“Our family, Big Adventures”

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As we look back, the events of the past few years have been of monumental importance for our growth as two adults, both trying to figure out this game called life. From meeting for the first time, our first musical performance together, moving in together after 3 months of dating, our daughter being born and all of the other challenges an interracial couple faces while living in the Philippines during the time of the pandemic. We have started a journey from which there’s no turning back. Anyways… We have both led rather unique lives, filled with highs and lows and would love to share them with you.

Our blog and intro - We have decided on HIVE as a good path to share our experiences but most of all, a place to unload our stress as some thoughts are easier to understand through writing. As for our intro – We hope it gives you a solid idea as to who we are and what we want to accomplish in the future as individuals, as a family and most importantly to us, for our daughter, Cora.

First, let’s start with Stephanie, the glue that holds our ship together. Stephanie, or as some of you may know her as, “Stephanie Lhui” has been on the rise as a musician in the Philippines and even garnered recognition by Warner Music; who subsequently offered her a contract to sign with their label. This was a humbling opportunity and it took many years and hard work to get to that point, however, the timing wasn’t right and fate had other plans (baby Cora) - More on Cora later - Stephanie was also one of three members of the all-girl group, “The Power Trio”, that performed a nationwide tour and was featured on the show, “Philippines Got Talent”. This experience propelled Stephanie into her solo career and through that, the next chapter of her life.

If this chapter had a name, it would be “the desire for change”. In the midst of her musical journey, Stephanie started to have a feeling of emptiness and stagnation. A foreboding thought of claustrophobia crept in. She couldn’t shake this feeling. She had a dire need for change which led her to apply for a position on-board a private yacht as a stewardess. After obtaining all the certifications required for the job, (of which would have her travel the world) she was hired and was going to depart in one month. The rest of that month she contemplated whether she was committed to traveling the world alone and if the claustrophobia would seep its way through the hull of the ship into her small cabin on-board. She didn’t even tell anyone she was planning on leaving. One week before the set departure date, Stephanie was introduced (by the hand of fate) to Christian, by a mutual friend. After spending the next three days together, she knew that the solution for her overwhelming need for change was in front of her. She knew that she didn’t want to travel alone, but with someone she could trust and love (Christian).

Let’s move on to Christian. Christian is an American citizen whose father is a Filipino and has businesses in Cebu, which is the reason he was here. Aside from that, he grew up and studied in the US and is quite an accomplished athlete. He comes from a strong bloodline of professional athletes with the most notable being his uncle, Jeromy Burnitz (professional baseball player). Christian followed in the footsteps of his relatives ever since he was old enough to play sports and had a natural affinity towards baseball.

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As Christian grew up, he played for many teams, one was the St. Croix Mavericks. The Mavericks were a travel-ball organization in his local area. Christian made the all-star team every year. When he turned 15, the competition he was facing was no longer improving him as a player, so as most serious athletes do, he decided to forego other sports in order to pursue his dream: becoming a professional baseball player. This would require him to play year-round. The endeavor was difficult to accomplish due to the state (Minnesota) he resided in, which had below freezing temperatures for nearly half the year, so he had to find other ways to find competition. Luckily, there was a statewide travel team that only accepted 12 players per team, from each age group. Christian had a good tryout and made the team. Fortunately, through this team (The Minnesota Blizzard), he was able to play in tournaments across the country and become a nationally ranked player (#2 SS in Minnesota & #47 SS Nationally). After setting multiple school records at his high school, Christian, signed to go to college in Texas, where he finished his baseball career by playing in the college world series. Unfortunately, he did not accomplish his goal of playing professionally because during his time in college, he realized that the love for the game… a love he once had… was gone. He was much happier finding new and challenging goals which made him feel more accomplished. In other words, he enjoyed stepping outside his comfort zone. After his studies he wasn’t sure which direction in life he wanted to go. He knew a corporate job would make him a lot of money but also, take a bite out of his soul every day. After weighing his options, Christian decided to take a job offer in a different country, the Philippines. He would be working as the marketing director for a large company. However, once the pandemic hit, Christian realized that the most important thing is having somebody to love and rely on (Stephanie).

After spending time together, we decided that our relationship was worth pursuing. Stephanie postponed her job as a stewardess. Christian was helping Stephanie with her music. We fell in love. Within 3 months, we moved in together and started understanding each-other’s strengths and weaknesses. As it turns out, we both seemed to have what the other lacked, so we began to collaborate on music and other forms of business. Just as things settled down, the pandemic hit and things seemed bleak. It was hard to stay positive with so many negatives happening around us. We had to do something. Amidst the everyday struggles, we decided that now was the best time to bring something good into this world and shed some light on an already dark day. We decided to have a child. Our child. Cora.

Cora is our love, life and happiness. Everything we do is for her and to help her grow, learn and have a happy life. She is 8 months old as of today and is our main inspiration towards success.

We don’t want to spoil too much about Cora yet as most of our future vlogs and blogs will feature her and our families’ adventures. Today, you can find us on YouTube @ “Pamilya Abilla”, pursuing our dream of becoming a family YouTube channel and going on many family adventures! Anyways… IT'S GREAT TO MEET YOU ALL!!!

We hope you found our stories interesting or helpful in any way as our blog is all about sharing our life with YOU, so be sure to Upvote, follow and comment if you enjoyed reading or watching our content.

What a great intro @pamilyaabilla this is @macchiata from the @ocd (Original Content Decentralized) curation team. We noticed you shared your first post here on Hive and introduced yourself to the community - congratulations and welcome!

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We Are Pamilya Abilla “Our family, Big Adventures”

“Our family, Big Adventures”

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