2014 in a Nutshell

When I claimed early last year that 2014 will be a good year for me, 2014 really became good to me. I can say that it had been a year full of lovely surprises, adventures and revelations. It had been a year full of firsts, a year of productivity and opportunities, a year of daily wonder and thanksgiving. I am not saying that charting through 2014 had been a smooth one but the joys far outweighed the sadness; the sureness exceeded the doubts.

These are just some of the things that happened to me last year that made a great impact to me:

With my colleagues from work during our Commissioning activity in Dumaguete. This was captured along the infamous Dumaguete boardwalk.

MOMENTS FROM WORK:

1. I was assigned for 3 weeks for work in our site in Dumaguete (1.5 hour flight from Manila) and it has been one of the happiest and most fruitful weeks of my life so far.
2. I had been given a huge project to design and although I am still in the process of completing it, I am just thankful for the trust and faith given by my boss to me.
3. Played basketball for our team!
4. First time to ride a ferry (from Cebu to Ormoc) and spend my night there. It had been a very bumpy and wavy ride! Got a little scared because there was a storm coming to Ormoc that day but I just slept through my fear. Haha!
5. Met a very kind lady named Tin in our building foodcourt. I fondly call here Ate Tin and she does not fail to give me something from her mechandise everyday. Her yummy ginataang bilo-bilo and lovely fish and veggie dishes always keep me full! Her christmas gift to me? A bible.
6. Became a muse for our men's basketball team!
7. First time to host a party! I hosted our department's Christmas party and it had been a fun one!
8. First time to attend a wedding of an office mate.

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MOMENTS BECAUSE OF FLATTER MY SENSES:

1. Got invited to various events and by restaurants to review their dishes and new offerings!
2. Changed layout of my blog and got a lot of compliments for it. Thank you again to Laura for concretizing my vision for the header!
3. Met Philip di Bella, Australia's coffee king.

Getting ready for landing. A magnificent view from above while we were descending towards Munich.

MOMENTS FROM MY LIFE:

1. Took a swimming refresher course and learned butterfly stroke in the process. Surprised that I love it more than the other styles! I was asked afterwards to represent our swimming team during our company-wide intramurals.
2. Went again in Singapore after 4 years! Was able to experience the luxurious Marina Bay Sands.
3. Was granted a Schengen visa for our Europe tour!
4. First time to go to Puerto Galera with friends.
5. Enrolled in a yoga center again! First time to do hot yoga and yin yoga and I got addicted to both of them! Yay for Yoga+ for putting up a center near our place.
6. First time to join in a fun run and did a couple of fun runs during the year! 
7. Went to Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary which led to more firsts for me! Watch out for my posts these coming weeks because it will be all about Europe, Europe, and more Europe!
8. First time to experience a magical, white Christmas. Thank God for snow.

2014 overwhelmed me. It flooded me with surprises and I am glad that It surprised me in many ways possible because from it emerged a certain level of sureness and confidence that I happen to be lacking of before. I discovered that my abilities are far greater than what I envisioned them to be and I am thanking God for presenting me all these opportunities and for giving me the courage and strength to reach for them one by one. I realized that I can do so many things and this realization made me contemplate that maybe I can do more. And more is what I am promising my 2015 to be.