Mommy Ginger
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My ONE WORD for 2018 — JOY

Last year, I was on an emotional roller coaster. Some days were filled with joy and happiness and some days were just bad. In some days, I felt as if I were on top of the world, while on other days, I felt like quitting. I thought that being busy would make me NOT think about things, but it actually made things worst. My emotions rose and dipped at extreme levels.

Welcoming the New Year wasn’t easy for me either. This is the reason why this (first blog of the year) came in pretty late in January. By the way, I can’t believe that it’s almost the 15th of the month. Anyway, going back to my story, it wasn’t a “happy” new year for me. First of all, joy wasn’t in the air when I noticed that my blog was hacked by some random hacker. This made my host take down my blog for almost a month.

Next, the yaya that we had for almost 5 years just didn’t return after going on vacation. I was furious! It wasn’t so much that she was gone, but it was more of that she didn’t have the decency to tell us that she wasn’t coming back.

And then, the worst thing that happened, was that Zeeka got sick. It’s the worst feeling in the world for a parent to have to bring her kid to the emergency room (again — twice within a month) after having intermittent fever for 5 days. Oh myyy!

But then, that’s life right?

You might be wondering, “then why the heck is her one word JOY after having a few episodes of unfortunate and definitely, sad circumstances?”

I really thought about this for a long time. For the past few days, this sat as a draft in my blog. I wasn’t too sure about the word either, until…

Until one day, I listened to the blink on Blinkist of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s all Small Stuff by Richard Carlson. That’s when I realized that being happy or joyful is a choice that we need to make. And I also realized that the things that we deem to be urgent, important and life changing or threatening aren’t always such a big deal.

Maliit na bagay lang pala.

There are things that we don’t have control over. There are things that happen to us that we obviously didn’t wish for, but what we can control is how we react.

So, what I did FIRST was I analyzed why I felt the way that I felt. What I found out was that…

1) Hacking incident – I felt so sad that people would waste time hacking into other random sites of strangers. I was feeling that way because I didn’t know if we would be able to restore it (which we did! Yey!)

2) Yaya Incident – I felt furious because I hated adjusting again to a new rhythm and new way of doing things again, especially that I have a ton of things to do.

3) Zeeka’s sickness – I felt like I didn’t pay much attention to Zeeka last year and I felt like I wasn’t a good mom. That made me hate myself.

So there. I analysed why I was feeling this way, and it was because of things that I could actually control. So what if my blog was down? I could converse with my readers via social media. So what if I had to adjust to a new way of doing things again? It’s not as if I didn’t have new things and ideas every time. Haha! So what was the difference, really? So what if I failed last year at being a mom? I still have a lot of time fixing my mistakes and focusing more on Zeeka this year. Maybe this scenario of being yaya-less is actually a blessing!

So this is why I chose the word Joy. I need to find those little things that I can be grateful for. This word that I have chosen will constantly remind me that life is great. Living is great. Even with the many challenges that I face, I know that I’m strong and I know that I will make the most out of it.

Living a life with no regrets will bring Joy. Saying I have loved will bring Joy. Striving to be the best that I can be will make me happy. Picking myself up after failure will make me love life more.

How about you?

Are you happy? Is you life filled with Joy?

 

 

I Saw my Life Differently

All of a sudden, I knew that I was going to live my life differently from now on.

As you may have noticed, I have less sponsored posts in my blog now (this year). I’m sure you all know that I have been earning through brands that advertise through the site, and I don’t keep this a secret. I share my business experiences in this blog, and there is no shame in admitting that I earn through blogging. In the last few years, I have set my eyes on trying to reach a lot of people and was hoping to follow the path of my idols, Marie Forleo and Natalie McNeil. Both women made it big by branding themselves as mentors and industry experts. Marie has her own B school and people from around the world attend it. Natalie McNeil has her site SheTakesontheWorld.com and was deemed by Forbes magazine as one of the sites for women entrepreneurs to visit.

So anyway, early last year, I took on a path similar to theirs. I launched GTV, my own channel where I talked about tips on how to start your own business. I also continued my Love the Leap program which is a 3 day course on entrepreneurship. I did business and brand coaching. Aside from that, I got contracts for brand endorsements, etc.

I love it, and I still do. But recently, I saw my life differently. I realized that now, I have other alternatives and sometimes, the best way I can help individuals pursue their dreams and achieve their personal and business goals, is if I focus on the my own businesses. I realized that ManilaWorkshops.com, LoveLearning.co and MemoryCrafters.com.ph all have noble causes of teaching the core value that every entrepreneur should have, which is the willingness to learn and the desire for self-improvement.

I also realized that through writing more about what I experienced and felt every day through my blogs and my social media accounts, I could do what I really enjoy doing, which is to have conversations with people.

This year, I am bent on making every minute count. I am bent on looking at every second, every minute of my life as something valuable — something that will mean something, something that will make a difference.

 

Louie Arcilla Life+Style Photography (Giveaway Alert!)

I remember looking through photo albums kept at my grandmother’s house (as in tons of them). They contained pictures of my childhood and even pictures of my parents and aunts and uncles during their younger years. I loved looking at those pictures, even if for most of them, I wasn’t born yet. I loved looking at them because it gave me a sense of how my parents and relatives were when they were younger. I also showed me pictures of when I was still a baby. Obviously I couldn’t remember each moment, but looking at these pictures made me FEEL the love that I was showered with. This is why we, as a family, had Louie Arcilla take photos of our family.

When I first met Louie and when I told him that we were game to do a family photo shoot, I was afraid to tell him that I wasn’t really the type who would pose in front of the camera. Well, my husband and I are like that. We hate posing. We both feel awkward. We actually decided to have a family shoot because we wanted our daughter to have pictures that she could browse through when she was older. I want her to have the same opportunity and experience of looking through old photos and photos of herself when she was younger.

So fast forward to the day of the shoot, Louie came in at exactly 2:00 PM as we discussed. It was a gloomy day and it was drizzling, so I immediately thought that I was super unlucky. We didn’t have a good lighting source. We couldn’t go out. Also, when Louie arrived, Zeeka was sleeping, so we had to wait for her to wake up. We talked first about his business and brand Louie Arcilla Life+Style Photography. I always felt his passion for his craft. The thing about Louie is that when you talk to him, he is very down to earth and easy to talk to. It’s as if you have been talking to a friend whom you have known for for years. That’s why I think Zeeka loved him immediately.

Zeeka would normally go into tantrums and would squeal and scream when a ‘new and unfamiliar’ person would carry her. But not with Louie! Zeeka just met him that day and after the shoot, she kept on saying ‘Louie… Louie’. She even allowed him to carry her. The shoot went well and you know why? Louie didn’t ask us to pose. He just made us do normal things — things that we would do on a daily basis like sit on the couch, carry Zeeka, play with Zeeka, talk to Zeeka, etc. We didn’t have to pose! Thank, God! Zeeka was the one you posed for us. Haha!

But it was all so natural and light. What I was worried about though was if the the pictures would come out clear. I hated that it was such a gloomy day. But guess, what?! When I got the pictures from Louie, I was blown away. Here are some of the pictures…

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 1

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 2

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 3

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 4

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 5

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 6

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 7

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 8

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 9

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 10

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 11

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 12

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 13

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 14

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 15

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 16

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 17

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 18

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 19

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 20

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 21

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 22

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 23

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 24

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 25

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 26

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 27

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 28

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 29

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 30

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 31

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 31

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 32

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 33

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 34

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 35

The Arboledas taken by Louie Arcilla 35

I love love love each and every picture that he took. I highly recommend that you book Louie Arcilla if you want to have a family photo shoot! I believe in his talent and I believe that he can best help you capture those precious moments. And guess what, he is offering a discounted price if you book shoots ASAP and I mean ASAP! Here are the discounted rates!

Louie Arcilla Packages

BUT WAIT! THERE’s MORE!

Because Louie and I believe in capturing those moments that make you appreciate the life that you have, we are having this giveaway! It’s called Love Life Giveaway and joining is soooo easy!

Love Life Giveaway of Louie Arcilla

Love Life Giveaway of Louie Arcilla and Mommy Ginger

Love Life Giveaway from Louie Arcilla and Mommy Ginger

1. Take a picture of a precious moment in your life and post it on Facebook and Instagram. Please make sure that your post can be seen by the public.
2. Please use #louiearcilla and #lovelife and tag @mommyginj and @louiearcilla when you describe the photo. Please leave a comment below (link to this blog post is http://bit.ly/lovelifegiveaway) and leave your name and email address to signify that you have joined our giveaway.
3. We will chose one (1) winner of a two hour shoot with Louie Arcilla BUT everyone who joins will receive a 15% discount on any of the packages of Louie Arcilla Life+Style Photography. Isn’t that great! (*the 15% is on top of the discounted package seen above).

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

Entries will be accepted from Dec. 6 to Dec. 27, 2014. We will announce the winner on Dec. 29.
Please enter a valid email address as we will contact you using this once you win.
This giveaway is open to everyone but transportation should be covered by those who participate/win outside of Mertro Manila.

We are so excited for this! Are you ready for your own photo shoot? Join now and spread the word! Goodluck 🙂

For more information on Louie Arcilla, you can check out his website (http://louiearcilla.com/) or his Instagram account (http://instagram.com/louiearcilla).

 

Sangobion Shopping Event

During Halloween, we had a family get together. My titas and titos were there at the house. They were talking about health issues and sickness. I remember when I was in gradeschool, my titas and titos and parents were talking about children and the schools that we (me and my cousins) went to and I clearly remember that they were laughing at the fact that there were three tables talking about different things. Our table, during that time, was busily playing card games and talking about crushes. The last table, the table of my grandparents, were talking about health and sickness. Looking back, I am amazed at how time flies! Now, it’s our table who;s talking about children, tuition fees and the like.

As I listen to the table of my parents and aunts and uncles, my aunt was saying that she really loves and uses Sangobion. She was telling them of a time when she was always dizzy and when she took Sangobion regularly, all her dizzy spells stopped. I am also a believer of this product! That’s why, when they asked me to host their Sangobion Shopping Event, I couldn’t say no.

Sangobion Shiopping Event

Sangobion Shopping Event

Sangobion Shiopping Event 4

Sangobion Shiopping Event 5

Sangobion Shiopping Event 2

Sangobion Shiopping Event 3

This event was such an exciting activity! 30 plus Sangobion ladies all won shopping sprees. They got to shop at stores in SM Aura and when they came back, they had to strut their stuff! Everyone looked gorgeous and amazing!

Ginger Arboleda_ Dr. Gio Barangan -Medical Director, Merck_ Debbi Go - Marketing Director, Merck_ Jio Igual and Joy Cabrera - Brand Managers, Sangobion

Ginger Arboleda, Dr. Gio Barangan -Medical Director, Merck_ Debbi Go – Marketing Director, Merck_ Jio Igual and Joy Cabrera – Brand Managers, Sangobion

Debbie Go - Marketing Director, Merck

Debbie Go – Marketing Director, Merck

Joy Cabrera - Brand Manager, Sangobion

Joy Cabrera – Brand Manager, Sangobion

Jio igual - Brand Manager, Sangobion

Jio igual – Brand Manager, Sangobion

My Lovely Daughter during the Sangobion Event!

My Lovely Daughter during the event!

 

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I am so glad and proud to say that I am a Sangobion lady! A lot of the things that I am doing as an entrepreneur and as a mom, I get to accomplish, because I have the energy for it. I can play with my baby go with her to her Little Gym classes, do household chores, manage a team and still write in my blog after with the help of Sangobion. It’s hard to manage your time but always remember that you need to think of what is your top most priority and have things revolve around that.

Sangobion really helps me love life! How about you? How has it helped you?