I Travel. I Pray. I Believe. (My Simala Experience)

Your mom blogger has been very, very busy the past few months.  So busy that even blogging seemed a luxury for me I could no longer afford anymore :-D

An unplanned road trip in Visayas made me come back to my senses.  Life is beautiful and time is limited so we have to make the most out of it.  I set aside the never ending tasks!  For three days and nights, I traveled, prayed and believed that God is really good and miracles still do happen. 

One of the places we've been to was Simala. A place to go that needs no explanation for as long as we believe. 

 The castle-like monastery located in Simala, Sibonga, Cebu.

 we made it through this stairway under the scorching heat of the sun

 the throng of believers

wheelchairs, crutches, and notes of people who believed, who experienced divine healing

 Sunday noon mass goers

 Marian monks built this grandiose church

 managed to say a little prayer for all all my loved ones and friends

the altar

The short visit to Simala made me realize that faith is something that lies peacefully in our hearts when everything seems to fall apart.  

 “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. 

To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

-St. Thomas Aquinas

Of Blessings and Bliss

The blogging mom's been away for almost a week to attend the graduation ceremony of our daughter for her BS Chemistry course.  A first  for my hubby and I and definitely it was awesome!

A  handshake from His Eminence Luis  Antonio Gokim Cardinal Tagle

It was heavenly to have the chance to come face  to face with His Eminence Cardinal Tagle.  The "papable" who made me shed a tear or two during his commencement speech for ADMU's graduating class of 2013.
Among his words that truly moved me were:

When someone says "I feel lost" I tell them "just wait to be found."  As you are searching for God, God is searching for you!"

"Problems can be solved, dilemmas continue . . . with dilemmas, we can only search for reason . . . for meaning."

"Minahal ka, magmahal ka naman!"

"I hope that more people, esp. filipinos become enlightened about the true meaning of life beyond self-interest."
Living a life of service and a life for God - was his clear message for the graduates!

proud parents with the graduate!

the choir who performed  during the baccalaureate

my daughter, an active member of the ADMU choir 

mom and daughter

hubby and I

The six-day respite from my usual activities was a realization for me - that life indeed is pure bliss and it is such a blessing!

Lovely January Wedding

January 2013 seemed to be love month for us because there were two weddings in a row that we've attended.  Both exude true love and  passion. The first wedding was that of lovely pair Bon and Emmylou - our friends from the Local Government of Gensan. If I were to describe their love story I'll borrow Mahatma Gandhi's words "If there is love, there is life!"

the lovely couple!

( these two photos were grabbed from Ms. Cubelo's FB account)

Indeed, love makes the world go round!  To Mr. and Mrs. Bon and Emmylou Apostol, our congratulations and best wishes!  May God continually bless your married life.  Cheers!

Hello Kitty Birthday Bash for a Pretty Lady

One of the events we have been into during the first few days of 2013 is the grand birthday bash with a Hello Kitty theme of a good friend's daughter.

the very elegant venue turned into Hello Kitty Land

 my hubby and kids enjoying the meal ;-D

 my kids and their friend waiting for their turn for the face painting

 my youngest daughter Jasmine  with her choice of small floral design

 my daughter Sam with Hello Kitty on her cheek

 Jasmine with the very pretty celebrant, EJ 

 the artist doing the painting on Alexa's  cheek

It was one celebration my kids did truly enjoy . . . many thanks to the celebrant, her sister, and their mom!

(Updated!) First Fresh Egg

Woke up with a very big smile today because after around four months of waiting,  I harvested the very  first egg courtesy of our itiks (ducks)!

The mighty egg in all its splendor ;-D 

The itiks in my pond

 (photo grabbed from Sir Nur Juanday's FB account)

The cooking mom's damn excited for more eggs to come.  Salivating with the thought of making leche flan soon!

On the next day, we have two . . . found inside the pond ;-D that's why these eggs looked so clean ;-D

Priceless Christmas for Us

Christmas is supposed to be a time for merrymaking but for us it meant a time of reaching out, of extending helping hands and helping others see that beyond the clouds, the sun is still shining.  

My husband and I were tasked to assist in the activity spearheaded by the Local Government Unit of Gensan for the benefit of the dependents of missing fishermen due to Typhoon Pablo on December 23, 2012 at the GSC Sports Complex.

I was with the team who assisted little children of those missing fishermen find a little joy in spite of what's happening around them.  There were storytelling, playing games, and giving of gifts for the kids. Added bonus to the activity was the presence of mascots Jollibee and Hetty that really brought excitement to our young spectators' eyes.

The innocence of these children is simply enviable.  They still managed to give all of us a smile and were very willing  to seize the moment.  Their fathers are all missing for almost a month now and yet their families together with government agencies and NGOs are still not giving up in the search and rescue operation.

I was happy and sad at the same time doing the job of making these children see that there is still a glimmer of hope. Deep inside I know that survivors at this point in time is already nil.  I am just praying for God's mercy for the children and their families.  

We made the kids so happy that day . . . I just hope that in our own little way we still can in the days to come.

A day after, the whole family had our gift-giving for the wards of Maria Goretti's Home for Girls.  My girls were more than happy to share our blessings with the girls under the care of the Passionist Sisters.

 Many thanks to our friends and Olaer Development Corporation for helping us with the goodies we gave to Maria Gorettti's girls.

 What we've done may be temporary in nature but we hope it  made a difference in the lives of many.

Merry christmas, everyone!

A Biko With a Story

The cooking mom got the time to prepare something special for our noche buena. Prepared a good amount of food to feast on but I've got a piece I considered extraordinary - the biko (glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and sugar).  What makes it so special?

Well, basically it's a simple delicacy but it was embedded with so much love and passion from the mountains of Capas, Tarlac to our kitchen here in General Santos City.

The Aeta foster family of my daughter  during their immersion program in the mountains of Tarlac gave her a  bagful of mountain violet sticky rice as token. These good Aetas were the former settlers around Mt. Pinatubo who resettled in Tarlac to find a living. Aside from the sticky rice, they also gave my daughter sinfully delicious newly harvested brown rice.  It was so generous of them.

the so unselfish, so generous foster family of my daughter
 (Nanay Melinda, Tatay Gaspar and their kids with my daughter and other ADMU students)

Rafee handcarried the gifts all the way from Manila to Gensan.  I was almost in tears when I heard  her story of where these products came from. I wanted very much to say THANK YOU to her foster family and let them know how I appreciated their gesture but it's impossible to get through them.

So on christmas eve, I cooked the very precious gifts from our Aeta friends and shared these with people dear to us whom we requested to say a little prayer for this family who epitomizes the true spirit of christmas - to give and share without expecting anything in return!

To you, my dear friends from the mountains of Tarlac, our paths may not cross very soon but you will always be included in our prayers for God to keep you safe and healthy always!

Thank you for reminding us the true essence of Christmas!