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WHY WE STARTED OUR BLOG…

On October 2016, John and I had a marvelous week of love and fun on the open road for our 15th Anniversary. At first we wanted to go to Miami, Florida (actually The Keyes) but the weather conditions were not that great so we changed our plans and instead rented a Ford Fusion and set out up north to see where it would take us. We wanted to search for Fall foliage but it was sort of elusive in 2016, but nonetheless we pursued our intention which took us to discovery of new towns and much joy, as well an enjoying each other’s company. It was actually John’s idea of starting this blog and share our adventures. So welcome to our life. We hope you enjoy our posts.

Hershey 33

 

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Pandas & Pearls

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Belinda & John Blog

In life there are things that have gotten my attention and been a constant in my life. There is something about giant pandas that has attracted me always, something deeper than the cuties they are or seem to be. I really feel as if they are more than my spirit animal. Perhaps when I was a child I did not feel it as strongly as in my teens and there forward. And I think I projected this affinity strongly when I wrote my first paper for my Human Relations class in college. My professor asked us to write an essay about an animal we felt resembled us more closely. I think I emulated the giant panda, not the other way around. How could that be? My professor seemed amazed and enthralled at my way of explaining why I chose the panda as my equal. He even brought his family to class and they all had chosen my paper as the one. Yes, from the outside and like everybody else does, I find them cute and cuddly, and even charismatic, but as you get to know more about them you grasp how they represent gentleness and strength at the same time. They are fierce, playful, noble and courageous. In the Eastern culture, the giant panda is symbol of peace and harmonious resolution of conflict.  Under its soft and fuzzy appearance, it shows the importance of strong personal boundaries to feel safe and grounded in life. The message of wisdom of the panda also emphasizes the importance of feeling at ease with ourselves, whether we are alone or with other people. When John came to my life he understood and related as he has affinity with wild cats himself. It is as if we were meant to meet at this exact time and comprehend our minds without question. We are fortunate. He gets me as I get him.

On the other side I have always liked pearls. I think the white ones are beautiful but I am also attracted to the gold and also the pink ones… but wait, what about the gray ones? I am mesmerized by those although they say their meaning is not that great. I personally don’t pay attention to that. But did you know that pearls are the only jewels created by a living animal? A natural pearl of value is found in less than 1 in every 10,000 wild oysters. I like to think that I John and I are like a pearl…

The more I found out about pearls, the more I liked them. Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a potentially threatening irritant such as a parasite inside the shell, or an attack from outside that injures the mantle tissue. The mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation. The quality of the nacre dictates the quality of the luster, or shine of the pearl, which is very important to its beauty and its value. So as I learned about pearls I also learned that from irritating circumstances a thing of beauty can be made. What an analogy for our own lives.

John and I have traveled together for 16 years and continue to do so. Not knowing still everything but we maintain very close, not allowing circumstances keep us apart but bring us together. We may not know everything but we do know we care for each other and how to be there for each other. I tend to think that our lives intertwines among pandas and pearls.pearls

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CHRISTMAS, IT’S MAGICAL…

Once again, where did time go? 2017 is almost gone. But we are here, safe and sound. This  is the first year in our 16 years of marriage that we did a Santa Session and it was really fun. Yes, John retaliated but in the end I convinced him to do it. Yes, I offered to pay for brunch after the session and that seemed to do the trick. The pain was in waking up super early since our session was at 8:10 AM or something like that on a Sunday (think the emoticon with the bug eyes.) We don’t have kids so we have not had the experience of waking up really early to take care of no one before, but we did it!

I love Santa and have been captivated by this guy forever, and John simply loves Christmas, one thing we both agree upon and never have had a discussion about. We are subscribed to Christmas and anything Christmas. So there you go, of course we have more photos but we are just sharing these two as proof 🙂 that we committed to the task and we actually enjoyed it very much.

So after leaving Jess DeLaski’s studio we decided to take a couple of other pictures at the only tree we knew was already up at The Villages at Leesburg and we actually loved it. We decided to kiss next to the tree and the security guard was very nice to take the picture for us. Needless to say we were elated.

winter wonderland

Then what? We went to brunch but we had to wait til the restaurant opened because we were up so early nothing was opened yet. I wanted to introduce John to the rooftop at this restaurant in Belmont but it was freezing and windy so we ate downstairs, had a mimosa and a great breakfast. Then we went upstairs (he raced me -I went in the elevator and he ran up the stairs) and he won 😦 but to be fair I had technical difficulties closing the elevator door (it was not an OTIS nor Lucent Technologies – John will get this.)

So this is our life it seems in a hurry but we try to include things we both enjoy. So much more has happened and we will share more real soon. As I sit here writing…  I cannot wait to live the magic of Christmas, the real reason for it, the love, the kindness, the spirit, the light.  John and I are definitely looking forward to our new year with hope. Because hope is the last thing to go and we are holding on to it. How about you? How has this year been going? If we don’t talk again we hope you have a season of splendor and that you feel loved!

 

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Belinda and John or John and Belinda?

Welcome!

Funny things happen when you suddenly begin a blog with your other half. First the name. Belinda and John or John and Belinda? Obviously John wants his name first but I tried to persuade him by explaining that Belinda (alphabetically) comes before the J in John, therefore, “Belinda and John” sounds better. He “sort of” conceded 🙂 But in any event, at this point, it’s too late. The domain has been set-up and “Belinda and John” has arrived to Word Press.

We just came back from a “In Pursuit of Fall Foliage” trip on the East Coast to celebrate our 15th Anniversary. We think it would be an opener to share our trips, our funny experiences, pass on some of our wisdom, great ideas and and some of our mistakes so you won’t make them!

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What else to expect of “Belinda and John?” Anything and everything unexpected about life as we roll, as we see it as we share it and as it is. Humor, Faith, Travel, Family, Marriage, Community, Kindness, Love, Lifestyle and Inspiration. Perhaps we will share a bit of everything mentioned above, and we promise it won’t be boring.

We are just a couple living life as best as we can.

Thank you for joining us. Enjoy the ride!

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This is how we Roll

For some reason we both know we were meant to be together. I write the most here, although this was John’s idea, because he is normally working or checking the news and some videos or sites on his phone LOL. He probably won’t be happy with this comment, but I guess I am more gregarious than he is and make the time. But back to what I said, we were meant to be.

When I met John he said he had had a dream about meeting Belinda and he did not want to scare me away if he shared this. I did not learn this until we were married or about to be married. He said he knew it was me. I believe him. When I met him it was like we were at the same level and at the same time opposites that melded well together. We did have some obstacles, we did not have much experience with being a couple to others so  with faith and perseverance, because we knew we belonged together, we made it through.

In my mind there is no doubt… we hope you enjoy our journey.

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Summer Don’t Go

I know, summer in November? Well we had crazy year so when we took vacations it felt like summer, plus the weather definitely was mild. So here we go…

It seems like it was yesterday we planned to start this blog and then life happened LOL. But we’re baaack!

Last year we were so full of hope and looking forward to doing something together, like this blog which would be fun and light even though life can throw curve balls… but then we did not know what was lurking ahead. So we needed some time off to nurse ourselves back slowly into us, into our lives, as we knew it.

So here we are, back to life in semi slo-mo but not really able to catch up with Summer, and watching it go by in fast forward, so much things we did not get to do (like using my giant yellow duck pool float) and all of a sudden trying to understand that Fall is finally here. Heck no, we refuse to call it Fall yet because we are pretty much still in a Summer mood. So last Friday when Fall season was announced I found a pretty funny meme that explained exactly how perhaps we both felt.

So there you have it. Fall is here, we need to get with the program, soooo… since we could not even do a proper spring-cleaning this year we are preparing for a “much dreaded” fall-cleaning so we can feel renewed and kind of unburden the guilt for not doing it earlier. Yep, wait for our next blog post, we may post a picture or two.

In the meantime, stay out of trouble, we’ll try the same 😉

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Mr. Right and Mrs. Always Right (LOL)

This was a gift from my father-in-law, Ernie. He thought it was funny and what can I tell you (so did we.) My honey is most of the times right but for some reason I feel that so am I. But we are a team, we work together and we get to decisions together. There is no you are right or wrong, although sometimes if our convos get heated up… well you can just imagine. But these mugs have really made us smile more than once. We are thankful for these times. Love is grand!