Ayie


Last Monday, December 27 we headed out with hubs' family to see snow. It was quite a drive about 4hrs+ from home. Since we don't have snow here in California so going somewhere else can be a fun way to spend a white Christmas. This post is just a teaser, I have more to show later of course with my precious little boy who enjoyed it the most!


Ayie
Finding a good web hosting site is something I really can't do on my own. Thanks to my dear husband who's very decisive and keen with these services, it's something I didn't have to take care of. I like to write, blog or just post random photos but if you were to ask me to do some researches and get deeper into the technical aspect of blogging then that's something I wouldn't want to deal with.

I don't know if I'm just disinterested or simply lazy to do all these things, maybe it's just the fact that hubs has his ways on this matter. Funny that I have been blogging for the past 2yrs and up to now I just care about posting stuffs. I leave all the tedious works to hubs and just do my own thing. Could it be because I used to hear him complain so much about how time consuming abd tiring setting up the blogs can take? Well I don't really know but no matter what I'll leave things as how it is now.
Ayie
Whenever me and my bestfriend talk we always review and lay out plans for our possible future business, bes and I always wanted to establish our own business and we had several ideas which kind should we have in time At first we thought of making pouches and bags, all personalized but we were too busy with our schooling that time and it's quite impossible to produce the items we want to market. Later on that idea had to be thrown away because a company happened to market the same business idea we had during our college years. That company became successful. We wondered if we'll be on that position if we ever pushed through with the business, maybe yes?

We gave it a shot with a little side business after college. If you remember I blogged about our chocolate business and it was a success. We only managed to be on business during the holidays because we were both working that time with very hectic schedules. Aside from our busy work schedules I had to deal with the restaurant/cafeteria business mom franchised too. I had to help with some marketing ideas like flyers, banners and restaurant website design. There were times when I had to entertain students asking for information about the dishes that were being served, if I remember it right it was Persian cuisine. I believe it's not very common and I honestly don't understand why mom went for it despite our disapproval when she asked us.

The food business didn't last so long unfortunately due to politics. There was a point when sales were reaching its peak but the other small concessions started to feel alarmed and appealed to the admin to restrict us from selling certain items and dishes. That took a toll on the business and in the long run put it down, mom had to close it down before she lose more if the operations prolong. It was bad politics and we could've been very successful with it if we didn't mind what the admin had to say though it's hard to work and operate when you know people will try to hinder your growth and success.

There are times when you have to keep going and keep fighting for what you believe but sometimes you have to weigh the possibilities and consequences and see if you will gain or lose in the end. It's not bad to back off when needed it much bigger things are at stake. This move won't mean defeat and instead will serve as a lesson for you to be stronger and wiser in making decisions and choices in life.


Ayie

Happy Holidays!!!

Ayie

I've heard people say that the first snow of the year depresses them. I don't understand this reaction to the snow that I see as beautiful, but I know that it's true for many people. I guess the snow signifies that the summer and fall months have gone away and that there will be days that must be spent indoors. It's tough not being able to go outdoors when you want to, but it's also tough to be depressed. There should be so many ways that people can crawl out of that depression and at least learn to live with the season.

The first snow usually comes around Christmas, so Christmas is one bright spot. It's a time of togetherness and family. It's also a time of receiving and giving, two of the favorite things of almost everyone. As you enjoy this kind of activity, try to improve your attitude and think about all the wonderful things that happen over the Christmas holiday. You can make sure that the next time that snow falls, you'll be happy.

Be sure to curl up and watch plenty of DirectStarTV when it snows. This will give you the experience of watching happy and exciting things even when you can't get out in the world to do them yourself. Stay merry and bright, at least as much as possible.

I appreciate the guest post, Vito Rivers

Ayie
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Ayie
Nope I didn't grow wings nor get flying license, I just finished the final part of my paperworks which is the biometrics this noon time. The immigrations services already got my fingerprints and picture taken plus I have a receipt notice which states my clearance to travel. We can finally nail down our flight back home for a visit.


Aside from the biometrics appointment earlier we also drove to places to do things. After the immigration thing we passed by a car dealer just to browse around and see if they still have the Kia Sportage model. There's a new Kia dealer along the way going to our next destination so we decided to just check. We were told about a free Kia oil change once you puchase a unit. Also we accomplished the boxes and baby's picture with Santa before heading back home to prepare for the office Christmas dinner potluck. I will just blog about the dinner later on and the Santa thing.

Such a busy day and very tiring, I am actually starting to fall asleep while typing this =P Me and hubs are just so happy to finally get things straightened out with the travel clearance. We will soon get our tickets and have the vacation we've been wanting to take!!!! Anyway I better stow away my laptop and sleep with baby now, I can make use of some good rest after a long tiring day. I can't wait til tomorrow to write about this good news even if I'm practically falling asleep typing! *lol*
Ayie
I looked at the calendar this morning and I was surprised to see that it's just a week before Christmas. I am now in a Christmas panic mode because I haven't done my gift shopping and there's barely time to do it. I am relying on my online shopping since our little J has been sick lately due to his teething. Good thing I had hubs office gifts covered already, we can hand it to them during the office Christmas dinner.



I usually give the same gifts to friends so there won't be comparison, everybody gets the same thing as much as possible. Same thing with some relatives so even if they ask and compare (accidentally), no jealousy or whatsoever. Of course not exactly the same but different designs or styles of that same item. Doing this saves me too because buying wholesale products usually are priced lower than single retails. I usually check out wholesale suppliers and any wholesalers outlets and sites for good quality but nicely priced items. This way I get to give to many without doing so much damage to my budget. Economy's tough here right now so it's better to be practical.



Hopefully if I place my orders tonight everything will still come before Christmas so even baby can unwrap his first Christmas presents on time. I already hang his stocking (socks) for Santa, hopefully it will be stuffed with gift on time =)


Ayie
...mommy...

I stumbled upon this old photo of mine when I was organizing my HD folders and right after seeing it again I knew baby has a shot almost looking like me here. Be the judge and spot the difference!

...baby...

Ayie

San Francisco is about 1hr drive from our place and we usually go there for specific reasons only. Whenever we go there we try to make the most of our time visiting other places there like the Chinatown, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate and some other places. Hubs doesn't enjoy much driving through the very busy streets of the downtown San Francisco area because of the narrow roads, pedestrians crossing here and there and a lot of one way streets. You can easily get lost there if you are not too keen about the area.


Having a trusty map is a must whenever we go there just in case we lose satellite reception from our handy dandy GPS. There was a time when we had to keep making rounds trying to find our way in San Francisco. Though hubs was born and raised there he spent most of his childhood year in Alameda. He still remember few places around SF so somehow we were able to navigate there even when our GPS won't cooperate.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch in Chinatown the very first time he brought me there. Also got a tea set as a souvenir from Chinatown. On our next visit we made sure to eat the famous clam chowder in Fisherma's Wharf. That long walk from Pier 1 to 39 sure made us hungry! We still plan to visit Pier 39 again to take baby to the aquarium there and eat in Bubba Gump. There are many places there in SF like Japantown, Botanical Gardens, Science Museum, Exploratorium, Alcatraz and more to see for our next visits there.

Ayie
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Ayie
How involved should parents be when it comes to their kid's education? I strongly believe parents should be well involved and teach their kids. As a parent you should be there to sit down and listen to your kids and enjoy doing things with them. Same thing goes with their education. A parent being there to supervise and facilitate in the learning process can make a huge difference with how the kids learn and adapt to things.

However not everybody gets to have parents who can always sit down with them and help with their homework. Most parents now are very busy and really working very hard to raise a decent living for the family. As much as they want to really be involved with the school homework and projects time seems to be their foe. This doesn't mean you're a bad parent if you don't get to do this much with your kid, sometimes you just don't have a choice.

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Ayie
Blogging for money is the common trend today, some people look at blogging as a means of income. That wasn't my case when I decided to start blogging. The long distance relationship wasn't easy and hubs started blogging to keep him occupied and later on asked me to do the same thing too. I think we matured enough through the years leaving behind the age of war days when we disagree on things so I decided to support him since he's getting much into it so we can share something together. Later on he found out he can earn through advertising and tried implementing it in the blogs. Of course it's not like what others earn but that opened his eyes with the potential blogs can do.

When I moved here in US I found blogging as my friend, I get to express myself and rant when I want to. Then it opened my door to meeting friends here and later on discovered how I can earn from it. Some blogger friends introduced me to advertisers and very timely because the economy here isn't doing so good and work on hubs' end kind of slowed down. He doesn't get to complete his full hours therefore cutting off quite a chunk of his pay. Architecture isn't an easy job so I had to find other means of income too, projects come and go and not all has much works to do. As you all know we were blessed with a baby boy and having a family addition can be heavy in the budget. Blogging helps me sustain baby stuffs and some other minor things here at home. I don't earn like those pro bloggers out there but we're already very thankful for everything.

I can say that blogging can be considered as a full time job for those who devote 100% to it. For some it may just be purely passion and for others it's both. No matter whether it's for money or not it takes a great amount of effort to maintain a good running blog. Tweeting, facebooking or sneaking boxhead 2 and gaming can be pretty tight when you don't have so much time to spare. Serious blogging surely can use up all your time though I am not on that level, I am still very much grounded and can still do some other things.

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