Facebook Games!

I am addicted to a few games on Facebook and thought I would share! I think the best part of the facebook games, is adding your friends as neighbors because your friends can post special items or you can get bonuses from your friends as well. They are definitely fun & addicting, my Mom even plays a lot of Facebook games now! (She was the one that got me into Cafe World & Yoville, hehe!)

1. Farmville was the first game I started playing on facebook & I love it! I'm trying to get to level 26 so I can get a farmhouse! I love how they are always adding new items to the game. I have turtles now, turkeys, cats, elephants on my farm! I also love how you can either plant something that will take a few hours to grow or plant items that will take 4 days to grow, which is nice if you can't get to the computer every day. You can also send gifts to your neighbors or visit their farms. As you level up, more items become available to buy and grow.


2. Cafe World is also made by the makers of Farmville and it is equally if not more addicting! You own a restaurant and you can customize the look with items you buy. As you level up more dishes become available to cook. It is similar to Farmville, in that you can choose dishes that may take 15 minutes to cook, or up to 2 days. They are always adding new dishes and new gifts to send friends, as well as new items.


3. Superpoke Pets reminds me of those old key chain toys, Tamagotchi's, haha! Basically you can choose an animal to take care of. You feed it, play with it, clean it, etc. As you take care of it you earn coins to buy items to change it's habitat. You can also visit your friends pets. I have a Penguin and in the photos below you can see he has a Thanksgiving theme!


4. I just started playing Yoville a few weeks ago. It reminds me of The Sims a little. You have your little person or "self". You start off in an apartment and you have to work at the Sweets Factory (which is a bit like Cafe World) to earn coins. You can also earn coins by visiting your friends daily. The coins accrue very slowly, but eventually you can begin to buy furniture and change the look of your apartment. If you really save your money you can end up buying a house. There is also a whole town you can explore, from the beach, to the cafe to the casino, etc.

I should mention all of these games also allow you to purchase game dollars or coins with real money for special items you can't earn with the regular game coins (or for extra money if you're too impatient to save up!) I've never purchased anything with real money yet though!

5. I'm adding in Happy Pets! I started playing this maybe 2 weeks ago. It's still in beta testing, but they are adding in new items every day. You can adopt cats (It says 'Dogs' coming soon.) and take care of them and earn coins to buy furniture to fix up your house, or you can buy them toys. You can also visit your neighbors pets. It's really cute!

Do you play any Facebook Games? Do you like any of the above or do you play different ones?

Another Award!

Patty from 'Discovering Me' awarded several of her favorite blogs with the 'Your Blog Is Fabulous' award! Thanks so much, I love reading your blog! I wanted to pass along the award to some of my favorite blogs that I follow!
1. Classy in Philadelphia

2. FashioniZSta/passioniZSta

3. Lucky In Love and Life

4. Misguided Mommy

5. Rattie Corner

6. Keeping Up With D & J

7. Smiles & Trials

8. Living (the best of) Life in my Dreams

9. Coffee and Blunder

10. Feminine Farmgirl

This past week has been pretty busy for me! Thursday night I got together with my cousins Christina & Jessica. We watched Chrissy's wedding on DVD. We went out to The Olive Garden for dinner. I had the Parmesan Crusted Tilapia which came with veggies & a light pasta. It was the first time I've tried Tilapia. It was really yummy! Salmon is still my favorite though! I also had a glass of White Zinfandel, my favorite wine.

Friday it was my "Christmas/Thanksgiving" with my family, since I'll be away for the holidays this year. I took my parents & 3 brothers out to the Chinese Buffet for lunch. Later we exchanged gifts. I got my Dad Baconnaise! Haha! I also got him some of the flavored salts. And as a joke gift from the same place, I got my brothers Bacon Lip Balm. Yes you read correct! I got the new Kutless worship album 'It Is Well' among other gifts. My Mom also gave me a garter & a bracelet of hers with little blue hearts to wear at my wedding.

Sunday I have to go out and stock up on pet food & pet supplies before I leave. Also stopping to see my Nana around 7pm. Monday is going to be so crazy. I'm going to have to get to sleep by 5-6pm, because I'm getting up around 2am and I'll have to be at the airport by 3am... yuck! It's a few days before Thanksgiving too, so I'm sure there will be holiday traffic.

My flight from Philadelphia leaves around 6am. (My trip itinerary). I'll arrive in the Philippines November 25 around 10:30pm. I'll be stopping in Chicago from Philadelphia and then Chicago to Tokyo, Japan. (I've never been to that airport, so I'm a bit nervous!) From Tokyo, I'll be flying to the Philippines. All in all about 24 hours worth of traveling... my longest flight will be about 13 hours long- from Chicago to Tokyo.

I'm taking my laptop and I will be blogging from the Philippines like I did last time. To read adventures from my past 3 trips to the Philippines you can click below. (It starts with the most recent & works it's way back.) I'll be labeling all of this coming trip under the same category as well!

From The Philippines

My Wedding Accessories

Well, I'm leaving for the Philippines next Tuesday. And then it's just a little over a month until our wedding on December 19th!

I thought I would share what I'm wearing and my wedding accessories with everyone. If you've read this entry "You're Not Having A Wedding?" I showed off some of my wedding accessories and talked about the ceremony itself, etc. We are having a civil ceremony on December 19th, so we will be married by a judge at the Manila Hotel. Later in the evening we will have our wedding dinner. We just wanted a very simple wedding ceremony. I've never wanted a large wedding or wanted to wear the traditional wedding gown, etc. That's not me and that's not really F.B. either. So that's why we are having the small civil ceremony.

F.B. will be wearing the traditional Philippine Barong. I'm just going to wear a simple black skirt and a purple lace tank top. It's what I feel comfortable in. I hate wearing dresses. Actually I have pictures of me wearing the same outfit from my cousin Heather's wedding. So I will be wearing this outfit at my wedding:

Honestly, I only own TWO skirts, lol. I am not a dressy skirt wearing kind of girl at all! I'm the t-shirt and jeans girl, so F.B. is lucky I'm wearing a skirt for our wedding! I love my skirt though, it's got two layers, the top is sheer and swirly and I love it. It stops right below my knees.

My wedding jewelry will be Philippine freshwater pearl bracelet & earrings. And my gorgeous Swarovski pearl drop necklace from KYM Jewelry

I can't wear heels around F.B. hehe. He's 5'3" and I'm 5'6". Normally when we stand side by side there's not much of a difference but if I put on some 2 inch heels there will be, since I'm already 3 inches taller, haha! So I will be wearing a pair of silver dressy sandals for my wedding. I'm going to wear a light pink nail polish.

Here we are side by side at Baguio Philippines, awful pic, haha!

Also in case it gets cold in the hotel with the aircon, (air conditioner is called an aircon in the Phil!) I ordered a purple Pashmina shawl. I didn't know they were made of goat fur! Ack! I like goats too! Haha! It's soooo soft though!

I also got a dressy silver beaded evening bag for the wedding:

And last but not least, our wedding rings! F.B.'s is on the left & mine is on the right! They are Titanium.

I will be changing my name too. F.B. said to me once, "When we get married you'll be Sarah Lynn Clydesdale-Bernardo." And I said. "No way! I'm dropping Clydesdale!" Seriously Clydesdale may be unique, but hyphanating it would just be too long. Sarah Lynn Bernardo is just fine!

Packing, Books & Music!

I am officially all packed! Honestly, I kept putting it off because I hate packing, but everything is now packed except for last minute items. I even managed to fit everything into one suitcase and I still have a little extra room. I didn't even use the zipper extender. Yay! I love my new suitcase because besides being light weight, the wheels turn 360 degrees, it's awesome!

I stopped at Marshall's & Kohl's on Monday and picked up 2 new pairs of jeans. I also got a few more last minute items, flashlight, travel sewing kit, etc. And snacks for the plane! 2 Rice Krispie Treat Bars (Walmart had individual ones that are a bit bigger than the boxed treats.) and a bag of Snyders Peanut Butter Pretzels, yum!

Thursday evening I'll be going out with my cousins, Chrissy & Jessica. It's kind of sad, because my cousin Chrissy who was just married on November 7th is going to be moving to Georgia with her husband to one of the military bases down there. She'll be moving in early January and I won't be back in the USA until the end of January, so it's the last time we will see each other for awhile. I will have to either take a road trip or fly down to see her later next year. I have a lot of cousins, but I've always been close with Chrissy & Jessica.

Friday is my "Thanksgiving/Christmas" at home. I'm taking the family to a Chinese Buffet for lunch. Later we'll exchange gifts at home for my "Christmas" before I go away. And Sunday I think I will be stopping to see my Nana before I leave. My flight to Chicago leaves from Philadelphia around 6am next Tuesday, so i will probably need to be at the airport by at least 3am, considering it's just a few days before Thanksgiving and the airport might be crowded. Here is my trip itinerary.

I'm a little bit sad to leave my rattie girls, especially Sugar. She is slowly going downhill. She is nearly 2 months past 2 years old. Her two mammary tumors are pretty big and she's losing a lot of weight. She has good & bad days. Sometimes all she wants to do is sleep and other days she is alert & "active" for her age. She is still eating, but she's been getting extra nutrition from baby food, vanilla ensure and she even likes gatorade! Sadly, I don't know if she will still be around when I come back at the end of January. All of the girls will be getting taken care of by my brother Scotty, who is 21.

I ordered two new books for the plane. I got The Queen's Mistake: In the Court of Henry VIII by Diane Haeger. I've read 'The Ruby Ring' & 'The Perfect Royal Mistress' by her & I thought they were both good. My Ginger rat, actually nibbled a bit on 'The Perfect Mistress' and I was so embarrassed when I had to take it back to the library & ask if I had to pay for damages. Luckily it was only a very tiny spot & the librarian said she would just tape it!

I also got, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by, Carolly Erickson I'm not sure how I'll like it. I like her non fiction biography books. But I just read her new book, 'The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots' and it was ridiculous! Mary escapes being a prisoner in England under Elizabeth I, and goes to Rome for awhile to visit with the Pope, then she goes to live with her secret daughter & grandmother with the Earl of Bothwell in a cottage. It was terrible & extremely far fetched. I actually reviewed it on Amazon.com. Her other book 'The Last Wife of Henry VIII' was terrible too I thought, but I did like 'The Tsarina's Daughter'.

I've been reading Anya Seton's books from the library lately. It started with reading Alison Weir's new book 'Mistress of the Monarchy' about Katherine Swynford's life. So I decided to take out 'Katherine' by Anya Seton to read and I really enjoyed it. I read 'Green Darkness' and it was just okay, but right now I'm reading 'The Winthrop Woman' and I'm really enjoying it. I also have 'Avalon' to read still. Most of her books were written in the 40's-50's but the writing seems very modern to me.

Fall Out Boy released a 'Best Of' album that I bought. I think I could have put together a better "Best Of" but I do like the 5 new songs that are included on the album. I especially like "From Now On We Are Enemies" & "Alpha Dog", though their rendition of "Beat It" is pretty good too. Fall Out Boy, is one of my favorite bands, I saw them in concert about 2 years ago.

And I really want Kutless' new worship album 'It Is Well'! It's only $5.00 for the MP3 download of the album. I asked for it for "Christmas". I have all of Kutless' albums. :)

While I was browsing Amazon.com I found out Michelle Branch is coming out with a new solo album in 2010! I am beyond excited! F.B. & I used to listen to her albums a lot early in our relationship. And her last solo album came out in 2003, before she joined 'The Wreckers' but that music was a little too country for me.

P.S. I forgot to mention. Creed has a new album 'Full Circle'. What the heck?! They broke up after their last album in 2001! Then Scott Stapp went and did his own solo album which sucked. And the other 2 guys made the band Alter Bridge, which I LOVE! Well Creed got back together to do a new album and it sucks and sounds WEIRD! I guess that could be because Scott Stapp hasn't sung for like 8 years... but his voice sounds weird and deeper, growl-ey & just plain awful! Not at all like the Creed I used to listen to. I do not like their new album and I used to be obsessed with Creed! I think the reality of it was Scott Stapp was not the talent in that band, it was the other two guys, Mark Tremonti & Brian Marshall because Alter Bridge sounds so much better!

Cookies & Trip Preparation

Less than 2 weeks until I leave for the Philippines. So crazy! I have to start packing next week & then I will just have last minute stuff to throw in my suitcase the night before I leave. I already have some stuff that I'm taking already in my suitcases, it's just not organized & I don't have any of my clothes packed yet.

The 20th, I believe I'm going to have my "Thanksgiving/Christmas" with my family. I think we may go out to eat for dinner and then exchange gifts before I go away. This will be the 2nd year I won't be home for Thanksgiving. Last year since I arrived home a week after Thanksgiving, my Mom froze me a plate of Thanksgiving dinner. This year I won't be home until the end of January. (This will also be my 2nd Christmas & New Years in the Philippines.)

I think F.B. & I are going to do what we did last year for my Thanksgiving. (Since it's an American holiday.) We'll have dinner at Gerry's Grill, go to Trinoma Mall, pick out some Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider, get some mashed potatoes from KFC & watch a movie at his house. Hehe.

I think we're also going to get our I.D. Photos taken at the mall when we go out, we will need them when we apply for our marriage licence. We'll have to wait until probably November 30th to go to the USA Embassy to get my 'Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage' because the US Embassy in Manila will be closed on Thanksgiving. Unless we go on November 27th. I'm not sure yet. I know the week of the 30th we will be applying for the marriage licence, because there's a 10 day waiting period & we may or may not have to take premarital classes.

Today I did some baking. I love baking Pumpkin Bread, etc around Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year I tried baking Iced Pumpkin Cookies! I found the original recipe here, but I altered it a bit. I left out the chocolate chips (didn't have any!) and the walnuts (I don't like them.) And since I didn't have Pumpkin Pie spice handy, I put in a 1 tsp of cinnamon & a 1/2 tsp of nutmeg.

Here is the altered recipe that I used:

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1tsp. baking powder
1/2tsp.baking soda
1/2tsp. salt
2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S 100% pure pumpkin
2 large eggs
1tsp. vanilla extract
Vanilla Glaze (recipe follows)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease baking sheets.

Mix wet ingredients together and dry ingredients together in separate bowls, before combining & mixing well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Spread or drizzle with vanilla glaze.

Vanilla Glaze:

Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well.

Yum! They turned out well! I put the icing in the fridge to firm up a little while the cookies were still baking.