When My Sisters Came to Town

Guest post written by Martha Fisher

My sisters came in from Tallahassee tonight and, boy, was it good to see them. We’d been trying to get them to both come visit our house one weekend for a while, so I was thrilled when it finally worked out. My husband and I had been working all day to prepare for their arrival—we even spent most of the day cleaning and cooking a feast for dinner. (Lamb chops and baked potatoes —their favorites!)

So, naturally when my sisters came in they were very excited and talkative. Like true sisters, we were all very chatty around the dinner table—though, weirdly, my normally talkative husband seemed quiet and distant. I wondered why he was so aloof.

After dinner I talked with him and private, and he mentioned that he had a lot of difficulty hearing all the conversations at the table, which actually embarrassed him. I told him not to worry about it, but the next day he insisted I take him to get a pair of hearing aides.

We went to Miracle Ear the next morning, where they were able to help him very quickly find what he needed. Now, luckily, he’s back to his normal (and talkative) self.

Planet Earth

Guest post written by Arnoldo Acevedo

The Discovery Channel has always been one of my favorite channels on television. I love almost all of their programming and usually get sucked into watching show after show. So when I first heard about their mini series, Planet Earth, I was beyond excited to tune in with my satellite tv from expertsatellite.com. Planet Earth was more than I could have ever expected. The production of the series was top notch and the footage that they managed to capture was unreal. As soon as the series was released on dvd I purchased it and have watched it over and over. Each time I see it, I notice something new and amazing that I missed the time before.

Discoveries managed to capture amazing animals in their natural habitat and were able to focus on showing their behaviors and relationships with other animals. This was by far the most interesting thing about the series, to me. I also loved the footage of different locations that had never been captured on camera before. Getting to see the beautiful, natural creations of this Earth was simply breathtaking. Each episode focused on a different aspect of nature, which made the series truly captivating. My favorite focus area of Planet Earth was deserts. Learning about the animals in this ecosystem and how they survive was amazing.

The Big Day!

My dream of walking down the aisle and to be wed in front of family and friends is almost at my hands. The big day will be tomorrow. I am undeniably excited. I have been dreaming of this day for a long time.

Everything is ready.... the church, the reception, gowns, entourage and our families.

I will share some pics in few days....

Here comes the bride.....

XOXO Gossip Girl

Posted by Darwin Garza

My friend Lauren got me into the show Gossip Girl. I was so ashamed the first time I watched it because it is just absolutely silly. These problems do not exist in real life because we are not all extremely wealthy and basically celebrities. After watching a few episodes because I shared a dorm room with Lauren I actually started to really like the show. Every Monday she would flip on direct tv tx and turn it to the CW to watch Gossip Girl.

I moved out on my own about a year ago. Lauren doesn't live too far away probably only ten minutes. She still comes over on Monday nights to watch gossip girl with me. I find it so funny how we bonded over the callous relationships between the girls of the upper east side. There seems to be a constant power struggle between the very wealthy and the moderately wealthy. I find it funny that the teenagers on the show considered broke are still far better off than anyone I actually associate with. Perhaps that's why the show is so interesting to watch.

I cannot compare my life to any of the relationships or their standard of living. I really think the fact that this show reminds me absolutely nothing of my life is why I enjoy it. It's nice to relate to certain shows but then again sometimes it is nice to just forget about your own problems and focus on someone else's.

Platinum Weddings

Guest post of the week by Deangelo Spencer

Wedding themed reality shows are some of my favorite shows on television. Getting to see the way other people plan out their special day is so intriguing to me. Everyone has a different way of showing their love for each other and their families and on Platinum Weddings; people show their love by spending ridiculous amounts of money. Platinum Weddings follows couples as they plan extravagant celebrations. Couples spend top dollar on every aspect of their wedding on this show, which is amazing to me. I've seen couples on Platinum Weddings spend $100,000 on flowers alone.

The wedding planners that pull these extravagant weddings off are talented and fun to watch. They deal with all the drama and problems that goes along with planning an extraordinary wedding. Somehow these planners manage to keep their calm and wits about them and pull off amazing parties for very demanding couples. These weddings always end up being absolutely perfect affairs. Everything from the flowers to the place tags are planned out and executed with extravagance. I love spending a weekend afternoon lying around on the couch, watching Directtv and dreaming of all the things I would plan for my wedding with a budget like the ones on this show.

Visiting Friends

Over the years, we have formed friendship with the priests that were assigned to our parish. It has been customary for us to visit them wherever they are whenever we are home.

We spend a day visiting Fr. Arlims. He is now assigned in Sagbayan Parish. It was the first time that he met my husband. We had a great day and great conversation.

The following day, we visited another dear friend Fr. Leonel. He is now assigned in Antequera. Fr. Leonel is one of the good friends that we have who helped us a lot during the times when we really needed financial help. He is a family friend and we have been friends since I was a little girl.

The visits were really wonderful as my husband was also able to meet them in person and enjoy the new places at the same time.

By the way, our church wedding will be this weekend and both Fr Arlims and Fr Leonel will be there to officiate it.

Sister Wives, a New Reality Show

Thanks for the post, Arthur Lawrence

Sister Wives is a new show that premieres this fall. It's about a polygamist who has three wives and thirteen children. He is marrying wife number four, who already has three kids from a previous relationship. I saw this show advertised on TV, and my jaw hit the floor. I read about the show online, and it said that he's been married to his first wife for twenty years. He married his second wife seventeen years ago, and then he married his third wife sixteen years ago. So they've lived this way for quite a while, and his oldest kid is 15. I want to see if the kids are well-adjusted and what their home life is like. I cannot imagine a family living like this, probably because it's so different from my own life. I'm also interested in seeing what he does to support all of his family members. And how do his wives feel about sharing their spouse?

This show reminds me of another family-centered reality show on TLC: Jon & Kate Plus Eight. Though I grew tired of John and Kate after a few episodes, I think this new show will definitely hold my attention. I think it will be interesting to see how such a family dynamic operates. I will watch the show on Direct tv when it premieres on Sept. 26th.

Ocean Park, Manila Philippines

Ocean Park Manila has become a favorite destination to many Filipinos. I have never been there myself until few days ago.

When my nephews Giles and Kent were here in Manila for the vacation, I let them choose whether to visit Manila Ocean Park or the Enchanted Kingdom. They opted to see the Ocean Park.

The boys were so amazed on the different species of fish and the aquarium itself. I have seen bigger ones back in New Jersey but for the boys it was worth the entrance fee which was P400 pesos (that is like $10).

I am sure that the boys will have something to talk about with their friends....

New Address Sign

Before I left for my vacation here in the Philippines, I made sure that our house renovation was completely done. It was a tiring process. The renovation was very costly. We renovated our bathroom and our kitchen as I mentioned in my former posts. After all the expenses that we have incurred, it was a bonus that I really love what the contractors did. It was worth the money we spent.

Since we improved the look of our house, I also improved our outside appearance. I bought a new address plaque which is now in our lawn. I have been planning to change our plaque because it was already old and out of style. Most of the houses in our neighborhood has installed new address signs and you can noticed them when you drive around. It is not that I envy their new signs, I just want to put a new ones in ours so that it will be easy to identify our address. Even though we don't live in a subdivision where most houses are alike, I still think that address plaques can be very useful so that people will find your house easily.

Shopping for address plaques and signs are very easy because there are so many designs that are available at mailboxandbeyond.com. If you need some house address plaques for your house, shop now at Mailbox and Beyond!

Fit to a T

Author: Joyce Mccall

Project Runway is the best show ever! I will tune in on my satellite TV and I could watch it all day long! Speaking of satellite TV. I recently signed up to these satelite tv deals which I'm enjoying so far but not sure it's the best. Anyway, when it comes to Project Runway, I absolutely love watching the judges deliberate. They are some of the best people in the industry. Michael Kors is a very famous and celebrated designer of American sportswear. His clothing and line are signature with gold MK embellishments. His clothing is luxurious and well made and I love the several Michael Kors items that I own. The host, Heidi Klum, is a former Victoria's Secret model but, a super model still after giving birth to a couple of children. She is crazy beautiful but, she seems to know her fashion as well as a judge on the show. Nina Garcia is fashion editor for Marie Claire and I think she is just fabulous. I love her style book that has so many great suggestions of what to wear and when to wear it. I think her opinion is infallible on the show that launches the careers of so many designers. Together all three judges pick the right designer to win- someone who has an eye for detail and the creative process. Tim Gunn also serves as an integral part of the show as the man in charge he makes suggestions to struggling designers finishing their designs. I love wholesome atmosphere it promotes.

Manila Trip for the Boys

For my nephews' birthday, my gift was a trip to Manila. They have never been experience an airplane trip so they were very excited. They have never been to Manila too so it was a great experience for them both.

I brought them shopping in one of the biggest mall in Manila ... the Mall of Asia

They bought a pair of a really nice shoes.... we also had so much fun dining out!

Saturdays with Mommy

The Author of this post is Cheryl Martinez

My daughter has to spend most of her time with a babysitter. I have to work two jobs to make ends meet at home and it's really just the two of us. I always want to show her how much I hate being away from her all day and so I promise her one day a week just the two of us. I always have Saturdays off so we spend the entire day out of the house. We set the tulsa OK Adt fire and security alarm and hop in the car and begin our girls day. The first thing we do is head down to the park and enjoy the weather. It's usually not long until she wants to go to her favorite part of our lady's day out which is going to a movie.

I let her pick any film she would like that isn't rated over PG-13. Sometimes she fights me on this but I really don't think that my nine year old is ready for those types of movies. She is already allowed to watch PG-13 movies because it seems like kids are growing up faster and faster each day. She always tries to pick the most grown-up movies she can find because she literally is nine years old going on thirty. We get a giant thing of popcorn to share and we each get a jumbo soda. Sometimes we'll even catch two movies if she has a difficult time picking her favorite one. I really want her to feel like she's the only girl in the world on Saturdays.

Missing the TV

Can you believe that I miss the TV and watching HD Channels especially that football has already started? I miss the sports channels and the local channels that shows all the football games.

My mom has a TV but only for local channels. It was somehow strange to watch tv shows from a small television set. TV and other electronic gadgets in the Philippines are just so expensive. Having a 24inches TV is a luxury already unlike in the USA where you can somehow manage to buy 40inches or bigger. You can also get different programming packages at localtv-satellite.com.

Being on vacation after so many years, made me realize how blessed I am to have some luxuries in life. I can truly say that even having a Local TV-Satellite is a luxury for them already. Back in the USA I have the luxury to just sit around watch different TV shows, news, sports and other channels provided by my Direct TV satellite service. Here in the Philippines, they don't have much choice because there is no satellite service available in the area where my parents live.

Despite not having some things that makes life easier, I am still enjoying my vacation as it make me reminded of where I came from. It makes me be thankful of what I have and it makes me remember to keep my feet on the ground.

House Blessings

Few weeks ago, we had our house blessings. Though the house is not yet fully done, we decided to invite our parish priest and do the house blessings. It was supposed to be a family event, but knowing the traditions from where I came from, it became a sort of "feast".

Anyway, I am really glad to see how our house turned out to be. Although some of the styles are not of my liking, it is also bearable.

I am still on vacation right now. My church wedding is getting near and I am of course getting busier everyday.

I do miss the comforts that I enjoyed in the USA.... specially having your own car and driving in a nice road with discipline drivers.

Homework Help Can Be A Mouse Click Away!

Thanks to Roman May

The internet can make homework a less painful part of life not only for school age children but for higher-level-of-education students as well. 'Computerizing homework' is less stressful in the minds of young people. There is no need to locate heavy reference books and find space to use them. Why go through all this stress, when there are a dictionary, thesaurus, maps, newspapers, articles and encyclopedia just a few keystrokes and a mouse click away on your clear and directv ? While older students will be comfortable using one of the major search engines, there are special 'kid-friendly' search engines available. For times when specific help is needed, sites are available where qualified tutors and subject-oriented experts are waiting to assist students by giving guidelines for finding answers to questions and assignment construction.

Another form of homework help found on the internet are sites offering tips for parents ranging from ways to help students without doing the work for the student, or finding activities which can be used to reinforce concepts with which a student is having difficulty.

While the internet can help with homework in many ways, care must be exercised when using this source of help. When doing research, it is advisable to evaluate the source of the information. There are some sites where anyone can post information and/or opinions which may or may not contain entirely factual data.

Learning From the Discovery Channel

Guest post from: Natalie Walter

I enjoy the Discovery Channel for their educational but entertaining programming. With a wide variety of programs, the Discovery Channel's stars have more personality than the History Channel. And although the programs are brimming with quirks, jokes, and interesting science, the Discovery Channel still presents dry and technical material in easily understood ways.

I particularly enjoy Mythbusters for the ensemble cast and science focus. The cast all seems to get along well with each other. And I always feel like I'm learning something new. Mythbusters focuses on testing the legitimacy of urban legends and myths. I'm surprised that some of the things that I would have thought to be true turned out to be completely false.

The Discovery Channel also carries the Planet Earth series. I may never be able to see the far off destinations they film, but the Discovery Channel brings them right into my living room in high definition. It's not quite the same as being there, but the scenery is gorgeous.

The best part of the Discovery Channel is that even though I live out in the countryside, I can still pick up the programming through the satellite television I got from TV By Direct. I'd be quite bored at night without the Discovery Channel's programming. Even though I wouldn't normally want to watch TV all night, when it comes to the Discovery Channel, I'll make an exception.

The Maid of Honor

Right now, I am dealing with the scorching heat of Manila. Although I am staying in a very comfortable hotel, I still have to deal the traffic and the pollution of Manila. I am preparing for my church wedding thus I have so many things to do. I am shopping for cheaper materials for my personalized wedding invitation. I opted to have my gown made in Bulacan because I like the design and the quality of work that the designer offered. I decided to buy in Philippines because it is very pricey in the US and besides it will be hard to travel with a gown in your luggage. I can't risk it.
Days have gone by so fast and my wedding date is fast approaching and I still have so many things to do.

Here's my maid of honor.... my dear cousin, Juliet.... she is still single guys! lol