At the beginning of the year...

I love New Years.

I think it is one of my favorite holidays.

Why?

Because it's a new start.


I don't care who you are, but I believe that nearly everyone ponders and at times even undertake the task of New Years resolution. They range from, "This year I am dropping 20 pounds." to "This year I am going to call my mother more often." All across the board. But the one thing they have in common is a desire for something new and good and a break from the old, mundane, evil, harmful, etc.

We all desire this newness.

I want to be new this year too.

I want to love in a new way. I want to be able to love my fellow men and women in an unconditional way. I remember the day I gave my life to the Lord, I told Him, "Lord, I give my life entirely to you. Everything. All of it." Through the years He has unveiled to me that what He desires for my life is to give it to others as well. When we give our lives to God, He disperses our gift of self to all of humanity. Look at the saints who have done the same:

Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul II, Francis of Assisi, Maximillian Kolbe... and countless others.

The question I face now is one of practicality. How do I love my fellow man unconditionally this year? It seems like such a huge and broad undertaking. I think to make it more manageable I am going to need to work on a particular way of loving. This year is patience. I will be more patient. If someone asks me for something, I will do my best to respond in love and charity. Even if it means one of my students knocking at my door at 2am to ask for toilet paper. I will respond in love.

I believe this even will transfer over to my relationship with Cay. There are times where we butt heads. I believe this is inevitable since we both are passionate people and stubborn in our own ways :-) But I think that there can never be enough patience in love. So many problems, as much as I have experienced thus far, can be averted when one practices patience with the person that they love.

Please pray for me as I take this resolution on :-)

P.S. I am also making a resolution to work out everyday.

God bless you all and your new year's resolutions!

And I am back... Goodbye Blessed 2009 & Hello Hope Filled 2010!

Happy New Year our dearest readers!

This is Cay again, after a long time of being silent. I apologize to all of you for being so quiet and not updating this blog from my side. And I apologize to my fiance too, who has been patiently reminding me to write here for 2 months now.

Well, a new year has begun, and so I renew my commitment to write here =) One reason I write this entry today, is due to the fact that I have heard from several people, that they miss reading our blogs. I honestly didn't think that our blogs would be of that much interest to people, but as one friend of ours said: "It is my way of getting updated and staying connected with you guys" (he is a friend who we haven't seen & met up with in months and our blogs were his only way of knowing what was happening with us). He was just one of several people who commented why we do not blog anymore.

I honestly do not know where to start, so much has happened since my last entry. How could I ever summarize in a single entry, the things that have happened to me? I am going to have to give you a quick run-down of the major highlights in my life:

• My birthday=Meeting the parents: Didn't plan a major party since it would be the arrival of Vince's parents and aunt from Texas, USA. It started off with a beautiful surprise by Vince. He drove all the way to Vienna, early in the morning and woke me up by him serenading me with his amazing voice & guitar. That was my wake-up call =) What a perfect way to start the day. Then the rest of the morning was spent at work, where my co-workers surprised me too. I left work after lunch and was again surprised with gifts on my bed, and the giver yet again was my wonderful boyfriend. The rest of the day was spent picking up Vince's parents and aunt, and showing them around Vienna.
• Trip to Rome=Happiest moment of my life: Vince, my parents and I, long scheduled that we join the students' trip to Rome, because it would give us all more opportunity to get to know each others families (Granado's & Santayana's). The getting to know each other trip turned out to be THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE... we got engaged! I knew it was coming due to the fact that Vince would drop major hints about it... like telling me he finally found the ring... HAHAHA. I bigger and more obvious hint could not have been dropped, LOL. However, I didn't know when he would propose. I thought at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010, but no, Vince popped the question on NOVEMBER 8, 2009 at the St. Peters Square! It was so unexpected for me, and so beautiful, that he decided to say those meaningful words in front of the St. Peters Basilica. Our individual lives and our relationship desires to bring glory to God, and that we could begin our union at the seat of our Holy faith, was so amazing. He knelt down, asked the question, without a ring though (the ring came in proposal numero 2 =)) and we prayed right there and then, in thanksgiving for all He has done and to bless the next phase of our life =). The 2nd proposal happened in the evening during a traditional Pamanhikan (Filipino engagement where both families are present and officially ask for the bride-to-be's hand & discussing the initial wedding plans). It was such a beautiful evening, where both sides shared so much of their joys and hopes =) I loved it!
• SFC & YFC MV Reco: Had both recollections for the Singles For Christ and Youth For Christ Mission Volunteers in Paris, France. It was so great to see all of them! Inspiring yet again =) But I must admit it they were the most tiring trips... 1st weekend in Rome, 2nd weekend in Paris, 3rd weekend in Paris again. It took me 2-3 weeks to recover from the back-to-back travelling.
• Engagement Photo Shoot: We had Franciscan Uni Students, Alexander & Andrew, do our pics. Some were done in Gaming and the others in Vienna. It was fun and great. And the pics turned out nice (check them out in Vince's Facebook album) =)
• Special Dates: After recovering from all the stress, I was able to meet up with people I haven't seen in a while. Breakfast with Anness, JD and KC. Dinner with Uli. Dinner & coffee with Adonis. And these dates will continue with the others that I still have yet to meet. =)
• 1st Anniv (according to Vince haha, but we agreed we will celebrate Dec 22 as he likes it): For Vince, Dec 22 was our 1st year anniv. He considers the anniv the day he asked to date me... I considered our anniv to be the day I answered him after the courtship...oh well. Men are from Mars & Women are from Venus! ;-p We celebrated it simply. No gifts, but we went on a date and walked around the same spot in the city where he began to pop the "I like you" question.
• Christmas Eve Turkey & the Works: Spent with family & Paul (Franciscan student). Vince cooked his first Turkey with all the works. It was delicious!
• Christmas Day & Brunch: Christmas buffet brunch at Arcotel. LECKER! ("Yummy" in German)
• Barkada Christmas Party goes GAMING (Dec 26-27): Christmas celebration with the Barkada (Filipino term for close friends) in GAMING! It was so nice to have everyone there! It was a lot of work but it was beautiful time spent with beautiful friends. These group of friends have been together since 1996, when we joined the Youth For Christ Youth Camp! And every year we make it a point to celebrate Christmas together. Our group of friends have expanded, many are married now and have children. Christmas 2010 in BERLIN BABY! We hope that the Padua's, Dungca's & Matzner will join us in Berlin =) We missed you guys in Gaming.
• My First Ballet at the Vienna Opera (Dec 28): Vince took me on a date to the Opera to watch the ballet, The Nutcracker. I was so amazed at the ballet! Another amazing fact is: it was my first ballet and my first time to set foot into the Opera. YES, after being raised here and living here for 27 years of my life, I never went into the Opera.
  
• Mama's Bday & New Years Eve Party: Mama's Bday and New Years Eve celebration was at home, with me being sick. Just ended up getting the tummy bug (I think), fever and a lot of muscle pain all over my body! =(
• The Departure (Jan 2, 2010): Vince and Paul went back to Gaming =( And I am sad and still sick. =(

That was my life in a nutshell since my last entry, or maybe 4 coconut shells, as my blog is too long to be in a single nutshell ;-p

Let me end this entry by giving my thanksgiving to God, the Giver of life and all that is good. I consider myself to be one of the most happiest and fulfilled women in this world. 31 years of pure blessings! Yes with many ups and downs, yet look where I am today... I could not be any happier. God has given me so much, and He wanted me to truly enjoy all that He gave to me. At that same time, He also wanted me to grow and mature. Then came 2009... where He saw I was fit to enter the next phase of my journey, wherein He places Vinson Dale Granado in my life, my future husband, who will walk with me for the rest of my days here on earth. I am happy! Joyful! Purely at peace and very hopeful... for the Lord is good... His plans are wondrous indeed! 2010 will be a great year! I can't wait to start my journey with Vince, as we become husband & wife, being blessed by God on July 24, 2010!