Going Limitless ā€” Thoughts About Building Businesses and Life We Love

Yesterday morning, before the trip to the farm, Mahal and I had a talk. I told him I was feeling overwhelmed with everything thatā€™s been going on. We are still in the beginning stages of the farm even if itā€™s already been more than a year since we started setting it up. Thatā€™s coz farming is so dependent on the weather, the availability of ā€œingredientsā€ for the mushroom fruiting bags, the people we hire and fire, the availability of water in the natural spring, etc. We havenā€™t yet really fully set it up, and weā€™re already thinking of setting up another business in Oslob ā€” a bar ā€” to complement their existing mini resort, Oslob New Village

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Rainbow

After the Storm Comes the Rainbow (I’m Back and Feeling Better Than Ever!)

Each year, it has always been my goal to write more, journal my thoughts and feelings more, and share my life on my blog. My blogs (both old and new) have always been my alter ego, my memory bank, my soul. Iā€™m a loner. Iā€™m an introvert. I have very few quality friends by choice and even in my young adult years as I was surrounded by so many friends and colleagues, I really didnā€™t open up much except to a chosen few. So blogging, for me, is very personal. Having said that, I can say that my blog has become my sounding board, my confidant, my best friend (apart from Mahal of course) and I am quite happy about it. My blog is just always here to listen to my woes, adventures, and excitements and it doesnā€™t judge. It just isā€¦ even when I donā€™t get to update it as much as I would like to. But when I do, like right now, it can be very cathartic. And if you happen to visit and read my blog, thank you. I appreciate it. I hope it wasnā€™t a waste of your time and you get something good out of it somehow. You can check out my self-help posts, I find them the most helpful if youā€™re not into purely travel and lifestyle posts.

I mostly blog for myself, partly because I easily forget things Iā€™ve experienced, lol. No, really, it’s true! Whenever people would ask me, where to go or what to do in this place, etc., my first mental reply would be ā€œVisit my blog coz Iā€™ve already forgotten!ā€ or my mind would automatically go ā€œShit, I need to check my blog coz I think Iā€™ve already written about it.ā€ LOL! Aside from documenting my experiences through photos, Iā€™ve accumulated through the years, itā€™s still better to always have organized documentation of my experiences through my blog. At least other people who happen to drop by can get some information they need or some sort of inspiration when they need to. And whenever I need the same, I can always go back to my old blog posts.

However, whenever I feel down, exhausted, overworked or depressed, which Iā€™ve been feeling since the second week of Januaryā€¦ (first week was super fun since we were still on a Christmas and New Year high!), I find it hard to write. I am simply overcome with not-so-good emotions and it takes a while for me to get back on track. This is because whenever that happens, Iā€™d go into survival mode and whatever positive energy I have left in me (if there is still some left), I would spend it on my main priorities which are my family and my work. I still want to be the best mother I can be for Tuz, the best partner I can be for Mahal, the best I can be for my clients. Everything else has to wait its turn based on its relative importance.

Thatā€™s what happened to me this first two months of the year, hence, my absence here and on my Facebook page and other social media accounts. To summarize: Continue reading

Nadela Dental Care

Tooth Extraction: What to Expect Before and After (Part 2)

Iā€™m now on the 15th day of my very own self-imposedĀ 30-day blog post challengeĀ which also propelled me to restart doing other things I love and one of them is blogging about anything and everything about my life. This is why I started telling you about my dental visit in my previous post and this is the continuation of it.

So now that I’m done with my antibiotics, and I also have the clearance to go ahead with the tooth extraction, what’s next?

I confirmed my appointment with Dr. Aileen Nadela Dagcuta of Nadela Dental Care here in Cagayan de Oro. ItĀ was supposed to be last Sunday, right after we came back from the farm. But it was her day-off so I got rescheduled for Monday in their main office in Capistrano-Macahambus St. I got there before 10:00 AM all anxious and nervous, hoping and praying that the extraction won’t be painful and that everything would be fine…

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Tooth Extraction

Tooth Extraction: What to Expect Before and After (Part 1)

Iā€™m now on the 14th day of my very own self-imposedĀ 30-day blog post challengeĀ which also propelled me to restart doing other things I love as I’ve mentioned in my previous posts. And one thing I love to do is sleeping and that’s what I’ve been doing lately to recover from a recent tooth extraction I had. If you’re thinking of having your tooth extracted sometime soon and you’re more or less my age (I’m 40), then this post might enlighten you.

I had this problem with my tooth since 2014 and itā€™s just this week that I finally had it extracted. This is also why Iā€™ve been quiet online.. the meds I’ve been taking made me so lethargic and sleepy!

Let me give you a little background first as to why the problem with my tooth lasted this long (4 years!)
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Mushroom Chili Paste

Tuscany Highlands Organic Farm Mushroom Chili Paste – How It Came to Be

Iā€™m now on the 5th day of my very own self-imposed 30-day blog post challenge which also propelled me to restart doing other things I love and one of them is helping out Mahal in our agribiz venture.

Mahal and I are always thinking of ways to preserve our mushroom harvest. The only ways we can do that for now are either to freeze them (which can be costly since our own personal fridge at home is small and canā€™t accommodate a lot of harvests), to dry it which is good because thatā€™s very easy to do and you only need the sun to make it possible,Ā  or to process our harvest which is the best alternative. We chose to do the last 2 alternatives since they fit very well into our current lifestyle.Ā 

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Licealiz battles head lice infestation in Mindanao with Kilusang Kontra Kuto

About one-third of elementary public school students in the Philippines suffer from head lice-related problems. Head lice infestation or pediculosis can cause severe itchiness and infection of the scalp, but this could be the least of these childrenā€™s worries; the social stigma associated with having kuto can leave lasting psychological damage on both children and their parents.

A survey of communities visited by the Licealiz caravan last year found that 47% of respondents from Visayas and 76% of respondents from Mindanao said that their children were bullied and teased for having head lice, causing some of them to miss school to avoid their peers. The parents, on the other hand, feel incompetent and embarrassed for being unable to prevent head lice from infesting their children. Continue reading

Isabel Granada Fitness

How Isabel Granada’s Passing is Inspiring Me to Be Fit and Healthy

Photos of Isabel in the feature image were screenshots from her Instagram account.

Youā€™ve probably heard in the news that actress/singer Isabel Granada passed away. She was 41.

On October 26, I posted on my Facebook page:

“I heard about what happened to Isabel Granada just last night through Chuckie Dreyfusā€™ FB feeds (my prayers are with her). It kinda shook me to my core. Here is a woman, just about 2 years older than me I think, who is so fit and active and practices a healthy lifestyle and boom! Brain hemorrhage which indicates aneurysm struck her!

Iā€™m far from fit. The only exercise I get in a day is when I run after Tuz, organize his toys strewn across the floor, clean the house, do the laundry, wash the dishes and stroll in the mountains and in the malls. I have a workout routine I do about once a week when Iā€™m not that over fatigued. I try to eat healthily as much as my willpower can muster. I more or less sleep 6-8 hours now unlike before. But still, Iā€™m scared. Continue reading

responsibility

How to Take 100% Responsibility For Your Life

A BUSY introduction

I know, I know, I KNOW. It’s been 10 days since my last post and I have so much to share! Before baby Tuz’s first birthday, my life partner, Mahal, and I have been having sleepless nights taking care of work, parental stuff and domestic duties because we wanted to celebrate our baby’s first birthday on the date of his birthday itself, which was the 17th, a Thursday. We could have just decided to have it on a weekend so all our work responsibilities have already been done by that time and we can all relax and enjoy our son’s birthday beach celebration. Well, we did enjoy, but it could have been better. And it’s all because we wanted it celebrated on the birthdate itself, which, now, looking back, has been a semi-terrible idea! Continue reading

Jumpstart a Healthy Lifestyle

How to Jumpstart a Healthy Lifestyle – Here are 4 Tips

HOW I’VE LOST TRACK OF MY HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

We’ve been eating out a lot more frequently than usual not just because of lack of time to visit the local market for organic stuff (we have to be there by 5am to get the freshest produce and catch, unfortunately, our body clock keeps on moving because of Baby Tuz‘s fussiness) but because I’ve been feeling like celebrating lately. I know a big part of our nation and the world is mourning right now because of certain events particularly having ex-dictator/president Marcos buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani plus Donald Trump’s startling Ā win in the recent U.S. Elections, but in spite of all ofĀ that, I want to focus on the positiveĀ and just celebrate life!Ā Looking at our little family, we stillĀ have so many things to be thankful for, hence the eating out and mini celebrations as of late… Continue reading