2017.
2017.
Crazy how the year went by so fast. So cliché, until I start scrolling back my social media accounts to recount and reminisce. Every year I invest time to make this blog post despite my laziness lack of interest to continue blogging. I blame it on WordPress. Somehow it’s getting buggier and heavier, simply uploading a picture at times results in a flipped display. Anyway, a plugin fixed this, finally, so — end of whine.
In the spirit of new beginnings, hello 2018, have you noticed anything new around the house? 😉 *ding ding* New blog theme! Cleaner, finally mobile-friendly (lol for a web developer I was massively neglecting my blog for years, SHAME), and more organized! Another big housekeeping effect was reverting to my old blog name “Her Soliloquies” because apparently “I Will” was not SEO-friendly. Perhaps this new shiny lewk will encourage me to photoblog more 😀
Anyway, let’s get this started.
Things I wanted to do in 2017
Goals
1. Develop a new blog theme using the WordPress REST API.
– Never got to doing this as I’ve even missed writing my 28th birthday post. Opted an easier way for now.
2. Join a Contiki tour!! Setting my sights on the Spotlight on Greece tour.
– Did not happen. For many personal reasons, the time wasn’t right this year.
3.
– This was a blast! I loved every minute of it. It was great listening to some ubiquitous names on Github speak in person. A lot of well-established companies like Microsoft, Paypal, Amazon Web Services and Airbnb, sent an engineer or two to share about new developments and future ideas. You couldn’t help but feel excited for what’s to come! Technology is evolving and improving more rapidly than ever before, I say, thanks to free-thinking and sharing communities (ex. open source).
I immensely enjoyed exploring the city of Portland. I think it is my favorite U.S. city now 😀 I have a lot more to say about PDX so maybe a separate blog post is in order!
4. Visit Cebu, PH for our 10 year highschool reunion and visit friends and family.
– Totally. We flew to Boracay and stayed for a couple of nights. It was fun to reconnect and bond with my high school classmates. We made good memories from this trip lol I wish I could dedicate a blog post about this with all the great photos but I barely remember most of what we did. XD Still, soo thankful I flew back to Cebu for this. <3
5. Meet and get to know my boyfriend’s family in Cebu! ^^
– Yes! And they were a pleasure to meet 🙂 I regret not having photos now though. Chad and I are always trying to remember to take photos whenever we’re out with people because #memories but its been fail half the time! lol
6. Take more photos when traveling. Maybe video making takes too much time for me right now.
– I have taken photos, probably not as much as I want to. Haha. The iPhone makes for a lazy photographer. I love having the portability of my Fuji X-T10 now though, despite missing the colors and quality from my Canon 5D Mark ii. Someday, I hope to have a Leica cam… Yes. That is the dream.
7. Get an AB driver’s license.
– Yipee! This is a Big Praise the Lord Almighty for His Grace and Mercy!!! I am not the best driver, but I passed and finally have a Canadian license! This was an absolute relief for me, you have no idea. Big thanks to my brother-in-law for helping me practice and lending me his car during the exam!
8. Continue giving my tithes to IJM and other organizations, or a home church in the SW.
– I’ve done this regularly for a little over the year, and then lost the momentum later. 🙁 Thankfully it is very easy to get back on this train since giving tithes here in Canada is as easy as an online payment or Paypal transaction.
In the back of my mind, I periodically have a little voice telling me I’d want to get back to serving at church or volunteering at a charity. It was so much easier to do this on a regular, scheduled basis in Vancouver since public commute didn’t take at least 1.5 hours (including wait time) to places. It also wasn’t freezing cold most of the year when I did walk outside. So when I do get a car, this is one of the things I want to move if given the privilege.
It really warms my heart remembering the times I taught Sunday school at Willingdon church and when my girlfriends and I from Bible study went to volunteer at The Salvation Army (if you happen to be reading — Hi Jenny, Sally, Grace, Jina, Esther and Jessica I miss you guys so much). I feel like when I serve others who are in need without expecting anything in return, it really fills me with a different kind of energy. A more meaningful and purposeful energy that I’d never get if I just lived for myself on a day to day basis. Perhaps its because it is so easy and human to become fixated on our own problems that we get blindsided and miss out on the big picture. That is why remembering the goodness of the Lord really opens up my eyes. “There are so many things to be thankful about!” Lately, I can’t help but exclaim this every weekend! lol. Anyway, this section is getting too long I might as well write another blog post and ramble there about the many things my crazy mind has been thinking about. Like how being kind to others can actually be an act of kindness to yourself as well.
9. SPLITS
– Did this consistently for the first quarter of the year only, and just got back to it using my yoga wheel. This is like one of those forever irrelevant to life goals that I have. Hahaha!
10. Continue to learn Spanish. Como estas?
– Yes! Did this for 3/4 of the year, but a few months ago had to stop. With the wedding planning in full motion it’s just faster to work with an English phone than a Spanish one. I’m sure you get me right.
Which is a perfect segue to…
Things that happened in 2017
Looking back
– Although Chad and I planned to get married before he actually proposed (one reason for which is kind of funny), I had, now looking back, absolute false confidence that he couldn’t surprise me! But he really did and I was honestly so impressed with everything. He collaborated with my sister and our mutual friend here in Calgary and it ended up happening at the Coutts Village in Nanton. It was a surreal moment. I think it would be quite entertaining to actually recount my thoughts leading up to this cute cabin because I was in the state of disbelief for so long. I pinched myself and even had to hold Chad’s face to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I paused and thought deeply, “Am I dreaming? Why is Chad here? He’s supposed to be in Hong Kong!”. So yes, it was well played indeed, my ninja love. Thank you for the wonderful proposal. You have no idea how much you make me happy!
One of my favorite candids from the video
I can’t help but get a kick out of this and laugh every time! This was when I was like, “Hey you!” as I spotted Ian running around the cabin taking photos, while my excited brother-in-law and niece in full view of the camera opened the door ajar to video the moment for us. Sweet Chad in the middle of his speech looking so loving but oblivious to the ruckus. Ahh so many feels, everyone was just in on this. It was so special. Excuse me for the cheese but I felt so loved!
– Visited Edmonton with #barangayCalgary for the first time to check out the magnificent and very photogenic Ice Castles. Met up with our high school classmate who lives there too, hey Brett! By evening, I hung out with Ingrid and Gabe and karaoke-d the night away.
– Edited a video from our sightseeing around British Columbia back in 2016. I used the iPhone app Splice from GoPro. Sadly, I can’t do heavy processing tasks like this on my phone anymore ever since the iOS 11 update.
– Fernie, BC with the gang! Had a family barbeque party out in the cold.
– Flew to Cebu for our 10 year high school reunion and coincidentally introduced Chad to mummy for the first time. My uncle sadly passed away that time. Fortunately, my trip was timely enough that I was able to attend his wake and meet up with my mum’s side.
– Visited Calgary’s Farmers Market. Quickly became my favorite place!
– Visited the Ukrainian Heritage Village in Tofield, AB when we visited Edmonton again for Ingrid’s birthday. Wish I had better photos from there. It was beautiful and very educational! This was also the place where I did the most instastories in one trip, ever.
– Visited Seattle, WA again and spent time with my good friend’s family and godchild. I assisted Allie during her nannying jobs and it was a lot of fun! Baby Ellie isn’t a baby anymore. This pretty toddler is growing up to have such a kind heart, just like her mama.
– Checked out the Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room, the fanciest and biggest Starbucks I’ve seen so far.
– Resigned from Shoal Games and started working for Farmers Edge, still remotely. The ability to work anywhere and have semi-flexible hours are definitely some of my favorite perks of being a programmer.
– Hiked and biked in the summer! Last summer was great. It made me value Canadian summers on a whole new level. Haha. Parks are so nice to have especially when you have family and friends who want to enjoy the outdoors together. I don’t like being under the sun very much but hiking in the late afternoon gives spectacular views.
– Started my Invisalign treatment! First had a Carriere appliance so I spent half the year looking like Wolverine’s daughter, but now I’m on the more discreet Invisalign stage. 😀
– Watched The Phantom of the Opera at the Jubilee Theatre. It was magnificent. The songs, the set… I’d watch it again if I could. Chad hasn’t seen it yet, so maybe we can watch it together this year.
– The 2017 solar eclipse happened. These are photos of evidence for my witnessing it in this lifetime.
– Practiced putting on makeup more. I wanted to save money by doing my own makeup instead of getting a makeup artist for our engagement photos. I honestly also think this is a useful skill to learn as a woman. You’d save $$$ as the call to attend weddings and special occasions become more frequent in your life. Unfortunately, this very act took a toll on my sensitive skin and now I’m nursing some acne cosmetica. I’m pretty sure it’s from using makeup. Its only in the area where I put my contour powder on. Also – unwise brush care. I left my brushes on a stand to collect dust, not inside a case. #lessonlearned
– Designed our wedding Save the Date invitations. I’ll post them here when the wedding is over. I want a more artsy fartsy photo of it with my wax seals and stamps 😀
– Mummy visited us in Canada for the first time. We flew her here from Australia for her first snow experience. It was a wonderful time and we made lots of memories!
– Visited Spirit Hills Winery, a honey winery. They have a delicious warm wine (always thought this was weird until I actually tried it).
– Shot our family photoshoot. The last time we did this was way back the first time we visited Australia, I think around 2007? I bought 2 second-hand continuous lights which are super! Good quality lights without breaking the bank from Strobepro. If you’re from Canada, check them out. These photos are from a simple setup using 2 Quadstar 1000W Continuous Lighting Kits ($189 CAD).
– We didn’t travel very far to snowboard this year. There’s Winsport just within the city, otherwise known as Canada Olympic Park (COP), which was used during the 1988 winter Olympics.
– First time I drove a snowmobile! Chad and I took turns being driver and passenger. This was in Invermere, BC, by Toby Creek Adventures. Our package included lunch, snacks, and a time to drive around freestyle and solo aside from driving through the trails. Chad was really good at this since he’s always been a great driver. Definitely an experience for the books!
– I finally became a Permanent Resident of Canada! Oh man… I was ecstatic, and I couldn’t help but tear up as I remember all the time spent planning, researching, coming here on my own and just doing as best as I could for a self-sufficient future. Have to admit – I enjoyed every minute of my journey to here.
– Chad and I attended Discovery Weekend last December. Its a three-day marriage preparation retreat, and I highly recommend it! Funny story. Since we were flying to Manila for it, Chad mentioned it would be cool if we met a celebrity but what were the chances right. Turned out we were in the same group as Maxene Magalona and Robbie Mananquil. I think they just recently had their wedding actually, so God bless them!:)
– Finished the book “Spiritually Emotionally Healthy” by Peter Scazzero. This book was recommended to me by my Pastor-businessman friend. I recommend this book.
– Spent Christmas and New Year with the usual gang. Wow, the party setup was a level up last December. Our theme this year was “Great Gatsby”.
Things I want to accomplish in 2018
goals
- Read “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and “Baby Signs”. Allot a time to read periodically
- Continue to regularly exercise, like doing 7-minute workouts every other weekday
- Finish the wedding planning so we can actually start working on our marriage (which I am more excited about haha)
- Aim to get a raise at work, or an equivalent
- Attend an enriching conference (?) / any learnings-based goal / or a yoga retreat
- Start volunteering again
- Continue learning Spanish
- Cook more, juice more, and get a blender to make healthy smoothies!
- Experience a new activity such as free diving or scuba diving
This year was overall more chill compared to my previous years with the major thing being busy with wedding planning most days. I was really happy I was able to jump the gun: invest and travel to Portland for Chain React 2017 (first ever React Native conference in North America). It was my first time actually attending a tech conference and staying at an Airbnb by myself. I have no regrets despite me having to quit my job at that time and leave the mobile games industry just so I could go without any worry (plus I had no more vacation leaves after Boracay hahaha!). The ticket ended up more expensive than I expected since the CAD was weak that time (converted to $600+ from $365 :(), but I believe in investing in education so I had to do this.
I’ve always assumed wedding planning was super stressful, and on the rare occasion, I do feel that way. However, I feel like Chad and my sister (a.k.a maid-of-honor) do help me enough that it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Looking back, it was quite challenging for me at the beginning when Chad told me, “Okay, start thinking about what kind of wedding you want already” mainly because I never really had that fairytale daydream about my future wedding. I had no idea what I wanted and it became frustrating because I am so picky about style and color! I’ve always thought about my future children (one of the big reasons why I came to Canada), what I want to teach them or how I want to raise them – but everything before having children I never really gave much thought! So that was quite silly of me. Actually, funny story – when Chad and I were still friends we had one of those life talks. This was about one year after me and my long-time boyfriend broke up. I revealed to Chad and Ian that I wanted to adopt a child by 31 since I was comfortable just being alone and they, just like my family, convinced me otherwise. This was one of the mental roadblocks Chad had to go through when he was considering me, he said. Haha! I was mentally dead set on it for a long while so fast-forward to planning a wedding was like whoaaah okay I need to dive into Pinterest right now because I kinda wasn’t expecting to get married!
After much thought, I knew in my heart I wished for an intimate ceremony. Perhaps a reception small enough that we could talk to everyone. Fortunately, Chad wanted the same. And I was proven wrong, life is so much more fun a journey with someone who loves and understands you truly. So I kindly ask that you please pray for us as we embark on this new chapter of our lives.. 🙂 Let’s go 2018!
