Going to Play Golf is Still a Great Walk Unspoiled

Guest post written by Joseph Finch

Is there any better way to spend a late summer afternoon than out on a golf course? Going golfing is a way to pass the time for millions of Americans but I have to admit I haven't been doing all that much of it myself lately. So finally last weekend I manage to set mySecurity Choice alarm and take my battered old golf bag and wandered into the blinding sun.

I have to say that golfing as an experience, especially since I was able to find a course where I could do it all on my own is one of the funnest experiences I've had in quite some time. You get to walk around, hear the birds chirping, smell the fresh grass and get a little bit of a workout with having to deal with loud crowds and a multitude of people. While there is certainly the added challenge of having to find my ball all on my own, and I am not a good enough golfer that I don't have to go hunting for my ball a couple of times an hour there is still the fun of knowing I'm playing a game I like in peace and quiet.

Anyone who is looking for an excuse to get outside should give golf a try, or for those who have lapsed, give it another try.

Keeping in Touch with my Family

Being away from my family is hard. The amount of money I would need just to visit them is ginormous, so I would miss a lot of celebrations and holidays that most families celebrate together. A couple of weeks from now, my father would celebrate his 58th birthday and I would want nothing more than to be there with him but I can't. It's not just because of money issues, but because of other issues as well.

Thanks to the Internet though, I wont feel too sad to be far away on his special day. My dad recently purchased two refurbished computers so that we could communicate constantly even if we're far apart. Last night alone, I talked with them until midnight. I get to see them on a regular basis through the Internet chats and even get to participate on whatever parties they celebrate at home by just a click of a button.

Hopefully someday, the technology would make it possible for me to hug them and kiss them online. The real hug and kiss. For now, I am just so glad that I get to see them and keep in touch with them despite the distance.

Andrea's First Communion Rites

Andrea adoring the Holy Eucharist

The First Communion Celebrants with the Parish Priest and the Deacon

Before the ceremony

The family that prays together, stays together

As catholics, we make sure that our children get to accept the sacrament of the First Communion. Andrea has been in CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) class for two years now. It is a class about the catholic religion and practices taught by volunteers in the Catholic Church we attend mass with every Sunday.

The thing is, here in the US, religion is not taught in schools, unlike in my native country, the Philippines. If you want your child to learn about the religion you're practicing, you either send her to catholic school, or baptist school, or send her to the weekly CCD classes. Since Andrea is in public school, she goes to CCD classes every Monday from 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm.

The pictures above were taken during her first communion ceremony. As per request of Kuya Mel, I have our famiy picture taken after the ceremony.

The Heritage Festival

This Friday, Gretna will hold the annual Heritage Festival. It is one of the big celebrations celebrated in the City of New Orleans and there are thousands of people that go and attend the weekend-long affair. One thing I love about it personally, is the concerts. They invite certain bands and famous singers to do a 2-hour concert every night. I am looking forward to watching the Reo Speedwagon this year.

My husband and I just passed by the area where the festival will be held and we saw all kinds of tarps being set up. There is a white canvas tarp in the stage where the bands will be performing this weekend. They even have some custom made tarps for the occasion. It looks really festive.

I already have tickets for the celebration. Me and hubby will go there this Friday. I can't wait to finally see one of my favorite bands, the Reo Speedwagon. My MIL will watch the kids for me so it's going to be a time to relax and unwind for me.

Going to College

My step-daughter has just graduated from high school and is currently in her first year in college. She was a straight A student in high school and very active in school organizations, so she didn't have a hard time getting accepted at the college of her choice. I helped her look for possible universities and one of the choices was Walden University. She finally settled to a college near us.

I do believe though that if she ever got accepted in Walden, she would have thrived there. She is a good writer, so who knows, she might also be writing in The Chronicle someday. But it's no big deal now because she is loving the new school she's in. One of the reasons she decided to enrol there was because her close friend is going there too.

It's just so hard to believe that the once little girl I knew is now slowly turning into an adult and is growing to be a very well-rounded person. Getting an Education is very important and I hope that she will someday finish college with flying colors.

Desperate Times Calls for Desperate Measures

It is no secret that times are tough these days especially if you're living from paycheck to paycheck. When you have no savings, and emergencies happen, you have to do something to deal with it. I am no exception. Hubby and I have been saved by Faxless Payday Loans a lot of times. One good thing about payday loans is that it could get paid off right away and does not require years, unlike credit cards.

There are different payday loan offices no matter where you live. In my area alone, there are payday loans every two miles or so. There are a lot of Michigan Payday Loans as well, so if you live in that area, and you need extra cash, try it out.

We are somewhat a regular in the payday loan office 10 miles from where we live. There was even a time when we were so low in cash that we have to make a new one after paying off a previous one.We were able to pay it all off without getting a new one and that's a good thing, but we are thankful for it because it saved us. And now even if we don't want to, we have it in the back of our minds that if anything happens, we could always get a payday loan to save as yet again.

A Visit to the Beach

For Father's Day, we went to the beautiful beach of Florida. As you can see in the pictures above, Fifi loved the sand. She's a natural beach bum! That was her first time in the beach and it's also her first time to touch fine sand. Just watching her and her sister play around, is enough to make my husband glad that he's a father to two beautiful girls.

The Importance of Home Insurance

When you buy a home, the mortgage company requires you to get home insurance before they approve your home loan. I wonder why do they basically force you to do that? My husband explained to me that it is a way of protecting their investment. As long as you owe the mortgage company money, they are the real home-owner and not you. So if anything happens to the house, they want to make sure that it could be fixed.

I saw firsthand how insurance works and its importance when hurricane Katrina and hurricane Rita affected our home. The roof was messed-up, the house was flooded and the carpets are all soaked in flood water. The insurance company paid us and we were able to fix everything without spending any money from our pocket. That tragic calamity opened my eyes in the pros of having to pay insurance.

If you are a home-owner and wants to have a good home insurance coverage without paying so much in premiums, the internet makes it possible for Home Insurance made easy. It is the best way to shop for home insurance and probably the most practical way. Try it now and you can thank me one day when I prove what I said here to be right.

Fair Home Loan

All of us have been affected by the downward spiral that the economy is going through. A year ago, we live pretty comfortably, not rich but comfortable. Nowadays, it's a little tight. Budget is needed in all aspects, whether it be food, clothing, entertainment or vacation. Despite the sudden change, I am still grateful because my husband has a job and is not on the verge of losing it like most of the people in the country.

There are families who have been affected so much that they lose their job and then their home. I could never imagine the pain and the struggle they are going through. A family member is also on the verge of losing their home, good thing they were able to get a Fair Home Loan to refinance their mortgage. Now, it's on the percentage that they could afford the monthly notes with.

Life is like a rolling wheel, they say. So we must all be ready to face difficulties when it's our turn to be under the wheel.

From Florida with Love

The house right behind us has been vacant for a while and now finally, after months of being on the market, it got sold and so we just got a new neighbor. Our new neighbor had just moved all the way from Florida using a  cross country moving service. They said that moving with the movers is the best thing they ever did. It's cheap an and convenient.

They also said that the cost includes the fuel, taxes and driver. So whatever it is they charge you, that's what you pay. No hidden charges at all. I asked them why they just didn't rent a truck and did it that way, but according to them, it's cheaper and more convenient to hire the cross country moving service. I will keep that in mind when we move someday.

Anyway, our new neighbor has a little boy and a dog. That makes me happy because the more kids in the neighborhood, the more kids my children could play with.

Spice Up your Kitchen

One of the selling points of a house, they say, is the kitchen. I am so fond of watching the DIY Network on TV and I learned a lot about how to make a kitchen look nice, attractive and practical. Having a lot of counter space, plenty of cabinets and having a spice rack or two are only a few of the must-haves in a kitchen to be able to sell it. Spice racks have become famous recently and different styles have emerged and developed so to speak.

In one of the episodes of the DIY show I'm watching, I saw a very simple yet very practical wall spice rack being installed near the stove. I thought about it and it made me want to install my own kitchen spice rack. It would make cooking easier and faster since I could just grab the spices I need in a second. There are times when I have to remove the entire contents of my kitchen cabinet just to look for the pepper or the Creole seasoning I wanted to use.

I realized that the TV really helps set out a trend in everything. Not just clothes or products but even in the tiniest thing such as a simple kitchen spice rack to spice up a kitchen.

Introducing... My Entire Family

Last August, my most-awaited and desperately needed Philippine vacation finally happened. It's part of my husband's birthday present for me. He made me choose between something else or going back home to see my family and of course I chose to be with my family without even blinking.

The picture above is a picture of my immediate family. All in all it's five of us, three siblings from my mom including me, one half sister and one half brother. We have a total of ten kids between me, my full-sister and my full-brother. My half sister and half-brother are still single.

This picture was taken at Camiguin Island when we went there for three days. Those days are probably the best times of  my life. There you go folks, my beautiful big family. 

Celebrating my Birthday

I turned one year older this year as all of us did. These past few years of my life has been hectic as you might call it because I got pregnant, had a baby and moved to a new place. I am thankful that I am given the chance to live one more year and I hope a hundred more if possible. My husband always does something special for me on my birthdays and this time around he arranged for us to celebrate together, minus the kids, at a casino in Mississippi.

We left the kids with my mother-in-law and left with high spirits, especially me since I get to have a break. The birthday celebration is started with a hearty dinner at the Carnival de Brasil. It's our favorite fancy restaurant in Mississippi. After dinner, we went play a little at the casino slot machines for a little bit. My husband and I are not big gamblers, so after wasting $20 at the casino slot machines, we left and proceeded to the lounge area where we watched a band play. We ordered cocktails and enjoyed each other's company just like old times.

At around 11:30 pm, we decided to call it a night and retired to our room in the same casino hotel. We're both drunk but we have fun and we can't wait to go home the next day to see the kids again.

Red Fork Falls Trail

Thanks for the article from Isaiah Gaines

I moved to Tennessee right at the start of last winter, so I missed out on all of the great hiking trails that the state has to offer. This past spring, I was eager to get out and enjoy the beautiful outdoors that everyone had been telling me about. I looked into a few different trails and decided to make the trip to hike the Red Fork Falls trail in the Smoky Mountains. I invited a couple friends along, packed up the car, set my home security alarm and hit the road. We were able to find kansas city KS adt specials pretty easily with Google. We had a six hour drive, but no one seemed to mind due to the beautiful scenery and weather on the way to trail. I was so excited to finally be getting to spend the day outside in my new home state.

Out of the five of us that went on this trip, none of us were experienced hikers, so we weren't really sure what to expect. We found the trail easily and we were all breathtakingly surprised by how beautiful the scenery was. The trail was interesting because it actually starts hikers from the top of the falls. Between the huge rock structures and the gorgeous falls, this hike was exactly what I was hoping for. While, it was fairly steep in some places, overall we managed pretty well for inexperienced hikers.

Preparing for the Future

Now that I am a mother of two, I always think about the future. What would I do when my kids go through puberty and start acting up? What would I do when they start liking boys? my husband has an easy answer, he said they would have to go through his shotgun. LOL. I know it's premature worrying but I can't help it. I could never control what the future brings, all I could do is be ready for it.

So as early as now I already have funeral cover insurance to make sure that my kids won't have to worry when my time comes. I also got an income insurance for me and my husband so whatever will happen, the kids would have something to help them move on. Real life cover is very important especially if you care for the rest of the family members you would leave behind. Believe me, the sense of security you feel is worth it.

That's all I could for now to prepare for the future. I am raising my kids as good as I could and I hope it is enough to keep them in the right path. Whatever will happen, at least I know I did my best.

Trent Jordan Vancouver Blog

I have blogged before about a blog by Trent Jordan. It was one of my recommended blogs in the bloghosphere. Now there is a new blog titled Trent Jordan Vancouver that offers all kinds of information about Vancouver Canada. I have read it and found useful information that most people wouldn't know unless they live there. Trent Jordan Vancouver blog is a new addition of good blogs in the net right now that has is getting a lot of traffic. Try to visit it one time and see for yourself what I'm talking about.

I have a lot of recommended blogs to read. Most of it are in my Friend's list in the lower right side of my blog page. If you're looking for different issues and different topics, you could definitely find what you're looking for in my favorite blogs list. Check it out and drop by those blogs.

Get Your Puppy Medicine at PetCareRx

I was giving our puppy poodle a bath when I noticed that her ear had some nasty smell on it. My husband checked it for me and noticed that she had a mild ear-infection. He cleaned it with peroxide and I looked online for ear-infection medicine that I could give to my poor puppy. I found what I am looking for at PetCareRx and immediately bought it.

The product was shipped right away and we were able to fix our little puppy's ear-infection without going to a veterinarian and spending a lot of money. After two weeks of constant cleaning and medication, the infection healed and she's back to her old healthy cuddly self. From now on, whenever I need some puppy medicines, or stuff for preventative measures, I would go buy it at PetCareRx and I highly recommend it to pet-owners like me.

A Way to Survive Recession

It is not a secret that there is a recession going on in America. People have to find ways to make ends meet and be able to survive. My husband and I decided to get into bathroom renovation business because there is a lot of houses that are being renovated and sold before they get foreclosed by the bank. It might be sad to see this but like I said, anything to survive.

Anyway, we started our first project with our neighbor's bathroom. They have an old 70's style bathroom that needs updating. The tiles need to be removed and replaced with brand new bathroom tiles that would make it look contemporary. They also wanted to replace the old tiles in their master bathroom with subway tiles. We got everything we need for the renovation from glasstilestore.com and we were very happy with our purchase.

After all the work is done, our neighbors were very happy with how their bathroom looked. The difference was night and day. Of course, my husband and I are very proud of the work that we have done. It is our way of adding more income for the family thus helping us survive recession.

Jollibee At Long Last

Finally, after several years of missing the taste of Jollibee, we were able to eat as much jolly spaghetti and jolly hotdog as our stomach could handle. My husband is not a big fan because he don not have a Filipino palate. He would much prefec Mcdonald's meals than jollibee meals but he also knows that he could always get it here so to make me happy, he agreed to eat as many times at Jollibee as possible while we were in the Philippines.

Here's a picture of Andrea inside Jollibee. If you notice, I am behind the guy with a blue shirt checking out the list of orders I have for my family members, hubby in front of me.

My Daughter is in Third Grade

The years seem to fly so fast. In fact I still cannot believe that my daughter is now in third grade. It is still fresh in my mind the first day that she went to school. It makes me want to cry thinking about how worried I was that first day, thinking is she will be able to survive at school without me. I know it was crazy thought, but still very normal for a mom going through separation anxiety with their child. As predicted, she very much enjoyed her first day at school and the rest was history.

Now that she is in third grade, there are more home works to do, more serious assignments to make and harder lessons to study. I knew it would help if I get the help of online tutors to help her out especially since I have a toddler to take care as well. She is learning Pre Algebra, How to Divide, and Prime numbers from tutornext.com. She is doing so well, that even her teachers are telling me that she is well ahead of her class.

Naming few of the pros of  the online tutor site are as follows;  my daughter could contact a tutor anytime she needs him, whenever she is ready to study and of course it is affordable for parents as well.

Divorce is not Easy

I know that divorce is pretty common in this country. There was even a survey I read that almost half of the marriages nowadays end in divorce. Although I knew this, I was still shocked when my friend told me that she is going through a divorce. The last time I talked to her, I knew that her marriage was on the rocks but I never thought that it was that serious. She already hired a Chicago divorce attorney since she lives there now. Good thing she has a lot of friends near to give her emotional and moral support.

It is in times like this that I realize how important it is to have the constant communication with married couple. We all know that when two people decide to tie the knot, they do not plan or foresee that they would divorce in the future. We all want our marriages to work and last but sometimes if it is not meant to be, it will never be.

I hope my friend will have the strength to move on after this and someday she will be able to find the person that is meant for her. So far, she is holding her ground and keeping her head high.

Imax 4D at Enchanted Kingdom

Last August, my whole family went to the Philippines for a much needed vacation and family reunion. It has been three years since the last time I have seen my family. We went to different places with my whole immediate family and one of those places was Enchanted Kingdom in Laguna.

It is probably the most amazing vacation I have ever been to and I hope next time we get to do it again. All in all, we are twenty, mostly kids, so you could imagine the chaos and the noise we bring. It was the first time that my family experinced the 4D movie. I am still in euphoria whenever I think about all the fun we shared. Nothing beats being my family.

My family inside the 4D theater at Enchanted Kingdom.

Almost Winter Again

Time flies really fast these days. Summer is over with and fall is here. Before we know it, winter would come and we would be covered up again with our winter jackets, winter cloaks and winter boots. The worst thing about winter I think is driving in the snow. It's just a little hard to maneuver through traffic in a road filled with slippery ice. Good thing we have tire chains to make it easier for us.

There was a time when our relative from Florida came over to visit for Christmas. They knew it would snow so they bought a Grip 4x4 tire chain since they don't have snow tires in their car. It don't snow that much in Florida, so they don't really need to purchase snow tires. It is really a good thing to have when you're just vacationing in a snowy state and not living there.

This year, we are thinking of getting new tire chains for our van. Te old one we have is being used by my husband with his work truck, and with babies in the car, it is very important to have tire chains in our van.

I am not a big fan of winter but I am looking forward for Halooween and Christmas. It's not because I love presents, although who doesn't? But it's because I love the look in my kids' faces when they open their presents.