I've Been Gone Too Long

I've been away for far too long. I noticed the absence from my blog, and looking at how empty my blog is; I decided to come back and update once more until I go back in hiding.

Updates:

Lost 10 Pounds.

I sell cupcakes, Cake Balls, and Cake Pops. I will definitely post photos of these sweets!

I still take photos and do photography.

There you go!

My NEW Exercise Plan!

Since I got married (3 years ago), I have gained A LOT of weight. I started off at 125 when I got married. Now I am 139 pounds. I am considered overweight because I stand at only 5 feet.

So, I spent the whole morning planning an extensive Exercise plan. It was harder than I thought! I bought books on Pilates and Low GI handbooks and they look promising. I am ready to get back to my pre-marital weight! Oh how I missed all those trendy clothes I can't fit into anymore!

So far, here's my list:

Goals:

-Lose 20 pounds by November 2011
-Current weight: 139
-Goal weight: 119

Rules:

Yes:

-Exercise 4x a week (M, W, F, & SUN)
-Walk at lake 3 x a week after dinner (T, TH, & SUN)

-Eat ORGANIC when possible

-Lots of low carb fruits and veggies only

-Drink plenty of water
-Drink half a cup of Prune juice 2x a day

-Eat lots of Fiber (brown rice and other high fiber foods)

-Take my daily vitamins

No: 

-No sweets (ice cream, candies, juice, pop…etc)
-NO Potatoes at all!
-No preservatives (hot dogs, cheese, pancakes, etc)
-No deep fried foods
-No Pastry sweets whatsoever
-No white rice. 

Exercise Schedule:

-Mondays: 45 minutes of Pilates and soft Aerobics
-Tuesdays: 15 minutes stretch and walk around Lake after dinner
-Wednesdays: 1 hour of DVD work out
-Thursdays: 15 minutes stretch and walk around Lake after dinner
-Fridays: 45 minutes of Pilates and soft Aerobics
-Saturdays: OFF
-Sundays: 45 minutes of Pilates in the morning, walk around Lake after dinner

In the mean time, I will post updates on my progress! Ready and motivated to zap these fats!

I'M BACK!

Hi Blog, it's been a while! I've been so busy with school that I completely neglected my blog. Now that I'm on a short break before I head back to my summer classes, I must spend time here.

To update, I've been on a dessert frenzy, baking up a storm! People's been asking me to make desserts for them left to right, and I finally had the courage to charge them! My time is valuable, and if that means putting aside a day to make desserts for your events, then I am charging you for my time and labor!

Since I have many things to do, I will post up photos of the desserts I've been making! Thanks for reading!

A day to play!

So, since Spring semester doesn't start until January 18th and work doesn't resume til next week, I have all the time in the world to mess with my make up again!

I like neutral looks on my eyes. I was home alone, so I decided to take out my make ups and created this look. I lip color was from Wet & Wild's matte collection. I love it how it's cheap yet delivered such an intense color to the lips! I didn't smother it all over my lips; it was just a light dab.

      

My Vacay to California!

Hi everyone!

I recently took a trip with the in-laws and my husband to California. It was a last minute trip (although we planned it months ago) and we wanted to make the most out of it!

We landed in San Francisco airport and stayed a night there. The weather was warmer than Minnesota's and I was happy with it! Since we were on a budget, we decided to sleep in the Motel 6 chains. The Motel 6 in San Fransisco was not bad. It wasn't dirty or anything, it's just that you pay for what you get!

When we checked in, we were looking for the elevators. So about three minutes later, we still haven't found the elevators. I finally made the move to go ask the receptionist. She gave me a very weird look and pointed to the DOOR we passed so many times. Yes, this elevator was opened like a door; that's why it took us a while to find it. Besides, I'm used to the 'normal' elevators that slides open.

<------------ My husband's brother, Mobert, showing us how this elevator opens.

After a night in San Fran, we rented a car and drove 6.5 hours to L.A. We slept three night in Van Nyes (a suburb of L.A.) because the rates were cheaper. Besides, it was only 20 minutes away from L.A. anyway. The Motel 6 here was A LOT cleaner and I was more happy with it!

Well, I guess I expected too much out of L.A. I thought I was going to see glam and glitters, and movie stars, hot people, and high end fashion malls. Well, heck no.

Instead, I saw dirty streets.

I was a bit surprised! I mean, the hell with my expectations! Who am I to expect such things right? Haha, so I let it go.

We drove to Santa Monica's Pier and spent half of the day there. We walked along the beach and enjoyed the beautiful weather there. No snow, just the sun shining down on us. No jackets, boots, and winter gears. Although locals were in jackets and hats, we Minnesotans were sweating. The temp. was 65 degrees. I would take that over 10 below anyday! So, I also got myself this t-shirt (below).

After a day in Santa Monica, we drove to Hollywood and searched for that Hollywood sign. Haha! We found it at last!

We also went whale watching in Long Beach. This was an experience I will never forget! My husband Paul and I, and my mother in law got extremely sick on the boat! We all threw up, THREE times! It was hilarious! While all the bathrooms were occupied by them, I had to throw up over board! I couldn't help it! But we saw a whale and I will never forget this! This was a rare sighting!

Long Beach, CA. Such a beautiful city!

This was the gray whale we saw while out whale watching! After all the vomiting, I guess this was worth it!

We headed to Universal City where we shopped for gifts for family and friends back home. It wasn't something we've never seen. I felt these outdoor malls were overdone. I guess because we're from MN (where every city has a mall or two, or even three), I felt it wasn't anything new. But, I guess I just had to go see how different it is from MN's malls. 

And of course, you gotta get this done. The in-laws and Mobert got had this done. Paul and I decided not to get one because I wasn't a fan of it. =)

When I saw Sugar Land (a candy store), I had to go in it! I LOVE LOVE candies and just wanted to see what all the hype was about! So, I met her!

AND, gummy bear bras? I don't think they have my size! Haha!

This was the bag I bought from Universal City. I love the animal prints.

We also went to Fresno, Merced, Sacramento (mostly to visit family members), and back to San Fransisco. Back in San Fran, we visited the Golden Gate Bridge. It was on a sunny morning, so the photos were a bit over exposed.

After the bridge, we went into China town and explored. Hmm, so many "Asian" trends you see. So much cute things. Everything was cheap. BUT, nothing's cheaper than the real China! When I went to study abroad in China, everything there were cheaper than Chinatown. So basically, we're kind of getting ripped off. Haha!

I can't believe we ended up buying so much! We had to buy another suit case to put all these in because the in-laws went crazy with gift buying! Look at these yellow bags we were carrying around. Locals were looking at us like we were crazy!

After a long day of shopping, we stopped to get some dim sum. Yummy! It was only $5 for all you can eat dim sum! Here is Paul, showing us how to eat!

The streets of San Fran! Freaking steep as heck! Walking up these streets were like doing a crazy workout!

AT LAST! Back at the airport and on our way back home to freezing MN! 

My DIY Blinged Out Cell Phone Case

So, sitting in mu living room one day, I had a sudden urge to do something creative. As long as I can remember, I've aways had this problem with not doing anything. So when I'm not doing anything, I HAVE to do something. I know, I have this impulsive way of living. If I don't satisfy myself, then I can't really sit still either.

So to satisfy myself, I took a look at my cell phone. Before, I stuck little rhinestones on it, making it look super ugly. Before, I used little rhinestones on my cell phone back cover, and realized it didn't do an good. So, I also had this skull head case. I wanted to cover this skull image, and thought of rhinestones!!

So, I took out my glue gun and other glitzy rhinestones, and started doing something with it:

This was the front of my phone, with the cell phone case!

The end result of my work! I loved doing this! It really helped me relax a bit and I gained so much after this! It was super duper fun! Took me three whole hours, or more, to finish this! If you guys have any questions about the materials I used, or how I made this, feel free to leave a comment!

The Worst Blizzard in Minnesota, in 19 years!

It was Saturday December 11, 2010. I sat in the comfort of my living room not knowing what was going to happen. All day that day, I watched the snow fall continuously. I thought it would just taper off by evening, but when evening came, it never stopped. It snowed overnight. It snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed.

By the next morning, the snow were as high as my thighs (I am only 5 feet tall) and almost as high as my hip. I can see 35E from my living room windows. Cars were stuck and nothing was moving. There were no plow trucks, no salt trucks, and there were nothing out there. It looked as if the world (or Mn) has stopped. Cars that were stuck overnight were abandoned.

I turned on the news. No wonder why there weren't any trucks out there. They were also stuck! All day, Minnesota declared a snow emergency. No one went outside or dared to drive around; fearing they might get stuck somewhere. This was a true Minnesota winter. Stores were closed that Sunday. Church events and other events around the metro were canceled. Malls were closes, hi ways were closed, and no one dared leave. Still, the streets were left unplowed.

Monday rolled around! What about school? Work? Well, they're all closed too! This was the only time Minneapolis and St. Paul canceled school and classes two days in a row! Snow days! Mu husband Paul and I both worked in schools, and of course, we didn't get to go in to work either. My classes were canceled at the University of MN, and I spent the whole day catching up on life.

This storm was crazy! It made the roof of the Metrodome to collapse! The video of the roof collapse received 1 million + hits on Youtube!  Crazy eh?!  I must say, it was one hell of a storm, and I will never forget it!

I am back!

I apologize for the long absence! I was caught up in life and did everything in the world! There were final exams, papers, and everything due for class! It's making me so stressed!!

On a lighter note, I have been promoted at work. I was a tutor in the Minneapolis Public School district and work with a Hmong school. Now that I've been promoted, I will be heading to the St. Paul Public School district but will still be working with Hmong students. I will be the Lead Site Tutor at two schools and will be the main person of contact for the tutors at these schools! I will also be leading a classroom of 6th graders.

Wish me luck this semester!

Sad Violin

This music sooths my soul and helps me relax. I can go to sleep in seconds with music like this on.
Enjoy!

An Ugly Storm On July 26, 2010

As I cook dinner I can feel my face burning. I can feel the stream of sweat drip down the nape of my neck, only to be absorbed by my shirt. The t.v. was on and I can hear the meteorologist go on about the weather. It was a hot, muggy day and no suprise that a thunderstorm was developing. It was 93 degrees and dewpoint was in the 70's. Crazy hot huh? Well, that's typical of Minnesota's weather; hot and humid in the summer, but freeing cold in the winter.

I looked out the window and can see the dark clouds developing. Wall clouds they say, and they're potentially dangerous. Hide if you'd like. I am terrified of storms. I stay 10 feet away from any windows in the house, usually. I hate it when lightning strikes; I may be next, who knows!



I quickly closed the windows and turn of the stove. Dinner was ready. I quickly ate and by the time I was done, the sky was completely gray. Wall clouds moved in and took over the sky. I got up and grabbed my camera. I opened the back door and stepped outside. I took a few photos before the winds blew in. The storm moved in quickly and it started sprinkling tiny drops of rain. Less than thirty seconds later, it started pouring without warning! The storm lasted for thirty minutes and it felt like my whole life. What an ugly storm.