Category Family | Our Journal

September 9, 2017 by admire02

Total Solar Eclipse in Oregon

With my boys so heavily into outer space and celestial bodies, we made our way to go on a long drive to Oregon to watch and experience the great American total solar eclipse which happened August 21, 2017. I was not much excited about the eclipse but my excitement was for what interesting places to see in Oregon. Lots of pine trees? Pine scent? Love it! But no, we didn’t smell the pine trees, haze yes. Too bad, it’s brush fire season. We got to see some along the highway on our way home.

We had to get the best possible spot that would make our 14-hour drive trip worthy. Best, meaning no traffic, with cellphone signal, not cloudy and not hazy. First, the mandatory welcome to Oregon picture. We’re about an hour away from the border of California and Oregon but the main driver was so sleepy so I decided to drive. Not fond of the road as it’s just a two-lane roadway that sometimes has a passing permitted markings and sometimes no passing zone. And you have a truck with a trailer in front of you, oh boy. All my passengers were sleeping and I was droopy eyed but my brain said I should be wide awake. When the a/c blows it made me sleepy but when I look to my left, the view was fantastic. I feel like seeing Mars! Too bad I can’t take pictures. To make the story short, I was able to let them sleep and wake them up when it’s time to have our pictures taken at Welcome to Oregon sign.

So many things happened and I can’t squeeze them all in here. Maybe in a separate entry. We were able to pick the best spot (based on our requirements) and it was in between John Day and Mt. Vernon, Oregon. We got a dry camping spot at Clyde Holliday State Recreation Site by the pond for just $11/night. Dry camping meaning no water, just portalet for potty. I’m so glad I brought our own camping potty. Anyway, it’s just for the night and the following morning. The main campground has showers and bathrooms. So it’s not a big deal. Here’s our set up.

The park gave us 4 eclipse eyeglasses for free! We paid $50 for 6 pairs of glasses of the same kind. But it’s okay. Who would go on a 14 hour drive to view the eclipse without glasses on hand? But still, we can bless the people of Chile by sending our used eclipse glasses.

I appreciate the fact that Oregon prepared for the eclipse. They even had a presentation in the middle of the campground.

On the morning of the eclipse day, while others head out to town to get some breakfast, my family just chilled and waited for a hot breakfast. Hot, meaning, hotdogs and squished bread that I grilled and some cup noodles and green tea. Glad to have used our camping stove that’s been with us since 2012. Very useful!

How to make green tea? Boil water, then add the teabag. Wait for a few minutes. Easy peasy. The sound of the stove makes me feel like we’re in a youtube cooking video, Almazan kitchen.

Since total eclipse will be around past 10, we were in no hurry to prepare our stuff. Mich was busy with every BTS songs and everything kpop. Ad had been setting up his telescope and camera while hubby was preparing his binoculars with improvised eclipse lens filters. And I got to sketch too!

From time to time we this was how we look.

I can’t remember ever experiencing a total solar eclipse. Hubby said, when we were in high school there was a total solar eclipse in the Philippines so I consider this my first.

The great American total eclipse was promoted in all possible media coverage and social medias. It became a huge tourist event (people from different places flew and drove to the path of totality), family affair and an avenue for celebration and reunion of some sort. Lazy towns became lively. Bouncy castles and playgrounds were set up for kids. All sorts of BBQs were being sold. Concerts and festivities were all over. It’s fun!

I can’t explain the feeling of excitement and much anticipation of what it would be like. And the 2 minutes and few seconds of total eclipse happened. It became dark like a night. Birds chirped. I was awed by God’s creation. In ancient times, it could be a source of bad omen, talk about superstitions. But now, it’s a feeling of happy moment that when you see something unusual like the moon covering the sun, we could see how powerful the sun is for us. And that perfect timing of rotation and revolution only comes from the master of the universe who created it. So glad we could experience this event as a family. Something to cherish for the rest of our lives. That happy feeling inside of me is unexplainable. We thanked my husband for pushing this family trip that he planned since April of 2016 and we thanked God for His provision in everything for us to be able to come here.

This is the picture I took using my Iphone at the exact time of the eclipse.

Photos of the eclipse that Adrian took using Nikon DSLR attached to Celestron telescope.

And here’s the time lapse video of the before and after the eclipse. We truly enjoyed our trip.

May 6, 2016 by Che Resubal

Arizona: Upper Antelope

Sometimes you’re in the mood to have someone take a groupfie photo, and you pose with peace sign unconsciously. It happened in a snap. Later on, you realized the camera belongs to the other group in your tour. Then the owner of the Iphone saw the picture, laughs at the outcome, thinks of how to send it to you coz she thinks you got a nice photo. And to break the embarassment, you let her send the picture but she doesn’t know what airdrop means. After that, everybody’s talking about airdrop. So there was a quick tutorial inside the 4-wheel truck ride to the tour site. What an ice breaker! Everybody’s laughing. Lesson learned: Know who owns the camera before posing.

Now talking about Upper Antelope, personally, I like Lower Antelope better because it’s more challenging to be inside an underground canyon and cost-wise, much cheaper. But for this trip, we considered a senior friendly tour. Our nanay marveled at the sight of the terracotta like swirly formed slot canyon. It is formed by sand, wind and water over the years. Both Antelope slot canyons are located on a Navajo nation near Page, Arizona.

What was posted in Facebook about expectation versus reality of tourists in some of the most popular tourist spots in the world is true. See the people? You have to take selfies without photobombers in 1-2 seconds or else.

Here are some of the photos we took using cellphone:

Welcome to Upper Antelope Canyon! What do you see? I can see skull. Creepy! But yeah, that’s the narrow passageway that can only fit one.

Now, this is heart.

Teenage mutant ninja turtle mummified version? That’s just my observation.

I see an Indian chief here.

End of the hike. Time to hop in to our rugged ride. Til next time!

The funny thing here is, they learned how to do the peace sign. Look at the grandma on the right.:) Below is selfie with our Navajo tour guide. Then airdrop everyone! I bet he got some good gratuity that day.

April 22, 2016 by Che Resubal

Courageous and Victorious

Today, we celebrate Michelle’s courageous attempt at being her school orchestra’s principal chair. It takes a lot of courage and determination to step out and let the whole class know that she wants to be the first chair. She accepted the responsibility to become their leader not only in class but during performances.

As parents, we can only encourage her to be patient and exercise her faith. Several times she could have been in that position but it was given to another kid. This time, she didn’t let it happen. For three days she prepared diligently. It took her hours of playing violin. And today, she’s victorious! So glad that she got what she was hoping for but more importantly, we are proud that she did it without any effort on our part. We let her evaluate the situation and take big steps to achieve her goals. We celebrate all kinds of victories in our family because we acknowledge that those victories are from the Lord. He alone can free us from our struggles. Way to go Michi girl! Your performance last February in SDYS is just the beginning.:)

photo credit: Ritrato Photography

photo by mom

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January 17, 2016 by Che Resubal

Baby Pic

Digging through old files to get a baby picture for her year book, we found this cute photo. She’s one “easy” baby. So easy that we had to wake her up most of the time to feed her cuz we think she might be starving. This was how she plays. No toys, just pillows. Lots of pillows and a king size bed. She likes to sleep. That’s how she grows tall, she sleeps a lot especially on weekends. She can sleep the whole day.

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May 18, 2015 by admire02

A House is Not a Home without a Bichon

Hi! I’m Poochie, a bichon frise. I am five years old, and I love my family!

I enjoy spending time with my family, but my mom likes to take pictures of me.

I love when mom plays her instruments. Sometimes it’s the violin, and other times it’s the ukulele…

And grandma likes to paint. After she finishes a new painting, she tries to take pictures of it. With me modeling! I like having photoshoots. #tbt (That stands for Throw Back Thursday lol) to when I got shaved.

My family is usually busy with things.. Grandpa has work, Grandma does painting and cooking and cleaning, Uncle goes to school, but then he usually has a lot of homework, and Mom also goes to school. But once she finishes her homework, she’s either playing the violin or on her phone. Usually on her phone. So I always keep it positive and play by myself when I get bored..

My family does show their love for me, though. Grandpa likes to play with me once he gets back from work. Grandma occasionally pets me for about three minutes straight. Uncle really likes to play with me. And Mom and Uncle give me baths. Mom feeds me and walks me (But Grandma also does that.) I am glad that there is a family that loves me enough to adopt me. Then again, A House Is Not A Home Without A Bichon.

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May 18, 2015 by admire02

Museum Trips: Mom & Mich Date @ MOCA

A little time set aside for art appreciation for girls bonding while the boys went to Japanese town to check out some anime stuff, thus maximizing our drive to LA. I was really hoping to see Henri Matisse’s works displayed but it turned out it’s Warhol’s works on exhibit. There was confusion somewhere. I became curious before going there to see Andy Warhol’s controversial Shadows because of the reviews.

Picture was taken outside the MOCA.

So here we were inside the main exhibit hall. The only selfie we have, not the best though.

Now, the critic, looking closely and examining this particular canvas and processing what makes it an artwork. Imagine 102 canvases bigger than Michelle in size, displayed in the main hall. She didn’t say a thing.

The show was big and bold. Bold in the sense that a famous and influential artist like Warhol, would create something like that, humongous monochromatic series of silkscreen paintings. He likes to awaken people’s curious minds. I read somewhere that he likes boring things. That makes it interesting.

Below, are some of the other artworks on display that season.

A pile of glass with broken pieces on display.
This generated a look that only a mother could understand what’s going on in her mind and prompted a response from a mother that only a daughter could comprehend. Another piece of controversy?

This is like a sister of the artwork outside the building, like pieces of big metal scraps joined together.

Tall figures by Alberto Giacometti.

She asked me to buy this book from the museum store. A watermelon lemonade ended our trip to the museum.

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March 3, 2015 by admire02

Ocean Beach = Doggie Beach

A day in the life of Pooch… It was the head of the house’s forty something birthday and we decided to drive the Pacific Highway Coast til we get tired. We were beach hopping. First stop was this beach, my happy place called Dog Beach (Ocean Beach). A little trivia about this beach: It’s one of the first official leash-free beaches in the United States (according to Ocean Beach San Diego official website). Woohoo! Everybody’s having a great time here. But before I have my great time, they would not let me go around unless I pose for them. So here it is, with this giant umbrella that resembles my grandma’s color wheel. Maybe she would paint me sometime. Hmmm. What do you think? Look at me, I don’t have a leash and I am just obeying them to stay put and smile for the camera. I am a good boy.

After striking a pose here and there, they let me be free but with one condition, no barking! I should be friendly with people and with pets like me. By the way, I heard Zena (my doggie friend neighbor) sometimes visit this beach. I hope one day we could see her here. It’s gonna be paw-some fun!You see, I am the youngest member of this family and they won’t let me be alone in the house on this special day. They love to play with me while the mother of the house is busy with photographing our moments together. They want me to play catch but sometimes I am overwhelmed with so many things. I want to chase other dogs and I want to run freely as fast as I could.

This doggie beach is perfect for pets like me. I just love going here. People and dogs like me co-exist peacefully and wonderfully here. What a wonderful world! Woof! Bring me often here.

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August 8, 2014 by admire02

I am Poochie

Hi! My name is Poochie. I am a Bichon Frise, which is part of the Poodle family, so I don’t shed. I REPEAT: I DO NOT SHED! I am a male dog. Just saying. I am 5 years old, but I got adopted when I was 4 years old. This is the blog about my life (that my mom knows about). Before I was adopted, I stayed at the Chula Vista Adoption Center. Then one day, me and all the other dogs there got put into another place, which is my mom’s church. Her church holds dog adoptions a few times a year. The time I got adopted was really special, because it was the month of Mom’s birthday, and I got to celebrate it! 😀 Anyways, when I was at the church, someone put a blue and black sweater on me, plus a vest thing that says: AD❤PT ME. I didn’t know exactly what was going on though, but when I saw her, I wanted her to be my friend! Like how I always want to be everyone’s friend! She kept petting me, and stroking me, and was talking to this older man, which appeared to be her dad. I don’t remember the exact thing, but here is what I remember, Mom: “Blah blah blah something I really like the dog…” Mom’s Dad: “Something words words blah words?” Mom: “YES!!” Anyways, Mom seemed really happy, but at the time, she wasn’t my Mom. Now she is. After I heard her excitement, she had to go, for now. I was sad to see her go, but she came back and took me home! The other pictures will show times of fun that we had together.

This picture reminds me of how boring it was to wait for Mom to come back from this place called “school.”

This was the time Mom was getting ready for her birthday, and I was entertainment for her friends! Sort of.

I love to play with my mom, but she sometimes takes it a little overboard. Okay, a LOT overboard. Mom, I am a boy! I don’t need sparkly, pink, toy hats!

Sometimes, when Mom is at “school” I work out with my Grandma.

I have only gone camping once before, but I want to do it again! Even if it’s annoying to have to wake up Mom. Come on! Wake up!

Mom, Uncle, and I make a pretty good orchestra. Don’t you think?

I’m getting tired of blogging. How does my grandma do it? Can’t I just nap?

Fine. I will continue. Anyways, Uncle likes to take pictures of all sorts of things. Like this one:

Finally! Mom gave me some “boy style” clothes! So, how do I look?

Hey, Mom? Am I done with this blog? Am I? Please say yes! Please say yes!

Sorry, everybody, but I’m done blogging for now. See you next time! Now, I need to find a place… to… nap… *snore*

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July 25, 2014 by admire02

Finish Chelsea’s Run

This is my very first home-grown sunflower. The seeds came from Finish Chelsea’s Run last March. Adrian and I were part of his school team consisting of almost a hundred people. Finish Chelsea’s Run is an annual run in honor of Chelsea King who disappeared and later murdered while running in Lake Hodges in Rancho Bernardo in 2010.

Why sunflower? “The sunflower ~ It is resilient, It is bright and always follows the sun. It stands out in a crowd. It is surprising, towers over others in uniqueness and splendor, and the closer you look, the more amazing its depth and beauty. Chelsea’s favorite flower, the sunflower has come to symbolize the light and hope that continue to shine brightly.” – chelseaslight.org

Springtime. That week was raining terribly especially on the morning of the run. The sky was so dark with heavy clouds then going to the venue, the rain poured hard. This was the visibility when we were driving. We stopped by the nearest 7 eleven but they ran out of ponchos. I know we have some ponchos but don’t know where we put them so, rain or shine, we were ready to run. But we asked God to calm the stormy weather.

This was the result of our prayer. Voila! Sunshine. I’m pretty sure that there’s a lot of people who prayed for the rain to stop and let the runners run safely.

As expected, parking was difficult with almost 10,000 people around. Adrian and I went ahead because in a few moments, 5k run will start. We wore yellow leis to identify our team. In the picture was Adrian’s history teacher, wearing blue beanie.

Before the start of the run, a mom whose child was also a victim gave words of encouragement to all the supporters of Chelsea’s Run and it’s foundation. You can’t help but cry when you hear stories like that of Chelsea and other kids who lost their lives to some bad guys.

With this number of people, you can’t run even if you want to. The first quarter of a mile was only for walking. I realized that I can be more effective running without my jacket and cellphone.

I was trying to run and go ahead of the pack. I finally saw where my husband and Mich were. A little of hellos and then off to my official business. It’s my first 5k this year so I better be serious.

That hair! Of course, Adrian finished ahead of me. Good job Adrian on your first official 5k run.

After the run, it was drizzling. We just had some pictures and some sunflowers. Then heading to the parking lot, it rained heavily again. Chelsea’s Run this year surpassed last year’s registrants. Year after year, more people are becoming supporters of Chelsea’s Light. Chelsea’s life doesn’t end when she died in the hands of a murderer. Her family and supporters continued her legacy by establishing a foundation that focuses on uniting people and protecting the innocents.

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July 23, 2014 by admire02

4th of July: Hiking to Fireworks

It’s so much fun when you hike with a bigger company. Twas my second time hiking up Cowles Mountain and first time for our kids and visiting friends from Utah. Cowles Mountain has San Diego City’s highest peak with 1,593-foot (486 m) summit. It is also one of San Diego’s most famous hiking area because of it’s easy trail and easy access though parking is a bit challenging. The 360 degrees view of San Diego is awesome. Going up is 1.5 miles with an elevation of 950 ft. It took us more than 2 hours for the whole hike. Our kids are not raised to be hikers so we know they would complain if only the four of us so I took the opportunity to include hiking in our summer itinerary. Since it’s 4th of July, we brought some American flags to join America as they celebrate their independence day. Flags sold out at Dollar Tree a day before the 4th. I was fortunate to get some (on sale!) from Albertsons before going up. Patriotic huh? Mich was getting ahead of us. She is revved up…for something.

A man offered to take a photo of us with our dramatic pose. Haha! We are building memories here. Someday when we look back we will remember this fourth of July hike. Who knows? We might have a “then and now” picture years from now.

Here are the machines of 4th! Our hearts, muscles and bones were happy that they got to work a little better today. We don’t want the machines to get rusty! We had them work extra on a sunny Sun Diego day!

Looking forward to more hikes with you. Potato Chip, next? I so love it when we hike together. Cheesiness? Anyway, after the hike, we had a very nice excuse for pigging out. Chopsticks! Then we rested for a while and got ready for the fireworks at downtown San Diego.

Seaport village is one of my favorite places in San Diego. I love spending lazy days here walking around, watching sunset, people flying kites, sailboats, yachts and many more. This place has a lot of cute stores and restaurants. I so love the gourmet Top of the Market.

I’ve never seen this place crowded as today. Later on I found out why. It was a good idea to park near a train station and just use the train going here. Though our train ride reminded us of jam-packed LRT in Manila, it was still a better choice. Business was good that day for a peddler like this one (photo below). Mich was hinting me to buy because they accidentally left the glow sticks at home.

photo credit: Adrian (He took all these night shots)

We had the best view of the four simultaneous fourth of July fireworks in San Diego that’s why it was overcrowded. Our eyes feasted on the beautiful blasts and sparkles in the night sky. We’ve even seen something new but was not able to capture. It was a long day for us, a beautiful long day.

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