We’re
already more than halfway through January and I still haven’t posted this
important entry. I say it’s important because this entry is kind of my way of
looking back at God’s greatness in my life and my way of thanking Him for what
a wonderful year 2017 has been. So I’m sharing with you all, my 2017 recap
instead of my usual monthly rundown post.
JANUARY
If
you’ve read my 2016 recap, you’d know that at the end of December 2016, my
hubby’s youngest sister working in Japan visited us here in Singapore and we
all flew back to the Philippines on New Year’s eve. So January 2017 was our
first time to celebrate New Year in the Philippines since we moved to Singapore
in 2010 for work.
It
was also in this month that we (hubby, his sister, my sister and myself) spent
3D2N at Montigo Resorts and it’s so awesome! I have a review of the said resort
here on my blog if you wanna know my thoughts about the place and how our
experience went.
FEBRUARY
My
mom turned 60 and it’s my sister’s first birthday celebration here in
Singapore. Thank God for another year added to their lives! Although we’re
unable to come home to the Philippines for our mom’s birthday, we got to see
how her party went thru a video call. Thanks to the internet!
MARCH
It’s
the month we finally moved into a 3-bedroom condo unit. What was once just a
dream for me has finally become a reality.
APRIL
After
about a week or two of unpacking and organizing around the house, we’re able to
finally settle in. The feeling of finally being able to move around the house
freely and no reservations because we have it all to ourselves was really
fun.
We
had our housewarming party exactly a month after our move and it’s also in this
month that my sister brought her husband and daughter here in Singapore for the
first time for a 1-month vacation. That was sooo fun!
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| MY LOVELY GODDAUGHTER-NIECE :) |
I
also posted the first two videos I filmed at the new place on my YouTube
channel: a random haul and an everyday makeup routine.
MAY
Although
I didn’t have a lot of things going on in May, it was in this month that I got
a few emails from different brands for some video/blog collaboration. While
working with these brands for videos that were likely to go up on my channel
for the next two months, I also filmed and uploaded a few videos of my own. And
in this same month, the monthly rundown post on my blog has been born.
JUNE
My
hubby and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with some friends
over dinner at our flat. It was both a fun and chill night.
Aside
from June as our wedding month, it also became more memorable last year because
another dream of mine came true in this month. My parents finally got to visit
us in Singapore after years and years of convincing them.
God really has His
own perfect time for everything and I cannot agree enough that last year was
it! It’s a super fun, although tiring, 10 days of family bonding. It still
makes me very happy every time I look back at it ‘coz it reminds me to never
stop trusting God because His plans are flawless and His time is perfect. It didn’t
occur to me that the dream I gave up on thinking of ever seeing the light of
day would still come to life after so many years but it did. I should never
stop trusting God even at times when I couldn’t even make sense of what’s going
on. I just need to have faith in Him and trust that His love for me never
fails.
JULY
Hubby
brought me to The Canopi because it’s my birthday! It’s such a magical place
and it brings me joy reminiscing the time we spent there even though it was so
short haha.
We
also celebrated my niece/goddaugther’s 2nd birthday at LegoLand in
Malaysia which reminds me I haven’t edited the videos I took on that day. What
a shame, becca!
AUGUST
My
hubby’s aunt with her hubby and daughter visited us here in Singapore from
Spain for a short vacay and after touring a little bit in Singapore, we brought
them to Nirwana Resort Hotel and Indra Maya Pool Villa in Nirwana Gardens for
some fun and relaxation.
It’s
also in this month that my hubby and I decided to go back to a Fertility doctor
to really focus on what we’ve been praying for in a long time. It’s the month
we pushed aside whatever fears or pride that we have and finally dived into
knowing what’s the real deal about our situation.
SEPTEMBER
Our
journey to fertility continued…
It’s
in this month that I started taking the prescribed pills to me and I also
learned that patience is the key ingredient for this whole fertility recipe
because nothing is instant. I also started reading more about PCOS because at that point I
was pretty sure it’s my case even without the doctor telling me yet. So the
journey to my lifestyle change also started in this month.
My sister and I also got to join a lifegroup session for the first time at Every Nation and it
was wonderful.
I
also finally received the right light my sister bought for me as a birthday
gift, which only came late due to international shipping.
And
how can I forget that I’ve been granted a 10-year multiple entry US Visa? These
were all God’s miracles and I can’t thank Him enough for all these amazing
blessings!
OCTOBER
God
is just so amazing that He gave us something we didn’t know we wanted so badly.
We got to travel to the US!!! My hubby went there for work while I was just a
very blessed companion haha.
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| just landed at San Francisco International Airport |
I vlogged the whole trip, by the way. I’m sorry,
though, that it’s in my mother language but feel free to watch it to feel how
happy we were and still are up to this day whenever we remember this trip.
October
is also my hubby’s birth month so I made him a little something.
NOVEMBER
Just
two days after we arrived in Singapore, we boarded the plane again to come home
to the Philippines for my hubby’s mom’s 60th birthday and once-in-a-blue-moon reunion with all his siblings.
We
got to experience a bunch of fun activities while we’re in the Philippines. We
went trekking to witness the beauty of the real
Taal Volcano and became like kids again at Club Balai’s floating playground,
the Aqua Park.
We
went back to Singapore after that 1-week vacay in the Philippines and a few
weeks after, I was back at the hospital for my blood test (still related to our
fertility journey). On our next doctor’s appointment, as expected, the doctor
confirmed I had PCOS. Yes, had. :)
DECEMBER
I
just want to mention that after our first visit to the fertility doctor in
August, I made a conscious effort to lose weight for my health and of course
for my desire to have a baby. By the start of December, I’ve already lost 4
kilos, which actually has been a challenging thing for me to achieve since my
metabolism had tremendously slowed down as I aged, but I’m glad that though it
was a slow progress for me, it seems to be a stable one so I’m okay with it.
For
this month also, I made a decision to upload as many videos as I can to my
Beauty & Lifestyle channel. It was a struggle, yes, but it was a passion
project that made me really happy after finally completing it. I made a clear
plan to upload a video every weekday of December and I succeeded! Here are all
the videos I have successfully posted on my YouTube channel!
On
Dec 23rd, I made another visit to the hospital for another blood
test and was scheduled to see the doctor on January 9th…
-END OF 2017-
On
January 8th-12th of this year, I participated at our church’s (Every Nation
Church Singapore) prayer, fasting & consecration week and I’ve learned to
love God more. The what-seemed-to-be a week of torture because of not consuming
food to energize my body became a week of blessing and strength for my soul and
spirit.
On
January 9th, the second day of fasting, hubby and I went to the hospital
to see the doctor and one of my prayers has been answered. The result of my
blood test was good and was advised to try on our own this month (January)
without the help of the pills she usually gives me. Although there were also
other things we discussed, that “good news” about the result of my blood test
was enough for me to hold on to God’s promises.
One
thing is absolute: God’s love. If I were only allowed to bring with me one
thing I learned from 2017 to this year, it’s to give thanks to God in EVERY circumstance. Yep! What a very
commonly used statement but this is not a cliché. This is the truth. Everything
that happened in my life last year, good or bad is worth thanking God for
because every circumstance I had or still have is an ingredient vital to cook
the right recipe of the character God wants to develop in me.
In
2017, I learned the value of waiting and the power of the right attitude while
waiting. The good news is waiting in God
will never go in vain. It may take years for some prayers to be answered
but sometimes, what we don’t realize is that the answers are actually not
delayed. It’s just that our characters are not yet ready for the answers we
prayed for, and that’s normally why the waiting game continues.
I’m
still in the waiting game for some of the answers to my prayers but what I will
make sure I’d do differently this year, is to appreciate every moment spent in
waiting for there is definitely always something new that God is teaching me
every step of the way. I just need to pay more attention to Him and His will
than my needs and wants because He already knows them all before I can even
think of them.
