wow it's July already!

Where was I?

sorry folks, the last 3 weeks was chaos.

apartment hunting for the boys and condo hunting for us.

Finally done!

now it's packing, selling and more packing.

Downsizing , finally living !

My Living Room - you get the picture!

FLAG girls update soon.. school has been cancelled due to typhoons.

They are okay! ( thank God!)

Thank you for stopping by, ( and for your patience, support and continuing to follow us)

Hugs,

Monica

Made by Steph

I saw the pendants from my good friend’s blog (www.avagracescloset.blogspot.com) and found it very cute and personal. I contacted Steph from www.pendantsbysteph.blogspot.com and it was an easy process.

Finally, they came and they were adorable. Nothing means more to me than these 3 people in my life. 

 I found silver chains in my jewelry box some long some short so I can definitely mix n match.

With my oldest already in college and my youngest leaving me in September, I always want them to be closer to my heart. (sniff!).

Thank you to Steph for making these wonderful pieces. I will definitely show them off.

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Monica

The ABC's of Me

Voiceboks friends and followers, better late than nevah!  Here goes..


A- allergy is what I am suffering right now from  ragweed .. ( sneeze, snob, sniff repeat )

                      B - blank is what I have on my face right now thinking of what I'm going to put for B :)

C- Charisma, is the name of my sister ( middle one ) not sure why dad didn't give me that name instead.

                      D - double double is what I like when I order my coffee at Tim Horton's ( famous Canadian coffee place )

E - lizabeth, my mom's name. Love it,  her mom named her after the queen ( of course ) my grandma was obsessed with the royal family.

                     F - F.L.A.G, Fundamental Learning Academy for Girls, the name of school my husband and I built in 2010. A school for underprivileged girls in the Philippines.

G- gregarious is what I am ( according to the my horoscope see S )

                    H - Halo-halo is my favorite Filipino dessert, crushed iced mixed with different sweets yum!

I - Immaculate Concepcion Academy of Manila for girls, where I went to school from Nursery to Grade 9,

             J - ordan , is my youngest son

K - arma, I strongly believe in it , good and bad.

            L - ive. just do it.

M - Manila, the capital of the Philippines, where I was born.

                  N - nesting is what my husband and I most of the time.

O - Oprah, she is truly a role model and an inspiration to me


           P - premature, my oldest son was born at 35 weeks

Q - Quinoa, like rice but healthier , not sure I'm gonna like it.

                 R - ice , ( the real thing) love it for breakfast, lunch, dinner.. our staple food.

S - sagittarius is my zodiac sign.

                 T - TAGALOG , Filipino language,

U - um, hate when I say umm so many times during a presentation.


                 V - volume is what my hair needs, just straight and limp.

W - Who, what, when, where, why ? My form of interrogation with my 2 boys.


           X - files was one of my fave shows in the 90's.  My husband was obssesed with it.

Y - oga, only when it's a HOT one


           Z - ebra print ballet flats, where are you? need one bad.

Wow, that was fun.  Can't wait to read yours !

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again,

Hugs,

Monica

www.flagphil.com

www.facebook.com/flaphilippines

Blogger's block

I have not updated my blog since last Wednesday.  Although I love to read  cutsy blogs, fashion blogs. Those lighten up my day and put a smile on my face from time to time.  What I really love to write is about our girls back home.  We stay connected with our team quite often but it's not the same when you are actually there.

I love to write what I am passionate about - helping these girls and hopefully helping more.  I recently watched this documentary of the quality of education back in the Philippines.  My heart was broken and start to be angry, sorry and sad.  I'm finding the right time to share that story to you and also think about how my audience will react.


I hope this blogger's block won't last very long, cause I do have a lot of things to say...

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again. Please visit our website and facebook page.

Hugs,

Monica

www.flagphil.com

www.facebook.com/flaphilippines

"Why are all nannies mostly Filipinos?"

Yes friends ! I want to blog about this because this question are amongst top three whenever I meet a group of new friends, colleagues and acquaintances through a network of people. Part of "hello, nice to meet you , do you know anyone who can help me out because I need a nanny ?". No, I am not offended ( my husband sometimes) . I am more than happy to help out any way I can. Before we get into the Why's here are some facts from our homeland.

Some facts about the Philippines

•  located in the South East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean
•  Population 94Million ( est. 2010)
•  considered as a third world country
•  rich with resources but also rich in graft and corruption

So? you ask...

•  with the population density, NO JOBS are available even for doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers.
•  Unemployment rate 7.4% as a result we have about 8.4Million Filipinos working all over the  world. That's almost the population of Ontario, Canada.
•  minimum wage is $100 per month ( $1 CDN = 43 pesos)
•  average salary of teacher $320 CDN /month 

Hopefully you are now getting the picture..

• For most women/men  when they work overseas ( keep in mind some of them are teachers, nurses, physical therapists, engineers and other professionals) will make WAY MORE if they work as a caregiver/nanny.
• They will sacrifice 2, 3 even 5 years before they can see their own children because they are caring for someone else's.
• Most of their income are for their children's education, their cousins, sisters, brothers, parents etc. Most of them who makes "IT" overseas will be the only bread winner for the family ( even extended meaning up to 3rd ,4th cousins)

I could go on and on about different reasons why and there are more.  There are success stories and there are not so success stories. I heard them all!.  One thing I know for sure, if you or any one you know that has a caregiver/nanny, keep in mind you are helping them out by lifting them out of poverty,  for them and for their children.  YOU will contribute in shaping a whole new generation.

Maraming Salamat!

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again,

Hugs,

Monica

Celebrating 100 plus followers!!

Happy 100 + !!!
Yay! I reached 100 + Followers, I would like to thank all the mommies out there who are following me.  I will try my best to update my blog and join me in my journey in helping out our girls back home.  Your thoughts and comments are special to me and I share them with everyone.  I hope one day in my lifetime I can meet all of you!

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again,

Hugs,

The F.L.A.G team

LIKE us www.facebook.com/flagphilippines

Would you travel 6 hours to go to school?

They will. There are children in remote places in the Philippines who travel by boat, cross rivers, climb mountains just to go school.

How many times do we argue with our own kids to make them go to school in the morning?
Or, we complain in the winter because we have to bundle them up and drive them to school??

It is rainy season back home and most of the schools are flooded because of poor construction and very old infrastracture.  I remember when I little, my mom made me  go to school even if the water was knee deep!

I am 2 days late on my Gratitude Journal - it is never too late to say thank you once again to how lucky our kids are to have the education they have. 

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again,

Hugs,

The F.L.A.G team

LIKE us www.facebook.com/flagphilippines

To blog or not to blog .. ????

Hello followers,

My Nanay ( Mother in Tagalog) and I ( I think 8 years old )

It has been a full week since my last blog.  Lots of stuff going on with my job, family and just life happening. The last thing I wanted to do was complain about it on my blog.  I feel I have to be in the moment in order for me to blog what I truly care about.. like my mom.

My mom celebrated her 62nd birthday last Wednesday. Athough she is not with us here, she is back home in the Philippines, I wish her a great birthday and more celebrations to come.

I miss her very much and this is the type of moment I have to be in order for me to capture this emotion.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again,

Hugs,

Monica

Freaky Friday!!

Didn't get the chance to blog about what day I had yesterday. Too many emotions in my circling in my head.

We had a frightening thunder and rainstorm this morning, I thought what a symbolic way of describing how I felt yesterday. Gloomy, sad, mad, confused, angry you name it  I felt it! Funny how Google Images can give you all the cliparts to choose from. I would certainly not going to put own face LOL!

I still don't know how I should feel today. At the end of it all, keep thinking of the bigger picture ( health, family, friends , FLAG) After all I am human and I will feel these emotions often , what matters is  how I will handle it. Choose your attitude. It will take some time.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again,

Hugs,

Monica

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pant(ies)

Yep, here we are. Good news, our youngest sister just got engaged ( middle one)

She will be last one to get married ( 2013 is the year). We are so excited for her and yes I am the maid (matron) of honor. I promise there will be crying, yelling, teasing and laughing all the way to the altar.

I can't wait.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again,

Hugs,

Monica