Trying to be a bit ‘spooky’, thanks to a great suggestion from Ailsa, from “where’s my backpack”, here is our idea of gradually spooking our lives up… This year we’ll likely break a record: between Halloween-themed birthday parties, to school fairs and friends get-togethers, we’ll reach over 10 “Spooky Events’ this season”!
A hungry ‘Cereal Killer’ looking for new victims! 😮
Trying to be a bit ‘spooky’, thanks to a great suggestion from Ailsa, from “where’s my backpack”, here is our idea of gradually trying to spook our lives up… This year we’ll likely break a record: between Halloween-themed birthday parties, work celebrations, to school fairs, early trick-or-treats and friends’ get-togethers, we’d have achieved some ten “Spooky Events’ this season”! And we’re still a few days away from the actual Halloween Evening… Imagine! 😮
A hungry ‘Cereal Killer’ looking for new victims! 😮
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[Backstory] Slowly… re-visiting past Halloween ideas… our super-excited kids helping decorate the house for the upcoming holidays, and for birthday parties (I’ve got an October boy, and a birthday girl in November, so go figure all the preps – but we all love it!) Every other year, the Lima Miranda family used to add another “little pumpkin” to our collection. Not happening this time. In fact, we’ve really got a ‘full house’, with 2 kings and 3 queens. We’re good, trust me. Now, it’s just watch them grow, and enjoy! This year will be César’s eighth, Marcela’s fifth & Maria Cecilia’s second Halloween experiences… and, three little pumpkins (all pictured here!) is a good (and sufficient!) number, bringing endless joy to our ‘pumpkin farm’! 😮
So, yesterday, hubby and I celebrated our ninth anniversary… A week day, kids got school the following morning… work, as usual. We found a nice way to share our joy with a close group of friends here in La Paz – at a bowling alley! And, I had to live for 40 years to have my first encounter with a bowling ball! It was a lot of fun!!
So, yesterday, hubby and I celebrated our 9th anniversary… A week night, kids got school the following morning… everyone gotta go to work, as usual – so the night couldn’t be wild. We found a nice way to share our joy with a close group of friends here in La Paz – at a bowling alley! And, I had to wait for 40 years to have my FIRST encounter with a bowling ball! It was a lot of fun, followed by tasty spicy wings!!
It took me a little while to find my “Mr Right”… in fact, I had almost given up trying, when suddenly, he showed up – the perfect balance for my “high-demanding” – “need-to-be-in-control” – “almost-annoying” personality… And he was the right one. I felt like he’d been “designed” to be my partner for life. Marriage, for the ones who’re experiencing, is definitely not an easy road. It’s bumpy. It’s curvy. It’s risky. No married life is picture-perfect, but ours is worth every second.
It’s been an amazing journey, filled with love, joy, easy and difficult times, challenges, victories and children – more precisely, three of them.
We’re heading to our first decade as a married couple. October has become a great month for celebrations among the Miranda Family. Today, the Miranda-Lima couple celebrates nine years of married life. Over 3,000 days, moved 7 times since we got married, having lived in 3 different continents, raising 3 children, 3 languages spoken throughout our house…
If you like multiples of 3, this is the right place! [Just kidding, but, gotta remind everyone: 3 x 3 equals…. Nine!]
It took me a little while to find my “Mr Right“… in fact, I had almost given up trying, when suddenly, he showed up – the perfect balance for my “high-demanding” – “need-to-be-in-control” – “almost-annoying” personality… I felt like he’d been “designed” to be my partner for life. Marriage, for the ones who’re experiencing, is definitely not an easy road. It’s bumpy. It’s curvy. It’s risky. No married life is picture-perfect, but ours is worth every second.
It’s been an amazing journey, filled with love, joy, easy and difficult times, challenges, victories and children – more precisely, three of them. We’ve enjoyed life together: we’ve already accumulated over a decade of Christmases and New Year’s Eves…
Every discussion or argument is a reason for reconciliation. And an opportunity to get to know the other person, a bit more, a bit deeper. One never stops learning. You learn as you go. You learn with your mistakes.
You learn by watching, observing, remaining silent, and by letting your thoughts out… [sometimes, not as nicely as you’d expect to do, but, hey, that’s real life, right?].
Nine years ago, we said:
“I Do“…
It was during a beautiful Autumn day in New Mexico, surrounded by close friends and family, gifted by the harmonious mountains in the background, and obviously, greeted by the happy tune of Mariachis… 😮
Right now, we’re happily living surrounded by volcanic mountains, in ‘breathless La Paz‘, Bolivia, our newest assignment with the foreign service. We’ve lived together and apart; we’ve cried, laughed, we’ve been ‘med-evac-ed’, we’ve been in and out hospitals, we’ve learned from life. We’re growing old together, and we’re very grateful for all we’ve received from life – the good, the bad, the incredible.
Obviously, I’m the Queen of Hearts, here! 😮
Cheers to a loving couple, raising three kids, in this crazy world! 😮
Now, let’s get ready to celebrate the first decade now!
And, where are we right now? For the curious ones, life is simple, it’s normal (??), it’s common… we’re intensely living the ‘real life’: the one you jump from bed get up in the morning screaming and rush to get the kids ready for school, before leaving for work. The life where we’re the ‘lunch bag’ fairy, the ‘grocery fairy‘, the ‘laundry fairy’, the homework helper. We’re being real… and we’re very stressed out thankful! ♥
We’re right here, living the real life! The original two have become five. Life’s still good. Love never fails…
Ailsa, from “Where’s my Backpack?” brought this week’s suggestion: “It’s getting all autumnal up here in the northern hemisphere, while down in the southern hemisphere everyone’s looking forward to spring. Whichever hemisphere you inhabit, now is a fantastic time to get out and have a look at what the trees are doing. Whether they’re about to burst into life with fresh green growth, or starting to adorn themselves in their autumn glory; even if they’re still wearing their evergreen needles, it’s a wonderful time to go leaf peeping!”
For us, Spring just started. But we’re in La Paz, Bolivia, so, the colors, the textures, the feelings, very much bring us back to Fall – what a fantastic experience!
Ailsa, from “Where’s my Backpack?” brought this week’s suggestion: “It’s getting all autumnal up here in the northern hemisphere, while down in the southern hemisphere everyone’s looking forward to spring. Whichever hemisphere you inhabit, now is a fantastic time to get out and have a look at what the trees are doing. Whether they’re about to burst into life with fresh green growth, or starting to adorn themselves in their autumn glory; even if they’re still wearing their evergreen needles, it’s a wonderful time to go leaf peeping!”
For us, Spring just started. But we’re in La Paz, Bolivia, so, the colors, the textures, the feelings, very much bring us back to Autumn – what a fantastic experience! Sharing here, images from a local park in La Paz, from a road trip to Mecapaca or simply, a snapshot from my front yard. Enjoy!
According to Ailsa, from “Where’s my Backpack?” “Red is a terribly versatile colour. It can indicate both anger and love; danger and celebration. You can paint the town red, roll out the red carpet or have a red letter day. I’ve been seeing red recently – southern Utah will do that to you. Everywhere you look there is red rock and red sand. There are even red mountain ranges. Here are a few of the red landscapes that caught my eye.”
Traveling is also made of colors… Let’s see what ‘kinds’ of “RED” we’re able to come up with, for this week’s travel theme…
Red sunset, at the Kruger Park, South Africa.Red Double-Decker, Oxford, England.Red “Happy Birthday” in Portuguese!Red candles at an Indonesian Temple.Door to a Dutch Fort in NE Brazil.Art Fair in La Paz, Bolivia“Kids in Red”, Delaware, USA.
Ailsa, from “Where’s my Backpack?” asked this week’s question: “Are you ready to show off your curves?” Sometimes, the best way to see and ‘feel the curves’ while traveling, is not actually by road… what about by plane? Definitely, a different experience!
“Curving over’ the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, South AmericaMy appreciation to Where’s my backpack? for the inspiration! 😮
SILHOUETTE. The proper definition of a silhouette is “the outline of a body viewed as circumscribing a mass.” In photography, often we achieve that effect by putting light behind the object whose silhouette we want to capture, effectively darkening out the features of the subject instead of highlighting them – according to this week’s challenge, from the Daily Post, in Wordpress.
According to Ailsa, from “Where’s my Backpack?”: It fascinates me how a silhouette; a two-dimensional outline of a person or object, can suggest a story just as clearly as if you could see the scene in its entirety. Perhaps it makes our imagination work overtime, trying to fill in the details we cannot see.”
SILHOUETTE. The proper definition of a silhouette is “the outline of a body viewed as circumscribing a mass.” In photography, often we achieve that effect by putting light behind the object whose silhouette we want to capture, effectively darkening out the features of the subject instead of highlighting them – according to this week’s challenge, from the Daily Post, in WordPress.
According to Ailsa, from “Where’s my Backpack?”: It fascinates me how a silhouette; a two-dimensional outline of a person or object, can suggest a story just as clearly as if you could see the scene in its entirety. Perhaps it makes our imagination work overtime, trying to fill in the details we cannot see.”
Our family arrived at our new assignment less than 3 months ago, as many of you may know by now: 2012 marks the move to our first Spanish speaking post: La Paz, Bolivia. The ‘model’ for this photograph is our oldest son, and adventurous and curious boy, pictured against our view through the backyard. The idea of the ‘unknown’ is, at the same time, scary and intriguing… The silhouette against the beautiful mountain scenario tries to represent that – even though we’re not totally sure about what’s ahead of us, we can still enjoy the little bit of beauty that our eyes are able to catch… we’ll be writing our stories and tales in different ways now… This particular blogpost represents the transition that’s waiting for us – my appreciation to Where’s my backpack? for the inspiration! 😮
Every time we feel sad, lost, or a bit scared of the ‘unknown’, I tend to go find ‘shelter’ and comfort among some of our dear pictures, our memories from previous postings, and this brings me back to a more ‘stable’ self… Anyway, this week’s been bittersweet… Last days of school for our children, a few days left in country… so much to do, people we’d like to see/visit again… so little time… Moving is not easy, and this week, a little ‘less easy than usual’… This blogpost represents the transition that’s waiting for us – my appreciation to Where’s my backpack? for the inspiration! 😮
African Bath
Our family is also getting ready for our new assignment: 2012 marks the move to our first Spanish speaking post: La Paz, Bolivia. Our household will formally have 3 languages… we’ll be writing our stories and tales in different ways now… Hope it’s appreciated… 😮
3rdculturechildren 