It's National Delurking Day! (Thanks Patty for the reminder!) So come on, don't be shy! Today is the day you can say "Hi!" if you read my blog but don't usually comment. :-)

It's also Tastykake Day!


Our own wonderful Philadelphia company, (Established in 1914!) Is having some financial difficulties. Today the company was able to refinance some of their loans. But they are definitely struggling. Unfortunately they will most likely have to sell or complete a merger with another company. Their loans have to be repaid by June. Please support this Philadelphia company by buying a few boxes of Tastykakes (If you're on the east coast!) Or by visiting their website and purchasing some goodies! I picked up some Tastykake mini pies today after work. And am shipping my husband Apple & Blueberry pies for Valentines Day. :)

I am also so excited because I pre-ordered The Pioneer Woman's new novel that is coming out in Feb! 'Black Heels to Tractor Wheels!' (Love her blog!)













And finally got to order her cookbook too! (Love free super saver shipping on Amazon.com!)













I discovered that I like Taylor Swift's music. I needed something new to listen too. She reminds me of Michelle Branch, (one of my favorites). And she also reminds me a bit of Avril Lavigne. Sort of a mix of the two. The countryish sound & then because some of the songs have some smart ass lyrics, lol! I have to get F.B. to listen to her music, because I think he'll like her too.
























(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a book or music when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)

So I'm starting a new meme!

Rules: Choose 5 of your favorite blogs and share what you think you have in common or how/why you connect with that blog/blogger. (Similar interests, hobbies, etc.)

1. Keeping up with Me

Jacki is Filipina, I am American. She was married in the USA and I was married in the Philippines. She and her husband worked through immigration and F.B. and I are currently working on immigration. That definitely set the foundation for our friendship. I love reading about Jacki's experiences now living in the USA and how my husband will experience the same some day soon.

2. NYC Girl at Heart

Patty and I both share a love and passion for our cities. For her, New York and for me, Philadelphia. We love our cities, we love sharing about them! We are both East Coast girls! We also love Philippa Gregory's books. And our pets are our babies. (Her dog Max & my rats!)

3. Misguided Mommy

Shannon's husband is Filipino, which is something we have in common. We've always been able to laugh or joke about the little odd quirks or terms our husband's have or use. Like how my husband calls sneakers, "Rubber Shoes", or how her husband puts ketchup on everything & calls flip flips, "slippers". She also loves cooking, which is something I love to do too.

4. Chronicles of an Exhausted Mom

Stephanie and I connected over Tudor history at first. We both love reading about the Tudor's and are fascinated by that era. She also has gone through the immigration experience with her husband as well.

5. Berto and Kwala

I really enjoy Karen's blog posts about the Philippines. And the fact she lives pretty close to where my husband lives is something we have in common. I've driven through her city many many times, even though we've never met yet! She's posted about places I have been before, malls F.B. & I have been too. I like that we share that in common. She also loves to write, which is something I love doing too!


There are many other reasons why I love these blogs as well. The blogging world is a great place as it opens your eyes to other's experiences through life, other places, other cultures. As you follow along, you become connected to that blogger, laugh when they do, cry when they cry, share in their happiness and joy and make some new friends along the way.

One of my very good blogging friends Patty from NYC Girl At Heart is having a giveaway. A few months ago she attended the BlogHer conference in New York City. Kodak invited her to take a bus tour of NYC and snap photos with the Kodak Easyshare M580 Camera she was given. One of her submitted photos was selected by Kodak as a winning photo and she was awarded a purple Kodak Easyshare M580 Camera and a Kodak Pulse Digital Picture Frame to use in a giveaway on her blog!














For all the details on how to enter please visit NYC Girl At Heart!

I've had the same layout for 2 years, so it was time for a change! I used the picture of our wedding rings for my new banner.

Also, this week our immigration lawyer emailed me. The NVC got our paperwork from USCIS and they emailed our lawyer with our case number and the fees we had to pay. We had to pay a $70 fee for our affidavit of support. And $400 for our immigrant visa fee. The money was deducted from our savings account the other day. Now we are just waiting for the NVC to contact us again. Then we can prepare our financial paperwork and I-864!

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

Next Saturday, I'm also getting a new tattoo. I went out today to a tattoo place my cousin recommended. The artist that did my other 2 tattoos two years ago at another shop doesn't work there anymore. I scheduled an appointment for next Saturday at the new tattoo shop.

There are actually 2 tattoo's I want to get. I want to get the "love" verse on the back of my neck. (The location of the love verse to be exact.) But I'm waiting until F.B. is in the USA before I get it. That's our relationship verse and it was used a lot on our wedding day. I want to get it when our immigration is completed and F.B. is in the USA, because then it's like the final chapter in our long distance love story.

Next Saturday night, I'm getting a simple silhouette of a rat underneath on my right wrist. In a way it represents all of the rats I have owned. And also in China a rat symbolizes good luck.

Zephra from Chronicles of an Exhausted Mom passed along the Sunshine Award to my blog! Thanks so much!

I wanted to pass along the award to 12 of my favorite blogs!

1. NYC Girl At Heart

2. Keeping Up With Me

3. A Tale To Remember

4. Tales Of A Misguided Mommy

5. Berto and Kwala

6. Lucky In Love & Life

7. Smiles & Trials

8. FashioniZSta/PassioniZSta In Training

9. Must Love Rats

10. The Rattie Corner

11. Save Leigh Ann

12. Asian Aisle

Time for a blogging meme! (Stolen from BPD in OKC).

1. How long have you been blogging?
I started this blog March 2008. Before I started this blog I used to have an online journal on Xanga.

2. What made you start?
I wanted a place where I could share & document my long distance relationship's story.

3. Who inspired you?
The idea started from reading other blogs out there, I wanted to tell my story too.

4. About how many hours a week would you estimate you spend on your blog?
I'm usually logged into my blogger dashboard reading blogs every day for 1-2 hours. When it comes to my own blog, I may spend 3-4 hours a week writing blogs.

5. What kind of experience or background do you have with writing?
I used to write stories & poetry and songs a lot when I was younger.

6. Talk about how you come up with blog topics. Where do you get your ideas?
I blog mostly about my daily life, my long distance relationship, our immigration process, pets, photography, my trips to the Philippines. I try to keep my topics interesting & unique. Sometimes I like to do features on different places, products, foods, etc.

7. What or who inspires you and your blog?
Life, my husband, the future.

8. Where and/or how do your brainstorming for your blog?
I post a lot of pictures on my blog, so most of the time the stories write themselves from my pictures. Sometimes when I'm out and something interesting is happening, I'll say, "This is blog worthy!"

9. Do you have any blogging rules or guidelines you follow?
I try to link and cross reference posts, so people reading can either back track in my blog or click a link for something I'm talking about to get a better understanding.

10. Is there anything you will not blog about?
I don't blog about work in depth or co-workers.

11. Do you have any sort of a publishing schedule in terms of day of week or topic?
I go with the flow and whenever I'm inspired I blog. When I'm blogging from the Philippines, I try to update at least once a week.

And now in honor of blogging it's time for another giveaway!

I picked up this gorgeous freshwater pearl bracelet & key chain from Kultura in the Philippines. The pearls on the bracelet are an iridescenct burgundy color. (Kind of reddish/purple.) The chain is silver. It's stunning in person, the picture doesn't do it justice! The rubber keychain says, 'Manila, Philippines'.

I'm also including 4 packs of San Mig 3-in-1 instant coffee in: Original & Mild. (best instant coffee ever! I always stock up when I'm in the Phil!) and 2 packs of Close Up Lemon Mint Twist Toothpaste! Both Philippines Products!

To enter the giveaway leave me a comment telling me how you found my blog & why you enjoy reading it.

(Remember anyone can comment, you don't have to be registered on blogger!)

This giveaway is not restricted to the United States, so my international readers can enter! Family & friends are not excluded from the giveaway. I will use a random number generator to determine the winner!

The deadline to enter this giveaway will be: February 22nd, 2010.

(This entry will have a future date until the giveaway is over!)

Well... I had to send back my 1st order because the hoodie & pants were too big. But... Old Navy didn't have the sizes I needed in stock for exchange so they issued me a refund. I went back on their website tonight and picked out a different hoodie in XS and yoga pants in S. So now I have to wait for them to arrive. They were both $15.00 like my last order. I actually like the design on this hoodie better and I like the pants better too.

Here is what I ordered:

Women's Fleece Zip Hoodies: Love
Women's Fold-Over Yoga Pants
Like I said before if you order from Old Navy, make sure you get a size down. Their clothes are cut so much larger than normal. If you are a medium you will be a small. If you're a small you'll be an extra small, etc.

On another note, my future sister in law has a blog too. You can check out her blog here!

I was sitting here going through my blogger dashboard and checking in on the blogs I read everyday. Lynn over at Rattie Corner was awarded the 'One Lovely Blog' award. Congratulations! I always enjoy reading about her ratties. I also saw she awarded my blog too, wow! It must be my lucky day, first I find $4 on the ground & now I get an award! Heehee. Thank you so much Lynn, I really appreciate it!

If you read my blog, you know it is pretty much a mix of everything. It is about my long distance relationship with my fiance F.B., it is about my travels to the Philippines, it is about what books I'm reading, what music I'm listening too, what stores I'm shopping at, etc. And you also know a big part of it is about my pets, rats included! Basically this blog is about my life and I love writing about different topics that are important to me and that may be interesting or helpful to all of you! I also had my very first blog giveaway this past month and I know I'm planning some more for the future! Thank you for reading!

I would like to do what Lynn did & pass this award onto some of my favorite blogs:

One Crazy Bride

Tales of a Misguided Mommy

Lucky in Love & Life

Rattitude

Call me Crazy

Chronicles of an exhausted mom

I have too many favorite blogs it's not easy for me to narrow it down, haha! Congrats everyone!

On April 1st, 2004 we took a risk. It was the day we first said, "I love you." We hadn't even seen a picture of one another when we said those words... but was a risk worth taking. Flash Forward to 2008 & here we are, still together. Engaged 1 year already. Who knew 4 years ago we would be here today? I've started this blog to document our incredible long distance story. I'll be back tracking in our story until I reach what's going on with us currently. I will also be using some of our old posts and emails to tell our story. I hope you'll enjoy reading and sharing our long distance love story...

P.S. Please feel free to comment on any entries. You do not have to be on blogger.com to post a comment. Anyone can comment!

BTW: "Tunay Na Mahal" means, "True Love" in Tagalog. The national language of the Philippines.