Happy Memorial Day

We celebrated Memorial Day with a BBQ (hotdogs and hamburgers) and a baseball game. It was tons of fun, the funny thing is we played with a koosh ball...so much easier to hit than a real baseball. It was a beautiful day, the sun popped out and we had no rain, thankgoodness. This game proved how out-of-shape we all were, but we had fun anyway. Matthew was our MVP of the day. He caught three balls in a row and took us out in one swoop, we were on opposite teams, I should've picked him to be on my team, oh well.

Happy Birthday Melina

We missed Melina's birthday because of the tornado, but we were able to celebrate it a few days later. Here she is with her yummy chocolate cheesecake pie.

Here she is with her crazy fiancé Dave

My mother and my niece Victoria

Matthew and his newly cut hair, doesn't he look sexy. LOL

Alma and her big belly. She's having another girl (Rebecca). Victoria is her daughter.

Practice Day

I told my sister Melina that I would do her hair and makeup for her wedding. Hairstyling is something I've always wanted to do, but never saw a good future in it. Anyway I told her I wanted to practice because I didn't want to mess anything up on the day of her wedding. She chose to have all her hair up and just have natural looking makeup. I had so much fun doing it and I think it came out pretty good. Now that I know what I'm doing I'll be able to handle it better on the actual day. I can't believe my little sister is getting married, she looks so beautiful though, I'm so happy for her.

Tornado In Southern California?

Yep, a rare tornado hit our county yesterday. It flipped a semi truck over and derailed a few train carts. We couldn't believe it. Matthew and I brought summer clothes thinking it was gonna be hot down here, but the weather has been acting so crazy. We had flash flood warnings all over our area. I haven't been able to see my parents because of the flooding. Hopefully today will be better. I don't know if this is the first tornado we've had but it sure is the first one since I've lived here, which is pretty much my whole life. Californian's aren't prepared for tornados, nobody has basements down here. The news cast advised to duck into trenches and any low ditch with our hands covering our heads...yeah, I don't think anybody would survive doing that. I feel like I'm back in Puerto Rico with all this rain and crazy winds, please let it stop.

We're Here!

We arrived to California yesterday, our flight was good from Puerto Rico to Atlanta, but from Atlanta to California it was a little bumpy. For some reason everytime we pass over Texas and Oklahoma, we have turbulence, but we're here and it feels so good to be home. Our little niece Naomi greeted us at the airport with my mother-in-law and I couldn't believe how much she has grown, she's already taking little steps. We have a long two weeks ahead of us with the wedding but we're are so excited.

Oh yeah, I want to announce that Matthew passed all his courses!!! We were so worried but now we can breath and really enjoy this mini vacation.

What a long day

Yesterday I had a leadership training meeting and had to teach the YW leaders from our stake, I was already nervous about that, but I also found the courage to donate blood. Our stake here has a blood drive every 6 months or so, and it's always on the days we have these leadership training meetings, but I never dared myself to do it. I'm not afraid of needles, it's just the amount of blood they take that kinda freaks me out. Anyway, luckily I had the gift of tongues that day and my Spanish was pretty good so the meeting went very well. After the meeting was over, all the phlebotomists were out for lunch so we had to wait about an hour for the next round of people to go through. I had only eaten cereal for breakfast and I had to skip lunch cause I wasn't home. Luckily the relief society meeting had fruit and sweet bread so I was able to munch on that before I donated, but apparently that wasn't enough food. First of all when the nurse was finally able to get the needle in, my blood was coming out really slow, so she had to lower the bag to help the blood flow, I was doing pretty good, my bag was full and I was excited to be finished. The nurse then asked me if I was feeling ok and I said yes, she then asked if I was sure because I had lost all color in my face. I was completely pale and a friend was right next to me doing the same thing and she looked at me like I was dying or something. Then I felt it, my head started spinning and the nurse raised my legs and tilted my chair back. She said I needed to cough so the blood would go back to my head. I ended up hurting my throat cause I was coughing so much. They immediatley gave me some liquids and food so I could feel better and regain some energy. I had to lay there for about 15 minutes before I could stand. When I stood up I still felt a little shaky but I shoved as much liquid and food down my throat as I possibly could. It was so embarrassing, I also drove there by myself so my friend Denise had to call her husband so they can follow me home, just in case I started to feel dizzy again. When I got home it felt like I had just ran a race, I was so tired and weak and just crashed on my couch. I think I slept for 2 or 3 hours. I don't know if I ever want to do that again, but I hope this experience is able to save a life.

I'm the Only One

I got this off of a friend's blog and I thought it was so awesome that I'm the only one in the whole U.S. with the name Rosalia Ulibarri. How cool is that? That's thanks to my husband's unique last name. LOL

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Old Beginnings!

My ward, Hato Rey, kept postponing their New Beginnings date for 2 months. It's now May and they finally got it done, so Celia, our second counselor, and I called it Old Beginnings. They had it prepared since March, they just couldn't find time to do it. We attended last night and it was very nice, the girls each chose a prominent woman in the scriptures and talked about their life according to each value. Here are some pictures.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

It's been a long, crazy journey, but we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Matthew is taking his last finals this week and next week. On May 19th, he's done with school forever! Then he starts his internships and externships. I can't believe how far we've come along. But despite the difficulties and struggles, I'm glad that I had the opportunity to share these experiences with him. I don't think I would appreciate his career as much if I would have met him after his studies. I am so proud of my Matthew, he's had a lot of discouragements, but he kept pushing himself and just moved forward. I know that what he is doing will benefit our entire family, and our futures will be better because of him. Thank you love, YOU ARE THE BEST!
Matthew and his classmate Rudi, studying their hearts out for one last time

Old San Juan

This weekend Matthew and I spent our Saturday at Old San Juan. Once in a while artisans from all over Latin America come to Puerto Rico to show unique crafts and other hand made things from their country.

We found a kiosk from Argentina with a bunch of hand crafted instruments. Matthew was immediately drawn to it, he collects insturments from all over the world.

This is a puertorican playing some kind of puertorican drum.


Matthew and I sat on this empty water fountain while the guy serenaded us.

We thought it was kind of random and out of place but one of the kiosks was selling these cute little hand puppets. As soon as I saw this little bee I had to buy it for my niece Naomi.

After seeing all the posts, we headed up the alleys to see the shops. This is Old San Juan, I love the colorful old buildings.

As we were walking we ran into this big square area and noticed a bunch of pigeons everywhere. There must of been over 200 pigeons in that little square.

I was so bummed that I didn't have bread or food to feed the birds, but then all of a sudden this man comes up behind me and offers me food to feed the pigeons. I assumed the birds knew this because as soon as he put the food in my hands I had about five or six pigeons on me. It was so crazy.


Matthew hates birds, anything that flies really, and the same guy offered him food and he's like "na, that's ok", but the guy insisted and he tells Matthew, "let God give you an experience of nature." We laughed and Matthew finally gave it a try.

He was then gratfeul for doing it because I think it made him overcome his fear of birds, they were all over him.

And then of course we see this sign (Prohibited to feed the pigeons). LOL

A wonderful Discovery

I spoke to my sister Alma a few days ago and she told me that her and her husband, along with my mother had been working on our family's geneology. I'm so grateful for their diligence in this because I wouldn't have a clue of what to do or where to start. Anywho, she said they ran into some deadends but with continued diligence they were able to somehow find one of my mother's great uncles on her mother's side. She had never heard of this uncle in her life and when she asked her sisters about him, they had never heard about him either. A good reason for his lost records was because my great grandmother died when my grandmother was only 5 or 6, so my mother nor her sisters ever knew about their ancestors. This alone was a miracle, but then they come to find out that someone had already done the work for this great uncle. This was a huge surprise for my mother because to her understanding, she was the only member in her family, and she had believed that, ever since she joined the church. Well, she finds out the she actually does have a family member who is a member of the church and lives in Southern California as well, the records provided a phone number and she called him. She said she was so nervous, but that she felt the spirit so strongly. They spoke and he told her that he works in the San Diego Temple, she immediately began thinking of all the patrons that work at the temple because she goes once a week. She wondered if she had seen him many times and never knew they were related. The news wasn't as impactful on her sisters as it was on her, but she was grateful for her discovery. She cried for joy, because through the power of geneology and their faith in finding family records, they were able know about him and know that the work was done for him. Because of their example, I have committed myself in helping Matthew and his family do their geneology, it truly is a special blessing.

Oh yeah, my sister also found out that we have 84 first cousins. Yikes! Talk about a family tree.