Mr. & Mrs.

I couldn't be happier!

Safe Journey

Armando,

Have a safe journey to Chile!

I will miss you but have a great

visit with your family and friends!

The warmth and love he offers.

It is such a beautiful blessing in this world when you are with someone who offers you warmth and love constantly. Somebody that you can lean on in any situation and that will be with you through the struggles and help to uplift you during the rougher times. But also, a partner that shares in your joys and accomplishments with as much pleasure and glee as you revel in during those happy times.

The help he gives me on a daily basis is more than I can really tell you or name off. It goes from helping me to have a great start to my day every morning and always meeting me at work and opening the front doors for me, which are too heavy for me to handle and maneuver, (me and my wheelchair) to ironing my shirts and clothes unexpectedly, and even reminding me to take my medicine which I forget often at night. He even writes loving messages in my calendar that I use at work; his little notes inspire me and make me smile. He is always watching over me like a guardian angel. Wrapping the covers around me gently during those cold winter nights, letting me use his chest as my pillow, those little things make me feel so secure. I am thankful for all of the things he does to help me and the support he offers me. I feel blessed and warm inside every day because I know I have him in my life.

Sometimes I get stressed at work and become very uptight. I can be a perfectionist and that makes me feel pressure. He always gives me pep talks and makes me repeat that I am good at my job and positive things before work. He makes me laugh and encourages me when I put too much pressure on myself. He lightens situations up and helps make me laugh when I need it the most.

He has also introduced me to so many new things that I never knew before I met him. Sushi, Japanese Horror Movies, Chobits, SpongeBob Squarepants, Miyazaki's movies like Spirited Away, Pablo Neruda, Piscola, George Orwell, Role Playing Games...I could go on.

I feel lighthearted more than ever before because I allow myself to watch the cartoons that during my childhood were never watched because of serious illness. I love reverting to childhood sometimes and getting lost in movies and cartoons!

So, this is a little thanks for you my love. Thanks for the warmth and love you show me everyday. Thanks for all that you do today and every day. Thanks for introducing me to so many interesting and fun things. You make my world a happier place.

Here's wishing a great start for a Happy New Year where our plans come into fruition and we can look forward to a bright new life as husband and wife this upcoming year!

Our Story Part 2

October 14, 2006

One fun part of our long distance relationship was sending letters and packages back and forth. He would send me Chilean (cafe) coffee, candy, and all kinds of fun things. One package he sent me a bottle of Chilean wine and a book by my favorite author and a natural quartz crystal from the mountains in Chile. Nobody had ever sent me a bottle of wine before or cared enough to even remember what my favorite author was... Another very special gift was an alpaca poncho to keep me warm in the winter. I always get cold in the winter. One year for Christmas he surprised me and sent me a digital camera! The dial had broke on my digital camera.

His first visit:

I arrived before dark in the early morning hours at Atlanta International Airport in Georgia to pick A up on his first trip to Alabama. I did a bit of worrying and some frantic rounds around the airport before I finally saw him. He explained later what had happened. He was actually put in the security orange room because when they asked him his return flight date he honestly could not remember the actual date. Welcome to the USA via the orange security room, right?

He had mistakenly got his Mom's tickets to Argentina instead of his own return flight tickets. Imagine A's surprise when he reaches in his bag to show them his tickets and they are his Mom's tickets instead. (Mierda!) He was honest with them and after some verification they let him through.

We stayed busy going places the whole time he was here. We had a lot of fun and sadly, the time flew by. We took a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi (before the hurricane did so much damage there.) We gambled and got free drinks, had lazy sleep in mornings and enjoyed the view of the sandy beaches and water. He was so caring and loving and he made me laugh a lot. I was on cloud nine!

My sister gave me an early birthday gift of a hotel room for Armando and I in Birmingham. That was so sweet of her and her husband. We got a bottle of Chilean wine and sushi and just relaxed. Later we went to the Science Museum with my sister and niece and nephew. We also went to the Birmingham zoo. We both love animals so it was fun.

On the day A had to return to Chile, I tried hard to be strong and not show sadness but I found myself tearing up on the drive to the airport. I was going to miss him a lot. On the drive back to Alabama, I cried and got upset and then resolved to try and be strong and focus on the day he was to return to live here.

Our plan was for him to return to Chile and finish his classes so he could get his degree and then he would move here and I needed to find a job that had health insurance. We knew it would take some time for us to go through the immigration process and marry but the most important thing was the love that we have for each other. We can work through the rest.

Our Story Part 1

October 12, 2006

If you had told me five years ago that I would be in a relationship with a man like A, I would not have believed it to be true.

The oddest thing about our story is the way we met. I had put a message on a message board asking for help to learn Spanish and in return, I would help teach somebody English. He responded.

Actually, I needed more help with my Spanish than he did with his English. He had already lived in Boston as a boy with a family as an exchange student. He did not know much English at that time and he had to learn by being thrown into the environment. I only helped him a little with some pronunciation and he has had to teach me everything, the alphabet, pronunciation, verbs. He is still teaching me Spanish.

Over time we started talking, sending a lot of emails, having long chat sessions, telephone conversations, and then later web camera and chat sessions. We learned a lot about each other. I liked him more and more. There was something about the way he viewed the world. He opened me up to new ideas and made me realize that the distance between us didn't matter, as long as we loved each other and stayed devoted and kept contact as much as we could.

At that time, he lived in Chile and I lived here in Alabama. We both enjoyed photography so we shared our days through pictures. I showed him where I lived, special people in my life, with pictures and with little videos. He did the same for me. I saw the beauty of Chile in his pictures and I felt very close to him when I looked at his pictures.

One of my favorite things for him to do was to set up his web camera and notebook and take it out to the back terrace and show me the parrots in the trees, the flowers, and his dogs. Of course, I loved seeing him too, any chance I got! I liked his smile and to hear his laughter.

No matter how much I heard people talk around me that he was in another country, how could we love each other? I just ignored them because I knew in my heart, that I couldn't have loved him more, even if he had been right here in Alabama. That love grew and when we did meet in person, we hit it off perfectly, just as we always had by telephone, by internet chats and webcam sessions.

I have to admit, the first time I met him, I was so nervous! I had all of these concerns which proved to be just a bad case of the nerves. I remember telling my sister on the telephone, What if he does not like me as much as he thinks he does after he gets here? All I can say is I was excited but also, thinking of a million things that might go wrong. Well, I WAS WRONG! Thank goodness!

The day I met A for the first time was also the same day my nephew was born. What a happy day it was, meeting the man I love for the first time and seeing my newborn nephew!

To be continued...

Being Thankful

- 2005 -

To touch upon the beauty of this world
To live, breathe and hold it for a moment
Was to make my life like a symphony
Each day filled with new peaks
Now to escape the despair of absence
Since your beauty is not near
Biding my time until you reappear.

I just came across these writings today. I wrote them when Armando and I were living in separate countries. Long distance relationship's are difficult but well worth it if you can have perseverance.

I am thankful that our love was strong enough to carry us through those times when we were so far apart. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have Armando here with me now and to be able to share every day together!

-Michelle

Reflexion: Dos semanas en Chile

It was a lot of fun to see part of Chile. I enjoyed meeting Armando's family and friends. They were very welcoming to me.

Armando's Mom was a total sweetheart. She taught me to knit while I was there despite the language barrier. I like to crochet already but knitting is fun too. (Although, I still need a lot of practice yet!)

Because of the change of weather, I got sick while there and was sick a good bit of the time with a bad cold. Armando also got sick with a bad cold before we left. That was a bummer but we still did fun things like playing games. We often played poker with his friends until the wee hours of the morning! Or magic card games or the ship game. Don't you just hate it when you are on vacation and you get sick?

Armando and I lost our jackets at the Miami airport. Oops! I bought another one in Chile and thank goodness, Armando had another jacket in his luggage.
Armando's Mother's house was great. I liked her yard. It had trees and flowers and a gorgeous water fountain made from quartz.

She had beautiful rocks and crystals and little sitting areas that were so inviting. When you entered into her house, you were met with this trees right beside the door that were so tall and growing in an indoor brick container. Her roof is part glass and wood and the trees were nearly touching it. The glass from the roof let in such a beautiful light to her living room. Her house is so in touch with nature. She has bonsai trees and rocks and a shell collection and a horse collection. I loved it. In the hallway, I got to see great photos of Armando and his sister as children and picture of his Mom. I saw a picture of his sister with white doves on each shoulder. My favorite picture was of Armando's Mom and his Dad in the background and Armando as a little boy in the front standing by a tree. He was so cute. :) I liked a picture of Armando's Mother sitting on a big rock surrounded by water. She looked so pretty in that picture.

In Chile, it is very common to have wine with your meals or pisco sour (a Chilean drink with pisco and lemon). I liked the pisco sour and the piscola (pisco with coca-cola or “coca”as coca-cola is called in Chile) and I enjoyed Chilean wine too. The fresh bread there was delicious. Armando's Mom was a great cook. I was SO happy to see avocado or “palta” so readily available. I love avocado and I ate it a lot while in Chile in salads and on bread. Yum!

I was so happy to see the snow capped mountains of Santiago. I had seen so many photographs of the mountains and Chile that it really was great to actually be seeing those in person. I liked how when we stepped into his Mom's yard we were met with a view of the mountains every morning. I liked how the evening light made the snow on the mountains take on a golden hue.

When you go to downtown Santiago there was great architecture everywhere. The churches and many of the buildings were so ornate!

We met with Armando's best friend, Carolina in Viña and Valparaiso. I was so happy to finally meet her. I had spoke with her on the telephone and chatted with her on the internet before. She is a very sweet lady and with the prettiest long flowing hair. We had a very good visit and her and Armando showed me Viña and Valparaiso and the surroundings.

In the city of Viña, I felt very peaceful with seeing the sea and the water hitting against the rocks. The sound was completely relaxing and the atmosphere in Viña (in the winter at least) is very at ease. You see people going on horse drawn carriage rides everywhere. I understand that in the summer it is a different scene with many tourists coming from Argentina and of course other parts of Chile to enjoy the beaches and sea.

Valparaiso was so charming with the mountains covered with homes and the view down below of the sea. I really liked the bright colors of the houses and the little winding streets that went up and down, up and down. I also enjoyed the murals painted on walls. There is a University in Valparaiso that is extremely beautiful. It looks very British and is complete with stone walls and many steps.

In the part of Chile we were in, (Central Chile) you are surrounded by big palm trees, there were orange trees that grow in the winter and there were a lot of avocado trees. On the way to Viña I saw many vineyards.

Chile is a very long country so the country is very diverse. Part of the country is desert and dry, in one part you can see ice glaciers. I only visited a few cities and I was sick part of the time so I know I only saw the surface of a very beautiful country. I am glad I had the chance to go with Armando and to meet his family and friends. I look forward to another visit and seeing more of Chile in the future!

I included a few pictures in that we took.

-Michelle

A night to remember forever

View from the window last night at Restaurant Giratoria.

Last night was a special night. Armando took me to Restaurant Giratoria. It is a restaurant in Santiago where you sit at tables near windows and the floor rotates slowly around and you get a beautiful view of the city down below. I felt very special just being there and being treated to such a fancy place.

But then...another surprise... he said he had a small gift for me.

It is an old tradition. If his Mom really likes the woman her son is going to marry, she gives her a ring that is special to her and it is passed down. He gave me a beautiful ring that his Mom and him had sized to fit me. It meant a lot to me that she likes me and that they gave me such a beautiful ring. I never expected it.

The food I had was delicious. I had a pisco sour which is a Chilean drink with lemon and pisco. We had a Chilean wine with our meal and I ate:

FILETE PANORAMA
(Beef filet stuffed with ham and cheese, pepper and mushroom sauce, sautéed asparagus heads and noisettes potatoes)

For dessert I had:

MARRON GLACE
(Chestnut in a delicious syrup)

and

CAFE CORTADO
(Coffee and cream)

Yum! It was really good. (I know, I know. I am a pig!)

-Michelle

Love Poem

Written February 20, 2005

For Armando

Love

Love and Emotion, Heart's Devotion
Words Exchanged, Sweet Acclaim
Laughter Echoes, Happiness Reigns
Ocean Divides, Miles Between
Desire Burning, Secret Yearning
Onward Flowing, Journey Revealing
Life is Precious, No More Hiding
Sadness Diminished, Blessings Abiding
One Light Shining, Forever Binding
Two Souls ; Yours and Mine.

- Michelle