A Year of Bliss

The Borela Family

The year may not be perfect, but it was pretty good.

 Blessings.

Joy.

Christmas blessing administered by the priests of the St.  Paul of the Cross Novitiate

With thankful hearts, we glorify God's holy name.

Happiness.

Answered prayers.

bonding moments

Feeling blessed for the gift of life.

Love.

Merry christmas, dear friends!

Wishing you all good thoughts and happiness

this year and all the years to come . . .

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!

Six, Sixty and Counting!

I am a proud mom of these six young ladies . . . who wouldn't be? :-D

It has been seven months since we moved into our new home. Within this period, my kids' proof of doing good in their academics were just tucked inside a box and kept under our bed. It's a good thing that a mall here in Gensan offered their display cabinets at 20% less the original prices. Our cherished possession is now proudly displayed in the living room. :-D

Medals of all sizes and colors numbering around sixty and hopefully still counting . . . now make me the proudest mom in this part of the universe. :-D

I'm a Proud Mom of Two Debutants

Barely a year had passed but we already have two debutants in the family. Yes, Mama Mia, am getting older :-D . . .

Rafee and Tina are no longer babies, they are now ladies!

two young girls then with their best friend Mich

they are now young ladies soaring high as they conquer new heights . . .

beloved ates to their siblings . . .
obedient daughters to me and my hubby . . .
responsible members of our community . . .

My young ladies, you may now spread your wings but don't ever forget to look back behind where we all came from.

You are my babies and for always, we'll be loving and taking care of you!

Greetings for the Yuletide Season

We are wishing and praying for everyone

a

joyous christmas,

bountiful new year,

and a more peaceful

& prosperous 2011 ahead of us!

Happy Birthday, Jasmine!

Jasmine turns five years old today!
She is my youngest baby
She's so smart and pretty

She's the only one among the kids who calls me Mommy
She loves to tell stories to her sisters, Dad and me
We all adore her being witty!

Jasmine is the name
of this little girl so vain
but we all love her just the same!

Happy birthday, baby girl!

The Gift of Healing

Jasmine and Sam

If there's one precious gift I am cherishing right now, it is God's gift of healing. With His healing grace, my baby Sam is now doing well and hopefully can go back to school tomorrow after being absent for two weeks due to dengue.

Dengue, as we all know, is now endemic almost everywhere in the Philippines. No matter how cautious we are, the danger of acquiring this disease is still possible for whoever, wherever.

Of course, the support of friends and loved ones count a lot during those times we were in the hospital. Please allow me to thank everyone who in one way or another helped us cope with the situation. Special thanks to Dr. Cristina Ramizo, the courteous and efficient people of General Santos Doctors Hospital, blogger friends, my loved ones...and everybody else out there! Thank you, people! Again, life was and for always will be easy because of you!

Madamo gid na salamat!

The Mom Blogger is now a Driver

I have long been wanting to learn how to drive a vehicle. Owing to my busy sched as a mom and the unavailability of a decent car to to be used in honing my driving skill, the drive to learn remained but a dream. Not until recently when my hubby Arnel and I decided to acquire a second hand vehicle which we think is safer compared to our good old Multicab. It's a Hyundai car used to be owned by a good friend of ours.

I wasted no time in securing a student permit for my first ever driving lessons. Thanks to the good people of the Land Transportation Office in Gensan, I was able to acquire my SP in a matter of an hour and a half.

I was advised by the LTO people to come back after a month to secure my non-prof driver's license.

Meanwhile, under the tutelage of my sometimes patient and sometimes impatient hubby, I am now starting and easily learning the ropes of safety driving. My desire to learn to drive can be compared to those times when I started blogging. I realized that out of learning something new, something good would also come out of it. Most of all, I know I will always get by with the help of my loved ones and friends.

Please wish me luck in my quest to be a good driver, guys!

Glowing, Growing Up and Aging

It's hard to acknowledge but in reality, I am getting older!

But if aging means having the opportunity to see your children evolve into better and responsible individuals, then, I don't fear and regret on getting old anymore.

These are my first two babies (Tina and Rafee) sixteen years ago

and now, here they are!

Tina, my second child, is now a BSIT student of the Mindanao State University. A computer techie and an achiever in her own right.

While the ate, Rafee, is a BS Chem with MSE student of the Ateneo de Manila University and now a proud member of the Ateneo Glee Club. I know this is her ultimate dream to pass the auditions and now she did it!

Ahhh, this is life! I am aging but I am beaming with pride and a thankful heart !

A Whooping Two Weeks of My Life!

It has been two weeks since I posted an article on this blog. It's been two weeks also since our 18th wedding anniversary and the idea of spending a night in a cozy restaurant with my husband has not been materialized yet. Wheeeew! Indeed, these two weeks has been a roller coaster ride of emotions and all for me. One thing, I missed also during this hiatus is of course, blogging!

Barely hours before my hubby's D day, I was at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City for official business reasons. The experience was something because I was again able to meet a big boss from Manila and it has became a sort of catching up with some good old friends too from the Office where I formerly belonged.

Upon returning to beloved Gensan, the author had the pleasure of being a part of the team who facilitated the 10-day Basic Safety Training for our displaced fishermen. It has been fulfilling on my part even if it meant lesser precious time with my hubby and kids. Even then, I had no regrets because I know what we did was something that gave a glimmer of hope in finding a new job/opportunity for our workers who lost their jobs because of the ongoing fish ban. The activity also enabled me to gain new friends and having the chance of learning a lesson or two from all of them.

After the BST, I was occupied with the needs of my kids for the opening of classes. After almost exhausting all my energy, a very sad event suddenly occurred. My kids pet "Yin Yin" died and the cries and bewailing of my children when we buried Yinyin made my heart bleed.

Another heartbreaking thing happened and this time, I felt numbness all over my body. A cousin left us to join our Creator. Tears flowed, heartbreaks abound, longing feeling engulfed us all. . . But I know everything happened for a reason, reasons we can't fathom as of this very moment..

Yesterday, I woke up with a smile on my face as I saw my basil plants starting to sprout with healthy leaves!

Also yesterday, I stood as witness as two persons very dear to me said their I dos before God. We made it through the event if we're grieving and I thank God for this! Now I realize even more, to feel true happiness. . . excruciating pain or more must be felt also. . .

So many exciting stories waiting to be told...and I thank you dear readers for staying with me through this whooping two weeks of my life. . .

I'll make it up to you asap!

Of Feats and Friendship

A pic from the animated film How To Train Your Dragon

I am not really into animation movies but after watching Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon, my perspective made a turn around.

I loved the way they pictured out Hiccup and Toothless' characters . For sure, we do have our own Hiccups and Toothless in all of us. Hiccup though frail looking managed to make a life changing decision by not killing a monstrous creature. A decision that in the end made everybody realize that it's a small and beautiful world after all.

Toothless, though monstrous looking, is a creature that one can easily relate with in this movie. I love this character because it proved that not all endearing characters must look picture perfect.

I watched this movie with my whole family and we are gladly recommending this film for other families to watch together. It's an animated film of friendship and feats with a heart!

Blogoversary Special # 4: Missing My Lola Iyay

A grandmother's love is almost always beyond compare!

I am letting you, my dear friends, take a peek into Inkai's personal life and childhood memories with my two remaining blogoversary special posts. This one's about my dear Lola Iyay and other one's about the persons who brought me to your lives, my parents.

When my siblings and I were orphaned at a very early age, the one who took the place of our parents in rearing us was our grandmother. We are what we are today because of her. she nurtured us with her selfless love and care for more than twenty years. Much longer that the time we had with our own parents.

Living and growing up under our Lola's guidance proved to be one of the best thing that ever happened to me and my younger sister and brother. Life with her may not be the perfect one but it's the kind that thought us life's lessons on humility, perseverance, forgiveness and hope. I can compare the life we had with her to a sunny day that could soothe one's longing and fears.

When she passed away after a long battle with the big C, I felt sad and happy for her. She is such a big loss to us but all the lessons we learned from her kept us strong and steady as we fought our own battles sans her.

As I continue spreading my wings in the blogosphere and in everything I do, I know my Lola is somewhere up there with my parents, prouder as they watch over us.

Miss you. . .la. . .

1st Blogoversary Special # 2: Inkai's Cool Kids

As promised, I am writing again another post in consonance with my 1st year in the blogsphere. I am writing about one of my favorite topics - my kids! I can't count the number I featured them on this blog but to give you a clearer view on who, what and how they are as beloved children of your mom blogger, I am again saying my piece:

Rafee - the eldest, is a blogger herself. She is a responsible ate to her siblings and for always, makes her momma and poppa proud
Tina - is born right after I have Rafee. She is sweet and thoughtful although sometimes can be stubborn also :-) just like me, dude!
Patricia - named as such because pang-three-cya; She is the hitler among the six :-) because of her strictness to her three younger siblings.
Mind you, she can carry a tune and speaks good English. . .:-)
Guinevere - was born on the eve of the millenium. She's my kid who boasts
of always having fireworks during her birthdays :-) .
She's named after my favorite character in the movie First Knight.
Samantha - is my baby who cries easily just like Mom. Tell her sad tales and tears will surely fall from her eyes. A crying but very sweet baby.
Jasmine - the apple of everybody's eyes. Her naughtiness and naivety do not fail to bring smiles on our faces all the time.

They are my kids and I luv them all!

Merry Christmas From Us!

Arnel, Jinky, Rafee, Tina, Patricia, Gwen, Sam and Jasmine

wish all of you

a merry and bright christmas

and a prosperous new year!