On Relationships

Happy New Year! Sorry it took me this long to post another blog. I have been busily catching up with my tv shows and a recently discovered liking for Korean drama.

An old time friend and former co-worker visited us after Christmas to attend a wedding here in Phoenix. She, the new boyfriend and the boyfriend's kid stayed with us overnight so we had a couple of hours of nonstop catching up. I just have to share her story here in my blog. I would say she is in a complicated relationship, well, more like a difficult relationship. So the bf is unmarried with a 3-year old son and has a slutty female bestfriend whom the bf is also entertaining in a more-than-friends kind of way and my friend is stretching all her patience for this guy whom I think is so not worth it. I can't believe I put all those stuff in just 1 sentence. Lol. Anyway, I seldom say my opinion about my close friend's relationships unless solicited. But then this time I wanted to hit my friend hard on her head so she'd wake up and realize what a big mistake this guy is.

I believe that the first few months of your committed relationship should be one of the best parts of your life together. It's at that stage when you feel giddy, nervous and excited about spending time with each other. My friend has already been through a lot of heartaches with her current relationship in just a span of two months. I believe that relationships should not be difficult if it is with the right person. Relationships should be healthy for you... it should make both of you better persons. Occasional misunderstandings are ok but if you fight about the same things everyday, it does not make it ok. My friend complained about a third-party in her relationship with the bf. I told her that the right guy will never give you reasons not to trust him. The right one will always make you feel you're the most beautiful person even in a sea of sexy, blonde and blue-eyed women.

Being happily married made me realize how crappy my previous relationships were and how glad I am that I didn't end up with them. Haaaaa! No matter how little you think of yourself, you still deserve someone who will make you happy and will treat you right. Relationships are meant to make you a better you.

Green thumb

I love greens and plants but for some bizarre reason, they don't love me back.  I tried several times to grow succulents (prettier version of cactus) inside the house because I thought they are low maintenance house plants, need very minimal watering, they don't grow tree-big hence no repotting but alas, they died after a few weeks even with my utmost care.  I even started talking to them because I read from somewhere that you should talk to your plants which I thought was ridiculous.  My husband calls them my "victims". 

Hi, I'm Lisa and I am a plant killer. =(

Isn't it alarming that I cannot even take care of a freakin' low-maintenance plant? How much more if it were a dog or a cat? Worse, a kid?!  I took care of my younger siblings when they were babies but what the heck happened to my maternal instinct? This is really disturbing.

For the meantime, while I am exploring my options on how to grow a green thumb, I have embraced the fake greens and silk plants at home. No maintenance besides occasional dusting. lol.

Monotony Could Be A Good Thing

Monotony is good. Repeat after me... "monotony is good". Woooozzzzaaaaah.

Here's my dilemma... I have been working for this company for a total of 4 years and 2 days (as of today), 3 years and 11 months as a consultant and 11.5 months as an internal employee. I think this is by far the longest running project I have ever been into. It's been too monotonous that it is starting to kill me. You see, I spent most of my life being a consultant which meant I have been jumping to and from projects every 3-6 months, sometimes even in a few weeks. I am not used to doing the same thing over and over. I like mind-twisting problems to solve and challenging projects to deliver. I breathe stress you know! I feel that being "stuck" in this job scares the hell out of me because I might get used to monotony and once an opportunity comes to jump to another boat, I might choose to let it go just because I feel more comfortable with monotony. I don't want to be one of those robot internal employees who just gets old in the same job and gets promoted out of tenure not because they did an excellent job in their field. I still have 50+ years ahead of me (yes, I plan to work til I die. Haha.) and I feel like I am not ready for a "retirement" job, as what I call it.

Paycheck aside, I don't think I have anything else to gain in this current job. I feel like I have nothing more to learn from this team. Hayyyy....

Maybe boring is a good thing. This could mean God wants me to focus on having a kid instead of stressing at work. Or not! Haha. Something in me wants this safe, boring and monotonous life but another thing in me says I have to continue pursuing my dreams even after marriage. It's just complicated.

Happiness is...

You know when I am bored when I post 3 blogs for 3 straight days. Hahaha. Just wanted to share the SDE that RF made for our wedding last November 4.

Francisco+Lisa Onsite AVP from Raymond Fortun on Vimeo.

Bored to Death

Sometimes I think I am too attached to material things. Anything or anyone I have gotten so used to is very hard for me to let go and replace. The other day I had to get Kimi's windshield replaced. As much as I wanted to keep the original windshield (because a new one will change the build and handling of the car), there's no way for me to be driving around the metro with an 8-inch crack on my car's windshield. This cold weather hastened the growth of the crack leaving me with no choice but to have it replaced. And for the life of me, I picked a repair day when it was raining so hard... it only rains in Arizona maybe less than 15 times a year. Ugh! Annoying right?!? Now I have to drive a car with a generic windshield... I still kept on staring at that spot on the glass where it used to say "LEXUS". =(

It's been day two of all-day rain here in Arizona. I still like rain but not for 2 straight days and not when it's freezing cold. Rain makes a boring day at work waaaaaaaayyyyyy worse. I feel like I have a job where what I know has become stagnant. I don't feel challenged and excited anymore but it does pay the bills and pay for vacations and all the things I want (not necessarily need).

And this is how much I am missing Singaporean food... I just had to make my own version of it here.

Yep... Hainanese chicken rice. May not be as good as the original one back in SG but this will do for now.

Blessed Beyond Belief

I thank you Lord for this awesome year.

Last year, I never really figured out where to get the funds for our big wedding in Manila. All I remember was that I asked you to take over our plans and lead us to where You want us to be. True enough you gave me a new job with a pretty awesome paycheck to boot (but I thought I deserved more... Sorry Lord but I am still thankful!). You blessed me with a great husband when all I asked was a lovelife. I asked to be able to travel again and you gave us a yearly trip to the Philippines, a honeymoon in Singapore and maybe a trip to Europe next year. I prayed for a bigger home and you granted us with a 2400 sq ft of living space which was waaaaaaaaaaay more than enough for 2 people. Your material blessings are overflowing.

You are a very generous God. You know what we need (and want) before we even ask for them. I want to praise and thank You for all of these and a lot more.

On the Big Day

I am missing Singaporean food sooooo much. I miss the kaya toast, kopi and perfectly soft boiled egg for breakfast. I miss the chicken rice too! Salivating while I am writing this. Argh!!! Why does singapore have to be 9,000 miles away?!? Hey John, I am craving for that spicy stingray! Definitely your fault! The thought of Singaporean food makes me hate being in Arizona where authentic Asian food is rare if not non-existent here. =(

October and November just flew by. 17 days ago we finally tied the knot at San Sebastian church. That 1 year church wedding preparation paid off becuase we literally had nothing to worry about on the day of our wedding. Everything just happened the way we would have wanted it to be except that we were not able to eat during the reception. Boo! The reception program got us so busy that we didn't have time to eat. Oh but we never got thirsty because the liquor kept pouring. Haha. It was a fun, relaxed and very organized (as what our friends said) event. Thanks to our wedding coordinators! I would definitely hire them again if I were to get married again. Lol. Not that I am considering this. Haha.

If there are 3 things that I made a very good decision of spending money on for our wedding, it's my hair and make-up, our photographer and on-the-day coordinator (more popularly known here in the US as wedding planner). No great wedding photographer can ever make a miracle of making a bride look beautiful at her wedding if the hair and make-up artist sucked. Haha. So glad that I trusted my instict of getting my 10-year hairstylist to do my hair and make-up. Yes, I still go to the same hairstylist to get my haircut even if it meant flying to the Philippines to get it. Old habits die hard. Lol.

Lookie at the photos so you'll believe me...

Happiness. I thought it was something unattainable. I believe that everything happens for a reason and it is God's will. I am eternally grateful for finding someone who makes me very happy. I never thought that finding him would change the way I look at marriage... and especially how I look at my life now. Cheers to more happy and exciting milestones!

So what next? Kids? Errrr.... let's talk about that some other time. Baby steps. ;-)