Hello everyone! Happy new year! I haven't been active here again because I became busy during the holiday season. I'm sorry if I didn't even wish you a "merry Christmas" and a "happy new year" right on time. But anyway, I wish you guys to have more blessings and wonderful experiences this year.
To be honest, I don't really feel like Christmas last month was more exciting. I don't know if this is just a part of adulting because we are already used to celebrating it every year. But I think some of you would still consider it special because you celebrate it with your new or special loved ones.
Aside from adulting, another reason why I can't feel like celebrating it is because, as for me and my family, celebrating Christmas last month and the new year this year made us sad because we lost someone important to us again. It's too cruel because we always experienced it before Christmas.
We are deciding whether we will still celebrate it or not. Because it's hard to pretend to be happy. Because in the morning and afternoon, my family will visit the wake and help to take care of the visitors, and on the night of January 24, we will count to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Isn't it hard? Celebrating though, your other family is suffering from loneliness.
Despite the fact that this happened to our family, we tried to be happy and celebrate it naturally, like other people do. I also received some gifts from my mom, older sister, grandma, and aunts, and of course, since I joined the exchange gift event of HivePH, I received a gift from someone who got my name too.
Well, I don't know what to write this time, so I decided to write a blog about the gifts that I received from them and the things that I also gave.
GIFTS THAT I RECIEVED FROM MY MOM:
First are these seven blue corner shirts from my mom. The first week of December, my sister asked me which I preferred, "Plain or Printed?" And I answered her "Plain," even though I don't know what exactly she is referring to. Then, before Christmas, I received a parcel. I was shocked because I didn't order anything, but when I opened it, this is what I received.
To be honest, I really don't know if I will be happy or not with what I receive. There's a part of me that's happy because I have new plain shirts, not because of the colors that my mom chose.
I am not into yellow, green, pink, or any light colors, my god! I still have a little patience for the orange shirt because it's fine, but I think I will look like an orange fruit when I wear it. But what about the other shirt? I don't know if I can wear it outside.
Well, my mom's reason for buying me a shirt and choosing these colors is that she is tired of me wearing dark colors and wearing the same shirt every time I go outside, even though I have a lot of shirts in my cabinet. I am a little mad, but I didn't show this emotion to her and just thanked her.
I went to Mabalacat, Pampanga, with my family yesterday, and I decided to wear the yellow shirt because I didn't have a choice.
I don't know if it looks good to me, but I think the color is brighter to my eyes, which is new to me. So, not bad.
Another gift that I received from her was that she sent me cash. She is worried about my skin because I look stressed and depressed, and she is worried that I didn't take care of myself. She knew that I was stressed and depressed about my health condition. So she told me to use the money she gave me to pick and buy some skin care.
Do you believe me when I say that back in the past, I had clear and glassy skin? But, because of the stress and depression, I didn't have time to take care of myself again.
Oh noes, I'm talking about the past again. Anyway, In the past few months, I have experienced a little acne breakout, especially on my forehead. Aside from that, my skin has become dull and dry. My mom was worried because I looked plain and sick. The reason is that I am just staying at home, and I don't like to spend some money to buy some skincare because I think that it's expensive.
Well, I know that some of you might think that I am old enough to handle and care for myself, especially this kind of "luho" or spoiling myself and not my mom. I didn't tell my mom to buy me some skincare, and I know that I should be the one responsible for this problem, but what do you expect from a person that ungenerous to herself? If I have money, I would rather spend it on food, food, and food. I don't care about skincare. Lol, because I am more interested in food than girl stuff.
Anyway, look at the right-side photo that I uploaded above. Do I look better than before? My skin became smooth again and had glassy skin. I feel hydrated and confident enough to take a picture again, but! There's a little thing that I lack, and that's sleep. I still have some panda eyebags. Huhu
Ops! Maybe I can write a blog about my skincare routine soon? And share my thoughts about these products that I chose using my mom's cash gift to me.
MY OLDER SISTER'S GIFT TO ME:
I didn't expect that my older sister would give me some cash Christmas gifts, even though she's been working for almost 2 months now abroad. I didn't expect that because she's just starting to work, and, to be honest, I really don't like to pressure her and don't like her to give some and just save some money for her own family in the future. Her safety there is enough for me. But she told me that I am her responsibility for now because I am her younger sister, and it's just natural for her to give back the help that I gave to her before when I am earning some crypto and while she's still studying.
She gave me some money, and she told me that it's me who will decide what I will do with the amount that she gives. She didn't know what to give me because Mom had already bought me some shirts. So I just bought a pair of sandals, body lotion, and Coinbank
using the cash Christmas gift that I received from her. Meanwhile, I saved the other money that I didn't spend on my GSAVE account and coinbank.
GIFTS THAT I RECIEVED FROM MY AUNCLE AND AUNTIE(s):
I received an ampao from my uncle and auntie, who's living in the U.S., a bag of chocolate, and another amount of cash from my tito engineer's wife (I Forgot to take a picture before I put it inside the Coinbank 😂).
WHAT ARE THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS THAT I RECIEVED DURING HIVEPH'S CHRISTMAS PARTY EXCHANGE GIFT EVENT?
At last year's Hiveph Christmas party, I received a bag and shirt from Ate Jane. I joined again for the Christmas party event of Hiveph, and I am so excited to receive a gift.
My wish list is the thing that I have always wanted and have always searched for on Shopee and TikTok, but I couldn't buy it because I don't have a budget yet because I spend the HIVE and HBD that I earned here for my medicine, plus I am also saving some money to buy something for my grandparents for Christmas in the past month.
And guess what this thing is?
Tadaaah! It's the Mix and Match Eyeshadow Palette from Beauty Glazed. I really wanted this eyeshadow palette because, as an aspiring makeup artist, this palette is suitable for us because there's lots of color shades to choose from and I can use it for different events, plus there's also some different countour/bronzer shades and blush on too.
Seriously! I am so very happy with the gift that I received thanks to my Santa, 
I also received a cash prize from Hiveph, though I am almost late to register my username. Haha, I can't believe that I can win because I am unlucky for this kind of thing.
Anyway, I used this as an additional amount to change our squad name on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. There are some people in HivePH playing that game, so I decided to change my old squad to HVPH (Hive Philippines) and now that I changed it, No one owns this Squad because, I don't consider myself as team leader.
Now that we're done talking about the things I received, let's talk about the things I also gave to my grandparents and to my mom.
TO MY GRANDMA:
I was supposed to give cash to my grandma, but I think that her children might give some to her, and she will use it to buy food or other important things in the house.
So I decided to buy her a bag instead to make sure that she would have something new to use and that she would never beg other people to borrow things that she needed.
I bought her a 'Bagin' 2-way bag. I noticed that every time she goes out with her sisters and when she attends some important occasion, she always uses her old bag, and sometimes she just borrows some bags from her pamangkin.
I bought her a pair of sandals before, and now it's time for me to buy her a bag that she can use.
I was relieved when she liked the design and used it when we went to Pampanga last time. The smile on her face never faded away when I surprised her with a gift because she thought that I only gave some to my grandpa.
TO MY GRANDPA:
I already gave my gift to my grandpa before Christmas, and that is cash. I was supposed to buy him a new hat that he can use when he goes out because I noticed that his hat is kind of old already, but I'm worried that the size is not right and I don't know what designs he prefers.
So, I decided to give him cash instead because my grandma told me that his glasses broke and he needed to buy a new one. I just gave him money to add to his budget for his glasses, but they didn't go to buy them yet because during that time, they became busy at the funeral and farm, and he attended a lot of events for senior citizens, and my grandmother said they would go tomorrow.
HIVEPH EXCHANGE-GIFT EVENT:
Actually, I am so shy to join again because the budget that I only have is not the same as what the other members gave. I am shy because I can't fulfill the wishlist that she made.
I messaged her and typed an online letter from my heart for her because I am shy about what I gifted.
But I am so blessed because she has a good heart and understands it. She is a very kind person, and she still accepts the amount that I gave her. Thank you 
TO MY MOM:
My mom doesn't like to celebrate her birthdays here because she doesn't have a budget, and she always thinks that it's a waste of money. My mom's birthday is December 21, and my sister and I surprised her with a small celebration.
All the money that we spent to buy her a cake and food here is from me and my old sister's pockets. Since my sister has a job now and I also have a little budget from my crypto to share with this plan, I know that she can't eat the food that we bought, but at least with this effort, we can make her feel special.
Another thing that we gave her was a little makeover at the salon to relax too, so that we, her children, are not the only ones with a new look. She also told us before that she was craving Filipino food, so we both gave her a budget to treat her to a Filipino restaurant near where they live.
CONCLUSION:
I thought that my holiday season would be just a normal day. Christmas for us is full of roller coaster rides of emotions because of the unexpected things that happen. Sometimes, we felt not to celebrate Christmas because every time Christmas was near, we always lost someone we loved. Now that Christmas and the New Year are done, we can't do anything about it but forget, accept, and move on. Though we knew that every Christmas we would remember it,.
We exchanged some gifts and received some blessings, and we are happy with what we received; however, there's still a part of our lives that we can't neglect to feel, and that is loneliness.
THANKS FOR READING!
PUBLISHED BY:
DATE: January 7, 2024
