tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629146220597612942024-03-05T23:29:02.388-05:00Adventures in the SuburbsSwapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-32622896920919677802018-04-18T08:34:00.003-04:002018-04-18T08:34:39.028-04:00Slid off again!The last few weeks have been extremely busy and I have not spent much time on the computer at all. So I have not been blogging much - hope to start again from today.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-19090979231886280152018-03-07T11:35:00.000-05:002018-03-07T11:35:11.006-05:00March Goals + February Goals UpdateSo I really messed up in February. I completely didn't get to do most of my goals. Life just caught me up and I just didn't get to most of them.<br />
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<div>
Update on Mini-Goals for February:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Finish setting up the house - <i>Done for the most part. Still need to organize but we've covered the major sections. I still need to get to some boxes in the garage but we're there for the most part. </i></li>
<li>Walk 30 miles in February - <i>Didn't get to this at all. </i></li>
<li>One post a week on the blog - <i>Didn't get to this at all. </i></li>
<li>Create a facebook page for my blog - <i>Didn't get to this at all. </i></li>
<li>Read one age-appropriate book to AGirl - <i>Read <a href="http://amzn.to/2Hep2p5" target="_blank">Super Why! "The Princess and the Pea"</a> to AGirl. </i></li>
<li>Read 5 books to A2Girl - <i>Tried to read a few books to her but she just wouldn't let me. She loves reading "Sleep baby sleep" book over and over again.</i></li>
<li>Create budget for February and stick to it - <i>Really messed on this one because we had some unexpected expenses come up. </i></li>
<li>Read 2 books I already own - <i>Didn't get to this at all</i></li>
</ol>
<div>
Update on Habits for February:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Drink 8 glasses of water every day - <i>Didn't get to this at all</i></li>
<li>Shine my sink every day (not necessarily at night but clear it out at least once in a day) - <i>I have been loading the dishwasher every day but not necessarily shining my sink. So still working on this habit</i></li>
</ol>
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<div>
<div>
Mini-Goals for March:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Walk 30 miles in February</li>
<li>One post a week on the blog</li>
<li>Create a facebook page for my blog</li>
<li>Read one age-appropriate book to AGirl</li>
<li>Read 5 books to A2Girl</li>
<li>Read 2 books I already own</li>
<li>Substitute a smoothie for breakfast 4 times this month (once a week)</li>
<li>Organize and get the guest room ready for long-term guests</li>
<li>Start a 529 plan for A2Girl </li>
</ol>
<div>
Habits for March:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Drink 8 glasses of water every day</li>
<li>Shine my sink every day (actually shine the sink)</li>
<li>Exercise 15 mins every day (walk, yoga, anything)</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-1620876513430974782018-02-06T12:13:00.001-05:002018-02-06T19:29:04.006-05:00February Goals + January Goals UpdateUpdate on Mini-Goals for January:<br />
<ol>
<li>Setup the new house to a livable state - <i>We have been living in the house for a month and it's mostly livable - only haven't started cooking here yet. So I'm moving this goal to February. </i></li>
<li>Participate in a cultural event locally (dancing to a song on stage in front of people) - <i>Done. This was a big deal for me as this was my first time ever dancing on stage and I was really scared to do it but I did it. I was very proud of myself. </i></li>
<li>Walk a total of 40 miles - <i>Didn't really get to exercise this month, pushing to February</i></li>
<li>One post a week on the blog. - <i>Done</i></li>
<li>Create a facebook page for my blog - <i>Pushing to February</i></li>
<li>Read one age-appropriate book for AGirl that we already have - <i>Done. Read "Hands are not for Hitting, Thump Quack Moo to AGirl"</i></li>
<li>Read 10 books to A2Girl - <i>Didn't quite get to 10, mostly because she doesn't let me finish a book. Probably read the "Sleep Baby Sleep" book 10 times so going to count this as Done. </i></li>
<li>Create a budget for January and stick to it - <i>Didn't make it this time because we bought flight tickets for the summer and that was quite expensive. Dipped into savings for that one. </i></li>
<li>Read 2 books I already own - <i>Read 3 books from the library but didn't get to read 2 books I already own. I needed an escape and tend to read romance novels. Read 3 Stephanie Laurens romance novels, so going to count move this to February as well. </i></li>
</ol>
Habits for January:<br />
<div>
<ol>
<li>Drink 8 glasses of water every day - <i>Need to work more on this one. Moving to February</i></li>
<li> Brush my teeth every day at night - <i>Need to work more on this one. Skipping this habit for now and moving to March. </i></li>
</ol>
<div>
Mini-Goals for February:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Finish setting up the house</li>
<li>Walk 30 miles in February </li>
<li>One post a week on the blog</li>
<li>Create a facebook page for my blog</li>
<li>Read one age-appropriate book to AGirl</li>
<li>Read 5 books to A2Girl</li>
<li>Create budget for February and stick to it</li>
<li>Read 2 books I already own</li>
</ol>
<div>
Habits for February:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Drink 8 glasses of water every day</li>
<li>Shine my sink every day (not necessarily at night but clear it out at least once in a day)</li>
</ol>
</div>
Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-47266441021923529592018-01-30T13:16:00.000-05:002018-01-30T13:16:14.985-05:00Encouraging Male Chauvinism and Mommy Wars<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Recently in the last couple of days, I have come across a few articles and messages which made me mad.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The first was a message in one of the WhatsApp groups I am in and it was a bad joke - a guy does not change the baby's diaper and instead changes the baby in the hospital because the "moral" of the story is that men should not be given work which is not theirs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">While I understand it is a joke, it is precisely this attitude which makes men feel like they don't need to do any baby or kid related activities because it's not their job. They are not good at it. Utter nonsense! I know plenty of men who have changed diapers and plenty who help with kids too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">So why then the prevailing misconception that men should not change diapers or that it's not their job? Are only women supposed to change diapers or anything related to kids? When is society going to change their freaking mind on this - that if women can go to work and do everything a man can, a man is perfectly capable of and should do everything a woman can.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">These kinds of jokes implicitly encourage male chauvinism and allow them to feel that they don't need to do these types of work around the house and family because they're not good at it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The second was a blog post I read. This mom says she's tired of media saying there are not enough women in stem jobs or CEOs. She says that is because women are choosing to do the most important job which is raising their families and staying at home with them is more important than anything else so media should not say anything about this. Seriously?? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">When did the media say you should sacrifice your family to focus on work? And why on earth can't women take care of their families and work at the same time? Women can work without sacrificing either work or family. </span><span style="font-size: small;">It is hard and women are not given enough support in the workplace - which is why not enough women go up the ladder. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Wom</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">en bring a unique perspective to work which we need more of in corporate America.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> What we as a society need to do is improve the work environment and give more support to men and women so they can take care of family needs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">It's a woman's right to choose whether she wants to work or stay at home. I don't think anyone disputes that but making it sound like the media is saying that women have to go to work so we get more women CEOs is ridiculous.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's very disappointing that these mommy wars are still continuing in so many different ways when we all need to be supporting each other. </span></div>
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<style type="text/css"> p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #454545} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #454545; min-height: 14.0px} </style>Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-45988479431528348152018-01-22T13:15:00.001-05:002018-01-22T13:15:11.132-05:00My First Ever Dance Performance!One of the items on my list of things to do at least once is to get on stage and perform a dance. And I finally did it!<br />
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On Saturday, there was a Tamil cultural festival for Pongal, a festival in South India. A lot of performances were there and we (about 14 moms including me) performed a dance to the song "Jimmiki Kammal". We practiced for a few months once a week and it was a great feeling to do it on stage.<br />
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The best part of the dance was the camaraderie between all the women and the laughing and fun. I'm going to miss it now that it's over. I feel a sense of great accomplishment that I faced my fears of going on stage and doing the dance without any major missteps.<br />
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This was the song to which we danced:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FXiaIH49oAU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FXiaIH49oAU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-34025775794358787722018-01-09T08:45:00.000-05:002018-01-09T08:45:00.429-05:00Review: 69 Million Things I Hate About You<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Million-Things-About-Winning-Billionaire-ebook/dp/B0756JVQ2R/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1515332595&sr=8-1&keywords=69+million+things+i+hate+about+you&linkCode=li3&tag=dreamsofdeals-20&linkId=4e532334b2f7c980758002a424cd7a46" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B0756JVQ2R&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=dreamsofdeals-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=dreamsofdeals-20&l=li3&o=1&a=B0756JVQ2R" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
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Rating: 😀😀😀😀 (4/5)</div>
<br />
I saw the book on sale somewhere, it was only $.99 and it had been a while since I had read a romance novel. So I bought the book and was reading it today afternoon and couldn't put it down. I read the entire book in one go and it's been a while since I did that.<br />
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The concept was the same old packaged in a new way - so don't expect anything great there. But it was engaging and amusing. It was an easy read and an escape for a couple of hours.<br />
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It's worth the money I paid for it and if you're a romance novel fan like I am, go for it. You won't regret it.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-31342505225891014432018-01-06T22:56:00.001-05:002018-01-06T22:56:12.563-05:00Goals for January 2018I have a lot of goals and habits for this year that I want to work on but I'm going to try to focus on the most important ones. I realized that goals and habits are two separate things and have their own place. Though I have a master goal and habit list I'm working with, I'm going to start with mini goals for each month and one habit for each month.<br />
<br />
Mini-Goals for January:<br />
<ol>
<li>Setup the new house to a livable state. The house should be functional at a basic level of being able to cook, get ready, do homework for the kids, etc. </li>
<li>Participate in a cultural event locally (dancing to a song on stage in front of people)</li>
<li>Walk a total of 40 miles </li>
<li>One post a week on the blog. </li>
<li>Create a facebook page for my blog</li>
<li>Read one age-appropriate book for AGirl that we already have</li>
<li>Read 10 books to A2Girl</li>
<li>Create budget for January and stick to it</li>
<li>Read 2 books I already own</li>
</ol>
Habits for January:<div>
<ol>
<li>Drink 8 glasses of water every day</li>
<li> Brush my teeth every day at night</li>
</ol>
<div>
While these mini-goals and habits may seem silly or basic to other people, I believe that by putting it out there, I'm going to try to achieve these. </div>
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Here's to hoping for a great 2018!</div>
Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-58850746324646785042018-01-02T09:43:00.000-05:002018-01-02T09:43:13.814-05:00ChandamamaIn my childhood, we used to have magazines called Chandamama aimed at kids. I used to love reading them when I was a kid and was delighted to find out that they have made Chandamama magazines which I used to read online in pdf format in many different languages. you want a nostalgic<br />
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Read them for a nostalgic blast from the past!<br />
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<a href="http://chandamama.in/">Chandamama</a>Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-92114679057760417012017-12-30T10:08:00.003-05:002017-12-30T10:08:48.741-05:00Happy Holidays!Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year to all of you!<br />
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We've been very busy here! We bought a new house and are still moving in and settling in. See you all in the new year with lots of new posts!Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-36113577651318285162017-11-07T11:12:00.002-05:002017-11-07T11:12:36.245-05:00Review: Love You Forever<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-You-Forever-Robert-Munsch/dp/0920668364/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0920668364&pd_rd_r=Q9ZGGHVVT06KJ6J06D69&pd_rd_w=LdQhl&pd_rd_wg=QHItJ&psc=1&refRID=Q9ZGGHVVT06KJ6J06D69&linkCode=li3&tag=dreamsofdeals-20&linkId=53c7593a5611b5dfafd7786b5c6ffcfc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img border="0" class=" aligncenter" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0920668364&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=dreamsofdeals-20" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Mama's Rating - 5/5<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=dreamsofdeals-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0920668364" style="border: none !important; margin: 0!important;" width="1" /></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Kid's Rating - 5/5</span></div>
I read this book to my daughter every night this week at bedtime. She loves this book. It's a simple story but touches my heart every single time. The first time I read it, tears came to my eyes.<br />
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The story is so simple but it is a reminder of a parent's love for their children and that no matter how old you are, you're always their child. It talks about life and death in a simple way that I can explain to my daughter.<br />
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One of the best books I've read to my daughter.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-75391155582462924152017-10-30T12:23:00.003-04:002017-10-30T12:23:26.346-04:00Home PBIS Chart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuyVI2d72VZEifXOLo67GhnR8JN52ih-gDwZuLsphxRH1HXXKjfI7HDDy9Oe60RSfbf0RL9ROHdzNCCMt_l5E_Mqti3FK4QNXKLQ0HQXY24olbqVLOczzDS-MtjztqeIq2GZlgiyyoOc/s1600/IMG_2077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuyVI2d72VZEifXOLo67GhnR8JN52ih-gDwZuLsphxRH1HXXKjfI7HDDy9Oe60RSfbf0RL9ROHdzNCCMt_l5E_Mqti3FK4QNXKLQ0HQXY24olbqVLOczzDS-MtjztqeIq2GZlgiyyoOc/s400/IMG_2077.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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My daughter's school focuses a lot of PBIS - Positive Behavior and Intervention and Supports. The school asked that we support that at home as well and I hadn't really done much at home so far. AGirl's behavior hasn't been the greatest at home for the last several months and I gave some leeway in the first few months because of all the changes in our lives,. But now it has gotten to a point where I need to impose some rules and discipline.<br />
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Last year, I used sticker charts and while that worked for a while, I noticed it stopped working effectively and I figured let me try the PBIS chart at home like she does at school.<br />
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I checkout out <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=PBIS%20chart&rs=typed&term_meta[]=PBIS%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=chart%7Ctyped" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> for inspiration and finally settled on one option. I printed out a paper with one table for each color and what it means. I colored it myself with markers (I would not do this again but was out of color printer ink at the time) and laminated it. Found a chip bag clip and use it for clipping up and down to different colors.<br />
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She starts at green every day and clips up or down for good or bad behavior. I have noticed some improvement but need to work on it more and set down which rules are expected and which deserve a clip-up.<br />
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<br />Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-24974369685710478662017-10-06T18:54:00.000-04:002017-10-06T18:54:07.869-04:00First Instant Pot Run!I bought an Instant Pot for Mother's Day as a gift to myself but before I could open it, we sold our house and had to move. After many months, I finally opened my Instant Pot 3 days ago. After doing the initial test run, I decided to make sona masuri rice in it.<br />
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Since it was my first time making this rice in the instant pot, I used 1:3.5 ratio for water for the rice and decided to use 10 minutes of high manual pressure with 20 minutes of natural pressure release and let the steam vent after that. </div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpudbGdmJ5uAATd-dfrah2POXq2OnKXicg-J7phERpNGclPn_ZDRS6YxOELU33Kb0oIbbnVTtxyXHLiqli6xGDccgTtIhsfpG4WRKDPNky9FM1abtIL5lQOVmhc95OxyU4K_TTDAjY_U/s1600/IMG_1816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2URjRblvURyPeFkUYxMd0hSQnxll3lqYsPKwvYRbeuyxPkSVup789oF8ZhWXca_TE0EiopLSbPMIV5bqmG49qyx6WkXCre-fW7hi7QTsxLc8N993zLthEO9tTsAYkrZ6-IIzhydrUGPI/s320/IMG_1815.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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As you can see, the rice came out well cooked - if a little over cooked. Next time, I will use less water and release the steam after 10 minutes of natural pressure release and see if that helps. I will update the post then. </div>
Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-44581627370619467052017-10-03T08:24:00.001-04:002017-10-03T09:37:32.954-04:00Such sad news...When I woke up yesterday morning and heard the news in Las Vegas, I was very sad. Why does somebody do something like that? So senseless and cowardly? Killing so many people from far away.<br />
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I feel so sorry for the loss of all those people who thought they were going to have a good time at a concert and then it turned out to be a nightmare. I feel for their families and the pain they must be going through.<br />
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Please take a minute and pray for all those families who are suffering right now.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-14778949277931015352017-09-28T16:16:00.002-04:002017-09-28T16:16:45.625-04:00What's Been Happening in Last MonthLife has been hectic for us with still settling into the apartment and getting used to AGirl going to kindergarten and being a stay at home mom.<br />
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We have become used to the heat a little now and also, it's started to get a little colder now in Arizona where we live to the point we need a jacket in the morning to drop AGirl at school. But in the afternoon it gets really warm again.<br />
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My parents left and so it's been an adjustment to try and handle the change, especially in the mornings when I'm trying to get the kids ready to go out and getting ready myself.<br />
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We made a road trip over the Labor day weekend to visit Sedona and Flagstaff, AZ for a couple of days. We visited the red rocks on the way to Flagstaff and spent the night at Flagstaff. We visited the Lowell observatory over there and saw the Moon and Saturn through the telescopes over there. That was pretty exciting! The next day, we stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument and that was awesome. I loved the way those Native American buildings are tucked into the cliffs and made me wonder how they lived there.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">View from the Church of the Holy Cross</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The biggest beetle I have ever seen in my life</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Montezuma Castle National Monument</span></i></div>
<br />Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-86619779858078758782017-08-22T18:39:00.000-04:002017-08-22T18:39:29.920-04:00Make My Ganesha Event!Since moving to Arizona, we found out about an event in the local Indian community here and decided to go to it.<br />
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It's associated with the Maha Ganapati Temple near Phoenix and the local Tamil Sangam was running a Make My Ganesha event for kids to use clay to make their own Ganesha.<br />
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In the religion of Hinduism, Ganesha or Ganapati is one of the most popular Gods and he is the God known for removing obstacles and is worshipped at the start of most rituals. He is also known for his wisdom. He can be recognized distinctly by his elephant head and lots of interesting stories are associated with him.<br />
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At the event, we were given molds and clay to put in the mold and the result is below.<br />
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It was a very well organized event and only cost $5. We also got to meet a lot of people in the area and AGirl had a blast.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-10259925684126086492017-08-20T19:36:00.001-04:002017-08-20T19:36:20.068-04:00Moved to Arizona!So we moved to Arizona over the last few days. It's been super hectic and I have been trying to settle the kids down and find all our stuff. Luckily, my parents are visiting us to help me out with setting up the house and helping with the kids.<br />
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My older daughter AGirl started Kindergarten in our local public school and it has been a big adjustment. It has been a big learning experience for me as well as I never went to public school in the US. I grew up in India. With homework from the first day of school and AGirl's issues with change, it's been quite challenging.<br />
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Once I settle down and get into a routine, I hope to start blogging more.<br />
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<br />Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-14612242239277848272017-07-07T15:02:00.000-04:002017-07-07T15:02:01.072-04:00What I've Been Reading - Jul 7 Edition<a href="http://creativehomekeeper.com/10448-2/?utm_source=CreativeHomeKeeper.com&utm_campaign=f7e8c443de-Grace_Notes_4_2_164_2_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3fdcf248ba-f7e8c443de-">Mommy On the Go: 4 Tips for Easy Outings with Kids - Creative Home Keeper</a> - This has some good ideas. Mostly about having 2 diaper bags - one for quick outings and one for longer ones. Also, parking near the cart return area.<br />
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<a href="https://blog.mint.com/trends/9-times-mint-had-no-chill-050917/">9 Times Mint Had No Chill | MintLife Blog</a> - This made me laugh out loud. I've thought those exact same things so many times. Seriously, though, I love mint. It helps keep track of my spending.<br />
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<a href="http://lifehacker.com/how-to-choose-the-best-over-the-air-antenna-for-free-hd-1569752514" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">How to Choose the Best Over-the-Air Antenna for Free HDTV</a> - We use Sling TV for watching news mostly and have stopped cable or satellite for some time now. But Sling does not have ABC or CW and I do miss watching those channels. One of the options I've been considering is getting an Over-the-air Antenna for getting these channels for free. I will let you know how that goes.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-64199603297439272062017-07-04T14:58:00.000-04:002017-07-04T14:58:19.686-04:00Crying It Out was the best thing I didCry It Out or the Ferber method for sleep training a baby is one of the most controversial ones out there. I read about the positive aspects of it and the negative aspects of it. Scientifically, it can't be proven one way or the other.<br />
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Both my kids were Ferberized, as it is called. I tried everything else to get them to sleep for more than an hour at a time and eventually got too exhausted and had to try CIO. My older dau<br />
The first few days of sleep training are excruciating. This is what I did -<br />
<ol>
<li>I bought a video baby monitor. The thought of my baby in a room alone with no way for me to see her was too scary for me.</li>
<li>Follow a bedtime routine. It doesn't have to be elaborate. With m y older one, I had a long bedtime routine but with my younger one, I didn't have the time.<ol>
<li>Long Bath, Lotion, Put on PJs, Read 2-3 books, Sing 3-4 songs, Rock her for 10 mins, then put her in crib and leave the room</li>
<li>Short bath, Lotion, Put on PJs, Sing Songs, Rock her for 1 minute and then put her in crib and leave the room</li>
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</li>
<li>After putting them down, they would scream and cry. Check on them every 2, 5, 10, 15 minutes. I modified this according to how bad the screaming was and the situation.</li>
<li>My older daughter ended up sleeping sitting up for the first few days. So did my younger one.</li>
<li>After a week, my older daughter had started sleeping through the night. It took my younger daughter longer to sleep through the night, about 10 days - 2 weeks.</li>
<li>It took longer to sleep train them for naps but eventually the night training kicked in during the day as well.</li>
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At the end of it, I was glad I had done it so we could all get some sleep. I still get only 6 hours of sleep every day and I have a video monitor next to me at night so I can always keep an eye on her.<br />
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The hardest part of CIO was listening to them cry all night for so long. And each time I would go to check on them, seeing the tears on their eyes would make me cry. But I had to stay firm and my husband really supported me at that time.<br />
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Both my kids slept better and deeper after they had been sleep trained. I don't regret it at all. This may not be appropriate for all kids and I'm not suggesting you do it for your kids but it worked for me and my family. I only did it after I had tried everything else for both kids.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-64446797887356562222017-06-28T15:41:00.003-04:002017-07-01T18:17:17.732-04:00Am back!<br>
I've disappeared from this blog for quite some time and have been trying to find my way back. My life has also been changing quite a bit in the last few months and in the last few weeks, took a big turn.<br>
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I will be moving to Arizona in the next few days. This is going to be a huge change for my family. I also quit my job and will be a stay-at-home mom for the next year till we settle down.<br>
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Once we settle down, I hope to have more free time and will blog more. More on that to come!!Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-18400084613053809482016-11-19T07:05:00.001-05:002016-11-19T21:02:28.580-05:00Saving money on groceriesRecently, we had some family visiting for a few months and as a result, our grocery bills shot through the roof. It's back to being just us again and I'm trying to reduce our grocery expenses.<br />
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One of the reasons our grocery bill gets so high is we buy a lot of groceries at the local indian grocery store and it tends to be the biggest part of our grocery budget.<br />
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<ol>
<li>Use a discount grocer or warehouse club - options for me are Trader Joe's, Market Basket, Costco, ALDI's and Sam's Club</li>
<li>Choose your primary store and learn its layout</li>
<li>Watch the store flyer each week</li>
<li>Make a meal plan and grocery list</li>
<li>Stock up big on sale-priced non perishables</li>
<li>Listen to uptempo music while you shop</li>
<li>Figure out the price per unit when buying a specific non perishable item</li>
<li>Shop your pantry - meal plan around the items in stock in your pantry</li>
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So I'm going to start meal planning soon and use the rest of these tips to reduce our grocery costs every month. I will keep updating on how that's going.<br />
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<a href="http://www.thesimpledollar.com/eight-discount-grocery-strategies-that-will-keep-your-food-and-household-prices-low/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=webfeeds">Eight Discount Grocery Strategies</a></div>
Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-14098701595625515742016-10-02T11:11:00.000-04:002016-10-02T11:11:12.579-04:00Corn and Capsicum TikkiI made this Corn and Capsicum Tikki yesterday and it was really yummy. I forgot to take pictures but it was fairly simple to make and pretty fast. It is pretty healthy and a good evening snack.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tarladalal.com/Corn-and-Capsicum-Tikki-2900r">Corn and Capsicum Tikki recipe</a>Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-88478181540553315362016-09-24T06:33:00.000-04:002016-09-24T06:33:15.917-04:00Some iPhone tips you didn't know aboutI came across an article recently about some iPhone tips and it had some suggestions which I didn't know about even after years of using iPhone. <br /><br />Here are those suggestions:<ol>
<li>Invert display colors for easy night viewing. o to Settings --> General --> Accessibility --> Invert Colors to change your nighttime display.</li>
<li>Slide texts left to read timestamp. A few days ago, I found myself trying to find out when a message was sent in iMessages and was not able to figure it out. This is useful info for the future.</li>
<li>Ask Siri what's happening on Twitter. For some reason, I've not used Siri much beyond basic stuff like setting a reminder or an alarm. I should start using it more.</li>
<li>Putting the phone in airplane mode to charge faster. I don't know if this really works but something i need to try</li>
</ol>
<br />Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-59501508019259010992016-09-19T14:28:00.001-04:002016-09-19T14:28:14.435-04:001000 Books Before Kindergarden InitiativeI recently came across the <a href="http://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org/">1000 Books Before Kindergarden</a> challenge and decided to take it up for both my daughters. I'm excited to start this challenge and hope all of you with little ones take it too - To me, it's a way to motivate me to read to my daughter everyday.<br />
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I've started a separate page for this challenge and will keep track of the books there.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-67103752976116850602016-09-06T20:21:00.000-04:002016-09-06T20:21:13.309-04:00Review: If the Earl Only Knew by Amanda Forester<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Earl-Only-Knew-Daring-Marriages/dp/1492605492/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1473206291&sr=8-1&keywords=if+earl+only+knew&linkCode=li3&tag=dreamsofdeals-20&linkId=44d6487f4c0d050c5bc323a2a482dcbf" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1492605492&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=dreamsofdeals-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=dreamsofdeals-20&l=li3&o=1&a=1492605492" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
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Today is National Read A Book day and I finished reading this book today. It was a fast read and I loved the character of Kate and her courage. She and her brother were interesting characters and I look forward to reading her brother's story. </div>
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Here's the description from <a href="http://amzn.to/2czi6EW">Amazon</a>:</div>
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<i><br /><strong>The chase is on in award-winning author Amanda Forester's brand-new Regency romance series!</strong></i><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></blockquote>
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<i><strong></strong><strong>A sizzling scandal just waiting to happen...</strong></i><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></blockquote>
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<i><strong></strong>Orphaned at a young age, Lady Katherine Ashton and her brother have spent most of their lives on the high seas, seeking to restore their family fortune through somewhat dubious means. After that kind of adventure, Kate knows she won't ever be accepted as a proper society lady.</i><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></blockquote>
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<i>To the annoyingly clever, temptingly handsome, and altogether troublesome Earl of Wynbrook, society ladies are a dead bore. Kate, on the other hand, is scandalous, alluring, and altogether fascinating. And Kate can't decide which she relishes more, the thrill of chasing fearsome pirates, or having Wynbrook chase after her...</i></blockquote>
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I found it refreshing that the male character was not given too much importance and not portrayed as the central character. While he is not shown as a weakling, the story does not focus so much on him.<br />
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I definitely recommend reading this book if you're looking for a light and fast read!Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862914622059761294.post-60574892560298712322016-08-31T15:54:00.002-04:002016-08-31T15:54:55.999-04:00Review: Only a Promise by Mary Balogh<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Only-Promise-Survivors-Club-Balogh/dp/0451469674/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&linkCode=li3&tag=dreamsofdeals-20&linkId=1679adb2559981af0255b37c8cc6742b" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0451469674&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=dreamsofdeals-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=dreamsofdeals-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0451469674" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
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I am a big fan of romance novels and have just started to get back into reading after a really long break. I've started reading the Survivor's Club series by Mary Balogh. This book was an easy and enjoyable read and I liked it. </div>
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Here's the description from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Only-Promise-Survivors-Club-Balogh/dp/0451469674/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&linkCode=li3&tag=dreamsofdeals-20&linkId=1679adb2559981af0255b37c8cc6742b">Amazon</a>:</div>
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</i><i><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The new Survivor’s Club novel from the New York Times bestselling author.</b></i> </blockquote>
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<i><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The Survivors’ Club: Six men and one woman, all wounded in the Napoleonic Wars, their friendship forged during their recovery at Penderris Hall in Cornwall. Now, for one of them, striking a most unusual bargain will change his life forever.… </b></i> </blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Ralph Stockwood prides himself on being a leader, but when he convinced his frie</span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">nds to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, he never envisioned being the sole survivor. Racked with guilt over their deaths, Ralph must move on...and find a wife so as to secure an heir to his family’s title and fortune.</span></i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Since her Seasons in London ended in disaster, Chloe Muirhead is resigned to spinsterhood. Driven by the need to escape her family, she takes refuge at the home of her mother’s godmother, where she meets Ralph. He needs a wife. She wants a husband. So Chloe makes an outrageous suggestion: Strike a bargain and get married. One condition: Ralph has to promise that he will never take her back to London. But circumstances change. And to Ralph, it was only a promise.</span></i></blockquote>
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I loved how the author explored the characters and emotions of the main characters and dealt with after effects of war. The main characters were not perfect and dealt with complicated problems. I also liked that there was no great grand plot to get them to fall in love or confess their love. The gradual progression of feelings was very well done and I liked that.Swapnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12576492000140789947noreply@blogger.com0