The Happies and the Crappies

taken from the jeepney last weekend

As soon as I woke up today, I immediately turned on the television to hear news about the Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name - Haiyan). Goosebumps all over my body and my tears just fell without warning upon seeing its wrath... and I could only whisper a prayer for all the people affected by the typhoon. This one's very strong - it almost covered the entire country, and I just feel sad with all the things this country had to endure - war, string of typhoons, massive earthquake.

So okay, let's start this post with the crappies.

• Receiving a statement of account from my Internet provider, even if my account has been disconnected. Well, the bill stated I owe them ZERO pesos, but it was a little irritating that after a staff of their office told me it was indeed disconnected, I learned that it wasn't permanently disconnected yet. I will be visiting their office to request for permanent disconnection this weekend.
• Heartburn. I ate fried food yesterday and today... and now I am feeling a lot of discomfort.
• Sniffles and coughs. 
• An old lady bullying me while I was at the nearby supermarket. What's irritating was that this lady owes my mom some money and she had the nerve to speak ill of her. 

Even with the crappies, there are still reasons to be grateful.

Taking time to walk, and enjoy the beauty of nature.


Baking cupcakes using the oven toaster.


Receiving the Starbucks Card I won from a giveaway hosted by The Peach Kitchen. Sister was happier than I am because she loves Starbucks and she was the one who told me about the giveaway, and to up the chances to win, I joined, too. I told her that if I win, I will give the card to her, so when I finally received it, I immediately gave it to her.


Book happiness! One week ago, me buying three bottles of nail polish caused me not to buy two books from Booksale, and when the family went back to the mall a few days after, I was really thankful that the books were still there... and I also got to buy a book costing just 5 pesos! Yesterday, I finally received the books I ordered from a seller I met through Instagram... and I am very happy that my Fifty Shades books are now complete! :D

More random happies:

• My mom supporting our crazy ideas. I painted my nails blue, sister asked me to paint her nails white. We thought it would be nice to have our pictures look like the flag, so I painted my mom's toenails red. Hehehehe.
• The scale said I lost one pound. :D
• K sent me an e-mail sharing pictures from a family member's wedding... it makes me happy that he treats me as part of his family by sharing personal images from home. Congratulations, N & T!
• After a week of taking my Biotin Multi supplements, I am starting to feel its good effect - my hair is becoming stronger and fuller, and my nails are becoming stronger, too.

It's been raining here since this afternoon. It's not heavy, but it's not stopping as well. We here may not feel the typhoon's wrath, but our heart and prayers goes to everyone who are affected.

* Jenn *

 

What's Up With Me?

I was quite surprised when I realized that it was nearly a month ago when I last updated this blog. Well, currently I am in the process of adjustment - adjusting to brother leaving, adjusting to mom being here at home, adjusting to my sister's ever changing work shift. Almost all house chores became my responsibility now that brother is no longer here to share the load, and balancing everything was a little too difficult for me to handle and it resulted in a very mild depression. At the moment I could say that I have found the light at the end of the tunnel - I have learned to manage my time well, so I guess it is safe to say that I can now start blogging again.

The past month brought me so much joy despite the big adjustment.


I won a new phablet - the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 through a food photography contest hosted by Nom Nom Club. There were a lot of bloggers who hosted this giveaway (nearly 10, in my knowledge) and I joined in three. Nom Nom Club was the first one to announce a winner, and I was over the top happy to win. It was a very sweet victory because the very first task to do was to share the giveaway on Facebook tagging four friends, and tagging two of my blogger friends got them to learn about the giveaway and in the end, they were runner ups on the contest. These two friends of mine are really good in taking food pictures, so I was really happy that I got to win.




Last weekend of August, us three girls traveled to Boracay to use the accommodation GCs my sister and I won when we attended the Enjoy Philippines Mid-Year Party. It was my sister's first time to ride the plane, and I was sad for her because it wasn't really that much of  a pleasant experience because our flight was delayed. From 2:30pm, we left Manila at 7:30pm, and it was already past 11pm when we reached Boracay (we took a flight going to Kalibo, which is still two hours away from Boracay by bus). Supposedly, mom was to sleep with me at Alta Vista de Boracay, but knowing that I still had to take the van going to the resort, she decided to stay with sister at The Tides Boracay.

It wasn't really a good time to visit Boracay because of endless rains the country was experiencing at that time. The beautiful beach wasn't as beautiful that time, and it was difficult to enjoy when the rain was always pouring. Still, I was glad that my mom and sister loved the experience and were very much open to travel back there for we weren't able to do the things we wanted to do because of the rains.



Two weekends ago, I was happy to be back inside The Maya Kitchen, attending another food class... this time with my sister. I also got to share some snacks with her before I went to SM Mall of Asia to attend the Grand Inaanak Day at the SMX Convention Center hosted by Max's Chicken.

At the event, I got to spend time with my dear blogger friend Vance, who just lost 20lbs (give or take) using a diet + body toning program. I am happy for her to have found something that would work for her, and she just inspired me to work harder on my own fitness program. Well, hers was a very effective program, but I don't have the money to enroll myself in it, so I will just stick to my own programs.

Despite the many lapses in my weight loss journey, I am happy to say that I was able to maintain my weight. No changes... I still am at 214lbs., but I am looking forward to losing weight and target 190lbs. by the end of the year.



Hello, Monday!

What Made Me Happy The Past Week

I don't get to update my blogs that much, but I am re-learning how to properly multitask, especially now that I am going back to my fitness routine come August.

Last week, I...


...had a hair cut after one and a half years. Not having good hair makes me not mind my hair that much. I do shampoo it, of course, but treatments and salon visits aren't my cup of tea. After a year and a half since my last haircut, I noticed split, dry, and coarse ends, and the better way to handle it is to cut it. I was a little upset that the hairdresser just cut my hair straight and blow dried it (I should've just asked my mom to do it), but I am happy to have it cut. I am thinking of having my hair treated soon, but maybe after we got home from Boracay.

...arranged the Boracay trip. When siblings and I attended the Enjoy Philippines mid-year party, sister and I won a GC each for a Boracay accommodations. Her GC will expire by the end of October, and because we will be traveling to La Union that time, we had to find a time before October to use it. She found an open time next month, and because it is a long weekend and that several people also won the same GCs and might use it at the same time, we had to reserve the rooms as early as now. I was able to reserve the rooms and was able to book our flights, but I stumbled a stupid mistake when I booked the flight. With several airlines to choose from and with a few attempts to book a flight, I got a little confused and entered my name instead of my mom's, so when I received the e-mail confirming our flight, I was shocked to see two passengers named Jennifer. I booked the flight at 9pm, and was thankful that the airlines' hotline was open 'til 10pm. I immediately brought up my concern, got scolded (a little) by the airline staff, but she corrected the mistake without any fee. What a sigh of relief! Boracay, here we come!


...I got to spend a day of coffee goodness with blogger friends! Last Saturday, I was invited to a Green Bean Organic Coffee tour, visiting their branches around the Metro. On our last stop, we were given a chance to taste the Civet Coffee, and I loved it! Not only that, we were also treated to an awesome lunch at dinner... and we all went home with fuller than full tummies!

Since I took a break from diet and exercise before my holiday with K, I have had so many food trips, and since my mom has already retired from work, being with her all day has prevented me from skipping meals. I didn't step on the scales since my break, and this morning, I was prepared to be shocked over the weight gain... but there must be some kind of a miracle - my weight is still the same. I am very grateful to know that!

My brother left for Cagayan de Oro yesterday. He is now going to live there, so I now sleep in his room, clearing the living room of my mattress. I am sad that he is far from us now... but I am happy for him, wanting to take his relationship with his girlfriend to a deeper level. We are a family of hearty eaters, but I think my brother's the one with the biggest appetite among us, and now that is away, his absence would give a chance for the girls and I to regulate our food intake. "Dieting" will be easier for me now... and I am excited to go back on track again.

Hanson Happiness!

If you recall last May, us friends made a collective order for some Hanson merchandise. The band recently made their newest studio album "Anthem" available for pre-order, and because it is very possible that the CD won't be released here in the Philippines, the only way we could get ahold of it was to order directly to the hanson website.

The package arrived mid-June. Technically, we were one of the fans who had the CD before it was released to the market. However, because it was a group order and that we had to settle the shipping bill at Johnny Air Cargo, finding a day for all of us to be available was the most difficult thing to settle. Actually, we were supposed to meet two Sundays ago, but it was cancelled because a few of us had last minute plans.


We were supposed to meet on the 28th, but with so many fans posting about all things Anthem, Anne's sister Jo decided we should meet so we could start enjoying our items. Not all of us were there, but the people who couldn't come just sent their share of the shipping fee so we could collect the package.



Our order was over $300, so like the previous group order they had last year, there was a freebie. Taking aside all the items ordered, the freebie turned out to be the Shout it Out fabric bag. Inside the box were six Anthem deluxe packages, two Anthem silver packages, a Macbook sticker, clothespins... and the Hansonopoly board game, something that made me drool because I also want to have one, but it was expensive. I'd rather save up for the 5 of 5 DVD set.


I ordered for the Anthem deluxe package worth $25. It includes the Anthem audio CD and the De Constructed Anthem DVD, a video featuring the band performing seven of the thirteen songs from the album. This is the band's 8th studio album, and yes, I do own all. :)


Since there is only one freebie, it was decided to be raffled off. The people who weren't there to collect their items weren't included in the raffle, so only three of us were part of it. From the get go, upon knowing what the freebie was, I told them that I want and I will win it... and the universe aligned to my advantage again because I won! Friends were surprised that I won, but they were more surprised at how lucky I am with raffles, because a year ago, I won a ticket to Hanson's concert.

I am super duper grateful for winning the bag. In a way, it was some sort of a consolation because I didn't win the iPad mini at the Pancake House raffle (that's a different story), but I guess I am not meant to win the gadget because I was meant to win this.

The bag is so precious that I don't know if I am going to use it. Well, it's been raining every now and then, and this being a fabric bag, I think it is much better to keep this and use it on a sunny day.

All images were taken and edited using the Cymera app. It's one of my favorite photography apps!