TOPAZ HORIZON

Been veeeeery busy these past few weeks preparing for two weddings of two very good friends. So I've been neglecting my blogging work from PayU2Blog and that's money down the drain! So I'll be blogging a lot this week to catch up.

Anyway, I want to know what you guys do to earn money through blogging. I know blogging is supposed to be just an online diary, an outlet of thoughts, but I'm a writer and I write for a living. I gotta get paid whenever I write! So even if this is an online diary, if I can earn from it, I will!

When I went to the Nuffnang Awards in Singapore last October, I met many bloggers who are literally earning thousands of dollars through their blogs. They told me about selling ad space on your blog and manipulating the best SEO tools (SEO means search engine optimization) so that you earn a lot from Google Adsense. Like I said, these people earn thousands of dollars from their blogging!

Me? Let's see... I've earned about $750 from the paid blogging network I belong to and P5,000 from Nuffnang. That's from months and months of being a member so divide that up and that's really just pocket money for me (about 3K-5K a month). From Adsense, not much at all, around $60, which I haven't been able to cash out because they'll only send you the money if your earnings have reached $100. Clearly, I have no idea how Adsense and SEO works! If you know of any class or seminar that will educate me on this, drop me a comment below!

I started coloring my hair when I turned 18. That's because I started getting tons of white hair at the back of my head when I was 15. It's a genetic thing--my mother's family are the salt-and-pepper type. Since I didn't want to be gray in my teens, I begged for hair color and Mama allowed me to do it at 18. So I've been black, mahogany, chestnut, warm brown, bluish black, red, strawberry red and even blond since then.


Obviously, I love coloring my hair! And since I've found Louis Phillip Kee in 2006, I have discovered the glory of highlights. I tell ya, folks, Louis is the best hair colorist ever! You have to be the adventurous type though to appreciate the many layers of colors he puts on your hair. The last time I visited Louis was in late October, where I had my hair colored bright red with blond highlights and dark red lowlights.


Then I became pregnant in November and my husband has forbidden me to have my hair colored. Ditto with my OB. Now, I'm taking prenatal vitamins, which I believe are the best multivitamins ever. I've taken vitamins before but my body's really changed with prenatals--my nails are so strong, for example, and my hair grows really fast now. That's great, of course, except that my roots are showing!


Now my hair is red, blond and 3 inches of dark brown. It doesn't look good at all! Of course everyone says, "That's okay, you're pregnant." And, just to assure y'all, I really won't get my hair colored till after I give birth, but... Don't I look weird???

My dearest darling friend Mariel Chua just became Mrs. Alvin Jimenez over the weekend in a beautiful wedding at Cebu. Ohhhh, it was such a lovely wedding! Perfect for two of the nicest people on earth.

I don't have a lot of photos of the wedding, but I do have pics of me! Nyak! Sorry, folks. Don't ya worry--I'll try to get Mariel to give me pics (her photographer was Pat Dy! The most fabulous wedding photographer ever!) but then I can just send you over to her blog as soon as she comes down from her happy cloud and comes around to updating it! Meanwhile, here are some photos from our trip:

I'm matron of honor! Mariel chose a sunny yellow for me to match my personality. Of course, our friend Kate Torralba did the gowns. I'm wearing purple shoes under this gown but I forgot to take photos of it!

Vince and me! He was supposed to wear a tie with the suit but it was really really hot! I look so pregnant, don't I?

With the Summit girls. Most of them don't work with magazines anymore, however, all nearly gone to their next adventures.

The cathedral was huge! Huge! It's really rather beautiful inside but the pics we got didn't do the church any justice. When we finally buy a new camera, we'd take more photos. 

Here comes the bride! In a creamy tiered lace confection. That skirt is fully beaded and is layers of different kinds of lace. Mariel, you look divine!

The ceremony had us laughing and crying. Very romantic. But I have no photos! At the beach reception, the newlyweds cuddle.

Ianne Evangelista and me. She used to be the editor-in-chief of Cosmo and she gave that up to get pregnant and have a baby girl. After meeting her little Claudia--the smartest 2-year-old girl in the world--I totally understand!

Aside from making the gowns, Kate also sang a few songs. She is amazing at the piano, by the way, with a deep melodious voice. This girl can sing better than she can sew, and that's saying a lot about her musical talent!

Me and Kate with the bride. I'm holding my tummy because I ate too much and it felt really heavy. This photo is a variation of the photo from my wedding (click here for that pic)!

That's Kai, the maid of honor. Kai's Mariel's best friend since they were little kids. She's just as nice and smart as Mariel.

Mariel and Alvin, congratulations! May all the happiness in the world bless your marriage. Vince and I are so happy for you--such a great adventure ahead!