Goddess, I Am.

We’ve seized the day, The Husband and I. We’ve decided to do something that was just a tiny presence between our long-term plans and complete wishful thinking. We’ve decided to buy a house.

It all started when I was leafing through paperwork that my aunt gave me. She’s one of Filinvest’s managers, you see, and we got together over lechon at CnT last Friday to discuss a possible online campaign that my sister and I were planning to put together for her.

As I looked through the gorgeous homes and the price lists, I realized that we can actually afford it, especially since the income coming from one of my projects substantially increased over the past week or so for the long term. The next day found myself, The Husband, and the entire family on a tour through the various Filinvest projects, and we fell in love with the Cypress houses they were offering at Corona del Mar in Talisay. We did some serious number-crunching on the spot, and had a lot reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Young. As of this moment, Mr. and Mrs. Young are going through mountains of paperwork.

From what I’ve seen of it so far, Corona del Mar looks like fantastic neighborhood. The houses and their yards were spotless, the streets even more so. There were no stray dogs doing their thing everywhere, and the people kept themselves to themselves. The entrances were also properly guarded, so we’re not likely to ever encounter grubby people with small brains and an inclination to pee on walls and trees and gutters. And we all know what this means: The Husband and I might actually enjoy some peace and quiet and neighborly harmony for a change, which means that I no longer have to be scared to death of shady characters lying in wait to rough him up on his way home from work. (This also means that my poor, poor heart won’t need a Philips AED anytime soon, no sir-ee!)

The house itself is a Spanish-Mediterranean beauty with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a dining hall, a kitchen, 2 living rooms, an open garage, a balcony, and a HUGE roofdeck. We plan to turn one of the bedrooms into a little study and library for myself and the upstairs living room into The Husband’s home cinema room. I also plan to host barbecue parties aplenty, both on the balcony and the roofdeck. Both spaces are so big, it can comfortably fit about 50 or so people, I believe.

We’re actually quite lucky that we managed to snag a slot in the new Escala phase of Corona del Mar (it’s a huge project with several phases) because we’re within walking distance of the pretty clubhouse, fabulous infinity pool, and – drumroll, please – the beach! It really does feel like being in some sort of resort settlement. But then again, that’s what it probably is!

Truth be told, the beach isn’t that much, this being Talisay and all. We’ve been told, however, that there’s a rehabilitation and clean-up program going on in that stretch of beach, sponsored by both Filinvest and the Talisay government. It’ll never be excellent for swimming, but the pool is awesome enough AND they’re supposed to be planting mangroves, so that’ll be really great for wildlife – something both The Husband and myself are very passionate about. Why, he’s already even told them that he’ll be happy to volunteer in the effort! Isn’t that sweet?

We don’t have upwards of P4M to throw around, so it’ll probably be a couple of years or so before we can move in. Not only that, we’ll both have to do some serious lifestyle cutbacks because the payments are pretty steep. But then, we don’t go crazy on expenses anyway (we ride jeepneys, for crying out loud!), so it’s not that big a transition.

It’s a wonderful, heady feeling, knowing that you’re buying a home before you’re thirty. Admittedly, I do feel a slight twinge of fear from time to time. It’s a huge investment, after all, and the life of an online writer/freelancer/outsourcer isn’t always the most secure. But more than that, I’m excited and giddy and feeling very positive about the whole thing. Most of all, I have faith that we can both see this through until the last drop of red paint in the master bedroom is finally dry. And yes, one can never go wrong with faith.

My full first name is Faye Iris. Attach my middle and last names to that, and I have pretty impressive name – if I do say so myself. I grew up with people telling me every so often how unique my name is and how cute it is and how they’re going to name their children after me, yada yada.

Even the NBI (the Philippine version of the FBI) seemed to agree. Every time I paid them a visit to get my yearly NBI clearance, I smugly breeze through the whole process without fear that a spurious namesake will come up with some obscure criminal record to haunt me, as they do other folks with more garden-variety names.

Naturally, I reveled in my imagined uniqueness. Okay, that’s an understatement. Admittedly, I’ve always been kind of smug about my name. The point is I felt special and oh-so thankful that I wasn’t named something silly like Luzviminda, or even something ridiculously corny like Sheila. I like being Faye Iris, and I like to think that I’m the only Faye Iris in the entire Philippine archipelago, if not, the world.

Imagine my chagrin when a “Faye Irish” surfaced on my Facebook’s People You May Know section. I don’t know what shocked me more – that there’s someone named Faye Irish (I hate it when people mistakenly call me “Irish”, by the way, which seems to be quite often for some reason), or that I’m supposed to possibly know her. I did consider the possibility that someone did name their child after moi, but upon closer inspection, Faye Irish is actually right about my age. Not only that, she’s working in the same company that I used to work for AND is friends with some of my friends.

This development prompted me to Google my first name. Apart from at least two other Faye Irishes from Manila, there is at least one other Faye Iris (also from Manila) and an Iris Faye in (shockingly) Cebu. To top it all off, it looks like I’m not the only Faye Iris who’s a writer because there’s an American Faye Iris who is a poet.

Needless to say, I got off my high horse faster than recoiling spring plungers. I think I’m starting to develop the beginnings of a self-esteem issue now.

I’m writing a book. But before anyone can assume that I’m trying to become the next Audrey Niffenegger, I really have to say that, sadly, it’s not like that.

I’m writing a book because that’s what my job is supposed to be. And though I wish I was getting paid to write something that people will actually read, I’m not. Instead, I’m writing a book so boring that even I am nodding off just writing it. Just imagine: a thousand-page tome on the merits of Blackberry plants will be a very good read compared to my book.

Seriously, I cannot, for the life of me, imagine why anyone would want to buy a book about begging the government for grant money. Until about a week ago, I didn’t even know that private individuals can actually do that, but apparently, if you have a really good excuse, you can.

I swear I feel like I’m losing my sense of humor (not to mention my sanity) by just writing about grant funding like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. The research is absolute torture because the material that I have to go through is about as dry as a 60-year-old woman spinster. To make matters worse, I have to write in an office full of people who are either screaming or singing when Lord knows I need my peace and quiet to get any actual work done.

Ladies and gentlemen, you might want to take this opportunity to say goodbye to the fun, quirky me before you’re left with Iris, dried-up prune and grant writer extraordinaire.

I’ve finally managed to tear myself away from sweet-talking vampires and hormonal adolescent werewolves to do some serious writing over the past few days. I had no idea just how “out-of-shape” (for lack of better words) I was until I had to practically pull out all my hair and cry hysterically just to get my brain working. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Because this post is my first post for the new year, I’m going to do exactly what everyone else does: nitpick on the year that just ended and make resolutions that I’m not likely to follow (okay, maybe I will…ish). Yes, I’m a conformist like that.

On Writing

This time last year, I wrote article after article without having to struggle. Somewhere along the way I became less of a writer and more of a businesswoman. I became much too engrossed in the money I was making that I stopped finding joy in writing and saw it as no more than a means to pay the bills. The more I looked at writing as a job, the more I found myself hating something that I used to love.

This year, I want to write – and I mean, really write – again. I want to enjoy what I do again, have fun with words again, and essentially be a better writer. Maybe I’ll write a book, or maybe I’ll just blog more often, who knows? Oh, and I’m seriously leaning towards monetizing this blog. That’s as good an exercise in writing as any, though I’m still balking at the idea of writing about things that would be all wrong here. We’ll see.

On My Finances

I probably earned more money last year alone than in 4 years of working put together. So am I financially solvent? The answer is a dismal “I should be.“ I should have enough money by now to allow myself to be frivolous from time to time. I should have a lot more than a few hundred dollars in my savings account by now. But I don’t. I made a lot of mistakes last year. I spent too much, and although it’s for mostly good reasons, too much is still too much. I can’t help but feel cheated.

This year, I’m going to pay closer attention to my finances. I’m going to stop indulging myself and the people I love too often. I’ll spend wisely, live on less, and save what I’ve slaved over. I would like to invest on something and earn a bit of passive income to increase my retirement fund, especially when I’m hell-bent on being able to retire by the time I’m 40. I’m also going to start looking at insurance quotes for myself and The Fiance. I will be looking at several options within the next few months, and I hope to increase my savings many times over by the end of the year.

On Our Relationship

This year was a very significant one for myself and The Fiance. The end of February saw us moving in together when we’ve both never lived with other people (family excluded) before. Months later, he uprooted himself from Thailand and moved back to Cebu with me. Most recently, he asked me to marry him – something that I never expected, considering how he made it clear right from the start that he had an aversion to marriage.

But it wasn’t always happy, happy, joy, joy. We had some really bad fights – fights so nasty that we’ve almost called it quits. But we haven’t, and that matters most. No matter how bad it got (and mind you, the last one had me shrieking like a banshee at the top of my lungs – something that I never used to do), we were both always willing to talk things over and fix things as soon as we’ve both calmed down. I like to think that it has made our relationship stronger and that we now understand each other a lot better.

This year, we intend to get married. I don’t want anything grand, nor do I want a lot of people around. There are very few people who I can still call friends, and I suppose, in this case, it’s a good thing because I won’t be obliged to feed a hungry mob who have all but forgotten about me while I was in Thailand. I want my wedding small, intimate, and preferably costing no more than 20-Gs. (Man, I’m cheap!) Whatever. I just want to be Mrs. Young!

On The Family

Here’s one thing that I realized when I moved to Thailand in 2007: I can’t live without my family. Or I can, but I don’t want to. I don’t think anyone else in the world has a mum as awesome as mine and a sister as adorable, and I can’t remember why I even wanted to leave home in the first place (okay, I was bored out of my eyeballs). Indeed, there’s nothing like being away from home to make you want to go back to it.

This year, I want to build our little family venture into something big to give all of us more financial security, especially my sister and her baby. For some strange reason, we’ve all been hit by the entrepreneurial bug. We’re also studiously turning our money trees every morning and analyzing the feng sui calendar. Is this our minuscule Chinese heritage at work? Not a bad theory, as long as I don’t turn yellow.

On Travel

Last year, I vowed to myself that I will go to Europe this year. Unfortunately, my savings account isn’t going to make that possible anytime soon, so Florence will have to wait until 2010 at the earliest.

This doesn’t mean that I will be putting myself under house arrest. Au contraire! After being away for a year, I realized that Las Islas Filipinas actually has quite a lot to offer. Thailand’s beaches has nothing – and I mean, nothing – on our really good islands – and I should know because I made it a point to visit as many beaches as I could to see what the fuss was about while I was there.

This year, therefore, will see me and The Fiance traipsing through the archipelago and (hopefully) swimming with whale sharks. I also want to visit more of Asia – though I’m definitely not going back to Thailand, even if someone pays me a million baht!

On My Nails

This one deserves an entire section all to itself. After a lifetime of biting – no, eating – my nails like they’re Scottish shortbread, I finally managed to successfully grow them. Admittedly, it wasn’t by choice. I had a toothache so bad that I couldn’t partake on my usual, umm, diet (gross, I know), and before I knew it, my nails were nice and long and tougher than cow hooves.

This year, I’m going to keep my nails nice and long and tougher than cow hooves. I will have them trimmed, buffed, and polished in every pretty color of the rainbow. Who would’ve thought being a girl was this much fun?

So this sums up what I want this year. There are some things I didn’t include, like a MacBook and a vibrator (every girl has to have one, haha!), because they’re trivial, trivial, trivial.

(Belated) Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a year of love, trust funds, and French manicures.