Year-End Blog from Blog Owner Earl

As 2011 draws to a close, I want to do a look-back and to thank God for another year full of blessings. True, it's not a perfect year and there are lots of downs that definitely pushed me to my limit. But look at me now, after all of the turbulence I encountered, I'm still here standing (or sitting), still able to blog about my wonderful year.

There are some things that I wish I did not do, but then again without those things, I would not have learned. Therefore - as cliché as it may sound - NO REGRETS. There's no use in dwelling on the bad things that happened. I'm here to celebrate the good stuff of my 2011.

I only completed 9 races this year but I made all of them count. With my knee injury and all, it's a wonder how I was able to finish one 3K, four 10Ks, two 16Ks, and two 21Ks. My favorite without a doubt is my Condura Skyway 21K. Aside from the exhilarating fact that I ran on the Skyway, it was a race that I and my then-girlfriend Tey will always remember as the race where we finished holding hands. It's (almost) a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Aside from races/runs, my Lego Minifigures collection also made me very happy indeed. I feel like a little boy again! I don't always have enough money to complete them but thanks to my ever supportive sponsors. :)

I completed over a 100K (in terms of registered runs) but another feat I am proud of was completing 30 books! (Actually just 29 - I'm still reading my 30th). It was a great experience to be in someone else's mind or to virtually visit a different world or to time-travel to another era.

I'm very glad as well that I was able to complete one school year teaching high school Physics and one semester teaching Heat Transfer (ME major subject). It's a bit tiring to do it part-time on top of my regular work, but seeing the "enlightenment" in my students' eyes is just one of the best things in the world. [And I hope I made a difference in some little way.]

However - undeniably, irrevocably, unquestionably - the best part of my 2011 is my engagement to my future wife Tey! Modesty aside, I liked my proposal. :)) Although very simple and straightforward, I like how it was planned and executed. But no proposal will ever be good enough if there was no response, right?! :P So I guess Tey did a better job when she said "Syempre naman". :D

I can go on and on if I list all the blessings I received for every single day of the year. I guess in general I just want to say that it was another fantabulous year!

I'm now looking forward to an even greater 2012. Will the world end next year? I don't care that much. I guess I would just have to count my blessings earlier. :P

The Time Traveler's Blog : My Reasons for Keeping a Journal

I believe there are as many reasons for maintaining a blog as the number of bloggers all over the world. Maybe even more because I already have more than one reason for doing it.

Aside from the online blog, some also have some sort of a classic, pen-and-paper journal, as I do. Or did. Or will. But please take note that it's a journal, ok, not a diary. :P

Whatever the form, my reasons I guess are practically the same. I like expressing my ideas, telling personal stories, sharing my experiences. Some things, I share publicly; some I keep for myself. Sometimes I enjoy seeing other people's reaction/comments but there are times that I want it to be private.

But so far the best thing that I get from it is the feeling that I can sort of time-travel back to that moment. Just before writing this, I was reading my latest entry which was about my proposal/engagement and I felt like I was there again - my sweaty palms clutching the ring-box, the pinkness of Tey's pale face as I went down on one knee, the wild excitement of my relatives and friends, and the sudden deafening and heart-pounding silence that seemed to have followed, as if the crowd was instantly overwhelmed by Tey's silent mouthing of "Syempre naman."

And that was only last month. I can go back to last year when I ran 32K or when I first bought my Timex watch or my running shoes. I can do the Superpositions all over again, starting with the first one, when I was with the guys who originated it (not me, I'm just a messenger, a very avid rip-off fan :P).

Just imagine if you can travel back to 5 years or more! I found my manly journal notebook the other day (Again, it's not a diary, although the cover says Diary, which I think was a misprint). I have entries dating way back to High School and that was just awesome. I plan to share that with you later but they are so good that they most definitely deserve separate entries.

However, I do want to share with you my first ever journal entry. Well, sort of. It was written some 27 years ago, I guess by my Mom, but it was written from my first-person perspective. And it goes a little something like this.

October 20, 1984. Baby's first day home. - It was raining hard when we left the hospital. The taxi meter amounted to only Php 3.50 but my Daddy paid the taxi driver Php 20.00. I first slept beside my Daddy and Mommy. But I did not sleep so sound. I cried and cried. Nanay helped Mommy and Daddy on our first night home. She changed my diapers, my shirts, my beddings. She also prepared my milk. The following day, Sunday, was a busy day. I had lots of visitors.

I was teary-eyed as I copied that one from my baby book. Not because I'm sad, but because the taxi fare was only Php 3.50! And look how high-roller my Daddy was! He paid like more than 5 times, y'all! But on a serious note, I'm greatly touched by knowing that I sort of have a memory of that day. Maybe when I have my own baby someday, I will also be very generous to the driver. :D

Well, I guess that's the farthest I can time-travel in terms of my lifetime. And there are still lots of wonderful stories between then and now.

So there, that's why I like keeping tabs of myself and recording my experiences. If you haven't started one yet, it's never too late to do so. A blog, a journal, whatever. A diary, perhaps? After all, life has so many more things to offer.

Engaged : I Like It

My life was wonderfully transformed in the last 10 days or so. It's not because I did 10K again at Nike Run Manila 2011 after a long time of bumming around. Not because I had a dinner cruise or that I had my first ever body massage (at least the first one I ever paid for). I dare say it's not even because I turned 27 last 18^th and I had the Kare-Kare of a lifetime. It is for one reason and that is Tey is no longer my girlfriend --


-- Tey is now my fiancée!


After 6 years on the day, I finally popped the big question last October 16. It was a Sunday, like the first ever 10-16 of our relationship. I did it at church, amidst the cheers of family, relatives, and friends. It was indeed a day to remember - a day I will always look back to at night, some 30 years later.


To be honest, I knew she would say yes, but even so, at that moment, a couple of minutes before and after Tey's big YES, my heart still pounded like a headache. If you're a runner, you probably know about this heart-pounding you get just after you cross the finish line, after sprinting like a mad man on your last 200 meters or so. But this is something bigger than that. I like the proposer's high way way way better than the runner's high. :P


My life-changing decision started on October 4 when I finally went to Ongpin to buy a ring for Tey. It's a very lovely tale, that day. Maybe if I see you next time I can tell you all about it.


To my girlfriend of the past, fiancée of the present, and wife of the future --

I thank God for our 6 years and our engagement. It's been quite a run, so to speak. We've been through a lot already and there's a lot more road to cover. It's not a 100-meter dash, but a proverbial marathon, an ultra marathon even. We will be dead tired but at the end of our lives, we can look back and say, "We did it, my darling."

To my readers: Laugh now that I am so mushy and in-love. You just wait 'til you get engaged. :))

Or you can just look at these photos and partake in my excitement:

Superposition at Nike Run Manila 2011. This was the day before my proposal. My heart was bursting inside because I could not wait for October 16 - the big day. Tey had no idea that she was so-gonna-be proposed to.



Superposition with other girls -- It's like bachelor party already! :)



The classic "Will You Marry Me?". That's my sister Ritz holding the sign.



And of course the moment. Look at Tey's reaction and those of the people around. Classic. This is once in a lifetime, baby.







The big hug after Tey's epic "Syempre Naman" response.


I like it so I put a ring on it.