 | | Mar 7, 2005 |
|  | May 11, 2009
We left the house at 2:49 in the morning to drive Northeast to Cape Canaveral. The gates of KSC was already opened when we arrived there around five. Being the first few people there, Chris and I took advantage of a peaceful stroll and picture-taking. And as the hour drew nearer to the launch time at 2:01 P.M., so has the number of agile crowd all anxious to see the final launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Thanks for the treat Moi! I love you! |
On board Space Shuttle Atlantis, the STS-125 crew took their final mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
Download this and other original video files with Multiply Premium. | | I have not been out with my bike for the last two weeks. And with a beautiful Sunday like this, I couldn't just let the day pass without taking some time to be out with my favorite company in the world...my Husband! |
introducing.....
three little ducks that I once knew
fat one, skinny one, fair one too....
| | Dad said this is just one-third of the real sport of Golf. And it was fun. Next time I should try the real thing. heheh! |
He inspired his students in their classroom discussions…. touched the lives of strangers who read his book The Last Lecture…. and reached out to the corners of the world when his lecture found its way to the internet. His subject, LIFE.......
read this and more at www.chrissaire.com
Did I forget to tell you? Hmm yeah...I think I did! Or wait....maybe I forgot to remember that I did not forget telling you after all. Urggghhhh! Oh well, either ways, let me just invite (in case I have not) you to check out my website at www.chrissaire.com . It contains my recent blogs with the help of the design and organization from my younger sister Jacy. And on the bottom part of every blog houses the space for every guest's comments. Feel free to utilize that!
remember me this way....
RORIE
www.chrissaire.com
Fifteen years ago, I was jumbling over first and last syllables to come up with a pseudonym for myself. That was the period in my life that I started to uncover a passion for writing after winning in an Inter-School Feature Writing Contest. I was a Junior high school student then-with life revolving around Asian Literature, Economics, Christian Living and of course, Extra-Curricular activities. It was a Process of Elimination, and a rather unprecedented one at that. Like any other student, it was around that period that I started being infatuated towards the opposite species. And having a crush became my primary tool in coming up with a pen name. First it was Crissaine...taken from what I perceived to be my crush's name. But it turned out that his name was actually derived after a Trigonometric ratio. I don't dream in numbers nor speak in figures, so I cannot just give in for Trigonometry. Then in that Regional Writing Contest that I joined in, I met a fellow contestant whose writing skills were just flawless. From then on, I was inspired and challenged to hone my pen and make it a mighty weapon to touch and influence people. That was when I became "Chrissaire"-Chris (from his name), and Saire (pronounced as Seyr like air)- a juggled letters from my name, Rosarie. It became a constant reminder for me to do better with my writings- a challenge that I embrace until now.
Nine years after that, it was the same pseudonym that served as my compass to finding my destiny. In 2002, a man named Christian found me- became my first boyfriend, and ultimately became my husband. And as I see it now, the name that I made for myself is actually the future that I am destined to be. www.chrissaire.com
| | That one Christmas was my first
First to go out and shop for a real tree
and finally get to experience that christmas scent
I went out of my way to help Dad and Chris
putting lights on the trees
And when our huge pine was finally brought home
I took some pictures while Mom did all the decorations
Our Christmas Eve dinner was spent with family
and that to me was the BEST gift
to be with my family and Christian's
As much as possible I would like to keep all these memories
so I have something to look back
That on that Yuletide season
here in this foreign land
I still felt the merriness and love
along with that exciting feeling, as it is my first
The one Christmas I will cherish in my lifetime |
| Start: | May 29, '08 12:00p |
Biometrics at USCIS, Tampa  MOTHER'S DAY LETTER
Dear Mommy, I hope by now you have found the pleasure of checking your emails...and hopefully be addicted to it. Now is the right time to be, coz this is the only means that we have to keep in touch- considering how busy you are with work. Yeah...you should go back to the internet Momi, after all you were the one who introduced us to this technology remember? It is still fresh to me...I can still remember the scent of the air freshener you used.... the cold chill from your cold air-conditioned room. I just realized now that such was a very rare occasion that all girls in our family stayed in one room and just be together- searching for chatters in the Mirc. hehehe! That was the start. And the rest? It's all history. I love you Mi. I miss you so much! This Mother's Day I miss you more...and especially Nanay. I just can't tell her that because I don't want her to cry and be sad. I don't want her to start thinking about how distant we are right now. This is my first Mother's Day without you girls. I don't remember anymore if I ever did something special for the two of you in the past Mother's Day. I don't want to think...because I think I know I didn't. I don't want to regret not having done anything special for the two of you, because the more that I will be miserable. And at this point, I am still not in the position of making you girls happy- as far as providing you with the financial assistance that you need. I want to do that...I can't wait to do that. I want to repay to you the things that you have done to us your younger sisters- especially to me. I owe you so many things....especially because of all the sisters, I was the only one who was brave enough to answer back to you. I'm sorry for those times Mommy. You are lucky where you are now, because you are in the best place I realized I would always want to be. I just realized that now. If only I can have Christian and our family in one place- that's in Cebu. But it's very impossible for now. I am e-mailing you right now because apart from greeting you, I would like you to do us (Madon, Rema and Jacy too) a favor. We hope that you can do for Nanay and Tatay (and Manoy too) the things that we just cannot do to them. If you can quadruple your love for them so they will always feel that we are not so far away. I hope that you can find time for them... just maybe spend an hour "chika-chika" with Nanay, and Tatay. Then maybe give Manoy a call once in a while. More importantly Mom, give our love to your kids. You know very well how much we love them...how much I love them. When there are times when I feel homesick and start to miss them, I cry not so much because I miss them but because I feel sorry for myself because I am not there to watch them grow. I wish I could go with you to visit Kuya Lenoff in the Seminary. I miss tutoring Rara- even if he really disliked the idea of me being his tutor. I miss Ate Day's stories from school and the times she wants to borrow vcds because she wants to watch them in their room. And most of all, I miss Ding. I won't be able to see her grow...and go to school for the first time. I miss taking her to SM. The next time she will go to SM with me, she will be all grown-up already. And by then she will already forget her Titas and how often we would take her to SM. As we would call her...."Kuyog-baboy"! hehehe! Please hug them for me...and kiss them for me. Mom, spend more time with them. Enjoy it...because it's not going to last forever. I regret having scolded them so many times. I regret not taking them to SM before I leave. There are so many things I regret....but oh well, there is nothing I can do anymore. But you, being there...you can still do it. I love you Momi. And I will see you soon. We will strive hard here in the United States and we will see you again. Happy Mother's Day!
| | Mom had a dentist appointment and Dad was out playing golf. And the dogs? well....caught in the act. They stayed on their daybed the whole time until even just one familiar face showed up in the door steps. |
This is a very moving and inspiring video that was shared to me by a friend. I couldn't help but also share this to everyone here. This has touched my heart and gave me a deeper introspection- making me feel grateful that in this world....amidst cruelty and selfishness one man stood up and gave his time for his son. That is heroic. That transcends all forms of human love, because that is the love God himself has revealed to us. Please watch this!
With everything that has been going on in just one month, I thought it is better to go back and recall that wonderful feeling brought about by the wedding. I just saw this today too!
Download this and other original video files with Multiply Premium. April 21, 2008
It was a rather lonely drive back home- especially for Mom. She was still with us twenty minutes ago, covered in a pale brown blanket I wrapped her around my arms as her head tried to manage to stick out to the open window of the car to sniff what could have been her last inhale of the breeze. And now I am sitted empty-handed on the passenger seat and the towel, crumpled to the backseat.
Angel is gone. At around 9:32 this morning, Mom and I took her to her last trip to the Vet's clinic after a series of recurring seizures in a week. She was 17 years old, and had lived a beautiful life- more for her masters than herself. She lived the longest life of all the dogs the family has had. She witness the turnabouts of the family and just stayed with Mom when the latter's children had to leave the house. Angel was her bestfriend...and she embraced such responsibility and enjoyed just being that way.
Then after ennumerable seizures in the last three years of her seventeen years in life; Mom, Dad and Chris agreed to put her to sleep and end her suffering. So this morning, with her vet and nurse, Mom held her in her arms and she was calm. When her doctor finally found her veins and injected her an overdose of anesthesia, Angel's breath faded until she was gone.
***picture of Angel on the left, with Abby- before their regular afternoon stroll with Mom
| | March 14, Abby turned 2! And to mark the occasion a red-lettered day, Mom and I baked an orange cake for Abby's guests which includes Chris, Dad, Mom and I with the special participation of Angel and the birthday girl herself- Abby! |
 (To Elsie)
She was my Gardenia...my tiny flower whose beauty is reflected especially from the pureness of her heart. In her most solitary days, she brought tranquility to the limited hours that I spent with her.
I met her in a time when the sun's warmth was just too perfect to be allowed to embrace one's whole being... at a time when squirrels' agility were at its peak to climb up and down the trees... when flowers bloomed so magnificently, either dancing with the breeze or at times just looking up for another gulp of rain from the sky. Yes, I met her at the start of Spring.
Fragile, sitted almost curled to her wheeled-chair- my heart was instantly drawn to this petite lady. She had the shiny gray hair reflecting the milestone of her age. Most of the time she had her eyes closed, but she would always maintain a constant smile on her face- giving me a hint that she is paying attention to me. In between the silence of her company, I would be mused by her natural expression like "oh boy."
Our friendship was an instant click. Her natural sense of humor compliments with my inherent comtemplative view on life. She was the ninety-five year old lady who has gone past the prime of her life. Someone who at some point had felt the world just passed her by and that God had just forgotten her. I was the twenty-nine year old lass who has yet to see what life has to offer. A rookie in the race for endeavor here in the United States and perhaps one who sometimes became impatient of what the future lies.
We had tackled our differences in all our garden walks before and after lunch. We found each other like a puzzle that made us complete. I for one had seen the world through her. And I saw it in a rather beautiful apparition.
Here she was, twenty-five years without a husband....seen the death of her friends and relatives.....and buried two of her children. The earth had already captured ennumerable sunrises and sunsets- all these she had witnessed. Changes happen minute after minute. And all these were unfolded before her very eyes. In her ninety-five years, everything was like a fleeting bubble. People like time were like water that she tried to grasp in her palm. In our talks, she longed to be just like that water- to be flown in the current to mortality.
Then came one Saturday, in her dim room she felt the comfort that she was not forgotten. Her throat was finally satisfied with the thirst-quenching drop of her last wish. It was her time. In her fading breath, there she was laying on her bed one warm April afternoon...when the flowers were still fresh and the squirrels were still playing. God took her before the spring ended.
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