33 on 33

Last month I celebrated my 33^rd bday. I had simple get-together with my family and I capped the day with a 4-hour spa session at one of my favorite water spas in town.

Albeit simple, I got to have more time to look back and reassess myself. Am I happy at 33?

The answer is YES! I am happy and grateful! And here are 33 reasons that I can think of:

1. I am happy for the gift of family – My mom is healthy; my dad’s condition is getting stable and my siblings are in good places.
2. I am thankful for my 2-year old niece who brings so much joy to the family.
3. I am thankful we were able to finally hire a trusted aide to be with my dad every time he needs to go to the hospital.
4. I am thankful for my best friend Thea who is always there, respecting my privacy when I don’t like to share anything just yet even with her.
5. I am thankful for the job that pays the bill.
6. I am thankful for my best bru ever since we were kids, Joan. She is the best.
7. I am thankful for my girlfriends – my longest relationship by choice. (yes 26 years of friendship and counting).
8. I am thankful for my significant other – very patient and understanding man. The last 5 years with him are the best years so far.
9. I am thankful for his family that accepts me and embrace me for who I am.
10. I am thankful for the chance to travel with my man.
11. I am thankful for the opportunity to travel here and abroad.
12. I am thankful for the gift of writing – (a passion for writing to be exact )
13. I am thankful for my daily Grab and Cab ride. I don’t have to take the train or Jeep to and from work.
14. I am thankful for my trusted friends who I met at the office but our relationship goes beyond work (Tracy, RJ and Jolan).
15. I am thankful for WordPress for the platform to express myself.
16. I am thankful for the reliable internet connection that I have at home.
17. I am thankful that I get to read my favorite author’s books ( yes, I am a book-aholic).
18. I am thankful for the people who do not bash me for my weight. ( yes, I am overweight, plus size)
19. I am thankful for the people who believe in me at work.
20. I am thankful for my current company ( it’s been 7 years now that I am with IM).
21. I am thankful for my “moonlight” company – that gives me opportunity to conduct tutorial for 1.5 years now.
22. I am thankful for my WordPress followers. ( Yes, 700+ bloggers).
23. I am thankful for my brother in-law who always treats my dad as his own.
24. I am thankful for my own house that I still pay until now but it provides shelter for my loved ones.
25. I am thankful my brother got his first job (which means he does not have to rely on parental support. 😊 ).
26. I am thankful for the ability to cook, good enough to survive my weekdays without starving. (hehehe).
27. I am thankful for online delivery services – I didn’t have to go out to do my groceries and my shopping.
28. I am thankful for Google and YouTube for being my Go-to sites for all hacks I need.
29. I am thankful for the random group messages from my cousins.
30. I am thankful for the people who laugh at my corny jokes.
31. I am thankful for the nice cab driver who gave me back my wallet which fall off my seat.
32. I am thankful for the good – random people I meet every day.
33. I am thankful for my existence! 33 years of making things that matter! I may not be right every time. But I am thankful that God gives me chance to start anew every single day!

 

The list continues and I am forever grateful! Now, on to another year!

Cheers!

 

With a Happy Heart,

-Simplymesmc

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Meet and Greet (June)

It’s time for the Meet and Greet weekend everyone!! Strap on your party shoes and join the fun! Ok so here are the rules: Leave a link to your page or post in the comments of this post. Reblog this post. It helps you, it helps me, it helps everyone! Edit your reblog […]

via Meet and Greet: 6/1/18 — Dream Big, Dream Often

600 Followers + Q&A portion!

Jirah from https://jirahmerizz.wordpress.com and   https://eyeseesomething.com/ recently sent me a few questions and some of you left in the comment section awesomely interesting questions all through out the years.  Some questions were thrown during the Awesome blogger award nomination.  As my way of thanking you, my 600+ followers, I am answering some of those questions today!

 Cheers to all creative minds who can freely express emotions through writing! You guys are awesome!

Here you go!

1. Question: What is your goal in blogging?

Answer: My goal is to inspire readers and honestly, I am hoping that one day, I can earn  financially out of writing.  I know I have a lot of learnings to do to reach that point.

2. Question: Do you plan to start Youtube soon?

Answer: Not in the near future but I’m not closing my doors to any possibilities. As of now,  writing is really my passion.

3. Questions: What do you like and dislike about the blogging community?

Answer: What I like?

• I like meeting new friend and reading what others have to say about a certain topic. All the blogs that I follow, I make sure to read some of their pieces. Ok, I admit, not all of the entries but before I hit the follow and like button, I make sure I have read atleast one article.
• I like it that I get a lot of ideas from my fellow blogger specially on beauty and style..
• I like reading book reviews, and I also get to know other awesome book authors through book reviews
• I get to express myself and I get to inspire other readers
• Ahggggg… I have so many things in mind…. The pros are limitless

What I dislike? – 

• People posting negative posts , rants, whines and anything that do not inspire at all

4. Question: What life lesson do you appreciate the most and why?

Answer: To have faith in God. No matter what happens, trust in the Lord. We will never go wrong. While we have faith in God, do your part. God cannot just give everything we need, we need to work hard for it too.

5. What motivates you as a blogger?

Answer: All my followers motivate me to blog. People messaging me that they get something from what I write keep me going. Your Comments, likes and reblogs motivate me all the time. Plus, blogging is my way of sharing my views and experiences to a larger audience.

I hope I answered well. 😊 ! No seriously, I hope you get to know me better through this.

Thank you.

Love, Simplyme

 

 

Mothers’ Day Tribute

Mothers’ Day is in 4 days and I want to share with you one of my favorite pieces, written 5 years ago. This article also landed in my company’s Quarterly Newsletter.To All Mothers out there, on behalf of all the children, I wanna say, THANK YOU for All you do! Thank you for your unconditional love. No greater human love than of a Mother’s.

My SuperMom

MAY 9, 2013  SIMPLYMESMC 

 20 something years ago, when I was just about 7, I regarded you as the antagonist in my own story:

• A woman who woke me up early everyday
• A woman who nagged at me when I went home late from school
• A woman who required me to pay respect to ALL people even when I didn’t feel like doing it ; even if they were mean
• A woman who would scold me when I got home with bruises and cuts from my irresponsible- childish games ( duh! Mom, I was the one who got hurt!) 
• A woman who violated the anti- child labor law by forcing me to make my bed; to clean the room; to wash dishes and worst of all, by forcing me to learn how to do the laundry.
• A woman who forced me to stay at home when I felt sick.
• A woman who turned off the TV during exam days even if our favorite show was airing.
• A woman who made me wear clothes I didn’t like wearing at all, I mean AT ALL!
• A woman who made an inventory of how I spent my allowance  for the day by making me recite everything that I bought.

My list was never- ending. I could go on and on pointing out  all that I hated in you when I was growing up.

But you know what? I miss all of those things now.

Now that I have grown into a fine woman, living my own life, all I can say is, thank you to the WOMAN who made me into who I am today.

 Thank you for teaching me to develop a pattern of waking up on time every day, it taught me how to value not just my own time but of others too.

 Thank You for training me how to make the bed and for  forcing me into doing the laundry. I am now living on my own and surviving because I can do all these chores.

 I am on my way to reaching my dreams because you didn’t give up on me and my siblings. We are living life to the fullest now because you raised us well.

 Just when I thought you were just simply being difficult to us when we were growing up, you were patiently giving us your tough love all along. You only wanted the best for us.  And I have long realized that.

Thank You for playing a very important role in my life, Nanay.

You are the best woman in the whole –wide –world. And I’m taking  my word back 20 years ago.

 I meant to say, you were, you are and will always be a Superstar in my life story!

With  so much respect and love,

– Your Daughter

No Filter Needed : Coron Islands

I had an opportunity to explore the Calamian Group of Islands last week. A 45 minute-flight from Manila took us to paradise.

The Calamian Islands or Calamianes is a group of islands in the Philippine province of Palawan. Amongst its numerous Islands, we visited the following major ones:

• Busuanga Island
  • This is where the airport is located. It’s 40-min drive to Coron Town
  • It is the largest Islands in Calamian and the second largest island in Palawan
  • It is known for recreational diving, this is where you will see WW11 Japanese Ship Wrecks
  • Beautiful Coral Reefs are also seen here
• Coron Island
  • This is where you see Kayangan lake
  • Twin Lagoon
  • Beautiful rock formation
  • The pristine white sand of Banol beach
• Calauit Island
  • It is a wildlife sanctuary and game preserve area
  • Known as Safari park

We also did the town tour which includes climbing the freaking 721 steps to Mt. Tapyas summit- the second tallest mountain in Palawan. This mountain has its own story to tell too.

Our trip was made convenient by Be Cool Travels and Tours. Our Agency was all accommodating and thoughtful of our needs. We traveled with kids and they made sure to book us in a hotel with swimming pool.

There was a little adjustment to be done because of overlapping schedule at the hotel due to cancelled flights because of heavy rain the day before we came, but everything was handled accordingly. So much of my talking, please enjoy snaps from my trip.

All these pics were taken through my mobile phone only. Natural lights and clear waters made the difference. As they say, #nofilterneeded!

Feeding these big guys at Calauit

Big Cross at Mount Tapyas with the best bru

 

Shameless Pose at pass Island – my favorite place

Breathtaking Pass Island

View From Kayangan View Deck

 

planning to get on the plane and travel to Coron yet? wait, there’s more:

View From the Hotel – not a bad view to wake up to

I hope you had fun!

As for me, I went home with a burnt skin, happy heart and a renewed spirit!

-Simplymesmc

500+ Followers: My Heart is Full!

I recently hit the 500 mark !! ( I am beaming right now, I hope you all can see).

Thank you to my fellow bloggers who took time to stop by my site and hit that follow button. I am a small-time blogger tryna’ follow what my heart’s desire. I still have a long way to go in as far as blogging in concerned and I will work even harder now to deliver great contents.

I don’t really know how return the favor to you all! If you have any suggestions on how we can do it, I am open to suggestions. Collab? co-author? 10 – 15 questions that you want me to annswer? Please comment below.

 

’til then, Thank you! Maraming Salamat! Gracias! Merci! Danke! Arigato!

 

Only by Prayer

As I was reading my daily devotion today, I came across this very reassuring, heartwarming and comforting read:.

 

Her wails squeezed my heart. I couldn’t stop her pain, fix her situation, or find one intelligible word of encouragement. But I knew who could help. As I wept with my friend, stumbling through a prayer, I whispered repeatedly, “Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.” Her cries quieted to sniffs and whimpers, until her breathing slowed. Her husband’s voice startled me. “She’s asleep,” he said. “We’ll call tomorrow.”

I hung up, weeping prayers into my pillow.

The apostle Mark shares a story of another person who wanted to help his loved one. A desperate father brought his suffering son to Jesus (Mark 9:17). Doubt clung to his plea, as he reiterated the impossibility of their circumstances (vv. 20–22) and acknowledged his need for Jesus to empower his belief (v. 24). The father and son experienced freedom, hope, and peace when Jesus stepped in and took control (vv. 25–27).

When loved ones are hurting, it’s natural to want to do the right things and say the perfect words. But Christ is the only One who can truly help us. When we call on the name of Jesus, He can enable us to believe and rely on the power of His presence.

My friend called me late one night during her cancer treatment. Grieved by her uncontrollable sobs, I soon added my own tears and a silent prayer. What am I supposed to do, Lord?

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Oh, how we need You, Jesus.

Her wails squeezed my heart. I couldn’t stop her pain, fix her situation, or find one intelligible word of encouragement. But I knew who could help. As I wept with my friend, stumbling through a prayer, I whispered repeatedly, “Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.”

Source: https://odb.org/2018/04/10/only-by-prayer/

 

If you follow my blog posts, I do not openly discuss about religion or my faith, I try to keep these things private as much as possible, but allow me to share a little about how powerful prayer is because this was something that really hit me home, and very timely for me.

Last week was one of the most challenging days for me and my family. Dad was confined in hospital for a serious health condition. This didn’t come as a surprise to us because he has been undergoing treatment for a year now but everything dawned on me when the doctor announced that my dad should undergo series of procedures. I knew my father dreaded this, I knew this was something he has been avoiding for a long time but we all knew that this was the only solution. I didn’t want to go into details about the hospital ordeal before his first session because of medical terms that I couldn’t even explain clearly.

I just felt that the responsibility was upon my shoulders because I was the one who was at the hospital when waiver needed to be signed. I was the one who went with him to the Operating Room when that tube needs to be planted somewhere on his body. At that time, I truly and honestly understood the feeling of people waiting outside the OR. Yes, that was just a minor operation but that was not the only thing that he must go through. That was just actually the start of his lifetime medication journey.  Outside the room was a prayer corner. I sat in one of the chairs waiting, waiting and waiting.. and while waiting, I told God: “ I have no fear Lord because  I have already lifted everything up to YOU!”. After silently saying these words, by God’s comforting silence, I felt so much relief.

Dad is still sick but he is fighting. He is a very positive patient. He is a very easy patient and he remains a prayerful person. I know we can go through all these.

Truly, prayer is our only weapon! And if we trust God for everything, we need not fear!