How dare I

How dare I browsing photos of my late mother in Facebook? Tonight, I lost to loneliness again just like the other day, and days before that, and before that.

Tonight, I wanted to scream but I know no one will understand the pain and longing i feel.

Blessings ♥

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Confession of a K Drama-rama Addict here

My hubby and I have been addicted to Korean drama series lately that sleeping at 4 AM in the morning is already a norm on weekends. They're irresistible that we'll stay late just so we can watch the most episodes in a day.

It started with Descendants of the Sun (DOTS). I'm sure you've heard about this. On it's last two episodes now, this series has been phenomenal. We then started watching Songkwunyuk Scandal (SKK) because were impatient in waiting for the next episodes of DOTS, as my husband said "I need my daily dose of K drama".

After that was Rooftop Prince where I cried and fall in love over again. Just last night we finished The Girl Who Sees Scents and started My Love from Another Star (MLFAS). Believe me, we can't leave the lounge easily, we're so hooked watching it online.

I like Micky Yoochun so much that I have his photo favorite'd on my phone. Haha. That photo from The Rooftop Prince. Tell me now that if this is not worth it. 

Nevertheless Ive observed that getting so hooked with this brings bad side as well. Addiction itself is already one plus it affects work, it's difficult to concentrate and I use my break sometimes to continue watching the episode online. Our initial plan to go back to Japan for vacation has now has been crossed out and instead we will go back to Seoul instead. It also has lessened my time with the kids. Haha. Im beginning to be a lesser responsible mother now! Forgive me, children. Haha. Blame your father. LOL

So I'm promising myself to change - after MLFAS. Ill start to forget Yoochun and just show all my love to my husband. Hahaha. Over!

Maybe he can pass as a pinoy Korean boy too! hahaha.

Blessings ♥

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Fridge them not

Hey you house makers like me! Do you know that there are certain food that should not be putting on the fridge? When we do our groceries, it's been a norm to put all easily perishable items on the fridge to preserve them but there are some which we don't have to. 

You can google about this rule on the kitchen but what I have on my lists are potatoes, onions, ginger, bread, garlic are some of those. But where to store them so they wont be a clutter on your kitchen? There are a lot of storage ideas from Pinterest but if you want the basic container, a rattan basket would be good.  

As for me, I originally used my glass bowl. It looked okay at first but when we have a lot, it just cannot contain them all until I saw this stainless basket from Howards. I think it looks better and holds more. Now it's neat. 

You agree?

You agree?

Blessings ♥

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I really dont know where to start again

That is exactly what I thought when I went online on this page again. It seems that I went on a permanent hiatus. Uh, uh. i used to be able to blog often because I got time at work but with my role now, its just impossible. Its the same thing when Im at home or with the family. Im just loaded with other stuff to do but, I wish to be able to blog again. There are just too many beautiful memories to record online. The Lord has been really good to us, you know. And I'm not talking about the happy moments alone but also the sad and complicated events which completes and gave colors to this human life.

I want to share about my daughter, Hershey's 7th birthday last year and Halle's 2nd birthday celebration in Japan. These events are huge and for the first time, I didn't  prepare for a party for Halle. Yey! Im changed. Haha. We went abroad instead.

And then, Hershey had her 8th birthday just few weeks back how time flies. She had a two day celebration, she was happy.  While me doing some additional touch up on my kitchen. Me redecorating Hershey's room, and many more.

As much as I want to continue typing more on this entry but I have to sleep. Its almost 1 A.M. and I have gastritis attack since this afternoon so I better rest. Still got work tomorrow. 

Take care and see you again.

Blessings ♥

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Today - Nanay knows best

Today my heart aches because i miss my mother. As i prepare my daughter for school, they are to wear their country's native costume on racial harmony day so she wears a Filipiniana, I am just humbled because as I fix Hershey's hair, check that her clothes look good on her, prepares her accessories, sandals that would go with it, memories from my own childhood flashed back before me. I am no different than my mother. I remember that in every school occasions, when we had to wear costume or come to school in casual clothing, my mom prepares for it. I may not have the most beautiful or expensive attire but surely i come neat and prepared.

With that, I left an impression to my grade school classmates that I am well loved. They say that every time there are occasions in school they would expect me to come well prepared - i come to seize the day. Haha. I may not have the most beautiful costume but surely I'm not the last and I appreciate that. Just hearing the comments from former classmates that they too remembered those makes me appreciated my mother more.

I once asked some kids in our community here in Singapore if they wear their Philippine dresses, Filipiniana or barong for boys during school events and they said no because they don't have. I was like, what? So you wear what? School uniform while the rest walking and roaming school looking nice and pretty? They say yes, and tries to shrug it off. I don't blame the mothers but i actually blame them. Haha. Because its not compulsory they just don't care or maybe I'm just a stage mother. Just as my mom. 

So i don't know until when would my kid want to wear such in school but as long as she wants - will do. Its not too much anyway so more to come.

Thanks Mudrabells for showing me to love my daughter with some extra toppigns. Love plus more. 

There. 

Christian Grey

I am looking at myself in the Ladies' room mirror in the office and I think I look nice in the long sleeves dress Im wearing. Whats even better is i bought this on sale from H&M. But then I remember Christian Grey. He was judging Anastasia Steele by how she dress up, describing her outfit as cheap from maybe H&M or Old Navy when she appeared in his office to interview him.

 Oh come on! What does it make me now? Even worse coz I got this on sale? I so hate you, Christian. Really.

Love, Hapi

Catching up, i hope

Its 2am and now planning to go to sleep. Cold room with kids who doesnt like to cover themselves. Im chilling. Im sure to have colds in the morning when I wake up. 

Its been 6 months plus since my last post. A lot of beautiful things have been happening. My girls are well and happy. Husband is getting fatter and hotter! Haha. Me, exhausted but satisfied. 

I know i kind of abandoned my posts on our flat renovation, it will be almost a year since so our space is well used now. Haha. Today my glass cabinet has been delivered. After the renovation there are really still more to do to make this place a home so decorating is on going. 

This is our living room. We changed our sofa. Its bigger and better compared to the first one we bought. Hehe. And those are toys peekin. Well what can I do? I got kids.

I think ill start posting this kind of stuff again. We'll see.

Thats all for now. God bless and good night. 

 

Halle is ONE!

Halle is ONE!

Last December 01,2014 - my little baby turned one. We had dinner at home together with our family. My mother and sister in law were with us so we are very happy to celebrate it with them. 

We prepared a simple dinner, Filipino food like pansit and spaghetti for long life. Haha.

Here are some of our family photos. 

And then on the 6th of Dec, Saturday, we celebrated her birthday again with a party  this time with more family and friends. 

My elder daughter Hershey has been planning for Halle's party. She suggested the theme and worked with me on some decorations. Since the Frozen movie is the hottest pick for birthday theme for children this day, we didn't miss that too but I dont want it to be too much 'frozeny'. I wanted it with a twist so thought of making it a Winter ONEderland. Thanks to all the shared ideas of mommies over the internet. 

Everything is DIY. Its really exhausting and time consuming but all worth it when you hear how people appreciate what you did. 

Photos here. 

And yes we had Elsa. I really made sure Elsa would be Caucasian. Haha. Para feel talaga. And there she is... Lol

We thank the Lord for giving Halle to us. We thank the Lord for being too good gifting us the cutest baby that day of Dec 1st. 

We love you Halle. May you grow and live by your name. Halle-lujah!

She's still always right

Everytime I want to arrange Halle's stuff like pillow or blanket or anything around her because I would think its not correct or she's more comfortable with this or that and while she's sleeping, I always hear a voice in my head that says, No! The exact instructions, "indi pag tanduga, pabay-i lang. Karon gani mabugtaw na." Sometimes i think that somebody will just slap my hands if I make a move. What's funny is when I just do it and ignore the voice, my daughter will wake up and I'll hate myself and feel bad for my daughter - it was her sweet time sleeping and I disturbed it. 

Ha! This voice. She's still right even she's only a voice. 

Missing you badly. 

You cannot Love God without Loving the Jews

I owe in wonder how special these people are. Jews, the people of God, specially chosen. Just the thought makes me want to worship God more.

by Guilio Meotti

I don’t know another nation on earth which since its founding, than seventy years ago, had to sacrifice 23,000 soldiers.

I don’t know another nation on earth where the winners tend to lose wars.I don’t know another nation on earth without recognized borders.
I don’t know another nation on earth whose population lives under a perpetual emotional strain.
I don’t know another nation on earth threatened to be wiped off the map.
I don’t know another nation on earth so threatened by boycotts all over the world.
I don’t know another nation on earth where the winners tend to lose wars.
I don’t know another nation on earth which provides its own enemy with water, electricity, food, weapons, and medical treatment.
I don’t know another nation on earth where guests on official visits utter disrespectful and offensive words.
But I also don’t know another nation on earth which has recorded so many miracles.
Imagine a helpless, naked  Jew at the gas ovens facing a Nazi official, who thinks he will get rid of the “Jewish cancer”, get rid of this unique phenomenon of 2,000 years.
Could that helpless, naked Jew imagine that in 50 years other Jews will be flying F-16’s in the skies over Israel?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel’s population today would be nine times that of 1948, the year of the state’s creation?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel is much happier than all the European countries?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel has the highest production of scientific publications per capita in the world?
Could that helpless Jew imagine  that Israel has the highest worldwide publication of new books?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel is the only nation which began the XXI century with a net gain in the number of trees?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel has with largest number of chess grandmasters per capita of any city in the world?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel is the nation whose academics produce more scientific papers per capita than anywhere else in the world?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel is the nation with the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel is the country which, in proportion to its population, with the largest number of startup companies in the world?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel is the country with the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita?
Could that helpless Jew imagine that Israel is the nation with the largest immigrant-absorbing model on earth?
Unfortunately, you will not find Israel’s goodness and superiority in the media (also Israeli), because it doesn’t fit in with the stereotype of the colonialist Zionist occupier.
In the world’s consciousness, the word “Israel” must be equated with fear.
Israel just came out of another war against terrorists whose value is less than that of animals. Do you know of any animal species sheltering behind its own children?
But the Jewish State, despite its media, its cynical politicians, establishment, once again showed the world it is the best humanity has to offer.
This hope is impressed in the faces of Israel’s fallen soldiers, its wounded and injured soldiers. In those faces there is joy de vivre, not sadness or hatred.
Terrorists and their Western appeasers want to destroy Israel because it is a light unto the nations.
The only one in the world in which we live.

 The Lord bless Israel.


Blessings ♥

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Our New Adobe Chronicles : Buying a flat in SG update : My husband's POV 2 - Choosing the Interior Designer

 Choosing the Interior Designer/ Contractor. This was a strenuous and exciting part of our renovation process. I think we have met and engaged via e-mail around 12-15 IDs before finalizing our decision.

I will provide my very honest opinion and do note that this is just my own personal experience and must never reflect the overall reputation of the company. This SHOULD NOT deter your decision if you are already in the midst of discussion with them. We are just very keen (is the word kiasu?) on this since we have a very limited budget of 35K and I need to be 100% sure that we chose the correct one. Your experience will of course vary!

Just PM me if you need my comments and experience with the IDs below  :notti:

    D*n from 3D Interior
    Y*ka from Superhome Design
    Sha*ow P*n of Leef Deco
    Jo*n*y from **
    E*na C*en from i-Bridge Design -
    Er*c H**ng from Homestyle Design
    De*n*s from Decomark
    R*n from NID Design Studio
    R*n from Top Design & Renovation
    I*a* from Eirado Design & Co
    A*v*n A* - Matrix Concept -
    J*h*ny from Scycreation + DC
    B*nja*in from Form&Space
    K*vin Contractor

 ... etc... some I forgot, some just those who dropped me an SMS or message via PM  but, didn't get back to me

 whew long post! now... the best of the best IDs coming up...  :jammin:
These are the best IDs that we got in touch with and you cannot go wrong with any of them!


E**ie from Faith Interior Design - One of the very first ID we met. Young guy... I think almost the same age as me. Very cool, enthusiastic, polite yet straight to the point! very well prepared in our first meeting... lots of design ideas. Very professional... I like also that their name is FAITH  :notti: This is the benchmark of all the IDs that we were looking for...

     The only thing that deterred us to take his services is the high quote he was giving us. He adjust the budget but had to cut some measurements like making the feature wall from 8ft to 6ft, Cutting some corners... etc.. They also had a kitchen/ toilet package that we can justify with the price. I think he quoted me around 15K ++... just for that alone... and whatever items you are adding in kitchen, then additional cost will of course incur.

 Andr*w from Designer Guy - This is an excellent top notch, ID. Lots of good reviews in the forum and I have seen his actual work when he let me visit one of the flat he just renovated. He is those guys that you can laugh with and easy to get along... only thing is, Language Barrier... when he first called me up, I really had difficulties understanding & conversing with him. We think that this could cause an issue when we need to explain what we wanted... there are also numerous times that he  keeps on bashing other ID that I'm feeling uncomfortable. His initial price was sky high but, managed to go down to 30K ... still a very very hard decision when we had to let him go because of the iD below.  :dunno:  :(

THE WINNER! :good:   Design4space!! We are still in the process of renovating so. I will reserve my overall judgment of the name of the ID but, so far all ok. This is a combination of Faith and DG's attitude. We like him that he is very keen into details, very easy to converse with and professional in dealing with us. We only spoke on the phone and when I 1st met up with him, he indeed remembered and wrote down all the details! Quote is also reasonable and with a discount LOL. mhc

Blessings ♥

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Our New Adobe Chronicles : Buying a flat in SG update : My husband's POV

In continuation to our new adobe saga, with the help of my hubby, I will be able to update my blog on that. Here's some of his post from a local forum.

Posted 02 August 2014 - 12:07 AM

Hi folks! Been reading Renovation Blogs for months now and decided to also share mine! We are a simple PR couple with 2 cute daughters living in your lovely country for 6 years now. We decided to look for our own home due to sky high prices of rental fee and relocating every 1 or  2 years is a NIGHTMARE! For those who were renting before will know how it feels.   Anyhow... enough about myself and start with some information with our new home!   
We were living most of life in Pasir Ris and we just love it due to (I think) smaller population, lots of nice local people, near the beach, Airport, clean, relatively safe (?), our Church is here as well as our family and friends hence, we did not even think about other district. Our main preference in our home is, it should be CORNER LOT (for privacy) and near DOWNTOWN EAST (for late night movies. HAHA) , VERY BRIGHT and with Balcony area that's it. Our property agent was pretty ok with helping us though, most of the time, it was our own effort in looking on the Property sites on the internet for the houses we need to view. I think we almost visited at least 25 homes before we decided on this. Got the keys 1 day in advance on the 28th! Started the renovation on the 30th of July! Soooo stoked...   
See the floorplan below, it's pretty ok ... we are currently living in an Executive Apartment rental HDB so, this is noticeably smaller but, not complaining at all, we experienced living in a 2 room hdb flat before so... this is all good. We just feel blessed that we finally have a home of our own for my kids to play and mess around. Floor size is 127 sqm, corner lot, low floor..
Notes:

• The study/ bedroom doesn't have a wall so we will be using this as a Dining Area. We don't need a 4 bedroom anyway. 
• Kitchen area is a bit small and does not have any service yard like the new BTOs. It is also quite odd that it has 2 entrance! So we will close the entrance near the storage and create a glass wall to make it more nicer and brighter.
• Master bedroom is just ok... it is rectangular so we will just have to do with what space we have
• The room adjacent to it will be for my young 6 years old kid and maid.
• Other common room is just for guests. 

 Here are some of the pre-renovated photos!

  Design. We initially does not have any clue.. me and my wife discussed that we are NOT really into those popular modern Scandinavian theme or anything to do with modern! LOL. Nope... we are not old, we're just in our early 30s. What inspired us are those HDB Malay Houses.... there's just this attractiveness with kampong 'old' style look in their home. We used to live in a 4rm flat Malay house we were renting and the Landlady decorated her home with some Jewels, Rattan swings, lots of Mirrors and Lattice Windows. THIS IS WHAT WE WANTED... old style, and a touch of country/ classic look. 
And end quote.

Blessings ♥

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Singapore Primary One Registration Exercise : PR's anxious

Enough with the new adobe chronicles for now because I have new things to think about.

My Hershey will be in primary one this January 2015. Since 3 July 2014, the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) have started with Primary One Registration Exercise and officially yesterday I've been anxious of the result of the registration for the school we wish to enroll our child.

preparing the requirements

In Singapore, enrolling a child in primary school follows a rigorous procedures. They implement phases as to when a Singaporean, a permanent resident and a foreigner can start registering their children.

More info here,  primary-one-registration/phases

We fall under this category:

For children who are Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents :
Phase 2C-  For all children who are eligible for Primary One in the following year and are not yet registered in a primary school
              -Registration starts on Wednesday, 30 July 2014 end on Friday, 1 Aug 2014

              -Announcement of result, by Wednesday, 6 August 2014

And you ask why there is an announcement of result? Because schools with very good reputation usually fill their vacancies faster than the rest. Like for the school we wanted, Pasir Ris Primary, which is just 2 blocks away from our house, as of yesterday it has an extra of 10 students (from phase 2B). Then balloting happens. Balloting will be conducted if the number of applications to a school exceeds the number of vacancies available in any of the phases from Phase 2A(1) onwards. It is conducted within the school premises.

And if you read through here, primary-one-registration/allocation/, you'll realize, this is harsh, very harsh for permanent residents. Didn't even stand a chance. Oh well, should be fair enough though, SC must be given priority. 

I'm just concern because I really want my daughter to enrol there mainly because of comfort as it is just a 2-minute walk from our place.


Crossing our fingers. May this be God's will.

Blessings ♥

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She's just a child

I posted these on the GirlTalk Forum.The thread is about Teaching your toddler-pre schooler.

"I used to teach my daughter with her spelling assignment.  They have quiz every Tues so I help her prepare. Eventually, I don't na. I just ask her if she has reviewed if yes, then okay, lets have a quiz, it not i'll remind her to. Usually aayaw kasi syempre tinatamad gusto mag tv lang pero i tell her,

"Bey ( as in Beybi ) you know you have to study. It is for your own good but if you don't like, okay sige, when you'll find a job, they won't check naman your spelling scores pero you'll see your workbook with red correction markings from your teacher. if it's alright for you to see it, then walang problema saken. Go on watching tv and just play." Then I'll go but before I even take my second step away, "Okay, Okay, I'll study now!"

Done. after that I'll do the test. Perfect score. hahaha."

"Taught my daughter to put cetaphil on her face instead of me or yaya doing it for her. besides she likes doing make up naman so sagarin nya na. LOL.

but I give her an option to ask yaya if she's not in the mood. i have that special rule at home. i teach her the basics, like fixing her part of the bed before sleeping, preparing her school stuff the night before, keep all her toys after playing, etc (and I double check) but I give her also the option not to do if shes not in the mood. you see, i put myself on my daughter's shoes, there are times that i really don't want to do chores because im tired or im simply lazy. wala lang gana. so i know sa kada tao dumadating ang mga panahon na ganyan so i give her that right - she would sometimes get irritated kasi andami nyang gagawin, syempre andami nyang kalat, she'll fuzz that shes tired and 'i do all' na mga linya. those time i give way. its either yaya will complete for her or ill do it.

but this should not happen often kasi ending nyun iba na. youll know naman kelan nag aarte lang ang bata vs sa she had a lot na talaga. i think this has a positive effect on her. nagiging alert sya sa responsibility nya.

i used to also reward her pag she does good stuff. simple chores. pero it was just when we were starting. eventually she has to know that those are tasks that she needs to do. hindi yun pabor. i always tell her, when you grow up, youll understand. she's 6. :) hopeful for that day. "

Many have mentioned that my daughter thinks maturely. I know that. I know she's smart. Even when she's still small, you can just explain things to her and she does it fine, but I guess because I know she's intelligent, I sometimes become too hard on her. I expect a lot from my daughter which I think is wrong. She's tall and big, looks like a primary school student but really inside, she's just a child. Sometimes, I have to stop and remind myself that I am dealing with a 3-4-5- and now shes 6 year old and that I don't have to be too hard for her. In spite of me being unreasonable sometimes, I thank God I have a daughter who understands. There is no question that I love her, that I want her to be responsible as early as now but sometimes, I'm forgetting the fact that she needs to be a child and I should embrace it because her it is not forever and I know that.

 This parenting thing, not easy really! :)

Blessings ♥

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Our New Adobe Chronicles : Buying a flat in SG update 4

9th of June 2014, we had our first appointment with the HDB Customer Relations Manager. It was successful and we already received a confirmation letter from them that we are now clear to proceed to Our last and final appointment which will be this July where the keys will be handed over to us. I really cant wait, mah! ⌛️

Every weekend we are out and about looking for appliances and furniture. It's exciting but at the same time really tiring! We had our eyes on a dining table + chairs for a couple of weeks now, we just can't decide sooner because we were waiting for the best timing but it's been too long and the store is willing to give discount anyway and so we just decided to buy it and have it scheduled for delivery end of August. We are looking to finish the renovation in hopefully 5 weeks time. Two of the IDs that we have shortlisted said that the reno would go beyond 4 weeks which means we will need to stay a week more on our current rented flat or move in to the new house with still some carpentry to finish. Still contemplating but I guess we really don't have a choice, do we?

On our list of the things to do is to visit renovation stores like the last time we visited Soon Bee huat a tile shop in Eunos. We were overwhelmed with the choices. They're a lot! 

                                     

And then yesterday, one of our shortlisted IDs brought us to another tile shop with much more wider choices! We don't know what to choose anymore. 

                                               

   We have a lot of tiling to do so we would need to carefully choose the best with the price that we can afford. As usual we don't want to go overboard.  

 As for the house furnishing, we have visited of course IKEA, Courts Tampines, Harvey Norman and Gain City - our list of choices are getting longer. So far its only the dining table that we technically have bought, still a long way to go! :_)

Samahan kami ng Diyos.

Blessings ♥

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Buying flat in SG : Update 3

Yow!

Good news. Last week we already received an e-mail from the Singapore Housing and Dev board, the schedule of our first appointment.

Purpose of the First Appointment

The First Appointment is arranged for the HDB Customer Relations Manager to meet both the resale flat buyer and the seller. The appointment is for the HDB Customer Relations Manager to:

Discuss Administrative Matters

• Verify buyer’s eligibility
• Explain the resale procedures to buyer
• Obtain buyer's authorisation for the HDB to act for the buyer in the conveyancing (buyer may engage his own solicitor to act for him)
• Confirm on the Manner of Holding (for applications with more than one buyer)
• Fix the Completion Date for the purchase

Finalise Buyer’s Resale Financial Plan 

•    Bank loan/bacruptcy

 It will be on the first week of June! We're so excited that we can't wait. :)

On the renovation plan, many of those contractors/IDs have submitted their quotations.

We will haggle the price as I am firm to stick to our budget even though the bank is willing to give more than that. No reason for a full reno. Must.Save! :)

Blessings ♥

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Buying flat in SG : Update 2

Hello there.

The major project is still on going, were just having delays because it took weeks for HDB (Housing and Development Board) to release the valuation report for the unit we chose which we will base our mortgage loan + total cashout upon completion. While we were waiting, we also used this time to "think and decide whether we really want to buy the flat". As the HDB website suggests, Step 3: Make use of the Option period to review the purchase and we have decided. Now that the valuation report is out, we are waiting for the schedule of our "First Appointment".


The HDB will send a letter to both the buyer and the seller confirming the date and time of their First Appointment to process their purchase/sale transaction. If either the buyer or the seller does not turn up for the First Appointment, the resale transaction will be cancelled. (source)

And of course, we didn't miss this opportunity to meet with some contractor/interior design companies.We already have spoken to quite a few, we are weighing who is the best and we already have some favorites in terms of ideas, customer rapport and price. We will be meeting with a few more so we'll see.

                

Nothing else to say but PRAISE THE LORD!

Blessings ♥

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