Baby-ik's birthday fell on a Monday this year. Sadly, we couldn't do anything (fun) on weekdays considering that his dad still has to go to work despite the community quarantine going on. So his family decided we celebrate it on a Sunday instead. They were very pushy to celebrate it in the beach. By-ik loves the sea!

Just a little backstory, we had a fight a day before the celebration. It could have been the hormones influencing my mood... I just wasn't feeling okay that day... was feeling grumpy and I was having the worst mood swings! By-ik wasn't having the best day as well, so he snapped at me, though he tried his best to make me feel better later on in the day after realizing I just needed comfort and reassurance. #Pabebe He even told his parents he wanted the celebration cancelled because he wanted us fixed. We both never expected  for it to push through.

We didn't get to have proper sleep that night, so I told him he could come celebrate with them and I would just stay home because I was feeling exhausted. Staying home was my excuse so I could make him his birthday present. Hehee! But he insisted I come because a birthday celebration without me isn't considered a celebration for him.

Fast forward... his family decided to go on a small man-made island in Cordova. It was a pretty small island and there were very few people that day. Probably because you need to get on a pumpboat to reach the island. If I remember it right, there was another family of six on the island. Of course, we still practiced social distancing. Going to the beach was still allowed during this time. 

By-ik brought me pillows and blankets because he wanted me to be as comfortable as possible. I rested almost the entire time we were there. By-ik saw two coastal foragers and noticed they had Swaki (sea urchins) in their pails. By-ik bought two lapads. He knows how much I was craving for Swaki the past days. Though I wasn't allowed to eat anything raw due to high risk of Salmonella, I still ate anyway. Couldn't resist. Felt really guilty afterwards.

By-iks dad also grilled fish and squid while we were on the island. His mom brought homecooked dishes for us to feast on. It was an intimate and memorable celebration with his family.

The whole family, including me, dipped in the sea for a few minutes after that. By-ik went snorkeling. He was so happy to have found fishes, crabs, sea urchins, star fishes. He found Coral Banded Shrimps. They were so pretty!

And then we had to leave. We decided not to stay longer because of the community quarantine. Wish I had taken more photos though. If only I was feeling a little bit better...

It was supposed to be by-ik's birthday but he bought me all this stuff for my journal. Very timely because the 24-hour curfew just started the same day at 3PM, and all malls will be temporarily closed. He actually thought of me at a time like this. He said the fact that I was there to celebrate with his family was more than enough for him. By-ik is just so precious!

By-ik's birthday falls on a Monday this year (March 23). We couldn't really do much on Mondays considering that his dad still has to go to work amidst the quarantine. So, we celebrated his birthday at Isla Romantica, a small man-made island in Cordova with his family on a Sunday instead. It was just an intimate celebration. Wish I had taken more photos while we were there, but I wasn't feeling myself that day. I plan to have this on another blog though.

On the night before his birthday, I was feeling so exhausted from beachin', I wanted to sleep real bad, but I forced myself to get up so I could make him these paper candies with random love notes in it. Did a faux calligraphy for the DIY birthday card as well. I couldn't really head out the mall and buy him something fancy, especially that we are on community quarantine... It's not much but it's something I made with love.

We were in the same room while I was making the paper candies. Oh, the thrill! Haha. He was busy cleaning the laptop and changing the thermal grease though, so he couldn't be bothered by what I was up to. Told him I was journaling so he wouldn't suspect all the crafty papers and pens on the table. ;)

On the day of his actual birthday, I had an "intentional" argument with him after we had our breakfast just so I could surprise him. I managed to make something up just so we'd argue. I even cried. Haha! He was just comforting me though, he was all in trying to make me feel better. 'Twas so sweet considering it was his birthday. I had it all on film, but I don't think I'll be uploading it on the blog. It's something I want both of us to cherish alone. 

Anyway, while I was 'crying', I told him to hand me a box where I keep my "journal stickers". He reached out for it and I told him to open it. He cried when he saw what he saw. Haha!

By-ik was surprised to see a watch. Where could I have gotten a watch? I didn't have the money (he handles the expenses for now), and I NEVER go out even just to buy something from the nearby sari-sari store. But, I sneakily found a way for that... he just didn't notice. Not a fancy watch though. Just a simple watch I thought he could use.

Nope, I didn't go to the mall. Didn't steal money from his wallet either. How I managed to acquire the watch... I'll probably tell him... one of these days.

I swear I had photos of how the baby-ik and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary last October 17th... just that I had forgotten to save copies on my computer before I restored a previous back-up of my phone -- all recent files have been deleted. Careless me, I know! 

But just to make up for it, I wanted to show you guys this montage I made for the years I have been with the baby-ik. Most clips were from our travels. Looking back made us feel so nostalgic... and yes, the usual emotional Alyssa cried, and so did the baby-ik. I bought us a small can of dream cake. We munched on it while we watched this montage together. 

He, on the other hand, had apparently prepared a surprise as well. He told me he'd fallen asleep the night before when he was in fact awake pasting photos of our moments on a wall in our room. He also bought us a chocolate cake. 

We almost always think alike, especially on this ocassion, only I did mine as a montage... it had been a simple and memorable anniversary for us.

Hey guys!

I really do not have much to share these past few weeks. Nothing interesting has happened, aside from random pigging out with the baby-ik which we can’t be bothered to document because it’s becoming more like a routine already, and we didn't want to bore you guys. Although, I feel like this blog is overall a bore to you...

Anyhow, I have something saved on my Flickr account that I thought I could share with you guys. Idk, I just feel like some of you might be interested as this is a DIY gift, and I’d love to have something added up on our “Crafts" tab.

This is a gift I made for the baby-ik from... I believe our 3rd monthsary. Haha! I wrote him a letter out of a heart-shaped craft paper, which I made into a make-shift mini envelope for the monthsary coupons. I even added a vintage-y stamp I bought from WitchEngine, and used a calligraphy pen for the lines, and our names. These are coupons the baby-ik could use ONCE A DAY.

His favorite and the most abused coupons of all would be the "Fine You Win This Argument" coupon, and the Back scratch coupon. Sometimes, he'd use the Wildcard coupon as either of these two. 😂 😅

I have like a couple more ideas in mind as monthsary gifts, but sometimes I do not have the time and liberty to make it all happen, especially that we both have different working schedules. But as much as possible, I would really love to share the bits and pieces of the crafts I come up with. I hope you liked this as much as I enjoyed making this, though.

Disclaimer: This idea was inspired by a Pinterest post I randomly stumbled into.

October 17, 2017 — The baby-ik and I have finally reached a year together! A year full of love, happiness, unexpected hurdles, crying, excitement, fear, jealousy, anger, disappointment, anticipation… It was indeed one hell of an emotional roller coaster ride!

But on our day, we were both so busy with werk that we only had a few hours left to celebrate. A few days earlier, I gave him a personalized “down-the-memory-lane kind of a magazine” because I couldn’t find the time to make a scrapbook, especially with work taking up most of my time. I will be showing you 2 of my favorite spreads from the "Magazine" all throughout this blogpost. :)

I know that excuse sounds the lamest but you know me. I’ve always been an “artsy” person.. If only I had the time, I really would’ve made him a scrapbook. But this time, I opted for a more modern alternative since it’s more manageable to make and I could spare a little time on the computer when on break in the office.

He, on the other hand, gave me a dress from Forever21 which turned out to be a failure (lol) because he chose a dress from the plus size section. Haha! He felt like the dress would fit me because it's stretchable. I am very thankful, nevertheless. He paired it with my favorite Tangerine perfume from ZenZest!

We just dined at our favorite Chicken Wings place near my workplace for Dinner, and went home. Nothing special, really. But for both of us… this day meant a lot!

PS. I had the dress altered by a seamstress so it would fit me. Haha!

We welcomed our 10th month together with yet again another petty argument I ought not to tell. I barely had sleep that night because like mentioned in this blogpost, I try not to sleep arguments through. So we tried to settle things all night long. Another bump in the road.

| Related: Unexpected Moments Are Always Sweeter

Fast forward to the morning of 17th August. We were doing great. Hugs and kisses everywhere. He even drove me to work. We exchanged sweet and funny messages all throughout the day when he decided not to reply anymore. I was pretty pissed off because we had plans that day but I could not get a hold of him for hours!

I went out of the office looking so grumpy, when after a few minutes, he arrived on his motorcycle with a big plastic bag somewhere between his legs. I had no idea what it was, and I wasn't expecting anything from him considering that he's not the surprises and pakilig type of guy.

When I finally saw it, my eyes glistened and all hints of grumpiness left my face. I swear I looked like a retard. I just kept on smiling. Haha!

I remember him telling me that carrying bulky bouquet of flowers in public embarrassed him, but look at him now! Haha! I was really surprised! This is the first time I've ever received a bouquet of roses and I'm still feeling giddy while typing this. To top it all off, he bought me my favorite Southside Cajun Wings and we had an intimate dinner at their house.

By far, this has got to be the best thing he did for me. I never imagined him to be this thoughtful since I've always reminded myself that our relationship's not like the movies, and that I am not a princess for him to spoil. 🐷

Nonetheless, I loved the flowers. I appreciate his efforts so much! 💖

First and foremost, happy 9th Monthsary baby-ik! I know it sounds hella cheesy but like I said, I'm a hopeless romantic and I enjoy stuff like this.

I was supposed to start writing about our Bantayan Escapade Day 2 but I thought why not post about this moment and memory right here real quick just for keepsake. For months, my guy has never shown me any signs of his sweet and romantic side. He's not into the mushy stuff like this and admits that he has not even the slightest idea of how 'surprises' work. But look at him now! My baby is no longer a baby! He's grown into a very fine man! Kidding aside, he's learned how to make me feel all giddy with all the butterflies in my tummy, because he's finally come to his senses that I am worthy of these things!

Nah! Just kidding!

With or without these, I'm certain of the fact that he loves me and that I love him. Admittedly, however, I do enjoy these sorts of things. Silly as it may sound, it adds up to my feeling secured in the relationship because my partner really does exert efforts. Surprises and well-thought-of efforts are my thing, but that doesn't mean that if he doesn't do these kind of things, he loves me less. Right baby?

Infrequent efforts like this are very much appreciated. As a matter of fact, unexpected moments are always sweeter. This day, I felt like Rapunzel. Haba ng hair. :D

Look at the typical me starting a new blog all over again. If you know me, you'd know how I've been on and off the blogging world since 2009, and you'd probably also know how I've never been consistent in keeping a blog long enough like how I usually vow to do in every first blog entry I post.. Guess that's just how I roll?!

Not. Cool. Alyssa!

Now another blog has just been set up. This time, however, I'm not alone. My boyfriend (aka baby-ik) and I have decided to set up a blog so we could document our moments, travels, adventures, and pigging out together in one place where we can look back whenever we'd want to. Document memories how good or bad it may be. Hence, the tagline "The Baby-ik Diaries". Although I know I will mostly be writing most of the write-ups in this blog since I am more of the rambling type, being the woman that I am, compared to my guy. Certainly, however, from time to time he will be posting his entries on here as well.

If anyone's ever noticed, this blog marks another platform switch from WordPress to Blogger. In all honesty, I would mostly prefer to blog on WP, but I don't think I have the time, the liberty and the money to manage a blog hosted on WP knowing that I won't be able to keep up with it, especially that I'm working a full-time job now. What more pay for it? I believe this new platform will be more practical for now.

On another note, here's a little something about us:

A little TMI but whatever, really. We had a really rough start with all the people blaming and judging us for the wrong decisions we've made. But apparently, this has made us even more stronger as individuals and as a couple. We've already done our part, apologized to the people we owe it to, and just forgave and forgot.

However, we do have quite a lot of differences, as well -- I'm an idealist, while he's more of a realist. We've had a couple misunderstandings but we always end up agreeing to meet halfway because making things work is more important than our own egos. Somehow, he's managed to adjust to my hopeless romanticism, He's learned to keep-up with my whining and being a crybaby as well, and I've managed to keep up with his own perspectives in life (he can be cynical at times. pssh!). We both learn new things from each other. 

We both want to venture out of our comfort zones but at the same time, we're both afraid of the changes and the challenges we will have to face along the way. But together, we want to overcome all our fears and as much as possible, just be as candid about our experiences.

We've agreed to be the never-ending calm in both our chaos, hence the blog title. We might not know where we are headed to because like what most people say, "walang forever" but we always remind ourselves that forever consists of the "nows" and so we'd be happy to focus just on our "nows".

This blog was created to serve as a documentary of our life together as a couple. For keepsake. This is a place for story.