Why I've Been Away From Blogging For Most Of 2013

     Hey readers, what's up? Sorry, been away from blogging for sooo long. Here are some good reasons why I wasn't able to post any update since April this year:

Behind me on the photo is Daraga Church, one of the churches we've visited before my brother left for the US.

Daraga Church, an 18th century Baroque church, is located on top of a hill above the busy town of Daraga, Albay.

     First, I got busy with this little business that my brother and I started late last year. I wrote about it on a POST published January 21, 2013. Thanks a bunch to all our friends who appreciated the board shorts and recommended it to their friends. You guys are awesome!

     Second, my dad had his second major stroke almost four months ago and so, like I always say, family comes first. I was with him every step of the way -- from planning his diet to monitoring his therapy sessions. To encourage him pursue his new meal plan, my mom and I followed his new diet regimen with him.  His diet consists of food that are high in magnesium and potassium (these nutrients are good for lowering cholesterol) so that's a lot of fruit and green leafy veggies for us -- but we also needed to be careful in giving him stuff that can trigger his arthritis. For example, oats is good in lowering cholesterol but to certain people (like my dad), oats encourages arthritis -- so yeah, no oats for him. Through process of elimination we were able to find out which foods are bad for his arthritis, then we took them off his diet. We also minimized our sodium intake down to almost 500 mg a day and shifted from white rice to brown rice. Brown rice is excellent for hypertension patients and it tastes real nice too. By far, my dad is doing a lot better since his latest stroke but still a long way towards recovery. Thank you by the way to all my friends who accompanied us in this ordeal with their prayers and well wishes. My good friend Kevin helps us pray for my dad's healing during their Sunday prayer in their church organization. Thank you Kevin and friends from Living Way Apostolics Church.  He also shipped me a box of herbal medicines which his family buys from India (see photo below) so I can give it to my dad. Such a nice friend, thanks buddy! See you after Christmas, hopefully. ☺

Kev thinks that my current Facebook photo is funny, with me and my curly hair, so he sketched it on the cover

of the package that he sent. LBC folks, however, managed to ruin his artistry by taping over his sketch, LOL!

     Third, my brother left for the US on a new adventure. As a brother, it is my duty to show some suppport. I helped him decide what to wear and pack (what's new? LOL!) and I've also encouraged him to magnify his faith. Like I've said before, faith is something that gives life a purpose, a direction -- faith is something to hold on to when all else is fading away. Specially if we're not within our comfort zone (family, friends, familiar places and things), genuine faith will give us the courage to endure and persevere. And so, before he left last November 8, we visited 5 churches back home and prayed the rosary in each one (one mystery in each church that we went to). We were able to visit (in this order): St. John the Baptist Church in Tabaco City, San Lorenzo Ruiz Church (also known as Tiwi Church) in Tiwi, St. Raphael The Archangel Church in Legazpi City, Saint Gregory The Great Cathedral in Legazpi City, and Daraga Church in Daraga (the church behind me on the opening photo and behind Jeb on the photo below). See more of the churches we've visited on this LINK.

Jeb on our fifth and last stop, Daraga Church (with the majestic Mayon Volcano in the background).

     Fourth, we gave up our apartment in Pasig where we stayed for three years. I'm mostly in the province with my parents now and my brother said that we can't leave our belongings with someone who can't even pay his share of the apartment on time (I might even spare an article about him on this blog if we're not paid of the money he owed us. LOL!☻). So yeah, I brought home all of our things and it was no easy feat packing all the stuff that has accumulated through the years. My (unsolicited) advice?  Do not buy big, heavy appliance if you're not living in your own place. Packing and moving is not fun at all, well, at least for me. Pfft! Thankfully, my cousin was there to help me out -- thanks ate Vhie!

     Anyway, I hope to have the time in the coming days to feature some new ideas. I have lots of them just raring to go out. This post I was able to write in 20 minutes after I've decided to pick a new photo to update my profile pic on Twitter. (Yeah, please follow me on Twitter, username is @yourkindofguy). Maybe I can spare another 20 minutes or so in the coming weeks so I can have another update. Yeah? Yeah!

     By the way, really weird weather in the province. You see me on the opening image wearing just a shirt, my torn jeans and comfy sneakers. That's because last month, weather in the province was smouldering hot. On hot days, I usually wear white or pastel colored shirts, jeans (torn ones are my favorite), and sneakers. Of course don't forget important accessories like shades, a watch or a bracelet to pimp up your style. This month, however, rain has been pouring for days at a time. I'm enjoying the cool weather though so not a big deal at all. I just needed to dress appropriately, that's all.

     OK folks, until next time! Thank you for dropping by and do come back soon to check on my updates. Go through my old posts too, you might've missed some of them. Happy holidays everyone! See ya!
tags: photos of Daraga Church in Daraga, Albay, Philippines, pictures of Daraga Church with Mayon Volcano in the background, Daraga Church and Mount Mayon, baroque churches in the Philippines