I am an Obi Wan

Being a Star Wars fanatic, I tried this test when I saw Dinah's result just for fun.

2013 Goodreads Reading Challenge

January last year I joined a reading challenge via Goodreads and successfully finished my goal. This year I aim for 5 more books for the challenge. Below are the books I read and my favorite quotes from the books. Yes, I know most of it are under 'Young Adult' genre. Well, my daughter and I share the same bookshelf.

"We accept the love we think we deserve." -- Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

"Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud."  -- Yann Martel, Life of Pi

“For she had embodied the Great Perhaps--she had proved to me that it was worth it to leave behind my minor life for grander maybes, and now she was gone and with her my faith in perhaps.”  -- John Green, Looking for Alaska

“Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.” -- Veronica Roth, Divergent

“Cruelty does not make a person dishonest, the same way bravery does not make a person kind.”    --  Veronica Roth, Insurgent

“It is a strange world," I murmured, more to myself than to the native soul.

"The strangest," he agreed.”   -- Stephanie Meyer, The Host

“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.”   --  John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.”   --  John Green, An Abundance of Katherines

“When you are measuring life, you are not living it.”    --  Mitch Albom, The Time Keeper

“There are five people you meet in heaven. Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth. This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.”    --  Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

“When someone is in your heart, they're never truly gone. They can come back to you, even at unlikely times.”    -- Mitch Albom, For One More Day

“Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.”    --  Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith: A True Story

“The mistake ninety-nine percent of humanity made, as far as Fats could see, was being ashamed of what they were; lying about it, trying to be somebody else.”    ---  J. K. Rowling, The Casual Vacancy

“Eventual, as Pug used to say. When he wanted to say something was really good, he's never say it was awesome, like most people do; he'd say it was eventual. How funny is that? The old Pugmeister. ”   --   Stephen King, Everything's Eventual

“Brave enough to be quiet when quiet was called for, brave enough to observe before flinging myself into something, brave enough to not abandon my true self when someone else wanted to seduce or force me in a direction I didn't want to go, brave enough to stand my ground quietly.”    --  Piper Kerman, Orange is the New Black

“How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”  --   Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”   -- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“I'll say it one last time: Be brave.”  --  Veronica Roth, Allegiant

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”   -- Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

“At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.The hard thing is finding the courage to do it.”  -- Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Never forget to be grateful for everything given to you. Be reminded and always be thankful. Here goes....

1. Last night's family dinner....kumpleto kami! Except for my husband. (insert sad face )
2. The sinigang na baboy, Jollibee friend chicken, mashed potato, J. Co donuts, and Selecta ice cream we shared last night.  
3. And, yes, I broke my 'after six' diet. But it's still okay. 
4. And we watched Catching Fire afterwards. 
5. The Book Thief. I never read the book yet but I watched the movie four times already.
6. Learned a magic trick and I've been performing it with my officemates who are equally fascinated. (Clap, clap, clap)
7. Last Sunday jogging with my aunties and cousins. A fun way of breaking a sweat on a very cold morning.  
8. Zumba.
9. An unexpected gift from Ed....a desk calendar!     
10. Frozen the movie and its songs. Making me endure the weather.     

to know how this started and for credits on the image, click here.

It's Cold!!!

I am a summer girl. I mentioned it here a couple of times. That is why I feel a little off with the weather these days. It's too cold! I can make do with a light breeze or a mild draft. But what we are experiencing here in the Philippines (being a tropical country and all) is not light nor mild. Last Sunday was the coldest (8.1 degrees Celsius) in Baguio recorder this year. Here in Metro Manila, we experience a 17.5 degrees Celsius temperature last Saturday. Brrrrr.....

My problem with this weather are....

• My normal shower time is 45 minutes or up. That is twice a day. Now, I struggle every morning just to survive staying under the shower for 5 minutes. One time I switch to using 'tabo' (dipper) because I find it difficult to breath under the cold shower. But I assure you I still take a bath everyday, a shorter one but still everyday.
• I never like wearing jackets and long pants. But these past few nights I've been sleeping with my jacket and jogging pants on. Yes, jacket and jogging pants. Pajamas won't do. It's still too cold. And a pair of socks also for my freezing feet.
• We seldom turn on the fans. Well, we can save on electricity but the mosquitoes keep pestering our everyday activity. 
• I am suffering form dry skin during cold season. My lips cracked. And it's painful.
• Malls do not appeal to me anymore. If they would turn off their air conditoning unit I guess I would stay longer.
• We are doing our first climb on February 2 and I don't know if I can take the cold going up the mountain or even when we reach the summit. I don't even own a good pair of jacket. Oh God help me.

Baguio last Sunday

I know I am being maarte because other parts of the world are experiencing worse. People are dying in America because of the cold weather brought upon by the 'Polar Vortex'.

I guess I just have to make do. Keep my jackets handy and drink more hot beverages. Brrrrrr.....

Well Said

On February 2 we will be climbing our first mountain for 2014, Mt. Makiling at Los Banos, Laguna. And I am so excited. I missed the last 2 climbs last year because of my hectic schedule. But I won't be missing this one. I will make sure of that. And in line with our obsessions with mountains, I came across this photo. And this explains everything.

found this photo here

Translation: They are wondering why am I doing this. Climbing mountains... it's tiring, it's hard, you get cold and you may get hurt. But one can only understand when they do it. It's a lot like LOVE. 

Hope I get the translation right. And hopefully this coming climb is a successful and fun one. See you up there!

Friday Letters

Dear  2013, Goodbye. Thank you so much for all the adventures, friends I gained, lessons I learned, places I visited, experiences I earned and problems I faced and resolved. It's been a joyride. Dear 2014, Please be good to me. I am expecting a better, more mature, fruitful, happier year. Dear Husband, I know you love me more today because of the gift I gave you. You deserve it. Though it's the third time I am giving you a Play Station Portable because you keep on losing the previous ones. You've been good last year. And we are stronger than before. I thank you for that. Dear Daughter, I owe you one. Promise, I will make it up to you. Dear Boss, Congratulations! Your company is growing. 8 years of continued success. Just please be fair to each and every one of your employees. You need us as  much as we need you.  Dear Cambodia and Vietnam trip, Excited much!!! No words can describe how much I am looking forward for this trip with my husband and my superfriends. Can't wait. Dear Me, Please try to fulfill all your resolutions. It will be hard work but it will pay off in the end. You can do this. 

Friday Quotes: Speak the Truth

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

I had a wonderful, travel-filled, fitness active and very busy 2013. I am thankful for a lot of things. And for my 2014 first Wednesday Happy Thoughts, here goes...

1. After all the holiday foods...I am back to Zumba!
2. It was day 8 of my After Six Diet Plan...so far, so good. 
3. My pre-Christmas Aklan escapade...super fun! I miss Boracay already.
4. All the gifts and greetings last Christmas. 
5. Actually feeling good to be back at work and seeing my Boss after the long vacation. 
6. My sweet husband...for always being there.
7. Reuniting with 'old' school friends.  
8. Subbing for my brother as the official cook last New Year's eve. And all the dishes are a success! I had a thumbs up from Chef Bob, especially for my Buffalo Chicken dish.
9. Experience zero fireworks/firecracker on our baranggay last New Year's celebration. All party, no paputok New Year! Yehey!      
10. Loving the cold weather.     

to know how this started and for credits on the image, click here.

Numbers That Matter in 2014

These are not New Year's resolutions (though my daughter keeps insisting these are). These are guide. My guide. I remember numbers more than phrases or sentences. Here goes...

• 50 a Day. I will save at least P50.00/day from my daily allowance for my personal fund.Come later this year, this will accumulate a lot. Enough for a Christmas gift for myself!
• After 6. This diet plan works for me a few years back. I just hope I find the discipline I had before. 
• 25 in 2014. I joined last year's Goodreads Reading Challenge and finished reading 20 books. I planned to read more this year (at least 5 books more). 
• 7x a Week. During our ( my husband and I) darkest time, I rely on praying the rosary everyday. On keeping my faith and giving me strength to go through. It helps a lot. Lately, I've been neglecting the rosary. And I've been absent from attending masses quite a lot. I have so much to make up to.
• 10 Glasses.  Yes, this is about my daily water intake. Actually, I don't have a problem reminding myself to drink enough water. I just want to tell myself to drink more. My body needs it.
• 1 is Enough. Now, this is tough. I plan to limit my self-indulgence to once a month. Meaning, if I travel this month, I will not spend a penny on any activities or items (like bags, shoes, etc.) If I bought something for myself, no traveling or fitness activity (that requires payment) for me within the month. I know I owe myself some indulgence but sometimes it cost too much. And it suffers other priorities. 
• 15 Minutes Grace Period. This is work related and I am frequently late. My boss already called my attention last month. And I know that I have to change something in my everyday routine. I can do this! (Crossing my fingers).
• Top 2. This is my primary goal this year. To fix the second floor of our house. That is why I had to limit spending on travels and other activities so I can save for the repair of our house. I also need to do good at work to earn more commission for additional funds. And I need all the help the universe can spare me.  
• 24/7. I am alive and well and that is something to be grateful for. 24/7 means everyday, every hour. I will remind myself to be thankful for all the blessings God has been giving me and my family. I will be grateful for every trials that makes me strong and teaches me to be a better person. I will never forget my family and my friends and even those random people that inspire me. I felt their love and support and I'll make sure to return their kindness.

Yeah, I guess these are New Year's resolutions. But these are things I intend to complete. May the universe help me! 

Welcome 2014!!!

New Year comes to give us a fresh hope, 

For a better future and success 

New Year gives us dream for that 

We will face challenges with confidence 

On this New Year...May your dreams and hopes 

Succeed with the blessings of God 

Happy New Year and Seasons Greetings!!!