Chronicles of Nika

I’ve got tons of friends who are getting pregnant. Each month, more news of friends, old friends, old classmates and neighbors getting babies on the way reach my FB inbox, my email and my mobile phone. Sometimes I think I should start investing in the baby business, like starting my own baby shower invitations hobby crafts. At least that’ll help me earn the money I’ll be spending for gifts and such. Plus it’ll be a good way to spend my time creatively. xD I better get a good printer so I can do a test run, I can start out and gift the invitation to my friends.

Happy April fools and happy birthday to me. Seriously. ^_^

Now I just got a year older and I gained *coughs* quite a lot of pounds this past year. I need to start with a proper diet now if I ever plan to lose weight. I’ve been juggling with my weight and I haven’t been able to get below 200 right now. I’m around 220. >.< I have to be serious this time, I wanted to try running but I can;t find a good place to run back here. We have so many stray dogs that its scary to run in our village. I don't want to succumb again to fast diets, for some diets for quick weight loss work but it doesn’t for me. I end up gaining them all back.

I had a blast spending three days running around HK and Macau with my old college buddies. I got home last night, tired and exhausted, but definitely happier. Three days isn’t enough to cover the basics, so I promised myself I’ll be back there. If God permits it, I want to visit around July with our whole family so even the little ones could enjoy Disney. I haven’t started uploading the pictures yet, but I will soon. Next time I travel, I’m definitely getting the Canon dslr I’ve been eyeing to get better pictures. Next goal is Singapore, Vietnam, and Kota Kinabalu. Its like Pringles, once you start, you can’t stop.

I still think I can lose weight without actually undergoing weight loss surgery. I mean it would be great if I can lose all the weight I need to lose in one sitting but I’m not too sure I am ready to go under the knife for it yet. I still can try regular exercise and healthy meals and I think I can do it. Right now I’m trying to find a perfect balance between my work and a healthy lifestyle because I work nights and sleep in the morning.

I’m not working in a call center but the work I have right now deals with clients who are mostly in the US. I have to be awake when they are awake, so I usually end up sleeping in the mornings and waking up late afternoon or just before lunch.

I’ve used a lot of different mp3 players before I shifted into using ipods. I am currently using an iPod Touch which I seriously love. I can use it for playing songs, watching movies, playing games, surfing the internet and keeping my life organized. It’s my lifesaver especially in times when I can’t lug around a laptop when I go out. If I’m in a place where there is no wifi available and I really need to use the internet, I just run Joiku on my e63 then start the wifi from my cellphone. I’m thinking of getting a much larger memory when I get more funds, since right now I only have the 32Gb 3rd gen one. I might even decide to get the iPad, just in case. xD

Someday soon, I’ll be going to the US to visit some friends and relatives. I’m hoping I can get a chance to go into roadtrips so I can enjoy the scenery. I’ve always liked the movie scenes where the characters spend their time traveling on the road, with tons of trees and beautiful sky around them. I’d want to be able to get an rv so it wouldn’t be so difficult especially when we have to use the bathroom. Then if we ever need our rv repaired, we would stop somewhere and buy some local product or souvenir I can bring back home.

Since I have been given a lot of free time this year, I was thinking of getting an online degree. I have been hearing a lot about online education institutions for the past few years and I haven’t seen much local schools take that path. I am interested in trying WGU because I have learned that they are recognized by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) and have been awarded with the 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance Learning.

I am very much interested in taking an online IT degree that specializes in web development since that is where I see my career headed right now. I enjoy learning about web development so I was thinking of getting a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. I think it is a good course to take so I can learn the fundamental IT skills and get the right certifications that can help me enter the IT industry. Learning online would be easier for me rather then enrolling in another college right now. It would be cost-effective for me to utilize an online learning environment, especially since I learn more when I am not confined in a classroom.

I’ll be checking more information about their financial aid opportunities. I might get to live with my aunt soon in the US so its worth looking into. It’s also interesting to see that they have a twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/wgu), which I haven’t really seen from other schools. I find it a good sign.

February isn’t such a good month for us especially since we have El Nino. Water supply is less and it seems we’ve been getting black outs every now and then. March is coming soon and we’re expecting intense heat especially since summer is starting. I really need to get an air-conditioning unit for my room because summer will be unbearable if El Nino continues. My two younger siblings will have their normal summer vacation but my third sibling who’s taking up nursing will be busy with school and duties. She’s been spending a lot of time with her class mates and duty group because their CI’s have been expecting lots of input from them. I even saw her researching about treatments for eczema the other day. Then today she was studying about pregnant patients, it seems they’ll be moving to the maternity ward for their next duty. I don’t know how nursing students manage to do all the things required from them. I don’t think I have the guts to do what they do.

Maybe I should try local acne cleansers that’s readily available from the supermarket. But then I don’t want to make a mistake and make myself too dry. Lately I’ve been going from oily to normal to dry and back. I have to remember to get some pore strips from Watsons. I have so many blackheads right now and its annoying me. I have to get myself a facial before my HK trip. I need it bad.

I wonder how people choose what weight loss pills to try. Whenever I surf around the world wide web, I come across different advertisements for different pills and methods, and its getting me confused. I want to lose weight but its hard to find out which programs really work. Maybe I should just try going back to being a pescitarian. My bestfriend started me on it since she had that diet and it sort of worked for me. At least it helped relieve my headaches.