Michi Photostory

But life happened and there are unexpected twists and turns. I bid goodbye to my career without knowing what my future would be. I accepted that my plans in life will not always work out and maybe God has a better plan for me. Like they always say, “Every cloud has a silver lining”. 

And because I’m not used to be stuck at home, I find ways to earn money so I was juggling between my family and part-time work for the next three years. Then I felt guilty because I forgot the first reason why I resigned which is “I want to be present to my son”. I stopped my part-time work as a content writer and I started blogging. 

I let go of my future incomes and focus on my son, but of course, I wanted to have my own “Me-time” too so I created this blog. I was not born a writer so I’m thankful for the opportunity to write articles for other websites and this part-time job became a bridge to my blogging journey. I may not be a writer but I can be a storyteller on my own blog. 

Ten years had passed and blogging still keeps me busy, especially now that we are still under community quarantine, this blog is one of the reasons why my sanity is not slipping away. Blogging makes me happy knowing that I have the freedom and flexibility to write and share whatever I want in my own free time. 

This blog is a living testament to how my hobbies and interests changed. I love learning, trying and challenging myself in order to grow. So far, I have learned to cook, bake, sew, crochet, design graphics and printables, and more. Learning new things breaks my everyday routine because I can do different things depending on my mood. 

God did not shower me with talents; I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I can’t act, and I can’t draw but it is not a big obstacle because I know I can learn a skill. Blogging is no longer just a hobby, I want to improve my writing and photography. This blog helps me to develop my skills and I can no longer count how many webinars and courses that I have attended whether free or paid just to enhance my skills. 

I consider myself as a lifelong learner and I don’t want to settle, our world is constantly changing so I have to change, adjust and grow too by discovering my own skills and exploring new opportunities.

There are millions of bloggers out there and competition is tough so I only have a slim chance that someone will stumble my blog. But I don’t consider it as a hindrance to stop blogging because I know that every people has their own story, every people has something to share and whatever content I am creating, it will matter to someone.

I’m very grateful to brands and companies that I have collaborated and worked with in the past ten years because even my blog has a small following, they gave me a chance to promote their products, services, and websites. 

I know that you can earn from blogging but I did not imagine that it would happen to me. As I mentioned before, blogging is just my “Me-Time”. I did not foresee that two months after I started my blog I will receive my first paid blog opportunity. Of course, it is not an everyday scenario but I’m thankful for my blog earnings because I have the money to maintain my blog. Blogging is not cheap, there are a lot of expenses in order to keep it active. 

I have no clue that starting my blog will expand my horizons. I am an introvert and I enjoy staying at home and working behind the scene. I am a full-time mom and I rarely go out of the house unless there are errands and we are going to travel. But through blogging, I was able to meet some people and build some connections. 

For the past several years, I devoted my time as a stay-at-home-mom and blogging on the side. My son is no longer a baby and doesn’t need my full attention. And because of that, two years ago, I felt bored with my routine and I wanted to do more. I enrolled in Basic Photo and Video Editing Course and Social Media Management and Marketing Course. In my mind, I just wanted to improve my graphics and learn how to manage my own social media account. 

Who would ever think that my passion will open new doors for me? My blog became my resume, business card, or portfolio to market myself, skills, and services as a Social Media Manager, Social Media Graphics Creator, and Business Owner. I’m still not really back in the corporate world but I am happy that I can work part-time again. 

My blog may not be successful compared to other blogs but I am still proud of my own website because this blog still exists after one decade. It is not easy to maintain a blog and it takes a lot of work to keep it active. 

I feel blessed to be able to do what I love to do. I like the freedom that I can do the things that makes me happy. And finally, I’m grateful for this blog because it changed my life in so many ways. 

Paper stuff tends to accumulate if we do not do something about it so it is very important to let go of the things that won’t serve us anymore. Sharing some tips on how to get rid of your paper clutter. 

We live in a digital age so the paper bill is already a thing in the past. It’s been several years already since I slowly shifted to paperless billing, it started in the year 2013 when I received our internet bill with PHP25 additional charge. Yes, we need to pay PHP25 for our Globe internet paper bill so we immediately signed up for electronic billing. Since then we started enrolling other bills too if there is an option, as of this writing we only receive water and electric paper bill. 

I don’t know why Meralco is still sending us paper bills when I already enrolled in paperless billing. With regard to our water bill, after few months of community quarantine, we started receiving text messages and we have an option to view our bill online but they still send a paper bill. For the bank statement, I unsubscribed so I no longer received my quarterly Statement of Account. 

My husband has a lot of paper works so I always reuse, recycle or repurpose those papers. I used those papers to print my son’s worksheets or mock reviewers. And because of community quarantine, online distance learning na so my son use those papers to print his lessons. He rarely uses his notebooks and he just prints the slides because, during exam days, he won’t be able to access the online lessons. I don’t buy notepad because I take home the complimentary notepad at the hotel or resort where we stayed. I also make my own scratchpad or notebooks. 

Read: DIY Scratchpad 

How to Reuse or Recycle Old Notebooks 

I’m guilty of this because I always keep receipts, bank statements, and bills because I feel that they are important proof that I’m paid. And in case that I need to complain about my credit card bill, I have my credit card slip. I’m supposed to throw receipts monthly but I always end up throwing them quarterly or at the end of the year. 

I have no problem with receipts because I really throw this away. This year, I finally let go of my old bills, receipts (for warranty), bank statement, expired warranty card, and other personal stuff that I was keeping for a very long time because in my mind “I can’t throw them”. They have their own storage so it did not bother me at all, hindi naman makalat. Second, I feel lazy throwing those personal documents because I don’t just throw them away, I use a pentel pen to erase personal information or I cut those papers. Iisipin ko pa lang nakakapagod na. Lol 

Solution? I finally bought a paper shredder, I’ve been meaning to have this at home but it is too expensive but I found a cheaper version, a manual shredder. You can buy this at Shopee or Lazada but I personally bought my A4 Manual Shredder here. My son helped me with shredding but it took us several hours and we had a garbage bag full of paper trimmings. I did not throw it because my husband used it for our mini garden. 

Note: There are some documents that we need to keep forever, some documents that we need to keep for several years, and some documents that we need to shred or toss. 

Newspapers are not my problem because I don’t buy this but I have a few collections of magazines like Yummy, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Ok! and travel magazines. But I finally let go of them except for my travel magazines because I no longer read them and I'm pretty sure, they are already available online. 

If you read my previous post, we went to Sonya’s Garden and before we went home, I bought a pack of salad and salad dressing. My husband did not eat it so I decided to include a salad for our potluck, the perfect pair for our cochinillo. 

One pack is only good for 1-2 persons so I added more lettuce, grapes, mango, and boiled egg. I just used whatever we have in the fridge but according to my research, aside from leafy base, you can also add fresh fruits or edible florets to add some color. You can put topping like whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, tortillas, chips, cheese, meat, seafood, hard-boiled egg, and other foods that will add flavors. Lastly, add your favorite dressing, whether homemade or store-bought. 

Since it was my first time and I’m in a hurry, I forgot to cut my leafy vegetables in bite-sized and I did not dry them. But overall, this salad was a hit, naubos siya. I’m thankful for the “Sonya’s Super Secret Salad Dressing”, I’m sure ito yung nagpasarap. Hehehe! I did not add the dressing, I served it separately since hindi ko naman matitikman. 

1. You can add chili, wasabi, truffle oil, or horseradish paste. 

2. Use in lieu of mayonnaise on your sandwiches. 

3. Slather on steamed fish or boiled chicken cubes 

4. Use as dips for vegetable sticks 

5. Add more olive oil to yield more servings 

The dressing will last for 6 months without refrigeration but as of this writing, we no longer have this salad dressing, so naubos agad before best before the due date. Hehehe! If you want to try this salad and salad dressing but have no time to go to Alfonso, Cavite, you can order this online, check the links below.