Where do I start? Have you ever felt so happy and blessed that you turn into a blubbering mess of joy? That is exactly how I feel these past few months of my life. It was far from perfect— it has never been like that. But it’s full of things I am very grateful for, things I only received because of Him who loves me more than anyone else.

This year started with plans of limiting travel as my sister (and travel buddy) wanted to focus on paying loans and saving money. God has other plans though. This year has been full of unexpected travel opportunities that are both welcome and overwhelming.

Bicol Tour (April 29-May 4, 2015)

Because of the generosity of the Fornias Family, we were able to enjoy the beauty of Sorsogon, with a side trip to Albay. We were able to visit the Cagsawa Ruins, view the Mayon Volcano while riding an ATV, chill at Amor Beach Farm, swim with the Whale Sharks of Donsol, sightsee at Bulusan, play with the pinkish sand of Subic Beach and ride topload going to Matnog.

Baguio City (November 15-18, 2015)

Because of my involvement with the 2015 Sapateros Festival in Marikina, I was not able to join my family when they left for our yearly Baguio vacation last November 14. But tired or not, nothing was able to stop me from following right after our event finished. Together with our ampon Angelica, we took the bus and headed straight to our cottage in BCC.  However, this vacation was very different than what we had the past years. This time we didn’t invite anyone. We also didn’t visit too many tourist attractions. This time, we just enjoyed quality family time and rested away from the hustle and bustle of work and life.

Subic (January 7-8, 2016)

Visiting Subic has never been a top priority. But I was really glad to join the freshmen tour at Subic. The stay at the Subic International Hotel was anti-climactic but we did enjoy the shows at the Ocean Adventure.

Ilocos Tour (January 14-17, 2016)

This was my third year visiting the region and it still looked beautiful in my eyes. Although the heat was no joke, the 4 x 4 drive at the sand dunes was phenomenal.

Banaue-Sagada (February 7-10,  2016)

This has been the one of my favorite tours in 2015-2016 (apart from the Bicol Tour and the Northern Mindanao Tour). I still can’t get over the experience of constant fog and rain shower coupled with the extremely cold weather and topload jeepney ride. Together with my advisory year level, we visited the Banaue Ethnic Village, Rice Terraces, Lumiang Cave, Echo Valley and Hanging Coffins.

It’s a tour worth experiencing again!

Northern Mindanao (February 11-15, 2016)

Fresh from Banaue and Sagada, I got a few hours of sleep and went off to Northern Mindanao… this time with my sisters and Anton. And since my travel buddies are all quite well-travelled by now, I’m very proud to say that this is the only itinerary I handled for the past year.

We visited three cities in total: Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Ozamis.

For everyone who plans to go to these cities, we suggest the following destinations/ activities:

Swimming at Mimbalot and Tinago Falls (Iligan City)

Sightseeing at Maria Cristina Falls (Iligan City)

White Water Rafting (Cagayan de Oro c/o Kagay)

For those who are excited to experience dolphin interaction at MOAP, Ozamis City… I’m sorry but Dolphin Island is closed. When we asked the caretaker for the reason, we were told it’s been under renovation for the past two years. I just hope they could have updated their website or blog about this so we wouldn’t have wasted our time travelling. But anyway, all is great since the outcome and experience of the entire trip greatly surpassed the MOAP incident.

Work at PLMar

I had to admit. There was a point in the past year when I almost regretted going full time at PLMar. What happened to me was not easy— all that misinformation. All the hours I lost. All the benefits I was denied. But sometimes God works in ways we don’t understand. I thank Him every single day for helping me endure it all… for giving me the strength not to give up. And with all that I also thank Him for the unexpected blessings.

I was assigned as the adviser of the Tourism Students Society last June. I was not really excited about it as I’d like life to be as less complicated as possible. But He knew better. He gave me this kids (teenagers really) that made my life here at PLMar filled with happiness and excitement. I feel a lot younger than I ever had because of them. Yes, I teach them the academics but I learned a lot more from them. We managed the tourism days at the Sapateros Festival together. We made CHTM Week possible. We went teambuilding. We ate a lot together. Last March, they also surprised me with a very early birthday celebration.  We were just us and it was amazing.

Charis Gospel Ministries

For a long time I’ve been in the children’s ministry. It was a gift to be used by God in teaching these little kids about His truth, love and grace. However, one thing that saddens me is to see a bunch of them grow far away from Christ. I often wonder where we went wrong with them. I often prayed for wisdom on what to do. God answered these prayers two years ago when we initiated the Charis Youth Ministry at CGM. It started with a youth service every other week— now, with God’s grace it has gotten much, much bigger. Last June we also had our first youth small groups, followed by the first CYM Food Festival last July and the CYM Sports Festival last October. We had many other activities offered to give praise to God and He continually bless us with both quantity and quality. On my birthday, we also had our first trek together. As we explored God’s creation I can only be amazed by His works and hope that this generation will never get tired of running the race in His Name.

There were many times in the past year when I thought of moving out and/or going abroad far away from my family who gives me headache most of the time. LoL… But as I always say it’s only because we fight hard. What’s more important is that we love harder.

I’m not the type to celebrate my birthday with such fanfare. But this year made me realize that I am deeply loved… and because of that, I’m surrounded by people who are more excited to celebrate this day than I am. Eleven years ago, there was a point in my life when I thought I was alone… that almost everyone, except my family, left me. That was the time when I learned to distance myself from the crowd. To choose whom I associate with very carefully. When I look back I’m glad I learned to take care of myself more. Now, I’m even gladder that I finally healed. Scars remain of course. But scars now serve as a badge of honor and of strength— of not giving up on me and of those who I now treasure in my life.

When I wake up each day, I just find myself deeply in love with Him more and more. And I would never exchange it for anything in this world.