One of the things I plan to resolve this year is to cherish my friends and love ones more. There will be birthday cakes delivered on their special days. That’s one of the things I will do for them. I will greet them and spend even an hour with them on their birthday. I will see them regularly. I will take time and effort to be with them whenever I can.

I will also listen more. You know what I learned from a recent local celebrity suicide? It’s that when someone calls you up, that means the person truly needs to hear your voice. Answer the phone. Talk to the caller. Listen. Because you never know when that would be the last call they’ll make.

Cherish friends and love ones more. That’s what I plan to do this 2012.

When I was still in my teens I remember my aunt who gave all of us teens then personalized rosary beads. It was for our spiritual well-being, according to her. She wanted us to learn how to pray and to do it regularly. The rosary beads were our motivation and reminder to do so.

One of the things I take care of regularly is my spiritual well-being. I need to do it so that I won’t lose faith in the Higher Power. I do it for my peace of mind and heart.

How’s your spirit? How’s your faith?

All the beds in the house are with CozyWinters.com heated mattress pads for a peaceful sleep for everyone. It’s really cold where we are and it is really uncomfortable to sleep like this. What my sister suggested made sense: use heated mattress pads so that at night it won’t be as cold and we can all have good night sleep.

Some people consider sleep as a luxury, especially those who are working so hard for long hours. That goes the same for us at home. So we really make it a point to have a peaceful sleep at night. Otherwise, I don’t know how we can recharge for the day ahead.

He is doing everything he can to make both ends meet. He is doing it for his family. He opened a franchise business while holding Technical Recruiter Jobs, one full-time and one part-time for a recruitment agency. The income that he gets from the three sources is enough to make both ends meet for him and his family.

Not all men are like him. Some married men are still as selfish as when they were still single. Still thinking of themselves only and to hell with the family they now have. But men like him are taking their responsibilities seriously. They know their priorities and they stick to it.

May his tribe increase.

I just love how my friend Chelle really took the time and effort to drop by a meeting place where our common friends and I were. She went there to meet up with us, have dinner and coffee. We all knew that she had a duty in the hospital that night. She brought with her nurses uniform and just changed at the hospital. She made time for us and I was really touched by the gesture.

She is very busy with her work as a nurse in a local hospital a few blocks away from the street where we both live at. But whenever there’s a get-together among us high school friends, she takes the time to go and stay even for a few hours to catch up and bond with us again.

I am looking back at 2011, particularly at the gifts I gave last holiday season. I gave some really good ones like the baseball cufflinks for a friend who is a huge baseball fan. I also gave some lame gifts that I bought last minute. That’s the reason why I don’t like last minute shopping. I always end up buying something that “will do” instead of what should really be.

I really resolve that this year, I will start shopping on October. I will take my time in choosing what I want to give a love one. Not gifts that will do but gifts that I know will bring a smile to the recipient’s heart when the gift wrapper is discarded.

There is one conversation between my best friend and I that I can’t forget. It’s about tracking our lives. He maps out the next five years of his life. He tracks his progress and makes sure he takes note of what went wrong and what worked out right. I, on the other hand, doesn’t have any concrete plan even just for the next year. I just go with the flow. I find that planning makes me nervous and it stresses me out. It’s like having gps truck tracking always on and I have to be monitored all the time, knowing where to go, what direction to take.

I know where I am going. I am not career-oriented like my best friend. I am not as planned in life as he is. What I do know is that my focus is on quality of life and more time spent with the family.

I think that’s enough ‘knowing where’ to go, right?

Nina is not ashamed to say that she is a bit vain. She actually needs it for her craft so why be ashamed of it? She doesn’t go overboard. She tries out new beauty products from time to time and the ones that she is interested right now are the best eyelash growth products in the market. She loves her eyes and she wants to enhance its beauty more.

Nina makes sure also that as she is trying to enhance her physical beauty, she is also enhancing what’s inside her. She is taking care of her emotional and spiritual well-being. That she does regularly by attending life coaching seminars and retreats.

Mr. So is planning an expansion of his business. He has a convenience store with an internet cafe on the side. His convenience store is doing quite well and he wants to take advantage of the small success he’s having so far. He will expand his convenience store to make it a grocery store. He is also set to get POS systems for his businesses as he will also open a hardware store in a lot adjacent to his current stores.

He has grand plans for his businesses. He wants to be the go-to store in all the neighborhoods in the 5-mile radius zone where his businesses sit right smack in the middle.

He can’t wait to execute all this plans!

Melanie will always want to be like her mom. The latter is one of the best make-up artists in the movie industry. Melanie grew up seeing how great her mom is in her profession and she wants to be like her no matter what!

So she told her that she wants to enroll in Regency Beauty Institute, a Nashville cosmetology school. She wants to avail of the school’s on campus training. Students are offering salon services to the public under the supervision of the school faculty. Training them early while still in school!

And Melanie’s mom agrees! She will be enrolling as soon as possible.

*This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com or contact Regency Beauty Institute – 3583 Alpine Avenue NW – Walker, MI 49544

A good friend asked me what my deepest desire is. I actually have a lot! But the one that is paramount right now is to have a new house in a quiet and safe neighborhood. A house where we can go about our day without worrying about a neighbor’s very loud party that happens every weekend. A house where there’s enough space for all of us. A house where we can have large beds and large windows.

I saw stainless steel faucets and it reminded me again of my deepest desire of the moment. I am reminded of the bedroom, bathroom and home-office that I am dreaming about. It reminded me that I have to work harder so that this deepest desire will become a reality.

Very, very soon!

Her husband wants a padron cigar and that is what she’s giving him for Christmas. He is very hard to please so whenever he wants something, she takes note of it and that’s what she gets him. They’ve been married for six years now and he rarely asks for anything so whenever she is out shopping, she gets him small things that she knows he will be able to use at home and at the office.

He loves her more for it!

I think that give and take is what makes a marriage work. There should always be understanding between husband and wife. Without it, I don’t think a marriage will last, even for a year!