where the moon shines

August Comment Challenge update: I made a grand total of 390 comments! Epic fail! Hahaha But I failed only in terms of reaching the 1000 comments goal. I succeeded in finding new blogs to follow, and really engaging myself more when hopping around the blogosphere. I hope that I have also encouraged a reader, or two, to go ahead and leave comments and interact with the blogs you also visit.

Like today, it was a welcome surprise to see a friend’s name in my comment box. I miss you girl, and miss just hanging out and laughing so hard with you. When was the last time? Too long ago! Let’s go watch the UST choir’s concert together

Entrecard Top Droppers for August: Thank you so much! Once again, I appreciate the visits, and more the footprints you leave behind.

I only saw one movie in the cinema in August – The Expendables! But I did get to see a couple more movies from home, including Julie Delphy and Ethan Hawke in Before Sunset. Then there were the  movies shown on cable TV that we would watch in the afternoons. Movies like The Rocker, and this other movie where the protagonist was a high schooler who got thrown into prison for a while, and then attended a different school when he came out. In the new school, he established an entirely different reputation: that of a bad boy. He has a band too, with his old geeky friends. I don’t know the title of the movie, but Zooey Deschanel was there too as his friend and band mate (not his love interest though). The new guy lived with his dad in a trailer, and I remember how the boyfriend wondered aloud how in other parts of the world, motorhomes are real homes. It must be exciting to be able to drive your home somewhere and not worry about spending on accommodations, and having the great outdoors as your living room or porch. But it could be a tiresome life too not to have much private space. And if you really traveled a lot on it, you’d probably rack up huge costs on motorhome repairs! Oohh, but I’ve gone too much out of topic here.. what’s the title of the movie again? You gotta help me out babe!

Anyhoo… in September I plan on reorganizing and backing up my pictures stored in my hard drive, and the older photos in the external hard drive. Some of those photos have not been looked at or shared since they were taken and transferred. It’s going to be a huge undertaking because I’m sure I’ll be prompted to post-process and share most of them. Maybe I’ll even be inspired to scrap pages out of some.

I’ll also be launching my health blog this month, and hopefully launch a new design for The Newbie Photographer. The boyfriend would also like to use his blog to showcase his photos so we’ll be checking out a more suitable template for him. That would be nice, seeing that blog has gathered a lot of dust.

I’ll be seeing my girlfriends next week for a fun (wholesome, or not?) bridal shower for one of our friends. I hope this signals another round of meetups with other friends as well.

September is also gearing up to be an exciting month on the work front.

What are your plans for September?

After seeing Harriet’s Comment Challenge month over month, I finally signed up for the August Challenge.

It’s pretty straight forward: a challenge to make 1000 comments during the month of August. If I make it, I don’t get any money. Harriet promises a cool button though But apart from the button, there’s more in there for me. I get to pay more attention on other people’s blog (enough to make a meaningful comment) and hopefully that encourages them to checkout my blog/s and participate too.

So far, I have made 15 comments today. That leaves me with 985 more comments to go until the month ends.

Wait, what have I gotten myself into?

Hey, why don’t you join up? Even if we don’t make it to 1000, there’s the journey to remember right? C’mon!

That’s me, in the two recent blog contests that I joined up! Yay!

First to be announced was the 1000 Entrecard credits I won from Levy and Noel’s Thanksgiving contest.

My entry can be found here: With $100 I will

Thank you so much Levy and Noel!

The second contest is from Ganda Ever So Much. You know what, the day I joined was the first time I ever laid eyes on that fun blog. I am so glad I joined, and now I continue to be a follower

I’m one of several winners (including the lovely Zoan) to receive a copy of Blogging from Home book by Janette Toral. I am so looking forward to that. It’s also wonderful that that’s what I got, instead of a Kapuso t-shirt. Imagine if that’s what I got? I’d probably wear it to work and suffer the odd looks from everyone as I enter the ABS-CBN premises! Haha.

My entry for that contest is here: Ganda Ever So Much!

Orman is still having a party, for week 4, it’s a Photo Contest! Head on to his blog and find out how to join.

Thank you so much for the early birthday presents! Winning these got me to think again on what to do for a birthday giveaway. Somehow though, I’m leaning towards not running a contest after all. Maybe I’ll just pick a random blogger to award with something.

You know why I like joining contests? Most often it’s because of the freebies of course. Another is to show support to other bloggers. It’s not easy to find loyal readers who will actually interact with you. So when I find bloggers who do that for me, I try to reciprocate as best I can Contests are also a fun venue to find new blogs to stalk, ones that you might not always find just going to your usual bloghops. Through some of these contests and Memes I have read the most fun, as well as the most heart-wrenching stories. Of course you will also find posts that you will end up ignoring, but you’ll also find real-life stories like a family’s story of pain and hope, as they work towards getting social security disability for a family member. Anyhoo, bloghopping is fun, and contests like the two above make it more colorful

My birthday’s coming up (next month) and I would like to finally launch my second giveaway.

Here are some ideas and I’d love to hear feedback for them:

• Like from my Got Heart Planner Giveaway, each comment posted on my blog (during a specific timeframe) merits one entry.
• Blog about the giveaway and get bonus points (to be determined or TBD).
• Blog about Baby Jon Angelo and earn even more bonus points; supporting his cause by giving a donation and/or purchasing Breathe Hope bracelets would earn additional points too! (advocacy for Jon would be awesome!)
• Subscribing to my RSS feeds, will be a requirement. This would be for three blogs: this one, The Newbie Photographer, and Between the Covers.
• Prizes include: Human?Nature gift pack/s, a book (it’s pre-loved, I unintentionally bought two of a certain title) or two, a reusable bag or two…
• If you’d like to help me out and sponsor more prizes (cash/in kind, maybe even free trial of services you offer like brochure printing, or blog design, or something), I’d super appreciate it and blog about YOU!

I’d love to launch the contest on July 1

So what do you think? Would you sign up?

The BC Bloggers’ Party has commenced! This is an awesome opportunity to go around and get to know other BC Bloggers. Thanks to Paula, we have a list of 45 to start with!

Paula – A certified BC blogger – wife, mother, employee, blogger all rolled into one.

AC – A proud work-at-home mom and wife.

Bambie — Living a blissful and simple life in a fast paced city of tokyo with her Love and lil bundle of joy, Azumi. Loves anything kawaii and fabulous things.

Bambie/Sunshine – blogging to let you take a sneak peak into a world that is MINE. This is me, the real me. No hesitations, no presumptions, no holding back. I’m sharing my heart to you, no-holds barred.

Beng – A busy working mom of 2 handsome boys, Financial Analyst by profession.

Cacai M. – a Stay-At-Home-Wife and blogging is my passion. I am happy when people are happy. I view blogging as my open or public diary of random thoughts wherein I can express and share my views, reviews, thoughts, happiness, adventures, and experiences.” ~hugs&kisses~

Carmz – Newest Blogger on the Blogosphere! Workaholic, Fun and Crazy Girl of Makati District

Chin chin – Christian stay at home mom blogger blessed with 5 children – Thanks be to God’s grace and strength to live the everyday life.

Chris – A follower of Christ who loves being a wife and a stay at home mom.

debrajills diary – A Diary of a Mom and her Journal through Life as a wife, daughter and a mother.

eikcaj – God’s extra-ordinary girl….

Fedhz – I have a Kris Aquino mouth and a Judy Ann heart. Yes, I’m very sentimental and talkative and I guess that’s the very reason why I found myself blogging for more than 7 years now.

ferr’zWILL – I am just a simple jolly girl, sweet and heedful lady I love to depict unto others how I feel towards them.

Jade – A certified BC Blogger. Blogaholic, Workaholic but will soon be taking it slow…

Kaye – Blog designer extraordinaire. Not. Just blog designer. And writer, if you could consider my inane blog entries as “writing”. A WAHM from the beautiful city of Baguio, Philippines.

Inigo – Probably the youngest blogger at 21 months old. Posts were as early as fetal age.

Irish – A Christian family woman who’s trying to juggle her blogging duties, her full time work, taking care of a 2 year old daughter and being the best wife ever to her hubby.

Just Simple Thoughts – loving wife; loving daughter; loyal friend; wants everything to be fair and just…

Laane – Usually I describe myself as a mom of 6. The oldest 4 are boys, all with an autism spectrum disorder. The youngest is dealing with classic autism. The other 2 are girls. Twins. One is dyslectic, like one of the boys. I’m always busy arranging things for them, solving problems or guiding. Dealing with the problems other people caused is one of the main issues.

Liezl – the frustrated chemist but now a passionate blogger and an aspiring psychologist. Proud Batangeña living all alone in Manila, deeply in-love, spontaneous and witty. A good conversationalist, fearless enough to tackle love, sex and politics.

Lizeewong – I’m a girly girl, mommy and wife. My world is quite simple. It revolves around my babies who amuse me, my husband who completes me and my blog which pleasures me.

Mommy Bonz – Certified BC Blogger. A simple mom and wife with lots of hopes and dreams for her family. Finding time with everything, being a full time mom, wife and an employee and now a part-time blogger.

Mommy Rubz – a simple stay at home mom who takes care of three kids and 40 plus domains.

Nelson – A Surgical Nurse who blogs down his experiences, both clinical and personal. Happily married and now living in the UAE.

Niko – Happy Mom and Wife, Full time office slave and Part time BLOGGER

Nicquee – A corporate slave wanting to be WAHM for her kids and husband through blogging

Nuts – Blogging with my family as source of my inspiration..

Peachkins – babaeng bakla. foodie.mahilig magluto.coffee addict.froyo junkie. loves photos.dating call girl[call center agent].loves peanutbutter.NCIS LA & CSI fan. nanonood ng BITAG tuwing sabado ng gabi…..frustrated cop.

Pehpot – is a stay at home mom of four kids. A part time blogger of 8 blogs (and soon to be 10). A novice blogger who always share her new found tips and techniques (through NOOB) and your slave if the price is right.

Red is Marose – simple pero rock, a working mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend, hoping to be a work at home. A forum addict and now a trying hard blogger.

Ria – Wife, and a mother of one lovely daughter, likes to read books and collect just anything. A person of unpredictable characteristics, stubborn yet soft hearted, active yet demure.

Rossel – Maybe an addict blogger but very proud to say that she is a loving and caring queen of their home.

Rosette – Mysterious gal who finds happiness and contentment in her son and partner.

Sam – Adik na WAHMmy (Work At Home Mommy). Former call girl, este call center agent.

Sarah – A mother of two wonderful smart and active kids. A wife, enjoys singing, playing the piano, and a friend in need…

Shamrocks and Shenanigans – I’m a Wife, Mom, short order cook, driver, maid, gopher….My life is perfect. I am happily married…unless he takes the remote from me. I love food and I love to cook.

Sherry Rambling; Blogger: Live, Love, Laugh

Shydub – stay at home Mom, full time wife and started blogging since 2008 as pastime and moolah maker.

Tetcha – A WAHM chronicling her experience as a mother and wife and everything else in between.

Valerie/Surreal Princess – travel enthusiast, half –vampire, half-human, multi-tasking extraordinaire. Backpacker, Blogger, budding photographer, housewife and work at home diva.

Verabear – I’ve been blogging here and there for about four or five years. I write for myself mainly, but I am happy whenever I get visits from both friends and strangers (*hint* I love getting comments!).

Vernz – A mother of three who loves free, budding potter, frustrated painter, trying hard blogger, dedicated teacher and a devoted mother.

Yami – Owns three blogs and work full time as work-at-home mom. I write just about anything that caught my interest and earn at the same time.

Yuuki - the drama queen, otaku, junkie collector, shopaholic, book worm, traveler, scientist, blogger, entrepreneur, lover, friend, fighter, survivor – complexity to the max!

Zoan – the single-mom blogger from Bukidnon

Kerslyn - A work-at-home wife, hubby’s cook, chef wannabe, and shutter button addict. Half Ilocana and half Bisaya with a Chinese taste buds.

Josie - Mother of three grown-ups, work at home mom, managing a home-based business,workaholic, busy as a bee but still trying my hand on blogging.

Gracia – A savvy chick with a big heart for fashion.

Kayce - I’m a stay at home mom, a businesswoman who manages our own business, an ebay seller, a singer-musician, a Christian and a servant of the Lord.

Charmie – I’m a frustrated career woman, a responsible, loving daughter and a sister.

ferry’zPROFESSION – A happy fulltime employee who loves to snip some of my time to blog, being a multi task is my game.

Mommy Liz – I am a wife and a mother to my 4 wonderful children and to 2  more, so we have 6 beautiful kids. I am a Stay at home mom  and I am proud of it.

Maritz - A Civil Engineer by profession but work full time as a church admin officer. A fulfilled wife to a loving and God fearing husband and a mother of two wonderful children.

I hope those of you who drop by today come back tomorrow, I will be announcing my giveaway on Earth Day!