It is a little late for a holiday letter, but I had so much to say that I just did not have time to finally sit down and write it until the other day. I am still behind on mailing it out but I hope to get that sometime early this week. I also waited because so much happened in the last few weeks of 2008 that I wanted to include ALL the changes which occured right up until the very end. I am not sure if this really is a faith blog or not but I do talk a lot about my faith and where I've been and where I'd like to go. Regardless, I'd still like to share it with all who follow my blog publicly as well as anonymously.
So here it is:
Dear Family and Friends,
Hello! This was supposed to be my "2008 Holiday Letter", but now it has become "My launching into 2009 Letter" instead. With the end of the year and holiday season just passing, I got so busy with the hustle and bustle of work and everyday life that I did not get a chance to reflect on 2008 and put my thoughts on paper. So, here we are at the beginning of a new year, and I finally have a moment to look back on the highlights of 2008 and make predictions on the year to come. I cannot believe the new year is already here. It seems as if it was yesterday that 2008 began. I am very excited about the challenges that 2009 will bring,
In 2008, I set out a few lofty goals and although the year got off to a good start, I was not able to meet my main goal of finding the right relationship that might lead into a promising future. I know it seems rather superficial, but I set a pretty high goal of getting into the right long term relationship. I started off the year with a few "blind" dates but none ended up anywhere. I have made a few good friends but nothing more. 2008 as a whole was filled with many ups and downs throughout the year but all in all I think I was able to end the year on a pretty big high note.
Highlights of 2008:
January through March seemed uneventful. I do not recall much going on these first few months other than the usual post holiday celebrations. It was a hard beginning of the year with Mom and Dad in the Philippines during this time. Starting in April is when the excitement started to happen. First, I joined a young adult ministry in Altamonte Springs at Annunciation Catholic Church. At the start, I only attended dinners and participated in activities, but as time went on I got more involved. I am now on the Spiritual committee and the core team for the group. On April 20, my sister gave birth to my niece Miranda Elayne. She was born at Winter Park Hospital at 11:47am. I had every intention of being here in Orlando for her birth, but our little princess had other plans. My sister went into labor fairly early and within a couple of hours our precious angel was born. I made it to the hospital in the late afternoon a few hours after she was born. May was actually a pretty tough month. Despite being my birthday month, I did not have a great month or birthday for that matter. I suffered a bit of depression that month. It lasted a couple of months but I bounced back in late June/early July. At that time I started to get very involved in the Singles for Christ Orlando chapter. I was able to give the Transformation in Christ talk. Things started picking up. In this talk, I was able to give my testimony as to how God had healed me from the pains of the past and other traumatic experiences that I had as a child as well as an adult. Life really started to pick up from there. The next few months I continued to grow in my faith. I continued to flourish and experience even more healing of old wounds. September brought the biggest change of 2008 when I moved into a house with my friend Christine (Tin) from SFC. I enjoy being in a house but I do miss being near my sister and the kids. I am now living in west Orlando near Ocoee which is about 30 minutes from Lalie and the kids. I miss being able to see them after work, but I do try and make time for them on the weekends. In October, I was able to take a short 1 week vacation to Naples to visit family and friends. While there I attended the wedding of two of my good friends Lindsay and Jose. I had the opportunity of being an active part of their wedding day including reading the first reading. It was a great time at their wedding. I enjoyed my vacation to Naples as well. I was able to see many of the old places I used to go and finally visit Palm Cottage near the Naples Pier. I had always wanted to go and I am glad I got the chance. Palm Cottage is an old house owned by the Naples Historical Society. It is a beautiful old home filled with lots of history. I just love old houses like this. October was also the month that I started my online blog. I started an online ministry where I have posted many different views of the same testimony. I share my journey with Christ on the Internet for all to read. I have not been too active in posting there, but please do check it out and follow along my journey of faith. This was also the month I attended the Life in the Spirit (charismatic) conference. At the conference I found a whole new side of Catholicism that truly has deepened my faith. I continue to stay involved with SFC and have had the chance to minister to the youth of Youth for Christ. I did an improv comedy workshop with the kids at their youth Camp. I had so much fun with them that I decided I am going to start writing my one-woman show again with the hopes of performing it either late spring or early summer. Stay tuned for the new blog that will chronicle my writing journey in putting together this show. The last few months of 2008 were quite busy. I have been quite involved with SFC as well as other Church groups. Aside the young adult ministry and SFC, I am now a part of the charismatic renewal group at Church. I hope to get even more involved at Church as well. I am looking to be a parishioner at this new parish. I also want to try and get involved in the contemporary choir there. The last couple of months at work were quite crazy. Just after coming home from vacation I started working a lot of extra hours. I was working an average 53 hours every week for nearly 5 or 6 weeks. It finally took its toll on me and I cut back to just over 40 hours a week. I was still making a few extra dollars working OT but not as much. I was still pretty tired and beat every night after work. I also started to get involved in a social Catholic group started through a Catholic website I belong to. We started with an informal meeting for lunch in November and plan to alternate between Tampa and Orlando every month. We have a pretty good group going. The last few weeks of year have been the best weeks of 2008 and probably the reason I did not write this sooner. I wanted to be able to include the changes and happenings of the last few weeks in the letter. I have made a lot of new friends through the gatherings our small group has been having including a very good friend I have been talking to and getting to know the last few weeks. For right now we are just friends but we get along well and have great conversations. I do not know what is going to happen with that but I am starting to think that meeting that special someone might not have been the plan for 2008 but I certainly have included in my plans for 2009. 2008 was not only a great year spiritually but I am very blessed to have a good group of friends at work as well as outside of work to keep me focused and grounded. I am so lucky to have my friends Johnerick and Christine who have been my rock and support this whole year. I owe much to them and the bonds of friendship we have shared this past year.
So what is in store for 2009? Not only did 2008 bring about spiritual change but I had made some physical changes as well. I was able to lose almost 25 pounds and finally fit back into a size 6 pair of SKINNY jeans. Part of the challenge of 2009 is to keep off the weight and lose another 5 pounds. I want to start exercising more so as to stay fit and in shape. I already lost the weight so now I have to try and maintain it and stay fit. I am so happy that I have lost the weight but the sad part is all my clothes are now 4 or 5 sizes TOO big. I have to work on buying a new wardrobe. I decided that since I was buying a new wardrobe I would try a different look. I have decided to go from the loose and baggy clothes to a more professional and feminine look. I have made some changes in my wardrobe these last few weeks that I hope to be propelled into the future never to look back on the past. I am changing my wardrobe for 2 reasons 1) to replace my now extra baggy clothes into something that fits and flatters my body and how I look 2) to try to hook in that man who may someday be the one for me. I realized that I was not going to go anywhere if I did not make a change. It is going to be a major challenge but I look forward to meeting it this year. For 2009, I also want to build a stronger relationship with God. I want to get closer to Him. I want to have a deeper and more personal relationship with Him. I want to be able to evangelize and claim lives for Jesus Christ. I want to pray and read the Bible more. I hope to do this through my writing – my faith blog as well as my one-woman show. But the one area I want to work on is living my life for God so that others may know and see that in me and want it and desire it for themselves. If doing full time ministry and bearing witness would actually make ends meet and pay the bills, then I would change careers and give my hand at working doing full time mission work with SFC. One of my goals for 2009 is to plan a trip home to the Philippines in December. I will go back to my Mom’s hometown and stay with family for 2 weeks. I really hope and pray that God makes this happen as it will be over 30 years since I have last been home. A lot has changed and I want to connect with family there before it is too late.
I look forward to the many challenges of 2009. I know that through God there is NOTHING impossible. I put all my faith and trust in Him and I know that He will provide for my every need just as He has since the beginning of time.
I wish all of you a blessed new year. I wish for you joy, peace, prosperity, good health, love and happiness which comes from God and God alone.
With Lots of Love,
Eileen Mae
