Coffee Moments with Sam

Today, Mico attended his first official Kids for Christ activity.  The theme was obedience.  It was such a fulfillng experience for me as a mom, to see him having fun, making new friends, and participating in the activities.  But this is my favorite moment.... Words are not enough to describe this precious moment I shared with my son.  my son showing me his drawing of Noah's Ark  

4 years ago, I received one of the best gifts in my life - my son Mico.  4 years ago, I was also given a new hope and a new chance to live out my purpose in life to be a MOM.  Since then, my life had never been the same. I treasure each moment with my son... each day with him is a reminder to strive to be the best that i can be.  He brings laughter and joy...  learnings and new discoveries... purity and innocence...  to my life and to our family.  I thank God for the blessing of 4 years for my son.  As we celebrate his life, I am grateful for having him, for the privilege to be entrusted with such a wonderful gift. May we raise him well and may he grow up to be the person he is destined to be. Happy Birthday, Mico.  With love from Mom and Dad! 

To the man i love with all my heart...  I thank God for you today being the great DAD that you are ... the joy and excitement in you the first time you discovered you'll be a father... that perfect moment you first carried our son in your arms... a hands-on dad, having you around to care for our son... being there to guide him thru his "firsts" in life... for the fun and wacky times together... for being his role model even at a young age... for the great love you give... the joy of witnessing your growing relationship as father and son... for the commitment to fulfill your greatest role in life - being a DAD! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! We love you very much!

Pappy, I THANK YOU ... for being the first man in my life who made me feel that I was a special princess .... for always holding my hand in times when I am afraid to let go ...  for being proud of who I am and supporting me in all my dreams ... for teaching me to value family and bringing me to the CFC Community where I grew in my faith ... for being a supportive father-in-law to Noli and always making him feel part of our family ...  for being the loving grandpa to your adorable "apo" ...    for always being there for me ... i will be your daughter forever! HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO YOU!  I love you with all my heart! 

I share this special day with a very special person - my Mom. I believe it's no coincidence that I was born on her 21st birthday, for we are God's precious gift to one another. Happy Birthday to us, Mama. I love you very much!

I may not want to admit it, but i was a spoiled "apo"... i was the daughter my grandmother never had.  As the first daughter of her eldest son, and a "girl" at that... i was instantly the "apple of her eye".  As a young girl, she showered me with everything a child my age would ask for and ofcourse, i loved her for that.  When i grew up to be a teenager, who was eager to explore life, we began to drift apart.  I was growing up fast, living my own life... but she couldn't let me go, still seeing me as that child who used to play with dolls.  We struggled with our relationship... we argued a lot... we have said so many hurtful things... we have caused each other a lot of pain.  But with God's grace, a few years back, i found it in my heart to forgive her. Simply, deciding to let go and let God heal us both. This morning, my grandmother passed away.   Inspite of our love-hate relationship...

Am I really 35? It scares me to think about it, but now that I am here, I am challenging myself to live my life to the fullest. Ofcourse, looking back, I had my fair share of struggles, conflicts, shortcomings, pains and challenges. But to always be thankful for the blessings inspite of these, is what makes my life at 35 beautiful. 17 years of good education (pre-school to college)... 19 inspiring years in the community (7 in YFC, 4 in SFC, 7 in CFC and counting!)... 14 empowering years in my career path (3 years of advertising / 11 years as Lay Missionary including 5 years of mission in the Middle East)... 35 years of cherished friendships... 35 years of perfect family moments as a daughter and "ate"... 7 years (and more!) of being happily married... 3 years of mommy moments and loving it ... Thank you Lord for 35 years of blessings. I will definitely look foward to experiencing more of life's awesome surprises.   *FB Birthday Post - May 28, 2011

Today is a very special day. My brother and my husband are celebrating their birthdays!  Unfortunately, I won't get to spend this day with them - (my brother, ofcourse, is in Manila, while my husband is in Bahrain to prepare for a conference) - still i don't want to miss this opportunity to honor these two special men in my life.    To my brother, Emil, I am proud of everything you have achieved.  Growing up together sealed that special bond between us as brother and sister, and I continue to cherish this inspite of the distance and inspite of having our own lives now.  Take care always... To my husband, Noli, thanks for the love and the care.  Thanks for inspiring me to be a better person and for the patience to bear with my shortcomings (haha).  I honor you for being a great dad to Mico... can't wait for those father-son activities soon when he grows ...

34 years ago, two very young and extremely opposite individuals found their way into each other's life.  These two individuals are, of course, my mom and dad... God's greatest blessings in my life. Growing up, I strived to be the daughter my parents would be proud of - achieve good grades in school, pursue my talents and dreams and excel in it, strive to do what is right and develop a deep faith in God.  Though in reality it may seem difficult to be such, for there could never be a perfect daughter.  But nothing could ever discourage me from striving to be the best that I can be. For it is through this that I can best honor them and thank God for the blessing of my parents. As they celebrate their 34th Wedding Anniversary, i wish to thank them for the all the love, the care and the learnings in life... To my dad, thank you for teaching me the value of self-discipline, of hardw...

As I was in the midst of de-cluttering my closet a few days back, i happened to find a CD compilation which contained photos of my husband, Noli, and myself.  Most of it were pics taken when he was still my boyfriend.  It was fun sorting through it once again as it brought back a lot of wonderful memories. Gosh, I just can't believe how fast time flies.  Here are some of it... (this was I think in 2002, during the 1st SFC Global One event) (2001, during a conference for Singles in Bacolod) (2003, during the Metro Manila Conference for the Youth, National Arts Center, Laguna)  Today, September 18, 2009, we are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary.  5 Years of "perfect" and "not-so-perfect" moments haha!   But each day is definitely worth it.  As I look forward to more perfect moments, i wish to pick up from what my dad had said in an email sometime ago... "take care of your fami...

Our first house as newly-weds!  Feels so great to have a home where we will begin our new life as husband and wife.  A new life we will build on our own.  This house may be small... but it's perfect!  We may not have all the things yet... but I'm just so excited to fill our house with the simple things we need together.  Although we don't own this... just renting for now... but what I am looking forward to is being on our own.      Maybe it's not yet the house I've always dreamed of having... but it's our home for now.

I'm about to get married in a few months.  I still can't believe it... seemed only yesterday when I met my first boyfriend and now he will be my husband.   The past years had been the best 3 years of my life.  Of course we had our shares of ups and downs - almost "break-ups", and doubts.  But all these are incomparable to our firm decision to grow old together.   Our Wedding Invite...  Actually, right now, I am trying to draft my wedding vows... but i can't seem to find the right words to express exactly what i feel.  It's as if no words can ever capture the beauty of the relationship i share with my "soon-to-be-husband" and the blessing of committing to a lifetime of life and love.   I love writing... and normally, words just come out naturally for me.  But at this very moment... nothing!  I can't seem to capture anything into words.  If only i could just ...

When i first met Noli, i felt nothing.  Contrary to what i thought i would feel - heart pounding so fast...  lost for words... knees getting weak... butterflies in my tummy ... But i was perfectly normal.   But somehow I knew in my heart that there was something different, something special about him.  My mom totally adored him... i thought to myself perhaps he was more of an answered prayer to her than mine.  It was difficult for me to accept him considering what I know of his past relationships.  I was in denial for quite some time of the fact that he could be the one i was waiting for.  He wasn't my ideal man... but he seemed perfect for me.  Like we just fit in together, complimenting each other's emotional needs. I know that i still have a lot to discover about him but somehow i just knew that he was God's gift to me. ...

This is an essay i wrote back in 2000.  I was 24, single and never had a boyfriend.  It was a moment in my life when i found myself suddenly in "panic-mode" as I realized... "wait a minute, I am 24 and I hope to get married by 25!".  That's when I found myself writing and unleashing that "hopeless romantic" side of me...  I want to fall in love.  Or better yet, I want to fall in love with my ideal man.  He is someone who is tall, fair and handsome... he should be athletic, especially great in basketball... can play drums... hunky... well-groomed and can wear his clothes as if he just stepped out of a men's fashion magazine.  I dream of meeting him in Paris where I would be in a white sundress one afternoon, hanging out in a French Cafe.   Both of us tourists in that foreign land... finding ourselves, wondering about life and love. Suddenly our paths would cross and "boom!" one look at each and we'll fall in ...