Saturday, December 27, 2008

2008 Holiday Letter


2008 has been a year of learning and trials for us. The most important thing we learned is to live fully no matter what the situation. It’s been a year of 1st times and life happenings.


Our first times were….

  • January, we participated in the Iowa Caucus. We met many enthusiastic people, who like us participated and volunteered for the 1st time. Our guy did not win, though.
  • August, we camped at Rocky Mountain National Park. Sleeping in the tent was more fun than we thought it would be. No, we did not see any bear (thank God!). Two new terms were coined by Jason -- hybrid camping and bi-time-zonal. Hybrid camping refers to sleeping in the campsite but going to town to hunt for food at the supermarket. Bi-time-zonal because our bodies continues to live in central time but we need to follow mountain time. We learned how to use a pail for a commode because we were too afraid to venture out of our tent at night for fear of bumping into a bear. Starting a fire without lighter fluid was a challenge but can be done. We met nice people from all over; and probably will never see again. Running down the mountain in the middle of a hailstorm during the height of Summer was unexpected. Park rangers confirmed this rare occurrence. We had a lot of fun and we plan to return, someday.
  • November, Loraine voted for the 1st time in the Presidential Election. Next time she will request an absentee ballot due to long lines and somewhat chaotic atmosphere. It was an honor to participate in this historic election.
  • Loraine started a blog in April to practice her writing skill in English. Through her blog, she was able to connect with other Filipino bloggers living in different corners of the world, who shared the same experiences. It became an outlet and means of expressing her thoughts. It is somewhat scary at times to open your life like that..


Life continues…

  • Jason and Loraine continue to work for Mercy; Loraine’s father for WalMart in Ankeny.
  • We met new friends and re-connected with old. November, we attended the wedding of Jacqui and Alex in Clarion where we also re-connected with Fort Dodge people. We visited Susan and Tyler who live in Kansas in December. Susan is Loraine’s schoolmate from high school, as well as neighbor in the Philippines. We had a great time talking about old times as well as catching up with each other’s lives.
  • Jason continues to burn night oil studying for his Accounting degree which he plans to finish someday.
  • Vegetable gardening continues to be a big part of our Spring and Summer. We look forward to expanding our operation next season.
  • The chance of finding someone you know in a crowd is so remote, especially in Des Moines, yet Flora Lea Foster was able to find us, unexpectedly. It happened summer of 2006 at the Farmer’s Market. Then , again this fall at the Des Moines International Food Festival. We hope to unexpectedly see her again next year.

Overall, it’s been a good year for us. Despite the recent economic downturn, we are grateful for all the blessings we received and peacefulness we feel. And we wish the same to you …


Jason and Loraine

2 comments:

coleena said...

Loraine,
just dropping by to say hi....as you can guess, i've been following your blog ever since I discovered it. Praise GOD coz He has given you the strength to be brave enough to start blogging otherwise I will have one less thing to look forward reading about ...:). Thanks for the friendship kahit delayed na...:) keep blogging, you always have something interesting to say, melancholic or not.

All the best in 2009 both for you and your husband!

Anonymous said...

Hi Loraine,
Sounds like you and Jason had great 'first' experiences. You already did a lot more in one summer than I did all year. I hope 2009 brings you both a lot of happiness. Happy New Year!