New York, care free days, and blue skies.

Someone please give me a reasonable excuse to go back and see New York again.

I did cry, when you and Mae left me at Changi airport that day for my early morning flight back home. I know it looked like I just laughed my way through it while you cried all over the place (haha), but well, you know how I like pretending to be tough sometimes. (Of course you know.)

So yeah, it was just for a moment, when you and Mae disappeared around the corner, and it dawned on me how I didn’t even know when I’d see you two again next, that I started wiping away a batch of tears. (These Filipinas, what a bunch of crybabies, LOL.)

But heyy, it’s your birthday today, and I’m posting this photo of us because I kinda like how happy you looked here, headset and all. I still remember how happy you were when this photo was taken. We were at a friend’s wedding and you were running here and there keeping everything together. I’ve never seen your eyes twinkle the way they do when you’re coordinating events and weddings, and I really believe in my heart that someday, you’ll get to do that again. :)

So don’t be too sad now, okay? Think Jeremiah 29:11 when you feel like you’re starting to lose it. You may not be a-phonecall-and-30-minutes away from me anymore, but I kinda feel like we won’t have to be too far apart for too long. (Destination New York?) ;)

Happy birthday, Ivy! I thank God for letting me be a part of your life, and you a part of mine.

Love always,
Riz

Summer is here, I can hear Donna Summer singing in the background again.

The past weekend was life-changing. I got to unwind and chillax with the bestest best friends in the world, and we parted knowing that things are *literally* never gonna be the same again in a melodramatic but exciting sort of way. What a way to start summer, yeah? :) (And what a way to start another chapter in our lives.)

Gone are my dark and twisted days. I think I’m starting to fall in love with life again. :)

2009 for me was a year of failed attempts in the travel department. 2008 had a couple of missed flights too, but at least it was the year when New York and Sydney happened, and surely, when two of your dream destinations happened in a period of 2 months, it simply trumps the stack of unused plane tickets you accumulated the whole year, right? But when you booked tickets almost every time Cebu Pacific launched an International Seat Sale and the whole year passed and you didn’t get to use every single one of them because of reasons beyond your control, then that’s a different sob story altogether.

Sadly, this photograph was the closest I’ve ever been out-of-the-country last year. I was off to Bangkok with Joni and Romela but as we checked our bags in, I came face-to-face with one of the most devastating news in all my history of travel: Sorry Miss, we can’t let you fly out, so go home and start unpacking your clothes. My passport was expiring in 5 months and 3 weeks that time, and okaaay, I kinda knew that it was expiring, but I wasn’t aware that the 6-month rule applies to Asian countries too.

Dude. I know. At least I got to experience the airport huh.

Prior to that failed Bangkok flight, I missed a Hong Kong trip with Mae and Joni (why hello Joni, it’s you again) because *cough* I happened to have acquired a disease that was too sensationalized I was sent off to solitary confinement for 2 weeks, I mean, come on, universe, are you serious?, there are 365 days in a year and you chose this weekend of all weekends for me to come down with The Flu, how freaky coincidental is that? *cough*

There were more missed flights, but those two I mentioned were the best ones. (Or worst ones, whatever.)

Cruel. Cruel was the year 2009. It’s one of those years you don’t ever want to replay over because you don’t want to be reminded of all those wasted plane tickets.

Hence I made it my personal goal to make things right this year. Chase dreams. Fly. See places. Be a ridiculously happy traveler. Fall in love in a foreign place. Fall in love with a foreign place. Get lost in a foreign place.

Oh, and NOT waste a single plane ticket again, EVER.

And hey, I know there will always be circumstances I won’t have control over, but I also know that I’m one year older and wiser now. You see, it’s just not possible to come out of a year like 2009 and not be a better person — hats off to God for making awesome things out of, well, years like 2009. And given that I’m, I believe, *ehem* a better version of myself now, I’m pretty confident that I have better judgment and wisdom to know which tickets to invest in and which are not worth wasting time and money over. (Send in your truckloads of grace, Lord. Bring it on!)

Brighter days ahead, I can see it now. This year is going to be great.

And yes, I’m really just talking about plane tickets, okay, gimme a break. c”,)

7 things I love about this week:

1) Welcoming my beautiful nephew Robert Isaac to the family.

2) That he gets to inherit our Dad’s name, Robert, that even if he didn’t get to meet him anymore, a part of his Lolo lives in him.

3) How “Tita Riz” seems to just roll off the tongue, I can imagine little Isaac soon saying my name and tugging on my skirt. “Tita Riz, I want ice cream.” “Tita Riz, let’s go to the zoo.” “Tita Riz, I wanna play plants and zombiess!” (Just you wait, kid, your Tita Riz will spoil you like crazy. And well, I’ll leave the disciplining to your Mom, Dad and Lola, haha.)

4) That he’s got all of us wrapped around his cute little finger without knowing it. He cries and everyone in the room panics, figuring out what he needs. He sleeps and we all silently stare at him like lovestruck puppies. He blinks and we all go “awww” with tiny hearts in our eyes. It’s kuh-rayy-zee what babies can do, when they’re not even doing anything at all!

5) That I got to take their first family picture, and that I was able to preserve love in a photograph. Definitely one for keeps. <3

6) That I’ve witnessed (over again) with my own eyes this beautiful thing called motherly love, something we often fail to appreciate because mothers are always there anyway. I can still picture in my head the look in Ate Imy’s face as she admires her son, and the twinkle in my Mom’s eyes everytime she speaks of her grandson. Priceless.

7) Finally, I love days when, not expecting anything, something beautiful happens (or someone comes along) and your life is never the same. Such is this week in the Sanchez home. <3

And so I pray for a life that’s full of days like these. Dear Lord, that’s all I ask today.

There’s no better way to spend an over-sensationalized occasion than this. Last Sunday, instead of the usual Bible Story telling, I let the kids play with colored papers, pens, and crayons and make cute little greeting cards for them to give to their parents. I think I enjoyed it more than they did. Sunday School is love.

Someone’s getting her sunshine back. :) (God is amazing, what can I say?)

* * *

Later, I spent the night with a bunch of (not so) “lonely” friends. But that’s a totally different story altogether. How about you? How did you spend your Valentines? :)

..and went home with a pocketful of sunshine. (Or fine, an SD cardful of sun flares.)

There are no further words.