2011, Here we come!

I know I've been a bit remiss in writing. I was so busy launching my etsy store, filling Christmas orders for my chocolate bark, and preparing for winter in Virginia!

As my first year here in the US comes to a close, I'm amazed at everything that has transpired this year.

Of course the first thing that comes to mind is that this is the year we got married! And I moved to the US!

It's been an exciting time full of new things, new places, new people, and I learned so much as well. I've come to love living in California and I am super excited about the New Year ahead, with all it's possibilities.

But yet, the hardest thing of all, was leaving home and moving away from family. I sorely miss them and I think about them every day but I know that it's part of life and I have more than one place to call home now. I once read somewhere that home is where your family is and I am blessed to have had my family grow exponentially.

We do have so much planned for next year though, including not just one, but two trips back to the Philippines! Hooray for that! And January already looks like it's going to be jam-packed and time is GOING TO FLY. Just thinking about it boggles the mind!

So here's to another year full of exciting possibilities, wonderful moments, and beautiful memories. Here's to a Happy 2011 and beyond!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Unexpected Encounters

Today was marked by unexpected encounters.

The first one was with the DMV lady at window 14. I've come to her window several times, as this was the second time I had to take my driving test. She is always so warm and cheerful, an unexpected change as I know the DMV work environment has not been very upbeat lately, (most likely due to being understaffed as gauged from the terribly long lines and 45 day waits for appointments.)

So today, lady at window 14 merrily wished me luck on my exam, reassuring me that I would pass this time.

My second encounter was with the man who gave me the driving test. Apparently my appointment was not on his schedule (which understandably would have irritated him) but he gave me a driving test anyway. I was already thinking that was enough to merit another failure or at least an unhappy tester!

But instead of being irritated, he was very patient and calm. In between giving me instructions, we carried on a quick conversation starting from was this the car I regularly drove. I told him yes, it was a sort of wedding present from my husband for when I found a job because I had just moved here from the Philippines.

He asked me what my husband did and I gave my standard reply. "He's a chocolate scientist! He does research and development for a chocolate company." He was certainly amused by my reply! He said that he'd heard of similar jobs but had never actually known anyone who had such a job. He asked what I did and I told him I was a teach. "An English teacher?" he asked me, and I said yes. He wasn't surprised.

When we a certain corner, I pointed out that that was where I made my critical error on my last driving test, his reply was " Not this time."

Once parked, he took a few minutes to write some notes before informing me that I had passed! Woohoo! California highways, here I come!

Before I could calm down from my excitement, he thanked me! He said it had been a delight and that he had enjoyed talking to me. Apparently he's had some rough encounters with other drivers and I would figure that his job isn't the easiest thing on earth. I can only imagine some of the people he's had to deal with. Then he sent me off to get my license and wished me luck on the job hunt.

Now I know these encounters may seem ordinary to some but in a world where people are always in a hurry to move on, it's wonderful to come across people who stop and take the time to make a difference in your day. Whether it be sincere words of encouragement or an unexpected conversation, these exchanges are memorable. And in the DMV nonetheless!

So I took my temporary license and skipped home to show it off to my husband. And now I think I've got a letter to write to the DMV, commending those two people for wonderful service and uncalled-for -friendliness in an unexpected place.

On the Rescue of the Chilean Miners

I've been glued to the news, along with the rest of the world, watching the rescue of the 33 miners who have been trapped underground, in Chile, since August 5. After 69 days of being trapped underground with no sunlight, they're being hoisted one by one, to the surface. Remarkably, the men seem to be in good spirits (as what I've seen from the news) and I feel this rescue to be nothing short of a miracle.

Photo from the Los Angeles Times

And while I watch this, I can't help but think of the strength of the human spirit and the suffering we are capable of enduring. The rescuers, along with these men, serve as inspiration and reminder that together, we are capable of doing anything.

My friend tells me that at the Chilean Embassy in Washington D.C., there's a big screen rigged up for people to watch the rescue and quite a crowd has gathered. Though I may not be a Chilean national, I'm still a human being and I can't help but feel the triumph and joy, that these men are being saved.

Enough things go bad in this world. Enough disasters, enough lives taken, enough natural resources destroyed. But sometimes, sometimes, something like this happens to really remind us how truly lucky we are to be alive.

Learning How to Budget. Entry # 2

The next most important thing I've learned to do in order to save money:

2. Use your RESOURCES.

Resources like what you may ask? Well, for starters, there's the internet of course. These days, we never make any major purchases without checking the web. We can find lower prices, product reviews, and what's the best value for our money. We also scour sites like Craigslist and Ebay for deals on things we may not necessarily want brand new and we get to buy them at the fraction of the cost. Through Craigslist, Gerard was able to buy a matching side table to our current Ikea one, at less then half the price of it brand new.

If you look at my previous posts, you'll find my entry about Swagbucks. Through Swagbucks, you earn virtual money that translates to real money through purchasing items or gift cards. So far, I've earned a $25 Gift Certificate to Restaurant.com and two $5 Gift Card for Amazon. And all I had to do was switch search engines!

Related to my previous food budgeting entry, I've also learned to maximize the web when it comes to cooking. I love allrecipes.com which allows you  to plug in what ingredients they have and it'll show you recipes you can use with your available ingredients.

And since its just the two of us for now, we usually split recipes in half or else we'd end up with way too much food! This is especially true when I'm baking. After all, what are we going to do with two dozen cupcakes? I like to refer to this recipe adjuster which allows me to adjust recipes/cut them in half to suit our needs.

I also like to devote a few minutes of each day researching on the web on ways to save money. I've come across so many fun blogs by other women who write about ways to save and it's been fun reading all their different entries and ideas. I love that they spark my creativity and encourage me to try new things.

The internet has a plethora of resources on how to save and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. But in the month or so that I've made it my mission, we've managed to stay in budget and put a little something aside (most especially for our upcoming Vegas trip!)

And what other resources are there aside from the internet? Well, there's the local library, thrift stores, garage sales, Costco, you name it! From everything I've learned, doing a little research and thinking outside the box is a great way to kick start simple money saving habits.

What's your favorite money saving tip?I might just make money saving tips a regular topic!

Photo from http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j278/scorpiad/Teen%20Diaries/saving-money.jpg

Learning to Budget Entry #1

On my fourth month here, I'm thinking about the practical things I've learned. Especially about living in the US.

I think the biggest lessons I've learned in the practical aspect, has been about money. Budgeting has become an important part of my day. It's been a challenge but also it's also been fun in its own way because it forces me to be creative. Out of all the things I've learned, here are the ones that have made the biggest impact on our spending/saving habits.

1. The most important change we've made:

  

Eating at Home versus Eating Out

We have color coded chopping boards. Green is for vegetables.

We eat at home 90% of the time now. Wherein we used to eat out about 60% of the time because we felt that buying all those ingredients and cooking for two would be more expensive and more time and energy consuming than eating out. But I've learned how to plan out meals (I may not be as ambitious as those who plan a whole weeks worth of meals) but I roughly plan out most of our dinners a day or two in advance. I usually base this on what we have at hand or around something we want to eat (like seafood or pasta.) And when we cook, we usually make enough for a few meals so that we have a stash of food good for another lunch or two.

We've also slowly built up our ingredients collection so that it's easy for us to change up things in a pinch. Bread crumbs, spices and seasonings, soups, and marinades have become some of our kitchen staples. And of course, our trusty crock pot and rice cooker now have permanent places on the counter.

Maximizing our freezer is another habit that I've picked up. Whenever we buy meat, usually in "bulk" (not crazy huge portions as we're still only two) we portion them out into servings already before wrapping them in foil and placing them in storage zip bags. For example, we'll buy eight pieces of chicken and portion them out into two servings. So we'll pack four pieces of chicken per bag, with the contents and date stored written on the bag for easy reference.

If I want to cook chicken tomorrow, all I have to do is place one of the allocated storage bags in the fridge to defrost today. Aside from meat, we've also got bagels, yogurt, pizza, basil, and more stored in the freezer. Yes, most of the time it really is cheaper to buy in "bulk" than in smaller quantities. All you have to do is store your perishable items well.

Grilled Steak and Asparagus

Some of the best meals we've ever had, we cook ourselves. We've had barbecue pork ribs, dungeness crab with lemon butter sauce, truffle macaroni and cheese, grilled steak, and more, all at the fraction of what it would cost eaten at a restaurant. (Being married to a chef helps of course.)  Not that we don't eat out anymore, we still do occasionally (you can't beat Japanese restaurants or the variety of food at the farmer's market) but we've learned the value and pros of eating at home.

Dungeness Crab with Seasoned Butter Sauce

And I'm very glad that we have, because I am really enjoying cooking now.

Budgeting Entry #2 in the next post.

P.S. Can I just say that I've become a huge fan of frozen vegetables in steam packs? All you have to do is microwave them and season them yourself upon serving. And at $1.50 a bag, very affordable and pretty good (for vegetables. I'm not a big vegetable fan.)

Safeway Steam Pack Vegetable Mix

Ice Cream Reflection

When it rains, it sure does pour!

Yesterday was a terribly frustrating day. 

I can count on two hands the number of times I was about to start crying. And when my husband got home and asked me about my day, that's when the dam burst. It sure is frustrating, dealing with government offices.

But I kept reminding myself the whole day that things could be worse and that I had a lot of things to be grateful for. 

And after I cooked a yummy dinner, we went for a walk in the park and my husband bought me an ice cream cone, which we took turns eating.

And that made everything all better.

Gotta love the simple things.

Credit Card Theft and Fraud

Someone stole my credit card yesterday. Right out of my wallet. I only found out because the bank called me this morning and informed of suspicious charges. And I know it was taken straight out of my wallet because that credit card is for emergency use only, and I never use it.

Luckily they caught it on time and hopefully it will be easy to dispute the charges.

I've done the run through and I've pretty much figured out where and when it could have been taken.

It's not the actual money that pains me so much. Sure, it really bothers me and money is important. But what hurts me more, is the loss of trust. The loss of trust among those around you, the loss of trust in people.

This is the kind of thing that ruins it for everyone else. You have faith in people, you believe they're doing great, you do your best to help them. You treat everyone with respect and you go through your day, as best and as honestly as you can.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to you, someone has went through your personal things, opened your wallet, and taken something.

Perhaps it was being away for a period of time that allowed me to bring my guard down. It's partly my fault, I should have known better.

I will take what I have learned from this experience and put it to good use. I refuse to let this incident mar my trust in people and I will also not allow this incident to ruin more days than it already has.

So to whoever took my credit card and charged thirteen grand, I honestly hope that you needed it and that you put the money to good use. I forgive you. And I honestly hope and pray that theft is something you never have to resort to again.