Life Lately and Friday's 10 Happy Things

Wow, we're exiting the third week of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine). I hope and pray all this is not for naught. I have a lot of things in my prayer list, and I'm sure we've been praying for the same things. Healing, provision, strength, protection, mercy, cure, wisdom, leadership, compassion, cooperation. Haayyyy! I've never prayed this much for others. Most of the time I only care about the things in my own little circle. Guess it's expanded to the whole world. Hmm.

Life's pretty boring. And I know it's a very privileged thing to say. There's not much happening outside but there's so much noise online. Of people's grievances towards the government's lack of action, our president's lack of leadership, our frontliners' lack of support. So many thinks lacking it's turned social media, specially twitter, into protest platforms. Can't really blame the people huh. But well, even before the lockdown, Twitter has always been noisy lol. It just seems noisier 'cos I'm spending much more time in there lately haha. But hey, it works. Clamoring online works. We've seen changes I know we wouldn't witness if nobody complained.

Overall I'm not too worried about myself, my husband included. We're healthy, we're both working from home, and both of our companies have been very generous. For how long, we don't know. I'm afraid if the lockdown pursues and we start cost cutting by retrenching, I'll be one of the first guys to pack up. So just to be safe, I have to be job hunt ready when the time comes *updates CV*.

I'm more worried about my parents. Not only because they're older and more prone to sickness, but also because this lockdown means zero income for them. As financial advisers, they can't go out and meet new clients, and it's gonna be hard to collect payments from existing ones too. They've recently decided to sell our house (again) because they feel like it's the only way to save up for retirement. I feel bad that there's not much I can do financially, but I do support them in their decision. With our current living state, the house is too big for any of us. If we can liquidate it and downsize, they would have enough left for savings and investment. Well, that's the dream.

My mom celebrated her 66th birthday last week. Since we're not allowed to go out I just called through Zoom. We were supposed to be at Baguio, but things happened and I had to refund my bus and Airbnb bookings. So far I've gotten around 75%, looking forward to get the rest.

On a more positive note, here are Friday's 10 Happy Things, just like the old times...

1. Before the lockdown commenced, I was able to setup my workstation properly. That is, I bought a chair and a trolley and successfully turned my vanity into an office desk. While people are emptying the shelves at the supermarket, I was busy measuring carts and pedestals at SM Home.
2. Happy that my sister could continue her work at home. At least she'd still be earning during the lockdown.
3. Finally tried using a menstrual cup. I feel uneasy right now but I'm trying to get used to it lol.
4. Cancelled trips = refund = money back to my savings pool!
5. Cinnabon's mini bons and S&R's petite cinnamon rolls!
6. My Airbnb and iWantSeats bookings were fully refunded (still waiting for Victory liner)
7. It's swelday today! They credited a week earlier than expected then also included our VL conversion. Downside is we now have to wait 3 weeks til the next sweldo but it's fine hehe.
8. My parents are both healthy and my sister is enjoying working from home lol
9. My parents got fiber connected last month which is super sakto because my sister depends on it right now
10. Ever since the lockdown started, I've been able to follow my IF schedule strictly! I'm on Day 25 right now of 16:8! As for my weight, I don't think it's changed significantly yet. I'm usually 66 to 68kgs, but right now I'm at 65.5kg.

Guess that's it for now! Hope you have a great weekend! As always, praying for healing and for this crisis to be over soon. ♥

God bless everyone!

Friday's 10 Happy Things // 4

In an effort to post more, and also because I miss posting more personal content, here's Friday's 10 Happy Things making a comeback!

So here are 10 things that made me smile this week. Mind you, this list was hard to collate. I guess I'm predisposed into thinking that human life in general is cursed and that the universe is always out to get me. Whatever happened to my faith lol. I'm a pessimist by nature so I'm pretty proud I came up with this list. Here you go:

1. I'm about to start my first DIY home improvement project! 
Blog, don't jinx. I got sandpapers, paint, rollers, and brushes ready. It's a small project, but I'm so exciteeeeed! I'm turning that brown TV stand into white hahaha. You'll hear about it if it's a success nyahaha.

2. We finally bought a TV!
Following the installation of fiber internet in our unit, not doubt we needed to get a smart TV next. So last weekend we bought a 32inch Sony Bravia Internet TV. It's the biggest our small living room can accommodate haha. It's also our first time to encounter such technology so we were gushing about it in awe. One push Netflix, one push Youtube?! HUHUHU

3. Netflix is eating me
Nakaka-adik pala sya. I thought Netflix was just limited to Netflix original series but looking at their catalogue now, they have TONS AND TONS of amazing titles na pala. I'm watching A Korean Odyssey now. And guess what, they have Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which is getting discontinued HUHU), Rick and Morty, and a couple of Marvel Movies too. So fuuuunnn. 4. We invested in agribusiness
It's still too early to say whether it's legit or not, but so far, it's proving to be legit naman so we're not too scared we put a lot of money in it. Actually, we're not too scared because we put in money we can afford to lose... which is the profit we got from selling our condo. So worse comes to worst, we just lost what we earned in 3 years. Still not gonna affect our current lifestyle :)

5. We invested in a money changer business
Still from the money got from selling our condo, we had enough left to place in one of our family friend's business. The passive income we're getting from this will cover my car's monthly amortization. Yehey!

6. Come June, we'll be able to save a lot naaa
It's the first time in my entire life I'm experiencing an excess in my salary. For the longest time my salary was just sapat sapat na. Alam nyo yun? Hahaha. Everything was just enough to pay my bills, food, allowance, etc etc. When we got married, things got harder financially. We have to pay for rent, condo, and car -- our biggest liabilities. It was so stressful having to balance things out, but thankfully, blessing talaga yung pagka-benta ng condo namin eh, we were able to slash off 2 of our biggest liabilities. With our condo payments over and done with, and the car being paid through passive income, Jeckie and I will be able to enjoy our salaries better. Also, I thank TRAIN law for this. My tax was halved when it was implemented. Malaking bagay sya para samin. I just don't know how the majority feels about it, kasi right now I believe it only serves the middle class.

7. I can now lay low on getting sidelines
In fact, I want to stop taking new orders na. Back when I was still struggling to save money to pay our bills, I would take every opportunity to earn. I took delight in the fact that I'm able to earn more aside from my regular income. I felt like wonder woman. Ang dami ko palang kayang gawin at pagkakitaan. But this body needs rest, and not having to worry about anything financially is liberating. So I guess I'm cutting down on new orders for now. I'll probably just keep my writing job because it sustains my Paypal account (you know, for online shopping hihi). I have 4 active clients currently.. and 2 of them won't be officially closed until later this year (because haaay December weddings!). Good thing they're not big big projects hehe. I have 1 client though that has a loooot of requirements. I remember being excited about it before... but now, parang naooverwhelm nako sa dami ng gagawin pa pala. Hay lord. Help.

Still, it's good to know na hindi ko na kailangan kumayod ng husto. Hay.

8. Good news regarding my HR issue: I'm paying less than expected!
I stiiiiill haven't spilled the beans entirely on this issue that got me a show clause memo at work. But God is so good. Simply put, I was supposed to pay 50k for "penalty", which I already saved up for, but now it's down to ~14k. Yeheyy! Still waiting for the official billback though. But yeah nakakaiyak sya huhuhu. A happy thing yeah but still not an official cause for celebration, will do that when I'm finally done with it. Hay Lord.

9.  More content up on Surf and Perf
Early this year I set up a technical blog, originally it was supposed to be dedicated to Performance Testing, hence the title Surf and Perf hahaha. But lately, it's turned into a software testing and web development blog. Just a collection of how to's I've learned along the way. It's boring shempre specially if you're not inclined to it, but I'm sharing it anyway! Show my new blog some loooove!

www.surfandperf.com

10. My daddy's SGPT lowered down
Which is a super duper good news for us. It's still not within normal range, the upper limit being 40 units/L of serum, but we're getting there. My dad scored around 90 on his most recent checkup. Which is a big improvement from what used to be 400+ odiba?!

That's it! Happy long weekend aka time to catch up on house chores!

Friday's 10 Happy Things // 6

1. Mornings like this

Remind me how blessed I am. I have so much to thank God for but I'm guilty of failing to revere him every time I see his work in nature. I take this view for granted a lot. It's not always that you get an unobstructed view of the sunrise. Hope it stays this way where we live!

2. Coffee like this

Never fails to condition my mind for work. Always and forever, Primo Iced Mocha! ❤ I've been wanting to take a fresh photo of this when it hasn't been mixed yet. The way the milk slowly hovers upwards as coffee is poured into the cup, I could only admire the beautiful marbling effect.

3. I finally finished this lengthy test that's been eating my days out

3 months guys. I've never ran a test this long. You could say it's pretty exhaustive, which is against the 7 Principles of Testing lol, but they wanted data from an extended coverage that could justify a desktop security upgrade. Anyway. So glad it's over, for now.

4. We got our first Paiwi payout today!

And it's even ahead of schedule, to our surprise. Last year, after selling our condo in Makati, we decided to invest some of our profits to DV Boer Farm's Goat Paiwi Program. Through them we got a slot at Sorsogon Goat Ranch, where we shelled out some ₱300k to sit for 3 years, while they give out partial ROI in 11 months interval. I have very little doubt about this investment program in general, since it's been vetted by several investors in TGFI, even Nawies lol, and there are hardly any horror stories in this DV Boer Investors Group I'm part of in Facebook. But the first payout doesn't really prove much. I really have to wait out the entire 3 years to give them my full confidence. But yeah, kudos to SGR for delivering ahead of time!

5. I opened an account at COL Financial

My husband and I decided to split our first payout between our personal pockets, our dwindling emergency funds, and of course tithes. I have no immediate need for extra cash right now, except maybe to buy a desk on the off chance I find something nice that's within 90-95cm long, but it's not really urgent. Since I'm bad at keeping extra money, it has to go somewhere safe. Like stocks right?! Hence, COL.

I'm a noob at this but everybody says to start with blue chip companies, so we'll do that and do peso cost averaging. Oooh, how fun lol. 

6. I got my LTO registration hassle free, and cheaper too

Because I had a Toyota dealership do it for me. Overall it's actually cheaper. Why? Because I didn't have to waste a VL, or an SL (sinungaling leave) to go to LTO and wait maybe 2 hours. All I did was call the dealership, email my OR/CR, and deposit the computed amount to Toyota. Then I just have to wait and pick up my new OR and sticker at the dealership, which I did on a weekend

I was billed a total of ₱4,540.06, with the following breakdown:

If I had done it myself I would've spent a total of ₱2,990.06 only. But if I had to take a leave for this I should tally in at least my half-day's worth in the office too, and that's not gonna cut it. Dun tayo sa convenient haha.

7. I replaced the blog header

Actually it was an old blog header. I don't know, I just needed a change, even a slight one haha. I'm looking at another layout, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to change to this,

What do you think? Should I go for this plain and classic serif layout? 😊

8. I got new guest posts!

They lowered my rate but that's fine, at least I get to be given posts more frequently. Which means my blog's DA is going to dip lower and lower urgh. It's the sudden influx of low ranking links, I know. How do you combat that?

9. Chia, honey, and lemon for weight loss

It's kinda working! My husband lost a few pounds this week even without exercising. The only thing that changed in his diet is that I feed him half a glass of blended honey, lemon, and soaked chia every afternoon when he wakes up. I do the same for myself too and I noticed that I don't feel so hungry throughout the day. Amazing!

10. Happy long weekend! 😊

What's your 10 Happy Things this week?

Friday's 10 Happy Things + a Wishlist 😄

I really wanted to be productive at work today but I can't stop looking at Shopee lol so maybe I'll just list down a Christmas wishlist or something...

1. New backpack. I realized that my fake Doughnut has a low quality zipper and while it isn't broken yet I don't like how it feels unzipping it. It's not smooth, like it's gonna get caught at random. Also it feels weird owning a fake one when I've had two original Doughnuts. It's just that the original one is a bit bigger and has bulkier straps which doesn't look good on me. Hay. Oh well. Off to search for a new one!

2. TV speakers. Not really a soundbar but a decent external speaker that can be connected via aux cable just like our current one, the Edifier MP260. Thing is, it broke on us in less than a year so we're hesistant to have the same model again. Jeckie got it as a gift last year. I love it though, it's perfect and doesn't need to be turned on separately like most soundbars. But I think that's why it broke so soon. It's always on! I know there's gotta be a solution to this. Need to look into soundbar technology. I'm sure there's like a feature that turns the soundbar on and off along with the TV.

3. Dymo label maker. Just the manual one cos it's cute and doesn't need charging! 😄

🎊 On to the happy things

1. It's day 5 of going to the gym daily! I'm not seeing anything significant in terms of my size haha but it feels good to be sweating every day. I hope I don't jinx it specially that it's the weekend and we're normally out and about but what's 1 hour of my time before we head out for stuff right? 

2. I'm making progress in this new project that was assigned to me recently. Much as I'd like to postpone this for next year, a new project like this kinda puts me in the zone hehe

3. My sister has FINALLY resigned from her job that's been stressing her out big time ever since it started. Happy for her! Also, she's broken up with her boyfriend of 2 months haha. Good riddance I'd say, they don't align in values AT ALL, which is basic for any relationship to thrive, even friendships. ETA: Okay I just learned that they've gotten back together. Hope they could work on their relationship better. 

4. I don't remember jotting this down but I just started attending church again. I learned that there's CCF BGC which is an easy 15 min drive from home so I commited to attending the 10:30 AM service even though it's deathly early for me haha. So far so good. Let's see where this takes me on my quest to rediscovering Christianty.

5. Behrouz dinner! It's been a while since we ordered from them and I love how they're still very responsive despite not being on Grab! 💖

6. Lots of Japanese snacks from kuya Julian!

7. I just made significant progress on my new project. Yeah, the gap between item #2 and this one is like 6 hours hahaha I find it hard to blog in just a single session now, my mind is aaaaaalways drifting somewhere.

8. Koomi is a good boy tonight who finished all of his food!

9. Booked a sofa cleaning service for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Finally getting our sofa shampooed after one year! It's disgusting! 

10. I'M OFFICIALLY ON VACATION! But will have to manually run a job on January 1 lol. If I get some free time I'll work on publishing it and putting it on a schedule. But for now, HAPPY HOLIDAAAYS!! 🎊

11. Additional happy points I'm just so delighted to be able to use emojis in my post now especially that it's very easy to pull up the emoji menu from the keyboard (win + dot)! 

Friday’s Happy Things

Know that this is very hard to do for me to do right now because I’ve been feeling largely uncertain about my job position. But let’s try…

✱ I got my Bodum tumbler back! When I went back for it I didn’t bother checking at Watsons because I was so sure I left it at the bathroom before I went to buy something at Watsons. Turns out I actually left it at Watsons and they kept it. I was able to recover it yesterday. Thank you Watsons! It’s honestly the last place I’d check as I was so consumed with my false memory.

Lesson learned for me here is to leave no stone unturned. Same thing happened when I lost my wedding ring one time. We were eating at Poco Deli when I realized my finger was empty. I looked everywhere but Poco Deli because I thought it was already gone before we started eating. Never did I think to find it there. Our memories are fragile and unreliable.

✱ Enjoyed celebrating my mother in law’s 60th birthday at Bataan. Bataan nga ba? Cos we kept driving to Subic to eat, even got lost there on the way home hunting down a restaurant lol. Despite staying at a crappy resort, I had loads of fun with the family and the view was utterly breathtaking. It’s really about the company.

✱ I managed to swim earlier despite feeling really sleepy and wheezy. Lap pool was full so I swam in the kidney pool which wasn’t so bad except that I don’t know its length so my swim data was probably inaccurate. Still a great 45 minute workout.

✱ I have new a Youtube review! Check it out! Finally, after a year. I guess I’m back to uploading review videos. I’ve been too lazy to work on them but I also need to free up space in my phone. So yeah, let’s do this!

---

I was supposed to list down 10 things but I coudn’t so I just renamed the title to Friday’s Happy Things but honestly I could easily list 10 unhappy things cos I feel mostly sad right now. Can I just do that? It’s easier to let it out this way

1. I’m not losing weight. We’re on week 3 of dieting and the scale won’t budge despite me eating less. My husband has already lost 6kgs.
2. Like I said at the start I’m feeling uncertain about my work because I feel like my skills aren’t needed anymore. And I have nothing else to offer.
3. I’m too lazy to read
4. I’m too lazy to work
5. I’m too lazy to workout
6. I’m too lazy to learn piano
7. I’m too lazy to make art
8. And I can’t get my knee to recover fully. It’s grown scar tissue already that’s gonna be difficult to break unless I opt for another procedure.

I’m just too lazy nowadays. I just wanna do nothing. Especially in this weather.

Oh, I guess it’s a good thing that I can’t find 10 unhappy things! 😅

Friday's 10 Happy Things // 5

Hey goys, here I am squeezing my brain for happy things, let's go!

1. I loved the sermon last Sunday, actually no, I uhm, needed it. Worship is for God. It's all about Him. He is the audience, and we are the performers.
2. It's swelday today yeheeeeyy
3. Sierra Burgess is a Big Loser is out today. Excited to watch it.
4. Also excited to continue episode two of Designated Survivor.
5. I uhm, designed something quickly for the boss today. Aaaand I learned how to warp text! Finally? What kind of designer am I! Apparently I've been doing things the hard way, typing on a circular path instead of hitting the Text Warp tool. Thanks boss for the Photoshop tip!

Bebas Neue, Day Roman, Miama Nueva, Krinkes Decor

Pinterest, The Noun Project, Mockup World

6. I finally ordered a dashcam. I got a Xiaomi Yi from Shopee for ₱1709 only because of the sale, free shipping voucher, and credit card discount hehe. Hopefully I can manage to install it properly without damaging my car lol, I just want the wires hidden properly help me Lord.

7. Was able to request a cashout for my below-threshold Nuffnang earnings (because they're closing down operations already)! Looking forward to it... the cashout I mean. I'm sad about Nuffnang closing down, I've a lengthy draft about it. :(

8. Also, got a PR posting request from Nuffnang too. Prolly the last I'm getting from them, but yey for the extra money.

9. Grocery tomorrow! I wish I could convince my husband that grocery shopping is fun :(

10. Costa iced mocha is delicious! I'm kindof building an iced mocha preference and so far from all the coffee shops I've tried, Nitro 7's still tops. Next comes Costa!

Happy weekend people! Excited for the next two weeks! :D 

Friday's 10 Happy Things // 1

First time I'm posting with regard to Philippine time (ie. not late) since I came here. Decided to join in this weekly link-up by Helga because I've been getting random bouts of homesickness lately and it saps what little optimism I have in life. Char. Figured it'll be good to sit and think of happy things that transpired this week, no matter how small, to remind myself to thank God for His generosity.

1. Won a pair of shoes from Adidas worth $120

Just by answering a feedback survey from one of their receipts. Holy moley didn't expect to win. A month ago they sent me an email congratulating me for being selected as a "potential winner". Much as I wanted to celebrate the "potential prize" I won that day, I kept my cool and sent my details to see how much potential I had at actually scoring new shoes haha. May have taken a month but yay for potential new kicks lol.

2. JoyC's lemon bars

My housemate makes awesome food so expect our menu to turn up in this list every week lol.

3. Fixed a defect in this blog

In which untitled posts are not being displayed correctly because the function that makes it so is throwing an error because the title is nonexistent. Handled by putting a default title on untitled entries. I suddenly miss bug fixing. Kidding.

4. 23 days til home :)

5. I'm coming home to this

Photo from Awesome in Manila

A super pretty planner by June Digan that I won from Awesome in Manila!

6. And this

This means I have to kayod harder and raket pa more. Plus adult points for getting an extra bill every month, yes? Chos.

7. Biked 2.6kms this afternoon

Which further validated my current state of weakness but is nonetheless a happy thing! How many times I have sweat in the past 4 months I can count with my fingers, so this is definitely a break from my glorious sedentary life.

I was headed home after a mile though, figuring I took the wrong turns and was riding towards a main road. Such cars. Much scare.

8. OTWOL is ending today

I'm so ready to marathon you!!!

9. The background on my leaderboard ad

I love CSS. Isn't it awesome how it offers design solutions without resorting to using an image? Google+ red and LinkedIn blue are such nice shades. Visible on desktop mostly cos I'm hiding it when browser screen falls short of 806px.

10. Finally watched Deadpool

And laughed so hard! Props to Buzfeed Ashly's tiny hand's cameo HAHA


Yeyy! Thank you Lord! Happy Friday goys!

Friday's 10 Happy Things // 2

Hope the week has been awesome for you goys. I'm excited to go home! Here's round two for the series:

1. Minneapolis pasyal

Saturday - we went to a museum, a sculpture garden, and a bridge by the ruins!

Ai, Ge, Dan, Me, Aime (Photo from Ge) 

2. Things I wish I knew when I was younger

It's a short ebook full of wisdom. I felt so happy after reading it. Get your free copy here. You will be asked for you email so just carry on hehe :D

3. Proposal by the ruins

That I hope won't be telling of their future. We passed by this scene last Saturday at the Stone Arch Bridge by Mill Ruins Park. We were careful not to react too early, waiting for the affirmative. And when the guy rose and the couple hugged, the air was filled with cheer! Congratulations! <3

4. My FOREX box just arrived!

Time to get serious packing up.

5. Sendoff with teammates

Ate lunch at Persis Indian Grill. I can't say I hate Indian food, but my tolerance to spicy dishes is just really ma-epal. It's happy cos my manager treated me huehue

6. I made panna cotta

I thought it was gonna suck cos I'm quite a failure at the kitchen, but my goodness, I make good panna cotta! HAHA The first batch I made was kindof bitin so earlier this evening I made another batch. I'm calling it pan-a-cotta. Can you guess how much I made?! (kainis no)

7. I'm rebranding!

From being a self-titled blogger to being The Blahger! Cos you know, life's so full of blah. Arte! What do you think? lelz

8.  I exercised!


Wow what a milestone. I wanted to bike but the weather isn't as permitting as last week and my inactivity is weighing me down a lot lately like literally haha. So there, Monday evening I pushed myself to do a round of Drop 10 and well, I dropped dead.

9. Stone Arch Bridge

It overlooks a part of the Mississipi river and is suuuuch a beauty at night.

10. It's Jeckie's Birthday!!!

Happy birthday my love! <3

Friday's 10 Happy Things

I was contemplating on whether or not to make a gratitude post this week because I've been feeling largely sad for the most part. But then I realized it's the perfect time to count my blessings haha

1. Our new rice cooker has arrived! Upgraded our 7 year old mechanical rice cooker to a digital one from Tefal that has exciting options like brown rice and congee! Best part is the non-stick pot!

2. Always thankful for my coffee time. Whether it be during dessert or while working. 💖

3. That we may not need to raise 2 million for my mom's operation after all. Maybe 1 million na lang lol still a large sum but 2m is just too big. I think she's semi-convinced to get an open heart surgery instead because her doctor says there are more experts in that field compared to TAVI.

4. Frankie's dinner and cheesecake!

5. Happy to have found 2 workouts I can follow tomorrow (fingers crossed).

6. Finally completed my self evaluation for the year. And provided feedback to those who requested for mine.

7. Happy to have successfully supported 2 automation issues this week without having to raise to our architect. The first one was a quick fix that only need a job refresh. And the other one was due to a user error that I fixed by updating the ticket and re-running the job.

8. Also happy to have FINALLY provided an update to this one task I was too lazy to work on since last week. Had an issue trying to setup the automated report using Jay's tool because I forgot what arguments to use for adhoc running. But now I'm slowly getting the hang of it and even made a confluence page for it so I don't get lost once he's gone! He's resigning by the way! 😔

9. Happy that I'm finally feeling better. Though now it's Jeckie that's sick. At least we're not both sick at the same time hehe.

10. Last but not the least, swelday! Off to paying more credit card debt 🤣 💖

midterms?!?!

nye, di ko feel! :\ parang kulang sa publicity? hindi masyadong pinaguusapan sa klase e, anyway... onga pla, tatlo lang klase ko...kya siguro ganon hahahaha

wow naman, thanks kuya kevin! :) he gave me an installer of adobe creative suite cs3 kanina. and he's so keen on teaching me adobe illustrator...kaso di ko pa maprioritize hahaha, online tutorials cguro muna ko.

kamown, eto tlga gusto ko e... maging graphics artist. :D
oh, i also passed my drawing kanina...chka ko na iuupload hehe. :D

aba aba, interesting din pla ang c++. watdaep.

nubayannn, di ko parin nppanuod transformers. :\

from RS

Top 10 lies you've heard (10 as the heaviest)

1. madali lang yan
2. uulan mmaya
3. bukas na lang bayad ko ha?
4. prof: ok class... next meeting, long quiz about blah blah blah (tapos bglang aabsent)
5. prof: madali lang exam *evil smirk*
6. in love na yta ko... (bilis a! ~_~)
7. Congratulations you've just won 500,000 pounds...from Yahoo Microsoft Lottery chorba (scam!)
8. walang virus USB ko, pramis. (sabay alert ng nod32)
9. suuus! ikaw pa, papasa ka dyan!
10. oo. promise

10 Choices

1. love and friendship ? friendship!!! uhh... cge na nga, both.

2. boys or comp games ? boys. di nmn ako gamer e... haha

3. lots of money or just enough money ? lots of money, duh.

4. simple or complicated ? simple

5. angel or devil ? balanced

6. older or younger ? either cguro, di nman laging halata e

7. cute or hot ? hot

8. sexy or cute ? sexy

9. daring o demure ? sociable enough

10. aggressive or hard-to-get ? just right

10 Y/N

1. do you smoke ? yes (quitter mode)

2. do you drink ? yes (social drinker)

3. do say bad words like **** **** **** etc. ? yeah, but not out of rage. joke joke lang

4. ever had a boyfriend ? syntax error

5. ever had your first kiss ? null

6. ever loved a guy so much ? uhh, super crush cguro. never been in love, i guess.

7. ever been loved back ? who knows, i never tell anyone

8. ever been busted ? naah

9. ever had told a guy you like him and didnt answer back ? nope
10. ever had suitors? nope. dati kc, di ako pumapayag magpaligaw e. friend friend na lang enjoy pa, wlang ilangan haha

10 stuffs you think people dont know about you and now they'll know after.

1. may trauma ako sa mga motor chka speeding bicycles haha
2. geek/nerd/dork ako nung gradeschool
3. i write slash (harryxdraco, narutoxsasuke)
4. i hate Judy Ann Santos
5. ayoko rin kay Reese Witherspoon
6. i bite my nails, kaya super iksi hahaha (pero rehab mode ako ngayon haha)
7. i can speak chinese, korean and japanese. oha.
8. i fancy bespectacled guys (bunga ng harry potter)
9. adik ako sa kape.
10. i collect ballpens/pens?...haha obvious nmn to e

10 stuffs you think people think of you

oha may source ako! http://kevan.org/johari?view=ariannegrace

1. mabait
2. creative
3. weird
4. game sa mga lakaran
5. tahimik
6. shy
7. friendly
8. smart
9. muka dw athletic (pero hndi tlga)
10. antukin

10 things you think people who know you enough think about you

1. maingay
2. masama kaaway
3. pag hindi motivated, wasak.
4. adik blogger
5. may sira ang body clock
6. hates ruining the friendship in favor of love
7. academically misplaced
8. masyadong madaming (weird) ideas
9. open!
10. gustong sakupin ang mundo.

10 questions

1. are you happy now ? yeah?

2. when was the last time you went on a date ? last month w/ karla haha

3. when was the last time you fell in love ? dpa yta

4. who is the person you recently gave a call ? terai

5. who is the person you miss the most now ? anne, yndi, jay, tep...LB friends prin haha

6. may balak ka ba magka bf now ? kung my dumating, we'll see. but not rly...

7. mahal mo na ba siya ? soon

8. busy ka ba now ? dapat

9. sino nasa isip mo now ? 7

10. ano gusto mo mangyari right now ? uminom ng kape at magaral, midterms n pla haha

3 wishes right now

1. laude. yun yon e, ambisyosa.

2. kotse

3. new bestfriend :)

Friday's 10 Happy Things

✱ Enjoying my macbook! Love the audio. Still getting used to the interface but so far so good. Also, the battery life is superb!

✱ Had Bible study earlier with sis RJ. It was just the two of us but I'm very thankful for her. 

✱ I'm 72kgs now, from 76 last November. I stopped working out cos I got lazy, but I'm doing intermittent fasting with my husband and it's been quite effective.

✱ Been shopping the past few weeks. Our bonuses came in this month so I feel rich right now. Key word: right now haha. Got new sheets, pillow covers, dish rack, organizers, mats, decor, etc. from Nitori and Ikea.

✱ Restarting my skincare routine with Laneige. It's been effective for me before, but I couldn't sustain it cos it was so expensive for me that time. That was 6 years ago. Now I think I can afford it. But it still comes down to discipline though. My thing about skincare routines is that I can only do it at night, but I'm hesitant to cos I want to cuddle with my husband before going to bed and I'm afraid all the product will just be wiped off haha.

✱ Reinstated our Vitality policies after learning from a friend that it boosts our ACP100's coverage by 250k. And my dad said it was okay to not pay it because we're not using it anyway! Hay! Haha

✱ Happy that once a year I get to buy off almost all of the things I want without worry because #bonus haha. Most of the stuff in my cart are 1k upwards and it's difficult to splurge on them every swelday kasi mahal! haha

✱ More on my macbook. I bought a 1TB version and I'm just happy that I have finally transferred product review footage from my phone and ipad, freeing up a loooot of storage on my mobile and tablet. I was finally able to update their software lol. I moved like 50GB worth of videos. I'm so behind my product reviews!

✱ I drew a bit today! I was listening to some Ghibli lofi BGM which had really cute visuals so I decided to copy from it, not realizing they were AI generated lol. I haven't drawn in a while so this is as good as its gets haha

✱ Cooked buffalo chicken thighs tonight!

Happy Weekend!

Friday's 10 Happy Things // 3

1. Xend has added more 7-Eleven drop off points, including the one nearest to the office. Yeyy!
2. Getting better sleep because of my blackout curtains <3
3. Found Abbey Sy's postcard set at Ministop and immediately bought it. Such inspiration

4. Filling up my box at halpu.com with Amazon stuff
5. Earned two free rides from UBER this week yeyyy.
6. Breakfast with college buddies

Beef tapa bowl @ Breakfast Bin

7. Potato Corner's wasabi fries
8. Revlon and L'Oreal's free hair color application at Landmark Trinoma is now PERMANENT. Rejoice! They're beside Counter 3 of Landmark department store.
9. Finishing a doodle piece

Blah #art #artph #illustrationart #illustration #doodle #backtoreality #drawing #

A photo posted by Yan Birog (@yanbirog) on Mar 31, 2016 at 11:55am PDT

10. Pretty lax work week

Thaaaank you Father! <3 <3 Happy April fools day and thankfully, this list isn't a joke. :P

Friday's 10 Happy Things

✱ Slow RTO days

Like I said in my previous post, I enjoyed my time alone this Monday! I think I love walking around, but slowly haha

✱ Mama's birthday!

Went to celebrate mama's birthday in advance on Sunday. Since she can't go out yet we just ordered in food and I bought her flowers ♥️ 

✱ Beautiful flowers

I think it's the first time I bought someone flowers myself. My sister usually buys for us then I just chip in. But on Sunday after church I decided to get mama a small bouquet, after checking the price of course! Haha I didn't expect flowers to be this expensive? I think it's because I bought at Designer Blooms so it's definitely more expensive hehe Terai usually buys flowers in the market where it's 3x cheaper haha I'm very happy though because it's super beautiful and mama loved it!

✱ Team dinner

Came to the office again on Wednesday to meet with the team. I kinda looks forward to days like this where I can meet the rest of the team. Our manager brought food for everyone, we had games, and had fun!

✱ New personal Bible

On ate RJ's suggestion, I bought a personal Bible. I did have a personal Bible before but that was so long ago and I didn't get to really read it that much. I spent so much time choosing which Bible to get because there are so many pretty options right now. I know I want to get a CSB version because it's midway between word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation which makes a good balance between accuracy and readability. I bought this particular one because it's pretty haha. Hope to be able to read it a lot! 🙏

✱ Cure Aqua Gel

I recently discovered Cure Natural Aqua Gel from someone I follow on Instagram and holey moley it's instantly the best exfoliator out there! It doesn't have abrasive microbeads. It's just some form of hydrogenized water that instantly turns dirt on your skin into balls of skin cells that like libag but white. It's so cool. I couldn't believe it at first so I did 2 rounds to test if it's just the product that's clustering like that but wow the 2nd round didn't yield much libag unlike the first round so I was convinced. It also made my skin feel very smooth and clean. I love how it's so gentle yet super effective! 

✱ Bible study with ate RJ ☺️

Had Bible study earlier this afternoon despite both of us feeling sick from our allergies. We just did a recap of our previous sessions, discussed the Best Decision booklet and prayed. 

✱ Manam dinner ♥️

Ordered Manam for dinner because we didn't do the grocery this week and I'm too lazy to cook!

✱ Saitama mousepad haha

Bought a cute mousepad for Jec and I haha

✱ Beautiful sky earlier

Just marveled at the beautiful sky earlier after praying.

[Food Phase Fridays] Nitro 7's Nitro Mocha

Their kiosk at Greenbelt 3

It's been an awfully long while since my last Food Phase Fridays post so here I am with a new entry. To refresh you on what this tag is all about, Food Phase Fridays is a blog series where I share my current food obsessions on a Friday. Not every Friday, just on a Friday just so we could have more words to put on the tag lol like The Sunday Currently, Throwback Thursdays, and Friday's 10 Happy Things... yaknow? It helps with post scheduling and makes me look like an organized blogger.

Large Nitro Mocha (₱135)

Today's obsession is Nitro 7's Nitro Mocha. Basically iced cafe mocha using nitrogen infused coffee. This type of infusion makes your regular cold brew richer and creamier. And no doubt it does! I've never tasted coffee this good. Seriously. It's way better than Starbucks' iced cafe mocha. Their chocolate syrup isn't gritty and the coffee is really smoother. Super duper worth it. I learned about Nitro 7 when they opened a kiosk at Crave Park Marikina two years ago, and when I learned they've branched out to a couple of places, I was so delighted! I used to always get their Nitro Breve, which is a latte, whenever we're at Robinsons Magnolia. I was never addicted to it, but Nitro 7 eventually became my first choice for coffee whenever it's around. And when I tried Nitro Mocha for the first time last week, I mentally cried in despair at why it's too far from the office.

I had this drink for 5 days straight and all I can say is that it's worth the 20 minute walk to and from the nearest kiosk. The lengths I'd go to for quality coffee!

Try it guuuys they have branches at the following places:

• SM Megamall B
• SM North EDSA Annex
• SM Dasmarinas
• Robinsons Magnolia
• Ayala the 30th
• Greenbelt 3
• LA Village
• Eastwood Citiwalk 1

Also, follow Nitro 7 Coffee and Tea Bar on Facebook and Instagram!

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Food Phase Fridays is a blog series featuring my current food obsession. Learn more about them here or join in the fun by making your own Food Phase series!

bored T__T;

it's christmas and i'm bored!!! i've got to be kidding myself.
well, apparently i'm not. that's why i copied theeeeese from a friend's journal. >:D

I.
01. What are your nicknames?
Arianne, yan,

02. How do you style your hair?
it's usually tied up in a ponytail

03. What's new in your life right now?
it's christmas and i'm bored

04. How many colors are you wearing now?
green and red

05. Are you an introvert or extrovert?
introvert

06. What are you doing while filling out this meme?
listening to the guitar version of say u love me (iswak)

07. Do you nap a lot?
yes

08. If the person you secretly like is already taken, what would you do?
leave

09. Is there anything that has made you really happy these days?
internet?

10. What's your favorite dessert?
ice cream, cake, crepes, macaroni salad... i love desserts XD

11. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
20-30 mins

12. What websites do you visit daily?
this, gmail, multiply

13. What was the last book you finished reading?
this question is highly guilt tripping. T___T; i think it's judith mcnaught's whitney my love

14. How did you end up with your blogger name?
i just copied my LJ username. actually, when i was thinking of a livejournal username i wanted something that shortens as lj.lj.com...hence, live junk.

15. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?
say u love me from it started with a kiss OST

16. What's the last DVD you bought?
full metal alchemist

17. Have you ever done anything not many people have?
uuuhhh... idk

18. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
coffe crumble (from selecta), mocha (from nestle)...err.. anything coffee hehe

19. What's the last movie you watched?
one true love

20. What is your greatest fear?
idrk, but most of the time i feel deadly jitters when i think of car crashes. :/

II.

1. Do you have secrets?
just like everyone else

2. Would you fall in love with a girl/guy younger than you?
i don't think so

3. Do you enjoy going to school?
err, no. but i enjoy seeing my friends at school

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
pray that it's not fake, pay all of our existing depts, renovate our house and my parents' office, buy a van for my family, buy a condo unit for myself + a car, buy my sister a car too, buy everything my lolas need, donate to charity institutions, get a starbucks franchise, get a year off with my family and travel around the world, invest the rest.

woa. i love this question. it got me hyped up.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
no, we're both girls.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
both

7. List out your 15 favourite songs:
gosh. i don't think i have favorite songs. T___T; they vary from time to time... ^^;


8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
idk. move on..

9. Is there anything that has made you extremely happy?
family and friends! :D and money too

10. What makes you angry?
slooooooooooow net speed, though i'm getting used to it now.

11. How would you see yourself in 10 years time?
firmly established.

12. Who are currently the most important people to you?
family and friends of course

13. What is the most important thing in life?
knowing your purpose and doing things that make you happy.

14. Single or attached?
single

15. What is your favourite colour?
red

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
idk

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
i-idk.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing the someone has done?
yes i would, but it would be hard to forget though

19. What do you want to tell the person you like?
hehehehe, i may never have the chance to tell you this but your idiosyncrasies fascinate me a lot. and your level of spirituality struck me too

III.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

1. my worst habit (next to procastination) is nail biting. i have the ugliest fingernails too.

2. i'm a perfectionist when it comes to designing my own layout, but once i see that it's misaligned in other browsers, i give up (because i don't know how to fix that) ;_;

3. blogging has been part of my lifestyle for 4 years now

4. i cannot tolerate too much dirt/mess in the house (esp in the apartment), that's why i'm always the first one to clean. idk but it's getting tiring already.

5. i like watching good anime series

6. i'm planning on putting up an online stalking agency where my clients could hire us to investigate on someone's internet habits and report it to them, of course for a cost.

7. i want to be part of the college varsity

8. i want to learn computer programming. sometimes i'm wondering why i'm not taking up computer science instead.

9. i love to draw. i want to be a national artist someday.

10. i want my own art exhibit

11. my favorite local male celebrity is Ryan Agoncillo

12. on the other hand, i hate Judy Ann Santos

13. nerds fascinate me.

14. as well as yaoi anime (drift with me?)

15. i can't paint

16. idk, but i cannot tolerate spending a lot on my clothes, and i also don't bother updating them. in fact, my wardrobe has long been outdated by my gadgets. ^_^;

better together - jack johnson

happy valentines folks!

i have no date! yay! absolutely not expecting one. i'm content with recieving candies and greetings. =) today's valentine season doesn't seem that festive like the previous years. days ago i watched the loveapalooza on screen and when the countdown to one was done and everybody started kissing, my face turned into a semi-distorted semi-amused face, what is the moral of that, seriously? what are they trying to promote? the toothpaste? hah! what a waste. there are other ways of celebrating this season but if that's their way, i have no arguments. 10 seconds of kissing is too long. mehn, a smack ends at not even a split second yet the chastity of it is still there. prolonging a smack ignites sexual libido, i guess i know where most of the couples there went after the concert.

waah. nica's so shane-ish right now. yeah. =D
weee, jami gave me a fudgee bar! haha big deal.

----------

There is no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard
And no song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a shoebox of photographs with sepia tone loving

Love is the answer
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Why are we here and where do we go
And how come it's so hard
It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing
It's always better when we're together

Mmm, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

And all of these moments just might find a way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone when the morning light sings
Or brings new things for tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too, too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression I was somewhere in between
With only two, just me and you, not so many things we got to do
Or places we got to be, we'll sit beneath the mango tree now

Yeah, it's always better when we're together
Mmm, we're somewhere in between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together (mmm)

I believe in memories, they look so, so pretty when I sleep
And when I wake up, you look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing
We're better together

4 days to go

before my christmas vacation officially starts...

we just came back from the mall. actually, church first then mall. ^^;; we bought a lot of things. err... it's my mom who bought a lot of things, in fact. as consolation for her not getting her MDRT award for this year. yeah, and when we talk about things that compensates for my mom's terrible mood... we do it in the appliance center. we, or she, bought a water dispenser, another dvd player and another tv (i paid half the tv's price as promised). good thing Sharp is in a generous mood this season, we also got a free tv rack and an mp3 player... which in turn i gave to my sister as a month-early birthday gift. whew. we decided not to buy the magic mic since.. err.. my parents realized it's not that useful. i mean, if you don't know the songs, you're stuck. there's no background singer to support you.

i saw a shirt in freeway, the tagline is

'i'm in love
i don't care
HE --->
is mine
i don't share.'

yeah. with the arrow. hahaha. i would love to have it but a.) it's too expensive for a regular tee b.) i don't think anyone would want to walk with me if i wear it and c.) i'm not exactly in love like the shirt says. i just like the tagline but it doesn't really apply to me. hahaha. it's not the right time, yet. wahehehehe...

so. i hate indulging myself on a sunday, especially when i know we're having a test the next day. you know me, i see things in the scale of karma. if i become too happy right now, karma would get back at me the next day. eh my long test kami sa chem16. and i haven't studied yet. yeah. i am that lazy. don't worry. eventually i'll change. let's just hope payback time doesn't happen between 10-11am tomorrow during our test.

calories! i ate 4 blocks of belgian chocolate and another irresistable drink from starubucks. i'm not on a diet, i just hate myself.

now i'm penniless.
wish me luck. on the exam, i mean.

10 Wedding Photographers to Check Out for that Bright and Natural Look

As usual, I didn't have a preferred style until I started looking into various portfolios. Then I began collecting ideas and building my preferences, after which I concluded that my dream output is one with bright and natural feels to it, who doesn't?!

To be specific, and nit picky:

• I want photos that are properly composed, especially if it has people in it.
• Photos that are bright and happy, but not saturated. In fact I want bright, balanced photos, with slightly de-saturated backgrounds. No popping colors, just pure neutral and organic goodness.
• I wouldn't check your camera settings (woah there) but I would want raw photos that are well lit. When I say raw, I mean unedited. Please don't piss me off with RAW files haha. I mean I'd ask for them immediately after our event so it helps if the photographer already has a bunch of no-filter good quality shots! Does it help that we're having a morning wedding? Haha Is it too much to ask? Do most photographers shoot RAW? Can't I get my JPEGs immediately? hehe
• Styled - cos I'm a sucker for aesthetics but couldn't flat-lay properly. For what it's worth, I have fake grass, wooden clothespins, and jute strings for props, yeah?
• Stock quality - yes I'm arte like that! I want stock quality photos. Char but not quite.

Finally, shempre di pa ko tapos, post-processing matters a lot to me because this is where the final output is getting brewed. I want photos that don't look filtered. There are photographers who churn out albums that look like they've been slapped with just a preset, and boom, done. No further effort made balancing each photo. Presets are great, they're the first things I learned when I started tinkering with Lightroom and I thought they're magic. But they're not everything. Vignettes, HDR, and dark and grainy cinematic effects are not my thing too. At least not for a wedding.

So with all these demands, I'm proud to present to you my 10 favorite local wedding photographers - based on their portfolios , as I haven't been blessed with the opportunity (and budget) to work with them (ETA: we got Dave Sarabia and our photos are perfect!!!). Also, they're responsible for turning me into this nit picky ass. But I swear if I get to work with any of them, they wouldn't hear a word from me, just tears of joy and snorts of laughter ('cos I hear they're a delight to work with as well).

In no particular order:

Disclaimer: All photos are from the photographers' respective online portfolios and rates are for the first quarter of 2017. 

ALSO (ETA) just so you won't get disappointed why this and that photographer isn't here, I noted down mostly 1) those we considered booking, 2) those whose portfolios struck me personally, and 3) of course those who came in my radar while researching. I'm aware there are hundreds of talented photographers out there, but 10 won't be enough to feature them all. Consider this a modest promotion based on what I've been exposed to so far. I'm not up to lurk in the wedding industry forever, this isn't a wedding blog lol.

Let's go!

1. Daniel Talavera Photography

Investment: ₱35,000 to ₱75,000

www.danieltalavera.com
photo@danieltalavera.com

2. Mara and Mike Photography

Investment: ₱25,000 to ₱70,000
www.mmphotoph.com
inquire@mmphotoph.com
facebook.com/M.MPhotoVideo

Aaaargh! I'm so tempted to get them!

3. Chestknots Studios

Investment: ₱78,800 to ₱136,800
www.chestknots.com
chestknots@gmail.com
instagram.com/chestknots
facebook.com/chestknots

4. The Perfect Grey Photography

Investment: ₱30,000 to ₱80,000
www.theperfectgreyphotography.com
theperfectgreyphoto@gmail.com

5. Foreveryday Photography

Investment: ₱75,000 to ₱120,000

www.foreverydayphoto.com

6. Law Tapalla Photography

Investment: ₱35,000 to ₱70,000

www.lawtapalla.com
www.facebook.com/LawTapallaPhotography

7. Team Benitez Photo

Investment: ₱70,000 to ₱110,000

www.teambenitezphoto.com
www.facebook.com/teambenitez
www.instagram.com/teambenitezphoto

8. CamZar Photography

Investment: ₱50,000 to ₱155,000 (with video tie-up)

www.camzarphoto.com

9. Dave Sarabia Photography

Investment: ₱22,000 to 57,000 (with video tie-up)
davesarabia@hotmail.com
facebook.com/davesarabiaphotography

ETA: WE GOT THEM AND WE COULDN'T BE HAPPIER.

10. Bob and Zab Photography

Investment: ₱40,000 to ₱80,000

www.bobandzab.com

www.facebook.com/bobandzabphotography

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That's it! I had fun curating this list, and layouting them as well. It was suuuuch a dreamy experience going through each of their portfolios. 

Did I miss anyone? I'm aware there are still tons of great photographers out there who's forte is this style so if you think there are more who deserve to be on the list, feel free to comment and let me know! Who knows a part 2 is coming? ;)