Welcoming Star!

This is Star our little bundle of energy. She's been with us for 3 weeks. She's been growing like a weed since she got here. Getting heavier and even more playful than she was before. When she gets wound up, beware because she is unstoppable. She can run faster than her feet can! Can you imagine that? Sometimes she just runs in circles for no reason which is good for her exercise. It makes her fit and healthy puppy. She keeps moving around, running or jumping to bite our fingers...ouch! That's one of her bad habits. No matter how much we say NO! She pretends like she never hears us. When she realizes she does something bad she would lye down and show her sweet face which automatically melts our hearts. She also kept us really busy playing with her at night before bed time and her potty training. We have been taking videos of her barking at the dancing Santa and the singing Elf and Reindeer. We have a train underneath our Christmas tree that makes her crazed especially when its moving towards her. She would run away and hide and then come back when she feels like the train has passed by.

Star is diffinitely a joy to be with. JJ and I has fallen in love with her and we are glad to have her with us for Christmas. We welcome Star to the Johnson Family!

The Walking Gold

I guess we are ready to have another pet. It's been few months since our fish died. We did several trips to pet store for either a puppy/dog or cat or a bird. I mostly liked puppy/dogs. JJ likes cat. If we won't settle for either one, then maybe will go for a bird. I don't know.

Anyway, we went to Humane Society this afternoon. Looked particularly on dogs and cat's. There were a few cat's that JJ like the most but they were already taken/adopted and is just waiting for shots and pickup. They have a lot of dogs but none of them are the kind of breed I like. I am particulary into miniature dogs like Maltese, Pugs, Chihuahua, Terrier, Pekingese, Pug and Shi Tzu. So anyway, none from the Humane Society made either one of us fall inlove with. Next stop, we went to Micro Center. I bought a Scrapbook Designer that costs me $39.99 with a $10 rebate. We'll see if I can keep up with this project. Then we drove to Petland somewhere down Bethel Road. There, a miniature English Bulldog captured my heart. He was so adorable. He is super chubby at 8 weeks old. The tail was very tiny. That time he was feeling very lazy (indeed a couch potato) just slacking off with another dog in the same cage. When the lady gave him to me, he started licking my fingers and tried to be friendly. I can tell he's asking me to take him home! hehehe! His hairs were so silky. Too bad I can't have him. He is just too pricey at 38 hundred!I have to give him back to the lady because I don't want to be soo attached with him. I know I already was.

On our way home, JJ was telling me what would be his name if we had bought him. SAMSUNG. Yes, his price is as much as that Samsung DLP tv that he has been wanting to buy. I said, then maybe we can call him Sam Sung DLP. He answered, No. It would be Samsung DLP Johnson. LOL!

Here's some of his photos: Isn't he cute???

Taba-ching2x!




Side View - Back View:

It's Me and the Pup:

Getting-to-know-me-and-you assignment

Hi Ligaya, as promised here's my piece.

1. what time did u get up this morning? 10:49AM. i was up until 4am. i can't sleep because i was feeling a little sick, my throat was scratchy and i kept sneezing. jj was piddling with his website. can't sleep without him.

2. are you a morning person or a night owl? more of a night owl. jj and i loves to piddle with our square-headed partners.

3. what was the last film you saw at the cinema? Jarhead at the new Rave Theatre.

4. what are your favorite tv show? A lot! news at foxnews like The O'Reilly Factor, History Channel, Discovery Channel, TLC, 24, American Idol, The Correspondents, TV Patrol, The Man Show, Beavis and Butthead <--- yes i watch this show!

5. what did you have for breakfast? i baked an Orange-Glazed Bluberry bread, made some scrambled egg, bacon and coffee for our breakfast at 12:40PM

6. what is ur middle name? Cristobal

7. what is ur favorite cuisine? filipino, chinese, italian, mongolian, mexican and japanese foods. any spicy foods

8. what foods do u dislike? i don't like steak at all. no burger. sushi? so-so.

9. favorite day of the week? saturday and sunday

10. what is ur favorite CD at the moment? i actually listen to my rio mp3 player. last year i burned a CD which is mostly from Regine Velasquez...i downloaded from the internet for free...shhh!

11. what is ur favorite sandwich? Chicken Salad sandwich on Artisan Sesame Semolina from Panera Bread -no spicy mustard, no onions - Calories 730! Arrrggghhh!

12. what characteristics do you despise? chismosa! thou shalt not talk behind my back esp. pag hindi maganda. if u have problems with me, tell it right infront of my face.

13. what do u do most when u are bored? im gonna start to whine with hubby. asked him to go with me at the mall, or watch a movie, or go to his fave tech store...basically do something out from the house. kung ayaw talaga, food trip na lang! with my square-headed bf.

14. if you could go anywhere around the world on vacation, where would you go? hmm...this is hard but i've always wanted to go to Europe - Italy, Paris? then go to Hongkong, Japan, I also want to go to Hawaii so I can visit my cousin. Visit the Virgin Island again...

15. favorite brand of clothing? i could go for cheap stuff from kohls, old navy and forever 21. for pricey clothing, i go for bebe, guess, gap, victoria's secret, aeropostale, pacsun, wetseal, and billabong. For jeans, i got for levi's and union bay. Shoes i like mostly from DSW and Nike shoes.

16. where were you born? rizal, bansalan davao del sur

17. what is your best childhood memory? gardening at the back of our house, helping my mom make a lot of iced candies - everynight!

18. do you have pets? our fish died few months ago. we did several trips to the pet store though. and tomorrow we might be going to the Humane Society....to look for something we can adopt.

19. any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? nothing at this moment.

20. what did u want to be when you were little? when my teacher would asks us before what do we want to take up in college, i would answer i want to be an artist! but i meant an actress. kala ko before ang english ng artista ay artist! LOL but i wasn't gifted with looks and golden voice. so when i was in HS we have this Convocation Program. I was the one who makes the script for our drama. Same thing in college, pero i don't want to be the lead person. I love to direct and be a supporting actress at the same time. we usually end up first or second place, not so bad huh? i also like to perform in dancing from grade school to high school. i stopped when i was in college dahil daming competition and school is so demanding. my degree earned wasn't planned at all, i just decided to take a risk because i got this FAPE scholarship.

21. different jobs you have had in your life? i was a college librarian at uic 1997-2003. when i got here, i decided to take entry level jobs because they are much closer to our house (can't drive yet at that time, sometimes i have to walk)...and i was still adjusting the lifestyle - new environment. sabi naman ni hubby i don't have to work daw, but i have a project in the phils. so nagpipilit mag trabaho...hopefully next year or so, i'd be a full time wife and a mom? we'll see.

22. which comes first, the chicken or the egg? this is a silly question but my answer is chicken. just like when God created Adam and Eve....

Who's next? Hmmm....whoever is interested na lang cguro.

A Weekend Full of Fun

JJ and I had a great weekend.

Friday: Slept too late until it was time to go shopping at Prime Outlets, Jeffersonville. I joined the One Club and in return they gave me this Power Savings Coupon Book.

Sunset View at the Prime Outlet:

Saturday: It was a month ago since I posted that JJ and I are going to watch The Celtic Tiger starring Michael Flatley. It was a powerful 90 minute performance broken up into two acts which tells the story of the Irish people throughout time. The experience was so great. God, I love how he would dance with the top shoes and create a wonderful sound/music. Can't beat the graceful dancers dramatizing the spirit of Ireland and its history through the use of powerful imagery and dynamic music.

I didn't get a good picture though. Even if we got seats at FL3. We are at line N which is 14th rowm from the stage. The seats were not elevated...how I wish I had a booster chair! Duh! Ang kano/kana naman kc ang taas2x ng mga leeg! JJ doesn't like the idea of me taking pictures too..instead I should just watch daw and refrain from taking pictures.

After the show, we went to Mongolian BBQ for dinner. It's been awhile since we had one at Easton.

JJ won't take No for an answer to stop by at a Billiard Hall or not. I personally don't like it because in the first place, I am no good with playing billiards. Second, places like this were smelly. It's true. When we got there I feel like my heart stopped beating for awhile. I was suffocated with the cigarette smell. I can also imagine whoever is using those cue stick! Ewww the germs! JJ finished 2 bottles of beer. Finally, we head out after 3rd game. Of course I am the looser!

Told JJ I wanted to drink at Wendells Pub. At 1AM I am surprised they were closed! We then checked out this new Sports Bar close to where I worked. They were open. The place was cool. I can see its clean...maybe because its new? Or maybe because cigarette is not allowed inside? Hmmm...I can see myself and JJ frequently visiting this place.

I finished 2 glasses of Amaretto Sour and 1 bottle of beer for JJ. Good thing this place is not too far from our house. Just about 5-6 minutes drive.

I felt a lil bit buzz when we got home. I feel happy. JJ kept telling me how he was having a good night. I thought that was it but JJ started opening another bottle of beer and gave me a glass of Jack Daniels Down Home punch. It's been awhile since we went bar hopping.

Went to bed around 3AM. Woke up Sunday at 1PM. Got some lunch at Chipotle. Watch a movie and then spend time piddling around with computers.

....Ahhh...life without work!

Balikbayan Box for my Loved Ones

My families christmas will diffinitely be merry! My Balikbayan Box was pickup up October 31st and is off to California Hub the following day. My wallet was emptied but hey it's OK. As long as everyone back home is happy, John and I will feel the same way too.

September through October is the best time to shop. Everyone know's this time around clothes/stuff sold for summer were on sale. Department stores were trying to get rid of their stuff for the winter clothes.

I mostly bought clothes for my Mom at Sears. I got them down to 80% off.

As for my Dad and the rest of the clothings for family were from Kohls, also at 80% off.

Chocolates, cookies, vitamins were bought from SAMs Club.

Perfumes bought from Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works.

Some toys I bought from Meijer at original price. JJ bought Trixie a leap pad for her birthday last year. This time, I am getting the other boy - Lawrence also a leap pad. This is a good learning material for the young ones. I wish I had one like this when I was a child.

Our Engagement Anniversary

Few people did know that today October 31st was our Engagement anniversary. Yes, its been 3 years but it feels like it was yesterday. How did we met? It was actually one of those yahoo chatrooms. UIC, the school I used to work before were one of the many few who had connected to the internet. Some of my officemates and I would surf the internet after lunch. One time, I got curious with this "interesting yahoo chatroom ID" and that webcamera icon beside the name. I had no idea that it is possible for me to see someone else from anywhere around the world using webcam. So we chatted and without so many questions, he invited me to see him thru the webcam. In return, I sent him one of my scanned photos so he can at least have an idea how I looked like. After that, we exchanged few e-mails and chat. I misinterpreted one of his e-mails that lead me to stopped talking to him and ignored his e-mails. That was December of 2001.

Months had passed. I had no boyfriend and I was loosing the passion to work. No inspiration at all! Everything was so dull and gloomy. Early March 2003, I logged on to yahoo messenger. He saw me online and so we started talking again. I guess the relationships that we were both trying to work didn't work and before I realized, I was already talking serious with him. We started chatting and e-mailing regularly. Added to that was long distance phone calls and text messages. In August, he told me about his plans of visiting Philippines around October to see me in person. I was happy, and excited at the same time afraid about meeting a foreigner. I have a lot of what If's in my mind. Months passed so quick.

The second week of October JJ and his friend Doug arrived in the Philippines and in Davao.

They stayed at Royal Mandaya Hotel.

I also had classmate/friend back in college who I was trying to match with Doug. I remember our first meeting was unexplainable. A lot of mixed emotions. I boarded a taxi just by myself because my friend was going to be late. We were supposed to meet at the Lobby.

Royal Mandaya Lobby:

Indeed when I get off from the taxi and entered the lobby, JJ and Doug were there waiting for me. I was about to back out. Not because I was scared but because I was too nervous and I was so shy about people who would looked on us. Also, I don't know what to do once we were face to face. Will he kiss me or embrase me? He did the last one. After we embrased he introduced me to Doug. Then we went to Pasag Grill at the third floor.

The Pasag Grill close to the Swimming Pool:

We ate and talked while waiting for my friend. The first few conversations was kinda off. I don't know but there were several moments of silence, uneasiness. My friend came finally. They showed us their rooms and gave us their pasalubong. That also gave us a chance to talk privately. The uneasiness were gone and everything went just fine. That night I went home and respectively slept with a smile on our faces. The next morning, I showed up to their room to take them for breakfast and a tour around the city. Among the places we went and showed them for several days were:

The GAP farm:



The Shrine Hills:

...and The Jack's Ridge.

Then we went to the famous Pearl Farm Beach Resort and spent their for about 2 days. We all fall inloved with the place.

We also toured them to the Malagos Resort and the Eden Nature Park.

Some days were spent going to the province to meet the family and folks. We also spent nights watching a movie at the Gaisano Mall and window shopping at SM Davao. Eating out here and there.

October 31st, we went back to the Pearl Farm Resort. I was a little bit sad because they had to go back the following day to Manila for their flight the following morning back to the US of A. After a dip at the pool that afternoon, my friend and I lie down in one of the Nipa huts. He excused himself and without my knowing he went to one of the gift shops. According to him he went there after he had decided the right answer to the queries on his head - to pop the big Q or not! We went inside the room to dry ourselves. I don't remember anymore how he started it. But he was already on his knees asking me to marry him. Mixed emotions we both were, I said yes. Why not? Over a week being with him, I felt that everything we said online were not just a fantasy. I could see his sincerity, caring and they way he treat me. He showed me so much respect of which I am so proud of him. We slept together for two nights and spents many hours in his room at Royal Mandaya and all he did was kiss and hug/embrace me. With these, he gained my trust that he is a good man and I felt so secure with him. The thought about him going back to the States makes me sad. But seeing that ring on my finger gives me hope that he will be back and we will be together, forever for the rest of our lives.

Some Pearl Farm Photos:

Mandaya 16! Will u marry mE?

The Lovely Pearl Farm:

Arrival Area:

The Swimming Pool:

We Have Been Phantomed

About 9:30 tonight, I was busy browsing the internet for a nurses watch that I could possibly send to my nephew for christmas when suddenly, somebody rang the doorbell.

JJ was like, who the hell will be knocking the door past 9PM? I said I don't know. We did not hear any vehicle pulling in the driveway. Scared I was, I went to the next room and peeped at the window overlooking the driveway. If the person leaves, then I could see him/her walking out the driveway. On the second thought, I was a bit worried for my car that I just left outside the garage (of which I seldom do). I did not see anybody so I thought it might be one of those solicitors who just left right away when nobody opened the door.

Without my knowing, JJ went down and checked the door. He came back and was reading something. I did not understand because I hardly hear him. I hurriedly came out of the room and saw him holding 2 pages of paper. We both read it:

GOOD EVENING...

THE PHANTOM HAUNTS YOU HAPPILY FROM NOW THROUGH HALLOWEEN, AND WAS DELIVERED BY A FRIEND WHO (HOPEFULLY) WAS NOT SEEN.

THE SPIRIT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS COME TO WISH YOU WELL, SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, SELECTED YOU TO RECEIVE THIS HAPPY SPELL.

YOU MUST DISPLAY THE PHANTOM ON YOUR DOOR SO ALL CAN SPY THAT YOU'RE ALREADY HAUNTED BY THIS HAPPY LITTLE GUY.

THEN FIX 3 SACKS WITH GOODIES LIKE THE ONE GIVEN TO YOU. RING SOMEONE'S BELL AND LEAVE THE TREATS AND MAKE THEM HAPPY, TOO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

TIS BETTER GIVING THAN RECEIVING
WE ALL KNOW THAT'S TRUE
SO SHOW YOUR LOVE TO ALL THE WORLD AND REMEMBER...
NOW THE PHANTOM IS YOU!!!

PUT THE PHANTOM AND THE POEM IN THE GOODY BAG, RING SOMEONE'S DOORBELL AND RUN!

We were both laughing! Running down the stairs checking out the goody bag.

Yes, we were Phantomed!

Phantoming is a Halloween chain-letter of sorts that the whole family can get involved in.

You need three things:
*the phantom letter and picture
*two-three goody bags
*two-three families tp phantom

Deliver them to two-three neighbors under the cover of darkness. In our case, the kids did a very good job because we never caught them!

Have only one day to do the same to two-three other people or a goofy curse will happen.

I just learned that you have to do this a least one week before the halloween because the chain letter expand exponentially.

1x2x2x2x2x2x2x2= 128

Gee! Can't believed we were become a victim of this pyramid scheme tonight! It was fun though. It made our nights!

See? Not only the kids loves a treat...the old one's too! Meanwhile, I have to go and brush my teeth! :-) I just emptied the goody bag! Hihihi!

Celtic Tiger

OMG! JJ just bought us 2 tickets for Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger. It's going to be on Nov. 12, 8PM at Nationwide Arena. Ohlala! I am so excited to see him. JJ first introduced me to him by showing me his laser disc collection of Lord of the Dance and Riverdance. I love it! He is a killer dancer! After I've seen it, I fall inlove with Irish Dances. That kept me from asking JJ to take me to the Dublin Irish Festival. Its awesome especially the tap dances. I've read from other forums that this show is going to be different. There is no other lead dancers other than Michael Flatley himself. SWEET! Our tickets were FULL Price that means we get to see him up close. Makabuslot bulsa pero OK lang, JJ paid naman eh heheh! Hopefully, camera's were allowed so I can take pictures. 30 days to go and counting! :-)

Spider Web Invasion

JJ just left the house one morning when he called me in our home phone. I figured he forgot something. "Go get the camera, and look for the spider web in one of our trees close to the road" it was pretty cool, you might find it interesting" I was like...OK! I didn't know how big it is!

Man, I have never seen such big spider web! It looks pretty perfect! That morning was wet and sloppy. I was having a hard time looking for the spider! Drivers passing our house got curious what I was doing. It was obvious I got a camera with me while the spider web was very obvious too. They would just slow down, looking at it amazingly. Finally, I found this huge creature wanting to invade us. He is freaking so big and fat! Take a look!

Here's the big Spider:

Watching Cincinnati Bengals

WHO DEY? Who dey? Who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals? This was what the crowd are cheering while the Cincinnati Bengals are battling the game versus Houston Texas over a week ago.

I felt the enthusiasm and the excitement of everyone to watch the game. The stadium was almost full...over 65,000 attendance! Outside the stadium I saw the people having a tailgate party, enjoying and cheering up with friends and families before the game. Everyone is having fun, eating and drinking. Everyone is showing their support by wearing Bengals apparrel and accessories. Some even painted their face and colored their hairs. Some accessories their vehicles.

JJ was cheering at the top of his lungs while I was busy taking pictures and fanning myself. It was humid. Until now I am still a little bit confused with the game, but I am getting it.

Dad also came with us and Jeff who invited us to watch this game. This was my second time after the first few months I got here in 2003. Jeff invited us except last year. He had this Season Pass tickets that would enable him to watch every game.

Lucky enough Bengals won over the Texans. Everyone was happy! Who dey?

Here are some of the photos I captured from OSU band performances, cheerleaders, bengals and texans play and some high rise buildings around Cincinnati.

Anniversary Flowers

Here's the flower that JJ gave to me for our wedding anniversary. They are so lovely! Thanks so much Babe :-)

Weekend Gateaway to Ohio's Hocking Hills

Saturday Sept. 17, 2005

JJ and I spent a weekend gateaway at Hocking Hills for our Second Wedding Anniversary. We had so much fun visiting the State Parks. Hubby was so amazed how he missed this place knowing he spent here all his life...it was his first time! I did all the planning on this one. He wasn't so sure he would enjoy this place by looking at the pictures on the websites we checked and the Visitors Guide I requested. We both enjoyed the nature and the time being with each other...away from work and hassles...remeniscing the most wonderful moments we tied the knot two years ago.

We left Saturday noon. JJ wasn't feeling too well. He had cold...always sneezing and headache that started the night before. He was probably stressed out because he just started his new job at the new department.

Anyway, we drove an hour and half. Not too bad. I enjoyed the ride by the hills. The sceneries were breathtaking meanwhile JJ enjoyed driving the snakey road. We got there and found the cabin we rented at the Comfort in the Woods. It was a cozy place. He then took another nap because he was too tired. We had to mow our yard before we left. On the other hand, I just enjoyed myself watching movies. It was the Wedding Planner and the Bed of Roses. Around 9PM I woked him up and we went to pickup some groceries we need at the nearest Walmart. We also grabbed some food for Dinner. We got back to the cabin before midnight. I was so glad I slept good this time.

Sunday Sept. 18, 2005

Woke up past 9am. Made a breakfast and get ready for the days adventure. Luckily JJ felt so good for the nature sightseeing.
Here's where we went:

Ash Cave: the largest, most impressive recess cave in the state. The horseshoe-shaped measures 700 ft from end to end, 100 ft. deep from the rear cave wall. Rim rising 90 feet high.

Cedar Falls: the greatest waterfall in terms of volume in the hocking region. Cliffs were mostly covered with moss. It has a rugged trail and you can see the step-walled gorge beside the waterfall.

Rock Bridge: an unusual and spectacular formation of a natural rock bridge. It is more than 100 feet long and 10 to 20 feet wide. It gracefully arches 50 feet across ravine. Considered as the natural bridge in the state.

CantwellCantwell Cliffs: The most picturesque in Hocking county. The Most narrow passage has been sarcastically named Fat Woman's Squeeze.

Rock House: this one we never got a chance to really see it...we just walked into the rim. We were so tired walking since most of these caves and waterfalls are strenuous. We agreed to come back the following day but never got a chance.

Rock house is supposed to be unique since this is the only true cave in the park. It is a tunnel-like corridor situated mid-way up a 100-foot of a blackhand sandstone.

After that we went back to the cabin. Watched the movie What Women Want. Had a nice dinner and surrender our sore muscles to the Hot tub. Oh it was so good to treat our tired feet and aching body with warm water.

Monday Sept. 19, 2005 Our Wedding Anniversary Day

We started the day being so lazy. If we could only spend here for two more days or so. We greet each other and talked about how lucky we are to have each other. Basically remembering the past, how we met, and how was the feeling after two years of being together. We finally got up around 10am, made a good breakfast and hop into the hot tub for the last time. We finally checked out at the cabin 12noon.

Old Man's Cave: this is the most popular in the Hocking area. It has five principal sections: the upper falls, upper gorge, middle falls, lower falls, lower gorge. Almost everything here is very interesting.

Conkle's Hollow Cliffs: we took the trail which is 2 and 1/2 mile. Very dangerous since we have to walk the vertical cliffs. This is for adventoruous hikers. I am so proud of JJ that he made it...hehe! even if he was not in very good shape. The cliffs are the highest in the area with 200 feet. It has also the most outstanding scenery. A great caution should be exercised on this trail...its really dangerous. Bikers and pets are not allowed.

We finished the trail for more than 2 hours! And by this time we felt like we had enough hiking and seeing the caves, cliffs and stuff so off we go on our way home!

As soon as we got into the driveway, we saw a white van...it was the guy who delivered my beautiful flower. That was very nice of my hubby to give me a flower. It was very lovely. It made my day. I was so thankful that he always give me surprises.

We head back down to Easton Town Center for a Mongolian BBQ dinner with our friend Doug. It was also our send off dinner for his 2 weeks vacation for Romania. I wonder if he will be married or engaged when he gets back. We both wished him good luck and may he find happiness and find the right girl for him to spend the rest of his life with.

To conclude our second anniversary we stopped by at Wendy's for a Smoothie. This hopes for another year of sweet and thoughtful togetherness.