I can't believe that we are now down to the last 2 days of 2018! Where have all the days gone? Dun dun duuunn..

As always, I find myself wishing I had more days left to do a few more stuff BUT as we all know, there is never enough time for everything. And besides, we cannot do everything at the same time anyway. If that makes sense.

O.K. so this year, North Korea had finally opened up! At last there exists "the rest of the world" for them. I hope we attain world peace! And oh yes!  Speaking of world, the universe rather, Philippines had won its 4th Miss Universe title. Woot! Quite frankly, I must say that was pretty obvious, almost a no-brainer decision. No offense to the other gorgeous ladies. I am sure everyone did their best!

Well, enough of global events.. Let us now take a look at some happenings in my life this year... If I may interest you with my personal 2018 events..

Weddings 

I attended 2 this year. First was that of my closest favorite friend, Bell to Jason. It was full of dramas and laughter at the same time. Second was that of Sunshine and Jason. (wait a minute they were both married to a Jason?! I just realized this now.) I was the maid of honor this time and yes they had it all planned for me to get the bouquet. And you know what this means - - - I will be the next... Fill in the blanks. Only time can tell. :)

Reunions 

The first grand reunion happened in California in April at the De Leon's wedding with all my long time friends from the Philippines and Singapore. I loved every moment of it! Another epic one was my homecoming in the Philippines. It always felt like I have never left home. And of course another crazy adventure with Glaiza and Jaja this time with Mildred. As always, it was one heck of a long ride!

Travels 

I realized I have not travelled this year as much as I did in the past. I have only gone out of town 4 times this year. Los Angeles was just nice and warm. Just what I needed coming from a dreaded Canadian winter. The food was great especially the Porto's Cheese Rolls. Mmm.... Jumping off the Kawasan Falls of 15 meters high was exhilarating, unfortunately, it caused me my back injury which I am still suffering from at the moment. That was when I had to limit my seemingly unstoppable nature in the name of adventure. On the other hand, swimming with the gentle giants, the whale sharks in Oslob was an unforgettable first. And the crazy landscapes and breathtaking rock formations in Utah and Arizona are mind-blowing! Never had I imagined I could gaze at glorious sunset and beaconing moonlight at the same time. Almost a phenomenon for me. Lastly, Montreal and Quebec had become even more charming to me with the company of a charmer to enjoy the views. And oh, the special romantic dinner with matching ambiance and music background at the Bistro 1640 restaurant was the highlight of that trip!

Lessons

If there is one lesson I learned or relearned this year is that loving is the most compelling yet rewarding endeavor you can ever make use of your time. For the last 7 years or so, I thought I have already earned my bachelor's degree in loving, yet I realized there is so much more to it. It is quite refreshing to understand and view love in a different light really. I had to unlearn and relearn some aspects of it. As much as I had to work on my personal capacity to love, I also had to condition myself to receive love in return. Oh yeah, trust me, I still have my monologues from time to time to remind me of this. Nevertheless, I am all ready to embrace all its intricacies that I have yet to discover. 

Blessings

Of the countless blessings I have received this year, I behold the gift of relationships the most - my constant ones and of course, my sweetest surprise. I could not be any more grateful! :D

Thank you Lord for everything!!!

And thank you everyone for visiting my page! 

God bless us all!

As per my yearly tradition, here is a video in review of my 2018:

Our Journey Together to the Tower

I know it has been a very looong time since I posted my last blog here. And I thought it is just about time... coz love takes tyne... 

I decided to write something personal and special to me - a journey I had started with someone special - the one who ROBbed my heart. :)

• I had a tailbone injury back in July from jumping off a 15-meter waterfalls. (Insert face-palm here). And since then, long sitting and strenous activities have caused me discomfort and pain. I had to stop working out for months. So when I heard about the CN Tower Climb in November, I thought it would be impossible for me to do it and tick it off my to-do list. Not to mention I have a claustrophobic tendency. My family doctor was even reluctant about my idea. But I still decided to go ahead so I could take part in its worthy cause: to give back to the community.

Climbing up 1776 stair steps excluding the walk to the tower and 147 floors had been quite an experience. I used to just look up to this tower before and wondered if I could one day climb it. Once you decided to go for it, you could only climb up. I was told that if you had to stop in the middle, you will need to be helped with a rope going down since the stairs were narrow and hundreds of people were climbing up at the same time. Every step taken was a milestone for me. It greatly helped too that I had someone reminding me to keep pushing forward and never look down - always one foot forward. Despite of him having knee pain and lacking sleep since he was coming from work that morning, he still decided to do it with me. He could be that overprotective - yes. He also reminded me that along our climb, it is OK to stop, rest and catch our breaths. So when we made it to the top of the tower, I knew we had conquered and reached a point which to us was nearly an impossible feat considering our physical limitations.

For some it may not be the CN Tower, it could be the Mount Everest or some more death-defying feats, but in all these, leap of faith and determination are key. The climb was a great metaphor for a journey in a relationship. We needed to cross over the other side of our fears, fears from the past, emotions attached to not-so-good experiences that could resurface from time to time. We needed to thrust ahead in our journey together and leave all that belong in the past behind to give 'us' a chance. We didn't know if we could make it to the top but we said we were going to try our best so that every step forward, every hurdle leaped over was a decision to advance in our relationship. Reaching the top had become more meaningful because of the struggles we conquered together along the way. Just like this climb, relationship is a work. Lots of it. Every challenge that comes our way presents a choice to love in spite and despite of our hurdles. And each time we choose to love, love deepens. We may not know how many more towers, higher and harder ones even, to climb in our journey together. For now, we just keep on moving forward and looking ahead. Taking one step at a time, one day at a time. 

How about Machu Picchu next? :O

P.S We made it in 28.46 minutes. He beat me by 2 seconds and he is forever proud about that. (Sigh) I dared him to break our records next year. Hmph!