@semft

@semft 6 December 2022

A cold but nice morning to you all. This chicken is for sale so my papa weigh it so that we can post it on fb. many of our fb friends are looking for chicken for sale so hopefully by the end of the day, we can dispose this one. My little one kind of pet it while it's on the scale haha. I took a photo for a remembrance.

@semft 6 December 2022

Flexin' this Christmas tree that we made 5 years ago, it was so colorful and was made of rollbag of what we call "plastic-labo" 😄. Took us 3weeks to assemble this, the male employee of tourism office assembled the framework and us ladies did the tying of plastic bags. It was fun and we felt so accomplished upon seeing this. It stood high and mighty outside the Tourism Office but it was then destroyed before the end of December that year because of the strong typhoon that hit our island.. This photo just popped in my stored Google Photos memory.

@semft 6 December 2022

Hi, I am a newbie here. Just exploring at the moment

@semft 4 October 2021

My Life as LDRRM Staff during a  TYPHOON Working as a staff of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office makes the natural hazards specifically the typhoon, a big part of my life, sounds intriguing right? It is part of my job description to help plan, prepare, mitigate and rehabilitate the effects of a natural hazard that would hit our island. Typhoon is the number 1 threat to our municipality, most especially during the last quarter of the year.  So in this article, I would share with you what I do during these times. **Forecast** As LDRRM Assistant, I make sure to check the weather forecast of PAG-ASA always most especially if there is a Low-Pressure Area (LPA). By then, I would know its track and if it can develop into Tropical Depression or Severe Tropical Storm. If the forecast says that our island is under any Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal (TCWS), I would directly go to the office even though it's the weekend because I need to prepare things for the LDRRM Council’s Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment meeting. I would print the attendance sheet and the PDRA handouts for the council members. Then I would prepare a PowerPoint presentation for my boss, it mainly is about the weather forecast, the Typhoon’s track and all the information needed. **Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment** PDRA would commence spearheaded by our municipal mayor which is the LDRRM Council chairman. My boss would present all the information about the typhoon (its current location, speed, gustiness, track, and all the places that would be affected). The council then would analyze the data and would assess if our municipality is ready for the possible effects of the typhoon on the island. They would plan for the preparation in case the danger heightened. Preparation includes alerting the constituents of the impending danger through *the bandilyo* system, management of the evacuation centers, packing of relief goods, and preemptive evacuation for those living in low-lying and coastal areas. Furthermore, they would determine the logistics that we have so that they know what to expect. **Emergency Operation Center** After the meeting, I would head back straight to the office and would open our Emergency Operation Center. I would keep the log of those present partner agencies just like Philippine National Police, Philippine CoastGuard, Bureau of Fire Protection, Municipal Social Welfare and Development personnel, Engineering, and Rural Health Personnel and our volunteers too. I would call the barangay secretary from time to time to ask for the situational report, I would summarize and give it to my boss so that she can send a copy of the situational report islandwide to the Provincial DRRM and Regional Office of National Defense. **Disaster Response** At the onset of the disaster and there is a need to do a response, I help my boss in the deployment of our response teams. Sometimes, I go with the response team to affected areas too. We mostly do clearing operations because of fallen trees and rocks that are blocking the road for its hindrances in the delivery of services to every barangay. We deploy teams that would help the fishermen to secure their boats too since we all know that waves could get too large and wash away even anchored boats during typhoons. Furthermore, we must oversee the relief distribution and evacuation operation. **Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis** During the onset of disaster, the barangay officials would assess the extent of damage incurred to their barangay and would determine the logistics that they need. Upon completion, they would send their partial report to me, I would make a report for it and send it to my boss. I make sure to compile those reports because we need them as a basis of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment. **Post Disaster Needs Assessment** After the typhoon, the assessment team including but not limited to the Engineering Office, Department of Agriculture Office, Tourism Office, Municipal Planning and Development Office, LDRRM Office would go to ground zero to assess all the reports including the RDANA. They would then recommend what to do, whether to release cash assistance, proclaim a state of calamity or realign the budget to rehab the damaged properties. I would then make a report from all those recommendations and present it to the council. This is mainly my routine every time a typhoon would hit our island. I’ve been doing this for 4 years and 11 months now. Sometimes, I cannot help but envy those who are at home during a typhoon because they get to be with their families amidst the storm but a part of me is happy that I get to serve many people during those hard times. With that in mind, I would smile and thank God for the job that He had given me. **Author's Note** *I have come to love my job after all these years. The joy of serving people is what keeps me going. It may not be easy but being a public servant is a calling.* *It may not be easy but being a public servant is a calling.* *Hope that you have enjoyed this one😊. Thank you for taking the time to read.* semft 22:37 October 4, 2021

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@semft 3 October 2021

Due to slow data connection here on the island yesterday, I've just checked my notifications now. And I am too excited because I've seen a new sponsorship notif! Thank you so much @Bloghound, to be noticed by you is already a blessing and I didn't expect for you to sponsor me! Thank you thank you so much.. My heart is overflowing with joy right now. May God bless you more.

@semft 3 October 2021

I am Thankful For Part of my everyday life is to count on what I have and appreciate them. I enumerate them all so that I know what to be thankful for. In this article, I have a list of what I am thankful for today. **1. Jesus** I am grateful that I know Jesus in my life because He made and mold me to be a better person. I have learned on how to live my life through the examples that He set while He was here on Earth. I am thankful for Him for pouring me overflowing blessings and love even though sometimes, I feel that I am unworthy for all of it. He continues to love me even when I failed Him, even in my shortcomings He doesn’t fail to let me feel that I am loved. Just the thought of Jesus alone gives me peace in my heart because I may face hardships, challenges, struggles and big problems in life, but I know that I can surpass it, for God is with me through all those times. And I am very thankful for that. **2. Life**  Life alone is a precious gift given by God, and I am so gratified that I had a chance to live a life here on Earth.  I thank God for adding days to my life every day. My life is not perfect, but it has a purpose. **3. Family** I have an imperfectly perfect family, but I am very grateful for having them. They are my solid support system in everything that I do. **a. Parents** If I would be given a chance to choose a parent, I would still choose my mama and papa because honestly, I can’t imagine myself being born to a different parent. They are a perfect set of parents for me. They have loved me unconditionally and disciplined me to be what I am today. Likewise, they have sacrificed a lot for me and my siblings. And with all of that, I am thankful. **b. Siblings** I have 1 sister, she is a high school teacher and already married to an amazing man. Our youngest is a boy, he is on his 2nd year college taking up Electrical Engineering. I am thankful to have them as my siblings, we may argue at times but still the love we feel for each other outgrew all the differences that we have. My sister is my best friend, next to my mama (they are my girlfriends who know my every secret). They have been a great help for me since I got pregnant until now that I have a baby, and I truly appreciate them. **c. Husband** God has given me a partner, a best friend, a lover and a husband in one person, totally a complete package, and I am thankful for that. My husband cares for me now more than ever. I am grateful for all the love and support that he has given to me and our baby, and for all his sacrifices to our family. **d. Baby** Motherhood is not for all, so I am very thankful that God has given me a chance to experience it. When my baby came to my life, almost all of my perspective have changed. My universe has just evolved within her. I hadn’t slept on the nights of the first week after I delivered her, I would just glance at her face for hours, mesmerized by her beauty and the mere thought of losing her scares me! **4. Friends** I have few friends because I am an introvert type of person (I have said this on my Get to Know Me a Little article). Few in numbers, but I consider them my true friends. They are a total opposite of me, they are extroverts and are too loud, but we all have a connection. They love me as much as I love them, and we respect each other’s dissimilarities. We are busy with our work and chosen careers, but we always find time to bond once a month. I am grateful to have them as my friends, and we consider ourselves sisters at heart. **5. Church** I am an active Seventh Day Adventist member. I spent 7 hours tops at church every Saturday. I love doing God’s ministry and I love being with our brethren. Not only that, but I am grateful to have rest every Sabbath and spend it with the congregation and with God. **6. Bible** Reading the Bible has become a habit of mine since I am young, it is one way of communicating with God. I share my thoughts and plans in Him through my prayers and I listen to his thoughts for me through reading His word(the Bible). Through the Bible, I have known of God’s plan for me. Furthermore, I know that He is giving me the gift of Salvation which is pretty exciting. So I am thankful for the Bible for being a medium of communication between me and God. **7. Work** I work for the Local Government Unit here on our small island municipality and I work for 5 days, from Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm with 1-hour lunch break. I am too blessed because I just get to work for the weekdays with complete benefits plus we don’t need to report to work on a Holiday. I am just receiving an average salary but the joy of being a civil servant is beyond compare. Thinking that others are jobless, makes me appreciate my work more, hence I am so thankful that I have work amidst the pandemic. These is not a comprehensive list of things that I am thankful for but these are the basic ones. I hope that you enjoyed reading this. There are lots of reason to be thankful for and life teaches us that every day. Of course I would like to thank these wonderful people who sponsored and believes in me.. No words can express how thankful I am to all of you( my sponsors, readers, upvoters and commenters) and please know that I appreciate you all. ***What about you, what are you thankful for?*** semft 23:09 October 3, 2021

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@semft 2 October 2021

I lost to an Online Gaming Site! I am not into online gaming because I am a sore loser and I don't want to lose my money in just a blink of an eye, but 3 weeks ago, I have come up with a friend's post on Facebook about an online gaming site. She posted her earnings, she has won several times, and she withdrew 7 thousand pesos, then 3000 pesos, 2000 pesos and 2500 pesos. She stated that she earned it just by playing 15-30 minutes. I was so curious and intrigued, thinking that its easy money. So I have researched a bit and found a video saying that the site is legit, I have viewed a video too that's showing how to play. So I have registered on her link and I explored a bit. There are so many games on the site like roulette, HiLo, TigerDragon and some I don't remember. I want to try the TigerDragon because it is the one that I have seen on the video that I viewed on my research. The mechanic is you will just guess and bet amongst Dragon or Tiger if who will have the highest card, those who have the highest card wins, sounds easy right ?? I am pretty confident that I can easily guess and that I would win a lot hahaha. I tried to cash in 100 pesos, thinking it would be enough capital and that I would win thousands of pesos too. So I entered the game, the dealer is a sexy lady, it is a live game. I decided to watch first, later I bet, my bet is a chip indicating 10 but when I clicked it, 50 pesos was deducted from my money. I cancelled at first because I thought I pressed the wrong button, I pressed 10 again and chose where I would bet. The same thing happened, 50 pesos was still deducted from my money. So I just went through it, I lose in the first set of cards. The feeling that I want to recover the 50 pesos that I lost made me bet again but unfortunately lost again and ran out of money. I haven't learned my lesson, I thought I could recover so I cashed in through Gcash amounting to 200 pesos. I think I'll be lucky and I can recover. I explored again, and I saw a fishing game. I didn't explore that much, but I went in, I thought maybe it was just a free game. I tapped and tapped on the fish, it looks like I didn't catch any fish and the worst thing is that I didn't notice that I had used up all the 200 pesos money that I had just cashed in. So I got angry and thought I was just fooling myself because I don't know how to play games there hahaha. So I regret that I cashed in because I ran out of 300 in less than an hour hahaha. I left that site with a broken heart. Yesterday (October 1), before we left the office, our staff asked me if I knew about the online gaming site NuebeGaming. I said yes, I tried it three weeks ago but I only lost 300 pesos. She said that she also has an account on such a site and she has won several times, withdrawn 2000 pesos, 3000 pesos, 500 pesos and yesterday morning she cashed out 400 pesos. So I was intrigued again because our staff is a woman and her cash out is big, I asked her if what she played there, MegaFishing was her answer. I said I lost 200 there because I didn't know how to play it and I just kept pressing. So we opened the site on my phone and she told me to look at the tutorial. So I looked at it and told myself that it looks pretty easy and that I could do it too. I went home with the thought of cashing in again and taking risks. After our milk time with my baby at 2 am I cashed in 100 pesos and played again, my money reached 110 pesos but I was also losing, my money went down until it was only 31 pesos. I thought it looked like I would never get my money back so I stopped. I thought that this is how gambling life is, there are more losses than wins sometimes. When you lose, there is the urge to recover so you have to spend again but in the end, you will lose again. That's why they say that the obsession to recover the capital is addictive. And that's why many people are addicted to gambling and even their property is mortgaged or sold because that's how it is. Determined to win and bring back the capital that was lost,  everything will be dropped just to make up for the losses but the person just drowns in debt because they are not lucky enough. **Author's Thought:** * *Don't be too jealous of the achievement of others, work hard for your achievement too. but first, engage in learning how and don't just jump to it suddenly without any ideas on how to do it.* ** Invest what you can afford to lose. Don't spend savings on things you're not sure about.* ** Learn to stop if you're feeling that you're losing it all. Have self-control and think straight. Calculate if it's advantageous to your part.* **Let’s accept that there are people who are lucky with things like gambling, but we aren't. Gambling is not for all.* semft 20:54 October 2, 2021 I have checked the uniqueness of my article here. *All photos are my screenshots.

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@semft 1 October 2021

How Covid19 Affected Us Lahat tayo ay apektado nitong pandemic, kaya ibabahagi ko ang napagdaanan ng aming isla dito.   February 2020 ng maglabas ng executive order ang aming Municipal Mayor na ang lahat ng mga papasok na turista dito sa isla ay kailangang sumunod sa health protocol, which is mag undergo ng pagcheck ng temperature at pag log in sa entry points. Yon na ang time na masyado ng madaming cases sa China at pinag iingat na ang buong Pilipinas. Despite sa mga pangyayari, madami pa din ang mga turistang bumibisita dito sa bansa, particularly sa Boracay. Kaya dagsa din ang mga turistang  nag island hopping and landtour dito sa aming isla mula sa Boracay. Dumating ang March 18, at nag issue ng executive order ang aming gobernador dito sa probinsya ng Romblon na magkakaroon ng 1 week lockdown ang buong isla ng Romblon, walang lalabas at walang pwedeng pumasok sa isla namin. Sinundan ng Presidential Declaration na i-put under ECQ ang buong Pilipinas, naparalize ang buong Pilipinas, lalo na ang aming buong isla. Walang pasok ang mga offices at lahat ng establishments. Work from home ang buong Local Government Unit, ngunit ang aming opisina, Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management ay nagsimula ng makipagmeeting sa mga barangay para makuha ang listahan ng kanilang buong nasasakupan. Ito ay para makapag procure ng relief goods para mabigyan ang lahat ng mga taga isla. Matindi ang daing ng mga taga isla sa social media ng mga panahong iyon, may mga nagsasabing wala na silang makain dahil nga nawalan sila ng trabaho (3 weeks nakaraan ang lockdown), may mga nagsasabing hindi sila mamamatay sa virus pero sa gutom,mamamatay sila, may mga nagmamakaawa din na makauwi dito sa isla dahil nasa ibang lugar sila. Nakakaantig damdamin ang mga nababasa sa social media ng mga panahong iyon pero may mga tao din naman na todo pa rin ang batikos sa pamunuan ng aming isla ng mga time na yon(nature na talaga ata ng mga tao). Last week kami ng March nagsimulang magdistribute ng relief goods. Naka apat beses kaming nagdistribute, galing sa iba ibang funds. Yong una ay galling sa 30% DRRM Fund, 3 kilong bigas, 4 na kape, 3 milo, 3 sardinas at 3 corned beef ang inclusion ng bawat pack. Pangalawa ay galing sa Province level na fund, bigas na 8 kilos at sardinas na 10 ang laman ng pack. Pangatlong distribution namin ay 25 kilos na bigas, galing sa Bayanihan, We Heal as One Act na pondo. Last na distribute naming ay 25 kilos rice din, galing sa realigned 20 % Development Fund ng bayan namin. Lahat ng mga pamilya dito sa isla ay nabigyan. Matinding pagsubok din ang naranasan ng aming isla dahil isa sa aming constituent ay nagpositive sa COVID19, isang matandang Amerikano na matagal ng naninirahan dito sa amin. May pneumonia kasi talaga syang sakit, at since malapit kami sa mainland ng Aklan, doon nirefer para sa pagpagamot. Natest sya sa COVID doon at positive ang naging resulta. Siya ang kaunaunahang case ng COVID 19 dito sa buong Romblon at sa buong Aklan kaya matindi ang mga salitang narinig namin ng time na yon. Grabe ang diskriminasyon at halos pinabayaan ang aming pasyente sa hospital dahil sa sobrang takot nila sa COVID. Nilockdown ang buong isla, ayaw kaming pabilhin ng aming basic commodities sa Caticlan, Aklan at Sta. Fe, Romblon, mismong kapwa naming taga probinsya ay pinandidirian kami. Dahil isla kami, umaangkat pa kami ng aming basic commodities sa aming karatig isla. Naranasan ng aming mga boatmen na hindi sila pinababa sa pumpboat para bumili, kaya umuwi ang mga boatmen na walang dala. Nadanasan nila yon ng 3 araw, so nagkaubusan ng supply dito sa aming bayan noong time na yon. Sobrang hirap ang nadanas naming sa loob ng 3 weeks na may positive kami, madaming nagbash sa amin sa social media, grabe ang pang dadown sa amin noon. Kinaya namin lahat ng mga masasamang salita na narinig namin hanggang sa gumaling at nakauwi ang aming pasyente. Pero madaming mga blessings din ang natanggap ng taga isla, mapa-pera man o food packs. Madaming donations ang nagdatingan noong nalamang nag hard lockdown dito sa amin. Donations galing sa government agencies, private companies, non-government organizations and good hearted individuals. Madami ding mga nagtatrabaho ang naapektuhan. Mostly ng mga taga dito sa amin ay related sa tourism industry and trabaho. Karamihan ay employed sa karatig isla namin na Boracay Island. Nagsarado ang lahat ng establishments din sa Boracay, walang mga turista kaya nawalan sila ng trabaho at ang worst pa ay hindi sila makauwi dito sa isla dahil sa lockdown. Kaya naman ang local na pamahalaan namin ay nag initiate na mabigyan sila ng ayuda sa pamamagitan ng cash assistance. Halos 1500 na displaced workers ang tumanggap ng tag iisang libong piso na cash assistance mula sa Local Government Unit- San Jose, Romblon. Dahil sa kawalan ng trabaho ng mga tao, at dahil sa gutom, nagsimula silang maghanap ng makakain. Nagsimula silang maghukay ng mga ligaw na root crops gaya ng “balyakag” at“sap-ang”. Ito ang naging pantawid gutom nila. Ipinagbili din po nila ito sa murang halaga para lang magkapera.  May good thing din na dala itong pandemic dito sa amin, natuto ulit magtanim ang mga tao. Nagkakaingin ang iba, nagtanim ng palay, kamoteng kahoy, mais, kamote at mga gulay. Natuto silang magsideline na tinatawag. Nagbebake ang iba, nagluluto ng ulam at ibinibenta. Likas na din talaga sa mga Pinoy ang will to survive, naghahanap at naghahanap talaga tayo ng paraan para mabuhay ang sarili pati ang mga pamilya natin. Lumubo din ang positive cases ng COVID19 dito sa amin 3 buwan na ang nakararaan ngunit sa awa ng Diyos, gumaling naman lahat. Medyo hirap pa din dito sa amin sa kasalukuyan since down pa din ang tourism industry kaya ang mga tao ay naluwas ng Manila para mamasukan. Medyo mahigpit pa din ang travel restrictions pero nakakabyahe naman kahit papaano. Dalangin namin na matapos na itong madali ang pandemya para mabalik na ang dating sigla ng isla at ng mga tao dito. semft 4:50pm October 1, 2021

@semft 29 September 2021

Get to Know Me a Little I have written a few articles here and I just realized now that I haven't shared a short information about me haha. So here goes... I am called Sem by my friends but I am Chie to my family, these 2 nicknames are too far from each other hehe. I am an introvert person, thus making it difficult for me to gain friends. I do love spending time alone. I am so shy, that I would rather be alone that to talk to someone I've just met. Don't get me wrong, I have friends too, its just hard for me to hold conversations with someone new to me. That's why my circle of friends are just numbered, but I am a loud person if I am with them. I joke around a lot with people I am comfortable with. I live on an emerging paradise that is called Carabao Island, in the province of Romblon. We are just close to the famous Boracay island so little by little our island is also known to tourists. I've lived here since I was young, I was born here and it seems like I'm going to die here too hahahaha. I am the eldest of my parents ’three children, I have one sister and our youngest is a boy. I am an active member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, we are diligently doing the ministry of Jesus here on earth with my whole family and my cousins. My parents found a sponsor to sent me to college, they are so golden hearted that they sent me and my sister to a private colleges on the mainland. We are forever in debt in them. They are the Chiness boss of my papa. Upon graduating last 2013, the Satellite branch of the university here on the island hired me as a Computer Lecturer. I passed the Civil Service professional exam taken on September 2013 and I was so thankful and blessed. I spent two years being alecturer, I resigned on March 2015 and applied for a job on our neighboring island of Boracay. I was hired as a Telephone Operator, I only lasted there for 3 months. Applied again in different company and was accepted as a Data Encoder at a famous grocery store, I spent 4 months there. Our mayor then called me by November 2015 because he said there was a vacancy in the office of Local DRRM and they wanted me to apply because I was eligible so I went home to the island and applied. I was appointed after 1 month as Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Assistant, I'm super happy because I finally have a stable job not far from my family, and full of benefits plus no work every weekend, that's a major factor because I go to church every whole day of Saturday. I love my current job but sometimes it’s also tiring to report to work every time there’s a disaster. It's good and we just always keep an eye on storms here since that's the only natural hazard that threatens our island, we don't experience flooding here, no major eathquakes too. It's a bit of a hassle right now to do my duty when there are storms because I already have a baby and I can't work in the office for 24 hours. Thank God that my boss, our HR and our mayor are very good and very considerate upon my not reporting to work sometimes. I was hired last quarter of 2015 and I am still working for the Local Government Unit here on our island til today, I will be celebrating my 6th year in the government this year. I am now married and have a wonderful daughter, I only got married last year and only in May did I give birth. We are currently living in my mom and dad’s house while saving for the construction of our house, hopefully soon. This is the reason why I joined and still joining in almost all of the free earning apps I see online. I have known read.cash and noise.cash because of this. I really want to save money so that we can start the construction of our house because it is best for a couple to have their own house. I am saving little by little from noise.cash and its a great help since my husband now has no work now because of this pandemic. He works as a tourguide before this pandemic, and he is earning really well back then. I enjoy being with nature, enjoy watching movies and some reading. Sleep for me is a luxury as I dont get enough of it at this time. My perfect holiday is to stay home and doing nothing haha but sometimes, I spend holiday with nature,of course with my family. My life is simple, there is no luxury because I can't afford it hahaha. I love my life even sometimes it's too hard. I am a family oriented person and I love my family so much, I will do everything for them. As of the moment, I enjoy my life with my family and I am grateful for everything I receive every day. I am not much of a writer, I am newbie to this eventhough my account says that I am already 2 months here. I have a lot to learn about writing so please bear with me. 😍😍 semft 15:42 September 29, 2021

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@semft 27 September 2021

My Life as a Seventh-Day Adventist I was born into a Seventh Day Adventist family. We inherited being Adventists from my Grandmother’s Mother. And my Grandmother, I can say, is a very strict Adventist, all taboos must be followed. We Adventists eagerly awaits for the second coming of Jesua and we believe in the Holy Trinity. We also believe that death is juat like a state of someone sleeping, and the dead will be resurrected at the 2nd coming of Jesus and will be judged with those who still lives based on our achievements here on earth. We believe in creation and we know who our Creator is. We follow the 10 Commandments of God, especially the fourth commandment “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy”, that is the very reason why we are in church every Saturday and studying God’s messages because He has rested and blessed the seventh day of the creation week. Our life was simple, it has became our routine that every Saturday we would attend church worship services. When I was a child, I already know how to sing songs to the Lord and memorize Bible verses because we were taught in our Sabbath School. As Adventists, there are many things we don’t do and don’t eat, a lot that other people usually eat. Just like drinking, not putting make up on, smoking, dancing/disco, going to bars, going to the movies, working on Saturdays, going to school on Saturdays. Not eating pork, seafoods such as crab, squid, shrimp, octopus, shells, and fish without scales. I’ve grown up with these things so I’m used to it. Some people say that our denomination is great but there are too many restrictions hehe. That is true because it is written in the Bible especially the restriction in foods and we strongly believe in that. You could say my life is too boring but it’s fun enough for me. I finished school — boarding house-grocery-church are the only places I always go to. But as I get older I’m curious about the many things we don’t do. Just like smoking, because I have a “gay” roommate who used to smoke, I also got to light a stick and smoke it but I just coughed and I didn’t like the taste of it. I've never tried smoking again since then. So when I got into my first job, (I’m a lecturer in the satellite branch of the University here in our island), I was 22 years old, I tried to hang out and drink. My friends are also my students, they seem to have influenced me. My first drink was when we went to the mainland for our Intramural Meet. At night we would get drunk hahaha so we lost the games in the morning. Seems like I am enjoying every bit of it, I did it for 1 year, if we have time to jam, we drink. There was also a time when we had a fieldtrip in Boracay Island, also with the students, I also tried to go disco dancing there hahaha. Then I resigned as a lecturer, applied for a job in Boracay, and while I was applying, my cousin took me to disco every time they went out, dancing and drinking drinking again. Not until I was hired for a job and I stopped drinking during my 6 months work in Boracay . I came back here on our island and applied for a job in the government and that's when I fully stopped toiling around. I turned to God, I never got drank, went to discos and hung out. My life is simple now, just how simple it was in the beginning. I also go out and jam with my friends but we just eat. My friends know I don’t drink and they are aware of what I don’t eat. So they just adjust in the sitiation. Of our friends, 3 of us are Seventh Day Adventists, and 5 are Catholic. And my heart is so happy and grateful to have them as my friends. I am now active in serving God and doing His ministry with my family. I pray that my faith in Him will grow even stronger and that my daughter will love Him as much or more than I love Him. -Owari

@semft 8 September 2021

Another sponsor! Thank you sissy @Jeansapphire39 sa sponsorship. Nung isang araw pa pala yon, ngayon lang ako nagcheck hehe. Salamat sa busilak mong puso. May God bless you more

@semft 6 September 2021

Thank you so much Sis @GarrethGrey07 for the sponsorship. I may be late on posting this since I got so busy these past few days, I just want to say that I truly appreciate you. May God bless you more. Keep safe

@semft 3 September 2021

Unplanned but NOT Unwanted As a child, I have always dreamt of having my own family with two gorgeous children, a boy and a girl. I am in love with the thought that my family would walk hand in hand when going anywhere, may it be church, parks or groceries. I continued dreaming till I reached the age of 24 even though the thought of broken family makes me cringe. I planned to get married at the age of 28 but upon reaching that age, circumstances arose and I had broken up with my long-term boyfriend. So the plan changed, I no longer want to be married and have kids. I have become afraid to commit and I just toiled around. Six months later, my long-term boyfriend and I got back together, so comeback is real for us haha. It's much serious this time but it doesn't change the fact that I still don't want to get married. All I could see around me is negativity about family, may it be broken or the parents are just cheating with another men/women, so it added up to my decision to not start a family of my own. I am afraid to be cheated on and later be left alone by my husband for another woman. I told my mama about how I feel and she told me to trust God and soon get married. Oh I am being pushed by my family to get married since I am not getting any younger. My friends used to tease me to finally tie the knot too. My boyfriend started to talk  about marriage by December 2018, I'm still 28 by then but my answer is always no. Partly because I am afraid to get into married life and half is we still don't have savings for it. It went on until 2nd quarter of 2020. My decision still haven't changed, it's still a no. Don't get me wrong, I love my boyfriend very much. Its just that I am not ready to settle down, I still have many plans that I want to fulfill. As these are all happening, I poured my heart out to God. I asked Him if what is His plans for me and told Him all about my fears and what's keeping me to say yes to my boyfriend. I told Him that I trust my life and that His will be done. He answered my prayers in a very blissful way! By September of 2020, I discovered that I am 1 month pregnant! This is so UNPLANNED! My dream is to get pregnant after marriage since that's the standard in our sect of religion. No pregnancy outside marriage is what our church manual taught us. So if you got pregnant, you will be disciplined by the church board by dismember ship from the church record but there is a chance for you to be a member again by baptism after you get married. I am still doubting the positive result of the home pregnancy test by that time, I have shown it to my sister and she congratulated me. I have shown it to my parents and my mama is so excited but my papa said that the result is doubtful because the 2nd line on the kit is dim. So I decided to take another pregnancy test after a few weeks to see the result. My sister sent the photo of the kit to my boyfriend, telling him that he will be a daddy soon. but he thinks that she is kidding. I didn't told him yet since I am still in denial stage by that time. October came and I did another pregnancy test, 2 in fact, and the results are so clear, it's POSITIVE! I still don't want to say anything to my boyfriend, in my head, I thought of raising the baby all by myself. And I told it to my mother but she told me that it's not good to raise the baby without the father and its the right of the baby to have a complete family. that kept me thinking but still I didn't told my boyfriend about my situation but I have came up to a decision to get married. Thinking that it is God's will for me. my mama send him a message asking him if what is his decision about my pregnancy, it is just then that he realized that my sister is serious of what she told him last September. He then brought his mother at home so that our parents would talk about our situation. my boyfriend and his mother is so eager for us to get married but I told them that we can marry by December so his mother said that their family would come back on November to do the formal "pamanhikan". And that my boyfriend would live with us from then on, my parents agreed with the idea. December came and we got married on one of the tourist attraction here on the island. it is an intimate and solemn celebration of our love since only few of our relatives and close friends together with our primary sponsors have attended because of the restrictions of mass gathering due to pandemic. and the event was a success and we thank God for the lovely weather that day. It was such a blissful day and I am so ecstatic that day. I can't explain the happiness that I feel, it's like I am floating on cloud nine. all my worries and doubts about marriage, cheating, broken family have completely vanished since that day. my heart is full of love and I am showered with overflowing love from my husband and our family. May 11, 2021 came and I have pushed out into this world a beautiful angel, so, so beautiful that I can't imagine that I have carried her in my womb for 9 months. 2 days of labor and difficulty on pushing her out have been paid off upon seeing her face and hearing her first cry(and oh boy! it was such a loud cry). and I love her more each day, she is my source of happiness now. Our own bundle of love and joy. It's so true that the tiredness of the parents will be wiped off when they see the face of their child, and I am experiencing this everyday. My baby may be UNPLANNED but she is never UNWANTED!! She is so so LOVED. She is now 3months old and is enjoying all the attention and love of our family since she is the 1st grandchild on my family. And everyday she showers us with overflowing joy. She is our precious little gift from our Almighty God which we would treasure as long as we breathe. We do hope and pray that she will be healthy always and that she'd grew on loving our God. -- *Owari*

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