Wishing for the Moon this June

Wow, I've already reached half of this year and yet, I still haven't done a lot of the things that I have placed on my resolution list when 2010 started. Let's see what I wrote on my list last January:

• 1. Soap Making
• 2. Level 2 of Drums
• 3. Baking
• 4. Guitar playing (must memorize 4 songs)
• 5. Painting
• 6. Candle Making
• 7. Spa Making
• 8. Scuba Diving
• 9. Wind Surfing
• 10. Surfing
• 11. Making Beaded Accessories
• 12. Driving
• 13. Biking
• 14. Play Keyboards (must memorize 2 songs)
• 15. Tarot Card Reading
• 16. Cooking My Own Dishes
• 17. Reading My Books
  

It's all been about work, work and more work since last month but I'm not complaining much. I am happy that somehow, I am compensated for a job that I enjoy doing... that somehow, despite the many financial obligations Peter and I have been facing as of late, we're still able to manage them all.

Like Peter said, it just so happened that these obligations came in one big wave (house and car mortgages, MRI & Fire insurance, registration of 2 cars, sky high electricity bills, unexpected Nikon D40 repair, life/health/personal accident insurances plus the usual credit card and utility bills). That's more than Php100k down the drain in one go. I guess this is what being a mature adult is all about --- the fact that we can make some simple sacrifices in the hopes of big returns in the future (Yup, 2.5 more years for the car and 7 more years for the house! And come August, I shall be getting one of my insurance claims. Yes!)

And even if we haven't been traveling much these days, even if we haven't been spending on simple luxuries, even if we're just always at home watching DVDs, cooking our own food, spending quality time together... we're still happy, healthy and content most of the time. I think these are the things that matter the most.

On another note, I have been more active on blogging these days. To wit:

• I overhauled my fashion site and included Hollywood celebrity news and gossips in it.
• I am a very much active baby wiccan as of late. I always do tarot card readings, spells, and further enhance my psychic development which I share to my readers.
• I manage to update my travel blog almost everyday.
• I manage to also update my food blog more regularly than before (at least once a week).

And because I am back to my meditation practices, and regularly read my self-help books, I also plan to squeeze into my busy schedule a little time to update my self-help and bookwoorm blogs as well.

What else did I miss?


The only time we got out of the house last month was when we went to Enchanted Kingdom Biki Water World to cover the Crocs event. I had fun watching the fashion show and I was so awed by the magic tricks performed by a magician afterward.


What else...

Oh, Peter and I will be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary on June 8! We didn't plan anything special. Both of us will be working on that day. And I'm still not sure if we will go ahead with our Dumaguete trip scheduled for June 10-15 coz Peter may not have enough vacation leaves to cover the trip plus we're a bit reluctant to spend money. The plane tickets have already been paid for last March. It's the hotel and other travel expenses that I'm really worried about. Hopefully, after I do some financial check-up, some funds will be left for that trip. If not, well, it's not the end of the world. And hopefully, the weather will cooperate too. It's been raining hard these days. Though I very much welcome the cold and rainy weather, it is not conducive for traveling.

I guess that's pretty much it for now. I'll try to do some beaded jewelry today plus play with my drums and guitar. And maybe try to do a jar of body scrub too! ^_^

Ciao for now! Update you again next month. Or perhaps sooner. ^_^

A Fool For April

Yeah... April is turning out to be one fun summer month and the heat is making me soooo lazy to do any work. I stopped doing two of my jobs and I'm thinking of whether to give up this third one. I just feel like bumming at the beach, or lounging at home so I can catch up on blogging about my travels, reading my books, doing my spells and  what-not. I guess March burnt me out so much  that half of what I planned to do like windsurf, visit Bolinao again,  and discover all the other lakes in San Pablo did not materialize. The only trip we did last month was our weekend of sunbathing  and shopping in Subic and our Anilao snorkeling day trip which I haven't even blogged about yet. Well, at least, I had my bathroom tiles changed and we now have a brand new front yard. Yipee! At least the money we worked so hard for went to something lasting, practical, and  productive for a change. ^_^

Sunset at Dampalitan Beach where we camped last weekend.

So, what's in store for me this month? Honestly, as long as summer is here, I want to concentrate on summer stuff like camping (we've only used our brand new Coleman tent once when we were in Dampalitan beach last weekend in Padre Burgos... we have to use it more often), more beach hopping, windsurfing & snorkeling, and finally  exploring all those other lakes in San Pablo, Laguna. In between trips, I want to finish reading all those new books I bought from Readers' Digest, and finish all those DVD series we bought early this year (Supernatural Season 5,  Dexter Season 5, Medium Season 5, Fringe Seasons 1&2, House Seasons 5&6, Grey's Anatomy Seasons 5&6, Vampire Diaries Season 1) and several other movie DVDs. In short, I just want to chill and relax this summer. I guess this is one of the perks of working from home. You can quit any time you want and find another job when you feel like it. ^_^ Of course, my drums, guitar and Peter's keyboards are always at hand to keep me company. I started playing other songs aside from This Is Me and Alone but I haven't got the time to memorize them yet. I'll let you know.

Our Coleman tent is the best!

Lastly, I hope to start making beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings again. They're the perfect accessories for my beach trips this month. We've already been to the white beaches of Padre Burgos in Quezon last Holy Week, and we plan to camp at Potipot Island in Zambales this coming weekend, then head to Sorsogon to swim with the Butandings and explore the Caramon Peninsula on April 17-21. On the final weekend of April, we hope to windsurf again and finally check out Sampaloc Lake in San Pablo. I guess it's a good plan.

I'll check in on you again next month. Enjoy your summer!

The Heat is On!

The heat is definitely on! And the only thing that I look forward to every week are our adventure weekend out of town trips when we finally hang out at the beach, discover new places, do some windsurfing, frolic in the waters, and hopefully begin surfing again and take scuba diving lessons.

I was not joking when I said in my last post that I work so hard. My gosh, I am literally living every weekday, from our bed to my work station. I seldom get out of my office, and when I do, it's because I feel so stressed and tired, and that's the only time I go down to clean the house a bit (coz it  relaxes my mind), do a batch of laundry (it's all automatic anyway), prepare a super quick meal,  or spend around 5-10 minutes playing with  drums and my guitar (yes, I'm still playing Alone and This is Me, the only two songs I have memorized), or tinker with our keyboards which I am still getting used to. And thank God for lunch and dinner breaks, I can watch my favorite TV series one episode at a time. (Right now, I just started with Desperate Housewives Season 6)... All to relieve pressure and anxiety that I sometimes experience when I feel so overwhelmed with my virtual tasks. Could I really do this? Could I really hack 3 virtual jobs for a long time? I am grateful though for being a virtual assistant. I still think it's the best job in the world coz you can have the best of both worlds. And it does make you earn lots of money if you know where to look and how to use your time.

It's just that with 3 jobs, sacrifies were indeed made on my part and I am getting used to it. I am getting used to not blogging every now and then; I am getting used to not checking my social networks every 5 minutes, I am getting used to the solitude I have when I'm fully focused on my jobs, and I am getting used to feeling more at peace. I didn't realize that I can consider all those social networking stuff as  clutter in my life. When I really had to make a decision, they were the first things to go. My life has been more calm since. Coz while some have been helpful, many of them have been  very distracting that I didn't realize before how much of my time was used (or maybe wasted) just updating and commenting on facebook, twitter, plurk, myspace, friendster, etc.   Anyway, these are just my thoughts for now since I have never been this busy before to the point that I couldn't even get up to buy myself some drinking water supply from our neighbor. Thank God for my husband who thinks of me when I can't even think of myself.

Anyway, I just needed to share my thoughts. I am looking forward to a  series of happy weekends with my hubby this summer. This weekend, we're hoping to do the two rides we weren't able to do two weeks ago: Superman and Silver Surfer rides at Treetop Adventure, then head to Dungaree beach in Subic. Two weeks ago, it was All Hands Beach we checked out and it was nice too. I'll do a post on that on my travel blog soon. Come Sunday, we plan to do a bit of windsurfing again then look for the other lakes in San Pablo.

Happy weekend, everyone and have a great summer!

Work Hard, Play Harder, Love the Hardest

Growing up as the eldest of three siblings, and with responsibilities beyond my age, I learned how to be efficient so I can still devote some time with activities that make me happy. I remember, when I  was just a kid, making stationery and origami during the rainy season made me feel so happy. When the sun  was out, I played tex, or football, or tumbang preso, or taguan, or shato with my friends. I was such a boyish little girl. I had more guy friends than girl friends. Go figure. Anyway, I digress. I just thought of these memories coz I'm still trying to make sense of the way I am currently living my life.

The second week of February was quite challenging for me. Like I told you before, I accepted another full time job. Now, why the heck did I do that when I was already living a beautiful life?  I work hard, I play harder and I love the hardest. I guess it has something to do with my being efficient and more productive. You see, if I'm not busy with my job or tinkering with my personal projects, I spend hours just checking my social networks, emails, blogging and watching DVDs. Sure they bring me joy but then again, I'd rather exploit all my resources making a living out of something I love rather than doing what I love but wasting my energy, time and not earning money from it. Besides, I want to fund my new water sports activity, which is windsurfing,  without using our savings. Plus, I still have plans of conquering my trauma in surfing and my fear of scuba diving so I might as well earn as much as I can so I can use my additional income to fund my new and old hobbies. ^_^ Then all my hard work won't be for nothing. Like what Peter's boss told him once, "I'll rest when I'm dead." Hehehe.

Windsurfing at Lake Caliraya

That being said, I am thankful for my jobs, the sleepless days and nights when I also  try to squeeze in my other projects, and our wonderful weekends full of fun and adventure! (We got a couple of trips planned this summer. See my travel blog) And despite everything, I was still able to accomplish the following last week:

Practice, perseverance, and visualization... these are the keys to perfecting any craft.

• I started with my windsurfing lessons last Saturday, yay!
• I got to play with my guitar and drums (see videos I placed on my sidebar). I'm such an amateur but I don't care. I just studied on my own and look, I can play some tunes!
• I continued reading my books.
• I consulted with my Tarot cards and I was able to make readings for some friends.
• My hubby helped me with the laundry
• I was still able to clean the house.
• I was able to blog.

The things that were taken from my schedule were:

• about 30 minutes of meditation
• about an hour of workout.... no more time to bike and exercise
• no more time to cook
• therefore, no more time for the other things I said I'd do!

Hmmmm...

Let me just get the hang of my new working schedule and I promise myself to make time even when there seems to be none.

This is my plan:

• Meditate while stretching and exercising after I wake up each morning. Kahit 10 minutes lang.
• Consult with my Tarot cards after breakfast.
• Read a few pages of my books for  5 minutes each hour.  
• Prepare easy dishes during my lunch break and while waiting for the food, I can play some tunes. I should start tinkering with our keyboards soon!
• Ask Peter to water the plants before he leaves the house in the morning and to fix our bed every morning too.
• Simple cleaning of the house in the morning and in the afternoon.
• Bike ride for only  a few minutes after 6 pm.
• Watch videos while I do my 2nd and 3rd jobs late at night and at dawn to keep me awake.
• Play  a bit of Wii boxing and/or Soulcalibur and No More Heroes for a few minutes to jolt me from slumber in case I feel very sleepy. 
• And on those weekends when we are not traveling, I will start making spa products and beaded accessories. 

Ok, that's it for now. I think I'm quite happy with what I came up with. Carpe diem, folks!

The Month of Love

Every time February comes around, people either dread it or love it. As for me, I've learned to be neutral about it. I've found out that for me, it is the best possible way to treat this month of hearts... with no expectations... coz that's when all blessings of love and prosperity come in.


Speaking of blessings, the month of February has started out flawlessly. During my first week, I was able to attend to several of my personal projects despite my hectic schedule and I felt quite satisfied and happy about it. To wit:

• Consistent bike rides in the morning.
• Tarot card reading for me and my friends. I've actually done several readings for myself since my last post but I just haven't published them yet. Plus, I am glad to be of help to friends and strangers who were in need of enlightenment. See my Wiccan Blog for an update.
• I memorized two songs using my guitar. They're two of my all-time favorite songs --- Alone by Heart and This is Me by Demi Lovato. Yipee!
• I read several of my books, a few pages at a time. I even managed to finish one (Earth Then and Now). See my Bookworm Blog for an update.

This week, I plan to accomplish the following:

• Basic Lessons on Windsurfing which I will do this weekend with my hubby as we go to Caliraya, Batangas to celebrate our Valentine's Day together, braving the waves and the wind. If you need suggestions on what to do on Valentine's, see my Travel Blog and you might just be able to pick an activity you want.
• Play the two songs I memorized using the keyboard this time.
• Memorize at least three advanced drum beats in level 2.
• Make at least one beaded accessory.
• Play with Wii boxing which will serve as my workout too.

It all seems so easy when I see my plan written down. But when reality kicks in, it can be a bit challenging, especially now that I have let go of one of my freelance jobs and replaced it with a more stable one... one that needs me to follow a regular log-in and log-out time. I feel blessed though and I believe I can do everything that I set out to do. Like I said before, it's just a matter of proper time management, commitment to work and proper focus. And of course, I will never forget what I learned from Oprah... that when the going gets tough and the tough gets going, I need to stop, refuel and recharge.  It also helps to eat the right kinds of food. Check-out my Self-Help blog for the whole article on this. and my Food Blog for the right kinds of food to eat to enhance your brain power and overall health. What Oprah shared on her book really enlightened me and gave me more will power and energy to go on.

And lastly, I believe all the mantras I've been reciting in my head during my meditations are really paying off.

" I am beautiful gorgeous, flawless, happy, healthy, smart, sexy and wealthy. I have financial and time freedom and I am enjoying wonderful new horizons of opportunities and I love my life!"

" Every day and in every way, I am getting better, better and better. All good things are coming to me. Money is easy and comes frequently and abundantly."

" My body is perfect and it knows what to do. I am my perfect weight and my perfect size."


Chat soon!

Carpe diem!