Ja on the RUN is…

PREGNANT!

If you follow me on my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter account, you probably know by now. So, yes, I am pregnant. 

I am currently in my second trimester, 15 weeks to be exact.

My husband and I learned that I was pregnant last October 2013. It was the day before my birthday. I did a home pregnancy test after a few days of missing my period. My monthly period is super regular and right on the dot, as well as my Ovulation Calendar app which had been always correct with it’s predictions. My husband and I had been trying for quite some time to get pregnant and that app was really a great help. I realized then that it isn’t that easy to make a baby. It really is in His own perfect time. 🙂 Anyway, test came out positive! I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. I mean isn’t it is always a wonder, a puzzle, a mystery, how we can carry miracles inside our bodies!? What a privilege! That was definitely an awesome birthday surprise for me. As much as we wanted to share the news to the world right away, we decided to delay our announcement to some loved ones and family members because we wanted to surprise my side of family about my pregnancy on Christmas Eve.

It was at my second appointment, 11 weeks, when we finally heard the baby’s heartbeat and had my first ultrasound done. We had the photo of the sonogram scanned and printed out copies for each of my family members. We used them as name cards for our gifts. We wrote at the back of the photo – “To My Grandmother” for my aunts, “To My Grandfather” for my uncles, “Uncles”, and “Aunts” for my cousins and, so on. When we gave out our gifts, they were all looking around confused. One of my aunts said, ‘’I am not a grandma yet!” Then she flipped the card and saw the ultrasound pic. They all finally figured out! They were all blown away! 🙂 It was hard trying to hold and keep it a secret but it was all worth it. My family was soooo ecstatic when they learned the good news. I’m the eldest among my siblings and my parents are so excited to meet their first ever grandchild. 🙂

During my first trimester, I didn’t have much except for fatigue, extra sensitivity around the breast area, and increased appetite. 🙂 I craved (still craving) for sour foods like pineapple, pickles and green mangoes. Mmmmm.

I had nausea here and there too but Altoids Ginger mints helped me a lot to alleviate that symptom.

I keep this planner handy in case I need to jot down notes and memories. 🙂

I just also became a For Two Fitness ambassador which I am soo excited to share! I ordered cute workout tops and bottoms from their website which I haven’t tried wearing because I am not showing enough bump yet. 🙂 I can’t wait to wear and workout in them soon! Yes! Pictures will be posted of course! 🙂 I am actually so thankful that I got pregnant in this modern age that stuff like these are already available for active pregnant women. It makes pregnancy soooo much easier and enjoyable. 🙂

Thank you For Two Fitness® Maternity Apparel!

As for the running department: I know medically that it’s ok to continue to exercise during pregnancy. And I assured that from my OB after reviewing my lab results and tests. I had a “go” signal from my OB that I can still run and continue doing the workouts I have been doing for the whole course of my pregnancy. YAY! So, it’s ok as long as I was comfortable and well-hydrated. I just had to pass on snowboarding this season (sigh). Activities with risks of falling are to be avoided.

L-R: 7 weeks pregnant, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 9 weeks. 🙂

There was a point during my first trimester that I got a little frustrated of myself. My energy has dropped down to half from what it used to be since I got pregnant (though people say this usually only lasts until the first trimester is over). My running pace was slower and I get tired easily. I’ve also already put on some fat where they’ve never been before, and it isn’t very comforting when you see them ruin what used to be such no-brainer outfits for me. I had to wear looser workout tops to be comfortable. I honestly miss my old multi-tasking self.  But then, I had to remind myself that I’m pregnant and that everything I am going through is ok. Pregnancy is a blessing and I embrace these changes for I know that I am literally at the conception of a brand new and super promising chapter of my life.

I have a long way to go! Imagine this to be a total of 40 weeks. I am already over my first trimester. Time flies by so fast. As of now, I am doing really great, just exceptionally hungry at odd hours at night. I go to bed really early these days and sleep like a grandma. Haha! I noticed too that my energy has gone up a bit, though when I went to cardio kickboxing class last night I had some limitations doing some of the workouts. It’s ok. I’m ok. I welcome those changes joyfully! It’s all for a good reason. 🙂

I am also happy that our baby made him/herself way out during the healthiest time of my life. One of the reasons I started my health journey was to prepare my body for pregnancy and motherhood. I believe that taking care of myself will make me a better mom and wife to my family. 🙂

I pray for my safe and easy pregnancy, as well as safe, easy, normal delivery. Our estimated due date is June 29, 2014! 🙂

So, since your blogger is pregnant and especially now that I have gained my energy back, do expect months worth of pregnancy-related posts. 🙂

God bless you all! 🙂

– Ja

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Back-To-Back

Hi everyone!

First of, Happy National Running day to all runners out there. Hope you all had fun celebrating this special day. Here’s a shot of Gu! 🙂 Cheers!

If you’re not a runner, give that runner in your life a high-five today, or at least don’t rag them about their “weirdness” posting a status on their facebook about their love for running. If National Running Day isn’t your thing, don’t fear, National Donut Day is coming up on Friday. 🙂

So, why do I run?

Running gives me FREEDOM!

When I run, I determine my own pace, I choose my own course and think whatever I want. Nobody tells me what to do. It’s for myself; my own freedom! 🙂

I’m not actually scheduled to run today, but since today is a special day dedicated to my favorite sport, I squeezed in 3 miles this afternoon. I ran 3 miles after doing an hour of weights class and an hour of kickboxing. So, I’m kinda a little wasted creating this post now. 😛

I was only going to attend weights class today but I felt so pumped up and ended up staying for the next class which was kickboxing. And to cap the day off, I ran 3 easy miles with my husband.

So, this was me earlier after the back-to-back workouts.

I feel so wasted but I had fun working out today. So, I’m off for now for my much needed rest!

Goodnight!

Have you done back-to-back fitness classes? Do you ever stay for more than one fitness class? 

Xoxo, JOTR

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Runs, Bike Rides and “Some” FroYo

Hi everyone! 🙂

Well, I have been a busy girl since last Friday. My husband and I woke up around 8:00am that day, a little late for our morning run. We were successful to run 9 miles but let me tell you – it was HOT out there that day! I felt like I almost got into a state of dehydration. It was my first time I had to rip my tank top off in my downright desperation and ran with just a sports bra in the last few miles. And wow, that felt better! Never did I think I’d feel okay running in just a sports bra – I’m way too shy. I don’t have that “perfect runner’s body” to flaunt. 😛 But that day, I did not care at all. I just had to do it! I felt weird and conscious for a while but I had to do what was necessary or else I would die in the dreadful heat!

Have you ever ran with just a sports bra or are you conscious like me?
What are your thoughts on running with just a sports bra?

After lunch we went out to run some errands and later that day, I was able to FINALLY get my FroYo fix. 😛

I had been craving for FroYo since forever! I see them everywhere in everyone’s blog posts and it’s making my craving even worse. LOL!

Hubby and I headed to Orange Leaf. It’s a self serve frozen yogurt place. They have large cups, which did not help me from getting just a small amount when your eyes and stomach are playing tricks on you. This place made me feel dizzy inside. I am a horrible decision maker and they have a wide selection of flavors and toppings. I was going decision crazy! LOL!

I settled for peanut butter frozen yogurt with strawberries, kiwis, cookie dough and sour gummy bears for toppings. 🙂 YUM! )

Saturday‘s weather was perfect to be outside! So hubby and I with some friends headed out to log some miles on these babies!

It was a perfect day for a bike ride. We did a total of 37 miles in the trail and I had a blast!

I love our trails here! It’s over 70+ miles stretch that goes from Cincinnati all the way to Dayton. It is shady for most parts and the view of the river is beautiful. Great for running or biking, paved, well-maintained, and not overcrowded.

The scenery along the trail is great, and can keep me entertained on my long runs. There’s a bathroom and a port-a-potty along the way which is crucial for me when I drank my way through an entire 2-liter Camelbak on a hot day.

This trail runs through Loveland which is my favorite part. Loveland has great places to eat and stop for your breaks. So halfway through our bike that day, we stopped by this place and grabbed an early lunch. 🙂

We finished up a long leisurely bike ride in a little over 3 hours. It was a pretty easy and fun ride. 🙂

After our ride and burning 1,000+ calories we headed up to Yoba to treat myself for some FroYo again. 🙂

After my much needed FroYo, hubby and I were off to catch a movie, Now You See Me.

Have you seen the movie Now You See Me? What do you think of the magic tricks?

As we were walking to the movie theater, we passed by Old Navy, and this caught my attention.

The moment I saw that tank from outside the store’s window, I knew I had to stop and get one for myself! 🙂 I love it. It’s so comfortable and the length is perfect for covering just enough.

On Sunday after church, we headed out for an early lunch at our favorite hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant. 🙂 After lunch, we went to our local running store to check out new running shoes, AND guess what’s beside it?  TWilly’s Yogurt! A FroYo place again! 🙂

I got the caramel frozen yogurt with strawberries, chocolate chips, cheesecake bits and those fruit flavored “popping balls” that are filled with juice and pop in your mouth – good stuff! Yum!

I’ve become fond of all these self-serve frozen yogurt places. Three days in a row of FroYo – perhaps too fond. Haha! 😛 I can see myself enjoying these places all summer. Crossing my fingers that I never become lactose intolerant.

Yesterday’s morning weather was beautiful. Cooler than what we had during the weekends. I couldn’t let it pass and did a quick easy run! 🙂 It felt good!

My husband noticed my enthusiasm for FroYo over the weekend. So, when he got home from work yesterday, he brought me these. 🙂

YUM!!! …and

YUM!

and more yum to more of my favorite food – Indian food and Piada 🙂

Don’t you love your husbands more when they come home with food? I do. That means no cooking for me 😛

That’s it for my fun FroYo-filled weekend.

Hope you all had a yummy weekend too like mine! 🙂

What are your favorite FroYo toppings?

Xoxo, JOTR

> Like my blog’s facebook page: Ja-ontheRUN Blog
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I Am Versatile! :)

First of all, I must apologize for being so late with my response.

I want to thank Andrea over @I Run For Donuts  for nominating my blog for this award. Her blog is amazing, so please go and check it out.

Also, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who reads my blog. Every single comment puts a big smile on my face! It’s a great feeling to know that out there in the vast blogosphere there are people who reads my ramblings. I’m also thrilled by the fascinating people I have “met” since I started blogging.

So let’s get started shall we…

The rules for this award are:
1. Add The Versatile Blogger award photo on a blog post – check √
2. Thank the person who presented you with the award and link back to him or her in your post – check √
3. Share seven things about yourself – check √
4. Pass the award along to 15 favorite bloggers. Contact the chosen bloggers to let them know about the award. – Hmmm… I’ll make it different this time!

Aside from the many random things I’ve mentioned here and here

… here’s more: 🙂

1.) I used to hate running jogging.  I couldn’t even walk a mile without thinking I was going to die or puke. Now, I’m running further and a little faster than I ever have before and it feels amazing! 🙂

2.) I collect fortunes from fortune cookies. I only keep the nice ones though coz the others I got were a bit strange. Lol! 🙂

What’s your favorite fortune from a fortune cookie? Mine is this.

3.) My favorite movie when I was a kid was “The Little Mermaid”. I had copy of this in VHS. I’ve watched it a hundred times and memorized each lines and songs. Good ‘ol days! 🙂

4.) The very first time I went trail biking (Aug 2010), I fell off a 3-ft high bridge. I got bruises everywhere and a deep cut on my left shin (ugh!). So thankful that I was wearing a helmet and the cut wasn’t surgical or anything. In all honesty, I think trail biking is awesome BUT, it’s freaking hard! I am sticking on paved trails and roads for biking. LOL! 🙂

How do you feel about mountain biking, -wicked exciting or absolutely terrifying?

Trail running or mountain biking: which do you prefer?

5.) I like adventures. I like the feeling of being “out there” and pushing my boundaries.

That’s me, 2nd from the right, covered by Flounder  a fish. lol!

6.) I have a talent figuring out combinations to padlocks like this. 😉

7.) I can’t pack light. If I can’t decide which pair of shoes to wear, I’ll bring both. 🙂

And now, it is my pleasure to further forward this award to …

EVERYONE! 🙂

I think all of you guys here in the blogging community are AMAZING and deserve this award! 🙂

Share 1 …or 2 …or 3 … or 7 (or more if you like) things about yourself in the comments below!

Xoxo, JOTR

LINKS:
Like my blog’s facebook page here:  Ja-ontheRUN Blog
Check out my silly photo adventures on Instagram here: @ja_ontherun

* I love Sweaty Bands. They don’t slip! Click this link to get 5% off.
* Ellie.com offers women a chic new line in women’s fitness apparel. Save 20% off now.
* BuluBox.com $10 off coupon code: BULUGAN984

It’s A Good Weekend!

(This post was supposed to be up yesterday but for some reason, my pictures were not loading properly. Oh well… here it is.)

Weekends come and go.  The best thing about it though is that it’s a repeating process. You get over one and you know there’s another coming up.  There is always opportunity to make up for a bad weekend by having a good one the following week.

So what made this weekend good for me?

My weekend was action packed with running and events.

Saturday morning, my husband and I were up bright and early and started our day off with our usual morning run.

Just an easy relax run, focusing on our breathing more.

Yup! As you can see, I finally got my “Runners for Boston” shirt! 🙂 Remember when I told you guys on my previous post that I wasn’t able to get one because my size got sold out quick. Well, when my husband and I picked up his new running shoes at the running store last Friday, I saw this booth where people picked up their “Runners for Boston” shirts.  I asked one of the sales lady if they still had any more shirts available and she told me that there’ll be no more stocks coming in. A lady at the counter about to pay for her stuff overheard and approached me. She told me that I can just have her shirt. I asked if she was sure, she certainly said yes. I got so excited! As I was giving her my payment, she said “no, it’s okay, you don’t have to, I was going to donate for Boston anyway”. I couldn’t stop thanking her. I hugged her!  She’s soooo nice. That became the highlight of my weekend. Runners truly are very kind people! 🙂

We also learned that our running store was able to raised $18,000+ to donate to the One Fund Boston. They just sent out the check that day. Wow!

After lunch, we headed over to the Flying Pig Expo. We did not run this race this year but we still wanted to check out the expo. I love to check out deals on running gears and see what kind of free swag we could get. :p

I was impressed at this expo last year when we registered for this race. For me, this one was definitely the best compared to the ones I went to for my half marathon races last year.

It’s sponsored by Proctor &Gamble (P&G is based in Cincinnati) so you’d expect a lot of freebies from the company.

We arrived a little late so it wasn’t so crowded. No lines. We meandered our way through the Flying Pig memorabilia area.

We got more Boston Strong shirts – more donations to the One Fund Boston. 🙂

We stumbled upon this Green B.E.A.N. Delivery. It’s a year-round grocery delivery service that hooks people up with local & sustainable food. My husband and I thought it’s a very cool concept. It’s an easy way to get local, organic, and humanely-raised food that’s hard to find in a supermarket. All you have to do is log on to your account online and choose the items you want. You can choose to set your delivery every week or every other week. It’s delivered right to your home (or office). You don’t have to deal with the chore of going to the grocery store anymore to get some good quality produce. Isn’t that awesome?!  I’m sure they have more options but you can just check out their website for more details.

We are considering getting the $35 bin, set to every other week delivery. This comes loaded with organic veggies and fruits. That would probably be more than enough for the two of us for two weeks.

Have you heard or tried this kind of service before?

The expo was easy to move through and still very well-organized as last year! 🙂

We weren’t able to make it when they were giving out sample freebies from Proctor and Gamble. Last year, we got several varieties of Olay skin creams, tampons (my husband didn’t want those), laundry scent booster, Dawn Power clean, and more! We missed out this time. :p

We got a lot of goodies though from the vendor section such as Bio Freeze, vitamins, assorted snacks, Koru yogurt, ice cream, Dick’s bag, gloves, seat cushions and a lot more, aside from the ones we purchased for an awesome deal!

They even had free photobooths. 🙂

On Sunday, after church, we headed back downtown again to the Flying Pig event to cheer for our friends who ran the marathon.

Friends, Tim (@ghstrnnr) and Nires (@therunnerfly), drove all the way from Chicago for this race. They’ve ran several marathons already and both love to travel to join races. My husband and I are so inspired by them. They’ve inspired us to train for a marathon someday.

AWESOME JOB GUYS! 🙂

We took them to a nice seafood lunch after their race.

It started raining harder after lunch but we managed to take a few good pictures of Cincinnati in the rain before we could let them go, back to Chicago. 🙂

Congratulations to everyone who ran and finished

the Flying Pig!

This last weekend was a great weekend for me.  I always say a good weekend for me would include the following:

* Spending time with friends.
* Exercising, like running, biking, or hitting the gym.
* Hanging out with the family.
* Eating! Good food of course!
* Downtime to relax and chill especially after a hard work week.
* Being productive

Those are the things that I would consider to be a perfect weekend.

What makes a good weekend for you?!

Do you enjoy going to race expos? What is your favorite part of going?

Xoxo, JOTR

LINKS:
Like my blog’s facebook page here:  Ja-ontheRUN Blog
Check out my silly photo adventures on Instagram here: @ja_ontherun

– I love Sweaty Bands. They don’t slip! Click this link to get 5% off.
– Ellie.com offers women a chic new line in women’s fitness apparel. Save 20% off now.
– BuluBox.com $10 off coupon code: BULUGAN984

Shout-Out: Happy Flying Pig Weekend!

It’s getting warmer up here in Ohio and I’m loving all the daylight! Sometimes, my husband and I would just stay out in our porch and sit for a while after our runs to relax. So much more enjoyable to be outside now that it’s warmer!

This time around last year I was training for my very first half marathon. I just want to make a shout out to those running the Flying Pig Marathon this weekend!

GOODLUCK guys! Have fun on the race!!! 🙂

This race will forever hold a special place in my heart as my first half marathon. It’s in this race I discovered the runner and athlete in me. I will be visiting the Flying Pig expo tomorrow and be there for the race on Sunday to cheer for the runners! 🙂

Good Luck also to everyone racing this weekend! I know there will be a lot of races going on – Columbus, Indy, Pittsburgh, Knoxville. It’s a busy weekend!

Did I miss anyone, feel free to make a shout out in the comments below!

My husband and I are off to a movie date tonight.

Until next time! Have a great weekend.

Xoxo, JOTR

LINKS:
Like my blog’s facebook page here:  Ja-ontheRUN Blog
Check out my silly photo adventures on Instagram here: @ja_ontherun

Thinking Of You, Boston.

I don’t know how I should do this. I am creating this post with a heavy heart. I was very excited to share my recap of my Boston trip with you guys, but things have changed after the incident. It will not be like how I had planned it to be.

Yes, I was there in Boston with my husband’s family during the marathon weekend events. Like every runner’s dream, I was excited to have a glimpse and be part of one of the world’s greatest running event.

I was all smiles and so inspired by the happy atmosphere until a friend called on Monday checking if I was ok. I asked why. That’s when I learned about the explosion that was near the finish line, where we walked and took pictures!

(Thank you to everyone who were checking on us, calling and texting. We appreciate all your concern for us. We love you all!)

We are so thankful that we stuck to our plan of going back home to Ohio on Sunday because my husband had work the next day or else we would have been there watching the race on Monday. Of course we would have chosen to watch the race in the best spot – near the finish line.

I am so saddened and shook up by all of this. This saddens me and really hits home as a runner, right to the very core of my heart. How can an inspiring and joyous event like this be overshadowed by something so cruel?

It’s hard to find balance after all this tragedy, but I will try my very best to write this post and share the memories I had in the beautiful city of Boston.

We got in Boston Thursday night.

Since it rained so hard on Friday, we rescheduled our tour of Downtown Boston to Saturday.

We decided to take a trip to Rhode Island to check out the Newport Mansions.

The mansions are incredible! Seeing them really brings the era of the gilded age to life. Absolutely stunning! Amazingly detailed from floor to ceiling. The self-guided audio tour through each of the houses was fantastic! It took us all day (we took a lunch break in between) to tour the five different mansions.

My favorite mansion is “The Breakers”.

got a souvenir Christmas tree ornament

Saturday weather forecast was beautiful – chilly and sunny, perfect to walk around Boston! We anticipated heavy traffic and lack of parking spaces so we opted to take the subway going to downtown.

Subways were packed but everyone was in happy spirit for the marathon.

We got off the subway and walked to our first destination, John Hynes Convention Center for the Boston Marathon Expo.

As we were heading to the expo, I saw a lot of athletes and runners alike roaming around downtown. Thousands and thousands of runners, family, and friends were sharing in the excitement. The atmosphere just made me feel very “at home”, a special feeling of a bond.

For me, this expo is the grandest of all race expos! We had a fun time exploring around.

Entrance to the Boston Marathon Expo

It was super crowded but that didn’t stop me from checking out booths of my favorite running gears.

Newton Running Booth

I thought the Brooks Running booth was cute.

Brooks Running booth

I couldn’t let this section pass. I just had to leave a mark.

We got to see Ryan Hall! 🙂

I planned to stalk as many running idols as I could. I was hoping to see Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher and ask them to sign my Runner’s World magazine. I love them both! Unfortunately, I was unable to find a schedule when certain people were going to be at the expo.

I wanted to buy the official Boston wind breaker as a souvenir, but for $100, I didn’t think I’d really wear it that much, so I passed. I got this North Face hoodie ($55) instead which I know I will definitely wear more often.

I got Sparkly Soul headbands, Injinji socks and a few other things to “commemorate the experience” (excuse of a girl who just likes to shop. I love shopping for running gears! 🙂 )

After the expo we made our way to check out the finish line.

After that, we went for a Duck Tour. It’s a great way to see the historical sites of Boston. We got a lot of laughs out of the tour. Our driver was very funny and informative. I learned a lot of American history from him.

Our driver let me try driving the duck boat. It was fun! I hope I didn’t scare the passengers. 🙂

The best part of Boston for me is the history. There were so many wonderful historical places to see. I just recently migrated here in the US (3 years ago) and I learned a lot of US history from this trip.

I love the city’s old architectural designs. It reminded me of old European cities like London and Italy. I find it very artsy and interesting.

Located in the middle of the historic square is Quincy Market. Huge building with tons of food choices!

Come grab some Boston Chowdah!

What is your favorite word to say with a Boston accent? I love the word “pissah”. 🙂

Other interesting things I saw while walking around Boston.

As we were walking down Hanover, we noticed this crazy line outside Mike’s pastry shop. This must be something extraordinary. The line was long but it was moving fast. We got a slice of Ricotta cheese cake and different kinds of cannolis.

The sight of so many different flavors of cannoli makes this place my kind of dessert heaven.

So, my verdict, delicious huge cannolis! You know when you have one of those desserts that completely knocks your socks off? This is it. Their cannolis are simply out of this world good!

I fell in love with Boston. It became one of my favorite cities in the U.S. I would definitely recommend visiting if you haven’t done so already.

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Ate Lara and Kevin for touring us around BOSTON.

All my enthusiasm and excitement watching the marathon changed on Monday, April 15th, 2013 when I learned about the explosion.

As with most runners across the nation, in honor of those affected, my husband and I wore our race shirts proud yesterday for #raceshirttuesday with a heavy and grieving heart. I did a lot of reflecting the past few days. This tragedy reminded us to hold our loved ones close, to thank every single person who cheers for us and be thankful for our everyday blessings.

This is why I love the running community. Miles apart, runners still unite. We are all strangers, yet we have created relationships with each other. We showed support despite not knowing each other. Runners are amazing group of people.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and families of those who were injured or lost their lives. We can’t imagine the heartache they will endure in the days ahead.

I still get goosebumps when I watch the news but I won’t let this fear get in between the love I have for running. I will run farther and train harder more than ever.

We will move on and we will keep on running!

Much love and lets #prayforboston.

❤ Ja

First Foodie Penpal (October 2012)

Hi guys! I know, it’s been a week since my last post here on my blog. It’s been a busy birthday week for me! I made the most of my remaining few days in my 20s. Yes, I indulged for a week! It was good! 🙂 I’d like to create a separate post regarding my thoughts on this brand new decade of my life. Stay tuned for that!For now, it’s about this exciting program called Foodie Penpals (#foodiepenpals). This activity is hosted by Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean. Head over to this link to know more details about the program.  On the last day of the month, we ALL share the goodies we got from our penpals!

Here I go with mine!

I am so excited to reveal my 1st Foodie Pen Pal Package.

The package looks beat up but the goodies inside survived! 🙂 My box came from Heather of MUSINGS OF A GIRL blog.

She sent me great goodies from her home state of Louisiana!

I love my first box. It made me reminisce my trip to New Orleans back in 2010.  I had a great time exploring the city with my family. It was such a great time with them. Here are some of the pictures I looked at once again after I opened my box.

• Memories of New Orleans, LA:

A picture with my mom. It was Mardi Gras season when we came to visit.

Me in downtown New Orleans, walking to Bourbon Street.

The famous Bourbon Street. 🙂

There’s no denying my husband had fun (hmm). LOL!

…and pictures from Bourbon Street will end here. :PIts nice to look at our pictures once again from that day. It made me miss my family so much – my Mom, my Dad, little bro, and sister. They all live in the Philippines but they come to visit U.S. when they get a chance. Their next visit will be on Christmas! Fast forward to December please, I can’t wait to see my family again.

Going back to my box, Heather included a sweet letter for me explaining my goodies. 🙂

The first thing that caught my eye was the Beignet Mix.

I remember going to this coffee place in New Orleans called Cafe Du Monde.  I love the ambiance of that place. This is where I tasted their famous beignet.This is me, my husband, and my little brother at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans.

My brother doesn’t look this young anymore, sigh. He’s all grown up.Beignet is the French term for a pastry made from deep-fried light dough. They serve it  with powdered sugar on top. For me, they taste like sweet doughnuts. It’s so good especially with coffee! 🙂

Thank you Heather for the Community Coffee. It’s indeed a good combination with the beignet.

Here’s my husband after he made beignet out of the mix, -with his souvenir hat he got from Cafe Du Monde. LOL! 🙂

Heather also gave me these very “Louisiana” chips. 🙂

Don’t they look interesting?!It was only in New Orleans where I saw shops full of all sorts of Voodoo dolls. When I saw those dolls, I remember saying this to myself – “Don’t mess with New Orleans (pronounced as: noo aw-leens). They know Black Magic!”

I started munching on the voodoo chips as I made draft for this post.

This stuff is good!!! It’s so addicting. I had to remind myself to stop and save some for my husband. I could finish it in one sitting. 🙂 LOL.When my husband got home, he finished it to the very last bit of crumbs! It was yummy!

I was curious about this can of pure cane syrup. Sugar cane is usually a refreshing juice drink in the Philippines. They extract the juice from sugarcane plant with a pressure roller machine. That’s how they would normally do it there. I wondered how this syrup will taste like.

I had it one morning for breakfast. 🙂 I usually eat oatmeal for breakfast so I tried the syrup with it.

Half cup oatmeal

Dash of cinnamon powder

Topped with Sliced Peaches

A teaspoon of almond butter

Sprinkled with chopped almonds

& Steen’s Pure Cane Syrup

Heather recommends it for pancakes and waffles. So, the morning before yoga class, I drizzled it over my pancakes.

That syrup was good! 🙂 Now, I am on the hunt for this!Where else can I find this?

I started munching on the other bag of chips while I take a break from studying. So good! I had to remind myself again to leave some for the hubby. I’m a good wife, really! 🙂

Heather indicated on her letter that Tony’s is a staple in most househould in Louisiana.

Creole seasoning is used to boost flavor in any dish. I tried it one night with our dinner. Yummy!

Steamed tilapia fillet

seasoned with Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning

garnished with chopped fresh strawberries,

poblano pepper, cilantro & cumin seedsI tried the sandwich sauce last Monday with my Veggie burger. That sauce is sooo good! 🙂 It’s a little spicy which is good! I like spicy!

Thank you once again Heather for making my first month in this activity so fun and exciting!

I love everything you sent me! And because of that I signed up for next month’s foodie penpals! :)I hope you guys will consider joining us too. Receiving a box of goodies feels like Christmas morning every month! 🙂

Oh! Please head over to Lauren’s blog (www.parttimehousewife.com), my foodie penpal for this month to check out what I sent her!

That’s it!

Happy Halloween! Happy trick or treating!

I had fun last night giving out candies to the kids in their costumes despite the freezing weather.

Awwwh… aren’t they sooo cute! 🙂

 It’s freezing cold here in Ohio. It snowed here yesterday for the first time this season!

*** My thoughts and prayers for all those who have been involved with Hurricane Sandy. Be safe everyone and always be thankful for all blessings.***Have a great week ahead!