Birthday month!

It's been a busy busy week and an over busy Friday for me. and the coming week will even be more hectic because of the big event (work related) on the 4th of February.

Can you believe it? It's the end of the month already..time flies so fast! and I'm turning 37 next week! just in case you do not know ( reminder for my friends) it's on the 8th of February. If you need gifts suggestions just ask my husband..hehe! I would gladly accept a Minka Aire lights, or a couch.

I have only one wish though for my birthday and my close friends surely know that. And although it is my major prayer request too, It will still be ok if the Lord will still not grant it this year, He has greater plans for us and I trust His plans are way better than mine,

On the other hand, I am also praying for a new computer as ours was broken already. Thank God for friends who let me borrow their laptops so I can still work at home. Please help me pray that I'll be able to get new one soon.

Have a happy weekend everyone!!!

Goodbye Computer

One of my major wish in my list last year was a laptop or a notebook. I actually posted what I want here. When i made that list we are still using our desktop but it was dying already, the husband has made many repairs with it na and replaced lots of parts and so the inevitable came this month, it gave up on us and it doesn't work anymore.

We can't afford to buy a new desktop more so a new laptop now but it is hard for me to not own a personal computer too because I need it. We both need it.

I wish we have high tech phones or PDAs or PSP, one that I can use to browse the net while waiting for a new computer.

How long will I wait? I pray it's not that long.

10 Things You’re Looking Forward to in 2010

I know it's February already next week but still I wanted to post this just so I've something to look back to at the end of this year and see if that was worth looking forward to.

1. Our mission trip to Malaysia this February
2. Out of town trip with Basha friends
3. Sue, Rachel and Laura's (friends form UK) arrival on July
4. Liz (friend from North Carolina) coming on August (can't wait)
5. Our trip to Hongkong on September (hopefully)
6. Caley's first birthday
7. Nanay's birthday on October
8. I am looking forward to loosing weight also
9. And of course forever looking forward to conceiving
10. and finally giving birth before the year ends (wishing and praying)

SKYWATCH FRIDAY-Lighthouse

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse
Burgos, Ilocos Norte

More Sky Photos HERE.

The Attitude of an Overcomer

Today’s Verse: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (I John 5:4, NIV).

Today’s Word:

Are you facing some challenges or experiencing some unexpected setbacks? We all have things that come against us, but God didn’t create us to be overwhelmed and overcome; He created us to be overcomers!

During those times when we do face challenges, it’s our attitude that is really most important. Think about it for a minute. When something isn’t going your way month after month, how do you respond? Are you tempted to get sour or start expecting the worst? Does your mind start going “ninety-to-nothing” playing out all the scenarios? It may be easy to get down and discouraged, but if we go around thinking it’s never going to work out, our attitude limits what God can do. But when we dig our heels in knowing that God is bigger than our problems and that He already has a way out, when we fight the good fight of faith, that’s what allows God to show up and turn negative situations around.

Today, remember, you are created to overcome. There is victory already in store for your future. Stand strong with the attitude of an overcomer and watch what God will do on your behalf!

Prayer for Today: Father in heaven, thank You for making me an overcomer in Christ Jesus. I trust that You are bigger than my problems and that You are working on my behalf. Thank You for the victory in store for my future! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

source : Joel Osteen ministries

Another balloon creations

These are what we made for baby Gwen's first birthday. We transported this all the way from Makati to Sta.Rosa, Laguna. Thanks to Carmel and her husband for the vehicle and for helping :)

You can imagine how happy we were when we finally have these in place (Jollibee Balibago) and see the outcome. It was of course beautiful for us. Love your own ika nga. And besides, we both have no formal training on it yet which I still want to pursue this year. One whole day seminar will do I guess. I hope I can set aside a budget and a time to attend one soon.

I was also all smile like a kid who uses a kids floss when I saw them take this home :)

The topper is a bit small for this pillar but it's quite ok na din.

Want these kind of balloons at your party and at a very very reasonable price as in real cheap (I assure you that) just private email me at rocks_2000_ph@yahoo.com.

Happy Birthday Baby Gwen!

This cute little girl is the daughter of Gwen and Mari of a housewife journal. I met her through N@W and then we became friends thru blogging, she's the one who introduced me to the sheriff!! we finally met yesterday as we celebrated Gwen's first birthday. As you can see, the husband and I had loads of fun at the party especially hubby who made fun of Jollibee. :) At least he doesn't have to make kulit of me for that gswf thing about the ref.

Thank you so much sis for inviting us!! I hope you like the balloons we made. You darling is such a cutie!!!And thank you for the picture frames!! I love it!!

To advertise or not

I have heard good reviews about advertising in Adgitize. And now that their rate is again $14 I am thinking If I should invest now or wait a while.

I only advertise with entrecard and that because I used my EC credits to do it. I am not sure though if I am ready to pay real money for advertisement.

I want to try it but I am having second thoughts. What if I don't get it back? But I guess I would not know it unless I give it a try. kulit ko no?

Well, I'll be giving my self another week to decide on it, for the meantime, I should be thinking of more serious matter like getting rid of belly fat. Me and dear husband are getting bigger each day and since new year started we've been meaning to walk every morning but to no avail. We both cannot do it on mornings as we are always rushing so maybe we can do it at night.

I just hope we can do it soon.

FREE BORACAY VACATION

Win a Free Boracay Vacation Package by WOW Philippines Travel Agency

WOW Philippines Travel Agency, Inc. is celebrating it's 5th year in business during July of 2010, and we would like you to have a chance to celebrate with us, so we have decided to give-away a FREE Boracay Package complete with 5 Star accommodations at the luxurious Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel on Boracay Island. The lucky winner will win the following Boracay vacation package.

Vacation Package Inclusions:
- 5 Days / 4 Nights Luxury 5 Star Accommodations at the Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel
- Flights to Boracay from Manila to Caticlan Airport on Philippine Airlines
- Island Transfers - Door-to-Door from Manila to the resort and back to Manila
- Three (3) Meals each day, Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Boracay Activities - Horseback Riding, Island Hopping, Glass Bottom Boat
- PLUS - 5,000 peso Spending Cash

Read More Information: http://www.boracay-packages.com

Beauty soap

Have you heard of the beauty soap Placenta? Well, i am now a user, thanks to my dear husband who's so concerned about my looks. :) we were at the grocery few weeks ago and he suddenly suggested that I should try using a whitening beauty soap and then proposed that I should buy the placenta thing, I was hesitant at first because it's pricey for me, 81.00 for a bar of soap? compared to the facial foam I am using I still find the foam cheaper.But I gave in to hubby's request. I don't know if he is reading acne products reviews or any beauty products at all, heck i don't even know if he was paid for it. hehe! but he seems very confident about that soap.

The results of switching for me? I still don't know. Right now I do not notice any difference at all but hubby started using it this week and tonight I saw the glow on his face. Why and what? I do not know.

So there..my beauty soap is now my husband's soap.

Random thoughts

at work. You see I am ta the office but my mind is wandering somewhere else. It's only 4:37 pm and I still have to finish some stuff but I am already dead tired. As in my mind is already shut, so I closed my eyes for a while, open my facebook account,closed it, open blogger and decided to just write while resting. Now that's something new huh? writing while resting, have you ever tried it?

As I have said my mind is wandering from different thoughts but the majority of it think about food, does it mean I am hungry?Right now, I am thinking of dinner later. And it's like I am motivating my self to cook something, have not cook for quite sometime now. I don't even
remember what and when was the last time I cook. That only validates that I am not a kitchen person. I just hope I find myself in the mood to cook later. Ask me to do something, clean the room, clean the bathroom and I will gladly do it, cooking is not just my forte, good thing hubby does not require me to cook and good thing we have a very good friend, housemate that loves to cook!!

I imagine if I already have kids, I hope by the time God granted our prayers for a child I would have then develop a love for cooking, otherwise my children will be lovers of junkfoods and will lack all the nutrients they need, they might even need hgh supplements for them to grow tall. Sigh. Alright then, I should start learning to love the kitchen, I'm weird though because I love watching cooking shows but I really can't cook. :)

I wish I could go home now and see what I can do at home. Wanna guess?

Will I blog? Will I play games on facebook? Will i watch TV or Dvd's? or will I cook?

I'll let you know tomorrow or later! bye!

2009 Highlights

I know it's mid January already and here am I writing about what have happened to us last year, I just want to summed it up in one post and see if what we've accomplished,where we've been too, what we did and how we made it last year.And of course with prayers and hope that this year will be more better than 2009.

OUR 2009 HIGHLIGHTS

FEBRUARY - our first out of the country trip. we went to MACAU for an East Asia IT Missionaries conference and then from Macau we went to HONGKONG.

JULY - I was terminated but it's a blessing, I knew it was coming but I know I will not lose the job. It's like I only moved from one company to another but with termination pay of course!! :)

AUGUST - We moved out of the center (church home) this was one of the toughest decision we made last year but so glad we did, it feels different to live on your own. Our motorbike was also fully paid this month!! Praise God!! That's a major relief for me, a natural sleep aids indeed.

SEPTEMBER - another tough decision was made, my dear husband resigned from being a full time staff of the church but remained to be the music ministry leader. You can just imagine how worried I was, imagine we move out and rented a place and then he resigned, not that I count on that meager allowance he get from it but I admit it was still a big help.

NOVEMBER - dear husband went to a short mission trip to Malaysia without me. He was supposed to stay only there for 2 weeks ended up staying there for one month. Major adjustment for both of us because we were apart for the first time.

Through that whole year, God has been faithful to us, providing for our every need. Though there was no baby news this year,I can say 2009 was still a memorable one for us.

Next post -our trips last year :)

Time to change

This was our guest Pastor's topic last Sunday at the church. He really gave us something to think or mediate and ponder on. So is it really time to change? I guess so not because it is new year but it is time for you to change if you

-are always late, our Pastor mentioned in going to church but I say it could be in work, in your appointments and so so on.

- are living an unhealthy life, it does not necessarily mean taking the alli diet pill or not eating at all, but I guess it is time to change to eat healthy foods, sleep early, exercise (ok,I'm telling that to my self)

- are not giving time to your love ones, they will not be there always, so say how much you appreciate them as often as you can, express your love,say I love you, visit your mom and dad, go out with friends.

Time to change from bad to good and from good to BEST!!!

Wordless Wednesday

SUNRISE
For more Wordless Wednesday entries click HERE

Mead Johnson, Maker of Enfamil, Loses Multi-Million Dollar False Advertising Case Against Store-Bran

This is a sponsored guest post written by a Press Release on behalf of PBM Products. Post powered by Sponzai.

GORDONSVILLE, VA., December 2 , 2009—PBM Products, LLC, a leading infant formula company that supplies store-brand infant formulas to Walmart, Sam's Club, Target, Kroger, Walgreens, and other retailers, has received a favorable jury verdict and a $13.5 million damages award in its false advertising lawsuit against Mead Johnson & Co., the operating subsidiary of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) (“Mead Johnson”), the makers of the national-brand Enfamil® LIPIL® Infant Formula. Mead Johnson is 83 percent-owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

PBM’s lawsuit claimed that Mead Johnson engaged in false and misleading campaigns against PBM’s competing store-brand of infant formulas, suggesting they do not provide the same nutrition as Mead Johnson’s brands. PBM’s store-brand infant formulas cost up to 50 percent less than Enfamil® LIPIL®. The $13.5 million in damages awarded by the jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of the largest damages awards ever for a false advertising case.

“This decision by a jury of the people confirms that Mead Johnson’s ads have been false in suggesting that there is a nutritional difference between our store-brand formula products and their products, when in fact the only major difference is price,” said PBM CEO Paul B. Manning. “Despite Mead Johnson’s scare tactics, parents are assured that PBM’s formula products are as high quality and nutritious as Mead Johnson’s.”

U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer issued his written rulings yesterday following the November 10^th jury verdict. Judge Spencer’s written rulings permanently enjoined Mead Johnson from making any false statements concerning PBM's infant formula, including the claims Mead Johnson previously made in Enfamil advertising that "It may be tempting to try a less expensive store brand, but only Enfamil LIPIL is clinically proven to improve brain and eye development," and "there are plenty of other ways to save on baby expenses without cutting back on nutrition." The Court also ordered Mead Johnson to retrieve from the public domain all advertising or promotional materials containing these or any other false claims about PBM's store brand infant formula.

The details of the decision and the complaint are posted online in full at:

· http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/Order_Laches.pdf

· http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/PBM_Complaint_MJ_III_LIPIL.pdf

The nutritional supplements under examination in the case are two fats, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid), which Mead Johnson calls “LIPIL®” solely for marketing purposes and touts as promoting infant brain and eye development. PBM’s claim focused on Mead Johnson’s direct mailing to more than 1.6 million parents of an alarming blurry picture of a child’s cartoon duck next to a clear picture of the same image which suggested that anything other than the Enfamil LIPIL® blend of ingredients is inferior and will result in poor eye and brain development. Other parts of the false advertising campaign consist of statements that only Enfamil LIPIL has been proven to confer visual and mental benefits on infants, and store-brand formulas are a “cut-back in nutrition” compared to Enfamil.

PBM successfully argued that these advertisements were false and misleading especially since PBM store- brand infant formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as Enfamil. PBM infant formulas are formulated to contain DHA and ARA, and are sourced from the same supplier in amounts which equal or exceed the DHA and ARA in Mead Johnson’s Enfamil LIPIL®.

This decision marks the third time PBM Products has sued Mead Johnson for false advertising claims. On the prior occasions Mead Johnson admitted that it made false claims about PBM’s products. It is also the first false advertising case to focus on the issue of DHA and ARA nutritional ingredients in formula, which were introduced into the market in 2003 and have become a staple in recent years by many brands as key components for infant development.

“This jury verdict should send a significant and clear message to Mead Johnson about the way it conducts marketing and advertising for its brands,” said Manning. “This lawsuit also demonstrates our complete commitment to defending our products and the valuable brands of our retail partners.”

“As a parent and supporter of children’s medical research, I take a personal responsibility in assuring our customers that the products we produce are healthy and nutritionally equivalent to brand names like Enfamil® LIPIL®. It is important, especially now, for parents to know that there are lower priced yet highly nutritious store-brand formulas that will provide the same benefit to their children as any national brand name formula product,” Manning added.

The U.S. infant formula market is estimated at $3.4 billion and the global market is estimated at $7.9 billion.

All of PBM’s formulas, and for that matter all of U.S. infant formulas, are subject to the exacting standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pursuant to the Infant Formula Act of 1980. This legislation vested FDA with the authority to ensure that all infant formula products sold in the United States provide the necessary levels of identified nutrients required for the growth of healthy babies. For more information, visit this FDA link.

PBM Products was represented by the law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. Partners from the firm’s advertising practice, Harold P. Weinberger and Jonathan M. Wagner in New York, led the team.

About PBM

PBM is privately owned and based in Gordonsville, VA. PBM companies specialize in manufacturing, distributing, and marketing consumer food, nutritional, and pharmaceutical products. For more information, visit www.pbmproducts.com.

Enfamil® LIPIL® are registered trademarks of Mead Johnson & Co.

The Blue Lagoon Beach

You can guess why they called it Blue Lagoon :) yes, because the water is indeed BLUE. The sand is powdery white, the place is quiet although not as quiet as Anawangin Cove but still a perfect get-away from the noise of the city.

View from the top :) to reach blue lagoon you have to go up and down a mountain ridge you would even ask if there's a beach because of the narrow road and the mountains but behold this sight!!!
This last picture below was taken on our first trip there March 2008 and I said to my self I will be back, we did last January 1 and hoping we will come back again some other time. I love the beach , I love the blue water.

So where and when is our next beach trip? I do not know. I hope I win a punta cana all inclusive trip for two. That would be fantastic!! But a CORON trip would also be wonderful!!

Agua Seda Beach House,Pagudpud

This is where we stayed in Blue Lagoon Beach at Pagudpud. The owner is a retired teacher, she personally manages the resort, it has 5 rooms I guess, the one we stayed is what she call the dorm type, it can accomodate up to 9 persons for 3,000 pesos, other rooms are 1,500 good for 2 persons only.

That is the room at the back where we stayed

Inside the room (3 beds and a matress, A/C, with own CR)

This is our breakfast from Agua Seda, you can order food from them also, breakfast cost is 100.00 per pax with free instant coffee, I don't think they have jura capresso to make special coffee but that's ok we still love them. (sample set of breakfast is 2 pcs longganisa, sunnyside up egg and fried rice) not bad for 100 pesos.

The front of Agua Sda Beach House, that is the dining arae too.

A nice garden chair where you seat fronting the beautiful beach and in the morning you can view the beautiful sunrise from here like what I've captured below

this one is the big welcome banner/marker you'll see at the entrance of the blue lagoon beach

AGUA SEDA BEACH HOUSE @ BLUE LAGOON
LETICIA C. GARVIDA-PROPRIETRESS
Sitio Malingay, Bgry. balaoi pagudpud Ilocos Norte
Mobile : 0920-2431832 /0921-8079703
Email : lggalicinao_111@yahoo.com.ph

Bangui Windmills

Still on our way to Blue Lagoon Beach, Pagudpud, we stopped by to see the beautiful gigantic windmills at Bangui, Ilocos Norte, the only difference I notice from the first time we visited the place was the presence of a certain windmill cafe near the windmills area. I wish the place would remain as peaceful as ever.





Look at that beautiful cloud formation and the blue sky, what a beautiful first day of the year!! And because it's a beautiful day, we all jumped for JOY!!


The jumping pictures. Looks like we're gone crazies here and for sure we will never pass any pre-employment screening in this kind of pictures but it only shows we had loads of F-U-N!!!

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, Burgos Ilocos Norte

This is where and how we spent our first day of the year. From Vintar, Ilocos Norte (my friend's house) we went to Pagudpud for an overnight stay. On our way to Pagudpud we stopped to marvel at the beauty of the view from the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse at Burgos,Ilocos Norte


The hubby took these pictures (below) because the tiresome me stayed only at the foot of the lighthouse this time.

I think he took a different angle of the lighthouse which I found nice :) He really has an artists mind I must admit. Am thinking if we can use this in our t-shirt printing or to some promotional tote bags next year.


After the lighthouse, the windmills on my next post.

Happy New year!!!

My first ever sunrise for 2010. It was amazing!! Seeing this on the 2nd day of the year..marvelous!! I hope and pray I have many more sunrise experience this year :)
Taken at the Agua Seda beach resort, Blue Lagoon,Pagudpud Ilocos Norte