www.raleene.com: I can't believe I'm back

My last post was over a year ago and I'm coming out of Blogger retirement with no makeup, no shoes, and a baby on one hand. Wow.

I have an hour to write and have my fingers crossed that this becomes a meaningful post, so if you're reading this, I hope you get to the end without getting bored.

I made my blog private for 2 weeks. I thought real hard about whether I wanted to blog again or if I should delete the blog forever. As I get older I'm starting to treasure my privacy. Living a quiet life in America is seriously a luxury and my life in Manila before moving was a bit public thanks to this blog- I was also very vocal and active on social media so everything I did was documented. My priorities totally shifted when I moved overseas and that's why my elopement was a secret and my entire pregnancy was a secret (even to my family and friends). I just realized that there's a huge chunk of my life that made me happy and I'm a bit sad that I don't have snippets of those on here for me to look back on.

Remember when Instagram wasn't a thing and I used to post meaningless photos on here? I miss that. I remember going to so many parties and gigs, with blurry photos and no captions to post, and whenever I look at those photos on here I immediately get sent back into time, feeling the same things I did when I took those photos.

I enjoyed my life so much, I still do, but I am extremely grateful that I was not pressured by my parents to do any of the things I did during those years I slowly held back from blogging: I got my masters, got married, got a dog and had a baby- not because I was pressured to. I know I am privileged in that sense, believe me, but I will not hold back from sharing anything because I also think I don't pretend like my life is perfect!

So I'm back on here because I really want to keep this online diary alive and post some happy bits of my life, while sharing a bit of what I learn each day! 😊I'm also kind of sick of Instagram to be honest, and I'm craving for an old-school platform with more meaningful posts sans ads masked as relatable "lifestyle photos." I'm not trying to sell anyone anything (except maybe my design services), so I might as well post what I truly feel good about!

I'm going to post about my pregnancy/birth story next time because it's going to be a long one... Here's some photos that have made me happy instead. Thanks for reading, it's good to be back!!!

❧

Here are some photos of my new life as a... MOTHER!

Currently blogging at this home office I've set up, sans makeup. Most of these photos are shot on iPhone. I am now making it a point to bring my fancy camera everywhere for... better blog content. *gasp*

Fun life update: I now have exactly 5 strands of white hair.

I'm waiting for my abs to fuse back, lol.

Darie feeds me while I breastfeed Carmine

The last time we cut his hair to make the length all even (he lost a bit on top when he was 2 months old). I love this cute Spring photo with all the cherry blossoms.