holiday fever

holiday season is almost over. as usual I haven't had much time to update my blog. Work has been unusually demanding, and so is homelife. Add to the fact that we do not have internet connection at home. Life, however, has been full of blessings this year. Looking back, I know I should really be thankful for the year that was. We were able to push through with the wedding, and it had been perfect for us. Now I have my husband by my side, who could be happier?

On a lighter note, we spent the holidays switching from one side of the family to the other. On the 24th we were at my side of the family, together with all my sisters and their kids, and of course, my dearest parents. Went to mass in the evening of the 24th. Then on the 25th we were at Tabs side, and slept there as well. Went home on the 26th to rest. Now I'm here at tabs house and later will be going to my parents' house to get the fruits we asked them to buy for us, for our new years celebration. Of course we intend to spend it at home. Sad that its only the two of us, but just as well, its the start of a brand new year we will now be spending together. :-p

Still am not finished uploading all the pics in my webshots account, and it takes years on a dial up account, but i can't do anything about it since i can't do it in the office, i don't think the server allows it. dang. so i've no choice but to do it here at my in-laws house, while my husband is too fast asleep to care. haha. everybody is asleep right now except for MIL and FIL. :-p

Will post my fave pics here when I finish with uploading the pics on webshots. From 2000+ pics i got initially from my photogm its now down to i guess over 700 pics. From that I need to calculate how much i'd really need for the album. so far its been a blur. post wedding concerns are as busy as ever. Need to send the CD and some pics to relatives in hawaii and canada (those that have been kind enough to send us cash gifts hehehehe). and also have extra copies for the people who might as for some. and print the pics I really, really like, and choose the pics that will be framed. Geez, that's a lot!

Happy New Year everyone!!!! Till my next post!

my photog's sample layouts

As always, my photog delivers waaay beyond my expectations! this morning she sent me some sample layouts, for a panoramic style of an album (think landscape orientation sa print preview...the layouts here - naka spread na 2 pages na landscape view. gets?) hehehe... grabe. sorry pero sobrang in love ako sa layouts. hehehehe.... I'd need to pay additional to upgrade the album to this format pero i'm only 99% decided that I will. If ever I do, I think it would still be worth every single centavo (well of course thats up to a certain additional cost naman!).

Hay.... Ang gwapo pa ng groom ko!

i'm now mrs. maravillo-tabios

finally i'm able to blog! nyehehehe....

so eto, tinatamad ako mag all-English ha kaya kwento mode muna ko. anyway, finally married na rin! and enjoying it of course (all the good and bad things about it!, hehehe). Can't say it was a big adjustment in terms of living conditions kasi tagal na naman namin diba, but i had to adjust on other things - missing my family (i've been with them since I was born - never nagdorm or whatever!...missing our pets kasi i talk to them and hug them... missing my chats with my mom and dad... and just missing not doing anything but sleep at home. hehe... in terms of living with my husband, it was an adjustment for me because i was so used to having just "moments" with him. alam mo yun? yung feeling na teka, uuwi pa ko sa gabi sa bahay, or i have so many other things to do (wedding, school, work). and when we got married, parang kakapanibago na you wake up with him by your side. the biggest adjustment for us is getting used to the husband and wife thing - kasi feeling namin magboyfriend-girlfriend pa rin kame! hahahaha....

all in all, i'm enjoying it. wedding kwento will follow type ko lang magkwento about my life na. hahahaha... :-p

4 days to go...

Waaaahhhh..... It's inevitable. bwahahaha.... 4 days to go and I'm still writing on my blog. Instead of doing the seatplan... the guestlist... the instructions.... the trivia... the intro to speakers... aaaarggghhh...
Fortunately... there were no big fighting bouts this last long weekend. Yes there were tarayan bouts, but luckily, all was back to normal after 1 minute. haha.... bless my husband to be for changing moods as often as I do. Can't blame him, I know deep inside he's pretty much excited and scared himself.
So anyway, Friday night was girls night out with my MBA barkada, had fun throughout dinner and our adventure, which I would rather not discuss at this time. Slept overnight at classmate Ara's house and in the morning went to my last class for the sem (only to find out that the take home finals will be given out on the day of my wedding. sweet!) in the afternoon, went to the apartment to find tabs eating lunch (good thing I didn't buy) so wanted to rest (sleepy!) and afterwards had a small tampo. In the end all was ok, we went to Windmills to pay the reception. Gosh. Its Php 58,077 for final payment. Ate some and went home.
Sunday was bonding time with bestfriend Murs, we just went shopping (missed going shopping with friends, I honestly rarely do that, since most of my shopping sprees are done alone...), went back to the apartment after a gruelling time grocery shopping (and bought a new mop which initiated a rather loud comment from tabs whilst murs and boyfriend was there. hahaha... we prepared pasta and ref cake, then watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Printed some more tags for my dad's office. Generally the bonding time with Murs made my day. We went home rather late (around past 10 pm) because we had to wait for the 2 men in our lives. :-) End of Sunday.
Monday we were supposed to meet with Charles (Secondary Sponsor). Charles, btw is a high school classmate and former roommate of tabs. One of the few friends who have known about our relationship since day 1. Anyways, tabs and I met after lunch, I found out his whole family was at SM North so we had lunch. Met Kathrine, younger brother Rossnie's gf, for the first time (though we text from time to time). Then got a phonecall from our Photog (Tita Ellen) about the ocular at windmills so I had to run off to meet with them, went back to sm. went around looking at pets and watches with tabs, and at 6pm met with charles and gf, Mel. Both are interns at UST Hospital. Toxic, haha. Trip down memory lane (high school days) and lots of laughter after, went home around 8pm. Slept early.
Still have to pack my clothes, hoping I can leave early tonight to pack up stuff, so mega shopping tonight for the stuff I need to pack up. Need to do a lot of stuff but generally happy I'm not so panicky and still organized. The stuff I need to do, I guess are really not avoidable. So gotta let go. :-p

8 days to go..

And I'm probably the only person who's getting married in a week's time and can blog about it. bwahahaha.... Here at the office already, still sleepy (i want coffee!!!, huhuhu--decided to quit coffee the last ten days before the weddding -- for better complexion)... Have to do some stuff for school, will be reporting tonight. And need to do some box labels and stuff.
Last night was with tabs, thank goodness he was able to come home early. hehe... do wish he'd do that everyday when we're married - early as in 8:30 pala yun. :-p not bad since I get home 6:45-7 on an ordinary, no school and no malling day. hehehehe.... Anyways, we've been arguing about finances since time immemorial of the wedding preps, and am just happy we were able to sort things out. Feeling a little guilty though kasi lagi ko sya naaway (pressure???). So right now, I'm resolving to not fight with him anymore!!!! At least until after we tie the knot. teeheehee.... I really am enjoying our times together lately, when we can chat more when we are at the apartment (he lives there, remember?). The benefits of no TV! :-p Anyways last night he was at the CR cleaning up because he was going home, and he calls me to get him a towel, and I say, "para kang may yaya!" This is of course a joke. hehehehe.... and he says "ala ayaw na! wag na ituloy!!!" bwahahahahaha.... la lang, its just fun that we get to talk... though there are still some arrangements to be made (and honestly, I have not been able to internalize the missallette!!!) nyehhhh...
This weekend I won't be so busy (yehey!!!) For Saturday after class we just need to pay windmills, need to go to the apartment to finish wrapping the parents' gifts. Sunday, go to mass (hopefully I can offer at St. Clare), rest, sort out the wedding paraphernalia and pack up stuff, and then rest again. My sisters and mom will be at Clark for some shopping so I guess that leaves some peace at home. hehe... Monday we'll be transfering most of my clothes and what have you's remaining to the apartment, I'll only leave the stuff that I still need till friday (which means a few shirts). Then rest... let go, let go.... Tuesday-finalize seatplan, Wednesday --finalize everything else! bwahahaha... I guess this includes shopping for the stuff to bring to the hotel. I'm still wondering how we can fit everything on the car -- meaning everything I'll be needing for the wedding. geez.
On accomplishments:
1. Finally decided on gift for Bestman and Parents. For the parents - we'll be giving them a photomosaic of tabs and me as a token of thanks. Thanks to the Mazaika Program I found. Really useful. And I realize you'd get a better registration of the original base pic when you have more frames (I used 80x100 for the final pic). Bestman's gift is a parker men, as well as for the proxy and for my male emcee.For female emcee plan to give her bag charms as well.
2. Printed the missalletes and stapled most of them, ran out of staple wire at home and too lazy to go search. hehehe... have to remember to take home some. Am still thinking of placing ribbons with charms at the end, sort of like a bookmark. PAG SINIPAG sa weekend.
Things to buy: Tiara, foodstuff for Astoria (red ribbon pastries, pancit, empanada for meals of the crew and ento and family), GC's for trivia questions
Things to do: Finalize seatplan, intro for speakers, additional bag charms, list down tokens.

9 days to go

And I choose to be absolutely bored today. Teeehee... last 4 days at work before I go on leave. Haaay.... can't wait. I've already finished most of the pending except for the promo report I intend to do on my last day of work (coz' its a month-end report!). There are only a few things to do for the wedding (finished the missalette printing yesterday night) so really, I'm almost home free except I need to do some more coordinating for the small details I don't want to handle on the day itself. By thursday and friday I intend to really, really let go. Perhaps I can convince my dad to ship our some of my stuff to the apartment on Monday. My tons and tons of clothes are waiting to be shipped out. hahaha.... Not to mention the shoes and bags...
Its sad, really, a part of me is sad that I'd be leaving our home, I've lived at that house in Project 2 for my entire life, only leaving for like a few days a year, for overnights and short outings.... but I always lived there. So its sad to have to move out. Yes, its exciting to live with someone else, start a family... but part of me weeps at the thought of leaving my parents and the dogs. And the security of food available whenever I come home, be it 8pm, 9pm, or 11pm. If I had an opportunity to live away from them for a while I probably won't be this affected. Its true that the change in status would probably get to me. I anticipate some nights where I'd be crying from missing my parents (probably when we get back from Bohol). Hmm... I'll make sure to find a reason to visit the house in Project 2, :-). Like perhaps when we get back from Bohol. :-P
In hindsight, a lot of people are asking me and tabs if we are ready and sure about it. hahaha.... We almost always just smile. Of course we are! We wouldn't bankrupt ourselves and go through all the wedding preparations if we weren't, would we?
More of my insights later...

11 days to go...

11 days to go... a few final things to do (at the very least, my biggest problem now is the seatplan).
Things I still need to do:
1. Seatplan -> I'm planning to just do zoning, like table nos so-and-so for the following guests (brides friends, groom's officemates), because its really so hard to have to confirm all the guests attendance. And I don't want to spend the whole night before my wedding having to figure that out.
2. Gifts -> Gifts for parents, gifts for the Bestman, and possibly gifts for the proxies (I assume there would be at least 2). Still have no idea on what to give them. (Yes, all of them above). oh wait!!!! now i think I'll be giving our parents a photomosaic! hehehe.... sorry, idea just came through an hour ago (and I made the photomosaic 30 minutes ago). hehehe.... will have it framed na lang to give it to them on the wedding day.
3. Van Rentals -> I'm partially in denial as to the status of this part. I know Tabs' family has 1 already, my sister is planning to rent one, and I could probably get another one especially for the entourage. Other than than, I dunno. hehehe
4. Final Payment for reception -> set this for saturday, nov 26. again, I'm all groggy because I have another shower party on Friday night, but hey, a girl's gotta have shower parties, right!
5. Missalletes - they are pretty much final already. just need to print them out and then put in the covers. Hopefully I'd have them done saturday.
6. Prepare all the stuff for the day before and the day itself. Like segregate stuff for the reception, ceremonies, etc.

Other small, small stuff. I think I'm pretty much able to relax already except that i need to pack my clothes. :-( and iron them as well. other than that, I think i'd have a relaxing weekend ahead.

12 days to go...

teeeheee... its soo weird having to countdown on my blog. hehehe.... gosh. anyway... well, i only have one week and a half to get through the rest of the preps and after that, i'd be a Mrs. Tabios. :-) Exciting! hehehe. So well, I'd take the time to give a rundown and the latest events that have so far transpired (this weekend).

Friday night: SHOWER PARTIES - yes, I said parties because I had 2 separate parties on the same night. The first was with my officemates here in Beer Logistics Procurement, who gave me a blast of a party with their Words of Wisdom (believe me they had many!) and their super nice gifts! I don't think they read my blog but hey, I still want to thank them for the party and the gifts and the advice, see pic!

Shower Party 1 GIFTS!(c/o Beer Logistics Procurement)

Moving on, my next shower party was sponsored by my first SMC family (sisters actually) from the e-procurement group. This now was a night of fun and games and surprises since we were all single girls and I was the first one to tie the knot. It touched me most that they were able to contact Tabs to ask him some questions for me to answer. And my darling of a husband (to-be) was so game in answering the questions. Even if some of the answers were unfair (hahaha!!!) I really am flattered.
Most memorable question and answer:
Question: "What made you decide or what event were you in that made you decide that jennie would be the last woman you would fall in love with and spend the rest of your life with?"
Tabs answer: "Jenn always makes me want to be a better man...."

I guess, the realization that he sees me loving him that way, touches me so much. Its flattering and at the same time, humbling. I always thought of myself as an "ideal" girlfriend for tabs. If you ask me to take a quiz and how good a girlfriend I am I'm proud to say I could fight for a topnotch score (no kidding!). I've always given him free reign over his life. While some of the decisions made in our relationship (and for the wedding) were made and handled by me, fact is that for tabs' life, I value the decisions he has made for himself, I'm proud of what he has accomplished, and while I do give him my opinion whenever he asks, I know that I give him as much freedom as any single man would want. Even when we were starting out, he likes the song SOMEBODY (by Depeche Mode), and when asked by my friends the same questions (now, 9.5 years after) he gave the same answer. Perhaps, for him, I'm that "Somebody". :-)

Here are the gifts I got from the second bridal shower!

To my E-proc friends: Thanks for the surprises, the fun and the games! Love you all!!!!


Let's drink to that!

Wearing a veil and holding the bouquet they made. We had a bouquet toss later and Dannet got the bouquet! hehe... next na daw sya!


And here are all the gifts I got!!!!


Less than two weeks away from the wedding, I'd say I had gotten what I longed for with my single life. And as I look ahead of me towards my new status, as a wife, and someday, a mother, I know I'd have tons of memories to share, and lots of friends who have made me feel special.
Thanks to all of you guys!

15 days to go

Well... almost 14, actually. Its almost 6pm, I'm just waiting till 6 when we have to leave to go to the condo of our officemate for my bridal shower. Fun!!!! The nice thing about this first shower is that most of them are married, with children, and so i'm sure there would be lots of sharing! And hey, they did plan some games!!! hehehe.... i think this will really be a cool party! Love them officemates!!!

And at 10pm, Its Bridal Shower part 2, with my friends and former officemates from Eproc group. This one, I dunno their plans except that they plan to sing their lungs out with the Magic Sing. hahaha... But this group naman is the yuppies, so its more of fun and laughter, unless of course they have some surprises in store for me... teeheehee....

Oh well, of course I won't tell all next week, but I'm sure I'll have fun tonight. But tomorrow.... tomorrow will be a long day... :-(

18 days to go

As I was about to write the title for this post, it remembered a title I previously made: 180 days to go. Funny. Now, its 18 days! It is definitely not a lot of time left, though I would like to think that there is still no need to mega-panic at this point. So far I'm able to do some stuff and finalize others. And yes, so far everything seems to be falling into place. As a rundown:
Hotel Preps: I had a panic attack some weeks ago when I learned that Astoria was supposed to be fully booked for Dec 3, and there was really some chance that I won't be able to extend the room stay. I had the option of booking at another hotel for the night after the wedding but then, that would mean I had to transfer hotels in the middle of everything. hehe... I also contemplated just telling them that I intended to ovestay, but that also opened the possibility that all our stuff will be thrown out of the room whilst we are away (exagg i know. :-P). So yesterday, out of sheer desperation upon learning that even Linden was fully booked so I couldn't really transfer (!), I called up Astoria again. First I inquired as an employee of San Miguel, to avail of the Corporate Rate (1,500 savings). They were booked and I'd be informed the following day if there is still an available room. I called again, this time I said I was a paying guest. They were not fully booked!!!! Like duh!!!!! I confirmed by booking as a paying guest for Dec 3-4. I'd rather pay in full that not end up with a room! Moments later, Astoria calls to tell me that I can avail of the Platinum membership card rate(the one I bought really for the preps!) on the 2nd night if I make full payment of the rooms by November 25! The room rate was Php3,200 for the first room (50% off voucher) and 3,800 (3,200++ rate) for the second night. The other room is free for the night. Yey!!!!!! I really am so happy. I just need to pay the 7,000 for the room plus the 6,000 security deposit to assure me that I'll have our rooms for the night before AND AFTER the wedding. :-) Thanks, God. Love HIM!
Honeymoon: Initially we planned (rather I planned) to just go off to Baguio for our honeymoon. Though we've been there before I thought it was cheaper and easier for us. Until I found some enemies with the Paramount Card I bought to get us rooms at the Microtel Suites there and I'm practically, practically mad at them! Until I realized that's not going to be memorable at all, considering there is not so much there anyways that we haven't been through. Until I realized I wanted to see Coron, Palawan. And was dead set to do just that, except that honeymoons there start at Friday and end on Monday. :-( And then someone told me about the Palakbayan rates from Philippine Airlines. So we (rather I :-P) ended up booking Bohol!!!! And last Friday they confirmed our booking. Now all that's left is for me to pay for the booking and its done! We're getting a bungalow with its own jacuzzi at Panglao Island Nature Resort.Awwww.... Geez, not I feel really excited for our honeymoon. :-P
Other things taken cared of:
-Finished CD-writing the songs, just need to make CD Case Cover.
-Finally, tabs and I were able to discuss the details of the wedding ceremony and reception yesterday (after fighting the whole week last week over that!). Of course, the realizations for him were quite funny for me. I realize now how much I love him for making me laugh a lot. :-p
Hope I can blog some more till the wedding, but this is all for now. :-)

A preview of our prenup pics. There are only three, since our photog wants to surprise us with the photo exhibit and the AVP. Hayyy... wish i could see more, but despite that, the ones I did see, I really fell in love with! sobrang ganda diba? :-) seems all the work we did that day at tagaytay paid off. as in!





34 days to go. wow.... can't even begin to imagine marital bliss. :-) But we first have to go through the hard part... the wedding. The expenses. But hopefully, everything will pay off. :-)

48 days and counting

oh my gosh!!!! 48 days!!! we've reached the 50-day mark and its becoming scary!

not in the sense that i'll regret everything of course. part of me is thrilled because we only have less than two months to be man and wife, but part of me will also miss being the daughter. and i realize i will be waking up to early to do house chores, waaah!!!!

namiss ko na magblog, nakalimutan ko na ata magsulat. huhuhu.... note to self: try to convince tabs to get a phone line so i can access the net at home whilst waiting for my husband. darn the internet at the office has blocked blogspot. Kainis!!!!

missed blogging! haven't blog for quite some time. particularly because blogs have been blocked from our servers in the office. grrr.... hay.... nothing i can do about that i guess. anyway, been busy at school and at work also. I've already started with my new work assignment, which is buying promo and advertising materials for San Miguel Beer. Its really a challenging job (mostly about the part on dealing with the marketing peeps... hehe. Talking with suppliers and discussing stuff with them have been fun too. :-)

on the homefront, well, been going to apartment mornings when i have to start work at 9am. i really can't go at night after work because tabs finishes work quite late these days (minimum of 12 hours work.), though sometimes i do drop by with groceries and some cleaning, since in the mornings i don't have enough time (tabs would rather we sleep for another 30mins together. :-). so i haven't been doing any cooking as well. i'd probably just do that when we already live together. which by the way, is only 56 DAYS TO GO!!!!! and today is our 9 and a half years anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!!!! Whew, no celebrations planned yet, but then i guess the fact that we see each other more often these days is reason enough to be happy. :-) like they say, its the little things that do count!

on the wedding preps, went to Rustans thursday lunch time and we've been scheduled for the bridal registry picking on November 2. Its getting more and more difficult to make schedules these past few weeks, even wihout looking at my calendars i know i'll be bidding all my weekends at home goodbye, its just too hectic. I intend to start giving out the invites soon, but as to how soon is still a question. :-( Oh, and I've already scheduled the turnover of wedding stuff to my Coords (Impromptu), so I guess after that I don't need so many more things to do, though listing down the guest list still require some time, which i lately don't have. :-p

i do hope i can blog a bit more. hay. next post hope i can list down my last to do's till dec 3.

house pics

just wanted to show some pics of our new apartment (the one where i will also live in come december, syempre di pa lang ngayon.) :-p Anyways just to let you see how weeks of preps have made the place homey already, and definitely a good place to live in already.
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The Sala aka dining place. No sofa yet since we don't have any funds for that, but hopefully after the wedding we will.

The kitchen. My favorite place. Tomorrow I plan to cook some pasta for dinner. Tiring to cook but its well worth it to get some compliments from my h2b.

The room: showcasing the airconditioner. hahahaha.... Tabs worked on insulating the aircon hole which was waaay too large. I think he really did pretty well. The shoe rack becomes additional shelf space, but mind you when I move in, I get the three layers there and tabs gets 1. bwahahahaha....

The bed (mattress). Just as we cannot yet afford the sofa, so with the bed frame. And since its obvious that having a bed is just a plus, we agreed to just buy the mattress in the meantime and the bed later when, again, we have the money.

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Its as tiring as it is fulfilling to finally have a place to live in after the wedding. And while I really love to do the preps for the wedding, going to the apartment to cook and do house chores have become a habit as well. Yay for the additional expenses incurred, but seeing tabs more often has been rewarding enough. Makes me realize all the more just how much I love him and how much I look forward to sharing my life with him. Its like being head over heels in love all over again. :-) pardon the mushiness, but this is my blog after all, and i have all the right to gush over my newly found happiness. :-)
*****
Well, having seen tabs live all by himself there and eventually sharing the life together. You tend to see small things you learn from each other as really big steps. For instance, I've known myself to be really neat, a bit on the OC side, but not to the point that I fight with tabs over some kalat. :-) I acknowledge the fact that tabs grew up in a terribly disorganized environment, and I've come to accept that it will be my role to see to it that the house won't be in disarray. Tabs, for his part, is not the type to tear apart the place, and I'm not about to let him. hehehe... ang gulo ko. What I'm driving at is that I've been an OC house cleaner. I sweep the floor everytime I'm there, wash all the dishes (if any), wash the sink, mop the bathroom floor so its dry. Things like that.
Tabs naman sings pala. hehehe.... never seen him do that. I think he likes the fact that I visit him often, except that I won't be sleeping there, he's happy someone's there to take care of him sometimes.
Small things: "Waaahhhh, ang konti ng palaman!" - his text to me when the sandwich I made him for lunch didn't exactly have as much palaman as he anticipated. hehehe....
I love this husband of mine. :-)

68 days to go and counting

Yep! A little over just 2 months to go! Whew. And we started preps at 14 months before the wedding (official engagement date is October 5). Wow is all I can say. Time flies fast, and with many things to do it seems even faster.

Contrary to most brides I am not in panic mode right now. I'd like to think I'm still on the right track when it comes to the preps. So far, the biggest things on my to-do list are as follows:

1. Prenups at Tagaytay - scheduled on October 2
2. Distribute invites - scheduled weekends of October, but have to send out out-of-the-country invites this week.
3. Pre-cana seminar and interview - hopefully a weekend in October. I'm planning to drop by ICC sana this sat, October 1, but have to check out what office hours are.
4. Finish wrapping all gifts - so far, done with all PS, BM, GM, SS. Need a gift for the MOH and Bestman. Hay. Still looking around for gifts for them, though I might be able to give my MOH a lipstick of so. :-) That leaves just the Bestman to worry about. Souvenirs will hopefully be finished by end of the week.
5. Bring gown top (Corset) to Ready-to-Wed for final fitting. The spag straps are still too loose.
6. Ento attire and mom's attire are still in the making, sent the dp to the modista already and hopefully I won't suffer any headaches from her kundi.... hay. Tabs' dad will be arriving sometime October so we will have to sked their attires pa (Tabs' dad, brothers (Groomsmen).
7. AVP - for reception - will wait for the prenup pics of course. sayang naman ang effort. Although I'd still have to squeeze this in kasi dami na rin work starting next week. This also includes streamers for Windmills.
8. Burn music for ceremony and reception.
9. Other stuff to buy: dressing up attire, accessories for the hair, bracelets. Syempre dapat maganda pa rin! hehehe... and I'd have to also but tabs that watch he's been asking for as a gift. :-)
10. Have missallete approved and photocopied. For the members of the entourage lang. Others have to watch na lang. Baka magbasa lang sila buong mass e.

That's not too much, given that I can work on one thing in a few days I think I'm still ok. :-) The most stressful detail I think right now is having to go to all the sponsors and meeting up with the invitees to give them their invites. hay.
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On the homefront! Finished moving in most of the stuff. We have almost everything needed for a home, except the microwave, tv, washing machine, bedframe, and sofa. First three will be gifts so needn't worry about it. I even ventured on cooking caldereta for my darling husband to be. Thanks to the recipe from Del Monte which I got in one of those bridal mags, it was a hit. We had it for dinner and there was still enough for tabs to take to lunch the following day.
I had originally planned to cook him breakfast and dinner every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, days when I don't have class. Oh, did I say only tabs sleeps at the apartment? I have not officially moved in because that will have to wait till December 3. :-) So anyway, we decided it was too tiring and too expensive (transport fare and all) so it'll just be mornings or evenings. Evenings that I don't have class meetings of course. But all in all that works fine for me because I also want to see to it that he eats right and that stuff around the house are organized. Not to say, of course, that Tabs doesn't clean house. He does, but since he gets home late there might be stuff he won't be able to do.
*****

What have I learned? We are not actually living together since I don't sleep there, but having said that, potentially sharing an apartment with tabs has taught me a few things already. Number 1: I like the house neat, and I mean no unwashed dishes, clean floors, i want the bedsheets stretched out, pillows neatly placed on the bed. In fairness to my future husband, he is quite neat at home as well, so I need not worry about any fights over trivial kalat around the house.
I realized I really would like to learn how to cook. Two breakfasts and three dinners after, I know I still have a lot of work to do, I've only been able to cook one real meal, the rest have been more like breakfasts. hehe...
I also learned that tabs will sleep whenever he can, he himself has a lot of stuff to learn, but I'm glad that when I step into the house I find that it is still clean. hehehe....

pics! pics! pics!

here are my utang pics of our real apartment, the invites, and the souvenir and PS gifts. enjoy!!!!

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Apartment pics!



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Invites by Unifair


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Wedding favors : Wind chimes made by Ronald and Nerissa Baluyot (pm me for details)

Drotsky Wines for Male PS

Large windchimes for Female PS (also from Ronald and Nerissa)

lots of updates

haven't blooged for a while, too many stuff have been happening lately: wedding preps, moving into the house, acads, etc.
****
tomorrow (sept 21) tabs will be moving into the new apartment. Its really a "we" except that I won't be sleeping there till after the wedding, those most details there I've taken care of myself. I bought the mattress last Sat morning and it'll be delivered tom as well. Sunday morning we went to the plastics store to buy more stuff for the house: whistling kettle, dish fryer, rolling cabinet, plates. Sunday afternoon tabs and I looked at the apartment to see how its doing and its really nice already, there were already tiles in the kitchen counters and the bathroom walls. All they needed to do was finish the tiles in the bathroom floor, install the lavatory, 2nd coating of the walls and doors, and finally repainting of the floor tiles. Considering they started on Wednesday last week, they were really pretty fast. :-) We were also able to pay for the aircon and the ref, and we got a free electric fan and electric kettle free. weeeeh!!! today I also ordered the dining set. All the stuff will be delivered tomorrow, so I'll be on leave to wait for all the deliveries. teeheehee.... :-)
+++++
Wed preps: Additional accomplishments:
- finished wrapping Female PS favors
- finished Magnet favors for suppliers
- bought materials for wrapping of chimes souvenirs
- bought confetti, bubbles
- got invites
- finished printing names on invites

To dos:
- finish souvenirs, pack and seal all souvenirs
- go to RTW and have gown top resized
- compile songs for wedding
- prenups session - First sat of october
- finish AVP
- distribute invites - waaahhhh!!!!

konti na lang actually ang kulang ko, and once tabs is settled na at his place i'd have more time for preps ulit. :-)
dami ko utang na pics, will post pics of the house, the invites and the souvenirs next time (bagal ng photobucket ryt now).
have to go, may class pa.

on work: i'm officially a part of the SMBD (read: San Miguel Beer Division) family. I've been officially transferred from the Corporate Procurement Unit. One good thing: no more customer relations work once a month. teeheehee. we just finished our modules 1-3 exam yesterday, damn it was easy, well at least the degree of the exam was way ok compared to what i've already studied so far, do i guess that's good. now i'm officially on a vacation, yet tonight i'd be enrolling because school starts next week already. Time flies so fast, next saturday tabs and i can take a peek into our real apartment unit!

on to preps: I've already finished the luminaries and had a fun time demo-ing to my officemates how it would look like. hehehe... i know, need to post pics too. the luminaries really didn't cost too much! i spent less than 200 pesos for it i guess, each luminary is around 1/4 of a cartolina, and what i just did was to make it into a paper bag, but before doing that i had to use my craft punchers to make small shapes to be taped to the cartolina, this will provide a design to the luminary when lighted. It really looks good. I'll try to take a pic of it. when i'm in the mood.

preps to do's for the week: arrange documents: photocopy and review contracts, church requirements. re-print missalettes (uh-oh). wrap/package gift to entourage.

moving in sked

just talked to our landlady to be a while ago regarding the skeds for moving into the apartment, well actually tabs will be the only one to move in there, but naturally a wifey to be like me would want to take care of him. My classes this term will be tuesdays & fridays and saturday mornings, that gives me monday, wednesday and thursdays to go to the apartment. In the mornings to cook/prepare breakfast, and in the evenings to cook dinner and do the other stuff needed there, laundy, ironing, cleaning the house. I can't leave the house dusty because my dear husband to be has asthma. He had an asthma attack this weekend and i know he had such a hard time.
but anyway, i called the landlady. The place will be renovated starting Sept 15, we'll probably look at the renovation on sept 17. We can move in by Sept 21. We'll arrange everything before then so deliveries can be made by the 24th. so far we've finished (rather : i've finished canvassing for the basic stuff we'd be needing, big expenses would be ref, aircon and the mattress. to follow the bed. i know, the aircon? well, the main cause of tabs' asthma attacks is the heat, especially when he is at home. so he really wants to buy the aircon first. Its his money we will be spending, so who am i to protest?

I've been tagged by Heidi and joy. So sorry ang tagal ko sumagot. Hirap nito ha! So here goes:

Seven Things That Scare Me
1. Losing tabs
2. Losing my family
3. Losing my pets
4. Not having kids
5. Losing my personality
6. End of the world (haha)
7. Calamities

Seven Things I Like The Most
1. Tabs - syempre!!!
2. MBA - i find i enjoy school as much as work that I don't know what I'd be doing if I didn't take up MBA.
3. My pets - 4 dogs at home, Bella-our rottweiler, our cat, my lory.
4. Scrapbooking
5. Beadmaking - it feels good when someone tells me they like what I'm wearing.
6. Family (both mine and Tabs)
7. Nature

Seven Random Facts About Me
1. I'm working, studying, and doing preps at the same time. OC bride - 11 months into the preps I've dealt with 90% of it, and hoping there won't be any surprises to come.
2. I love Math. Well, I love some types of Math. hehe, algebra, engineering econ.
3. I love to learn. New hobbies, new thoughts. If I had the resources I'd probably have so much more things to do on my sleeve.
4. I'm not a TV person. I don't know the first and the last thing about soaps, tv series, and showbiz.
5. I dream of becoming my own boss. Someday soon, I hope.
6. I daydream a lot (especially before going to bed). Lately its about living in our apartment and being Tabs' wife.
7. I'm an internet freak. I like computers, I even played Diablo, Counter-strike, and Mu (Online Game).

Seven Important Things In Our Bedroom (Rather, I'd like to put in our bedroom, kasi wla pa.)
1. Queen-size bed
2. Closets
3. Computer, study table, bookshelf
4. Wedding photos (soon)
5. lots of pillows
6. TV and DVD.
7. a mini-ref (i want!)

Seven Things I Plan To Do Before I Die
1. Go around the world.
2. Have kids, lots of them
3. Have grandkids too!
4. Be a successful entrepreneur.
5. Have a vacation house somewhere, preferably near the beach.
6. Spend a romantic vacation with my husband in Paris
7. Have a lot of quality time with the ones I love the most

Seven Things I Can Do
1. Think
2. Be smart
3. Be good at chores (when I want to)
4. Be good at planning.
5. Be creative
6. Laugh a lot
7. Find something to learn everyday

Seven Things I Can’t Do
1. Swim
2. Play sports (almost all sports)
3. Sing
4. Dance
5. Drive
6. Buy all the things I want
7. Stay at a boring, routine job

Seven Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex
1. Sex appeal
2. Smile
3. Sexy (petite pala...)
4. Witty
5. Smart (I firmly believe I'm smart)
6. Confident
7. Optimistic

Seven Things I Say The Most
1. Nyek
2. Geez
3. Hon (for Honey)
4. Ganun? Di nga?
5. Hello!
6. Sus
7. Yeah, right

Seven Celeb Crushes (Whether Local or Foreign)
1. Tom Cruise
2. Richard Gere
3. Brad Pitt
4. Aga Muhlach
5-7. wala na ko maisip

Seven People You Want To See Take This Quiz
1. Leslie
2. Tin ni Roland
3. Clarice
4. Arglene
5. Nice
6. Grace
7. Maricel

our home

Monday night when I visited tabs at the office (yes, para syang slave at kelangan na lang bisitahin, otherwise we'd really be meeting only on weekends!) we had a fight (again!) over his being too tired to at least be a bit jolly for me. Syempre nagtampo ko. and drama ko, work na lang lagi!!!! hmph!!! hehe so di na ko nagpahatid and rode the bus home. tamad kasi ako mag mrt because i have to walk far, i take the bus kasi pagbaba ko ng bus, jeep na lang, pagbaba ng jeep, tricycle na lang. trabahong tamad ever!
Eniway, nagsori naman si tabs past midnight when he was on his way home (huhu midnight nan naman sya umuwi). and he was going home to malabon! forgave him already of course, and texted him in the morning na sana, maghanap na kami ng apartment, para instead of visiting him in the office, I could just drop by his apartment and cook him breakfast na lang in the morning, or cook him dinner kahit di ko sya maabutan sa bahay. And he won't be too far from the office. And he agreed and pumayag na magtingin na ko nung apartment. So yesterday, I called up two of the houses on my list and said I'd drop by lunchtime.
I was at the first apartment by 12:15. Waited for the landlord. The apartment was furnished already. 8,500 yung isa, the other one, 7,500. When we entered it my jaw dropped. And sikip!!!! WAaaaah!!!!. Face to your left, sala (sala = 1 small table + 2 monobloc chairs). Face to your right, kitchen counter and ref. Facing front, bedroomm. One step inside bedroom = bed, tv, closet. Bathroom was a bit wider lang than a filing cabinet (No, I am not kidding!!!). I could not breathe, and this was the bigger unit still, the other one (7,500 was smaller pa). Furnished or not furnished, di ko matanggap na dito ko uuwi... Di naman ako choosy, I can live in a small place, pero naisip ko lang na syempre, I imagine myself sprucing up our apartment, making it homey, the way it is here at our house and the way its not at theirs. Gusto ko ng curtains, gusto ko newly painted walls and malinis na bathroom. And I want it to have enough space. 18sqm was definitely not going to make me happy.
So I moved on to the next place, this one was farther off than Boni. Plainview, Mandaluyong City. The place was a 3-storey building, has its own security, it was generally a peaceful place too. The maid of the landlady came down to show me the unit, and it was 47sqm. Newly painted, new tiles in the kitchen. Provision for aircon, 1 big bedroom (by big i mean it can fit 2 single beds. Cabinets and cupboards in place. Maayos and maluwag! Ang it only costs 6,500! Perfect!!!!
I consulted my officemates about the options, vaguely narrating to them the idea of living in a 18sqm place, and they all agreed na i should grab already the 47sqm unit, the incremental cost of having to ride the tricycle for 25 bucks per ride from edsa was just that, incremental. Kesa naman 20sqm na bahay na walking distance to edsa, dba?
I confirmed with the landlady a few hours after, kasi maiiyak talaga ko pag naunahan kami and we are forced to live in a more expensive and smaller house. I dropped by there after office and gave the reservation fee. Mabait naman yung landlady e, she was a bit older than me and she was nice.
The good news was that the unit we'll be moving into would be refurbished first! The first tenant was already staying there for 9 years, so the unit really needed a lot of repairs done. New bathroom and kitchen tiles, newly-painted walls, new door locks. When we move in it would be brand new! at no expense to us! Grabe ang saya diba! and the rent is cheaper than the 8,000 tabs was budgeting!
Tabs hasn't seen the unit yet, pero ok na sa kanya. he took my word for it na it was good for us, and I'm thankful for that. Really very, very happy. We'll be visiting it when the present tenant transfers to their other unit. saka naman kami lilipat. We haven't discussed what we need to prioritize in buying yet. Ayoko din pangunahan. hehehe... i don't really know the extent of his budget for the place. I'm just happy that it's there na. Hoping he can move in by end September. Almost same lang naman with our sked yun. Kasi we were planning to have him a place by October talaga, and since the unit will still be refurbished, and the other tenant will move out pa sept. 10, mga mid to end sept pa lilipat si tabs. weeeehhhh!!!
to tell you frankly, I lookd forward to dropping by his place and cooking him breakfast!
Here are shots of the unit (carbon copy to ng unit namin, coz I still wasn't able to check out ours kasi nga may nakatira pa). But this is basically the same unit naman. Only ours will be better and newer. :-)

Our Love Story: Part 2

The vacation before college, mega-telebabad kami ni tabs. He tells me things I know he would not tell anyone else. And I am grateful for that. Sobrang open nya sa kin. Nag-aaway lang kame pag minsan kasi mahina pandinig nya at mahina ako magsalita!

Then we started college. Sa College of Engineering kame pareho sa UP. He was taking up Computer Eng’g, me naman Chemical Engineering. We had no classes together, pero we met lunchtimes. And that time, he would fetch me sa Math Building to take me to Philcoa. Nag-Boarding House kasi sya, di naman ako nagpapahatid bahay, so he would just take me to philcoa tapos mag-jeep na ko from there.

The first few years were really a mix of fun and inis times. Madalas kami mag-away, about the most trivial of things. May mga away that would lead to one of us walking out on the other. But its back to normal the next day. Over time, we learned to let go of the pain and move on, as if di kame magkaaway. I guess the best thing I learned from tabs is how to forgive and forget. Kasi kahit sya, ganun naman e, di sya nagtatanim nga galit.

When we were on our third year, we experienced rough times already. Tempers rose very high too easily. And we were becoming too violent na (di naman bugbugan ha, medyo minsan lang di na naitatago sa public away namin, minsan nagtataasan ng boses, etc.) It was the first time in more than 2 years that I questioned where the relationship was going. After a few months, fortunately, things got better, we were back to normal (cat-and-mouse-without-the-violence-normal) I remember one day, magkaaway kame and sa inis ko I went inside the UP Chapel to pray. Si tabs followed me and sat beside me, then he asked me to marry him. Syempre I said yes, pero syempre at that time it was just a question, not really a plan. But my friends told me, big thing na daw yun coming from a guy, di sya magbibiro ng ganun if he didn't mean it.

But take note, till we graduated, away bati pa rin kame, though this time mejo days na ang bibilangin kada away.

I graduated earlier than tabs did, because naiwan sya sa thesis for some sad reason na di naman nya kasalanan. So it took him another year pa. Me naman, after I graduated, I got work, reviewed for the board exams in November. Tabs and I would meet na lang after work. Weekends. It was slowly becoming a peaceful relationship, this time, weeks na and interval ng mga away namin!

On our 6th year anniversary we decided to go to Baguio. Supposedly with friends pero walang sumama sa min, so 2 lang kame with and my best friend from Baguio was the one who went with us to go around. That was the longest and the best 4 days of our relationship kasi we spent it together. Super enjoy kami. The following year it was to Subic, enjoy din kahit 2 lang kame, then Tagaytay the following year. We made it a point to go out pag anniversary naming, primarily because it was really the only time we could spend much with each other. Away from it all.

It was in 2004 when we initially decided to plan the wedding. I remember mga February yun and tabs and I agreed to start canvassing. Pero a few weeks lang, sumakit ang ulo ko kasi ang mahal pala ng lahat! Hahaha…. And then I saw this ad in the newspaper, about exams in Ateneo for the MBA. And I asked him kung yun na lang kaya unahin naming, because I’ve always wanted a post grad degree. Parang kasama talaga yun sa long term goals ko. Luckily I also passed the exams in UP and I decided to go there na lang, nearer to my house and sure na ko sa environment. So May pa lang I started with workshops. And it affected our relationship too, kasi ngayon super busy na rin ako. I only had one daw a workweek to spend with tabs, since 4x a week and class ko. I also met new friends, so adjustment again. And at some point, akala ko it was time to move on. But I guess God has his way of telling us na we were meant to be together.

One night lang biniro ko si tabs na bigyan nya ko ng engagement ring. And he agreed, pili daw ako ng design, papagawa kami sa classmate ko sa MBA. So we did. Di sya mahilig sa surprises e, and I didn’t mind, sanay na ko. When we got the ring I gave it to him, sabi ko bigay na lang nya ulit. That was after I wore it the night before para mafeel ko! Hahaha…. Pinakita na pala nya sa family nya. We went out to dinner a few days after, October 5 yun, I remember. We ate pa sa isang resto sa Greenbelt, pero Tabs, for all the time we’ve been together, di pa kinaya ng powers nya ibigay sa kin! Siguro dahil he didn’t know what to say. Sa taxi pa nya binigay, sinuot lang sa ring finger ko. Sabi ko pa “di mo ba ko tatanungin?” and he did. Ang saya.

And here we are now…. Three months till our wedding. A lot has happened too since that day he asked for my hand. Madami pa rin naging conflicts, madaming away at samaan ng loob. But with each day that passes more and more nafi-feel namin ang excitement. 

Our Love Story: Part 1

I never really wrote on this blog our love story (did I ever?, can’t seem to remember I did). Today is one of the days I feel so thankful to have tabs in my life, as opposed to days when I wish I hadn’t known him at all! lol So here goes our love story:
---------------
We were high school batchmates. It was my second year at Pisay (Philippine Science) and as ever, pilya na ako nun. I had another guy courting me that time, his name was Peter. Mapagbigay ng chocolates, love letters, etc. Mabait din naman, kasa-ksama ko during breaktimes and pamamasyal sa sm, laging libre! Bwahahaha… anyway, I had a fellow kabarkada then named Joey. This Joey naman, he was staying in the dorm and one day told me na may humingi daw ng pic ko. I don’t remember already kung pano nakuha ni joey pic ko, kung binigay ko ba o what. Basta, tabs got that pic. Tapos ako, curious ever sa may mga crush sa kin, niresearch ko kung sino sya. Tapos yun nga, heartthrob pala sya! Gwapo, as in tall, dark and handsome. Pero makulit mga kabarkada nya nun, feeling ko stalker sila, there was even a time I ran to the girls’ dorm kasi feeling ko hinahabol ako nilang magkakaibigan.  To make the long story short, nothing happened in the second year, kasi natatakot ako kay tabs, kasi yung boses nya sobrang baba, hehe, feeling ko ang macho! Wala rin naman akong nagging bf nun, the guy Peter, MU lang, no formal agreement whatsoever kaya if you ask me, hindi naging kame talaga! Bwahahaha!!!!

Come third year, I had a crush on Tabs already. I would sometimes watch volleyball games. Unfortunately. I had a 3-month romance with a lower-year guy pa, which ironically started when the guy was teasing me about being Tabs’ girl. No it was really not love, if that’s what you want to know, kasi at the first sign of infidelity ng guy na to, break na kame! Bwahaha…. Come third year, prom time, I wanted to have tabs as my partner, as in, kachika ko yung classmate ko ng 2nd year and I told him that, baka madulas kako kasi classmate nya si tabs that year, e susko! The next thing I know, ini-ask daw nya yung isang 4th year na maganda! Waaaahhh!!! I felt bad, really, I was kinda hoping na ako ia-ask nya. Pero eto na naman ako, sa sobrang sama ng loob ko um-oo na ko sa isang classmate ko. Sayang di pala natuloy na maging partner ni tabs that other girl. E meron na ko. Naging bf ko pa yun. Which lasted again a couple of months. Till the fourth year.

When I broke up with my second bf, crush ko pa rin si tabs (baaadd!!!!) Funny, di naman kami talaga nag-uusap e, parang crush lang from afar. I vaguely remember meeting him the first time. I doubt he remembers it too. Tapos come prom ng 4th year, nag-agree kami ni Joey (kabarkada) na partners kame. Biglang, sabi na lang sa kin ni Joey, e ia-ask daw ako ni tabs so di na daw kame partner! Hmph! Ganun? E yun na nga, one night tabs called me up at home to ask me out. Kilig!!!! Hehehe… like I said, crush ko sya ever, on and off. So come prom time, dun na kame nagkita sa Club Filipino. Handsome sya ha, with the barong and all. And we had a nice time. Nag-overnight pa kame sa wendy’s with my friends. And abah! Nakaakbay na sya sa kin!  that night ok pa yun. Pero nung back to school na kame, abah! Ilang na ko! Huhuhu…. Ang weird talaga pag nagdadalaga. I won’t go into the details na, pero to make a long story short, binasted ko sya, March 8, 1996.

During graduation practices, pag early morning, lagi ko nakikita si tabs playing basketball. Funny, kasi yung friend nya na kasama ko sa CAT Model Company, he was always kidding me na nagsuicide daw si tabs, nagpagupit ng panget, naglasing, at kung ano pang kwento. The first real concern I felt for tabs was when I saw him the weekend after ko siya binasted, and he was wearing an earring! Nyek yun at that time ha! So ayun. Graduation day I decided to greet him. Smile lang. Tapos yun, he smiled too. Nung gabi, nag-overnight yung friend nya sa house namin, kasi friends ko rn yun, tapos that was when I asked him to ask tabs kung pwede partner na lang kame! Next day na kasi graduation ball! Abah! Hihinde ba naman sya sa beauty ko! Bwahahaha… So there, the grad ball was in edsa shang, and that was the start of it all.

I never knew when I really fell in love with him. Might be the day I busted him, or the day of graduation, or the grad ball date. I only knew then na simple as he is, sobrang down-to-earth, ang sarap nya kasama! So there, on April 8, 1996, we were officially a couple. Nga pala, tinaon ko talagang april 8, kasi sabi ko swerte, though april 7 pa lang alam ko sinabi ko na sa kanya na sasagutin ko sya! Hahaha… We went out that day (april 8). Our first real date as a couple, and funny, kasi nagtampo na agad sya na wala daw kiss! Hehehehehe….

Next: Our first few years

Chime Souvenirs

Last Saturday I went to the chime supplier for my souvenirs. I called them up a few days before saturday to inquire about the chimes and how to get there. Come saturday, I was at the FX terminal in monumento. I was alone because tabs was still sleeping (in the office). I didn't want to bother him because I know he's just too tired. Now, 30 minutes after sitting in the fx, and nobody else was getting in, I decided to get another mode of transpo instead. I didn't want to spend the whole morning sitting there waiting for another 5 people! It was a good thing 1 fx decided to go back to novaliches (caloocan) and hitched me a ride. Syempre I paid pa rin the 30pesos fare pero ako lang pasahero. Nagchickahan na lang kami ni driver. He was a really nice guy, ung tipong di bitter sa buhay (like some drivers can be)... at masaya makakwentuhan. I got the call from tabs and we agreed na diretso na lang ako sa house nya after because he needed to rest.
So I arrived at the subdivision where the supplier is around 11:45. E di pa pala inhabited yung subdivision. nag-tricycle ako to where they instructed me at nalaman ko na mejo barong-barong pa houses din. No streets. no roads. lupa pa ung daanan.
But then, their hospitality more than made up for the sad state of the business. Wala naman kasi silang pwesto, it was a really a small business lang. Pero yun nga mura ang presyo kasi, though mas mahal kesa sa divi, ibang iba naman yung tunog nya. And the tubes were polished. And the wood they used, binabababad nila sa gamot para di sya magka-molds.
More than the experience of going there, I believe the good thing about it is that I was able to help them. Ang babait nilang tao. It was really touching for me. Kasi simple lang buhay nila, but they can smile at you and be really,really nice people.
Been thinking nga of how I can help them. Gusto ko magtinda sa tiannge or something, kahit tubuan ko ng konti lang, pero maisip ko lang na yung matulungan ko sila na makabenta. I think that is good enough na. Not really as my business, more for them. Baka nga invite ko na lang sila kung gusto nila magbenta sa tiangge dito sa office sa november. If they are not busy. Ikuha ko sila ng pwesto tapos sila na magbebenta. Let's see.
Anyway, here is the pic of the chime:

I will just make a sticker at didikit na lang dun. I ordered 150pcs pag may sumobra reregalo ko sa pasko. bwahahaha...
******************
After my trip there I went to tabs place to rest. Masaya pa rin kasi ko kahit malayo yung place ni tabs, pag pumunta naman ako dun kahit makitulog lang ako ok lang, we have the chance to lie down watching tv (sa sala syempre) at kahit magkayakap kami at mag-kiss sa harap ng mama nya ok na rin. hehehehe. di ko magawa yun sa bahay namin hiya ako. :-p
Ayun, konting kwento, konting higa (we watched D'Anothers). Daming yakap syempre (darn, we miss each other so much!). Sabi ko nga sa kanya, baka weekends namin pag mag-asawa na kame e spend lang namin na magkayakap maghapon!) hehe... Pano naman we might not have enough time during the weekdays. I'll be home past 10 already because of class, tapos si tabs naman baka ganung time din or later pa. So weekends lang talaga ang time namin together to relax. But still looking forward to it!
:-)

thankful

I was at tabs house last saturday. It was really a time for rest. The one thing I like about being at tabs' home instead of ours was that i get to sleep and rest. we can lie in bed (in the sala) and hug there while watching a movie. His parents and siblings are already so used to us there. We can even joke around. I guess that's what i really am thankful for, that i'm marrying into a family that accepts and loves me. OF course, most thankful for the groom, who i happen to love with all my heart, and who happens to love me soo much. I can't wait till december!

God has plans

I learned of a really sad news today. Something to do with work and career. I dunno, it just seems that life can be so unfair at times. I was counting on one thing, almost confident of it, when suddenly, things turned around. When I had made some plans, thinking there there was probably reason enough to stay, I suddenly learn that perhaps there was none. What makes it ever sadder is that the reasons are not because there was a question on abilities or qualifications, but more of lack of planning. It stinks.
My only consolation now is that perhaps, there are other plans for me. Definitely I will not be browsing the internet the whole day and wondering what to do forever. Next year, a lot of things will change. I'm almost through with my MBA and there's a promising career ahead of me, opportunities will surely knock. I should trust God that indeed, he has other plans for me.

Updates - August 25

As promised, here are my updates:

Tabios-Maravillo Nuptials
Wedding Update: as of August 19, 2005

Motif: Tangerine and Turquoise/Aquamarine

Church -Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Lantana St., Cubao, Quezon City
- Paid P 2,000 dp
- To accomplish requirements, schedule seminars (early October)
- To pay balance of P 7,000 (due 2 months before)

Reception Venue and Caterer: Windmills and Rainforest, Scout Borromeo, Quezon City
- Paid P 16,000 reservation fee on January 18, 2005
- Paid P 25,000 down payment on Feb. 19, 2005
- Final payment at least 2 days before
- Food tasting for schedule
- Discuss menu, set-up, cake, amenities, etc.
- To upgrade table centerpieces - DIY-done

Photo-Video Coverage: Ellen Tuyay of Ephoto-gallery
- Paid P 5,000 dp
- P 20,000 due on prenups day
- P 11,000 due on wedding day
- P 5,000 due after final delivery
- To discuss prenup pictorial schedule
- To discuss final details for wedding

On-the-Day Coordinator – Impromptu
- Paid DP, can text or email them already for any questions

Hotel for Preps -Astoria Plaza
- Bought the Platinum Club 3 card for Php 5,500
- Accommodation for night before wedding – free already, need to confirm na lang date
- Accommodation for night after the wedding – 50 % off
- Reserved rooms for dec 2-3, for confirmation dec 3-4

Flowers - Mang Boy Mahusay
- Quote for whole package : Php 4,500
- Paid Php 1,000 dp and gave complete package list
- Bridal bouquet : Imported calla lilies (hand-tied)
- Groom Buttonaire : Carnation (yippee)

Cake - Merced Bakeshop (c/o Windmills)-to discuss w windmills

Sound System - ok, c/o Windmills and Rainforest

Unity Candle - DIY, done!

Thank-you cards - care of Ephotogallery

LCD Projector - Php 2,500
- FPH (Contact person Irma Estanislao)
- Paid Php 1,300 dp last Feb 9

Wedding Gown - c/o Ready to wed
- Alterations a few weeks before wedding
- To buy corset/low back undergarments
- To buy dressing up attire
- To order veil

Shoes - done!

HMUA - Brenda Belgica
- Had trial last Mach 19 (so nice!)
- Paid 3,000 dp fo 3 heads
- HMUA for ento booked at 365 php per head

Bridal Car - reserved MB E220 Bridal Car for 2,700+500 per hour excess
- paid dp of Php 2000
- Groom’s car c/o Mon - yehey

Save-the-date Cards - DIY, done design, for printing and sending out – done!

Unity Coins - ok, to buy jewelry case – done!

Bible - ok, to buy garter/ribbon

Misallettes - DIY, revise templates from w@wies
- bought cover for misallete at star paper
- printed missallette cover – 30 pcs
- draft ok! For approval or officiating priest and awaiting final ento list

Rings - ok (from Matus Jewellery)

Barongs of groom and parents - ok

Gifts to Entourage - females: swarovski earrings – done
- male – mini tool box, done

Emcee - Ging and Gette - ok

Invites - for printing

Maps - to bring hard copy to unifair

Guest Sheets - ok

Entourage Gowns and Parent’s gowns - c/o Tita Clarita
- Bought cloth
- Fittings done

Gifts to PS - male: Drotsky Hof wines
- female - swarovski bracelets - jewelry cases ok

Marriage License - in process (to get on August 31)

TO DO’s:

Accessories - to decide later

Games and Reception Program - c/o Jenn, to discuss with Emcee and coord

Souvenirs - windchimes in sinamay bags or bath salts (just a thought)
- jenn to make tags
- all materials to be bought at divisoria

Gifts to Parents - no idea yet

Honeymoon - to decide on later depending on budget
- Reservations to follow, sana Singapore.

Singer - to ask JP

AVP - c/o jeff (for interviews)
- c/o jenn – for pics (partially done)

CD of Songs and Songlist - to do

Bridal Registry - to enroll by September

Bubbles,Confetti - to buy in Divi (72 per pack of 24)

Luminaries - almost done

marriage license - done!

Finally, a new checkmark in our list of to-do's. Yesterday tabs and I were on leave for work (i was suffering from flu as well). We met early to get the NBI Clearance he'll be needing for his change of name, the queue of people was unbelievable. There were lines for every part of the process, and in the end there was a hit on his name (meaning someone had a similar name) which means he had to come back to get his clearance. Drat. While he was in line I went to get an application for the marriage license and a cedula. We were asked to register for the family planning seminar, which is at 1:30-4:30. We had a two-hour rest spent on eating lunch at KFC and taking a nap at home. At almost 2 the seminar started (I kid you not, it was boring, educational at some point but boring for the most part). Geez. We rushed out at 4:45 to file the marriage license so we can get in 10 days. Good thing they didn't scrutinize all the requirements (or else they would see that the Birth Certificate of Tabs had EREMIO instead of IRENEO!). hehehe... so one thing less to worry about. We can get the license on Aug 29, but since I'd be on leave on Aug 31 we'll be getting it then, together with tabs' NBI Clearance.

We had a quick snack in the afternoon at Jollibee before I went off to school for my finals exam. hay... tiring day, but at least we were able to accomplish much. :-p

PS. I like my blog template so much, I feel so light. hehe...

a new look

my blog's got a new look. nope, its not a new template altogether, its basically the same template with different header and different colors (as you can see, i wanted lots of colors this time, although its predominantly pink!). I'm glad I was also able to make a lot of improvements on the formatting (line breaks, the irritating bullets :-) its gone!)

anyhow, hell week is already over, there are still quite a few requirements that i have to deal with at school before the term finally ends, but its good to know that that would be in less than 2 weeks time already. So cool. Four semesters to go and I get my degree! Woohoo!!!!

wedding preps? well, last saturday had me going to unifair to proofread the invite wordings, it went well, except when i met tabs he saw that there were double names. hehehe.... Had to ask shirley to make additional changes. :-p. Also, I sent her the file of the map so it can be placed on the back of the RSVP card, but it seems that the wordings may not be too clear so I might just insert another one.

what else? the flu virus has got me again... and everyone tells me I'm getting thinner. And its less than four months till the wedding... meaning I do have a problem and I do have to gain weight. geez. I'll work on that sept. PROMISE!

tomorrow tabs and I will go to NBI to finish processing his clearance, he needs it for the change of name. also tomorrow I'm hoping we can proceed with the marriage license requirements. hehehhe.... sana. then finals in the evening. oh well, that's one less subject to deal with after I finish the finals and the special paper. :-)

well, that's it, i still owe this blog my updates.

time check

115 days to go!!!!

i've been meaning to post a more comprehensive update of what i've accomplished so far, but since that will take time i'd have to resked again till next week. Its hell week at school again, ladies and gentlemen. I had to submit a report Monday, submit a group report Tuesday (which meant we slaved over the report Monday night at Seattle's Best), a presentation I had to finalize for Tuesday 2nd class, another presentation for tomorrow (which means we will again slave over the report tonight). Whew. What a mouthful. Add to that a presentation I'd doing for work.

nope, am not complaining, I've had a knack for working under pressure and this one is not a big deal. I've always had that "grace under pressure" work out for me. hehehe.... i guess the only thing I really should work on is the part on having time to rest.

imagine all the activities above, and yet, yesterday, I found the time to go around the mall to buy tabs' wedding stuff! :-) nope, not with him. I figured it would be easier anyway since he always looks at the price and make these "ang mahal" comments! e i want him to look just as special as I would on our wedding. so in the one hour I had (after I paid my bills) i was able to shop for his pants (Onesimus, oh so sosy!), Belt (Hickok), Socks (Bally), Hanky (Caruso), and Camisa chino. And I still had time to shop for some clothes myself! So efficient! Bwahahaha... Seriously, I think it was good that I was already able to buy those things. He only has to have the pants cut, will have it done na lang sa Alterations (tama ba?) kasi sayang yung pants pag nasira! hehe

i'm also in the middle of printing the table numbers and the guest sheets, will hopefully finish this week. Its really slow when I print them because it was at the highest quality. Although its good that the ink doesn't get depleted because it was lightcolored (see pic in previous post). I'm midway already, will finish around 100 pcs, guess that will be enough already.

i'm such a busy bee. :-)
have a seminar the whole day. will post na lang ulit! :-)

passing a tag from Mhay:

1. what are the things you enjoy doing when there's no one around you?

I spend time with myself. I read books, do some scrapbooking or beading. I also like to sleep. I like to play games on my palm. So many things to do when we are alone, except that there is so little time. :-)

2. what lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level?

Sleep. And talking to my fiance, and basically spending time with him... Funny coz NOT seeing him is a major anxiety level booster!

3. tag five friends and get it posted on their blogs.

Arglene
Heidi
Aggie
Dionne
Leslie

like i said, i decided to go on leave yesterday to be able to do a few things for the wedding. Well, basically the only thing I was able to do was to visit Unifair for our invitation. after much deliberation, I've decided to just order a more classic one, since I was having a hard time with my proposed invite. I would have liked the design I conceptualized, but then it would be easier to have my peace of mind anyways. Just the same, I'm quite happy with what we're getting. By the way, here's the design of what would have been my invites :-(






Now, I'm not despairing coz I still have the opportunity to show off a little of my talent with my guest sheets. Here are my initial designs. Each of them would be 4" x 6".













tell me what you think. I'd be printing them hopefully next week. best to keep it out of my mind already. :-)

oh, and by the way, tabs and i spent some quality time yesterday. he had an interview and we might right I after I came from Unifair. Chatted, went around the mall, and ate. It was a fun day, something we have not done for a few months. :-) so happy!!!

invites and stress

we've been having rough times, i guess its a more or less normal thing for couples who are preparing for their wedding, we fight almost everyday. well not really fight, more of misunderstandings. mainly because we are so busy with both our careers, and i have school and he has a ton of projects at work, that we can barely spend time together. and i mean barely. the three hours we can spend every week is considered "precious time". its sad especially at this time where we need to meet more. i've been constantly nagging my classmates that i need some social life but then i don't see any sense of asking for more time out when in fact, tabs is too busy as well.

take for instance, the issue we've had for more than a week now with regards to the invites. i've been wanting to have the invites DIY for such a long time to save a little on wedding expenses, and i've done my best to design them. but printing isn't as good. and there are still a lot of limitations. i guess if i had more time to at least browse I would have had more ideas. but none right now. my time seems to be divided into huge chunks of time. wedding preps 40%. schoolwork 40%, social life and personal life, 20%. how gross.

on the bright side, my leave for tomorrow was approved by my new boss. and i'm happy for it. i plan to do some wed preps in the morning, and then in the afternoon hopefully to catch up on schoolwork. which i already need to be doing. term papers and reportings are on its way already. there are barely 4 weeks to go till the sem ends, and exactly 4 months to go till our wedding.

for now. i can only cry, "Give me some time for myself!"

updates again

had a fruitful weekend (i suppose). at least i was able to cover a few things needed for the wedding.
saturday morning we had the last set of fittings: my MOH, my mom and 2 sisters. whew. so everyone's fitted already and hopefully the mananahi will be able to complete all the gowns by october (i'm hoping). i finished buying all the cloth needed for the gowns and for tabs' barong. at least that was one detail over with.
saturday afternoon Tabs had his confirmation at San Miguel Church (Malacanang). It was a funny experience. Tabs kept on asking me for a gift because I stood as his godmother. I found him so funny. Kahit late sya sobra napatawad ko na rin kasi makulit naman. I was kidding him that I was thinking that in four months time I'd be stuck with that trait of his forever! Bwahahaha.... He was actually asking for a bike. Funny. I miss his sense of humor. Its so sad we barely have time together.
I need a long rest to recoup from wedding preps. hahaha... not work. :-p

wants

been wanting to do a lot of things. lots of things for the wedding, lots of time to rest. yadah, yadah, yadah. :-( but life has a way of twisting our lives so that we have so little time, and so much to do.

let me dwell first on accomplishments and not so good realizations.
1. MAP: I was able to finish our map. Its the dreaded map that i though i wouldn't do simply because I couldn't find the right program for it. good thing I realized that Adobe Photoshop can do the trick! whew!!!! so yesterday I was able to finish it. Proudly DIY! Status: FOR PRINTING
2. INVITES: I bought boards the other day so I can try printing some invites already, preferably the ones we need for the states. That is if and when we are able to finalize the entourage which at the moment lacks 1 ninong. :-( Now, yesterday as I was trying to print it I realized that the paper I bought was off-white, and the result was that the invites have become too dark. Nyay! add to that that my ink was smearing at the sides and I spent the whole morning cleaning and aligning the printer heads. Geez.... I'll try again later. I need to compute already how much I'd be spending if I were to do the invites myself. Or perhaps I can depend on one of my trusty suppliers to print them for me. hehehehe... I also need ideas on how to do the envelopes. I'm already really satisfied with the invites, I like the board that I bought too, except that perhaps I can look into getting something whiter.
3. DRESSING-UP ATTIRE and PRENUPS costume - Yes, I am an OC bride. Yesterday I went around SM trying to find a bathrobe or a set of pajamas of the color torquoise or tangerine. And I want to have it embroidered BRIDE. And of course I want to buy pajamas for the GROOM as well. Problem is where to get it. I can also have it made but I don't know what fabric I should use. Besides it must be cheaper to buy rather than go through all the hassles of buying the cloth and getting fitted.
4. MALE PS GIFTS - I'll be buying red wine for the male PS basically because I don't want to stress myself out anymore in thinking about what to buy for them. I just want to drop by sometime this week or next to buy it.

These are the things on my mind right now. All in all, I think I'm on the right track. And If I continue to be such a good girl, I think I just might have a not so stressful few days before the wedding. :-)

Unfortunately, my studies aren't as kind to me. I'm now stuck with so many cases that require so many meetings. Ahhhh.... That's almost every wednesday, almost every Saturday or Sunday till the end of August. If its any consolation, that's just another month and second semester comes in. yey. After that its 3 more months till the wedding. Whew! Time really does fly.

our precious

i can't help it. i just have to post lest the moment pass us by. today alain and mye delivered our wedding rings. it was really so beautiful, simple but elegant and thick. and it matched my engagement ring.
another detail over and done. I see it fit my finger so well as if it was part of it ever since. If there were no one to stop me, I'd probably start wearing it, just to see how it feels. really, the happiness and the contentment of seeing us wearing the same ring, four months from now, is really worth every single centavo we paid for our precious rings.
Alain and Mye of Matus Jewellery, thank you so much.
Footnote: I need to have my engagement ring buffed for the wedding. hehehe...

a busy long weekend

Our president, PGMA, announced a non-working holiday for July 25 (Monday). Whew, that's a relief because it at least allowed me some time to rest. Here's a few details on my weekend:
Saturday, July 23
Had our exam in Corporate Finance. It was ok, I'm predicting I'd at least get a passing mark (which is what I'm hoping for, hehe, its really a good subject to know but apparently, its not my forte so I won't claim I'd get a high grade for it either). Classmates and I went to Shakeys afterwards, just to relax. Then went straight home.
Sunday, July 24
2nd batch of fittings for the entourage, namely, Tab's side. That's 3 flowergirls, 1 BM, 1 SS and tabs mom. We came late, for so many reasons, actually. Afterwards my sister and her sister-in-law and I went to Divisoria to buy the cloth. Not bad, I guess, I spent nearly Php 6,000 for everything: cloth for moms, SS, BM, FG, sisters, my veil (oooh, my veil excites me) and moms. The only one not included is the MOH, which hopefully I can finish buying end of the month. My mom and another sister will be fitting this weekend, hopefully, so I'd have one thing less to really think about. Which is also a reminder to me to look for the cloth for tabs' barong. geez. :-) I got to tabs place from divi at nearly 6pm, and it was sad because we had so little time to catch up. :-( Got home nearly 9pm.
Monday, July 25
Last day of the long weekend. I basically went about cleaning up my room (partly), watching old movies, fitting my gown (it needs ironing). I ironed my other clothes, then went out with tabs to see THE ISLAND. He felt really disturbed because he wanted to go out with me but had to come back to his office. Sometimes his workload worries me, he gets to finish work at dawn. Yesterday night when I got home I asked him why he chose me to be his wife. His answer: SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU MAKE ME THE BEST I CAN BE. I became teary-eyed when I read it. I never looked at it that way, my concern for him has always been to make sure he is happy and content, and to encourage him always. Now that I think about it I guess he is right. When we started out tabs was very, very insecure and had inferiority complex, partly because of a troubled childhood and partly because of his hearing disability. Im happy I got that answer for him. Makes me more excited with the wedding preps. and our married life.

Others:
I'm gonna get our wedding rings from Matus today, oooh... so exciting. hehehe.... I do hope it'll fit tabs already. Also, my sister has handled looking for he hmua for the entourage. whew. its all a relief. So happy.

been busy the whole week, preparing for the Supply Management Conference here at Beer (yesterday and today), going through our case last monday (we got 98% yey!!!!), and preparing (or the lack of it) for my CorpFin exam tomorrow. I have seen tabs for a total of 2 days equivalent to like 4 hours for the past week. It gets tiring, the lack of time we spend together. Sometimes I wish we could just fastrack the days and live together already so we can have time for each other. My exams and cases are already taking a big chunk of the time I could spend with tabs and with preps. With the two months I had the summer vacation (from school) I'm so thankful I was able to achieve a lot, because now, I have absolutely no time for preps, and if i did, it eats up my REST time. Its sad. I know. After all these preps then it becomes time for chores. And I'm still studying. Maybe I should get a job in sales. Fat chance. Damn. No, I'm not complaining about my schooling. The learnings I get from school are about 5 times the learnings I have gathered in my current work. Sometimes I just want to quit work but I know it isn't possible because no one would be supporting me. I know I need to finish school by 2007. I want to have kids already. imagine getting the baby by 28. Its sad. Could have had it at 26. But no. I'd want my babies to have a bright future ahead of them, and if it means slaving over the remaining years of grad school then be it. Besides, the network of friends I got when I entered MBA are probably one of the best friends I could possibly get. Folks who share my interest and financial setbacks (because of the MBA expense). Basically friends who share my maturity -- and teach me life's tricks as well. Maybe one day I'd devote one post just for them! :-)
Hay, just needed to emote. Things have been pretty rough. A few more days and I'd really give myself a LOT of rest!!!!

flu

yes, it is now a full blown flu. :-( i'm still blogging despite being sick because, despite being sick I am still in the office. I have a Supply Modular Learning System workshop today for the whole day, something I really shouldn't miss. Despite wanting to be at home to rest, and despite the fact that I collapsed this morning (twice!). I dunno if its vertigo or just plain dizziness, but I felt i lost control of my body and the next thing I know, I was looking at the ceiling. Twice. Geez. My mom was pretty worried that I still had to commute to work. But I insisted. I've always been like this. I handle myself pretty well I guess. I just drank paracetamol and neozep and vitamin c and I prayed I'll feel better.
*****
Yesterday I was asked to go to Shell for an interview. The job opportunity I was talking about with John Clements was for Shell. They called me up for an interview. The position was for a Technical Administrator. Frankly, I don't know if its just a fancy name for a not so fancy job or if its exactly that. hahaha.... I need to know more about the work because at first thought it seemed boring and too much in line with what I'm currently doing. I decided I want to see the package before I even contemplate what I want to do about it. And learn more about the work. I dont want a clerical job. No! No! No!
Still groggy.... wahhh! i really want to rest!!!
*****
Three straight days with posts! yey!!!!

opportunities

I'm at the brink of getting the flu. Since yesterday I my throat's been swollen and painful, now its just plain irritated and I have to cough it up till I feel my guts want to come out. geez.
What's really extraordinary yesterday was that during lunchtime, while cathy and I were looking for shoes for her, I got this missed call from an unidentified number. She then texted me that she was from john clements, and that i needed to call her in the office. Since I was out, I called her from my cell. And it turned out that I was recommended by a former officemate in Reckitt (first job). She was asking me if I could come for an interview at 6:30 pm (last night). It was really a moment of panic! I was definitely not dressed to kill! I was wearing sandals. I did not have a blazer. I confirmed my attendance, sent my resume to her, and worried about what to wear, definitely destroyed my budget! I had to buy shoes and a blazer. Good thing I was wearing black pants yesterday.
On to the interview. I got there at past 6:30. Missed the elevator, went to 15th floor when I intended to go to the 12th. More like the 13th, coz they called it 12B Floor. Bwahahaha.... Anyhoo, when I got there there was the interview. I won't get to the details of that anymore. Anyways, overall, the opportunity was ok. which gets me to thinking about my priorities.... what do i really want? and what would make me happy? the financial freedom? or the chance to shine? or the opportunity to lead? i frankly don't know for sure. :-(

long post - updates and what-nots

missed me? haven't posted for a while. in as much as i wanted to find the right time to post i just can't seem to find the right time. so i'm just going to give a terribly long rundown of stuff, wedding-related or otherwise, so fasten your seatbelts!
*** Two saturdays ago Tabs and I went on a long quest for hearing aids. For those who don't know about it, well, my dear husband-to-be has a BIG Hearing problem. I knew this since high school, his mom was constantly apologizing (and sometimes scolding me for making his son feel bad :-( ) whenever we fight on the phone (landline) when he can't hear me and I can't raise my voice. After college and before he went job hunting, he had a tympanoplasty, wherein they opened the skin behind his ear and placed a piece of skin on top of the eardrums which had a hole in it. That one was scary because there was a risk of permanent hearing loss, or nerve damage to the face. Fortunately he got through it fine, except that now he feels that he's right ear hearing is worse than the left, which was the one that had the operation. Finding a job was kinda difficult for him, because he would almost have a hard time with interviews. Now he's doing well with work and is looking at finding better opportunities elsewhere, he finds it the best opportunity to invest in a hearing aid. So two saturdays ago we went to a hearing aid center, got tests, and found out that the cost for each hearing aid is a whopping 20thou pesoses!!!! imagine that!!! i won't go through the gory details of it all but to cap off, he'll be getting his hearing aids (thats 40thousand in all) tomorrow morning.
*** Oh, another thing that I've been spending so much time with lately is digiscrapping, which is really an inspiration from Tin ni Roland (Shmucks!). I've been into real scrapbooking during the summer, but lately ran out of papers and pics to scrap. hehehe. and I'm soo happy because one thing led to another and I realized I can do well with Adobe Photoshop, and now I'm able to design my invites! I'm now planning to just do it myself, especially since budgets have really been tight and I badly need to save up on other things, invites being number 1!
*** I've also been on a quest to beautify myself on the remaining months till the big day. A few weeks ago had my hair straightened, and the effect was really good. yesterday I had a facial, wart removal and laser treatment, which was toooooo expensive if you ask me, and i'm so scar-ridden. geez.... i hope the scars all go away already. good thing my hair is doing a good job concealing the scars, which were mostly on the sides of my cheeks near the ears. hmph.... now i really resolve to take care of my face, my body and my health!!!
*** What else? Oh! We got through the UP MBA Freshman Night Party las Friday. The bands that they got really sucks, hehehe, except for the 3rd year batch "band" that played the party songs. Just the same I had a good time with friends. I realized more how fun our barkada is! ",)
*** That's it for the updates now, will really, really try to blog more.... Oh, BTW, if you noticed, I got a new tagboard, Chatterbox closed down, hmph!!!! Hope I can find time one of these days to redo my blogskins. :-)

on life and career

lately, thoughts about family and career have been looming over me. i dunno if its because tabs and i have had some time to talk about where to live and how to go about expenses, and what our goals should be about our salaries to live life at least comfortably. needless to say, we are so far off from our target incomes (suffice it to say kids are out of the question at this point). with this discussion comes the realization that i really have to find me a new job next year. with changes in the organization (including that of my boss), i find myself wanting to experience a different work environment. True, i'm happy to be here, with my officemates who are like a family to me, my other set of officemates, though i don't see them often, are also good friends, i happen to like my boss, except that now she's being transferred. :-( but truth be told i find myself overqualified, especially in terms of salary. i dunno, i guess i crave to be able to hold more responsibility. because right now, things are just too darn boring.
my contract will end mid-january of next year. by then i will be mrs. jennifer maravillo-tabios. by then i would have only 3 semesters to go in my MBA, plus 1 compreshensive exams, before i graduate. by then i'd have been working for 5 years already. that's 5 years of career life and i am short of achieving the goals i had set when i started to work. I said then i wanted to get my grad degree within the next 5 years. could be done. will be a manager in 5 years. not yet (well as of now). have a good paying job. far from it. :-(
i resolve to do the best i can in improving myself in the next 6 months before i finally tie the knot. be more mature, read on more self-improving books, leadership books, etc. basta, this next 6 months will be all about self-improvement! promise!!!! now that seemed to lift my spirits more! hehehe... i guess the realization is half the battle won (or at least 25% the battle won, getting there is another matter!)

on to more interesting stuff:
last saturday tabs and i finally ordered our wedding rings. the feeling was exhilirating, to be able to picture the design of the ring we ordered (cause we're still getting it on july 28). and somehow imagining the look of it on my finger. hay. :-) so happy. anyways, we got it from matus jewellery. i figured that since the wedding rings will be our own and only possession after the wedding we might as well buy something of good quality. and we did. just can't wait to have it already.
and yesterday i asked my mba classmate and friend, ging, to be our emcee on our wedding. he's a really great speaker and marketing person, and i've always been fond of the way he entertains us with his jokes and kwento, but on one side he's a great leader and all. :-) turns out he's done wedding emceeing for like, 3 times already! weeeh, that means i really need not fret about having him do it. :-) such bliss.
that's all for my updates lately. still hoping i can blog more often...

updates on me and my wedding

again i have not had much time to blog these days, not much time to bloghop as well. in fact when i read w@wie mails i delete those posts i really don't feel interested in, when before i would read anything and everything. maybe its because i've already accomplished much and i've booked most suppliers already. in fact, except for the rings, i've already booked everything else. :-) now i have to move on to the more tedious stuff: maps, guest sheets, seating arrangements, luminaries, souvenirs, etc. this takes effort, i know, but hopefully in the next five months i can dwell on these things as well as on the documentations necessary for the wedding.

our agenda for the weekend is to finally book our ring supplier. gad, i had no idea it takes a month to do the rings (hehe, kala ko 1 week pa lang e type ko na isuot. :-p). we plan to get matus jewellery. i changed my mind on scrimping on the rings because in the first place, the rings and the pictures will be all that's left of our wedding, so an additional 2k i think will be worth it. so tomorrow we're going to the fair in rockwell to but the rings, two-tone white and yellow gold bands. i'm sooo excited.

Other updates:
Luminaries - ongoing production, need to buy candles
Guest sheets - design should be done already!!!! learn photoshop!!!
Table names - after learning photoshop and doing guest sheets.

relationshipwise, tabs and i are having a hard time re-adjusting to our new skeds (with my classes commencing). Its sad coz recently we fight a lot. We fight when we don't see each other much, we fight when we see each other but not for a long time, and we fight over when to meet. hay, i really,really hope his office pushes through with the plans to move to the ortigas area, that way we can at least spend lunchtimes together. nope, the love is still there, we at least have time to chat in messenger. I guess the only solution to our never ending fights is to finally see each other everyday! 5 months to go!

work has been kinda boring. and my boss is transferring come august so its really sad. a lot of rotations have happened and i find it harder to get the info i need now. grrrr.... this is so sad. hopefully by next week i'll be more in tune to work. :-) tabs is in subic now for a company holiday, the company he works for got good reviews from a PC magazine and that means good publicity. congrats hon!!!