Happy List

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I like to think that I am a happy person. I have so much to be happy for. People often comment on how I am always smiling. How I'm always happy. I do try my darndest to stay that way and to stay positive, no matter what life throws in my way to keep me from being so. When I get caught up in the negatives that happen in my life, I always remember to take some time, sit back, and recount my blessings. Yes- life will be hectic, overwhelming, and challenging, but being happy and staying positive is of utmost importance for my mind, body and soul.

Many things make me happy whether big, medium or small. Here's my partial happy list:

+ Cuddling on the couch with J
+ Talking on the phone with my mom
+ Finding a 'steal' at a thrift store
+ Hugs from my little students
+ Beautiful, warm, crystal clear ocean water
+ Sand between my toes
+ Receiving snail mail
+ Happy & healthy family and friends
+ Baking
+ Exploring new places around the world with J
+ Roadtrips
+ Foot massages
+ Making others happy
+ Paydays
+ Getting crazy, random e-mails from my dad
+ Catching up with friends
+ Being home in California
+ Traveling- anywhere & everywhere
+ Good music

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What's on your happy list?

Major Dog Love Overload!

Last month in my 6 Things About Me post, I talked about how dogs are my favorite animals. Over the past couple of weeks, I've come across some links of dogs that have just filled my heart with so much happiness and joy- it's ridiculous! And I wanted to share some of my happiness with you all.

Here are some links that my fellow dog-lovers may want to check out (and yes- I am partial to Pugs and French Bulldogs!):

28 Dogs Having A Way Worse Day Than You

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26 Costumes That Prove Pugs Always Win At Halloween

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35 Most Adorable Moments in Pug History

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The 70 Best Costumes at New York City's Most Important Dog Costume Competition

The cutest video ever: Cats Stealing Dogs Beds

If you're on Instagram, I highly recommend following these cute four-legged friends:

Loki the Corgi

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Manny the Frenchie

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Frank the Funny Frenchie

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Pugs

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I hope looking at all this cuteness made you as happy as it made me!

Any other cute dog links to share with me? Anyone else I should follow on Instagram? What's your favorite breed? 

Mestizo Magic- Dope Girl Swag (ft. LeLe)

I'm not really much of a musician, but I do like music. When I was 8 years old, I wanted to be a rapper. No joke. Now that I have a husband who's a musician/music producer, I've been able to "live that dream" haha...

I did a song called "Pedal On Smash" around this time last year. Finally, after over a year, I have another song. We did this one a couple of days ago. I really like this beat. {All produced by Mestizo Magic aka my hubby}. It was fun.

Presenting "Dope Girl Swag". Happy early Christmas. Enjoy.

Two More Puppies

These two male puppies have been coming around for about 2 weeks now. Their mom comes & goes. We've been feeding them, but they're both really scared & run away at any little sound. A few days ago, we were able to catch them & put flea&tick powder on their fur (they didn't like that one bit, but it's for their own good). We are going to try and pet them and play with them at least once a day so they get used to us-- but sometimes they're so hard to catch because they're so quick!

Thanksgiving

Last year, J & I were in Ecuador for Thanksgiving. We went to this "gringo" bar and ate some amazing burgers and fries. And this year, we're in the Philippines. It makes me wonder- where will we be next year? =)

We celebrated Thanksgiving with a little dinner that I cooked {and J helped too}. Luckily it was just us two and I didn't have to cook a lot of food, so I wasn't slaving over the stove for too long. I also made my very first pie from scratch. It was pumpkin pie, of course. Everything tasted amazing.

Introducing... Lala!

There's quite a few stray dogs that hang around the house and backyard. I don't mind, I like dogs and they keep creatures like snakes away (or so I like to tell myself). When we first moved here, there was one dog with two puppies. And the moment I saw them, I just had to have one. So a few weeks ago, I started to try and feed one of the puppies. She was braver of the two and wasn't afraid to come close to me to get some food.

Now, she stays and sleeps on our porch and she isn't scared of me, though she's still apprehensive when I try and get too close to her to pet her (I've only successfully petted her once- so we're working on that). She has some rough spots, especially on her neck where she has obviously been attacked by another dog. But, it makes her tough. She's our gangster jungle puppy!

I really want to pet her and train her, but I'm going to have to be patient-- she IS a wild animal.

She has a sweet little face and I love her big floppy ears.

Now we're trying to get her baby brother to not be so scared of us. He's doing better and comes around, but he's still not as brave as Lala.

Interlude

If you've ever listened to music, you know what an interlude is-- a short piece (usually either music or dialogue) inserted between songs on an album. It's an interruption, or sometimes a connection, of sorts to the flow of the songs. Of course the word not only applies to music, it can apply to other things as well.

Right now, my life is in its interlude.

We've been everywhere and back, going from one country to another. We've been living in the Philippines for 3 months now and we've decided we're going to live here for a while. We have a pretty good set up-- we have a nice house, we're surrounded by family, and we're taking a step forward to being more self-sustainable with our garden (being self-sustainable has been one of our goals for our lives).

So, Philippines is our interlude in our mixtape of traveling and always being on the go.

With this being said, this blog will now mainly consist of my endeavors/doings/adventures here as we start our home in the Philippines.

Since living here, my days have been filled with being a housewife. J is outside with his cousins working on the garden all day, I'm inside cooking, cleaning, doing laundry-- the whole deal. All I have to say is mad props to fellow housewives, especially those with kids. I now know it's no easy task. And I'm grateful for having the best example of a great housewife/homemaker my whole life-- my mother.

Anyways, I don't know how long this interlude will last... months? Years? Forever? Who knows.

Our last jam session

Our last few hours in South Korea was spent hanging out with some cool people and having a mini jam sesh. Here's a video:

Happy July!

Wow- 2012 is just flying by. I can't believe it was a year ago I was doing some last minute planning for my wedding and getting ready for Costa Rica. It really seems like yesterday. Crazy.

The weather here has warmed up- a lot! And the humidity is in full effect. Yesterday was the worst-- it was the first time it was really muggy and I felt gross and sticky everywhere. But at least it's been cloudy, so we have some shield from direct sunlight. But I will take this hot, humid, mugginess over snow and cold ANY DAY.

It's July 1st, which means Jason and I will be embarking on our new adventure in 2 weeks! What is our next adventure?? Well, stayed tuned to find out. =)

Waffles!

Everyday {or at least 4-5x a week) J & I get a waffle after work. There's this old couple with a little stand on a corner on our way home. And for less than $1, it's really hard not to pass up. We absolutely LOVE waffles & snacking on one always makes me feel better after dealing with bratty kids 9 hours a day.

And not only are they cheap- they're delicious too! The texture is just perfect & they're big! They put this light jelly & light butter on them. Yummy.