Rose's Garden

The story of my life.

2008-05-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there.

Today I decided to write a little bit about me, as I promised to a long time ago, and never did.

I’m going to start by telling you the reason why I haven’t blogged lately.
I said before that I’m very optimistic and for the last few weeks I just don’t feel that way.
I was having problems at work and looking for something else, and at my age it is not something that I was planing on doing. I was planning on retiring from my current job, because I was very happy until a few months ago.
I do billing at a local Hospital, and even though my bosses like me a lot, my Director decided to pick on me. (She always has a target, and I guess it was my turn.) The thing is I'm Portuguese
and you just don’t mess with me when it comes to work. I’m very proud and I know I do a good job, so, don’t come and tell me that I’m not doing the best I can just because we’re over worked and can’t follow up on everything.
Anyway, enough talking about that, I went on an interview and I'll start my new job at another Hospital on Monday, June 2nd, and I believe that I’m going to like it after the first couple days
I will be a Happy Camper again.
The money i s better and I know that everything happens for a reason, so I'm looking forward to star.

Now lets talk about my past.

I was born in the Azores, Portugal, moved to Luanda, Angola, Africa when I was 10 years old. My parents decided to go there so my brother, sister and I could have a better chance at life.

(Fish men, Luanda bay)

Angola was a Portuguese Colony and the language spoken there was Portuguese.
I went to school there, got married and Karina was born.

Angola became independent, and we had to leave, when Karina was only 9 months old.
We came to Portugal, the mainland where my husband was from, but I could never adapt because I did not feel welcome or at home, my home was Angola.

Needless to say that I was very happy when I found out that my father had a sister living on USA and my parents decided to come here.

They called for us 5 years later and here we are.

It wasn’t easy at all when we first came.

I was 30 years old and struggled with the English language for a long time, I’m still not perfect, but I know enough to get through and I’m very proud of who I became and what I have accomplished.

I had my son "D" a year before we came to the States.

My kids are 9 years apart but it worked out pretty well because they never had those big fights that siblings do (I know I did) because Karina always looked out for her brother like he was her own kid and until this day they’re the closest siblings I know.The thing that I’m most proud of, in life, is my kids (like every other mother of course).

My Father lives with us since my Mother passed away 8 years ago from cancer.
But this is a whole other story that I’m not going to get into right now.
I have to leave something for another blog, don’t you think?
I hope I didn’t bore you too much and once again thanks for coming to read my blog. I’m enjoying having all of you in my life and if you need anything from this poor soul I’m here for you.

(my father and older brother)

Once again, thank for visiting and I'll keep you posted. hopefully more often now.

Message in a Bottle Meme

2008-04-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Julia for the Message in a Bottle Meme.

Here are the rules: You are about to send a virtual Message In a Bottle across the Blog Ocean. Leave a message in the sand or on the bottle. Write anything you wish. Be a pirate or a poet. Serious or silly. Anonymous or not.
What message would you like to send out to the universe?

Here's mine:

Go here for the rules.

Tag five people. I tag:
Karina
Pamela
Storyteller
Chrisb
RDH Mom

Fun Monday

2008-04-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

This Week's Fun Monday is being hosted by Tales of a Southern Doll

What have you done in your life that was worth doing? I want to know the moments in your life that you hope will be the ones to pass through your mind when your time comes. I hope that doesn't sound too morbid. This doesn't necessarily have to be items you have checked off your Bucket List, it can be those small moments that made you smile, or the time you got that huge promotion you deserved, or the first time your baby smiled at you out of pure joy. I want to know all the moments, big and small, that make life sweet! If you don't already have a running list of these in your mind, you should! These moments help you remember how much your life is worth living, and we all deserve to enjoy it.

I wasn't going to do the Fun Monday today, but then I decided to just share the best times of my life by pictures, and that's what I'm doing.

But first I have to share something that I saw on a calendar and realy liked

Life is a building. It rises slowly, day by day, through the years. Every new lesson we learn lays a block on the edifice which is rising silently within us. Every experience, every touch of another life on ours, every influence that impresses us, every book we read, every conversation we have, every act of our commonest days adds to the invisible building.- J. R. Miller

Besides the birth of my kids, the best moments of my life were: My weding day and my kids baptism, so there you go.

And also, more recently, 4 years ago, I finaly acomplish a dream that I had since I was a kid.

Swiming with Dolfins.

Have a Happy Fun Monday.

2008-04-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Nekked Lizard are the hosts for the April 14th Fun Monday. They're calling it THE DOUBLE NICKEL 5&5 FUN MONDAY Challenge. The rules are simple FIVE PICTURES - FIVE WORDS PER PICTURE.Any 5 (FIVE) pictures, any subject, and any 5 (FIVE) words to describe and/or explain each picture. CAN YOU DO IT???

I’ll start by telling you what's the subject for my pictures.
And I’ll start with 5 words.

1. Five 2. Most 3. Important 4. Things 5. In-life

1 God is always number One

2 Family is my first priority

3 Health is key to Happiness.

4 Laugher keeps the Doctor away

5 Money is needed to Survive

2008-04-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

This week's Fun Monday is being hosted at Jo Beaufoix.

I want to know about your first ‘celebrity’ crush. You know, the one you fancied from that band, or that film, or who read the news, or who won Gold at the Olympics. .Did you have their pictures on your wall or in your locker? Did you dress like them, style or color your hair like them, follow them, meet them, marry them? (It could happen.)Photos of THEM would be good, photos of YOU at the time you liked them would be even better. also, if you have time, I’d like to know whether they had any influence over your life, the person you became, or if they were just an embarrassing blip you would kind of rather forget about.
My first celebrity crush is someone that I doubt any of you know.
I grew up in Africa, and Portugal and we listened to a lot of European music not so much American music, so my crush is French.

First of all, I loved his music.
I had my entire bedroom plastered with photos of him.
I thought he was dreamy.
I had a magazine photo of him posted on my mirror. I kissed it every night before I went to bed. I bought every magazine that featured him.

Even though that long ago crush is something I usually file deep, deep in my “guilty secrets” file, I’ll never forget how special those times were.

His name is Johnny Hallyday.

He got married with Sylvie Vartan

Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan

2008-04-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

This is how I’ve been feeling lately.

With Karina about to lose her job, Little D looking for one, drama at my work etc, etc.
Thank God that I’m a very positive person and I believe that everything happens for a reason. And better days will come.

So this Saturday morning my hubby decided to make fresh bread for us. (very thoughtful and kind of his part.).

But I had to share the results that made me laugh so hard that my belly still hurts.

There you go.

Happy Saturday.

2008-04-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

Just another day

Today I wasn’t feeling well and left work earlier. Got home changed into comfortable clothes, took some medicine and lied down on the sofa. Diamond came to lie down next to me and less than a half an hour later we were both asleep. It’s about 4:00 pm now and I’m feeling a lot better. Came to the computer started reading some stories and got to candidkarina…
Cried like a baby and after, decided to blog for a little bit – as I said before I’m not much of a writer, (karina got all the talent leaving none for me. he.. he..) but I do enjoy writing and I enjoy reading even more.
I want to share with all of you, that I’m having a blast bloging and I already met nice people that I think I’m going to become very good friends with. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for taking the time to check out my blog and supporting me on my first steps into the "blogosphere". (see I’m learning)
I promise that I will tell a little more about me soon, but for now I just want to clarify some things that Karina wasn’t sure about.
I was ten when I moved to Luanda with my parents, brother and sister.(same age karina was when we moved here to the States).
My husband went there for the army, he was 20, but his sister already lived there and that’s why he stayed after he was out of the army.

Now I’m leaving you with something that I think is very interesting.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR

WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT

...A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to Leave the examination room and said:

Doctor, I am afraid to die...

Tell me what lies on the other side.

" Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't k now."

"You don't know?

You, a Christian man, Do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door;

On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,

And as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room

And leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said,

"Did you notice my dog?

He's never been in this room before.

He didn't know what was inside.

He knew nothing except that his master was here,

And when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.

I know little of what is on the other side of death,

But I do know one thing...

I know my Master is there and that is enough."

2008-04-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Britney Spears and American Idol's Sanjaya Malakar

Britney Spears and Sanjaya Malakar from American Idol married in a secret wedding today. At the Little Chapel in Las Vegas the two tied the knot with two of the Idol judges in attendance.
Apparently Simon Cowell, who has had a crush on Britney for years, bailed from attending at the last moment. Britney and Sanjaya because attracted to one another when other industry insiders decided their vocal talent was exactly the same and paired the two together in a fantasy tabloid dating game.
The lovely couple has decided that all of their children will also be named Sanjaya and they will all grow up to have drug dependency problems as well.

Oh well. It would be interesting if it was true.

Happy April Fool's Day

Fun Monday #1 - Quotes

2008-03-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog, I've only been blogging for a week, and am excited to join Fun Monday. My daughter Candid Karina and Mscellania said this was a good way to get to know all of you.

This week's Fun Monday is being hosted at Pensieve. The assignment is to: please share words that inspire and motivate you--brief or bloviatory, silly or serious, from great world leaders to last night's Comedy Central...from a Hallmark greeting card to your favorite book. Choose one, choose many; let the quotes stand on their own or tell where you first read or heard them and how they affected you. There's a lot of leeway with how this topic can be handled.

I believe that if I have an optimist attitude through life I will be happier, so will the ones around me. This is why I picked OPTIMISM as my inspired word.

There may be days when I get up in the morning and things aren’t the way I had hoped they would be. That’s when I have to tell myself that things will get better. There are times when people disappoint me and let me down, but those are the times that I have to remind myself to trust my own judgments and opinions, to keep my life focused on believing in myself and all the ones that I’m surrounded of. There will be challenges to face and changes to make in my life and it is up to me to accept them. Constantly keep focus in the right direction. It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle I will find myself stronger than ever.

OPTIMISM

Our rewards in life always be in direct ratio to our service. ~ Earl Nightingale

Play while you play, work while you work. One thing each time, this is the way all that you do, whith your might; things done by halves are not done right. ~ Author Unknown

The journey of a thowsand miles begins with one step. ~ Loa Tsze

Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~ Albert Einstein

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness. ~ Dalai Lama

If there is any kindness I can show, or any good things I can do to any of my fellow being, let me do it now, and not later or nobody shall pass this way again. ~William Penn

Smile when you want to, cry when you need to. Laugh whenever possible! ~ Author Unknown

Make a carrier of humanity, and you will make a greater person of yourself. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am me. In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine. Because I chose it I own everything about me. My body, my filings, my mouth, my voice, all my action, my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears. I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.
However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and fill at any given moment in time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought and felt turn out to be different from what I expected, I’ll discard what I don’t want, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I am me and I’m ok!…

Now I live you with a joke, this is Fun Monday after all.

Ode To A Mammogram

For year’s years they told me,
"Be careful of your breasts.
Don't ever squeeze or bruise them,
And give them monthly tests."
So I heeded all their warnings
And protected them by law...
Guarded them very carefully,
And always wore a bra.
After 30 years of careful care,
The Doctor found a lump,
He ordered up a Mammogram
To look inside that clump.
"Stand up very close," she said,
as she got my tit in line,
"And tell me when it hurts," she said,
Ah yes!There! Thats just fine."
She stepped upon a pedal...
I could not believe my eyes!
A plastic plate was pressing down...
My Boob was in a vice!!
My skin was stretched'n stretched
From way up by my chin,
And my poor tit was being squashed
To Swedish pancake thin!!
Excruciating pain I felt,
Within its vice-like grip,
A prisoner in this vicious thing,
My poor defenseless tit!
"Take a deep breath," she said to me.
Who does she think she's kidding?
My chest is smashed in her machine,
I can't breathe and woozy I am getting.
"There, that was good," I heard her say
As the room was slowly swaying,
"Now lets get the other one,"
"Lord, have mercy," I was praying.
It squeezed me from the up and down,
It squeezed me from both sides,
I'll bet she's never had this done
to her tender little hide!
If I had no problem when I came in,
I surely have one now...
If there had been a cyst in there,
It would have popped-Ker-Pow!!
This machine was made by man,
Of this I have no doubt...
I'd like to get his balls in there,
For months he'd go "WITHOUT"!!

Not a Sunset.

2008-03-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

You look at this pictures and you may say: What a beautiful Sunset!…

Oh, well guess what? It’s not, it’s actually a Sunrise.

I took these pictures on my way to work yesterday. It was exactly 6:45 am.

Isn’t that amazing? I tough it was.

I’m sorry I’m not a big writer, but with time you will get to know me and hopefully you’ll understand my history.

Now I live you with a poem that I read on this web site called: Home with God

Every sunrise is a present,

A gift from God above,

Gift-wrapped with scarlet ribbons,

Tied with bows of love.

Each day's a new beginning,

A time to start anew,

While all the stars are sleeping,

The rose is fresh with dew.

Each day's a new creation,

Too lovely to ignore,

We may find a blessing,

Just outside our door.

We cannot keep the past,

Like fireflies in a jar;

Nor journey to the future,

By wishing on a star.

Every sunrise is a blessing,

A gift for just today,

Rejoice my friend,

Embrace it before it fades away!

Author Unknown

Scripture
This is the day which the Lord hath made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 KJV

2008-03-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today I will share with you part of my family. I Hope you enjoy.

PETS

Hi, my name is Luanda (on the left) and i'm 7 years old (looking pretty good for my age, don't you think?) and this is my new friend Diamond.

When she first arrived at home, 6 months ago I didn't like the idea of sharing my family love with anyone else, but as the time went by i realized that nothing changed, that i still had the same attention and a friend to play with.

She likes to lick my face but i don't mind because i love attention

Sometimes i get a little tired because she's full of energy and never stops, she disturbs my naps.

She is young and crazy she runs after me like a full, but when i don't want to play i just go to a high place were she can't get me and finaly she decides to live me alone.

Do you believe that she even likes snow? (See next pitcture)

i don't it's cold and wet and i don't like water as it is, never mind freezing cold water.

It was nice chatting with you.

Love

Luanda

EASTER SUNDAY

2008-03-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Story of Easter

Easter is a time of springtime festivals. In Christian countries Easter is celebrated as the religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But the celebrations of Easter have many customs and legends that are pagan in origin and have nothing to do with Christianity.

Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter.

Come back soon.

Welcome to my garden

2008-03-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Spring has just begun, so my blog is in the growing process along with all the new buds in nature. Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Rose, you may have previously heard about me from Candid Karina. I am her Candid Mama, and after hearing her talk nonstop about blogging, and her bloggy friends, and the blogosphere and a bunch of other blog stuff, I decided I wanted to give it a try as well.

I'm looking forward to exploring this world, and getting to know all the wonderful people she's always telling me about.

My goal with this blog is simply to experience something new, and possibly meet some friendly folks in the process. This is going to be a challenge for me (because I'm not a technical person), but I'm always up for new challenges.

So, as we go along, I hope you'll come back to take a stroll through my garden and help me to make it grow.