Sophie Turns 1

My daughter, Sophie is now 1 year old. To be exact, she is now one year and 19 days old (yes this is another overdue post). Can’t believe how time flies. The day when I gave birth via C-section in VRPMC in Mandaluyong is still fresh in my mind, like it just happened yesterday.

Well since that day, so many memorable things have happened. The first year of a child is really amazing. You will marvel at how a baby slowly grows up and develop under your care. Realizing that I have been a mother and a parent for a year now, I guess I can say that I have learned a lot, but there are still many more things I need to know. Sophie is growing up so fast! She is an active baby with a ready smile for almost everyone. I am so proud to have a daughter like her and I want her to grow up knowing that.

Well we celebrated Sophie’s 1^st birthday with family and friends at Jollibee Starmall. It was fun and I think the guests enjoyed it although I find it a little noisy and a bit disorganized. I think I want a simpler and more intimate celebration on her next birthday.

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Win A Free Blog Hosting and Domain

For some time now, I have been thinking of starting a new blog with my own domain name. Part of the reason is because I want to blog seriously this time. I want to challenge myself and start a new site where I can put all my creative juices. I want a useful and high ranking site that would be useful to my visitors and would also be a source of extra income for me.  

But you know what, I can be so stingy sometimes that even though blog hosting and domain does not really cost a fortune, I kept putting the idea on hold. I kept setting it aside because I have other priorities at the moment.

But you know what, I think fate wants me to pursue my plans now. That is because out of nowhere, I stumble upon this blog hosting and domain giveaway. I am so happy to have found it because it is exactly what I have in mind.

It is also very easy to win. Just create a blog post about the contest, get 7 comments, and then send the url of the blog posts to win. All of it should be done before September 30. For bloggers out there who also want to win this great freebie, click here.

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Great Opportunity For Deserving Teachers

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Woodrow Wilson. All opinions are 100% mine.

In my opinion and I guess many people would agree with me, excellent teachers are a gem. They are society’s treasure because in shaping young minds to be responsible and good citizens, they are doing a noble deed.

So it is not surprising that there would be educational institutions or private companies that would be willing to give scholarship to college graduates who have great potential to be an effective instructor. One of that is the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship. They are doing this because they want to hire and retain great teachers. Ultimately, the real beneficiaries of this program are the students and the schools.

I hope there would be also be a program such as the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship here in the Philippines that willingly grants USD30,000 stipend to qualified professionals so they can earn an intensive masteral degree at one of the fourteen participating universities. They are specifically looking for fresh college graduates and career changers whose specialization is in the field of science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM).

What are the requirements for the Teaching Fellowship?

College graduate in a STEM field by June 2011

With a GPA of 3.0 or higher upon graduation

Shows a commitment to the program and its goals

What is expected?

Complete a field-based master’s degree in teacher education.

Commit to teach for at least three years in a high-need school.

Receive intensive support and mentoring in the classroom.

To submit an application to the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship, just visit www.wwteachingfellowship.org

Spread the word to all who you think are interested.

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Movie Review: Salt

I am not so excited to see this movie because I thought it would be too violent for me. You see I want to relax while watching a movie so I tend to choose feel-good movies. I watch it because I got curios about it. Have heard some rave reviews and an officemate said that it was indeed very good. It reminded me of another Angelina Jolie movie that I have seen and like which is “Wanted”.

So I went to watch Salt in my laptop (yeah another officemate was able to download it in the net lol). My expectations are low but I find it interesting the instant it starts. There is no dull moment in the film and the story is clear, simple and compelling. I think it would be good for people who want a break from a movie like Inception which is mind-boggling.

In the movie, Jolie plays the character of Evelyn Salt who is a Russian spy but is working for the CIA. She was raised to be a terrorist and she would be hunted by the authorities all throughout the movie. The movie is action-packed but it has a heart. The scene when Jolie jumped from a bridge and landed on a running truck shocked me while I was moved by the scene where Angelina looked down at her dead husband. This movie is highly recommended. And in the end, all I can say is that Angelina Jolie is drop-dead gorgeous and is a very good actress

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You Can Earn A Masteral Degree Online

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of USC. All opinions are 100% mine.

Several years ago I earned my degree in Education and I consider that a great achievement. Some of my classmates then who had pursued a teaching career have already earned their masteral degree and there are times when I envy them. I wish I can study again someday and earn a masteral degree too. But of course that desire of mine needs to take a backseat for now because I have no time and resources for that.

I am a working mom and so it will be difficult for me to earn a masteral degree. Well that is what I thought before. I just realized that though it seems impossible years ago, universities are now offering online courses. One of that is the USC Rossier School of Education. This elite research university gives aspiring teachers and educators a chance to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching through their online study programs.

This is definitely good news and lots of benefits awaits those who will take the opportunity to study online. Among other things students get to experience highly interactive online learning combined with field-based experiences. It also has a groundbreaking tuition reimbursement program and accelerated program you can complete in as little as 12 months. There is also the possibility to be a part of the elite USC Trojan Family.

To those who want to pursue a teaching career but and wants to enjoy the benefit of online study programs, check out the USC website for their program information

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A Super Delayed Thank You

I have wanted to do this post for a long time. You see, I have been blogging for some time but I still don’t have a badge. Why? Simply because I don’t know how to make one (laughs). You know, I am quite slow when it comes to technical stuff. There was even a time when I consider myself someone with technophobia. I just became comfortable working with thenet and computers when I started working for an IT company.

Anyway, this post is for a very nice blogger friend who volunteered to make a badge for me. He is none other than Andy of Chronos blog. He wanted to display my badge in his new blog but can’t find any codes to copy in my site so he offered to make me one. I was delighted when he e-mailed me the codes and it is now displayed in my sidebar. He is also a regular visitor to my blog so I am really grateful. So to Andy, you are one of the nicest blogger I have encountered. Again, thanks a lot and may your tribe increase.

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Effects of The Hostage Taking Incident

Almost three days after the grim hostage taking incident that shocked the entire Philippines and the world, the country and our citizens are now reaping the effects of this sad event.  What happened that day was really disappointing. I first heard about the hostage taking through my officemate around Monday morning. I paid no attention to it but then just before going home from the office, I saw many tweets that the hostage taking is still not over.

When I saw the news on TV, that’s how I became fully aware of the hostage taking and I felt frustrated knowing that it has been going on since morning. My husband and I ate dinner while watching the full media coverage. The clock is ticking and the police seem to be moving so slow. When the bus driver escaped and I heard him say on TV that everyone in the bus is already dead, I felt cold inside like I wanted to cry. It’s unusual for me to feel teary-eyed for incidents I see on TV but this time I just felt horror and deep pity for all the people inside that bus.

I can just imagine how afraid they are and to think that they only wanted to enjoy and relax. The incident ended tragically and now everyone is pointing fingers- the incompetent and untrained police, the full media coverage, the President for being nowhere while the hostage taking is going on

It is sad because the Philippines is again in a bad light allover the world especially in China. In fact there is already a Facebook fan page that condemns that Philipine government and the Filipino people for what happened. I hope this page gets banned soon and  hope that the Philippine police have learned their lesson this time.

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