This blog has been up for two and half years. As I look back at my first few entries, I found out that this started as just a personal blog to let out my rants and frustrations from my previous work. I never imagined it to grow up and be a venue in discovering various things. Named as “Scrutiny of the Mind”, this blog was a way for me to write my thoughts and opinions on current issues and other serious matters. But after I left my media job and was less exposed to the happenings of our country, it was hard to stay true with the “Scrutiny of the Mind” concept. Despite that, I tried my best to do that and created blog posts that voiced out my thoughts on Philippine issues and events.
But as time passed, it was really hard to stay true to the concept. Ever since I left GMA 7, I never read or watched news that much because it left me depressed and frustrated. I just read and watch once in awhile, but not as religiously as when I was still in the media. So as much as I have some thoughts on things, they were not at par with this blog’s original concept.
Another one of my resolutions that I plan to do for 2012 is joining online contests from different fields such as writing, reading, beauty, health and more. It never hurts to join these contests and winning some things that you don't have to pay for is something that every person wants---including me. I already joined a travel contest last week but, unfortunately, I didn't win. And because of this, I decided to join more contests in the future.
One of the first contests I am joining now is the Celeteque DermoScience Giveaway from the beauty and lifestyle blog, Everyday Doll. Here, she is giving away different Celeteque DermoScience Skin Care Lines and anybody can join as long as you do most of her requirements. The instructions are on her blog, Everyday Doll and they are very easy that even a child can do it. Here is one of the product lines that she will be giving away:
So if you love Celeteque and want a smooth and fair skin that is well-taken care of, join Everyday Doll's contest now. :)
2011 was a year of discovering for me and one of the things I discovered is make-up. I'm a late bloomer when it came to make-up because I never used them much when I was in college and afterwards. One of the reasons is my skin is sensitive and breaks out whenever I place them on my face. I can't find the right make-up the past years...until 2011 when I discovered mineral make-up.
Here is the part 2 of the things I want to improve on 2012:
6. CLEANING OF MY ROOM: I need to do this immediately because my room is a mess! First in the agenda is removing the carpet because it's becoming a hassle. My mom and I should've taken it off before I transferred. From there, I can fix everything in my room: from my books to the plastic boxes to my shelves to moving some other things. Hopefully by summer, everything is done.
7. WARDROBE/FOOTWEAR/MAKEUP/ACCESSORIES: This is simple enough...I need new wardrobe/shoes/make-up/accessories. 2011 was a year of discoveries in terms of my appearance and now that I know exactly what I need, it's time to improve.
I'm going to keep this straight to the point. I'm writing this blog entry so I can keep track of the improvements that I need to do in 2012 and make sure to do them so I can say I became productive this year.
Anyway, here are the things I need to improve in 2012:

1. WRITING: While this list is not in order, I want to make this the first one because it's very important to me. Now that I have a new laptop, I plan to improve my writing skills by---what else---writing more. I have this dream in 2012 where I write articles and get at least one article published in newspapers, magazines or online. I plan on writing reviews in this blog, especially on books and a challenge is one way to do that (but we'll get into that later). Plus, EDIT, EDIT and EDIT! I love writing and nothing makes me more satisfied than writing stuff that needed to be let out and will keep me thinking. Last 2011, I was happy to finally land a job where I write full-time and even though it can be tiring at times, it keeps me fulfilled knowing that I'm doing what I love. For 2012, it's time to improve on it.
2. READING: While 2011 is the year when I finally read The Hunger Games trilogy, it was a disappointment for me because I didn't read continuously. For months, I haven't read any books though I was buying one per payday. As a result, more pending books. Everything will change this year as I plan to join the Gathering Books Awards-Winning Books Reading Challenge January-December 2012, which is owned by my former college teacher and college friend. In this way, I can expand my reading list to Filipino books and other books that I haven't read---and write reviews on them. This challenge is hitting two birds with one stone as I improve my writing AND reading skills. I'm pretty much excited for this and listing some books now (both for the challenge and for personal reading).
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