Elvie's Birthday Party... Plus

Two Saturdays ago, I met Elvie at Baby Tom's birthday party. She was one of the two new Filipina I just met on that day. We had so much fun that Elvie decided to do it again. Few days after that was her birthday, but decided to celebrate it on Saturday, and thank goodness that I worked morning and was free whole afternoon henceforth, and was able to join this wonderful get-together.
.
I was glad that this time, my husband was with me. I was so surprised when we get to Elvie's house and saw a whole bunch of Filipinas that I haven't met before. After introducing ourselves to each others, there was connection right away, especially because all of them, except for one, were of the same dialect which was the "Bisaya". We fondly call ourselves "mga bisdak".
.
The food was great and the hospitality of the household was amazing. Elvie was the one preparing all the foods, and of course, they were Filipino foods. We were just very comfortable laughing, talking out loud, endless eating... and again... the best part of every Filipina gathering, the picture taking. All of our husbands was having fun taking pictures of us, and we almost feel like we were celebrities with all those endless and blinding camera flash. We were even confused where to look with all those cameras aiming on us.
.
Too bad, the party had to end. It always does. The amazing part of this gathering was that half of the visitors were from a distant cities such as Orlando, Jacksonville, and even Washington. They just came to Merritt Island to celebrate Elvie's first birthday party here in USA. But before we parted, guess what? Everybody have to give their Facebook account/name to everybody. After all, this is where they first met and became friends... and so are we.

Meeting New Filipina Friends @ Baby Tom's Birthday Party

I have been extremely busy lately between so many things that going out with my friends became close to impossible lately. My friend, Jeanny, invited me over to her son's 2nd birthday two weeks ago, and she asked me if I could help her prepare a "bam-i". It is a Filipino food that is suppose to be present on every Filipino birthday party. Well, I told myself; "I need a break". This could be a perfect break for me, catching out with my friends and at the same time, eating our own Filipino foods that we miss so much. So, I requested a day off from work for the particular day... and everything happened as planned, only for one thing though, my husband was not feeling good, and was not able to join us.

I had the chance to meet two wonderful new Filipina, and became friends right away with them. I met Jelly and her family who drove all the way from Palm Beach. I also met Elvie and her family, who, to my surprised, just live to the area where we live; and who also, prepared all the foods including desserts (except of bam-i and cake). She is a superb cook. We all indulged ourselves with the Filipino foods. We shared our funny experiences as wives and mothers. And of course, any gathering can't be complete without the excitement of picture taking here and there... again and again... We had such a blast.

On next Saturday, Elvie will be hosting another party. It will be her birthday party. We are looking forward that more will show up on that day. It will be another day of fun. It will be another "stress-reliever", fun-filled and tummy stuffing day. I just hope and pray that my husband will be feeling well on that day and so that he can be with me on enjoying this moment.

Let Me Tell Ya Bout My Best Friend............Heather

Thanks for the post from Sylvester Campbell
.

As I sit down to right this that ditty "Let me tell ya bout my best friend" runs through my head. Isn't that the quintessential part of being a best friend to be there in the ups and downs. Well, Heather has been there for it all.

Heather and I went to the same High school and even hung around the same croud, but never really knew each other. I don't know when exactly it became that we were best friend, except to say that I don't remember a time after HS that she wasn't around. Even now, though the years have past and we are miles apart (literally she's on the West Coast and I'm on the East Coast) we are always there for eachother to lend an ear, be a shoulder to cry on or just a friendly "hello" over the phone at the end of the day.

Although we don't get to visit much, being so far away and all, we still make time to go see each other. Like this summer, my family and I packed our bags, set the information home security, and took off for a 2 week vacation to see her. And you know how sometime you try to catch up with someone you haven't seen in so long, and it just feels akward. That never happens to us, we pick up right where we left off and know nothing has changed except for geography.

Costume Party 2010

We had our costume party last night at Dolly Huhta's house (Merritt Island, Florida) in celebration for Jane Schuler's birthday which was 29th of October. Seven Filipinas in costume were there with five husbands in costumes, too. It was fun and a successful party. We were all so happy that it turned out very smooth and fine.
.
We had bunch of Filipino foods that while we were eating we felt like we were just in the Philippines. We had longaniza, leche flan, chop suey, carbonara, lumpia shanghai, cassava cake and caldereta. It was Jane, the birthday celebrant who prepared all of them, except for the lumpia shanghai which I prepared, and for the caldereta which Dolly prepared.
.
I will name these beautiful ladies I was with, in case you are familiar with any of them and might want to know their names. I will start from the left to the right:
Luzalee Amos, Michelle Gowen, Grace Elliott, Jane Schuler, Dolly Huhta (with her son Joshua), Faye Dietz, and Riza Valmonte.
.
Aside from us who are in the pictures, there are few more people who come for the birthday party but were not wearing costume and did not join us in our pictorial. They are the birthday celebrant's friends. There were few kids, too, that were on the party that were on costumes, but somehow, we forgot to organized them to have their pictorial, which I regretted and considered as a shame, that we were just so indulged on our own activities, but it was also because they were playing in one room and we can't put them on one spot all the same time.
.
But anyhow, in over-all rating, it was a very wonderful night. And we are all looking forward to it on next year around with the hope that there will be more people that will be added to us. My husband said that we were a groupie who loves the camera. Wherever there is a picture taking, we all flocked together. In fact, we had over a hundred of pictures taken on that night. Thanks to the digital cameras because we don't have to spend too much on films.

A Friend Behind Bars

I am sad, deeply sad. A good friend just told me that one of our dear friends is in trouble. (Actually, if I can have more than one "best" friend, I want to consider her as one of my very few "best" friends.) I wish I can come to visit her to comfort her, or to just give her hope. I haven't seen here for almost three years. I was not able to see her when I was in the Philippines. Truth to tell was, I really didn't want to go to their place to see her. I could have made an arrangement for us to meet somewhere else, but never in their place, but time did not permit me.
.
I know the reason why she is in jail right now. It is the same reason why I didn't want to go to their house to visit her. She was involving herself in some illegal activities. She was dealing illegal drugs. I hate to say it. It is not the way of saying of how proud you are of your friend. She is my dear friend. We were classmates in 6th grade, 1st year, 3rd year & 4th year high school. Even after school, we were still close friends. We stick together. Her family admire me for that. We take turns to visit each others house. We shared secrets, and enjoyed outdoor activities. During the time that I moved to another city, we regularly exchanged letters. At one time in her life, we shared the same spiritual faith, too, that made us even more closer.
.
She was a lady with a good reputation; many admire her because of that, including me. Despite where she lives, and despite the peer pressure that surrounded her, she was able to maintain her good reputation. She then met a man, and lived together. I want to say that I believe it was where it all started. She have seen their neighbors involving in that illegal activities and witnessed how their lives were improving, and stepping out of the mire of poverty. Well, it was indeed a very attractive and easy way out of the misery living. I even told her to leave that area; to live a life away from that kind of neighborhood. She did not. She told me that it was very difficult for them to start it. I understood them. To make a right step is always very difficult, and you often end up doing nothing. Then, one day, it was my turn to visit her, I caught her selling it. I was so depressed. It was the start of our irregular visits. I don't want to go on.
.
Right now, I am trying to get a hold of her by asking our one common friend on how I can correspond to her. I don't want to end our friendship with her behind the bars. It is where she needs me the most. My prayer is that God will use me to reach her out and come back to Him.

A Visit To Michelle's House

Yesterday, the Filipina Mafia (This is what we called to ourselves, groupies of Filipinos around Merritt Island. This term was originally from my husband’s cousin’s comments about us, every time he saw us gathering either in pool or in our house.) has decided to go visit Michelle’s house. I am unemployed right now, so I was free. Jane had off from work yesterday, so she was free. Dolly don’t have job yet, so she was free, too. Off we go then.
.
We left around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Jane picked me up from our house, while Dolly was already in the car then. Jane was the one driving. I was amazed and worried at the same time. It was the first time I was on their car with her driving. She have her learner’s permit already though; and beside that, her husband was with us, sat down next to her so it should make me feel less worried. I was wondering why we were taking the road A1A. Michelle’s house is in Rockledge. We were supposed to take 520. What I didn’t know was that Michelle just moved down to Melbourne a couple of days ago, and that was why they have decided to visit her.
.
This picture was taken outside Michelle’s house. We are a group who just love taking pictures and post them in Facebook. We all love their new place. Michelle told me to start learning to drive so that I can just drive the car all by myself to visit her. I am looking forward to that though. I promised myself that after I visit Philippines, it will be the next thing that I will take care of. In line with that plan, getting insurance is one important thing that we need to do, too. I’ll probably just settle with short term insurance until I can purchase my own new car.

Reunited With My 5th Grade Classmate

This is my friend, Rhona, my 5th Grade classmate, neighbor, family friend and sister in Christ. It has been 6 years ago since the last time we were with each other. I used to come to their house to visit both her and her mother every once in a while. We have so many things in common, that might probably be the reason why we are good friends since 5th Grade. I am so happy and thankful that she came over and made this unforgettable moment possible to us.
.
Few months ago, I had decided to search her through Facebook, which fortunately did work. I was so glad that I did it, and regretted on not doing it several months earlier. Her job has to do with traveling anywhere in the world, which I envy so much because I really want to be around the world. She was in the Philippines by that time, and told me that she will be here in Florida sooner for another job contract, but unfortunately, I will be going to the Philippines around that time, too. A week after I got home here in Florida from my Philippine vacation, she called me to announced to me that her job contract will soon be over and that she got few days off before going back home to Philippines. We agreed to meet and made arrangement on it. Few days later, my husband and I picked her up at Orlando and had her stayed with us for 2 days and 2 nights, which, we realized was not enough to do everything we want to do, but we made the best out of it. We both believe that it was not the first and the last chance for us to be together. We were hoping that not long after this, there will be a second time for us.
.
Thank you, God, for this blessing.

Goodbye, Elvira

Jane, Dolly and I gathered at Elvira's place this morning to say "goodbye" to her. She is the one that is wearing a blue shirt. She and her husband were leaving few minutes after my husband took this picture. They had decided to move to Arlington, Virginia for good. Elvira just got a job in Washington, D.C. and her husband will be assigned in that same area, too.
.
I have known Elvira since February. It was Jane who first became her friend, then, I and Dolly were added... then later on, there were Riza and Michelle... and just recently a lot more Filipino were added, too. She is so jolly to be with, very smart and is full of good senses. She is very helpful and is willing to be around just to give you a company. Elvira is the best cook among us. She loves to cook and didn't mind doing it for us. We all love her cooking, and were always amazed at how good her experiments in cooking are. It is so sad that just when we thought we were growing in numbers, then, one of our best assest is being separate from us.
.
Of course, we don't believe that it was the end of our friendship. Hey, they are still in the same country. They are only plane away. It could be possible that one of us could visit them or they can come back here anytime to visit us. All of us got cellphone and Facebook accounts, too. That is what they are for; to enable us to continue connecting to each other.
.
Elvira, may God bless you and your husband in your new abode and career in life. We will all miss you dearly. We are so blessed to have you with us for a while. We love you, V.

Just Another Day By The Pool

This picture was taken last week by the pool within our place. It was my day off from work, Jane's off from work, too, and so we have decided to hang out together with our other Filipina friends. We are growing in numbers, but this time, some of them did not join us for some important matters. I would like to name this three other lovely girls that I was with, right after me was Elvira, Jane and Riza.
.
After eating our delicious lunch that Elvira made at Jane's house, (and by the way, she is the best cook among us) we then proceed to the pool. We had a good time in the pool, the sun was just perfect and the best part was that nobody else was on the pool that time, too. All of us just learned how to swim, and it was the perfect time to do so when nobody else was around us. It was just another day by the pool. We did this at least once a week. This is our kind of "girl bonding moment" where we just talk about anything on our own national language.
.
"Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel." (Proverbs 27:9 NIV)

Surprise Advance Birthday Party

Early this morning, Lilibeth, my Filipina friend who live 15 miles away from our house called me and told me that Irene, another Filipina friend that I had not met yet was inviting both of us for a "get-together" dinner, because it was a chance that they are in town. So, we agreed that Beth will pick me up around 4:00 in the afternoon. But when we arrived there, I was surprised because the "get-together" dinner was an advance surprise birthday party for me and my birthday will be tomorrow. Irene prepared Pancit Guisado, Lumpia Shanghai, Blackberry Pie and Potato Salad; while Lilibeth bought a birthday cake and strawberry ice cream.

.
After we eat, we went outside for some fun. They wanted me to try the golf car since among the three of us, I am the one who don't drive yet. So, I gave in and took them to a mile-long zigzag driving. I was very scared and they were just laughing and screaming... but later on, I learned how to relax, took control of it and had enjoyed the moment.
.
Thank you very much, Lilibeth and Irene. I had so much fun and you have given me a wonderful advance birthday party. I will never forget this. I love you both.

Wonderful Match

The photographer did a great job of matching up the kids with the dogs.

"Friendship" is a miracle that dwells in our heart. You do not know how it happens or when it gets it's start, but you know the special lift it always brings. You realize that friendship is God's wonderful gift.

.

One quote says: "One reason the dog has many friends, he wag his tail instead of his tongue."

Get Involved

Online dating site sounds unrealistic and idleness, but I can testify that not all of them are like that. I personally know a lot of friend that are happy and successful in marriage life after they married the person they met on an online dating site. I can say it works; and it is up to the individual to be discerning enough to know who is sincere or not.
.
I have several friends here in US that lives alone and considered their selves lifeless because of lack of attachment to others. It’s either they are too busy to be involve or they have problem with the issue of talking to strangers. They rather want to be alone, hiding in their safe shells. And I see that most of them are irritable and narrow-minded. I realized they missed a lot in life. I told some of them to find online friends, and may possibly be their lifetime partner.
.
Luckylovers.com is a friends and romance network, with more than 200,000 registered singles. It is an online dating site with categorized race to make the searching easier and more convenient. This is to ensure that you can find the personalized dating experience that you have been looking for. It is a good way to start the summer by making online dates overseas. Get involve. It is not too late to make up what you have lost. Try this site; it is an easy efficient and fun way to make new friends and find romance.

Love All The Time

Valentine’s Day was two weeks ago, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to find somebody to be attached with anymore. I mean if you want to meet somebody, the best time to start looking for a special friend is when there is no special event coming up soon, in that way, you got a chance to know each other without pressures. As the quote goes, “Love grows from the soil of friendship.” In other words, there should be a period of time of being friends before deciding to take another step onward.
.
There has been a lot of dating sites that comes up in the world of internet and sad to say that many of those are either scammers or just playing around. Unlike most of the popular dating sites, Passionsearch.com is scammers-free and they guarantee no rudeness is allowed in their site. They make it easier for you to find somebody according to your own criteria and whims. They will ask you some specific questions in order to help you find the kind of person you really want to meet, to make your passion search easier. We all need a friend to be with. Why don’t you give this a try, after all, signing up is free.

Sharing Marriage Life

When Yahoo Messenger just got started on the web, I was one of those who were hooked up. But sad to say, Yahoo Messenger chat room is now too loaded with scammers. It was so cool meeting people from different countries and getting to know them, too. Few of those I was chatting to have the chance to visit me in the Philippines. One of them was my very dear deceased friend, Beth. I am one of those who are very grateful that technology like this was made possible.
.
But here’s the latest chatroom, MarriedChatCity.com. This is exclusively for married person, sharing their joys and problems in married life. I think this can be helpful especially to someone like me who had just married not so long ago. Maybe it is good to share to someone what I have learned and to learn from someone who were married for a period of time already. Base on my experiences, there are things that I wish I know about married life but not sure where to get information. Or is it that I feel awkward asking around? But I think this Married Chat Room would be very helpful. Sharing how you spend your free or extra time could help somebody who gets bored being a plain housewife, too.