DANCE IT OUT

Its absolutely that time of the month again where most people scramble to go on a diet in hopes of loosing a little bit of weight before Summer hits head on! I am embarrass to say that I go on a frantic exercise binge, and crazy diet. Its not like a really need to loose a lot of weight but I need to tighten and flatten some problem areas. I am not so fond of exercise but, there is one thing I have yet to try. A few of my friends have tried this one out and says its a great workout. I guess you know what I'm talking about,zumba zumba. This exercise regiment is effective as what I have been hearing and most of all it make exercise and loosing weight fun. A cousin of mine is actually a Zumba instructor and she does look great. since zumba is about dancing maybe i will be able to stick to it. I will have to try it out. I need to borrow a Wii disc from someone who has it, before actually buying it.

TIDE PODS

Don't you just love getting stuff in the mail. I get so excited whenever I get something in the mail. weather it be letter, junk mail or free sample from different products. This week I finally received my sample of the tide pods. I have heard so much about this tiny little pack of laundry soap. I must say, Tide is still the best detergent I have ever tried so far. It really does take out stains, whitens and smells great. One of my most prized stockpile is my bottles of tide laundry detergent. Its not a lot but it's more than enough to last me 6 months of laundry, I think,lol.

I was so excited when I recieved my tide pod sample in the mail. I tried it right away and I was not left disappointed. It really works, It comes in a small pre measured packs. Its so easy to use, just drop it in your washing machine, can be used cold, warm or hot water. I actually like it because you don't have to worry about spill. Sure, the price of Tide is a little bit more expensive than other laundry detergent but It does prove its worth. I have learned to buy my tide when the go on sale. With that said, I am on a constant lookout for Tide sale. My tide is only used on our whites and what I consider special garments, lol

WHITE BLOOMS

I took the photo a week before we officially welcomE spring. This is the side walk leading outside of our cul de sac. Every spring time we are showered with white bloom from these trees. I never asked our neighbors what kind of tree's they are. It is not cherry blossoms. We always pass under the canopy of white blooms in the morning when I walk my oldest Kayla to the bus stop and in the afternoon on my way to picking her up at the bus stop. Sure the trees are a menace to my nose but the beauty of the blooms are just breathtaking. I makes me feel like I am literally walking in Wonderland. However, the blooms don't last long. Eventually they will start falling down to make way for the new leaves. Spring is such a magical time! Although Summer is my favorite Season, Spring is my second favorite season. How about you?

I SMELL SPRING

Spring is just a few days ahead. I can literally smell and feel Spring in the air. Everyday is a battle with my allergy, spring allergy that is. Last year my Allergies were so bad that I could not breathe through my nose at all. Eating was like a matter of life and death. Chewing and swallowing was like a death sentence. Breathing is was hard. A few brain cells must have died while I was oxygen deprived. I kid you not, my nose would drip like a leaky faucet! Rudolph and I looked like we were related due to my red nose from blowing all the time. I am hoping that my allergies won't be as bad this year. And even if its going to be as bad as last year, I would gladly bear through it one tissue box at a time rather than suffer through winter. It's still early to tell but I seems like the allergens in the air is not as bad as last year. Who knows, that may all change in a month when Spring is in full bloom!

US

This is my family

Taken last March 3rd, we were celebrating my MIL's 70th birthday. All her kids and grand kids were present. Its always a blast a trip having all of us in one roof. A typical Italian family,always loud! Instead of having dinner at our house my MIL and I decided to just eat out. This way we didn't need to cook or clean anything. All we need to do is show up, eat, have fun, pay the bill and leave the clean up to the bus boys, lol. We ate at a Chinese buffet. Most people would say why the Chinese buffet? First, its very affordable since not all of us can afford a $50 meal each on one sitting. Second, we happen to love the diversity of the food. We had to be seated in their party room and boy did we laugh our hearts out. It was really fun. Although, the food selection this time was horrible, it was bad! In spite of that, it was still a family filled day.

We all went back to our house for more talking and laughter. It was at our house that MIL wanted to get a picture of her kids and their respective family. The picture above is my family with my two beautiful girls, husband and loving Mother-in-law. I wonder what next year is going to be like. Maybe we will have it at our house this time, who knows!

WATERLESS VASE

This is an update on my previous blog post here. I wrote about our early Valentines/5th wedding anniversary. I have been forgetful as of late. Its more like a norm for me now,forgetting about everything even as simple as water on a vase. And we all know if we don't put water on a vase, a plant withers and eventually dies to go to flower heaven. Due to my absentmindedness, I was informed by my youngest that the flowers her daddy gave me were dead. I didn't believe her until I saw the evidence. Right where I left it my roses had withered due to no water in a vase. How could one forget about putting water? I was actually just cutting the flowers to a right length and I was going to arrange them better. I must have gotten side tracked because I forgot to put water.

I felt so horrible. While I felt bad my husband on the other hand was laughing at me. He could not believe I forgot to put water. I scramble to save my flowers but only 3 survived. At least my husband didn't get offended. From now on I will put water first before I cut and arrange any flowers,lol

A STORY BEHIND A BUNCH OF ROSES

Did I ever tell you about the story behind my roses?

Well, a couple of weeks before Valentines I have been no so subtly been hinting to my husband I wanted flowers. And as the days got closer and closer i didn't hint anymore, I demanded I wanted flowers! You see, the last time I got flowers was for our 3rd wedding anniversary and I didn't expect it at all. So with that it seemed like he was developing a pattern of giving me flowers every other year, that every other year was this one! From my previous post we didn't celebrate on the actual day. We just had dinner at our house with all our favorite food.

Valentines morning rolled in and I was a little bit surprised that there were no chocolates, card or flowers and little trinkets for me and the girls. However, I did make some glittered hearts for the girls on the table. My oldest was so sweet when I woke her up. The first thing she did was gave me a big hug and said " happy anniversary mama!". That right there was my Valentines gift from my girls. Back to the flowers. As the day wore on I got a little bit irritated, husband was still upstairs sleeping. I was wondering when he was going out to get my flowers. Finally at past 1 p.m he woke up and called me upstairs. I was getting snippy and annoyed, hubby sensed it and he immediately explained. He ordered flowers to be delivered to our house on Valentines day. He wanted to act like he wasn't going to get my anything at all so I would be surprise when I get the delivered roses. It was not to be! The flower company he ordered from sent him an e-mail at 1:05 that they could not deliver due to the high influx of orders that came in. To prove that he was not lying he did show me the email. He was so bummed but I was happy. All that mattered to me was that he tried. Hubby ultimately went out to get me flowers and I did get my flowers. They may not have been as beautifully arranged but it was perfect.

I am the kind of person who treasures the simplest of things. For men who have missed out on getting the best valentines gifts for girlfriend fret not. Your gift doesn't have to be elaborate and grand. Whats important is the effort and thought you put behind the gift. As far as the saying goes " It's better late than never".

HOWL THE WIND

Winter had been mild but with that, it has also been crazy confusing. The other week we had such great weather that reached 60 degrees. We were all loving it! But the past couple of days have just been breeezzyy! Breezy is an understatement. It's been howling winds as strong as 40 mph. I was so spooked the other night when I was watching TV. All of a sudden I heard this howling wind blowing outside our window. I could feel it shaking the side of our house and the window in our bedroom. Just then, my phone rings and it was sweet husband. He was calling me from work to let me know not to be surprised about the wind. That calm me down a bit but I also worried about him. With wind gusting up to 40 mph in winter its got to be bone chilling cold and he gets in and out of his police car. I worry about him and reminded him to get warm. At least the windy weather will not be here to stay for long. Next week is supposed in the upper 50's and that is just awesome! I hope you guys had a great weekend!

GOING TO MY GRANDPARENTS FOR SPRING BREAK

Thanks to Roman May

My grandparents have been using their wireless internet service West Palm Beach connection to stay in touch with us since they moved. They recently decided that it was finally time for them to move. They have been talking about moving to their beach house as their primary location for years. They probably should have done it a long time ago because they spent a lot of time there, but they liked being able to see us grow and make it to our baseball games and tennis matches. They also liked seeing us every weekend. Now, that we are in college, they made the decision. They sold their house in town and headed to the beach. They even traded up and got a bigger place with a few more bedrooms to try and get us to come visit more often. It has worked. I have been e-mailing with them lately because they have invited my sister and I to come to the beach for spring break and even letting us bring our friends from school. I am just not quite sure that they know what they are getting themselves into.

ROSES AND STEAKS

I don't think I ever wrote about my Valentines. Well, its safe to say that I got flowers a dozen and a half roses in fact,lol. Valentines was not just a day of hearts in our household. I was a celebration of my 5 year wedding anniversary to my wonderful husband. The years that we have been married have not been perfect nor have they been hard. We had our moments of arguments, silent wars and moment of making up. As for the silent war, I almost never get that! Husband is the kind of person who just lets things go. I for one am the kind of person that harbors ill feeling and can't let go right away, lol.

Valentines day was celebrated a day early at our house. Why? The girls had Gymnastics on Valentines day itself and it would be to late if we go out to eat. Besides, I wanted to celebrate at our house. I wanted my husband to cook me my favorite food which is steak. Ralph cooks my steak the way i want it and I for one just love the way he flavors my steak. We had shrimp, corn in the cob, steak, rice and mac and cheese I think. I ate sat at our table not talking for about 5 min. I was just shoving steak and rice in my mouth as fast as I could. That is how much I love the way my husband cooks my steak. It was a great dinner. Next year, we are going to try to celebrate by going out just the two of us. What about your Valentines?

ARE YOU SURE ITS WINTER?

Can you believe the weather we've been having lately? I must say, this has been the mildest winter I have seen and experience in my 5 years in the US. As soon as Summer ended last year I was in dread. Winter and I don't mix. It's to be expected when I am from a tropical country where we are warm all year round,except for a few months of monsoon. The weather has allowed me and my coupon buddy Allison to walk to our nearest Walgreens almost everyday, well its safe to say everyday,lol.

Even thought the groundhog has declared we will get a few more weeks of winter, I am certain though that we are close to welcoming spring. And I for one cannot wait until it gets really really warm. The kids haven't really gotten very sick this winter season. Sure they have he sniffles and cough but no fever so far. I hope i don't jinx myself when I say that. Having a sick child is not easy and it pains every parents heart to see their child not feeling good. Hopefully the weather stay like this so we can walk to Walgreens everyday,lol

QUICK RELIEF

Tax season if finally on its way. A lot of Americans are looking forward to this season. We are looking forward to getting our tax return and paying off most of our debts. Like most people we did not come out unscathed from our worsening economy. We really had to tighten our belts and prioritize the needs and the want. People are struggling all over. I know quite a few that have resorted to selling jewelries just to stay afloat until the next paycheck. Thankfully we have been very blessed. But if it did come to that we would probably be going to a place like title loans tampa but somewhere within our state. I am just fortunate to have such a hard working husband with a stable albeit, dangerous job. Hopefully with the Tax season here most of us will get a break but for those needing fast cash the link provided is one way to get help and relief.

TARGET MADNESS

Hey there peeps! Guess what I got at Target today?? Its been a while since I went to the mall so I asked hubby to take me today. Armed with my binder full of coupons I hit up Target. I try not to spend more than $20 at Target and today I did not disappoint myself.

Scouring for deals always makes my heart start pumping fast. The exhilaration I get for finding what I want is something else. Its like a drug, I get my high from couponing. And so I got exactly what I wanted. If you ask me about the KY Jelly the answer is, NO, we do not use them. I just got it solely for the purpose of getting a $10 Target GC and I will be giving the KY to my husband married niece and nephew. My total for today's haul is $12.81. Yes, you read it right. The only thing I got that I didn't have coupon for is the paper plate. But since we were out of it, I decided to get it and paid full price,lol. All together my trip to the Mall was a big success!

MOLEY

Holy camoley! Has it been that long since I updated my blogs? My excuse is still the same. I am a total prisoner of coupons,hahahah.. Seriously couponing has taken most of my time and I barely have any time to write. I do get plenty of time sitting down in front of the computer but, it's to scour deals and check for new printable coupons. Some of my household chores have even suffered,lol.

I even remembered that I had another blog for my cheap find. The last time I updated it was like 8 months ago. That was a total waste of hosting and what not. Reviving that blog was to be my new mission but if I can barely update 3 blogs how much more if I add 1 more? I don't know if I can do it but I can at least try and if it fails then, at least I tried.

A SIGN?

Standing in line at Walgreens just minding my own business when suddenly this very old woman came up behind me and handed me a small pamphlet. I didn't want to be rude so I smile and took it from her. She left right away and I looked at the guy behind me to see if she gave the people behind me the same thing. I laughed seeing that I was the only one given that. I told the guy " I guess I'm the only one that needs some help being saved".

I am not laughing at religion. I am proud to say I am Catholic but I haven't been as active as I should be. Going to church used to be a necessity for me when I was still in the Philippines. It is embarrassing to admit that I haven't been to church for the longest time. Making excuses as to why I haven't attended church will not make a difference. I will have to make a conscious effort to do that regularly. I want my children to grow up with God and to understand and respect all the church holidays. Once I learn to drive things will be different. One thing for sure, I know that I believe in God the Almighty..