choosing me

February: The Month I Finally Choose Me

February has always been a special month for me—not just because it’s my birth month, but because it’s a time when I reflect on where I am in life, what I’ve given, what I’ve lost, and what I still need to do for myself. This year, as I turn 47, I am making a conscious decision: I am focusing on me.

For as long as I can remember, I have been generous to a fault. I give—sometimes more than I should. I sacrifice my wants, my needs, my dreams for the people I love. It’s in my nature. But over the years, I’ve learned, through painful lessons and small victories, that boundaries matter. I’ve learned to say no. I’ve learned to delete toxic people from my life. Yet, I still find myself putting others first too often. And the truth is, I haven’t done enough for myself.

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2024 LOOK BACK: A Year of Growth, Celebration, and Dreams Taking Shape

As the clock ticks closer to the end of 2024, I can’t help but reflect on what an incredible year it has been for our family. This year wasn’t just about celebrations; it was about growth, stepping out of comfort zones, making bold moves, and seeing long-held dreams start to take shape. And so, as I sit down to reflect on 2024, I feel a mix of emotions. Though the latter part of December saw me struggling with a wave of depression, I now realize it was likely hormonal — my period suddenly arrived after a delay, which made me wonder if I might be entering perimenopause.

It wasn’t just hormones, though. My VA business has grown exponentially this year — I now have 12 clients! On top of that, I juggle multiple roles in our businesses: as co-owner and Chief Marketing Officer of our hotel, restaurant, cafĆ©, and catering business, all while trying to keep up with the many business and personal development courses I’ve enrolled in. Somewhere along the way, I over-fatigued my already overloaded system.

Thankfully, I have my husband, Hanz, by my side. His unwavering support, his constant reminders to take breaks, and his effort to make sure my ā€œlove cupā€ is always filled to the brim helped me push through. Looking back at all that we’ve accomplished this year, the sadness has lifted. It’s been replaced by a deep sense of gratitude, hope, and joy for every big and small blessing that has come our way.

Here’s a month-by-month look back at the highlights of this unforgettable year. (Note to self: I hope to blog about each of these things in more detail this coming 2025…)

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Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay – My 45th Birthday

It’s been a whirlwind of a ride since we got married in a civil ceremony… one celebration after another and constant traveling. We’re actually in the middle of our month-long (or so…) honeymoon trip in the Visayas, part of which is my 45th birthday celebration in Crimson Resort and Spa here in Boracay. I just want to share the vlog I managed to create while vacationing. I’ll try to come up with more posts once this busyness is over. But I think with our beach wedding looming in the horizon, it will really be a challenge to keep you updated here as much as I want to. Anyway, you can always check my Facebook and Instagram for more current updates. For now, here’s my birthday vlog I wanted to share here:

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Apple Tree Hotel and Resort

Apple Tree Hotel and Resort, Cagayan de Oro City: Tuz’s 5th Birthday Hoopla

Ever since Tuz was born, we’ve always celebrated it by traveling to the beach or a nice hotel resort, just us three. I do plan to make a blog post and/or vlog of his past birthday celebrations so watch out for those soon… 

Just a little flashback on his past nativity celebrations:

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BALLOONS

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Momtraneur.com! A Thank You Post

Good morning from Bacolod! I have been traveling the past few days from Cagayan de Oro to Oslob, then Dumaguete, and now we’re in Bacolod — very hectic schedule! I’m squeezing some time in to update my blog before we go because I just realized now that today (July 25 in the Philippines) is a very special day!

It’s my blog’s 3rd anniversary today! Happy 3rd Birthday, Momtraneur.com! I have nothing special planned, nor did I come up with something amazing for my readers because I truly didn’t think that my blog would reach this milestone of now being on Top 1.3M of Alexa’s global engagement ranking and Top 5.5K in the Philippines which, a month ago, my rankings were just 6.5M and 21K respectively. Thank you, really, for finding my articles worth reading and for coming back here and even checking my old evergreen blog posts (I have a lot!)Ā  Continue reading

Seven Seas Vlog

Seven Seas Waterpark – The Biggest in the Philippines – A Vlog!

I first blogged about the Seven Seas Waterpark last May and I said there that I was going to make a vlog about it so that you’ll get a better understanding on how it really feels like to be there inside their water theme park, riding the various heart-stopping rides and just simply enjoying the scenery. The Seven Seas, located in Bara, Opo, Misamis Oriental, may I reiterate, is the biggest in the Philippines and certified world-class. So, if you are visiting Cagayan de Oro soon, you might want to enjoy summer any time of the year by heading to the Seven Seas Waterpark! Again, it’s the biggest in the country and certified world-class! They even offer night swimming now!

For a more detailed post about the Seven Seas Waterpark of Cagayan de Oro, please read my blog post: https://momtraneur.com/2019/05/18/seven-seas-waterpark-of-cagayan-de-oro-a-review/

To watch the vlog, you may head to my Youtube channel or watch it below. Continue reading

Seven Seas

Seven Seas Waterpark of Cagayan de Oro – a Review

Seven Seas Waterpark has always been one of my top dream destinations ever since our transfer (A.K.A. The Big Leap) here in Cagayan de Oro City in September 2017. Our son was still a baby then and we thought it might not yet be the right time for us to enjoy what this world-class waterpark has to offer.

So we waited another year until Tuz was already a little old enough to be able to enjoy kiddie water slides and shallow swimming pools. Then Mahal and I can just take turns in taking care of Tuz and enjoying those scary water slides and rides I’ve been hearing about. That was the plan. So last year, a day after Tuz turned three, we headed to Seven Seas Waterpark. Yey!!! And just a week ago, I was here again with my fellow CDO Bloggers. Double yey!!!

On this blog post, I’ll be sharing with you my review of Seven Seas Waterpark based on my experiences in this world-class tourist destination. Read on…

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Acuaverde Beach Resort

Acuaverde Beach Resort in Laiya, Batangas – A Review + Tuz’s First Birthday Celebration

It’s Tuz’s 2nd birthday yesterday late evening, Nov. 17, at exactly 11:47 PM. I can still remember all the pain I went through when I was induced starting at 7AM 2 years ago, only to get an emergency C-section late that evening. Was it worth it? Definitely! Despite the fact that Tuz is now in the terrible twos stage and all my patience is running dry, having a child of my own with my very best friend in the whole universe is still the best thing that ever happened to me and I thank God each second of my life for it. ā¤

We have nothing planned on the day of his birthday (yesterday) because the mountain resort we wanted to check in at here in Cagayan de OroĀ (Ultra Winds Mountain Resort )Ā  was fully booked yesterday and the reservation we got was for today (Saturday 2 PM) until tomorrow (Sunday 12 NN). In the meantime, I’m going to blog about our only son’s very first birthday which we celebrated last year by staying for a night in Acuaverde Resort in Laiya, Batangas.

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responsibility

How to Take 100% Responsibility For Your Life

A BUSY introduction

I know, I know, I KNOW. It’s been 10 days since my last post and I have so much to share! Before baby Tuz’s first birthday, my life partner, Mahal, and I have been having sleepless nights taking care of work, parental stuff and domestic duties because we wanted to celebrate our baby’s first birthday on the date of his birthday itself, which was the 17th, a Thursday. We could have just decided to have it on a weekend so all our work responsibilities have already been done by that time and we can all relax and enjoy our son’s birthday beach celebration. Well, we did enjoy, but it could have been better. And it’s all because we wanted it celebrated on the birthdate itself, which, now, looking back, has been a semi-terrible idea! Continue reading