Time Check: 4:40 P.M.

Six hours and twenty minutes left until Christmas, the birthday of our Savior  Jesus Christ is almost upon us. Christmas for me is insignificant without recognizing first the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. We felt His love through our loved ones or our family. My Christmas is as meaningful as last year because I spent it with my whole family. Before Christmas eve arrives,  here are the things we prepared for.

Earlier, I blew up balloons and set them up on our ceiling, and arranged the gifts and Christmas tree.



Then, my sister-in-law, all the way from Bukidnon prepared the foods for our noche buena. 

We had kinilaw, tilapia sweet and sour, grilled  tuna belly, lumpia, spaghetti, buko salad, and some chocolates and candies for our kiddos.

At 10 p.m. we attended a mass in our chapel, but before that we took pictures.

Me and my family.

My brother and his family.

My mother and all her grandchildren

After church, we had exchange gifts and we ate together our noche buena. This is the best and most memorable Christmas I spent with my family. How about you, how do you spend your Christmas?

One of the perks I get as a Work-at-Home mom is I receive 13th-month pay without any fail for 5 years straight. Some of my friends who are working in the government and receiving the same benefit said that I was so fortunate to have found a job online with that kind of benefit. That's very rare. I responded, "exactly"!
Since 13th-month pay is something I am always looking forward to when December comes, I see to it that it goes to something tangible. Like in the past years, I used to spend the money on different projects, house makeover for example. Or if I wanted to reward myself for the hard work I've done in the past 11 months, I allocated a certain amount to treat or pamper myself. One thing that I made sure of was I set aside an amount to buy some groceries and give to our poor neighbors or native carollers who were asking for foods or gifts.

However, my incoming 13th-month pay this year will go directly to our savings. Ronan and I have long wanted to buy a second-hand car with an age less than 5 years because our current car is super cranky now. There were several occasions that our car broke down in the middle of the road and we had no choice but to call our friend to help us tow our car. Loaning a new car is also possible but we have to contemplate yet because it will be an additional expense for sure.

Though my 13th-month pay will go to one purpose, it doesn't mean that it will hinder me to do the things I used to do every Christmas. I will still continue my mission by sharing my blessings to others and helping those who are in need.

How about you, how will you spend your13th-month pay?

It's no secret that I suffered from acid reflux for months now, which is one of the reasons why I lose 6 kilograms in three months. My weight has decreased significantly because I forbade myself from eating foods that could trigger acid reflux (which I just learned on the internet). Some of them are sugary, fatty, spicy and most of all acidic foods.  I felt like I was deprived of eating the foods I love, example coffee. Until it came to the point that I just resorted to lugaw (porridge) all day on some days when the alkaline diet (mostly fruits and vegetables ) is not always available on our table.

For over one month, I've been on a semi-alkaline diet but still, my acid reflux didn't go away. It's very uncomfortable and worrisome.  I got skin allergies each time I ate chicken meat, fish, and eggs. I even tried various synthetic medicines and herbals available in the garden but they didn't work either. I was so desperate then to find natural remedies how to cure my acid reflux. Until last month, our neighbor, an SDA invited me to attend their 14-Day Lifestyle Medicine Seminar held at their church. I learned that our body turns into acidic because of wrong foods combination. I also learned that there are certain bacteria in pork that will not die no matter how you cook them at high temperature. Ever since I attended the seminar, I promise my self to start being a vegetarian. And my transition to being a vegetarian was easier because I am used to eating fruits and vegetables even before I learned the seminar.

It really takes a lot of efforts when you become a vegetarian. We have to go to the market early to buy our supplies. We mainly went to Bankerohan because the fruits and vegetables there are super cheap.

Our fridge was filled with fruits and vegetables which my husband bought from Bkerohan or Toril

We first soaked the fruits and vegetables in activated charcoal to get rid of pesticides.

Proper Foods Combination I learned from the seminar

Schedule to follow if you want an optimum healthy lifestyle

I have been faithful to 6am schedule which is drinking fresh juices. But for the breakfast, I just did the fruits and unpolished rice alternately because I am working online. Fruits are easily digested in the stomach so I easily get hungry. It's really hard to function when our stomach is hungry. I really tried to stick to fruits for breakfast and I hope I can do it one of these days. Self-disciple is really needed.

apple, cucumber, and singkamas combination

Pineapple and Papaya

apple, carrots, celery, lemon

watermelon

beets, celery, carrots, kalamansi, apple

apple, carrots, celery, lemon

cucumber, celery, tumeric, and kalamansi/lemon

coconut water and guyabano smoothie

coconut water and malunggay smoothie

one of my breakfasts: papaya, melon, banana, and raw nuts

another fruits combo: jackfruit, banana, raw nuts

For my lunch, I am usually eating unpolished rice with vegetables as viand. I am sometimes eating raw vegetable salads which are highly recommended because of the natural enzymes present on the raw.

cucumber, lettuce, carrots, and potato

lettuce, carrots, cucumber, boiled camote and flax seeds for lunch

For the rest, I followed the schedules faithfully except the dinner. As I have said, I need a spank on the butt to instill self-discipline (hehe).



It's been one month now since I became a vegetarian. I feel stronger and healthier. Though my acid reflux did not go away 100% but I felt I had a lot of good improvement in my health. By the power of God's grace, I claim his healing.

I'm too loud, you're quiet. You're boring, I'm silly.

I'm antsy, but you're calm. You're patient, and I'm not.

You're frugal, and I'm a spendthrift gal. 

I cook foods, you eat them.

You easily forget things, I find them.

In other words? Opposites do attract. Thank you for an amazing 7 years of marriage.

Happy wedding anniversary and I love you Daddy Shark!

Pictures taken at Precious Garden Resort, Garden Island of Samal

My acid reflux started in the early week of August when I had my Implanon removed and I partly suspected that implanon was one of the contributing factors. If you haven’t read my previous post about implanon, please check it out here!

Even though I have already managed some of the implanon after-effects, my acid reflux symptoms still recur. I already spent a lot of money clinic hopping, looking for a complete healing. Worse is, after consulting with three doctors and taking the synthetic meds they prescribed, they didn’t make my reflux go away. I even tried Healing Galing, but their program didn’t work either.

That’s why I searched on the internet what other natural remedies I could take without relying on the synthetic medicines, knowing these can cause side effects to our body. I learned that treating acid reflux requires diet and lifestyle change.

That's why, over 3 weeks ago, when our neighbor, a Seventh Day Adventist, invited me for the Lifestyle Medicine seminar, I didn’t hesitate to attend despite our spiritual beliefs. As a matter of fact, I admired how their church encouraged their people to be vegetarian. They followed the Biblical teaching found in Genesis 1:29 where God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. In other words, we are encouraged to eat fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds only.

Fruits we juiced during our 3-day detoxification program

It was reiterated in our seminar that a Healthy Lifestyle is equal to Longer Life while Godly Lifestyle is Equal to Eternal Life. The slogan of the seminar hits me like a ton of bricks. The main reason why I got sick because my lifestyle is no longer aligned with what it should be. Even though I started to be healthy 2 years ago, but I still allowed stress to swallow and overwhelm my life. My life has not been balanced physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually.

The seminar lasted for two weeks which started last October 4, 2017. Since I didn’t have a yaya yet by the time the seminar started, my mother and I took turns in attending the seminar. So I didn’t have a complete attendance (hehe). In spite of that, I learned a lot from the seminars. We were fed with tons of information not only how to be physically healthy, but also how to be spiritually rich. The seminar always started with a prayer and we sang our theme song “God Will Make a Way”.  Each time I sang, I felt the God’s presence. It surely lightens my feeling and at the same time stress-relieving.

The speakers of the seminar were Geronimo Jose, chruch pastor,  and Sir Bong.  Both are well-versed on the topics being discussed. Pastor was in-charged mainly on the Healthy Lifestyle and its corresponding biblical teachings, while sir Bong tackled about the benefits of fruits and vegetables. He also demonstrated how to juice different fruits and vegetables, explained the proper foods combinations and lastly led our 3-day detoxification program right after the 14-day seminar.
For two days, we just drank different juices which was given every hour. We didn't eat anything except the juices. I got a little headache because my body was adjusting to the new diet as I was used to eat carbohydrates-rich foods.

Add caption

We also had sunlight exposure along with the outdoor exercise. Healing oneself needs to be holistic. I learned that clean water, fresh air, sunlight, rest, exercise, healthy diet (fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds), and faith in God are the elements for healing.
After 3 days, we were given a leaflet for our Daily Lifestyle guide. I am so pleased that I was able to practice the diet tips for three weeks now and it really feels so good.






That is so far I learned from our seminar three weeks ago.