YOLO

You only live once. 

For some, they may take it as maximizing whatever life has to offer, to the point of being reckless. 

Admittedly, I may have subscribed to the same mantra when I was younger. 

Come to think of it, I may actually have been the classic case of a devil-may-care, risque' person a few years back. 

I partied so hard that my friends and I can shame younger people because we can stay up in Prive' until almost five in the morning and head out to Recovery Food or the nearest Chinese restaurant for breakfast until 7. 

I have a record of out-drinking several of my guy friends who were twice my size. My biggest record so far is out-drinking my husband who happens to be well-trained in downing whiskey like there's no tomorrow. 

Drunk driving? Guilty. I scratched my car not once, not twice, because I was intoxicated but I had to drive myself home.

Overspeeding ba kamo? I was the queen of overspeeding in EDSA when I had one too many to drink.

No, I'm not proud of it. In fact, I don't want my daughter to even know. 

On a lighter note, I'm quite adventurous as well with things I want to do. I took on surfing, I love heights and sky diving is still in my bucket list. Wanderlust is very natural to me. 

I was also risque' in romance and relationships. Trauma is not in my vocabulary. No matter how many heartaches I went through, I took the blow, yes, but I always dusted myself up and tried again. 

Looking back, I was one of the poster children of YOLO. 

Am I as rogue as I was when I was younger? 

Not quite. Somehow, I managed to tame myself and behave. Things are not what they used to be. 

The mantra still holds true for me, though. 

You only live once. 

Therefore: 

Try to make the best of everyday. Make a dent - big or small. 

You only live once. 

So live everyday like there is no tomorrow. Call your parents. Say I love you to people you care about. Do everyday things with your purpose in mind. 

You only live once. 

Do things with this at the heart: Integrity. 

Integrity is the cornerstone of a person's truth. It's one of the virtues that makes us try to do things right, at least most of the time.

This is a realization that will come in every person's life, eventually. As some of the wiser people ahead of us would say, it is one of the virtues you will stumble upon and learn to value once you "see the light." 

I'm glad I did. 

 YOLO.

Yes, I still subscribe to the mantra, but hopefully, with more substance this time around.
 

Monumental 02.15.2014

A month ago, this happened...

Yes. The Bitch finally got hitched. 
 

To a fine young gentleman.   

It was an awesome party, to say the least. =) 

 

 

 

Attended by the people who matter, the Inner Circle, the ones near and dear to us.

Will it be a happy ever after? 

Fate is always in both God's hands and ours. We carve our own destinies, but we must always seek God. 

I know it won't be an easy ride, but I'm excited to take this journey forward. This time, I'm not alone. I'm with the best person I can ever be with.  =) 

I don't believe in fairy tales and happy ever afters. 

But cheers to MY happy ever after.

Life's simple blessings should not be taken for granted

...because the simple graces that we tend to overlook are actually the best ones. 

I love my quiet mornings, just like what I am having right now. I know I can never reclaim my quiet mornings once Abby really moves in with us and if we ever have one child of our own.

I love the smell of my Cambodian hazelnut coffee and the sound of my sputtering coffee maker. 

Mix that with the smell of my vanilla candles and incense. TOTAL BLISS. 


I love that I can call back home to check on my Mom and just talk to her.

I love that I can choose to be lazy on a Saturday morning, tucked in between my soft, lavander-smelling sheets or I can decide to put on my kicks and hit the gym. 

Today, I have a TON of work for our wedding preps, but I chose to be zen for a little while longer this morning. It's a simple reward for being efficient and productive yesterday. 

Before I hit my Excel sheets and style guides again, I wanted to be silent, to write and to be grateful for this morning. 

Time and silence are both gifts we take for granted. 

I'm grateful to have them this morning. 

Thank you. 
 

To be happy...

...is to deliberately choose to feel good every morning. 

Two major life milestones in a span of 5 days. 

Not bad.

God is gracious enough to bless me with opportunities and second chances. 

No regrets. 

I'm glad that instinctively, gut-feel-down-to-my-core, I feel great about things. 

 

On travel frenzy, getting the flu and the future in-laws

I've got barely an hour to go here at Starbucks, 1 Utama Mall at PJ before future mudra-in-law picks me up to head home. Yep, I've been left alone with her since breakfast this morning...but that's not where the story begins. 

Friday night last week, I was literally dragging myself to the airport along with my luggage en route to KL. Dang flu hit me hard on the exact day that I was flying out. Imagine achy joints, major backache, hard cough, fever and severe migraine all conveniently rolled into one. Yep - that was me when I flew out. 

I was on the verge of tears while in line at the immig feeling sorry for myself. Skye wanted me to defer my flight the following day, but Miss Kuripot didn't want to incur USD$250 for a one-way ticket from Manila to KL.  

So on I went to take my flight. Luckily, I was front row and a handsome flight attendant was there to assist me in all my needs. Well, that's the thing. I was at a near-delirium stage already that I cannot even appreciate the eye candy. Yes. It was that bad.

I passed out in the car when Skye picked me up at the airport. 

Saturday - I was a vegetable in bed but I had to force myself to eat meals with his parents as courtesy.  We were actually reprimanded for eating too late in the night for dinner. As mudra-in-law said, "makan time is makan time." That was again a reminder before we headed out yesterday. 

Segue' to today. When Skye left the house for work, he had to ask me to down for breakkie. "Hey, my Mom's nagging us to have breakfast. I'm packing mine. You have to eat yours." Okaaaaaaaaay. So obedient me, off I went. 

Organic breakfast - free-range egg, oats with organic cranberries, Ceylon tea. A quick conversation with the mudra. Not bad. 

We went to the mall together for lunch and grocery at the organic market. I had great organic soy curry laksa and some rice-veggies. 

And now here I am - sitting alone in Starbucks - enjoying some peace and quiet. 

I have not been forced to wake up and eat my breakfast for more than a decade now. I have been living independently, come to think of it, for more than 10 years already. 

Living in a house with very stringent house rules is weird for me. There's a place for wet and dry garbage, I can't eat in the bedroom (I drink wine and eat chips in mine) and the list goes on. 

Truth be told, I am terrorized by this new set of rules. Even Skye is terrorized by his own parents. Luckily, I am a fan of organic and vegetarian food! Unluckily, Skye is not!!! 

This entire KL trip as a prelude to our Beijing-Shanghai tour is a total frenzy! 

But as I sit quietly here, sitting and drinking my usual Starbucks cafe mocha (which by the way the mudra bought for me), I actually feel blessed and grateful. 

SERIOUSLY.  

First of all, I was introduced to the parents. 

Second, his parents are making sure we are comfortable. The house rules are there for a reason. They may be different with mine, but the rules are there to give order and structure in the house and to keep everyone safe and comfortable. 

Third, it's a quiet time that I get to spend with his mom - something that I never had in my past relationship. 

Fourth, new set of rules means new people in my life. A household extension --- an addition to the family so to speak. Both parents are very sincere and quite caring - forcing us to bring more than enough thermal wear, in case the weather gets weird and it snows in on us. 

Fifth, and most important of all, I'm grateful for my timely recovery. Imagine the horror and terror of being in Beijing at 4 degrees with a flu. It will be a so-near-yet-so-far experience of being almost at The Great Wall but never really reaching there.  

Some may not realize it, but health --- is the greatest equalizer of all. Rich or poor, it doesn't matter if you don't have great health. And yes, I'm grateful, too, for that timely reminder. 

Off we go to Beijing and Shanghai for the rest of the Holy Week. 

Safe travel for me and Skye. 

   

Gratitude

This week, I'm grateful for a lot of things.

Not in its order of importance, I'm grateful for:

1. Some desk time. 
2. Me time.
3. My new Kindle Paperwhite. 
4. Being able to finish reading The Perks Of Being A Wallflower.
5. Friends. Old and new. 
6. Time to work out. 
7. Healthy, organic food. 
8. Skye. 
9. His penchant for planning ahead. 
10. His corny but cute rhymes. 
11. My Mom. 
12. My Dad. And his coming around.
13. Abbygale. 
14. My own parking in the office --- because it's soooo hard to get one. 
15. My best friends. 
16. Being able to catch up with Ian.
17. Being able to convince him to get back into the circulation.
18. Coffee. 
19. Hot chocolate. 
20. My cozy apartment.
21. My cupboard and ref filled with so much food from Christmas hampers. 
22. Good health.
23. Unexpected windfall.
24. Reliable team members. 
25. My efficient admin assistant. 

What a blessed life. :-)

Wanderlust with Skye

My tickets for Chinese New Year celebration have been booked. 

I'm all set for the Holy Week holiday as well. 

For a change. 

Hmmm...I can get used to this. It's nice to just get the tickets in my Inbox for printing. Dang, we even have a Dropbox folder for all our plane tickets. 

Thanks for planning ahead. I'll make it up by researching on the itinerary.  

2012, In Retrospect

According to Feng Shui, Snake-born people were not supposed to be lucky in 2012. Career was supposed to be on the down-low, money luck will be subsiding and lethargy will get in the way of big projects.

On the contrary, I HAD FUN IN 2012! I had a blast!!!

True, true --- things were not perfect. The year carried with it some glitches, but I must say that I pulled through with grace.

I cannot count one by one all the blessings that I received. That’s how much generosity I got from the heavens --- there’s way too many to count!

I returned to the Philippines with a better and brighter career. I am definitely happier and more fulfilled in my not-so-new workplace. I was scared of my comeback since I was filling up BIG shoes, but I did prove the weight that I can carry and the contributions that I can bring in.

I have so many windfalls to be thankful for, too! Money was supposed to be dry but the Universe was just way too generous. I’m not swimming in money, so to speak, but I can say that I have more than enough. For myself, for my family and for what I can share to others.

I lost my one great love, but I’m thankful that in this lifetime, I can say that I was able to experience and find it. At the same time, I’m even more blessed and more grateful to find a new love, a second chance to fall in love again with a great guy who adores me.

2012 had so much to offer. I’d like to believe that there’s both heaven and earth luck, but I probably tided over the trials and tribulations of the year because of my perseverance and persistence aka bonggang-bonggang kakulitan, hard work, strength, courage and resilience aka kakanta ng “I will survive.”

Most of all, it was my faith in God that held my hand. I knew I can make it because of my faith. My darkest hours became my finest moments because He was there --- the entire time. JC, I cannot thank you enough for embracing me in your grace.

So to all the survivors and to all the blessed, cheers to a spectacular and blessed 2013!!!

I’m looking forward to another great year ahead!

Grateful morning

Today, I woke up with a grateful heart.

I had a good sleep. I opened my eyes and woke up to a beautiful morning. I was locked in a wonderful embrace with the new love.

I have a crazy but loving family. I have loyal friends.

God gave me everything that I need. Even more.

Grateful. Just really grateful for everything.