WWJD

awhile ago i was reminded of something i have come to take for granted recently and that is:

first and foremost, i'm a Christian and that in everything i do, i should uphold my faith. i will avoid doing anything that would put my beliefs and values in an uncompromising situation, especially if it's about my career. God first. that's all, and the rest of my life should follow suit.

my decisions should always be guided by the question, "what is the Christian thing to do?" or even the more popular WWJD haha. i'm never usually bold about my faith but awhile ago i was so caught up with something unsettling that caused me to inquire to a couple of my friends (kasi 2 sila wahaha) and my boyfriend about their opinion. i couldn't disclose anything about it but i'm happy and sealed with the decision i made.

thank you so much jeckie, yndi, and dems! <3 <3 <3

good night everyone! have a blessed day ahead! :D

busy much

i've been meaning to blog about what's up lately like personally haha but it always gets crossed off by priority blog posts. HAHAHA andami dami ko ng pending na dapat isulat. SO LITTLE TIME.

anyhow. this month is probably the busiest month i've had this year, as in covering most aspects of my life. HAHA

as a blogger

// restaurant invite

last week i got invited to a restaurant for the first time! i feel like a legit food blogger!
here's my review + my very first giveaway. PLEASE JOIN. suportahan nyo naman ang ilusyon ng lola nyo na mag thrive ang blog na ito. oh yeah!

when i went there, i was clueless about what to do. i was waiting for my new found friend (yay!) dems, to get my prize from one of her blog contests (buti na laaang haha), and also to inquire about what to do! was the food free? how do i say good bye? #suchaloner hahaha it's good to know at least someone in the place. #OPmuch haha

dems and i with my prizes! Nail Cocktales GC's and grab taxi coupons! super thaaaanks! >XD the plan is to use these GCs during the 35th MIBF cos it's almost in one place, aaaand buy this deal from ensogo to maximize our savings and still get awesome mani-pedi's! haha

// product campaign

just recently i got involved in a campaign for Dial Coco Water line of products. it was fun and rewarding at the same time! i was hesitant about posting a fansign, pero keri lang. yaman din lamang na pinopromote ko tong blog na to. lulubusin ko na by annoying you goys with my fez.

// blogapalooza 2014

i'm excited for this, and so is my friend tinaaaa! oh come on Sept 20 come closerrr!

as a minstry worker

// superhero day at Kid's Church!


we held a superhero costume day one sunday and all the teachers dressed up in their most convincing hero attire! it was a day full of games and fun and honestly nakakapagod but it was all well worth it!

it feels heartwarming when you ask the kids who their superhero is and in unison, they all say "JESUS!" aww. Jesus is our superhero indeed!

// coming up!

a lot of things are also coming up for the team and i'm sooo excited! we'll be having a teacher's convergence next month, and another game night too! >XD waaaaahh

// finally into discipling

yeheyy! i'll be doing One2One with someone soon! i never thought i'd come to this point where i'll be willing to teach someone about Christ. jeckie knows how much i despised the thought before. ang galing how i'm so excited over it now. God works miracles talaga. >XD 

and the miraculous part of it was how God presented me with the opportunity to disciple. we were conducting our victory group meeting outside the cinema and while waiting for others, nagkwentuhan muna kami, our vg leader asked me if i was doing One2One with someone. i said no, but i wanted to already. and guess what, like an answered prayer, before our discussion started, the other group conducting their vg beside us introduced a new member to us kasi they're all male on the other side.

i was like. wow. Lord. iba ka talaga. <3

as a MARSIAN on her weight loss journey

MARS 9 (Milo R2-Apex Running School Season 9) has just started and it's only been 2 meetings but i'm already so wasak to the core. 

last monday was our first meeting and grabe lang the workouts. so intense. i woke up aching all over! until now i'm still not fully recovered but i had to attend our 2nd training day para bongga ang pagpapa-macho diba pero GRABE GRABE LANG! malapit na ko himatayin sa pagod like seriously. i had to skip TABATA earlier because after the extended 4min. workout, i was already feeling nauseous and my vision is starting to black out. good thing i didn't pass out cos ayoko hahaha.

with Coach Toni and Jim Saret

aw. they're now like one of my favorite couples! coach toni and jim saret are both gorgeous and super fit and suuuuper inspiring!

in fairness naman to their training program, HIIT and TABATA packed. overall workout time amounts to around than 30 minutes per session lang, including warm up and cool down. the remaining minutes are filled with motivation, waterbreaks and kwentuhans hehehe 

ang saya saya. sana kayanin ko pa!

as a woman in love (naks haha)

// we're nearing our 3rd yeaaar!

jeckie and i are celebrating our 3rd anniversary this month and we're still clueless on what do to, or where to go! do you have any suggestions? we're done with buffets and museums and we want to do something different this year. if we're gonna travel, we prefer day tours only! 

any suggestions? >XD

as an emplourghyee

emphasis on the urgh please. same old. but i'm finding my tasks more tolerable right now. for some reason. i just hope this feeling translates to deliverables cos i'm always always behind track. haha please pray for me! >XD 

teaching at kids church: whatever it takes!

it's my official first day as a teacher! yeheyyy! after 3 sundays of observing, my co-newbie, terai, and i got to host this morning's service and what can i say, it was soooo fun! the night before i was really nervous like sana hindi matuloy haha, it was my first time to host in an audience full of kids and i didn't know what to expect haha. but then, keri lang! enjoy rin pala! i mean, the kids can be extremely magulo and makulit but i enjoyed it. they were all responsive. hahaha. it was exhausting but it was really fun.

i decided i'd serve at the primary level, that's 7-10 years old, because, uhm, i really don't know. haha. you know, i almost wanted to quit, not because i didn't like the job but because i get these regular bouts of laziness every time my phone chimes at 7:30am. i always think, man i haven't had enough sleeeeeep! but in spite of those, terai and i still get up, and rush to church, almost unwillingly. then the teachers converge, we pray, and i get excited again, realizing that these horrible lazy bouts are but attacks of the devil to a keep a teacher from teaching children about Jesus. naks. haha

every time i enter the kids church and get into prayer with the co-teachers, i feel like my faith is being reinforced. there's a sense of responsibility settling in. sabi nga ni kuya jaylord, there was a study which states that a person's acceptance rate of Jesus Christ is at peak (80-85%) when they're in the ages 4-14. this made me realize how critical it is to send the children to kids church or sunday school in their formative years, so that they get to know about Jesus at an early age. these kids are our future after all and we'll never know how they'll grow up to be! >XD


anyway... i asked my mom if she chose to be a Christian and wasn't just brought up as one (like i am), and she said yes, she chose to be one. i asked her what her choices were then, and she said it wasn't a choice between religions, but a choice between being a Christian or a non-Christian. and between the two, she chose the former because it has led her to a good life, a good set of beliefs, it brings out the best in her, and she's content with her faith. and while it's true that other faiths may produce the same good willed, and blessed person that she could be, she dare not explore on the possibility because she's happy where she is.

after being posed with the same question months back, i thought, yeah maybe i never really had a choice, i was just blessed to be brought up like this. but realizing what my mom had said, i believe i don't need to compare all religions to gauge which one's telling the most bearable truth. and, i did have a choice too. i could be a non-christian for all i care and still live happily ever after. but then, i can't imagine myself without God. so i made this choice.

as to ascertaining the rightness of the choices we made, the extent to which we believe that what we believe in is true, i have no concrete ground. but i guess as long as i live without regrets, i wouldn't have to worry about the choice i made. i'll leave it all to faith.

God with us!

last friday was soooo amazing grabe, i just had to share. haha God is soooo good!

ganito kasi yon...

the day started out to be so stressful. it was our finals day at our cobol training and we were tasked to present 2 cases with their corresponding analyses and solutions. everything was provided naman in fairness, from the code to the documentation, even the solution... and the instructions were clear. but the amount of resources we had was just so overwhelming we didn't know where to start hahaha. even before the presentation proper we were all super unsure of our understanding of the case (at least 2/3 of our group was? haha).



anyway, i was extremely nervous. joke. nung thursday i wasn't so nervous honestly, i had this feeling na bahala na si Lord, and i was (sorry) kindof leaning towards my smarter groupmate (read: marck!) to fill in the possible lacks. i dunno, i believe i was blessed enough to be grouped with 2 of the best thinkers in class (naks! hi kamil and marck!) that i didn't have to worry about anything other than my pride (haha!) tipong, ano kayang pwede kong maitulong sa mga to, magagaling na to eh. >XD

anyway, i was given the easiest part of the case, which i believe i understood fairly well naman with regards to the documentation, kaso when i started to read the code, i was like where the hell does this block of code explain this sentence in the docu?! where?! where?!

so i was lost. looool

after wasting so much time trying to understand the entirety of the problem, i almost gave up na. with the little knowledge i extracted from the docu, i started to create the powerpoint presentation na lang, at least may isang part akong alam kong iexplain. wag lang masyado magtanong ang mga panel haha.

anywaaaaay, we were so anxious to get the day done with, unfortunately we were the last group to present pa! grabe lang. 8 hours of tension kumusta naman yon?! during that time i was super duper nervous na. i thought, okay it's doomsday! up to that point di parin ako confident sa sarili ko na madedefend ko ung mga ipagsasabi ko sa presentation.

when we entered the room i noticed na 2 of the 8 panels were my final interviewers and i was like waaaaaah, why Lord?! whyyyy! why must they witness a shameful moment of my life?! -____-; but then, we must carry on.

i don't remember how many times i prayed to God to help us get through the day at least, but at the end of my part of the presentation (which is the first part!) i was surprised that no one asked questions! that way we were able to transition to the next part easily! that felt soooo relieving! when my other groupmate was presenting i was taking notes about what he said, para in case he asked for backup i would at least have reference but at the back of my mind i was like, i'm so sorry marck i'm not even sure how my pretentious note-taking will help you. huhu. when our presentation for case 1 ended, it's time for QnA naman. for the most part eto ung pinaka-nakakastress kasi oh my gulay what if all of them asked hard questions!?

thankfully, only (sir) bong asked questions! grabe lang! whew! hahaha after nung case 1, i was mentally rejoicing already but of course we had to carry on pa until kamil finished with case 2. thank God it went on smoothly! as in wala naman masyadong nakaka-pahiyang questions and when we were done and they were giving feedback na, i was surprised at how positive their reactions were! tipong, really? did that remark came from the bottom of your hearts?! hahaha

i was so sure na magkakalat kami but it seemed like they actually appreciated our group! yehey! seriously, i could only take God's power into account. i would never ever have thought we'll reap in positive remarks from them. as in! sa loob loob ko talaga, grabe ka Lord! grabe ka! you are so amazing! not to be so hard on myself naman, i believe i did my best during the presentation. i mustered all my courage to be able to present my part clearly and in english pa hahaha! but still, it didn't look good enough in my mind >XD

hanggang paguwi ko sobrang dumbfounded ako sa nangyari. only God can make this happen. i am so freaking sure of it. i was thinking, maybe because we were the last group to present, they were more considerate, baka nagmamadali na sila umuwi or something kaya di na masyado nagtanong, but it never felt that way. haha i will never forget how (sir) bong somehow remarked 'save the best for the last'. best feeling ever. and thank you Lord, my presentation skills were noticed too! flattering much! >XD

it's a great great feeling to know that at the very least our group left a good impression to the panel. i could only hope none of us gets truncated by thursday! >XS

nung umuwi ako, di parin ako makapaniwala. it felt like a miracle really. only God can turn a seemingly disastrous day into a victorious one. i mean, the fact that we were able to satisfy the panel is victory enough for me. it felt like taking a test knowing only 10% of the topic, and coming out with a perfect score.

i only have one thing i'm so sure of, only God can do that! ganito pala yung feeling na wala akong maipag-mamayabang kasi alam kong hindi ako yung magaling kundi si God? whew!

when i came home and finally did my devotion (na supposed to be ay first thing in the morning), lalo akong nagiyak (naiyak sa galak. ohaaa) sa title ng message: God with us

and my faith was reinforced that night, knowing that there is a God who hears our prayers and gives us victory!

have a gooooood day! >XD

UPDATE: 3/26/2014
PS: despite the seemingly good news, this doesn't exempt me from the big possibility of getting truncated by, wait, TOMORROW! my cobol 1 exercises all suck just so you know. i'm just banking on the instructors' consideration, and another miracle! yeah! haha

Hillsong United Live in Manila 2014

something to look forward to this year! famous worship group Hillsong United will be holding another concert here in manila this June 13! who cares if it's friday the 13th? haha >XD

anyway, as of writing tickets aren't up for online purchase at ticketnet and beccamusic yet but i'm sure it'll be up in a few! let's all watch out for it! >XD

Hillsong United Live in Manila 2014
June 13, 2014
7:30PM
Smart Araneta Coliseum

Ticket prices:
Patron/Lowerbox: Php 1,500.00
Upperbox A: Php 1,000.00
Upperbox B: Php 500.00

General Admission: Php 300.00

let's go! >XD

a saturday that felt like a sunday

waaaahhh yesterday was so fulfilling! breakfast at spiral sofitel, in the afternoon - attended 'foundation for victory' (f4v), explored fairview terraces - the newly opened ayala mall right across sm fairview haha, theeeen attended 7pm service! all in all i had 4 cups of coffee. wala lang. haha

anyway, our first f4v lecture was very enlightening and interesting. hahaha i actually signed up for it for knowledge purposes because i'm in this phase in my spiritual journey where i'm so excited to know more about the Bible and the doctrine of Jesus. i call it the curious phase!

when i came in, i realized that this training is geared more towards equipping us to build disciples in the future, something i've always feared a lot... before! naaaaaaaks, ngayon kasi di na a lot. pero afraid parin ako honestly.

i took it as a chance to really learn a lot, because one day, when i'm finally out there sharing the gospel, i want to be sure of what i believe in and of the things i'll be sharing to others. i want to be able to bring the same enlightenment to others, the same excitement and fascination! woooh.

okay okay, here are thoughts i found interesting yesterday hehe

when we walk in the light, our sins are magnified

which is important for a life of daily repentance. how else are we going to acknowledge our sinfulness if we continue to live in the dark! walking in the light is not a happy stroll in the park. madami kang makikita na hindi talaga nakakatuwa. mga bagay na dati akala mo okay lang, pero hindi pala! sins we considered too petty before (like spitting, or throwing balat ng candy on the streets) will sound all too grave and deserving of death. lol. seryoso. so to be in the light is an opportunity to recognize sin better, and claim victory over temptations!

faith brings about good deeds

remember that faith alone saves (ephesians 2:8-9). not faith + good deeds, definitely not good deeds alone, and most definitely not grace alone. the argument found in james 2:14-17 saying that "what good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? can such faith save them?" is only confirming the notion that good deeds is an automatic product of having faith. if you don't feel the urge to do good, then your faith must not be full.

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i do feel more empowered even just after our first meeting. i still have a few questions but i'll save it for later na lang! haha >XD