ranting

i feel like ranting. i know its no good to rant because at the end of the day, that's all i would have done. there are some things we cannot change in life, and some more we cannot change in people. in fact the only thing we can change is ourselves. like i read somewhere, our emotions are governed by how we react to certain situations, and if we were to try to modify these thoughts and give it a more positive note, we would have saved ourselves with a lot of emotional baggage.

yeah, yeah, easier said than done. i do feel though that to a certain extent i have changed this, but not entirely because at moods like today when i feel so tired after doing something not for myself, i feel like shouting out "I'm doing everything!" Can't you give me a break!!!!

Must be hearing too many sad stories today. I dunno. about long term relationships ending in break-ups. and i realize that it'll always be a fear, and when i hear such stories, i can't help but fear for my own.

My own. My own relationship. Most of the time when i think of marriage and family, i feel excited, as if December cannot wait any longer. But there are days when i ask myself if i really am prepared. Would i be ready to take on the responsibility of a wife? Yes, I am marrying the man i love the most, my best friend, the one and the only person i would choose to spend this life and all the other lives after this. nothing can be more thrilling than the thought of having such a man beside me, every single day. But marriage doesn't come in a box full of niceties. To be a wife, we have the responsibility of taking care of our husbands, to keep the home in order, to cook and to do laundry and to clean, not because its just part of the package, but because we choose to. Or because I choose to. I choose to make sure that when he comes home at night, he will have a hot meal, and we can eat together and discuss our day. That when he wears his clothes, they will be neatly pressed and smell nice. That when he comes home tired, i'll be there to give him a massage. That he will have a clean and orderly home. I absolutely believe its part of the package. I will not yet go into the part of kids, because right now i wish only to dwell on a wife's role, otherwise i may have to rethink everything. And then, as a career woman, I choose to do well in my career. I choose to dream that I will have enough earnings, with his, to buy a car and a house in a few years. That's why I take my MBA. Its scaring me sometimes. Can I choose to commit my life? My life that spent the past 10-15 years independently paving my career. Can I really start putting one's interests over mine, because these are the vows I made in front of God. Again, it scares the hell out of me. But if you ask me again, and again, if i would choose to live this life or let it go, I would say without the blink of an eye that of course, I choose to spend my life with him. I would face up to the challenge of being a mom, a wife and a career woman. and i would choose to be such only for this person.

This is the life of an adult. I think I must be going through my quarter life cycle again....

on scrapbooking, things to do, and immigration

in short, a long post! hehe

on scrapbooking: i was finally able to join the scrapbooking yahoogroups called scrapbook-exchange. really nice group (and may i add they have such good layouts in their webshots!) geez, maybe i should just become a professional scrapbooker instead! duh! wishful thinking. anyways, they have an EB tomorrow at valle verde 2 and they will be having a sale of stuff. am particularly interested in papers, they cost 10bucks each, they sell these stuff for 50 at craftworld in galleria, geez! i'm crossing my fingers that i can drop by!

things to do: have a ton of things to do, its 5:30 pm and i still don't know what my schedule should be, uh-oh. first off, i need to drop by printed matter to get the mock up of the invites. i figure this should be my first agenda because at least i can show it to tabs' mom as well. i need to go to their place to get the docs for filing of the transcript and the school records in pisay (i'll be doing this on monday). perhaps i'll be half-day leave. still need to go to the office because there are a ton of work to do. then, if tabs has to go to the office, i need to drop by too to show him the mock-ups. i know we still won't be ordering too soon because the entourage might still change, but i want to show it to him as well. lastly i want to drop by the EB of scrapbookers. drop by would do, just to be able to buy some paper stock. maybe after lunch? before i go to tabs? hay, so many thngs to do, so little time!

on immigration: i'm contemplating on applying for skilled immigrant visa in canada for tabs and me next year, after the wedding. funny, but after 26 years, just when we are planning to start our life here, we realize just how hard life is, and I, for one, would like to look at the possibility of a future outside the Phils. Tabs has agreed to apply with me, i guess, he's also realizing how hard life is.

in the past few days i've found i want to write about a lot of things but just can't find the time. geez. i'm going home early today and hopefully would have time tonight to write.

fears

we don't know what we fear the most until it looks us in the eye. i realize this now. i read the post of co-w@wie mhay, on her fiance jerry's operation, and i took a step back to realize that if there is anything i fear for the most in our relationship, its the health of tabs. . . not once did i fear that i will lose him to another women, to have to break up with him for any other reason. but i fear the loss of someone i love. i do not want to have to experience that pain, but i know i will someday. scary...
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yesterday i dropped by tabs' office so we can travel home together. when i got there he was still in a meeting. i had to wait up for him and he finished at almost 9 pm (i was there 7:30). the meeting was not finished yet but he told his officemates he'd go ahead. good thing they let him. when we went out i saw just how tired he looked. so haggard, he's had a lot of workload for the past few days. that's lack of sleep, comfortable sleep, that it. he sleeps in the sofa at his office and goes to the gym in the morning to take a shower and workout a bit. i know he could afford to get an apartment already but opts not to so he can save up for the wedding. he finds it hard to go home to malabon everyday with the traffic and his workload. hay.... but we have to have an affordable apartment so we can save up, besides with only the two of us we really do not need a lot of space. even a studio type place will do. we only plan to stay there anyway for around a year or so, until i finish my studies and we can pay for our own place, even if it is slightly far from the business districts. hay, i'd better take a look at apartments for rent for him....
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updates!

haven't been able to blog for a few days, been so busy. long weekend and lots of work. hay.... anyhoo, i'll just go day to day on my updates and kwento.

saturday, april 30
i went to another company (department) outing, where i so badly wanted to win in the raffle, with ipods, personal refs, magic mic and tv with rack were at stake. to cut the long story short, i did not win. huh. so bad. had dinner with officemates. i'll miss them when they move to the other building, but i'll miss megamall too if i were to join them. i'll miss my cube (which i enjoy having here at my current assignment), and i enjoy my work. so far. of course i would enjoy higher pay. duh.

sunday, may 1
labor day. went to tabs' house to spend time with him, brought some mangoes which were not too sweet. kainis. i'll never buy at qmart again! hmph. i really enjoyed quiet time with tabs. we had a chance to chat and of course, cuddle a bit. :-)
i was also able to do the unity candle (revised). here's the pic with the bible and coins as well.



monday, may 2
went to printed matter for the invites. i had them make 2 layouts for me, which i do hope they will be able to make by saturday because i'm really so excited to see the mock-up. i'm also hoping they could put the precious moments theme a bit. hehe.... goes with my missallete. phoebe is a really young, nice girl, and she seems to know what she's doing, and the invites were really cheap.
i then went to quiapo to buy some beads for the cord and for some female entourage members. when i got home my MOH went to our house, and while we were chatting i was able to make the cord. proudly DIY! hehe.... of course i got a lot of comments from my mom about using pearls, but of course, i don't believe that. i believe in every marriage trials will come, tears will fall, whether or not you use pearls in your accessories. anyhoo, to appease her i made a bracelet for her with the materials i bought. so she's not bugging me about it anymore. i was able to make the entourage earring gifts already, will be giving it to them before the ceremony so they can all wear them. since we will be spending for their gowns, i don't think there is a need for such extravagant gifts for them anymore. kuha na lang sila ng souvenir. hehe.



tuesday, may 3
i got the shock of my life when, after lunch, i received the NSO birth certificates i applied for via courier. the shock came when i saw that tabs' name was misspelled - the ireneo was spelled as eremio! OMG! i was freaking out. was able to talk to her mom in the evening. she'll be helping daw with the processing, will give an update on that, hopefully soon.
we met in the evening, which was almost cancelled because we were having small tampuhan as always. i'll make it up to him with my sweetness tonight. teeheehee. :-p

to date i was able to find the article (its Republic Act 9048, actually) on how to file the papers, will be giving them to him so he could give it to his mom. I'll drop by his office after work, probably have dinner. And of course, since i promise to be sooo nice to him today, i bought him the newest FHM mag, 100 sexiest women in the world. :-) he'll have a nice time looking at it for sure. and i also got a SMB babad shirt for him. we have the same shirt again. hehehe...

there goes updates. lots more thoughts when i can squeeze in some more time for blogging.

i went to megamall's sale this lunchtime to buy stuff for the wedding. i guess i had a fruitful trip.
1. was able to buy a jewelry box for the unity coins ceremony. i'm still thinking if i should still buy a pouch for the arrhae ceremony instead or if the tabs will be handing to me the jewelry box instead. (Oceanic - 270)
2. was able to buy the cake knife and cutter thingie. Might have it engraved at rustans, but only the date because it's at 10pesos per letter. i'm thinking of having 12.3.2005 only as engraving (that already costs 9x2x10 = 180bucks!). (Oceanic - 261)
3. was able to buy tulle and small paper flowers for the unity coins. i was looking at the unity coins at the Wedding Library and found some better looking designs there to incorporate. hehe... good thing my current design is still negotiable.
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i still have so many things to do for the remaining school vacation. can't believe its already May on Monday (no work, yehey!!!!). I've decided to dedicate the whole of monday to wedding preps. nyahaha....
just got of the phone talking to Kerwin of Printed Matter. They will be open on Monday. That's so good to hear. Will go there Monday morning to look at invites. Sayang, was planning to go with the KEMers to Subic but it might be less expensive to just handle the wedding preps. hehe.... anyhoo i'll have time to go on an outing again on May 14 (with e-Proc friends) so I'll just forego the KEM road trip. Have outing tomorrow with my other department (my real dept), in Pansol, Laguna. Whole day affair again. No wedding preps saturday again.

new look again/updates - dresses and shoes!

i got inspired by arglene's striped background so i went looking for one and i liked this one! its perfect because i can change the sizes of the boxes. it was pretty hard with my other template with such small windows. this one makes me happy! hehe, i do hope this'll be the last template for a long time. :-P
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wedding preps:
* ento dresses *
was finally able to narrow down and scan my choices for the entourage dresses. here are some of them:
MOH dresses:

SS, BMs and JrBM's:

Flower Girls:

The men and boys will of course, wear barongs. Need not coordinate about that.

*bridal dress*
As always, tabs and I are arguing about the gown i bought and love. :-( but i stick to my decision to wear that dress, i still love it despite its simplicity. But since tabs wants a bit more frill, or some more "dating!", i'm thinking of adding swarovski crystals and if ever, some beading also on the top, but priority is of course, on the skirt. The veil will be modified, i want it longer than the gown to possibly be the train itself, since i don't want to put a train over the skirt, i love the beading of my gown. will discuss this with my mananahi.

*shoes*
I went to the Celine sale yesterday at Megamall and had a blast! I already have bridal shoes! woohoo!!! I actually have 2 shoes - one is with high heels for my march (which by the way scares me because i don't want to trip on my walk) and another one for the reception if and when my feet gets tired.
For the bridal march:

For reception:


* photo mosaic *
The w@wies came up yet with another great idea for a wedding gimik. This time it'll be a photo mosaic of pics. It can either be printed on a tarp or as a framed poster. I plan to do the same thing for the wedding pics. Here are links to the some of my creations:
Mosaic 1; Mosaic 2

headache and what-nots

my head is spinning since i woke up this morning. dunno why. perhaps something was wrong with the way i slept. wrong side of the bed, uhhh... sofa. I slept in the sofa last night because our house was so full! my little pamangkins (3 of them) are at home vacationing because two of them have no yaya. they are actually a bit older already so di na alagain. Also come monday very morning our tita and cousins from bicol arrived. my tita who's not going to be my ninong anymore. they took my room because the kids are using the guest room. i can sleep at my parent's room but decided instead to sleep outside (its a sala na parang veranda). this is where tabs also slept last friday night because we had to leave early for our montemar outing. i also took tabs home so my tita and cuz can meet him (my cousins have met him already). ok naman, except ayaw na nya umalis at gusto na matulog sa bahay! waaaahhh!!! e sa labas ako matutulog alangan namang tabi kami. he left and made tampo that he can't stay over. hay... we're having a lot of these tampuhan lately. siguro kulang na ko sa lambing sa kanya. :-P maybe i should surprise him and drop by his office after work. hay. perhaps i will. para di na sya tampuhin. that is, if i'm feeling better already.


on to wed preps. i finally built on my ideas for the centerpieces! i initially wanted to have mirrors and votives near the centerpiece, now I've decided to forego the mirrors just have the rose petals and votive candles along the center of the rectangular tables, pahaba, and around the centerpiece. romantic. of course has to be liwanag candles para di madaling matunaw. bwahaha... at 12-15 persons per table that would be x12 votive candles, plus lots and lots of rose petals. karen is still thinking what color of petals that should be.


finally decided also to go with a filipiniana theme, at least to unify the ideas. kasi i have a pina skirt for my gown, so its only apt to use a filipiniana theme. thinking the invites will be scroll type, and will have some abaca wrapped over it as accent. also the votive candles will be accented by abaca around the glasses. pwede rin abaca string and then my accent na something. hehe. i'd have to ask my cousins to check out how much abaca costs in bicol.


finally, downloaded some poems in the internet. as table numbers i plan to use the 13 tenets of marriage as in the unity coins. then I'll write the table names along with a poem. It'll be placed on the acrylic menu holders (size will be around 9" x 6") similar to what they have in restos. so the guests can have something to read while waiting for the guests. The supplier of the menu holders i called up yesterday said she'll give it to me as a gift na lang hehe... nice!!!


that ends my updates. I'm still tying up loose ends with what to do, but things are looking good! this friday pala there will be a sale in mega, I plan to buy the jewelry box for the unity coins already.


hmmm.... i'm happy things are falling into place. :-) remind me to write it down so I won't forget any of these ideas.

wedding updates and montemar trip

had a nice bonding time with tabs last saturday when we went to montemar beach in bataan. i took him with me for our company (department) outing. it was a time to sleep, swim, sleep, eat. hehe.... i guess the time together helped us relax at least for a day.







I'm now in the process of making the maps. However i failed to satisfy even myself with what I'm doing. So i'm going to rethink it for a while. relax... Breathe in... breathe out.... hihi...


Now I am in a dilemma. My aunt who came from Bicol and who was supposedly my PS, backed out because she said she's a widow and its not good! OMG!!! and the person who can substitute for her, the Best man's mom, turned out to be a widow too!!!! waaaahhh!!!! this is not good. now i'm in dire need of another PS... hmmm.... is there a rule that says you can't have more male PS than female? I doubt that would look good. Drat and double drat.

Will go to greenhills later. let's see, what can i do wedding related? look at rings? look at accessories? look at possible PS gifts. hay, my mind is in a flurry of things to do. its already may by next week and i still haven't done a lot of the things i intended to do for the wedding. life....

missallette draft - done!

yipee! got one thing off my mind! finally finished my missallette draft. it'll only need the updated listing of the entourage and liturgical sponsors and the final approval from the officiating priest (whoever he will be). what i did was transfer a previous missallette sent to me before from a different format (it was in a special cut-paste format so it was hard to edit it because it doesn't repaginate by itself. anyhoo, i put it back in a microsoft word regular format, then imported that file in publisher, booklet form. it was easier to format it there, and way-way easier to print back to back. since i already have the covers (printed it the other day), i only have to add some embellishments - ribbons? swarovski? or just paper cutouts? no idea yet. but at least it would be easier to mass produce and edit it. don't have to rush it a few days before the wedding.

on other news: was able to apply for copies of our birth certificates... uhh i do hope they will give me copies of tabs birth certificates! sayang yung 600 noh! i had them all delivered to me, just need to pay them so i get the copies already. will have tabs sign and authorization letter na lang. i've decided this is one less thing i should have less stress about. i'd be willing to pay more for it than to go to NSO and apply for it myself, and end up cursing the government system because of their lack of system and red tape (whoopsie, sorry if i offended anyone).

next agenda: maps
note: w@wies who need a copy of the missallete, just pm me so i can send it to you, but i'll be sending a publisher format of it.

oc-ness is back!

hahaha!!! my-OC-ness with wed preps has suddenly returned to normal. hihi. yesterday, i was able to create some templates for ideas and things to buy and such and such stuff for the wedding. basically because i have too many ideas on my mind and i need to set them straight and put them in writing.

and last night i was able to print out our missallete covers. yipeeee!!!! i only printed out 30 because i have no intention of giving out the missalletes to guests with no roles in the mass. so i'll only give it to the principal sponsors, SS, MOH and best man, BM and GM - i only have one of each pala. I decided to shorten my entouage list.

So many stuff to do! I already booked aroung 70% of my suppliers, i only need to book the invites, and rings. all the others are booked. so now, i guess i'm really left with doing the nitty-gritty stuff: souvenirs, missalletes, gimiks, etc. mas madami pa to!

i want to incorporate pala the rose ceremony in the mass. and the bridal candle ceremony at the reception. pero syempre i'd have the candles blessed during the mass already. cute kasi nung poem e. hehehe..

hay and saya. this week concentrate talaga ko sa wed preps. promise!

frustrations...

frustrated because:
(1) i haven't been able to do anything work-related today, basically because i did not list them down as i should have...
(2) i have too many things in my mind, wedding-related mostly. i need to get back on my feet already with regards to preps. too many things to do. i know i have a lot of time still, but budget limitations at the moment are hindering my progress. haaay...

i guess i just need to list down everything. nevertheless, i still feel frustrated!

whew! updates and rantings

whew!!! i have finally, finally finished my new blog template! and this time its really personalized. unfortunately it ate up my whole day just having to do the template. geez. but its ok though, the nice thing about it is that i've been able to insert the comments on the post, that the pics of ours are in the header, and that i've learned to accept how to let go of minor things (like the part about the width of the post box just won't change. grrr.... what i've learned: (1) back up your files, including your templates (2) learn to work with your limitations. Being OC can only go so far. anyhoo, i love our new template. i hope i don't need to change it again in the next few months or i'd probably go crazy. bwahaha.
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we had our food tasting at windmills last saturday. food was great, no complaints whatsoever on the taste (medyo nabitin lang ako, kala ko eat all you can di pala! joke!) we liked the effect of the lights along the pool and outside garden. i imagine i just need to add some luminaries to the entrance side (near the parking) especially since the wedding is in december and the sunset is pretty early. the sad part is that tabs thinks the centerpieces were too simple. sad because its one of the few suggestions he makes and its a rather big one to too. i need to do something about it. sayang nga naman kung maganda paligid tapos too simple and centerpiece. Thinking of calling up Balay Kandila but I fear we may not be able to afford it. I don't think there's a problem with setting it up because there's always the coords. Hmm... maybe I should look at more floral arrangements and try to ask mang boy how much it would cost? my head is aching thinking about it.
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we had our family outing naman yesterday, its nice to be with family. too bad di nakasama si tabs coz he had work :-( . but its nice to spend time with my family, pansin ko nga medyo sumisipag na ko ngayon mag-asikaso, nagahahanda na! hahahaha.... i love my nieces and nephews so much, and sarap makasama mga bata. tagal pa kasi nung sa min. hehe...
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looking forward to the week, promise magwowork na ko todo! bwahahaha....

i destroyed my blog

i just destroyed my blog!!! darn it! i saved the wrong template and completely covered up the my source file. grrrr.... now I'm slaving in the office trying to make a new one. darn it, now the comments are gone. the template looks ok but too impersonal. haaay....

sorry guys, will try to get it back as soon as i can. do bear with me.

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forward to 10pm...

just found a good looking blog i can use for my transition. hay, buhay.... the comments are gone, and there is no way of expanding the areas in the blog. this will serve as my "temporarily" blog while i look for a better one, or find a way to get back the old one (all attempts have been futile do far).

2nd day of vacation

Here I am, enjoying the tranquility of an empty office, grateful for the peace and quiet since I can now stay at the office and not run out at 5 pm. Vacation is such a sweet change.

I actually just came from an important meeting this afternoon. It was a meeting of gigantic proportions, targets for the project were laid out and my role has become more crucial once again. to be perfectly honest, i found the new targets challenging, i'm getting quite tired of having not too much work and the vacation would allow me to concentrate on meeting our division's target. it would be such an accomplishment if i would be able to mobilize the group into achieving it. and i'm happy for that. it'll really prove that I have a done a good job if i were to help in the team goal's fulfillment. unfortunately, my compensation is not tied up to performance just yet. grrr for that one. hahha. no worries, i'll try to not think of that for now.

i've also resolved to start on my productivity changes starting tom. I'm yet to do all the worksheets and templates in the book but at least I'm starting on bits and pieces of the methods. one of which is to list down the tasks to be done the next day, the day before it. and that means allocating time for it. its not to allocate certain hours of the day, but more to allocate a specific amount of time for such an activity. did it already for tomorrow. i hope i can continue with it. i'm hoping i'm already able to apply the most crucial changes before the start of the term in june.

thoughts, thoughts and more thoughts

Blame it again on the free internet connection but i can't seem to concentrate on my work. too many things on my mind right now. I feel i just need to let off all these thoughts lest they will haunt me throughout my marketing exam tonight.

Been looking through the blogs of other w@wies, mostly the previous generation comprising december brides. its nice to read how some of them are already on their way with babies. Their posts really made me smile. sad at the same time because although both tabs and i want to have a baby already, we both know it could be difficult if I don't finish my MBA. our plan really is for me to graduate before the baby comes. as i'm graduating on May 2007 (this is my target - full load every sem, as per curriculum), that means i have to conceive still late 2006. which isn't that bad at all, that's just more than a year of marriage. i guess time will just fly by when we are together. :-)

I was worried just this morning with regards to our scheduled food tasting on saturday, since the new additional workday of tabs might fall on a saturday, he won't be able to come. and i definitely cannot schedule a food tasting without him! so i asked him, ever so nicely by e-mail, if i should postpone it, and he said he'd fix the sched so he can come on saturday! yipeeeee! and he'll also fix his sked for the week after which is our field trip in Bataan (with my SMBD Dept). I'm just so happy!!! Its these days when I feel so blessed to have tabs for my future husband. When he's not in a bad mood and he greets me with a sweetheart in the beginning of the line. hehe... babaw ko noh? i guess its in the "kababawan" though that i realize how in love i still am with tabs. he may not be the sweetest of all men, and he may sometimes be so sunget... but a lot of times he is so endearing. i especially like his sense of humor, yung tipong pag nagbiro sya and kulit lan, kahit walang sense! hehehe. and he's really so supportive of my career decisions. when i decided to quit my first job, when i decided to accept the 2nd job, and when i decided to take up mba instead of plan for the wedding (this was in feb 2004-- we still decided to get married in oct, so i guess its really meant to be a december 2005 wedding), i still tell him of all my career plans, to stay or not to stay, what package would make me stay, pros and cons of my current company, etc. and he accepts my ideas whole-heartedly, sometimes offering his point of view. with him naman, its a matter of where he is happy, he's really good as a software developer but not as career-driven as i am. goes with the personality rin kasi e. when he's busy, di sya makausap, pero when he's bores with work he's really bored. hahaha. ok na sya with his work because din ayaw nya ng mag-uumpisa ulit sa ibang company. with me naman i want the challenge, and since i'm in a corporate setting, gusto ko talaga yung mag-move up. hopefully this company, or another, will give the fulfillment of that dream, para na rin sa magiging family namin. obviously, being a housewife is not in my list of choices. hehehe... unless of course, i'm handling a business.

my blog

looking at my blog, i am reminded again that i need to figure out what to do with the comments sections. grrr... i was trying to troubleshoot it before but it destroyed the whole page so i left it as is. oh well... i'll figure it out hopefully within the week. hmmm... i might also change the blog format, if i find a new one i like... teeheehee...
oh! and i reached the 1000+ guests mark on my blog... yipee! considering that the 500 times were by me (wahaahha) at least it may have reached the 500 guests-mark!

last day of classes - mktg finals

whew! its a good thing the blogspot is available in the office. last friday i wasn't able to access it and was unable to send my anniversary post and i was scared i lost the whole thing. good thing when i checked yesterday the post was there and i just had to publish it. i intend to post everyday hereon (la lang, just for the fun of it, i'm making a diary so might as well make the most of it, diba?)
wedding preps are definitely on standby. we just found out that the cba negotiations ended up in a deadlock and it might take another month until they can come to a darn agreement (grrrrr is all i can say). the money we have goes to my tuition first so i have to get a hold on myself with regards to preps. which is probably a good thing too because i can have time for myself for a change. i can read all the books i have with me and then i can go on with scrapbooking, who knows i may even get a few more ideas for the wedding. which reminds me that some things need to be done for the preps that don't require money, though, namely: AVP, map, missallette, wedding program, wedding music... hmmmm. and i thought wedding preps were on hold...
tonight will be my last exam for the academic year, its marketing and its open book, so quite naturally, i will be reviewing during the exam as well. hehehehe.... we still have one project to do though, i'll deal with that tomorrow. i just don't have the initiative to review for open-book exams, kinda defeats the purpose, but hey, i'm glad its open book!
hay, tabs' work schedule is definitely hectic this month (hopefully this month only). he has to be in the office on saturdays or sundays. which brings me to the sad part of probably having to postpone our food tasting. i have to ask ms. rieza if there is also a wedding event on the 17th. our outing is on the 23rd and i was planning to take tabs with me, i do hope he can make it otherwise its going to be a sad outing for me! i did promise i'd try to visit him at work if i can. wawa naman sya, he often has to sleep in at the office because he's having a hard time commuting to and from work. and he can't afford an apartment yet. well get over it, i'm pretty sure... God has a way of sorting things out for the better. My dad was offering the vacant room to me and tabs after the wedding. i couldn't outrightly say "No" because he might think I'm too eager to leave. Hey, I'm not saying I am, I love my parents and my home very much, but then, I don't want to ask tabs to stay there because it was both our decision to get an apartment of our own. I did tell tabs, and he said, quite naturally, no. :-)
i'm surely going to miss my mom and dad... their jokes, the concern, the dogs at home... but i do look forward to being mrs. jennifer maravillo-tabios.

avilon trip and scrapbooking

tabs and i had a blast celebrating our 9th anniversary friday and saturday. friday night we had a post-birthday (mine) overnight party with our high school barkada. we actually spent a longer time friday night preparing the food, we had ceasar salad, tacos and pasta (the pasta we ate in the morning because our cook, jeff was asleep and just woke up when it was time to eat. talk about tired. when we woke up we watched My Little Bride, a Korean movie with a cute story of a 16-year old girl and a college guy getting married. it was really a funny movie, comparable to pretty woman and those western feel-good romantic movies.

after lunch, murs, john, tabs and i went to avilon zoo. whew. the tour was really tiring. but the 200pesos we paid was worth it if you ask me. there were so many animals (no elephant and giraffe and hippo yet, though)and it was quite a sight, seeing that they were really a lot more comfortable there than seeing them in a smaller zoo in Manila. The tiger was really a sight to see. It poses too. hehe. here's one of the pics with that lovely tiger.



On another news, i got to finishing some layouts for our scrapbook. like i said, i'm making two scrapbooks, one for our love story and the other one for our wedding preps. that way the guests can get a glimpse of our lives before the special day. Anyhoo, here's one of my completed layouts! if you ask me, it was well worth the expense seeing my creative side at work!!!

its our anniversary!!!!!!

yehey!!! yehey!!! yehey!!! <-- di naman mababaw masyado noh?
which makes me think why there should be such a fuss about anniversaries, when they're just like birthdays? days of the year when you feel more special than anybody else. hahaha.
but then, i guess birthdays, as well as anniversaries, are days to be thankful to God. Thankful that you lived another year, and in our case, thankful for the 9 years together. like i said, after all that we've been through, these anniversaries are a means of reminding us of the commitment we promised each other and of the beauty of love we found in each other's life. :-)
i'm thinking of writing our love story but then i might not finish this morning! haha. 9 years yun e!

anyhoo, we'll have a party tonight at my friend's house in sierra monte, these are our high school barkada, and we're going to have a double celebration (my birthday and our anniversary). i obliged tabs to leave the office at exactly 7, goodness knows if he will. hihi. but i'll be meeting up first with one of my barkada, murs, and his boyfriend john, to go to the supermarket to get the stuff we need. pasta will be provided by jeff (house owner) and murs and i will buy the salad and tacos. thinking of dessert but dunno what to get. hmmm.... maybe we should get cake? after
we meet tabs we'll go to jeff's house. movies galore!

then tomorrow tabs and i will go to avilon zoo, we might go with murs and john too. i consider it a plus because we can have someone take our pictures!!! scrapbook entries!!!! hahaha.

oh, and we had our OB finals last night, 2 subjects down. 1 more to go on monday. freaky exam, in as much as i studied well i'd probably get low scores for the essay part. bwahahaha.... the question was "use OB frameworks to vanquish Magneto and his underlings (X-men)" duhhhhhhhhh.... i said: there is conflict, so they should negotiate!!! bwahahahahahahaha... that's so funny, but lacking any other possible answer in mind, i wrote it down. hehe. the irony of the subject, really, its easier to apply it in my life than to apply it in movies!

when i got home, i was this excited little kid so eager to start on scrapbooking! teeheehee. was able to do one layout last night, and i started on another this morning before i left. which makes me sad because i won't be able to work on it tonight, have to go home early tomorrow instead. hehe. i'm just too addicted to scrapbooking! will post more on that some other time!

Wedding Update

Decided to give myself (and everyone else, for that matter) a rundown of all my wedding preps accomplishments so far. Haven't really done anything for April since (1) i'm waiting till classes finish, (2) waiting for budget, hehehe...
anyhoo, here are my updates:

Motif: Tangerine and Turquoise/Aquamarine

Church : Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Lantana St., Cubao, Quezon City
- Paid P 2,000 dp
- To accomplish requirements, schedule seminars
- Tabs to have confirmation (hopefully April/May)
- 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.

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

Full-Coordinator: c/o Karen, Maid-of-honor

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
- Reserve rooms by May?

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)

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

HMUA: Brenda Belgica
- Had trial last Mach 19 (so nice!)
- Paid 3,000 dp fo 3 heads

Bridal Car: reserved MB E220 Bridal Car for 2,700+500 per hour excess- paid dp of Php 2000

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

Unity Coins: ok

Bible: ok
===========================================

Entourage Gowns and Parents gowns: c/o Tita Clarita
- Entourage to choose their Buy tela
- Fittings

Barongs of groom and parents
- Buy tela
- Fittings

Shoes: to buy later

Rings: to look for rings in Binondo and Meycauyan

Accessories: to decide later

Invites: still looking at options (DIY, separate paper and printing, Unifair, etc)

Maps: to do

Misallettes: DIY, revise templates from w@wies
- bought cover for misallete at star paper

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

Guest Sheets: DIY, template ok, but need to revise questions, make 4 to 6 sets
for different tables.

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

Gifts to PS: no idea yet

Gifts to Entourage: no idea yet (swarovski bracelets under consideration)

Gifts to Parents: no idea yet

Marriage License: to process late September
- Jenn to get Birth Certificates
- To schedule seminars

Honeymoon: to decide on later depending on budget
- Reservations to follow

Singer: to ask JP (cousin)

Emcee: Karen + guy (to decide later on)

Entourage: almost complete (to advise na lang)
- visit PS
- visit Titos and Titas and ninangs

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

Bridal Registry: to enroll by June

Bubbles: to buy in Divi

pre-anniversary date

was absent from school last night because tabs and i had the chance to go out. we rarely go out on real dates these days, most of the time its just dinner and then back home, or just home. haha. but yesterday he was on leave from work so i asked him if he wanted to go out. and he did! ans he was really so sweet with the way he texted me yesterday that i wanted to see him all the more! *kilig* anyhoo, we just had dinner at tokyo tokyo (didn't like the food that much though, something was off with their cooking last night). and then we watched Miss Congeniality 2. I really miss movies. When we were in college we watched a lot of movies. we watched movies at ever commonwealth then because it was so much cheaper and not crowded. Now we rarely have the time to go out because our schedules don't match to allow it. I'm off to school four days a week, and on the only free day i have i usually visit him in the office because he gets out of work past 7 already. we have dinner and then i would go home already. don't want to wait for him and besides, he sleeps at the office at times because he has a hard time getting to the office in the morning from his house. if we weren't planning for the wedding i'd probably convince him to get an apartment instead, nearer to him, but at this rate we can't accomodate that added expense just yet. we'll be getting that apartment probably in october, because we still need to set it up and i don't want to be all messed up with skeds to have to worry about moving in a few days before the wedding.
hay, life. so much has changed in the nine years since we were together. i hope i'd be able to capture all the memories in the scrapbook i'm preparing.

our 9th year anniversary coming up!

4 days to go till our 9th year anniversary as a couple!!!

new hobby coming up

Word for the day: Acid-free! hah!
I went to the Scrapbooking lessons for w@wies last Saturday, April 2, and had sooo much fun! Nice to meet w@wies, had a lot of fun with seatmates peachy and tetchie. also met Tina, Ayen, Wella, Layah (a KEMer, college org, same as mine) and so many others. We only had the time to do 3 projects, all of which I enjoyed. There were 2 cards we made (1 was a folded card, really cool and easy to learn, while the other was just a simple card where we used acrylic paint and a flower and a "brad" -- another new word). We did a layout for a 12 x 12 album with a pic of ours, of course, i just had to show off my very dramatic black and white pic again! hehehehe.... of course everyone says it was so beautiful.
I won a prize!!!! Woohoohoo!!! Sahrie, the w@wie/n@wie who owns the internet site for scrapbooking stuff gave me and another a prize. Mine was for the longest engagement (almost 9 years!!!) and the other was for a birthday coming up the soonest. And the prize was: A chatterbox scrapbook set! Yipee!!!! (costs $12.00)
A lot of items were on sale too! yehey!! i was able to buy 2 sets of cardstock (12 x 12), in my wedding motif of course, some stickers, border punch strips, a 12" x 12" album, some paper stock and 2 colors of brads. All these items are ACID- and LIGNIN-free! overall i spent around Php 1,500. Not bad really, I'll just order some from the net at sahrie's site if i have the budget.
My background on scrapbooking was when i made my birthday gift for tabs that one year when i was out of work! hahaha.... i decided to make it a more meaningful birthday so i scrapbooked our pics and memorabia over our 6 1/2 (at that time, i think) years together.
When i went to tabs' place after the lessons, i had the chance to borrow tabs' childhood pics and was so proud to see that he was such a handsome boy! not cute ha! handsome, the one that they would call "Crush ng bayan"! hehehe... makes me feel proud! Anyhoo, was surprised that they bought some lechon kawali and chicken for lunch because i was coming over. That's aside from the macaroni soup his mom cooked. And tabs' was like "Oh, nagmano ka ba?!" hahahaha.... course i did! so funny, my honey wants equal treatment (because he makes "mano" whenever he comes over to our place, funny thing though, he doesn't "mano" to his own mom. duhhh!
long post ever! anyhow, to go back to scrapbooking, I'm planning to make 2 scrapbooks till december. One would be for our wedding preps, well documented! and the other for our love story. I can't bring myself to tear apart the scrapbook gift, it pains my heart, so i'll make another one instead. besides, can't use the stuff from the first scrapbook because they are not acid-free. bwahahaha. i'll make another one instead. have lots of time. also will do the thank you cards for the entourage DIY, i've yet to try to do anything else but DIY invites are more and more inviting.

Career talk part 1

here i am at the office, at a little past 7:30, too early for work, i should say, so i'm gonna take the time to blog away. i intend to work today! hahahahahaha!!!!

anyhoo, yesterday just before going home (i was in a rush because nobody was using the pc and i can catch up on my MU skills), i dropped by National Bookstore to buy the book I was eyeing since the day before. I had really, really wanted to buy it, and yesterday my heart told me to go for it!!! i bought a few more books i intended to add to my collection too, here they are:

This was the book i really wanted to buy! I wanna be more productive!!!


I like john maxwell's books! although i've yet to finish his other book i find the stories in his books really worth keeping to mind. I still have "the 17 Qualities of a Team Player" here with me which I intend to finish first (before the next MOR). This one, though, is all about leadership. i'm so excited to get to to it!


This one is from John Gray, the one who wrote the Mars and Venus series. I originally wanted to buy a Mars and Venus book but it was all about relationships. And I figured there really isn't anything wrong with my relationship at this point, so I don't think it'll really matter right now.


Notice anything (aside from the fact that I may have bought too many books already?) Most of the books I bought were on Personality and Career development. I dunno, right now wedding preps is sort of taking a backseat over my plans to improve myself. Maybe because I want to make use of my idle time this summer? or maybe because i'm in the stage in my life where i know what i want but i want to get there faster, hence i want to be prepared for it. Not to say I'm not prioritizing my wedding, a lot has to do with organizing my time and my life to be able to live it with quality. I anticipate the months of September to December will be the busiest in my life, since I'll be juggling work, school and wedding preps, and soon after adjusting to married life. So i want to prepare myself for that, and at the same time, I don't want to lose sight of what i'm really working for.

Tabs and I both agree that the baby should come after MBA, inasmuch as everyone (both of us included) would like us to have a baby already, we figure that I should first finish MBA so we can pave the way for a better future for both of us. So the master plan is for me to continue working, finish school, and then have the baby sometime 2007. Long time? yeah, but hey, look at it this way, my first year at school is already over, isn't that an accomplshment?

This is such a long post already. Will write na lang a part 2!

Preview to HK Disneyland

waaaaahhhh! gwen from w@w just sent a link to the group, the Hongkong Disneyland website!!!! It was all ooohhs and aaaahhhs for me! its opening on Sept 12 this year, and right now all i can do is to wish with all my heart that we can afford to go there for our honeymoon. hay....
right now there are no definite plans for the honeymoon, it'll depend a lot on the money we have by the time of the wedding, as there are just so many expenses in the way. we have to build up the apartment, pay for the rent (which would definitely be a minimum of 2 months rest, because it'll cover the advance and the deposit). then we have to spend for the appliances and furnishings (read: bed, tables, chairs, sofa, cabinets).
hay, i dunno, sometimes its sad because we really can't depend on anybody else but ourselves for the wedding. yeah, my sisters and tabs' parents have volunteered to help with a few details, my sisters' help are fine with me, with tabs' parents he didn't want to accept it because he thought they should instead use it for their needs. while i think he should at least accept a small amount because this will be a gift from his parents, i know where he is coming from so i accept his decision to not take it. i know that he'll be doing his best to make ends meet for the wedding, so i have no reason to make any more objections to it.
still, a part of me wishes we can have a really memorable honeymoon.... like perhaps 3 days in hongkong... meeting mickey mouse....

countdown to our 9th anniversary

wow! it just dawned on me today that a few days from now, exactly 11 days that is, will be our 9th anniversary as a couple.
looking back, the nine years together has proven to a lot of people how a relationship can really, really work, and really be happy at the same time. i know, i know, a lot would say, but hey! you always get into arguments, you don't always agree, etc. etc. people will always raise their eyebrows and say, they're not the perfect couple.
and we are not. we are far from being a perfect couple. if someone would ask me now what lessons i've learned with my relationship with tabs, herein would be my answers:
1. That you can meet someone you will love so much more that yourself.
2. That fights aren't made to break you up, they are there to make you strong.
3. That breaking up is easy, but forgetting the person isn't
4. That love has no boundaries, no ifs, no buts.
5. Truth be told, you can be in a 9 year relationship and still be hopelessly in love with that one man.
I'd probably be able to say more. But these are the things i've really learned. like i said, ours was never a perfect relationship. we fought, and fought and fought. in our early years together (year 1 to 3) we fought too often, broke up often, and argued a whole lot more. those were the days when we were getting to know each other. it was probably easier then to break away, but for some unknown reason, we held on. yeah, we broke up, but not unlike what others did. some couples would break up for a week, a month, a few months, years even. we broke up for hours, days, and weekends. never longer than that. maybe because it was easy to forgive than to forget the person, or maybe there was not enough reason to do so.
so why have we held on too long, when some would just break up? i guess its because we both knew how much we loved each other. it was there, probably not from the start, but it grew in us. to the point when we knew that come wind and rain, come all the problems in our way, we'll stick with each other.
and yes, we are the best of friends. although i know we both have friends, whether in school or at work, ours is one of a kind. its the kind that you can say anything and everything about yourself, your feelings, your fears, without being judged. we can say what we mean when we're together, no need to pretend to say what we don't really mean.
i've always said that i consider tabs as God's gift to me. He was given to me to play a special role in my life. To tell me that someone loves me and that that love, when returned, can lead to such a beautiful relationship. More than 9 years ago, amidst the battle of my teenage years, after a frustrating "relationship" with a high school batchmate (i say its a "relationship" because it lasted for about a month, cool off for about two, and what would one define as a breakup after a few more months... at our age, that is considered a relationship). Anyway, after that somewhat confusing event, i prayed, i prayed to God that the next person to come along, let him be the one for me. i may not have seen it at first. but i'm sure when i finally did, that it was the right decision.
hay, reminiscing... i could go on and on raving about how much i love my future husband, but you'll probably be bored to death! hihi. will get to writing about our love story one day. hopefully soon. :-)

grad pics

was able to scan some of my pics in preparation for the avp i plan to work on during the summer break from school. its a big chunk of free time where i plan to squeeze in a lot of preps time, time to read, and time to sleep. amazing how much time i have to NOT think about schoolwork!
anyhow, here are our grad pics, will be shown just as a slide in the AVP, at least i want to make the most of it by showing it to the world first! bwahahaha...



amazing how different we actually look a few years ago (well... at least for tabs here, who only got handsomer! teeheehee).



as an added bonus, i scanned the cards tabs gave me... good or bad? i was only able to fill a page! bwahahaha!!! funny though, reading back through these cards gave me a lot of fond memories of our earlier years. i seem to miss college years a lot, we had so much more time together then. but hey! what's to be so sad about? in a few more months, we have all the time together to spend! :-P

books! books! books!

vacation! i love vacations! whew, a few more weeks and i'll have a few months without schoolwork! woohoohoo!!! yipeeeeee!!!! long way to go though, still have a lot of papers to do.
last wednesday i dropped by national bookstore to check out some books. whew! would you believe i was able to buy 5 books? call it impulsive buying -- of course the 5 books included the bible for the wedding. But now more than ever, i'm looking forward to school break so i can read! read! and read! Here are the books i currently have on my to-do list:

Learn massage - isn't this lovely, of course i need someone to practice it on, i plan to be an expert by december. hehehe...


I've been wondering about the content of this book for the longest time, i think the vacation would be a good time to reflect on my life's purpose, too. :-)


Hahaha, this one caught my attention. I guess it'll be a good read, not that I suppose I can apply everything with our culture, but hey, what if I can?


This one was lent to me by my boss, I'm supposed to present on one of the qualities on our next MOR, this one is on top of my list. :-)


This one is an important book i plan to read over the summer. Its one of the bestsellers and I hope to gain a lot from it too.


Blame the expense on my Management Control professor who forced (motivated is a better word!) us to be "voracious" readers. I find her suggestion really sincere, hehehe.... i guess its really worth it to be good readers. I just hope I can someday find the time to read the Business World, as she suggested.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Surprise for me!!!!

Yesterday my E-proc friends brought ice cream and cake for my birthday. :-) i was touched! Never had too many surprises in this lifetime, I guess I was just really happy and lucky to have them as my friends.
Its funny because all throughout the morning yesterday I was in a rush, then all of a sudden everyone was asking me where i'll have lunch! hehehe... should have known something was coming up! I was really not going out for lunch but Tabs was on leave so we decided to have lunch. Funny, but my parents were also in Megamall and they wanted to have lunch sana, sayang! hehehe....
Then in the afternoon they went to our department with the cake and ice cream. kakatuwa talaga sila. hehehe... still waiting for the pics from cathy - nung food. :-) so glad to have nice friends.

my birthday

yesterday i had my 26th birthday, actually it was celebrated sunday, with family, tabs and my best friend, karen. it was really a tiring day for me, but i enjoyed it nevertheless. i so love my nephew and nieces. my nephew, at 11 years old, is very, very sweet. when he arrived he greeted me happy birthday with a tight hug. ain't that sweet? and then as they were leaving he gave me a hug ang pulled me up! huwatt!!! am that petite my 11-year old nephew can carry me, haaha. and my nephew, Kenneth, lets me hug and kiss him pa. i hope he doesn't change for the next 10 years! hahaha... kidding.
karen spent the night at home, while tabs left around 10. prior to that tabs and i were in the outside sala taking a nap, with his head on my lap and we were both tired!
hay, yesterday was ok. tabs and i did not meet anymore because i have an exam today. hay. its ok. was thinking that next year we'd be together on my birthday so ok na rin! hehehe... got a black forest from mon, ninong2be. then ara gave me some cinabbon too. haven't tasted it, will bring some tomorrow. my classmates are so sweet. ;-) tita agnes, ninang2be, gave me flowers and toblerone! hehehe... tita irene gave me a really cute flashlight key chain. really nice of them to give gifts. was so touched because i feel na one of them na ko sa dept even if i've been there for a year pa lang.
over all i feel blessed. went to mass in up to think Him for all the blessings. :-)

My HMUA is Brenda!

Yipeeeee!!! Had a really, really fantastic time last Saturday, when I had my trial HMU with Brenda Belgica. I really had a nice time being made up, and I found Brenda so much fun to talk to. We were just chatting away the whole time, also with my MOH and best friend who went along.
Its really nice to have a supplier who you can get along with, and I guess I'm lucky to have tried out Brenda. I initially planned to have a trial with Eddie Bruan and Ross Regala. But my coord told me of Ross' price increase and I was hesitant to schedule a trial too early. So my coord recommended Brenda instead. But of course I didn't decide yet to try him out. At first I was gonna schedule Eddie Bruan but then he was pencil-booked already, was still going to try him out except I learned that he had a trial already with one of the brides who pencil booked him. Plus it was hard to schedule a trial with Eddie because his weekends are full with weddings. Finally I gave Brenda a call and she said there are already 4 brides pencil booked! Huwaaat!!! But none of them had trial yet so I told him I'd get a trial last Saturday. Texted my best friend and she was luckily available. We set the trial at 9 am. We finished around 11 and boy, i found myself admiring me! teeheehee. Its nice because Brenda happened to work with some of the best in the industry, Juan Sarte, Lala Flores. What was nice was we knew some people in common. It really was not hard to have a conversation with her.
I booked her right there and then. Paid the 50% dp and gave her extra tip. and was so happy to learn that her rates are inclusive of retouch for the reception! yipeee!!!
Here are my pics:

Before the Trial (no make-up whatsoever) -- para sulit! hahaha!


Nice curly hair!


I look like a bride!!!!


Nice hair!

my blog has an all new look!!!

welcome! welcome to my all new blog!

whew, spent the entire day changing my blog! whew! i finally gave up trying to hide the comment section. sheesh. my head is aching trying to figure out how to hide that thing. but then, now I'm really, really satisfied with my blog. now it doesn't look like the ordinary blog. personalized it with my colors and my pics.

it really is fun to build webpages. so accomplishing (see: my mood today)

looking forward to tomorrow's trial make-up with Brenda. Hope all goes well. geez. my head and arms are aching. hihihi.

My dog is in heaven

this is our dog, Rudolf. At 3 human years, he was diagnosed with pneumonia just last Thursday. Yesterday the vet said that that was all they could do to save him. The sickness had gone to his lungs. The morning before he suffered from convulsions, he was still attentive and strong. I miss him so much. He's actually on comatose right now, but they will take him home today... if only so we can say goodbye to him.

He's such a great and loving dog. We will surely miss him.

reminiscing...

here i am, at almost 12 midnight, looking over at high school batchmate's blogs and pics... i was actually just searching for blogs and stuff to put at my avp, but i got to going over some batchmate's blogs. its actually a lot more interesting to look at high school batchmate's life that the college ones, because you know how different our lifes have become over the almost 10 years of separation. and yes, so much has changed.
i still see some of my high school friends of course, tabs, for one (joke!). my closest, dearest friends are my high school batchmates: karen, murs, marione, jeff, joey. friends for life. we meet every once in a while, go on overnights and generally catch up on things.
one of our batchmates, majella, just got married last january 12. they were the couple who got together a little before me and tabs (i figure they're also 9 years as a couple before tying the knot). i remember when pazzie got married and we got together to get the invites from her, i was kidding her that they should get married first. and they did. and its nice because a baby is on its way. funny how our perceptions change as we get older. me? what about me?
my plans? i plan to finish school. an mba was something i've always wanted. as soon as i graduated college its been part of my plans to take up graduate studies. the questions was really when and what course. now that im in up, i think its the best career decision i have ever made. yes the hard work really gets to you, late nights, cramming, tuition fees, school expenses... all of that pays off knowing that im learning a lot of new stuff, working my way towards success. and i enjoy it.
family? in a few months im getting married, something i've always wanted, something tabs and i are dreaming of for so many years...kids will have to wait till i finish school, although we both want it, its just that we feel that there is a right time for it, hopefully in 2007. and if there is anything i look forward to MORE that my MBA graduation, its getting married to the one man i truly, truly love and admire. the one person who can make me smile, laugh, cry, and the one person i know who loves me more than he does himself... and so do i. i can go on and on and on raving about how deeply i am in love with this guy, but suffice it to say that marriage comes as a thrill and as a fulfillment of all our dreams.

long weekend - Bridal Expo and Bonding with Hunny

God really has his ways of showing us how much he loves us. Last week was a terrible week for me ang tabs. we had a lot of disagreements, most of them, i admit, coming from me. I can't blame myself though, as I was pretty much stressed for the whole week. Its a good thing I had the weekend to look forward to. The wedding expo, my trip back to Ready to Wed for my gown, and tabs and my sunday date was really something to feel excited about.
I really felt happy when tabs decided that he'll join us to the bridal fair. Pero due to unforseen circumstances, we went to Ready to Wed first (the unforseen circumstance being that the Fort bus did not pass by the NBC tent before going to Market! Market!) So we dropped by Ready to Wed, I fitted my gown again (oh this was fun!) tabs saw it, he thinks its too simple, for me i think he hasn't seen me all dressed up really so he can't say it's not for me. I've always been the type of person to know what I want, and definitely, I knew what I wanted with my gown so I'm so happy with it.
This is the pic of the gown. I think its really so beautiful, simple and beautiful.

Anyway, afterwards we went to the bridal fair, looked around, and i had some sort of trial MU with Clamar. I wanted to book them but decided to try out others so I wont regret anything.

I was also able to book the bridal car (whopping 3700 for the car! whoohoo!!!) and I was able to buy our Unity Coins. Overall it was a fruitful trip, Tabs was very behaved (hihi) the entire trip and afterwards he texted me that he enjoyed it. He also said Id be beautiful, no matter what I wear or what kind of makeup I have. I know that, I know marrying him would make me beautiful, if only because the happiness will show in my face that day.
Sunday we spent a lot of time together. ALso Monday (took a leave from work). One of the things I appreciate about our weekend together was that we got the communication back. It really is so nice to be able to chat away, about life, career, family. Im just so happy.
Down with two sets of presentations for Management Control. One to go on Sunday. Hay, looking forward to school vacation! Then I can concentrate on the preps!

one presentation down

i did not imagine myself having to make a presentation 3 times in 2 weeks. sobrang tiring pala, emotionally and physically. as in after the case presentation last night my head was pretty much blank na. parang naglaho lahat ng laman. I really cant blame my groupmate, i know she's trying very much to give effort to our cases, siguro nga mabilis lang talaga ako at ang hirap mag-catch up. but i always find it flattering whenever she says na bilib sya sa kin. hahaha.... nagpapabola ba? she's always saying she admires me for being able to cope with all the acads, and work, and wedding preps, and somehow still find time to "enjoy" the everyday things in life. parang ganun. haha.

she's not seeing the weird things that's been happening to me though. as in, inaaway ko na si tabs, last wednesday when he was begging off our date nainis talaga ko. i was fuming mad no amount of apologies or what could really calm me. medyo nakalma lang ako when i got home. the next day i can't pinpoint why i was mad at all! waaahhh! nahihibang na ako!

yesterday i was cramming for my presentation at syempre inaaway ko pa rin sya! i was complaining about a lot of stuff and panicky that i won't be able to do well in the presentation. ayun, after a while mejo ok na rin kami, tapos he wanted to go with us to the bridal fair, gusto nga lang nya wag na si karen kasama ko sya nalang. hellloooo... di naman ata pwede yun kasi karen and i were pretty excited about the fair tagal na. whats more, i want to stay a while sa fair kaya magandang andun si karen. kasi kung kami lang baka 30 mins lang kami dun at di ko pa mabili unity coins ko!!! malay mo manalo pa ko trip to hongkong! bwahaha... (my sense of humor seems to be coming back, must be because i'll have a happy weekend ahead... sana). seriously, i plan to book a bridal car and get the unity coins today. afterwards baka makuha na namin ang wedding gown ko (this excites me!!!!!). i called ready to wed yesterdayand nandun na daw gown ko. makikita ni tabs pero ok lang naman sa kin. its not as if we've known each other for so little time naman. i think the thought of me on that gown on december 3 would still be just as exciting naman. sayang wala pa kong corset.

anyway, two presentations in line pa, tuesday and sunday next week. di bale, kaya ko itoh!!!! go jennie go jennie go!!!

a stressful month ahead

here i am, at 12:13 in the evening, typing away at my pc, with little hope of sleeping before 3 am. i'm actually resigning myself to the fact that this may be my routine for the next 3 weeks prior to my birthday and to holy week. just this evening after class our professor gave out the remaining cases which we will be discussing for the next 3 meeting, all 7 cases! imagine that!!!! 7 cases???? we barely have time to make 1 case in a week, let alone an average of three in a week! what's more, with all of us 9 in class, that gives us a grand total of 3 case presentations! isn't it just ironic? that's only for 1 subject. Oh, by the way, the pay-off for the 7 cases would be an early finish for the Management Control Class, which means 1 less subject to worry about after the Holy Week.

Now we move on to Organizational Behavior. Don't take me wrong, I think this is a good class in terms of subject matter, not so much with the professor, but in class there are a whole lot of insights to gain. Plus the textbook is really great. Now, aside from the finals, which i presume will be after the holy week, there is still the journal to submit, and frankly, in as much as i have a lot of ideas to write on it, based on experiences and my insights on the matter, i just can't seem to squeeze it in schedule. So, unfortunately, this is something that I can only start after the last case in Control is over and done with. That would be after March 13.

Lastly, Marketing. This is turning out to be an interesting class, in as much as i have yet to learn any concepts, I find the insight papers really interesting subjects. I myself will be reporting probably on March 21. Still have to work on that report, but added to it, we still have to submit 2 more insight papers (mar 7 and 21) and we have a class/group project to submit too.

So much for the requirements. All of my three subjects will have finals. For Control its Mar 22, OB and Marketing skeds are yet to be announced.

Bottomline? Wedding preps have to take a backseat at least till after my finals. whew, once i get through this semester i promise i'll sleep at 8pm and wake up late! i'm so looking forward to summer vacation (in acads of course). There's still work, but hopefully after my classes I can really pour 100% of my efforts to work quality and hopefully learn new things.

Waiting for Saturday, Karen and I will be going to the Wedding Expo. This will be the last time I'll go about wedding preps, after this i need to stop it for a while to focus on acads. Its ok though, I have the whole summer to think about my wedding so a few more weeks really don't make much difference.

blogging is so addicting!

gosh. here i am early in the morning, right before breakfast, checking on my blog and seeing what needs to be added to it. i've been waiting for photobucket to load my pics, for the last 20 mins! gosh! i dunno if its my connection or what. my golly! i want to add some of our prenups pics to the sidebar, hope i can get it done today.
after lunch i'll be meeting with my friend, murs, over her little dilemma, uhh.. problem? uhh... huge problem. i can't tell because i don't want to publisize her life (did i get that spelling right???) but anyhow, i asked her to accompany me with preps. want to go to star paper today, and then hopefully to papermart to buy that small puncher thingie. i'm going to start a collection of punchers! bwahahaha! I have now a regular puncher, a one-hole puncher, a floral design puncher. now i want the puncher that the bus drivers use for the tickets. hehehe....

on wedding updates

whew! exams are over! midterms lang pala. Bwahahaha.... i can rest for a few days before i go back to the wonderful albeit tiring MBA tasks. dami pang projects and stuff to do for school pero i want to take time out muna at least till the end of this week. at syempre pa and inasikaso ko... ay wedding preps! haha!
yesterday was finished with my suppliers list. I'll just add on any new suppliers as we go along. at least for me, it would be easier to turn it over to my coordinator come october. also i was able to do my guest list. i got the template from the w@w files, downloaded it and used it to list my guests, in shortcut form na. galing because it has pivot table already. so cool! hehehe.... and i'm happy i was able to again downsize my list to 113 people (including us 2). wawa naman tinanggal ko. nyahahaha.... but like i said to hubby-to-be, its either i invite all or none at all. e di none at all na lang! no, actually kasi i'll just add them later on when budget will permit pero for now, wag na muna.
tomorrow, i plan to go to star paper and quiapo. canvass for swarovski beads and crystals na pwede gawing cord. then murs and i (and hopefully tabs, na mega drinamahan ko kagabi!) will go to intramuros and baywalk (at last!!!!)
gusto ko na magbakasyaon!!!!

Sunday together

Tabs visited me at home today. I'm so happy. Well, basically because sabi nya di naman daw nya ko matitiis lalo na kapag nagtatampo na ko. hehehe... ayan tuloy naguilty na ko na nagtatampo ako at nagseselos sa gaming nya. hehe.

he saw the pics of the gown, ang taba ko daw tignan. ehehehe... pano naman di ako mataba tignan e 2 sizes above mine yung top na yun. just he wait pag nakuha ko na gown ko! hahaha.... at least di nya kita yung design so may element of surprise pa rin.

anyway, we just talked and hung-out. its nice to just be with him. sobrang hapi ng pakiramdam. again, i feel like i want december to go so much faster para i can spend na my life with him!

gotta review for my tuesday exam! wish me luck!!!!

wedding updates

so happy yesterday! got to 2 wedding details and I guess I can now rest a bit because these were all major wedding details.

My MOH, Karen, and I met at MRT Que Ave around 9 am. We then went to Market! Market! (first timers. :-) ) Plan of Action: READY-TO-WED store. True enough, since we are running around on limited time because Karen had to work at around 2 pm, we went there directly. The saleslady there (or manager. since she was alone) was letting us look around, which was nice because we could even discuss without her asking us anything (i don't like it when they follow you around). We didn't find any new designs for the MOH, although I really liked the gowns there for moms.

We were almost through when i saw this pretty, pretty skirt-gown. hehehe.... how do you call that? it still wasn't displayed on a mannequin however they were gonna do that soon. So I asked the lady if I could fit it and she said yes. Lo and behold! The skirt fit me! Its as if it was made for me!!!! I then put on the halter top (which was way too big for me). My MOH and me and the saleslady were all discussing for the longest time about the gown, how to reserve it, etc. etc. I ended up buying the gown and having to order a new top, but i asked them to make it spaghetti-strap with the same beading as the halter. I really liked the beading of the gown. It was simple and yet the execution was great. Heres the pic of me wearing the gown (kinda blurred) but then again at least you won't see how big the top is to me, hehe.



Here's the shop of Ready to Wed in Market! Market!


I also got the long veil because its always been my dream to wear one. teeheehee.

After eating at Tokyo Tokyo Karen and I went around for a while after which we left Market! Market! for Windmills and Rainforest, where I was supposed to pay for my reception venue (the 50% down). The owner, Mrs. Rieza, seemed in a really good mood and was giving us a lot of stories. By the way, she waived the electricity charges already for the LCD Projector. Yipeee! I'm so confident with my venue because the owner seems to be really in touch with everything happening at the affair. I'm so happy with her.



All in all, it was a fantastic day. I just wish December is just around the corner!

just love it! 

tabs gave this to me. its so beautiful! 

fantastic valentine's day

what can i say? i had the best of the best valentines' day there ever could be! giddy is the word!!!!

feb 13 (as in my previous post) tabs asked me out for dinner (oist, this is not an illusion ha, he really did ask me out!!!!) and i was so happy because i really wasn't expecting v-day date because i had classes till 9:30 and i had tons of homework but hey, its my fiance asking me out! I would definitely go!!!

so this morning i told my mom na we had plans to eat dinner after school. and i decided to ask tabs if we could eat at yellow cab katips so we won't be too far from home because he needs to make me hatid. hehehe....

i spent the day at the office preparing for my report and attending the MOR meeting after lunch, which btw, for me is a real good training ground to understand the operations of the beer division. hmmm.... career, career... one day i can get to be an Ariba consultant, i think if they were to ask who was the expert in Ariba in the Beer Division they wouldn't think of anyone else but me! :-P kidded tabs that he should get out of the office and play na lang somewhere in philcoa so he can buy me a gift and not be late. i was really joking, i really don't expect him to buy me a gift or flowers.

had to attend class. Org Behavior is getting more and more interesting, since our prof finally gave up being so stiff and righteous and now she lets the class speak more than she does. Really appreciate these discussions. My classmates have such invaluable insights i never would learn had i not gone to MBA. Marketing was pretty great too because Mon, Ging and Gelo had to report on their Insight papers. Its only then that i realized that all of us had to actually report. Uh-oh..... i don't have any insights on anything, marketing wise.... can we not talk about anything else?? huhuhu.... i'm due to report on the 14th of march. pretty far pa naman, but have to think about it nevertheless....

while in class i realized that tabs' text about "madaming bombahan" was actually true, there was a bus bombing in makati and i was really worried because gette showed me her mom's text message that a lot died, gosh... tabs had to take the bus home and that gets me doubly worried... i felt i had to cancel but part of me wants to still go out (sayang make-up and japorms!). around past 9 he was telling me it was traffic. i didn't really press coz he might get mad and i didn't want to start an argument on v-day.

after class i chatted a while with my classmates at the BA lobby. chicka-chika. grimi and company were just about leaving when i saw tabs walking towards BA, carrying a huge (yes, huge! i'm not exagg) bouquet of flowers. awwww, i was gushing to my classmates because i was so kilig! its fun pala if you really don't expect and something comes along, rather than to expect it. i was so kilig i kissed tabs in front of my classmates. hehehe... so what if they saw it? :-)

off we went to yellow cab. we missed the darn place because there was no sign. good thing it wasn't too far off, and had dinner. i really felt like i was a moviestar! you know how they give these real big bouquets to them after interviews? well i had THAT bouquet! i felt so Sikat! hahaha... gosh i love my fiance! we had dinner and chatted. i love these times when we can just have dinner and talk. no wedding preps this time, just time out to talk about stuff and life. i guess that's the best part about having a your boyfriend as your best friend, you can talk about anything and everything!

we went home afterwards and watched a little tv. both of my parents were sleeping already so we cuddled while watching Ok fine. We were supposed to wait for the news but tabs had to go home already as it was 11:30 pm. so he left, of course our goodbye kiss was really so nice, if i had the time to sleep i would definitely dream about it!

so there, bouquet is in the dining table under a mug of water (no vase that can accomodate its size). i'll stare at it after tonight's requirements are done. huh. for me it really was a perfect valentine's!!! thanks so much honey! love you!!!

hay.... i'm thinking of going on leave on thursday to catch up for the midterms in OB. our boss is in the Natl MOR, hopefully out of town so i can go on leave. if not, oh well. i'll study during office hours. sana! day one of hellweek is over. 4 days to go. its now 2:41 am and i have not started any of my two problem sets and case! waaaah!!!! i'll tell tabs tomorrow that he'll have the rest of the week to himself, he can play mu all he wants! i still have to think about whether we will meet on saturday though, part of me wants to sleep the whole weekend, hay, but we have exams on tuesday next week. so that does it for sleeping time.

seeking inspiration - a whirlwind of thoughts

its already valentines day! whew!

and again, as in all occasions, naisip ko na last v-day ko na 'to na di pa ko misis! hehehe.... funny how it is that while i'm all excited for my upcoming wedding a part of me thinks that i might miss on some things only single women do. yup, there are times that i think it would be fun to be spending time with friends or officemates, but then i've made plans to be with tabs, or spend the day with his family. but looking back i don't think i would ever regret those decisions i made. its been almost 9 years since we exchanged our first i love you's and suffice it to say, its still said with the same emotions and kilig as it was the first time. Well, now it means so much more than just the i love you. but the thing is that, we all choose the path in life that we take, and this path i chose, i know, will make me happiest. i think the 9 year relationship itself was filled, to some extent, of what-ifs. Even tabs would sometimes comment how he wishes he went out on dates, had other girlfriends... stuff like that. but still the choice he made was to stick to me (i'm so glad he did!).

everone thinks its time for us to get married already. they are probably right. it's been a long time to "get to know each other". and while there will always be uncertainties as to the life we will live after december 3, i know that its something we've worked hard for and something we can get through together. there are fears, i have them too, fears such as: what if i don't make a good life? what if we can't get by financially? what if he doesn't come home at night because he wants to play the pc at the office?, what if? see, my fears are not that bad, don't you think, i don't fear that our marriage won't work, because i know it will, not about loyalty, not about trust, definitely no doubts about love. hay.... sometimes i get to think of these things because of all the excitement of preparing. ;-)

was thrilled nga pala when tabs called this afternoon asking me about dinner tonight. kakakilig! i was actually (really!!!) not expecting a date na kasi its a really hectic week for me and i have class till 9:30. so imagine how happy i was when he asked me what we'll do tomorrow. Unfortunately i can't NOT attend the marketing class tomorrow because i've missed so much already with all my absences there. i do hope tabs will agree to just have dinner at katipunan and take me hope so we don't need to go too far.

i'm seeking inspiration right now before i finish my marketing paper. i think i'll be like this for the rest of the week. sleepless nights. waaah!!! I actually just slept around 10-12 (i wake up every 20 min though) and i don't really plan to sleep anymore till morning. i want to finish up on the paper and after that the two chapter summaries i've been working on yesterday. so i don't have to bring my OB Book tomorrow, hehehe.... its not cool to be out with your boyfriend in a really nice attire and carrying a book. hahaha.... its not cool to use a folder too, but hey, i don't have a choice. studies can really ruin social life! hahaha... i wonder though if i should buy tabs a valentine's gift? I actually bought him the excelsior spa discount card, i wanted him to try it out too, but now i'm thinking that it would be nice to give him something tomorrow. well of course, i'm not expecting anything from him! really, is this maturity? i've actually accepted the fact that he's not the unpredictable, "ill give you roses today" type of guy. he's just the practical, down-to-earth, intelligent man that i love so much! in our 9 years of being together he has given me flowers for a total of 3 times: (1) JS prom, 4th year - actually it was a corsage; (2) First valentines together, 1997; (3) that one time he surprised me with a bouquet of flowers for no reason at all. this was the best of course, shock of my life! hahaha! imagine, someone who does not give flowers giving you one for no occasion at all. hahaha.... i imagine how i must have looked that day, good thing i don't have a weak heart! i might have suffered a heart attack right then and there!

only 10 months to go

barely 10 months na lang....

school is really becoming pressing these days I guess i need to take time out for wedding preps. i have an insight paper on monday, two problem sets and a case on tuesday (for 1 class) and midterms for another class on thursday. kainis kasi i just stopped coffee for 5 days and then now i have to start drinking again becomes i;m bound to have sleepless nights. unfortunately i can't take a leave from work din kasi for sure MOR is next week na. haaay... so sad.... next week I'll really leave all wed preps at home na until i finish hell week, ahuhuhu....

valentines day coming up.... no plans pa kami.... have class din and syempre hell week so unlikely we'd be going out... kalunglot naman.... la lang...

chatting with my sweetie

hay, my poor baby is stuck in the office working, not that he likes to but he has to. so here i am, chatting with him on the other end so he won't be feeling too bad.
tomorrow is going to be one long preps day. well, basically not preps day, its more of a going around day pala. although invites and rings are definitely a part of the preps.
agenda:
1. go to qp
2. go to binondo/ongpin area to canvass rings. papasukat ko na rin ring finger ni tabs para alam na namin.
3. go to Manila Hearing Aid - patest si tabs
4. go to Sanctuario de san Antonio bridal fair - get prenups cd.
5. go to Market! market! to look at gowns.

that will be one long day, whew.
i badly, badly need a massage. tabs has actually promised to give me one and i'm eagerly awaiting it.

looking forward

a little more than 10 mos to go, and so far so good with the wedding preps. Well at least I can say it is. i think i'm on the right track and there is no need whatsoever to panic. Unfortunately I really cannot be as hands on with the preps as I want to be what with acads and work eating up all my time. I look forward to the summer vacation so I can focus on wedding preps! whew! a few more months and I'll be over my first year of MBA. Time really flies. Sooner or later it will be december and I will be Mrs. Jennifer Maravillo-Tabios! Wow!!!! Nice ring to it, don't you think?
this afternoon i went to dangwa and finally met the man behind the names of Boy Mahusay and Jon Macadaeg. What nice gentlemen. I'm really looking forward to getting him as my florist. He quoted me Php4,000 for the whole entourage package, discounted from Php5,000. I think that's good already considering that I'll have tulips in my bouquet!!!! Yipeeeee!!!!
oh well, tabs is a little tampo because we didn't meet at Mu. Oh well, guess I'd better check on him again. :-)
will post when I have more updates!!!

updates! updates!

whew!!! finally have a little bit of time to update (myself) of my wedding preps. its a good thing we were able to accomplish a bit more these past few days. And now I rest a bit since we've chosen the major suppliers already! yipeeeeee!!!!
So here are my updates:
1. Church - paid P2000 dp
- to accomplish other requirements later in the year
2. Reception -finally decided on booking Windmills and Rainforest! Yipee!!!! I really, really like this place. Its a bit off budget but nevertheless we considered it. Pumayag na rin si tabs kasi konti nga lang naman difference niya sa Patio Ibarra (which was my first choice before kaya lang yung smaller ballroom lang pala kame pwede, if we want to get the bigger ballroom we will have to get more guests, which is out of the budget na). Windmills has a nice cozy feel in it that we (tabs, me, and MOH) really liked.
Grabe ang pagod ko dito. Last sat i had a mega reception and hotel hunting. I went to Dulcinea (not nice), Century Imperial Suites (closed ang banquet office), Hotel Rembrandt (ok lang, mura ang rooms), Great Eastern Hotel (the place is ... ok lang), Patio Ibarra (nice place, though nakaka-pressure kasi ba naman magtataas na daw ng rates!), and finally to Windmills. As usual, kung san huli yun ang best. Medyo may budget constraint nga lang sa Windmills kasi I have to outsource pa rin everything, unlike sa Patio Ibarra na may free na Sound System, bridal car, hotel room. Pero ganda talaga ng place. I think the extra effort to look into the other details naman will pay off (mejo panic lang ng konti sa expenses... hehe).
Will call Ms. Rieza today to pencil book, tapos will pay dp sana within January or first week Feb.
3. Photo-video - Finally chose ePhotoGallery. So happy with the tandem of Ellen and Edwin Tuyay. Mas easy sila to talk to, very accomodating, plus ang dami nilang binigay sa kin na freebies. Will have to follow up na pala on the draft contract and dp, just the same, sobrang feel ko na special ako with them!

Other details inaasikaso ko pa, pero essentially ok na ko with the majors. Will just have to work on the smaller details naman na sobrang dami. Next update ko na lang yun. hehehe...

and some more
i really like tabs' smile in this pic, sort of the mischievous smile that i think is soooo cute!

pre nups pics some more! 

Our pre-nup pic