Life Lately

I cannot believe how fast 2022 is moving and it's heading toward the most festive time of the year. The holidays are just around the corner and so far I've started shopping for Christmas decorations for our tree but haven't started shopping for Christmas presents yet. I have a lot going on lately, more specifically with my health. 

I am taking the time to focus on the illness that I was recently diagnosed with called hyperthyroidism. To make the long story short, no matter how I try to keep a healthy lifestyle, it's just simply inevitable, because it's hereditary. As per Google, Hyperthyroidism happens when your thyroid gland produces too much of the hormone thyroxine. I've been having symptoms early on this year but thought they were just simple muscle stiffness on my legs from sitting way too long since I was still working from home at that time. Apart from muscle weakness, I also noticed that I've been losing weight pretty fast even if my appetite is still the same. I didn't think it was something serious until the muscle cramps worsened. An incident in the bathroom caused an alarm when I fell on my knees, I couldn't get up because of muscle stiffness I had to make my way out by crawling on the floor. It finally gave me a reason to go see a doctor. I was prescribed multivitamins and B12 for a month and was given a request to have my X-ray and bloodwork done. When I went back to the doctor with all the test results, I kind of have a gut feeling that I might be suffering from hyperthyroidism already because I have a twin sister who's had it before but now she has hypothyroidism, the opposite of what I have after some radioactive treatment was done to the thyroid gland that requires her to be on medication for life. I'm just waiting for confirmation until the doctor said that I was indeed, a hyperthyroid. I was like, great...now I have it too. I was quite disappointed but what can you do with an illness that is just waiting to happen? As expected, the game plan is to take hyperthyroid medication. 

I've only been taking my hyperthyroid medicine for two weeks, until just recently, on my third week, I started having allergic reactions. I developed hives that come and go at first. They were super itchy, and I couldn't help myself but scratch until it's becoming way too unbearable I had to rush myself to the emergency room of the hospital where my doctor instructed me in case this happened. According to my doctor that an allergic reaction to the type of medicine that was prescribed to me is rare, but for someone like me who has a history of allergy to certain medications, that rarity could happen and unfortunately, it did. Allergic reactions to a certain type of medicine can be life-threatening which is why I am making sure to take note of medicines that I am allergic to. At the moment, I am on my way to recovery from my allergies and haven't been prescribed any medicine yet for my hyperthyroidism until I have my bloodtest done again. 

I may be sick but this will not dampen my holiday spirit because life goes on y'all. I hope I get a medicine that will work for me that will not cause any more allergies. It's only a few more days left until Christmas and I'm quite excited about the coming days, are you?

Halfway Through 2022

Time flies when you're busy, isn't it? I've been working from so I lose track of time, and then boom! It's August already. Freelancing is pretty convenient, but just like any other job, it's exhausting even if you work from home. Working from home is still better, at least for me because I'm an introvert, also not to mention that it pays well even if it means losing a good night's sleep. I'm not a morning person, but if you're someone like me who has worked graveyard shifts for a very long time, I still hope I get to work in the morning but earn as if you are working at night if you know what I mean. I'm not complaining, just saying.

Okay, so I have been online shopping a lot lately. I must say that I'm a lot lazy to go out since the pandemic simply because everything is readily available on the Internet. Oh, by the way, I and sissy got a kitten 2 months ago from our neighborhood through Facebook which means that our 10-year-old cat is now a big brother to a three-month-old sweet baby girl. Imagine how long it took us to finally adopt another cat. Just last month we adopted a male puppy from the sister of our kitten's previous owner. Everything just happened so fast. I just feel sad that animals without breed are often ignored, something I don't understand. I and my siblings decided to adopt a "puspin and aspin" because they are just as loveable, cute and most of all, not high-maintenance. Animals are animals regardless of their breed. 

I've been feeling restless lately, I need my strength back. I've missed a lot of apples too maybe that's why, they say an apple a day, keeps the doctor away. Yeah, I need plenty of apples. 😛😍🍏

5 Tips to Beat the Heat this Summer

Hello April, my birthday month. It is officially the start of dry season in the Philippines and the weather is becoming extremely unbearable as summer reaches its peak. I enjoy summer a lot and look forward to it every year. It's the season when lots of flowers bloom and vegetables grow well (love 'em veggies!). They say summer is the best and worst of times. It is the best simply because of the warm weather, picnics and beach trips with family and friends. Staring at blue skies and waiting for everything to dry in no time is also a wonderful feeling. The worst things about summer are heat exhaustion, sunburns, bugs and drought.   

Summer fatigue is not uncommon. According to an article "Why Does Being in the Heat Makes Us Feel Tired?" from scientificamerican.com, our body, especially in the sun, has to work hard to maintain a consistent, normal, internal temperature. A hot summer day makes our body work overtime. 

So how do we combat heat exhaustion? Let me share 5 tips on how to beat summer heat.

1. Stay hydrated

Over half of the human body is made of water. When our cells are not properly hydrated, it can lead to exhaustion, headaches and more serious symptoms. Make sure to have a bottle of water handy to replenish fluid loss. Electrolyte-infused waters and healthy drinks that are rich in electrolytes such as coconut water, fruit juices and sports drink are also good alternatives. 

2.  Wear comfortable clothes

Wearing loose clothes, light colored, and fabrics such as cotton, linen or silk helps combat body heat. Wearing a hat and sunglasses is also a good way to keep cool under direct exposure to sunlight.

3. Have an umbrella handy

Rain or shine I make it a habit to bring an umbrella simply because it is helps limit sun exposure during summer or from getting soaked on rainy days. Umbrella protects us from heat coming from the sun in the form of radiation that can cause damage to eyes, skin and immune system.

4. Take a lukewarm shower

I always thought that taking a cold show during summer is a good thing, but scientists suggest that this makes you feel even hotter. That's because when you take a cool shower your body has to work harder to warm up again. Studies suggest that warm water cools your bloodstream. So, opting for a lukewarm shower is a better option.

5. Eat lighter and healthier

Eating healthier food such as salads and high-water-content fruits and vegetables, won’t strain and overheat our digestive system. Our body requires the nutrients to fight the heat and keep us healthy.

There you have it folks. Hope these 5 tips will help make summer more meaningful and enjoyable. 

Hello 2022!

 Just dropping by to say Happy New Year!!!

Welcome 2022! Stay safe.

Countdown to Christmas

It's 60 more days till Christmas and there's no slowing down, I guess as soon as we hit the 'BER months.' It's also the last week of October and Halloween is fast approaching too. The pandemic is still here so as much as I would like to go out, I'd rather not. They say that the virus spread is starting to slow down but I really doubt it until the whole population gets tested. It's good to know that more people are getting vaccinated because it's better than nothing at all, at least for our peace of mind. 

Sissy and I are still working on our vegan holiday menu. We'd like to try recipes that are easy to prepare and with accessible ingredients of course. It's been three years since we went vegan and I'm happy that the number of online vegan stores are sprouting like mushrooms which is a good sign because it only means that the demand for vegan food especially during the pandemic, is increasing. I've been meaning to grow vegetables in our backyard and tried quite a few times as well, but I don't know why they end up dying maybe I just need to take it a bit more seriously. Thank God for the gift of chayote fruits that just grows at the back of our house that we can harvest for free. I just wish that the demand for vegan processed food will continue to increase so that more supermarkets will offer it, that way, the cost will be reduced if there's more competition --- talk about the law of supply and demand. 

Since I'm done shopping for holiday presents, now I'm looking to buy stuff for our dinner table. The holidays can be really costly but if decorating is your thing just like me, I'm pretty sure you'll find a way to save up for it especially if it makes you happy. Gosh, I'm just really excited for the holidays!

Hello "BER" Months

Hello September! I may be a week late in welcoming the start of "ber" months but I'm happy that it is the start of the season that "sparks joy" to me. You can tell that I have been watching a lot of "Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo" on Netflix and to be honest, I kinda like it because I've done a lot of decluttering in my life so I can pretty much relate. 

These past few months, my sisters and I have started decluttering, we've disposed stuff that we don't need anymore and sold those that others might still find useful. It goes to say, that we cannot hold on to material things forever but we can always hold on to memories. I still keep job related stuff from my previous jobs like ATMs, health cards, ID lanyards and stuff but I've thrown away my old pay slips, contracts and many other documents and recycled some because most of it have empty back pages and can still used as scratch papers to save trees. To be honest, I don't know why I've kept those for such a long time, until I realized that I'm just keeping garbage for roaches to feast on. I'm no pack rat, thank God, because I know when to stop collecting things. I can say that one of my most priced possessions are old pictures of my family and pets but I kept them safe by storing them online. The hard copies are on regular photo albums and scrapbooks that my twin sister and I started making as a hobby years ago. So you see, it's good to keep stuff that brings joy and reminiscing on good memories, is just part of life. We can always make new memories but in order to do so, we have to let go of stuff that have bad energies and stuff.

Our holiday theme this year

So September is here, which means that I will be busy planning on our holiday decors, gifts, food, etc. My twin and I are always spearheading holiday related stuff in our family because we are always excited to do so. Our holiday theme this year consists of three colors: midnight blue, gold and teal. We'd like to have dark colors this time because we had light colors last year like champagne and rose gold. Thanks to Pinterest, where we always find holiday inspirations every year. But seriously, who does not enjoy Pinterest? You can pretty much find everything you need just by browsing the app, from room decor inspo to fashion, makeup or just anything under the sun. 

I enjoy decorating and planning, I've always plan our travels every year for our birthday but since sissy and I don't get to travel anymore because of the pandemic, I'll just channel my energy on planning holiday stuff, lol. I've already started window shopping but online (I don't know if there's a term for that, hehe) for possible gifts and additional ornaments for our Christmas tree and for our table setting. I still have a lot of ideas, but of course, budget is important in decorating... the cheaper, the better but without sacrificing coherence. Anyone can decorate but it is important to have great eye on details. I just cannot wait to start decorating but I think it's a bit too early to start bringing out holiday decors so we'll just see about that. 

'Tis the season to be grateful and joyous and everything. Does the holiday season spark joy to you? SO BE IT. 

Empowered Consumerism: Legit or Scam?

Homebased, chat-based, copy-paste, script provided, students/full-timers/part-timers all welcome, earn 3-5k a week....too good to be true? I know, very promising indeed especially if you need ways to earn money during the pandemic. You might have come across these type of advertisements on Facebook and to be honest, it is rather interesting because it seem like a piece of cake plus you get to earn without leaving the comforts of your own home. 

I must admit that I also got curious just like most people, also because I have chat support experience both office based and home based so I thought it wouldn't hurt if I give it a shot and see what the fuzz is all about. To make the long story short, I signed up for it. I was asked to provide basic information like my name, address and contact number (I did not disclose my real name and complete address by the way for security reasons). I was provided a webinar schedule (simply put, it's just as simple as an online or web-based seminar) and a link to a certain Facebook group that I needed to have access to so I can attend the webinar on the given date and time. I attended the webinar as I was supposed to. As a protocol prior to the start of the webinar, you have to provide the name of the person who endorsed you which everyone did. The facilitator was presentable, he did the usual check to ensure that everyone can see and hear him clearly. I'm lucky to have fast Internet at home so I did not experience any lag at all. The facilitator set the expectation that the webinar will last for an hour and a half and did a little introduction of himself as well as the company he represent. He talked about "empowered consumerism" which I think I've heard before. There were proofs of how legit the company is, as well as testimonials from those people who made it big. Everything was just so promising and convincing. The webinar was not boring at all because it was spoken in the vernacular. Everyone was glued to the littlest details. Let's just be honest, if it has something to do with money, who would wanna miss a thing right? Everything was pretty straightforward but within the course of the webinar, I started having doubts as to how something with very little effort can let you earn so much? They say that it is not a job so it's not for people who are looking for one but it is a simple task for those who are willing to work hard. I told myself, how is this even possible? 

I worked 13 years in various BPO industries but did not earn as much as these people did. I was almost willing to give it a go and waited until almost the end of the webinar only to find out that, of all the 1k plus attendees, only 200 will be given a chance and in order to qualify, you have to pay almost 9 grand to be given an account number where you will have access to all your future earnings. I told myself maybe this was the catch after all. It was kind of disappointing, at least in my opinion, because the reason why you are looking for ways to earn more is because you needed money which means that shelling out money is out of the question. 

So what exactly is "empowered consumerism"? When I Googled it, this definition came up:

"The empowered consumer has used information technology to shift the balance of power away from sellers and towards themselves, allowing unprecedented price and choice control. ... Rather, it is a change in consumers' expectations about their interactions with suppliers and partners."

I am totally not against finding ways to earn especially if it helps uplift the quality of lives of our countrymen especially when times are tough however, please be reminded that whatever it is that you are willing to invest, bear in mind that there are no guarantees and nothing comes easy though it may seem like it. 

 

So, is "empowered consumerism" legit or scam? You be the judge.

Another B-Day in Pandemic

I just turned a year older yesterday and I still can't believe that the pandemic is still here. Oh well, nobody knows for sure how many more birthdays we all get to spend with this pandemic but somehow I am grateful that despite of all that's been happening, I am still here.  

I celebrated my birthday in private as usual, which I like a lot because I'm not a people person and I'm happy to spend it only with people who matters to me. I don't mind if it's just two or three people as long as I'm happy. Some friends greeted me and my twin on social media and I'm glad that they remembered and nobody asked why they weren't invited, well, given the situation. 

My twin and I did all the cooking and decorating which we love to do anyway on any special occasion in our family. We had vegan food, Netflix marathon and exchanged birthday presents later on. I got a Snoopy pillow from sissy whilst I got her a mini tv bluetooth speaker in return  Overall it was just a very chill birthday celebration but I enjoyed it a lot and I am more than happy to still get to celebrate. I guess we all just have to make the most of life because we'll never know when it'll be our last. Life gets more and more unpredictable so savour every moment while you still can. Birthdays come and go and while most people say "YOLO" or you only live once, I say you live everyday and die once, but if you believe if reincarnation, maybe not. On a serious note, live every moment, seize the day because we only pass through this life once. 

All Vegan Menu

HBD to me

Birthday Vegan stash 

Pandemic Bayanihan

I’m just counting the days until my birthday and I’m kinda getting used to celebrating the holidays in pandemic including my birthday. Thank God I’m not into big celebrations and stuff, I prefer to celebrate in private and would not mind not having people around aside from family members. One of the many perks of being an introvert is not having the fear of missing out on anything, because what is it that I’m going to miss out in the outside world anyway? Since the pandemic started, I feel like we are living in a biohazard planet. It’s like the air we breathe in these days is not safe anymore, I’m not even sure if I can stop wearing a mask even after the pandemic ends. I don't think I'm being paranoid because it's better to be a germophobe than be too comfortable because the world we're living in has become way too dangerous. 

Community pantries sprouted like mushrooms all over the country

I hate being pessimistic but it happens all the time especially if what I see in the news every day is nothing but bad news. But looking at the bright side of it, I think the pandemic is not so bad after all, it also brings out the good in people. When some parts of the country was put on ECQ again, people have no choice but to stay home again just when things are slowly starting to somehow go back to normal. Getting aid from the government is a tedious process especially for those who need it the most. It is rather frustrating to see people go hungry and resort to doing bad things so they can feed their families. But those days are gone. When help started pouring in from private individuals, a lot more followed. A community pantry organized by Patricia Non went viral about a week ago which paved way for over a hundred more community pantries nationwide. Despite of red tagging issues, the pandemic bayanihan continues which only proves that nothing can stop the Filipino spirit from spreading positivity and goodwill because if we will not help each other, then who will? 

Hello B-Day Month

April is here, yay! My birth month. This will be my second pandemic birthday. It's been over a year since the pandemic started but it seems nothing has changed. While other countries are slowly opening their economies and going back to normal, we are back to where we started, even worse. More and more people are getting vaccinated but it does not mean the pandemic will be over soon because as long as there is no cure, there is no end to this. 

As much as I do not want to think about all the negativities in the world right now, I just couldn't help it because it has changed the world so much. Anyhow, I am keeping myself busy with other things like home modifications while I'm not busy with my online business. Just like any type business or industry, there are highs and lows but that is not reason enough to be disheartened, take it as a challenge. 

At the moment, I keep myself busy by doing some minor home modifications like installing wallpapers, painting walls, etc. I made a few projects and I love how it turned out. You can find some of my recent projects on my most recent vlog by clicking on the video below.

I guess life goes on no matter how hard it is. We have to keep going and find things that'll make us happy. So what keeps you happy and sane these days? 

Keep safe everyone. 

DIY Projects on a Budget: Upcycling Furnitures (How I Made Our Old Console Table New Again)

Making DIY projects is such a fun and rewarding activity. It keeps creative juices flowing and also a good way to de-stress. I don’t usually make drastic changes especially when it comes to old furnitures, as much as possible. My project last year included upcycling narra sets for our dining and living room however, it was nothing major since I just applied varnish to make them look new again. 

I started doing minor home improvements last year because the pandemic got me all bored. A lot of things were put on hold during lockdown I feel like I needed to do something. So when restrictions are more relaxed, I told myself that it’s now or never.

Come January this year, sissy and I decided to convert one of the bedrooms into a home office and we moved a lot of stuff from our own bedroom there in order to free up a lot of space including the black wooden cabinet/shelf where we pretty much put all our office supplies. For my first DIY project, I bought a roll of faux wood wallpaper to upcycle the cabinet/shelf since it’s a lot cheaper compared to buying a liter of paint. A 10-meter long wallpaper goes a long way in fact I was able to use it on our old computer table, utility kitchen cupboard and plastic cabinets as well. I also did a makeover of our utility kitchen walls and bought a few sheets of foam brick stickers. It looked so much better after that it inspired me to think of more DIY stuff.  

Our home office

A roll of wallpaper goes a long way

Our Utility Kitchen is looking neat
with these foam brick wall stickers

One of the things that’s been bothering me for quite sometime now, is our old, rustic console table. It’s a hand-me-down furniture from a previous neighbor and when we first got it, it was in a really bad shape. Since I didn't know much about upcycling furnitures back then, my sister and I decided to just do the usual thing, we applied varnish after sanding until it looked new again. It stayed like that for a few years until something happened that caused a slight damage to the tabletop. One night, our house almost caught fire due to a lit candle that was left unattended. Thank goodness no one was harmed but that incident left like an ugly scar on the far right side of the console's tabletop. It was so obvious that we just covered it with a table runner. I thought it was beyond repair until I found different ways of upcycling furnitures on the Internet.

Our old, rustic console table 
before upcycling it

These drawers need
some work

When February came, I already have a lot of ideas on what I would like to do with it. But before starting any project, I make sure to find inspiration first, Pinterest is actually my bestfriend when it comes to DIY stuff because it has a bunch of really cool ideas. When we talk about execution, I make sure to watch videos on Youtube on how to do it to avoid messing up the process and wasting materials too. When I think that I’m finally ready to do it and I have everything that I need, then it’s time to start the project.

A liter of wood primer 
should come handy 

You can pretty much buy 
everything online including 
these drawer handles

Since I’m looking to entirely change the color of our console table, I bought a liter of wood primer from Shopee which costs roughly less than P300. I start by sanding the damaged part on the tabletop to smoothen it out then put a little bit of putty to even out the hollow part. I applied the first coat of wood primer and waited for it to dry completely before applying the second coat. Our console table has gone from its wood color to completely white after two coats. I also ordered new drawer handles online since they need updating as well. While waiting for the colored paint to arrive, I decided to remove the old drawer handles, sand it a little too and cover old holes with putty. I asked for my sister’s help to drill new holes because the new handles are wider. The new paint arrived a few days later which is better because I’m certain that it’s ready for the new color. I started painting almost immediately and saw how nice the color was after 2 coats. After waiting for roughly an hour, sissy and I started installing drawer handles and it was finally complete. I thought it turned out really nice. I used leftover paint on our bedroom doors it actually looked good in that mint green too. 

I love Davies paints.
They have all the pretty 
colors

Yay! Door handles 
are very easy to install

It already looks good even 
without the handles yet

I painted all the
drawers first

Mint doors are real
cute

I must say that the entire process was quite tiring but it was all worth it. I guess upcycling furniture is not so hard after all. I’m looking forward to doing more of these DIY thingy in the future 'cuz it's quite addicting. 

If you'd like to see how I turned our console table to look like this, you can watch it on my YT channel by clicking on the video below.