Flowers

I was trying the bib necklace and the hair clip that I made here. All I make for crafts now are flowers. Just like blogging, I am getting obsessed about making them. I tend to be focused when I do things that I enjoy.  I need to still get better about using the glue gun and making the flowers more uniform with each other so I can make pairs.

I love these shoes from Aldo but they are flat. I think even Aldo is not  being very size friendly to me anymore but I felt that I should use the gift card that I have when I went there. I never know when I can shop again these days. Well, I used this boots more than a couple of times already and I plan to use it more so I guess it is not all wasted  but I wish it has a little bit more heels. I look so bored in this picture with my shirt so wrinkled.

 The magazine that I was reading on the first picture was free, yey! Also, I won a t-shirt contest that I joined online. I'll show you when I receive it. I can't wait to see it. I don't usually  join online contests so I am glad I joined that one. I got lucky.

Lastly, I am joining the Weekend Blog Follower Caravan. It is my first for this blog. It would be interesting to meet new bloggers. "WBFC is a simple online blogger helping blogger meme". Thanks to mommy Rubz for hosting.

Nest Egg

One of the things most people plan about is their retirement. Most of us expect to receive Social Security, but that will only provide part of the income we’ll need to maintain our lifestyles after we stop working. There are several methods of investment available for people to build a big nest egg prior to our golden years. Many people have a 401K retirement account through their employer. Sometimes the employers provide a matching amount to what the employee invests. Other good retirement investments are IRA accounts. They’re similar to a 401K, but the investment limits are different, and the tax ramifications can be varied depending on the type of IRA account you have. If you’re married, you and your spouse can both have IRA accounts.

Since I titled this post Nest Egg, I would put some Easter egg pictures here.

Others take a more hands-on approach to investing and retirement planning by participating in online trading. They are the type of person who likes to make their own choice of individual companies to invest in. They can do their own stock trading when buying and selling stocks by using an online broker.  This is certainly more risky, but some people have a higher aversion to risk than others, and people should only do online trading if they’ve done thorough research of the companies they wish to invest in.

Planning for retirement should be high on everyone’s to-do list, and don’t put it off until you’re almost ready to stop working. By starting your investing early, your nest egg will grow much bigger than if you start late. But, it’s never too late to start, and anyone can do it by using an online brokerage firm like Firstrade.com.

Prom Dresses

Sometimes, it's not enough to just dress up. I wonder when I will  be able to wear these prom dresses. In high school, we did not have a prom and I am not able to attend most weddings that I was invited because a lot of my cousins that were getting married are still in the Philippines. I know some friends that are expats abroad and they still do their wedding in the home country. 

I love the flower shoulder details in the first dress. The white dress and the emerald green dress are simple yet elegant evening dresses. The gold detail at the chest and just above the waist makes it an attractive dress for the night.

I love the silver detail of this white dress below. It looks like a dress of a princess for me except it is a little more revealing than a traditional princess would wear. It's very elegant. By the way, are you looking forward to seeing the wedding pictures of Prince William and Kate Middleton? I was just watching them on TV the other day and Kate is very fashionable.

                          

All these prom dresses and evening dresses can be found at dressespro.com. This post is brought to you by their website.

Scentsy Review

A lot of us are looking for ways to increase our household income. While some mothers choose to stay at home with their children, others are in the mainstream workforce collecting a paycheck for hours worked. Some of us may remember going to Tupperware parties, or selling Avon door-to-door. But there’s a new product that is becoming very popular, and that’s Scentsy. If you visit their website at scentinspired.com, you can browse through their innovative products and learn how to become a consultant for items that many of us use daily in our homes. While you’re at home in your spare time, or as a full-time endeavor, with proper determination, you can make money for those expenses that keep popping up.

Here are more reasons why we should support Scentsy either through purchasing their products or through becoming a consultant.

1. Most of their consultants are stay at home moms who are trying to have their own small businesses.

2. Scentsy products have reasonable prices.

3. Just like with other work at home jobs, you can be flexible with your schedule if you decide to be a consultant.

4. They have great product reviews so you know that you are buying or selling a quality household item.

I am not a Scentsy consultant, at least not yet so I would like to provide you an unbiased review and I did a lot of research about it. I am also trying to stretch my income a little now since RC’s childcare expenses is more than what we anticipated before. Hopefully, I can also become a consultant for a business like Scentsy one of these days. I posted some pictures of their products, aren't they cute and lovely?

Guide me

One of the things I enjoy most is vacation planning. It’s the excitement and anticipation of going somewhere farther than usual. We are always trying to think of interesting things to do while staying with family or in hotels at our destination. We do hours of internet research about the area near our hotel, but our research isn’t organized and we’re probably missing out on some great things to see.

I’m sure you’ve seen travel guides in the lobbies of hotels you’ve stayed in before. Well, I’ve found that there is a great website online where you can get a vacation guide for anywhere in the US and it’s free! I can even order travel brochures. Travelguidesfree.com have vacation guides for all states and regions of the US. This information will certainly make planning for our next trip easier, and we’ll also learn more about the history of the area. Having a vacation guide will give me more time to think about what I need to pack for the trip. Being better prepared will also save on expenses because we won’t be wasting time searching for locations that we’re unfamiliar with. We can also plan our stops along the way and plan our timeline that will save the cost of a guided tour which is also inflexible about what we’ll see. When you have a toddler or a baby with you, flexibility with time is important.

Pictures in pictures

I used to print a lot of pictures to send to a family member in the Philippines. I realized that it is an expensive hobby because inkjet cartridges can be expensive. From my blog, you can tell that I love pictures. I would like to organize an album for RC with printed pictures of her.

We just bought a new printer and I just discovered inkgrabber.com, they sell cheap ink. They offer a coupon code on their main page that you can use when you check out. They have various kinds of printer ink, I prefer the HP because that’s mainly what I have tried so far.

Isn't RC so cute when she was a baby? I miss her baby days.

Why are credit cards important?

We went to the grocery store today and we used a credit card as usual. Here are some pictures, my husband did not want to take pictures inside the grocery so it's mostly RC.

I agree that we have to live within our means but here are some reasons why we use credit cards, all opinions are 100% mine.  Most people would say that they need a credit card for emergency purposes, which is a valid reason.  If there is an unforeseen emergency that required us to pay out a significant amount of money for a home repair, car repair, etc., then a credit card can come to our rescue. 

At the end of the month we pay off the balance on the card.  That’s an ideal situation for the use of credit cards so you don't have to pay interest.  Another reason people use credit cards is to maintain or improve their credit score.  There are three reporting agencies, and each rate our score a little differently, but they all factor in the use of credit cards.   If you use the cards responsibly, it will help increase your credit score.  If you don’t use them responsibly, your credit score will suffer.  Credit scores are being used to qualify for a loan like a loan for a car.

Another use for credit cards is for rewards which increase as the amount you charge on the card increases.  One problem with rewards cards is that some of them charge annual fees.  The best rewards cards don’t charge an annual fee, so do some research before you get one.  You can look for credit card reviews or read financial forum to become more educated.  I have also found credit card calculator to be helpful when making comparisons.  For me, the best credit cards give the user cash back on some or all of their transactions.  I prefer the rewards card I have with our credit union.  It gives us one percent cash back on anything we use the card for, and there’s no annual fee.  We also have an airlines rewards card, but it has an annual fee.  The rewards for it are airline miles.

This post is brought to you by financeglobe.com.

Finding an education

Aren’t we glad online courses are now available? I’m thinking about taking a short online course in medical coding. There are opportunities to work from home and I would not have to spend years attending school.  However, schools are expensive and it’s not a guarantee that I would find a home based job from that. I guess in life, we are always faced with risks. I can try to submit an application for a student aid just in case I might be qualified to receive some financial help.

Online degree programs in photography and are also available. That is another course that I am interested in.  I am still dumb in editing pictures using programs like Photoshop. We have a disc and I tried using it and I didn’t even know where to start. Maybe I can zap my acne and make myself taller in pictures… hihihi.

Here's my little school girl. She was insisting to put on her backpack like Dora the Explorer. It's a little too heavy for her.  

The links above are provided and brought to you by findyoureducation.com.
You can also check out http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ for more information.

Easter Supergirls

Me and my mini me were wearing matching shirts again. What made you busy this Easter Season?  RC had an Easter egg hunt a few days ago and today we went to a nearby shopping center to attend an Easter festival.

We only took advantage of two activities for RC, this one where she had to put the balls in the nets in exchange for some goodies and the balloon making.

 I'm not sure if my husband is trying to take a picture of us or the legs of the lady behind..

 The lines were too long and RC was getting grumpy and tired so we gave up and decided to head home. Before going home, I had a mini pictorial.

The baloon monkey she got from the event. I chose a monkey for her and she calls it George (from Curious George).

The sticker tattoo on RC's thigh.

A picture taken from the sidewalk.

What I wore: Old Navy shirt, Naya shoes, DIY skirt (was a dress), VS purse
What she wore: Old Navy shirt, Kids Play shorts, pink shoes (was a gift), lime green Coach purse

Overseas Moving

I still remember when I first came to the US, at that time I only had two junky suitcases with me with all the little things and clothes that I just can’t give up. It certainly would not be the case if we decide to move to another country or even just to the mainland. I have a family of my own now and more valuable and bigger things to move with us. Overseas moving is not easy especially if it is your first time and you don’t have any family who will move with you. I’m lucky that I and my immediate family are all in the same country. I’m sure a lot of expats can relate to this. I think the emotional aspect of leaving your friends and love ones behind, the fact that you wouldn’t see them often, usually in years is the hardest part. Although we don’t plan on moving to a different country, we will probably be contacting an international shipping company when we decide to move to the mainland. We live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! It would be great to find a specialist to assist with international moving. Me and my husband talks about moving all the time now, we can’t wait but we have to be patient and keep saving. It will be a very big decision to make.


To find out more about international movers, please check internationalmoving.com. This post is brought to you  by their website.

While waiting

Hi everyone! Just some pictures of me and RC. This is before her doctor's appointment (again.. I know). Apparently, she got a virus from the child care center but she is still active as you can see, she can play with everything even the handle bar by the hallway. I'm about to get fired from all my absences at work.

I have to say that I enjoyed just staying home with her for almost the entire week, now I am going to miss her even more when I go back to work. I am already contemplating on the idea that I will be a stay at home mom soon.

For the stay at home moms, do you  make a schedule? I think if ever I get fired  decide to quit working, I will make a schedule.

I got this necklace for $3  from a thrift store. I might copy this idea to some of my necklaces.

I'm wearing: Forever 21 dress, Gap skinny belt, Me Too Wedges ( I should have used a different shoes/sandals)

She's wearing: Garanimals shirt, pants and shoes, Children's Place purse

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Home Improvement

Here I was in front of a house with lots of flowers. I would definitely consider this idea once we move to a home with a front yard. I have been walking a lot lately and when I do, I enjoy the view of the houses, their designs, and I can tell which owners have a great sense of style because of their houses.


For those who are in the construction and home improvement businesses, they should keep advertising their services; a home improvement leads program is really helpful to target their potential customers. It’s not everyday that people renovate their homes or set up a business location. Of course, the World Wide Web is always there to create a positive competition. Somehow, because of the internet, the industries can work together to provide better services.

Home Improvement Leads for Sale allows regional home improvement businesses to campaign while only paying for leads in their area. To learn about home improvement leads, please visit homeimprovementleadsforsale.com.This post is brought to you by their website.

Another Casual Outfit

Outfit for Saturday, you may notice I wear the same shoes all the time but weekends should be comfy. I thought the dress was too plain so I decided to wear my zipper bib necklace that I got from the Philippines. Are they still in? I hope so. I also wear this belt a lot because it's versatile, you can't really go wrong with black. My hair is getting longer. I'm thinking of getting a haircut soon.

Here is RC. We were both wearing bib necklaces. I love her Children's Place pants although it was too long for her. It has that vintage look with the plaid and the ruffles.

I used the same dress when I was 33 weeks pregnant. I asked my husband to take a picture for me here while we were waiting for the doctor to come inside the examination room. Sometimes, doctors can take a little long before they show up and I think the best way to occupy myself is to take pictures.