Meeting Julie Lebel

Yesterday, Azarie and I went for a walk in our neighborhood and passed by the cultural center in our area. There we met Julie Lebel, a choreographer based in Vancouver. She invited me for a few stretches and told me briefly about the free sessions she facilitates in the place. I feel so awkward doing the stretches because I have never done any yoga. But it was kind of fun especially with Azarie joining us on the floor, too. I hope we can regularly join them because I think she does it with moms and their babies/toddlers. It will be good a way to be fit and socialize at the same time. After we come back from the Philippines, we will surely join them again ;)

Julie Lebel's blog



May God be glorified!

Love,
Berenice

Just Two Questions

Achieving dreams can be overwhelming. So today I thought of 2 simple questions to help me as a guide to make my dreams come true. Here goes:

1. What is your dream?
2. What have you done today to bring you closer to your dream?

Simple, right? I definitely think so!

Now to answer those 2 questions, I have to categorize them into physical, mental, social, professional, and financial. Why? Because I have many dreams ;)

For the physical: I want to be healthy and fit. I ate weetbix for breakfast with 2% milk and had mocha with no sugar added. And later I will go for a 45 min walk. I already did a 30 min walk the other day.

For the mental: I want to be knowledgeable regarding different subjects. I want to learn to speak French. So what I am doing is I read blogs throughout the day. They inspire me and they always let me learn something new. I will have a French online dictionary and learn at least one French word everyday and use it in a sentence.

For the social: I want to have more friends. I started by writing emails to people on my facebook and just saying hello. I will definitely join meet up groups. And when I will be in the Philippines, I will contact old friends to hang out with.

For the professional: I want to pass the CAOT exam on November 2013. I was gonna take the one on July but I will be going to the Philippines for 5 weeks and I know my study is not enough for me to pass the July exam. But I will still read OT related subjects everyday for at least an hour. I will join OT volunteer groups.

For the financial: I want to earn enough income so we can buy a farm in the Philippines. I am saving by buying clothes in thrift stores. I will save 10% of our income every month. I will stick to a budget.

So there you go, little steps taken daily will make a difference.

I like this house at the moment. A pic for inspiration :)

May God be glorified!

Love,
Berenice

Eating Slowly

Yesterday at lunch, I was observing how my husband was taking such a long time to finish the food on his plate. So I asked him why it was so. He said he enjoys his food that is why he was taking his time. (I actually thought he didn't like my cooking because he wasn't eating it with full bravado!haha).  But anyway, I also read somewhere that if you chew your food properly(or slowly), you get full faster and the result is you don't eat too much. Unfortunately for me, I am a fast-eater. I just can't help it. I tried to do it during lunch today but I think I almost felt dizzy... like time was dragging by too slow before I could swallow my food. And as for enjoying it, I think that is one skill I have yet to master. Oh, how will I ever lose weight if it seems this difficult? :/
Hey, I will not give up! I have to keep trying no matter how long it takes. Every small effort will count. Today I will reveal my weight of...160 lbs!!! I need to lose 30 lbs before I turn 36 years old on February next year. Doable? Well, prayers can move mountains! So I will storm heaven with them!

here I am all 160 lbs of me.

 

 

 

 

May God be glorified!

Love,
Berenice

Study! Study!! Study!!!

On the first Saturday of July this year I am planning to take the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists exam so I can legally work here in Canada. I find it really difficult to study due to a lot of distractions going on around me. It really gets me down especially when I have a study plan but I don't get to follow it :( I only have 2 and a half months left to study. I seriously need to devour my OT books! Please God help me!!!!!!

Exams are nerve-wracking!



May God be glorified!

Love,
Berenice

Prayer

One of the things I am doing to becoming the best of me is having a regular prayer time. I consider it the most important activity I must do everyday. Putting God first is priority. I feel if I don't do it, the day is incomplete.
I have my morning prayer time before having breakfast. I make this as a small sacrifice because reading the Bible and my devotional without my coffee is a challenge :)
I still don't have a specific place where I pray. Right now I place my Bible and the Holy Rosary on a cabinet facing our bed and  I sometimes pray on a seat beside our bed, on our sofa, or on my baby's rubber mat on the floor. I hope one day I can devote a special place in our home as a prayer room where we can worship God and talk to Him privately. 
At night before I go to bed I pray the Rosary. I also pray anytime throughout the day. Praying gives me strength. To become my very best, I need God. Without Him, it will be difficult, if not even impossible. 




My devotional
 

May God be glorified!

Love,
Berenice

A Healthy Meal

I am writing this blog to write about my journey of becoming the best of me. I got the idea about it when I was having my prayer time one morning and a line of my devotional mentioned something about becoming the best of me. The phrase just struck me. I really want to be the best of myself, the way God wants  me to be. I don't want to waste my life and living it below God's standards. I may not be very good at many things, but at least I wanna try.
I have written many blogs before and they are still active right now. But I am creating a separate one just for this topic. I think this topic alone will cover a whole lot of areas in my life. Actually, I think it will cover all areas of my life.
As a first post, I am starting with a picture below of my lunch.  I have been wanting to lose weight ever since forever. Haha! Yes, it feels like that because I have always been a bit on the overweight side especially now after I have given birth. I believe God wants us to feel good about ourselves and if I feel sad or disappointed every time I see myself in the mirror, then I don't appreciate what God has made. And that is more sad.
One thing about me is I love to read blogs, not just write them. So the inspiration came from Leo Baututa's blog about his meditation diet. He mentioned that when we eat we should savor our food. Imagine he lost 60 lbs by doing this! So I thought it might be worth a try. Nah he didn't lose that much that easy or that quick, but it was one technique he used. So here goes, my healthy lunch for a better me. ;) It actually tasted good and I felt good after. No guilty feelings which usually happens after I eat junk foods.

healthy food looks good

I will write more next time about things I am doing to becoming the best of me.

May God be glorified!

Love,
Berenice