Friendship Never Ends

The month of May is always special for me... actually for the 6 of us. For my sisterhood.

This past May 13th we celebrated 19 years of friendship, or better yet, being sisters.

Since our last reunion, we haven't yet been in the same room. The max is probably 4 out of 6. Now there are 4 of us in California, it's kinda nice for us Cali-Sisters, since we're only a drive away. 

We discussed about another reunion since last year to celebrate our 19th anniversary, and this time we decided to meet up in Scottsdale, AZ. It was road trips and a plane ride for all 6 of us... along with our significant others and kids (and a brother). The whole weekend was filled with joy, blessings, laughters,  catching up, crying babies, playing the Mafia game and horrible 90s Boyband karaoke. 

(photo c/o Vino/Rio)

From the oldest to the youngest: Jeje, Nia, Icha, Me, Dinda & Ocha

We all have withdrawals from this epic weekend and already in talks about our next reunion. I am completely blessed to have these 5 girls in my life. I am also glad that all of our significant others also get along so well. 

Phil 1:3-4

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.

Now, girls, let's plan our next trip so Dinda can be Mafia again, ok?

xoxo,

Rima

Things I Love Monday: Cha-Cha Family Edition, week 39-40

be prepared for a long ass photo post.

after 13 years, we finally are in the same room!!!!!!!
top: dinda, nia, me, jeje, icha & ocha
bottom: dinda, ocha, jeje, icha, nia & me

Since the past weeks have been a blur (work like mad), all I can remember is our Sisterhood reunion. As I type this, I'm being Icha (who just gave birth) on being hormonal (I got her emotional bug all of a sudden). As the end of this 5 days of awesomeness, all good things must come to an end. Well not really. We're planning already for another reunion next year (either Dinda's graduation or a *cough*wedding*cough*)...

What I can't stand is the distance between all of us. Even though Jeje & I are the ones that are driving distance (esp when I'm in Orange County), it's still hard for us to hang out due to work and our own family problems. Icha, the mother of Kuma-Chan, is in Solvang. She still comes down every other week, but still... She's busy with her own family. Then the other three... Far! Dinda is in Seattle, WA. Ocha is in Denver, CO and Nia is in Morenci, AZ.

And what makes my blues worse are these 2 little ones...

Adam aka Kuma-Chan

Cameron aka the Birthday Boy aka the man that made the reunion possible

Aren't they the CUTEST??

So Thursday was when Nia & her family and Ocha arrived to Cali. I met up with Ocha, Jeje & Nia and her husband & finally baby Cam at Newport Beach then we head to South Coast Plaza to catch up and hang out. Prior to that I went to California Disney first to try out Cars Land. Awesome. I miss Disneyland. I need to go there again. Then I spent dinner with Rob before he left for New York/New Jersey on the weekend for 1 week :( I miss him.

Then Friday was baking day! Man, I baked 3 dozen of 3 different cupcakes and frosting. Seriously, I spent 7 hours in the kitchen. Too freakin legit. My legs were tremblin. Then I spent 2 hours finishing the cupcake toppers. Dedication to the work, ha ha. 

Saturday was the best day ever. Finally being in the same room with 5 of my sisters was... just mind boggling. It took us 13 years to finally be all together. When we had our family/friends took our pictures, Icha was like, "hurry hurry, I'm getting emotional..." and I got teary eyed. It was surreal. If it wasn't for Cameron's 1st birthday (the first baby in the sisterhood), probably our reunion won't happen til a long time. 

Then Sunday, we spent more time together at for lunch, eating Vegan food (Loving Hut is bomb!) and just hanging out together, laughing and reminiscing. Dinda and Icha left Sunday, while Ocha & Nia left today. After dropping Ocha at the airport with Jeje, and then saying bye to Jeje going our separate ways, the sadness kicked in. 

My drive back home from OC was just, blah. Even though Mother was with me (she tagged along because she wanted to go shopping), I was actually pretty sad. I miss my sisters and I miss their babies. I got the blues. Boo.

Definitely this reunion wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for God. He created a plan for each one of us to be part of this sisterhood. Even though we grew up and started our own lives, He still manages to link us up together. Amazing. Surreal. 

via

I seriously can not wait for our next reunion. We vow to do this yearly. Or maybe more frequent, if time and money allows haha.

Now on to some picture time.

Gosh I miss them. All of them.

Seriously, if you have a close friend or two, keep them as close as possible. God put them in your life for a reason. 

- Rima

Happy Birthday to CCF

Dinda, Nia, Rima, JeJe, Icha, & Ocha

If you knew me since the ice age, you would know that I have 5 non-blood related sisters. 5 of us were BFFs since Elementary school, with 1 joining our sisterhood in Jr. High. I've known these girls in & out... We went through ups and downs, ins and outs, front & back, you get the gist.

We were all together til Jr High. The picture above was probably the only picture of all 6 of us together for the last time before we went our separate ways for High School. 2 moved to the US, 2 went to public schools and 2 continued in the same school as our Jr. High. We haven't have the opportunity yet to have all 6 of us in the same room!

Then college years, 2 remained in Jakarta, 1 went to the Philippines, the other 2 remained in the US, with 1 following their steps to achieve the American Dream.

Amazingly with the power of the internet, we were able to stay in touch through emails. We created a forum to keep track on our daily lives, share our hopes, dreams and fear, asking for advices on men & family drama, resolved conflict amongst each other... that forum was our lifeline. Then came along facebook. We were able to do more life sharing, amazingly able to update each others through photos.

Fast forward, it's been 17 years that we stick together like glue. We are all in the same land, USA, though separated by states (3 in California, 1 in Arizona, 1 in Washington State, and 1 in Colorado). We blossomed from innocent girls in Elementary school, became the popular clique in Jr. High, separated and befriended other people/cliques in High School, achieved our career goals in College, and look, we're already in Adulthood.

I'm so proud of my sisters. I thank God each year we celebrate the birthday of our sisterhood, Cha-Cha Family. I thank Him for introducing me to 5 amazing women that meant the world to me. Even though we're now busy with our own life (3 of us have our own family now), we still have each other's back.

I would like to thank each one of them.


Jeje... The Big Sister. One of the wisest person that I've known. She's the one I go to for advice. And she is now my only sister in SoCal since Icha got married and left to Central Cali. She's nurturing and caring and if one day I get sick, I hope she's there to be my advocate. Haha, one nurse to another.






Nia! She was my first friend when I moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, because she was the only one that spoke English! She's super cheerful, very curious and I know for sure a great mum to her uber cute baby, Cameron. Even though she's in Arizona, she comes to visit from time to time. But for sure we need to see baby Cam soon.

Icha! She's my BFF. We go through thick and thin. She's been my soul sister since back in the days. She was the one that took me home to my new house when I moved to Tanjung Barat (and she was the new kid in school) after waiting for my ride home, to find out that no one was there, because they were still moving stuff from Cinere. Lots of miscommunications between me and my parents (there were no cellphones back then) yet she waited with me and with her loving family, took me under their wings until my parents picked me up. Our love for her & her family started from there. Our parents and brothers became BFFs. We had TONS of sleep overs, gossiping, crying, laughing, you name it. She's my rock. And now she's pregnant with her first child, and I can NOT wait to meet my nephew. I'm gonna spoiled that little brat like no other. Baby A, MiMa can't wait to meet you!

Dinda... She entered our life in Junior High. She was my chair mate for 3 years. She was cool and so smart, we gladly accepted her easily to the family. Quirky in her own way, I love her for her straightforwardness and honest opinion. She has the brain and a strong faith in God that I really admire. Pursuing her masters, I give props to this sister of mine.

Ocha... The youngest yet the bravest. This girl is the survivor of us all. She's been through a lot of things yet she always has a smile to her face. I'm so happy that she finally made it to the US, making it complete of all of us in one soil. Very independent and hard worker, I can not but help to admire this little one. Loves to eat but never gains a pound, I envy her weight. Hahahaha... I hope she gets the purchase the home of her dreams and establish the goals she wants to achieve.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. Phil 1:3-4

Happy 17th year to us.

We still have yet to reunite. I hope soon. With husbands/partners/boyfriends/babies and all.

moonbeams & bunny kisses,

PS: Do any of you have a close friend, or two, or a sisterhood that you've been friends since like, forever? Please do share. I want to know. Yes, Ya-Ya Sisterhood or Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants do exist :)