Cypresslights

While looking for phila pa jobs for T's friend, we saw a write up for a house just near church and T's sister. This was after Christmas and right before New Year (such a late post I know!). The house was decorated with Christmas lights and they were broadcasting a radio station where in the music were syncrhonized with the house. When you get to the house you would just need to turn your radio to the station provided and viola, it was a Christmas lights show right before your eyes. Here is a picture of the house that I took..

And a video I took...

ADHD

I don't what's with it but in the recent years the number of ADHD cases has increased. Maybe it's because of the fact that more people are now more aware of the condition compared to before but if this should cause alarm, I don't think so. ADHD is a manageable condition and what's important is diagnosing ADHD. One can get a lot of help in the diagnosis and management of this condition. Thanks to information online, on magazines and on TV since they help a lot of people with how to deal with this condition.

Day in the Park

Spent last Friday with my SIL and the kids. We started our day out with lunch at Goldilocks then we picked up Isabela from school and then went to a nearby park to attend the birthday party of Isabela's classmate. It is very common here to hold parties in the park. Very practical and cool I think. Children's party here are very simple I must say. For that party since it was an after school affair, they just served drinks and chips and then they served the cake too. They had a few games and the piñata. If I may just add it was an over sized hello kitty piñata.

park grounds

the birthday cake

the over sized hello kitty pinata after an accident, teehee!
isabela
Sean eating his cupcake

It was a great day because it was not that cold. The weather was just right. Right after the park we went to Target as my SIL wanted to check on the best acne treatment cream for another friend. We then bought chinese food for take-out for dinner. It was a great way to start the weekend.

Stormy Week

Looks like it's going to be a week filled with rain. Bad news for my sister who is flying in from East Coast as it's not a sunny California as she has wished. I'm wishing I won't get sick though as the week and the coming weekend is going to be a busy one. That's one reason I stocked up on vitamins for me and T. Good thing we decided to go to Costco last Saturday and I was reminded that I need to buy vitamins. I hope we get a better weather towards the weekend though. We have a full weekend planned.

Haiti

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. What a terrible tragedy that hit a poor country like theirs. Things like this makes you realize how much more we have and how God has continually blessed us. The only rainbow during tragedies like this is it brings out the good in everyone and everyone just pulls together all the resources to help out people in need. Manpower, food, medicines and even vitamins for men, women and kids are badly needed.

I pray that we get a rest from all the calamities happening and that the people of Haiti can recover from this soon.

BEAUTIFUL

I love it when we drive up to LA since the view is always amazing!

So even if it's an hour away, it's a drive I always look forward too. This week, we are off to the outlet shops. Yey!

Breakout

I don't know if it was the sudden change in weather or because it's that time of the month or it's with all the chocolate I've been eating but for the past 2 weeks I have been experiencing skin breakout. My skin is so dry, my face feels so dry and pimples are just starting to come out of nowhere. I hope I get to resolve this soon and that I would not have to go to a dermatologist for any treatments. My sister-in-law has told me we can go to her dermatologist for a natural acne treatment. If I don't resolve my skin issues in a weeks time, I might do just that.

American Idol

American Idol is back! I super love this show and I'm happy it's back and at the same time sad no new episodes of glee is to be shown till this season of American Idol is over.

The first 2 episodes were ok episodes. For me, no one really stood out. I love Mary J Blige though! She was a really fun guest judge. I love how candid she is. The judge I'm most excited for is Ellen. Can't wait for the Hollywood week to start. Thank God for the DVR as I can just record the show and skip on the commercials. Just too many commercials for the show. The only commercial that I liked was that of the colon cleanser as it was something I need to send back home.

No favorites for me right now for AI but I'm still looking forward to watching this season.

Shakeys!

I'm not a fan of Shakey's but for the sake of trying and comparing we decided to have dinner at Shakey's one Sunday night after church.

The verdict? It was the same. Nothing special. The only difference I think is the signage and that the chicken here is bigger. Teehee. It was still a great dinner. Every time spent with T is wonderful, of course. We also got to work on the directory submission I had to complete. Thanks to the available WIFI service. Oh, I did love the mojo's though. YUM! It was really good especially with the ice cold root beer.

Christmas 2009

I was looking forward to spending my first Christmas with T as a married couple but at the same time I knew that it was going to be a different Christmas since it was my first Christmas away from my parents, sister and pasaway family.

I remember calling them on Christmas Eve Manila time missing everyone and feeling so homesick. All that changed when we drove to my Aunt's house for Christmas eve. We went to church first and then off to their house for Christmas eve dinner. Dinner was sumptuous. It was so nice to see an uncle and aunt again whom I have not seen for years! After dinner we had games, exchange gift, Christmas pictorial and then opening of gifts. It was such a joy watching the kids open their gifts.

We went to leave for home past midnight and then got home after about an hour. It was a long drive home but we were happy to have spent Christmas with family.

I missed Christmas in the Philippines but I sure had a Merry Christmas here too.

Busy Weekend!

Can't believe it's Friday already. I just have a few household chores to finish and then it's officially a weekend for me. My SIL is picking me up later so we can go to the cemetry. After which, we drive to their house and T will just pick me me up from there. That means I get to play with the kids.

Saturday, we go to downtown LA to meet up with my cousins for flower shopping and lunch. We drive back to Orange for a short meeting and then go to my lola's house for her bday celebration.

Sunday, we have lunch with T's co-worker and then look for ceramic tiles for the backyard. We can probably have time to watch a movie too.

Looking forward to spending the weekend with T!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

While printing the carinsurancelist for T to be picked up before lunch by one of his co-workers, I decided to do some baking. I have never done any baking in the recent years. I remember baking chocolate crinkles and probably the last time I did so was way back in college. I love the smell of home baked cookies/pastries!

I didn't make those cookies from scratch though. I first got a taste of the yummy cookies over at my cousins house and they told us where and what they bought. Last night, just before we went to the grocery we went to Trader Joe's first to buy the ready mix cookies and a few bottles of our favorite iced tea.

I'm trying baking again soon. Maybe make some cupcakes and cookies. I hope I ended up with good stuff too.

Yoplait

T and I went to the grocery yesterday to stock up on food. We decided ( it was more of me telling him) we should avoid eating out and to just cook home cooked meals. We can only dine out on weekends and on days when we have meet-ups with friends. It saves us money and I think a tiny bit more healthier.

I love grocery shopping. It's therapy for me. I love going through every aisle just looking for something new. I can spend hours in the grocery and that is the same reason I loved going to S&R back home. So you can just imagine how much fun I have everytime I go to the grocery here. Just looking at all the ice cream flavor available makes me super giddy.

I love it too that I find so many good buys here. I wanted to buy a few cups of yogurt to eat at home in case I get hungry in the middle of the day. So much healthier than eating chips, right? I originally planned buying 3 or 4 cups probably but ended up with 20. They had a special for the day wherein 20 cups of yogurt would only cost $8.00. you do the math and you'ld know on why we decided to bring home 20 cups. I tried one already and it was so good! I love that they had a bunch of flavors to choose from too.


Would this mean no more trips to yogurtland? I don't think so!

Communion Invitation

We just got a communion invitations in the mail. It was actually addressed to T and was sent to him by his high school friend as his twin sons are to receive their first communion 2 Sundays from now. I don't know if it's just me but this is the first time I saw a communion invitation. It's nice though. I love how they designed it too. Such a wonderful invitation for a really solemn occasion.

Online Shopping

My good friend from college is celebrating her birthday next week and since I was not able to get her anything for Christmas either I am now on full shopping mode trying to find the perfect gifts for her. Good thing their are now more choice with regards to online shops that are based in manila where I can buy her gifts and just have it sent to her house. That saves me a lot of money since I don't have to worry about shipping. I now appreciate online shopping more than before. I used to not like it since I end up missing the malls but I have recently appreciated it more simply because it makes things a lot easier.

Great Gifts

I had great gifts waiting for me when I got here from Manila. If you follow my blog or a friend over at facebook, you'ld know that in early November of last year we were robbed and I lost my netbook and phone. I never bought one again in Manila and just used our desktop or my asus eee pc ( a pink one that I left with my dad, teehee!).

Right when I got here, T gave me 2 early Christmas presents. A Toshiba Mini NB205. Another pink netbook. What's so great with it is it has atleast a 9 hour battery life. Im currently loving windows 7 too because of how easy it was to network my netbook with T's laptop and then set it up again with the wireless printer. Convenience right there. I got to get a subscription for online backup though. I told T I would have that done before the weekend.

Other than that he gave me a new phone to use, An iphone. I miss my E63 and my ipod but the Iphone was a great upgrade from my E63. Christmas came early for me with all the gifts I got apart from all the winter clothes waiting for me.

Things To Do

Have to write everything so as not to forget...

1. Blog about the Holidays.
2. Edit my and print out resumes (I only found out over the weekend that a picture on my resume for here is not even a requirement!).
3. Blog about Disneyland.
4. Finish reading the DMV handbook. I NEED TO DRIVE!
5. Finish cleaning up and painting all the cabinets in the kitchen.
6. Get rid of all the boxes in the house.
7. Sort out the things we have to donate and the things we have to throw.
8. Prepare the menu list and the grocery list. Good for 2 weeks.

I have been sitting infront of my computer for a good 3 hours now and I have yet to cross out an item on my list. BAD!

Biggest Loser

I was told by my Aunt that she's giving me 6 months to gain weight. I know it would be even shorter if I don't watch what I eat. Food is very cheap and comes in big servings here in the US. No wonder one contestant for this season's biggest loser weighs more than 520lbs. I wonder how high his life insurance rates is or if he is even qualified for one. I can only imagine how much food he eats that he ended up weighing that much. Looking forward to seeing on how far he'll go in the biggest loser camp and on how much weight he loses.

Home Design

I'm currently addicted to watching the HGTV channel as I try to get ideas on what to do with our home. Other than getting tips from watching various shows on TV, the catalogues I get from shops here are a big help too. I'm trying to convince T that we get Dolan Designs for the our lighting needs. He says he'll think about it as he liked something else at crate and barrel. I never thought I would enjoy furnishing and fixing our home this much. Still a long way to go but we are getting there.

Freeway

One of my most urgent goals is to drive. I know I have been putting this off for the longest time but since public transportation is not really accessible here, to get around I need to drive. Freeway's confuse me though but as I have been told, it would be easier if I am the one driving. It would take time for me to familiarize myself with it though. Thank God for the navigational system as it will surely save me from getting lost. The only thing I'm happy about is I won't need to worry about motorcycles here as their are not as much compared to the Philippines wherein a good motorcycle accident lawyer is must. Hopefully, I get myself ready for driving alone soon so I can go around by myself.

Baby Shower Invitations

No, I'm not having one soon. Not yet.

I had to miss a good friends baby shower a few days before Christmas. It was sad to have missed a very important day and a gathering of friends but what can I do. Good thing atleast that I had the chance to help her in organizing the party and in picking the baby shower invitations. I know she had a grand during the party and got some really cool gifts for the baby. She's due to give birth soon and I can't wait to see baby G soon and meet her next year.

Yogurtland

I have a new favorite!
I have not really tried Red Mango here but yogurtland is just so yummy! First, you get to pick the flavor that you want. you can try a bit of everything or just go for the usual plain tart of a mix of 3 flavors. And then you pick on what topping you want. You can get as many as you wish and then the cup is weighed. The only downside is if you get a lot of the toppings, you might have to end up paying more.

I think I would have to soon drink an appetite suppressant or else I would definitely gain weight.

Taipei

En route to the US, the lay over at Taipei was something I looked forward too. I knew they had a huge airport and huge it was. The 4 hour lay over was something I didn't even feel as I spent the whole time going around and looking at all the shops inside the airport. It was not only and airport but a mall too. Kudos to me as I didn't buy anything even if I got so tempted to buy something from the sanrio store or grabbing the best wrinkle treatment
cream they were selling.

I already T that we should visit Taipei next. I can't wait what the city has instore. Here are some pictures I took of their airport.

15 Days

Soon, it will be Christmas. I have not bought any gift except for the parents but I really don't have much on my list this year. I think it is of my advantage that I don't work since I won't have to worry about what to give to my co-workers. Most of those on my list would be family members and then my God children. I don't have much budget for gifts this year like last year so I hope to find good buys for them. I'm not pressuring myself into finishing the list as I realized that buying gifts should not be stressful. That it's something I should enjoy.

One more thing I need to decide on is if we should book any of the cancun vacation packages we have been sent by our travel agent. It's so tempting to just go away over the holidays but I would still need to check with T on his schedule. It would be really nice to end this wonderful year with a vacation.

Random Musings

1. I so need to go to the salon for a hair treatment. I need to do this by next week.
2. While at the salon, I should have my mani/pedi done too.
3. I need to finish the preparation of all the documents I need for the most important interview. it's 10 days from today and more than being scared, I'm so looking forward to it.
4. I remembered I could already start using my 2009 starbucks planner. *yey*
5. Have you guys done your Christmas shopping yet? I have not bought a single thing. I should make a list.
6. Trying to lose weight is hard! I hope I won't have to use a fat burner anytime soon.
7. Finding time to meet up with friends is difficult. Everyone is busy.
8. A lola I saw along Sto. Domingo last week was asking me for Php5 so that she could go home. I would have given her Php5 if I had not seen the newly lighted cigarette she was holding.
9. Watching Top Chef makes me want to be a Chef!
10. Mike Defensor is not going to win as Mayor of Quezon City.
11. ERAP is running again for President. If he wins it would be the fault of the Filipino and we would have to just deal with it. I hope he does not win though and that he finally shuts up after.
12. My blogs need a new look.
    
13. I hate ants!
14. I ♥ T!
    

Black Friday

This post is about a week late but last week I was so busy checking various websites for some good deals. I saw a lot from circuit city. One that really caught my attention was the DSLR camera's. One camera made me go back to the website tons of times and made me start reading reviews about the camera. The reviews were really good and for the price they offered it, I know it was such a good deal. The only thing that held me back is I don't really know if I'm ready to start using a DSLR. Maybe I should just wait till next Black Friday. Teehee!

Coming Soon

Soon we will launch the "new project" we have been busy with. It was almost 2 months back when my cousins and I thought of this project. It sounded so good and we felt it was really promising that is why we gave it a go and spent weekends planning on how we would go about with this "new project". We had to make sure we had all our options covered just like when getting a life insurance quote. Im pretty excited with this "new project" and I just hope everything goes well. We are ready to launch it before Christmas and its something we are all looking forward to.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's not only today that we should be thankful for all the good things and the not so good things that come our way. Everyday should be thanksgiving (like how everyday should be Christmas). Personally, God has been so good to me. This year brought about so many changes in my life but it has all been good. God has thrown some curve balls my way but He has also helped me and has taught me how to move ahead. God has given us things we didn't expect that made us worry but He has taught me that instead of worrying to just trust in Him for He will never forsake us. Everyday He has been faithful. He has been my light and my guide. I have learned along the way to be thankful for even the littlest things that happen or I receive.

God is good and forever I will be thankful.

Stressed

The waiting is killing me. I took the NCLEX 10 days ago and Im still waiting for the results. No news yet although a part of me thinks I didn't pass but an itsy-bitsy part of me hopes I did. I think the local boards is more difficult than the NCLEX but that does not mean I have more chances of passing the NCLEX. I remember how confused I was on answering the question about colon cleanse. I think I will need to wait atleast a week more.

BINDI

We had a business meeting last week at megamall to finalize the details of our new business ( to blog about this soon!) and get the Medicare supplement insurance of my dad. My cousins brought their little girl with them and I was happy they did. Bindi is such a darling. She was waving at everyone and gives them a flying kiss.

Like her Lola she loves shopping and trying on clothes. She is only 14 months old but already wears dresses for 2 year old kids. Last halloween, she was dressed as a nun and she was such a hit! Everyone at the mall was calling her sister baby.

Sorry for the picture overload. Just can't get over how cute and darling our little Bindi is.

SB planner

After 17 cups of coffee, I was finally able to complete the stickers last Sunday for my Starbucks planner. The timing was perfect as I would usually go to my favorite Starbucks branch to study. It's not only the time of the year to collect the stickers for the planner but also I look forward to the red cups because of Toffee Nut. The Dark Cherry Mocha is really good too. I used to like the Peppermint Mocha but not anymore.
I don't want to think of all the calories and all the weight I gained with drinking coffee just to complete the stickers. Also the money I could have saved and used to buy myself a BCBG Max Azria bag. Then again, this happens only during the Christmas season and the planner was just to nice to resist.

Mango Panna Cotta

Let me share a really easy but yummy receipe of Mango Panna Cotta.

1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon gelatin
1 cup cream
*1/4 pc vanilla pod, seeds scraped
3 tablespoons sugar
1 pc. mango, diced

Pour milk into a small bowl and stir the gelatin powder. Set aside. In a saucepan, stir together the cream, vanilla seeds, vanilla pod and sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to simmering. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Remove from heat, and let steep for a while before lifting out the vanilla pod. Pour in serving glasses and let set in the fridge. When set, top with diced mango.

I use vanilla flavoring instead of the vanilla pod. This recipe is also good for 3-4 persons so just double the ingredients if you need to make more. I like this recipe because it's not too sweet. You also have the option to substitute the mangoes to any other fruit like peaches or blueberries. It's a perfect dessert for your Christmas parties because it's so easy to do.

Now off to look for Christmas party invitations for my mom.

Burglar Breaks Into Diaz Home

My title looks like I copied it from a newspaper but that's what really happened last night or must I say early this morning. Everything still feels surreal. This was one of those mornings wherein I wish I could just go back to sleep and wake up to a different scenario. You know how sometimes you have a bad dream and you just think that if I wake up this will all end and everything will just go back to "normal". I was waiting for someone to shout "cut" or for someone to say they were just playing a joke on me but it was for real

My room has a passage to the house next to ours and is connected to Borgy's room. You can consider me a light sleeper as I almost always wake up to Tito Hermie going inside Borgy's room or to Borgy going inside his room. I slept at past 2am last night as I was trying to finish some practice exam for my NCLEX. Borgy has been in Cebu for the past month so I'm pretty much alone in both rooms.

I was awoken around 6am with my mom calling my name and asking on where I was. I even raised my hand as it was still quite dark inside the room and told her I was right by the wall. She said that someone broke-in the other house. I then immediately noticed the laptop was not on the table anymore. I immediately grabbed the jewelry box and thank God my engagement ring and wedding ring was still there. I then checked on another box to check if the other jewelries I had was still inside the box and it was still there. I then looked for my bag and checked if my wallet was still inside it but wallet was missing so I called the bank immediately to have my ATM cards cancelled. While I was on the phone I woke up Ate Peachy to have her check her things. But I guess the burglar didn't know that they could go through our house from my room. Probably they did not see the door. We were just talking inside the room when I realized my IPOD was no longer on the bed. I remember waking up with the earphones in my ears but no more IPOD. My cousin Mac who was staying in the other house with Tito Hermie was then telling us of what he initially saw when he got out of their room and we then checked on the first floor to look at what was missing and then to also check if the other neighbors were okay. I then realized that my phone was missing too and it was just right about the same time Ate Peachy asked me about my phone. My phone and IPOD were right beside me as I was sleeping and the thought of how near they got to me just scares me! We then went back upstairs to check on what else could be missing and saw a green box on top of Borgy's bed. That green box was inside my cabinet. He was probably looking for other valuables inside my cabinet but inside the green box was just 3 packs of Yogos that I was trying to save. They didn't get the yogos but they were able to get 3 watches. This bad people knew what to get since they made sure they also got the power cable of my laptop and IPOD. They also managed to get the old mobile phones in Borgy's room and 2 old laptops.

I feel bad that I left my camera's memory card inside the laptop so I lost the day 2 Bacolod pictures I have. I lost access to other pictures I didn't get to post online or save on a CD. I lost copies of the US TV series and movies I downloaded online. I have to go through the hassle of getting new ID's but atleast I still have my passport which I would badly need next week. I lost a lot of files and reviewers I need.

I lost all this but I know that I am blessed. Who knows what those bad guys could have done. If they sprayed anything to make me stay asleep, I thank them for doing so because I sure would have shouted had I seen them inside the room. And only God knows what could have happened next.

What I have lost God can replace in tenfold. I am alive, shaken but unharmed. God is good!