Five Finds for Friday - Mommy & Money Blogs

I haven't done Five Find for Friday for a while but I will get back to do it more often. I have found several or ton of new blogs since I started blogging. But one of the blog that gets me started in this blogosphere is the mommy & money blog.

Here are my finds of those mommies who give us all the tips and tricks to save more money for your family.

1) Money Saving Mom - No need to say another word. This is one of the most popular money blog out there. Crystal has great information for grocery and coupon shopping. She also provides useful article on saving, living frugally and spending wisely on the regular basis as well.

2) The "Cent"sible Sawyer - Another great money blog with all the details for deals and freebies. I check her blog weekly.

3) Fiddledeedee - I love Sarah's blog because she focuses on Publix. I love to shop at Publix. Also she has a lot of deal for organic shopping which is what I am trying to do.

4) Penny Pinching Parent - I just recently discovered this blog. I love that she gives weekly deals on kids stuff like diaper will detail break down to price per diaper. A great info indeed.

5) Common Sense with Money - Another great money advice site. She provide not only grocery deal but various tips about saving money! I truly enjoy reading her blog.

13 Family-friendly Things to Do in Destin

Oh.. Destin.. The famous white sugar sand beaches and brilliant emerald-green waters in Florida. I'm so looking forward to visiting there. Here are things we can do as a family in Destin. Of course, beach time will take up most of the time we will be spending there. But whenever we have a break, here are some of the things we can check out in this area.

1) Enjoy the beach - I mean why would we drive almost 7 hours there if we don't go to the beach, right? This will be my primary activity.. Beach time. Pick a spot, put down your towel and let the kids lost themselves in building the sandcastle while you soak in the sun. There are various public access beach areas. Then at night you can go crab hunting with your kids for the experience that they will cherish forever.

2) Check out Airforce Armament Museum - Kids can check out this extensive collection of weaponry and interactive displays including vintage military aircraft. Best of all it's FREE admission.

3) Gator Beach - Enjoy the fun family adventure and the opportunity to feed live alligators. They also offer educational alligator shows. You can take a stroll through the educational wildlife exhibit area that is FREE to public.

4) Emerald Coast Science Center - Take the kids to enjoy science at this science center. Kids will have fun and learn more about science at the same. The admission is also very reasonable. $5 for adults and $3.50 for kids (3-12). Also check out 2 for 1 price on Sunday.

5) Florida's Gulfarium - Explore this beachfront park and enjoy 3 live marine shows.

6) Village of Baytowne Wharf - Take a stroll in this quaint village in Sandestin and enjoy the live entertainment throughout the year.

7) Track Family Recreation Center - For the one stop family activities, the Track has something for everyone. You can enjoy mini-golf, bumper ride, go kart or kid town for your little one and thrill ride for the mom & dad.

8) A trip to Seaside and Beaches of South Walton - A short ride from Destin and you will be in the South Walton beach area including Seaside, the white picket fences town that is made famous by Jim Carrey's movie - The Truman Show.

9) Fishing at the Okaloosa Island Pier - There is no need to rent a boat to go out fishing. You can test your fishing skill at this pier at more afforadable price. Even if you are not a fisherman, you can still enjoy watching others catch a big one there.

10) Shop at the Silver Sands Outlet - Our trip won't be complete without a visit to at least one shopping mall. But if you have one of the best factory stores here, it will make the trip even better.

11) Visit Florida Caverns State Park - This is one of the few state parks with dry caves and is the only Florida state park that offer cave tours to the public. Cave tour lasts approximately 45 minutes and there are other outdoor activities for visitors like camping, swimming, fishing, picnicking, canoeing, boating, hiking and bicycling. Cave tour fees are $8 for age 13 and up and $5 for 3-12.

12) The Zoo - Northwest Florida - Get up close and personal at the Zoo with more than 1,300 animals. The best feature is you can take a ride on the Safari Line Limited Train which winds through more than 30 acres of free-roaming wildlife. The admission fees are $11.50 for adults and $8.25 for children (3-11).

13) Big Kahuna's Water and Adventure Park - For the day that you want to take a break from the beach, Big Kahuna is a perfect family adventure park suits for the whole family. Make sure to check the calendar as this park opens seasonally. I have seen mixed reviews on this park due to staffs and service. So do your research before buying tickets as it's not cheap.

Wordless Wednesday: Koh Pan-Yi (Floating Muslim Village)

This is the floating muslim village in Krabi. This village is built entirely in the ocean. It's one of the tourist attraction (stop) for people visiting Phi Phi Island and Krabi area.

The Tooth Fairy was Here

This past Friday when I picked Miss J up from the bus stop, she gave me a huge smile. I immediately noticed that something is missing.. Something.. TWO space between her bottom front teeth are empty.

As you all know that we have been waiting for her wiggling teeth to fall out. I was too chicken to pull it out myself. Miss J told me that they came out during lunch time while she ate her cheese stick.. Ok.. That will be on my list of things to give her to eat on her next wiggling tooth. Unfortunately, she lost both teeth. No biggie. I told her that the Tooth Fairy will know whose teeth and she will return to the right owner.

Well, thanks for all the suggestion about how much to give her. I really love JoJo's idea about Quarter collection. But I didn't prepare anything for that. Actually, I was so unprepared that I forgot to put the money under her pillow when she went to bed that night. The next morning, I had to lure her to my bed and had Mr. Rojo kept her in our bed while I ran downstairs and got $2 to put under her pillow. Well, luckily I had $2. :)

So now only 20 something more teeth to go.. I hope it will be as easy as these two.

Walking In The Rain

Rain.. Rain.. Come again..

We have been so disappointed in Fay. She seems to be focusing her energy in Florida. I'm sure the Floridians would love her to move a bit North. Today we got a bit of rain from Fay tail.

Mr. Rojo and I went walking in the rain.. Oh! What a fun day! I don't remember when was the last time I got to play in the rain. When we were young, my mom always told us to get inside since they were afraid that we would get sick. So today it was my chance to enjoy the rain.. It's really liberating!

So what other childhood activities you long to be able to do now that nobody can tell you what to do or what not to do?

The Next Shawn Johnson... Or Not!

Miss J started her first Gymnastic class on Wednesday. I wasn't sure if she will enjoy this activity. You see... Miss J is notorious for changing her mind and commitment every 2 hours. I know she is still a kid but I want to instill the idea of responsibility and commitment to her. So we want to make sure that if we sign her up she will finish her class.

I want her to involve in just one sport activity during the school year. So picking the right one is very important. We have tried several sports throughout the year.. Ballet (Can we call it sport? Ok..Maybe activity..), Soccer (which she hardly made it through the season), and Swimming. This year we decided on Gymnastic because I'm so sick of her climbing and flipping on the sofa. I figure at least I will have her in the safer environment to channel her energy and need to flip and jump.

What a perfect timing that the Olympic is on right now. I taped a few Gymnastic events mainly Women All-Around for Miss J to see. I was thinking.. she will get inspired and fire up about doing gymnastic.. Boy!! Was I wrong! She was scare to death. She didn't want to go to Gymnastic anymore because she didn't want to jump and fall. It took a good few talks to calm her down and reassure her that they will have the padding for her and the beam won't be as high. Whew!!! Note to self.. Maybe next time I should choose the event like Floor exercise for her to see instead of Balance beam. :)

Well, how did she do her first day? She LOVES it! She asks to go back every week. Mission accomplished!! I don't know if she will be the next Shawn Johnson or not but I know that for now she enjoys the activity. That's what important to me.

Beach Bum

Summer is ending and Fall is coming. But I have this urge of going to the beach. Eventhough we went to the Carribean in the beginning of Summer but that was 4 months ago. I need my beach-fix.

I have my short list of where I want to go within driving distance. Of course, if I have unlimited resources I would love to go to Hawaii or somewhere else in the Pacific. But for now, the beach on the East coast or the Gulf will suffice. After reading and thinking and thinking and thinking, we have settled on Destin area in FL. With the white sand and family-friendly resort, we think it will be a nice break we are looking for.

But Destin is one of the popular beach destination so the choices are endless.. Where do we want to stay? There are thousands of units available on VRBO. Which one is the right one for us?

I have to make a decision first on what type of accommodation we want. I know I don't want to stay in a hotel. I want to have full kitchen. So it will be condominium, townhome or beach houses. Well, we are not printing money so we probably will have to settle for the condo. Even that we still left with hundred of options. Destin area spans from West of Panama City which includes the South Walton beaches area to Fort Walton area. We need to narrow down into a particular area so I can make my decision.

At first I want to stay in a slow pace, out of the beaten parth area. But knowing our family, we might not enjoy it as much as staying in the center of the activities. Plus this will be our first time there, we might not want to get out of our comfort zone too much.

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is a huge resort area (or shall I call 'town'). It has everything you will ever need for a vacation. It might not be for everyone. But I think it will be great for us. A gym for Mr. Rojo to work out, swimming pool for me and the kids to enjoy, bike ride, golf course, shopping and more shopping.. So for now, I think this is where we will start our search for the perfect place to stay.

How about you? Have you been to Destin, FL? If so, do you have any suggestion on where to stay?

13 Painless Ways to Save $100

Inspire by Money Saving Mom I have come up with my own 13 Painless Ways we save $100 this year.

1) Pack our own lunch: We have cafeteria in our office but that still costs a lot more than packing our own lunch

2) Pack Miss J lunch: Last year I had Miss J bought lunch at school. But after a few months, I decided that I can give her better lunch and I can also see how much she eat. Plus packing her lunch has saved $$$ along the way.

3) Join CVS game: Before learning the CVS rope, we typically spent close to $800/month for our grocery and Health&Beauty products. But now we have saved probably more than $200 from learning and utilizing CVS program

4) Cut coupon for grocery shopping: Cutting coupon not only help reduce the cost of grocery but I think it forced me to be more vigilent in our spending habit. I admitted that in the past I don't even look at the price of the products we bought for our grocery. But now, I will only buy if it's really on sale and I have coupons for them.

5) Change our life insurance and save $1000/year: We have had our term life insurance for several years now. But lately I read that the life insurance price has come down. So I figure I will try to see what kind of the quote we will get. Surprisingly even though we were older (than when we first got the first policy), we pay less for the same exact coverage. So I spent about 30 minutes online to fill up the form for both Mr. Rojo and myself and now we saved $1000/year.

6) Drive our smaller car more often: We have 2 cars. The Hyundai Sonata is our regular car that we used to use on the daily basis. And we also have Totota Corolla. Lately, we have been using the Corolla more because it has better gas mileage. Sometimes I will miss my leather seat in the Sonata but I think the saving is worth it.

7) Change Blockbuster Online plan: After reviewing our entertainment budget and how often we watch the movie, we decided to switch the blockbuster plan to a cheaper plan but still allows us a few movies per month.

8) Use water filter pitcher for water instead of buying bottle of water.

9) Get books from library instead of buying books

10) Use homemade cleaner (aka vinegar) instead of buying chemical cleaner for general purpose cleaning

11) Make my own pancake: Ok... I'm not that good to make it from scratch yet. I still use Bisquick for pancake but it sure saves us a lot more money than buying Eggo frozen waffle. If I can do it, anyone can too.

12) Start herb garden: Well, I can't really take a full credit on this one since anyone who knows me know that I can't keep any plant alive. My MIL has been a big help in getting us started. I bought the seed and she nurtured them and now we enjoy our own basil on the patio.

13) Read all saving blogs to learn about deals/freebies.. I can't thank you all money saving bloggers out there enough how much they have helped me save hundreds by posting about deals they found.

Wordless Wednesday - Dream Escape

Peaceful and relaxing day by the beach in Cozumel, Mexico... Oh! How I dream to go back!

The Tooth Fairy Dilemma

Miss J front teeth are wiggling for the past couple weeks now. This will be her first time and our first time to deal with baby teeth coming out. Now what is the going rate from the Tooth Fairy? This is rather critical as it will set us up for the next 20 something teeth to come.. Any idea?

Hello New Friend!

Say 'Hi' to my new walking/jogging partner.. the New Balance 767 For the Cure Running shoe.

I'm getting serious people! I have been walking 3 times a week for a couple weeks now. And I plan to do so till I can jog for te 5K challenge next month. So Mr. Rojo has been pushing me to check my feet and look for a new pair of shoes that has better support. I got to admit my old pair is probably more than 7 years old. Plus I don't even know if it's the tennis shoes, training shoes or walking shoes. My only concern at that time was.. was it on sale!

I guess after living with me for so long my frugality has rubbed in on Mr. Rojo. He found 20% off coupon from Sport Authority. So we headed there today and checked out if I can find any shoes in my price range. I'm all for better shoes to protect my ever-changing knees. But I don't want to spend a fortune for that either.

When we got there it was like a mad house. Too busy but I found 2 NB shoes (767 and 768 models). Those 2 are pretty good with stability control for people who pronate (ok.. I haven't heard this word before we start running.. From what I understand it's the way you walk inward). Anyway, the best part is the 767 is on sale for 50% off from $89.99 to $49.99. So with additional 20% off I paid only $40 and changes.. Oh..yeah!! And another good part is this model is part of the Lace Up for The Cure. So part of the proceed will benefit the Susan G. Komen foundation.

I have to say though.. I thought getting better shoes might make me run faster.. I guess that's not the case. hehe..

13 Uses for Vinegar

Since I started to try eliminate the chemical cleaner and save on the money we spent buying cleaning products, I have been looking at using vinegar. Here are a fraction of uses for vinegar. This edition I will focus on the cleaning in the Kitchen.

1) Clean the microwave by boiling a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. This will loosen splattered on food and deodorize.

2) Clean the grease buildup in an oven by wiping with a cleaning rag that has been moistened in distilled vinegar and water.

3) Clean the kitchen faucet and remove hard water stains by put vinegar on a cloth and let it sit on the back of the kitchen faucet.

4) Clean the coffee maker by fill the reservoir with vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle. Rinse thoroughly with water when the cycle is finished.

5) Clean the dishwasher by running a cup of vinegar through the whole cycle once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner mechanisms and on glassware.

6) Clean wood paneling by using a mixture of 1 ounce of olive oil and 2 ounces of distilled vinegar in 1 quart of warm water. Moisten a soft cloth with the solution and wipe the paneling. The yellowing is then removed by wiping with soft, dry cloth.

7) Clean a teapot by boiling a mixture of water and vinegar in it. This will wipe away the grime.

8) Clean and deodorize the garbage disposal by making vinegar ice cubes and feed them down the disposal. After grinding, run cold water through.

9) Get rid of cooking smells by letting a small pot of vinegar and water simmer on the stove.

10) Freshen a lunchbox by soaking a piece of bread in vinegar and let it sit in the lunchbox over night.

11) Clean the refrigerator by washing with a solution of equal parts water and vinegar.

12) Clean stainless steel by wiping with a vinegar dampened cloth.

13) Remove stubborn rings caused by wet glasses being placed on wood furniture by rubbing with a mixture of equal parts of distilled vinegar and olive oil. Rub with the grain and polish for the best results.

So what other ways you use vinegar in your household?

Freebie: Museum Day

Thanks to Sarah @ Fiddledeedee about this upcoming free admission to nationwide museum.

The Smithsonian Free Museum day is coming up on Saturday - September 27, 2008. So mark your calendar and download your free admission card here. There are hundred of museums participated nationwide. Check out your local museums and plan your fun free family day with your kids.

I know I will.. I plan to take them to the Center for Puppetry Arts this year. We went to the High Museum last year. It will be fun! I can't wait.

WW - Starbucks in Beijing

With the Beijing 2008 Olympic fever that we have in our house right now, I want to post the picture we took almost 10 years ago. Starbucks have been in Beijing way before the Olympic. I'm very in awe with the opening ceremony but I'm not surprised. I know that the Chinese can do it and they have the determination and committment to make it big.

Check out other WW participants here.

Around The Blogosphere

I know I'm late updating my Carnival around the blogosphere from last week. In the past 2 weeks I was features in a few Carnivals. Here are the rundown.

1) Stop the Ride presents Carnival of Money Stories: Check out the ABC's of Money carnival. After all, you will leave with 25 new ideas about money.

2) Student Scrooge presents Festival of Frugality: This is a great edition for Festival of Frugality #136 - Summer school Edition. A really great round up with over 60 posts of great tips and story about how to live frugally from Philosophy, Environment, Geography (Travel) to Extra Credit. And don't forget to check out the Honor Roll.

3) Can I Get Rich on a Salary presents Money Hacks Carnival: The 23rd Edition of Money Hacks Carnival features great round up

4) Georgia On My Mind presents Georgia Carnival: Check out posts about Georgia or from Georgia bloggers. It's nice to read my neighbor bloggers.

5) Credit Card Low Down presents Carnival of Money, Growth and Happiness: The Carnival of Money, Growth and Happiness Edition #52 is up. Make sure to check it out. There are 26 great posts out there.

6) Tip Diva presents Carnival of Tips: The edition has over 30 great tips ranging from Finance, Home, Relationship, Travel and Technology.

7) Quiverfull Family presents Carnival of Family Life: See what's going on in the family life around the blogosphere.

8) Not The Jet Set presents Green It! Carnival: This is the first time I have joined this carnival. I'm honored to be part of this great Carnival. I consider myself not-yet-green mom but trying to be as green as possible. It's such a great roundup that I enjoy reading other posts and learn a few more tips along the way.

13 Thai Food I Miss

It's true that there are a lot of Thai restaurants in the US. But I have to break the news to all Thai food lover that the variety we have here is nothing compare to the food we can eat, consume, stuff-till-you-hurt in Thailand. Here are just some of the Thai dish I really miss.

1. Thai Boat Noodle (Kuay-Tiaw Ruea) - This is my favorite noodle dish. The traditional dish was originated from the way they sold this noodle by way of boat. Hence, boat-style noodle. The dish is spicy and tasty.

2. Thai Ox Tail Soup - The muslim influenced dish from the Southern part of Thailand is always on the top of my to-eat list whenever I go back to Thailand. The soup is clear not as stewy like the caribbean style (I do love that as well). The taste is more sour and spicy. The meat is so tender that it falls off the bone.


3. Streamed Curry Cup (Hor Mok) - My favorite to-go food in Thailand. It's convenient food that I can eat so many of them in one sitting with just rice. Made from fish, coconut milk and basil leaves and steam in the banana leaf cup. Oh.. How yummy!


4. Steamed Shrimp with Glass Noodle (Koong Op Woon Send) - This delicious shrimp dish is cooked in the clay pot with glass noodle seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, whole peppercorn and topped with green onion, chinese celery and cilantro. It seems like an easy recipe but hard to pull it off. In Thailand, I don't bother to learn how to cook this dish.. Just have to find the best restaurant for this one.


5. Thai Rice Noodle with spicy curry (Kha-nom Jeen) - Fresh rice noodle topped with curry and fresh vegetable. This dish can be had in various way depend on what kind of curry you like. We have fish curry (Nam Ya), sweet curry (Nam Prik), spicy Southern style curry (Nam Ya Pak Tai). It's also perfect food for people on diet since you can load it up with fresh veggies of basil leaves, bean sprout, cabbages or other kinds of vegetable you like.


6. Flash-fried Morning Glory (Phat Phak Boong) - A quick dish for a late night meal. It's a very quick and easy dish that is best when eat while it's still hot.


7. Stir fried Rice Noodle (Pad See Ew) - This is one of the popular dish in Thai restaurant here but they have it all wrong. Pad See Ew in Thailand doesn't have any other veggies in there.. No broccoli or pepper or onion. The real Pad See Ew is a really simple street food in Thailand. It is made with rice noodle, egg, pork, garlic, dark soy sauce, and chinese broccoli. It's easy recipe but hard to make it taste good. The taste should be on the sweet side and a bit oily.. Yup.. It's so good that it's so bad for you.


8. Southern Thai Rice (Khao Yum) - This is my favorite breakfast when I was a kid. We were from the Southern part of Thailand and there are several dishes that you can't find it anywhere in Bangkok. Khao Yum is part of the Southern food. Basically, it's the rice salad with boo-doo sauce on the top. The topping for Khao Yum has a lot of nutrient in there including fruits, veggie and seafood. It's all-in-one dish. The taste can be very distinctive and might not be for every taste buds. But this is my childhood dish. I miss it dearly.


9. Sweet Stewed Pork & Egg (Kai Pa-Lo) - A chinese dish that I have had since I can remember. It's good for especially for the 2nd or 3rd days after it's been cooked. We used to boil more eggs and dropped it in for later days. Perfect with steam rice.


10. Thai Sukiyaki - Thais are pack creatures. We like to stay in group especially when we go out and eat. Sukiyaki is a perfect get together meal. But it might make Americans feel uneasy when you have to dip your food in the pot that share by everyone else. You will think that we don't want to eat something like hot soup in Thai's hot tropical climate..but you will be surprised.


11. Liver Salad (Tap Waan) - Another side dish that you can typically see serving with sticky rice. This is another Thai salad dish with young liver. The liver has to be cooked at the right temperature for the perfect soft and sweet taste. It's not easy as liver can give a real bad taste if you don't know how to cook it.


12. Chicken and Rice (Kao Mun Gai) - This one dish wonder is my favorite.. You will notice now that I have more than many favorites. I can't pick just one. It will depend on the mood. This is a rather simple dish.. The rice is cooked in chicken stock and make it rich-fatty taste and then topped with chicken. Served with chicken stock soup and ginger&soy bean sauce.


13. Thai Fish Cake (Todd Man Pla) - This side dish is served with spicy dipping sauce and garnish of cucumber. The fish cake are made from soft fish, green beans, and starch.

OH.. Boy!! I'm starving!!! What are the food you would love to have right now?

I Walked, I Ran and I Walked

Yesterday was the first time since a really really long time that I sweat and had my heart rate pumped up.. Since I signed up with the Run/Walk event, I figured I need some training before the real event. After all, I don't want to get left behind in downtown Atlanta at 8pm. Mr. Rojo has been running in our neighborhood for quite sometimes. He has all the distance down. So based on his information if I walk 4 and a half loop, it will be approximately 3.1 miles the same distance for the 5K Walk/Run.

After dinner, I set out to walk.. I must confess that I don't like walking. I just want to get it done fast. I can't stand just walk there. I'm so tempted to run and I did.. Oh! Boy! How out of shape I am. After one block of jogging, I need to come back to reality that I wasn't ready for the jogging/running scene yet. So walking I did.. I didn't make it to 4 and a half loops but I did 3 loops. And that was approximately 2 miles. Not bad for the first day.. I must say..

It was such a good feeling to exercise. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. Check back often to see when I will hit my 3.1 miles goal. Who know maybe after 51 days I might be able to run instead of walk!

WW - Blueberries

My snapshot of the blueberries. My attempt to take a closeup photo.

Check out other WW participants here.

5K Run/Walk, Me?

When Mr. Rojo told me that our company will sponsor the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk Event, I thought it was a really good idea for *HIM* to do it. I didn't think I could do it. But after much consideration.. for a whooping 5 minutes, I decided that of course I can do it.. Well, it's only 5K which equals to 5,000 metres or 3.10685 miles.. Ok now it seems to be very long.

The program is desinged to promote health and fitness among Metro-Atlanta companies and their employees while raising funds for the Atlanta Braves Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta. I consider myself a pretty fit person. Eventhough I haven't been to the gym since.. ehh forever.

The Run/Walk will be on September 25 in downtown Atlanta area. We will start from Turner Field and loop back. Well, I have about 52 days to get myself ready. Time to get off my lazy butt (can I say that here.. oh well, I just did) and get active.