Simple Province Living 🇵🇭 Food, Family & Planning My Future Home
Today feels like one of those slow, meaningful days in the Philippines.
My mom came home with huge white guavas — my favorite. Growing up, we didn’t just eat guava; we used the leaves as a natural toothbrush. Back then, we didn’t call it “antibacterial,” but now I know that’s exactly what it was. Simple living, simple healing.
She also brought home Pangasinan delicacies — puto and local kakanin — little reminders that food here isn’t just nourishment; it’s culture, memory, and love wrapped in banana leaves.
It’s hot, the kind of heat that makes soda in a glass bottle taste better than anywhere else in the world. I don’t usually drink soda in the U.S., but here? Vacation rules apply. Calories don’t count, and somehow Coke in the Philippines just tastes different — colder, sweeter, more nostalgic.
🏡 Dreaming Forward: Building a Home
While waiting, I’ve been thinking about the land and the future.
Tomorrow, I plan to talk to an engineer — to ask about costs, structure, and what’s realistically possible. Do I go with my cousin’s contractor? Do I phase the build? Maybe the pool can wait. Maybe the dream doesn’t have to happen all at once.
House first. Foundation first. Future features later.
Healing has taught me that rushing dreams often breaks them. Building slowly, intentionally — that’s the new plan.
💬 Generational Healing: Choosing Kinder Words
Spending time with my mom reminds me how different generations carry different habits — especially with words.
She grew up in a time when bluntness was normal.
We grew up understanding how words shape mental health.
I find myself gently reminding her:
Don’t comment on people’s looks.
Words can lift people up — or break them.
This isn’t about correcting her.
It’s about healing patterns so they don’t continue.
Kindness is a choice.
And sometimes, choosing kindness starts within our own families.
🌿 A Quiet Realization
Today wasn’t grand or dramatic.
It was guavas.
It was soda in a glass bottle.
It was conversations that felt uncomfortable but necessary.
It was dreaming about a home that doesn’t exist yet.
And somehow, it was enough.
Day in the life of a Filipina Nurse Practitioner 
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