Highlights 2010

My friends and I once played a game on the beach I'm now coining "Highlights." We each looked back in the past year and picked out the top 5 moments to narrate.

I'd like to share my (thus far) 2010 highlights with you.

#5 APO REEF TRIP
It was the perfect all-girl beach trip: four days of sun, sand and seawater with narry a mobile signal in sight. This trip cementized the bond of 5 beautiful strangers into one giant KORAKCHA and we're now a mighty family with a few odd-ball boys. The Apo Reef trip was also the first time I went thru tentlife! Mindoro's Apo Island had no electricity, no running water, no nothing! We pitched our own tent, slept in it for the night and folded it up again come morning. It was also the first time I encountered wild dolphins. We saw two pods! And countless shooting stars! Apo Reef is the trip to beat in my book.

#4 NGC EARTH DAY RUN
My first ever race. First in 2010, first in life. And it started this blooming love affair with a sport! Who would've thought?!? Since NGC, I've run at least 2 times a week, frequency now getting higher because I'm running a marathon on March. YES! Marathon! Wooohooo! Looks like 2011 will have it's first highlight already.

#3 BELLE GETS BETTER
Before her operation, Belle (my precious black lab) was living with a lump on one of her breasts. Her doctor didn't want to put her under the knife until it was absolutely necesssary, I guess she didn't want Belle to go through the stress of an operation and gave us alternatives on dealing with the lump instead. But, just as anything bad in the world, the lump got worse. Belle underwent a masectomy procedure and I wailingly waited for the whole thing to be over. Two frikkin' hours crying like a lunatic in the waiting area of Animal House Banawe. *sigh* But now, she's soooo much better. Happily lump-free, three months and counting!

#2 THE DAY I STARTED MY BLOG
It was either a scheduled non-working holiday or I was just absent from work. I was at home, not really doing anything, just watching HBO, and Joe's Apartment came on. I loved that movie back in high school. I think I was one of the few girls who wasn't totally freaked out by the singing roaches. So I watch, and Ralph Roach says his magical line: "The funny thing about shit, only good things grow out of it." LIGHTBULB!!! How can one not write after hearing such words of wisdom from a cockroach?! As I always say, inspiration comes in many a strange form and from this particular instance, Insights From The Movies was born.

#1 "SHINING IS GOOD"
I was contemplating on whether I should make my blog more public by posting links on my facebook page. I wasn't sure if my thoughts were worthy enough to be read by other people besides my eternally dear friends because most of what I write are useless and mundane. I say that in the present tense because they still are. Anyway, around the same time, I was introduced to The Art Of Non-Conformity of Chris Guillebeau. His site said to feel free to contact him anytime, as he personally replies to all his messages, so I took a shot, asked him when he knew it was time to bring out his thoughts to the world and gave him a link to here. A few days later, I discovered that Chris wrote a comment on my "This li'l blog o'mine... should I let it shine" entry, and he said "Shining is good. Keep it up!" I nearly fainted with happiness. It was the first day I posted a link to my blog on my facebook page, and it was the day my writing started to be more real, more thought-out, and more me.

I hope my highlights inspire you to look back at your 2010. The new year's almost here and we've got more highlights to come! :)