Random Personal Updates – June 2020

Hey, how are you? I can’t believe it’s already July.

Time flies so fast it is hard to keep up with all the things and it’s already late to do my monthly personal update (for June 2020) blog post – but I’m glad I finally have the time to do it today.

So, I’m here at our mini garden upstairs, sitting on a bench with my laptop in front of me, trying to compose this blog post – with my beautiful ornamental plants around me, a view of the beautiful, calming blue skies over me, and a relaxing sound of the birds from the trees around the neighborhood.

I woke up very early today at 4:30 AM. I spent time in prayer while I was still in bed, then I had a short convo with my husband who’s awake because he works from 2 to 10 AM, and I went upstairs for my morning routine…

Looking back to what transpired four months ago, no one has ever predicted that this Coronavirus pandemic will happen and how it will affect each one of us in one way or another…

…Classes suspended, transportation and businesses halted, projects discontinued, meetings and conferences cancelled, dreams interrupted, and so much more.

All of a sudden, we found ourselves confined in our own homes trying to cope up with the challenges brought about by the pandemic, while trying to make the most of it by spending time with family and loved ones, and making up for our long lost hobbies and passions.

Some of us finally had the time to relax and binge watch movies that we have been putting off in a while due to our busy schedules.

Despite that, things are slowly getting back to normal these days.

Many of us have gone back to work, some have slowly transitioned to a work-from-home setup, while others have started new business ventures selling all sorts of stuff online and offline.

How about you?

How have you been these days and how are you transitioning to this so-called “new normal”?

As for me and my family, nothing much has changed in our work life since we have been working from home even before the pandemic started, but God has made changes in our lives in a different way.

God has made us more intentional in our walk with Him. Even during the pandemic, we are always reminded to put Him first in our priorities. And by God’s grace, we have been blessed in many ways and we are grateful for all the gifts and opportunities that we have received – including the tangible and the intangible things.

My New Habits

God orchestrated changes and new habits for me during the pandemic that I believe are essential for my personal, spiritual, and professional growth.

Here are some of the habits I have started during the past four months:

• Waking up at 5AM consistently
• Quiet time with the Lord, reading the bible and devo
• Writing in my journal
• Working out – walking, treadmill, and I started yoga this week
• Listening to faith building and motivational resources
• Reading a book
• Writing and reviewing my goals

It is so hard to start and be consistent with these habits, but like what motivational speakers and successful people say, it only takes one decision to get this done, and that decision is to get started.

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. – Zig Ziglar

When I made the decision to start these habits, my perspective about myself, about others, and my future has also started to change.

My goals and dreams have become clearer to me.

Instead of just going through the motions on tasks, I do them purposefully now and I believe it’s getting me an inch closer to the person I want to be.

For things to change, you have to change. For things to get better, you have to get better. For things to improve, you have to improve. When you grow, everything in your life grows with you. – Jim Rohn

With these new habits in place, I started seeing positive results in my faith, health, relationships and work.

After being on hiatus for two years, I started blogging again on this website, ThePinayInvestor.com, and I’ve become more consistent in publishing content both on my blog and YouTube Channel.

As a result, my subscribers and ad revenues started to increase and I believe my writing skills has also improved a bit. I’m not a professional writer, so it’s challenging for me blog, but I do it anyway. I believe that if I write consistently, I’ll get better at this. 🙂

Anyway, here are some of The Pinay Investor (TPI)  Blog and YouTube channel milestones for the month of June:

• TPI Blog earned $48 from Google Adsense, a little bit higher than the previous month
• TPI Blog published 7 blog posts
• TPI YouTube channel earned $340 from Google Adsense, first time to reach the $300 per month revenue mark
• TPI YouTube channel reached 30,000 subscribers, 5 years after I created this channel
• TPI YouTube channel published 10 videos

My Husband’s Blessings

My husband got a better job opportunity in April. Two months later, he was offered another opportunity in the same company with a better pay.

Not only that, just last week, his company sent him a Dell laptop and an iPhone all the way from the USA. He was also given an additional incentive to pay for our family healthcare plan.

God is so good. Thank you, Jesus, for all the blessings!

Family Fitness Goals

When I started the habit of waking up at 5AM in January 28 of this year, one of the things I do in the morning is walking to the park and exercising for an hour before I prep Macey for school.

I did this consistently for about 40 days.

A week before the ECQ, I planned to enroll for a gym membership to take my fitness goals to the next level. I enjoy walking and exercising at the park (and it’s free), but I thought it’s time for me to be more serious about getting fit and healthy, so I looked for gyms within the area.

I inquired at three different gyms including Slimmers World, Snap Fitness Gym, and Anytime Fitness.

Two days before the ECQ, I decided to sign up for a one-year gym membership at the newly-opened Anytime Fitness branch few meters away from our house. But since I went there on a Sunday and I did not bring my credit card, and their staff weren’t ready to accept new sign-ups yet, they told me to come back two days later for my membership application and payment.

Then came the ECQ… Lockdown…

I was not able to sign up and I believe it was a blessing in disguise. Had I signed up and paid prior to the ECQ, it would have been a waste of money.

Thank you, Lord, for your favor!

So what did I do during the lockdown? 

I did my workout routine in a small space upstairs. I walk back and forth, and up and down the stairs, with my Bluetooth headset on as I listen to faith building and motivational messages on YouTube.

Three months into my daily workout routine, I felt happy, grateful, and content. Yes, I missed going to the park and I wished I’m working out in the gym, but to be honest, I did not complain. This little space was a blessing for me and I couldn’t ask for more.

As I continue to feed my thoughts with positive messages, I learned from one of my mentors (on YouTube), that appreciating the little things opens the way to bigger things. When we start to be thankful for the smallest things we have, we attract happiness and more blessings.

True enough, during one of our conversations with my husband, he suddenly had this idea to buy a treadmill so that I could workout better – and not only me, but him and everyone in the house.

We hate to admit it but we are guilty of living an unhealthy lifestyle. Both my husband and I are obese. None of us is health conscious and we care less about the food we eat and whether we exercise or not. And that’s something we’re not proud of…

So when my husband told me he’s going to buy a treadmill for us, my heart jumped for joy.

This was an answered prayer. Not only did I pray of having our own treadmill, but also for my husband to start working out too.

On June 22, we bought a new treadmill and we set up a mini-gym in our house.

We can’t thank God enough for all these blessings. 

It may not be easy for us to make long-term lifestyle changes, but we’ll try our best with God’s help, to stay on course and keep going.

A healthy lifestyle doesn’t guarantee a long life, but it will add life to your years.

Taking care of ourselves with regular exercise, nourishing food, adequate sleep and so on benefit us every day in smaller but no less meaningful ways. Even if this doesn’t add years to our life, it will probably add life to our years.

Macey’s enrolled in Grade 1

Kids are growing up fast. Time flies so fast, indeed!

Our little bundle of joy is now enrolled in Grade 1 and she doesn’t want to be called a baby anymore.

With the pandemic still in place, the school where she attended Kindergarten came up with a special arrangement and partnered with another school to help the kids transition to Grade 1.

It’s kind of confusing, but basically, what will happen is, they will use the curriculum of the partner school, hire one highly qualified Grade 1 Teacher, and they will all work together to teach the kids via distance learning. Their classes will start first week of August.

In short, Macey’s classmates in Kindergarten will still be her classmates in Grade 1. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but we trust the school and the teachers and we believe in their passion and intention to teach the kids.

Hopefully, when things get back to normal, the kids will be able to adjust and transition smoothly to traditional school setting and learn as much as they could in academics and in all other areas of life.

We considered and prayed about homeschooling too, but I believe Macey and I aren’t ready for this yet.

Final Thoughts

I was just planning to write a short update for June, but I got carried away and it turned out to be this long.

Actually, I was writing some more when I noticed that I’ve already written almost 2,000 words. So, I’ll stop here for now, and I’ll reserve the rest of my stories on my next update post. 🙂

If you’ve read this far, thank you, and I appreciate your time.

I pray that all is well with you and your family, and may God’s blessings of peace, abundance, and happiness be with you always.

If you’d like to read my previous personal updates, click the link below:

• May 31, 2020 – My Big Wins During the Quarantine
• May 15, 2020 – Random Personal Updates – May 15, 2020
• April 29, 2020 – Family Updates After 2 Months in Lockdown 
• April 14, 2020 – What I Have Been Up To During The Lockdown
• March 23, 2020 – How We Are Coping With Covid-19 Challenges
• March 2, 2020 – My First Personal Update Post after my 2-year hiatus