shush....

i know, i know.. it's shallow but just let me.

during our stay in ireland, i stumbled upon on what i thought the uk's version of Anthropology. i freakin' fell in love with Monsoon Accessorize. i bought a couple of necklaces from there.

love love their purses and i just had to have one. they also carry fabulous stuff for little girls. i wanted EVERYTHING! well, maybe not everything. but i quickly realized when we got home that they don't ship here in the States. ughhh...agony and totally lame!!! however, that all changed when i received an email: an update! (yes!) i can now order from my most favorite store in UK! i was flippin' excited, i couldn't decide which one i would get. ugh!!! such torture!

then today, i opened my mail box and i found this from Anthropology!

squeaaaaaal! i hope it comes in the jar like they pictured in the website:) i particulary have my eyes on the necklace! those gems will totally go with my dress that i just got from my favorite store in Billings: Raffia.

it's an early anniversary gift from Joe. oh no, not the store- just a dress.

this isn't my normal jive but there, i'm done talking shallow:)

exactly a week ago, i put up our tree in the main room. yea, so much for wanting to skip Christmas, right? actually, i just wanted to get it over with. although i have one more tree waiting to be put together downstairs. also right here is a potential xmas card.





close but not close enough. i hear ya. where's my other children?

i feel a bit overwhelmed. the holidays are coming like a freight train, good luck to us all humans. i really wish there's 27 hours instead of 24. i need to finish my job.

and Monica, i feel you. im trying:)

12:MIDNIGHT SHOW

"Hey, Mike," i said when class was over. "Are you free Friday night?"

"Yeah, I am. You want to go out?"

"I want to see Crosshairs," "I'm in the mood for action. Bring on the blood and guts!"

okay... who's conversation was this?

a) Bella and Mike
b) Jacob and Mike
c) Edward and Mike

and like, in which book was this from and on what page?

a) Twilight, page 32 and 36
b)New Moon, page 204 and 205
c) Eclipse, 89 and 90



well, this midnight is the midnight! we've all waited for this very moment!!! we're fired up and ready to go!

"IT'S TIME!"

Dunluce Castle

located waaaaaaaaaay past Belfast in Northern Ireland. at some point you hang a right and there it was, the most beautiful ancient structure i had ever seen- Dunluce Castle. as i roamed aimlessly inside the over 800 year-old ruins, perched 100 feet above the ocean on a panicle of basalt rock, it dawned on me that this place was built without any kind of today's machinery. the place was mind-boggling and incredibly awesome! of course that day's weather turned to 100% drenching precipatation. i had become accustomed to that trick- i see it as God's way of letting us enjoy such scenery without any other tourists overpowering the area. this happens all the time- just like the time we had in Kyoto. as long as i live, Dunluce will forever remain in my memory.

















im not lying. seriously. i swear i went there! see?

o. m. g. i'm shocked myself. i'm looking at some of our UK pix. only because tonight as i watched the kids handing out candies, i suddenly remembered some photographs i took that buffled me. well, at first it did.

while we were in Edinburgh, Scotland, we found ourselves wandering around North Queensferry- the Town Pier to be specific. very old. it was rebuild in 1810. that means it has been around before that. so you could say it's really old. while were there, we found this restaurant:

and this was what i had. my typical: seafood.

we asked how old the place was and we were informed, 200 years old. very old. everything there is "very old" and immediately thought, i bet your momma this place is hunted. if you know me rather well, i always associate ancient things being hunted. it is one of those glitches i got in my brain.

i wanted to have a photo of the restaurant since it looked a bit different from what im used to and of course it was old. i sat my camera vertically on a chair in manual mode. 100 iso, long exposure and turned the timer since the place was poorly lit. snapped. i didn't really look at the picture till i got home then i noticed this:

you spy... what did you spy? if you were to ask a paranormal expert like Zak Bagans... he'd sure tell you: big freakin' deal. it's just the lighting. well, i'd say even if it was just the lighting and yea of course, it was just the lighting- the way the light was coming in through the window and other factors why this isn't really a big deal, but still it's creepy to look at. no?



im a huge fan of scary-creepy things

just in case, you want something a little bit different to give your kids that doesn't cause their teeth to rot, i have an idea for you. get them gifts cards! if your kids are like mine, they'd rather have gift cards than get the same old thing like a sucker. good because i hate suckers anyway. lollipop. they're only good for photo prop and they make kids throw up. it's true. im even laughing at the thought of it. o. m. g.

ignore my opinion about candies. anyhow a while ago, i had the opportunity to be a part of Memory Maker Magazine's last issue, the very last one: september/october 09.

i tell ya, it was such an honor to say the least to be one of the contributors for the magazine. it was a eureka for me. i had the chance to translate one of Becky's mini book sketch and immediately gift cards came to mind- well, not my mine exactly but my boss' mind and went from there:)

as seen in page 24, it's a 6x6 mini album..

the trick was easy. i made sure that each page has a pocket so i can insert a gift card for each kid. it's all up to you whether you want it to be elaborate or just go really simple. heck, cut up some envelope, use a little bit of imagination, embellish it and ta-da there is!

to be honest, i could careless about this year's halloween. ugh! i wish i could fast forward everything. i want everything to be accelerated.

skip halloween all together...

although i do not want to skip NEW MOON! less than a month now:)

enjoy thanksgiving...

heck skip christmas... i love christmas but ugh i dont want to think about it.

enjoy Gabby's birthday....i want to make her dream cake: castle princess cake!

skip valentines...

skip spring...

skip 4th of July.... coming from me that's like abomination

but i just want to get outta here! i wanna be somewhere far far far away! there's this "thing" that's eating me alive (swine flue.. hahaha!) i want to go to the next level. but like everything else, i dont want to miss the timing of God. so i'd rather be in the right place, in the right time, doing the right thing. so for all of those who are so psych about halloween, i dont mean to be a party pooper but have a great one. i hope the weather this year is a little bit friendlier, so little cinderella or sleeping beauty don't have to wear a snuggie and boots.

shaaaaaaaa!!!

Karissa Kaydee Erickson....

i've known her about a year and a half and since we share the same passion for art and same taste for fashion, we've gotten along even better. although she's more the fashionista than i am, by far:) we also have the same appreciation of Edward Cullen, thus we have gotten along better still! i speak highly of her because as far as i know, she's such a good girl for a teen her age, considering of the new era we're living in. she's kind, so sweet, so thoughtful, she's hip yet she's a bit old fashioned, very generous, so much fun to be with and i enjoy her company very much- so much that i can swipe most of her garden salad with blue cheese from Carmel Waffle Cookie and she trusts me to take her photographs even though i'm not a professional photographer. we've hung out enough that even her tiny bitty puppy: Tommy, allows me to have eye contact with him. i know already so, dont tell me....it's all mushy-mushy so let's get on to the shots. i waited till today to share a couple of my favorite shots i've saved from her graduation party:

(with aunt Kari and Uncle Paul- who also is Alex's uncle. i know they're starting to be just like the Pinoys... we're all related one way or another:)

(group shot with friends and classmates at the party)

Karissa and her peeps really wanted some group shots before they all take off to college. unfortunately, half of them got sick with stomach flu... things got in the way... i went overseas... one by one of them took off to other states for college...it was a small wonder Karissa even managed to have a couple goodbye pictures with her baby: Tommy. truth be told, we barely made it to the location where she's been wanting to have the photo session in and worse, we barely had any lighting to work with AND one more thing, we forgot Tommy's treats. who can blame her, she was in the middle of packing and of course i have no clone to finish my other responsibilities. the sun was literally setting on us. we were both grumbling, panicking and laughing... that's why, to have a good sense of humor does pays off.

LOL! to get Tommy's attention was to utter his name loud and in a very high pitch. imagine me doing that. good thing we were in the middle of Timbuktu Montana.

to top it all off, Karissa wanted to change to a white shirt and jeans. i was cracking up at her because a guy drove in the parking lot while she was changing. didn't rattle her cage... no offense but the guy was no Edward Cullen. KWIM?

she bought this pair of shoes by Toms. it's a project which for every pair of shoes you purchase, a child in African gets a pair. so she has a plan in mind donning on Toms' shoes with Tom the puppy:

she says, she hopes to maybe someday work for Tom. she's ambitious. so, this girl named Karissa.......

has a huge bright future ahead of her.

take care. miss ya and im praying for ya.