Married Life – Page 3 – Chasing Dreams

Rainy days and Saturdays

September 14, 2013May 13, 2019 Rhiza3 Comments

I thought the sound of rain I was hearing a while ago was from RainyMood. Turned out it was really raining outside.

There was this particular rainy Saturday a few weeks ago when Lolo Tatay (from my husband’s side of the family) took us up for the twins’ first Tagaytay trip. I didn’t take a lot of photos, but here are some moments captured with our phone camera.

We didn’t know we were going to Tagaytay that day, which explains why the twins were not dressed right for it. Thank God for their jackets, which we always bring with us wherever we go. For the first time, the effort of carrying those hoodies around finally paid off. The rain poured while we were on our way, and it continued to pour while we were having our lunch buffet and afternoon coffee at Taal Vista Hotel.

I don’t like the traffic, the inconvenience, and the floods that often come with rainy days. Not to mention the horrible news about people evacuating because of the floods. But I can’t deny it—I love days like this. I love the sound of rain (it inspires me to write, or do something creative), the cool breeze, the smell of rain, the sight of rain water on wet pavement.

And I love rainy days especially when they’re spent with family, a cup of coffee, and maybe a good book.

“Rain” is an illustration of blessing and abundance in the Bible. Back when we didn’t know we were going to have twin girls, in fact on that particular day we found out we were pregnant, we already knew that we were going to name our firstborn “Rain”.

I can continue listing down reasons why I love rainy days so much, but to make this post actionable, here are some unusual suggestions on how to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon:

Go on a roadtrip.

For real? For real! I suggest you don’t go too far, but go somewhere. If you’re in the south area, go ahead, go for Tagaytay. The point is, get out of the house. Note that this is applicable on rainy Saturdays only, and more specifically, not when there’s typhoon ha. Go on a roadtrip when most people would rather tuck themselves in and curl up in bed. Rainy Saturdays often mean empty establishments and less traffic.

Eat some ice cream.

I know the usual thing to do is to grab a cup of choco or a bowl of soup on a rainy day. But magnifying the cold by eating something cold works too. Back in New York, my husband loves eating ice cream on a winter day. Just for the thrill (and the chill) of it.

Get married!

Two of my friends had their garden weddings rained out. But the rain didn’t ruin their weddings, in fact, the unexpected rain made the experience even more romantic! So instead of planning your wedding to fall on a summer day, why not totally plan to have it during the rainy days. Take it from this girl who’s wedding got rained out. Rain could be the best thing that can happen on your special day. ;)

However you’re spending these rainy days, I hope you’re doing it with people you love. Have a great weekend! :)

What September Reminds Me Of

September 13, 2013September 13, 2013 RhizaLeave a comment

This post was inspired by a couple of things. (1) Timehop, (2) This day being Friday the 13th, (3) Septembers, (4) #throwbackthursday and #flashbackfriday and (5) This guy I shall call “J”, who my husband and I have been exchanging letters with since the start of the year. More about him later.

Based on my Timehop, the past Septembers have been full. Timehop is a mobile app that pulls out photos from your social networks, from the exact same day the past years, putting them together in a nice little message alert that you receive every morning.

Since the start of September, my Timehop has been on a roll.

September 1, 2006: We went to a music festival.

D was about to end his one-month vacation, flying back to New York the next day. As a final date, he took me to Penshoppe’s Denimlab Rockfest. We were “just friends.”

Photo: Couple selfie taken inside Araneta Coliseum that night. (Uso na selfie nung 2006.)

It’s been 7 years since that September night, and most of what happened then has become a blurry memory. But I do remember Imago singing “Akap”, my song for the night. I remember riding a cab after the concert and hearing the first Christmas carol of the year. I remember us having coffee at Starbucks Pearl Drive, catching up on years worth of stories until the early hours of the next day. I remember blogging about the concert. I remember D walking me back to my apartment—a moment he lowkey tucked into the words of a song.

I remember the awkward goodbye, a casual hug that lingered a little longer than “casual”, one last glance and a wave. I remember watching him disappear around the curb, totally clueless that that was the boy I was going to marry someday.

September 9, 2010: We got engaged.

He’s back in Manila, and for a reason.

And you probably already know what happened.

September 13, 2010: We spent the night at Hong Kong International Airport.

Ending his one-week vacation here, he was flying back to New York with a 12-hour layover in Hong Kong. Who in the world would buy round-trip tickets to Hong Kong just so she could hang out in the airport while someone’s in a layover? Well, me. Ahh, young (stupid) love!

And hey, that was the exact same day as today!

Photo: Taken while having breakfast at HK International Airport, an hour before his flight.

Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through all of this unnecessary torture, lol. It was the saddest day ever, sending him off, alone in a foreign place. And yet I made the choice (and spent a ridiculous amount of cash) if only to spend a few more hours with him. As soon as his plane took off, I ran to the other side of the airport and boarded my plane back to Manila.

It’s been 3 years since that bittersweet (and expensive) day in HK!

The rest, as they say, is history.

September 2011 – We were married.
September 2012 – I was pregnant, half-way through my 3rd trimester.
September 2013 – Two ten-month-old little girls are crawling around the house.

September 13, 2013: Friday the 13th.

And here we are today.

Three long-stemmed roses from the husband are on top of my desk as I type this, and the twins are playing, screaming, and making a ruckus around the house. Looking back at the past Septembers, I can only laugh at all the crazies, thankful for the long-winding road that brought us to this day.

Dear J,

The point of this backtracking exercise is to acknowledge and appreciate how far the Lord has brought us. You said you read this blog from cover-to-cover (or page-to-page), and based on these pages it might look like we had it easy. But there were long days, months, and years in between the dates I mentioned above.

In between these stories were long periods of uncertainty. Nights when we felt like giving up (and nights when we actually gave up.) Prayers that weren’t answered the way we expected. Days when it felt like God wasn’t listening. Months where we were so sure we would never get back together ever.

We messed up, many times. We were impatient. We struggled to do things our own way. We had too many missteps and God had to pull us, break us, tear us, maybe all for the purpose of bringing us back to the path we’re supposed to be.

I pray that you find the courage to make better choices than we did. God knows the desires of your heart, He knows what He’s doing, and someday, you’ll see why you have to shed a few tears right now too.

Sincerely,
David & Rhiza

Hello, I Turned 30!

May 30, 2013January 19, 2020 Rhiza25 Comments

It’s been a week since I turned 30 years old, you want to know how it feels? I’m a mix of everything—happy, excited, grateful, in awe like I still can’t believe I’m now past my 20s, a little anxious about the future, driven to work harder and be better, blessed beyond words can say.

Turning 30, you find yourself pondering upon questions like, Am I living the life I’ve always wanted? Where have all the years gone? Have I invested in the right things? Am I happy? What’s next? True, you ask yourself these questions any given birthday anyway, but turning 30 kind of magnifies everything to a point where you end up feeling depressed (about what you didn’t have), or feeling like you’re on top of the clouds (for everything you have). Guess how I feel? :)

My birthday celebration has never been more quiet and more low profile than this. And it has never been more childlike and more adult at the same time too. Lately I’ve been having some form of identity crisis: Pressured to act like, think like, and actually be an adult, whilst spending a lot of time singing Barney songs, being surrounded with dolls and toys, and acting silly to entertain our 7-month old twins.

That’s the story of my 30th birthday celebration. The theme was slumber party, where I spent the majority of the day in my PJs, keeping my heart from bursting into tiny pieces while playing and rolling in bed with my cute little dolls:

Tell me you didn’t just rotate your computer screen sideways. :P

Mommy are you taking our pictures again?

#bestillmyheart

There’s more of these photographs where it came from, but.. you get the picture, right? That’s my 30th birthday party in a nutshell, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Later in the evening my family came to have dinner with us, and we hung out in our tiny living room, around our darling twins like it’s their birthday. (I don’t mind at all.)

The truth is, I don’t think I accomplished a lot in my first 30 years. I don’t have a lot of things—not a big house, or a car, or a fat savings account. I may have seen a few cities outside this country, but I haven’t really gone places. I could spend hours processing my life, thinking about the things I wasn’t able to do before I turned 30, places I still haven’t seen, dreams that have yet to come true.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what didn’t happen. What matters is how God turned all my plans around and gave me these instead:

And how can I not feel so blessed and happy and rich when I have them? A husband I’m still so smitten about, two little girls who drive us crazy and fill this home with so much joy, a roof above our heads, food on our table, a warm bed to sleep at night.

You realize, even more when you turn 30, that the measure of happiness and fulfillment is not based on the material and financial things you acquired in your life, sometimes not even in the number of friends you have, but in the handful of people you journey this life with.

Now that, is a milestone worth celebrating.

God be praised and glorified in this life, always.

Dawn & Rain’s Dedication

March 19, 2013June 27, 2019 Rhiza2 Comments

Whenever I stare at this photograph long enough, I start tearing up. No, really. Happens every single time. In fact, I’m trying to keep my eyes from staring at it too long right now.

Two weeks ago we dedicated our twins, Dawn & Rain, to the Lord. It was an emotional week for us. The in-laws (D’s parents) were in town to meet their grand children for the first time (it’s been a while since we spent time with them too!), there were gatherings of loved ones and friends here and there, even making DIY decorations for the party was a sentimental time.

The truth is, I panic sometimes. How are we to raise these two kids when we, ourselves, are just.. kids? But maybe it’s a good kind of panic—because it makes us come to Him everyday with full awareness that we can never do this without an abundance of His grace, provision, and strength. He is the one who has given us these blessings, and He will be the one to enable us to take care of them. There’s simply no other way. It is in that note that we gathered a small group of our loved ones and friends (we wished we could have invited more!) to witness as we dedicated our dear Dawn & Rain to the Lord.

As Pastor Dave shared in his message that day, we’re dedicating them to the One who said, “Let the little children come to me.” (Matthew 19) We may not have everything it takes to raise two babies at once, but we do have God with us in this journey, and He happens to love little children! Where else can we learn parenthood but from The Father Himself?

Photographs from the dedication are in my Facebook account, you can view them all here. Normally I’d dump lots of photos here, especially from an important occasion such as this. But today I feel like posting just one photograph, one that summed up the occasion for me: Me & my husband standing in front of the altar, beaming with so much joy, holding these two little humans with trembling hands, and dedicating them to the One who has entrusted them to us.

3 months of la-la-la-love

January 25, 2013May 13, 2019 Rhiza6 Comments

Interrupting the 30 Days of Gratitude to give space for this special occasion: Our babies reaching their 3-month mark.

These photographs were taken the day we took them home. And I just love looking at this photo set because it reminds me how far God has brought us. I know that sounds like it’s been years when it’s only been 3 months.

It’s amazing how fast babies grow in such a short period of time! D & R looked so tiny and fragile then—out 2 weeks short of their due. But now they’re chubby all over! And they’ve outgrown some of their newborn clothes too. I’m torn between wanting to see them grow further and wishing they wouldn’t grow up too fast.

x o x o

I’m glad we took photos of their nursery before the room stopped being a nursery and started looking more like their walk-in closet. I remember how it felt, hanging up those pink curtains, washing their first clothes, putting their crib together, obsessively disinfecting everything. Joy filled the house, and our hearts, as we waited for them to come turn our lives around.

And now, 3 months later, life has been a riot, including our house. We took their crib out and is now right smack in the middle of our the living room, while the room which used to be their nursery becomes a storage room of their stuff. The whole house is their nursery, and soon we’ll be paying them rent.

I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all. :)

x o x o

Behold our first photographs as a family. How can one forget a day like this?

So much has happened since that day, so many sleepless nights have passed, so much we have learned. To think we’ve only just begun.

Happy 3 months, Dawn & Rain!
We feel so special for being blessed with such beautiful gifts. I wish you both know how much Mommy and Daddy love you both; someday, we’ll show you how much.

“I’m a happy person because I grew up in a happy home”

January 14, 2013May 13, 2019 Rhiza5 Comments

We were at our friends’ wedding last Friday, and it was special to me for many reasons. For one, the groom, Robert, is my brother’s best friend, and in the past N years that I’ve known him, he’s become like a brother to me too. He’s an extension of our family, and based on how I’ve known him, I just believe that whoever he falls in love with is surely one special girl.

Then came Tin, whom I’ve also known from those summer camps my husband and I attended in high school. Long story short, it’s a small world after all, and we’re blessed to know these two people before they even knew they were meant for each other.

Robert and my brother (his Best Man) waiting by the altar, and Tin walking down the isle.

We didn’t see this coming, the union of these two opposites, but their wedding last Friday was just.. so beautiful it gave everyone a reason to hope, and to trust in The God who writes beautiful love stories. Amidst the rain that poured on their garden wedding, everyone was smiling and laughing and wiping tears of sheer joy.

The twins were there with us too, in their stroller, sleeping through the wedding ceremony. I remember wishing that Dawn and Rain were old enough to understand what was happening. It’s the kind of dream wedding you’d wish for your daughters.

Sure I can quote more lines from the Pastor’s message and the beautiful vows the couple exchanged, but if there’s one line that struck me most, it’s this line from Tin’s speech as she honored her parents:

“I’m a happy person because I grew up in a happy home.”

True enough, happy is the one adjective you’ll use to describe Tin. She’s always smiling, always making other people smile. Her laughter is infectious; she laughs and you know that she has entered the room. She’s the kind of person who wouldn’t let negativity (and negative people!) change her or get in the way of being loving, gracious, and happy. Aside from the fact that she’s a stunner (Toni Gonzaga slash Anne Curtis look-a-like, they say), I think it’s her being a happy person that made Robert fall in love with her in the first place.

And as a mother (am I really using this line now?), I can’t help but think that I want that for Dawn & Rain too.

To grow up in a happy home. To be happy. To have a happy disposition in life, one that doesn’t get easily shattered by storms, and challenges, and negativity.

Behold, Dawn & Rain’s first wedding appearance :)

I pray that someday, my daughters will be able to say that they’ve become who they are because of the home they grew up in. And that someday, in about 40 years (LOL), each of them will find someone who will love her because of the beautiful and happy person that she’s become.

Oh wow. Take me to a wedding now and this is what I take home with me? Honoring of parents? Someone has crossed over.

*Side note: 8 months ago, we were just looking for a venue for their wedding. How time flies!