Healthy Mind at Work

I got this email from our company HR and it kinda sank into me. I admire Singapore for being so helpful to their people and the people living here. For instance, the Health Promotion Board opened their helplines for employees who are having trouble or problems in their workplace. Mind you, this a free counseling session to anyone who feels they need someone to talk pertaining to their daily work-life challenge. This just shows that they value worker and people who strive hard to earn a living.

We lack these types of incentives in the Philippines. Our government should also think of employee welfare and psychological health in time like this. Kudos to Singapore for having such idea to help employees in need!

My 28th Birthday

Yep, I'm 28 years old already. Time really flies. I was really excited about my birthday because I've been preparing for it. I even bought a dress that I will wear for the whole day.

My day started at exactly 12MN or make it 11:59PM when Doms greeted me in Facebook.

He was beside me while writing this message and I was listening while he was reading a loud to me. I was so touched when I got this message. I'm so lucky to have a sweet, corny and funny hubby!

Around 5:00AM, I went online to talk to my parents, LA and Ate Bern. They greeted me and made me hear the "Happy Birthday" song.

So anyway, I was on leave on my birthday. Doms and I had dinner at Swensen's NEX and I loved the food that we ate.

The mussels were great! I didn't like the soup bowl that much but all in the food was great.

Aside from the camera that Doms bought me, he also gave me a birthday card and a very cute piggy shower cap.

After the wonderful late lunch, we went home to prepare for dinner. I wanted everybody to taste my pancit canton so I decided to cook pancit and order pizza. My visitors just includes our house mates and some friends.

Everybody was so full after the great dinner. There were a lot of left over pizza and pancit. I truly enjoyed my 28th birthday. Even if my family was far, my husband and friends were there to celebrate it with  me.

The next day at work, I also ordered chicken and I celebrated with some of my colleagues.

I'd like to thank everybody who greeted me on my birthday. It was surely an amazing event. I thanks God ofr giving me another year to celebrate. I got older but I know I got wiser.

sharing to everyone the camera that Doms bought me. Isn't it cool?!?!

So Paranoid!

Oh my! I know I should be excited and happy about our trip to Sydney but why I am so paranoid about it? It all started yesterday. On my way to work, the man standing in front of me in the train was reading the news and I saw the headline saying that some flights from Singapore Changi to Melbourne were canceled due to the volcanic clouds from Chile blocking the Australian air space.

I wanted to know more about what happened so I got my phone and searched for it. My search string was Qantas Airlines. To my surprise, a lot of news about flights of Qantas airways came out.

I started to panic but I forgot about it because I was working.

Today, I remembered it again. But instead of panicking, I started searching for prayers that will help me calm my nerves and to help me relax.

Lord calm my fear of flying. Let us have a safe flight on 12 and 16 July 2011 with no mechanical problems or turbulence or wherl/tire problems. Let us have a safe landing in Sydney and a safe take off from Singapore. Please let me feel the peace during the flight. In your name I pray.

Praise the Lord, O my soul. Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty. You wrap Yourself in light as with a garment; You stretch out the heavens like a tent and lay the beams of Your upper chambers on their waters. You make the clouds Your chariot. In the name of Jesus I resist fear of flying because You ride on the wings of the wind. Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great! You are an awesome God! 

I really wish and pray that everything will be OK during our vacation and trip.  I am excited already! I was even able to buy my jacket for our trip already. I really wish and pray that I stop being paranoid about this.

Please Lord, please!

Many Things to be Thankful For

It's the 1st of June and it's the half of the year already. I cannot believe that half of the year has gone by already. Time really flies! Just like my blog post title, I am really thankful for a lot of things. Yes, it's only been 6 months since 2011 started and a lot of events already transpired.

As of the moment, there are 2 things that I am happy about today. First, is the approval of our Tourist Visa in Australia. Yehey! Finally, Doms and I can officially plan for our Sydney Trip! Applying for our visa gave me sleepless nights because we had some "problems" about it. I kept on praying and praying to God asking him to give us a chance to experience Sydney and he did listen to our prayers. I knew it! Prayers are really powerful. We will be staying in Novotel Rockford in Darling Harbour. I love our hotel! It looks so nice and clean. The location was also great because it's near the Chinatown Monorail Station that goes directly to City Centre.

Photo: http://www.gostay.com.au/

 I am literally so excited already! I've listed all the places that we need to visit and things that we need to do already. We can finally have our picture taken in the Sydney Opera House! Doms' is very thrilled already! I really hope that we can save up enough money for our trip so we can really enjoy our vacation.

Photo: http://www.gritandglamour.com/

The next things that I am really thankful for is the birth of my new cousin, Baby J. She's called Baby J because she still doesn't have a name. My Tito Freddie started the "Name That Baby Name" Game were all the members of my family suggested names starting with the letter J.

My Tito recently announced to us that the baby will be named Janelle Erica or Jerica. She is very cute! I'm excited to see her already.

I know that I should also be thankful for the little things that we experience. It's just that 2 of instances above really made me happy. 

Joy in My Heart

The word JOY has been associated to a lot of things in countless occasions. One major LSS that I have now when I read the word Joy is the commercial of Micheal V about a dish washing liquid where he sings "J-O-Y, joy in our hearts. Deep, deep down in our hearts!". Even if I can still vividly see in my head Micheal V's OA expression in this commercial, his song really does mean a lot to me now.

Recently, I've been very sad and down because of all the problems that we are facing. There are times, during the course of my sadness, that I want to give up already and just leave everything and go somewhere or go back to the Philippines. Good thing my husband Doms is always with me to guide me. Knowing that he is such a positive person and that he sees things differently and positively fills my heart with joy. What will I do without him? He explains things to me so that I can see and understand the lighter side of worst scenarios. Thinking of Doms and knowing that he is my husband and he is with me forever makes me want to sing Micheal V's song and dance with it as well.

Image taken from Tumblr

Another thing that makes me want to sing and shout for joy is the fact that at least there is progress in the things that we are waiting for. We just learned that everything is OK and normal with Doms. So at least, there's a check mark on one of things that I've been praying for. Also, the bank seems to be moving along because we now know the "amount" that we have been waiting for. These things makes me smile because I know that God is listening to our prayers. It's just a matter of waiting patiently for the rest of the things that we have been praying for.

With the mentioned progress above, I know that my prayers are going somewhere and I have to continue praying.

Thank you Lord for making me feel joyous. Trusting you made my life easier.

The Moral, Hopefully

I pray a lot. I do and I really make sure that when I pray, I concentrate. I try my very best to focus but sometimes, my mind really creeps out of focus and think of other stuff that I worry about.

It's sad to know that in my 30-minute daily prayer time, which is the train ride from Admiralty to Clementi, half of it is spent on me thinking of what will be our dinner, where we will go for the weekend etc. etc. With this, the moral of the story, or the virtue that God wants me to see and understand is being covered by my other thoughts.

The answer is right in front of my face. I cannot see it because I am not focused and I am not concentrated on it. It has always been there and I neglected it.


It kinda reminded me of the time when Doms was having trouble with his Employment Pass here in Singapore 14 months ago. I was so stressed out on what will happen to him or whether he can stay here or are we going home already. I had many sleepless nights and I cried a ton of tears with this problem in our lives. But I never forgot to pray. I always pray. but because I was too busy thinking of other solutions and other things to do to solve the problem, I didn't care too much about the simplest and the most basic solution, Appeal.

Doms' company appealed for him. He submitted all the things that they need and he gave them all the papers and results that they want and he was given a pass.

I lacked Trust! I didn't trust the idea that the appeal will work and I didn't believe that it will solve our problems. I was way too busy with planning and crying. Just like now.

We are again spilled with another problem, our Aussie Visa. And again I am crying and stressing over this problem, but I am still praying. But I have this tendency to over-stress on things, even if I am praying.

Now, I again blinded will all of those thinking and crying, and I neglected the real solution, TRUST IN HIM!

Image taken from Tumblr

I don't know why I have doubts in leaving everything up to HIM. He has worked in mysterious and wondrous ways, but still, my reluctance to trust HIM is always there. I've praying and praying and crying so hard about this and I believe that her always answers me but I just don't get it.

Last Sunday, the Psalm during the mass was:

Lord, let you mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

 It was a clear answer! I just neglected it. Then, this morning's gospel mediation was:

So ask the Lord for the strength to remain faithful to his calling. Ask him for a deeper dedication to prayer and service. And if you fall— as Paul undoubtedly did from time to time— get back up! Don’t let bumps and bruises hinder you. Don’t get bogged down by the details. And by all means, don’t worry about success or failure. Just keep moving forward, and let God take care of his part!

“Lord, I trust that you will fully supply whatever I need!”

Psalm 145:10-13,21; John 14:27-31

It was all here! i will just leave up and offer HIM everything... I just hope I can do this. I need to trust HIM and let HIM guide us and not me, pre-empting everything. Just believe in HIM and let HIM do HIS magic.

TO whoever is reading this blog post, I hope you help me pray and also pray for me that I can totally let go and trust in HIS mercy and power. I need help in this because like I said, I have trust issues, but I am trying.

Thank you!

My Prayer for Today

Dearest Lord,

I implore you today! I thank you for all the blessings that you have showered me and Doms. I am sorry for the the times that I have neglected you and your call.

I am now again praying and asking you to intervene in our problems. You know everything about our problems! Please grant us what we intend to get. You have only to will it and everything will be OK. Please, give us this chance. I really hope that Doms and I can continue with our plans. I know we have been asking a lot from you but I know you are listening.

Dear Lord,

I offer you all my heartache and pain. I know I get this because I doubted your power. Please Lord, I hope you grant me and Doms what we pray for.

I lift up to you our future plans and actions. Please guide it and please make it all push through.



I also pray for my family and friends. May you continue loving and protecting them. Give special regard to Escie and Rudy for the loss of their son Rylee. May you give them hope and strength.





I also pray for our dearly beloved relatives Nanay Kikay and Jmitzi. I know they are both happy there with you. May they help me and Doms in our trials and tribulations.

I know that everything will be in accordance to your will. May we accept and embrace whatever it is.

This I ask in your most holy name, Amen.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Royal Wedding Day

Yup, today is the day when my ex-crush Prince William will marry the love if his life, Kate. I am really excited about this event. I particularly like the fairy tale story of how they met and eventually fell in love.

I want to see Kate's wedding gown! I read somewhere that her gown will be a vintage Alexander McQueen creation! Shucks! I love it!

I wore my peach flower top today to commemorate William and Kate's wedding. I love this top!

I also brought along my heavy laptop to work so I can watch the wedding live this afternoon. I really wish I can get a trusted and nice URL for the live streaming.

Doms' Fascination with Musical Instruments

OK, I know I married a music buff. Ever since Doms and I first met, I already know that he loves music and that he loves playing musical instruments. He used to play in a band when he was in college as a bassist.

Well anyway, Doms bought a guitar from Manila and bought it all the way here in Singapore last January. He kept on saying he missed playing the guitar and that he will sing for me so I agreed to it.

He loves playing his guitar! I like hearing him play because he sings along every time he plays the guitar.

Now, his fascination is towards playing the violin! He said he wanted to start playing the violin. I immediately said NO! Because how can he learn to play it? But Doms insisted that he can learn.

Oh no, how can I get out of this?

Migraine Sucks!!!

Well, it’s my time of the month and I really hate it when this happens.

Every month, when my “visitor” comes, I get abdominal pains, recurrent migraines, back pains and bad stomach aches. Aside from these, I also get very emotional and I get very moody.

It’s really hard being a girl. It’s fun if it’s not my period days. I wish there’s a way where I can skip these days. It really affects my work and my attitude.

Source: http://www.divapor.com/

Really Wishing Hard

Lately, I've been wishing and praying so hard for a lot of stuff. These "stuff" are not only material things but also stuff for our future.

I know I cannot get them all at the same time. I am also open to the fact that I might not even get them at all. But I know that God is listening to all my prayers and I also know that He will give me a chance to have them.

Just this morning, I was praying so hard for Doms and his employment pass. His renewal was approved already but until now, he still isn't scheduled to appear in MOM because there are some other requirements from his company that are needed before the appointment. I really wish that everything will be OK with the requirements so that he can go to MOM and have his new pass processed so he can get the actual pass on time for our Manila vacation.

Blessed Apostle St. Jude, we call upon you for help in hope and utmost confidence.  St Jude renowned help of the hopeless, come to my aid in this time of distress.  St. Jude, cousin of our Lord, obtain from our Savior the favors I now need and seek.

Then, I was also praying for our future "humble abode" in Manila. Ever since we got married, Doms and I wanted our own house. Whether be it a separate detached house or a condominium unit, we wanted to have a place of our own. There are a lot of plans for this one and currently this situation is taking up most of my energy. I always pray for this and I want this to go through. Doms and I are both excited with this to the point that we search for house designs already and we imagine how our future home will look like.

O Holy St Jude!
Apostle and Martyr,
great in virtue and rich in miracles,
near kinsman of Jesus Christ,
faithful intercessor for all who invoke you,
special patron in time of need;
to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart,
and humbly beg you,
to whom God has given such great power,
to come to my assistance;
help me now in my urgent need and grant my earnest petition.
I will never forget thy graces and favors you obtain for me
and I will do my utmost to spread devotion to you.Amen.

Tehre are other stuff that I want but these 2 are the greatest. I really hope that I can have the virtue of patience so that I can wait for these events to happen. I know that God will give us a chance to experience all of the wishes that we have. 

50 Ways to cope with Stress

Source: http://bookmania.tumblr.com/page/6

Found this while browsing my Tumblr. Virtual highlighting SAY "NO" MORE OFTEN. that's for YOU!

Hates

I really hate a lot of things. Just now, I learned something that really made me so mad. I hate what's happening and I hate my reaction to it.

It's really hard for me to deal with things and situations that I hate. I just want to run away and forget about it. But the problem with forgetting about the things that I hate is that when I get to hear them again in the future, it brings back the hatred and the bad feelings that I shoved aside.

SHIT! I just burned my tongue again! I hate it when this happens.

I also hate it when I am not a priority. Well, who would like that?

I hate it when people are not vocal about the right thing. It's the RIGHT thing, fight for it! In this life, accepting and accepting that you need to do this or you need to do that will be your downfall. you should know when to say stop!

Problem is, maybe you think I am not worth the fight and this makes me hate you more.

30 Day Photo Challenge - Failed!

I know I promised I will try my best to finish the 30 Day Photo Challenge. Turns out that I promised a lot. I cannot finish the challenge :(

I've been busy and I really don't have the extra time to keep up with the "demands" of the challenge. I really wanted to finish it but I'm way behind it already.

Sorry!

Ironically Excited About Our Short Manila Vacation this Holy Week

OK, I know that it's my third Manila vacation for this year and I shouldn't be excited because, yeah, it's my third vacation. But I couldn't help it! Going back to Manila just for a short time makes me want to plan my whole wardrobe and list the things I need to buy in the grocery and make a schedule so that we can eat on the all the places that I want to eat in.

Sure I can't fit all these activities, but there's no harm trying right? So, I'm posting here our tentative schedule.

SEGWAY
I remember Doms creating a schedule for our Pinas vacation. Here it is:

Good thing the words were not clear because of my screen capture. I liked the schedule but it was too cramped. Best part of his note was "shopping galore" scheduled on Sunday. As if may pang-shopping sha!

Anyway, my tentative schedule wouldn't be as detailed as our previous schedules. I will enumerate first the stuff that i would like to do and the places I want to go and the food that I want to eat!


Activities
Stations of the Cross in Bonifacio High Street
Bisita Iglesia in Sanctuario de San Antonio, Santa Clara, Padre Pio Churches
Kalbaryo Procession
Tagaytay!
Meet Friends from Lawson, UST and Fairview
Malling in Glorietta, Trinoma, Greenbelt
Shopping!

Food
Home Cooked by my Mom: Tinapa and Adobong Pusit *
Jollibee
McDonalds
Dampa *
Banapple *
Abe
Josephine's Tagatay *
Goldilocks
Kanin Club
Pancit Palabok
Sisig
Pochero
Taho
Palitaw
Suman

Ayan na! All the things that I want to do during our short Pinas vacation.I know these won't fit in our 5-day vacation but at least I was able to sort out my mind na. I really hope that we can try all of these stuff.

Countdown: 22 days to go!

Where?

Where will our feet take us next? I don't care. As long as we are together, I know I will enjoy it.

Macaron What?

OK, I haven't tried or tasted a single macaron in my entire life. I have seen thousands of macarons in ads, posters and in even the display cabinets of bake shops but I haven't had the guts to buy and taste one single piece. I've been so amused about how a macaron looks like.

So, it's a big possibility that later, when Doms and I eat dinner in ION, I will be passing by any macaron store that I see just to buy one piece and taste it.

I hope I do!

Happy Birthday Biba

Today is my Lola's 86th birthday. Happy, Happy Birthday to you, Biba! Too bad Doms and I and Ate Bern cannot attend your dinner party later. I will just call you later during the party.

From L - R: LA, Ate Bern, Dindin, Biba, Mom and Dad

Enjoy!

Blog Promises Part 1

Now that I always make sure to update my blog, I will try my best to improve it as much as I can. Here are my blog improvement promises list that I really hope I can do:

• I promise to always put a watermark on all the pictures that I took or edited or customized.
• I promise to always put my online signature in every post, except for post authored using my iPhone.
• I promise to always put credits to pictures I get online or quote the site for info that I get online.
• I promise to make sure that I have updated and recent content so that my blog would be interesting.

I hope I can make and do all of the promises I listed above.

Enjoy!

Hypochondriasis Feeling, Go Away

Am I experiencing hypochondria?

Why is it every time I read about a sickness or illness, I always think I have that sickness? Is it because I can feel the pain of the symptoms? Is it because I read too much information about a sickness online?

SEGWAY
I saw this site online that made me laugh. Confession of a Hypochondriac This could be me and my site!

Hypochondria refers to the excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. It is often characterized by fears that minor bodily symptoms may indicate a serious illness, constant self-examination and self-diagnosis, and a preoccupation with one's body.

A few months before the wedding, I was feeling sick mainly because my manager had an ovarian operation. I instantly thought I also have a cyst in my ovary.  I went to 2 doctors in Manila just to have my reproductive organs checked. I had a pap smear, abdominal ultrasound and other tests done to me just to see if I also have cyst similar to my boss. Everything turned up as an infection and I was given medicine.

I was so worried and I always had sleepless nights thinking about the cyst.

I thought my worrying is over, until I felt the stabbing pain in my abdomen again. I am now thinking, maybe this pain is not about my reproductive organs. Maybe this pain is about my Kidney or my Liver?

See, hypochondria feeling again!

Photo Credits

I hate this feeling! I want this to go away!