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 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 🤣 💖

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 // 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 // 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 // 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 // 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 // 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 // 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!