Fresh start, new beginnings

New year, fresh start! As 2012 was a challenging year for me, I welcome 2013 with a big smile and arms wide open. To me, it offers hope for a better life ahead career-wise and on the personal front. Oh well, 2012 was not so bad. A lot of beautiful things happened inside the home and family and while it was quite difficult in the third quarter at work, things turned brighter toward the last quarter. 

On the home front, three of the kids graduated in March - our eldest from college, the second from high school, and the youngest from kindergarten. Those were joyous occasions for me and my husband, never mind that these incurred huge expenses. Haha! Around March also, I started this blog, inspired by the numerous food blogs that I read. Doing photography (though amateurishly. Hehe!) and writing each post excite me and give me a sense of fulfillment both as an artist and a writer. Come summertime, my two sisters based in the US and Canada came home and all of us in the family save for our dad went on a weekend vacation in Legazpi, Albay. Seeing Mayon Volcano up close and personal was indeed an overwhelming and exhilarating experience, what with its majestic beauty and magnificence. We also spent two weeks in our father's hometown of San Francisco in Quezon Province, where we spent almost every single day swimming in the beach or simply walking along the seashore. I thoroughly enjoyed burying my feet on the sand, breathing in the fresh, cool air and taking pictures of the sunset by the sea. Meanwhile, December offered a different high for me as the office Christmas party presented me with an opportunity to go back to my first love and showcase a talent long buried in the hills of my personal life - dancing. When I was young, it was my dream to become a member of OctoArts or Wea Dancers so I could dance on TV. No kidding! Haha! Dancing was my life at school and elsewhere until college at UST but when when I entered the College of the Holy Spirit, went into a serious relationship and eventually finished college and got married, dancing (and choreographing) took a backseat. Until our Christmas party in the office came. Were my co-workers surprised that I could actually dance and even choreograph a dance number! Haha! I was thrilled to be dancing again. These were the highlights of my 2012.

Dusk. I took this sunset photo in our hometown in Quezon Province.

My sister's snapshot of Mayon Volcano. The file of my own shots was destroyed by virus, sadly and unfortunately.

 

And now, it's 2013. I hope to be able to dance in more occasions. Haha! Also, there are other things I hope to be able to do. I want to be able to finish and hang a painting, to do fashion design again as I did in my teenage years, to relearn playing the piano and try new recipes. As a new year resolution, I hope and will try my best to manage my time and wake up early in the mornings. More importantly, I want to have a closer relationship with God and to be able to spread His word in my own little way. 

Have a blessed, bountiful and beautiful 2013 everyone! Cheers!