• Splurging on food. This is still a luxury that I feel lucky to indulge into. Since becoming more comfortable with how I manage my expenses last year, I now know my limits on how much I can spend and on what. If there's something to celebrate, may it be a small or a big win, I see to it that I honor this achievement by... guess what... eating great food 🍔🍟! A simple Mcdo fast food order gave me lots of happy energy that day.
  
  
  
  
  Although I realized that these are really not "healthy" foods, and that they can be classified as foods with "low vibration." I have to eat more of those foods that can increase the body's vibrations, a.k.a. those that are good for us.
• Feeling that oh-so-familiar comfortable and peaceful energy. I don't really know how to explain this one, especially if I want to avoid talking about supernatural stuff. But there have been moments in my life that I remember distinctly, wherein I feel such a different level of calmness, like I'm experiencing the energy of love. I have experienced it again this month (despite all that was happening LOL) and I was grateful to recognize this calming energy. Since I'm now knowledgeable with the practice of manifesting, I requested something that I wanted and visualized it while feeling this happy energy. And it's as if the Universe answered back, "It has been done." ✨Writing for this month's life log, I have actually forgotten that this one happened, and I was delighted to have remembered this memory, as I continue to claim that yes, what I wished for is already here, it is already fulfilled. 🤲
• Receiving the good news in the most perfect timing. ✨There are certain moments in life wherein things are just falling perfectly into place. I experienced something like this this month (🚗🧾), just in the right timing that I was hoping for. And because of this, we were able to do what we were all planning to do. It was a now-or-never type of decision, and I'm grateful that the Universe opened the "now" option for us. 💖
• Sending my parents off as they traveled to the province. I felt like our roles were reversed, as I reminded them of the things that they need to bring and prepare. 
• Being home alone... with the pets. I have always liked my solitary time, but being alone in the house evokes a different feeling from me, maybe because I'm so used to the company of my family at home. Well, good thing I have the cats and dogs with me. At least I still have "company." I became honest and transparent with myself, which was a scary process. Despite that, I faced this conundrum with the notion of learning something from it.
• Prioritizing my mental health and knowing my boundaries. Looking back and writing this, I still didn't know why I felt that way during that time. All I knew was that I was tired and I needed to breathe and take a break. Out of my usual character, I declined nominations and invitations. I felt like I needed some time for myself. I had to detach myself emotionally because I was finding it difficult to let go of the things that I have learned to value over the past year. But I felt that this will do more harm than good for me, so yeah, I knew I had to slowly let go.
• Experiencing a different level of anxiety. I remember that time I almost threw up because of worrying. 🤢I'm still trying to learn from that experience. 

• I was able to participate in the District-level Toastmasters Table Topics contest (spoiler alert: I didn't win a place).🥳 Since the start of this contest journey, the feelings of surprise and amazement were constant because never in my wildest dreams did it occur in my mind that I would be able to immerse, not to mention, win, in these Table Topics contests. But I did. I did not just win once, but thrice (club, area, and division level, first place each time). Setting my foot into the District-level contest arena was such a different experience. It was intimidating yet inspiring at the same time. 
  
  
  
  
  Meeting the "cream of the crop" speakers in our district, and sharing the stage with them, is an experience that I will remember for a long time. What an experience it was to witness these great speakers craft their messages during the Table Topics contest. This. This is the skill that I aspire to have. I have witnessed first-hand what Toastmasters can offer people in terms of improving and excelling in their public speaking skills. I am very much inspired to continue this journey on  (face-to-face meeting soon, please! ✨).

• I was finally able to do something that is in my "driving bucket list": visit a Korean grocery along BF Aguirre. 😆This seemingly simple accomplishment brought me great joy and pride.

• I started my fitness journey through Chloe Ting's exercises! As part of my quarter goals, I participated in two workout challenges. I also joined the Discord group (or server? or whatever that was called haha) and even connected with a team to finish the same challenge with. It's so fun to be in touch with people with similar goals. I think that really helped me in maintaining that momentum to finish the challenge with my team. 💪

• I was able to drive from Laguna to Rizal. 👏 Because I had several errands that day, I needed to go around cities. We were able to visit my sister's house and also did some shopping! Expectedly, I felt so tired upon arriving home due to several hours of driving. 😅

• Listening to podcasts while washing the dishes. I have been doing this for some time now, but it was during this time that it dawned on me that this was a very meditative process for me. Ironically, I felt lighter and more relaxed after the chore. Now that I was doing this with this specific intention, it made me enjoy this activity more. 🍽️
• Klean Kanteen. I bought a tumbler during this month and I thoroughly enjoyed drinking cold water any time of the day. It amazes me how long the coldness can last in this tumbler. I'm so satisfied with my purchase! ❄️
• That Life Kit Podcast episode about seeking pain and avoiding pleasure. The message of this one really hit home for me that I had to listen to it again and again. Well, I'm giving my future self a favor by embedding the audio episode here in case I need a refresher!

• Authentic connection energizes me.
• Words can move mountains.
• Social media drains me.
• It feels weird to be alone and lonely at the same time.
• I'm ready for adventures.

Compare and contrast. Left is the Kindle, the right one is the iPad Mini.

The Kindle's battery can last for weeks or up to a month.

Of course the battery life would still depend on how you use your Kindle, but for me, that first full charge was able to last me for more than a month. It helps that I always put it to Airplane Mode ON especially if I don't need to sync it with the cloud. ☁️

My reading activity is synced with Goodreads.

As a certified bookworm 🤓📚, I religiously use Goodreads as my platform for tracking the books that I have read and want to read. I have been joining reading challenges since years back and I really enjoyed discovering new titles based on the recommendations of my friends or on the awards list.

Aside from tracking my reading activity, another of my favorite features is the Kindle Notes & Highlights section of the website. So, if you have purchased a book from Amazon and read it on your Kindle, all the highlights and notes that  you do on the book will be synced with your Goodreads and you can access them from your profile there. I think this is a really cool feature, especially if you just want to write your thoughts about the book by sharing specific quotes from it.

 

I'm reading more books now than ever.

Thanks to the portable size of a Kindle, I could comfortably bring it inside my bag. Whenever there was idle time, say I was waiting for someone at the lobby, I just pull out my Kindle and start reading. For me, the equation is now like this:

idle waiting time = reading books

Aside from books, the Kindle can also be used to read manga/comics. 😍

I subscribed for the free trial of Kindle Unlimited, and to my delight, there were a number of Archie Comics titles available. These comics were such a big part of my childhood. I felt all nostalgic and downloaded several of them and read them on my Kindle. 

It's a bit weird to read Archie comics now that I'm a grownup, and they still didn't age in the comics. 😅

I'm increasing my vocabulary.

During the time of the physical dictionary (gasp), you would find me reading a novel holding two books (the novel + the dictionary). I would tend to switch from the novel to the dictionary from time to time as I tried to search for the meaning of that unfamiliar word. Well, I don't need to do that anymore. On the Kindle, I can just do a long press over a word to highlight it and viola - the definition of the word would immediately be displayed for me. I have acquired new words into my word bank, most recently and notably of which is minutiae, i.e. I'm bored with the minutiae of everyday life. 😉

Amidst all these positive things that I found with the Kindle, there are still downsides, but for me they're just minor ones:

• No Bluetooth. I only bought the 8GB version and I didn't really intend to use this for Audio books, but imagine if you bought the 32GB one and you found out that there's no Bluetooth! The BT feature is there (you can turn it on under the Accessibility feature if you want the text to be read out loud via the Voice Assistant Reader) so it was a bit weird that the option to turn it on /off is not available on the main settings.
• Cannot be Connected to Audible. I guess this is the reason why there's no Bluetooth. If  I am not mistaken, Audible is not available in PH. I also tried connecting my Kindle with the Audible store, but there's no option for that in the Kindle. ☹️

I'm really enjoying my Kindle, and by far, I have already finished a number of manga and novels with it (so look forward to more Book Reads posts on the blog)! Reading a book on a Kindle is a way way better alternative than mindlessly scrolling on social media on the phone. I'm just so happy I finally made the decision to purchase one. 😊

• Connecting the dots.
• Love and loss -- find what you love. Keep looking, don't settle.
• Death. Time is limited.
• Stay hungry, stay foolish.

• Benefits of failure -- it strips away the inessential. It sets you free.
• It is impossible not to fail in life.
• Living cautiously, like you have not lived at all, means you fail by default.
• Importance of imagination -- the power of human empathy.
• Life is not about how long we live, but how good our experiences are.

I even saw this elderly couple during my walk. So sweet. 🥰

Exploring the Museum

How to Check RFID Balance

Autosweep

• Adulting, to the next level. This was the month wherein I was so busy answering calls and submitting requirements here and there because I was in the process of doing a major purchase. I was extra OC about this because I didn't want to miss anything. I was just so happy that the people I was working with were very prompt and proactive with their tasks. It somehow lessened my stress levels. 😊
• Participating in an online yoga session. As part of my subscription on Rebel Coach, I was able to attend an online group yoga class. I was a bit self-conscious at first (because my video cam was in a weird angle lol) but later on I got the hang of it. However, it felt so different compared to face-to-face yoga class in the studio. I was only able to participate in this class before I decided to cancel my subscription altogether. I guess the schedule and the setup just didn't work for me.
• Joining the @masarapba's Zoom call. This was such a random moment. An IG account that I was following, with the handle name @masarapba, posted an IG story that she was holding a Zoom call impromptu tonight because she just felt like it. Well I said why not, and so I dialed into the call. It was so fun! There were other people there and the topic was just all over the place. I was just in listener-mode (shy ako e haha) and was just laughing at how @masarapba hosted the call. It was already getting late so I just dropped out of the call, Irish style. It was indeed a very interesting experience. I hope she does it again and I hope I could be a more active participant when it happens. 😉
• Getting a confirmation that really hurt me. 💔It was really not surprising, I saw it coming already, but it's something different when you see the proof that yes, it's real. I think at this point forward, I started to realize why things happened that way, and the purpose and lessons that I needed to learn along the way. 
• Attending church for the first time in recent years. This was also a very curious experience. We attended the early morning mass at 6AM. It was my first time to see how the church operates their Facebook live streams: there's a "tech person" on the side managing the powerpoint and the cameras to be displayed on the stream. This strikingly reminded me of the duties of a "tech host" in Toastmasters meetings, and I believe we'll have to adapt a similar setup once the meeting goes hybrid also. 
  I forgot that I had an alarm set at 6:30AM, even on weekends. My alarm went off during the mass (OMG! 😲) To my relief, my alarm sound is birds chirping that starts with a low volume. When I heard that familiar sound while the mass was ongoing, I quickly snatched my phone (like my life depended on it) and quickly solved the Math equations to disable the alarm. 😅
  
• Listening to the homily and getting teary-eyed. I think most church attenders zone out during the homily.😜It's been a while since I listened to one so I guess that was why I was able to really listen during the mass. The priest talked about the prodigal son parable. After retelling the story, he asked: who was worse -- the older son (the one who stayed) or the younger son (the one who returned)? The older son, upon learning about the feast his father held, he said:
  
  "But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!" (Luke 15:30)
  
  He said "this son of yours", instead of "my brother", which really showed the older brother's disdain towards the other son. And it really hit home for me. Let's just say, during my darker times in the past several years, I have said these exact statements also. And during that moment in church, I realized the faults that I have done. Fortunately, I'm in a better situation now, and the relationships have been restored. 
  
  The priest also shared a poem, which he stated was from C.S. Lewis, which upon googling, was a common misconception. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful poem:
  
  There is someone I love, even though I don’t approve of what he does. 
  There is someone I accept, though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me.
  There is someone I forgive, though he hurts the people I love the most.
  That person is me.
  
  
• Visiting the office for the first time in 2 years. I had to claim some personal items in the office as per instructions of our HR. It felt surreal seeing the office since after the pandemic. It was my first time going there ever since the first lockdown in 2020. It was also my first time to ride a Grab so I was a bit anxious throughout the trip. Fortunately, everything went well and I was able to go home after a few hours (well I had to, because I had to attend some unexpected stuff at home 😅).

• I won first place (again!) in the Table Topics contest, Division level. It was another surreal moment. I loved how I prepped myself a few minutes before logging into the Zoom meeting to ease my nerves -- I hopped on WeSing on my phone and sang my favorite songs. Singing made me less nervous (because I guess it helped me slow down and control my breathing) and I just felt all positive after. I didn't know how I got to deliver the best speech amongst the contestants, but I was grateful for this adventure. Onto the District Level! 🎉
• I finally turned the dream into a reality 🚗. All those years of dreaming, and now it's here. Thank you Universe for guiding me in this decision. ✨
  
• I'm receiving unique opportunities again through the blog. Thank you again Universe. ✨

• Whey protein. I have started to like working out this month (which might be an after-effect of my Thetahealing session last month?). One of the things I have read online is that protein helps the muscles recover after a workout. I discovered this product on BeautyMNL. I got the salted caramel variant. What's fascinating was that I actually got motivated to exercise because I knew I was going to drink the protein shake afterwards. It felt like a reward because it tasted that good. I made a note to also try their other flavors.
• Spot-on medicine for cats and dogs. I'm a newbie in terms of being a hands-on furmom, and so discovering these different treatments was a wonderful experience for me. We had to buy some spot-on treatment to manage our pets' fleas, and I must say it was very effective! 😽🐶
• Vacuum cleaner. I have been contemplating on buying one for some time now. I finally made the decision to purchase one after realizing that this is an essential tool in cleaning the car. Also, it would make house cleaning easier (and as of current writing, I must say that it was worth getting one 😉).
• Yakult + Sprite + Soju combo. It feels cringy writing this now, but yes back then, it felt like a game changer for me. I felt so exhilarated when I discovered this recipe. It didn't taste like alcohol at all. Let's just say that I enjoyed this drink too much too often, which I always regretted doing after.  
• Journaling. I know I have been doing this for a while, but this month I found new ways to approach this activity. I bought a digital astro journal which has prompts for every new moon and full moon cycle. Then there's also the Prompted Journal and Three Good Things apps on Android. It really feels therapeutic writing down my innermost thoughts. It helps me in processing my feelings and also makes me more aware of my emotions. I highly recommend this activity! 📝 

• Let's continue powering through.
• It hurts when your most trusted people don't trust you back. 😞
• Let go of things that no longer serve a purpose for you.
• Listen to your mentors.
• There are moments wherein life teaches you lessons in the most unexpected way -- I thought I was the one giving, but apparently I was the one who is receiving.