If any of you are fighting a battle or going through something painful, you are not alone. And yes, there are resources to help navigate the thorny path. I am thankful for the book "Life Is Messy" by Matthew Kelly. Reading it liberated me from the fallacy that painful moments should be swept under the rug. It opened my eyes to a full understanding that life truly is messy—and get this—for everyone on this planet.

I just had to share this—

It was December 1st, the First Saturday Mass.

In the Philippines, Christmas is a huge celebration. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, "As Luck Would Have It? Nah...", the festivities begin on September 1st, which showcases our love for Christmas. We also have a beautiful tradition of attending nine masses leading up to Christmas Eve. This is a centuries-long, beloved tradition and is here to stay.

The Holy Mass holds a central place in the Catholic faith. Sundays are holy days of obligation, where all Catholics worldwide are encouraged to gather in reverence and worship as a community, for it is the highest form of prayer for us believers in the faith. It is in the Mass that the parishioners come together to remember and participate in the holy sacrifice of Jesus, uniting in a shared expression of faith.

Isn't the image stunning, wanting you to make that trip to see first-hand this remarkable Niagara Falls, a hands-down natural wonder located on the border between the United States and Canada?

June— it is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

We get busy—don't we all? Even those who plan well to the smallest detail sometimes wonder, “How did I not remember that?” or “How did I forget to do that?”

True, there is such a thing they call “Christmas in July,” but there sure was Christmas on my 50th birthday one August.

In the Philippines, there is the National Capital Region (NCR). And then there is Baguio City.

"No time like the present."

My husband and I boarded a red-eye flight to the Philippines in February for my brother's 40th-day celebration of his life since his untimely passing. I wish we were flying home under different circumstances because it was emotionally exhausting. The last time I saw him was when we laid our mother to her final resting place. I didn't get to say goodbye to him when I flew back stateside. In essence, to come home was also a chance to bid him goodbye for the last time.

Here comes Sunday. It was time to get ready for the 5:30 PM Mass. We have been attending this Mass for nearly a year now. Thanks to this acquaintance at the dental clinic who introduced me to it. I mentioned in passing, how often we wound up in Concord to attend the 5:30 PM Mass on days we missed the Mass in Pittsburg and Antioch for whatever reason.

I get down on some days, such as days when it's a struggle to find the proper approach to get my spirits up. I have my moments as everyone else does—moments that either uplift or wear one down. 

It's Father's Day 2022, and it's not just another Father's Day. And I will tell you why.

In Part 1, I shared my struggles with building a blog and the demands of blogging that I had no idea about, where I learned the hard truth that blog creation is not just have one put up. That is because there is more to having a domain name and finding a hosting plan that suits the needs of my blog—and way more than just tending to the blog’s visual appeal. Thanks for sticking around here as I share Part 2 of  "My Journey into Blogging."