🎵Good tidings and cheer to h3ll with this year🎶 Amidst all the unexpected twists and turns that altered our lives this year, 2020 and even with the uncertainty that #covid19 gave us, I still think 2020 is one for the books. Despite the limitations and challenges that we are still experiencing now, opportunities and blessings came our way. Little wins with big impacts. Wanted less. Appreciated more. Hugged less  Loved more. Lose weight, not hope. This is the year that the world were apart, but together, we’ll get through this.

I don’t really do look backs, aside from the yearly survey that I do since 2006. But maybe it’s nice to do one now and start a new tradition. So here are some snippets of 2020 in pictures with a little caption on the way.

This trip was the major highlight of my January since I wasn’t able to go to anywhere last 2019. I was so excited and I even claimed that 2020 is the year that Coco and I will travel to places. Since we will be in America from March to June and then a Japa-nice Christmas with the family in December. Wow sana eh! Coco also lost his first tooth during the first week of the year. I also renewed my Johnson’s Baby Mombassadorship. It was the last few days of January when it was confirmed that someone has #Covid19 in the Philippines.

After so many months of working hard to save money for my bonggang 7th birthday gift for Coco, we were able to buy our tickets for our 2 month trip to America. By the time I bought the tickets, I started packing up and preparing the things we will bring. A certain situation also happened in Coco’s school that I haven’t spoken about it here publicly, but I’m sure I will in the future, when I’m ready. Coco celebrated his birthday with his bestfriends since they were still in our wombs. Buti na lang we had this play date and I thought of bringing a “cake” for him. I also landed on my very first 5 digit project with Bonakid. Small wins!

The week after he celebrated with his bestfriends, he was also able to celebrate his birthday with the Rampadoras (minus Isha and Cadee). Thank you KidsHappyTime for this treat. Tatay, my father-in-law, gave Coco a bed for his room. Yep, he did started sleeping in his own room, only when his dada is around. LOL. With the threat of the Covid19 virus, we were already hesitant if we will still push through with our trip. By March 12, it was already declared that NCR and some nearby provinces will be placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine. So you know, we got to prepare for the lock down. Although travel restrictions hasn’t started yet, we decided to not push through with our trip. Until it was officially cancelled by PAL 4 days before our March 27 trip. Coco celebrated his birthday with just me and his dada. Luckily, Dada got a cake from Goldilocks. You may see him smile, but up until now, he is sad because he doesn’t have visitors on his birthday. He was pointing out how my mom, my sis and I was able to celebrate our birthdays with visitors. It was really hard to understand for a little boy like him who didn’t get to celebrate his birthday (and graduation day) the year before and then it happens again the following year.

This is what keeping me sane and busy. The projects I still have from earlier months, and projects kept on coming by April (until the end of the year actually!) from different PR Agencies (MY HEARTFELT GRATITUDE TO ALL). Most are food related which are from BrandBuzzPH that really challenged my so-called cooking skills and even tested my non-existent plating skills. Aside from that, I was also busy helping out with #BBHelps, the soon-to-be foundation of BrandBuzzPH, which started as a mere 50php sharing of the mommies of the #BBCommunity to brands, organizations and celebrities helping us out to be able to help out front liners, as well as our less fortunate kababayans that continued all the way to November when Ulysses happened. I also tried my best to keep Coco entertained because even though he has a room full of toys, he would still say “I’m so bored!” that is coming from a child who grew up going places since he was a fetus in my womb. Entertaining Coco is one thing, keeping myself sane is another. Glad I have Netflix (check out my neck phone holder) to keep me happy, sane and…. awake… all night… til morning…. This was also the time when my body clock started to change because even if I try to sleep, I can’t. I started to have anxiety and feel depressed and what they say, Cabin Fever.

Since we were already in lock down for 2 months, I have most likely adapt to the situation. Though I still have nightly insomnia, I think I’ve mastered how to just stay put, to have monthly mall visits for a breather and getting the hang of the nightly video calls with my mom and sis. Coco, on the other hand, was able to go out and visit my in laws. We also got the SAP, food loot and food stubs that Mayor Vico gave to most of the Pasiguenos.

This was the longest I haven’t been to SM Megamall since I was a child. Quarantine restrictions has lightened so dining inside the restaurant has been allowed by this time. I added a photo of mom and I eating at Panda Express. Coco has been bugging me for banana bread and cookies and I was literally challenged to bake those for him. I haven’t perfected it, even until now. But it was good, I think, because Coco finished them all. Dada and I also decided to enroll Coco for now at the public school in our barangay. Since classes will be back soon, and I knew Coco will be online schooling, I needed to buy a new laptop since the speaker of the laptop I have been using for years hasn’t been working for a long time. So, I have been looking around and researching. One day, I went to the market and SM Supermarket to buy something and as I passed by Abenson, it seems like I was magnetized to go inside, and right there and then, I came out with a new one. It’s been a while since I got something big for myself. I’m happy. I watched Reply 1988 and it’s the K-drama that I watched the longest time because I really took my time watching it like I never wanted it to finish and yes, the start of my addiction and love for Park Bo Gum.

First time to see my family since lock down, first time to have visitors at home as well. Celebrated my sister and my birthday at home since Coco can’t go out yet. McDonald’s sent over food for my birthday as well (to promote their party box, actually! Woot! Still busy with back to back projects. Wow sya ghorl?

If there is one thing that I could say about my August is, it is the time when I started to accept and let go. I admit, until now, I still feel sad about it. I really, really wanted my much needed vacation for myself and for Coco to have more experiences that he can have in his memory bank. But I have to accept reality so I can move forward and be the best I can be. Coco has been busy playing pretend since the lock down, aside from other activities that he has been doing. Maybe he realized he wanted to start building again since he hasn’t been doing that for a while. He loves building different vehicles and wanted me to buy him more Lego because he doesn’t have more tires anymore. Yikes.

We also celebrated Mama’s birthday here at home with some sushi bake and Costa Brava. I also prepared Coco’s home school set up. His orientation and psychosocial classes has also started. It was hard at first for Coco, for the parents and especially for the teacher. But eventually, through everyone’s cooperation I think we are getting the hang of it now. I have always wanted to reach 10,000 in Instagram, not because of the fame or what. I wanted to use it as a tool to promote my blog posts through Instagram Story’s Swipe up option. But then again, even if it is really all about your content and what you want to convey in your posts, it is sometimes all about the numbers too. I’m happy that I was finally able to achieve what I wanted to do, two birds with one stone, right?

Celebrated Dada’s birthday, just the 3 of us and food that will last for a few days but we sent over some to my mom’s. Coco officially started his classes. He doesn’t have online classes via zoom (and the likes) but he has text based classes plus asynchronous modular learning, which often leads us to fighting but then he started to do it by himself and be independent and all’s well that ends well. We also received the Lenovo Tablet that Mayor Vico provided for the student Pasiguenos. Though I am heartbroken, my Fuji X-A2 died on me right at the moment when I needed to do a shoot for a paid project. Grabeng stress ko nun. I think it dying on me was long overdue. It has been showing signs of giving up on me as early as January so it living up until October is something I have to be thankful for. Thankful as well to my very old DSLR because it helped me with my projects.

After my SM Mega visit in June, the next farthest place that I went to was when we celebrated Denzel’s birthday at Romantic Baboy in TV5. After that, my he experience immobility with his arms until he needed to do a major operation, which was successful. Thanks to the doctors and nurses! Yay! Typhoon Ulysses happened and for the first time after the 2009 Ondoy flood, it flooded our barangay again. Our house’s dining and kitchen area included. The picture I included was of our street and it just went a little higher than this. We were safe though since our unit is in the 3rd floor. Since my goal for this coming year is to finally have ads on my wordpress blog, I upgraded from personal account to premium account and I am happy to share that it was paid coming from the paid postings I got. Yey!

Bittersweet how 2020 ended with us still in General Community Quarantine and no idea when will this New Normal be back to pre-covid life. We had a very intimate Christmas with my family and we ended our night watching my sister, Rissey and Vic’s movie, The Boy Foretold By The Stars which is an entry at this year’s MMFF (and actually won 2nd best picture!). The much awaited 20th anniversary virtual reunion with my PF girls finally happened, even if 3 of 7 girls weren’t able to come. Unexpectedly, I was able to get my new camera before the year ended. I’m happy again since I really need this for my contents. And of course, another thing that I am surprised we were able to pull off was when we bought Coco’s Nintendo Switch.

See? A lot of things to be grateful for right? Crazy as it seems, I’m ready and not ready for 2021. But definitely welcoming it with my arms wide open and hoping for the best of 2021! Sending ya’ll virtual hugs and kisses!!