Wonderful Blog Awards

I always feel blessed when I receive something wonderful in the world of blogging. I'm very honored to receive the following awards from my blog friends.

Thank you to Tere of Blessings in Life for this blog award. She wrote this kind words on her blog ...

"Rachel - I have hopped into her blog recently and have been hopping into it when I have the time. She has been very nice and had been visiting me recently too. Thank you for your very nice heartful comments! I have enjoyed reading her blog and about her son’s birthday! Happy 5th birthday Yohan!"

I enjoy meeting new and interesting people through blogging. I'm always drawn to people like Tere who shares interesting slices of every day life.

I would like to share this award to Janice, Cess, Rowena, Lynn, Cookie, Tina and Sasha.


Thank you to Tammy of Mom Knows Everything for this Brillante Weblog award. She gave it to her top ten commenters. I never get tired of visiting Tammy's blog because I always learn something new and exciting.

I also would like to thank Alice of Hello, My Name is Alice for giving me the same award. It's so wonderful to receive such a lovely award twice. I enjoy visiting Alice because she shares so much of herself in her photos and day to day experiences.

I would like to share this award to Feng, Julie, Mitch, Odette, Jo, Liz, and Chats.


Thank you to Feng of From Dawn Til Dusk for this Bunch of Tulips. I love tulips and I have always dreamed of receiving some. I really appreciate the virtual tulips and the sweet dedication.

I admire Feng because she's a terrific mom. I enjoy reading about her son's milestones in life. Our children are just a year apart and I could often relate to her experiences.


"It’s true I have never seen you
and we have never met,
Never shaken Hands or
even truly hugged and yet!
I know for sure you care for
me by the kindness that you give.
And our keyboards keep us
together doesn’t matter where we live.
So I give you this gift to
put a smile on your face
and to let you know in my
heart you have a special place."


I would like to share this award to Alice, Tammy, Tere, Vicki, Shimumsy, Mitch, Raquel, and Jeanette.

Teach Children To Be Successful

The children today are tomorrow's future. It is very important to teach the young generation about the importance of education and good values. What we teach our children today will be their foundation for the future.

Some people have incredible vision for the future. Take for instance, Nouveau Riche University CEO, Jim Piccolo. Nouveau Riche University is well known as an educational institution that strives in teaching its students ways of gaining wealth through time proven foundational principles. Nouveau Riche University specializes in teaching real estate investment concepts and strategies. The program highlights the advantages and disadvantages of short-term and long-term real estate investment strategies to its students.

Jim Piccolo is said to be the heart and driving force of Nouveau Riche University. He has an impressive twenty years of extensive business experience. Jim Piccolo has a successful and inspiring career. In fact, he has founded and operated an incredible number of lucrative businesses. He has put up more than a dozen innovative companies which includes the renowned Nouveau Riche Corporation. Jim Piccolo said in one of his talks, "We need to teach our children to be successful.” His words strongly convey his long term goal in helping build a good future for today’s young generation.

Looking for a Subaru?

Are you looking for a new vehicle for yourself or for your family? Finding the right vehicle for you is not always easy. There are so many car manufacturers out there and each one offers different kinds of vehicles in the market.

If you're looking for a vehicle that is practical but at the same time fun to drive, you might want to check out Subaru. It is a well known automaker. Subaru offers a wide arrange of cars, wagons and mini vans. Many car enthusiasts describe Subaru cars as powerful and agile. They are pleasant and smooth to ride. Subaru cars have modern and dependable active and passive safety features.

One of the highlights of most Subaru wagons is its Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive. This feature provides superior driving performance. Most Subaru wagons have enhanced traction which gives drivers and passengers the feeling of security and safety.

If your heart is set on a Subaru, you may just find what you are looking for at the New Subaru DC. They offer a wide selection of Subaru cars, wagons and mini vans. You need not worry about service and parts because New Subaru DC has all that. They offer almost all models of new Subaru. If not, they could probably get it for you.

**Courtesy of Washington DC New Subaru**

Wordless Wednesday #31

Do you like sushi? My hubby loves all kinds of sushi. I prefer maki ones. Please drop by my Wordless Wednesday #31 at my other blog and see the delightful sushi plate that my friend's hubby made.

Weekend Snapshot #36

To join this weekly meme, click here.

Hot Wheels

My family just stayed home the whole weekend because Yohan wasn't feeling well. He had slight fever, cough and colds. He had a hard time sleeping because of his cough so we used a nebulizer to help him breathe better.

My teddy's turn to be nebulized. :)

My husband's relatives are here for a vacation. They visited us last weekend and gave us some nice gitts. Below is what Yohan received.

Hot Wheels Drop Tower

My hubby immediately set it up after our saying goodbye to the visitors. Yohan was so thrilled about his new, cool toy.

Camera Critters #15

A month ago our pet Flower Horn fish developed a "cloud eye". It's a common disease among Flower Horns. I'm happy that our pet is getting better after proper medication. Please hop over to my Camera Critters #15 at my other blog to find out more.

Recover Lost Digital Photos

I love taking photos. I think of pictures as mementos of happy memories. Pictures are wonderful reminders of special moments. After taking photos on my digital camera, I download them to my computer. Occasionally I have my favorite shots printed at the photo lab but it would be too expensive to print every single picture that I have. I just save the rest of my photos on my hard disk.

One of my greatest fears is losing all of my digital photos. I would be devastated if I lost all my precious memories. Although it has never happened to me before, the thought of losing my photos scares me. There are a number of ways to lose digital photos namely accidental deletion, accidental formatting of memory card and unfortunate damaging. I'm so pleased to know that there is now a solution to all that. There is a simple-to-use Photo Image Recovery Software called Photo Nose that enables you to recover lost or damaged digital photos within minutes. The standard software can recover different kinds of files such as jpeg, bmp, tif, rif, and gif while the professional software can recover jpeg, bmp, tif, rif, gif, Cannon (crw, cr2), Kodak (dcr), Minolta (mrw), Nikon (nef), Fuji (raf), Sigma (x3f), Pentax (pef), and Sony (srf). Photo Nose is fast and free to try.

** Courtesy of Photo Nose **

Photo Hunt :: Hanging

Come and join the hunt here

This popular party game is called "Pabitin" (bitin means hang). Different kinds of party favors (candies, small toys, stickers, etc.) are placed on a bamboo grid. The loot are all hanging loosely. Normally the middle of the bamboo grid is secured with a rope and tied to something sturdy to keep it elevated. The "Pabitin" is constantly lowered and raised to add to the fun.

The pictures below were taken a few years ago when my son celebrated his 2nd Birthday at Jollibee (popular counterpart of McDonald's in the Philippines). Hubby and I made sure all the kids had a fair chance during the "Pabitin" so we provided two separate "Pabitin" games and divided the kids based on age (younger kids grouped together and older ones placed in another group).

Yohan being the birthday celebrant had the privilege of choosing anything from the "Pabitin" before the game started. My hubby helped Yohan reach the toy he wanted.

When the host gave the signal for the start of the game, Jollibee (the mascot) brought down the "Pabitin" slowly and the kids started grabbing the hanging party favors.

Make Your Place Safer

There is a need for more security measures nowadays because of the increasing number of crimes. Take for instance the theft that my friend witnessed at a coffee shop near her house. It was early in the afternoon and my friend went there with her 5-year old daughter for a light snack. She said everything seemed normal and she didn't notice anyone suspicious. She saw a guy leaving the coffee shop with a laptop in tow. She didn't pay any too much attention because it was normal for people to come in and out of the shop. After a minute or so she heard a loud shriek inside. A lady just stood up for a few seconds to get some condiments from the sidebar and when she went back to her table her laptop was gone. The man who just left the coffee shop turned out to be a thief but it was too late because according to witnesses, the said man was picked up by another guy riding a motorcycle. The coffee shop was not equipped with surveillance cameras so it was very difficult to identify the thief. It was an unfortunate incident.

Even homes are not safe from thieves. The increasing reports of house robbery can very alarming. In these times, safety should be among the top priorities of a family. It is a good idea to invest on quality security system like the 4 camera home surveillance system. This 4 channel home surveillance system can be conveniently installed in your own computer turning it into a digital video recorder.

Older types of surveillance systems are not dependable in terms of imaging because faces often appear pixelized. The great thing about the modern 4 camera security systems is its high resolution of 640x480. This will enable viewers to see clear and very detailed images, particularly faces of people caught on video.

Make your homes and business secure by investing on a dependable and quality security systems. Make your place safe from people with bad intentions.

Slight Fever and Sniffles

My enthusiasm about the weekend has been dampened because my son is not feeling well. Last night Yohan had a difficult time sleeping because his cough and colds were troubling him. I woke him up this morning as usual but while he was having breakfast I felt something odd. It turned out that he had a slight fever so I decided not to let him go to school today. I just called my fellow mom in school to give the weekend assignment to the driver of our school service so he could drop it off at my place.

This week I noticed that many of Yohan's classmates have common cough and colds. There's a great chance that Yohan got his condition from being exposed to them. I'm supposed to bring Yohan to the pediatrician tomorrow for his booster shot but I will have to reschedule it another time when Yohan has recovered from his condition.

I was watching Yohan while he was taking a nap this afternoon and I noticed his heavy breathing. I will nebulize him before sleeping to help ease his breathing. I hope that he will get better this weekend in time for school on Monday.

I wanted to join my PMN blog friends for dinner tonight but I couldn't leave the house knowing Yohan is not feeling well. I'm sure they understand. There's always another chance.

Graphic reference

Providing Medical Equipment for the Poor

I remember watching a documentary program about the plight of poor families in a remote province in the country. They live far from the nearest hospital. They need to travel by boat across the island and travel some more by road before reaching the nearest small hospital. They don't even have a decent clinic at their island. When someone gets sick, they just rely only on herbal medicines for cure. I believe that herbal medicines are great in curing minor and ordinary illnesses but there are some situations that require proper medical assistance.

It is sad how some remote areas in the country don't have proper medical equipment. There is also a lack of medically trained people in some areas. This is probably one of the reasons behind the inferior quality of people's health in such places. It seems so alarming that some people do not have access to medical assistance when it is needed most. This is a great disadvantage.

Poor living conditions and difficult way of life are sad realities that we need to accept. However, there are still ways to help these people in need. Less fortunate people are in dire need of the government's assistant but sad to say they are not getting the help they deserve. I really admire the programs set up by various private and Non-Government Organizations dedicated in uplifting the health status of the poor people. These programs need a lot of capital and sometimes the resources are so limited. I believe that it is important to support health improvement programs. It would be wonderful if many people would share a small fraction of their earnings to help the funding of programs for good causes. Money accumulated for the programs can pave way to the purchase of used medical equipment. Second hand and refurbished medical equipment can be distributed to poor areas that need them the most.

Aloha Friday #35

Rules: Post any question on your blog on a Friday, share your answer and sign Kailani's Mr. Linky. Then have fun answering the questions of fellow participants by visiting their blogs.

When dining out, do you always order dessert?


A definite YES. Whenever I dine out with my family, we always look forward to the dessert. It's the most exciting part of the meal. :) The picture above is the dessert we ordered from Shakey's a week ago. It's Marble Cookie ala Mode (three scoops of different flavored ice-cream topped with cherries on a huge cookie ).

Site Review Platform

The World Wide Web has dramatically changed over the years. There has been an influx of different kinds of websites globally. There is a platform called Talkreviews.com that shares interesting details, statistics and Site Reviews about websites from different countries. It is one of the Top Websites that give users the chance to share their views and opinions about various sites.

Lalaine's Giveaway

I love giveaways! My blog pal Lalaine is having one called "From Thailand With Love - Give away". She's giving these beautiful Thai Decorative Letter Holders. The giveaway is open to all. The contest will end on July 3o, 8:00 pm Thailand time. The winners will be announced the following day at 8:00 pm. Click on the image below and you'll be directed to her site. Good luck!

WarCraft Gold Online

Online gaming is a popular hobby of the young generation. Whenever I pass by Internet shops these days, I notice how they are filled with young gamers. Online games are greatly favored by the young because of its fun and exciting online interaction. Online games enhance one’s sharp thinking, quick reflexes, logic, creativity, effective strategies, and implementation of goals.

A very popular online game is the world of warcraft gold. It is classified as a massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG for short. In the World of Warcraft, there are thousands of possible players. I find it fascinating how thousands of players can exist in the same game at the same time. It's a big and promising adventure for game enthusiasts. It's a world of gaining friendships, slaying monsters and going through exciting quests that can last for days or even weeks. The world of warcraft gold has so many participants that it creates a rich environment where so many interesting things take place. It's like a vast online community. A player can engage in thousands of hours of playing with a nearly infinite set of goals. The world of warcraft gold is a whole big adventure that unfolds before your eyes.

Tagged :: First, Last and Now!

I was tagged by Kathycot to do this meme:

First

* First name: Rachel
* First screen name: Rach (Heart of Rachel)
* First funeral: my Uncle Ben, I'm not sure how old I was but I was in early grade school
* First piercing: Ears
* First kiss: J.V. (cheek)
* First love: A.J.

Last

* Last beverage drank: Water
* Last food consumed: Dessert (ice-cream)
* Last phone call: hubby
* Last time showered: 4 hours ago
* Last CD played: Light&Easy
* Last website visited: Kathycot's Walk on Red With Me

Now

* Single or taken: Taken
* Gender: Female
* Birthday: March 29
* Sign: Aries
* Shoe size: 8
* Thinking about: The coming weekend.

Participants:

1.) Me and Mine
2.) Creative in Me
3.) Little Peanut
4.) For the LOVE of Food
5.) Pea in a Pod
6.) SugarMagnolias
7.) Walkonred
8.) Buhaymisis
9.) Kathycot
10.) Whenmomspeaks
11.) Kathycotcooks
12.) Heart of Rachel
13.) your blog

Everyone is welcome to play along. Please let me know when you do.

Impact of Prolong Computer Use

Many jobs nowadays require extensive hours in front of the computer. Long use of the computer is not good to the eyes. Prolong use of the computer can lead to eye strain. People with eye strain experience eye discomfort accompanied by headaches. The glare of the computer is a common cause of eye strain among computer users.

Not only working people experience visual strain. Kids of different ages experience visual fatigue due to long hours of computer use. Today's modern world has exposed kids as young as four years old to the world of the Internet. Online gaming is popular among children. The kids who spend too much time on the computer may experience headaches, constant rubbing of the eyes, dry eyes and blurry vision. Parents should be careful to monitor their children's use of the computer. Kids should learn the importance of resting their eyes to avoid deterioration of the quality of eyesight.

Today's generation shows an increase in the number of people with poor eyesight. Chances are it is related to the poor care of the eyes. There is a popular vision correction procedure called Lasik that can help improve the quality of eyesight using 1st-all laser technology. It is fast, easy and almost painless. Click here for more LASIK information.

Tagged :: Saturday Social

I was tagged by Hailey. I'm sorry for my very late post.

Saturday Social Question:

How do you keep the spark and excitement in your relationship/marriage?

My Answers:

1. My hubby and I go out on regular dates (just the two of us). We watch movies or try new restaurants.
2. We give gifts to one another during special occasions.
3. We never fail to say "I love you" to one another.

Saturday Social Rules:

• Post your answer to the Saturday Social question(s) in your blog. Be sure to put in a link to this entry and the blogger who tagged you too!
• Come back HERE, sign Mr. Linky and why not leave me a comment too
• Tag your friends… better yet, tag a stranger (what a great way to meet someone new!) You can tag 1 or 100, it is up to you. The more you tag, the more you will meet.
• Visit other Saturday Social participants by clicking their names in Mr. Linky.
• Everyone is free to do this meme.
  
  

Wordless Wednesday #30

Hi everyone. I'm sorry for being so late with my meme visits. I'm just home today and I'll be visiting meme participants. Hope you can come over and see the sweet and yummy stash I have at my other blog ~ Wordless Wednesday #30.

Fabulous Hair Extensions

I used to have long hair since grade school to college. I had long, straight, black hair for many years. I had my hair cropped short when I started working. I gave my hair to the salon and I was told that they will donate it to a place that makes wigs. like my short and easy to manage hair style but I admit I sometimes miss having long hair. I sometimes miss my long hair whenever I look at old photos.

Sometimes when I watch celebrities on television, I get surprised at how they manage to change their hair styles dramatically. I am truly amazed how they can have short hair one day and have long hair the following day. I know that they use hair extensions since it is not possible to grow long hair overnight. It just amazes me how natural their hair look. Human hair extensions are remarkable. They can make a girl have any hairstyle she wishes. I think it's fabulous that you can play with your look and reinvent yourself whenever you wish. It's fun and exciting just thinking about it. There are so many lovely clip in hair extensions to choose from. You can choose a particular hair color, length and style based on your personal preference.

Movie Time :: Dark Knight

Hubby and I watched The Dark Knight last night. We really enjoyed the exciting and fast-paced movie scenes. I think Heath Ledger delivered a spectacular performance as Joker. It's sad to think that he's gone. The Dark Knight is a great movie that should not be missed.

We didn't bring Yohan with us because he seems too young to be exposed to all those violent scenes but we bought him this Batman shirt as souvenir.

Real Estate Investment Concepts

For graduating high school students, choosing what university to go to in college is a big decision. There are a lot of good universities which make it hard for an incoming college student to make a final decision. To make the decision more complicated, a student also has to choose what course to take up in college. There are many possible choices and deciding on one course can be a little difficult. A student’s choice of course in college may depend on his or her strengths, interests, vision, and future goals.

Some universities have specialty courses. For instance, Nouveau Riche University specializes in teaching real estate investment concepts and strategies. The program teaches the students about the advantages and disadvantages of several short-term and long-term real estate investment strategies. Nouveau Riche University is highly regarded as an educational institution that teaches individual ways of gaining wealth through time proven foundational principles.

Nouveau Riche University offers students an educational program based on the tried and tested Instructional System Design (ISD). It is an educational process that is scientifically proven. ISD simply refers to an instructional strategy which helps students determine HOW they learn WHAT they want to learn. This kind of strategy is based upon identification of the instructional problem of a learning goal.

Weekend Snapshot #35 - Yohan's 5th Birthday

To join this weekly meme, click here.

My Boy Turns 5

My son, Yohan turned 5 years old last July 18 (Friday). He had a birthday celebration in school. Below is the invitation he gave to his classmates.

Yohan's teachers prepared a nice birthday greeting on the classroom bulletin board.


His classmates and teachers gathered around him to sing a nice birthday song. (Yohan is the boy sitting down in the middle).


Yohan's Winnie the Pooh birthday cake. He loves chocolate cake.


Making a wish before blowing the candle. After that everyone enjoyed Jollibee meals (combination of spaghetti, chicken and soda) and chocolate cake.


Yohan gave his classmates and teachers Winnie the Pooh mini backpacks as birthday souvenirs.


Inside each backpack are Winnie the Pooh pencil & face towel, Crayola eraser, pen and a whistle.


There are also Winnie the Pooh sweet treats like cotton candy, jellies and marshmallows.


At home we surprised Yohan with 5 cupcakes with candle sparkles.


The following night, we had a small birthday celebration for Yohan. We invited a few relatives. My hubby made BBQ ribs, crispy fried chicken, mojos and green salad. Yaya made spaghetti (the way I always enjoyed it as a young girl). For dessert, Jules' brother brought buko salad.


Yohan received many wonderful gifts from family and friends. Below are the gifts from Yohan's classmates and Teacher Renn.


My husband and I gave Yohan Transformer toys (Megatron and Optimus Prime Animated). Yohan has a small collection of Optimus Prime. He has the 1st and 2nd generation Optimus Prime toys.


He also received a lot of nice clothes. Yohan is a big fan of Transformers and Iron Man.


New pair of rubber shoes from Lola Dol.


The highlight of the night was when Yohan opened the gift of his Uncle Keats and Aunt Ves. It's Yohan dream toy ~ Voltes V.


Yohan's wish came true. The look of joy on his face when he opened the gift was priceless.

Metal Shed For the Home

We have a lot of things stored at the garage. The car tools, gardening equipment and cleaning things are all in that area. There are also a few boxes of old stuff piled in the garage. It looks quite cluttered. I want to make the garage look more organized. It would be nice to have a metal storage shed at our backyard. I prefer the Quikbilt tubular steel building because it is made of top quality zinc-coated tubing to form the frames. A metal shed would be perfect storage for all those things lying around at the garage. I love the thought of a more organized and clutter free home.

I admire the sturdy pre-engineered Metal Buildings made of the finest steel building materials. These quality metal buildings are ideal for agricultural, commercial, residential and industrial use. Steel buildings are very functional and strong. They can withstand harsh weather elements because of its quality materials.

My brother-in-law had one made at his home where he stores power tools like drills, grinders, routers, planers, edgers and other things he uses for his stone fabricating business. The steel building at his home is spacious enough to accommodate other things like the lawn mower, power spray and griller.

Choosing Light Fixtures

Choosing appropriate light fixtures can accentuate your home. Your choice of light fixtures is a reflection of your personal style. There are many lovely designs to choose from. There are different styles like Casual, Contemporary, Tiffany, Traditional, Transitional and Utility. Lighting fixtures do not only illuminate your home but it can only create the mood that you desire.

My husband and I personally chose all the lightning fixtures for our home. For the living room, we chose a modern chandelier type light fixture with a touch of blue to compliment our living room color motif. We have simple bathroom light fixtures. For our kitchen, we chose from several types of kitchen light fixtures and decided on a modern style fluorescent lighting.

Personalized Invitations and Envelopes

For Yohan's 5th Birthday, I made personalized invitations. The theme of Yohan's birthday was Winnie the Pooh and Friends. I found a nice graphic and incorporated Yohan's photo to make it look as if he's part of the cute gang. I even put a jar of honey just below his hand. After designing the invitation, I had it printed out the local photo lab.

For the envelopes, I used colorful construction paper. I used an old envelope as a pattern. I printed out a picture of Winnie the Pooh with the names of Yohan's classmates and teachers. I cut them out and pasted it on the envelopes.


You can see how excited Yohan was on the day that he was about to give out his birthday invitations.