Revisiting Old Promises

The last month of 2009 is approaching and 2010 is so close, I can smell it.

I've always been a sucker for new beginnings. It gives me a strengthened feeling of hope. I've always been a firm believer that whatever the downfall may be, you can always get up, dust yourself off and start a new. That's why I love starting a new year. Although it can be quite depressing looking at past New Year's Resolutions un-done, I'm happy to say I think I've done quite well this year.

Below is my list of 2009 Resolutions and how things are tracking.

1. Surpass the eternal female struggle - Maintain a healthy weight. Should be achieved my mid year. - I didn't achieve it by mid-year but glad to say I lost a fair bit in the second half of the year.

2. Maintain a zero credit card balance at the end of each month. Bye bye emotional shopping outbursts. - NOT SUCCESSFUL! Try harder next year, Debs.

3. Exercises. At least 3 times a week. Health is wealth as they say. - I did well here. Some weeks, even exercised 4 or 5 times. Yay!

4. Read 1 book each week. Tis also good to invest in the mind y'know. - not successful. I got caught up with studying for my DFP. But I did get caught in the Twilight craze and The Bronze Horseman series.

5. Spa Night once a week. Ahh... It's also good to reward thyself. - Not sure how regular I've been with this the whole year, but the past months, I've been pretty good with this. Special thanks to the Natio Body Sugar Scrub I got. It smells soo good and leaves my skin so soft and suple that I always look forward to my spa nights.

6. Gotsa pursue my Pharmacy Career. Admin jobs suck. It makes you dumb. - I've applied for my Pharmacy license back in the Philippines. The nitty-gritty part is still to come. Gotta make sure I don't lose track in the year to come.

7. Pray more. It does give me a fuller sense of being. - I can always improve on this.

8. Reconnect with Family. I think it'll make me feel more complete. - I did! Yay! And yes, I do feel more complete and a lot better.

2010 Resolutions, I've got you at the back of my mind... Coming soon to a blog space near you. ;)

Till next time.
xoxo

The Glorydays of Summer

A few more days till it's officially Summer but we've been feeling the heat already! We've already had quite a few days where the mercury went past 40-degrees. Summer always brings out the best memories. Waking up to beautiful sunny mornings, frequent trips to beach and great friends bring it all together.


Today is Tiny's birthday but we had the celebration yesterday. We went to Whale Beach in the Nothern Beaches. Weatherman said it'd be 35-degrees but it couldn't have been any more perfect on the day. It was too hot, a bit cool in the shade if anything else. The water was just the right amount of cool. I wasn't feeling too well but nothing that laughs with friends couldn't fix.

Nice to see you again, Summertime.

Put a Bow on It

So, I've still been window shopping and adding more and more to my Christmas wish list. I gave in to a bit of self-indulgent shopping today with a rainbow of colors from Bonds. Next on my list is the oh-so-pretty Tiffany & Co. Bow Pendant.

Gorgeous.

Christmas Wish List 09

Is it too soon to put one together? I've been Holiday shopping and I can't help but drool over items that I oh-so-want-but-wouldn't-really-buy-for-myself.

Hugs, I hope you're reading this. ;)

Guerlain Le Rouge Lipstick in Grace

This is only to start my list off. More to come as the more I shop!

Christmas Came Early This Year

First present of the season has arrived and I'm so excited to use it! Hubby bought me a new camera - Sony WX1 and it's awesome. Really simple to use - perfect for someone like me who's not nit-picky about the technical aspects but still expects high quality results. It's got really easy features where I can just point and shoot and the camera automatically picks out the perfect setting. It can makes twilight shots EASY as and without the noise. Best feature of all: the smile detector. As soon as the camera recognises a smile and shoots - by itself without me having to press a button! Love, love, love!





And how can I forget, it came with a lovely red case in genuine leather with a textured finish.



The joys of the holiday season.

Easter Long Weekend

I had a blast this long weekend. It wasn't thoroughly planned but I thorougly enjoyed it. Being with fantastic people just gets your mood just right.

And four (read: f-o-u-r) long days of no work. We spent most of Friday at home, relaxing and bit of household chores. We watched a footy match at the Parramatta Stadium. Our team, the Parramatta Eels, lost bad but we still had a good time anyway.

We left early Saturday morning for the Central Coast. An hour drive later, we were at Avoca beach. It wasn't as crowded as I had expected considering it was the long weekend. We found parking straight away and the waves were just gorgeous. Just how I like them. Spent most of the morning playing catch with the waves, body surfing. The water was a tad bit cold but with all that running around, you eventually forget the cold. A quick trip up the rocky cliff near the beach was perfect for photos.




Italian lunch and a few drinks at Terrigal pub made the day even more relaxing. I had to say to myself so may times that we were so lucky to have an opportunity like this. Friday night lunch with Pana and Jairus was also great. After dindin, we played card games which was a perfect way to cap the day.




Next day was a visit to Hunter Valley. Known around Australia for producing some of the country's best wines. Ela came along this time. We had lunch at Harrigan's Irish Pub, then off to Tempus Two - one of the regions best cellars - for some wine and cheese tasting. A quick visit to the Champagne House and Chocolate factory added to my already-ruined diet. But it was oh-so-good too!



A quick dash to the Hunter Valley Gardens, but had to head back home soon enough as we still had to go to church for our Easter Sunday Mass.


It was already 9:00pm when the mass ended and everyone was hungry. We went to this Vietnamese place in China Town where the service was excruciatingly slow. But we managed to fill in the waiting time with silly jokes and laughter.


Monday was perfect for sleeping in. Movie marathong for me and hubby (Monsters vs Aliens and Dragonball the Movie), followed by Japanese dinner and a quick stop at my favorite-est shop in the world - Ikea.
Oh, sweet weekend, you're everything I could ever hope and dream for.

Progress*

*Blog title is inspired by the shiny Penny

58 Kilos! woohoo!!!

I did have iced tea and chocolate today. :( Hope it doesn't throw me off too much.

Back to School

I never thought I'd miss school but I do!

I remember back through high school and uni, I couldn't wait to graduate. All I kept telling myself then was just to be patient and as soon as I graduate and pass the board exam - FREEDOM!! And oh yes, it was sweet freedom for the first couple of years. Partying non-stop, shopping, ah, I was living the life..

Five years down the road, and I feel the brain starting to get all rusty. How I wish for days of school to be back - when all I did was to read some books, pass the exams, get good grades and... that's it!! I could afford to not attend classes just because I felt tired today. The "aha!" moments in school and learning more about the world I live in. I felt powerful. I felt like I knew the mechanisms of world. I felt like I could conquer anything - just because I knew stuff.

Now I feel like I'm slowing down. I feel unsure of things because there's a lot of things I still don't know. I get timid around discussions of Financial Planning when all I know are Heparins and Diazepams. So on Monday, I enrolled in the subject Entry Level Competencies (ELC), first subject in getting my Diploma of Financial Planning. I got my module through the post today and would you believe I'm getting excited and giddy? Oh, the nerd in me beckons! Embarrassing as it sounds, adrenaline is pumping through my veins as I leaf through page by page.

Guess I'll be busy for the next few months.

Growing Up

How do you know when you've grown up? Age isn't a good indicator though. I'm turning 25 and I think I still act (and think) like a kid.

I want to grow up but not necessarily grow old. Sure, 25 years has given me a truck load of experiences, but the way I react to all these are.... child-like.

I cry, I sulk, I miss mummy and daddy. I like snuggling and cuddling. I babytalk to my husband and play silly games. I laugh boisterously. Tease friends and squeal when something tickles my fancy.

Pink is still my favorite color.


I still sound girly-girl. I want to be grown up. A lady. A wo-man...

Thinking back, what a waste was that finishing school my mum put me in.

Think I need to change all these. I need to grow-up.

I don't want Never Land. I want the real world.

Day 2

Still failing, but not giving up.

Things were going well till dinner time came.

Had 2 dinner rolls (which doesn't sound too bad).

Until I had 2 strips of Kit Kat..

Damn chocolate!!

I'm beginning to sound pathetic. This has got to change...

Day 1 - dinner

I failed....

Had sushi for dinner. and sips of coke... NORMAL coke.

sigh.... but it was sooo gud though.

Day 1

Day 1 - and so far, so good.

I had my hot cross bun this morning - with coffee, as it should. They say if you're wanting to lose weight, never skip brekkie. We've heard it all "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day", "Never skip breakfast", la di dah..

I never used to be a big fan of breakfast as I thought it was too heavy to start the day with. Plus, I'm never a morning person meaning I sleep in and almost always, rushing to get to school, work, whatever on time.

But for good measure, just to be sure I do it right this time. I'm not skipping breakfast. For the next 4 days at least, or until my breakfast supply runs out - which ever comes first.

I've had 1 1/2 cups of coffe already, and 2 mints (does that even count?). I'm resolute to have only green tea only and no more coffee after lunch. Lattes can also be a killer in kilojoules too! Unless of course, I (read: my discipline) fail and need coffee to soothe my ego.

Again, Day 1 - going well!

The Biggest Loser

My Biggest Loser Journey starts NOW. It was on my New Year's Resolution list to get to my ideal weight by June. And since then, I've gained instead of lost weight! Steadily climbing up. That's horrible. Stepped on the scales this morning... 60KGS..

I really should get started NOW.

I'm jogging tomorrow morning.

Facelift

I thought my blog needed a facelift...

I think it's looking goood...

:)

Best that I can Be

Out of boredom, I went on Facebook and saw a friend took the quiz “What Song Best Describes your Life”. I got Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer. It’s hard to argue I guess, but love does make the world go round. I’d have to say the most striking test result I got was the result to the quiz “What Should You Be Doing With Your Life?”.
Read on…

You are the social person who make useful contacts. You introduce important people to influencial people and always reap some sort of reward as a result. But you don’t enjoy the spotlight as much. You prefer to stay in the back as there is more room to strech and you like the feeling that you are the one with the power and most of the time that is true. You will do well in almost any field. You know how to flatter without being to obvious and you can make just about anyone like you.

Perspective

It's all about perspective.

What ever life throws at you, find the better of it. If stuck in a situation that you can't alter, change how you look at it instead.

You can think yourself happy! Make a conscious decision to be joyous and it will follow.


Some preacher I'm not. But I'm trying too. One step at a time. And it should work.

Going Mobile!

I just got shozu on my iPhone.... Thus the birth of mobile uploads - for me at least.

Now i'm tired and sleepy. I just wanted to try this thing out.

A New Look

This entry ain't got any subliminal messages here. No metaphoric issues. I just think I need a new look. Plain old vanity speaking here.

I need to get my hair done. Dry ends, but I want to keep the length!

What new hair color should I try out this year. Needs to be flattering.

Age old new years resolution of losing weight. What diet to try now?

A wardrobe overhaul. Now that's my kind of thing.

Can't wait to get my new shoes.

Learn a new language. Or maybe a new skill perhaps?

.....

I'll stick with the haircut first. When that's done and over, then I can move on to other things. But for now, all I need is an appointment with the hairdresser - and then my life can start.