HAPPY NEW 2014 YEAR!!!

i spent my new year's eve with my sister and bro-in-law and their friends, selchuck and regina in alona northland resort. we had a simple dinner which my bro-in-law prepared sweated over (according to him.lol).

waldorf salad

rib eye steak

almonds for the waldorf

potato salad

the child in some of us

pancakes with ice cream and special sauce that  was surprisingly  fresh and has burst of flavors when it hits your mouth. I admit that this one caught me by surprise. i have prejudices against pancakes. they're only supposed to be for breakfast!

les and regina

from l-r: regina, selchuck, I, les & carsten

some fireworks  watching  on the terrace.

still trying to practice capturing fireworks shot

i am blessed that God has given me the family and friends that i have now - i'm grateful and hopeful today as we turn the page to all the experiences 2014 holds for me. and like most people i want to be excited and prepared for what God has in store for me this year. 

through the changing years and seasons in my life. the ups and downs. the easy and the hard. the expected and the unexpected. in want and in plenty. disappointments and problems... one thing remain constant - God is faithful. he remains the the strength or my heart and my portion forever.

p.s

boss, you help calm my anxiety and tendency to over think everything by reminding me of the simple reality that "He who promised is faithful."

unread books

each little girl has something that she values, something that she treasures and kept to herself. something that she hold close to her chest when she goes to sleep… she puts on her lap when she eats and she carefully tucks or hide away from prying eyes and hands of a sibling when she takes a bath

as I girl the only thing that i kept is not a ragged doll, not a barbie, not even a cute hair tie. i kept tattered copies of hardy boys and nancy drew’s in my chest cabinet, the old looking ones that opens upwards and not side wards.

i remember that i have been sooo hooked with reading before; anything and everything that is written in english. just like what a lot of people say, books and written materials open up a whole new world for me. a world full of possibilities; nice places, smart people, amazing characters and heroes, they made me yearn for more. those made me want for more.

i read and re-read books that were available to me. i even remember scavenging a partly burnt book at the backyard of one of the bigger houses that was a kilometer away from our house. i felt that it was such a great waste seeing piles and piles of charcoal colored things that was once (I imagined) amazing reads.

when i was in college, i did not have enough financial support from my family; so i became a working student and was immediately assigned to cleaning the dining hall. that did not appeal one bit to my sensibilities. So i requested to be transferred to the school library. thankfully, there was an opening and i was absorbed right away. in this place again my love for the written word was given gigantic satisfaction. working students were only allowed to work three hours each day and get paid for P12.00 each hour; this was deducted directly to our tuition. i had work more than my share because i always volunteer to take the place of whoever cannot do their shift. in the end it was the school who owed me money! lol. it was an amazing time.

why, i’d be asked, am i drooling on and on and on about old books?

simply because now i am staring at about fifteen unread books or more on my book shelf and i do not have the slightest idea on how am i going to finish reading all of them! work has taken so much of my time.

okay, fine, internet and cell phone has taken so much of my free time. there’s this temptation called face book, instagram and youtube and surfing through blogs that has me neglecting my favorite hobby and comfort before.

never again….

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special shout out to Hazel Claire Navales - happy birthday sweetix!!!

cafe mocha, inferno & spirituality

instagram photo: @bossy11

one afternoon at the foot of a mountain with sister. quiet and very rare times we hang out. while we  were there, there was this really beautiful sunset hiding behind a column of clouds but i had no evidence of it because my phone chose to die on me... still this was nice (even though nice is a shapeless words sometimes. lol)

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Christian character is shaped less by your big dramatic decisions than by the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of simple obedience. – Clare De Graaf

Big Problems. Big Answers.

"sometimes  greatest answer to prayer happens when you have no place to go to but God".   carol cymbala

big problems. big answers.

bad reports. dreams crushed. hope lost. the perfect time for God to do his work.

the impossibility of our situation means nothing to God. he delights in bringing answer when all we see are obstacles. he does some of his best work when there is no money, no time, no hope, no way out.

are you at the point of giving  up? have you done everything humanly possible to solve the problem but you feel there is still no answer? its too big for you to fix, too overwhelming to handle, too much to bear.

fall on your knees before God. you have nowhere else to turn. then, that's just the time when God says to you, relax my daughter. It isn't over until i say it's over.

big problems.require big answers. and that's God specialty. 

by: sarah young

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trusting God's greatness and faithfulness is a process that i still need to learn over and over again.

#yolanda ph

in light of what has happened in our country this song has been in my heart, a comfort. a reminder that despite all the horrible things that has happened God is still God.

"God is too wise to be mistaken

God is too good to be unkind

So when you don't understand

When don't see his plan

When you can't trace his hand

Trust His Heart"

i could not even begin to describe the calamity that has struck the country because of typhoon haiyan (locally known as yolanda). there was a talk of storm surge with supposedly waters that would reach up to 6 meters high but according to news reporters that were there the announcements could not even compared what the real storm surge is. abs-cbn news reported that the water from the ocean literally swallowed up most of the city of tacloban, then go back to the sea and back again. tacloban is the only most reported place that was destroyed but in reality leyte and samar has 40 something baranggays in coastal areas. these has not been reported and few have only been visited because the roads are impassable.

one of the island hit by the typhoon, bantayan islan (photo from FB friend)

blah. i could go on and repeat all the stuff that has already been reported and is circling arounf in FB about what is going on now not only in leyte and samar but also in bantayan island and capiz, etc. 

it is heart breaking to watch the news. even opening my FB page is not so pleasant and fun anymore because of all this reports of what is happening in the visayas area. 

this video is from ABS-CBN aftermath assessment of the damage the typhoon made in the city of tacloban

i remember sitting in front of our windows during the time the typhoon's landfall and saying, "well that wasn't so bad after all" because cebu city is "spared". i did not know that major lives has already been taken by that horrific typhoon in other islands.

i saw one post on the internet 2 days before typhoon haiyan/yolanda was to make landfall that said, "what is all the ruckus about, who needs the Philippines anyway'!

US Medical Mission Team arrive in tacloban city! (photo from FB)

my goodness! i could not believe that someone really thinks that way. our country is not just a far away asian country!  it is a country of people. people with souls. families. communities. children. goodness, innocent children!

 i can't go on!

i made such a dramatic comeback in WW. it's been a while since i last posted because i was really busy.

but right now asking for everyone's prayer and help is one of the few things i can do for my beloved people.

on a lighter note: bohol island who has suffered a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake is now back on it's feet slowly recovering from the havoc that the quake cause. panglao island survived that calamity unscathed.

here's a few photos:

Alona Northland Resort

Balicasag Island near Panglao (taken by cousin Aqui Reyes)

Sister in Balicasag Island taken by Aqui Reyes

fun in Panglao by Aqui Reyes

Here's how you can help : Post from CNN

the single woman

an excerpt from the book : by Mandy Hale

“The Single Woman:Life, Love and a Dash of Sass”

She is…“The Single Woman”

She might be the bravest woman I know.

She walks the unaccompanied path. She has her own back. She asks for no favors. Not an ounce of independence does she lack.

She has moments where she feels as though no one sees her. She feels them LOOK at her, but do they really SEE her? She gets catcalls when she walks down the street…yet she goes to bed alone.

She’s not afraid to change her mind…but petrified to change a tire. She makes her own decisions…but can’t make toast without burning it. Her idea of a three course meal is a Lean Cuisine. There are shoes in her cupboard where flour and sugar are supposed to be.

She’s sassy and feisty to those she meets…but some nights her tears fall on empty sheets.

She has moments where she KNOWS she’s beautiful…and moments where she doubts everything about herself.

She screws up…a lot. She stumbles and she falls. She gets it wrong as often as she gets it right. But she never gives up the fight.

She has bad hair days. She’ll buy a new dress at Target and pray it passes for something a little fancier. Some months she struggles to make her rent and her car payment in the same month. Because she bought too many shoes? Sometimes. But the only pair of designer shoes she has in her collection are a pair of Christian LaCroix that she got half off at a sidewalk sale.

Sometimes her friends let her down. They don’t always say the right things. And the elusive “One That Got Away”? She has days when still can’t cut the strings.

She has moments of panic where she wonders if her Prince Charming got lost somewhere, or decided to settle instead for another less complicated, less stubborn, less independent princess. Sometimes she doesn’t know where she’s going until she gets there.

She hasn’t got it all figured out…far from it, in fact.

But she loves God and she loves to dance…and she’s her own “Better Half.”

The bravest woman I know?

She is the reason I do what I do.

She is The Single Woman.

She’s me…and she’s you.

source of solutions

when you are discouraged, tired and frustrated.

when you are at the "end of your rope"

you need a fresh vision

you need fresh direction

when you've exhausted your source of solutions

one unfailing truth remains :

our God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

shades of green

this is the first time i will ever join a challenge in blogs. i don't really know what'll the outcome be. but when i saw all the pretty links in projectalicia's page it kind of draw me in :-)

here's my entry

freedom. energy. summer. friends. = true happiness

check out Natures Photography through Project Alicia's page :-)

disturbed by joy -(not so wordless wednesday)

it is good to be back sharing personal stuff online again. i am a private person. every one of my friends would say that when it comes to things that are personal to me like relationships and problems, i rarely rarely share it. and when i do i just generalized things. 

but I would like to officially share something on this blog that is intensely personal and private.

alona beach resort, panglao island, bohol, philippines

 i am now an engaged woman!

mantalongon mountains, cebu province

yep, you heard/read me right.

and because of that I am disturbingly happy. giddy-happy. smiling-silly-at-nothing-happy. the kind of happy that makes me wanna carve our initials on a bark of a tree. Lol.

trail to badian falls

i would like to take credit for making this man love me but I really can’t. in our relationship, unconventional it maybe, I can truly say that it is only by the grace of God that we have survived this long. 

alona beach resort, panglao island, bohol

my fiancée (feels really good to say that by the way J), is a loving, thoughtful, sweet and wonderful person. but right now what makes me feel so in love with him is the fact that he insists that God should be in the center of our relationship. i honestly think he is a good person, but i didn't expect him to be this wonderful (okay, fine, fine, i already think he is wonderful).

mountain view resort, cebu city

i just wished i could have given him the gift of time (more of it) – to have more unhurried conversations (sorry about this Boss, truly am).

tarsier botanika restauralnt, panglao island, bohol (my sister's wedding reception)

thank you Boss. for everything that you are. "it is feels like springtime in winter, it feels like christmas in june... every time i close my eyes i thank the Lord that i have you and you have me too".

swimming with the sharks!

:-)

"the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands".

our God is so truly amazing in everything. he truly cares, even in the little things in our lives. and he does "order the steps of a righteous man".

desperate

wishing i am more desperate than i am now after reading this:

"Desperate is a strong word. That's why I like it. People who are desperate are rude, frantic and reckless. Desperate people are explosive, focused, and uncompromising in their desire to get what they want. Someone who is desperate will crash through the veil of niceness. The New Testament is filled with desperate people--people who barged into private dinners, screamed at Jesus until they had his attention, or destroyed the roof of someone's house to get to him. People who are desperate for spirituality very seldom worry about the mess they make on their way to be with Jesus." 

(Taken from Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli).

source: here

let it be forever

it's been awhile since my last visit. i am just dropping by with this old song that my cousin's and me loved so much 12 or so years ago. keeping this on replay for 4 days now :-)

In a world of broken hearts, love is just a word
Used so often, what it means is blurred
People grow so hungry for a love they can believe
Will they find it here in you and me?
Oh, you know you must be careful
If it's love you're promising
You can never, never, ever speak it lightly
It should cost you everything

.....................................

Love has come from God and in this love we share
People see an image of Him there
It can be an invitation that leads to deeper truth
The kind of love they find in me and you
Oh, but we can be a witness
Right before their eyes
A living love that's rooted in
The very love of Christ

I don't know what this world may think of love
Oh, but let our hearts remain true
To the notion that love goes beyond just emotion
Into faith, into hope, into trust