Make Money Through Blogging

I love blogging. Not only does it serve as a channel for me to express myself but it's also a way to de-stress in a sort of way. So when I have something tinkering in my head, I don't wait another minute. I just open my computer and begin to tap on the keyboards and instantly I get to compose something which reflects the idea of the moment.

But did you know that blogging is also a way to expand your network and earn money? Bloggerwave gives this type of opportunity for blogging fanatics like me. It makes blogging not only worthwhile but also productive.

Getting Out of the Rabbit Hole

I admit that I've felt pretty pessimistic for the last couple of days. It's bad because even my husband could sense my worried feeling (maybe because of my glum face). May and June had been so financially-toxic since our birthdays (plus my Dad's wedding) fell on these months. Now, I'm feeling broke and in a rabbit hole once again.

Not only that, I've been having a hard time managing our household. F has been so 'tigas-ulo' lately and then our househelp has also been testing my patience (chicken with ginata is DIFFERENT from chicken adobo!!). On top of that, one of our cars broke down without any warning and we had to shell out precious money for the mechanic and car parts. Whew! It's been tough.

Anyway, my husband and I talked about it last night. We decided that we ain't gonna add more burden to our situation by complaining. How positive my husband is! Sometimes, I wonder how come my faith is so weak compared to his. Because come to think of it, we've hurdled bigger problems before (i.e. my mom's huge huge hospital and burial expense, my MIL's hospitalization) and much much more! Somehow, thank God we got through all of it.

As part of my thrift plan, I've done the following:

1. Made a grocery list.
2. Made a weekly menu and brought this to the market.
3. Summarized my outstanding credit card balances
4. Stayed at home the whole weekend (except for a trip to the grocery)!
5. Unplugged all appliances when not in use especially during the night.
6. Took advantage of bonus packs in the grocery.
7. Placed F and R's school allowance in envelopes and in exact amounts.
8. Prepared merienda from what's available in the pantry instead of calling 911-1111.
9. Bought Zoe's supplies in bulk.
10. Withdrew just enough money for the day or for the week.
11. SMILE even when the going gets tough.

Hopefully by next month, all of these efforts will make a difference.

Is This Very Filipino?

This is just a simple observation...

Don't you find it interesting that the typical Filipino home always have to have a picture of "The Last Supper" in their dining area? Well, I think it's interesting.

This one's what we have at home.

But get this one. What I think is more interesting is that Zoe often points to this wood carving and says "Mama Mary!" (or something that sounds like that). I had to stop and think where Mama Mary is in that picture. Obviously she's not there. But I'm guessing and thinking that as Jesus' mother, she's may be actually there in that very scene right? Probably busy taking care of their needs, only staying in the background, silently serving Jesus and his disciples.

How wonderful mothers are really.

:-)

Cleaning Up the Pantry

I promised to post pics of my newly-organized pantry as written here but only got to do so now.

For starters, I'm just so happy our kitchen includes a 10 foot cabinet cum pantry which can fit many of our small appliances, trays, food, alcoholic drinks and other stocks including our rice dispenser and baby diapers.

Here are some bits and pieces of my efforts to put more order in our kitchen and food supplies.

First off, all drink-related stuff in one panel:

Next, canned goods and foodie stuff galore (I replenished our supplies after taking this picture):

Got rid of all the kalat (pictures, bills, reminders) posted in our ref and just left some nice magnets. It's actually very refreshing to be able to see a clean ref door.

Kitchen console consisting of our breakfast stuff and fruits (still a bit magulo don't you think?):

Now, on to my next project! The bathroom! Will keep you posted!

Mental Note

While attending a seminar the other day, I found myself scribbling on some pieces of paper making some notes. Here are some of the personal things I wrote:

1. I want to learn to be more confident and be more organized in my thoughts and in my surroundings.

2. I want to be debt-free soon, get rid of all my credit cards and learn how to save money for the rainy days.

3. I want to lose weight, look better, feel better, and embrace a healthier kind of lifestyle.

4. I want a job which will allow me to have work-life balance. I really want to be able to go home early from work all the time to spend more time for the baby. (My current work doesn't allow me this kind of time sched).

5. I want to improve my sense of fashion (without spending huge amounts of money) and be able to streamline my wardrobe (read: get rid of old clothes and unwanted stuff).

6. I want to be able to make ample time for doing all my norms of piety (and that pretty much depends on self-disciple on my part).

7. I want to be able to make a difference in society. I have been planning to join TAG for so long now. TAG means Television Advocacy Group. They are a group of ladies who try to promote responsible media practice and awareness of the effects of good and bad tv shows airing now.

:-)

Arte y Pico

Thanks to Jona for this award! This is house-everything's very first. :-)

The rules of this tag are as follows:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

Make sure you visit the link above.

Sending this award to Pat, Tet, Ai, Vannie and Jacqui!

40 Tips for a Better Life

Got this nice email from my friend Michelle:

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'

5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

6. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2007.

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water.. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

26. Forgive everyone for everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. GOD heals everything.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

33. The best is yet to come.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

35. Do the right thing!

36. Call your family often. (Or email them to death!!!)

37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about.

May your troubles be less. May your blessings be more. May nothing but happiness come through your door!

Keeps Me Grounded

Here's is my secret weapon for staying grounded and sort of "in control" amidst all of the chaos around.

We're planning a trip to Antipolo tomorrow with my uncle and aunt from Germany who are here for my Dad's wedding. I really hope we get to do that much-awaited pilgrimage since it's our Lady's month this May. Got so many blessings to be thankful for.

Hello Blog!

Hello Blog! I miss you my dear house-everything blog!

I've been so busy with work and my dad's wedding preparations that I've decided to let blogging take a back seat and concentrate first on my family.

As of today, my dad is newly-weded and is currently in Bohol with my Ninang having their honeymoon cum birthday celebration.

Now that he's married and is planning to shuffle between Batangas to Cainta just every so often, I really don't know what's going happen in the homefront. I guess it's gonna be just hubby and I who will work to manage the whole household.

Come to think of it, I've never lived apart from my Dad since that day I was born...until now. That's gonna be a weird feeling I guess. Unlike my sister who left home to stay in Tanglaw when she turned 18, I stayed put with my parents even after getting married and giving birth. When we lost my Mom 3 years ago, a huge part of the home/family went crumbling. And now my Dad will be "somewhat" moving out...hmmm...I feel really weird and at the same time, kinda sad.

Anyway...it's all about my Dad's happiness now. We love him so I guess everything will be alright.

Cleaning the Bathroom

Cleaning the bathroom and making it sparkly are some of my biggest challenges at home.

As a working mother, I'm glad there are several tips found in books and in the internet which can help me do this task with much ease and efficiency.

Click here and here for some useful stuff you can read.

The Value of Manual Work

I attended a talk last Monday about the value of home management and one of the speakers talked about how manual work as equally valuable (or even better) as doing professional work. She said that the reason for this is because manual work, since it's nature of routinary, gives you the opportunity to pray, and to pray more. And since one can precisely pray while working, it only makes sense that one should work well and try to offer to God a kind of work that is NOT sloppy even if it means just cleaning your kitchen sink.

What a wonderful idea! If only all the housewives and household helpers have this kind of attitude with regard to household work. Then they would have sanctified their work and sanctified themselves by praying for themselves and for the families whom they serve while doing their daily tasks. With this, they can find satisfaction in their work and won't look at it as something that is downgrading or shameful. I personally don't think there's anything shameful about working as a household help, a yaya or a laundry woman. The nature of their work is not at all something to ashamed about. What should be shameful is when you don't do your work well.

My resolutions: Love your househelp as if they are your family and pay them well too! Their service to you is 24/7 and their compassion for your family is really priceless!

Ikea Stuff

It's kinda funny but one of the "highlights" of our Singapore trip last year was spending a whole morning at IKEA.

It was our second day in the country and it had suddenly rained. We were planning on hitting Orchard Road early but decided to just have breakfast and shop at the IKEA store. What a wonderful experience we had there.

Here are our most useful purchases:

These are their storage baskets they have named Korall Fisk and Korall Skolpadda. Right now, it's where we keep Zoe's stuff toys and other things. Very very nice.

I just love IKEA. Wish we could go back there when we start our house renovation to make way for Zoe's room. I've actually seen the store in Kamuning which re-sell IKEA stuff but I'm afraid their stocks might be limited. And of course, iba pa rin yung IKEA experience.

:-)

*photos downloaded from http://www.ikea.com.sg

There has to be more to life than...

...my so-called "career".

As a working mother with a very young kid, I often find myself stressed-out and pressured to maintain a level of success that is purely determined by the standards of my company. I sometimes live as if I work for my career and not for my family nor (more importantly) for God. Like me, do you sometimes feel like you're "drowning" in your own work?

I was having lunch with my architect friend this noon time and we found ourselves discussing alternatives we can incorporate in our lives. My friend was diagnosed with breast CA last last year, the very same time I found out that I was pregnant. We had lots of struggles, she and I, but we managed to cope somehow. She now eats and lives a healthy lifestyle while I strive to be a better mother each day.

What alternatives are good, you may say. I guess it's something like overcoming fatigue with having control over the things are managed. Change of attitudes, habits, thought patterns, etc. Applying the 80/20 principle by Italian economist Prieto can a good start.

"Life will be easier and more satisfying in the end when you have control of it, whether at work or at home."

Agree?

Just a Quick One.

Aside from clear books, one of my favorite organizers are those big plastic containers available in the department stores. I started using these when I was preparing for my wedding. It was so convenient. We placed all my wedding stuffs there and rolled it away without difficulty on my big day.

Today, I find these very helpful in storing Zoe's books and other small toys. Less mess in the playroom!


Oops! So there's Mom's missing flip-flops! LOL.

Tip of the Week: Pictures

Here are some tips I got from organizing my digital and developed pictures last week:

1. LABEL, LABEL, LABEL - Don't you just regret it when you realize that you are looking at a picture and don't know when this was shot or where the place it was shot was? My own childhood pics were not labelled and I wanted so much to know the time and place of my pics. So moms out there, please make this a habit. It's so easy to write "Zoe at 10 1/2 months, Greenbelt, Makati". Your kids will be so grateful you did.

2. Buy lots of photo albums - When you finally get enough money to develop your digital pictures, you sometime don't have available albums to use! So keep your pictures safe, put them inside acid-free photo albums. I would buy lots and lots of those brown Family Heritage-types from Kodak developing stores. Not only were they durable but having similar items also looks good on the shelf. Having too many kinds of albums of all different shapes and sizes on the shelves can be such an eye-sore.

3. Learn a new program such as Picasa or Adobe Photoshop. This would greatly help in putting a little creativity in your photos. I've tried to learn these when I was preparing for my daughter's first birthday. Because of this, I was able to come up with DIY tarpaulin and invitations. I just wish I had more time to develop my skills on digital scrapbooking and more money to buy scrapbooking digital packs.

To end, here's a sample of labeling through Photoshop: ^_^

What I've Been Thinking About Lately

I recently finished an old book by Christiane Collange entitled "The Well-Organized Woman". I found this one amongst stacks of books at Book Sale. Although published a long time ago, many of her ideas are still fresh. Here she talks about how a woman is like a business-owner whose clients are her husband and kids and her business is her home. She talks a lot of common sense really. How I wish that I could be everything she talks about.

Some of the desirable traits of a well-organized woman: ease, elegance and economy. I think she said that it's only possible to have 2 of these things at the same time.

Many times, we long to have all three. Maybe that's why I get hang-ups when it comes to my home management skills. Now I know that you just can't have it all at once. We're just mere mortals. :-)

But sometimes I feel that Zoe's yaya has more ease than me when it comes to handling my daughter. Now that's a different story....Whaaaa!

Vacuum

My husband and I have been canvassing for vacuum cleaners for several months now and still haven't gotten around buying one.

Though we have already found last Sunday a model that is okay and reasonably-priced, we decided to put off buying it for some unknown reason. I'm actually glad we didn't buy it yet 'coz the following day, we got a call from my in-laws telling us that my mother-in-law is sick and had to be taken to the hospital.

Good thing we didn't spent our savings on the vacuum cleaner. At least, we had extra money to pay for my mother-in-law's expenses in the hospital. God has His ways, ain't?

Do You Really Want?

...to be organized, that is.

I have been asking myself that question for some days now. And my answer has always been yes. However, my life is so jam-packed now. Time and energy is so limited. Plus work has been very stressful that even adrenaline rush isn't enough to keep me moving.

I want to have control over the house and my stuffs but sadly, the reality of life sets in and I am not able to do everything I want all at the same time.

But at least, I already made a decision to live ORDER. It is up to me to live it in the big and small things in my life. With that and until there's a significant change in the way things are, I'll hold on to my decision.

Thank God

Thank God! --- for clear books and for 3-day weekends!

I'm so glad to have found the time last weekend to file all those insurance, warranty papers, receipts, recipes and all kinds of other knick-knacks inside my empty clear books. You see, I have this big paper bag at home which serves as a "dump bag" for all those papers that I want to file but got no time to do so. I have been waiting for the right time to be able to discard all the things that I don't need anymore and then file all those worth keeping. Good thing the government moved the local holiday from April 09 to April 07 which was the nearest Monday.

I so love clear books! With it, you just need to group the papers that go together, slip the documents in (no need to punch holes and use fasteners) and viola! So easy!

Smart Organizing

"Like is like a wild horse that wants to roam all over the track and, if possible, jump the rail and run amok without direction. Life veers toward complexity. Left to itself, your life will become more and more complicated, cluttered, and busy."

That's quoting from the opening statements of the Smart Organizing book by Sandra Felton.

How so so true. Many times, we run our lives with such lack of direction that we scatter pieces of ourselves along the way. Without a clear direction, our life becomes a big mess. What we need is to simplify our lives and take one step at a time to "clean up" and begin a life with a mission, with a cause.