beading frenzy! (1)

After: Gemstone chips bracelet with accents closure

hi blogger world! I have been busy making jewelry from beads...some I made from my own ideas. You know those ideas running in your head while looking at tools in front of you then have that "aha!" moment. And while it's still fresh in your mind your hand started working and finishing that "sculptured" you pictured in your mind and voila! there it is...your finished masterpiece!
I am posting the before and after pictures  of jewelries I made from beads.

gemstone chips before

green glass beads before...

After: Matching earrings:
Swarovski crystal with green glass beads earrings

After: green glass beads necklace

Victorian necklace with clear crystal accents

Monalisa necklace with sheer ribbons and chains

I have more..will blog about it on my next post. I also want to thanks those who visited my blog and left comments a while back. I will be checking your blogs soon!
journally yours,
Gem~

P.S.
One day while taking a nap my sweet female cat "Mahiya" was taking care of me:

Here's one for my bucket lists

Today marked the 3rd day I'll be exercising. It's a combination of walking and running. My pace is slow as I'm just starting to get back to it. I started 3 days ago in the early evening exercising for at least a half hours and when I got home I REALLY felt good! Felt good that I'm ready to go full force back into exercising. I started drinking water too and it was very hard not to drink soda. I am also praying that I don't fall off  the wagon this time as I fell SO many countless times. The good thing about falling off is that I can ALWAYS get back up. Might have a little bruises here and there but that's what I get from falling off the wagon...imagine me falling off of it on my back and doing a tumble!

-motivation quote-

my scale is not even showing numbers!

Ouch!!!

There are SO many blogs I have to catch up reading. And I will get there. Meanwhile I'll be grabbing new friends from "Grab a friend Blog Hop" hosted by Noors and Aree.

                    ....and here's my Wordless Wednesday blog hop from Sincerely, Paula

R.I.P. Auntie

Her 66th birthday. May 2013

My aunt passed away this Sunday around 12noon. She had a headache the night before and took pain reliever. But the next day she  was very drowsy and Cheryl (my cousin/her daughter) told her not to sleep and left to pick up her 6 yrs.old daughter. When they came home she found her passed out on the floor. She never woke up ever since they rushed her to the emergency room. She died of aneurysm. She was 66 years old. She lived in the Philippines but we were very close to each other and even lived with her family when my sister and I were young. When my mom (her sister) and my sister and I moved here in the U.S. we communicate with them through letters and sending pictures of our lives but lost contact. After many years of lost communication I found my cousin on Facebook and have been in touch with them ever since. I got to see my aunt on Skype over a month ago and little did I know it will be the last time I will see her face and hear her voice. My sister was lucky to be able to see her in person because she went to the Philippines not long ago.
Years ago I wrote a poem:


"Love Ones"
There is going to be a moment in your day
Where you will suddenly realized
I am not there to see, to touch, or talk to.
That moment will be filled with sorrow, tears and longing..
You might even regret the times we'd never get to share,
All these you will feel the moment I joined God in heaven.

You see I didn't want to go..
Because I know I'm going to miss you too.
But when HE called for my name & held me by the hand,
"My daughter, it's time for you to come...I'm taking you to my promised land"
"No hunger, no pain, no past to look back.
"There is no tomorrow to worry & hurt.
I knew then that today will always last..it's all the eternity my heart desires.

So now I am with HIM and I see your eyes filled with tears...
Oh how I long to wipe the tears and wrapped you tenderly.
Please my dearest loveones, be not in despair
But if you must grieve..I ask you to not let these
....hinder you from all the wonderful things that's left for you to fullfill.

I know how much you love me....
You've shown me in many ways.
You are my blessings, and remembered I will always be
by love ones & friends, by you, most specially.

When it seems solace is so distant away...
That neither the arms of a friend
Or a love one's shoulder can comfort you,
Please close your eyes and envelope yourself
With the times of our lives filled with love, laughter & tears
and that moment I will be...right here in your heart.

Rest In Peace Auntie..until we meet again.
Gem

coffee break heaven

What is YOUR favorite ice cream flavors? I like strawberry and coffee ice cream flavors. I have been looking all over for Blue Bunny's premium "Double Strawberry" flavor but couldn't find them anywhere. A few days ago I looked for it again and still nowhere to be found. Instead I found this:

"Coffee Break" ice cream flavor by Blue Bunny.

My eyes lit up as soon as I saw it! a coffee! an ice cream coffee! Oh this is gonna be heaven! What I'm happier about is that my family only likes vanilla and chocolates ice cream so this means I get to eat this ice cream all to myself...yum! (and no this is NOT a paid reviews lol!)

Our home's AC unit finally shot down after 10 years and needed a new one put in. Well the night before, my dear husband moved the clothes, baskets and bins sitting in our closet/bedroom out of the way so the guys coming in to replace the AC unit can go through our bedroom and get up to the other side of attic.


This is what he left me to do on MY day off:

I know..I know...I cringed too looking at these pictures. SO messy and SO much to do!

Now you are probably wondering why on earth would I post pictures of my messy room for all the world to see? The answer is simple: I am doing this so I can see it myself. yeah, I know I DO see it in person but it's different looking at it in the picture. It's like being outside looking in. Seeing how messy it is in the picture motivates me to clean up because after all I have to show/post an after picture that I cleaned up the room right? Right.

So...here's the after pictures. Go ahead...take a peek. 

 Looked much better huh? It's cleaned and organized. And....oh look! I even made the bed.

Retail Funnies:
While I was a greeter, a father and daughter walked in..as usual I greeted them with a smile and handed them the sales flyer:
Me: "Welcome to our store...everything's 50 percent off today."
Daughter: "everything?"
Me: "yes..everything.." (while the dad was looking I pointed out an example of the sales)
Daughter: "Dad! did you hear that? Everything's 50 percent off!"
Dad: "yeah..give me back my credit card."

journally yours,
gem

native dessert..yum!

Well here's the latest pic of me. My hair is looking better now than it was a month ago. The recent haircut was botched. The lady just kept cutting my hair I had to tell her to stop..that it's short enough. I guess this is what I get for about $13.95 haircut. I'm never going back there.
TGIF!! I'm off this weekend and MUST do my project...I have no excuse not to do it. I can't take it anymore. You're probably wondering what it is I'm going crazy about. Hint: Cleaning and Organizing a part of my home. Ugh! lot's to do but it must be done if I want to keep my sanity. More on these later.

If you don't know yet I'm originally from the Philippines and came to US when I was 14 years old. So I still missed the native food which I learned how to make when I got married and started having kids. I make Lumpia  (eggrolls) and a few native desserts that are filled with sugar like the one I made pictured here. It is called Banana-que. Plantain Bananas are usually fried whole and it's eaten with a stick like barbeque. But the plantain that are sold in groceries here are longer than what is grown in the Philippines. My family likes it covered in eggroll wrapper but since I didn't have any available I just cut the plantain in pieces and fried it in caramelized brown sugar. So guess who's eating it all? Me. :)
Have a great weekend!
journally yours,
Gem

Philippine Plantain Banana

-Banana Que-Fried whole plantain
smothered with caramelized brown sugar.

Plantain cut in pieces fried in caramelized brown sugar.

Sweet Day Blog

When you have the chance, head on over to my daughter's blog-->>Rules On Being A Friend.

Week Back Up

TROUBLE Of  The Week: yes..I'm guilty.

FOOD Of  The Week:
I started working full time hours so I hardly have time to make my lunch.
This past week I would either go to Kroger or Sonic to get chicken meals.

 

SAYING Of  The Week:
It was just appropriate this week.

SONG Of  The Week:
This was posted in one of the blogs I visited this week. I've been listening to it ever since.

   and that's my week!
journally yours,
Gem

a purse named after me...

Fun thing happened at work. I helped a lady picked out a new handbag for herself. After asking her a few lifestyle questions, I brought over some collections that she might be interested in and among them was a big camel color purse with compartments-one of the few things she was looking for in a bag. She let go of a big "gasps!" when I handed it to her...the color, the compartments and the style--she fell in love with it at first sight. She asked for my name then told me that she is very excited because it's her very first (brand) bag and decided that she will call it  her "Gemma" bag. I told her I'm excited for her and honored as well. She was very fun to assist with...full of enthusiasm..

Here are a few of my favorite things:

Lladro figurine

a bracelet I received for mom's day...sweet!

Mango, a fleshy stone fruit, is the national fruit of the Philippines.

peanut butter and jelly..yum!

and yes...STILL working on that project!
journally yours,
Gem

an indecisive 10 y.o.

The book Josef picked out from Costco.

my new pair of shoes!

Today was a fun and bonding day with my youngest son. 

We went and had lunch at Costco where he picked out a book about a kid surviving middle school. My daughter's birthday was coming up so we ran from one store to another trying to pick out the perfect gift but instead I found a new pair of shoes.... for me :)

While looking around at Costco I pointed out to Josef  a darker rug that would look nice in the kitchen. He said to me that I should be looking at a lighter color rugs since the kitchen floor is light color. I asked him when did he become a "fashionista" he answered: "Mom it's not fashion it's home decorating." (smarty pants..)
He also needed a new flip-flops and found two styles to choose from at Ross store but what struck me about him is that he was very indecisive. He looked and looked back and forth between the two trying to decide for what seemed like eternity.

Me: "Josef..which ones do you like?"
Josef: "hmnnn...."
Me: "Josef....?"

Josef: "I like both of them"
Me: "well I can't afford to get both of them..it's one or the other."

He then continues on deliberating......
Me: "Josef...we don't have all day."
Josef: "Let me try them on again.."

He then tried BOTH of them again at the same time putting one style on the left foot and the other style on the right foot. (unfortunately my cell fone died and couldn't take pictures of him trying them on)

Me: "So..which one?"
Josef: (still can't decide...)
Me: "ok...which one feels more comfortable?"

This time Josef started to feel the sole of the flip-flops to see which ones feel better on his feet...and he still couldn't decide.

Me: "oh jeez!! ok which ones do you like more??"
Josef: "I like both of them"
Me: "make up your mind. It's one or the other..hurry up!"
Josef: "ok..the blue one!"
Me: "finally!"
Josef: "no...I like the yellow one too."
Me: "Josef..it really is up to you.."
Josef: "nah..."
So we left the store without buying any of the flip flops.

I just realized he has always been like this. There were other instances where he had to decide what to do or what to get but for some reasons he just couldn't decide right away. He thinks about it long and hard. I just never really paid any attention to this demeanor. His brother and sister was never like that. I am an indecisive person and it sucks sometimes (sorry for lack of a better word). So I guess he got that gene from me.

Well I have big project waiting for me and will post all about it when I'm done.
journally yours,
gem

retail funnies...

The place I work for sells very expensive handbags. The prices of these handbags range from a couple hundred up to at least one grand or more. When you carry this bag you're sure to have more than a few heads turn your way because the bag is NOT just any other bag. It's one of the "it" bags of all time. When a customer walks in they know what they're buying. Working in a retail setting means you're almost always sure to have a conversation with your customer whether it's a mini dialogue about what they're buying or listening to their life story. (ok...I'm exaggerating on the life story part but still...) Sometimes there can be some funny remarks or come back dialogue between me and a customer. Like this one time I was helping a lady pick out a bag out of a few she was holding and there was one she really love but the price was a little out of her range:
Customer: "oh I LOVE this bag but the price...my husband's going to divorce me if I buy it"
Me: "at least you'll get to keep the bag."

Another time a male walked in the store and I was a greeter:
Me: "welcome to our store...everything is on sale today!"
Customer: "Including you?"
Me: "No sir..I'm priceless!"

and...
Customer: "Is everything free today?"
Me: "oh, you missed that sale...it was yesterday!"

Just recently a customer I've helped before came to the store and remembered me. I noticed she was looking at me intently and with curiosity then the conversation started:
Customer: "hey!" O.M.G.! your HAIR is SO short!
Me: (I answered back in a way as if I know or remember her and made a friendly conversation with her) "hey! I know! the lady kept cutting my hair..I had to tell her to stop."
Customer: "I like your hair when it was longer. How are you?"
Me: "I'm doing fine. How are you?"
Customer: "oh..I have not been in this store for three years. Whenever I shop here with my husband I look for you.."
Me: "yeah..I know..I have not seen you two in a while. How is he?"
Customer: "oh he passed away..."
Me: "oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. How are you holding up?"
Customer: " I'm ok. I remarried now."
Me: "oh! congratulations..!"
then I met her new husband.

I have another customer that always call me by my first name. I asked her how does she remembers my name and she said I'm the only gemma she knows of.

It's fun where I work. I get to meet interesting people.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I am again participating in another blog hop this weekend. This time it's the "Aloha Friday Blog Hop". I've accumulated quite a few reads since I started joining blog hop parties. The best part about blog hop parties is there's always more great blogs to discover.

journally yours,
Gem

oh, how pinteresting!

While blog hopping a few days back I stumbled upon a blog called The Vintage Apple. Michelle's blog theme every Wednesday is called "oh, how Pinteresting." As a Pinterest lover myself I knew I just have to join in on the fun. I have 36 boards and over 1,200+ pins and still pinning. If you don't know it yet, Pinterest, is a pinboard-style photo sharing website.  It is a social media site that allows users to share photos on virtual bulletin boards.

Below are a few collections from my pin boards.

             

             


             


             


             


             

Check out the other pinners at Michelle's blog!

get to know me page

I added another page to my blog: Get To Know Me

before and after...

As you can see in the before pictures I have boxes piled up by the front door, clothes and jackets hanging over the chair, baskets and laundry bags on the dining floor, shopping bag, papers and cake box laying on the table. Behind the living room couch are laundry baskets full of clean clothes that I need to fold and put away. Not only I don't fold the clothes right away I also do not put them away as quickly as I should thus leaving me mountains of clean clothes sitting in the baskets.

When I woke up today I was already determined to clean my house. As I looked around looking and thinking of ALL the things I have to do it started to overwhelm me so I told myself to do one section at a time and think about getting something done instead of nothing at all. My problem is I tend to want to clean and do it all at once or none at all which leaves more things for me to do later on.

So I tackled my chores a little at a time, taking a break in between when I'm starting to have that feeling of  laziness or when I'm starting to tell myself  "I don't wanna do it.." or "I'll do it later.." These kind of thinking is obviously my downfall and is hindering me from keeping my house clean. Though I did most of the work my two sons deserved some credits because they help me out today with the trash, sweeping and dusting.



So here are the after pictures of  clean dining/living room...don't they look better? It took me a while but I got it done. What a big difference..it felt good too!

'till next time my friends!
journally yours,
gem :)

Thoughts on my previous post...

So I was thinking about my previous post *fat, old and frumpy* and realized I was harsh on myself. I was putting myself down and it's not a nice thing to do. It's like saying that to somebody else which is mean so why I should I be mean to me? I am feeling fine and I like being me it's just that I'm not happy with what I see in the mirror and I am going to do something about it because it is time, I want to and I need to for my health's sake.
I don't want my blog to be all about "what I don't like about me" or "feel sorry for me" posts because it can get boring and annoying. There are too much negativity going on in the world now why add myself to it? I'm alive and living in a borrowed time...so might as well make the most of my time here in this world because you'll never know what tomorrow will bring. Live today as if it's your last they say.

   
We celebrated my son's 19th birthday today at home. Dinner was homemade egg rolls and pork bbq over plain white rice. We treated him to Coccadots birthday cake and a few gifts. I can't believed that he is 19 yrs. old and will be sophomore in college this Fall. Where did the time go?





I am planning on getting back to doing crafts again like I used to. I think it'll be a fun thing to blog about it here for a change. Thinking about it is making me excited! There is one very important craft project I still need to finish so I will post it here hopefully in a day or two once I'm done. I didn't get to clean the house yesterday so that is my plan for tomorrow. Well this is it for now....'till next time my friends!
journally yours,
gem :)

fat, old and frumpy...

well..I have been lagging a  LOT lately. And by lagging I mean like I'm hardly doing anything around the house. I sleep in on my days off  from work or take a nap if I get off early from work. And I'm tired of it. I mean seriously...who gets tired of taking naps or hardly doing anything? Only me... right?
The truth is I feel lazy. I don't want to do anything around the house. I don't want to clean, dust, do laundry or fold clothes. I dislike ironing but do it anyway because Sunday church clothing and some work clothes need to be ironed. I don't like procrastinating yet I do it. I don't use to be like this. I am heavy too.
Recently, I went to a friend's party and when picture taking was done I didn't recognized myself  in the pictures. I asked myself how did I ended up looking like that? I know growing old, slow metabolism and having a shorter hair didn't help. Though I smiled big in this particular picture, I looked and felt SO fat, old and frumpy. I'm a picture person but when asked to join for more picture taking I refused..I couldn't bear seeing myself  looking the way I did.

I didn't mind the purple bows and polka dots purple ribbon as props (we were having fun..after all it's a party!) ...it's how myself  looked. My friends at the party does marathon every year so I told them I'd like to do it too..in fact it has always been a dream of mine to run a marathon...I always wonder what it feels like to get to the finish line. I also figured this will motivate me to start weaning down on carbs and start exercising again.



 I took my son to our community pool yesterday (Thursday) and took pictures of  him jumping onto the pool. There was quite a good number of neighbors/residents there and all seems to be enjoying getting tan and/or swimming. We were there for a good two hours until I finally told him it's time to go home for dinner. He wants a take out but I said no..that we'll have left overs since tomorrow is Pizza day (Friday). He was having fun at the pool and I told him I'll do my best to take him there most of the times if not everyday.


So today is actually that day (Pizza Friday) and I have a lot of things to do. Buy pizza, pick up birthday cake, buy last minute things for birthday dinner and gifts tomorrow, make egg rolls, marinade BBQ and wrap gifts. On top of  that I have to clean the house. At least kitchen is clean as of writing this. Have a wonderful weekend friends!
journally yours,
Gem :)