Buy Gold Coins from US Gold Bureau

Planning to invest on precious metals but do not know where or how to start? Visit US Gold Bureau, the trusted seller of silver, gold and other precious metals by many investors worldwide. You can conveniently buy gold coins or silver coins from them and have your purchase be delivered to your doorstep. You can also ask them to securely store your investment in an independent depository or bank. Aside from that, you can also read information and news related to gold and other precious metals at their website. Moreover, at US Gold Bureau, skilled hard asset professionals are always ready to provide assistance whenever needed.

What Beats Worrying

Remember the time when you were pregnant? Surely, it was a joyful time as you anticipate the arrival of your small bundle of joy. But then, you also have worries, right? Some were petty like how to reduce stretch marks once you’ve delivered your baby. Others were far more serious like would you be  be able to provide for your kid or will you be a great mom to this unborn child. In my case, I worried if I would be able to endure the pain of giving birth. It was my greatest scare as a first-time mom.

Every night, I prayed that I would be given strength and courage. I was inspired by many other moms who already walked through “the valley of the shadow of death” and survived. If they could do it, I can too! And obviously, I did! If there is one great lesson that I learned during my pregnancy, it’s this: worrying does not help improve any situation. Praying does.

I Was Once a Freshman

This song reminds me of one of my most memorable year in college, the most exciting if I may say: my freshman year.

It is the theme song of the movie, Casper, which was shown and highly popularized when I was a college freshman. It was the time when I entered a new environment and met new friends. I have several groups of friends back then and one is composed of my classmates.

There were six of us and we were practically together for almost 8 hours daily, five days a week, plus four or five hours during Saturdays. Together, we did our assignments, discussed our lessons, had our snacks and lunches, gushed about our crushes. We ranted about our parents and teachers, raved about our parents and teachers. We provided encouragement when needed. We knew each other’s dreams by heart. One wanted to live abroad. Another wanted to become a successful businesswoman while another wanted to become a billionaire and enjoy luxurious living that includes shopping, celebrity cruises, traveling and many more. 

I rarely see nor talk to the girls but from what I learned, twelve years after we parted ways, some of our dreams have become a reality. I terribly miss them and though it is impossible for all of us to gather but I am glad that technology allows me to be updated about their lives.

The Season of Giving (and Receiving)

Have you bought anything for yourself this Christmas? Are you done with your Christmas shopping? The only thing that I bought for myself as of this moment is a new purple shirt but the good news is that I am *almost* done with my gift-shopping! I am just waiting for the delivery and I will do the gift-wrapping early next week. But still, there are gifts that need to be bought, hopefully next week.

Just last week, one of my cousins received an early Christmas gift from her thoughtful husband: a brand new car and it’s red, her favorite color! She couldn’t be any happier! From what I learned, she is in the process of selecting from the list of cheap auto insurance companies which was a result of her research. Truly, this is a merry Christmas for her!

Climate Change

No thanks to global warming, seasons changed earlier than we expected this year. In some places, people have taken out their honda snowblowers from storage earlier than scheduled because snow has arrived earlier than expected.

Here in the Philippines, summer began earlier and same with the rainy season. But the cold season started right on time! The cold breeze reminds me that indeed, Christmas is just around the corner. It also reminds me to buy for myself a new cardigan sweater as the early morning breeze can be so unbearable.

Master Your Financial Future

Of all the things that you cannot control, your finances are one area where you truly steer the ship. Whether you are good at math or saving money, you can at least try your hardest to stick to a realistic budget and start the process of saving money for an emergency fund or for a trip or other occasion that will put a strain on your financial well-being. It is important and essential to organize your financial information first in order to understand where you may be hemorrhaging money to stop the bleeding, so to speak. Look at the money you spend on ever day items as they often the ones that are overlooked. Open a new spreadsheet and start to date it from that day forward. Set up columns for expenses and income and daily expenditures. Leave a column open for descriptions of the various things that will be happening financially so that you can easily tell what is going on. Type in all of the actual financial information and make sure that the formulas are making the correct adjustments.

Budgets are a great way to see what your financial future will look like and with the right amount of effort, you will have full control of everything and will know when and if you will ever need a cash advance. This way, you can be easily prepared for it and even try your best to find an alternate funding source such as a family member or to use a credit card to balance all of the things to avoid any negative balance on your account. Over time, it will all become easier and you will use hardly any effort to keep up with it and make sure that everything gets paid and that you have a safe, secure financial future.

Adapting Your Style to Business Casual

The office environment is much more casual than in prior ages. While the wardrobe has changed from suits and ties to business shirts and dresses, other things like diamonds in fashion still remain important – even for a casual wardrobe. That's because there is less clothing to draw attention to the eye and to create a visual impact of success, in a casual business environment, you have to rely on the accessories.

Shirt Sleeves
Instead of opting for regular shirt sleeves, get the French cuffed shirts so that you can add some classy cuff links. For men, that have fewer jewelry choices than woman, this can make a dramatic visual impact that makes your business casual look more polished. If your office doesn't require ties, then you can't use tie clips, and most traditional looks frown on ear studs. Thus, you'll have to use accessories like cuff links, watches, and rings.

Statement Jewelry
For women, they no longer have to opt for the obligatory strand of pearls, although it can still look quite lovely. A casual business atmosphere can provide a little fodder for creative expression using statement pieces of jewelry for earrings and chokers that produce a bold, modern, statement of confidence. The best back drop for your jewelry are dresses of a single color. Yellow gold jewelry can still be used successfully in a casual business office, and even diamonds. More and more, people are also turning to white gold or silver-tone pieces as well.

Should I Call the Mall “Home”?

I have been meaning to accompany a friend on an afternoon of shopping this month. She hopes to shop for new new cabin beds, accents and decorations for her sons’ bedrooms. Hopefully, we can squeeze in some mall time in our busy schedule next week.

Aside from a date with her, I am also looking forward to spending some shopping and movie time with my daughter at the malls. Yesterday, being a no-class day, we were supposed to watch this:
However, she got sick and we pretty much prefer watching movies on the big screen with her Dad. So most likely, we’ll be hitting the cinema on weekend, once her big man comes home.

Well I am not done with my Christmas shopping yet. Aside from that, my husband and I have been postponing our Harry Potter 7 date plus coffee date. And Tangled will be shown this week too.

The list is getting longer and longer and longer. Do you we should relocate and live at the mall just this month? Hehehe.

Protecting Your Identity While In the Military

Identity theft protection news and reviews.

Believe it or not, one of the easiest targets for identity theft is members of the U.S. Military. Why? Because the majority of military individuals are deployed or do not use their credit frequently enough to notice any signs of identity theft. Often friends or even family members that are aware their fellow military member is deployed will take advantage by using their credit. As a member of the military, there are ways you can protect your identity while still serving your country.

Active Duty Alerts
In the event a consumer is being deployed, even if for a few months, they should contact the three credit reporting agencies and place an “active duty alert” on your credit. That means that in the event someone tries to use the military member’s credit while they are deployed, the creditor must take extra precautions and steps in order to ensure they are dealing with that individual prior to issuing credit. The active duty alert is automatically placed on a consumer’s credit report for a period of one year. In the event the individual will be deployed for longer, they can renew the alert.

Other Preventive Measures
Whether or not a military member is deployed or not, they need to take the right steps to protect their identity. Some of the ways a military member and their families can protect their identity are:

• Shredding All Documentation – This includes anything with the military member or their immediate family’s name, date of birth, social security number or even address.
• Protecting Social Security Numbers – Never use a social security number as any form of ID. That is what a driver’s license and military ID card are for.
• Do Not Give Out Personal Information – Often a member of the military will be contacted by scam artists that claim they are part of their military branch or affiliates and are verifying information. Before giving your personal information to that individual, ask for them to verify who they are and take the steps to verify that information yourself as well.
• Protect Your Military ID – Your military ID should be protect just the same as your drivers license or even your social security number. Never let it get into the hands of another individual and keep it in a safe place at all times.

As a member of the military, you are at just as much risk, if not higher, for identity theft. By knowing how to safeguard your personal information you can ensure that while you are serving this country, an identity thief is not committing fraud under your name.

Snuffles, the $10,000-Worth Teddy Bear

Early this year, a unique cuddly bear made it in the headlines when it was displayed at the American International Toy Fair.This expensive teddy is made from alpaca fur and has two black Tahitian pearls for eyes. It even wears a 10-carat diamond necklace with a white gold chain. The toy which is pint-sized was encased in glass box with a red velvet rope barricade. The luxurious Snuffles bear toured the US with its “burly security guard” in tow and was auctioned off for charity. Have I mentioned that this cuddly bear is priced at $10,000?

I shared this with a friend who is into teddy bear collecting for some years now but according to her, it will be a nice addition to her collection but it is not practical. She would rather invest her money and buy gold coins with that amount rather than spend it on this cute yet very pricey item.

Firework Official Video and Lyrics

This video was shared on Facebook by my friend Aggie. We’re both late but nah, who cares? Hahaha! Love the song, love the video! And love Katy too!

FIREWORK (Katy Perry)

 
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
drifting through the wind
wanting to start again?

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
like a house of cards,
one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?
6 feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in a-a-awe

You don't have to feel like a wasted space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in a-a-awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in a-a-awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

Good News Raises Hope for U.S. Recovery

With the smell of recovery back in the air, some business owners are starting to ask themselves: “What size business loan can I get?” The demand for consumer goods is increasing and it's the early bird that's going to catch this juicy worm. Typically, the severity of a recession indicates the level of dampened demand that comes bounding back upon recovery and merchants are now expecting to make up for lost time. It's got some experts so cheerful that they're now figuring that we may just be done with any “lost decade” scenarios that other pessimists echoed when things looked kind of bad. What's the reason for this exuberance? While unemployment is still high, there are signals that things are turning around.

Best Sales
Since 2007

Black Friday was a resounding success for retailers, with figures showing that record number of people turned out and business experienced the best sales since 2007. This is a very good indicator of pent-up demand that is starting to loosen, just in time for businesses to become profitable before the end of the year. Since Black Friday is just the start of the holiday shopping season, if the trend continues it bodes very well for the financial health of the consumer and thus the economy.

Fewer Unemployment Claims

The economy may not be creating enough jobs to put the 15 million unemployed back to work, but at least there are fewer unemployment claims being filed. This could be a lessening of layoffs or the fact that people are becoming employed slowly, but steadily.

Business Travel Up

Another great indicator that economy is on the mend is the rise in business travel. That means business is gaining confidence and deals are being made both domestically and internationally. It's also good news for hotels and restaurants that are near airports or that offer business travel services. In fact, the hotel industry has seen a sharp increase in bookings and the price per room.

Nokia Holiday Rush

If you are looking for a way to treat yourself with a new gadget without spending much, this Nokia sale is for you:
Happening only on December 4, 2010 (that’s tomorrow!) at selected Nokia stores nationwide (see image above).

For details, visit everythinginbudget.blogspot.com. Happy shopping!

Top 100 Baby Names of 2010

While helping a young mom in her search for the best multivitamins for her toddler as recommended by parents, we found this at Baby Center instead: Top 100 Baby Names of 2010.

Those that made it to the top ten are:

Top 10 Girls’ Names of 2010	Top 10 Boys’ Names of 2010
Sophia Isabella Olivia Emma Chloe Ava Lily Madison Addison Abigail	Aiden Jacob Jackson Ethan Jayden Noah Logan Caden Lucas Liam

This is so timely since another friend who is five months pregnant is looking for nice names to give to her baby. I will send her the list later so she and her husband can choose.

Wacom’s CardBuilder at Facebook

I just discovered CardBuilder by Wacom, a Facebook application. It lets you create personalized greeting cards for any occasion and you can directly send them to friends on Facebook. It is so easy to use: just select a photo, embellish it, write your personalized notes and send!


Since I am quite late in making and much more sending real Christmas cards, I am thinking of using this application to send our family and relatives holiday cheers. However, I still need to wait until the acne solutions I bought take effect and cure the breakouts I have on my nose before we take a family portrait for the Christmas card. We do not want the recipients to think that I turned into a red-nosed reindeer, don’t we? Hahaha! Or I maybe, to make the waiting shorter, we can go ahead and have our photo taken and I will just use Photoshop to remove the imperfections. Hmmm…

Passionate Light: A Photography Workshop in Boracay

Here is an photography workshop for all you shutterbugs out there:

"Passionate Light" is a photography workshop on Swimsuit Fashion Photography by Manila Artists. This is an e

xclusive workshop with Master photographer Mr. Xander Angeles and Niko Villegas to be held in Boracay on December 11, 2010. Learn how to shoot a swimsuit editorial with Vixen models

Paulene So and Christine Marquez. (I wonder if these ladies followed some weight loss tips in preparation for this workshop.)

For more information and reservations, contact the organizers through the details provided on the poster or visit their Facebook page.

A Late Wednesday Happy Thoughts

A day late but then, what’s new? Haha! Anyway, here is my list:

1. Being married to a very understanding husband.
2. Being a mom to a wonderful kid who is very loving and smart and easy to please.
3. Having friends I can count on during the darkest of days.
4. A new month and my most favorite month of all at that.
5. Our upcoming trip later this month.

Benefits of Using Wordpress

Some weeks ago, an old friend from high school buzzed me at Facebook chat. He is currently serving as a clinical instructor though during our chat, I learned that he is also considering paid blogging. In fact, he has started blogging early this year using free domain and hosting. 

He is aware of the fact that I am on leave from university work, thus, he encouraged me to try my hand on blogging. He shared about a full-time blogger who used to be a teacher and now lives a more comfortable life. My friend shared that the blogger can even afford leisure trips for his family. This story proves how good blogging is a source of income, according to my friend. For some time, I allowed my friend to just share. He was so hyped up about how convenient it is to earn from blogging since it can be done in the comfort of one’s home. But since I can’t bluff for too long, I finally told him the truth that I have been a blogger for more than five years and yes, I have been earning from it. In fact, I have several domains under my name and been contemplating on adding more. The news certainly surprised him but not for long. It got him excited and suggested that we form a group of bloggers in the city since he knows a few.

He also began asking questions about blogging. I do not claim to be very knowledgeable about the topic but I shared with him what I know. I advised him about getting his own domain. I shared a link with him that features top 10 wordpress hosting so he can choose the best that can meet his needs. I encouraged him to use Wordpress as a blog software because undeniably, Wordpress offers many advantages. To name a few:

• It is free. Opening an account at Wordpress does not require you to pay any amount.
• It is easy to use and user-friendly. One does not need to be a techie to find his way around Wordpress. The coding is done by the Wordpress software.

• It is spam-resistant. WordPress is powered by a strong system that fights spam - Akismet.

• It is SEO-friendly. Wordpress makes it easy to optimize one’s search engine results.

• It is customizable. There are many websites out there that offers free wordpress themes that one can use. In fact a search using best free wordpress themes as key phrase yields around 56,900,000 results. 

Penalties for First-Time DWI Offenders

Aside from the economic and social impact, first-time DWI offenders could be penalized with the following once convicted of DWI:

• 72 hours to 180 days in jail
• Up to $2,000 in fines
• Suspended driver’s license for 90 days to 1 year
• Minimum 24 hours community service
• Class B misdemeanor on your record
• DWI education class
• Probation

That is how serious a DWI case is in the US. Thus, if you are in need of Houston DWI lawyers, competent ones are available to extend help at Madrid, Martinez & Associates. Their legal team is comprised of experienced attorneys when it comes to DWI. With Madrid, Martinez & Associates, you are assured of a serious and informed defense.

Message from God

On this day, God wants you to know... that you always have one last resort. When nothing else works, surrender to God, and let your faith carry you through.



This is the message that I got today and I think that it is very timely. This is a good reminder not only for my self but for a friend too, with whom I spent some time talking with this morning. And I agree, once we have done everything in our capacity and yet a situation (or a person) does not change a bit, it’s time to say “Lord, I give up. You take over, OK?”