Sharing my faith and my life one day at a time.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Oscars 2011 Fashion: The Best-Dressed!

What did you think of last night's Oscar fashion? Do you have a favorite? Here are mine.

Halle Berry in Marchesa
Ageless!
John Shearer / Getty Images

Sandra Bullock in Vera Wang
What a stunning way to pull off a red dress!
Just Jared

Michelle Williams in Chanel
Understated. Love it!
John Shearer / Getty Images

Hailee Steinfeld in Marchesa
Pinoy power! Age appropriate.
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images

Helen Mirren in Vivienne Westwood
Also age appropriate!
John Shearer / Getty Images

Hilary Swank in Gucci
My personal favorite!
Just Jared

Cate Blanchett in Givenchy
I can appreciate an out-of-the-box design!
Star and Style

Mandy Moore in Monique Lhuillier
Pinoy designer power!
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Friday, February 25, 2011

Looking For Ideas: Wall Photo Gallery

I have been looking hard around the web for inspiration on how to display some of my most cherished photographs that are stored in my hard drive. Our walls are very bare right now and it needs to come alive soon.

Here are some wall galleries that I really like.

Bree Hester Photography

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

the DAILY digi

Little Birdie Secrets

Laura Lopez

The Picture Wall Company

High-heeled Foot in the Door

KI.D Collective

Any more suggestions on beautiful wall galleries? I would love to take on this project soon!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

You Make Marriage So Easy

You made these past four years fly by.


Like we just got married yesterday.


You make me laugh all the time.



We never run out of things to talk about every single day.


Everything that comes out of your mouth is encouraging and affirming.


You are there to cheer me on every time I do something out of my comfort zone.


You are always down to try new things no matter how silly they seem to be.


You love spending time with Jesus and I see how you sincerely to follow His example in everything that you do and say.


Thank you Robert for making me see what putting Christ as the head of a marriage really means. 



Happy 4th Anniversary!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Book Review: The Ultimate Guide To The Daniel Fast

The beginning of the year marks an important time for me in terms of seeking God and expecting to hear from Him supernaturally. I blogged about it not too long ago -- I wanted to go through a period of prayer and fasting when we jump-started a new season in our lives.

There are many ways people fasted in the Bible. After a lot of prayer, reading and discernment, I felt really moved to fast based on the book of Daniel chapters 1 and 10.

During the period of the 21-day Daniel fast, I relied on my Bible, my iPad and the book "The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast" by Kristen Feola. These tools guided me throughout my days of food restriction.



If you plan on seeking God through the Daniel fast, I highly recommend Feola's book. I have several reasons why I strongly feel this makes a great guide.

1) Whether you are a new or a long-time Christian, it is always good to be reminded on what Biblical fasting truly means. The book explains it clearly so that we can always check our hearts on the motivation of our fast. It is not about losing weight (although if you have a food addiction, seeking God through fasting can help you break free from it), earning God's approval or it is not merely the "spiritual" thing to do as a believer.

2) It talks about the basis of this specific fast -- Daniel. In this book you will learn how he was taken to Babylon, refused to participate in the feasts prepared by the king and how his heart was after chasing God instead of indulging in food.

I highly recommend that you read it straight from the Bible and seek Feola's book if you need more insight about the story.

3) The book has a daily devotional that really, really helps especially on those days when my flesh and spiritual cravings are at war. I personally did not read all the days (because I found myself taking a long time studying some Scripture that I felt God was telling me to take hard looks on -- my comprehension skills aren't the best sometimes!), but I can see that it might be helpful to a lot of you who love devotionals.

4) My favorite part of the book is the section on menu planning and recipes. I certainly did not want to spend my fasting days scrambling every day on what to buy, prepare and cook.

I wanted it out of the way so that I can focus more on spending time with God. I got a lot of help from the author and it certainly made my life easier! The recipes were fantastic -- all ingredients were familiar and available anywhere. I also had a very happy husband as a result!


This book is going to be used over and over again as I intent to set aside a time of prayer and fasting every month. If you would like to have a lifestyle of seeking the Lord this way, I highly recommend grabbing a copy of the book as a reference.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Friday, February 18, 2011

It's The Cheesiest Time Of The Year!

That's how a lot of people feel about Valentine's Day -- and I actually get why they do. It can be cliched. It can be over-the-top. Bottom line: I don't blame people if they decide to skip it altogether.

*Although I don't understand the need for arrogant and/or self-righteous comments that I occasionally hear. It saddens me when other people shoot down other people's choices. But that's just me!

But what I love about how God writes love stories is that He lovingly designs two people and bring them together to a fit. For example, Robert and I agree that it is perfectly okay to be cheesy and corny. It's great to have fun and be silly and romantic. I love that we use every excuse to do nice things for each other. While, Valentine's Day is not the only day we demonstrate love, we sure do take advantage of using the day's theme to celebrate our marriage.

Because of heavy traffic, overpriced meals and long waiting lines, we never leave the house on February 14th.  We prefer making dinner at home (we take turns in cooking every year) and go out and do something fun on another evening close to the 14th.

This year it was Robert's turn to make dinner! Yay! I love that he was very excited that this was his year to plan the evening. 






And then he surprised me with dancing lessons! It was so much fun because we did it with three other married couples from church.



Two nights later, the second part of our Valentine's date took place. Robert and I were big fans of the reality singing competition called The Sing-off.

The winners of the second season was the vocal R&B group Committed. If you have never heard of them, here is a video of my favorite performance on the show.

They had a show in Nashville at the Mercy Lounge and we enjoyed every minute of it! It took us back to our youth in the 90's when Boyz II Men and other R&B groups were really popular. It was a really fun evening. I took a ton of videos posted on my YouTube channel.


I want to hear from you:
How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The 35th Birthday Wish List!

Yes it is around the corner and I don't think I will ever be too old to day dream on what I want for my birthday!




















































A spring photo shoot!

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