Early Retreat: Closing 2012




I spent time at my brother's house this weekend.

 It was an early retreat... I had time to relish every moment that I had last December before finally closing my diary for 2012...

We continually give thanks to the Lord for all His goodness!

Belle's countdown before December 8, her Communion.

My grandchild's baptism, December 9.

12-12-12 Celebration at Shangri-La and our journal distribution.
Lunch-out with colleagues

Endless gift wrapping and gift giving...

Belle's first hospital experience, December 18-21.

Sophie's visit, December 24.

Healthy food for Christmas 2012

Feast of the Holy Family, 30 December.



Comments

  1. IreneJanuary 6, 2013 at 10:03 PM

    It seems like you had a REALLY busy December, Melissa. What happened to Belle? Why was she hospitalized?

    And yes, God is good... always. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa TandocJanuary 7, 2013 at 9:10 PM

      Hi Irene :) I focused more on work actually :P

      My niece was hospitalized for dehydration. She was continuously vomiting and had diarrhea for several days. She was finally diagnosed of ameobiasis. She attended a party the day before she had vomiting...hmmm...

      Yes, God is ;)

      Delete
  2. JANUJanuary 6, 2013 at 10:17 PM

    <3<3

    ReplyDelete
  3. Martha Jane OrlandoJanuary 7, 2013 at 1:34 AM

    Beautiful photos and memories to cherish, Melissa! Thank you for sharing them with us. And, I'm glad Belle is well now and is going to be taking her first Communion. How exciting! I will say a prayer for her.
    Love and blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa TandocJanuary 7, 2013 at 9:12 PM

      Thanks Martha :) Belle had her first communion last December 8, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Please pray for Arvy too :) I hope the catechist will help me through with this this month :)

      Lots of love!

      Delete
  4. Dangerous LindaJanuary 9, 2013 at 5:50 PM

    so sweet! thank you for sharing your reflections on the past year -- a lovely stroll down memory lane...

    the food all looks SO GOOD! yum!

    i wonder if the photo of your 'grandchild' may be what we would call your 'god child'? i don't think you have any grandchildren...;-)


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa TandocJanuary 11, 2013 at 9:00 PM

      She is my grandchild :) And as I told you, I have lots of them.

      I think I have a good habit of cherishing wonderful memories...I wish I gave my all in everything I did...

      Lots of love Linda :*

      Delete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2013 at 9:56 PM

    My love to dear Belle and to you of course.
    -Portia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa TandocJanuary 11, 2013 at 9:02 PM

      Lots of love to you and your mom too...in prayers always.

      Delete
  6. Corinne RodriguesJanuary 15, 2013 at 9:28 PM

    Lovely memories of a very eventful year. So glad to see that Belle is preparing for First Holy Communion. ♥

    PS: Like Linda too, I was struck by the 'grandchild' :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa TandocJanuary 16, 2013 at 7:53 PM

      She had her First Communion last December 8 BS :)

      I do have grandchildren and so does Belle :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Soul Friends

Image
Linking into the 'Blogging and Friends' blog hop at Bongo Is Me and  Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease . I met with some friends this day. We've known each other since we were ten and somehow even though two of them already reside in the US, we've managed to communicate all throughout these years. Our traditional lunch at Abe (from L-R: Hazel, Ella, Me, Hazel's parents) 5 May 2012 Sto. Domingo (5 May 2012) Then I went on a date with my childhood friend. I have not visited Him for a while and I longed to see Him (He was waiting for me ). I came home and spent time with my friends online... It was while reading Bonnie's post that I became reminiscent of how my life started in the blogging world. It was January last year when my ARTner and friend for two years in Tagged asked me if I was interested to publish my ideas. I read Fher's blog but made comments on my online journal for discussion. I was a bit hesi...
Read more

ţlīthā qūm

  ţlīthā qūm Mark 5, 41 NIV I wonder how He said it... Was it similar to a song?... a soft whisper...  la Sua voce serena... tranquilla... 'Nowadays, we couldn't distinguish whether one is angry or affectionate ~ the tone with which we say things are the same...' preached the priest last Sunday. ...He  saw her, he called her forward and said to her,  “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”  Luke 13, 12 NIV There's something in This man... His look... His gaze... His eyes... mi penetra... nel profondo... fino all'anima mia... "He reached out His hand and touched the man. " Matthew 8, 3 NIV ...gently... senza timore... ------- I remember a story recounted by one Peruvian missionary nurse I worked with in North Africa. She was assigned to prepare a teenager for his first communion. He not only looked younger but he was quite smaller than his age. He was all curled up because of an unknown disease. His whole body...
Read more

Of Cups and Dreams

Image
I scooped up TWO EMPTY CUPS before leaving that Sacred place... and whispered something to two Franciscan priests... I woke up and reached playfully inside my pocket to see if I brought them home with me then I wrote Lisa Marie Farfalla about this dream. Empty...cups... It was the night before the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The next day, Corinne Rodrigues wrote  Half Empty or Half Full?  . On the 21st, Savira Gupta wrote something about emptiness:  "Emptiness or a feeling of void is a phase or a moment of pause. A time to observe, understand and digest what I have experienced. It is when I am nudged into looking or deciphering what is meaningful and what needs to be discarded. A time to ponder or be with myself....No judgments or labeling....  Making space for what is about to come" Yesterday, I came across Andy David 's  This Cup of Mine  . Symbols, colors, numbers, dreams ~ Each of us had CUP in mind...  A CUP ...
Read more