Moomy Congratulates Germany, 2014 FIFA World Cup Champions!!

Day 1 of Post-2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

64 matches, 32 national teams, 12 host cities. The month-long tournament let down its curtains yesterday with a thrilling finale between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

The match ended in extra time with Mario Gotze's unbelievable volley into La Seleccion's goal at the 113rd minute, thereby crowning Die Mannschaft their 4th Golden Star! :D:D:D

I was ecstatic at their win, and jumped up and down all over the living room to my darling hubby's amusement. I don't care what he had to say because I was really proud of the German lads. They truly deserve this win!

And what a beautiful tournament it was! It was a fiesta of goals - 171!! And Germany contributed 18, 7 of which in that unbelievable 7-1 thrashing of host nation, Brazil in the semi-finals! - and unbelievable upsets - Holland's 5-1 opening match against Spain, the outgoing champions, and of course, Brazil's defeat at the well-engineered German team.

And with that, our normal daily routine continues … 

Hehehehe yeah this will be me for the next couple of days *winks*

There'll be no more goals, no more feverish updates via text messages to my darling hubby to update him on Team USA's progress, no more diligent charting of scores on my calendar …

In June & July, my calendar had match schedules & scores!!

Until Russia in June 2018! Now that will be something to look forward to!! :D:D:D

I'm off now to bake a chocolate cake - hehehe not for Germany's victory but it's for something more special than that! I'll write more later!!

Toodles for now and Glückwünsche, Die Mannschaft!! :D

Moomy Still Believes In USMNT

Ahhhhh with that final whistle blown on extra time, The Stars & Stripes bow out of their World Cup tournament. Belgium won the match 2-1 and will move on to face Argentina in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

That was certainly a thrilling match; all those jaw-dropping saves made by our goal key Tim Howard (there were 16!!) got him written into the books as the most saves made on record in a World Cup match.

Goalkeeper Tim Howard

The loss was heartbreaking but The Yanks can be proud that they had out-lasted previous Champions like Italy, Spain and England in this tournament. They performed very well despite the broken noses, a pulled hamstring, long travel time and of course, the reputation of being an inexperienced team playing amongst the very best in a sport unpopular back home in America.

I am excited and thrilled that their performance in Brazil had garnered the attention of many many fans in the States. Their "I Believe That We Will Win" chant was pretty infectious; that chant certainly played a part in uniting the country to rally their support for Klinsmann's Team USA.

Right. Off to bed now. It's forecasted that tomorrow will be another sunny day so we might just break out the new inflatable pool and have a bit of splashing session to keep the heat down … nighty night, you!

#IBelieveThatWeWillWin #USMNT

Moomy the Treasure Hunter

Another flip of the calendar page and we're in July!

There's so much to look forward to this month - our eldest boy is turning 4 in 2 weeks. My own mamma's birthday tomorrow. The World Cup Finale in the middle of the month. Eid - a fiesta of food, cookies, cakes and open houses! - to celebrate the success of a month of fasting, will be at the end of the month. 

And my very first 4th of July Celebration. 

Growing up in SG, I did not learn about American history so I barely know anything about their rich past. But that will change now because we're here and I have to read about their history so I can help my boys when they have homework. (O thank God that's not happening like right away because I've got a lot to catch up on hehehe)

Anyway, being here makes me realize that 4th of July is a celebration of many things: the beginning of summer, a longggg school break, beach vacation, BBQ's, fishing and camping trips.

And a whole lotta SALES!

Its a word that's known to make women all over the world crazy and grown men hide their credit cards and cry (when their wives found them!) hehehe

Anyhoo!! Several weeks back, my darling in-laws had come over to visit us at our new home. At that point, we haven't seen each other for a couple of months because we were busy house-hunting and subsequently, packing/unpacking and trying to settle into the new house.

Everytime we get together, there'll always be good food - my darling hubby grilled some salmon that weekend - lots of laughter AND girl-bonding session for me and my dear MiL! :D

That visit was the day I was introduced to Treasure Hunting! 

My MiL is in the Antiques & Collectibles business (the words I used might conjure up an image of a female Capt. Jack Sparrow but no, she's NOT a pirate wench! *chuckles*). She seeks and sells vintage items; every time we go back to the Coast to visit them, I make a point to step inside her home office to see what treasures she has picked up recently.

And I am often AMAZED at the things she found in her travels. She has a knack at picking out really gorgeous jewelry with beautiful, shiny, colorful stones. You should really check out her online shops:

http://www.cobayley.com

https://www.etsy.com/shop/COBAYLEY

Anyway, she wanted to explore our lil town - my in-laws have never been to this part of Oregon before. So we headed out and stopped by the local Goodwill. My dear MiL was excited because our branch was bigger than the one at the Coast hehehe

So I went in and we took our time browsing through the racks and aisles. Then lo and behold! I had entered the store thinking that I probably wouldn't find anything in there but guess what? My MiL helped me pick out 2 pie dishes!! 

A beautiful Pyrex pie plate!

The one with fluted edges is an Anchor Hocking pie plate.

I've been meaning to make an apple pie - how can you not try and bake an authentic American dessert when you're here? - but I needed a pie plate. Imagine my delight when I found these! And at such a killer price too! I believe I paid $7 for both! 

OOO my beginner's luck didn't end there. We popped by another shop down the road and there, I found my Treasure of the Day - a beautiful Pyrex jug for only $0.50!! 

What a steal, isn't it? :D

O yeah, baby. 50 cents!! How cool is that? Now I have a gorgeous container to pour iced tea from … 

It was such an inspirational shopping session with my MiL! She taught me that you don't need to go into the big-name stores to find those bargains. You might just find a priceless treasure if you look at the right place :D

And if there's another online shop that you should visit, it's my darling MiL's - she might just have a pretty lil bauble for that special someone in your life :D Here are the links again: 

http://www.cobayley.com/shop/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/COBAYLEY

Catch you in 90 minutes, y'all. I'm off to cheer for my Team USA #usmnt #IBelieveThatWeWillWin #BELUSA