Friday, March 27, 2009

Town Hall Meeting for Hope

For the past couple of months I have been attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes through my church here in the area. For those of you who may not know who Dave Ramsey is, he is a Nationally Syndicated Radio Host and author who specializes in Financial Counseling.

I initially signed up for the classes to learn how to manage my money. In the past I usually lived paycheck to paycheck and didn't have much discipline for saving. And everyone kept telling me the best time to save and invest is now since I am still pretty "young." Another reason is of course the state of our economy. I couldn't help but feel obligated to educate myself about the behavior of money and what I can do with it to best benefit me down the road. And so far the courses have given me a lot of insight into how to build wealth and financial freedom for myself. I have completed my first real budget for the first time and I'm excited to see what my money can do for me in the near future.

So I was quite intrigued to hear that Dave Ramsey will be holding a nationwide Town Hall Meeting for Hope, April 23rd. Essentially you can go to the site and look for a church in your area that will be broadcasting Dave's live discussion.

"...Dave will offer straight talk about the economy, recession, foreclosures and more. He'll carefully explain where we've come from, where we are now, and what we should be doing with our money during this time."

Even if you are like me and don't actually own a home, its a good opportunity to learn what to avoid so you don't find yourself in a foreclosure once you actually do buy a home. I urge you all to check it out no matter what your financial situation. As corny as it sounds...knowledge is power folks ;)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A little bird told me...

As you can see to your right: you can follow me on Twitter now. Do any of you Twitter? I just signed up and I'm just getting the hang of it. Basically I signed up for a few reasons:

1. To see what all the hype was about
2. To keep my mind happy when I get drained @ work
3. To build relationships be it with other bloggers or whoever.

So happy Twittering, we'll see how this goes...

Friday, March 20, 2009

Happy First of Spring!

Its the first day of Spring! But you wouldn't be able to tell here. Its cold and gloomy. And for the past week or so its been raining, it finally let up just recently. I guess its appropriate though since Spring is known for its showers. Which is why I have been looking for the perfect pair of rain boots. I hate when it rains and my pant legs get all wet. Plus, I'm not one for sneakers so my flats easily get my feet wet. I do have slouchy boots, but leather doesn't really like getting wet either. So I figure rain boots is the best way to go.

I want a simple pair that I can wear with anything. I like the cute designs that most rain boots have, but I'm afraid I won't be able to wear them with much. These are the contenders. They are both from my favorite place, Target of course. I like the Navy ones because they'll more than likely go with anything, but I am afraid that when I wear them with jeans it'll be too much blue on blue and I'll look like I am wearing the bottom half of a jumpsuit? I like the yellow with black trim also because they are a bit more in your face...but then at the same time like I said, I want to be able to wear them with mostly anything. So I'm not sure.

Too bad I can't afford spending $119 on the real deal Hunter Wellies. I'd buy these :)


Wednesday, March 18, 2009

St. Patrick will love it!

I hope everyone had a festive St. Patrick's Day yesterday.

Carmie and I got a little craftin' and learnin' done. First we sat down and learned a quick history of St. Patrick's Day and all the fun stuff associatedwith it like Leprechauns and Rainbows with Pots of Gold. I also tried to explain to her that she is part Irish. She gave me the most hilarious look of disbelief, like I had just shifted her entire world! A kind of "What do you meean Mom?!" look. You would've thought that she just found out she was adopted. It was priceless. She always knew she was half-Filipino, but I guess understanding that she is part Irish too, is too much for her little head to understand.

So once the initial shock passed we started to make her very own rainbow complete with a pot of gold.My tot hasn't quite mastered scissors yet, so this is a perfect craft. She can't cut well but man does she love her glue stick! Although, she does have a tendency to firmly and angrily apply the glue :P

-Using a paper cutter I simply cut a few strips of multi-colored construction paper.
-Then I had Carmie paste the strips one on top of the other to another sheet of paper.
-Then I simply cut out the arc for the rainbow, a cloud, as well as a pot of gold shape. I let Carmie cut out her gold ;)
-Have your tot paste the shapes in their respectable places, and for the fun part, have them paste cotton balls on the cloud to make them extra fluffy.

And there you have it a fool-proof St. Patty's Rainbow.

Carmen Rambling of the Day:
(Carmen watching me make Pretzel Salad for my office's St. Patty's Potluck)
"Oh Mommie, St. Patrick will love it!"

Saturday, March 14, 2009

S'turday S'mores


I've been craving Indoor S'mores ever since Carmie brought them home from a birthday party a awhile back. They are such a yummy snack and so easy to make...not the healthiest snack, but yummy nonetheless. Carmie helped me measure, pour, and stir all the ingredients. I got the following recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Ingredients:
4 cups honey graham cereal
3 tablespoons margarine
6 cups miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Coat a 9x13 inch dish with cooking spray. Place cereal into a large bowl; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt margarine. Add marshmallows and corn syrup and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Remove from heat and pour over waiting cereal; stir well to coat. Press into prepared pan. Cool completely before cutting into squares.




ENJOY!

Monday, March 9, 2009

I friggin love Lights...


Yaye! I got to meet Lights last night! Her show was awesome! So many danceable songs...I for the most part was the only one dancing, but thats okay with me. She did a perdy sweet cover of the Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way" and admitted to being a closet Backstreet fan. Ahh Lights...we are one in the same :P Good times...





Friday, March 6, 2009

It's Friday...want a cookie?

Its that dreaded time for us women with a pension for sweets and chocolate...ITS...Girl Scout Cookie Season! I have been good so far and have politely avoided them on my grocery shopping trips by the good ole "looking for something in my purse" act. But I may have to succumb and buy a box...or two...I mean hey, its for a good cause right? :P





You Are Thin Mints



You are bold and brave. You dare to be different, and you are confident about who you are.


Your fearlessness has paid off. You are extremely well liked and popular.


You are charismatic and charming without even trying to be. People appreciate your unique take on life.


You are willing to take risks, speak your mind, and live life to the fullest.



P.S. I want a pink dolphin!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Seeing Lights...

So I have a few guilty pleasures. And one of them is Miss Britney Spears. Now before you start judging me, let me just defend myself by saying I have been a loyal fan waaay before the shaving of the head incident and all the Baby Daddy drama. You know...when she was sportin' pigtails and she still had a bit of baby fat in the face? Thats the Britney I know and love...I digress...I really enjoyed her "comeback album" Circus (I can't help but love the overly digitized danceable songs okay?) so I was pretty excited when her tour started yesterday. Until, I went on Ticketmaster to find out that if I want to see Britney I'll have to put down a car payment?! Center stage tickets will run you a cool $2,225.00 for one ticket mind you. And the cheapest thing I saw was still $185.00 and that was in the nose-bleed section. Miss Britney, I love you, but don't you know we are in a recession? Its cool Brit, because I'm seeing Lights this Sunday at the Norva and I can watch her play original digitized songs on her key-tar for only $10. I need to learn how to play one of those...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Prayers for Jonas Paras

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Paras Family. They are good family friends of my own family and they are going through a very trying time. Jonas Paras is the 7 year old son of Dodge and Jennifer Paras and he has been in a coma for the past 6 or so weeks. Its heartbreaking because at first all he had were symptoms of the common cold and next thing you know he has bacterial pneumonia. It really makes me think about my own daughter and how precious life can be.

New Castle Elementary School (Jonas' Elementary School) will be sponsoring a "Family Night" at Chick-Fil-A at Salem Crossing in Virginia Beach ALL DAY, this Thursday, March 5th. 15% of sales will be donated to help fund Jonas' treatment. So if you're in the area please come out and show your support. Be sure to mention Jonas' name or the fundraiser when ordering. And if you are not in the area...feel free to make a donation at www.jonasparas.com. Any amount helps :)

You are in my thoughts and prayers Jonas.

Is it Spring yet?

Oye...sorry I've been MIA for a bit. Work has been kicking my butt lately and once I get home all I have the energy for is getting dinner on the table and putting my daughter down for bed. Then I sorta just zone out on the couch.

But its not my fault. I swear. For the longest time I always thought my exhaustion and fatigue were just your common full-time working Mama symptoms. But lately I've been really run down and it was starting to get difficult for me to get anything done. I'd sleep for 12 hours and then 2 hours later need to take a nap. And not just regular I'm a bit tired...like I can barely function tired. Sooo I decided I better go to my doctor. Turns out I have a very low Vitamin D levels which attributes to my fatigue. So my doc has me on very high dose of Vitamin D supplements to get my levels back up. I was doing a little Googling and found the best way to increase your Vitamin D is simple exposure to the sun. Which is kind of ironic because how am I supposed to do that when I am stuck in an office all day? I wonder if my doc could write me sick notes to "get my Vitamin D level up."

It doesn't help that the weather has been quite yucky here lately as well. It rained all weekend and we got some snow earlier this week. Granted its not like the 5-7 inches of snow that DC and other Northern states got but the bitter cold is enough to keep me inside. Oh March, I'm so ready for Spring...

Photo by an amazing young (16 yrs. old?!) photographer Eleanor Hardwick
I love her work...its very dreamlike.