Chanced upon this flower on one of my walks. Have no idea what it is but it looks beautiful.

Just goes to show that when you take the time to appreciate the things around you, you will always find something beautiful. Even on the streets.

Day 3 of One Post a Day

I’m beginning to like walking around our neighborhood. I used to just take the tricycle whenever I need to get somewhere. Always a bumpy and smoky ride, but it’s fast.

Lately thought, I’ve been walking for short errands — to the grocery, to the bank, to McDonald’s. It’s nice especially during the morning when I pass through the houses along the street.

I saw a lola playing with her grandchild in front of their home. It was heartwarming to look at them, the old woman looked really happy. Then there’s the lolo having a morning smoke. Put an arturo fuente in his hand and he would look like a don.

One time I saw a middle aged man jogging with a husky, or at least that’s what the dog looked like. That was one good looking dog.

The cool thing about walking is I get to discover places I haven’t noticed before when I ride a tricycle. Like the newly – opened spa a few blocks from our home, the nail salon in the other street, and a yoga studio in the other.

I really love living here. I told Kernan the other day that the only thing missing for me is National Bookstore. Oh and maybe a Watson’s. That would be so awesome.

Day 2 of One Post a Day

Can you tell I’m restless again? Changing my blog theme is always therapeutic. It’s like starting fresh every time.

The constant rain has kept us indoors giving me time to shift into a reflective mood. There have been quite a bit of things on my mind lately. Consider this a brain dump of the past week’s happenings.

It’s been a busy week. It felt a bit strange to dive back into work after my bout with the flu. I’m more cautious now not to over exert myself. Also trying to relax more and avoid stress at all costs.

It was also Jamaine’s first week in school. Well actually, more like first three days in school because Monday was a holiday and classes were suspended today. I expect the next two weeks will still be an adjustment period for all of us.

I’ve given up temporarily on losing weight. I dropped a few pounds when I got sick. So I’ve been eating. Quite a bit. Haven’t found the motivation to go back to working out. In this cold weather, I’d rather sleep.

But I did find an interesting blog called Tone Up that featured some cool routines. So instead of reading about dieting and sensa reviews, I’m watching their exercise videos. If only watching had the same effect as actually working out. 

I’ve also been thinking about my next steps. I’ve achieved my goal of being a part time work at home mom. I feel it’s time to step things up and be work at home mom full time. Especially since Jamaine is going to school, I’m finding it extremely necessary now more than ever.

What’s on your mind?

I almost got hooked watching the series Being Erica yesterday. I am not really a TV series fan, I’d rather blog or read a book when I have the time. But I was down the whole day yesterday after a tough race, watching TV was one of the easiest things to do other than sleep.

The series was about Erica Strange who goes into sessions with a therapist, whom it turns out, can send her back in time to specific moments in her life. She doesn’t really go to the therapist on purpose. Either she opens a door and finds herself in the therapist’s office or she closes her eyes and she’s transported there in a blink.

She gets to relive those moments in her life and make different choices, then without warning or exit signs, she just goes back to the present moment with her circumstances changed or just the way it is.

It reminds me of the Butterfly Effect, a movie which I found to be quite grim. Being Erica is actually quite nice and lighter than that but it makes you think just the same.

Would you grab the chance to go back in time and change decisions you’ve made in the past? Tempting as the prospect may seem, it’s a tricky question knowing or actually not knowing how it would affect your present or your future.

I guess if we knew how our lives would turn out every time, then living would only be half as fun.

I’m not much of a beauty products junkie but I’m all for a good dose of pampering. How I would love to go to Posh Nails right now and get a foot spa then to Tony and Jackie for a cut. And maybe drop by Watson’s to buy some “stuff”. You know, simple pleasures.

Lately, I’ve been just a little bit stressed. The balancing act that comes with being a working woman, a wife and a mom can get a bit overwhelming sometimes.

And while it would be nice to pamper myself every week, we’re saving up for Jamaine’s schooling this June and I opt to hold off on some luxuries until her full tuition is settled. That would give me some peace of mind before I go shopping or pampering myself.

In the meantime, I’ll resort to blogging and reading to relax. I’ve been redesigning another blog since last week and now looks like a good time to pick up where I left off. That always calms me down.

What do you do to relax?

I woke up quite late today, the sun has risen in all its glory making the bedroom warmer than usual. Had it been dark and cooler, I would have probably slept a bit more.

I was expecting to spend the whole day alone with hubby today. The kids went to Pampanga with their aunt to watch the hot air balloon festival. But they were back an hour after I woke up, just when I was about to plan how to spend the day. Apparently, there were a lot of people and the lines were so long. They just watched the balloons go up and went home a few hours later.

But it’s all good, the energy in the house is much, much higher when they’re around. Well, of course, the noise is too. But I’m thankful they require minimal supervision now. At least, minimal enough that I can activate the eyes at the back of my head and my super hearing to monitor them while they play and I blog this.

I want to blog so I can get the juices flowing for the article I need to write later. Nothing loosens me up better than some free flowing writing. No second guesses, no corrections. Just pure stream of thought.

There were a couple of other things I planned on doing today. I wanted to update my other blogs. Read another chapter from “Ask and It Is Given.” Write in my journal. Maybe do a little planning for the upcoming week. Simply relax and feel good.

It’s February and I want to spend my days more consciously. I want to reach the end of the year and know that I’ve spent every moment of it to the fullest. I’ve been reviewing some of my goals and rethinking some of them.

If there’s one thing I keep asking myself, it’s “What feels good to do next?” And right now, I feel like I’ve reached the end of my streaming and I just want to read.

At least try to read, while two girls are squealing in the room. I’m making time to do things for myself first so that when they tug at me to play, I’ll be in full attention and not wondering when I’ll have time to do the other things I want to do.

Okay, off to the reading corner. Have a great weekend everyone!

A few days after I quit my regular job, a friend sent me a message telling me she’s thinking of resigning from the 9 to 5 grind too. I was happy for her and I told her, this time, she has the chance to start again and pursue a career she really loves.

I’ve worked with her for quite some time, and I know how talented she is. Whether she gets event planning jobs, starts a business, or invests in real state, I’m sure she’ll do well as long as she focuses on her strengths. As long as she does what she really, really loves. She said she has all these options swirling in her head, but she has yet to decide which one to go for.

I say pick one you feel strongly about and just go for it. Keep trying, keep doing something. If you don’t know it yet, you’ll be sure to discover that ONE career you were meant for. That calling you were born to pursue.

I think that some people are meant for the bundy clock. They thrive in structure and do well with a set time. But if you’re not one of them, it’s perfectly fine. You have the freedom and the opportunity to create whatever life you desire.

You only need to have the courage to take the first step, to start that journey. In time, you will get to where you want to be.

I’m back!

I took a few weeks off from blogging to focus on charting my goals for this year. Since I’m going to be working from home starting February, I’m excited with all the possibilities that my time freedom brings.

I can run more. I can blog more. I can read more.

But above all of these, I can focus on raising my kids more which is one of the major reasons I decided to make this move.

January is more than halfway through and I’m glad to say I’m making the most out of everyday. Part of me wants to pull the weeks faster. But I know it’s better to take it just one day at a time and enjoy my last week at work.

So I guess you’ll be hearing more from me in the coming weeks. I’m blogging again with a vengeance. I’ve gotten around to updating my journal, my parenting blog and running blog. I will finally have time to work out a blogging schedule so I can update regularly. Yay!

One thing’s for sure, I’m gonna enjoy this year. I’m gonna do what feels good and welcome all the blessings that come my way.

Have an awesome year ahead!

It’s always fun to imagine what you can do when you have a lot of money. For me, hearing of lottery winners just proves the fact that there is a lot of money out there and there is more than enough to go around for everybody. You just need to learn how to tap into that pipeline so you can get your share.

If this sounds weird to you, well, I’ve been studying the Law of Attraction more deeply. And I have to say it’s so much fun.

If I had 700 million pesos (7 is my favorite number) fall into my lap, I would:

1. Buy and build our family’s dream home.
2. Buy a house and car for my folks.
3. Set aside the whole educational fund for our kids.
4. Invest a huge chunk into stocks and properties.
5. Donate a huge chunk to different charities and non – profits.
6. Send Kernie to culinary school and build his restaurant.
7. Build my dream school or foundation

Of course, it goes without saying that I would take everyone on a shopping spree. We’ll map out all our travels with Disneyland first on the list. Then Kernan and I will take an Asia Cruise or Caribbean Cruise, visit all the awesome beaches and just have a honeymoon over and over. We’ll take the whole family to explore all the fun places in Europe and the US, and let the kids choose their own dream destinations.

That was so much fun.

What would you do when you win the lottery?

Last week, as we walked through the hair care aisle in our neighborhood, I decided on impulse to buy a relatively cheap conditioner. I had used it before and though the results were far from fantastic, it was okay for what I needed. Besides, it’s almost Christmas, I wanted to save a little money and thought it wouldn’t hurt to buy a cheaper alternative.

Two days after, I developed some rashes and red spots on my neck. I didn’t mind it so much thinking it would go away in a few days. But a day after, the red spots spread to my jaw line and cheeks! I wasn’t extraordinarily stressed so I ruled that out as a possible cause. I finally figured that the only thing that has changed in the last few days was my choice of conditioner.

I immediately grabbed the bottle and read the ingredients, I couldn’t pronounce most of it and an alarm was ringing in my head that there was some chemical there somewhere that might have triggered my allergic reaction. But I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure.

So I did a little experiment and stopped using the conditioner for one day. The day after that, the rashes on my neck subsided and a few of the red spots on my face faded. I wanted to bonk myself in the head, I risked a skin allergy just to save a few bucks.

Well actually, the original hair care products I was using cost twice the price of the cheap one, so it’s not just a handful of change I was supposed to save. But considering the ugly effects I got from that cheap conditioner, I’d gladly fork out the extra money just to make sure the product I buy is good for me.

To think I was even planning to downgrade my facial moisturizer because I wanted to save on that too. But after this incident, I won’t ever risk my skin again. I went ahead and returned to the grocery and bought my usual shampoo and conditioner. Good thing my trusty moisturizer is on sale so I still got to save a little bit.

Lesson learned again. You get what you pay for, and sometimes, it might not be good.

Also, it won’t hurt to read the labels of the products you use. I read the back label of my new conditioner and it had none of the ingredients indicated in the cheap one. I’m not assuming that the new one I’m using is chemical free but I guess it’s harmless enough because my skin is healing nicely.

I won’t mention the brand because I might just be an isolated case. Needless to say I won’t ever buy it or use it again. I can only say, this conditioner comes in a pink bottle which is sad, because I love pink.