[Card] Thinking of You

Happy Friday!

I just wanted to let you know how much I care.

Have a blessed and safe weekend, my friend!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Food] Zongzi & Dragon Boat Festival

My co-worker from China gave us some Zongzi.  Zong... What? 

"Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling."

These sticky rice treats are traditionally prepared and eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival where they commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet.  The one she gave us were wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with kitchen twine.  One had meat and the other with sweet dates.  We don't have a microwave at home so I steamed it for about 15 minutes.

Meat Zongzi

Sweetened Dates Zongzi

We have a similar type of food in the Philippines, the "suman" which is sweetened glutinous rice wrapped in banana or coconut leaves (called "ibos"  in the Hiligaynon dialect).  I preferably eat it with ripe mango... oh my.. yummy!  Zongzi is also called as "Chinese tamales" - probably because of the similarity of the cooking process.

We enjoyed eating it, dipped the meat in soy sauce and the one with dates in sugar.  Mouthwatering.

Isn't it nice to try food from other cultures?  Try it sometime.  Explore.  Make friends with someone with another culture.  Enjoy!

Blessings,

♥  michelle  ♥

[Celebration] 115th Philippine Independence Day

Today, June 12, we celebrate Philippine Independence Day.  It was on June 12, 1898 when we declared our independence from the Spanish rule by General Emilio Aguinaldo and Filipino revolutionary forces.  The flag of the Philippines and the national anthem were raised and sung for the first time that day.  Shortly after that, Spain surrendered the Philippines to the United States.  Eventually, the Philippines revolted against the United States in 1899 and achived national sovereignty on July 4, 1946.  Independence day was observed on July 4 until it was finally moved to June 12, hence, the National Holiday.  

There are several books that tell of our history.  You may also read about it here:  www.history.com.

Taken at The Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife in Quezon City, Philippines on January 2009

My grandparents had a lot of stories about the war - it was a very difficult time.  My dad was a baby (born in 1941) and they had to hide in the fields from the soldiers.  They brought a live goat with them as his source of milk.  My mom (born in 1942) and her siblings also had a rough time.  I love listening to live accounts of the war - hearing them always brings me to tears.

Kami ay mananatiling Pilipino sa isip, sa salita, sa gawa.

We will always be Filipinos in our mind, words and actions.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

[Crafts] Traditional Filipino-themed banquet: "Bahay Kubo"

Our church is hosting Filipino Pastor's from all over the US today and I wanted to share the work of the team - Team "Bahay Kubo."  The Bahay kubo or Nipa hut is a native house in the Philippines in which the walls are made from bamboo tied together walls and the roof is of the nipa/anahaw leaves.  The photo below is a small nipa hut in my Mom's ancestral home in the province.  It's a nice place to cool off while sipping the juice of a freshly harvested coconut or savoring the juice of a ripe yellow mango.  Ohhh, delicious!

There is a song on the "Bahay Kubo."  You can do a youtube search to hear how it sounds - it's one of the songs that in my opinion every Filipino toddler (whether pure or inter-racial) should be able to sing.  The song describes the bahay kubo as despite being small, is full of different local fruits and vegetables which are then enumerated.  

We decorated the buffet table with various fruits and vegetables in season and placed them in different kinds of baskets.  The baskets and the woven fabric came from the private collection of the ladies and they were very nice.  I'm not even sure if they still make this good quality products.  The banana leaves are fresh from the garden.  We love how it turned out.  

We also prepared welcome kits that included a directory of local Filipino restaurants and a couple of pastries among others.

I had several empty starbucks coffee bottles which we made into table centerpieces.  We added decorated sticks and greens then placed it on top of a square green burlap.  I will take a better photo and re-post it.

To make it more festive, we added large buntings that ran across the width of the gym.  I used construction paper, jewelry hemp cord and glue... ohhh.. it was tedious but I love how it turned out.    

We spent about 3 hours from start to finish, that's pretty fast considering we had to steam iron the table cloths, etc.  It helped that some of the items where prepared beforehand.  It was a group effort - blending of minds, skills and talents.  

It's amazing how we can glorify God in simple ways such as this.  It's always fun serving with people who love God as well.

This afternoon, I will be cooking beefsteak for them... and that's another story.

Have a blessed day!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Crafts] Bottlecapped Words: Honor your father and mother

Hello friends!  Hope your doing great today.

It was a busy weekend for my husband and I as we juggled personal and church responsibilities but God has sustained us through it all.  I gave the message during the Junior worship and it was based on our memory verse found in: 

Exodus 20:12

"Honor your father and mother, 

so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

This is the 5th commandment and it's the first one that gives us a promise - that we will live long....  It sounds pretty simple but as I was preparing my message, I realized that I have done things to disobey God and my parents.  I believe that God in all his splendor and grace has forgiven me.  As for my parents, things cleared up after the storm so to speak - they have shown their unconditional love for me I love and long to be with them again soon.

Several stories from the Bible describe the fathers love to his child:  The Parable of the Prodigal Son, Joseph taking care of his father and family, and the story of Abraham and Isaac.  In all of that, the LOVE of the father to his son prevailed.

Going back to our Junior worship - I made magnets that had our memory verse so they could display it in their refrigerator.  

Oh, it was so nice to hear their ideas on how to honor their parents... it's amazing how we can be blessed by the lives of the little and not-so-little ones.

Memory Verse
Bottlecapped Words

I printed the verse and used Mod Podge to stick it on the chrome bottlecaps.  I added charms for the girls and kept some plain for the boys.  The back of the bottlecap had the date June 8, 2013 and a neodynium magnet.  I wanted to put the date so they can remember when we had this particular lesson.

It is never too late to tell our parents that we care and honor them.  For those of you who are parents and grandparents, I admire you for loving your children and grandchildren.  May you be blessed!

See you soon!

♥  Michelle  ♥

[Gifts] Charming Charlie Graduation Gifts, Handmade packaging and Dayspring Cards

It's Graduation time here in the States and we got several friends whose children are graduating from kindergarten, high school and college.  Wow, such a fun and exciting time for the graduates and their families.  Today, we are attending the graduation parties of 2 ladies (one of them is also celebrating her debut).

I wanted to make them something but it's been a hectic weekend so I bought them these pretty necklaces from Charming Charlie.  I love going to their store because it so full of eye candy, beautifully arranged by color scheme.  Their designs are nice but definitely not one-of-a-kind.  

Charming Charlie Blue

Charming Charlie Purple

I packaged the necklaces in a black box and added an embossed card that I colored using Tombow ABT markers and Tim Holtz's distress inks.  I added dimensional magic over the birds and tied a light blue ribbon around the box.  Simple but pretty.  The blank cards are from Daysrping Blank Notecards - I prefer blank notecards because I like writing personalized messages.

I remember by HS graduation which we are celebrating 25 years of in December.  Yay!  It's Silver Jubilee and it's a big celebration.  I wish I can go home to Manila and be there.  

Oh my gosh!  I couldn't imagine bow fast time flies.  When I was younger, I would watch my mom and her classmates laugh their hearts out while reminiscing their days in HS and Nursing school and now... it's my turn.  Good thing, I don't have kids who'd laugh at how funny we are.

There are times when I wish I was still young - with money regularly being given to me and who's responsibility was just to study.  I have to give all credit to my Dad and Mom for working hard to send me and my 2 siblings to school.  I was in Med school so they had to spend more money on me - time, love, effort and money that I can never repay them back.  Thanks, Daddy and Mommy!

Do you have children who are graduating soon or are you an empty-nester already?

Have a great and blessed week, my friend!

♥  Michelle  ♥

[Focus on Life] Week 23: Typography

It's Week 23 at Ms. Sally Russick's Focus on Life over at The Studio Sublime and the prompt was:  Typography - the power of the written or typed word can be more powerful than you thought!

The style and appearance of printed matter has an effect to how we view items, websites, businesses, book titles and the list goes on and on.   Is the typography pleasing to the eye, does the font pull you in, draw you away, make you feel inspired?  This week focus on the printed word and see what the words are saying to you!

I wanted to share something that's been my bestfriend for the past months.  I love receiving stuff from the mail!  The excitement is overwhelming at times especially if it's something that I have eagerly waited on and more so if it's a surprise package.  Woot woot!

USPS

Most people these days prefer to write emails or send text message through their smartphones.  That's good but sending someone snail mail is even better.  There is something about opening a letter or a card from someone you know.  I know you hate getting junk mail, utility and credit card bills - you are not alone - just shred and throw them away.

Send someone a letter and make that someone happy.

Visit the other photos HERE.

Be blessed!

♥  Michelle  ♥