By Rowena Papasin, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

March 17, 2011

WHITE ROCK,British Columbia – It’s been quite a journey for this tindera of “Ice candy, Ice Drop and Isda” in Matabungcay beach.

Where before, Juliet Torcelino van Ruyven lived with her family in a one-room bahay kubo.  Now, she owns a beachfront property in a wealthy part of British Columbia.

Her first break came when a priest got her in as a working student at the La Concordia College.

And then, van Ruyven met Mother Teresa while she was working in Yemen and she said she felt blessed from that day on.

Several years later, a fateful encounter with Mark Victor Hansen, author of “Chicken Soup For The Soul” led her to write her bestselling book. From there, she has gone on to reap wealth and acclaim.

But when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago, van Ruyven started taking stock of her life and planning her bucket list.

Four months after her diagnosis, she tried skydiving, falling from 13,000 feet high. A few weeks back, she snowboarded in Whistler, and before that, she went hiking in the Mountain Province.

She has also sold the business that helped support their family for the last 15 years so she’ll have more freedom to do what she wants.

Van Ruyven said, “I see life as in a different view again…live life to the moment… because you really never know when your time is up.”

Her marriage also took a back seat at the height of her book tours and promotion.

But she and her husband Ted, a Dutch aviation engineer, agreed to give their union another chance.

Ted Van Ruyven said,”We had a bit of a breakdown there last year and you know, we’re working on it ever since and I think we’re enjoying our day-to-day being together these days.”

Juliet Van Ruyven added, “We’re working it out, I wanna fall in love again with him.”

They look forward to traveling to countries they have never been to, another item in Juliet’s bucket list.

She also plans to write a second book, an ABC of success so she can share her vision and hopefully make a difference in people’s lives.

She concluded, “What I want to impart is dreams don’t have deadlines. When you really want to do something, the universe will conspire to make it happen for you.

For more information contact Rowena Papasin at rowenapapasin@yahoo.com