Marriage and Beyond

With all this Melamine scare on milk formula, and getting another brand on the list of those that are found to be positive every so often, what mother would not be concerned. When I read from this AskDrSears.com article that goat’s milk is so much better than cow’s milk, I just knew I had to try this local brand, Milk Star’s fresh goat’s milk. I just chanced upon it when I was doing my regular grocery shopping.

Read on from AskDrSears.com:

Although the mineral content of goat’s milk and cow’s milk is generally similar, goat’s milk contains 13 percent more calcium, 25 percent more vitamin B-6, 47 percent more vitamin A, 134 percent more potassium, and three times more niacin. It is also four times higher in copper. Goat’s milk also contains 27 percent more of the antioxidant selenium than cow’s milk. Cow’s milk contains five times as much vitamin B-12 as goat’s milk and ten times as much folic acid (12 mcg. in cow’s milk versus 1 mcg. for goat’s milk per eight ounces with an RDA of 75-100 mcg. for children). The fact that goat’s milk contains less than ten percent of the amount of folic acid contained in cow’s milk means that it must be supplemented with folic acid in order to be adequate as a formula or milk substitute for infants and toddlers, and popular brands of goat’s milk may advertise “supplemented with folic acid” on the carton.

It also has less lactose as said: Continue Reading »

It’s a Friday and although a sleep in until a little before noon was a welcome treat, especially with a cooler morning breeze, waking up earlier than usual and hurrying everyone in the household for a quick trip to Cardinal Santos and Greenhills was a nice. What could be better than do things with the family, right?

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But got reinstated. It was around ten in the morning today when I received an email from the EC admin and it reads:

Your account ‘Marriage and Beyond’ on entrecard.com has been deleted. The administrator gave the following reason: rule 5, http://entrecard.com/docs/doku.php?id=blog_quality_standards

Apparently, this blog has been violating Rule #5 which I had no idea that it was. I emailed them back with this response:

I don’t understand. Per rule no.5, my site MarriageandBeyond.com has no full screen ads or pop-ups, making the reason for my account to be deleted as invalid. I hope my blog gets reinstated or give me a better reason why you cannot accept my blog on Entrecard. I have been diligently cautious to make sure my blog follows your TOS, and have remained very active, even getting my blog in the top 10 most popular sites. Please contact me the soonest. I need to understand.

Thank you,

Jennifer

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When the hubby and I treated my folks to a vacation May of this year in Baguio, there was this exhibit that we checked out more than once. The non-digital photography of how Baguio once looked like was breath taking even through those precious captures. I am not really very particular when it comes to art pieces, but I do appreciate good stuff when I see one. Continue Reading »

Our little guy focused on watching his favorite “Cars” movie, while his Ninang Chie and I watch “Caregiver.” We’re so bakya!

Later that Saturday night for Ana’s homecoming celeb, while feasting on tons of pizza and chicken (courtesy of Ana). It is just fun to get together with old friends. Although it would’ve been better if we were complete.

The hubby and I were thrilled to have met with old friends last Saturday. It has been a while since we last saw this wonderful family, December of last year to be exact. One of the things we talked about was traveling in February. They were able to get hold of one of our local airline’s promo packages and you wouldn’t believe how much they got it for! A thousand bucks, roundtrip air tickets for the whole family! That is such a steal! What did you know, I did not waste a minute and hurried to the site, just in case the promo was still available. Too bad, it was not anymore. It would have been fun gracing the island of Boracay once again, this time, with dear friends. We had our honeymoon there in 2001 and it was so long ago that we have to go! Even my mother asked me this morning via YM if we will ever push through to fly to Singapore anytime before the year ends and honestly I have got no concrete answer to that just now.

I know I could make use of one of those airline credit cards, if I only had one! I have heard about all those perks being given to frequent flyers and it is something that people could really take advantage of. We all know how costly it is to fly, whether local or international.

1. Right now, I’m feeling like I’m a chef!
2. With my loved ones is where I want to be.
3. How does one manage a straight face while lying?
4. My faith keeps me on track.
5. Please don’t just drop your Entrecard and leave. Post me a phrase or two, will you?
6. My son fills me with joy.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to finish my special embutido so I could proceed to bake Mrs. Field’s cookies (I’m using the original recipe) so that I could watch Prison Break’s Episode 8. Tomorrow my plans include hosting a get together at our home (one in the morning for the hub’s old time college friends and in the afternoon with some of our barkada from church) and Sunday, I want to attend the worship service.

Most of the time, I really can’t go wordless, here’s the next to its sequel. Our family decided to prep for the holidays a little earlier this year. At least if we weren’t able to do the shopping part then this kind of preppin’ up for the holidays will do for now. It is fun to have our little guy not just stare at the hubby and I while we do the preppin’- It was a little like that last year, basically because it was the first time ever that we put up a tree after he was born (last year).

There is a reason for the bare tree – we still have not decided the theme we’re going to have this year. Despite the absence of the ornaments, we had it erected nevertheless, and even had the little guy place the star on top, look at how serious he is in the business of carefully putting the star in place.

that priceless smile on his face.

I was playing with our camera’s presets, testing which one is perfect for taking a picture of this lit tree, when this little guy gleefully showed up in front of my lens with this joyful jump.

To match this erected tree is the Christmas Potpourri Jar in Cinnamon Holidays that I made myself. The house now smells so Christmasy. I’m also thinking of making some Christmas magnets. Wait until we get around on the perfect theme for the tree, I will later post what theme we decide on.

Our first photo ever as a brand new family via my former SEs700i camphone (May 2005). The little guy was just a few days old.

These succeeding ones are two of our latest family photos. I have not been photo hunting for a while and when the theme got posted this weekend, I knew I just had to do some rummaging. I swear I could have posted more, If I wasn’t a little slack in taking photographs lately.

I couldn’t resist this kind of smile the little guy does. It’s his silly face again. We would tease him that when he does this face, if he doesn’t look like he’s doing number two, he looks like a toddler male “Chichay.” I am so tempted to get a picture of him with this face made into one of those personalized funny t-shirts. I’m sure it’s gonna be fun wearing them!

Marriage and Beyond = 300
Handy Tips and Hints = 300
Kikay Corner = 300
so it goes… = 300
The Aspacio’s = 300
Football Videos and Pictures = 300
Auto Repair and Principles = 300
Life as Experienced Daily = 300
Online Money Making = 300
Breaking Point Blog = 300

Total = 3,000

I can’t believe it! I did a total of 3,000 drops for this day! Yay! 300 each for 5 of my blogs and 300 each for 5 of the hubby’s 5 blogs. I am not sure if Entrecard just got faster or it was my newly reformatted laptop. Whatever that is, I am so fine by it. In fact, I love it!

That did not mean I had to miss all my other tasks for the day. I did the usual stuff. Still reached my daily quota, went through my daily routine. In fact I slept earlier than usual last night and got up at nine in the morning. Oh well, I just hope this will not be the last.

As promised, here is my kitchen worktable that doubles as my mini counter. I love it! The hubby finished in four hours last Saturday – he was dead tired after. Why won’t he be, he skipped breakfast and had late lunch just for him to give this to me the soonest time possible. I told him I wasn’t at all in a hurry, but he insisted anyway. After that, we were convinced that a constructions worker’s job is not easy after all, which explains the joke people throw at each other when one downs a whole plate of rice in no time.

I know the finish can be better. As mentioned in my post prior to this that the hubby made use of stuff that we already have, even the self-adhesive decorative vinyl that finished the furniture. There was one roll that was left from the ones we used for the closet back in the last apartment we rented in Makati. One roll was not enough. We will cover it all up when we get a hold of another roll in the coming days. Meanwhile, I believe it’s neat that I already have this furniture to serve me in the kitchen. I love that my dear hubby is able to do these pretty things himself. Later that day, he was down on his pencil and paper asking me of the specifications that I want for our home office table. He’s really at it! I just told him that it is all up to him, I am still not over my pretty worktable/mini counter.

The hubby is making me a worktable! It was the first thing he worked on as soon as he got up this morning. I insisted that he eats breakfast first, but he was too eager to work on the table.   Continue Reading »

To be honest I am amazed at how the lemon grass juice has worked for our family. Aside from the fact that everyone enjoys the taste, it really is very beneficial to our health.

Even my father was surprised that Lemon grass a.k.a. Tanglad (in our vernacular) can be used more than just for cooking our local dishes and regular viands. This wonderful smelling herb has always been associated to great Asian dishes like Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese. And who could miss out the relaxing smell of a lemon grass scented candle.

Fact is the health benefits of Lemon grass are countless. First, studies have shown that it has antibacterial and antifungal properties. It is also known to help cleanse and detoxify the liver, pancreas, kidneys, bladder and the digestive tract. I could perhaps even point to this juice why I don’t have arthritis attack lately despite the legumes and nuts in my diet. It is also known to cut down uric acid, cholesterol, fats. For those breastfeeding mothers, it also aides in lactation. Topically, it can also help in eliminating acne when used as toner. It can also be used as remedy to the deadly Malaria, fever and colds. I can personally vouch for it as an effective cold remedy. It worked for my three year old. The day he had colds, he would sneeze non stop coupled with bad runny nose. I had him take the juice every meal and the next day, no sign that he ever had the colds the previous day. Amazing!

Amazed enough? The list goes on and on. There are weeks when I get too lazy to do the Lemon grass concoction. The truth is I have no opportunity to get lazy ever. I don’t move a finger in a day and our household could possibly collapse, seriously. All I really need is to remind myself that it’s no more than cutting the sheaves about an inch and soaking them in vinegar for five. Rinse and then dunk everything to the boiling water. Once a week. That would yield to three liters of juice. Just that thought and I can get to my feet.

Allow me to digress. Working from home can really have its set backs. First, I really can’t tell my kiddo that mama is working. Even if I do, he will not completely understand why I cannot just attend to him whenever he wants. That was something I had to learn (and still learning) to manage and handle right. So I shift from working online to doing my chores to taking care of my kid and back again to the endless sweet cycle. Continue Reading »

It is almost mid October and the heat is still really bad. Crazy weather. One minute there is a typhoon (a bad one) which makes the air cool and the next we’re like being thrown in fire pits because the heat is so bad. The very culprit to my son getting bad colds last Sunday. We even had to miss church because of it and got him to drink several cups of lemon grass juice, which he calls his “juice medicine.” It proved to be very effective, his colds did not last one day. No synthetic medicines for our little guy, thank you.

It has been days since my laptop started causing me problems, I am actually kind of getting it that it will only be a matter of time until it totally bugs down on me. I am looking into some online back up services, just in case.

One site that I found handy is GadgetAdvisor.com. They also have got fresh news everyday of product releases on everything techie from universal remote control to network media player to what have yous. If you are aware how rapid the evolution of technology is, you know how handy this site can be.

Okay, I am officially thrilled! Remember this post, “A Pleasant Surprise from PayU2Blog”? They finally went on with the game last week and tonight I did not just receive $100 to my PayPal account but $200! That was definitely worth the wait. This means that the two who played badminton for me, won. This is such an unexpected blessing and a belated birthday present! Thank you PayU2Blog! Less than a year since I started writing for you via two of my blogs that get steady stream of jobs week in and week out, and now this, what more can I ask for?! God bless your team and may more advertisers flock in.

You guys rock!

I guess I got bored with my old chocolate chip recipe that I had to try someone else’s. I have had Mrs. Field’s recipe for a couple of years now, but it was only today that I got to try it out. It took me quite a while because it looked too tedious. Imagine, having to grind the oats! I thought the rolled one is as good as it already is. Not that grinding was going to be a task. I have my handy processor to do just that.

I tell you this processor deserves a pedestal all its own. It is so all around.  If you have seen how it works on home TV shopping,  believe it!  I almost do not have to put it in storage.  Because I use it when I bake cookies and cakes (carrot), when I make embutido, cook lumpiang Shianghai, et. al.  It has been with me since our little guy was an infant. Having refused to give him the commercial cerelac and Gerber stuff, I had his brown rice processed to powder before cooking. Then gradually transitioned from powder to the semi powdered consistency until his rice graduated from having to get processed via the grinder.   Continue Reading »

Just when I thought a problem with my laptop is enough to keep me busy, last night I got even busier when the windows update that I downloaded won’t properly install. I am getting this prompt that something needs to be saved, but when I do, nothing happens anyway. This has been happening a lot, that is also why I cannot even use my instant messenger anymore. And it all started when I enabled the No Script Mozilla add on. I am trying to figure out the connection of it all. I guess I am not just techie enough. Oh well…

It’s a good thing the printer is functioning well, or else I am really going into indefinite hibernation! And why the printer, you ask? I am playing around this digiscrapping software, so the printer has to be all ready for my “masterpieces”. Thanks to Repah, I finally got a decent digiscrap software. Her reply to one of my posts got me to hit her site back with a visit and there I found my treasure software. I have been looking for one that’s the easiest to use with fuss free installation. I got to practice on our family’s Christmas photo. I’m still working on it, not final yet. I was just so thrilled that it took me less than five minutes to get this together.(thumbnail) :D

My less than a year old MSI Core Duo Megabook has been acting up these past couple of days. It just shuts off without warning, much like the problem I used to have with my old unit. I really am not sure if it’s a computer memory issue, because I already have a separate external hard drive to house my files.

The dilemma is actually if I should have it checked or not. If I will have it checked, I am left with the hubby’s work station which is ultra slow compared to my notebook. And if I do, whatever the problem is, chances are the warranty will answer the cost.

Here is the message that prompts whenever I try to turn my unit back on after it mysteriously shuts off by itself. Maybe you know where the problem lies and how urgent it needs to get dealt with. Care to share?

The problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. If this is the first time you’ve seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps: The BIOS in this system is not fully ACPI compliant. Please contact your system vendor or visit http://www.hardware-update.com for an updated BIOS. If you are unable to obtain an update BIOS or the latest BIOS supplied by your vendor is not ACPI compliant, you can turn off ACPI mode during text mode setup. To do this, simply press the F7 key when you are prompted to install storage drivers. The system will not notify you that the F7 key was pressed – it will silently disable ACPI and allow you to continue your installation. Technical information *** STOP: 0×000000A5 (0×00000011, 0×00000006, 0×00000000, 0×00000000)

82 days to go till Christmas. This is what woke me up this morning. Am I to panic? Even as my father emailed that he is sending his gift for his beloved grand child, I cannot help but think that I don’t have that much time left to do my Christmas shopping. So long to the former plan that we will do it real early this year.

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