Marriage and Beyond

posted by Jennie on Oct 25

When it comes to personalities, my husband and I are opposites. The first years of our marriage are testaments (bickerings, mostly) of living with someone who we are poles apart with. We knew that we complemented each other, sure. But there are just times when the crazies (selfishness) get the best of us. Real life stories are made of that as well.

One of our many differences is that he is sporty by nature. While I’m a bit too comfy on being sedentary. But even if there was no way the husband can have me trek with him, we found a few things that we enjoy doing together.

We learned to enjoy playing badminton before we got pregnant. Then that was it. We recently played again but we can’t seem to get back to the grind of playing on a regular basis. Who would have thought that after almost 10 years of marriage, we will still find something new that we enjoy doing together! Kart Racing! It is probably the funnest thing I have done in a very long while. I was so thrilled that I found myself shrieking my lungs out in the middle of the track as I floored that gas pedal! Adrenalin rush at its finest!

Thanks to Mauie Flores for the shots.

As for the hubby, there was not a doubt in my mind that he was going to excel in this race. A cousin of mine describes perfectly what he does on the streets – no holds barred arcade driving.  By nature, he is a very patient person but drives like a mad man on the streets.  He will mellow for a while when I remind him. But gets back to his old self after a while.  We agreed that this kart racing will have him release his need for speed so he can tone way down when he gets to the streets. Fine by me.

We almost regretted going through the rough Saturday traffic last Oct. 15 to attend the Bloggers Blaze Fun Cup held at City Kart Racing located in Parksquare 1 in Makati. Turned out the race was the best way to express our frustration over the horrendous c5 traffic. It was exhilarating through and through!   Jeff went kart racing again thrice that week, while I had to nurse my sore limbs and biceps. Yes, I suddenly developed biceps, would you believe! We’re going kart racing again very soon with our son in tow. He’s past the 4 feet mark, he will try to do a track or two. Even if he’s past 4 feet, we’re still not sure if his motor skills will allow him to race already. He loves cars and racing way before he can barely utter an intelligible word. Now that he’s practically the radio of the neighborhood, he will play Need for Speed Shift the whole day everyday if we let him. We don’t. Just so we’re clear. Haha! Leave him with a gadget for more than an hour and he gets zombified like crazy.

City Kart Racing was introduced in the Philippines in 2006 by Jean-Marc Freihuber (pictured above with the rest of the bloggers), former French professional racer with 15 years of experience with kart track management in Europe and 4 years in the Philippines. They use state of the art racing machines. These alone tell us that we can kart race with confidence. Plus the awesome technology that tracks racers’ stats down to the last nano second  is the coolest I have seen to date. And did I mention that they have this Facebook App that posts your stats on your wall every time you finish a Heat? You also get a copy of  your race stats over email.

My husband published a more detailed post about the Bloggers Blaze Fun Cup. I wouldn’t dream of beating the hubby in this sport. It’s just not gonna happen. I’m good with that. It’s just fun to know though that I did the best time amongst all the girls that day. My best lap time being 1:0.315. My next goal will be to race under a minute.

I recorded a short clip of the hubby on the track. Real speed is probably ten times more than it seems from this recorded video. Sorry for the shaky capture.  We’re excited to go back. The hubby is already looking into getting hold of Compacc.com shoei helmets for us. He brought some of the young men from church to City Kart Racing last week and they all loved it. We’re bringing a couple more friends on our next visit.

City Kart Racing Makati
7th Level car park, Park Square 1,
Ayala Center, Makati City

Open everyday except for Christmas and Good Friday

Monday to Thursday: 3pm to 10pm
Friday to Saturday: 10am to 12mn
Sunday and Holidays: 10am to 10pm

For more information visit CityKartRacing.com
Contact Nos. +(632) 856-9155 or +(63917) 585-9155

posted by Jennie on Sep 16

As promised, I am giving a more detailed entry about Hi-Precision Diagnostics Laboratory‘s role in the early detection of our son’s bout with Dengue fever.  We first had our son take the Dengue NS1 test when he had fever last June.  It turned out to be viral.

Hi-Precision Diagnostics has a total of 14 branches. I still did not know before that they have a branch in Pasig, or if it was already open then. So our default was to their main branch in Del Monte Avenue, Quezon City.  Whenever I go to have my son’s blood tested, I always get asked if I had a doctor’s request. Both times, I don’t. I always choose to have the necessary laboratory result ready when we go to the doctor. That’s just me being prudent and practical.  It is for my own peace of mind as well. Even if the doctor won’t request for a laboratory test, with the Dengue fever incidents in the Philippines growing at such alarming rate, it really is better to be safe.

I was asked to fill out the Patient Registration Slip as soon as we got there.  During our first visit, I also had my son’s blood and Rh (Rhesus Factor) typing done, while he was already there for blood testing anyway. This earned him his Hi-Precision Diagnostics Patient Card.

The Hi-Precision Diagnostics Patient Card serves as his blood type card as well. My son’s blood type is printed on the covered portion of his card (above photo).  This card also serves as a discount card, 10% off on all laboratory tests.

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posted by Jennie on Apr 30

Believe it or not, there is now such a thing as Philippine Spring Cleaning Day and it is happening on May 11, 2011, coinciding with our unico hijo’s 6th birthday. Spring Cleaning to begin with, may not sound so local as it is. Spring, being non-existent in our local geological context. But Spring Cleaning is really more than just a season.

Allow me to share the origins of  “Spring Cleaning” via Wikipedia:

Another possibility of the origin of spring cleaning can be traced to the ancient Jewish practice of thoroughly cleansing the home in anticipation of the spring-time holiday of Passover (Hebrew: פסח pesach‎). In remembrance of the Jews’ hasty flight from Egypt following their captivity there, during the eight-day holiday there is a strict prohibition against eating anything which may have been leavened. Jews are not only supposed to refrain from leavened foodstuffs (known in Hebrew as חמץ chametz), they are expressly commanded to rid their homes of even small remnants of chametz for the length of the holiday (Exodus 12:15). Therefore, for the past 3,500 years, observant Jews have conducted a thorough “spring cleaning” of the house, followed by a traditional hunt for chametz crumbs by candlelight (called bedikat chametz [Hebrew: בדיקת חמץ]) on the evening before the holiday begins.

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posted by Jeff on Mar 30

I have been preaching on a sermon series about Maintaining a Balanced Life and have dealt with the topics of mental, physical and spiritual balance in the last three weeks. In this post, I would like to share with you some principles on maintaining balance physically.

First of all, I just would like to say that God wants us to be healthy. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were in perfect health. The Old Testament is full of rules and regulations about health. Jesus spent much of His ministry healing people. He was concerned about physical health.

1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “Therefore glorify God in your body.” But how do we honor God? By using our bodies for God’s glory and honoring Him through it by taking care of it, respecting it and protecting it.

Now, what should our motivation be in doing this? There are actually physical and spiritual reasons. Most of us are aware of the physical reasons which are:

• We’ll feel better. If we take care of our body, we’ll feel better. We’ll have more energy, fewer pains. We’ll be more alert, less depressed. Somebody said, “Health is what makes today feel like the best day of the year”
• We’ll look better. We’ll have better complexion, look more attractive, develop a stronger self-esteem and have more confidence.
• We’ll live longer. There are countless studies that show people in shape live longer.

The spiritual reasons are: Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Feb 19

Just as the hubby has warned me with last week, it really is about consistency after all. A week since I got back to my toes and worked out, I slid right back yet again in an instant. But one thing I’m really happy about is we finally got rid of that nasty bug that has been going around the house for months!

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posted by Jennie on Feb 4

New year came in and reminded our family that we need to take steps to live healthier. More veggies, less meat. We welcomed the new year not in our best health. My eyes started becoming vulnerable. The number of hours I spend on the computer has taken its toll on my poor eyes. But I am still thankful that my vision is still 20/20. I have been going back and forth to the eye doctor to have it checked. I was first told I had conjunctivitis, then allergy, then dry eyes. For which, I was given artificial tears. Now I can no longer function in front of the computer for more than 5 minutes without my multi-coated spectacles. I can’t even manage to have my hair dried in front of the fan without getting my eyes all red. I might have to go check with another doctor just so I could have a clear diagnosis of what this is.

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posted by Jennie on Jan 8

More and more households are turning “green” nowadays. Yes, that includes our home. We have been using mostly biodegradable and all natural household products for some years now. There are a handful of benefits of going green in our homes. Whenever we use eco-friendly products, we automatically reduce the risks of toxins coming into our home. Resulting to a healthier us.

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posted by Jennie on Jan 6

Whoever said that a home educator’s life is easy cannot be more wrong. Homeschooling isn’t a walk in the park. But it still is the road we chose to take anyway for a host of good reasons. Aside from our desire to be our son’s primary influencer, we also would love to see him maximize his potential in a way that, in our opinion, traditional school cannot do – at least in the duration of his formative years.

Our 4 year old son graduating with honors on his first year of preschool (March 2010)

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posted by Jennie on Nov 19

I personally think taking care of oneself is essential. Whenever I see people giving me that look of expectation that a pastor’s wife should look like a drag, I really just let them be. Stereotype, I have never been and that I will never be. My relationship with my Savior is solid and will never be dictated by anyone. Especially by those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are aplenty. But I’m not going into that. I have lived to see how God saw us through past persecutions and He has been faithful. I am leaving the judgment to Him as I press on doing what I do.

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posted by Jennie on Oct 5

Once in a while I am led to good reads as I do online research, whether personal or job related. I have been looking into some health related reads recently. The reason being, my husband has been having this shoulder trouble that he complains of from time to time. Although he has already got an x-ray done, he is still yet to do a follow up appointment with his doctor. His shoulder is not as bad as before, but he still can’t lie down on his right side without pain. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Sep 15

Heartburns have been common occurrences to me since late last month. The thing about relying on Google for pretty much every single information you might want to look into, is its tendency to give you a scare. Especially if it is health related. I would like to believe that I have well dropped my hypochondriac tendencies in college.  Which was brought about a lumpectomy when I was 19 years old. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Aug 31

These are two of my current bedside books. Reading books is something I’m glad I am able to go back to doing again after a while of hiatus. I recently just published the post review of Captured by Grace. I loved it so much that I asked the hubby to read it for my birthday present.

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posted by Jennie on Aug 15

My husband has always been a sports buff who has been actively playing all sorts of activities, from soccer to basketball and even martial arts. He has a regular exercise regimen, which I have always admired in him. I continually reinforce this with healthier food choices. He can get very picky with food sometimes. But with a little nudging and giving him materials I have studied about the health benefits of incorporating a particular food in our diet, he is almost always agreeable.

But this very agreeable man of mine just recently rebuked me of my health choices – about my now non-existent exercise regimen otherwise known as sedentary lifestyle, that is. This actually made me stop and think as I later agreed with him. Now that he is looking for a Dojo place where he can resume his Aikido program in, I can’t believe I actually asked him if he thinks I can join him. And he got pretty thrilled as he answers as a matter of fact, that there are women who are Aikido black-belters. Yikes! I honestly cannot see myself going on a rolling spree and getting my joints wrestled. I wasn’t too serious when I asked him that and he was taking me on a mini-orientation drill already. Just what did I get myself into!

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posted by Jennie on Aug 10

As a mom, I have always considered myself vigilant especially when it comes to my family’s health. My husband even jokingly labeled me once or twice to be a witch doctor of sorts – for I always come up with a seemingly, self-concocted, non-traditional solution to random health issues.   They take my prescription nonetheless, basically because they always work. In my defense, everything I serve my family, I always make sure I looked into beforehand. From the sweet potato juice that I make to boost the immune system, the lemongrass juice that takes care of colds and respiratory issues, the probiotic kefir shake, the propolis ointment for burns, cuts and skin issues and just recently wheatgrass juice, et. al. And in all fairness, they do wonders to the things I needed taken cared of.

For some reason, I also find myself picking up Halal certified food items from the supermarket whenever I do grocery shopping. It gives me a sense of confidence that I’m not giving my family second rate food stuff specifically because from what I’ve learned, Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 28

It was early last June when I tried my hand on cultivating my own wheatgrass. Dubbed as possibly one of today’s Power foods, wheatgrass has a lot of nutritial benefits. Some of which are: detoxification, helps digestion, blood flow, can substantially lower the rate of one having colon cancer. So I ordered a bunch of wheatberries from the Wheatgrass King from Baguio. I got the package after a few days and got my cake trays and spray bottle ready.

I have always known that green thumb I had none but I was still secretly hoping that I will successfully grow my own supply of wheatgrass.  Besides, I thought, it was just grass. So it should thrive without my having to give it extra care, right? Wrong. My first attempt and I killed the berries. Yes, that soon. But never say die, so I headed on to my second and third attempts.

Day 3 and Day 5

wheatgrass in full bloom

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