Goals for 2014: G.I.F.T.S.

Welcome 2014!!!



A New Year... A New Life...



2013 was a year where I tried to move on after the death of my parents in 2012.


I started to rediscover myself - tried things that I haven't done before, went to places I've never been, and slowly enjoy the freedom of being in control of my life.


If I am to list some of the memorable aspects of 2013, here's what I have:


Trips (both local and international)

1. Beijing
2. Singapore
3. Malaysia
4. Cebu
5. Bohol

Personal Development

1. Joined Passion Play that gave me a clearer view of what I want in life
2. Learned how to drive a car
3. Joined some fun run - 3K and 5K (in my case, I just walked)
4. Attended Korean Cooking Class
5. Attended Baking Class - for Cookies & Cupcakes
6. Created a Cherry Blossom Canvass Painting
7. Designed a Flip-Flop
8. Attempted to Surf
9. Attempted to do Yoga
10. Attempted to use the Hula-Hoop
11. Went to the Gym

Material Things Bought

1. Ipad 4
2. Ipad Mini
3. 2nd Hand Car
4. Coach Bags
5. Platinum Videoke System
6. Keys to my Condo Studio Unit (it's a start!)

Material Things Won

1. Stand Fan
2. Industrial Fan
3. Waterproof Camera

Passion Play helped me understand my passion and goals a bit better.  At the same time, I had the privilege of being mentored by Anthony Pangilinan that made it possible for me to organize these goals.  So for 2014, my goals can be summarized as G.I.F.T.S.  This means:

G - OD.  I wanted to be much closer to God.  When I was younger, I had such a burning passion to serve God.  Somehow, along the way, with the busyness of life and all the worldy influences and the compromises that I had to make which I am not so proud of, I drifted away from Him.  This year, I wanted to renew my love and passion towards my Savior.  I was lost and now I wanted to be found.

I - NSPIRATIONAL WRITING.  It gives me an unexplanable joy and self-fulfillment if I am able to inspire and motivate people, and even make them smile.  I found writing to be a good tool to achieve this.  I enjoy writing personal notes and letters, composing poems and even songs that brings out certain emotions and comfort.  Blogging is another and so for this year, I wanted to revive my interest in blogging.  I'm no expert and may have a few grammar problems, but what I want to achieve is to simply pour out my thoughts, and hope that people find it worthy to be read.

F - AMILY. It is my goal to have a family of my own and continue the good legacy of my parents. With family, this means I have to start to make myself better - so this means I should take care of my health, continue on nurturing my skills and personal development.

T - RAVEL.  There's so much beauty around and I want to see and enjoy that.  I want to widen my horizon, experience a great wealth of culture and make memories that I can share to the people around me.  This year, I wanted to travel to as much places as I can go.

S - AVINGS.  I know that I wanted a lot of things and without money, I may not be able to fulfill some of my dreams.  So, my goal is to save just enough for me to enjoy life.  I want to be more careful with my investments, minimize my expenses, and find ways to be more productive and earn more.  S also means SHARE.  If I can be given a few more so that I can also share, I would love that.  Extending generosity to those who needed it was something that my parents taught me.  Our home was always open to people who needed not just material things, but even to those who needed comfort, who needed someone to listen to them, and somebody to care for them.

So, I hope that I can achieve these G.I.F.T.S. for 2014.  I'll try my best to update you with my progress - and hope that I find the strength, discipline and determination to make it all happen.

Welcome 2014!!! I hope and pray for a wonderful year!!!

I'm Back...

It was almost 5 years since I last posted on this blog... I guess I became very busy... and happy being with my family and friends.

I think I should be writing again to release all my emotions and share my thoughts. Sometimes, there comes a point in your life that you are just still and silent, reflecting on your life and the people that you encounter everyday. So many things are going on in my mind and in my heart. It is overwhelming and I just can't contain it.

We only pass in this world once so I want to make the most out of it... and hopefully document it to be seen by future generations.

I'm Back... So Mandy's journey continues...

Wanting to be really Happy...

Wish I could really be happy...

Ocean Size Love

This song is for the people I loved...
And I believe this is also my song to God...

I know what I'm doing may be dumb
I know I should not be staring at the sun
But the thought of you leads me to temptation
It's the same whatever side you're on
Separated we are delicate and small
And the space between, needs our attention
I see you right in front of me, as close as you can get
And I pray that you won't leave, this daydream yet


And it might seem much too far, to get back to where you are
But it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love

I don't have to worry any more
If I really need you I'll go to the shore
And the thought of you there is my protection
I see you right in front of me, a vision in my head
And I know this is as real, as a daydream gets

And it might seem much too far, to get back to where you are
But it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love

You make no sound, but I can hear you in the wind
I can see this never ends, like the sea, like you for me


And it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love
And it might seem much too far, to get back to where you are
But it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love


Oh, oh...

How Can I Tell You That I Love You

I'm inspired...

Let me share a song I've composed...

I dedicate this song to him...

I.

There is something that I want to tell you

But I just don't know how

There is something that I long to do

But I'm afraid to show it now

I'm beginning to fall for you slowly

For you manage to brighten my day

I would admit you make me feel so happy

Whenever I see you in my way

CHORUS:

How can I tell you that I love you

How can I show you that I care

How can I tell you that I need you

Losing you is something I couldn't bear

How can I tell you that I love you

How can I say that you're the best

How can I tell you that I want you

You're different from the rest

II.

There is something that I want to tell you
But I just don't know how
There is something that I long to do
But I'm afraid to show it now

You brought color into life's dullness

You gave me hope when I'm feeling down

How can I repay your loving kindness

You gave me a reason not to frown

(Repeat Chorus)

You're my guiding inspiration

In this life's desperation

You make me feel so special

Oh, the feeling is mutual

(Repeat Chorus)

Your Love Has The Power

Soul searching...

Here's my heart-felt creation...

Complete with melodies to give life to it...

I wish you can hear me sing...

Humbly I come to your presence

Broken and wounded I stand

Feeling the loneliness inside

Not knowing where to go

Not knowing where to hide

But you came

And took my fears away

You promise that you'd stay with me

You offered your love to me

Your love has the power to change me

Your love has the power to move me

Touch this broken heart and make it whole once more

There is power in your love for me

Your love has the power to change me

Your love has the power to move me

Restore this broken life and make it whole once more

There is power in your love to me

There's a Danger In Loving Somebody Too Much...

I thought I had it all figured out...

I thought I'm just doing fine...

But I'm not... I'm caught in a whirlpool... A dangerous one.

I've had my share of romance - most of them nurtured in my mind. I was too afraid to show how I really feel because I've been bumped and bruised badly in the past for being so open about my feelings. Honesty equates to aggressiveness in our norm. I took the risk before and I didn't get good results. But I'm still confused because now, even in my silence, I am still hurting... and I think much more.

I had always believed in willing the highest good. A lot of times I had to sacrifice my happiness if I know that someone will be affected negatively with my actions. I am so afraid that my actions and my words reveal secrets I have kept. I feel so guilty and I don't like what it is doing to me.

But how can one stop the heart from falling in love with someone who can't be mine? He is already committed - with a big "Unavailable" sign written all over him. Everyday is a struggle because I want to show him my love but my mind kept on reminding me he already belongs to someone else.

I never expected this to happen. My first impression of him is not impressive. But as the days went by, I see a tremendous amount of gentleness and care in this man, drawing me closer and closer to him. It's actually the simple things that he does that creates a mark in my heart. I just wanted to shout out to the world that hey, there is a man who deserves to be appreciated much.

I don't know how long I can love in secrecy. If one would have a dark secret, this will probably be mine. There's a danger in loving somebody too much... I admit, I don't know how to handle this.

Maybe if I would finally have the guts to let him know how I feel, I hope I will survive. He touched my life in a very special way - and I still want that blissfulness to linger...

And to him, thank you... You made my life real...

Valentine's Day 2006

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It's Valentines Day but I'm afraid I didn't celebrate this romantically. Why? I'm sooooo busy with the ISO Audit that I think my social life was placed on hold until after the big day on February 28. You cannot imagine how much work needed to done. If only we were told how to prepare for this, things could have been done faster and more efficient. But there's no use on looking at the what could have beens but rather move on and improve.

I feel sad that I didn't make any fancy gifts and tokens to the people around me. But I'll try to make it up to them next time - not necessarily next Valentines Day.

It's a good thing that my trainers are there to make me laugh. Despite the busy-ness, we still managed to have a few laughs.

Let's start with Chito. Since we implemented a tie-blazer day, we were really surprised to see him so decently dressed. But look at his surprise with the ISO countdown I posted! Hahaha!!!

Then, Jhery and Jon came to the picture. We distributed the pink roses given to our friend Chikki by her admirer (*wink*) and had a debut ceremony.

Jon: Jhery, May I have this dance? (then Behhh... look at his tongue)

Presenting... The Balds and the Beauty-fool...

Valentine Couples...

Rosalinda...

Turns to Sisa!!! (Crispin! Basillo! Nasaan na kayo?)

I hope this audit be over soon... Wanna get my life back! Anyway, for the rest, hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!

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Visiting Boss Ron in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital

I had a very tiring week. We have an upcoming ISO Audit and the office load is crazy!!!

I was told that my very beloved Boss Ron Valdez was admitted to the hospital. I got the news from April. Of course I was bothered and panicked a lot. Why? Because this man is very special to me (ehem...). We're really very very good friends. When I started with ICT (my company), he was one of the very first faces that I got acquainted with. Being our IT Manager, I admire his intelligence and dedication. I guess this dedication is the one that caused his body to experience such stress.

So after our Friday night shift (which is technically Saturday morning), I was accompanied by my friends Acie and Rowny to the hospital. That was around 9am. Along the way, I bought apples and oranges for him. When we got to his room (No. 417), he was sitting in his bed and he really looked pale and dizzy. Wawa naman my Boss Ron! We asked what happened to him. He told us that Thursday, he was at home and he went down to drink water and the next thing he knew, he passed out. That was around 11am. His parents came around 2pm and saw him lying down and woke him up immediately. It was alarming for him to be in that state so he was admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (I believe in Sta. Mesa). I was too tired and sleepy that I wasn't able to take pictures so I just got these images from the internet for the hospital (but I think in a different location - wala lang. Para di puro text!).

So we continue to accompany Boss Ron in his room and then his sister Melba came. His sister happened to be the wife of my former insurance agent for Pioneer - Jess. Jess is now working in the embassy of Italy. Anyway, she narrated what happened and they are waiting for the result of Boss Ron's executive check up. They are suspecting that there's a blood infection. When you look at Boss Ron, halatang may sakit. He told us that he's being given 2 dextrose per day. Also, this was the 3rd time that Boss Ron passed out. Although the 1st two, he was able to make bangon immediately. I really hope and pray that he'd be okay...

Soon, the hospital's attendant served his lunch, which is our cue to say goodbye. He had to rest. Syempre niloko pa ko ni Acie to kiss Boss Ron. Dyahe no! Di pa ko naliligo at nandoon Ate niya. It's not a secret that I liked him a lot pero I enjoy being his friend more. And besides, I already have a Pakistani Cyber boyfriend who is pretty much doing the same thing he's doing. I guess I like IT guys! Hahaha!!!

We left the hospital around 11am so I guess we're also hungry. We went to Metrowalk and ate at Dencio's. We ordered Sisig, Lechon Kawali and Sinigang na Baboy. Yum yum!!!

After eating, I got a taxi and headed home. Boy, I was just plakda sa bed. I kept thinking about Boss Ron and silently uttered a prayer for him. At the same time, I asked God to also give me strength at work, especially with the audit coming. May He give me a longer life because I wanted to be a blessing to others still...

The Big Event... Jammin' - Battle of the Bands

I got up early today. I went to office because that's our meeting place to prepare for the Battle of the Bands. We were busy last Friday creating "Juan" Flags - All for Juan and Juan for all!!!

Boss Mark and girlfriend Jamea met us at Basement 6. We had a van for the band along with Norvin, Acie and Ms. Jamea's car. We placed the Juan streamer on the front of the van and had red balloons tied to each car. Going to Le Pavillion in Roxas, we had 2 escorts paving the way for us. Sikat! Motorcade is really "astig"!

After dropping off the band in Le Pavillion, the training team ate Lunch at McDonalds. We had a chance to drink Milkshake! Special thanks to Mark and Jamea for the treat!

Then, we went back to the event place and chose a good place to sit. The competition began and we all gave our heart out to our band. We didn't win but I enjoyed the event. The camaraderie was truly great. I guess Rush enjoyed the Bouncers! Hahaha!!!

Before going home, I got a chance to see an old friend, my Kuya Allan. He's with C3 so he came to support their band. Here's our picture (sorry, it was not so good because I just clicked my phone camera without focusing).

Last shot with those riding the Shuttle service to RCBC. It's Miss Elaine, Chikki, Bedroom and me. Bedroom's family - lola, mom and 2 sisters rode with us. We also had Jhery and Lester in the shuttle. Drop off at RCBC, we all parted ways.

What a Saturday!!!

Weekend... Yehey!!! I'm going home. I slept in the office for 3 days and it's so good to see a different environment.

Before going home, I had breakfast with Ralf, Rush, Mitch, Ashley and Lois at Hungry Hippo. While waiting for our order, we had some photo shoots (it truly is dangerous to give ralf a Camera). Here's my Dyesebel pose.

I was supposed to go home and change clothes to get ready for the 1st birthday party of Charmie and Eric Cabuco's daughter - Charlize but Ralf and April said no need. So, still with the same clothes, we went to Teriyaki Boy in Eastwood to celebrate the said occasion. We picked up Karen Base in Union Bank. Here's some of our pics...

Balloon Queen

I'm Speechless

Karen and Pa-cute Me

Charlize's Angels

Pa-cute April

Prisoner - with Style

All Smiles...

Ralf: Mama, Help!

April: You're mine!!! (Pikot)

Masahista o Exorcist?

Happy Together

Dalaw sa Kulungan

Kami Legal Wife ni Derrick

One Happy Family - Charlize, Chutie, Me, Karen and April

Hiding

Beauty and the Bestfriend

After the party, I was ready to finally go home but wait! April still wanted to watch a movie. We checked what's showing and thank God there's no nice movie so we just decided to eat dessert at Cheesecake. Sinful!!!

Ice Cream and Cake

Pose at Cheesecake

Sideview Pose

This is it! I'm going home... I had to be ready for the big event tomorrow. What a Saturday!!!

Lunch with Cristina

I slept a few hours in my office and when I woke up, it's time for lunch. I thought about spending lunch with a friend.

I went to my former office - SOWA Construction to meet Cristina. She treated me for lunch at Mei Ling (I don't remember if that's the spelling but it sounds like that). Good food!

Cristina told me that she doesn't have a picture so I decided to post some of her shots on that day. Thanks for the lunch Tina!

Clallam Goes To Clark

Saturday, Jan. 28. First major gimik for the year! Clallam goes to Clark! Hmm... let me see if I can document most of it...

First, meeting each other. Papaps and Melay picked me up in Eastwood - same with Jaymee and Myers. We had breakfast at Jollibee Libis but Melay and Jaymee had Delifrance. Then, we started our journey to Clark Pampanga.

We had to meet Paul's sister in a Drift Competition in the Expo Trade Center in Clark. She joined us as we checked in Holiday Inn Villa inside Mimosa. My gosh, it was expensive huh! P11,000+ just for an overnight stay. However, when we got to the place, it was worth it! Very cozy, very relaxing...

After we have settled down, we went back to the Drifting competition. The competition is about drivers gracefully skidding as they drive. I believe this competition was the first Drifting competition in the Philippines. I got to see some awesome action (boy, I can't describe the adrenalin rush!) and some awesome cutie drivers too... Some very young. The winner of the competition was a 15 year old driver (gee, I didn't know they can have a driving license that young). As drivers exhibited their talents, they created a lot of dirt in the air. Now I can literally say Eat Dirt!!! During intermission, we left the competition and ate Lunch at Mcdonalds. After eating, we went back to watch drifting.

After the competition, we went back to the Villa and rested. Ria arrived soon. She came with her family who was kind enough to bring her to Clark. They just attended the funeral of her grandfather.

Dinner Time. We went out and looked for a place to eat. We were told to go to Aling Lucings if we wanted some tasty sisig. We did find that and had a hearty meal.

Before returning to our villa, we stopped by Ministop and got some drinks - for us to have a sound sleep. I got Vodka Cruiser Blueberry and Vodka Chocolate Mudshake. It was good and really helped me sleep.

Before we went to bed, we looked at some pics and videos taken during Melay and Paul's wedding. It gave us the chance to reminisce our Clallam days... Sigh...

Here's some pics of the Villa...

Sunday morning. We had Buffet Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Hotel. The package we got only reserved 4 breakfast so Jaymee, Myers, Ria and I took advantage of that. Paul and Melay went to Jollibee since Melay had been craving for Longanisa Meal. As for the Buffet Breakfast, absolutely yum, yum!!! Here's a picture of the 4 Devourers!

Since we were so full, we decided to walk and look at the premises. We got to see the pool and I wanted to swim. Not knowing if I can still do that, I told the devourers to take a picture of me with the pool as the background.

And I got my wish!!! Yehey!!! Papaps and I got the feel of the pool!!!

Time to check out. Before doing that, some last minute poses...

By the Dining Room

By the Lounge...

Relaxed...

Inside the bedroom...

Wanna do this again...

Finally, we're going home. We ate KFC for Lunch - talked about Paul and Melay's wedding preparations to give some tips for Myers. We dropped Jaymee at SM Centerpoint, Myers in Katipunan, then Ria and I got off at Eastwood. Before we parted ways, Melay gave me strawberry jam. Thank you!

Well, that ended our Gimik. I hope that's not the last because I truly enjoy being with this team that I consider a family... God Bless you all!!!