Homemade chocolate Valentine's Day treats

Guest post written by Rachel White

I love chocolate candy, so when holidays come around and there's even more candy available, I go kind of crazy and buy a lot of it to eat. It's been the same for Valentine's Day this year, as soon as they put out some of the holiday themed candy at the grocery store, I bought several bags of it. But I also got kind of inspired when I saw on a TV talk show where someone made homemade Valentine's Day candy, so I decided to make some too.

I tried to track down a recipe for those peppermint dark chocolate truffles that I saw that talk show host make on TV and when I was online looking for it, I came across the website www.get.wildblue.com. After I looked through most of the website, I decided to switch over my home internet service to the internet provider.

Well, I did track down a truffle recipe like what I wanted to make and I've bought all the stuff for it. It definitely isn't the simplest dessert, or at least it appears that way from the recipe, but I think they'll be so good that they'll be worth the work.

It's Officially Summer! ;)

Since I got this blog moved from friendster to here, I haven't been able to visit it as much as I could. So, it's been more than a month since my last post and I thought of getting another post done before this blog would be forgotten, LOL!
There are so many things to tell about my updates.

First, God is so good that He allowed me to get back my pageranks (PR) from Google. My 3 blogs have been earning with PR's 1, 2 & 3 respectively. Since I regained PR's, my blogs have been overwhelmed with paid posts since September last year. The posts can really make me busy in a day and would sometimes be exhausting. But as many would say, "strike while the iron is hot!" because page ranks can become unstable...like here today, gone tomorrow.
They are still here for 9 months now, so pending posts are still waiting.

This blog has no page rank, (yet), and hopefully in God's due time, it can have one too! But good thing is it is still earning! So, it's also an income earner.

Next update. It would be 29 days more to go before our Caribbean Cruise trip for 4 days. It would be my first so I am excited! :) I haven't started the packing yet, but I was able to get done with choosing our shore excursions online. These are all prepaid, so that it will all be a breeze when we are on board. We don't need to be shelling out money and credits left and right on the ship from time to time, except perhaps for some tips.

Next is our Philippine home. It has been declared official...we are extending another room, yey!! The agreement and estimates have already been done together with our contractor. I actually decided to have a canopy in front to protect the maindoor from rain and too much sun. I will be posting some photos for our house updates soon. The canopy is done (thank God), and just above it will be where the proposed room extension is. Hopefully, this will be the last of all the constructions that has been done, lol!

And finally, our trip to the Philippines this October. We've set the dates, but the hubby has still to submit the dates at his work for approval. We haven't got the ticket yet, since we are still figuring out if we can be able to drop by Hawaii for hubby's training session. It has to be approved by his company first since they have to come up with a budget for that, so it's kinda like we are still hanging.

So, these are all for the moment. I can probably catch up again for more updates after a month :). For the moment, I should be back to work and blog, blog and blog, with some household chores in between. I can feel I am a "jack of all trades" in my house, LOL!

Ciao!

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Blog Imported From Friendster!

So, finally this blog has a new home for good! Thank God, I was able to import all my entire blog from friendster (this blog). I wouldn't regret doing this thing because I have been thinking of shifting this blog to other blog host site ever since before but I don't know how.

When friendster, (a social networking site) announced that they will be shutting all blogs, profiles and photos, I just did the importing right away since they helped me with all the proper steps and guide on how to do it. Of course, blogspot is really my favorite {wink}! I have been maintaining 4 blogs with them and even got my domain names with it. Another thing, I feel more convenient and more comfortable posting with blogspot...easy and just a breeze.

I hope I can be able to build a good stability of this blog with blogspot, including a page rank sooner, lol!

Refurbishing yard sale patio furniture for my home

Guest post written by Cynthia Wilson

If I can find something for a little less, I definitely take advantage of it and take the deal. Sometimes that means that you have to take what you get and fix it up a little bit. i was going to yard sales a few weeks ago and I found this really unique set of patio furniture. It did need a bit of work but it was such a great deal and a whole set, that I decided to take it and see what I could do with it. The price was that good that I could afford to eat the loss if the patio furniture was beyond use or repair.

But thanks goodness, the furniture is actually going to work. First I cleaned it pretty thoroughly and then I used some flat black paint to coat it and give it a more modern look. While I was online trying to find soem chair cushion patterns to use, I ran across the site get.wildblue.com. I looked through it a little bit and after that I decided to change over my home internet service to the provider.

I saw these really lush looking cushions with some patio designs that I based my makeover on my furniture on and basing my cushions off of that.

Current Updates!

So, our next trip is set in July, - a Western Caribbean cruise...yey! It will be 4 nights, 5 days and will be departing from Miami, FL, which means we have to fly down there and then board the carnival ship on the departure date. We shall try to visit part of Miami and Key West, FL which is part of the itinerary, before the departure for Cozumel, Mexico. It should be fun doing it in the summer, much easier to pack clothes that way, lol!

We are as well eyeing to go Hawaii for a day or two before flying to the Philippines this October if hubby's training would be approved there. Cool!...something to be looking forward to ;).

Then, in October of this year, we will be going home again to finally schedule our housewarming. We are trying to work on dates when the kids are off school so we can hang together. Perhaps, a week with them would be good already, and hopefully we can set a schedule within that date for the housewarming party. I ordered invitations made special {wink} for people who will be around and can make it to attend our event. We aren't planning it to be a big event, just some few friends and family members are enough. The entire vacation would be a mixture of fun and making tough decisions in many things, which include some concerns on our dad's grave, and some decisions that have to be made.

On the other hand, hubby would be able to witness how "All Soul's Day" is being celebrated in the Philippines. We don't celebrate that in the US, but Easter Sunday is somewhat recognized :).

Would you believe our Philippine trip for next year is already planned as well? No exact dates yet, but it will be March 2012 where the kids are graduating...they made it, (yey again). Their tito Craig might get the chance to go up the stage for the graduates! Then their tito Craig would be treating them for a boracay adventure. Then, the planning would be tough because it would be a peak season. So, the earlier the better for the planning.

Well, this would be all for the meantime. It's just more on the updates of our plans.

So far, so good!

Happy Easter everyone!

When Money Goes Into The Wrong Pockets!

I was dumbfounded the first time my husband told me these; - "Filipinos are so sweet, happy people but when it comes to money, their personalities suddenly transform into greed."...then he quickly added; "of course, NOT ALL of them do that. I married a Filipina because of her astounding positive qualities than any other woman would have." So, there was a relief on that part for me, lol!

I am not against his first statement, and I couldn't disagree on it...why? It's the truth!

It's heart breaking to hear such a negative feedback from other people who happen to be in and out visiting our country for many years, particularly if you hear one referring to your countrymen, race, family, relatives, etc... It's also disheartening if you know somebody, a friend, a co-worker, a family relative, classmate, etc..!

But the fact mentioned in the statement is mostly true to many people in the Philippines. I wonder if that statement could be an effective criticism done constructively and wake them up! I myself don't even know the exact reason why this behavior exists so strongly, but I might as well state some ideas coming from my keen sense of observation...eyes, ears, nose, mouth, sense of touch, and the extra mental telepathy! hahahaha!

So, how would you react when your money goes into the wrong pockets? or being mismanaged? Why is it that some people can take the  chance of getting/accepting money from people who happened to trust them and wouldn't mind breaking that trust?  Is it because Philippines is a poor country and thus most people are desperate? or is it just because they were born and raised being greedy? One thing bad about people that I know which leads them to greed is that most of them want to live above their means. I see that mostly to people in the Philippines. Of course, I am not singling out my country...greedy people are all over the world! It so happened, they became so populated in the Philippines! Is this the strong pull of influence of crab mentality? Why can't just they learn to live below their means or at least live within their means? It's just like " I wanna show them I can afford, even if my financial status couldn't." or shall I say; - "Pedro just bought a new house, so I wanna buy a mansion to show I'm better off."

I grew up with a poor family, but the thing I can be proud of is that no matter how difficult life was, money wasn't a big issue! My parents were not perfect, but they raised me away from the temptation of being greedy. Money wise, I was trained to save wisely and keep what's mine, and respect what others have. Being trustworthy is one vital trait that I've learned not only from my parents but from other concerned friends as well. Whatever is entrusted to you, you take care of it, and let it be that way.

I feel good that when it comes to money, my husband and I consider it as a delicate serious matter. When we talk about it, we don't debate, no disagreements. We don't even think of whose pockets will this money go? We don't use "my money" or "your money". It is OUR money.
I can say I'm so much blessed with a good husband  with good financial stability. But we are living within our means. We have been so much blessed with many "extras" in life, but we still spend wisely.
I still search for coupons when I shop, I still go and mob with the crowd on the discount section of a store. Call me frugal, but worth it. It's the way how we live within our means!
I don't need to be so much interested accepting money from others putting it in my own pocket instead of taking the money to where it should be used.

If you are the one doing the bad behavior, how would you look at yourself when it comes to trust? Just imagine when you would hear people talking about you being NOT trustworthy, and greedy when  it comes to money. For sure you won't be happy about it...who does, anyway? But if it's the truth, you deserve it! (forgive me for being blunt, but I'm just stating facts.)
You maybe helpful, sweet, friendly, kind, (name all the positive traits) but what do those do when you can't even earn trust from others? It's like you're covering yourself with fancy decors to hide your dark side. Not even your religious actions can save you from that. Only God sees the real truth and beware!

Of course, money is only one material thing, and we can't bring it with us when we die. Many people would say "that's just money", but it doesn't mean you have to grab somebody's money and be greedy, put them in your pockets and spend them all then make up stories. It's ridiculously none sense, don't you think?

"Money is the root of all evil"...and you being the devil's advocate, you like that?

Talking about trust, it's not being given to you. It's not a simple concept gained overnight, as a poem would say. It is gained from others through your actions rather than asking them to trust you.

So, just imagine when money goes into the wrong pockets...it's disaster! It ruins your personality and credibility if you're pocketing a money that's not yours. You might not be confronted by people whom you've done wrong, but someday, God will!

Yun lang po...thank you!!!