Could Have Been in Disney World Florida

About this same time last year, hubby and I planned on having our next escapade. I would have loved to explore European countries eventually, but I thought sticking locally for the meantime would be as enjoyable as well (not to mention, cheaper!).

One of the places hubby and I would love to go to is Disney World :o) Yeah- in Orlando, Florida! Where else is the perfect place to celebrate our wedding anniversary but in the Happiest Place on Earth???!!!!

It's our church wedding anniversary today and so last year, we thought we'd plan on celebrating our 3rd anniversary traveling to places we would love to go to. So Disney World was our supposed-to-be-target for this year's celebration. The best time to go there is just about after Thanksgiving when people just came from traveling. Plus, during Thanksgiving, Disney World would have just started their Christmas/Holiday theme that could have made the place more magical than ever! It's just a dream for me to be there during Christmas season. Oh maaan, my imagination is all over the place right at this very moment...

I've actually been looking for travel guides and tips on how to make the most out of our stay there without breaking the piggy bank - yep, as early as November last year! And as usual, travel sites like kayak.com (my favorite ever) have always been indispensable to people like me who loves the convenience of planning every detail through a click of a mouse :o) I would always find uber good deals on air tickets, hotels, land transportation - even for last minute travels!

Part of our "Places to see" list are Alaska, Australia, Japan, New Zealand. European cruise is also a great idea, but maybe after we explore the Schengen countries on our own :o) Oh maaaan, it's soooo nice to think about the endless possibilities if we're not only limited financially. Times these days are hard so every spending has to be taken into consideration.

Anyways, when are we going, you might ask. Well, after finding out that we're pregnant, all travel plans had changed. We could have gone even if we're 5 months on the way however, what's the point of going there without enjoying every single ride? I would think there are only certain rides that preggers are allowed to. Bummer.

So that's the reason why we decided we'd wait until our little chocnut Anikka is big enough to appreciate the magic of Disney World. That means mommy and daddy have another 5 to 7 years of saving up for this anticipated and long overdue vacation. I read from another travel resource that the best age to bring kids to Disney is when they turned 5. Anything before that might just be a total waste of time. First, they wouldn't remember, second they wouldn't appreciate everything in there. Might as well wait for them to grow up a bit.

No regrets though... Anikka's the best thing that ever happened to us this year... Disney World could definitely wait for a few more years :o)

To my hubby, happy happy happy 3+ year anniversary! Anikka, Skye, Chewy and of course, mommy love you more than you'd ever know. No Disney World for us this year alright, but nothing could be more worth it than having our very own princess growing beautifully in my tummy :o*

What's In A Name?

Wooohooo, hubby and I finally finally finally agreed on Anikka's full name :o) Remember last time we were still not sure what Japanese middle name we like that starts with an "M"? So now, we found a not-so-common Japanese name for her--- "Marishi"!!!!

We bump into some website about Japanese gods/goddessess names and got interested with Marisha-Ten or Marishi-Ten. "Ten" means he/she's a god, so we took that out. John prefers Marishi than Marisha because for some other language, the name Marisha means "bitter". Plus Marishi sounds more Japanese-y (kinda like Oishi, haha).

So now, our little bebe's gonna be-- "Anikka Marishi Goya".... I sorta like it :o)

The first thing people ask after finding out bebe's gender is if we already chose a name for her. The 2nd question they normally ask is what's the meaning of it. Yeah... so I guess it's not enough to just choose an arbitrary nice sounding name... it looks like it has to have some meaning behind it. Susmio.

So here goes the meaning of our little chocnut's name:

Anikka --> grace, gracious, favor
Marishi --> ray of light, Japanese goddess of heaven, sun & moon

I asked hubby as well if it would be ok to call her Mikka as her nickname. I think he's still thinking about it. Nikka or Nikki would be too common already so I was thinking what would be a nice nickname that would be a combination of her first and middle name... so I thought of Mikka. Haaay... I guess this is how mommies think, hahaha :o)

Ain't it obvious we're super excited? Grabs, we already chose a name for her!!!

Already A Troublemaker...

Sorry everyone if I haven't had a chance to reply to your messages nor bloghop during the past few days... thanks for visiting my blog still :o)

Anikka here is already a troublemaker at 21 weeks. Last Monday, hubby rushed me to the OB triage where they admitted me for about 4 hours. I was in severe abdominal pain - we were super scared we thought Anikka's going to come out! This little goofball...

I started feeling the pain in my pelvic area Saturday afternoon. I was still doing ok back then since I could handle the sharp stabs on my back and my lower abdomen. Then come midnight, it progressed to a very unbearable constant pain on my pelvic bone. It hurts so bad I can't even pee. I thought I was having some bladder infection but heck, this feels worse than that! It feels like Anikka's pressing hard on my bladder and pelvic floor - super painful!!!!

I called the 24 hours nurse line from my OB's office and she told me that I should make sure I drink tons of water (4 big cups in an hour) and if that didn't help, to go to the hospital for immediate medical care.

Since I could still handle the pain, I didn't go to the hospital. I thought maybe it could get better after a day. But oh maaan, I was wrong. We waited until Monday to go to the hospital. They monitored Anikka's vitals, my contractions and checked me if she's getting lower already. So thank goodness, they didn't feel her head, she's not coming out!

They also took my urine sample to check for possible bladder and kidney infection --- nada... negative! Everything looked normal, no bleeding, no fever, vomitting, change in discharge etc...

At the end of the day, they just told me it could just be the normal round ligament pains that pregnant women experience at this stage. I didn't buy it just because they can't explain the burning feeling while I pee. There has got to be an explanation to this... driving me nuts!!! They also told me to just take Tylenol (and I did) but that didn't help with the pain as well.

It's been almost 4 days now and it's still excruciating to pee and my lower abdomen feels like I'm-going-to-have-my-period-anytime kinda thing. So this morning, I went to see my OB and she told me what I've been suspecting, Since I have tiny pelvis, that I could be having pelvic separation.. thus the lingering lower abdominal pain. But that didn't explain why it's burning when I use the bathroom.

I need Dr Gregory House to make some sense to all these things!!!!!

Speaking of House, did anyone see last night's episode? What's up with that smooching action between him and Cutty?? Uhmmm... I wasn't thrilled at all!

Polka Dots & Stripes!

For the past few weekends, hubby and I were occupied cleaning up the other room to make way for Anikka's nursery! Whoohooo!

We've been looking around for room colors and ideas that are not screaming "I'm a baby girl" too much. Though I must admit that I'm definitely partial choosing girly colors of course, hahaha :o)

So we finally thought we'd paint one side of the room in stripes and the 3 other sides a combo of light green and brown (and then add polka dotty accents along the border later on).

Thank goodness for VOC-free paints (almost odor-free) that makes painting more fun. I hate the chemical fumes from paints so I never imagined myself doing any painting jobs at all. So we bought sample cans of the colors that we like and started messing up with one of the walls. It's actually super fun!

Here are some photos I took. Hopefully, we could get the nursery done soon :o) For more pics, check them here.

We also found some nursery designs online that kinda look pretty cool as well :o) We originally thought we'd use square patterns vs stripes but we realized squares could be harder. So here are some inspirations we found in the beginning. Maaan, these are just pure labor-of-love.

Where Are My Toes??!!!!

I was looking at my tummy the other day and I got the shock of my life--- at 21 weeks, I can no longer see my toes unless I lean forward!!!! Goodness, I'm soooo big!!! Waaaaaahhhhhh!!! :o(

Chunky But Funky 80's Mix

Hubby used to be a radio DJ when he was in Hawaii. His show was all about 80's music. Even if his line of work now doesn't even come close to that, he still continues his passion with mixing music and doing a bit of DJ gigs during weekends.

Last time we were home in Oahu, he took me to the radio station he used to work at and he introduced me to his DJ friends at the station. They even invited him to their show. I remembered I was just staring at him in awe while he's live on-air :o)

The other day, he finally uploaded that 80's mix that was keeping him busy whenever me and little bebe don't bug him :o) Anyhoo, I just thought I'd post here his latest mix. I thought it's pretty cool (of course, I'm his #1 fan anyways, hahah!)

If you like 80s music, hope you'd enjoy this :o)

Hubby Trying To Be Funny

My husband cracks me up big time. He has this way of making me laugh my heart out from some simple blab to some jokes he would just spontaneously blurt out of nowhere.

He really has this funny bone in him - that or I have a very shallow sense of humor. Irrespective, he still makes me laugh most of the time, and that's the bottomline :o)

Here are some scenarios I remembered for the past few days that kept me cracking up.

I. The other day, I showed him pictures of our friend Izy's newly born baby (congrats sis for a very beautiful baby girl!). Hubby, of course, was super ecstatic seeing the little cutie (plus he must have imagined having his very own by March of next year). He said the baby looks sooo much like her dad. I also told him it would be nice if our little bebe Anikka would look like him as well and he just smiled. I thought that was the end of that topic....

Then while driving, I was on the passenger seat and I noticed him touching and feeling his head and hair. I was just perplexed looking at him, then with this serious look on his face he blurted something like - "What if our little bebe get my big head and tonsa hair? And I have this very thin upper lip and my nose is too small and pointy...." ----- a few seconds of silence and that did it for me... I started laughing!!! I haven't seen him looking so seriously disturbed about his facial features because to him, he always looks "gwapo". So seeing him a bit concerned that his little one would look like him --- wow, took me to another level I tell yah. It was uber funny though as I recall that look on his face, hahaha :o)

II. Another "funny incident" I remembered when we were passing time at the mall after dinner. I saw this yellow boxer shorts hanging on the rack by itself and it's on sale. The design of this shorts was a sad faced "smiley" (as ironic as it is). So I was like "Why would a guy would wanna wear a pair of undies with some sad-looking character???". Then as spontaneous as he is he blurted - "Cuz his nuts are feeling cold!" (sorry for my profanity). Dang... that did it again for me!!! I laughed soooooo hard I just can't stop the whole time we were at the mall!! I know, I know... very shallow of me, huh?

III. Then the other day, as we're getting ready for bed... he started talking to little bebe (as he would normally does before going to bed). I didn't expect what he was about to say but I thought I find it funny:

Hubby to little bebe: "Little bebe, don't be surprised when mommy starts making all this funny sounds like "achuchuchupachupachu... or babababbababa.... or shmoocumshmoocumshmoo..." (I do meaningless baby talks with the dogs whenever I find them so cute and adorable). It only means she loves you very much..."

Then he kissed my tummy goodnight.

That made me laugh cuz the way he did the baby talk was exactly as how I say them. He got the accent and intonation so perfectly me that I didn't realize how stupid I sounded until I heard him say them. Hahahaha :o)

Anyhoo, thank God for all the sweet and funny hubbies that wifeys like me were blessed with. Makes lotsa difference on how I perceive my life and how God makes me feel loved through my husband and all the blessings that came with him from the very moment he asked me to be his :o)

Our "Anikka" Hija

Hubby and I have been thinking about names for little bundle of joy :o) Finally, I was able to convince hubby of the name I really really want if it's a girl... ready for this?------ Anikka :o)

Had our baby be a boy, his dad wants either Anakin or Kahlel. Yeah, sounds familiar right? Now you know what movies and characters hubby is so into. Goodness.

I also thought about a few American & Filipino names before like:
Amalia
Amber
Aubrey
Caitilin
Chloe
Kirsten
Kylee
Reese
Tamara
Taylor
Sinagtala
Mayumi

I love either Sinagtala (shining star) and Mayumi (graceful) for her Filipino name . They're so unique and very Pinoy but might be hard to pronounce for some kids. As tempting as it is, but my heart is set to Anikka from the very beginning and hubby likes it too. So Anikka it is!! Wooohooo!

We also wanted her middle name to be of Japanese origin but it's just hard to find a name that would match with Anikka. Plus, we want her middle name to start with an "M". Since here in the states, the child's 2nd name is what they refer to as the middle name whereas in the Philippines, the middle name is the mom's maiden name. So just to avoid confusion, we wanted to have her 2nd name to start with an M since my maiden name starts with it. So our little girl would be Anikka M. Goya :o) - with tbd "M" as of the moment.

Anyways, we're really excited. I hope we could find a nice sounding Japanese name for her pretty soon :o)

Meeting New Pinoy Friends...

I've been meaning to post this for quite sometime already but I've been really tied up but finally I found sometime to blog about this :o)

3 weeks ago, hubby and I met sis Izy and her hubby Meo. They invited us over to her baby shower. Izy is one of my longtime online friends and we've been corresponding through our respective blogs and emails for the past 2 years or so. She's also from Chandler, AZ so imagine my joy that after all these years, we finally had a chance to meet each other in person :o)

It's always nice to meet new Filipino friends here in AZ. Living in CA for a few years, I was so used to seeing lotsa Pinoys in every corner I turn. So when I moved here, I realized there's not much Pinoys around, so I always feel excited whenever there's an opportunity to meet Filipinos around the area.

So anyways, I always feel comfy with this gal so upon meeting her, I felt like I've known her forever. Normally in this kind of situation, medyo shy pa ako sa simula, but this time, it was different. Magaan talga loob ko with her. I think because she's very transparent - what you see is what you get, walang chuvachenes :o)

She's due end of this month and we really can't wait to meet their little bundle of joy - Audi :o) I'm happy that since we're having a girl as well, they can be playmates eventually :o)

Here are some pics I grabbed from her blog. I dunno, I just love this gal to pieces. I also adore one of her dogs - Kittles who is the sweetest lap dog I've ever met in my entire life!!! Too bad we didn't get to hangout with them that long cuz we had to leave early :o(




Thanks again Izy for inviting us over. It's such a pleasure meeting you, your hubby, your uber nice family and your cutie doggies :o)

I still have some more online friends that I've been corresponding with even before I started blogging. We were all planning our respective weddings back then and I'm hoping to meet them in person in the near future. Ann (Phils), Jean (Australia), Che (UK), Weng (Canada), Gracie (Dubai) are just a few my favorite "virtual galfriends" - the wonders of the internet huh? :o)

How To Make Homemade Taho

Taho is a Filipino dessert/delicacy made from soy bean curd, brown sugar syrup and tapioca pearls served warm in the morning.

Taho vendors travel (walking around the neighborhood) from house to house yelling "Tahoooooooooooo!!!!!". I remembered clearly when I was younger, me and my siblings would be bringing our own cups outside so the mamang magtataho could fill up our respective cups. My my my... those were the days, haha :o)

For some reason this morning I have an inkling of wanting to eat some so I desperately thought of some easy way to make it even if I'm miles away from Pinas. Nothing beats the mamang magtataho's version but I think I did a pretty decent job as well making it as close to how I remember it tastes like.

Here are some videos I had making my version of taho. Oh, I ran out of memory card so some videos were cut even if I'm not done documenting my "experiment", haheee! Hope this helps if you want to make your own taho at home when the real thing is way out of reach :o)

Part1:


Part2:


Part3:


*photos courtesy of: dubaichronicles.com and kibaka.org

A Night with the New Journey and Arnel Pineda

It's been 2 weeks now and I haven't shared our experience after seeing Arnel Pineda & the rest of the Journey band bring down the house in their Revelation tour here in Arizona.

Both hubby and I enjoyed the show though I could only sing a few songs from their repertoire that night. I'm not a total Journey fan, so if not for Arnel Pineda, I could have pass up for this one. But since hubby likes 'em and I wanted to see how AP would perform as well, we decided we'd go.

It's sooo worth it, I totally love the energy of the band and the crowd. I really thought there would be more of oldies than yougsters, but boy oh boy, I was definitely wrong!!! It's a pretty interesting crowd, mind you. Even the lolos and lolas (grandmas and grandpas) were dancing to the tune. Wild!

I uploaded a few of the videos I took:


1) When they were singing "Open Arms"

2) When they were singing "Faithfully"



3) When the members were being introduced to the audience and Arnel Pineda shouted "Pinoy!"



4) When they were about to exit the stage and Arnel Pineday shouted "Mabuhay!"

I really enjoyed the show, though it's a bit short than previous concerts hubby and I have been to. As we exit the pavilion, I was trying to observe and listen to the comments of the people. One said "Wow, I really like the voice of this new guy." One guy also blurted something like "It's amazing how this guy sounded exactly like Steve Perry"...

I like Arnel P. He's definitely one of the dudes who doesn't forget about his roots even after his success. He's definitely proud to be a Filipino and with the rest of the Pinoys in the crowd that night, we're all so proud of him!

I'm A Girl!!!

Here's a couple of ultrasound pics I scanned :o) The first one is bebe's profile and the other one is a shot of how the doctor concluded we're having a girl :o) Nothing protruding out there between her legs, heeeheeee :o)

It's funny there was a time she was moving a lot and was opening her mouth, kinda like saying something, hahaha :o)

So during the fetal anatomy screen, the dr checked almost everything - her face, nose, eyes, ears, size of the head, legs, arms, hands, toes, neck, spine, brain. The dr also checked on her heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach, umbilical cord and my placenta. Then at the end of the whole thing, there's a summary whether all measurements are within the normal range at her gestational age. So everything looked normal according to the dr as she's growing at the right rate. EDD is still set on March 6 :o)

Thank God, what a relief!

It has just started to sink in na talga. This is it :o)

Our Japanese Doll :o)

We're having a girl!!!!!!!

It's soooo heartwarming to actually see the little kiddo moving inside my tummy as the doctor was measuring and checking every vital organ she has. Thank God she's looking healthy and normal, very reassuring that everything's going to be ok.

Though hubby is expecting a boy, he's very happy that everything is looking good with our japanese doll :o) Haaay, totoong totoo na nga to! We're having a baby in a few months!!!!

I haven't scanned the pics yet, but once I got it done, I'd post some here.

Sooooo happy happy happy :o)