Yay! Just like back in Pinas

Centura tuna and Nova = tasty snack!

I have been missing one of my favorite canned tuna from Philippines... well not anymore. Thanks Mr. Google who led me to Phil-Am store website. This store caters almost all Filipino goods which is great! So without having a second thought, we placed our order online last Thursday night and received the goods today (Saturday) lunchtime.Yay! Nice service for me, the $12 shipping fee is worth it.

Thanks goodness my hubby likes Century Tuna also! Will definitely purchase again ;). Happy to discover this Filipino store it helped me feel not far from my homeland. To all Pinoys out there check their website out, they got varieties of Filipino Goodies just like SM Hypermarket.


p.s it's snowing right now while im writing this ♥ it!

Edit: We received a thank you gift from Phil-am store after posting the package delivery picture  linked to this blog in their fan page wall. So nice of them sending us 9 different tuna flavors :D. Much appreciated. Thank you guys!

♥M

My First Credit/Debit Card...in US

I personally preferred MasterCard ;)

Here in the United States, establishing a good credit is highly important. In the future whenever you plan to purchase a car, house etc. the company will run through your credit record first to verify if you're a good payer before you hear any approval from them. Fortunately, it is not that terribly difficult to build a good one. One of the easiest way I know is by obtaining a secured credit card or riding on your husband's (being added as authorized user) and that's what we did.

Few days ago I got my first Debit/Credit card issued under my married name. I still am not used to seeing my new official name in my ID/Card though haha! Way to go for online shopping? Oppss! Certainly not unless otherwise with hubby's go signal. I'm not earning my own money yet. Hence, restrictions applied which I happily agreed with.

Actually sometimes I'm an impulsive buyer but it rarely happens, only if when a certain item really drove me crazy to the point that I know what will happen if am not gonna go for it -  will result to a sleepless night! Other than that, I consider myself as a responsible spender. I would always do the math before swiping my card way back in Pinas and will absolutely do the same thing here. Well, neither among responsible spenders wanna bite more than they can chew thats for sure.

♥M

Getting NJ State ID

Guess what?..I got my first ever United States government ID.  I know there's no big deal..well actually it is for me! It unlocks lots of business transactions, example is when opening a bank account  (some banks are too picky, if you're a new immigrant, they would ask for a State ID aside from Passport and SSN card). So, here's the lil drama that we went through over the process...

Last Saturday, Hubby and I tried to get me a State ID but unfortunately it was unsuccessful due to some lame reasons that the lady from State of New Jersey MVC told us. Despite of presented to her my Passport with attached valid I-94, K-1 Visa, SSN card, Married Cert., first class mail from USCIS and a bill that's under my name, she was not satisfied still. Instead she told me afterwards that I need to get my Biometrics with USCIS done first then come back later. Hmm I guess this is more likely to happen to new Immigrants with pending Adjustment of Status for Permanent Residency. We told her that our case is in process already but she wouldn't want to consider it. Apparently, we don't have much choice that time but to leave the office. We don't wanna discuss more that time because we forgot to print what's stated in their website about the requirements (which I supposed they should know) though I vividly remember I have met their 6 pt. ID Verification when I took it online. Ugghh! if only I wasn't too confident that these people who work for NJ MVC knew what they're doing, I should have brought the validation note from their website. My bad, well lesson learnt. Never assumed!

Anyhow, what happened didn't stop our plan to come back this morning...we arrived around 9am and there was a short line outside the office already. I really don't mind falling in line, I kind of used to it in Pinas so while others' started to get annoyed I enjoyed the cold breeze :P. Few minutes later we're inside. We presented same documents we had last Saturday to a black lady and as expected confusion drew to her face while reviewing my requirements. At this time we shown her the printed confirmation from their website but oh boy she still wouldn't want to trust it. Geeezz what's up with that? She let us seated while she go spoke to her supervisor for like 20-30 minutes. It made me think is my case that rare or it's them who's not doin their assignment? Maybe it's in that branch only. Whatever it is, we were hoping for a positive outcome. Oh Speaking of positivity her she is walking slowly as if nobody is waiting, but at least we're right she told us we are good to go for the next step. Alright, so we proceeded to another counter for photograph and thanks goodness this time the lady did her job swiftly.

After the not so smooth transaction we had, nonetheless we leave the MVC office happy especially me having my NJ State ID on hand :D. Then, we went to Asian Grill to have our lunch with hubby's best friend, enjoyed their delicious foods as usual and afterwards we went to Starbucks and enjoyed our Frappe ;)! Ended great! yeah!

To those with pending case AOS status and want to get a State ID, I wish you guys to have a pleasant experience at your State's Motor Vehicle Commission.

♥M

Biometrics Appointment

Had a good news yesterday, I got my Biometrics notice from USCIS for November 2 appointment (roughly a month after their acceptance date) at their local office in Hackensack NJ and guess what?..its pretty close to our place so it's a bonus! lol ;).  I was worried the last few days coz every time I checked my case status in the USCIS website it prompted a "case not found" message, ugghh the website is unreliable. I'm guessing it under maintenance.  I would no longer rely on the website itself henceforth  to save myself from any anxious feeling that would haunt me, especially after reading in some forum about case that got lost and was just back on track after week-months more of waiting game. I thought it's better to call 'em.  Well now it's exciting for me knowing that my AOS and EAD application is on track. So am feeling lucky that my case is moving and I'm hoping for a smooth journey likewise to other AOS Filers.

♥M

Busybusyhan...routine



Ayos for me!!!

I often encounter questions from friends if what I'm up to these days especially when home alone...and here it is........

Due to my overflowing free time (which I need to enjoy and take advantage of for the meantime while I am not working yet), I thought of writing on what's going on me here in the U.S. when my hubby is at work (for my funny note to look back in the future na rin). Soo where would I start?....Hmm I should say in my two months of existence here in NJ, the major, major things I do were all for a lazy mee..LOL! Seriously, I usually got up a bit late in the morning, but of course when my husband leaves for work I am literally awake to say bye bye plus a hug and a kiss then I rest some more hehe! Mike  usually grab just a tea for breakfast which by the way I do the same thing so no cooking for us mostly on weekday mornings (but would be working on cooking the Mayo way soon..). I know what you're thinking fellas, by now I should be cooking already but as I said I'm workin on it already, in fact I'm cooking my own lunch and it's pretty much tasty for me. Anyway in the  morning, there are things that make my butt moving and do some exercise such as the XBOX 360 and Ab-coaster, the latter gave me muscles pain on my first day though. I know it's a good sign coz meaning to say my body is responding to the exercise. Apparently, including these things in my routine help me not gain nor feel weak. Oh before I forgot, I also have this one good exercise, cleaning the house (I call it IndayMode hehe). So there, my morning done swiftly  and now here comes my noon time....I watch movies on Netflix, browsing some job sites for future reference, talk to my Fb friends and family back in Pinas hmm sounds busy huh! By the way in between of those mentioned activities  hubby and I chat also just to update and say we l♥ve and missed each other already aww sweet :P. Before we knew it, our day is over and while Mike is on his way home I get ready the raw foods and we cook it together (more his way though) ahhh it's absolutely fun!

So far this is my weekdays' routine, pretty simple but I consider it busy as in busybusyhan lol! Maybe kind of boring to others  but I don't give it a damn in fact I feel pretty darn good finding ways not to feel the homesick thing and I somehow managed it the way I want it! Plus I tried to blog even if  I'm not a pro.  Isn't it good yea?

Alright! have a good routine folks!

p.s my weekend is a different story :P often it's incredibly awesome....well for me! ;)

♥M