Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Note added later:

It is a good time of the year to reflect.

I wanted to take a moment and thank all of my blogging friends who comment and always bring a smile to my face. You are such a supportive group and you mean a lot to me!

I have so much to be thankful for and life has truly been wonderful for me this year. I married the man of my dreams. We made it through the immigration process. We are healthy and have everything we need.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Mom and I cooked and my Dad's side of the family came over. Armando brought flowers home this morning when he came home from work. They are beautiful.

Armando and I worked on the projector tonight and tested the speakers. We have not watched movies on the projector in a while. Armando had to go and buy a new cable. We are still having an issue with the projector. Maybe one of the cords has stopped working. We have only black and white movies and they should be color. We will try to troubleshoot it more later.

Right now, I just want to go to bed early and rest.

Have a good night and sweet dreams!

Stormy March 1st

I was just thinking of those killed and injured in the tornadoes that swept across Alabama and several other states today. I wish peace and comfort for those who lost loved ones and strength and endurance for those who are injured or lost their homes.

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!

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

Blooming Beauty

When we opened the curtains from our room in Chile, we were met by this magnificent blooming almond tree that is in Armando’s Mom’s back garden. I had never seen an almond tree before. I was captivated by the beauty of its blooms.

Before the almonds are ready for harvest, the wild parrots eat them all and have a feast.

Armando took some photos of the almond tree before we left which I have shared above. I like the photo he captured with the bee especially!

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

Simply Great

I wrote last about struggles and I wanted to lighten up a bit this entry and talk about some of life’s simply great things.

You may not hold the same opinion of the following things but in my world, these ten things are simply great!

Books
You can drift into another world when holding the right book in your hand. I love being curled up in bed with a good book!

Traveling
You can really never have enough travel! I enjoy experiencing new cultures and different places.

Photography
When holding a camera in your hands, you learn to be still and look at everyday objects in different ways. You learn to reflect on the beauty of nature and your surroundings.

Love
Where would the world be without it? I really like giving love to things whether it is a plant or an animal or a person. (I really like loving Armando.) :-)

Music
I don’t think I could make it through without having music in my life. There are so many great artists and my taste is all over the place when it comes to music.

Antique Jewelry
Ok, not on everybody’s list but… It IS on mine. I really enjoy old jewelry!

Creativity
I really like making things by hand. I enjoy crocheting and I like most hands on things that involve creativity.

Cooking
I like delicious food and I enjoy cooking and baking.

Coffee
I cannot live without it.

The outdoors
I love trees and flowers, sunshine, pretty clouds and blue skies. I like being outdoors and feeling a breeze as it blows.

Feel free to share some of your simply great things too.

-Michelle