Tag: pandemic

How to Get Anything You Want – 3 Strategies to Help You Achieve Your Goals in 2022 

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As we begin our journey this New Year, many of us think about having new goals, new dreams, and basically how do we get about achieving them. I’ve thought about these things myself. Mine in particular is about increasing my net worth to a particular amount and this involves budgeting all of my money and assets well. This thought has been ringing in my mind since late last year, especially after Typhoon Rai hit us and I knew in my gut that I should make this financial goal my number 1 priority. 

So, to help me dissect the process of how I’m going to achieve this particular financial goal of mine this year, I listened to a podcast by Marie Forleo discussing the topic “How to Get Anything You Want?” This can actually apply to getting anything you want this year — whether it be getting your life back together, having the kind of relationship you want, traveling to a particular place, getting the job or career you want, setting up your own business, winning a nobel prize — you name it and the strategies here will help you make it happen.

I’ll share with you below the notes I took so that you too, can have some ideas on how to achieve your goals for 2022, especially if it’s a financial goal like mine. 

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2021 Highlights: a Gratitude Post for the Year That Was

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I saw this image quote on my social media feeds and it struck a chord in me. It says:

“This January, start the year with an empty jar. Each week, add a note with a good thing that happened. 

On New Year’s Eve, empty the jar and read about the amazing year you had.” 

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5 Things You Can Do Instead of Social Media (Facebook Disabled My Account and I’m Thankful!)

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Oh my goodness! 

It’s going to be Christmas soon, then New Year, and I still haven’t blogged about the things I’ve always wanted to blog about (like the happiest Halloween we’ve ever had)! As usual, so many joyful and exciting things have happened and continue to happen in my life for which I am very much thankful! I’m living my dream beach life and each and every day I try my best to spend it as if it were my last but without sacrificing my health too much this time around (hence, I’m not forcing myself to stay awake and do more than what my 16 waking hours would permit) coz health is one thing that we really treasure the most these days plus, at this day and age, it could really be our last with Covid around and this endless pandemic!

Anyway, it’s a blessing in disguise that Facebook disabled my account last Friday night just because I was posting photos of Mahal and Tuz in a five-star resort bathtub! They weren’t fully naked and I didn’t know bathtub photos were not allowed so I immediately deleted the post only to be disabled afterward. I can’t post, I can’t comment, I can’t react… and it’s going to be for a week! Argh! Has this happened to you before? What did you do? 

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reduce stress

3 Simple Ways to Reduce Stress During These Hard Times

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How are you? We are on the 18th month of this pandemic and so many things have already happened… deaths left and right… Covid getting closer and closer to home (if it hasn’t hit yours already… it surely did mine. 5 of our family members caught Covid and thankfully survived it despite not getting vaccinated)… businesses shutting down… people suffering…. freedom getting suppressed in many places around the world…. and all this is starting to get on my nerves. Do you feel the same? Am I alone in feeling this way? If you’re on the same boat as I am, don’t fret. There are ways we can do to try to ride these waves. And we must. I just read an article on Bloomberg that this pandemic can last for a really long time. We can’t just give up, can we?

So what can we do to help reduce our stress during these hard times? Let me share with you some ways we try to do at home to help cope with this depressing worldwide situation:

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Sudden Death of a Great Man Weeks After Getting Vaccinated — My Grandfather, Almost a Centenarian

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I’m still in shock about the sudden death of my Lolo, Atty. Domingo L. Martinez. I didn’t think this would be my post here after a long hiatus on blogging. I have several vlogs lined up, so many exciting things have happened since we moved here in Oslob, Cebu but the news about my grandfather passing away really came as a shock to me.

It is our family’s theory that it’s all because he got vaccinated with Sinovac recently… Though official WHO (World Health Organization) findings reported that various Covid-19 vaccines pose as no threat to human health, and that the benefits of taking the doses far outweigh the risks, there is still news circulating about some people experiencing complications from getting vaccinated, one of which is dying. I’ve been seeing real-life accounts of both people I know and don’t know saying how the vaccines caused them grave illnesses with some eventually dying like my Lolo when they were otherwise in good health prior to getting those jabs. Getting that vaccine for my Lolo was the only thing he did differently in his routine in the last few weeks. And suddenly, he couldn’t breathe… He died of pneumonia according to my step-grandma. He was still very much alive and well just a few days prior to this.

To cut it short, please refer to screenshots of my Facebook posts below before heading to my current writing…

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Sunrise in Oslob

How We Transferred to Oslob, Cebu During the Pandemic

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Hello Summer! It’s been a busy 2.5 months as we started our new beach life here in Oslob, Cebu and I promise, I will be catching up on my blog posts and vlogs until I get more current with what’s happening with us. I may still insert some throwback travel posts from the past since I’ve collected a ton all these years. But for now, here is a vlog on how our transfer from Cagayan de Oro (where we lived, half the time, the other half was in Claveria) from Sept. 1, 2017 to Jan. 7, 2021) to Oslob, Cebu happened, how we got quarantined for 14 days when we got here, and what we did while in quarantine (Jan. 9-22, 2021). 

For those who are considering transferring to their respective provinces in this time of the pandemic, you can check out this related blog post:

BOAT TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS DURING A PANDEMIC IN THE PHILIPPINES (FROM CAGAYAN DE ORO TO CEBU

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boat travel

Boat Travel Requirements During a Pandemic in the Philippines (From Cagayan de Oro to Cebu)

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The first time we traveled during a pandemic was back in August and it was just within Cagayan de Oro City so the only documents that were required were barangay exit pass for our family, barangay clearance for me and Mahal, and health certificates for us three either from a doctor or the city health office certifying that we were in good health at that time. It was quite easy. This time around though, we were moving from Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao to Oslob, Cebu which is the southwestern part of Cebu Region. We traveled by land and then by boat from Cagayan de Oro port to Cebu port then traveled by land again for 3-4 hours outside of Cebu City. 

The following documents were required of us (and I assume it would be the same for people traveling by boat between regions anywhere in the Philippines). Just keep in mind that once you have all these travel requirements, their validity will last for only 2 weeks. So you better have your travel itinerary ready and make sure you’re good to go! 

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New Year's eve

My Little New Year’s Eve Diary

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When I think about what 2020 has been for us, I have nothing but prayer of thanks. 

Though this pandemic did affect some aspects of our business, we were able to pivot, adjust, and not only survive but thrive. Truth is, in the 3 years that we’ve lived in Cagayan de Oro, 2020 has been our most successful year. And for that, THANK YOU, GOD! 

A huge part is because living and working from home is not new to us. We’ve always been the introverted type and my work has always been online, so it didn’t really change our routine much. And because most of the world turned online, business has never been better.  It also helped that we got out of our tiny pad. Since travel was restricted, our original plan of living somewhere half the time and living in the tiny pad the other half of the time was no longer possible. I needed space to breathe and just be and I’m so happy we got to experience living in a cozy house here in Cagayan de Oro City. Before the year approached its end, we even got to host online and overnight parties. 

But don’t get me wrong… There were dark days, yes. Days when I felt like the world was going to end as if we’re entering the era of zombie apocalypse…

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Halloween

How to Celebrate Major Holidays During a Pandemic: Halloween Feature + a Guide

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In case I haven’t said it enough, Halloween is my most favorite time of the year! So we celebrated it in a major way the past month. Maybe because I feel like I’m still a Wiccan at heart (I used to cast spells, call out spirit guides, and share my experiences in my old Wiccan blog), but more importantly, for some reason, I turn into a child-like nymph whenever Halloween is around the corner! Teehee. Suffice it to say that I’d like to celebrate it for as long as I can, even after it’s over. Haha! So this blog post here is my last attempt to still hold on to it. After I publish this, my next blog posts will be about other aspects of my life like Tuz’s exciting 5th birthday, our everyday life, travels, Christmas, etc.

Before the pandemic, and as far as I can remember, during Halloween, I used to go out, attend costume parties, and even host events during Halloween. It’s the most magical time of the year for me and doing those things really made me happy! I know it’s hard now that we are living in this new normal but it is still possible. I made it possible, and I will continue to make it possible. Haha! Watch my Halloween vlog below:

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house transfer

House Transfer in the Middle of a Pandemic

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I mentioned in my previous life update that one of the things I got busy with the last 3 months was our transfer to a new home. It was last July, when out of the blue, we just suddenly decided to move to a house and leave our tiny pad behind where we lived for three years in Cagayan de Oro City.

If this is your first visit here or you don’t know yet what it was like for us to live in a tiny space, you can read my Tiny Pad blog posts here:

REAL TALK: TINY PAD TOUR AND BUSINESS UPDATE IN THIS TIME OF PANDEMIC

TINY PAD – LIVING SMALL IN A BIG CITY AND THE REASONS WE DO IT

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7 Months Into the Pandemic – a Life Update

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Hey! How’s everyone doing? How’s the pandemic treating you? I’m writing this down at 3:41 on a Saturday morning (although in my work hours, it’s 2:41 PM central time on a Friday) after 3 quick months of grueling schedule in my home/work life! Man, those 3 months just really flew me by! I’ve been working, and studying,  and taking care of our household, helping Mahal with the biz, and of course, being a mother to an almost 5-year-old boy who still has a very irregular body clock just like his mom! LOL! I’ll probably be babbling a bit at first about how tired I’ve been, how I’ve just gone through a week of depression towards the end of this 3-month-work-study-life marathon; how I thought I was acing this pandemic because for the most part, I’ve been grateful for the boatload of work and opportunities coming in; that I really don’t have the right to be sad because I am still VERY blessed. We are still alive, healthy, productive, and living good lives considering the world situation we are in. And after those 3 months of being on blogging hiatus, I feel like I’ve just come up for air… I’m starting to feel alive again; I’m starting to make new plans for the future… Anyway, let me breathe a little here and give you an overview as to what’s been happening to me the past 3 months that I haven’t had the time to blog here. So here are my updates…

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