so this is why i'm thin.

i don't eat much.

basically, that's the main reason why i'm this thin. but i didn't know there could be another reason, one that is equally valid.

i just read in an online cosmo mag an interesting, and in my case, a true study: a new research in UK found that people who get up early tend to be happier and thinner.

According to an article in the British newspaper The Guardian, one of the authors of the study explained, "The reason early risers do better in life could be down to the fact that getting the chores out of the way [...] helps people fit in better with hectic modern life." Not the most satisfying explanation, but we see his point. Plus, other experts not involved in this study add that lounging around in bed on workday mornings can leave you feeling sluggish and moody all day.

(Read more: Early Risers Happier and Thinner - How to Become an Early Riser - Cosmopolitan)

i'm definitely a morning person. there were few instances when i wake up later than usual, but most of the time, even after i worked looooooong hours and went home late or even after i stayed up late for a movie marathon, i simply wake up ahead of my alarm. of course back at the time when i was working night shift was a totally different story. my body clock went a 360-degree turn at that crazy schedule. and i'm so glad to be back to normal when i quit that night shift job (truth is, that, along with many other reasons made me just feel good about quitting).

presently, i can't even bring myself to oversleeping on my days-off, even if i will myself to do so the night before. and though i feel bad sometimes when i can't give my body the oversleep it needs, i just can't help but love waking up early in the morning, when the sun just gives its perfect warmth, when it's still quiet and peaceful and beautiful at home.


and more than getting the worm, getting flatter abs may just make one consider being an early bird (or make one wish to stay as that).

happy 41st!

they say, at every start of a relationship there's this thing called honeymoon stage. the first three months of being a couple are the best and sweetest time. the time when they are head over heels inlove with each other. the time when everything and everyday seems perfect, colorful and magical.

my plan of working in singapore has been crystalized few months before alvin and i got back together. being a planner and forward-thinker that i am, committing to anyone before i leave wasn't part of my plan.

until we started seeing each other and going out together...all over again.

i tried to stick to my original plan as much as i can. but he was persistent and i stopped resisting. and love pulled us in.

we got back together in may this year. it's been five months now. two months past the honeymoon stage. but it seems like we haven't gotten over that period yet. for the past months, we exchanged sweet-nothings almost on a daily, hourly basis. and yes, we also shared fights, big and small. but in all these, i just fall more deeply inlove with this man, every morning that i wake up, and every night before i sleep.

many times i contemplate about the love we have. and i really consider myself lucky to have found a love like this, authentic, comforting, lasting. and i consider myself doubly lucky for sharing this kind of love with him, he who is selfless, patient, understanding. this is the love i'm extremely thankful for. this is the man i would love to love many times over.

and today (well, less than an hour from now), we remember and celebrate our 41st monthsary. we're two months into ldr now, (22 more to go!), but it's the third time that we celebrate it away, so far away, from each other. 

and as the distance between us grows, so is my love for him. it grows every second of every day, seriously.

and it is my hope and prayer that we keep this honeymoon stage going, even after we're long past the three-month period, even through wrinkled face and graying hair.

love for psychology. love for self.

i started loving psychology seriously when i enrolled in a psychology class back in college, one about personality. i loved it so much i even thought about shifting courses or take a master's degree in that field.

there is something satisfying in learning about human character and behavior, why people act a certain way, why we think the way we do, why we have opposing views and beliefs, why we are similar yet different.

it's even more satisfying to learn about one self, fully. not that i didn't know much about myself before i enrolled in that class, but i can say i became more aware of who and what i really am. and i liked myself more than i ever did. 

this personality test of some sort has been visible in many facebook walls lately, and i also found it in joicee's blog. i gave it a try and i kind of liked the first four words i stumbled upon.

passionate.  sentimental.  witty.  lovely. 

yeah, i think, nah, i strongly believe, i'm all these and more.
i think i'm now verging to conceitedness. but i still call it healthy self-love. 

which reminds me...

many times when i look at the mirror, i say, "ang ganda ko" without intending to voice it out, really, but sometimes someone at home hears me mumble that. there was a time ate monette, one of my housemates, did. she laughed and said, "wala kang suicidal tendencies no? mahal mo kasi sarili mo."

i smiled and i thought. isn't that part of the natural order of things, we love ourselves first before anyone else can love us? and yes, i love life and myself so much that i don't have suicidal tendencies. no dice.

the chat ♥

i love reading and re-reading. i even enjoy re-reading the silly, oftentimes crazy, sometimes mundane conversation i have with the people i love. and though i have a lot of favorite exhanges that i go back to many times on my quiet alone time, this one is my recent favorite. the one with my favorite loved one.

reading it again, it somehow reveals the kind of woman i am -- apathetic and mushy at the same time, and the kind of man i have -- loving, loving, and seriously loving.

i love how our ordinary chat turned into something sweet, funney and lovey. for some reason, i loved it that i made him feel like crying.


and i say it again, he's my past, my present, my future, my forever.