Monthly Archives: March 2008

My last entry for the first quarter of the year

And just like that, March is over. The first quarter of my year was nothing short of eventful. I’d like to share with you the important things I’ve learned in the past 90 days:

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“…if you analyze anything too much, nothing seems too good. Live.”
The postcard says it all. Thank you to PostSecret for sharing this. And thank you to the sender of this postcard.

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The more people you meet in your lifetime, the more you can tell you who the truest of your friends are.
If life is an amusement park, then I was on the roller coaster countless times the past three months. It was plenty scary, but the love, support and sincerity of my truest friends and family made the ride kick-ass fun. Thank you friends. Thank you family. The screams of fright turned to screams of joy because of you.

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Don’t be afraid to ask for help; you can’t always do things alone.
I’ve learned that learning to get help from others is not a form of weakness. Even the strongest of giants needs help now and then. I’ve been illuminated by a lot of helping hands, and am very much grateful for their compassion. There are plenty of good people who have a lot to give, and more importantly, enjoy giving. Guardian angels, that’s what they are.


Don’t let those bridges fall.
You’ll need those bridges to go back home, to reunite with loved ones, to connect with lost ones. Always, always value the relationships you have. If others put a “No Entry” sign on their bridge, it’s better to let it be than to burn it. Maybe they need time to do some repairs on their side. Take care of your side of the bridge, always.

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Let life surprise you.

Weekend Soiree #14: A game of DOUBLE comment interaction

This weekend’s soiree is special because we’re calling it a DOUBLE! It’s double because I didn’t get to post one last weekend, so we’re making up for extra interaction this weekend. It’ll be fun I’m telling you!

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The first rule is easy. I will ask a question. The first person who comments will answer my question, and will leave a question for the next person to answer. This next person will answer that question, and leave a question for the next next person to answer. I am sure you get it! ;)

To make things more fun, the questions have to reflect the chosen theme. For example, if the theme is BEACH, all questions should relate to beaches. Have you ever watched the sun set from the shore? Have you ever had a sex on the beach (the drink! the drink!)? As much as possible, let’s not repeat the questions for added fun! You are also welcome to play more than once.

The second rule is easier. After you answer and write a question, visit the person who comments right after you. If that person does not have a blog, visit the next next person who answers. When you’re at their blog, leave a comment and some nice cheer. You might make a new friend!

Let’s give a double hurrah to the fourteenth weekend soiree!

The theme: TWO

My question for Person #1: Can you tell us about two things you’re wearing today?

- Image by Kjunstorm

Gil Birmingham to play Billy Black in Twilight movie

PhotobucketJacob has a daddy! Gil Birmingham has been cast to play Billy Black, one of the Quileute elders. Read more about him on IMDB.

I’m happy they cast a Native American for the role. He’s pretty much how I imagined Billy Black to look like. The question is: Do he and Taylor Lautner look like father and son? Hmmmm. ;) I think it’ll work. What do you think?

I’m so excited about this movie! Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh! [source]

I Dream of Peaches ‘n Cream: The Round-Up

When I think of peaches, the first words that come to mind are: refreshing, sweet, indulgent. When I think of cream, the first words that come to mind are: rich, comforting, indulgent. No wonder combining peaches and cream in a dish makes for a delightfully seductive experience. It will always be rich and indulgent, but never too posh. The rich persona of the dish is always within reach (say that 5x fast). Perhaps this is why they make any dish extra-special but still comfortably homey.

Here is the round-up to our Wifely Steps March Blog Carnival: “I Dream of Peaches ‘n Cream.”




Mouse over the images to visit the five delicious entries. Make peachy peace with J.’s cupcakes. Bundle up in a comforter with Gracey’s kwarktaart. Wake up to Rachel’s pancakes. Take a break from your busy day with Em’s napoleones. Go be a couch potato with my frozen parfait.

Thank you to the four ladies who’ve shared their peaches and cream recipes with us. And we hope you enjoy them. Makes those peaches and cream dreaming come true!

What dishes or drinks have lemon and ginger?

Lemon and Ginger

C’mon! Share some dishes or drinks that have these two ingredients. Think we can name at least 30?

Number your answer so we know how many we’ve had so far. I’ll start with the dish my husband and I used this lemon and ginger for. Now go! Try not to duplicate answers! ;)

10 Happy Thoughts

Anj tagged me to write down ten things that recently made me happy. They’re all about H. So here we go! Mush alert, okay?

Love Love Love1. Being half-asleep in my husband’s arms, and feeling him kiss the back of my head lovingly.

2. Holding hands with my husband while he drives.

3. My husband bringing dinner home even if I refused to eat. My tummy was upset so I didn’t want to eat anything, but later on I gobbled the tapsilog up anyway. He knows me well.

4. When I was irritated about something, his making funny faces to crack me up and make me feel better. Works all the time.

5. His calling me in the middle of the day just to ask how I’m doing and to say he misses me.

6. His taking pictures of various things and tells me, “You can blog this, Wifey!”

7. When he sees a nice cloud while on the road, his parking the car and appreciating the nice sky view with me.

8. After going separate routes in a mall, him walking towards me with a big smile on his face as if we haven’t seen each other in ages.

9. His patient pushing of the cart while I do my aisle-by-aisle grocery shopping.

10. His smile making me smile.

Yeah, I love my husband.

I’m tagging anyone who has at least 10 things to be thankful for today. ;)

Image from Sister72

The Sims 3: Creating More Addicts in 2009

Holy cow. There have been rumors about The Sims 3 for a long time now. There is truth to those rumors. EA Games just released details of the much-anticipated game in their website. It’s for real. The Sims 3 really is happening.

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Image from Simpedia

From what I read, here’s what you can expect from the new game:

Continue reading

Frozen Peach Parfait

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I’m a huge fan of frozen fruit salad, so I thought, why not freeze my peaches and cream? It’s easy to prepare, refreshing and tastes quite indulgent.

Here’s what you do:
1. Pour 1 cup of milk into a pan, and add 200 grams (approx. 2 bars) of grated white chocolate. Warm till the chocolate completely melts. Pour into a bowl. Cool.
2. Take your mold and lightly spray the inside with oil. Line it with cling wrap.
3. Open a can of peaches and put aside five to six pieces. Puree the rest of the peaches in a blender. Add a bit of sugar if you wish.
4. Whip 2 boxes of all-purpose cream (or double cream) with a little sugar. Mix the whipped cream with the milk-chocolate blend. Stir in the pureed peaches. Mix in some peach slices too — I highly recommend doing this! ;)
5. Pour the mix into your molds. Freeze for at least 4 hours.
6. Unmold by pulling on the cling wrap and turning the frozen peaches and cream upside down on your serving dish.
6. Dice the rest of the peaches you put aside earlier. Use this as a topping when serving your frozen peach parfait.

Done! Would you like some? :) It’s great with hot tea!

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This is my entry to the I Dream of Peaches ‘n Cream Blog Carnival. I’m posting the round-up on Friday, so you can still post/send in your entries by Thursday. Happy peaches and cream dreaming!

Robert Pattinson with golden eyes and other Twilight movie stuff

Golden eyes, topaz eyes
The lovely girls over at Topaz and Debussy give us Twilight lovers a heads up with this picture of Robert Pattinson on the set — with golden eyes. Sneak peek. Here’s another one. He looks like a vampire, yes.

For Human Lovers
For Mike Newton fans, the girls over at Newton’s Outfitters lead us to a sneak peek of Michael Welch on the set. Picture also by Amy Howe.

Lion and the Lamb
Would you like to see Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart on the set, as Edward and Bella? Here’s another one too – Edward without the shades. By the way, does Edward wear sunglasses in the book? I can’t recall.

The Cullen Siblings
Let’s spread the Cullen love and check out the other sibling pics. Here’s a picture of Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen. If you look really closely, you’ll see her golden eyes too. Here’s Kellan Lutz as Emmett, Jackson Rathbone as Jasper (his hair doesn’t look too bad here), and Nikki Reed as Rosalie. And a group shot.

Thank you, thank you!
Check out the sidebar for more Twilight movie set pictures. Thanks to Amy Howe for keeping us in girly shrieks with her set pictures! You rock, Amy!!!

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Surfing YouTube is a guilty pleasure, and this is one gem I totally dig. Here’s a fanvid of Robert Pattinson called “A Thousand Smiles.” Lots of RP smiles! Enjoy it while you can because Edward Cullen does NOT smile. Much.

10 Shoutouts for Easter

1. HAPPY EASTER!

2. Forgive the irony, but I did remember that I forgot to prepare a Weekend Soiree. Ah, well, things have been a bit crazy and it did slip my mind! Let’s make up for that by having an extra fun one next weekend.

3. If you’d like to subscribe to this blog via e-mail, that is possible and it’d be my pleasure to say hello! in your inbox now and then. Just enter your e-mail in the box and follow the simple instructions.

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Thanks to Shai for her entry on blog subscriptions via e-mail.

4. Thank you to those who’ve e-mailed their entries to the I Dream of Peaches ‘n Cream Blog Carnival. I myself am late for my own carnival (bad, bad, bad). I’ll have my entry up this week as well as the round-up of the peachy keen entries. They are YUMMY!

5. Can I just share that I absolutely love Unimart at Greenhills Shoppesville? It’s got almost everything. I ended up buying stuff I didn’t particularly need but kinda desired. You know — pumpkin spice teabags, frozen broccoli, andotherimpulsebuys.

6. Holy Week is sacred and solemn, but last Holy Thursday, my relatives and I were cracking up like hyenas. It was the first time we played Taboo as a family and it was a lot of fun.

7. Today my family and I had a healthy discussion about religion. Now I usually veer away from topics like politics, sex and religion. It’s like playing a game of Taboo sometimes. You say one word that may offend another, a buzzer sounds and a heated debate goes on. Not my cup of tea, thank you. But anyway today was pretty much okay. My view on religion? How you deal with your own religion is up to you, as I have my own way of handling my faith.You can worship whoever and whatever you want for as long as you do not dehumanize another person. It all goes back to how you treat your neighbor, your family, yourself. I think all beliefs are somehow rooted in that concept. The golden rule holds true.

8. My sister makes a kickass Angel Food Cake.

9. I promise to blog-hop soon. Life has been an insanely thrilling roller coaster ride lately, so I’m looking forward to some quiet blog-hopping time soon.

10. Spot any Easter eggs today? I remember my Mom would prepare egg hunts for me and my sisters. Ah, fond memories.

Have a good week! :)

Discussing Marriage Expectations

This is a cross-post from my other blog, So You’re Getting Married. I figured this would help some readers here at Wifely Steps too. Enjoy! If you have a similar experience, do share your story in the comments section!

PhotobucketMy fiance (now husband) and I met with our minister a month before our wedding. Our minister asked, “Have you discussed your expectations?”

“Expectations?,” we both asked.

“It’s important to discuss your expectations from each other. For example, do you expect him to come home early after work? Is a home-cooked dinner something he can expect from you? Things like that,” our minister shared.

We both shrugged. Our minister sighed. The truth is we had not thought about sharing expectations until he brought it up! But it is one of the most important points for discussion with your partner before getting married. Some expectations we eventually did end up discussing were:

1. We would live on our own. In our culture, it is normal for the newlyweds to stay at the bride’s family’s home first. My husband and I wanted to be independent right away, so we hunted for an apartment to rent.

2. We would start building a family right away. Children could be a big part of your marriage, so aligning on family planning would be great. Both of us agreed that we would start trying for a baby right away. But life happens, and we both discovered we weren’t ready yet. We wanted to enjoy our newlywed life first! At least expectations were clear from both of us going in.

3. We would split the bills a particular way. Money is another big part of your marriage. Agreeing on how to manage finances is something you have to discuss. Talking about money could be awkward at first, but you have to do it.

4. We’d visit family once a week. My husband and I have close relationships with each of our own families, so agreeing to visit our parents and siblings once a week was something we both delighted in. We still try to do this as much as we can.

5. We wouldn’t force ideals on each other. His Mom is a fantastic cook, and I’m a crap cook, honestly. He was used to coming home to wonderful dinners and filling meals. I made it clear to him that I would try to learn how to cook, but not to expect anything grand. What happened was that our early newlywed meals were mostly take-out, but that was fine with him. (I’m still trying to learn how to cook.)

Discussing expectations isn’t easy, but it’s best to do so you and your partner are on the same page before getting married. It’ll make for an even healthier relationship, and you may discover more things about each other that you’d have to learn to adjust to. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth it.

Photo by slfood02

Official site for Twilight movie and other updates

Movie updates:

Other Twilight-related news:

  • The Mitch Hansen Band is popular among online Twilight communities for its Twilight-inspired songs. Check out their MySpace page. They’re pretty cool! Listen to “Lullabye” and “Jacob Black.”

“Seven Ways to Win Back Your Gaming Spouse”

1. Learn from the game

Games like World of Warcraft use classic behavioral control techniques: they tie small rewards very closely to repetitive chores. If your spouse is neglecting household tasks — a common complaint among sufferers — try employing a little positive reinforcement. The next time he empties the trash, play a loud ‘Ding!’ sound and tell him his Refuse-Disposal skill just increased.

Love it! Read the rest of the article here. Thanks to my friend Karen for the lead.

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Gaming isn’t a problem in our marriage because H and I both love gaming! Sometimes we play separately — I’d play Puzzle Quest on my DS or Sims on the computer, and he’d play God of War on his PSP. Sometimes we’d play together — competing against each other in Wheel of Fortune on the computer, or playing a team in PS2′s Star Wars Lego. Super duper fun.

My husband and I were having breakfast one time (we were still working at the same office then), and part of our conversation went something like this:

Me: “I got a body skill! I saw a gym and then went to the punching bag ’til I gained one body point.”
H: “How’d you do that?! Where were you?”
Me: “I just walked and walked and saw this gym. There was even a boxing ring and a mirror so you can practice your charisma.”
H: “Whoa!”

An officemate passed by and did a double-take when she saw it was us she had been hearing.

Officemate: “Oi! I thought a couple of buddies were talking. I didn’t think it was a husband and wife talking that way!”

That was nice! :D We were talking about The Urbz: Sims in the City on Game Boy Advance.

The couple that games together, stays together.

But if you don’t, then maybe the above article can help. Now excuse me, I have to beat H’s high score on Luxor.

Twilight Movie Updates: Golden contacts, crash scenes and more

Want to see a pic of Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz) with golden eyes? It is HOT. Here’s the link -> Hotness.

There’s a video of the crash scene on YouTube.

A fan culls pictures of the movie developments in her Flickr page. If you’re a Twilight lover, you have to subscribe to this page. Check out the high school sign, the meadow, the baseball field, the Cullen home. I love it how Twilight fans are so involved!

Those are the updates for now!

Comfort is a blue bowl of…

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… macaroni & cheese!

Another kind of comfort food. It was dark out, I had some alone time, I was too lazy to move. Love those days. But I was hungry. I wanted something creamy and filling. Aha! Macaroni and cheese. Not from scratch, from a box. Easy peasy.

Comfort is a blue bowl of mac & cheese love. ♥ Want some?

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