As the year 2022 comes to a close and we welcome the new year, it is natural for us to reflect on the challenges that we have faced over the past twelve months. For many of us Cebuanos, early 2022 was hard to deal with as Cebu had recently been devastated by a super typhoon. It has been marked by a host of calamities, post pandemics struggles, natural disasters, political turmoil, and more. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged as we consider all that we have endured.

But as for myself, I turn my eyes towards the future and the promise of a new year. Despite the problems that I have seen, I have also seen countless acts of kindness and resilience toward other people. I have watched as communities come together to support one another, as individuals go above and beyond to help their neighbors.

Married

But not to brag, I had an incredibly successful year in 2022. First, I started the year off by getting married to the love of my life despite that I started the month of January being jobless. "Ikaw lang ata kilala ko na magpapakasal na walang trabaho"(You're the only jobless person I know that has the courage to get married) my wife said. But we have managed it and since then, we have been enjoying every moment of married life, lot of sacrifices and compromises taken.

Here are some photos of our wedding. I am tempted to share more of our wedding photos in Hive.

Home

Following our wedding, we were able to secure a new home, a studio-type condo unit that me and my wife have been able to make from 9-5 of work. We were already planning to mortgage a house before our wedding because it will take time to process the documents. So right after our wedding, the loan was granted and we moved in. The location is perfect for us, as it is close to our respective jobs and also has all the amenities we could possibly use.

Here are the before and after photos of our house's interior.

Career

Next was my career. I also had some major career success despite having difficulties in finding for a new job earlier this year. I was offered a new job as an auxiliary designer in a small contractor company, a role that I have been working towards for about nine months now. I was able to use my skills and creativity from being a presales engineer before to contribute to this company in the design process. I completed several auxiliary projects here and some of them came from electrical designs. Only in this company that I experienced micro-managing departments, from different engineering systems to maintenance and sales, and retail. This has been a huge contribution to my portfolio.

Some of my work and project photos.

Travel

In addition to all of these major life events, I have also been able to travel extensively this year together with my wife. From province to province and from beaches to other beaches around Cebu, it all went well as planned. One of the major travels we had this year was in Baguio and we are excited to explore more in the northern part of Luzon next year. Every travel is a privilege for us so we take every opportunity that comes our way to make it happen, most especially in terms of finances.

Some of our recent trips and gateways from work.

It has been an incredible year for me and I feel grateful for all of the opportunities and experiences that have come my way. I look forward to continuing to achieve big things in the future and making the most out of every door that opens.

Onward

As the new year approaches, while I don't have any major life events planned for the coming year, I am focusing on making some significant changes in my career and personal life.

One of my main goals for the new year is to make a significant advancement in my career. This includes not only taking on more responsibilities and increasing my skills, but also negotiating a higher salary and better benefits. I have been working hard for the past few years, and I feel like it's time for me to start seeing some tangible rewards for my efforts.

In addition to my career goals, I am also hoping to make some progress on my personal financial goals. Specifically, I want to make some significant payments on my mortgage and start saving for a new property lot for our new home. My wife and I have always dreamed of owning a detached house, and I am determined to make that dream a reality in the coming year/s.

While I may not achieve all of these goals in the next twelve months, I am committed to starting the year off strong and grinding daily towards my goals. I know that it won't be easy.

So as we enter this new year, let us embrace hope and manifest the goals we want to achieve.

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All photos are owned/made by the author.

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