Good Morning Sunshine

Today was unbelievably warm.  We were able to sip our coffee in our back porch and enjoy the morning sunshine.  My little girl readily pose for a picture.  It was a great day and warm enough to be playing outside.

Are Fairies for Real?

Halloween is just around the corner. Stores, houses, and other buildings are all decorated with halloween decorations. Different costumes for halloween are being sold both online and in-stores.

 My daughter wants to be a fairy for halloween. She wants a fairy because it has a magic wand, wings, and they can do magic stuff. She believes that fairies can do special things. I believe in fairies, do you?

Fairies come in different forms. Some of them are just plain-looking people that help you change your life. Some of them are just ordinary men and women who makes a difference in our lives. Some of them comes at the most unexpected time and some usually brings joy and smile in your most ordinary day.I think it is your own belief that makes fairy Real!

Faithful Guards

These are Mischa's dog. When Mischa came over to visit us the first time in our new home, she brought with her the dogs. Andrea was so ecstatic about having the dogs. She talked to the dogs like they are kids her age.

Yes, the dog slept with her in the bed. Aren't they cute?

Tight Hug

One of the things I enjoy the most is sharing a tight hug with my daughter. There is nothing sweeter when she hugs you and tells you " I love you, mommy" just out of the blue. We are blessed to have a very sweet daughter.

We share our bed to her and when it is nap time, which she just learn to do again for few days now (she doesn't take naps since she was 3) she often hugs me and tells me "I am hugging you mommy so that you won't fall out of the bed". She is just so precious!

Photo Blog Challenge

Remembering Joy

(Photo not mine)

Today marks the 2nd death anniversary of my niece Dannielle Joyce. She died at a young age. She was just in her early 20's.

She will be forever missed. She was our first niece. The first grandchild of my parents and the only child of my sister.

Joy, wherever you are, may you find comfort and free from pain. We wish you were still here with us on Earth but I guess God has some other plans for you. Please pray for us and continue to watch over us. We love you.

Tatay's Bday Celebration

During Tatay's birthday I make sure that we send a little amount. This year, I told them to buy a cake for him and give him cash too. Tatay always appreciates these little things.

As it turned out, Tatay had a good party. They bought a cake and few balloons and they roast a pig.

The kids enjoyed the party because of the cake and the balloons. It was a party that we wish we were there to celebrate.

Cooking-Free Weekend

Cooking-free weekend!

Hubby brought us to Schlotzsky's Saturday. We love their original sandwich there. Their delectable sandwich composed of a unique combination of premium meats, cheeses, and marinated black olives served on hot Schlotzsky's sourdough bread is to die for! I guess it is a good thing that the location of Scholotzsky's is far from us or we will be there to eat everyday.

Scholotzsky's also offer fresh baked bread, delicious hot sandwiches and panini, specialty pizzas, toasted wraps, freshly tossed salads, gourmet soups, and more!

Sunday, hubby offered to cook dinner. We had grilled burgers. It was really good.

I enjoyed my cooking-free weekend! Thanks to hubby!

College Friends, Our Story

(Susan, Aisa, Gloria, Lulu)

There were 4 of us. We went to the same school in an Agricultural College. It was not until our second year that we became a very close. We were in the same section on our 2nd year of college that is why we became very close. (We had block sectioning then).

I was the youngest of all of us and needless to say, I was the most spoiled. I help them with academics and in return they help me with everything else. They do a lot of hard labor for me and I was really thankful.

After our 2nd years in college we graduated with a Diploma in Agricultural Technology. They proceeded to earn their Bachelor's degree and I didn't. I pursued another degree because I know that Agriculture was not for me.

To make the story short, we lost in touch. Gloria and I kept in touch as I became very close to her parents too. For so many years, I often visited Gloria and her family once a year. I also visited Aisa once in a while. With Susan we never heard from her. We totally lost contact with her.

I lost in touch with Aisa since middle of 2006 until she found me in Facebook August 2010 (You can read the story here.) Few days ago, I woke up with another surprise. Susan found me in Facebook. Can you imagine 14 years!!! I was really speechless when I saw who added me in Facebook.

Now, we are all communicating again. We are all in different countries. Susan is in HK, Aisa is in Singapore, Gloria in Philippines and I am in USA. Wow, we look back 15 years ago and we can't help but giggle at our escapades and our college life.

I really hope that one day we will see each other again!

......
Oh, Susan is celebrating her birthday tomorrow! Happy birthday my very good friend! May all your desires come true. I love you!

Poison Ivy got me!

Okay we have been fishing for a while now. I know I am not the most sun friendly in the world yet I still go fishing because we all love it.

Of all our fishing trips, I never knew when I got the poison ivy. We go to the same place and somewhere which I don't know where, I got it and I was suffering bad.

My back was all red and the itchiness is beyond description. As it spreads on my back and I can't sleep from its itchiness, I had to go to the doctor for help.

I went to the doctor today and he confirmed that it was poison ivy. There are different ways to treat it as he told me, thru cream, prescription medicine or injection. I opted for steroid injection. It hurts my butt as always but it seemed to be working.

Now all I want to do is Sleep!

Tornado in Alabama

Right now, we still don't have electricity. The power might be back next week. There are terrible damages around us but thanks God we are spared. The storm is said to be the most costly tornado in the state of Alabama.

The pictures of the damages is really sad. People lost their homes, cars and things. Hundreds of people lost their lives too. We are lucky that we only lost power and nothing else.

Let's all pray for those who needs it the most.

Thank You

New look of my main blog. Thank you to a friend who never says NO to me. When I encounter problems with my blog, she is the one that would readily check it. When I need some things for my blog that is beyond my knowledge she will be there to do it without questions. I can be "demanding" at times but still she devotes time to me and my blogs.

Dhemz, thank you so much..... for everything and that is beyond BLOGS and BLOGGING!

Love you lots!

Happy Anniversary

February 8, 1962 was the year my parents got married. Today, they are celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary.

I am proud of them!

Happy Anniversary to you both. We love you!

Saturday Date

The weather was so nice today. Can you imagine that it was in the 70s? A week ago we were in the low 20's but today the weather was amazing! We can even go out wearing short sleeves!

We didn't waste the nice weather so we went out for a date! Hubby and I went to eat out at the new restaurant called Black Jack's Grill. It was nice being out just the two of us. Andrea was with Nana and Papa while hubby and I were out.

After we ate out, we went to stores to do some shopping. Sometimes, it feels great to be with each other doing things without having to worry of our daughter. We are lucky that Nana and Papa are always there to keep Andrea whenever we feel like having a date for just the two of us.

Vacation Galore

This blog has less update because we are on vacation right now. Yes vacation yet here I am can't resist the urge to check on my blogs. Well, excuse the addict as I can't resist the blogging addiction.

We are enjoy our visit to my FIL and spending some time with them. I hope to continue peeking at my blogs as time permits.

See you again blog pals when I have extra time!

Carved Pumpkins

After I made my first carved pumpkin, I got hook with it. I enjoyed the activity so much that I carved some more.

As you all know my first was a cat. I decided to make a more challenging design. I made a dragon for my second carved pumpkin and I made a bat and a moon as my third.

I had such a great time and I enjoy looking at them when it was lighted.

To my disappointment, my carved pumpkins didn't last! It wilted and the designs are no longer pretty. Oh, I feel sad but that's how it is! I will carved a new one on Friday so that it will be in time for Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

I have never carved a pumpkin in my whole life. Finally we decided to do it. I was surprise how much I enjoy making my first carved pumpkin.

We wanted to do it as a family but Andrea decided that it is too much work for her. I ended up doing most of it because I really wanted to. Dave helped me do it. He helped me scrape the insides of the pumpkin. I did most of the carving and I am proud of the result.

Trying so hard to be artistic....

Proudly showing the carved pumpkin...

The lighted pumpkin.... Not bad for a first timer!

Andrea enjoyed looking at the cat pumpkin. She just get involved after we were done with the pumpkin carving which was really good as to avoid more mess. I hope that next year she will be more interested with us doing pumpkin carving.

Clogged Sink and Light Problems

My kitchen sink is clogged. We already bought some quick fix for clogging. We actually did it twice but we still cant fixed it. On top of the clogged sink, the light in Andrea's room is not working. Since we can't fix any of them, we decided to call for help.

Helped came today and everything is fixed. The light in Andrea's room has a short circuit in it but after few minutes of electrical works, it worked now. The sink is doing good too. I can now washed my pots and pans. I hate having a clogged sink because I can't clean up and do what I want to do.

I explained to the maintenance guy what we did with the plunger because we also bought a new plunger just for the sink but what we did was wrong he explained how to do it with two plungers. Oh well... it make sense but for now it is working perfectly and I can now resume to cooking some "good food" ... I know it has nothing to do with cooking but hey when you prepare food you need your sink right?

Dental Visit... Ouch, missed it!

Today is supposed to be Andrea's quarterly visit to her dentist. We planned on getting up earlier so that we will be ready and won't be late. I set my alarm for 7:45 am.

How on earth did I miss the alarm? I didn't hear it at all! Ouch, I missed Andrea's dental appointment. I woke up at 9:03am and her appointment is supposed to be at 9:00AM. I felt bad!

I called the dental office for an apology. Good thing they were nice enough to accept it and told us that if we want we can come at a later time. We can't come because we don't have enough time as Dave work at noon time. The dental office told me to schedule it again at our convenience.

I guess I need to set more alarm clocks the next time. Lesson learned!

Congrats Dear Sister!

My sister passed the New Jersey Nursing Board!





Congrats Ante! We are all so proud of you! We love you!

Citizenship Day

I know this post has been long overdue but I just got so busy folks and sorry about that. As I kept on mentioning on my blogs, I am not very fond of summer. I don't like being exposed to the hot weather because it drains my energy and it makes me sick.

While in Atlanta, we were really busy and the heat was just too much, needless to say I didn't feel to well about the weather.

August 12 was my interview for my naturalization. My appointment was at 9:45am. We stayed in the hotel close to the Immigration. On my notice of interview, it stated there not to come very early because of the limited time so we didn't. It was a bad decision as many people come earlier and the early you get in the earlier you can fall in line.

The process was quick. We really didn't wait too long. I was interviewed by a Vietnamese interviewer and at some point, I have hard time understanding his English. I was confident that I would pass the interview as I have reviewed enough for me to memorize all the 100 possible questions. I am proud to say that I was able to answer all the questions so the interview didn't take long.

After the interview, I signed the paper that I will take my oath of allegiance that afternoon. Before noon that day, I already had the papers necessary for oath taking so we came back to the hotel and had lunch.

The oath taking ceremony was at 2pm that day. We got there early so I was able to be seated on the front row. I like the ceremony. It was solemn. It was really memorable.



Thanks everyone for all your congrats. Thanks to my family for the endless support.