Shuffleboard

During the entire spring, my husband and his friends were all meeting up every friday afternoon to play Shuffleboard at one spot in the complex where we live. It was Brian, who was in charge of this game. He once has convinced me to play with them. I did, and I had fun. Everybody told me that my husband was the best in the game. Hmm, that made me even prouder of him.
.
Shuffleboard, more precisely deck shuffleboard, and also known as shuffle-board, shovelboard, shovel-board and shove-board is a sport in which players use broom-shaped paddles to push weighted pucks, sending them gliding down a narrow and elongated court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a marked scoring area. As a more generic term, it refers to the family of shuffleboard-variant games as a whole.
.
As it annualy happened, by the start of the summer season, the "snowbirds" went up north, and one of them was Brian and his lovely wife. He left the charge of the game to my husband, but very shortly after that, players became fewer and fewer until my husband announced to cancel it until further notice. It is just unbearably too hot to play.

Save Time & Money By Online Shopping

I am so excited with my coming vacation to the Philippines. Every day, I am making a countdown on it. It will be five weeks to go from now. If you ask me, I am not yet ready. I spent most of my vacant time shopping online for gifts to my family in the Philippines. I am looking for good deals. I am thrifty. I want to be able to buy a whole lot without having to spend a lot, and using coupons can help a lot. (That’s a lot of “a lot”. He-he-he) Fortunately, online coupons are now available for the frugal shoppers like me.
.
Anyway, if you are an online shopper, too, and if you would want to save some from your purchase, get online coupons from ShopByCoupons.com. Thousands of online shoppers were able to get good deals from hundreds of top online retailers such as Best Buy, Bloomingdales, Circuit City, Gap and many more by using online coupons from their site. They are committed to enhance our shopping power with unlimited treasure of online coupons/coupon codes and are dedicated in continuously picking up the best discount offers from all the stores and making them readily available for instant use.
I am very thankful with this. I suggest that you visit their site, and don’t miss to search for online boden coupons, too. I want to say that let us make a habit of using coupons in all our purchase.

Florida's Playalinda Clothing Optional Beach

For months, my husband was trying to persuade me to go with him to Playalinda (Nude) Beach. "I don't want to go to a nude beach, honey. I don't want to see nude people," I told him. "It's not that bad, honey, and we are just gonna see what is in that place," was his reply. I was off from work on previous Saturday and Sunday. I wanted to go to the National Wildlife Refuge to buy a Solar-Shirt from their gift shop. I never realized that it was on the way going on that nude beach, so after we bought my solar-shirt, we proceed to the nude beach which was another 5 miles away.
.
The parking lot only holds about 30 cars and there are no accommodations for parking on the shoulder or elsewhere. We arrive past noon with no plans to swim, and the parking lot was full, we have to turn around and drive back to the one of the other further South parking lots. We realized that the later you get there the harder it will be to get a spot and the further you will have to park away. Each parking lot is another 1/2 to 1 mile away from the clothing optional sunbathing area. We end up walking in and out for a mile just to be on that spot where naked people are flocking around.
.
Again, with no plans to swim or anything, we were just sitting on the sand after a mile walk, relaxing and just absorbing the shock we experienced. Of course, we act as if pretending that everything that we saw was normal, but I whispered to my husband, "Honey, we are in a whole different world." There were 20-200 exposed sunbathers. Some of them are just walking past us back and forth, as if talking a brisk walk. A couple of minute later, a naked man came standing in front of us, asking why we were not taking our clothes off yet. Imagine that, we were sitting on the sand, and there was the naked man in front of us. Again, we were pretending that everything around was normal. My husband then politely answered him that it was our first time, and that we were absorbing everything yet. "Smart answer, honey."
.
Florida clothing optional beach is in Canaveral National Seashore Playalinda Beach, Florida. It is part of the National Wildlife Refuge and is managed by the federal government, so it is not advertised as a clothing optional beach, though it is used that way. The reason for this is that there are no federal laws prohibiting this. The local governments that have limited jurisdiction over this geographic area, are not staffed for, nor are they interested in, spending a great bit of time and resources to enforce and prosecute under "their" public decency laws on federal property. So as long as people don't abuse the privilege and follow basic guidelines for non-offensive conduct, the right and accepted use of Playalinda as an awesome beach can continue.

Fine Dining In Florida

Trying different restaurant is the activity that my husband and I mutually love to do. We do this at least twice a month, or more often if we can afford it. The fact that we just had moved here in Florida less than a year ago, we still have a long list of restaurants to try on. My husband even told me that even if we do it every week, we will never be able to try all of them here in Florida in 5 years. Oh, how we love Florida. The restaurants that we tried was either we heard them from a friend, saw them on a magazine or seen them on TV. Ttracking down its address was never a problem to us using the Local yellowpages.
.

Local.com is my husband’s favorite search engine because it gives him a long list of options. It is more than just an online yellowpages. It is partnered with the following sites; CitySearch.com, Yelp.com, Yellowpages.com and Superages.com. It is very easy to use Local.com, especially for your local search, and with complete details, too, such as driving directions, business contact information and hours. You can also read reviews from other consumers, or post your own reviews, too.
.

That is why, looking for a local restaurant is not just an exciting activity to us, it is also a “no sweat” task using Local.com.

My Husband's Sili Plant

Three years ago, my husband had his first try of sili when we were eating at one of the famous Beach Resort in Cebu. It was my best friend Ann who brought it. He liked it very much instantly. My husband is a "spicy-hot" stuff challenger. (Sili is small but packs quite a lot of heat. At one time it was even listed as the hottest chili in the Guinness Book of World Records but other hotter varieties of chili have since been identified. It measures around 50,000-100,000 Scoville units which is at the lower end of the range for the hotter habanero chili.) Due to that, he had decided to bring some dried silis with him on his way back here in America.
.
My husband then planted the dried silis on a pot with the help of Dad few days after he arrived from Philippines. It was doing great in Michigan, but unfortunately, they almost lost it twice when the winter came that we had to move it inside the garage to protect it from the frost and snow.
.
Several months after we moved here in Florida, Dad and Mom came over for a whole month visit and we are very happy that they brought with them the sili plant in a new pot with very few leaves on it. Few weeks later, this is what my husband's sili plant look like, with a hundreds of silis on it. It was never as good as this in Michigan. Obviously, this plant loves the sun here in Florida. Well, what else is there to expect for a plant that came from the tropical island of the Philippines? Every day we can pick few dozens from it and freeze them to preserve them. Now, my husband is enjoying his foods with sili... and he is sharing them to all his friends, too.

Meet the Browns, My All time Fav

Guest post written by my buddy Israel Fowler
.
At this time, my favorite comedy show is Tyler Perry's Meet the Brown's. The character's come from the movie Meet the Brown's which I found to be hysterical. I love the setting of the show; it portrays a typical family situation, where you have extended family and some very odd ball friends living together. Just all trying to get along and go about their everyday lives, but there is usually a lot of head butting that occurs in this group.
.
The shows main characters are Mr. Brown, who is a very eccentric elderly man who still looks and acts as if he is in the 60's. He wears the most obnoxious but funny mix matched double knit polyester clothing in the brightest colors. His voice and mannerisms are unique only to Brown. Then there is his daughter Cora, who happens to also be the daughter of Madea. Another famous Tyler Perry character, that Brown is constantly making the funniest cracks about. Throw into the mix his nephew the doctor, his niece the nurse and their 2 newly adopted teenage children and you never have a dull moment on Tyler Perry's Meet the Brown's.
.
I look forward to spending my Wednesday nights with the Brown family; there are usually two back to back new episodes that I can watch on satellite every week. If I cannot watch it when it comes on live, it is definitely set to record on the DVR I got from ExpertSatellite.com , I have yet to miss a single episode of the show since it first aired.

Ticket Purchased For Philippines!

Yippey! My husband had just purchased my plane ticket going to Philippines for 27th of August. My gosh! It will be next month. I am very excited. After being here for more than a couple of years, I can finally go back to my beloved country for a visit, to where I was born, Philippines.
.
I also had asked permission from my supervisor and manager for a 5 weeks leave from work, and they all told me that it is no problem. Wow! This is why I really love my work. I am so blessed to be part of this company. They are all so nice to me. They've been giving me Sundays off, and now, they allowed me to have 5 weeks leave from work. What else could I ask for?
.
Anyway, my family in the Philippines are all so excited, too. We already have arranged some kind of a family gathering. Everybody are busy planning on what we can do then. I am so sure that everybody will have a blast during my 4 weeks vacation. But of course, everything will be good only if God is willing.
.
It could have been perfect if my husband can go with me, but he can't because he will be going back to school this fall. He wants to finish what he had started in Michigan, and will have a better job for our future together.

Business Card For My Future Business Venture

A couple of days ago, I was thinking of presenting my handmade product to my manager, and maybe he can consider displaying it in the Cocoa Beach Surf Club where I work for consignment term. I did this kind of business when I was still in the Philippines, too. I had my handmade products displayed on various stores, bookstores and gift shops. It is cool doing this kind of business because aside of expressing my passion in making crafts and gift items, I can also make good money at the same time.
.
Talking about doing business, maybe I should consider getting my own business cards for future use. 123print.com has more than 5000 designs for your customized cards at the affordable prices. This made me excited to start on this business plan. I believe that giving away business cards is one of the ways to success in the business.
.
Anyway, all of these things that I mention, I will start working on them (if God permits) when I get back from my 4-weeks Philippine vacation next month. I am so excited about this two things that are coming my way, both vacation and new business venture here in Florida. I am praying that everything will be successful.

Stress of Moving To a New City

Guest blog post from Taylor Jobe
.
Moving can be a stressful time in anyone's life. Packing up all the things you own can be a challenge, especially if you only have a few days to move. Once you are packed and moved in, usually more uncertainty sets in about your new area. If you moved across the country then you will be left without your favorite restaurants, the best place to get a cup of coffee, and may or may not know many people.
.
Moving to a new city does not have to be as scary as it sounds, and many times it can be quite an adventure. The best way to get acclimated to a new city is to start meeting new people as soon as you move in. Find a club that you are interested in, take a class at night, or just talk to a friendly looking person down at the coffee shop. By meeting new people you will be exposed to many new features of your city that may have taken you years to find.
.
Another way to put your mind at ease about moving to a new city is by securing your new home or apartment. After moving from my small town I signed up for an adt security alarm to make sure that my apartment was always taken care of. Many people do not like the feelings of uneasiness that come with moving to a new city. If you take it one day at a time you will adjust to your new location in no time.

The Nickname(s) Of The 50 States Of America

Few days ago, my husband and I were watching one of our favorite reality game show which was the "Downfall". We find it very amusing and educational as well. At one ocassion, the question was about the nicknames of the 50 States of America, and it made me think to find it out in the internet and blog about it so that I will be educate at the same time, too. Here are then, the 50 States of America and its nicknames (from the website of 50States.com).
.
Alabama- Yellowhammer State
Alaska- The Last Frontier (or)
..............Land of the Midnight Sun
Arizona – The Grand Canyon State (or) Copper State
Arkansas- The Natural State
California- The Golden State
Colorado- Centennial State
Connecticut- Constitution State
Delaware- The First State
Florida- Sunshine State
Georgia- Peach State
Hawaii- Aloha State
Idaho- Gem State
Illinois- Prairie State
Indiana- Hoosier State
Iowa- Hawkeye State
Kansas- Sunflower State
Kentucky- Bluegrass State
Louisiana- Pelican State
Maine- Pine Tree State
Maryland- Old Line State
Massachusetts- Bay State (or the) Old Colony State
Michigan- The Wolverine State (or) Great Lake State
Minnesota- North Star State
Mississippi- Magnolia State
Missouri- Show Me State
Montana- Treasure State
Nebraska- Cornhusker State
Nevada- Silver State
New Hampshire- The Granite State
New Jersey- Garden State
New Mexico- Land of Enchantment
New York- Empire State
North Carolina- Old North State
North Dakota- Peace Garden State
Ohio- Buckeye State
Oklahoma- The Sooner State
Oregon- Beaver State
Pennsylvania- Keystone State
Rhode Island- Ocean State (or) Plantation State
South Carolina- Palmetto State
South Dakota- Mount Rushmore State
Tennessee- The Volunteer State
Texas- Lone Star State
Utah- Beehive State
Vermont- Green Mountain State
Virginia- Old Dominion State
Washington- The Evergreen State
West Virginia- Mountain State
Wisconsin- Badger State
Wyoming- Equality State

University of Michigan Basketball

Shout out to Dawn Dagostino for the guest post.
.
I love University of Michigan football, but I also love University of Michigan basketball. It is too bad that all of the attention gets taken away from the University of Michigan's basketball team, because they have a pretty good team. One of my favorite hobbies is watching University of Michigan basketball games on my Satellite TV.
.
Maybe I am biased, because I attended the University of Michigan for my undergraduate education. Since I don’t live in Michigan anymore I rely on my satellite tv Chicago to watch all the games. I just have a passion for all U of M sports. I think watching the games on television is one of the best hobbies that anyone can have. The players have true pedigree and play with passion. I also have much respect for athletes at the University of Michigan and especially the basketball players.
.
The University of Michigan is a tough school with some of the best academics in the country. It is tough for athletes to balance sports and school, but somehow they find a way to manage it. Also, the University of Michigan always encourages athletes to value their academic studies, which is something not found at many colleges.
.
U of M basketball players always bring unmatched intensity to their basketball games. I find it a thrill to watch the Michigan State and University of Michigan basketball rivalry every single year. Every year, I hope that University of Michigan will come out on top!

Happy 4th Of July!

Happy 4th Of July everyone! I am so happy today because my job gave me Sunday off once again. This is the 3rd Sunday in a row that they give me a day off. I so like it this way because it enables me and my husband to go to church together. The message was great and we were blessed.
.
After the church service, we had a cook out in our place with the family and neighbors. The food was great. We were so full. My husband and some other guys were talking about their life in the military when they were still serving for the country. I enjoyed a lot while listening to them, especially when the other one was talking about his service in Subic Bay, Philippines.
.
We were supposed to watch the fireworks at Cocoa Beach later that afternoon, but we changed our mind because it was raining, and they postpond the time, too. But we still had seen some from outside our house, and that completed the event. How was yours?

Cooking With The Stars

Thanks to my friend Sheila McAuliffe for writing the guest post.
.
I have always wanted to be a professional chef. Although life does not seem to agree with me on the subject, I have found a way to truly enjoy my passion for cooking and food. Watching cooking shows and food stars on Tennessee satellite tvprovides me with the experience of truly feeling like I am in the professional cooking world. I learn great recipes, I cook by the side of my favorite food celebrities and best of all, and my family loves my food! I never imagined watching a cooking program could change my life so much. I have learned more from thirty minutes a day of cooking programming than years of practice and written recipes. The techniques just come to you after you watch them on TV. My favorite cooking stars show me step by step how to perfect the arts of cookies , provide me the recipes and even show me the results. There isn't much more I could ask for than what I already get watching my favorite cooking programs. I feel as if I am in the kitchen with these professional chefs, being tutored one on one. Recipe after recipe turns out delicious. Seeing the food as I cook it provides me with a much better experience. The only thing I enjoy more than watching food programs, is eating the recipes once they're cooked!

My Top 10 Entrecard Droppers- June '10

I almost forgot again to post my top 10 EC droppers for this month. I am glad that my mind reminded me few minutes ago. I was off from work today, we went to the mall theatre to watch the movie Karate Kid. Few hours ago, I noticed that my statistics went low again, so here I am, sacrificing my time just to be able to post something on my blog.
.
Anyway, here is my post of expressing my sincere gratitude to all my EC droppers again, especially these top 10 Entrecard droppers of the month of June '10. I thank you on helping me be where I am now. I acknowledge and appreciate your dropping very much. I also wants to thank even to those who are not in the list. I know who you are. May all our websites/blogs be successful always.
..........................

My top 10 EC Droppers:
1. Slightly Sarcastic
2. The Ad Master
3. Michelle's Menagerie
4. Cooking Japanese Style
5. Symbian Freeware
6. Selfploitation.com
7. Rate T-shirts
8. Web Design Web
9. Urban Art Blog
10. Teen Suicide Talk

Contemporary Furniture For Contemporary Living

It has been almost nine months since we move here in Florida all the way from Michigan. I can freshly recall that we brought nothing with us except for our clothes and the flat television that we just bought few months ago then. It was a more than 24 hours driving from North to South, bringing with us the excitement and the spirit of adventure with the hope that life will be favorable to us here in Florida... and it is.
.
From an empty condo, our place now is fully-furnished. But we are not done with our home yet. Most of the furniture that we have are considered temporary, until either we can afford to buy the one that we really want or we can find the one that we really want. The most important is that we are home and happy with what we have.
.
Our next project for our house will be the modern bedroom furniture . We have been looking around, scouting for the price and picking the style that we both agrees on, and it is in eRoomService.com, where contemporary furniture can be found. This Luxor 923 Platform Bed in Black Lacquer and American Walnut Accents looks fantastic. I feel in love with it. This is the one that I want to replace for our temporary bedroom furniture and make it permanent. Platform beds are cool these days. For more styles, please visit their website.

Food Trip Friday #21- Filipino Leche Flan

I am joining Mommy Willa on this "Food Trip Friday" meme for a reason that I want to challenge myself to try something new food at least once a week in order for me to learn to cook.

.

.

.

.

.
.
.

.

Wow! It has been a long while since the last time I had my entry for Food Trip Friday. It has been 14 weeks to be exact. I feel bad that it has been that long since the last time I worked on my kitchen for something new. This time, my entry is a dessert. Few weeks ago, my husband and I had dinner at one of the Cuban restaurant, and

they served flan afterwards. My husband liked it very much, so I promised him to learn how to do it, and since it is one of my favorite dessert, too. So, here I go.

.

Filipino Leche Flan

.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Estimated cooking time: 1 hour
.

Leche Flan Ingredients:
1 can (390g) evaporated milk
1 can (390g) condensed milk
10 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or lemon essence
.

For the caramel:

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
.

Leche Flan Cooking Instructions:
In a saucepan, mix the sugar & water. Bring to a boil for a few minutes until the sugar caramelize.
Pour the caramelized sugar into aluminum moulds. (I don't have aluminum molds, so I am using baking pan.) Spread the caramel on the bottom of the moulds.
.

Mix well the evaporated milk, condensed milk, egg yolks and vanilla by hand or blender.
Gently pour the mixture on top of the caramel on the aluminum moulds. Fill the moulds to about 1 to 1 1/4 inch thick.

.

Cover moulds with aluminum foil. Steam for about 20 minutes (the traditional way to make Leche Flan is by open-air steaming on either an open cooking fire or stove top) OR
Bake for about 45 minutes. Before baking the Leche Flan, place the moulds on a larger baking pan half filled with very hot water. Pre-heat oven to about 370 degrees before baking.
.

Let cool then refrigerate.

.

To serve: run a thin knife around the edges of the mould to loosen the Leche Flan. Place a platter on top of the mould and quickly turn upside down to position the golden brown caramel on top.

.

Cooking Tips:
You can tell when the Leche Flan is cooked by inserting a knife -if it comes out clean, it is cooked.