Turning 24: A New Haircut, A New Bike, and Other Stories

Photo: http://omgeemag.com/

Ever since my 20th birthday, which was after my college graduation, which was spent drinking from night until morning with many of my fraternity brods and sorority sisses, I've learned to celebrate my birthday in a more subtle and God-glorifying manner.

To clarify, during that birthday of mine, I wasn't a Christian yet. That was the very last time I drank, though I still smoked a couple of weeks after that. A couple of weeks because after that, I finally encountered Jesus.

I don't want to post a photo of myself during that night because I'm sure you wouldn't recognize me. Also, it would taint my goody-two-shoes image. Hahaha!

Okay I'm so far from the point of this post so let's go back. Anyway, while I always consider my birthday special, I guess it's special on its own ordinary way. Here ate some of the "special ordinary" stories when I turned 24.

A New Haircut - After 2 Years

The last time I had a haircut was May 2012, a few months after Yuri was born. More than 2 years ago! I went from having mermaid hair to short, short, short (!) hair:

A couple of months after giving birth

It wasn't surprising since I always go through that route. Long then suddenly short. That hair was too short, though. I think the person who cut my hair was kinda deaf or something. But it's okay. I learned to love it. Job loved it, too!

2 years after, I finally made the time to have my hair cut. I couldn't afford to keep my hair long because it's too thick and the hair strands always get tangled. Here it is!

What do you think? I'm loving my hair now! The funny thing is that I can't comb it at all because my hair horrifyingly "flies away"! (I hope you understand what the slang means!)

Good bye Summer!

While I look forward to my birthday every year, my mom dreads it. Why? Because my birthday signifies that another school year is beginning!

A couple of weeks ago, the weather has turned from sunny to rainy and gloomy:

However, now, it's leaning toward sunny again. Oh, Davao City and your unpredictable weather! And my sister has started school and is now in seventh grade. Officially a high-schooler!

I hope her high school experience doesn't get as bad as mine! Haha I kid, I kid.

But Hello, Fruits!

Ever since I was a kid, summer always meant more fruits in the kitchen. This summer was kind of different because fruits were still expensive. Throughout the summer, our fruit basket contents alternated between papayas and bananas or avocadoes.

But when June arrived, hala, bagsak presyo ang mangga! Mangoes usually cost almost a hundred per kilo. Now, guess how much they cost?

Only 10-15 per kilo!

To say we hoarded is an understatement. We now eat mangoes daily! I was happy to welcome my birthday with this:

(I'm supposed to add a photo of two baskets of mangoes here but the photo is in the tablet wouldn't charge. I'll add it later.)

EDIT: Photos (not that they are really important) are here.

Fruits over flowers anytime! (Reminds me of my early preggy days when all I would eat was fruit. I would sometimes send Job to the market 30 minutes away to find santol! After taking a bite, I wouldn't touch it anymore!)

No Handa for the Birthday Girl

I actually wanted to prepare something for my birthday. Just simple meals for our family to share. I wanted my classic childhood favorites: Mama's karekare and her secret-recipe moist chocolate cake:

Unfortunately, that cake was the one we made a couple of weeks before my birthday. We got so busy we didn't have time to prepare food. In fact, we just ate takeout food haha. But that's completely fine.

EDIT: Photos (not that they are really important) are here.

However, yesterday, when I woke up feeling determined to resume my diet, I saw this!

Haha, good bye diet. See you next week! Thanks, ma!

And, Lastly, A New Bike

But not for me! I'm the class loser who doesn't know any kind of sport (save for mild volleyball and table tennis) and that includes swimming and biking. No wonder I got attracted to an athlete. I was making up for my loss! Haha!

So anyway, the new bike is Yuri's. Oo, parang sya ang nagbirthday. I actually wanted to buy some clothes during Forever 21's sale last Sunday but didn't find anything I like. I wasn't interested in buying new anything, too, so I said I'll buy something for Yuri nalang.

There were kiddie bikes on display in the grocery store and Yuri tried one like he usually does. This time, he wanted to stay longer. Since he was totally enjoying, I thought I was in for a major tantrum. So when I gently told him that it's time to go, imagine my surprise when he calmly went down the bike and even said, "Buh-bye, bike!" What a good kid! No-backbone-mom me totally melted! I'm sure you know what happened next. So here it is, now completely his:

Isn't it cute? I'm kinda hoping he learns how to bike early so that he wouldn't become a loser like his mom. Of course, he's a boy and is more active than I ever was... Anyway, it's a nice addition to our limited toys since it encourages his physical development.

(I meant to write about our new super limited toy arrangement months ago but never foubd the time. I hope I can write about it soon!)

Job's Birthday Verses for Me

I think Job and I just started a tradition where we give each other Bible verses for birthdays. We usually choose ones that contain God's promises, but in this case, Job chose verses that also strengthen the spirit. He couldn't choose between two so he gave me both:

Photo: http://www.ememby.com

Photo: http://creativewright.com

So those are the mundane but special things that happened over my birthday weekend. Totally ordinary, but like one of my favorite bloggers, Maqui, says, ordinary is a gift.

Have a happy hump day!

PS: I'm full-time bantay again today because Honey is at school again. I thank God I didn't hold any grudges against her. Because of that, the incident didn't steal my peace and joy!