Update

Hello there friends, I am getting nuts over at my end for not having an internet connection. I still have five days to wait till it could be fixed wahhhh. Anyhow, thanks for your visits, I just hope that Mr. G won't punish me and take away the rank of my blogs. Your visits would mean a lot!

Flowers on the Walkway

Photos were taken in Chinhae, South Korea last year. We definitely miss the park that we used to visit. Please click the photos to see the enlarged beauty!

Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

Beautiful Blogger, Am I?

Kha and the author of Simple Thoughts gave me this award, thanks a lot sis. But wait, this is called a Beautiful Blogger award, Am I one?

As a requirement I have to list 7 things about me.

1. I prefer fish more than meat.
2. I love veggies.
3. I like working out but a little lazy these days lol.
4. I am not fond of chocolates
5. I love any kind of nuts
6. I collect mugs
7. I don't like cooking then but now I do

I am sharing this to the following beautiful bloggers Shy Bakla, Dhemz, Nuts, Tita Beng, Sheng, Jac, Seiko, Clang, Cacai, Maria, Liz, Ate Ces, Leah, Ibyang, Lulu, Kate, Bams, Anne, AC, Kero, Marice, Golden, A.Marie, Ate Lita, Anney, Chris, Khim, Kathy, Ate Eden, Ate Weng, Tokaya, and YOU who is reading this.

Ice Curtain

This is mostly the scene you will see around our neighborhood. Every time I let Champ outside, I am scared that one of these icicles will fall and hit our dog.

My husband took these photos when we had our doctor's appointment.

I would like to greet my husband a happy happy birthday today! He would be tickled if you can head over to his blog and greet him.

Valentine's Scallop Potatoes

My daughter and I made a scallop potatoes yesterday and we designed a theme for Valentine's day. We have one big sweet potato and carved hearts shaped from it and that was what we used on top of the regular potatoes.

We had so much fun while we were preparing it.

What do you regularly put on your scallop potatoes aside from adding milk and butter? We added some ham and onions in ours. The sweet pototoes also give it a little twist.

She's Finally getting Married

I received an email from an old friend in the Philippines last week saying that she and her boyfriend have finally decided to tie the knot. I was delighted and happy for her because me and my friends are clowning on here when I was still there that she would be out from the calendar already. My friend would always reply to us that there is still hope because of the lottery numbers hahaha. Now I am very happy for her.

She also solicited an advise about her wedding preparations and asked me where I ordered the wedding invitations I sent out before for my husband and I's wedding. I suggested that she should look for wedding invitations online because she can personally choose the design that she want. There Aare so many designs available that she can choose.

I am so happy for you Miss L, I wish you and Mr. B the best in the future. I just feel sad that I won't be able to attend their special moment. I feel so happy though that she did not forget to inform me.

Mortgage Loan Modification

A lot of people are happy when the President of the United States granted a mortgage loan modification for home owners. Home owners that are facing foreclosures are the ones that will benefits this the most because the government can grant the financial companies the incentives of modifying the home mortgage by lowering the home owner's monthly payment which will give them more time to pay their dues.

You may check out the requirements for the Mortgage Loan Modification to see if you qualify for it. My husband and I were talking the other day about home mortgage. Both of us think that buying a house is like a gamble because you don't really own the house but the bank. Unless you can buy a house on cold cash, it will benefit you a lot but having loan is is really a gamble that home buyer takes. You have to pay most of the interest during your first years and the principal payment is only a few. The worse thing is if you default on payment, the bank can repossess the property from you. But there's nothing you can do about it.

Display Showcases

When your business is selling something, you have to make sure that all the aspect that surrounds it are attractive and could catch the attention of the buyers. A lot of factors can affect the purchasing power of the consumer so you have to see to it that you address all of them.

One vital factor is the presentation or the arrangement of your displays, then the display showcase itself. Some businessman might think that the looks of the display showcase will not affect the buyers but as a consumer myself, it does affect it.

There are display showcases of different designs at Sturdy Store Displays that you can find. They are subdivided into different categories so finding the one that you need is really easy. So if you are in jewelry business and needed some display showcases, Sturdy Store Displays has it.

Another thing that you have to consider when having a business is the competitive price that you would offer to your consumer. Shopping and comparing your price to other store is very relevant.

Bake to Perfection

If you are like me who have family members who are sweet tooth, these recipes from nubella.com will help you satisfy their sweet cravings. My husband and kids are all sweet tooth and I am glad that Nubella sent me these bake to perfection recipes in my inbox. This is not a sponsored post.

Satisfy your sweet tooth with delicious desserts that won't do damage to your waistline. Enjoy a slice of Lemon Poppyseed Cake, Chocolate Cake, or Deep Dish Peach Pie. Wash it down with a tall glass of skim milk.

National Finals Rodeo

Have you ever been to a Rodeo or actually see it? I haven't been to one, I only see it on TV that is why if I will be given a chance to watch it, I would grab the opportunity without a second thought. I think it would be a romantic and at the same time adventurous getaway for my husband and I. It would be nice if we could buy Tickets to the Nationals Final Rodeo that will be held in Las Vegas Nevada in December this year.

You will have the chance to watch from December 2 to December 12 at Thomas and Mack Center. It would be exciting to watch the different activities such as bull riding, barrel racing, steer roping, saddle bronc riding, and many more.

The pricing of the tickets depends on the location of the seats you want to take. If I were to watch, I will definitely buy the ticket where you can seat in front so you will not miss any action at all. I find it interesting that the cost of the tickets are not as expensive as I have imagined. So guys, if you want to watch the National Finals Rodeo, bookmark this post or go directly to the website and buy your tickets while it's early.

The Beauty of a Rose

Last weekend I posted the life cycle of the rose where I took pictures of the rose buds, fully bloomed rose, and when the rose petals fell from the ground.

Now, here's another series of photos I took during our last month in Chinhae Korea. I will miss the place so much, especially their recreation and stuff.

Be as pretty as a Rose guys, keep smiling and stay inlove. Happy Valentine's to all!

Runescape Cursors

I have been blogging for one and a half years already and through visiting other people's blog, I have seen different kinds of features that is not present in my blog. Some site owners are really fancy with their blogs and added some cool features such as unique and very professional layout, there are message or chat box, and other people even add some animated cursors.

You might have read the post I made on my other blog about the above mentioned subject and I have mentioned there that I am curious and investigated about theRunescape Cursors. I am planning to add this feature here in my PC as soon as I find tome to do it. While I was browsing the site though, my daughter peeked on what I was doing and she liked what she saw. She asked me if we could have one of those pretty looking cursor at cursor mania.

My daughter is always into everything that she see. The good thing about this Runescape cursor is its easy to download without any registration required for the site owner so it is less hassle for a busy Mom like me. But anyhow, if you want to check it out, just visit the link above and you will find different designs and kinds of cursor.

Greenville in High Definition

If you are planning to have a mini vacation or a family vacation this summer in South Carolina, try browsing the new Greenville SC website in high definition. You can see 19 full channel of what to expect when you visit the beautiful place.

With my four years of living in the States, I was only gifted to have visited some states and I hope that I would be able to go to other states as well. That is why when opportunity knocks, I always grab it and go with my husband just so I would be able to see other places.

The states that I have visited so far is Florida, Ohio, PA, Maryland, and Virginia. I did not have a chance to see all the places from those places I have mentioned but in just a short period of time, I enjoyed the sight seeing. But there is always time right guys?

He gave me a ring..

A fruit ring hehehe. Am sure I got you with my title lol. I am just kidding, we love this cutie oranges fruits from California and we always have two baskets of these in the table.

Usually it last for days and we need to get another batch again. We all love it because they are sweet and it is a must in this kind of weather so we won't have colds hehehe.
So what do you think of my fruity ring?

Snow Storm this Winter

With the snow storms that hit our place, my husband has one wish after that. He wishes that he has a snow plow to help him remove the now easier rather than shoveling it. His back hurt after shoveling the snow at the back and front of our house.

He shoveled yesterday because we have an appointment to our physician earlier today and when we came down he said "Oh man, I have to shovel again". My poor man is getting blisters on his hands from shoveling thick snow. But what can he do but to remove the snow from the driveway or else it will be packed in and become slippery when it turn to ice.

But anyhow, while we were driving going to the doctor's clinic, he showed me a snow plow that this guy was using in his yard. He said that if he will be given a chance to buy a snow plow, he would choose a curtis snow plow or snowsport snow plow. I jokingly told him "We could, if we win the lottery" and we both laughed. But seriously, a snow plow is a great thing to have during winter when there is a heavy snow.

All White

We had another big snow fall last night and still snowing real fine today. I wonder when is this going to stop. I am just glad that hubby's classes today were cancelled. When you go outside, all you see is white all over. I took these photos when we visited Dad the other night.

Right now, our temperature is 14 degrees. The kids want to go visit my FIL but let us see if the road is not bad.

Can anyone answer this "When will the resting ancestor toe the line on top of the killer?"

Beauty and the Beast

One of my kids favorite movie to watch is the beauty and the beast. I love watching it with them also. Its funny that the kids can remember each character in a movie that they really love to watch doesn't it. How about you, what is your kids' favorite movie?

Since both of them love the Beauty and the Beast, I think that Rylie and EJ would look good on a beauty and the beast costumes for Halloween this year.. But wait, I am not sure about my son, he really not into costumes at all but my daughter is. As I have mentioned in my previous post, she always puts on here princess costumes each morning when she wakes up.

Anything that has interesting design, my daughter is very interested with it. It shows to prove that girls are really different from boys when it comes to stuff. My daughter never gets tired of dress up game. It is like a routine to her already.

Do you have a daughter that likes to dress up too?

Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake

I received this chocolate raspberry cheese-cake recipe from the weekly newsletter from cookingclub.com. This recipe got raves my friends. Just by looking at the photos makes my mouth watery. Doesn't it look good? Below is the recipe for you to try.

This cheesecake is laced with raspberry flavor, from the preserves brushed over the crust, to the creamy filling, to the fresh berry garnish. To make the dessert extra-special for Valentine's Day, use the raspberries to form a heart shape on the top of the cake.

CRUST

1 (5.3-oz.) pkg. pure butter shortbread cookies, crushed (about 1 1/4 cups)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup raspberry preserves, melted

CHEESECAKE

1 (10-oz.) pkg. frozen raspberries, thawed

3 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

**Click here for the full recipe.

Cheap Seats

If you're sentimental like me, you cherish history and the historical buildings that have meant so much over the years. The Bradley Center, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is home to the Milwaukee Bucks and the Milwaukee Admirals. It is the one of the oldest arenas still in use by the NBA. With the lease about to expire, the Bradley Center may not be around in the future. Buy your Bradley Center tickets now to catch a great event while enjoying a little history.

If a warmer climate is more your thing, you can get Raymund James Stadium tickets and catch an exciting event in lovely Tampa, Florida. The Raymond James Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 and always has a nice line-up throughout the year.

Speaking of events, Taylor Swift tickets are available and would surely put a smile on your teenager's face. She is currently touring with Kellie Pickler, which would surely put a smile on Papa's face. She has a full schedule planned this year so catching a show should be pretty easy. Just click on her link above and check out her tour schedule.

A taste of Italy

Italy is famous for pasta dishes. Sometimes I asked my husband if there is an italian in him because he loves pasta lol. Here's the question for ya. Would you like a taste of Italy? Try these recipes sent to me thru email by nubella.com. Just click the link to get the recipe below.

Bring some incredible flavor to the table by preparing dishes such as Linguine with Red Bell Peppers, Linguine with Garlic and Oil, or Herbed Linguine. Pair with a green salad and some fresh bread.

In going to Church

when my husband was stationed overseas, he helped in unloading the new furnitures at the chapel inside the base. He said that the old pews and other stuff were given to a charity organization in the area. I really liked the furnitures that was supplied in the chapel there because it looked like it was made from the very good quality of wood.

I just wonder who was the church furniture manufacturer because they did a great job in putting the details and stuff. There 's also furnitures in the nursery room adjacent to the chapel for the kids to use. Whenever the services is going one, some parents would leave the kids in the nursery room to play if they are getting restless inside the chapel.

Due to the cold weather, my family wasn't able to go back to church yet. Hubby and I discussed that it is important for us to start going to church again especially that Rylie will be going to school this year. Membership in the church is advantageous if you are putting your kids to a catholic school here because they give you certain discount.

Pinoy Breakfast

My husband's classes was suspended yesterday so we got the chance to eat together a pinoy breakfast on Monday. My daughter and husband love tinapa (smoked fish) as much as I do so I cooked the last pack that we bought from the asian store in PA. We might come there again when the budget permits hehehe. We usually spend 160 to 200 bucks over there because we like to buy a lot of things since it is far from us.But anyhow, here's some snapshots after we eat.

I usually eats last because I have to remove the bone of their tinapa because they don't know how lol.

There you go friends, our version of pinoy breakfast.

Shopping for Clothing

My husband and I went to the store yesterday to look for the jeans that he wants but so unfortunate not to find what he wanted. Usually the solution to that is online shopping because you can easily find store that sells whatever product you are looking for like male clothing and accessories, shoes, jeans, and female fashion.

And if you are a little bit on the plus size, finding the plus size clothing store is easier online rather than hopping from pone physical store to another. What I like about online shopping is its convenience. You get to compare prices and quality of the products from different stores without even spending a penny for gas. You can just shop at the very comfort of your home.

I started doing online shopping ever since I had babies. It is a big challenge to go to the mall with two small kids running around. At least at home, I can do it when they are busy playing or when they are sleeping. How about you, do you do online shopping too?

One more advantage of shopping online if you are on the plus size category, you don't have to be curious if someone is looking at you because you are doing it privately at home. Plus you have the power to compare prices from different stores.

Dolphin Dream

Discovering the blog hobby gives me the opportunity to jot down my thoughts, meet friends and pals, and give me the chance to explore the world though visiting other blogs. I always enjoy those blogs which contains travels and different kinds of leisure.

One of the things that I am excited about is that when I see a picture or a video of dolphins swimming. It's one of my fantasy, to see dolphins that are show casing their talents because I only see them on TV. Hopefully I would be able to watch it for real in the future.

Does anyone of you ever watch a dolphin performance? It would be so much fun to watch especially if you have your kids with you. I remember when my husband's family went to one of the largest zoo in PA, Rylie had so much fun watching all the different kinds of animals especially the different kinds of sea creatures. It was so much fun and I hope that it would happen again.

Problem Solved

This is an update of my rant about the frustration I had on the rejected post I was receiving on my paid ads in here. I would like to thank Annie for solving this dilemma for me. At least now, I won't have to fear on checking my account in InPostLinks and would gladly take some tasks again. Thanks also to those who participated on this discussion. I hope that this time, our posts will be manually reviewed by the reviewers not just auto-reject it. Thanks again Annie.

Solution:

Hi there! Thanks so much for reaching out to us! We would like to apologize for any confusion this rejection may have caused you. We have gone ahead and manually approved the post for you. Rest assured, we have had a discussion with our review team and gone over the proper procedures for rejecting posts. It seems that some of our reviewers were confused, and were considering entires made to blog catalog sites as separate articles. Therefore, they were rejecting posts for copied content when the posts were not actually copied. As we have explained once again not to do this, you shouldn't have this problem again. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding about this situation. Please do let us know if you experience any kind of rejection like this in the future. Thank you,

Outdoor Activities

Oh gosh, it start snowing again. I hope that my husband's school will cancel the clasess soon so he won't be stuck on the icy or snowy road. I can not wait for the summer time to start so the kids and I can enjoy the outdoor activities again. I'd be glad to see the signs of Spring, it would be a relief.

Gardening and playing with the kids outside are the things that I miss the most. I am sure that most of you can relate t5o my wishes here. Some might have plans on having paintball games so they could use their paintball scopes. For us, it would be fun to throw Frisbee now that Champ is here.

My husband reminded me of the plan that he mentioned to me a couple of months ago. He said that if the family vacation would not be push through, a camping would be nice. There are nice location that are near here so that is a good option. I just wish that the finances won't hinder those plans. Let us see where the situation take us. I am keeping my fingers crossed though because I would like to have a good vacation this year since my husband is retired already.

Personalize your space

Do you like personalizing stuff like me? I am the type of person where I like putting personal touch on things like the bedroom, home office, kitchen or even the laundry area. I know some of you might chuckle reading this but whenever I personalize the look inside the house, it gives me contentment and satisfaction.

One of the things that I am very strict with my husband is the orderliness in the computer area. That is why, I am glad that both of us has own computer to use because sometimes he is a little bit messy. Sometimes, I feel guilty being so strict with my daughter because her arts and craft table is a bit messy too. She likes to draw whenever and wherever she like so I think a lap desk would be great for her.

My husband and I are amazed how Rylie transformed from just scribbling lines and stuff from previous months and now she can really do vivid arts. I am glad that she got that trait from my in-laws because I don't have that kind of talent. I bet if you own a laptop, you would like to have that lap desk.

Extra Cash...Rylie's Certificate..Moneygram.. etc.

I am sure that most of you guys received junk mails in your email's inbox. Now my questions is do you get paid for it? I bet most of you just delete it right away because it is annoying to receive many of those everyday. The thing is you can get some thing out of those email ads. Turn those junks into cash by signing up to websites like inboxdollars.com or sendearnings.com. It isn't much but it does help in having a little extra cushion to your budget.

All you have to do is read their email ads and you will get pai for it. If you like shopping, you can shop through them and then you get percentage back of what you spend.There are lots of ways to earn extra cash online, you just have to look for it. I received my check from the two above mentioned website today and I deposited it to our savings account.

We also received Rylie's winning smile certificate from PinoySmile.com. Thanks Christine and thanks again to all of you who voted for my daughter on the said contest last October. We received the cash token last year and put it in her savings account.

I totally miscalculate our expenses last month. I overlooked my due dates over in the Philippines such as my SSS and pagibig contribution, my sister's tuition fee and board and lodging payments, and my mother's needs. Wahhh, it is so hard to budget. Good thing we have a little save in our savings at the bank so we withdrew and send it.

We tried xoom.com but its services is not available in our state, so we tried sending it through luckymoney.com. It went though but then we learned that it will take a week before the recipient could get the money and they were asking us so many requirements that disappoints us so we cancelled the transaction. The problem was, it took two weeks before the money was refunded. Gosh, I was like in a panic. Finally, we sent it though Moneygram in Walmart and it was cheaper and quicker.

We used to send through western union but then the fee is sky rocket high so we decided to just change although I have points to redeem at western union as a gold card member. Oh brother, it is hard when you have lots of responsibility but what can you do but pray always that everything will be just fine.

Brain Injury

My husband is a medically inclined person, which explains why he pursued a degree a nuclear medicine for his follow-on career after retirement from the military. The thing that I enjoy most about his course major is that he shares a great deal of his knowledge with me. I think it will be nice having a medical professional around the house, especially when the kids fall and get hurt because he will be better able to assess their injuries.

Every time our kids get hurt or fall, he immediately checks them for signs of a concussion. He said that brain injury is one of the worst possible things that can happen to a human being due the affects it has on the body and the high level of expertise that is often required to correct it.

John's brother passed away a few years ago as a result of a brain injury. While navigating the stairs one night, he fell and struck his head. His injury caused internal bleeding which caused swelling on the brain which led to his death. The scary thing about brain injuries is that often times they go undetected until it is too late.

According to the Brain Injury Association of West Virginia, our state has approximately 700 deaths each year as a result of traumatic brain injury. Most of these deaths occur at the time of the injury or within two hours of hospitalization. Those which are fortunate enough to survive will most likely suffer from long term disabilities.

I feel that through proper awareness and training, organizations like this will be able to reduce these numbers over time and provide immediate assistant to families that are affected by this type of tragedy.

The Language of Love

How come as soon as February kicks in, everybody seems to feel that love is surrounding them? It seems that the aura of people that surrounds us are expressing their love for someone or feel so loved. Even our four year old little princess has been busy preparing valentine's card for her friends, aunts, cousins, her Pap, and for us. She drew this one last week and said that if ever people will turn into some other type of living things, the three of us will be butterflies. Each butterfly represent me, her and her brother.

She used recycled materials such as her Dad's used printed material and the empty box of chocolates. The only thing we bought is the red paper which I help cutting into hearts.

The theme for this week at Mommy Moments is Love language. Some people say that it doesn't matter if you say "I love you" or not as long as you show it in your actions. I agree in some sort but for me, expressing your love in words sill makes a difference.

The love that we have for our kids can be expressed in many ways and in different occasions or scenarios. It is important that we let them feel and know how much we love and care for them. Love and affection cannot be filled by material things but with TLC from your heart.

Okidoci folks, I gotta go to bed now because we have a dental appointment tomorrow. Thank you for taking time to visit my entry, I'll be visiting you tomorrow afternoon.