2007 in Retrospect

This is my first post for 2008 and also the first for my new blog. I've decided to start a new one because believe or not, over the few months that I haven't been blogging, life has changed. Completely.

I want to begin by looking back to the year that was. 2007. My. What a year. Everyone has been calling it a good year, some even claim it to be the best year ever. Some even claim it as their own! But I can't blame them. 2007 indeed was a great year for a lot of people, including me.

It actually all began in December 2006 when I received my best Christmas gift ever. Jake came back.

Jake and I met in August 2006 and dated for a while. We had our share of great times and low times and we've been through everything imaginable. But while I am open to a lot of new ideas, my idea of a relationship remains very conservative and at a certain point, Jake and I had a falling apart. We stopped talking in October 2006.

After two months of unsuccessful attempts at finding love again, Jake sent me an online message out of nowhere. You know that feeling when a fish seemed to leaped inside your tummy? That was my reaction when I saw his name popping up on my screen. We talked for a while and decided to meet up.

We met up as January 2007 and had dinner, I think. And then we dropped by his apartment. It's weird being back there after a long time. I wasn't sure what to do. Normally, I'd grab him and kiss him but then, I wasn't so sure that we could do that. We're technically "just friends" and I don't know if he's dating someone or not.

Again I was frustrated but as time went by, Jake was dropping hints saying that he missed me and stuff like that. And that gave me a signal that we're back in the playing field. Who said something about being friends?! Haha!

I really made a huge effort to woo him and show him what I really feel. I took him out of town, I introduced him to my friends, I helped him at school, I met his family, I went to his concerts and gigs, I met his friends, and I was being saccharine. And I didn't bug him about where we were in our relationship. One Easter evening he just told me that we have a mutual understanding. On a July afternoon, he told me that he wants us to be exclusively dating (I'm not complaining)

When I visited him in Baguio in October, I met his siblings and they sort of understood the situation without us telling them. When I left, he told, for the first time that he loved me. And I can't be more pleased.

It wasn't all smooth sailing though. There was a time when he had a bout with dengue fever and no one was there to take care of him but me. It's great that my manager and colleagues were understanding since they also know Jake personally. There was one moment though that in great despair, I prayed to St. Therese the Little Flower that he may not have dengue. And what do you know?! As promised, I saw three red roses on the street, held by a man in black. It was really amazing! And he recovered from dengue, no hospitalization required.

But that time was also a trying time for our relationship. I found out by accident that he was texting this guy, a common friend of ours, and they were flirting with each other. And they were thinking of meeting up even when he was sick. I was obviously pissed so he asked me what was wrong and I confronted him, mildly, just to get the thing off my chest. And he cried to me like he never did before and said that he was sorry. And said that he was just a big flirt and he didn't intend to hurt me. Which I kind of understand since I'm a big flirt myself and I like getting the attention of other guys without having the intention of hurting Jake. After that, I think our relationship reached a new level.

It was also one of the best Christmases ever even though he was not here in Manila. Christmas after all is a family thing and I'd rather him be with his family than alone here in Manila since I'd be with my family the whole time anyway and I can't be with him. He got me shoes! :)And I got him a buffet dinner for two at Heat, Edsa Shangri-La :)

2007 was the year when I realized how much I deeply love Jake and the days of the year will forever be etched in my mind. I can't begin to imagine my life without him and hopefully he thinks the same way about me. I don't want to presume because Jake is still his own person, but by the looks of it, he's for keeps.