my heart bleeds as a Mom...

I just want to pour this out, for two days last week (around Friday and Saturday) I 've been disturbed and affected by another news that made UPLB (University of the Philippines Los Banos) popular again. It is though for a very sad reason, because of another heinous crime committed against a UPLB student, Given Grace Cebanico.
Let's go a little trip down memory lane...

When I entered the same University approximately 17years ago, it was the height time of the Eileen Sarmenta-Allan Gomez case, in which a female student (Eileen), was raped and  together with her friend and fraternity brother (Allan) they were both abducted first then killed. The culprit behind was then Calauan Mayor Armand Sanchez,which I would like to believe is still suffering in prison now. He was actually convicted in 1994, that is a year after it happened. The University was still in mourning when I started as a freshie and I saw the palm trees in Royal Palm Drive dressed in black ribbons.

Royal Palm Drive, UPLB

This year it happened again because of Given's death. I was really disturbed and affected with what happened to her, maybe because this time I am no freshie anymore but a new mom. I can feel the anguish of Given's parents especially her mom's. Having raised your daughter for 19 years only for some people to take her away from you forever. Given Grace was abducted on night of October 10, 2011, was raped, nabbed then shot on the forehead. Her mouth was tied not only with a hanky but of masking tape. Her body was found on an isolated area of the University. These are such evil doings no one can easily fathom.

You see Given is a DOST Scholar, a College Scholar ( which means she has good grades), she is already on her third year and hopes to graduate next year, dreams of helping out her pastor dad, her teacher mom and 12 year old brother.  Those dreams can't be fulfilled anymore, her precious life has ended caused by some cruel criminals. She is a sweet girl, a church song leader and a good friend. Good that after two days, the suspects were already apprehended and hopefully will pay for their wrongdoings in jail.
However which way, justice may have prevailed but Given cannot return anymore, and my heart bleeds as a mom. As parents we all have good things planned for our children-a good future, a good life. Looking at my daughter as I put her to sleep and thinking of it all-that something as cruel will happen to her is unimaginable, unthinkable! I will die!
I may not know their family personally but I have been praying for them ever since, for peace and acceptance. I have worn this as profile picture in my Facebook account for a few days as support for Given, her family and to the UPLB community.

mommy moments - mommy's favorite products

I discovered these products in 2009, I wasn't really aware of all the 'bad and harmful' chemicals in the everyday products that we use until I found out about Human Nature.  Since then I became more conscious of the ingredients a product contains and has also started to READ the LABELS. 

For Mommy Moments this week, which features Mommy's Favorite Products, I am sharing various Human nature products. These products are staples in my everyday ritual. I really do not have a beauty regimen, and they say that women should start caring for their skin during their mid-twenties(sigh!). All I do is clean, exfoliate 3-4 times a week and that's it, no toner, no moisturizer (yeah I know I should!), that is why I am planning to improve my so called rituals. Before we move on, here are my personal favorites...

1.) Human Nature Hydrating Facial Wash (with moringa and aloe vera- I use for cleansing, though the scent isn't much of a winner but the effects are great for me)

2.) Human Nature Exfoliating Facial Scrub ( uses coffee as exfoliating beads, as compared to commercial scrubs, it has no yummy sweet scent that makes it more natural)

3.) Human Nature Natural Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner ( this one has a citrus scent that makes your hair smell so fresh)

I will share some more about Human Nature in future posts and why I decided to become an organic/natural product advocate. Well, there you go for my favorite things...

written for :

It's a Big World by renee and jeremy

My daughter has been addicted to this video lately. Whenever I will play it in youtube, she stops whatever she is doing and watches. She doesn't blink,haha  And I just want to share it with you :

As a parent I also like the video. It comes with a very simple but colorful animation that will capture the attention of a child (my daughter for is an example). The music/song is also quite relaxing and gives an LSS (Last Song Syndrome) whenever I will listed to it. I also love their song "Night Mantra" which is very soothing, call it modern lullabye. 

I just saw this from one of the blogs I read, (I am sorry if I forgot where) it is collaboration of parents/ husband&wife Renee & Jeremy  who loves music and they make children's music that children and people of all ages enjoy.  You an actually download some free songs on their site, including the one above. You just need to subscribe to their email. I just did. You can visit reneeandjeremy.com to view andbuy their song and look in to for more details. 

red and sweet (RMH#10)

My daughter turned  9 months last October 6th. How time really flies, I can still remember same time last year when I was so pregnant. As we all know, pregnancy can bring those weird cravings, as for me I did not really experience out of the world preference for foods. I just consumed my 'favorite' foods in larger amounts and portions. And for this week's Red Hot Monday I am sharing with you one of my favorite fruits of all time ( pregnant or not)...red and sweet lychees!

post made for 

thank you giveaway by jen

If you are a Hello Kitty fan, you might like to join this lovely giveaway by With Love, Jen as she sponsors a Hello Kitty Giveaway as a thanksgiving for her 100 followers. You can drop by With Love, Jen for more information.

Weekend Blog Follower Caravan #25

Hi fellow bloggers! Here's to another week of Weekend Blog Follower Caravan, the last caravan I followed was quite exciting because it is a 3-in-1 follow. For this week, the excitement is much the same since it is going to be a Google Friend Connect  follow (head on to the right side of my blog for my GFC widget)

Thank you for this week's sponsors Techie She and GEORYL : Welcome to Our World. 

Weekend Blog Follower Cravan is a simple online blogger-helping blogger weekly meme which was designed for bloggers to help each other in terms of blog followers either through GFC or email subscription.

CLICK HERE for more information and if you want to join this caravan!

love skin best giveaway

Love Skin Best is sponsoring a giveaway "100 Followers and Birthday Giveaway"...all the items above are at stake...the giveaway is open worldwide until October19th.

Just visit  Love Skin Best for more details or you can click the photo above.