Resurrection

It is still January, the first month of the year, so I suppose I am still allowed to make a New Year resolution entry. Yes, this is my NY post, albeit 19 days late. 

In a conversation with my good friend, Camile, we discussed about our 2015 dreams, goals and resolutions. She said she wants work promotion, better grades in Law school, and an exciting (prolly wild) love life. As for me, I just told her that I want to bring the 2009 Kathryn this year. 

So, who is 2009 Kathryn? She was the broken hearted girl who 1). never missed a Sunday mass; 2). went to Fitness First daily for cardio and Yoga sessions; and 3). dreamt of having a "walk in the park" kind of Law schooling. Now, why do I want to resurrect that girl? Well, my answer is simple: I want THAT version of me BUT hopefully sans a broken heart. 

The church goer. The timing of the Papal visit was perfect. I wanted to renew my faith and God sent Peter's successors. Seeing Pope Francis in the flesh is an indescribable moment. I will never forget the genuine smile He gave me. And so, I resolve never to miss Sunday mass again. 

The Yogi. I vented out all of my heartaches, disappointments and frustrations in FF following my break up with F. In no time, I find myself shopping for sizes 2 and 4 clothes. I know that I have whined about how law schooling made me fat but I know too that I must stop making excuses for my laziness. I must make time to work out because others were able to do the same. I should start psyching myself that I should not feel guilty not reading--- sometimes, I feel that the 2 hours I will be spending in the gym is equal to 70 pages worth of reading, or atleast 10 cases that I could have digested. Crazy eh? Yeah, you have no idea how law schooling is! 

So, anyway, enough of that. I have resolved to lose all of my belly fats and love handles by going back to Yoga. Thank goodness, there are a lot of yoga coupons in group buying sites. In fact, I already bought one from Deal Grocer, in time for the Papal visit holidays.

And this is me after the first session. All muscles in my body were sore that I could not even stand. 

After a week...

I know it is a long way to go, 6 months or so get into the shape/body that I was in 2009. 

The reader. Armed with love for reading, I thought law schooling will be fine, or at least less stressful. What I wasn't prepared for was the amount of provisions that I have to memorize. I really have no problem with cases. In fact, I enjoy reading SCRA. But then again, a good grasp of the codals is what will make me survive the Bar exams. So the goal is to memorize 10 provisions per night. 

There. My resolutions for 2015. I hope that I can do all these things. Well, I can. And I must. 

Unending Grace

Tonight, I am breaking my Blogger hiatus because of this overwhelming feeling(s) inside me.

As everyone knows, His Holiness is here in our country for a pastoral visit (as He reiterated in His response during the event in Malacañan). From the very day He set foot in the Philippine soil, I religiously followed the Papal Visit on television and various social media. I cannot help but feel excited with a bit of envy with all my countrymen who were able to have a glimpse of Pope Francis. Every time I see the Pope on TV, I feel so inspired. His unlimited smile and sincere eyes has this effect on me that I cannot explain in words. 

The Tacloban visit, the most important event of all, was probably the best thing that ever happened in the city after Yolanda aka Haiyan although it was cut short due to typhoon Amang. I have never been moved by any preachers' homily as much as Pope Francis did. He opted to deviate from His prepared sermon in English and instead made an extempo in Spanish as He wanted "to speak from the heart". Thank you Pope Francis for telling us that you really do not have any more words to console the Yolanda victims as they suffered through a lot but just to remember that Jesus also suffered a lot to save us. Indeed, God is always with us. And that there is Jesus in all of us, a child yearning for our mothers in times of difficulty. 

Moving on to today's event, I went back to my unit the night before with my sibling and cousins because we thought that there was a bigger chance we could have a glimpse of Pope Francis in UST than in Luneta. 

So, at around 3:30 am, we endeavored to go to Dapitan gate to make it to the 9:30 am event. However, the whole stretch of Dapitan was jampacked. After 3 hours of lining up, we have given up--- sleepless, tired and hungry. 

Our last option was to go to Luneta. Thank God for my relatives working in the MMDA, we were properly informed of the Pope's route. We were told that His Holiness will enter the Grandstand near Museong Pambata. Armed with that knowledge, we endeavored to get a spot in the center island across the Museum. Finally, after 4 hours of being drenched in rainwaters, the papal motorcade happened. 

Yes, I had a good 4-7 seconds glimpse of Papa Francesco. And it was enough. I cannot think of anything that will probably top this experience. It was the best thing that ever happened to this Catholic educated girl. Truly, I felt so fortunate and blessed to have this encounter with His Holiness, not only because I am one of the 6M devotees who flock to Luneta, but because I know that the Catholic Church is in good hands with Papa Francesco. 

Viva Il Papa! Papa Francesco! #papalvisitph2015  

P.S. I am still figuring out how to upload the Papal motorcade video. 

 

Breaking News (at least to me)

I really have no words to describe what I am feeling right now. I guess, I am just shocked. But somehow, I hope that he gets to achieve his goals in the future because nothing will make me happier than to see him succeed in life. 

Day 12

Starting over again is my battle plan for this week.  

I made an effort to wake up early to jog around at the nearby subdivision. After which, I had breakfast with my mom.

Meal plan:

Breakfast- Baked omelette and crispbread, and fresh pineapple juice.

Day 11

Hooray for the weekend!

I must admit that I skipped brekky today because I woke up very late today--10:30am! Very, very bad. 

So, I decided to eat lunch at 11:30am with tofu sticks, cucumber slices, and grapes.  I guess, the guilt feeling still lingers. It's like I have wasted 10 days. Never again. Self control, K!

For dinner, I just had grapes again. Okay, I really love grapes, I can probably eat that all day everyday. 

Day 10

Yey, TGIF! I have never loved Friday as much as I do today. Ahaha. 

For breakfast, I had tofu sticks and cabbage, and coffee.

For lunch, we dined at Hapag. I got really twmpted to eat their bestsellers but the Cohen discipline in me won over. So, I only had strawberry salad. Goodness, the pureed strawberry as dressing is so divine! Best salad for me! Roka salata of Cyma what?!? Ahaha. Yes, it is that GOOD! 

Okay, I may have cheated today. I was not able to resist their famous Pastillas con Yelo. I promise to burn this through running and yoga. Bad, K! 

 

For dinner, I just had grapes.I feel so guilty cheating with the halo halo. 

Day 9

I was asked to do 3 counter affidavits for the respondents in a complaint for Physical Injuries in relation to RA 7610. The task pretty kept me busy almost the whole day because their testimonies were long. I had to read them over again to cover loose ends. And it was really challenging because I had to draft those in Filipino. 

Meal plan for today:

Breakfast- I just had crispbread and non feta cheese and coffee. I woke up late so I had to rush to the office.

Lunch- Since my officemates have "baon" or just order from a lady, I just ordered ginisang ampalaya and tofu sticks. Again, no pictures.

Dinner- I had bangus fillet in tomato and mango salsa. I have no appetite to eat whatsoever. I just wanted to hit the sack as soon I am done washing up.