My Girl's Birthday | Family Matters

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that my girl is having her 9th birthday today, so I haven't been around much since yesterday. We don't have a big celebration, but it is her special day. You can see a collage of her milestones in this post. Like almost any mother, I'm very proud of her. She is the apple of my eye. I'll catch up soon on visiting. Have a wonderful day.

My Girl

Here's a wish for happiness and may dreams come true

Not only on your special day but always, all life through.

I appreciate every visit and comment, but love even more to become good friends. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

The Little Precious Things That Make You Breathe

It is time again for another Friday’s Fave Five hosted by Susanne at Living To Tell The Story.
She says:

It's a place to come on Friday's and think back over your week and just post about 5 favorite things from your week. It can be anything that tickled your fancy over the week. Favorite quotes, posts, happenings, scriptures, recipes, pictures, great internet finds, etc., etc.

I really like the thought of thinking back over our weekly life. It is a good way to reflect and find these hidden gems of blessings. I'm a day behind, but here is my Friday’s Fave Five for this week:

1. Being able to wake up early in the morning to begin with my daily house chores, especially when the morning looks like in the photo below. I think I have mentioned his before, but I just love to see the paintings of the sky.

2. Better health. I am so relieved that I haven't been suffering from severe sinusitis and electrolyte imbalance lately. It is difficult to breathe and get around with all my daily activities when they decide to strike on me. One of my friends has told me about dates honey, and it seems that I'm better off consuming it.

3. We received news of two upcoming weddings in our big family. Both are very special events for my sisters in law in law brothers. Okay, I admit that might be confusing. My husband has twin sisters and they both have brothers in law who will get married next month and at the beginning of next year.

4. We finally got a better Internet connection. At least it seems so right now... I'll see what happens in the upcoming days or months.

5. Last but not least, it's a national holiday here in Indonesia. It's a special time of sharing. The meat of lambs, goats, cows, and bulls are distributed to the ones in need. To all who celebrate, I hope everyone had a Happy Eid-ul Adha or a wonderful time on Thanksgiving.

This is my 8-year-old daughter's list for this week:

1. Playing with her brother (I had to chuckle on this and asked her if this was a sincere answer. Sometimes these two can be like cat and dog. LOL)

2. Riding her bike
3. Reading the BoBo magazine
4. Having family meals
5. Finding out more about her favorite books on the Internet

This is my 5-year-old son's list for this week:

1. Playing with friends
2. Drinking chocolate milk
3. Watching the movie UP.
4. Reading the BOBO Junior magazine
5. Playing (again!)

I appreciate every visit and comment, but love even more to become good friends. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Attention! Read carefully

My dear friends host a lot of wonderful memes on Thursday, but it has been a while since the last time I participated on any meme at this particular day. I'm so glad that today I finally can join three of them.

I have chosen another photo from our family vacation to Singapore last month. We went to VivoCity to meet with one of my junior high school friends who has been living in Singapore for a couple of years now. I hadn't met her for over a decade and it ended up as a lovely reunion.

Before my friend arrived at VivoCity, we had still time to explore the place. According to their official site, VivoCity is Singapore's largest retail and lifestyle destination. I must admit that I was not too fond of shopping, like the rest of my company. I never was into it, although I don't dislike it. Taking photos on the other hand is great excitement for me. There were a lot of unique architecture and designs. Their playground and Sky Park were my favorite spots.

When I saw this sign, I had to chuckle. I never had seen any sign like this before and only read the first sentence. Nothing spoils a beautiful view like an ugly butt... What a funny sign to mention about this, I thought. That's when I read the second sentence and got some enlightenment. Please put cigarette butts in the bins provided. LOL. It's better to Think Green, everyone (Click the link, if you want to read more of my green posts). Now seriously, please don't spoil our beautiful nature with these ugly cigarette butts!

I present this unique sign to Nature Notes, Think Green Thursday and This Way Thurs-Way.

Michelle from Rambling Woods just created a lovely award last week:

I have been sponsoring Nature Notes Thursday and Think(ing) Green Thursday for months now. I wanted to show my appreciation to those bloggers who blog about their love of mother nature or show concern for the planet. You can’t be a nature lover without being a ‘green thinker’ or a green thinker without being concerned for mother nature.

Please accept this award. All I ask is that one post be devoted to how you try to take care of the planet by trying to live green and being more environmentally conscious. Please link back to Rambling Woods or Think(ing) Green Thursday Meme

Thank you so much for this award, my dear! I think you deserve it the most for your constant concern about our beloved mother nature.

Thank you , Michelle

Thank you , Michelle
Thank you for the idea, Gina

Thanks to Jan, Pacey and Tink

I appreciate every visit and comment, but love even more to become good friends. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

A Child's Adventure

It's another Wednesday and time to grab into my photo archives again. The photo above is actually brand new. I just took it outside our house when my innocent, five year old son came home from his bike adventure. He loooves to go on this daily routine and I always have to be prepared for... Well, you can see it for yourself. Today, he decided to join two men cleaning the pool at my parents house! Can you see the wet cloths? Of course, he had to go through a decent shower right after I took the shot. Not before. LOL

A few days back it was a similar situation with red mud. I was so stunned that I totally forgot to take a photo. Does anyone have a great tip to remove red mud from clothes? If so, please let me know in my comment section ;).

“Every child and every generation must have the opportunity to explore, discover and learn in these outdoor classrooms.”

~ Randy Widera (Source: ThinkExist)

This might not be the kind of outdoor or watery image some of you had in mind, so I added another photo from my blog archives. You can see the White Crater located in Ciwidey, Bandung, West Java. My husband took this shot on one of our family vacations. Sorry to all my friends who have already seen it before. It is one of my favorite photos.

#46
Thank you, Susan

#63

Thank you, T. Bruce

I appreciate every visit and comment, but love even more to become good friends. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

The End Of The Rainbow | Microfiction Monday #6

Welcome to Microfiction Monday,

where a picture paints 140 characters...or even fewer.

Susan at Stony River Farm hosts Microfiction Monday. Every Sunday evening she posts a photo or illustration, and you compose a story in 140 characters about it on your blog. Click on the button or link above to get further instructions. To help you along she also has posted a link that counts your characters at Design 215. Thanks for hosting this meme, Susan.

Here's this week's picture (Beautiful, isn't it.) and my story

He hid at the end of the rainbow.
All it took was to grab the scarf and she would be his.
It was time. He didn't hesitate.
No fairy. A witch!

This is my first time to join Microfiction Monday. I would love to become better with my words, like a lot of my friends whose blogs I enjoy. Have a wonderful week, everyone :)

The Singapore Flyer

It has been almost a month since our vacation to Singapore and I haven't posted a single photo yet. Well, it's about time to change this. Here is my first colorful and watery view. You can see the Singapore Flyer at the right.

According to Wikipedia it is currently the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. Well, I and the heights aren't quite a match. That's why I might never end up getting on the Flyer as much as I wanted to. Can you believe that I just found out about this phobia in senior high school? A poor friend of mine got stocked with me on an overpass. My feet just refused to move. What drama! Anyway, I still hope that I get the courage to go on the Singapore Flyer when I have another chance to Singapore.

Click the button to see more photos

Thanks for hosting this meme, Martha!

Click the button to see more photos

Thanks for hosting this meme, T. Bruce.

PS. My friend Jama explained in the comment section that the colors are the Marina Bay Floating Platform. It's a 30 000 capacity grandstand seat fronting the floating platform. The Singapore National Day was celebrated there. According to my friend Elaine, the high building on the left is the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Thanks for the information.

Random Dozen #12 | Simple Notes

Thanks for hosting, Linda

1. If you could master one sport, what would it be? I actually participated in a lot of DLRG swimming competitions when I was a teen. So, it would be swimming.

2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision? Me and my husband prefer to do some research to make an informed decision. But there are also these gut instinct moments.

3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name? I don't have a middle name as you can see in my Blogger profile and there were several streets where I grew up. Based on two of them my name would be Friedrich Ebert (I spent 10 years of my childhood in Germany) or Red River (translation of the Indonesian word Kaliabang). I'll go for the second one. It should be Reed River, though. I think according to these game I would be a man.

4. Would you rather give up your favorite music or your favorite food? Gosh, this is a tough question. Selfish me wouldn't like to be without my favorites. Hmm... but if I had to choose it would be... my favorite food. Sigh... bye, bye seafood! I'm not a picky eater, so I think I'll live through it. But when it comes to music, not every tune pleases my mind. I need particular soul food. Music of My Life. Hehehe.

5. There are two types of banana preferences. One is pristine yellow, almost to the point of being green; the other is spotty and more ripe. Which is your preference? I'm not too fond of bananas, because I'm kind of allergic to them. Sometimes my lips get swollen and I have no idea why. But, my choice would be spotty and more ripe.

6. Your favorite tree is? Another tough question. I love nature very much. But if I had to choose it would be... hmm... eh... well... oh my goodness, this is torturing me ;p. I'm going for the apple tree. I love apples and... hey they inspired Newton.

7. On a scale of 1-10, how tech savvy are you? It depends on which level we are talking about from the Begginer to Advanced level. I think as beginner, I'm doing quite well. The scale could be 7-8, may be. But when we are talking about the high-tech level. I'm way below the average.

8. Has H1N1 touched your family? Thank goodness, no. I hope it stays this way. Hopefully in the future no other families have to go through this as well.

9. Are you an analytical person, or do you just accept things the way they are without questioning or scrutinizing? Well, I think I'm in between. There are things that I have to analyze, but some things I can accept without questioning or scrutinizing.

10. Is your personality more like that of a dog, cat, or Koala? I went to Blogthings and according to the result I am a cow. LOL. I have to know more about what kind of personalities these 3 animals represent before I can make a choice.

You Are a Cow

You are strong and very determined. You can remain stoic when times are tough. You are stable and patient. You are able to do mundane tasks without resentment or boredom. You are a caring, nurturing creature. You are willing to sacrifice a lot to take care of those you love. You are smart and very observant. While you may seem passive, you are just taking in everything around you.

What Animal Are You?

11. Do you keep in touch with friends you made years ago? Of course. Some of my best friends are from elementary school.

12. You are checking out at a grocery store. In the express lane, there are more people than the regular lanes, but of course, their load is less than those in the regular lanes. Which lane do you choose (assuming you qualify for the express lane) and why? I think it would depend on the load of the people in the regular lanes. I'll take any lane which seems to be faster.

How I Ended Up With Three More... | Simple Notes

You might already know that last week I decided to give my blog a new look. But did you know that I ended up with THREE more in the process ;p.

Well, I actually don't know if I can keep up with them all. Let's just say that these Blogger templates were just too tempting for me. No, I'm not getting paid for writing this. LOL

Before deciding on Music of My Life's new template, I came upon BloggerTube - The First Blogger Video Template by Dante Araujo and decided to make it the new home for A Compilation of My Favorite YouTubes. I think it is a real great way for me to have easier access to all my favorite videos on this site.

Next, I came upon a beautiful travel template. I just loved how you could add links into the destination sign at the header. I thought it could be a place to share some reviews, photos and/or travel tips in A Family's Travel Guide. Okay, okay... I must admit that these destination sign links did it for me. Not a match for my personal blog, though.

Then, I finally got a click when I came upon this now applied template. Like my dear friend Pacey said in my previous comment section. It is very obvious that I loooove green... and flowers as matter of fact :). This is my ultimate comfort place, where I connect with my beloved friends. Please forgive me, if I still haven't put you back in my Bloglist. I forgot to keep a back up of my Bloglist links. So, there might be a possibility I have missed you.

Last but not least, I decided to join Zazzle.com and created some designs based on my photos. You can see them at Amalia's Gallery. Amalia is taken from my daughter's last name. We don't have any family names here in Indonesia. That's why I kept my family name. I have one, because I was born in Germany.

To be truth, creating these products gives me a very mixed feeling. I actually don't know, if I will proceed or not. I love spending my time working on the product designs. Hopefully the products will always be as good as they look on screen. You can say that I have a great passion for crafts and designs... and now photography. Even though I don't have as much time as before and I'm not a pro, there is something very appealing in the creative process. Challenging, relaxing... PASSION :)! Zazzle seems to be a place to combine all of my hobbies. Besides, I love the thought of having my own store (well actually it's not my store, only designs). Not that I'm not grateful as Stay at Home Mom. I have decided to leave my career for almost ten years now, and I'm positive that the decision would be exactly the same if I could go back in time. I'll just wait and see what happens next.

How To Change Your Blogger / Blogspot Template

Last week I decided to change the look of my blog and started to search for some free Blogger templates. It turned out that there are so many great sources on the Web that I had a hard time to choose. But first things first. My dear friends Thom and Keats reminded me about safety and I couldn't agree more. Before searching for a new template, I copied and saved all of the html/javasript codes in my sidebar. I have been blogging for almost a year here and it would be a shame, if I lost the data. After that, I copied the codes file again for double assurance .

Now, back to those awesome Blogger templates. There are a lot of sites offering there wonderful help to give your blog a new fresh look for free. Just make sure that you get the codes from their original source, not somewhere else. Here are my favorite sites for free Blogger/Blogspot templates:

Blogger Templates
Dante Araujo
Deluxe Templates
FalconHive

All you have to do is to read the description of template, view the template's demo blog to see its real look and then download your choice on your PC. I advice you to read the comment section as well to find out some possible bugs or problems from other users. Please respect the creative rights of the template developers by keeping their link intact. Don't delete them and change it with your own name! You have to be grateful to people who help you. It's that simple.

Extract the file, go to your Blogger dashboard, click layout and then edit html. Click browse to get to your extracted file and after that upload.

Uploading a new template usually will delete your added page elements and widgets. That's why it is so important to save and back up your codes first, before you start. It would be a great loss, if anything goes wrong. You definitely don't want this to happen! After uploading the new template, Blogger will ask you to confirm and save. Click at the button and you should be able to access your new template. Contact the template designer for further questions, if you get some troubles. I don't advice you to change your template, if you are not sure about the process unless you are okay about losing your page elements and widgets in the worst case.

Have fun rearranging your Blogger template

Short Notice: Under Construction ;)

Hello my dear friends,

just a short notice to let you know that I'm alright.
I hope everyone is doing great.

I decided to change my blog template to give it a new look.
Please, bare with me until everything gets intact again.

Have a wonderful week, everyone :)!

Today's Flowers #65

MY APPRECIATION TO THE TODAY'S FLOWERS TEAM

LUIZ SANTILLI JR. - DENISE GULLICKSON
LAERTE PUPO - VALKYRIEN

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)

November 5, 2009

The Peace Globe Gallery

Vote for Peace, everyone!
It's worth to try.

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant us Peace)

Miley Cyrus The Climb Lyrics

I know I'm too early on this post, but I'm currently taking advantage of a speedy connection. So I thought it would be okay because a lot of times I'm struggling with the speed of a snail at home.

When I was searching for an encouraging song to start the week, I came upon Miley Cyrus' song The Climb and really loved it. Just listen to Miley Cyrus' The Climb lyrics and I hope you can feel the spirit, too. Have a wonderful week, my dear friends!

~ by Jori and Diane ~

Thanks for hosting this meme!

Thanks for hosting this meme, LJ

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!