Bliss

BLISS, (n.) Orig., blithesomeness; gladness; now, the highest degree of happiness; blessedness; exalted felicity; heavenly joy.

FLORES-PULANCO FAMILY
February 2011



See how serious we are?


This is my family with Papa's parents.
Kuya Jay-r, my sister's husband, Ate Monica, Me, Kuya Tutuz.
Essel, Papa, Tatay, Nanay and Mama.


Papa's girls.
I hate to admit this, but Mama looks so young.


Other pictures.

Blessed to be part of this family, Rica Gran

Ohana!

"Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."
- Lilo & Stitch (2002)

A simple and humble man who had extravagant dreams for his family.


It is for your unconditional love that we were able to feel loved.


A gift to this family. A blessing in disguise. An angel sent from heaven.


Thank you for the lessons and kind words. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being our Lolo.


You are my grand riches, Honesto L. Romero.

P.S. Say hi to Jesus for me.
"Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.
Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.
The body is put back in the same ground it came from.
The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it."
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7

Forever in my heart, Rica Gran

Love

"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated. It is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoings but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

A passage from the Bible that has never failed to touch the hearts of many. It describes how a perfect love should be. Used as one of the readings during weddings, I too had my own share of attachment to this verse.

~*~
When I had my 18th birthday, I gave around 100 teddy bears to my guests and named each bear myself. Attached to a bear were 2 small cards:

First card: Rica Flores' 18th Birthday, September 15, 2007 Valle Verde VI Clubhouse ~*~ Thank you for adopting me. My name is Lutfi (name) which means Sweet (meaning).
Second card: "Love BEARS all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, Love never fails." 1 Corinthian 13:7-8

HINT: Notice the word in bold to get what I mean.
~*~

After all that had happened to me for the past eight months, it took me forever to open my bible again. Just the thought of unzipping its leather cover made me nervous. I knew that when I see the tabs I made on my favorite verses, memories both good and bad will be revived again.

I loved this passage ever since I first read it. I fell in love with it and has always deemed it as the perfect love I wanted to have and give. I thought I was ready to give it already. A letter I received 801 days ago, has never left pages 1296 and 1297 ever since. Though I did not read the letter, I found myself reading the passage again and again and again til tears flowed through my eyes. As I was reading through it, I changed all Love and it to a person's name.First was Jesus, then Papa, then Mama, then my siblings. I continued by changing it with my friends' names, my support group, him and finally Rica.

Changing it to Rica was difficult, for I know, I am not any of the traits mentioned. But I tried reading it again with my name. It never changed the fact but this time I felt empowered. I know I have failed in doing these things, yet now I am even more determined to live by it. I know little by little God will help me.

I thought that perfect love is something that does not or should not hurt, but I was wrong.Love is never perfect. It also entails pain. It is in loving that we actually feel pain. One hurts because he/she has truly loved. But it does not end there. It is also in pain that you find love amidst everything. A Love far greater and beyond all human love. A love that is overwhelming you can't seem to escape. A love that does not demand anything in return. A love that is perfect.

"Let me love you this time around." - God

You are more than enough for me, Lord.

Loved

Have you ever felt so embarrassed and ashamed to the point that the only thing you want to do is to just disappear? And any form of goodness is something you cannot bear accepting. Yet despite this feeling of unworthiness, you still find yourself in the midst of the people who continue to love you.

This is what I'm experiencing right now, an unconditional love that is too surreal to believe.

I acknowledge that I am only human. Causing people pain was, is and will never be my intention because I, for one, have experienced getting hurt. But as much as I try not to hurt or disappoint anyone, I always end up doing so. Just the mere thought of being found out scares me. What if they won't understand and instead despise me even more? Thus, my way of coping is to just keep it to myself than to hurt other people. And the fact that I hurt people cause me greater pain especially if they are those people who I really love.

A guilty and regretful heart is never enough to compensate for all the wrongdoing. And if Karma's revenge is to let me feel double the pain, there is nothing I can do but to concede to it. Even if my mind wants to fight back, I just hold back and do nothing. This, in a way, is how I thought would fix things.

But I underestimate that unconditional love my God has for me. Friends and family never left my side. Disappointed? Yes. But despite the fact that I've hurt them, I cannot understand why they continue to love and care for someone like me. As I continue to deny them thinking that I don't deserve any of that love they're giving me, the more these people show in their small gestures that I am forgiven and will never be alone. They saw me at my worst. Home visits and phone calls were a regular thing, just to make sure I was okay. They took me to places where the only things which overflowed were laughter and good food. Simple notes, prayers and text messages to remind me that everything is going to be fine. All of these things made me realize how blessed I really am. I was preoccupied with myself that I have already forgotten all about these wonderful things.

"Find in your heart to forgive yourself." This was a big challenge to me. I was too hard on myself, but by doing this I somehow disregard the feelings of those people who never left my side. It was a time for me to let go and continue with my life. This is what I am doing right now. Little by little, I am releasing myself from all the hurts. A the same time, I receive with arms wide open all the love and support I can get from my family and friends.

I feel blessed to have my family and friends. I have a family who loves and cares for me, who listens to what I say and don't want to say, and who is willing to fight for me even if I did not ask anything from them. I have my friends who know what my strengths and weaknesses are, who give me a good dose of both love and tough love,who know the difference between enough and too much, and who are smart enough to know what is right from not.

To all these amazing people,
Please forgive me for all the pain I caused you and for taking you for granted.
Thank you for the love and care that you unconditionally gave me.
Bear in mind that I'm here for you as well, and I love you.

When was the last time you felt loved?

in-love ~ Rica Gran

P.S. I, personally, hate fights. Think whatever you want, but I seriously never wished anyone terrible. Nor did I wish anyone to experience what I've been going through. And if you happen to find yourself in the same situation sooner or later, find strength in God and the people you love. I hope you have an amazing and wonderful family and friends like mine. :D

Project 04

I would have to say that this week was a week overflowing with love. :)

Kythe Week

I promoted this here in my blog before. And i have to say that this project was a success. The event was held at the Colayco Pavillion. It had 4 booths. The photo competition booth gave free Hansels to those who voted. They also had a free photobooth. I love the placards and Kapitan Kimo. Written on the placards were "I cancervive.", "I dream of a world where Cancer is just a zodiac sign." and "Cancel Cancer." The third booth, where I spent most of my spare time, was called the Toy Workshop. Here, we made drums, maracas and toy cars to be given out to the Kythe kids. And the last booth was the blood drive booth. I'm so happy that I got Mico to donate blood (it was his first time.) and participate in the activities. He's lucky because the Kythe Week team were giving away a set of coloredpens to those who were able to go through all the booths. I wonder if he gave it to Berna. :D

Mico's "kumakandidato" pose. Good job Mr. Lifesaver.

Kythe Picnic
I can honestly say that I enjoyed our picnic. Everyone was willing to participate in the games. Angelo's chinese garter exhibition would have to be one of the highlights of that event. I also enjoyed the jamming sessions. I'm in love with Janelle's sweet voice. hihihi. One of the songs sung during the event was a song that has a special place in my heart, it was sung during the invocation.



Kythe Flying

I wasn't able to help during the set up since I had recollection that morning. But by 1:00pm, everything was already fixed and we were just waiting for the kids to come. We commenced the event with a Eucharistic celebration. Everyone was filled with the yummy Binalot (except for me and Adrianna). There were also free ice cream and cotton candy. The kids enjoyed the skit prepared by Kythe members. The parents were also able to relax and enjoy, thanks to the free massage by the blind people.

UBE Firetruck was there to give everyone a ride around the Belfield.

Not to mention, Marc Nelson came! Everyone wants to be close to him.

with Adrianna, and cute boy John Cena.

Congrats Mia and Angelo!

I salute your core team as well! You guys were amazing. :D

Immersion Recollection
I kept all of these in my heart.

• "We all have a share of poverty in our lives. We're just scared to admit it." - Recollection Master on poverty

• "The call for us is not only to step out of our comfort zone but to expand the territories of our comfort zone." - Ma'am Rina on our immersion experience

• "There are two types of love. The first kind of love is you love because you derive happiness in that person. The second kind of love is benevolence. You give love because you want to and you give it without asking for anything in return."; "Ask the Lord to give you the grace to forgive them." - Father on love and forgiveness

Send-off Dinner
Baby Eli will be leaving us sooner than we thought. But before their whole family leaves for the states, we gave a send-off dinner at Zhu, Fort Bonifacio. We also went to Venetian Mall at Mckinley Hill. Sayang, we weren't complete. Nevertheless, every moment spent with them is priceless.

First Draft
We were able to pass it on time! Good job to us Annie.

St. Scholastica LSS#16
I read the second reading for that day. Overrated but still one of my favorite readings.

1 Corinthians 13

loved ~ Rica Gran

Project 02

Week 2 wasn't as crazy as my first week. I had a handful but manageable things-to-do under my checklist for this week. Thank God. Though I wasn't spared from all the drama, at least I got a healthy dose of it. I smiled more that I cried. Yey!!!

Thesis and my Thesis Partner
We have less that two weeks to finish our first draft and our Chapter 3-5 is still non-existent. Miracles do happen, right? Will get through this, I just know.

Photobooth with Annie

This is Annie, one of my best girl pals and my thesis partner. It's actually good to have a partner (who's different from you) to balance out everything that is unstable about you.
I talk a lot, she talks a lot more (kidding). She's very pretty... wait, I'm pretty as well. :P I'm unorganized and a certified crammer, she's little miss OC who also crams like me! With all these differences we have, one thing's definite, I super duper love her.
My aunt posted this on her FB account, "A good antidote to denial is to go to a safe and truthful friend who knows your situation."
Thank you for being my reality-checker and for just always being there for me. Thank you also for going to NSO the other day to collect data for our thesis. I love you supergirl!

Family
It's been a while since I last ate dinner together with my parents. I always eat alone. It was never an issue on my part since I know that we all have things to do on our own. However, I do look forward to eating dinner with the whole family. And just last Thursday night, after shopping for the January 23 party, Mama asked Papa to treat us to dinner. I can't recall the stories why we were all laughing hard. What I do know is that I'm really happy I got to spend quality time with them. I love you Mama and Papa! Let's do this more often, please. :)

Thank you Mama Gel for praying for me. I know that you never stopped caring especially when you heard about the news. I really appreciate it. Stay pretty and I love you!

Mama Gel, me and Mama Risa

Unisan
- FGDs are draining.
- My foster family is really nice.
- Walking along the beach is fun when low tide.
- I now know how to throw stones on water.
- I'm learning to appreciate long bus trips - escapism.
- I shall go back to Unisan, alone! If you want to come, just tell me. :D

Friends
I started accepting all the love I can get from my friends who sincerely love me. Sorry for pushing you away and thank you for just being there for me. :)

To you (whoever you are), I rarely fight back when people do me wrong. But it's different when you start attacking my friends. I used to care about you, but not anymore. Get a life!


Waiting for a miracle ~ Rica Gran

PROJECT 52 on 2010

For 2010, I plan to work on a project which I shall call Project 52! So what’s with 52? Well, there are 52 weeks in a year. Through this project, I intend to share to you the highlight(s) of my 52 weeks for this year. I just pray that I may be committed to finish this project.

In case I fail? Uhmm… I don’t want to think about it.

~*~

PROJECT 01

Under my checklist for this week are the following: Oral exam, Praxis Group work, Philo Long Test, Thesis Data Gathering, AEA YES report preparation, Kythe Week bags and Jan23 preparation. What made this week unbelievably tiring and difficult for me is that I have to be always attentive and alert so that I could finish everything on time. Now that was the challenge! How could I be attentive if my mind is filled with so many questions and things?!?

Ending results: (1) My body clock is suddenly distorted. I sleep at 3 and automatically wake up at 7am (even if class starts at 12). (2) My stomach rejects to eat more than half of my regular intake. Or else... (3) Puffy eyes. Boo!

But what the heck,I'm still alive and almost done with my checklist. Yey!!!

To my family who’s always on call whenever I’m alone at home and need them, thank you for all the small talks about big matters that we had. I learned a lot from you.

To my two best girl pals, thank you for keeping me sane. You're simply the best. I don’t want to lose you. (PS. Oo na, you like each other. Kayo na ang friends.)

To you(many people), thank you for being there for me.You guys bring tears to my eyes.

To you(single person), do I really deserve to be your friend? Sana nga. Thank you for just wanting to take care of me. You make me smile.

To You, thank You for making me feel loved through these people. Please continue making miracles in their lives. You truly never fail me.

~*~
PHOTO OF THE WEEK

I shall miss you Massoud. Visit us again on July!

PS. Stop putting things inside your mouth and don't forget to give Z a bath.

~*~

We will rock January 23, 2010.

I’m blessed to have my family. Yes, my family’s imperfect (as seen in our unsynchronized dance steps) but still is the best for me.

Dancing shoes on~Rica Gran