Resolution of Thanks or my Bye UMYF Sentiments

A long-due post.

Resolution of Thanks

Be it resolved that my twelve years as a UMYFer have officially ended last May 31 and that with the presence of the beings mentioned below, these twelve years are hereby declared as the Best 12 Years of My Life, so far.

(1) The Lord Almighty, for His love and grace and mercy and faithfulness and blessings. For everything, really.

(2) My Mom and Dad, who have prayed, supported and guided me especially during the years of my youth leadership in the District and Annual level; who have tolerated my inability to stay put on weekends because of meetings after meetings; who have provided resources in order for me to attend Christmas Institutes (CI), Summer Camps, Leadership Training and the likes back when I was still a financially-dependent kiddo; who have corrected me with love whenever I make rush decisions or have disrespect anyone with my words or gestures; who never fails to remind me the importance of having a balance with all the things I committed on; who introduced me to the Church and to the love of God and to the importance of having a relationship with Jesus. 

(3) My brothers Buchoy and Ej, who are my inspiration in ensuring that my testimony is well taken care of. Because what young leader am I if I can't even be a model to my siblings.

My fam bam! :)

(4) Body of Christ United Methodist Church (BOC UMC), my home church which have molded everything I am capable of doing today; which have supported me through their prayers, presence and provision over the years; which have reminded me that no matter where level I served, the local church is the top priority; which have proudly treat me as its own kid and have carefully watched me as I grow.

(5) BOC UMYF Family, where I felt truly loved and accepted, where I have met true friends and more-than-friends, who have all been part of CI 2011: Cross the Line as staffs; who have supported me by being always present in District and Annual activities; for doing fund-raisers to ensure that we'll send a huge number of delegates every time; for being good listeners whenever they ask for advice. Kita-kits sa UMYAF :P

BOC UMYFers. How we've grown :)

(6) Ate Jet Sales and Ate Helene Mae Sales-Santos who I consider my mentors in leadership. Who opened their homes for meeting, tawanan and iyakan sessions; who have imparted in me the need to continue the line of leadership and to urge on on good and especially on bad times; who have taught me the basics of being an Overall Director by exposing me to different committees; and by simply walking their talks. I love you Ates! :)

(7) Jojo Timajo, Joanna Rivera, Faye Tamang, Kat Tamang and Soler delas Armas, friends for keeps that no matter where we are right now, what we are doing, I can always go back to those fun meeting sessions where our leadership paths have all started. I miss you :)

Where are you now? I miss you :)

(8) Melludi Gozum, Bettina Peñalosa, Avi Angeles, Corch Tolentino and Jonathan Esguerra, my co-leaders in serving the Rizal District CY 2010-2012. For all your efforts in making the two years a smooth and successful one; for being excellent committee heads during the Cross the Line CI; for your respect and obedience for every task; for being pranings which have taught me to be calm (yes, kayo nagturo sakin maging chillax kahit may issues); for loving the Rizal District UMYFers. Salamat dears. Sobraaaa. :)

Tired but thankful faces of the RDUMYF Leaders.
After CI 2010: Cross the Line.

(9) Faye Tamang, Kat Tamang, Karen Kabingue, Noe Cenal and JS Villanueva, my co-leaders in serving the Rizal Philippine Annual Conference (RPACE) CY 2012-2014. For expanding the Lord's territory in our lives by serving the people of both Rizal and Metro; for our travels in Cebu, Baguio, Cavite; for being my comrades for my last two years serving the youth. Ang dami kong natutunan, na-realize. Salamat ng marami :)

With Karen, CY 2014-2016 RPACE President and
with Noe, CY 2014-2015 MEA Vice-President. Bigatins! :)

Travel to Cebu with Noe, Faye and Karen. For the 2nd NYCM.

(10) Pastor Jojo Barawidan, Pastora Leyda Yambot, DS Zosimo Mabuti, DS Danilo Pedracio, DS Alvin Alcantara, Pastor Rey Hernandez, Dss. Monica Ramos and to all the RPACE workers, for all your wisdom you imparted to everyone of us during our term of office; for being our advisers and for standing up for us whenever we hear discouragements; for being shepherds of the Church; we learned a lot from you. Thank you to our pastors and deaconesses who we often take for granted. Salamat at sorry po :)

(11) My bosses in SGV, Jollibee and Johnson & Johnson who have allowed me to take leaves whenever there are camps or training. Thank you for allowing me to balance my work and my ministry. You have taught me greatly how to manage my tasks and my time. 

(12) Nissan Escusa, Kuya Aj Ines, Kuya Rj Angeles, Ate Judea Baisas, Ate Jaysel Bernardino, Kuya Ged Bernardino,  Ate Jet Sales, Ate Helene Santos, JS Ramos, Kuya Rev Cao, Kuya Bhin Perez, Kuya Guiller Madriaga; for being our ates and kuyas in the ministry. We have found you all faithful and we thank you for the encouragement, training, prayers that you have given us and that you continually give. UMYAF naman po ang brasuhin natin? :)

(13) The National UMYF Leaders. Late ko na kayo na-meet lahat, except for Nissan. But I thank the Lord na huli man daw, I have seen how dedicated and committed you are to serve the UMYF of the Philippines. Thank you for representing us in the conferences inside and outside the country; for the sacrifices you make in order to visit all the episcopal areas. Then to all the wonderful leaders of each annual conference, ang dami-dami kong na-meet na friends. Kahit san na niyan ako magpunta, may matutulugan na ako. Hahaha :)

4th NYCM at Baguio First UMC

(14) Kim Noble, Jap Rodriguez, Patty Loyola, Evan Garcia, Kurt Bonior, Sarah Macanlalay, Joebeth Santiago, Lendl Medina, Nath Seralde, Ram Tolledo, Rose Fernandez, Jhunarlyn Bancud, Simon delos Santos, Ceejay Hernandez, CY 2014-2016 leaders of Rizal and Metro District UMYF. Wala na akong uulit-ulitin pa kundi walang sayang at walang tapon sa paglilingkod sa Diyos through youth leadership. What you will learn here, madadala nyo everywhere. Promise! Cast all your concerns, doubts to the Lord. Studies ba, work ba? He'll take care of that. Seek Him first and He'll add all things to you (Matthew 6:33). Maging tapat lang. Kay Lord. Sa local church nyo. At sa very wonderful opportunity na ito of serving the youth. Please, zero attrition sana? Haha. I'm just a text and call away. I love you leaders :)

(15) Karen Kabingue, Jonathan Esguerra, Bettina Peñalosa and Meien Cenal, Cy 2014-2016 leaders of RPACE. Salamat for taking the baton, the fire, the burden of youth leadership sa ating beloved conference. No worries na ako ngayon because there are people like you na magpapatuloy. O sige na, naiiyak na ako. At naiinggit ako sa mga NYCM venues. Haha. Annual CI naman tayo diyan! I love you guys. Idamay ko na rin si Noe Cenal na VP-MEA. Noe, yung vision mo nung in-screen ka, hold on to that ha? RPACE is behind you. Don't forget that :)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A lot of people were asking me why turning 25 is a huge deal for me. Eto yun. The 12 years I've spent in the UMYF organization created a big impact in my life. This is were I spent my teenager years, this is where I finished college, pass the boards and started working. Every milestone ng buhay ko, so far, is part of the years that I've spent as a UMYFer. 

Maraming tawanan. Napakaraming iyakan. Madaming natuturuan. Napakaraming natututunan. Maraming nakikilala at nagiging kaibigan. Napakaraming nagiging inspirasyon at modelo sa buhay. This is UMYF life. This is the life of a UMYF leader. This is my 12 years.

"Panginoon, kay buti mo sa akin. Ikaw lamang ang tangi kong sasambahin. Aawitan kita, at pupurihin. Panginoon, kay buti mo sa akin."

Bye UMYF. Hello UMYAF. Excited na ako sa panibagong dalang hamon mo sa buhay ko :)

Christ above all and now In Jesus' Steps,

Elisha Simangan Wanagen

RPACE UMYF President, CY 2012-2014

RDUMYF President, CY 2010-2012

Lubos na makakamiss sa UMYF, CY 2014-onward :)

Summer Elements in Pampanga

Few more weeks before summer pave its way out to make way for the rainy season and as a last hurrah for the summer and in celebration of work-life balance, our company held its summer getaway last May 16 to 17 at Villa Alfredo, San Fernando, Pampanga.

For this year, the outing's theme is all about the four elements of nature or as they called it - the Summer Elements or Elements of Summer, whatever. The whole sector was divided into four groups - Alab (fire), Agos (water), Alapaap (air) and Abo (land) - and yes, they want all the group names to start with the letter A. Push nyo yan! :) I am part of the group on fireeee - ALAB!

The stage where the tarps of the four elements were posted:
Agos. Alab. Abo. Alapaap.

We left the office at around 6 AM and since traffic was unusually pleasant that day, we arrived at Villa Alfredo around 8 AM. I can't tell much about how to get there because our company provided buses for us and I pretty much slept during the travel. But as what I've heard, we took the NLEX and exited at the San Fernando toll gate. Brgy. Baliti is 45 minutes away from the exit.

Our bus. And there's my good friend Arnel posing beside it.
Pagbigyan, last day na nya sa company yan! :P

Welcome sign upon arrival at Villa Alfredo.

Since we're the first to arrive, we just helped in preparing for the props needed for the cheer dance competition as well as taking the time to get to know our group mates. I have not attended prior Alab meetings so it was my first time to meet all of them.

One of the ALAB Team props. So resourceful, right?

After almost an hour, the two other buses have arrived and the celebration of the Summer Elements started, finally! Since I was happily cheering for my team, playing Minute-to-Win-It games and booing other teams, I'll just let the pictures show how much fun we had during the program.

Team Alapaap with their muse and escort.
Bigay na bigay performance by our friend Jayson. D.I talaga!

Team Alab with our Cirque du Soleil-inspired performance.
I was not part of the dance but I participated as a voice-over. Haha :D

Team Agos' under-the-sea performance.
They won the cheer dance competition. Uso kasi ung sirena-concept ngayon.

Team Abo's performance.
They won the best group costume award.

Minute to Win It games - simple yet fun!

One of the host of the event is my pretty, fashionista friend Lyle.

After all events are finished, the results are as follows: 4th place - Team Alab, 3rd place - Team Alapaap, 2nd place - Team Abo and overall champion is Team Agos. Oh yes, Team ALAB are gracious losers :D

Since the program was finished, we are given our room assignments and basically, the whole afternoon is ours to spend.. Those who will stay for the night, like us, catch up on our sleep (we are graveyard babes) while those that will go home by 5 PM used the time to take pictures and swim. I also used my afternoon to meet-up with my small sister at SM Pampanga.

Two queen size beds with air-con. Not bad.
We slept real sound.

Our room got its own bathroom. Neat.

Nearest pool on our room. We took a dip at night but we did not enjoy because the water's oily?
Basta, mga 30 minutes lang ata kami then we called it a night.

Long catwalk of the resort. There are a lot of guests during that time.

Overall, the summer outing was fun and relaxing one. Kudos to the organizers! One thing though, the pools are blah during that time. Marami na kasing nag-swim during the day kaya hindi na refreshing yung water at night. Sayang! I'm sure the water's good pag morning. Plus, they have other attractions that are must-visit (na hindi namin nabisita kasi tulog kami). Check their website here for more info - Villa Alfredo.

Till next summer outing! And I hope by then, my group shall win! Bwahahahaha :D

Photo on the right taken before we left the office. Took a lot of effort on putting my legs on my work station to achieve the like-a-boss effect. Haha :)

Starting Over Again

I lost count on how many blogs I have started, updated for a few times then have totally forgotten. The only active blog I have as of date is my Tumblr account, huge thanks to Instagram. Some shameless plugging coming up, check it here - Twenty-Something-ish :)

Successful bloggers write about their interests, hobbies, what they do, what they love or hate probably, what they are passionate about. In that way, they care about what they write, they know it by heart and they have many experiences to share about it.

So for the nth time of taking chances on blogging, I took a leaf out of their books and thought long and hard about the things that I love, that excites me, that makes me react with fire, that eggs me on - anything that can keep me motivated to write. And lo, I came up with five things that coincidentally or not, forms the acronym of W.R.I.T.E. Amazing, eh? Here goes:

Julie and me during our training at Athens, Georgia.

Work. As hypocrite as it may sound, I love to work and I love my work. I am an accountant of a multinational, healthcare industry based in Parañaque City, handling North America companies thus working on a graveyard shift. Yes there are the usual hey and nay days that is common on every employee I know. The hey days are those days when I have marked as done all the items on my to-do list and I'm itching to do more, while during the nay days, it's as if all I wanna do is stare at my laptop or worse, sleep on it. (Hoping my boss ignored that part). But know what? No matter what they say about accountants being one of the most boring professions in the world, I love being one! I am in the best position to see how all the collective efforts of the company paid off, I am at a good starting point to climb up the leadership ladder plus, it is a stable profession because as long as there are businesses, we are needed. Right accountants? 

Read. I love how books or e-books take me to a whole different place and time without me leaving the house or while commuting to Ayala. I cherish those absolutely free times where I can spend my day poring over books, learning new words I can use in conversing, highlighting quotes I can share, shipping star-crossed lovers (Dramione please!) and bawling my tears out for tragic deaths of my fictional heroes. A huge part of my good written and communication skills, I owe to those damn good authors.

Inspire and be inspired. Most of the things I love doing are a result of being inspired. I am an accountant because of my dad who is also one. I caught the travel fever by being inspired of the Eat-Pray-Love adventure. I loved working with young people and I am still in the ministry of youth leadership because of the many ates and kuyas which have greatly impacted my life. I believe Edison's wise anecdote about the 99% perspiration + 1% inspiration = genius/success or whatever. And however seemingly immaterial the 1% could be, 100% will not be attainable without it, right? As for the "being an inspiration" part, that is currently a work-in-progress. Let's see. Cross fingers!

Travel. I used to hate travelling - the packing of clothes, waiting for cheap fares, long commutes plus add-up my unusually clumsy self which always drives my travel buddies crazy, you follow? But when I read for the second time the Eat-Pray-Love novel by Elizabeth Gilbert (and when I also realized that it's non-fiction), it's as if my perspective on travelling changed. I can't wait for the perfect time (and the perfect budget) where I can also embark on my personal Eat-Pray-Love adventure. I'm getting excited while typing this *insert goofy grin here*. I started looking forward to travels and have religiously followed several travel blogs. Now what's left is saving up for these travels I have in mind.

Just because it's summer.

Eat. Last but certainly not the least of  the things I love is the one "hobby" I know everyone shared - love of food, eating, pigging-out, name it! Please, everybody loves to eat. No matter whether you are a vegan or not, whether you are dieting or to heck with my body shape, there is something about food that draws us in (may ganun!) I am no foodie expert but I trust my instinct and my taste buds when it comes to food. I am big on pasta and cakes, coffee and tea. The only let down I have for food is that I am not much of an adventurer in the cuisine world. I stick up to the familiar - American, Chinese, Italian, Filipino, little Japanese but I'm hoping I'd get over my fear of seemingly unfamiliar cuisines so I can enjoy food more and more food! :)

There you have it. The top topics I will mostly talk, rave, rant and write about in this blog. It took some real careful thinking, writing and editing before I finally publish the kick-off post for my blog. I am hopeful that this will be the start of something that I will be continuing years and years from now. Exciting! :)