On that fateful day of December, 6 years ago, I vowed to spend forever with you. Since then, I woke up every morning with the most radiant sunshine; fell asleep every night with the warmest embrace; woke up in the middle of some nights and found myself spending countless minutes just staring at you.

Ever since that day, life became so much more vibrant, colorful, and worth living. Every moment since then, your existence gave me purpose, direction, and meaning. And I can’t thank you enough for that.

It’s been 6 years my love, six wonderfully amazing years since we said “I do” in front of the altar. I can’t wait for the rest of forever… I love you. Happy Anniversary!

We have around a month and a half  left in the school year here in Brunei. We will have the whole month of December off and even though we will not be able to go home to the Philippine, I am looking forward to having a whole month to do anything with my family.

How I wish we have a car so we can go around and take the kids to the different parks here in Brunei. Andrea is hoping she can do some digital scrapbooking layouts or work on some of the things she has long been planning to do. We will have to keep ourselves busy so that we won’t feel too bad about not being able to go home this December. Right now, all I’m looking forward to is a whole month of vacation. It does not matter whether we’re here in Brunei or back home in the Philippines.

The dependent visas of Andrea, Mateo, and Anika are finally approved! It was a huge relief when we got the approval even though it means shelling out a huge amount too as security deposit. However, aside from the required security deposit, the three of them were initially told to go back to the Philippines to get the visas stamped on their passports in the Brunei Embassy there. Since it would be such a hassle (and more expensive!) to go home to the Philippines in the next few weeks, we requested if we could get their passports stamped in the Brunei Consulate in Kota Kinabalu instead.

The request was granted and we’ll be going to Kota Kinabalu some time next week. There is a quick 50-minute flight through Royal Brunei Airlines but ticket costs almost 200BND each so we have decided to just take the ferry to Labuan then another ferry to KK. Simply put, it will be an adventurous trip for us since it will be the first ferry trip for both Mateo and Anika.

It doesn’t help that the ferry schedules will force us to go around Labuan for around 3-4 hours. With the intense tropical heat, we will have to find ways to cool down the kids. Anika is ready with her hat and Kuya even has his sunglasses. Andrea jokingly said that it would be great if she also has a pair of Carrera Sunglasses to help her eyes with the bright sunlight we’re sure to encounter. So despite the very tight budget that we have for the short 3-day trip, we hope to enjoy it as much as we can. It is another country to visit and we are eager to experience Malaysia!

Andrea’s sister has finally arrived two weeks ago. She is one of the reasons why I initially preferred a two-bedroom house when I was searching for a place for us to rent. However, during the months that she was  not yet here, Mateo took over the second bedroom, along with his toys and stuff.

So now they share a bedroom and we realize that we might need to start looking for a three-bedroom house soon. It is a good thing that with the large number of expats here, there is no shortage of houses for rent. Some of the locals even buy manufactured homes for sale specifically for renting out to expat families like ours.

For the mean time, this house is enough for us. Maybe in a year or two, when Mateo is bigger already we can start our house search once again.

Since we brought nothing but our clothes here, we needed to buy everything that we need for the house. Right now, the house still lacks a lot of things; one of which is a TV. Although not having a TV was perfectly okay with us, we have started missing it after half a year of not having one. Still, we consider it a luxury for now since we still have a lot of things that we need for the house. Aside from this, we will have to look at tv mounts as well if we do decide to buy a TV. Not to mention that we need cable subscription (which will be another cost!) if we want to watch channels that we can understand. But we are hoping to get one next year even without cable. We can always play DVDs or download movies and TV shows that we can watch.

I have lost some weight since I got here. My daily routine of going to work has forced me to engage in some light walking that has served as regular daily exercise.

Every morning, I walk to school then I walk to and from our house during lunch time. It is only in the late afternoon when I take the service back home. The three walks that I do every day seems to be great fat burners because it has made me lost a few pounds. Now, if only I do not have to do all those walks with a bag, books, and the hot Bruneian sun.

One of the drawbacks of having a car here is in cases when you get into a car accident. Although accidents are not as frequent as back home, those that do occur are often more serious than the usual small bumps. Since the roads are smooth and usually free from heavy traffic, the cars on them move really fast. Hence, an accident often involves more serious damage to the car and the passengers. In other words, getting into an accident might require the services of something similar to the Austin Personal Injury Attorney from O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949. Since we are hoping to get a car here some time in the future, I am hoping too that we won’t need this kind of legal service.

Mateo has been making lots of stuff with his Lego toys that impress even Andrea and me. The other day, he made a submarine which he proudly showed to us. The submarine was well-balanced, color-coordinated, and even had a propeller. Best of all, it can pass off as a submarine. I was delighted that he is obviously developing a great eye for detail, space, and balance. I guess I know now what I’ll be giving him for Christmas.

Finally, we get to rest, relax, and just stay home. Term break started last Tuesday and although the two-week break will end three days earlier for me, I am still thankful that me and my family get to spend a lot of time together even if we just mostly stay at home. However, it does not mean that I will not be working while at home. I need to check several piles of midyear exams during the break but I’m sure I’ll be able to finish it even while lounging around the house.

Every time I look at Mateo and Anika, I feel grateful that they are healthy and normal. With the number of things that can go wrong from conception to birth and even afterwards, having such healthy and normal children is a miracle. I read about a Topamax lawsuit that a family filed because their baby was born with cleft lip from the Topamax medicine that the mother took to address migraine headaches. The contact details of the lawyers from O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949 helped them learn more about the lawsuit and the possible actions they can take. As for me, I am just grateful that my kids are healthy and normal and I hope that every family get to experience the same miracle.