[Day 0] Prayer and Fasting 2016

January 18, 2016 CST is DAY 0

Getting used to the cold

Uhm. Day 0 is really just an excuse. I got super sleepy last night I wasn't able to reach Day 1 of the P&F booklet I'm using. :(

Anyway. Let's say Day 0 is prep day for what I'm supposed to fast on for the coming days.

As usual, I decided to fast on social media, uninstalling Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on my phone and tablet and fighting the urge to open said sites on a PC.

They really are my major distractions and if I wanted to keep a stable devotion I should avoid checking them every now and then. Problem is, looks like I'm not really distracted by them. I'm distracted at just about anything. Group chats, eBooks, emails, surveys. I figured that I'm naturally a person with a terrible attention span. I couldn't focus on a single thing. Even if I closed all the windows in my PC right now, I'll always be able to find something to take my mind off what I'm supposed to be focused on. :(

Oh, I'm also not joining lunch with my friends this week. I know it's gonna be hard cos as far as my social life is concerned, that's all I've got hahaha. Hay Lord. XD

I want to start the year by bettering my spiritual life. I want to read the Bible, contemplate on God's word, and spend my me time productively.

And I'm gonna do just that. :)

Reading the prologues of this P&F booklet I have (and also talking to my boyfriend), I was reminded about the misconceptions of embarking on a fast. This year, I'm fasting because I want to improve my spiritual life and cry out the needs of our society. Not because I want to lose weight, and not because I have a special request that needs divine intervention. This year, I'm fasting because I want to rekindle the feeling of being riveted with God's word, getting caught up with His message. I want to reinstate my devotion to him.

:)

Teen Wolf to unveil second half of its 5th season: Reconciliation and New Intrigue

When Scott McCall wished to be more than just an ordinary teenager, he did not expect things to take a supernatural turn. Bitten by a werewolf just before he starts sophomore year, his life is turned upside down – as if your regular teenager did not already have enough issues to deal with. Scott is forced to deal with a double life as he struggles to protect his loved ones and keep up a front of being a “normal” teen.

The series set in the town of Beacon Hills is on its 5th season. Coming off the midseason cliffhanger, the new episodes will unfold with Scott’s attempts to reunite his group and other characters picking up broken pieces of their relationships damaged by past conflicts. Tune in to also find out if more light will be shed on what exactly Parrish the hellhound is up to.  Developed by Jeff Davies and starring Tyler Posey as lead actor, Teen Wolf airs every Monday at 8:50 pm. First and exclusive on Sony Channel.

Sony Channel is seen on SKYCable Channel 35, Cignal Digital TV Channel 60, Destiny Cable Channel 62, Cable Link Channel 39.

About Sony Channel 

Sony Channel is the premier destination for female-skewing entertainment with the biggest and best of Hollywood. Designed for the socially connected viewer, Sony Channel features some of the most captivating and talked-about drama, comedy, lifestyle and reality programs on TV, all airing close to the U.S. telecasts, together with popular feel-good movies. Fresh, confident and stylish, with a dash of clever wit, Sony Channel is visually stunning with a brand identity that perfectly complements its line-up of high calibre programming.  Sony Channel appeals to a female-skewed, male-inclusive audience who loves to escape, engage and lose themselves in premium content. Viewers are modern, social, stylish and aspirational.

Sony Channel is wholly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and managed by Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia, which also operates pay-TV channels AXN, Animax, ONE and GEM. See www.sonychannelasia.com, as well as follow www.facebook.com/SonyChannelPH and https://twitter.com/SonyChannelPH for more.

In places no one will find

Earlier this week I chanced upon a trailer of The Choice on TV and wondered if it's based on the book by Nicholas Sparks (the one that had me bawling all over Jollibee). Turns out it is, so I'm super excited! I may not be able to watch it when it starts showing here though, cos seriously, who's up for some mushy and tragic love story on a February... with me?! If I was back home I could easily drag my sister to this but naaah. Nevermind. Will just download it later on.

Anywaaay, since I've already read The Choice, I decided to read other books by Nicholas Sparks. He's known for writing really good page turning, tear jerking, love stories. And I happen to be a fan of all the sad feelings he wants to relay from his books. I love romance. I love tragic. Together they make me really weak.

If it's not too obvious yet which book I read (hint: photo), it's A Walk to Remember, okay? :D

I gave it 4 stars over at Good Reads cos I love how easy it is to read, how it was written in a point of view of an older man, and how naturally the love story developed. Sure they were both too young. At 17, you'd expect boys and girls to be dead smitten in an instant but their story is different. It didn't "just" happen, and I like that haha.

I also love how the book revealed why the title is that way. When I realized that the walk to remember was actually Jamie's struggle of walking down the aisle on the day of her marriage while her body is giving up on her, I just cried.

"It was, I remembered thinking, the most difficult walk anyone ever had to make.

In every way, a walk to remember."

I'd put this a notch under The Choice cos it's still my favorite Sparks to date but come on, I've only read two so far haha, who knows.

By the way, here's the trailer to The Choice

Gabby is being played by Teresa Palmer! Yeah! The one who looks like Kristen Stewart, and who starred at Warm Bodies, and who thankfully has a lot more emotions to show and is an overall better actress than her kalokalike haha. Good grief!

Travis will be played by Benjamin Walker, I've never really heard of him, they look super good together though!

Oh, this trailer made me cry. arg.

The obligatory new year post (too late)

I usually ramble a lot when it comes to year-ender (or starter) posts but for a change I'd like to be brief with this one so let's not change that.

The reason this post took so long to be published despite having the text ready for over a week already is this:

i even filtered it wrong

I wanted to draw something for this post but I can't finish it cos I'm too lazy so I'm leaving you with my drafts. I had 3 but I didn't want to tear off the other one just for a pic lol

A video posted by Yan Birog (@yanbirog) on Dec 31, 2015 at 2:07pm PST

Here's a super short clip I created to commemorate the new year! Shot it right outside the cafeteria at the office and edited it using Kine Master Pro. LOVE THE APP!

2015 was a good year for me, especially where my career is concerned. God has been truly gracious and I couldn't thank him enough!

So here's what (was):

I got my first official art commission (also the second children's book I illustrated). Read about it here!

Then I got my second, this time a layout job!

yes. kaya nyo yan

I got invited to become a speaker whuuuut. Possibly because the student affairs director (who is also my friend haha) couldn't find anyone else lol but heyyy I was in a poster with VPs and CEOs and that felt grand haha.This was the mooooost nerve wracking day of my entire year. I can't even focus on the spread of dishes they served us speakers. If you know me, that's weird.

A photo posted by Yan Birog (@yanbirog) on Dec 22, 2015 at 2:03pm PST

I enrolled in a multimedia arts class and learned Illustrator and InDesign!

with my new teammates

I officially quit being a developer. I mentioned during our career planning chuchu that I wanted to try software testing for a change (but really, it's because I felt inadequate as a developer haha). Turns out they're forming a team of performance testers that time so I was signed up for a short training and got selected (well, more of endorsed) to be part of that group. A month after I moved to my new team, I was informed of a possibility to be sent onsite, then the next two months were spent furnishing deployment requirements: US Visa, clearances, permits, etc. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.

hovering over LA, on the way to MN!

Finally, I was sent off. Holey moley. I couldn't thank God enough for blessing me with such a career milestone. It's a big deal you know, to be sent to the US. That's gonna be freaking sparkly on my resume haha. And then,

let's pretend these snow covered steps symbolize my promotion lol

I got promoted, what the heck! It was a month after I flew to the US, so I was freakin ecstatic. Here's when I started to literally cry to God. I wasn't expecting to be promoted at all being that I'm only a few months old on my new track and have done nothing worthy of a raise as far as my dead developer self is concerned. On the contrary though, turns out I was promoted on account of my grade C dev efforts haha. So that means I'm just being paranoid thinking I suck as a programmer. The perils of lack of feedback, or lack of initiative to get feedback lol. Then again, if I hadn't changed tracks, I wouldn't be here. So yeah! I'm still basically reeling at all of this so forgive me for babbling too much!

one of our last pictures together

Off the career track, Jeckie and I turned 4 this year! I admit, I've been confused a couple of times, wanting to break up twice, but somehow we manage to keep it together. To be honest, the struggle continues to this point, and sometimes I think there's only so much a compromise can do to continue binding two people together. But I'm not losing hope, we're not losing hope. I've been blessed so much this year and I didn't want this to become the trade-off. Ajaaa!!!

I could be missing other eventful things but those were the moments that really stuck out for me, so yeah. Thank you Loooord <3

-------

2015 came by so fast, and most of the time I felt like I was trying to keep up with the days instead of walking leisurely alongside them. This year I want to focus more on what's happening, spend more time with myself and just be! I also used to believe this blog jinxes my plans, this year I want to kill that off.

Hoping for a great year ahead of us all! :D

The Sunday Currently (vol. 20)

Creating this entry earlier than usual cos I had a long day and finished quite a lot of things too! Yey!

Currently

Reading
Nothing hehe

Watching
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on ABC Channel. They've been playing the series since yesterday and as usual, I failed to hold my tears when Sirius and Dumbledore died, and also when Hermione removed herself from her parents' memories. T__T Hayy

Listening
to the TV

Thinking
About whether to do a Mr Robot marathon tonight, it's only 7:30pm so I have time! I'm just afraid of getting too hooked

Naaah I got too distracted it's already 11pm HAHA

Smelling
Nothing

Wishing
For a good work week ahead!

Wearing
Shirt and pajamas

Loving
That I saved a lot from yesterday's purchases at Twin Cities Premium Outlet. I got 3 pairs of shoes, a peacoat, and a couple of shirts. I was soooo blown by my savings, pretty much because the stores are still on holiday sale mode! The first pair of shoes I bought was marked down by $10 but when I took it to the cashier, it was slashed off by 50% pa! I was so shocked I only had to pay $15 dollars for a pair of running shoes. Ang saya saya huhu. Now I understand why people would always want shoes as pasalubong from the US haha

Gap, here, I've observed is quite an ordinary brand. But they offer the best discounts I've seen so far! And the quality is superb

Wanting
Free Amazon Prime so bad I did something illegal. I signed up at Amazon Student to avail of their free 6 months Prime trial. I have to have a .edu email in order to sign up, so I commissioned someone on Fiverr to give me one. For $5 I was able to get an email, sign up at Amazon Student, and enroll in their prime trial. That's a hefty amount of savings for what's gonna cost me a hundred dollars instead.

So I got an account, redid my wishlist and finally used my remaining gift card balance from my regular Amazon account just to zero it out (sucks that you can't transfer gift card balance from one account to another). I was ready to start anew on my student account but something's holding me back.

I was so guilty about it I decided not to use my new account anymore. Sucks that I had to reach this point and spend $5, when I could've just avoided the thought entirely. :( God, I feel so bad. :(((

Needing
To sleep early cos we have to be ready by 8am for tomorrow's carpool arrangement. Haaaay eto na, the hassle of not having a resident driver huhu.

Feeling
Accomplished. Naks. I woke up pretty early this day even though I slept in around 4am last night. Turns out I forgot to turn off my alarm so I was forcefully awaken at 10:30am.

I did my laundry, took a bath, cooked ham glaze, shoveled the driveway and sprinkled salt all over it, then cleared our freaking cupboard of expired stuff. I'm so tired but I'm also so proud. HAHA Our cupboard is mostly free of potentially dangerous stuff now but I can't be too sure cos there are a couple of items without any expiration date on them, and I put those back so I wouldn't know. haha

Yey

 I just hope I don't confuse my housemates when they start looking for things. XD

My arm is aching from shoveling the driveway. I really wasn't supposed to do that on my own but when I looked out the window this morning and saw our neighbors' super clean and salted driveways, I got envious and thought I wouldn't mind the workout so I put on my jacket, slipped on my boots, and shoveled away. There was only some 3 inches of light snow piled up so it wasn't too hard to put them on the side. I wanted it to be perfect but it's such a chore digging through snow which has been flattened by car tires because they get packed, hard, and slippery and overall a literal pain in the back. Anyway, I was able to clear it decently enough. Sprinkling salt was my favorite though! haha

I also checked out the bike that has been sitting on the garage, I thought we can use it for nearby errands when the temperature permits haha. So far I've adjusted the seat to the lowest setting, my next problem would be the flat tires. Will get help. Haha XD

Okaaaay. Gotta sleep I guess. But I'm hungry lol Well, I just ate.