I'm still here

I'm still here. Kinda really busy with scrapbooking which I will tell you the details on some other time. Just wanna let you know, I miss being here. I've got a mountain of recipes to post. *giggles*. When everything's ironed out and I'm already settled down on the other side, I'll definitely come running back here to post my recipes.

For the meantine, I'd like you to know that I just created a new blog to showcase my photo-a-day journey called Project365. I aim to finish this year without missing a day. *crossing fingers and toes*. Come and visit me there... iscrap•project365. *biggrin*

I shall return...
{iNg}

i'm here...

hallerrrr... i'm here again. it's been a while really. we just got our internet connection lately and i opted to update my scrapblog first since i was so excited to post the freebies i created while i was off. but i'm here now and hopefully be able to start posting some recipe by tomorrow.

as for the new house, everything was okay. moving and transfering was very tiring indeed. kim and i decided not to move again. hahaha... this was our second move and this was more tiring than the first one since we have so many things now. hahaha... well the house was nice even if the partition wall was not yet painted, the house is clean and it looks more organized now. and you know what i like the most here at the new house? the bathtub! yes we have a bathtub... hahaha... we just had to buy a new drain cap so that we could enjoy it. hehehe... but the front yard needs quite a lot of work since it's all sand and water is almost flooding. the dates trees planted outside our main door need to be trimmed, too. i told kim i wanted paving tiles in the front yard just along our perimeter area and some rocks/stones should be placed around the 2 dates trees. we also allocated the area around the trees for our kangkong, lemon grass and tomato plants since the owner of the house keeps a water hose with holes passing through all their dates to water them, so it will also water our plants. then as for the perimeter fence, we planned to plant some vines to screen our house from the main street. but we cannot do these just yet because the other houses inside the villa are not yet finished, they are still working on it, and they have to use some of our perimeter area to place some of their materials. it will be quite a while really. i can't wait. i wanted it started a.s.a.p... hahaha...

as for the cooking and baking... not really. i was busy arranging the house and applying for work. i wanted to bake a couple of cakes and cookies but i was lazy to do it. hehehe... sorry... but i will, i will. hehehe...

so just here for now. i'll start posting recipe tomorrow. :)

Scrapping again...

While I was taking it slow on cooking and baking, I’m having so much fun with digital scrapbooking once again. I have been taking time off with scrapbooking before and it’s been a while until a few days after I gave birth to my second son that I started doing scrap layouts again… it feels so good. I even wanted to enhance and learn more in making materials (papers and elements) for digital scrapbooking. Hehehe…

I have a scrapbooking blog but I was not able to update it for a long time now. I am thinking of canceling that blog and creating a new one… and hopefully maintain it with this blog and my multiply site. I will update you guys soon if ever I opened a new blog for my scrapbooking layouts. For now, here are my first layouts.



Credits:
Bouille Template 8
Taylor Made Mere Modesty
Feifei Stuff Ray of Light Solids & Prints


Credits:
Bouille Template 11
Taylor Made Revive
Taylor made Mere Modesty

Credits:
Three Paper Peonies California Itty Bitty Kit
Three Paper Peonies Birthday Itty Bitty Kit
Three Paper Peonies Sunshine Itty Bitty Kit
Three paper peonies Lemonade Itty Bitty Kit

Credits:
Paislee Press Ecologie
Other freebies

Thank you for looking… =))

photo mosaic of the latest happenings

just taking a rest from cooking, baking & posting recipes to show you these. these are the photos of the past 1-1/2 months since yano arrived and it's nice to see them grouped together in a mosaic like these.

some of the photos are from aying & frema. thanks to them.

elyzee of paislee press inspired me to do a photo mosaic of my own.

... happy viewing ^_^...

it's been a while...

hello... yes, it's been a while since my last post. it is because our new boy has arrived earlier than we thought. he arrived on fathers day at 36 weeks & 4 days... quite a surprise really.

well, here he is... i'd like all of you to meet...
YANO UNABIA LIM
june 21, 2009
7:04 am
2.42 kls.
45 cm height
oasis hospital, al ain, uae

it was quite an ordeal for our family. i delivered him via cesarean section and an unexpected circumstances happened but praise God all went well and the baby's healthy... and i'm still recovering.


thank you to all our friends who came to visit, pray and support... for our family and friends who called... for all the doctors, nurses, hospital staff, the chaplain and their filipino pastor.

xoxo

wish list...

blender... one of the items in my wish list.

i've been wanting to buy a blender but kim said to wait until it will be available again at the megamart bravo or until the summer ends. hahaha... when the summer ends, there's no more need to use blender to make coolers. although it will still be useful during winter, it's what i want now, to make coolers and crushed ice specially for the hot weather.

this photo was sent to me by mads. she said she has one like this which is so handy that you could just brings it to philippines everytime you wanted to or carry it anywhere... and it's cheaper.

so, we've been looking all over carrefour here but i couldn't find one like this. i'll keep on searching until i find one or kim gets tired of looking for this and just decides to buy me some other kind. yehey... that would be nice. hahaha... i wish...

it's here!!!

at last, my package from munchkin mommy has arrived yesterday. it took 2 weeks to arrived uae and another week to arrived at kim's office. yes, that long (the customs here in uae had to open the package for security reason perhaps). the package was fine, it's just dirty but the contents are complete and in good condition. :-)

last february 23, i participated in a fellow food blogger's blog birthday contest... cafe munchkin's birthday blowout. i just posted an entry on my blog about who or what i considered to be the greatest influence/s on my cooking, food preferences or views on food and how that influence came through. i was not expecting really but to my surprise, i WON... hehehe... :p (the winner was chosen through random.org) i got the FIRST PRIZE...

and here are my prizzzeeesssss...

this was the package... dirty already but intact...

here are the contents... for the first prize... a pasta recipe book, a chocolate recipe book, a writing pad, a recipe card and a chico bag... including munchkin mommy's note.

this is the chocolate recipe books... kim was browsing throught the pages and he was telling me that i should try some of the recipe in the book and it looks yummy...

this is the pasta recipe book... same thing, kim wanted to try some of the pasta dishes at home for some variety...

and here's my chico bag... a reuseable shopping bag which can carry a load of upto 25 lbs. and it can be folded into it's attached pouch that can fit your pockets. the next time i go to buy the ingredients that i need for baking, i'll be using this one. :-)

THANK YOU WENG (a.k.a. munchkin mommy) for the package. :p

my comfort food...

this is my entry for iska's 4th blog anniversary in two months time. she's having a blowout with awesome prices. :)

as for comfort food, i have a few of them but the one that i've been coming back more often specially leaving here in uae is pork barbeque. whether we go in a picnic in the park or beach or just have celebration with family and friends, this should always be in the menu. sometimes, if i really crave for it, i just prepare it; marinate overnight, grill, and serve for lunch the next day.

to iska: happy birthday and more blessings to come. :))

home-cook...

happy birthday to cafe munchkin... one of the many foodblogs i constantly visit and she just turned 1 last feb.12. because of this, she's giving aways gifts for a lucky blogger. the package? it's really nice and i hope i'll be fortunated and blessed to be picked. hehehe... :p

i've been blogging about my passion for cooking for 5 months now. i can't remember really when this passion started. all i can remember is that when we were kids, my father and grandmother (mother side) always cook for us. my father's a good cook; although he usually cook on weekends and his dishes are just the simple ones, it's still a hit for us. my grandmother was the one cooking for us on weekdays and she also cooks well. maybe my love for cooking started there when i always watched them prepare the ingredients and cook. then, later on as i get older and much older (highschool and college), i started cooking for my family since my father and mother got busy at work and my grandmother got older and had time moving around already. by then, i started collecting recipes from newspaper, magazines, brochures, and even at the back of canned goods labels (since internet's not that accessible during those times); and everytime there'll be a cooking show on tv, i'm there watching and taking notes. what inspired me most was that my family appreciated my efforts in preparing the dishes, they said, they just liked what i was cooking and maybe i have the talent in that field. it's so inspiring when you get the applaud of your family. hehehe... then when i got married and lived with my parents-in-law, i stopped cooking. it was for 3 years (i guess). but i didn't stop learning and collecting recipes. my father-in-law was a great cook and i believed that's where my husband got his share of passion for cooking as well. i observed my father-in-law everytime he cooks and he cooks special dishes that i only happened to taste that time. he cooks for the family and every special occassions were really special because he's the one preparing the dishes... and if he's the one preparing the dishes, then, it's really good. (i will miss him... we'll all miss him... since he's gone now...) today, we're living in uae and i'm a stay-at-home-mother of almost 2. since we got here, i've been cooking for my family and friends. and it was here where i was able to explore this passion. i started surfing the net for recipes and i came to these wonderful foodblogs that inspired me more to cook. thanks to them :D. i'm also grateful to my husband for supporting me and tasting/eating the dishes i prepared, he's my greatest critic. hehehe... on the other hand, he loves cooking, too. it's so nice to share the same passion with the ones you love. there are days that we share insights about food and we also cooked together.

i'm not particular on the dishes or food i prepare. as long as it's easy and ingredients are readily available, i want to try it. however, i usually like filipino dishes as well as pasta... and i started to enjoy baking this year. baking is what i really liked even when i was still in highschool; i just didn't have an oven and i was so afraid to try since during those times i couldn't afford to fail and my dishes go to waste. but now, that i have an oven and i can say that i can take the risks of failing or not doing so good, i had the guts to bake. so far... so good... it's a blessing. :)

i like eating out either with friends or just us family. but as much as possible, i always want to prepare a homecooked meal. with that, i know that's it's prepared well and the nutrients are there also. and it's the feeling that you feel when you cook for your family and they appreciate it. it's a different feeling and you get more inspired everyday... not to mention the feeling of tiredness and boredom just staying at home is erased. truly, homecooked meals makes a family closer together.

i know that as i get older, i will still be cooking and preparing dishes for my family together with my husband... although there will be times i will lose the mojo but it won't be for long, it will always find me back. it's my prayer that my children will have the same passion we have.

so much to say about cooking and food... "let's live, love and eat" (chef wolfgang puck).

some news...

hello everybody...

some of you must have wondered where i was for the last few weeks.... mmmmm... almost 3 months i guess. hehehe...

i have announced this in my multiply site and i am announcing it here. we are expecting again. right now i'm 13 weeks pregnant with our second child. hehehe...

we already knew this when i was still 5 weeks pregnant. i had an ultrasound then but the doctor could not see any fetus (only the sack). then i had another ultrasound during my 6th week and the doctor said that the sack was large for 6 weeks and that we have to wait for another 2 weeks to see if it has changed. unfortunately, during those times, my father-in-law died; so, we had to go home for a month. i had my ultrasound there when i was in my 10th week. then it went out well, the baby is in good conditon, the heartbeat is normal. we were happy to know that.

so, this is it. my belly is big for 13 weeks, it's okay since i already have a big belly after i gave birth to makuy. i wanted a girl, we were hoping this would be a girl so that i'll have a pair already... and it's nice to dress up baby girls, right. hehehe... hopefully, but if not, then it's alright as long as the baby comes out healthy.

this pregnancy is pretty much different with my pregnancy with makuy. my pregnancy with makuy is very easy althought my belly is really huge and heavy, i eat what i want, i don't crave for food nor vomit at anytime nor feel dizzy. this time around it's totally the opposite. but God will help me through this i know. i thought that this pregnancy could have caused my mojo in scrapping and blogging disappear. yes... i instantly lost appetite in scrapping, blogging or even in photography. i just stared at the computer and my camera; and as much as i wanted to scrap or blog, my body just couldn't do it. i just like to lie down. even in cooking, no cooking for me for the past 2 months... not in the mood. i don't even like to eat but i eat since i have to for the baby but i just don't eat like i usually eat. hehehe... they said i'm "maselan" with this second pregnancy. and it's usually around for the first trimester... but some say that it goes on until the 7th month! goodness... i hope not in my case.

i'm due mid july 2009... i don't know if this will be via c-section just like my first, or normal delivery since some people told me that here in uae as long as your cervix opens then you'll have viginal delivery. well, whatever as long as everything will be okay.

i'm trying to blog and scrap now... and i hope my mojo will return now. i'll be posting recipe's soon (i hope)... hahaha...

xoxo

dayon...

"dayon" (come in)... to my new blog. this is created intended for my love for food and my frustrations in photography. i'm still starting and i still have a looonnggg way to go. bear with me and let's learn together.

dayon... dayon... sa akong blog. (come in... come in... to my blog)