Info AquaScape

So... basically I’ve been accused of being a robot sometimes. Like, by my own husband, my mother, my brother... It’s because I think my emotion chip got short-circuited when God made me and I ended up with the empathy level of a rock. Because of this personality trait of mine, one of my “areas of improvement” in our marriage is having a better bedside manner when my husband gets a man cold, uh I mean, is legitimately sick. He grew up with a nurse for a mom, so she’s, like, the ultimate loving, caring mother and I’m definitely not built like that. So this is what happens when Mr. Gamer is feeling under the weather. I say (in a robotic voice): What’s wrong? Do you require medication? Let me get you said medication. Is there anything else you need? Boom, duduk masalah solved! I mean, from my standpoint, he’s a grown adult, he knows how bad he feels, and he can call the doctor if he needs immediate medical attention, right? On the flip side, when I’m sick, I do the follo...

I've always been super conflict adverse as a kid and now an adult, carefully avoiding saying anything controversial to keep the peace. After all, doesn't the Bible say, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." ( Romans 12:18 )? While that verse is certainly truth, I now know my heart has always been in the wrong place, had the wrong motivation. In reality, I have an unhealthy fear of man, instead of an appropriate fear of God. Being good at school will make me feel loved and respected, right? As a child, I was always the good little girl, eager to win my parents' and teachers' praise. If I did everything right, I was worthy, valuable, special, loved . In middle school, my natural introversion made it hard for me to make friends, which seeded great doubts and insecurities into my heart. As the song goes, "Nobody likes me, Everybody hates me, Guess I'll go eat worms." While I was fortunate to have a close-knit ...

So the other day, my husband Mr. Gamer asked me if I thought he was overweight. Eeee, what do you say that?! Do you go with brutal honesty, white lies, or somewhere in between? I think this brings up a really good question: what do you do if your spouse is overweight and may or may not want to do something about it? So I decided to ask Mr. Gamer, who graciously offered to share his thoughts. In part 1 of the interview, we talked about what to say in a marriage if one spouse tells the other that they’re concerned about an unhealthy weight gain. Key topics included: What if you’re not attracted to your partner anymore? Do you bring it up? There are plenty of things to love about your spouse besides physical appearance, so choose your battles carefully. Honesty is the best policy, but do so with extreme kindness and sensitivity. What if your partner says they’re not attracted to you anymore? How do you take it? If you're receiving the feedback, evaluate whether or not you ...

What do you do if your significant other has hobbies that you’re completely not interested in? For example, my husband enjoys gaming while I like keeping aquarium fish and making videos. The short answer is be respectful and courteous to each other! In this video, I’ll be talking about 4 ways you and your partner can support and encourage each other’s passions and interests, without necessarily joining them. 😉 P.S. This content is aimed at people who have a healthy passion for their hobbies, not a masalah or addiction. Please consult a licensed counselor, psychologist, etc. to seek professional help if needed. Related Links What to Do When Hobbies Steal Your Spouse Three Ways to Keep Your Hobbies and Your Marriage 5 Things You Can do When Hobbies Threaten to Overtake Your Marriage DISCLAIMER: Consult a licensed psychologist, therapist, counselor, etc. for professional treatment concerning life issues and mental health problems. The information shared here is general advic...

Sticking by my soulmate "for richer or for poorer" (Source: Christopher Michel ) I always imagined my husband would be someone like my dad – tall, gangling, wears glasses, has a solid job as an engineer. Mr. Gamer is tall with a sense of humor, but that's where the similarities end. He's barrel-chested, has perfect eyesight, and holds an insanely unstable career as a video game developer. In the first four years we were married, he worked at four different game studios. Let me tell you how each of his jobs ended: Game got canceled Studio got bought out Studio closed Game got canceled  As you can see, the success rate of video game studios and their products is not great. Why does this perpetual cycle of job loss happen? This guy answered it better than me (pardon my paraphrasing): Since the industry is project-based, job length tends to be directly associated with product development cycles. Companies tend to dump staff once a project ships since they d...

Taking a quick break from the unapologetic night owl and I’ve long given up on changing his ways. In fact, I even gotten used to and fall asleep faster going to bed alone - no one's tossing and turning and snoring next to me. (^_ ) Mr. Gamer's and my schedules are off by several hours, but for our family of four, that's just the norm. The only duduk masalah is having, well, one-on-one time with each other! With mismatched bedtimes, our shared waking hours are shorter and usually occupied with taking care of our two young kids. By the time they're down for the night, I'm exhausted and ready to hit the sack myself, whereas Mr. Gamer still has a third of his day left to burn. Without meaning to, we can easily become two ships passing in the night, roommates that share chores, childcare, and not a lot of romance. (◞‸◟；) I've heard of this parenting practice called couch time where you spend at least 10 to 15 minutes every night having meaningful conversation...

Once upon a time, there was an ordinary man named K who loved to play video games. When he heard that the New Nintendo 3DS XL handheld console was coming out soon, he decided to preorder it on a whim. Little did he know what a treasure he had in his hands... The four release versions of the New Nintendo 3DS XL for North America (Source: Nintendo ) You see, Nintendo decided to create four designs for North America's launch day: standard red standard black The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D limited edition Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate GameStop-exclusive edition To give you an idea of how rare and desired these things were, the Majora's Mask version sold out on GameStop's website in 15 minutes  and was being sold on eBay for $300 (originally $200). And because of the US West Coast labor disputes, it was becoming hard to even find the regular red and black handhelds . As for the Monster Hunter version, well, let's just say they were going on eBay for a whopping $4...

When Dexter was born, I was worried that I wouldn't be a good enough mom, so I read tons and tons of books and blogs. When Rosalina was born, I was worried that I would be too busy running around with two kids, leaving my marriage in the dust. Then I found thedatingdivas.com  website, which provides tons of free ideas for keeping the romance alive with date nights and love letters. What a great resource! So I've been busy for the past two months working on a massive series of "Open When" letters in time for our anniversary. Source: The Dating Divas If you haven't heard of them, it's a series of envelopes where you write a special note for your significant other (SO) to open when they're feeling happy, worried about something, need a pep talk, etc. However, instead of including letters in each one, I decided to comb the whole Dating Divas website for bigger and better ideas. They have tons of free printables, so all you mainly need is: Color pri...