nico rellis

I can say that my heart is finally genuinely happy again.

I have been seeing this person lately, and he's making my June extra, extra special. God really does a beautiful love story, and He made sure that I met this person in my favorite month.

Amongst all the dates I had since 2017, he was the most consistent, and I can really feel his genuine and pure intentions.

I cannot thank You enough, Lord. I'll enjoy what we have for now, keep some things to myself/ourselves, and get to know him deeply in the coming days.

It's June, my favorite month of the year, my birth month.

June 1, 2024 started well. It was a day filled with book hunting, coffee, food, art, and wine. Since then, everything's going smoothly so far.

I'm enjoying the parts of my life that are private now. I'm beginning to agree with what people say that the best things in life are not shared in social media.

I'm just very grateful that one of the things I prayed for lately includes these words, "What did I do to deserve this?".

This year, I did everything I had to do to reach that dream of mine.

I know it will all be worth it.

I did all that I could because I didn't want to regret anything. I know that when I look back, I can say to myself, "you did all that you could to earn the spot that you have right now and you deserve it".

I didn't sleep right away last night. Things were running in my mind.

Although I had a really, really great time yesterday, there are just things that I really want but seem so hard to reach.

No matter how I say to myself that "there are things you cannot control", I guess it is really easier said than done. I am really still stubborn when it comes to the things I want.

Lord, I surrender. What's for me will be for me.

Yesterday, I had a fun shoot with my previous colleague (back in 2021) turned to friend (a fellow HR practitioner and Lasallian).

So glad he brought his camera with him and he was really patient with whatever I was thinking for the said shoot.

After the shoot, there were a lot of catching up while drinking coffee, eating pizza, and ordering a refreshing juice drink as well.

Life has been good lately. Of course, life isn't perfect, but I guess I'm already finding the balance and knowing how to navigate through life.

I went to many beaches, caves, and hidden gems in the past months lately: Siquijor, Dumaguete, La Union, and Zambales. Aside from the places, I'm glad that we had many moments treasured (whether there were photos taken or not), and our friendships became stronger.

I'm also glad that I'm back to joining events, and I don't only bring a plus one, but a whole barkada to have fun with.

I even had the privilege to be a model for a night for Manila International Fashion Week 2024. Haha kidding! But I am very, very honored to be invited to the event.

Of course, I always appreciate bonding moments with a long-time friend for over a decade now, and I always, always appreciate precious times with my mother.

Life isn't all about what you see on social media. Life is also more than your job.

Right now, I'm trying to live my life as how lowkey I was before 2019. It feels good when there are parts of your life that you don't share online because those things and moments are the ones that people can't take away from you.

I don't want to be obsessed over what people think of how I live my life. I don't want to be obsessed with likes, views, and comments. Those are such trivial things that don't matter.

What matters to me is my quality time with family and friends, the places I went to and will go to, and the dreams I achieved and will achieve.

Relationships for me are complicated. No matter what kind it is.

It's also something you put effort into. Being in a relationship (may it be romantic, a friendship, whatever it is) requires your time, effort, and resources to last and work.

It's complicated because it requires give and take, but you're also not sure if you'll receive something in return after all the things you've put into it.

If you're asking what's the most important relationship? It's the relationship you have with yourself. Everything follows when you know that you're prioritizing yourself. Be intentional with your needs and wants. Follow your heart while using your mind.

It's been a while again since my last blog.

Life happened and I was forced to thrive for myself and my family. Glad that despite life's challenges, I was still able to find the fun out of it. I look forward to my life after work lately. I'm still pursuing my dreams, I go to go-sees whenever there is a chance (maximizing my face card. Haha!) and go to auditions as well.

Also, being in my 30s made me appreciate long-time and low-maintenance friendships, my work, my life after work, family, hobbies, and everything life has to offer. One of the things that I learned from my life lately? You just have to show up every day.

I missed going to events. I missed having my creative juices unleashed out there. I missed telling stories. I missed meeting people with the same interests. 

Glad that I am now back to being a Content Creator. More than anything, it’s also a way for me to inspire young people who have big dreams; that in everything that I post, they will be inspired to tell their stories as well. 

2023 was a year of opportunity, after opportunity, after opportunity for me. 

The first month allowed me to have my first solo local travel for the year to both places where I haven’t been yet, and where people close to me are residing. In Bacolod, I met Paul (a fellow livestream host) and our other livestream friends. It was a short but sweet day trip as I explore their famous places such as The Ruins and their famous food including Kansi which I really, really like. I intend to go there again and stay there longer to explore their beaches!! 

I was also able to be in Iloilo during their Dinagyang Festival and had a reunion with my friend Saire and had our 5 years worth of chikahan! Haha! See below pictures with my dear friends:

This year also allowed me to get to do the things I like doing: it allowed me to go back to my Alma Mater and speak in front of a class of Grade 12 students for a Career Talk (I hoped I help them decide their future), go to different events as a Content Creator, and finally be a Licensed Financial Advisor:

I also love how this year brings me closer to platforms that let me tell my story and inspire people. Glad to be able to share how I struggled yet strived during the past years from a Paano Ba ‘To?! x GLoan episode:

Forever grateful and smiling for these opportunities, but I had to prioritize and put my other “wants” on the side. 

I had to put my studies (MBA) on hold for now to take care of my #adulting responsibilities. I just said to myself that I will read one book (I am into self-help books and autobiographies currently) per week, and I am achieving this so far. Yay! 

Looking forward to travel more soon as well with family, friends, or SOLO. I am actually looking forward most to more SOLO traveling. So, I really had to work for it. :)

I just finished my skincare routine. It was a productive Saturday earlier - did errands and treated my mother (mamu) for dinner and some desserts. 

I appreciate slow days now. I remember being a “hustler” in my 20s, especially in my early 20s, and I felt incomplete whenever I was not doing anything.

Now, I love a good sleep / nap, indulging myself with good food, a good book, and occasional traveling. I also love spending quality time with people close to my heart. 

Right now, I basically have a lot of roles - be it personal and professional. I am at my happiest when I am doing something I am passionate about, like being a Content Creator. Recruitment is also something I love, since I’ve been professionally doing it for more than a decade now. 

Since the pandemic, a lot has changed, and I discovered more things that I never thought I’ll enjoy since I had to be creative and explore ways to learn and earn. 

One of which is being a VA or a Virtual Assistant. Being a VA means that you provide your services online to a client, and I am glad that I get to still practice my field (Recruitment) in the VA world. 

At first, I had to adjust because I was used to the office set-up where I can easily talk to my colleagues, teammates, and leaders. Eventually, I got to appreciate the VA perks such as: you get to focus more, you get to spend more time with your family since there’s less time for commute and all, if you're thrifty, you get to save more, and you get to learn more tools and application for online use.

 Sometimes, we share what we eat in our chat group. Like the other day, I shared with my fellow Leads that I was eating this Saging Con Yelo with sago as a snack during the shift. We also have VA Engagement activities such as Fun Fridays. As a Recruitment practitioner and someone who studied HR, these activities are important for Employee Retention and I’m glad I was able to participate in these and share my knowledge as well.

I really enjoy being a VA now and I love sharing it to the VAs I recruit! 

I want to go back to the beach, where everything is calm, where I am happiest, where I can laugh the hardest with friends and family, with friends that turn into family, with everything’s close to my heart. 

I will get there someday again, but for now, I have to practice delayed gratification. I’ve realized lately during the holy week that I’ve been putting off some responsibilities that somehow became a reason that I felt kind of lost. 

Life has been good recently though, there were days I thought life was being tough, and then suddenly there were provisions and resources being given to me. 

I've been sharing my life via my socials, podcast, and vlogs lately.

But I will always go back to writing.

Let this be the start of my blog comeback ❤

How are you? The years 2020 to 2021 were really something. I felt like I aged for several years. Haha! 

I had a phone conversation with my college friend, Alex, earlier and we talked about our life realizations with everything that’s happened with our lives lately, and we both agreed that wow, I can’t believe we’ve been through all of that and remained strong though things were really heavy that we can’t help but be fragile. Yes, very #adulting. 

I love how I am staying in my lane, keeping my circle small, putting family first, and assuring that God is at the center of all of it, this time.

This year is about bouncing back. I know there is a lot to think about lately such as the future of our country, but I want to take things one step at a time, go back to the things I love doing, and keep that passion again. I don’t want to sound selfish, but I’ve been through a lot lately that I want to just keep things simple. I guess simple act of kindness sounds good for now?

There are a lot of things I want to accomplish in 5 years time, but I want to stay at the moment also. 

How’s your journey so far? Let’s talk about it.