The year 2017 was a challenging and rewarding year for us both. Sisi had a rough pregnancy but became a mom to a precious baby girl! Rara strived to balance her job, life and grad school, and will soon hold a master’s degree!

It was the year we launched our blog; which was something we had always wanted to do. And our blog proved to be a passion of ours, as it never felt like work for us, and it is a source of happiness that’s for sure. 

With all the challenges and responsibilities we faced during the year, these are three things that helped us get through hard times and persevere even on our darkest days.

The older we get the more we appreciate our families and their unconditional love and support. We usually don’t know how much we mean to others until we really need them, and our families constantly prove their love to us in our time of need. This also apply to friends who’ve become like family to us, deeply close friendships cultivated by a consistent show of loyalty, care and support. We are so grateful to have such amazing friends and family, who are the greatest reward in this life.

Our advice: Sometimes circumstances tend to distance you away from your family or friends. But no matter what always stay close to those who matter the most, especially your parents- time will make you appreciate them more and more. So love them and take care of them while you can.

Lack of confidence is a huge obstacle in the path of anyone trying to achieve success and accomplish their dreams. With a little support from others and a huge dependency on believing in yourself, you can do anything you set your mind to. When we were younger we were too shy to speak our minds. However, as we grew older we conjured up the strength we had within us to shape our lives the way we wanted them to be.

Sometimes all it takes is one person we care about to believe in us and in our dreams, and that alone gives us the confidence we need.

Our advice: Never let anyone make you believe that you can’t achieve your dreams no matter what their reasons are. Surround yourself with genuine people who want the best for you, and who lift your spirits up rather than people who put you down.

Every now and then, we take a break and do a little self reflecting. We believe it’s so important to stop and think about where our life is right now and where we want it to be. We always make sure we are on the right path towards achieving it. And not just mentally, but also physically assessing ourselves: are we taking good care of ourselves? Are we staying active? Are we eating right?

We constantly reflect on our lives, our decisions, and our surroundings. We eliminate negativity and anything that is disturbing our inner peace. At the end, true happiness comes from loving and appreciating ourselves, believing in our abilities, taking care of our body, mind and soul, and accomplishing our dreams.

We always try to improve our self-reflection habits. We meditate to clear our minds, and we occasionally read self-help books to learn more about leading powerful lives.

Our advice: Never stop learning about yourself. Learn about your emotions, your passions, your standards, your goals, and your dreams. And never let anyone or anything take them away from you!

We’re excited to see what this year has in store for us. We wish you all a happy new year full of love, peace, health and success.

Sincerely,

Sisi & Rara