Category: 3 Beautiful Things

Blog Series: 3 Beautiful Things

Busy October, sweet November, and 3 beautiful years

RhizaLeave a comment

A wave of long-overdue blog posts are coming out of my drafts within the next two weeks. But before that happens, I thought I’d say something about the (almost) 2-month gap in my posts. This blog has always been like a timeline of sorts for me, and I don’t want the past two months to disappear from my archives. After all, October and November of 2015 have been nothing short of awesome.

01 | Crazy October

October was seriously my busiest month ever this whole year, and this is where the month went—

  • Pursuit Manila. We had not one but two Pursuit Manila gatherings in October, and since we decided to have the year-ender gathering early in November, that meant we spent the last weeks of October preparing for the gathering. I’m breathless just thinking about it! But you know how much I love doing ministry with these people, and working with them is surely worth all the crazy.
  • Work things. I launched two big design projects in October too, one of which was Carla’s blog. This is on top of my usual Content Marketing work, which is a entirely different world of busy. I also had the opportunity to talk about Leveraging New Media at the Every Nation Staff Summit, and I love love love being able to use my profession and expertise to empower missionaries, youth leaders, and kingdom builders. Definitely the kind of “work” I won’t mind doing again and again.
  • Passion Cards & Chasing Dreams Shop. After a short hiatus, the shop is back up with the new holiday edition passion cards. Can you believe it’s been a year since these passion cards went into production? The shop will take a scheduled break in December and will resume sometime next year. So if you’re planning to buy some passion cards to give away as gifts this Christmas, now is the time! :)

02 | Sweet November

We’re halfway through November at this point, and while my to-do list is still not any shorter than October’s, this month will always be a favorite. It’s a time to breathe before the holiday rush takes over, a time of transitions, of leaves turning and wardrobes changing. It’s the last chapter before the last chapter, where the story wraps up and culminates for the big finale.

Ever thought of November that way? 

Also, Friday the 13th. Those pink gerberas in the photograph above were given by my husband, because Friday the 13th happens only a few times in a year.

The last few weeks of November are going to be as busy as ever, but they’re also going to be the sweetest. I just know it.

03 | Three Epic Years

And then the twins turned 3 years old, which means we are also officially 3-year old parents. But this, deserves a separate post, so I’m going to end this right here. ;)

How have YOU been? Are you ready to wrap up 2015 in a pretty bow? 

Living on the rooftop, Google SkyMap, and flying lanterns

Rhiza3 Comments

Ready for a special edition of 3 Beautiful Things??

1. Living on the roof. 

God has blessed us with a beautiful home for two, with a spacious rooftop veranda, and an amazing view of the sky. When we’re home, we feel like we’re on top of the world, literally and figuratively. It’s our own little place away from everything. There’s not a lot of buildings around us, so when we open our door in the morning, bright blue skies and puffy white clouds greet us back. In the evenings, we would switch on the twinkle lights, and dance under the stars. I lost track of the number of parties and get-togethers we hosted since we moved in last August. Our home is not big, but I thank God that He’s filling it up with lots of happy memories.

2. Google SkyMap & Betelgeuse. 

Back when we were laptop-less, the husband and I learned to be more creative with our time. One November evening, we thought of spending the night “out”. Dinner and some stargazing was the agenda of the night, on our very spacious veranda, and the experience was made more awesome with this Google SkyMap android app that my husband downloaded on his phone. (I highly recommend it!)

The highlight of the Google SkyMap experience for me was locating where the stars Betelgeuse and Canis Majoris are, and seeing them in the sky with my bare eyes. In that note, you have to watch Louie Giglio’s How Great is Our God video! It’s 40 minutes long but you should take time to watch it, really.

Betelgeuse, Louie Giglio says, is twice the size, not of the Sun, but of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. He says, if the Earth was the size of a golf ball, Betelgeuse would stand the height of six Empire State Buildings on top of each other. It’s that huuge! Go locate yourself in a golf ball-size earth, and imagine how huge the Betelgeuse star is.

The first time we watched this video in church, I was moved in such a huge way I was crying half-way through until the end. And it’s not only because I was/am a crybaby. It’s that, when you begin to realize how huge this universe is, and how small you are in this vast space, you start to wonder why a huge God who created all of these would even look at tiny little you with so much love. I don’t know about you, but that just blows my mind away.

Now I know where Betelgeuse is in the sky. It’s a mere spec of light from where we are, I know, but everytime I look up, I become filled with so much awe at how ginormous our God is, and how much He loves us.

3. Flying lanterns.

On January 13, Friday the 13th, our dear friends, Rovy and Jeni gave us a wish lantern. These girls are the sweetest! It’s a real blessing to be surrounded by such loving and thoughtful people. Whoever said that Friday the 13th means bad luck?

We thought of flying lanterns on our wedding but we had to scratch it off the plan because of the risks. But last Friday the 13th, I finally had my little Tangled wish granted. Just one lantern, one wish. That’s all we needed for a perfect night.

Changes, Inside Jokes, and Caffeine Fix

Rhiza4 Comments

Between work, church, and family, it’s quite a challenge for me to squeeze in my schedule spending time with old friends and colleagues. Which is why I love friendships that transcend time and distance, the kind which doesn’t need too much effort keeping because you know that no matter how far you’ve come, and how long the time spent apart, you can always pick up where you left off.

I guess that’s why I love Joni & Mae and this threesome that we’ve effortlessly become since 2007. We hardly see each other and this blog has been a witness to those rare times. So when we finally got together last Monday after so many failed attempts, it’s inevitable that I give this a much-deserved blog space. ;)

Three beautiful things, Joni, Mae & Riz edition:

1. I was wearing a wedding gown the last time I saw these girls, that is, four months ago. M didn’t have a boyfriend at that time, but now she does. And J’s relationship, after 5 years, is still as solid as ever. It’s amazing how things can dramatically change in a year, while some things have lovingly remained steady and constant.

2. Three years down the line, we still joke about being frustrated food bloggers. Not everything lasts forever, but sometimes, some inside jokes do.

3. After we had dinner, we had our caffeine fix at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Our choices of drinks made me smile: M ordered a hot Tea Latte,  J had Green Tea, and I had an iced Caramel Machiatto. Too different, and yet somehow the same. Much like the three of us.

I hope I get to spend more time with them, but I love how it *seems* like we’ve grown significantly older and wiser everytime we see each other.

Til the next session, ladies. Much love!

Three beautiful things, Boracay edition

Rhiza8 Comments

So I went off to Boracay with the husband over the weekend and literally got the Boracay *fever*. We only spent 3 days there and we packed our itenerary with so much activities that the fatigue got the best of me.

Even worse, our flight back to Manila got delayed for 6 hours and I came home with a high fever and a really bad cough. I haven’t fully recovered just yet. The last stretch of the trip was horrible, but the rest of the time there was a dream!

1. Endless, endless waters and skies.

I could lie on my back all day just staring where the water meets the sky. You get that shrinking feeling inside, like the universe suddenly zooming out on you and you feel like a mere speck in this vast space, which you are, and for one moment there you feel insignificant. The next moment someone holds your hand and you zoom back to the shore where you lie, and you know that to that person holding your hand, you are important. And then you’re reminded that the Creator of all these beautiful things around you loves you even more, and He’s mindful of you in a very unique and special way. And joy just starts to well up inside of you and sigh, that just made me tear up writing that paragraph.

2. Foodtrips and walkathons.

Actually, even more than island-hopping, swimming and snorkling! In one of our walks, we found this isaw stand somewhere in Station 1, and boy, was it the best-tasting isaw we ever had! (Isaw is large intestines on a stick.) Dare I say, even better than Mang Larry’s Isaw in UP Diliman! I think this was the highlight of David’s trip.

3. In sickness and in health.

So I came home sick, and I had to take another day off work, but David is doing quite an awesome job taking care of me. A line from the traditional wedding vows runs through my head, “for better and for worse, in sickness and in health.” This past week, I learn, is what it means.