My First Blog Post

     Kumusta?  My name is Rizza Olson, I hail from the land of cocos nucifera, 7,641 islands and lots of karaoke machines, the country of Philippines. I immigrated to the USA in the spring of 2011 with my husband,Travis, as my sponsor. We went through the process of the K-1 fiancée visa and was thankful to accomplish it without employing the help of an immigration lawyer. I love to travel and my latest adventure was to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines during the summer of 2025. My goal is to visit some countries from all continents (Antarctica might be an exception).

     I am currently busy with my two children at home ages one and a half toddler(Sven), as well as five and a half pre-schooler(Björn). On top of this, I also have a part time job on the weekends as a gatekeeper/laborer for the Denali Borough Landfill. My husband and I share five kids including the ones from our previous relationships. My eldest son (Fritz-23), wasn't brave enough to live in this winter wonderland so he went back to Manila. My daughter (Francine-21) is stationed in Illinois serving in the U.S. Air Force. And the last but not the least is my step-daughter (Teagan-18) who lives with her mother in Texas. She was planning to attend a University to take Biology for her major this semester.

     While serving the U.S. Navy in December of 2017, I had a traumatic hand injury during some boat operations with the marines and was the main cause of my early retirement from the military. It was definitely something that I would classify as a bittersweet chapter, if my life was a book. I have just started my career, only had been deployed once, it wasn't the ending I was hoping for. But life has its own way of redirecting us towards our ultimate fate. We then moved back from San Diego to Alaska. So here I am, writing my first blog for this semester.

     Trust me when I say, I want to learn how to play an instrument. It is an idea, or should I say I love the idea of me knowing how to play any instrument at all. Something I can be proud of. But nope, I would buy stuff that I thought I would use or practice to learn and then I would give up. My sons would occasionally play the piano (cheapo Yamaha from Costco) but with no rhyme or reason, it has become a toy. I tried learning the ukulele but to no avail. My impatience probably doesn't help even more so now that I am missing a right thumb and my fourth and fifth fingers are clawed due to the ulnar nerve damage from my accident. Pardon my sob story, but I digress. The only time I remember successfully playing an instrument was for a single drum on a marching band in grade school and that was even a struggle. Talk about bad hand and feet coordination(playing while walking to the beat). I do love listening to music, it is the best affordable therapy there is! 

     My husband and I appreciate a wide range of varying music genres including but not limited to reggae, reggaeton, pop music, folk music, rhythm & blues, country music, hard rock, indie folk, pop-rock and alternative rock. He also loves to listen to music that has Didgeridoo incorporated in them or just by itself.

     My very first concert was in 2009 by Akon! It was during his Freedom Tour held at the Araneta Coliseum. That time, he was  on top of his career and most of his famous songs were playing in the radio, blasting on everyone's ears at every public establishments or transportations like the jeepney. Funnily enough, I even had one of his songs as my ringtone! It will be another seven years before I would see another live concert. It was with Jennifer Lopez during her Las Vegas residency called All I have in 2016. People tend to hate on her but I admire her unwavering dedication to her craft. Below is a photo from the said concert opening taken by yours truly.

                                                       

     The video below never fails to get me emotional or even teary eyed. This song was my husband and I wedding theme song. I can still imagine the day I walk down the aisle..It was on a Valentine's Day in 2011. The message of the song says it all. We both came from failed relationships and hoping this one will last this lifetime and even the next. And that relationships are not just about how much you love but how much you fight and choose that same love everyday. Even when the path of your chosen life with your significant other gets really thorny once in a while.

     For this following video, I honestly didn't know who sang this song until two or three years ago when I was scouring the internet(esp. YouTube & Google for song lyrics identifier). I should have probably used the google assistant and hum the song to find it instantly. I just want to share this song which was originally performed by The New Christy Minstrels and performed live by John Denver on this video. I believe it was introduced to me by my high school teacher in 1999. I remember her being a substitute teacher and the daughter of the incumbent principal. I thought it was awe-inspiring how at a young age she was already accomplished. This, along with the Scottish folk song My Bonnie and Oh My Darling Clementine always brings me back to good old high school days.