Traveling Bags

I have decided to spend New Year's eve in Seattle with my husband's best friend. We are not sure if we have the money to travel though but if we do we will need a good luggage. I saw the Eagle Creek luggage website and was thinking about buying a better luggage. They have different styles from different makers and discounts too. I know that in the airplane they get thrown around when crews load them in and out of the airplane. Sometimes they crack or break so I want something that I can use at least for a long time.

Dark Circles

This morning my husband told me I have dark circles under my eyes. I haven't been sleeping well lately. I have so many quizzes coming. I thought I should check on eye creams to help relieve it. I didn't know that there is a site for eye cream reviews. I like reading people's reviews on products. It helps me decide which one I want to use. My skin is dry so I really need to be very careful on choosing the right one to use. Glad I could just check it online.

Scenic Sunday-Newport

Furniture

Our second bedroom in our apartment is still messy. After moving here for almost two months now, I still didn't make a time to just arrange it and turn it into a sort of study room. I do need office supply like desk, chair, filers, and other stuff so either me or Steven could just go in there and have some quiet time studying. I really like that room and maybe this weekend I will make a it a priority to just think about what to buy and how to arrange them. I can just go online and buy the items I need.

Fast Way

Steven has been complaining lately about being fat. He is not actually but he has been gaining some extra pounds. The easy way to lose fats is to take fat burners. I know he would just want to exercise and try to eat healthy but I am okay with taking pills if I have to. There are some people who find it really hard to lose weight. This is the easiest and fastest way to go if you are desperate to shed some of those pounds. A lot of people gave their reviews about it and it seemed to work for them. I usually ask my doctor first to see if it will work for me.

School

School is getting more and more harder but we're almost done with studying inside the classroom. Next month we will be in an elderly home and hospital to practice what we have learned in the classroom. I am getting excited but nervous at the same time because I really want to be able to pass the board exam. My Indonesian friend is having a hard time with her English but she is really smart. Today we practice on oral care and feeding each other. It was fun eating some food but I was kinda scared to drink the water, it didn't taste like our regular tap water.

Looking forward to our quiz on Thursday which is about abbreviations and symbols that medical people use. I like it compared to my other quizzes. Hope I'll do well!

Living in Chicago

A friend of my friend visited her this weekend. She is from Chicago. My friend told me that she lives in Chicago apartments and if we want to go there, we can stay with her. It would be nice to visit another state. People here always tell me how different it is to live in another states. It would be nice. Steven wants us to spend New Year's eve in Seattle but I am not into it. Maybe but I'd rather spend New Year here even if it's lonely. I just find Chicago interesting though.

Suffering From Acne

I was watching one of the Michael jackson interviews on the television and there was a time in his life where he suffered pimples and acne. One lady wasn't even able to recognize him and he felt horrible when it disgust her. I'm not sure if he had acne treatment but it's that time of our lives, the puberty, where pimples and acne show up. Some people really get bad acne and it makes you want to hide in your room forever until it disappears. You could always check on different treatments online for it. There are really good and effective ones.

Candle Decor

I love wall decor. When I visited my friend's house, she has wall candle sconces. I like the designs and would love to have some in my new place. Some wall candle decor are a bit expensive but they are really gorgeous. It would definitely make a home more beautiful. It will also help save you electricity because you can just light up candles and it will brighten your home. I like the idea and I love the designs. You also don't need to worry if kids will reach it because it's on your wall.

I Care Blog Contest

This is a contest that will end really soon. There is still time for those who want to join too, just go to Janet's blog called Expression and Thoughts.

This is how I show care to my family:

Showing for my family is being able to provide for their needs. When I was still single, I would help in buying our food, pay rent and bills, buy clothes for my parents, and give them money when they need it. Sometimes it becomes a heavy burden because I feel I don't have anything for myself. God would make me realize that family is more important than things. I also don't know how to save and budget my money and food so I tend to spend a lot of money and waste. It's so much different now that I'm married. My husband taught me a lot about budgeting. We still send money to my family three to four times a month. I make sure I call too or send messages through Chikka.com to make sure they're okay. I would also send care package but a big one for my family in the Philippines like canned goods, clothes, chocolate and other stuff. We try to send at least twice a year. I also try to play with my nephew and nieces before I came to America so they will remember me. My nephew is older so I would bring him to a mall and he will play at a playhouse and eat. I try so much to call and talk to them too so they won't forget me.

Care for my husband is more special because if I see him happy, I am happy. If he's in a bad mood, it affects me too. Every morning on weekdays, I make his breakfast and pack his lunch. Weekends he usually take care of me. Making coffee was my least favorite but it's his favorite so I would force myself to make it. It made me grumpy before too and he would notice it and tell me he can make it. Then I start feeling guilty so I made an effort to not get grumpy. Now I feel good making him coffee. I'm glad the struggle is over. If we have lots of extra time in the morning, I would make him choose what type of breakfast food he would like. Once I'm done with breakfast I prepare his lunch which I made the night before and his gym clothes. There are times when Steven doesn't wake me because I am too tired or when I wake up and everything is ready including his breakfast he'll tuck me in the bed.

Before he gets home after work, I would clean the house and make our dinner. I give him space to unwind and just relax after a hard day's work.

I also try to iron his formal clothes for work and make sure he always have clean clothes. I would arrange his clothes in the dresser way better than mine. I don't know why.

Lately, I have been also giving him time to watch sports with his friends. He gave it up when I first moved here so he could give almost all his attention to me.

Disagreement time, I used to just keep quiet and ignore him which makes him really frustrated because he wants to settle the matter sooner. Before, I like it when he gets frustrated, it made me feel I got even. God made me realize that I'm not being a good helpmate to him. I prayed for Jesus to change me and Steven said I'm getting better at expressing my feelings in a gentle way. I have a tendency to help him when he has problems but he only wants to express them to me and just listen. I am still working on being a good listener to him and pray for him all the time, I am a WIP (Work In Progress).

We try to work as a team. He works hard to make money to take care of me and my family so I must also work hard to give all the care for him. That's what keeps me going. He is a wonderful husband, very loving and kind so I want to give him my best. It's not going to be perfect immediately but in time and God's guidance, I hope I will be able to.

For friends:

Whenever I get to shop at the Asian market, I usually invite friends to our house and make Filipino dishes. I tend to invite college students because they don't get to eat healthy food as much. It's a good ministry too.

We join the couple's group from our church every Friday and I would bring some food for us to eat. Steven and I would also bring games and I'm glad we started doing that because it was our icebreaker. It brought me closer to people that I play with.

For strangers:

I used to join the street feeding ministry where we gave nice evening meal to homeless people. It was a really good experience for me to serve them. Even though it gets tiring but when they say thank you to you, makes it all worthwhile. Our church also has Meals of Love where the church members cook for a certain family who are not able to really cook for themselves. The first time I did it was for a family whose mom is unable to really move because she just had back surgery. I've never met them. I made baked chicken, potato salad, and macaroons for dessert. They were so grateful and it gave me and my husband joy to help.

We are supporting a girl in India through an organization. Her family is really poor so we give a certain amount every month to provide for her food, clothing, and school. I don't know if we'll ever meet her but we're glad we are able to support.

Saving Files

I want to check this website of Promotional usb drive. Steven uses them more because he download and listen to podcast sermon every time he goes to work. This site has really cheap usb drives, it's amazing! You could but one for $3.95. You can also customize it and it has a lifetime warranty. I like that! You can use it to promote your business as free gifts. Now I know where we can buy better deals on usb drive. I know there are a lot of people who uses it. I'd like to get one for my brother because he kept taking mine which I took from my husband.

Women's Retreat

I got back from the our women's retreat yesterday. Michelle, my new friend, gave me a ride home and helped me collect empty bottles and cans. We are saving it to earn money for our trip to the Philippines. She is such a nice girl, really mature for her age. I felt more comfortable hanging out with the women in church too. We played our famous game called guessture and the high schoolers really loved it. I got to play with them again the next night. They just cracked me up. I met so many awesome ladies from the other church. It was a blessing even for a short time. I'm glad I'm not sick. I really thought I would because my body was tired and been sleeping late and uncomfortably. Hope I didn't snore a lot the second night too. Heard some women snored and heard myself snore once. The third day we had a good time saying bye to everyone. Sad but still it was fun!

Smoke

Some of my classmates who are taking CNA still smoke. One of the ladies said she like to smoke cigar and I should let her check this website out. I wonder if there is any difference at all between smoking cigars and cigarettes besides it being thicker. It always reminds me of people in the mafia, the godfather. I didn't know they have different flavor of cigars.