I was so proud of myself because I actually finished my first book of the year early this January. It was Debbie Macomber’s Thursday’s At Eight. My mother-in-law gave me a few books to take home when we were in New York last December to spend holidays with them. Once we got back home I spent organizing the remnants of traveling, and put away holiday decorations. At night I would spend a couple of hours reading my book so I finished it in no time. I think 1st week of January. So now I’m working on my 2nd book of the year. it’s another Macomber story called Orchard Valley Brides. It’s taking me a while to finish it because I’ve been distracted with other things these days, like Word with Friends and Scrambles, perhaps? *Teehee*

So what is Thursday’s At Eight about? it’s basically about 4 friends who meet up at eight in the morning every Thursday. 4 different women, with 4 different lives and problems. I want to have 3 friends to meet on Thursdays, or any day, at about 12noon coz I like to sleep in on some days. It depends how stressed I am, haha.

This book 2, Orchard Valley Brides, is kinda slow for me. It’s actually 2 stories in one book. I’ve only read probably 25 pages of the first story. I’m going to try to read more this weekend coz it drives me crazy knowing I’m being slow with this. Another one of my quirks, of course.

So what are you reading this month? Do you have a list for the year?

One of the things my daughter and I enjoy doing besides cooking together is doing crafts. I wish I remember to take pictures of our craft times but sometimes I find myself being so in the task that I completely forget about the camera. That’s a bummer for making memories especially for a scrapbooker like me but sometimes it’s good too. This generation is too obsessed with taking pictures of everything that we forget to feel the moment. Like were there doing something but we’re too busy trying to take the best shot. Hey, I’m guilty of that a lot so no judging here.

Anyhooo, my favorite place to go to for ideas is Personal Creations. If you connect on their Facebook page, you’ll get not only craft ideas to do with your kids, the page also provide tips and tricks on daily chores, store sales, and a nice community for parents, crafters, etc. So check’em out when you can. Personal Creations just posted a link for making play-doh so I think that’s our next project. Wish us luck.

I can’t believe it’s the 3rd week of January. So what have you guys accomplished this first month of 2012? Have you given up on your New Year’s resolution? Did you know that the 2nd week of January is supposedly the time when most people give up on their resolutions? I was a little miffed at that “statistics” last week coz I kinda did gave up on mine for 3 days. but that’s only because I had tooth extraction and my husband suggested I should probably take it easy with my workout. My Dentist didn’t mention anything though but then again I never asked. All he said was my mouth will be tender for a couple of days but I should be fine. And I was fine. Shoot, my face was numb for hours. It was awesome.

Anyhooo, accomplishments for this month? Well, nothing biggie besides getting that tooth out that has bugged me for 8 years, really. I was so afraid of Dentists that I endured the pain that would come in 1 week every month. But that’s done and over with. My husband and I high-five each other on our drive home then I posted in Facebook and Twitter that I ♥ my Dentist, Haha. I’ve also finally decided to organize my stuff for going back to school. It’ll be an online program so everything is cool. I got my hair cut. It’s layered and shorter. I wanted to go shorter actually but I chickened out in the end and kept it a little bit longer than shoulder length. Hmm, what else? I learned what Ordinateurs are. Does that count?

Well, that’s about it for now. Oh wait, I finished the 3 seasons of united States of Tara today thanks to Netflix which I started last Friday. Yup, I lead a weird and boring life. How’s Yours?

Ringtones are pretty much an extension of a person’s identity. If you like a song, you not only listen to it over and over again. You end up buying the ringtone version of it for your cellphone. I for one have used Mary J Blige, and Pussycat Dolls ringtones in the past. These days I like Maroon 5′s Move Like Jagger, anything by Jessie J, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, and of course Kelly Clarkson. Isn’t it fun to have specific ringtones for specific people? I like doing that coz I like to represent my contacts with their fun personality. I’m generous that way .

If you’re looking for a place to be able to create your own ringtone for your cellphone, check out Mobile17. The website lets you download either an MP3, M4A, WAV, WMA, or OGG file from your own computer. It then converts the song into a standardized format which takes about a few minutes, then you can edit it into a 40-second ringtone by picking particular parts of the song for your cellphone. Mobile17 works with LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Nokia, and iPhone. Mobile17 also lets you sent it to different networks including Sprint, Verison, T-Mobile and AT&T with worldwide availability as well.

YES, ringtone maker apps for iPhone and Android are available for downlaods as well.

Emma loves to bake. If it was up to her we’d be baking cookies, cakes, and cupcakes, everyday. But of course we can’t do that so we do it on the weekends. She definitely had fun with all the Holiday baking we did last year. Anyhooo, for Christmas, Nan and Pop gave her a Kid’s Cupcake Bake Set from Bed Bath and Beyond. The set came with apron, wooden mixing spoon, icing spreader, 5pc measuring spoons, 12 cup nonstick mini cupcakes pan, 1(24 count) mini cupcake liners, cupcake stand and vinyl carry bag.

We made mini chocolate banana cupcakes.

And regular sized ones too. BTW, I added chocolate chips on the recipe so the cupcakes are more decadent. And another thing, the cupcake bake set is currently on sale for $2.99. NICE!

Thanks for the post from Sylvester Campbell

Having VoIP for business has been such a lifesaver for my little company. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have such a strong technology background – it’s the only thing that keeps my small business looking professional with the way things are right now. I can’t understand how some people are able to be in this business and NOT be struggling because for me it’s hard just to pay myself, much less have employees on the books but you know, I guess it’s all part of the trade off. I get all the responsibility for owning this little company which means I get to make all the decisions and whatnot but I also get all of the bad stuff when it comes time to figure out why things aren’t going well. It’s nice to have a flexible schedule but flexible doesn’t mean I don’t have to work much – I don’t EVER get a day off – it just means I get to work at 2am as much as I get to work at 2pm!

Everyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE SHOES. My dear mother-in-law is one of those people. She definitely made my Christmas really cool thanks to the shoes calendar that she gave me as a Christmas gift. It’s literally a page-a-day gallery of shoes. 1 shoes/per day.

The shoes featured varied from the ones I’d definitely wear, to the artistically designed couture shoes that would look so great in a closet to show off to at museums or display cabinets at home.

The calendar is supposed to be for my office desk but since the desk is already filled with my paraphernalia, I decided to put it in the end table right next to the couch. The end table that holds the laptop which is technically my husband’s end table since he’s the one who always sits on the side of the couch that’s near it. Now he can look at women’s shoes everyday in calendar form as well. Haha!

You can have the same shoes calendar by purchasing it at Workman for $15.99.

We welcomed 2012 by celebrating my birthday. Yup, I’m a New Year’s Eve Baby!

But before that, my dear husband tortured me with a tightly shut paper gift bag containing 2 of my birthday gifts which by the way were also wrapped. He didn’t trust me enough not to peek. He knows too well.

In the morning of my birthday, he made pumpkin eggnog french toast, bacon and french vanilla coffee for breakfast. Such a yummy way to start the day. Then I opened my gifts.

My husband gave me a necklace which has a key pendant and 2 intertwined hearts on top. The 2 hearts represent my children while the key of course belongs to my husband. Something like that. My children gave me a butterfly in a jar. I’ll have to take a video of it to show you what it is.

We just lounged around the house, watched TV, and finished my book until it was time for dinner. We went to Hibachi restaurant for that. Before that though, I stopped by an Asian store to get some Pinoy goodies supply. We went back home after stopping at an alcohol where I picked a bottle of Tequila while Scott picked a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Before hitting the booze, we had the traditional ice cream birthday cake. My husband of course switched the numbers before putting in the right one. He’s funny like that!

We celebrated in our house which we’ve done in the previous years. My husband woke up fine with no signs of hangover. I on the other hand nursed a headache coz unlike my husband who was also drinking water while downing his JD, I drank water right before I went to bed. I should have know that wouldn’t work but oh well, it’s something to be blogging about now, haha.

I wish everyone a hopeful and more blessed 2012.