Book Haul!!!

I am a bookworm. 

And I am the one of people who doesn't mind buying secondhand books or ex-library books, actually I like buying secondhand books or old books.

So when my friend referred to me this book store "Thriftbooks.com", I jumped for joy.

All books are so cheap!!!

I bought 12 books and the total was about $32!!!

Roughly $2.6 a book!!!

What a deal.

This is not affiliated or sponsored blog.

I just share it with everyone how cheap all books are.

One down side is that new released books are sometimes not available which can be expected since all of the books are thrift books. Someone has to sell sell theirs in order for you to buy them.

Here are the books that I got.

• Fin & Lady/ Cathleen Schine
• The Declaration/ Gemma Malley
• The Resistance/ Gemma Malley
• The Legacy/ Gemma Malley
• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game/ Michael Lewis
• The New Yorkers/ Leanne Shapton, Cathleen Schine
• Naked/ David Sedaris
• A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes/ Stephen Hawking
• Let It Snow: Three Holiday Stories/ Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle, John Green
• Delirium/ Lauren Oliver 
• Pandemonium/ Lauren Oliver
• Requiem/ Lauren Oliver

I bought some of the books because I read e-books and liked them. 

I am glad to have them as my collections. 

And the rest of the books... I cannot wait to read!! 

Welcome To The World, Emma!!

She waited for over 40 weeks to come out of me. 

She must have been very comfortable there....hahaha

My tummy had been stretched to the max and gotten a lot of stretch marks.

I had rather not have any stretch marks if I could choose to, but I'm fine with having some stretch marks in the end.

Even though it looks ugly to someone, it doesn't look that ugly to me. 

Those marks will always remind of me being a mom and being a mom is the best thing I could ask for.

Anyway back to my pretty precious daughter, Emma.

She was born in June 4th, 2014, almost a week after the due date.

8lb 5oz, 20 inch, a big girl :)

Look at her arm and cheeks!!

Chubby and cute :)

Next day, my husband brought Ken who is now a big brother.

Yesterday was the first day for him to meet his little sister, and as soon as he saw her, he put his big smile on his face, pointing at her and said "ah~~~"

He seems to have fell in love with her just like everybody else did in our family.

He kept rubbing her head :)

Such a precious moment...

As we were kinda expected (since our first boy was the same) she had a high level of jaundice.

She is currently in a hospital.

We have been here for two nights.

Her level is getting lower and lower so hopefully we get to go home today.

I miss my boys (husband and Ken).

My husband said Ken asks for me every morning.

Awww... my forever baby boy Ken... ;(

Emma is eating well and pooping well so she should get better soon!!!

Again welcome to the world, and thank you, Emma, for choosing me as your mom and choosing us to be your family :)

My Second Pregnancy: Part 2 and last hopefully...

First off....

I thought my due date was July 1, but last Friday, my doctor told me that my due is "today" meaning May 30....

So, officially, I'm past due date.

I guess she (Emma) is not yet ready to come out...lol

Here is my hopefully last pregnant tummy photo.

40 weeks of pregnancy

Photo from last blog post (36 weeks of pregnancy)

I had always thought she would have come out earlier than my due date, I don't know why I thought that way, but she is still waiting for the best time, I guess :)

Contractions are frequent now but nothing major.... 

Doctor told me the progress was the same from the last doctor visit. 

I've been having hard time sleeping through the night, well, if you are pregnant, you cannot expect to sleep thought the night since you need to go to restrooms frequently.

But since my tummy is so big and heavy, I cannot find a good position to sleep comfortably.

I hope she will come out soon, otherwise I have to be induced or go through c-section... 

We will see :-)

New Creation: Anne Beaded Bracelet

Is color block fashion still in??

Or I would say.. Who cares???

This is a gorgeous bracelet that has quartz and natural stones.

Cherry Color Beads Bracelet

I love this cherry quartz stones.
And the combination of this stones and turquoise color natural stones is one of my favorite combination.

One string would still be cute, but it has TWO strings (or layers). 

Even better!!!

**Glass cherry quartz and turquoise stones.

Gold plated clasps and findings.

Isn't it so elegant?

Green Color Beads Bracelet

This one is a combination of green natural stones and beige natural stones.

This is the one for those who want more natural, earthy, and neutral-colored jewelry.

***Hematite stones and neutral colored natural stones.

Silver plated clasps and findings.

Length: 7 inch plus 2 inch extension.

You can get these at my Etsy store LuvlyMint
https://www.etsy.com/listing/188848976/anne-beaded-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active_12

I have more pretty jewelry in my Etsy store so come and look around!

How I store Swarovski Products

I'm not a neat type of person, but it is so easy to get inspired if everything is organized and easy to see.

So I was determined to organize my jewelry making tools and materials.

Here is the first of many to come organization projects.

The organization for Swarovski elements which are my favorite materials to use.

Here is the before....

I can hardly see what I have....

And, 

here is the after....

Neatly organized. 

I used this small plastic boxes from this seller, Watchmaterial on Amazon.com

And I love them!!!

They are perfect for small beads, crystals, parts and any small stuff.

They are clear so you can easily see what's inside and stay organize all your beads.

The seller is in California so they shipped them to me so quick; I only waited for a couple of days.

The boxes are probably great for other small stuff too, like earrings, rings....

Here is what I used to organize my beads and parts.

My second pregnancy:

I haven't post any of my second pregnant diary at all.

Maybe because I had been through this once before and I didn't feel like I had to write about it or just simply being lazy...

But I realized how nice to keep track of what is going on my body and how is my little baby inside of me doing.

Because no matter how precious this event is, and no matter how hard I try to remember all of it, I will eventually forget some of it if not all.

Baby about 19 weeks

It's a girl!!!

23 weeks of pregnancy (baby weighs as much as a large mango)

26 weeks of pregnancy (Baby is the length of a green onion)

27 weeks of pregnancy (Baby is the size of a head of cauliflower)

 30 weeks of pregnancy
(The baby weighs as much as a cabbage)

Ken wanted to be in the picture...lol

Again, Ken needs to be in the picture..lol

 31 weeks of pregnancy
(Baby weighs as much as a coconut)

 34 weeks of pregnancy
(Baby is the size of a cantaloupe melon)

Little Emma!!! (35 weeks)

Well, actually she is pretty big right now. 

According to an ultrasound, she is over 5 lb already. 

And during last month, baby tend to gain 0.5 lb a week. 

That means she is going to be over 7 lb baby!!!!

**Ken (our first kid) was born with 6 lb 8oz. 

She is so pretty!!! 

I cannot wait to meet her :)

 36 weeks of pregnancy
(Baby is about as long as a romaine lettuce)

So far, I've gained 26 pounds.

One more month to go!!

Compare to first pregnancy, I feel like I've gotten big quicker and bigger. 

I guess that is normal for most women, our tummies get big quicker and bigger. 

Here is the comparison with this pregnancy and my first pregnancy picture. 

Both are 36 weeks of pregnancy

My First Pregnancy 2012

This pregnancy 2014

It does look bigger than first pregnancy tummy :)

The last pregnancy, I walked for about 40 mins twice everyday trying to keep in shape, 

whereas, this pregnancy I've been kind of lazy...

however I've been doing some maternity cardio and weight workout using youtube.

Denis Austin: Prenatal cardio workout

Popsugar, Andrea Orbeck fitness

10 minutes arm workout

Those are the main workouts I usually do but not everyday though...

I'm getting some Braxton Hicks contractions (practice contractions) which I didn't feel on my first pregnancy at all.

My cervix hasn't opened yet. so I don't think I will go to labor anytime soon. 

But after 36 weeks, you can go into labor anytime and babies are considered full term.

Well, I am sure she won't come out anytime soon but at least I want her to wait till we have Ken's birthday party on next weekend. 

We got a key!!!

We finally got an own house!!!!

It has been over 2 years maybe 3 years?? since we had started house hunting.

I'm so happy and excited. 

No more living in a small apartment.

We have a big backyard for our son, Ken and dog, Kuro to run around.

Ken gets to have his own room and soon-to-be-born Emma will get to have her own room too.

After going through frustrating stuff for a couple of years, everything has finally come together. 

I'm just excited to move all our stuff to the new house and settle in :)

Healthy, but not so healthy oat bran muffin

I was craving some kind of muffin that Ken and I  can eat for breakfast, and I found a box of oat bran in my kitchen cabinet.
So I baked this muffin the other day and I love it! Of course Ken loved it too.

Oat bran, banana and carrot make this muffin healthy ( I was gonna put apple sauce too, if I could have found it in my pantry....), but I just couldn't help making it without chocolate chips..... 

This is probably not an ideal breakfast choice because of chocolate chips in it, but why not putting some sweet so you start the morning with happy tummy... :P

Plus, these are MINI muffins so kids can eat easily and cleanly and perfect size as a sweet snack; sometime regular size muffins are too big, well at least for me....

Here is the ingredients and recipe:

This will make 12 MINI muffins.

*1/4 cup butter, softened

*1/4 cup or less sugar, brown sugar might be a better choice

*1 large ripe banana, mashed

*1 carrot, grated

*1 eggs

*1/2 cup all purpose or wheat flour

*1/4 cup oat bran

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*1/2 teaspoon grounded cinnamon 

*1/4 teaspoon  salt

*A handful of chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 12 mini muffin cups.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Mix in the mashed banana, grated carrots, and eggs. Stir in flour, oat bran, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

I had to make sure all muffin has some chocolate...so I put a piece  of chocolate chip on the top of all muffins...

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, I used a chopstick since I didn't have a toothpick.

Even with oat bran, this muffin is so moist, and after few days in a fridge it is still moist.

Ripe banana makes this sweet so you don't need ton of sugar which is healthy.

You can definitely enjoy them without chocolate chips and might be healthier for you.

I hope you enjoy this sweet and healthy muffin!!

Happy Monday!

What I got for my face : Michael Todd true organics!!

I've been hearing about this Michael Todd true organics products on Youtube.
And I wanted to try some of them.


So, with my husband's approval...lol, I got this

Years Younger™ Regimen

Organically Treat for Anti Aging, Sun Damage + Spots

I got this set from their website, 

Michael Todd true organics

And it was $85.00, regular price is $178.00.

Plus I got 15% off as a sign up bonus. 

I think that is pretty reasonable considering you get 6 full products. 

Free sample

 The regimen comes with:
*SKIN DEFENDER AHA creme facial cleanser
*CRANBERRY Antiox hydrating anti-aging toner
*PEARL&SILK facial mask
*INTENSIVE organic cream eye treatment
*LIPOSOME antioxidant moisturizer with DMAE and hyaluronic acid
*HYALURONIC ACID + C antioxidant 2-in-1 anti-wrinkle serum

I used most of them last night, and so far they are good.
One thing that bugged me about is that the moisturizer was stinky to me, I let my husband sniff it, and I guess he didn't mind the smell, he said it smells like a kind of flower....

Of course I don't see any significant improvement on my skin with just one night use, so we will see how good they are..

I'm thinking to do some reviews on these products later.
Stay tuned!! 

I'm back on blogging!!

I'd been MIA for a while.... I don't know why.
I would say I haven been busy....????? or lazy...??

Last time I blogged about the Japan trip which was 10 months ago... almost a year.
So little update on my life:

*We moved out of my husband's parents' house in July last year and now we live in an 1 bed room apartment temporarily until we are ready to get our own house which will be close!!!
   How exciting!!

*We went to Hawaii for a week with our Hawaiian couple.
  That was all of us's first Hawaii trip. We had so much fun.
  Watching our son, Ken, having so much fun was the best thing ever :)

 


*We found out that we were pregnant for a second baby!!!!
  And in a nut shell, it's a GIRL!!!!
  We are so excited!!!!
   (I'm now 26 weeks pregnant.)

*Our precious son, Ken is growing so fast.
   He can now say some words. And he understands pretty well in Japanese, English, and probably Vietnamese.

*I've taken a break on making jewelry for a while since we started living in a small apartment; I don't have room to make jewelry. My store on Etsy is still open though...
 I hope I can start making jewelry again soon.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Hee103Jewelry

*I'm still go to online school. Hopefully I can graduate this year.

That pretty much sums up my life since I stopped blogging.