Tag: Christmas traditions

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Weekend Story: Condo Visit + Naic Trip

Last weekend was quite hectic but still fun. On Saturday, the hubby and I went out of the house for a quick grocery run and to visit our condo to see how it fared after the typhoon (it was fine, thank you). On Sunday, we went to my parents’ house in Naic to get their Christmas tree that was being kept there. They plan to put up the said tree at their place here in Bacoor so baby NJ gets to see one this holiday season. We don’t have a Christmas tree at home (there’s just no space for it in our tiny and cluttered house!) so it’s a good thing we’re neighbors, haha. We got hungry on the road so we stopped by King Bee on our way home from Naic for some delicious Chinese food (my fave!).

The rest of the weekend was spent taking care of baby NJ who’s getting so makulit and malikot lately. She now has eight teeth (and uses them excitedly to bite my poor nipples, ouch!) and is turning 10 months old on the first week of December. Time flies, indeed!

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Post-Christmas Family Date

When I got married, I made it clear with the hubby that I wanted to spend Christmas with my side of the family every year. We actually arrived at a setup that suits the both of us — Christmas at my parents’ place in Naic with my family and New Year at our marital home in Bacoor with his. This way, we get to be with our respective families on these two special occasions. And so far, it’s been working greatly for us. Everybody happy.

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it’s a yellow Christmas for the Mabalay family!

This year, our Christmas traditions as a family (my side) live on. The hubby and I spent Christmas with my family in Naic. We had a family pictorial using our old DSLR (a Canon 1000D) and when the clock struck 12, we partook of our simple Noche Buena feast. There would have been a mini-concert, too, because we have a microphone and an old folding music stand lying around, but unfortunately, the singers in our house (a.k.a. my younger sister Jodie and my dad) weren’t in the mood for it.

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A Blue-Themed Christmas

Despite of what has happened in the Visayas recently, Filipinos still had a reason to observe Christmas here in the Philippines. In our family, we’ve always celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ simply but meaningfully. We give and receive gifts and we partake of our Noche Buena when the clock strikes 12 (midnight).

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the Mabalays and our simple Noche Buena feast

As what the hubby and I had agreed upon before, we joined the Christmas celebration of my family in Naic last December 25. For New Year, the celebration will be with his family at our home in Bacoor. I’m glad that we are able to celebrate these joyous occasions with both sides and that this setup works fine for everybody.

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On Christmas Songs and Christmas Caroling

When I was a kid, I would join other kids in our neighbourhood to go Christmas caroling. Our Christmas songs were limited but we would always manage to impress people with our loud and cheery voices. They say children have the sweetest and most soothing voice, and I guess that’s what we had back then that allowed us to make other people happy and enjoy this wonderful Christmas tradition.

With my out-of-tune voice today, I’ve never really had the guts to join any Christmas carol group, or any singing group for that matter. I remember I was once invited by a friend to join her choir group but I declined. One time she even requested me to find her a guitar mini at musicians friend that she could use in singing with her group. She said guitars are your best friend when it comes to Christmas caroling. She was really passionate about singing and I really admire her for that.

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Decorating for Christmas 2012

Ours may be the only house in the Philippines with not a single sign of the coming Christmas season yet. Our Christmas decors are still wrapped up upstairs and waiting to be reassembled. I dunno, I must just be plain busy or crazy lazy for not acting on them at this point.

Christmas has always been a happy occasion for me. But this Christmas will be a bit different. I will be celebrating it with the hubby for the first time with us as a married couple. I will surely miss having the traditional Noche Buena with my family. We can’t just make plans because it’s a must that we celebrate both Christmas and New Year in our marital house. It’s our first year in this home, after all.

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