beauty?

during lunch, a friend told me she will be having liposuction. it was hard for me to keep my surprise to myself since i never really imagined anybody i know to undergo that kind of procedure. i've seen it done in extreme makeover and it wasn't a pretty sight. i don't even understand how anybody could consider giving that kind of torture to their bodies. yes, that is what i think it is. your body goes through so much battery and pain just to make it look better. it wouldn't bother me much if the surgery is for health reasons.

don't get me wrong, i do not look at my friend any differently than how i did before. in fact, in some ways, i think i admire her for having the courage to do it. i could just imagine the questions and the whispers that would circulate in the office when she gets back.

at this point, i believe i won't be undergoing such a procedure in my lifetime. i am not saying that i am liking my body the way it is. in fact, it really needs a lot of work. but at the same time, i don't believe it's a hideous sight for me to consider cosmetic surgery.

like what i said to my sister, we need to have the balance between knowing what to improve and accepting what God has given us. there are some things that we cannot change and we should consider a gift. and for those that we can change, there are some other ways of making it better. it may take more time and effort than we actually want but i believe it would be better for us in the end.

wedding bells ringing again

i could probably consider jen as my first friend in college. that is because i've known her since high school. but for one reason or another, we didn't get to be friends then. what's interesting though, is that a lot of her friends are my friends as well. we knew each other back then (or at least i am assuming that she also knew me) --- she was a consistent outstanding student, a bit soft-spoken i might say (a common misconception because this girl can be talkative). one memory i have of her is that their team beat us in the math quiz bee. this was in our senior year, if i was not mistaken. she was called GP (for grace pasilaban) by her high school friends but she was jen to us.

college was the time when we really became close. mainly because we were in the same course and took the same subjects. she was my constant companion in our communication classes and my thesis mate as well. we were batchmates in our org and shared two years in the council. she was one of my constant companions during my college days. she witnessed a lot of milestones in my life and i witnessed a lot of hers.

last weekend, i witnessed another milestone --- probably one of the biggest, if not the greatest one so far in her life. with half-closed eyes, we travelled from paranaque to damar village to witness her exchanging "i do's" with ken. jen was more beautiful than ever, all smiling and radiant as she met ken at the head of the aisle. it was a solemn event --- that is until the kiss that lasted for ten seconds that got everyone cheering. but that was nothing compared to the kiss during the reception. when the host told jen and ken that the guests would tap the glass and they would have to kiss until the tapping stops. raf and i started tapping and we didn't stop until the host told the guests to stop because the kiss lasted so long already.

to jen and ken, more happiness to you both! bon voyage!

the year that was

looking back, i could say there were a lot of things that i should be thankful for. not only for what i received and experienced but also for the things that happened to my friends and loved ones.

almer, raf, sheryll, jent and grette all tied the knot with the love of their lives. the last four in the list are all from my college barkada so it's no question that this is our barkada's "wedding year". every wedding was an experience to behold, definitely a concrete profession of their love for one another.

it's a year of new opportunities, with me having a new role at work. admittedly, at first, i didn't want to leave my old role. i was comfortable there. i knew what i was doing there. i was confident in what i can do there. and change was nowhere near my plans. but this new work led me to new opportunities and new places to see. i was able to travel to vietnam, canada and china and soon, to united kingdom as well. it gave me opportunity to meet influential people within the organization and it helped me realize that i still have a lot of things to learn. it forced me to challenge myself, forced me to believe in myself knowing that other people would not believe in me if i did not.

it's a year of relationships being broken, forged and renewed. i have seen how love has the ability to change people and heal past hurts. i have experienced how friendship does not depend on space nor time. and in this day where communication is so accessible, it doesn't compare to seeing your friend once again. i witnessed how hard it is to overcome heartbreak but also i saw how a friend managed to come out of it with more strength than ever. life trials like these make you realize that you can go through so much. never unscathed but always fighting. and though there may be times that you fail, those battles are still worth it. the one thing we have to remember though, is to make sure that we never question our worth whether we fail or succeed.

it's a year of life-changing decisions. on the crossroads of life, we would never know what decision is better for we only get to choose one path. we just have to believe that what we have chosen is the best one for us. sometimes, we choose a path more difficult, but hardships are part of our life journey. they help us learn the lessons.

it has definitely been a year full of milestones, full of memories both good and not-so-good. but whatever may have happened, it's already in the past and there's nothing much i can do about it, except to learn from my mistakes and move on.

welcome, 2005! here's hoping that it would be even better than the year that was.