5 Things Found In My Bag

• Wallet
• Cellphone
• Pens
• Pads
• Needle and thread

5 Things Found In My Wallet

• Coins
• Credit / debit cards
• Children’s photos
• Drivers license
• Insurance cards

5 Things Found In My Room

• TV
• Bed
• Computers
• Books
• Tapes/CDs

5 Things I’ve Always Wanted To Do

• Cook and share with friends
• Travel to awesome places I haven’t visited within Arizona and neighboring states.
• To exercise regularly (which I haven’t been doing)
• To have more time for photography
• To visit friends and relatives

5 Things I’m Currently Into

• Working
• Managing site
• Tuning in to local radio hoping to hear my daughter sing.
• Taking yoga (but the schedule makes me miss it 50% of the time)
• Taking pictures now and then

Will not tag anyone but should you like to do this meme, you may do so.

I like red for every situation except for my own wardrobe. Red looks horrible on me from every angle. Even red lipstick doesn’t look good on me, and would rather prefer to use lip gloss.

Here are the rules:
1. Post your photo wearing red, may it be a red top, bottom, the least would be red accessories if you hate wearing red… If you can’t find one, you still have an option…. Either post your Significant Other’s photo or your child’s photo, if you have one. Of course, they should be wearing red.

2. Let us know the reason why you were wearing red that particular day. Was it your birthday? Is red your fave color or was it the shirt that you first saw in your closet that day?

3. Tag 3 people close to your heart. By the way, they have to be in your blogroll. No cheating heart please.

4. Once you’re tagged, please keep it going – just for this month.

Just to remind you not to cheat: tag 3 people close to your heart =)

After looking through my old pictures, I came across this one taken just last Christmas. Why Steffi was wearing red? Colors red and green are commonly associated with Christmas and are called Christmas colors which represent life and blood. I posted this pictures already in my blog a couple of months ago and I am reposting this once again for this particular meme. My daughter, Steffi, looks stunning in red, doesn’t she?

I am tagging my friends E, Elyani, and Fe. Thanks girls!

I do blog next to a window but all I can see is a wall that my husband built for privacy. Behind that wall is our next door neighbor’s house, and there is nothing worthwhile to look at, thus, I leave that window half close most of the times. The window across from my computer, however, faces to the garden where we enjoy lush setting of garden environment during summer and spring, and even fall. Though, there is not much to it right now because all the trees and flowers lost its foliage in preparation for winter. In fact, today was the first time it went 4 degrees below zero. And during winter, I hardly ever visit my yard.

I had taken some pictures of the garden last summer right after I finished weeding. And here they are:

This is where we try to garden after the danger of frost is over. Notice I used the word try because except for the first year when our garden was prolific, the next years weren’t as productive due to the weather unpredictable behavior and pest problem.

What does this picture remind you of? What can you see? Tough huh? I might as well just give you the answer.

“The colossal rock profile on the mountain takes the shape of a man’s head, a man lying serenely on his head. His face is rugged and noble, with a long, curve nose, and domed forehead. For an eyelash, is a 100 foot Douglas fir that is quite not visible from this picture. The historical image represented is said to be Cochise, the brilliant chief of Chiricahua Apaches. Cochise preferred diplomacy to warfare. He remained friendly with white settlers until 1861 when he was accused of rustling and kidnapping. When a rash Army Lieutenant attempted to arrest Cochise at Apache pass, an unfortunate war of 11 years broke out.”

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? I was only with one person last night and it was my husband and he didn’t say anything to trigger a laugh. It is usually me who makes him laugh, So the answer is none.

2. What were you doing at 0800? Working

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Taking shower

4. What happened to you in 2006? I had the privilege of meeting my college batch mates for the first time after 20 + years.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? “No Mango, don’t bite me or you go in the cage!”

6. How many beverages did you have today? I had a cup of tea in the morning, a jug of water, a bottle of fresh berry juice, a cup of hissup tea, another cup of green tea, and a glass of green and vitamin C juice.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Black.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? $6.48 for 5 apples, 2 avocados, and a bottle of fresh juice.

9. Where were you last night? At home.

10. What color is your front door? Beige

11. Where do you keep your change? In my purse, in my pocket….everywhere. no one is picking up quarters in my house anymore.

12. What’s the weather like today? Always sunny with nice blue sky and patches of white clouds.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Cherry and nuts

14. What excites you? Long weekend trip

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Nope, I just had a haircut.

16. Are you over the age of 25? Yes, just slightly over..ha ha!

17. Do you talk a lot? At times, I do depending on the topic of conversation. But when I am busy, I awfully quiet.

18. Do you watch the O.C.? O.C.? No clue what it means.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yes, Yes! and I sleep with him.

20. Do you make up your own words? When singing, I do…sometimes. And then my kids would correct me.

21. Are you a jealous person? No.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Annie from college days.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. K, my kababayan friend that I met through the internet.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? My daughter.

25. What does the last text message you received say? My text messaging feature is disabled.

26. Do you chew on your straw? Yes, I do sometimes.

27. Do you have curly hair? Wavy but I like it straight and curl at the bottom.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? We are going on a little trip for photography that my husband and I enjoy doing.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? I haven’t encountered anyone in a long while that I can recall. I am nice kasi…hehe.

30. What was the last thing you ate? I am currently eating brown rice and hot and spicy sardines with hot bikol express that I cooked quite a while ago. (I didn’t finish filling out the questions last night so I am finishing it today.)

31. Will you get married in the future? Am married already. This set of questions seems appropriate for the young and single.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? None, not a movie goer. I would rather take a walk or do something else unless someone invites me.

33. Is there anyone you like right now? I’d like to take a peek at what my kids are doing.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Last week, and I am about to wash a sink full of dirty dishes right now. My husband seems to be saving those for me.

35. Are you currently depressed? No!

36. Did you cry today? No!

37. Why did you answer and post this? Because Zherwin is kindly returning a favor .

38. I’m tagging K (and I know he will do this in no time), Fe, niceheart (returning a favor hehe), and Rhodora.

Took this picture just a while ago during our leisurely walk.

I was tagged by niceheart for this interesting meme. I actually followed the instructions explicitly, didn’t I?

• Where is your cellphone? Desk
• Relationship? Fun
• Your hair? Short
• Work? Steady
• Your sister? Estrange (step sister, my one and only)
• Your favorite thing? Photography
• Your dream last night? Ohlala! (secret)
• Your favorite drink? Water
• Your dream car? LandRover
• The room you’re in? Bedroom
• Your shoes? Worn-out
• Your fears? Diseases
• What do you want to be in 10 years? Grandma (hope the kids will not see this)
• Who did you hang out with this weekend? Husband
• What are you not good at? Organizing
• Muffin? Blueberry
• One of your wish list items? Wide-Angle-Lens ( i just found out that it is on the way…yeheyy!, pinagalitan ko si waswit kunwari, bakit hindi ka muna nag consult sa akin bago ka nag order?)
• Where did you grow up? Catanduanes
• Last thing you did? Shower
• What are you wearing? Jammies
• What aren’t you wearing? Socks,etc
• Your pet? Lovebird
• Your computer? Custom-made
• Your life? Busy
• Your mood? Concerned
• Missing? Kids
• What are you thinking about right now? Kids
• Your car? Chevy
• Your kitchen? Dirty (my husband washes them in the morning)
• Your summer? Scorching
• Your favorite color? Blue
• Last time you laughed? Park
• Last time you cried? September
• School? Draining (financially)
• Love? forgiving

Now, who do I tag? Rowena, Elyani, Greymom, Eden, and Dimple.

Long long long time ago, Toe tagged me for eight random facts about myself. Sorry, it took so long to comply with this meme.

This afternoon, while my husband was talking to his friends over the phone, I was eavesdropping, part of the time. Not that I wanted to but I was seated in front of my computer which is just a few steps from where his domain is so I could hear pretty much everything. I overheard him boasting to his friend that I am pretty easy to get along. He definitely earned pogi points for saying this. Just so you know, I didn’t blackmail or force him to say this. I must say, it felt good hearing this from him and the fun part was he didn’t know I heard it. I thought, now is best time to comply with a long overdue meme from Toe. I was hoping to hear more from the conversation but, I had to leave the room to do some chores before I headed to my Yoga class so now, I have to come up with 7 more.

Wait a moment, I might be able to seek help from my husband.

Me: S, I have to do a meme for 8 random facts about me, could you help me?

S: Ahh, friendly, lively, pleasant, comical, whimsical, in good shape for her age, (bakit may pahabol pang for her age)jovial, and bitchy(followed by a big laugh.)

I hope he meant bitchy in a nice way otherwise, no dinner for him tomorrow.

Here are more facts about yours truly:

When my mother died, I asked my friends and co-workers not to comfort, hug, or give me sympathy because I would cry inconsolably if they did, thus, I would not be able to concentrate on my job. Why I went to work, you might ask. Well, I preferred to keep my mind busy and occupied rather than dwelling on it at home. I would definitely go nuts in the house. So, this is my unique way of dealing with grief, which most of you, if not all, might find weird.

It doesn’t take much to please me. My daughters would ask me, mommy, what do you want for Christmas? And I would retort, “I don’t really want anything; you, being good always, is the greatest gift you can give me.” Of course, I always get something from my darling daughters. But with my husband, it is a different story. I want moolah, lots of moolah…hehehe, just kidding.

After living on the outskirts for about 10 years now, I don’t think I can live in the city again. I like trees, mountains, and rivers. I like small town atmosphere, cooler weather, and fresh and clean air. I know there is downside to living on the outlying area especially shopping for especialty items but we are getting by. We go down to the city once in every three week to shop for oriental food or I shop online.

I detest drinking pop. I am more of a water and tea drinker and I squeeze in carrot and green juice in between.

Last but not least: Tengo un amigo que se llama Paco. El es medico y vive en espana. De vez en cuando, el me deja un mensaje por el yahoo messenger. El es muy marvilloso, amable, y inteligente. Tenemos somos amigos por mucho tiempo. Me ayudaste escribir espanol bien. Ojala que practicamos a menudo pero nuestra diferencia del tiempo lo hace duro para nosotros. Si no oigo de el, yo preocupo. Me haria feliz si el me escribe un comento aqui en mi blog.

Now, I would like to pass this meme on to the following people: K, and prof Gerry (the best prof in Catanduanes State Colleges) nursyE, my long time good friend, and Elyani, my good friend from Indonesia,

K and Tina, here is my desktop. Sorry, it took me so long to comply with the meme. I don’t know where this picture was taken. I am using my husband’s computer because I sent mine to my nephew in the Philippines. This computer had been idled for a while, and so we thought it would be better off if we give mine away and let my nephew benefit from it.

On my desktop, I have songs of Stephanie Mae that I click on regularly if I am in the mood for music. I also have the word, word menu, and wordweb pro, which come in handy, but I hardly ever use the rest of the icons because they belong to my husband.

I wanted to post pictures from yesteryears but my mama didn’t document my childhood years. Sad huh? Or if she did, it may have been ruined by many super typhoons that have ravaged our little island. I remember seeing a picture of myself in Hawaiian costume and some high school graduation photos but those seemed to have disappeared, too.  It is sad because my kids wanted to see what I was like when I was little. What can I do?

Here is one that I found after going through my files. This was taken 5 years ago when I was 40 years old.

Here’s another one which was taken two years ago while ordering food in a restaurant. I made this picture into an avatar in PMN so for some of you, this is not new.

And last but not the least, a picture taken two years ago at a wedding on a beach. Let’s see if you can find Waldo, I mean negrang Belle in this picture.

To know more about me, all you have to do is scroll down my blog. I posted my humble beginnings and that tells pretty much about myself. I am basically easy to get along with but I don’t want to be a victim of favoritism. I will fight back. I work hard at what I do and I deserve to be treated fairly and squarely regardless of my color, decent, and background.

I love cooking but am not much into baking although I love to indulge in sweets now and then. It is so easy to gain weight now that I am in mid 40′s. When I was in college, I had to take an apetigen pills in order to gain some pounds, but nothing happened. It proves that you shouldn’t tamper with mother nature. Imagine, I weighed only 97 pounds then and that included clothes. I was often ridiculed for not having a rump in my butt. Hehehe…I got one now, a J-Lo look alike butt. I just have to make sure it doesn’t grow bigger and bigger.

If you like to do this meme, consider yourself tagged. For the mechanics of this meme, please go to Julie’s site . I haven’t really perfected the art of linking.

I have been bestowed with several awards:

First, from Chats of IMoM:

She is such an inspiring woman. Her story of how she rose above her circumstances, her generous heart for the needy, and the awesome job she’s doing with raising two beautiful and brilliant girls inspire me.

Second, from Eden of This Garden of Eden:

Belle - another sweet friend … blogging away from Arizona. The mastermind of my invasion of the blogging world. Esta amiga mía y yo tenemos muchas cosas de que poder hablar. We both like the Spanish language. We both adore our children. We have been attempting to practise the old tradition…. yong maganda niyang anak at ang aking matangkad ang guwapong anak.. She and I can talk too about “poor and poorness”. I admire her struggles to better herself. I salute her for her community projects. ¡Usted oscila, mi amiga!!!

Third, from Elyani of Elyani’s Place:

Her blog was one of the early ones that inspired me to want to blog. A blog site with great story and photography from the first post to the last – enjoyable feast for eyes and senses. Congrats, Belle, I love your work!

And from Verns of TheWalk of My Life-Shlife:

Belle- the one with the heart of gold.

And Verns gave me another award, the Thoughtful Blogger Award for making visitors feel at home in their blogs, kind and courteous, heartwarming entries about thoughtfulness, charities and fundraisers

Ohh, how lucky could I get getting multiple awards. Thank you! Thank you! from deep inside my heart.

And now, it’s time to pass this award on to others who truly rock.

It is time that I pass the award back to Eden of The Garden of Eden . E, as I fondly call her, is a great cook, has green thumb, and is a loyal friend. I talked her into creating her own blog and I am glad she did. She writes interesting articles that make me want to keep coming back to her site. Wait until you see her awesome poems.

And the second person that I like to give the award to is my kababayan K. First, I am going to do something that no one has ever done yet (at least not that I know of) and that is to change the name of the award to Rockin’ Male Blogger. K is such a nice guy. He always has time to reply to the comments made by her blogger-friends. He is forthright with the way he writes. And he is hilarious, too. I tagged him for 10 random facts about his mom and I couldn’t stop laughing as I was reading his entry. What a great sense of humor. You can read his entry here: All About Kathleen

I don’t know how to transfer her songs to youtube so for now, I will direct you to her site: http://www.myspace.com/diveintoblue

At the Edge is my favorite and was recorded by some guy in Stanford U. She is going to cut a CD this summer and I am not sure if these two songs, “Just Like Me” and “Truth’s Failing” will be included. She has a few more songs (3) that I listen on a daily basis but I can’t it possibly share them with you right now because I don’t have a clue on how to post them here. She will be home in a week and will ask her for help. Tina, thanks for the tag. Smarie, thanks for the instuctions on linking.