My Goals

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Posted on 26th February 2009 by Mary Jane in Education |Fixations |Goals |Iloilo |Life |Personal |Telemarketer |Virtual Assistant |Writing

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Want to document my plans and goals for this year here in my blog. Will look at this by the end of the year to see if I did accomplish everything – which I plan to.

1. Be healthy and go back to being slim. I’m looking for Yoga classes here in Iloilo and and then I’m going to enroll. Start exercising everyday. Be healthy. I am getting heavier and it’s quiet alarming. I now officially have an undeniably awful-looking paunch (which Tim points out to me everyday). I want to get rid of it as soon as possible because I can’t fit into my old clothes anymore (and which is a waste because I have so many old clothes!) I want to fit into my old clothes! And every time we have our photo ops I find it really hard to hide the paunch. LOL. So I have finally started dieting. No more chocolates, cakes, ice creams, curls  and junk food for me now. Well maybe just once a week. LOL. I won’t binge anymore. I will only eat when I’m hungry. I will only eat “on time.” I don’t wanna be chubby anymore. Hehehe.

2. Learn to speak, read and write in Spanish. I’m learning how to write and speak in Spanish along with Tim. I am starting to get serious in this stuff. I’m trying to learn a phrase or two everyday. Tim’s bought a book. I’m studying online. We want to speak acceptable Spanish by the end of the year. We love and adore the Spanish language. Not only is it a romantic language, it’s also widely spoken around the world. And it’s a part of our heritage.  My goodness our family names are in fact Spanish if you’ve noticed. My Lola Mamang knows how to speak Spanish. I love listening to people speak that language. Me and Tim want to be linguists. It’s our dream.  :)

3. Enroll at CAP College. I am going back to school this year! Yes you read it right. My second ultimate dream, one of the things I want to achieve/fulfill before I die – will finally be put in motion this year. Hopefully there won’t be any hitches. I’m not listening to any discouragements from anyone. I plan to continue my studies while working at the same time. But wait, before anyone gets the wrong idea, just wanna clear up that I do love and enjoy my job! I mean who wouldn’t? Nothing beats working at home. :)   And honestly I earn more than you, if not you then the person next to you (this applies only to people living in the Philippines. LOL) And there are many out there who have degrees but still don’t have jobs, or if they do have jobs they’re not happy with it or usually it’s not related to the degree they’ve finished.  It’s just that I really want to finish college and get that hard-to-get diploma. It’s like an obsession to me. Just so everyone knows, I plan to enroll at CAP College the pioneer in Distance Education here in the Philippines. CAP College was patterned after the “open university” concept of education which is already well-established and widely accepted in more advanced countries of Europe, Australia, Canada, the United States and Asia. If anyone wants to learn more about CAP College just click here. Mamang suggested this college to me. And I know going to school at CAP College won’t interfere with my work. In fact it will actually help me with my work. I feel that it would be much much better for me if I enroll at CAP College instead of enrolling at the universities and colleges here in Iloilo. Aside from just learning my degree here at home and online, with a little person to person interaction which will only be during final examinations, I know that I will learn a lot more than those students who physically go to school and sit at classrooms and listen to other people talk.  I don’t have anything against teachers (my mother is a teacher) but for me I learn a lot better if I study by myself, not by listening to other people talk or by doing assignments and reports. I had more than one professor who just assigned reports to us for the whole semester and then just sat in the back of the classroom and listened to me and my classmates’ reports (so what happened was me and my classmates were teaching each other and all the professors did was just kinda supervise us giving a little input here and there). In fact, I think distance learning is a lot better. We get to really learn and study whether we like it or not — at our own pace. Then we will really deserve the grades we get, not because of some professor or teacher’s judgement or whim. This is MY opinion so if anyone disagrees – I don’t really care. In my point of view, everyone should earn their degrees through distance learning instead. Wanna know why I said that? Feel free to ask me. My reasons will be more understandable if you talk to me, not by just reading it here.  :)

4. Be an active member of the CFC Singles for Christ. Right now every Sunday you will find me not only with Tim but also together with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am building a blog for them now using WordPress too. I also want to help our less privileged brothers and sisters not only here in Iloilo but also in other places. I also want to help spread God’s words and God’s love not only to young people like me but also to everyone who will listen. Being with the SFC will help me fulfill my dream of helping others. See I’m not really a selfish person. :)

That being said, I have an awful lot of things to do this year. This stuffs will keep me very busy. But it’s better to be busy than not right? I have a life, unlike other people. LOL. I am currently researching more about the things I need to enroll at CAP College then I’m planning to accomplish and gather all the requirements needed so I could finally enroll and start studying. All these I will do while I’m also working. I will send myself to school. I will be paying for my tuition fee. So I better study well and hard. Then next year I will start fulfilling my dream of having my own virtual assistance company. Nothing is impossible right? I thank the Lord for all the blessings I have received. And for all the blessings to come. Hope He will help me in my journey of fulfilling my dreams.


The Art of Self-Promotion – 5 PR Tips

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Posted on 25th February 2009 by Mary Jane in article writing |News |Random |Virtual Assistant

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I am an oDesk member so I usually get newsletters in my email from them. I found this very useful article earlier so I decided to repost it here in my blog with the proper linkbacks of course. Hope nobody sues me for doing this. LOL

Public relations-that’s when giant corporations pay someone to explain away their massive oil spill, right? Or when movie stars hire a fancy agency to get them on magazine covers? Well, sure, but when you boil it down, PR is the art of getting your message-and yourself-favorable attention in pursuit of your goals. Your goal is to advance your career, and there are ways to promote yourself without using Angelina Jolie’s “people.” Here are five ways:

1. Maintain a professional blog and offer valuable content to your target clients.

Do some research and come up with unconventional conclusions. Check out free, easy-to-use blog platforms such as typepad.com and blogger.com. And we can’t emphasize this enough-spellcheck before you post, and post with some regularity! Need help setting up a professional-looking blog? Trade services with a talented friend-or use oDesk to hire a WordPress expert or graphic designer for a quick project.

2. Website. Website. Website!

It’s easy, inexpensive and pretty much the minimum of professionalism in most fields. Take advantage of the tons of free tools and tutorials to build and maintain a web presence. Link back to your oDesk profile using one of the customized links so people can easily review your profile and hire you (do the same on your blog!). Need help? Trade services with a friend who knows web design or is a skilled writer who can edit your resume and other copy. Failing that, find that help on oDesk.

3. Be social.

Promote your online presence through social media. Create a free Facebook page that’s suitable for professional consumption (add that oDesk referral link!). Let your network know that you’re available to do work. Use a free Twitter account to send good information to friends and colleagues, keeping yourself in their minds when they need to get the job done. Tweet about professional information, news and good resources-no irritating “Mmm … cheeseburger” clutter. Follow twitters of other professionals in your field to stay on top of trends and news and involved in the conversation.

4. Make yourself the expert.

Conduct research and write an article or presentation about something unique in your professional field. Put it on your blog and Facebook page and tweet about it. PowerPoint it for free posting on SlideShare.com. Link it all to your oDesk profile. Have your friends and professional network Digg it to drive traffic.

5. Leave a comment.

Wherever potential clients might be following the professional conversation, get your voice in there. Post your reaction, with a link back to your site or blog, on blog posts and news articles in your field. Do not just say “good article!” or “I agree!” Have something salient to add, showing that you’re a smart professional who follows developments and synthesizes new conclusions. And run that spellcheck before you start throwing around “salient” and “synthesize.”

You work hard, you polish your skills, you know your stuff-now make sure as many people as possible know it!

Yes Man

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Posted on 12th February 2009 by Mary Jane in Comedy |Entertainment |Fixations |Humor |Iloilo |Life |Movies |My Bebeh |My Job |Virtual Assistant

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200px-yesman2008poster Tim and I watched Yes Man earlier. I didn’t expect to enjoy this movie because I didn’t really like its trailer but hey I enjoyed it! As usual, we didn’t have plans to watch it but because we can’t think of anything else to do we just decided to watch Yes Man. Tim is going home tomorrow to Kabankalan because he’s going to attend the funeral of his Tita and he won’t be back until the 15th (my birthday) so we kinda like celebrated Valentine’s Day today.

As always, Jim Carrey is a great actor and he didn’t fail to make us laugh. Although he exaggerates/overacts sometimes. Yes Man is an American comedy film directed by Peyton Reed and starring Jim Carrey as Carl Allen and Zooey Deschanel as Allison. The film is based on the true story and 2005 book The Yes Man by British humourist Danny Wallace (who has a brief cameo in the film). Well I learned a lot of things from this movie. One is too enjoy life to the fullest and to not live inside a box. To be SPONTANEOUS and unpredictable ( I like being unpredictable). And to be imaginative. I myself don’t really like to live a boring life. That’s why I take risks. That’s why I hate boring people. That’s why I love my bebeh. :)

I learned a lot of things about Jim Carrey too. And I admire the guy more than ever. In the movie there was a part there that he bungee jumped from a bridge and I was telling my bebeh that I am pretty sure that Jim Carrey did his own stunt and I was right! He bungee jumped from that bridge himself! And did you know that Jim Carrey also knows how to play the guitar? In fact he’s been playing the guitar since he was a little boy. And he also learned basic Korean for a scene. He spoke the language really well, I give him credit for that.

So that’s it guys. If you haven’t watched this movie yet then I recommend that you do because you won’t regret it. Even most of the critics from Rotten Tomatoes liked the movie and gave it positive reviews.

I’m going back to work now. Thanks to a week’s rest and being idle because of my lack of internet connection made it kinda hard for me to go back to my sleeping pattern and made great damage to my work and my wallet. Well if I don’t work I won’t get any payments. If I don’t earn money then I won’t be able to finance my dreams. I have to earn in order for me to also live my life to the fullest right? That’s the reality.

Ooops by the way guys I have started utilizing my Flickr account as you might have noticed on the right hand side of my blog so if you wanna see more photos of me, my friends, my bebeh, my family, my cousins, relatives, EVERYONE, everything and anything — just check out my Flickr photostream okay? Okay!

And I’m hooked to Beyonce’s songs right now. I keep repeating “If I Were A Boy” and “Single Ladies.” And have you heard of  FM Static‘s song entitled “Tonight”? It’s a really nice song. Teens in the Philippines love it. Also I was reminded of Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper” because it was featured in the movie Yes Man. So these are the songs I’m listening to right now. Alright I’m really going back to work right now. TTYL! :D

First Post for the Year 2009

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Posted on 8th January 2009 by Mary Jane in Life |Love |My Bebeh |My Job |Personal |Random |Thoughts |Virtual Assistant

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holy-spirit1 I was doing my tasks at 4 in the morning when a revelation suddenly hit me. Well not really a revelation (just exaggerating ;) ) but something like a realization, something that was always there although I didn’t know it was there.

I just finished chatting with an ex co-worker and she just told me a lot of very nice things. I won’t write it here though because I’m too shy. Hehe. What she said made me really feel good about myself and it made me think that I made the right decisions. I might sound vague but I don’t really want to rant and rave about that “stuff” here in my blog right now. Just want to let this all out of my mind and my system. I think I have finally earned the respect of the people around me. They didn’t know that I was this strong, that I was such a risk-taker. Or I’m crazy enough to dive in to something I’ve never tried doing before. And that I’ve proven to them that what I did was right. And that they didn’t think that I’ll be this successful. They tried to discourage me, but no way am I going to let them do that. I don’t care about what other people think right? Hehe. So here I am now – people that I barely knew before wants to be my best friend now. People who barely knew I exist suddenly calls or texts me asking how I’m doing and if I’m alright (now who gave them my number??).  As if I’m that dumb to be fooled by them. I’m not a bad person, it’s just that I’m so overwhelmed by all this hypocrisy around me. Are people that desperate nowadays?

Anyway, enough about that. A little idea on what I do when I’m at work. Being alone makes me think of various ways to entertain myself. And one of them is by plurking. I have a Plurk account so when I don’t feel like writing in my blog I just plurk. It’s a great way of documenting the things one does everyday while meeting new friends at the same time. I’m actually friends with Paulo Coelho now. Hahaha! And I’m now an avid reader and responder of his plurks, his blog and his books. So back to the reason why I’m ranting about Plurk. I wrote a sentence there which turned into a paragraph and in turn inspired me to write my very first blog post for the year 2009. I don’t want to rewrite it so I’m going to copy it here exactly the way I plurked it. I don’t want to corrupt the original thoughts and feelings that were going through my head while I was writing those lines. Here goes:

people say i’m lucky coz i started doing this thing while i’m still young..

i think they’re right..although when i was just a kid, i didn’t know what i’ll be when i grow up.

while everybody else was thinking or dreaming of becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, an engineer, a nun – i was not so clear about what i’m going to be “when i grow up.”

i didn’t even know what course i’m going to take in college. my mamang hoped that i would become a teacher like her, but sadly –

it was not meant to be..i regret so many things in my life, but i don’t regret the decision i made 4 months ago. it has made me become the successful person i am today. and i’m going to value this opportunity, i won’t let all of  this go to waste. i will nurture this until this grows bigger and bigger.

God showed his love to me this way. so i’m not going to disappoint him. i also thank the person who started this role. without him to guide me the first time i wouldn’t have learned anything at all.

i am also thankful for having a wonderful family. who doubted at first but that’s how families are supposed to be, they keep you grounded and they make you think, they make you grow up, be mature.  but they’re very supportive now after seeing that i made the right decision.

gods-gift-logoand I‘m also thankful for having a wonderful bebeh who loves me so much and who always always support me.  i’m so lucky and so blessed to have him. he is definitely God’s Gift to me.

That’s it guys. So much for the first blog post of the year. Welcome 2009! It’s the year of the Ox. Maybe I’ll have more good luck this year. Thank you Lord for all the blessings I received last year. And for all the blessings to come.

What's up Jane?

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Posted on 15th November 2008 by Mary Jane in Entertainment |Events |Family |Fixations |Friends |Friendship |Iloilo |My Job |Virtual Assistant

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I can’t believe it! It’s already November! Year 2008 is going to end in less than two months (sigh). This year has been so good to me. I have a new job – which can pay the bills mind you. Thanks Mauricio! (I know you’re reading this) :)

I haven’t had the time to write about what’s been happening in my life lately. And I think I have to update my friends who are asking me  what I’ve been up to lately. Well guys – here it goes:

1. Tim and I are joining the CFC Singles for Christ and it’s about time. My brother Sev whose an SFC has been recruiting me since I don’t know when. We have to attend their Christian Life Program for 14 consecutive Sunday afternoons so we will be certified members. It’s great that Tim is also joining. Aside from the “quality time” and the “pa-good shot” with my parents, I get to meet other singles who are God-fearing and mature as well.

2. Tim has slept at our house! Yey!! It’s great that Papang agreed to let him stay for a night at the house. Even though the reason why he stayed for the night was because he had to help me out in installing the Magic Jack. It hasn’t happened before that’s why I’m so happy. It only shows that my parents do trust me.

3. My friends and ex-coworkers at Callbox are pestering me to make “libre.” Well sure guys but we have to set a date and time for that alright? ;)

4. Someone thought that I’m a “party girl” after reading one of my posts here. Well I’m not. I just love to go out once in a while. And that’s when Papang allows me to. It’s weird right? Be 23 and to have to ask permission from your father to go out? Maybe it’s because I’m an only girl. But hey I’m 23! Other girls my age have a couple of babies or more already!

5. I’m looking forward to Christmas time! I love giving gifts and of course receiving them. You know what to do Nang Janice. Victoria’s Secret? Hehehe. Miss you Nang! Miss you Shey! Miss you Amy! I miss everyone. :(

6. I’m also looking forward to meeting the Iloilo Bloggers! Junelle said we’re going to have a Christmas party too.

7. I don’t know why but I’ve been listening to America and Alanis Morrisette’s songs lately. Ironic and Lonely People is on repeat mode on my playlist.

Hhmmm..what else can I tell you? Well I think that’s it for now guys, I’ll just update all of you again of what’s occupying my time these days. I still have work to do. Tahtah!

Listen to this guys and tell me what you think. I’m a big America fan too.