Lemonade Day

As you know this blog's title is somewhat related to limes and lemons, see story here. No, they're not really my favorites but I am just fascinated by these fruits (or wherever they are qualified). I chanced upon an article about "Lemonade Day" got curious about it and was happy to read about the inspiring history that Prepared 4 Life started.

Actually I don't know if there is really a National Lemonade Day or if there is I don't know when it is celebrated. Lemonade stands are so popular among children as a source of additional money most especially during summer.let me share inspiring story behind the movement :

"Lemonade Day was inspired by the lessons local entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Holthouse taught his young daughter and her friend when they set-up a lemonade stand. Instead of giving his daughter money to buy a turtle, Lissa got creative and asked her father if she could open a lemonade stand. Mr. Holthouse encouraged her to set goals and go for it. Who knew that what started as an innocent question from his then 10-year-old daughter, Lissa, wanting a pet turtle, would turn into a life changing opportunity for hundreds of thousands of children across Houston and the country!

Lissa and a friend set up a lemonade stand, and learned a ton along the way, but so did Michael! He realized that there were important lessons in mentoring and business that he was able to share with his daughter that day. That one day sitting in the street corner with his daughter at her lemonade stand inspired what is now known as Lemonade Day. It is day of educating and empowering kids to have a dream and pursue it and showing them how, actually giving them the tools to do it!

Lemonade Day is a free, fun, experiential learning program that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their own business – a lemonade stand. It began in Houston, Texas in 2007. Since then it has grown from 2,700 kids to 120,000 kids in 31 cities across America and Canada in 2011. The yearly momentum for Lemonade Day continues to build and by 2013 the program aspires to be in 100 cities with one million registered youth."

If you want to know more about Lemonade Day, get your child start their own lemonade stands. More than just selling lemonades this experience will surely be a fun way to learn. Visit their website at  LemonadeDay.org. 

You can also check out and follow their Facebook and Twitter Pages to get ahead and participate in the activities and be involved, there might be one in the city nearest you!

 

The job I love

I had been out of the workforce now for almost two and a half years. I stopped working in 2009 even before I got pregnant. I worked as a customer service officer for Digitel and the job stressed me. Knowing that it can be a reason for delayed pregnancy I decided to stop working. Back then, my husband and I had been planning of having a baby (which was successful by the way) when he comes home on April of 2010, so I  resigned, decided to de-stress myself and relax. 

During that time, I had been eyeing a job as an online English tutor to Japanese students and luckily I got accepted. I enjoyed the job so much, most specially the flexible work schedule. My shift is at night time  (7PM-12MN) so the mood is so relaxed and laid back. My workplace is at the comfort of my own room. How cool is that? Actually if I wanted to get a day job, it will still fit in my schedule but I just suffice myself in this job and just relied on some online selling stints for extra cash that time.

My job is to teach students who are actually Japanese professionals to speak English. The Japanese are very patriotic that is why in Japan, the Japanese language is the primary language used by everybody. Being professionals as they are, they needed to learn and be fluent with the English language because they needed it in their jobs. Aside from that, they all need their English speaking skills during their travels. I have learned so much from my students as much as they had from me (I hope!). Actually I did not consider it as a job but rather much more of a past time. I only need to talk to my students-ask them how their day was, engage them  in a conversation, correct their pronunciation and/or grammar and that's it!

The best thing about this job aside from the work itself is the company who sees to it that employees/tutors are satisfied. The company once in a while launches some cool perks for the employees and they they conduct regular employee surveys to check on the tutor's thought, feelings and behavior so that they will be able to know what to do about it most specially if there are certain issues to address. I miss this job so much and if ever my mom duties will permit me in the future I will still go back and become an online English tutor again. 

I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for an employee survey company and was compensated. However, the views and opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.

Preserving Memories

image source : www.barnels.com

I love pictures!I remember saving up for a digital camera when it was still a little pricey. My first one was a Canon A-430 which is a 5MP camera, and I remember I was so proud of it that time! I like to take pictures to capture moments that will forever be gone.

The only problem with digital revolution now is that we don't put pictures in photo albums anymore, instead we use online/digital albums and also those that of social networking sites. Aside from that many of us don't use the traditional picture frames nyc since digital frames are already available. 

Well I can say that technology is actually good, because with it we can do a lot of things. We can make alterations on images, we can repair damaged photos and we can enhance those that need more color and a lot more other things. The only downfall I see on this is that we tend to neglect the beautiful art of custom framing nyc for our pictures-like our graduation, wedding and birthday photos. 

image source : www.whisperingwoodsgallery.com

Let me share this with you, I remember my mom has complete set of pictures of me and brother since we were babies, mind you we didn't own a camera that time. She just borrowed during special occasions like our birthdays from a relative who is much better off. But much to my dismay, during a strong typhoon in 1989, we experienced flood. Everything was wet including those pictures and I was only able to salvage a few. I efficiently sun-dried those that are still intact. Those pictures were priceless! But because there were no back ups then, everything was gone forever. 

So now that I am a mom, I make sure that every milestone of my child is captured. I made sure that everything is well documented and I have a ready-backup just in case something goes wrong and for me that's one good way of preserving memories.

I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for custom framing nyc and was compensated. However, the views and opinions are 100% my own. 

The Importance of a Great Website

We are now in the era of digital revolution where websites play a crucial role in promoting business to all parts of the world. Whether you are using the Internet for business or for personal use, your own website plays a vital role in promoting your purpose. It has become an interactive platform to receive and provide information. Thus it also has become a dominant resource attached in the daily aspects of our lives such as employment, education, commerce, government, health care and a lot more. 

Having a website is  a basic element for a business to connect with future clients, and for blogs (such as this one-to potential readers). For some, building a website has brought substantial success, while for some it only caused an unexpected disaster. A poor website design is the common cause for a website's failure. 

With regards to online matters, the website is like the the reflection of one's personality. According to studies, web users develop their first impressions a few seconds after looking at web pages so it is important to develop an efficient and well illustrated web design that will provide precise information. If you want to attain the maximum potential of your site and make a profit out of it, the are lots of web design companies such as Long Island Web Design that specializes in developing award-winning designs. Web design is much more than just creating a look to a website but building up the content. Information contained on a website should be easy to read and well structured or else users will not be able to have the chance to see what they are looking for and veer away. 

image from www.thedrum.co.uk

There are four major characteristics of a good website : first, it should be visually appealing, well organized and easy to navigate, the quality content and design should convey the company's message and should encourage customers to engage with the company. Good designs are characterized by good color combinations and easy navigation. This allows users to save time on their searches. 

Based on research, users who cannot find their way easily around a site has the tendency to leave between 5-30 seconds. A good design should not only look pleasant to the eyes but also easily accessible to anyone who wants to use it. It will help you set apart your website from the rest. 

I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for Long Island Web Design and was compensated. However, the views and opinions are my own.

Things to Consider in Buying a Home

Everyone's dream is to have a house he can call his own. Despite the ongoing economic fluctuations, we still strive to save a little bit of our incomes to save up for a house. Some may consider it an important investment but some say that it is a dead one. But no matter what we think about it, we still need a roof over our heads to serve as our shelter. For 2012, one of the major things we are considering is buying a new home.

There are actually some important things to consider in buying a home. As for me who is an aspiring homeowner in the future, I wanted to share my thoughts on factors to consider in choosing your home. First on the list will be location. It is known that once you have settled in a place you will not be able to change the geography for it is already fixed. You should consider the place's proximity to your job, to schools, to parks, shopping malls and supermarkets, and also to public transportation plus other major important establishments. Next is situation factors, beyond the location, you should also check the existing condition of your prospect new home. Is it situated properly on the lot? Does it give you enough space to do your gardening and other outside activities? Does your new home give you a nice view?

Image from www.everythingsimple.com

Another essential factor consider in choosing your home will be the neighborhood. Let's admit that more that the house itself, the neighborhood is a deciding component. The neighborhood should be safe enough night and day not only for adults but especially for children. Is it safe for people to walk and run around, to bike, for children to play outside the yards? Of course the crime rate in the area should be at a minimum level, that is why for the latest listings we should see St Louis homes for sale to get an idea of the safest neighborhoods to check out. Lastly on my list will be the size and floor plan of the house. We all want a grand home, who doesn't? Most especially if it's going to be out of our own hard earned money but the question is, is it practical?We should choose a floor plan that fits our lifestyle. The size and number of bedrooms and bath will depend on the family size. We don't want a home that will only give us useless space that we could have used for other purposes. 

Finding your home is like finding your partner, you will never be able to settle until your find the right one. Happy house hunting!

*I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for St Louis homes for sale and was compensated. However, the views and opinions are my own.

Of Limes and Lemons

Welcome to my personal sanctuary!

Perhaps you may ask, why Limes and Lemons? It is simple, My favorite color is green and next to it, the color yellow. I am quite fascinated with green and yellow combination, in fact I used these colors for my motif during my wedding. I find these two colors very refreshing. And most of all it reminds me of summer which is my favorite season of all.

Now on the other hand, LIMES and LEMONS are both egg to oval shaped, that can be either sour or sweet depending on variety. They both have unique flavonoid compound which are anti-oxidants and contain anti-cancer properties. they are good sources of Vitamin C and best of all above other uses, they are also considered to be powerhouses and used when we want to bring out the best flavor in foods (source : http://www.whfoods.com ).

And there you go, just like LIMES AND LEMONS this is exactly what I have planned for this blog to be: a source of entertainment (anti-oxidant) and information (whether sweet or sour) to anyone who will be able to read this blog, equipped with information so as to be of inspiration and help to others, and just like a powerhouse to bring out the best in every person who will be touched by my words.

And I guess that's all about it. Mind you, I will still need to learn using hyperlinks, in order for me to have this blog get going.

Click here for more reading pleasures.