PhotoHunt: Daily

This little girl here keeps me sane daily. Just seeing that smile on her face makes all my worries disappear but her presence doesn't help one bit in overcoming Mommy's procrastination blues. Playing with her is my excuse for not doing house chores. I don't care as long as I can bond and spend as much as possible time with my baby girl.

What keeps you sane these days?

Mommy Moments - Song From a Mom's Heart

This is my first time joining Mommy Moments and this week's theme is Song From a Mom's Heart. This was the song Daddy K and I chose for Una while she's still in my tummy, it's called Ultrasound by the local band Sandwich. This pretty much said what state we are in during the pregnancy.

Sandwich - Ultrasound  by  user5204400

you’re the stranger make me glow under my skin floating lavender pain melanin spin i can feel you stir within wherever i go yes i know , time to grow, yes i know hit me like a rainbow daze echoes go around sunburned afternoon parade summer silhouette i know i love you, though we haven’t met sometimes you won’t let me sleep at all yes i know, time to grow, yes i know kiss me like a rainbow daze echoes go around vamp: i will have to let you go just to feel you, so i can hold you, so i can love you, just to be with you just to be with you

Thursday Challenge - Sky

Fernando Air Base, Lipa, Batangas

February 23, 2010

Happy Birthday Mama Merlyn

It was my mother-in-law birthday last Tuesday, this should have been posted as soon as we got back from Fernando Air Base. We were dead tired and I fell asleep as soon as hit the bed. And when I woke up, there was a slight mishap with the electricity and we lost power for almost an hour but I'm posting this now anyway because the birthday girl deserves a separate blog post. Happy birthday Mama Merlyn!

That's my MIL with Una doing her impersonation of Popeye the Sailor Man. I don't know where she learned that expression, not from Popeye for sure because we don't watch TV. We actually want to limit her TV time as much as possible. We were TV addicts when we were kids and I don't Una to be like that. She gets to watch  television sometimes whenever she's in the living room with my in-laws but they don't watch cartoons. We allowed her one episode of Dora the Explorer each day but that's just it. We still have to collect other educational shows like Sesame Street and Disney Playhouse shows. I never liked Dora, but the thought of Una knowing some Spanish words excites me. My siblings and I learned English by watching Sesame Street. I wonder if I could find kid friendly animes.

Family time in Fernando Air Base

Yesterday was a very tiring yet memorable day for the family. It was my MIL's birthday and we celebrated it together with her niece who graduated her schooling in Philippine Air Force. Yup, another military in the family and a first in DK's generation. A girl this time and I'm so proud of her. Congratulations Angelica Atienza!

The day started early, armed with lots of food, pillows and lack of sleep, we were on the road trying to catch up sleep. Unfortunately, Una has other ideas that kept most of us in the van awake watching out for her next move.

It was hot and sunny in Fernando Air Base, Una enjoyed walking and running in the field, despite having fallen down a couple of times. 

The program started late and we are not allowed to go near the field. Thankfully I was still able to capture Angel's company.

That's the best I could get with the zoom of my camera. She's in the back, I think the last person in the second line.

Next stop is picnic with the rest of Angel's relative to her father side on the other side of the camp. 

 Angel still wearing her uniform and Mac Gyver, DK's brother.

The girls in Angel's company.

It was a fun day despite the heat and Una definitely enjoyed being out and running on the fields. It would have been great if DK and their other cousins are with us. But I am hoping that we could go back to Batangas this summer, I miss their beach.

Link Love

House hunting

We went on a house hunting road trip yesterday. The place is nice but it's so far from the city and from our relatives living in the Metro Manila area. This is the cheapest place in the subdivision and within our budget but we find the house structure so small and the ventilation is not good.

Though we found another house that would work for us because it's bigger and probably still within the budget, the location of the subdivision is still far for us. I feel a bit bad for Una, it looks like she likes the place and the clubhouse is really something.

DK & Una

I wish we could find a place that could would for us and near our parents. We're thinking of looking into southern subdivisions this time.

The Nestling

I love this print by Emily Balivet named The Nestling. To the breastfeeding moms out there.

Beautiful Blogger Award

Eh, me? A beautiful blogger? That's unexpected. But I am thanking these two lovely ladies anyway who awarded it to me, Bambie and Levy.

I am not really sure how it goes but based on their post, I should follow these four rules:

1. Thank & link the person that gave you the award.

2. Pass this award onto 15 bloggers you’ve recently discovered and think are fantastic.

3. Contact said blogs and let them know they’ve won.

4. State 7 things about yourself.

Not tough right. So let's start it first with the 15 bloggers that are fantastic, artistic and inspirational.

Mimi | Jinky | Jonette | Rochelle | Meream | Dhemz | blankPixels | Bridgette | RJ's Mama | Yuuki  Jessica | Stacie | Thet | Kaye | Lynn

Visit the ladies I mentioned above, their blogs are definitely good reads and you might find one or two things in common with them.

And the 7 things about myself:

1. If it's still not obvious, I'm a stay at home mom to my daughter Freya Luna or as we love to call her Una. She's 13 months and 1 week old today. Why Una? Because she's the first granddaughter and her Dada is the first grandson in their side. Unang apo sa unang apo.
2. I am useless without coffee. I tried stopping it when I was pregnant but I just can't. I can limit myself to at least one mug of coffee a day.
3. I'm not very sociable in person. I don't know why but people always have the impression that I would bite their heads off or something. A friend once told me that I have this hands-off vibe. Do I look fierce to you?
4. I love my dark skin. I love to go to beach on summers without sunblock then soak in the sun till I burn. I don't mind the sting but I love my tan after a good sunbathing. And I bloody miss going to the beach.
5. I love food, I love eating but I suck at cooking. That's why I always bug my Papa to cook my favorite dishes whenever we went to visit his place. I know I'm a bad daughter but he's so great in cooking I wonder sometimes why he didn't work as a cook or a chef. He works in a construction if you're curious to know what he does for a living.
6. I love reading. I used to wanderread after school or work but I don't have time now so I just read online. Fanfictions particularly because some stories there are way better than published books.
7. I love films. Indie, art, foreign, horror, action, drama, comedy. I love them all. I used to watch small screenings of indie/foreign/art films in UP and Titus Brandsma. I miss those films and it's too hard and very expensive to get a hold of those films but I still love them nevertheless.

Anything planned on this easy Sunday day?

Friday Follow Blog Hop

Welcome to the sixth Friday Follow celebration hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades!  We invite you to join us every Friday to get more blog followers and to follow other interesting blogs.  It is all about sharing and having fun.

Here's how YOU can join the celebration:

• * Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add to one blog linky.
• * Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
• * Follow as many blogs as you like
• * Comment on the blogs telling them you're from Friday Follow
• * Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow

The Blog Hop is the same at each of our three hosts blogs so you do not have to add your blog at each site. Just one - but you can follow each host blog. 

TalkPh.net First Anniversary Contest

TP’s First Anniversary Contest

It is an honor to strive and do our best, to give joy and bring out smiles in each and every member of the family, our TP family.

Prizes:

• First Prize:

1. CASH: $50 from tetcuteonecorner.blogspot.com and poeticnote.com
2. 2000 EC Credits from redamethyst.blogspot.com, 2,000 ECcredits itsnotalwaysaboutme.com and super-emote-drama-queen.blogspot.com, and 1,000 EC credits from elcalientemamma.com
3. Advertisement slots for 3 months! Absolutely free! Put your 125 x 125 banner(s) to the following sites: (ikuwaderno.com, talkph.net, poeticnote.com, nursexchange.com,writepress.net, realmofadreamer.com)
4. 1-month AD Space from liezl-read-write.blogspot.com, gene-experiments.com, itsnotalwaysaboutme.com, super-emote-drama-queen.blogspot.com, and gothub.com

• Second Prize:

1. CASH: $30 from realmofadreamer.com, itsnotalwaysaboutme.com and ikuwaderno.com
2. 2000 EC Credits from ikuwaderno.com and 1,000 EC Credits from thetsinaywrites.com
3. AD Space for 3 months from learnandmakemoneyonline.com
4. AD SLOTS: Advertisement slots for 2 months! Put your 125 x 125 banner(s) to the following sites: (ikuwaderno.com, talkph.net, poeticnote.com, nursexchange.com, writepress.net)
5. 1 month 125×125 ad space from redcontestcraze.blogspot.com , lizmagikera.info and gothub.com

• Third Prize:

1. CASH: $20 writepress.net and nursexchange.com
2. 1000 EC credits from gothub.com and 1,000 EC Credits from thebloggerhub.info
3. AD Space for 3 months from eventscontestsandfreebies.com
4. AD SLOTS: Advertisement slots for 1 month. Put your 125 x 125 banner(s) to the following sites: (ikuwaderno.com, talkph.net, poeticnote.com, nursexchange.com, writepress.net, redcontestcraze.blogspot.com, wordyliz.com and gothub.com

Special thanks to nvtellan

• 
  

  Valid entries are posts made beginning February 18, 2010 until March 30, 2010. At the end of March 30, 2010, we will tally the points. Announcement of Winners will be on April 07, 2010.

Click Here for Contest Mechanics.

Skinny Me

I need to gain weight, desperately.

I am getting so skinny it's borderline scary. Before anyone jumps into conclusion, I don't have an eating disorder. Never had, never will. I love food. I love it so much you'll see me drooling literally on cooking shows. Love it so, so much I had a glutton day one time to the point that my stomach had the difficulty keeping it down. Despite eating healthy and regularly with snacks in between, I am still shedding pounds.

I used to be skinny and awkward when I was younger. But to my delight I started gaining weight on my early 20s but still not enough for me to change my teen bra to women's lingerie. Even when I got pregnant, I only gained 20-25 lbs. on my full term and lost it all a week after giving birth. I was grateful at first because I can still wear my pre-pregnancy clothes but not this time.

We have a winner!

Thank you so much for those who joined the giveaway from our friends from OnlinePosterPrinting.

Congratulations Meaghan! You will take home an 18x24 poster print of your favorite beach scene. Please watch out for my email for instructions on how to claim your prize.

As promised, I will be having another giveaway and it will be open to all. March is my birthday month so be on the lookout and watch out for contest details.

Have a happy Tuesday!

iBlog's 6th Philippine Blogging Summit

Hello internet world! How was your Valentine's Day?

Nothing much on me, my husband and I don't actually celebrate it. But I have this childhood friend, we're both hopeless romantics but doesn't believe in Valentines's Day so we just date ourselves on that day, at least we used to. It was like a singles night for us, in my case anyway and she just didn't want to date her boyfriend.

Anyway, I'm so excited to tell you all bloggers from the Philippines about iBlog's 6th Blogging Summit. It will be on April 16-17, 2010 at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman and registration is free. Click on the banner below for more details.

I'm excited to meet other bloggers and learn more about blogging. Yeah, despite blogging for years, I still think that I am doing it all wrong. It's about time to hone those non-existing skills of mine. My friends will be joining me on the second day, so hope to meet you there. Who will be attending?

~ ~ ~

To my blog friends/readers from US, don't forget to join my giveaway. You still have 19(?) hours to join.

Tina's 1M Thank Yous Giveaways

Blog fairy Tina has reached the mark of 1 million visits on her blog and she's having a giveaway as a celebration of this remarkable achievement.

To join the giveaway, just blog about her giveaway and leave a comment in her blog telling her you did so with the blog URL. That's it! 

There will be three winners for this giveaway, lucky winners will be receiving cash prize and free ad space in her blog.

What are you waiting for? Visit her Tina's site for more info on here: Tina's One Million Thank Yous Giveaway

Birthday invitation using digiscrap

My second attempt in digi-scrapping and my Uncle-in-law used it as a birthday invitation for his daughter's first birthday.

I am so sorry that I forgot the template I used for this. The folder only indicates that it's a birthday kit and no additional info about the creator. If you made this kit, please let me know so I can properly give you credit. The letters used are from Forever Young by Libby Weifenbach and the font style is Kristen.

A bit of a trivia, Earich is Una's aunt but Una is older by 1 month and 6 days. I wonder how they would interact when they get older, probably like cousins.

Any digi-scrapping done this week?

Project I Will #6

Are you like me who prefers to send text messages than make a phone call?

Honestly, I seldom use my phone now. Being online all the time, I find it useful to just message my friends in YM, tweet them in Twitter, chat in Facebook or send them an email. I only text them if they're not available on line. I used to be have unlimited texts applied to my phone but having wi-fi in the house (and even outside,) the additional load credits is no longer appealing to me. And even if my friends sent me text messages, I will definitely use an online service to send reply to your text. Yes, I am very dependent on my internet connection that's why I chose to have a wi-fi enabled phone, I even tried using it inside the bathroom and it still works! But as I've said I seldom use my phone now because I'm always in front of the laptop so why use the small screen of my phone.

For last week's Project I Will (sorry for the super late post,) I will use my phone to call instead of text. On special occasions and certain circumstances. I know I'm supposed to do what the supposedly New Year resolution said but I know I won't be able to do that often so I'm sticking to the more realistic resolution. Special occasions include birthdays, holidays, congratulations and such and certain circumstances are for emergency situations which I already do anyway. And maybe a little hello via phone call to some friends who I miss dearly and is afraid of being online.

How about you, do you prefer sending text messages or making a phone call?

- - -
See more of Project I Will

Wordless Wednesday

DVPRM2YRZ4PT

gene + experiments in paid domain

Today marks the day that I launched my new domain. Doesn't look like there's a big difference but there will be in the near future. Especially now that I'm making an effort in making money online. If you'll look closely on the address bar, the old link is redirected to .com domain.

I think my blog of 3 years (turning 4 this year) deserves some lovin' and I'm showing my appreciation by buying it a domain. It's a big step for me but it's my thank you for the income I earned from this blog last month. And thanks to the helpful tutorial from JustAnotherPixel that solidified my decision to buy a domain.

If you are a Blogger user, visit JustAnotherPixel's site to learn how to setup domain with Moniker. I was planning on buying from GoDaddy but Moniker's price is cheaper by a few dollars so I took advantage of it. You might want to register using her affiliate link in Moniker to serve as our thank you for her help.

After you are done with your domain setup, you might want to wait for a few minutes to a few hours before it's fully operational and good to park on your blog. It only took a few minutes in this domain.

Here's how to park your domain in Blogger.

Giveaway: 18x24 Poster Print by OnlinePosterPrinting

CONTEST CLOSED

I can't believe it's February already. To start the new month with a bang, our friends from OnlinePosterPrinting.com is giving away an 18x24 Poster Print to one lucky reader and I am dying with envy here because this is open to US Residents only, poor me.

OnlinePosterPrinting is the place to go for your digital photo enlargement needs. They are powered with brand new HP 9000 digital printers to make sure that your digital photos on posters are looking sharp as ever. If you are like me who's rather impatient when it comes to waiting, you'll be glad to hear that they have 1 business day turnaround so you'll be receiving your prints sooner.

Before going to the giveaway specifics, let's rehash first what you'll be receiving if your the lucky winner.

• Prize: 18x24 Poster Print for One (1) Winner
• Paper Stock: High Gloss or Semi Gloss
• Specifications: 1 Business Day Turnaround
• Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping
• Eligibility: Limited to US Residents only

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

Mandatory Entry (1 comment entry)

1. Must be a follower via Google Friend Connect
2. Visit OnlinePosterPrinting then come back here and tell me what photo you would like to have printed.

Additional Entry (leave a separate comment for each entry)

• Follow me on Twitter: @genecorbito (leave your Twitter username, 1 comment)
• Tweet about the giveaway with the format below then leave a link. (You can do this daily, one comment each)
Win an 18x24 Poster Print from OnlinePosterPrinting.com http://bit.ly/bpM8QY via @genecorbito #giveaway
• Blog about this giveaway with backlinks provide the link here please (3 comments)
• Fave or Share in Technorati, Digg, StumbleUpon or what have you (1 comment each)
• Subscribe to RSS here. (1 comment)

Don't forget to include your email address for each entry so I can contact you about your prize.

Deadline is 11:59 pm EST, February 15, 2010. The lucky winner will be chosen by Random.org, announced on this site and will be contacted via the email provided. on the comment. Winner will be given 48 hours to reply or another winner will be chosen.