First Ever Out-of-town Trip

I started working in Mindanao State University in June 2007. I'm very happy to be part of a very happy family. This department, as I see it, is the most joyful in the whole university (biased. Hehe..) We like having fun. Celebrations happen every now and then. Of course, we celebrate birthdays. We have bountiful food during exams. People with something new give blow-outs. Someone who arrives from a vacation gives treats. We eat ice cream on Fridays because we worked hard the whole week or just because it's so hot outside. We want to have pizzas and burgers for even the simplest things or even having no reason at all. The office is always a joyful place. But we're just in the office. We haven't really got out except for Christmas parties.

One day, as a semester was about to end, a voice popped up, "We need a break! Let's go out and have some fun!" Everyone who was there highly agreed, "Yes! We deserve it!" And the long time plans of going out from the four corners of MSU to breathe some fresh air came to reality.

Lake Sebu! Here we come!

Food!




Zipline!



Boating!



Fun!



Family!



I love the fun of being with my once admired professors and now also my fun-loving colleagues.

More of these in the coming months and years!

Cuteness

The days are so quiet and incomplete without my adorable and super over of cuteness niece, Caela. They visited her other Grandpa and Grandma. They'll be gone for few days.

So here I am going through her pics because I miss her so much - her laughters, her dances, her hops, toothless smiles, screams, and even her cries. She seldom cries and when she does, we let her because she's so cute when she cries especially when she just tries to. It's very obvious from her voice and her face that she just wants to be outside her crib and be carried. I miss her hugs, too. Her hugs are very sweet especially when she's so sleepy and sick. Maybe she wants to feel loved.




And I also found this. I love this very contrasting expressions stolen pic. Her mother, my sister, was taking pictures of us while we were playing and sun-bathing one early morning. Maybe I was kissing her so much that she just frowned trying to say stop.



Do you also have nieces and nephews? Don't they just give you so much joy? :)

Daydreaming Saturday: My Favorites

I'm not going out today and so I lazily crawled out of bed and blogged! It's a daydreaming morning. :) These are the things I'd love to see and experience on a beautiful Saturday. But since I opted to stay at home, I'll just feel the goodness of them as if they're running through my veins. :)

(All images are from Google)

No.1 Sunsets



I'm not a beach buddy but I love the beach at sunset. It's where the best views of sunsets are. Sunsets give me the feeling of being reflective, of being amazed of the beauty of the earth, of being grateful for what the day has brought me, and of being hopeful for the yet wonderful things to happen the next day.

No.2 The Rain




My super favorite time in the world is when it rains (not the heavy rains but the sweet and gentle ones). I just love the feel of the drizzles on my face, my toes, my skin. It's like blessings pouring out from above and it's like washing all the impurities out from me and making me a new (and wet) creation. Hehe...

People rush to go home or find a place where they can hide from the rain but I'd rather bring out my umbrella and sing with the raindrops as my music. Isn't it great to see the trees dancing with the cold wind. The flowers smiling because they're refreshed and the streets bouncing for joy because they're out of dusts.

I love the rain!

No.3 Journals

I love writing! I take notes of inspiring words that I've read and listened to, my to-do list, important occasions, things that I learned everyday, and those which made me happy for the day. Before, I keep four journals(including a planner) a year - my diary, my book of prayers, my happy journal, my planner. But I learned that it's practical to just have one so I can carry it always and have my notes written in no time. Now, I have one notebook for actually 5 purposes. It's my budget notebook as well. Haha! Did it sound like a mess? But I have everything in it and it's what I really wanted. It's like every minute of my day is in it. Hehe..

I take time to pick the perfect journal for me because I'll be using it for a year and so it shouldn't go out of my "like zone". And yey! I found the one from sterling!

And these are adorable, too!




Now I have to get some breakfast. Happy Saturday blogging world! And to those who are not going out like me, happy daydreaming! :)

Architect Champoy

Congratulations to my dear friend, the new architect Charmenne Diane Odan!



You deserve all your blessings Champoy! I'm so proud of you. A big hug from me here in Gensan to you there in Manila :)

Go City Highian!

And congratulations also to the the University of the Philippines for a 100% passing rate in the Architecture Board Exam.

Favorite Friends

Do you have favorite friends? Because I do! These are the people who have created special memories with me and amidst time and distance, they remain special. It's seldom that we see each other anymore. Maybe, once or twice in a year but when we do, all the fun just come in just like what we had before.

We graduated from high school exactly 10 years this year. It's been a decade guys! I have three barkada groups in high school. Yes I was that friendly. One was with cutie cutie gals. The other was with beautiful gals and a guy. And one was with those who became the valedictorian, the salutatorian, the honorable mentions, and the artists. I had to be part of that group so I could copy assignments and share answers during quizzes. (No I don't cheat I just receive answers from the generous :) Oooppss. ) Thanks to them I wasn't really that near to the last rank. Maybe that's also why they're one of my favorites. They inspire me to achieve! :)

Here's with the third group.



Look at us here. We're so toddlers. But these are the most memorable years of my life.

I spent the first day of the year with them fooling around the camera after availing of the unlimited shots for 10 minutes in a photo studio. Here are some of our crazy poses.










I really had good genuine laughters guys! See you again next time! :)

Daydreaming Saturday

It's a cold Saturday here in General Santos City. It has actually been raining the past days. And I love the rain! It's like super overflowing blessings from above. But though there's no sign of any raindrops outside, it's still so cold even though it's 10:30 am already.

I just got up from a morning nap. Hehe. Weird. I woke up at 8am earlier to have my breakfast and was immediately back to bed. How I love Saturdays especially when I don't have any plans of going out. I love being at home. I have all the time in the world. Just feeling so laid back today.

I've mentioned three love's already. 1) the rain 2) Saturdays 3) Being at home. The fourth love for today is daydreaming! I was still hesitant to get up because of my daydreams about flower gardens, snowglobes, dresses, and foot soaks! But I ran out of pictures in my head so I decided to see more from Google.

So here are what I can add up to my stored images :)

Flower Gardens

Flowers inspire to me to have a colorful life. They are very soothing to the heart. Not much of flower gardens on this part of the world so these are like super amazing. Are these really existing? Wanna be here!!!

Snowglobes

Snowglobes are my only addiction. It's like when I see one, I wanna jump like a kangaroo because of its cuteness. But I don't buy one. I request (and sometimes beg) people to give me one. :) It's so stress-relieving because it's so calm. The world in it is so perfect. I wish someone would give a musical one, half the diameter of a basketball. :)






Dresses

Super fan of dresses especially Korean's. Will be making my own soon! Dressmaking classes for summer! Yey!







Foot Soak


Because I work in a quite not so cool place on earth, (No, I'm not a merchant riding on a camel. But our university is tagged to be close to a desert school) there's a need to take extra care of my feet. My greatest nightmare is to have cracked heels. :)

Turning One

My super adorable niece, Caela, is turning one! Yey! ...on June 12, 2012. Ooopss. Am I overly excited?! I actually am! It will be the first baby party in the family so I'm super excited... even more excited than the mother because I was the one who brought up the idea to start preparing by now. Exaggeration? I guess not. I'm just excited. Hehe. (Redundant?)

As the first stage of planning, we browsed for ideas from the most reliable world wide web and found cutie pieces of just about anything for a first birthday party. (Images from Google.)



There are lots of party ideas! Loving party preparations! :)

Ang Pag-iisang Dibdib (The Wedding)

I'm such a die hard fan of weddings! Because I'm a true believer of destiny and that one true love :) And today, I've witnessed another seal of promises of forever. :)

The long sought-after bachelor of IT department of MSU-Gensan is a bachelor no more! Goodbye to singlehood Sir Jose and cheers to a happy marriage! Everyone, meet Mr. and Mrs. Jose II and Lucky Leah Trillo! (Applause!)

(Pic courtesy of John Ray Balayon)

It wasn't love at first sight but it became a story of a One TRUE LOVE :)

And since weddings happen just once in a lifetime (Well, at least in this side of the world), people in the department also prepared for this special day of our colleague. Modern filipiana was the motif and Sir Jose warned us that we couldn't enter if not in the proper attire. So there we went to the malls and the dress shops to look for a dress.

On the day, we were teasing each other because we looked like part of the entourage.

My dress was close to that of a bridesmaid. Haha!



Oh! Weddings! I love being part of you. But more than the joy of celebrating this special occasion with these two friends, I wish you a more joyful marriage! And lots of children! :)

I love you both! Congratulations!

Welcome to MSU Family Ley!

Memouly Returns

I'm back!!!

A lot of things happened! And here are just two significant events.

1) The Birth of Caela Alexie

Caela is my third niece. She was born on June 12, 2011. Philippines celebrated its 113th Year of Independence on that same day so we decided to call her Yaan- short for Kalayaan which means freedom. She's the star of the family now.

Here's her first pic.. :)



And here's her first smile captured on cam. She's 2 weeks old here. :)




2) My Master's Degree

Finally! I officially graduated on May 14, 2011. :)

My Favorite Month

April is about to end. Goodbye my favorite month! How great you had been! No other month fills my heart with so much love like you do. Uhmm... Well actually, I like December too but nothing compares to you. :)

I celebrated my 26th birthday on the 2nd. Can't wait for another bountiful year! :)


Most of my favorite people on earth were also born on this month.

April 1 - Kuya Edgar. My beloved bestfriend. We seldom see each other already but ours is a friendship beyond silence and distance.


April 8 - Melai. My bestfriend by heart. We were not labeled bestfriends but we have a deep connection by heart. She was my most influential person 12 years ago. How I long to be enlightened by your wisdom again. I miss you!



April 9 - Ating. My elder sister. Trivia: We are only 11 months and 3 weeks apart. Thus, we have the same age in a week every year. Love that! I have an excuse not to call her ate :)



April 10 - Rain and Shine. The twin sisters are my friends for nearly a lifetime. :) Another great people on earth. Proud of you both! Hugggssss! (That's Shine then Rain in the picture.)


Ate My. A fabulous woman! Her life's insights have become an inspiration to me. I love you te! You're such a gift to me.


April 13 - Nene Ging-ging. My eldest sister. A woman I admire. Ever since chilhood, I look up to her. Her life speaks of wonders. I wish you happiness and fulfillment Ne!


April 16 - Bobet. My youngest brother. Our baby has already turned into a man. How fast time can be. (Yes, we're all aries siblings except for one. :) Isn't that amazing ?!?)



April 25 - Pepep. My first ever bestfriend. A strong woman. I'll always cherish what we had.

Whew!!! Happy birthday to us all! Aries people reign my world! :)

Another celebration was the commencement exercises of Mindanao State University. I've been teaching in MSU for 4 years. My first four-year course students graduated. It was some kinda emotional for me. I felt I was getting older. ;| That caught me unaware. Omg! Anyhow, I've always been excited for graduations because everyone celebrates success. On my part as an educator, the moment I saw my once young and novice students marched the aisle, was a touch to the heart. I felt proud for all their hardworks have paid off. I felt expecting for the future that awaits them. As I recalled how they looked at me then and how their gazes have changed, their eyes send a strong message of continuously working hard but not for grades anymore but for the good of their being and their fellowmen.

And oh! This year, I became a part of the reception committee. :) Extending a little help in the university's special occasions fulfills one of my personal vows. "To be of service to the Filipino people." :)