The Journey to a Happier Me

As the proverb says, “fall down seven times, stand up eight.” This has been the mantra that kept me going the past months. Despite all the challenges, there was always a reason to stand up and fight another day. Thus, I stood up.

The past year has been challenging, to say it simply. It has taught me a lot of life lessons that I didn’t even fathom before. It’s showed me the harsh reality of life but at the same time it’s showed me that life is still bearable and eventually, beautiful despite these obstacles. Honestly, although I’ve known these all along, it’s different when you’re the one that’s actually there. When life kicks someone we know in the butt, it’s easy for us to offer our advices but if you’re the one in that situation, it’s very difficult to follow a sound advice. Now I know why my friends seem to never listen. Because it’s hard to.

I’ve been kicked, pushed and strangled by life and sadly the bubble I was living in was burst in an instant. I was in a deep, deep hole. And when I thought I couldn’t go up, I remembered the proverb. Slowly, I stood up. Slowly, I regained the “old me”. Slowly, I started the journey to a happier me. It wasn’t easy, but with help, I eventually found it. I know life is a roller coaster so this moment I am in will soon fade and I would find myself at the bottom again but with what I learned the past year, I know I can stand up.

Zac’s First Birthday: Lego Party

My friends and I had another opportunity to plan and setup an event this month. This time it’s a Lego themed party for the first birthday of Zac, the little boy that we did the Dr. Seuss baby shower for. We started planning for the party around May, went on two trips to Divisoria, spent a weekend painting boxes and sleepless nights designing and printing stuff for the party. It was truly a team effort and on top of the successful event, I was grateful to have spent more bonding moments with friends. It made the party much more special for me. I hope Zac would look back at his first birthday fondly when he grows up, since mommy, daddy and his ninongs, ninangs, titas and titos, all made the party special. Here are some details of the setup we did for the party. 🙂

Preparations started around 10AM and since we lost the balloons we bought at Divi, we had to make a quick trip to Market! Market! to buy additional balloons. It was worth the trip, since the venue truly brightened up with all those balloons hanging from the ceiling.

Rog and Kaye setting up the ceiling decor

Travel theme: Inviting

I miss joining Where’s my backpack’s weekly travel theme posts and am so excited to join back in the fun! This week’s challenge is Inviting. It’s my turn to show what makes a place so inviting for me. And since I live in tropical Philippines, it’s natural for me to find the beach inviting, especially during summer time. These are some of the views that I always look forward to in the summer and the memories that keep me sane in the rainy days.

Buri Resort, Mindoro – this was my first escapade place last summer and the ambiance of the place just blew me away. The log houses overlooking the pool and the ocean is an awesome place to stay and remove all the stress from the busy city.

Refreshing pool at Buri Resort, Mindoro