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
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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