Our Thanksgiving Trip (2)

After the quick morning shopping with Steve, we drove to hubby’s hometown. The town looks a little different from the last time we went there three years ago. They have new hotels and pretty soon they gonna have a big casino in Clinton’s west side. The casino’s construction is already in progress. We definitely will check it out when we come back to visit next time, hooray!!! Anyway, we managed to see hubby’s eldest sister, Cindy and her lovely daughter, Elizabeth. It was really nice to see you guys.

Can I play with it?

I am ready to go, mom.

ZZzzzzz!

Done with our routine 'old neighborhoods tour', we went to Eagle Point Park, another must go place whenever we are in town. It's situated on top of a high bluff (much as its counterpart in Dubuque). I love this beautiful park. Overlooking the Mississippi River and General Zebulon Pike Lock and Dam, the views are spectacular. Pics tell it all.

Beautiful

Spectacular view

Saturday night, we went out for dinner with Pam and Steve. This time we went to Mexican restaurant for a change. Personally, I think it was the best Mexican restaurant I have been so far. The food was great and the price is really reasonable too. I would rate it 9 out of 10. And they have live Mexican band too. I am not sure if they play every night or just on the weekend. But they surely are so entertaining. Oh yeah, the restaurant name is Azteca. :-)

Do we have to go out again?

Bill and Georgia.

As I wrote in my post earlier, our trip back to Oak Ridge was pretty harsh. We drove mostly in the rain and snow and some sleet too. I mean all the way from Rock Island to Indiana. We stay overnight in Greenwood, Indiana and continued our journey home the next day. And yes, it was still raining until we reached Oak Ridge. Anyway, other than the ‘not so nice’ weather, the trip was great. We had a wonderful time. Steve and Pam, thank you for your hospitality.

Pretty nasty, huh!

Our Thanksgiving Trip (1)

Yeah, we are back in town. We got home on Monday evening. It was a great trip even though we drove mostly in the rain and snow. Credit goes to dear hubby for such a good driver and most of all the biggest credit goes to our precious little passenger. Bill was such a great traveler. We are so proud of him. And thanks to the GPS Navigator too. It absolutely did a great job and made thing easier for us.

Nasty weather

French fries break

Anyway, this year we had our Thanksgiving lunch at The Lodge Restaurant. The place is enormous but still jam-packed with people. Guess lots of people nowadays preferred to celebrate it in the convenience way. Leave the cooking headache to the chief….hihi! Anyway, the food was great but they can do better in their desserts selection though.

The Lodge Restaurant

Family's Thanksgiving Lunch.

Busy busy

Our sweetie pie.

Day after Thanksgiving morning, Steve and I decided to go shopping for a couple hours while hubby stayed home and taking care of our dear son. First we went to Walmart and to our surprised, the store was pretty empty. It was only about 10am. Were we just lucky or what! One of the associates told us that we just missed the crowds. She said the store was jam-packed with shoppers from 5.00am to 7.00am. LOL! After done our shopping at Walmart, we went to Bestbuy. But they were pretty crowded. So after a little browsing and of course ‘drooling’ some at their big screen TV, we decided to end our Friday shopping. Thank you Steve. It was really nice shopping with you.

Thanksgiving Trip

It's only a couple days before Thanksgiving. This year we are going to visit our family members in Illinois. It would be great to see them again especially on such special occasion. And what more is, this is Billy’s 1st Thanksgiving with all our family members from my hubby side. Of course from his side as my family do not celebrate Thanksgiving. LOL!! The day after Thanksgiving, we plan to drive to my hubby’s hometown in Clinton, Iowa. This is also Billy’s 1st trip to his daddy’s hometown. Hope to be able to see you this time Cindy.

Yeaaah!!! Lots of exciting things in store for Bill, and of course for mommy and daddy too. There’s also another ‘thing to do’ for daddy on this trip, have to show Billy around his childhood neighborhood, his old school, the hill where he used to slide down to reached his school faster when he was a little kid, (LOL) this and that and not forget the little shop where he used to get some ice cream with his siblings when they were just a little kids. Billy probably won’t remember anything about it now but it is just exciting to show him around daddy’s hometown.

We will hit the road early morning tomorrow. Long way to go but will be so much fun. If everything goes as plan we will reach my sister in law’s house on Wednesday afternoon. So see you guys on Wednesday!!!!

I will try to do some update on my blog whenever I have the time. Yes, of course will take lots of picture….haha! Okay guys, gonna have to go. I still have packing to do, so better to gear up soon.

Oh yeah, I got an offer from Steve, my sister in law's hubby to go shopping on Black Friday. He read my posting about the Day After Thanksgiving shopping and told me he won't mind to go shopping with me. Thank you very much Steve, so kind of you.

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving and happy holiday!

Oak Ridge- The Secret City

The Secret City? I bet many of you are curious about it and of course the story behind it. I had the same curiosity too when my hubby told me for the first time that we are moving to a town called 'the secret city'. Oak Ridge is just a small city but known famous because of the Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) .
Why Oak Ridge is called The Secret City? Beside The Secret City, Oak Ridge's other nicknames are The Atomic City, The Ridge and The City Behind The Fence. We even have a restaurant named The Atomic here in Oak Ridge, it sounds hilarious. :-) I tell you, it’s really fascinating and all of it was part of the world history.

Yes, it's kind of amazing how this little town played a major role in ending the war between the United States and Japan. The birth of Oak Ridge was tied of the birth of the atomic bomb. The town was literally built for the The Manhattan Project. The city born of war in 1942, existed for seven years as a truly ‘Secret City’. The city of Oak Ridge was not officially on any map until 1949 when the gates were opened and citizens were allowed to come and go as they pleased. It was only then that Oak Ridge received its name.

Manhattan Project Signature Facilities- The K-25 plant courtesy; Atomic Archive

It is really interesting how the peoples who involved in the project keep everything a secret. Fascinating stories how the citizens of Oak Ridge describe life in the Secret City during World War II. It's worth reading, folks. :-)

My Morning Meditation

How do you start your day everyday? Turn on coffee, watch morning news, sit in front of the computer.....LOL. As for me, I started my day around 6.00am, turn on the coffee, then straight to my desk, open my curtains and look outside through my big window. Believe it or not, its something I am looking forward to everyday, the early morning scenery. It's really beautiful and I really enjoy it, so relaxing, peaceful and refreshing. Yes, it is more of a meditation for me. It really does.

Excuse our messy yard...LOL. Look like somebody need to do some leaves raking soon.

More Toys?

Talking about toys, again? Haha....I know, I know! That's me! But hey, it's part of the excitement of being a new mom or new parents, I should say. I am sure all mother out there is agree with me. Giving the best for our children are always the priority of any parents. :-) Toys are one of it. If the toys can stimulate children's creative thinking, social skill, let alone all those cognitive and motor development etc, any parents are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for it. Some people say that they reluctant to give toys to their children to avoid them being spoiled. Like one of my ex-colleagues who have three kids but never buy any kind of toy for his kids. Not even one. His home was free toys even though he has three kids. And both him and his wife are working. Amazing, huh! But his kids appeared to be fine, well behave and did well in school.

Anyway, I had this conversation with one of my sister a year or so ago. My son was only a few months old at that time. I told her that I want to avoid buying toys for my son (you know where I got the influence...hehe) but my hubby on the other hand had different opinions. Before I even finished my sentence, she laughed her heart out and said 'you just wait and tell me about it three years from now. Tell me every time you go into the store, you walk out without any kind of toys in your shopping bag'. Haha.....how funny, huh! Well, okay, you're right. I guess the time has come....haha! Being a mother of three, she bought tons of toys for her kids.

True indeed! Hard to resist when it comes to buy toys for our kid. This month alone we bought six toys for him. Its not even Christmas yet...hihi! Most of them are educational toys, aahaah! That how I should say it. :-) Beside that, hubby bought him a swing set just last week. Lucky one. When I was just a little kid, as far as I can remember, I had maybe one or two toys only. But that time, things are different though.

Important Blogging Statistics

*Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.

*More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.

*Over 57 million Americans read blogs.

*1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.

*89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.

*9% of internet users say they have created blogs .

*6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog .

*Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs .

*Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day .

*There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day .

*22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs .

*120,000 new blogs are created every day .

*37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006 .

*51% of blog readers shop online .

*Blog readers average 23 hours online each week .

source; BlogWorld

Taking Care of Our Loved Ones

When my hubby and I decided to buy life insurance many years ago, it took us several months before we finally found the right insurance policy for us. Being on a pretty tight budget at that time as hubby was only a graduate student, of course we were looking for the most coverage yet pay low premium insurance as our priority. Hubby insisted that we need to get life insurance policy despite our small budget as it is a necessity especially in our situation where I live so far away from my family and relatives. At least if something bad happen to him, (God forbid) he will guarantee that I have some financial security. Blessed your heart my dear.

Anyway, sorting through lots of different types of insurance policies available are not only confusing but also overwhelming. Wouldn’t it be nice if we can get somebody to help us to decide which insurance policy is right for us? :-) If you are considering or decided that it is time for you to buy insurance policy, you should try Advantage Term Life. They will help you to decide on the right policy that meet the needs of you and your loved ones.

The best thing is you can do it all online. All you need to do is visit here and enter some basic information such as your birthday, state of residence, health status, length of the term desired and a few other pieces of information. It is quick and easy. So what are you waiting for? Get your insurance quotes for all of your insurance needs today.

Extra Money for Your Holiday Shopping????

It would be great to get some extra cash especially around this time of the year. I would think everybody agree with me on this. What’s more if you can do this from your home in your convenience time and generate that extra income while doing thing you enjoy doing like blogging. Cool, huh! Yup, you definitely can do it through blogsvertise.


You may ask how does blogsvertise work? How do you monetized your blog through blogsvertise?.
It’s simple. To start you just need to get yourself register for free and then add your blogs for review and approval. Once your blogs get approve then tasks/assignments will be given out to you to write about in your blogs such as websites products and services.

After you have done the writing entry, you will need to summit the blog entry for review and approval. And once it get the approval you will get pay as low as $4 per entry till up to $25 per entry. Now lets do some math here, let say you can do two entry per day, if your entry worth $10 per entry so you earn $20 per day, at the end of the month you get extra $600 in your wallet. Not bad, huh! Well folks, why not give blogsvertise a try? Make some extra cash for your holiday shopping. I definitely will give it a shot. :-)

I Love Autumn!!!!!

Today we went out to Melton Hill Dam, one of the popular recreation spot here in Oak Ridge. Actually this is the second time we went there. :-) We just love the scenery's, with the hills and lake and the beautiful leaves, what a combination!

1st lesson from dadda "No no eating mushroom from the ground."

Bill and dadda.

"Okay dad, you told me already. I got it. Now can I go play with the leaves?"

Adoring the leaves.

This is really fun!

Melton Hill Dam.

Billy and mommy.

Beautiful!

Lake Melton Hill

Mommy, your phone is ringing!

Black Friday

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Then there comes Black Friday, day-after Thanksgiving shopping day. They say it's the unofficial kick-off of the Christmas shopping season. Personally I never experience the fun of shopping on Black Friday. We only watched about it in the morning news on televisyen the next day and heard from some friend's experiences. Last year one of our friend told us that he and another friend of him camp out in front of Sears from early evening. He said it was pretty fun and he got what he wanted with a very good price.

I tried to convinced my hubby to join the crowds for many years now without any luck. Not that I want to do all the the camp out thingy, to be honest it's more scary than fun to me, but just to do some quick shopping when the crowds already thin up. But nay, he is willing to pay more and go shopping some other day when it less busy....gheesh!. But it is one big event and I would like to have the experience at least once in my lifetime...hihi... call me pathetic. It's really amazed me that people is willing to camp out in a cold night in front of a store just to do some shopping. And the line was so long. But I guess it worth all the hassles if we get what we want with a real bargain price and at the same time have some fun. :-)

This year Walmart the biggest retailer in the USA start their Black Friday on November 2nd, three weeks before Thanksgiving. :-) Other than that,I saw some bigger store already have their Black Friday's ads out. I surely will try my luck shopping on Black Friday this year but I will do it online instead. Okay, less than 3 weeks to go,so time for coupons hunting now.

Have You Started Your Christmas Shopping?

I do. I start making my 'Christmas shopping list' in September. Then the Christmas gifts hunting begin in October....hihi! Most of it I did online. What is more fun than doing shopping on your convenience time in your convenience seat at home. :-) No rush, no traffic headache -read;no grouch hubby, no long lines and I can get the best deal without having to go to many different stores.

So far I bought three gifts and Christmas day is only about seven weeks to go. Just three so far?....haha....yep, but hey.....as you see I have to take time to do my blogging too, I got addicted to it now. Anyway, I hope will be able to mail my parents gifts sometimes this week or next week so they can get it on time. I still have long list of things to buy so I better get busy soon.

Toys and Lead Paint

This morning I got the new toy I ordered online two days ago. It is a pretty nice big transformable carrier truck with 3 little cars in red, yellow and green color. As I unpacked it, suddenly the word 'lead' came into my mind. There are more recalls on toys with the same issue, 'high lead paint' with the most recent just a couple days ago. Aaaaah!! Am I being ignorant of my kid safety? Looking at the toys color especially the red one made me feel uneasy. Am I being over-reacted on this issue? Well, when the first toys related with high levels lead paint was recalled by Mattel, we actually had one toy involved. It was in red color with blue and yellow stripe. We bought the toy about three weeks before the recalled was made. Fortunately our son does not tend to put his toys in his mouth. But we still had his blood test for lead and Thank God...he is fine. Months after the recalled been made, we went back to the store and I went straight to the toys department and guess what? They still have the same recalled toys sitting on their shelf. Can you believed it? Gheeeesh!
Anyway, I decided to put the new toys away while Billy was taking a nap. I am going to do a little research before I give it back to him. Hopefully it doesn't involve in the recalled. But the question if this one really safe for my son to play with will still lingering in mommy's head.

A Depressing Halloween?

Scary huh!

I'll help you remove the seeds dadda! LOL

It was our 1st halloween here in Oak Ridge last night. What a little depressing halloween it was. We had only 2 'tricker treat' show up. What??? Two???? Yep, you read it right. Two and only 2 teen girls show up. Ain't that pretty depressing? The worst thing was we bought two big bag of candies for the tricker treat, a little extra than we used to. Blame it on me....haha.....I was the one who suggested to get two bags of candy. I had my own reasons. Being the one who hand out the goodies to the tricker treat every year, run out of candy or give away one or two piece of candy each would be so sad. I know the children won't complaint,well, at least not in front of you but the look on the face show like huh? I had the experienced once while we were living in Columbia,MO. It was Halloween 2004, we had lots of candies but there was also lots of tricker treats came knocked on our door. My hubby keep telling me not to give so many candy at once as I used to put between 6-10 pieces candy to each bucket. That's what the lucky one get but the late tricker treat just get like 2 piece of candy. Wasn't that pretty sad, gheeeez!!

What a halloween! At least my hubby made a scary Jack O' Lent this year.....hihi! My hubby plan to bring our son for tricker treat next year. Woulds be so much fun. The only thing is what we gonna do with the candies he gonna get for mommy won't let him eat them. Look like the parents are the one who gonna be having so much fun, huh!