Eat. Pray. Travel. Love

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I was thinking of a way to describe myself in a few words, but I find it really hard, so let me just share a short story about me and the birth of this blog… My name is Virnaliza Estella-Ontog, 28 years old, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, a freelancer, a frustrated writer, a dreamer, and sometimes I can also be a b*tch! LOL. Seriously, I wanted to take up Journalism, but I wasn’t allowed to because Papa said it is an underpaid and a risky profession (I was in fourth year high school during former President Estrada’s leadership, so that was basically what he was pertaining to as “risky”. Remember news anchor Jiggy Manicad being hit by a stone during the heat of the EDSA 3 riot?). Because of this, I had to give way to my second dream,which was to become a doctor. Making the story shorter, I graduated with a diploma in BS in Psychology. I spent 3 semesters in University of Sto. Tomas, but decided to just continue studying here in my hometown, Olongapo City, when my heart was first broken. LOL. I finished my degree in Mondriaan Aura College, where I also scrapped the thought of pursuing medicine. After graduating, I landed my first job as an English tutor for Koreans in a Subic Bay – based company and I reported to work for just one day. Then, I became a Teacher-Assistant because I still had to take my Education units (which I didn’t do by the way) for about 4 months. Cutting it short, I jumped from one job to another, tending my resignation when I didn’t find my work enjoyable anymore. One of my friends even labeled me a “company hopper”. I was once an Operations Supervisor, a Marketing Assistant, a Sales & Marketing Executive, an Administrative Assistant, a Freelance Academic Tutor, a Community & Media Relations Associate, an HR Officer, a Registrar, and a Guidance Counselor – all these I’ve tried from 2007 to 2012 (that was 5 years out in the corporate world and in the academe, but when you sum up the work days I’ve completed, it’s technically 3 years and 1 month). Needless to say, I don’t really have an impressive “Work Experience” because the longest job I had was only 11 months. It was in February 2012 (days before my birthday) when I decided to take a huge leap of faith and leave my work for good! I was no longer happy with what I was doing and I wanted to take control of my time, my space, and my tasks. In October 2011, I tried doing a Virtual Assistant (VA) job for a US-based employer via Odesk (now Upwork). This was despite the fact that the first online job I got didn’t pay me. I’ve learned my lessons though and started choosing hourly work from verified employers. Back then, I was earning PhP4,000 weekly, so I thought to live a freelance life, and that’s it – choosing to be a freelancer is the best decision I’ve made in my life! 🙂 Right now, my hourly rate has increased and I have been working online for more than 3 years now primarily doing content writing jobs. I had influenced my boyfriend who was then working in Qatar as an Accountant to leave his job and just do an online job instead. Now, we are both successful in online freelancing and he’s enjoying the time of his life as well 🙂 In September 5, 2014, we tied the knot and I gave birth to our beautiful daughter named Via Christle last March 12, 2015. Our baby girl has been the greatest blessing I have received and she inspires us in everything that we do. Almost 4 months later, I decided to finally create and run a “serious” blog called Momma Diaries, which is dedicated to my lovely child. Don’t get the word “serious” too seriously. I just said it because I had blogs in the past but for venting purposes only, all of which I have abandoned. Momma Diaries is a collection of my personal stories, experiences, and insights, which I hope will bring joy and inspiration to moms like me (and dads too) no matter the age, and singles to who are preparing to join the mommies’ club as well as those who are still enjoying the limitless perks of being free (thanks to my good friend Mae-Ann for asking me the question “Hindi makaka-relate ang single?”) I know everyone can relate to most of the posts and if you got comments and stories to share, feel free to drop them at the comments section or on my social media pages. And oh, don’t forget to subscribe to my feeds and connect with me in social media to get constant updates! 🙂 Happy reading! 🙂 Love lots, Liz