i will wake up at 3 in the morning to feed some chickens,

and milk the cows! i’m not a city girl but i’m not a country girl either.

but a fruit farm? i think i can live with that. 😉

epiphany on motherhood.

September 30, 2011~ Etc.

pictures of me and my girls at the petting zoo at thanksgiving point.

oh, the chicks are so cute, they melt my heart!

miss A. did a wonderful job taking the picture. she even included her lil’ finger in it. 🙂

so i haven’t had a breakdown for a long time. and i don’t think it’s because i’ve had a lot of alone time or anything like that. i’m not saying i don’t get overwhelmed or frustrated, i get plenty of that, but it goes away after a small moment and i think it’s all because of my change of perspective on motherhood. would you like to hear it? okay, okay, since you asked! 😉

one particular day when i was unpacking from a trip from california, doing loads of laundry(which isn’t as simple as it sounds- sorting, washing, drying, folding, putting away-it takes a LONG time!), cleaning the bathroom that’s been left uncleaned for two weeks, cleaning the kitchen and doing the dishes, and many other chores i thought to myself, ‘im so sick and tired of doing these chores, only to do it again tomorrow and every single day after that for the rest of my life! i didn’t know i was signing up to be a slave, a maid, a cook, a nanny,!’ then a thought occured to me. i think it was God reprimanding me for being my whiny self. the thoughts were that these aren’t chores. nothing but endless, mundane chores that i thought it was, they are not. they are sacred, and very important. these chores make a home, clothe and feed my loving husband and my wonderful kids, makes them clean, keeps them sanitized, healthy, and brings the spirit into the home. God cannot dwell in unclean places and having a clean, loving home invites the spirit into our home. these chores are vital and an important part of motherhood.

and another thought came to me that while the world will never acknowledge how strong and intelligent you have to be to be a good mother, God acknowledges it. and that’s all that matters. one gets a diploma when you graduate from high school, go to college and get a bachelor’s degree, masters, a Ph.D, but mothers do not receive any diplomas from the world’s perspective, but in the end, we will get a diploma when we go to heaven. a Ph.D takes 6+ or so years but motherhood takes a lifetime. i’m not trying to degrade education or careers, i myself plan on going back to school and getting a career when my kids are in school and i think it’s wonderful, i’m just saying while the world values and respects education/career more than motherhood, God does not. and i think everyone has a different timeline in their lives and for some, it’s to get their education and work on their careers before/during/after they get married/not married or have children/not have children, and if that’s God’s will for them, they will be just as blessed and respected in God’s eyes. everyone is doing the best that they can in their circumstance and i respect every person’s decision, no matter how different their choices are from mine.

so even though yes, these chores will seem like it’ll never end, and it’s not fun doing the same things over and over again only to start all over the next day, one day it will end. my girls will grow up and leave for college(oh, that breaks my heart thinking about it!), and i will miss the day when they drew all over the mirror with my lipstick, drew all over the wall with my nail polish, or peed on the couch because they were too lazy to walk to the bathroom. (all true story bytheway. 😉

so when i walk into a room full of big mess, or see the kitchen with dirty dishes overflowing in the sink, or find my kids drawing/spilling everywhere, i quickly remember that this is all an important part of motherhood. and not only is it feeding/clothing/raising my children, it’s also teaching me about patience, service, selflessness, and love. and those things are the most important “diplomas” i will ever earn than any other diplomas i may get in the future.

sisterly love is a sisterly love.

September 29, 2011~ Etc.

i know many of you are costco lovers, but we’re sam’s club lovers. (don’t hate! 😉

they’re cheaper than costco. with everything. churros, diapers, bread, beef jerky, you name it.

plus, my husband’s work is a block away from sam’s club which makes it very convenient

for him to just go grab something right after work before coming home.

and everytime we go together as a family, we get their hot dogs and pizza.

like ever single time without fail. it’s not good.

but can you say no to a polish hot dog and a big refillable drink for $1.50?

i think not. 😉

and lately, big sister has been into carrying little sister around like all. the. time.

she’s not that much bigger than the little one so it makes it extra adorable.

adorable enough, i guess, to make up for their crazy moodiness

they’ve been going through lately.

aw, my two little hapas.

(hapa=usually refers to 1/2 mixed ethnicity)