The Layout to Love

Six months after our wedding and a few days before our relatives arrived for my sister’s wedding, our wedding scrapbook arrived.  This is what a DIY Boracay wedding looks like.

The Little Things That Make a Wedding

Knowing we had only two months to plan, hubby and I made the most of every waking hour.  We employed the help of family and friends.  It was amazing how things fell into place.  We only made one visit to Boracay to meet with our suppliers and yet we pulled it off. It really was because our Lord guided us every step of the way.

What a blessing Nonoy (our make up artist) was to us.  Before him I had had at least 3 trials with 3 different make up artists.  Luckily, hubby and I bumped into his Tita who was also a wedding organizer.  She referred us to Nonoy and that was it.  A match made in beauty heaven.

Sibling Love

As early as 6:30 am, hubby and I were already up preparing for our 2:00 pm wedding.  Make up session began at 7:00 am.  My sisters Kaye and Mimin joined me on my last night as a singleton.  We were all exhausted from all the travelling we had to do.  Suffice it to say that we just slept the night through.

The Holy Rosary Chapel, Boracay Island, Philippines

Since we were staying at the Boracay Plaza Resort, which was located right in front of the church, I opted to walk to my wedding.  With my brother holding an umbrella to shield me from the warm rays of the sun and my younger sister holding my train, it was a fitting start to a beautiful new life.

The Groom – My hubby, a loving, kind and adventurous man who takes good care of me. =)

The entourage – Our hearts swelled at the sight of relatives, family and friends who came all the way to Boracay from the Philippines and all over the world despite the short notice.

A Walk to Love

Mixed emotions..that’s what I felt.  I was certain that the man standing, waiting for me at the altar was the one but still, it was a little sad kissing my mom and dad and leaving them, to walk toward him.

“When the one man loves the one woman and the one woman loves the one man, the very angels desert heaven and come and sit in that house and sing for joy.”  ~  Indeed, it was a joyful affair.  I’ve always loved weddings and I’m proud to say that I loved mine the most. (haha, love your own.)

Love is beautiful and weddings, well, they are the most definitive form of celebrating love.

A wedding is not just joining of two souls.  It too is the joining of families, the union of two houses.  I am now not only a Parreno but also an Alova.  :)

We hadn’t thought of how we would get from the Church to the venue.  We figured we could easily walk to the reception.  After all, it was just across the Church! However, Ms. Vicky of Boracay Plaza Resort lent us her car and driver for the occasion.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a wedding car waiting to take us to the venue.

Boracay Plaza Resort

Our 90 or so guests were treated to cocktails and some light snacks while we went off to the beach in search of the perfect shots.  We prepared a hosts of things for them to do, a jigsaw puzzle, a DIY photo and video booth.  However, the concept of Do It Yourself in the Philippines hasn’t quite caught on.  While we had put signs asking them to record a message for us, no one actually did.  Still, it was a pleasant exercise in understanding the pysche of the Filipino wedding goer.

Our host and my maid of honor Kaye, kept the mood light and breezy.  Also, since only close relatives and friends were there, they  knew each other and were excited at the opportunity to reconnect.  Besides, Boracay is a paradise, guests pretty much entertained themselves.

It was a beautiful night filled with lots of singing and dancing.  Laughter filled the air as we celebrated love, the love between a husband and wife, the love among family, relatives and friends.

The Greatest Adventure of Our Lives

  And this is the story of our love.

This my friends, is the start of our greatest adventure yet.  Hope you enjoyed viewing the pictures.

Home

Ever since I got back, I haven’t had a single moment alone. at work  The clients have been pouring in and pouring out their troubles.  I am glad I am able to help.  Sometimes though, I think of my old life and wonder if the move was all worth it.  Then, I take stock of all that I have accomplished and smile.  Yes, I am finally home.  My heart is at peace.  The restlessness that has always plagued me is gone.  

There’s a life growing inside of me.  This, I still cannot completely comprehend.  Hubby and I have been blessed with such a wonderful gift.  I am awed by the Lord’s perfect timing.  Thankfully, sleep is all the baby seems to want and I am eager to please. =)  Thank you Lord.

Sleep and 8tracks

There was a time in my life when I used my 100 peso daily allowance to buy tapes of my fave albums. I would then have to scrimp to survive the week but it didn’t matter. The days i spent basking in the sound of Damien Rice’s Wishful Thinking or Savage Garden’s Sta. Monica more than made up for the hotdog and pancit canton-eating days.

These days, I find myself drawn to music again. It’s as if my left brain decided to reassert itself again. With the help of 8tracks, music is making a resurgence in my life.

I remember how hubby used to write the lyrics of his fave love songs on old fashioned stationery. He would then send it to me and I would be tickled pink reading it. The ways of courtship has changed since the arrival of social networking sites but one thing that has remained constant is the connection between love and music. I am in love with my hubby and this beautiful baby growing inside of me. I am glad that when I feel overwhelmed by this love and joy I feel, I have music to accompany me. In my bed, listening to my good morning sunshine mix, I find myself wiping blissful tears streaming by my face. At these moments I feel at peace, I am one with our Creator.

Thank you Lord. Thank you for all the goodness in this world.

Next Showing: The Island of the Gods

I have my permit to travel, our Garuda flight has been moved back to its original schedule, and all our tours are coming into place.  In 11 days, hubby and I will be going on our first real honeymoon.  Last year wasn’t really one since when we bought our tickets to Sing, we didn’t know yet, that we were getting married.  We traveled with my Mom, friends and a friend’s tita.  It was fun of course, but in a rowdy sort of way.

This time we are taking it slow.  We won’t be pushing ourselves to finish up all the sites.  This time it will be about reflection and introspection.  I’m blessed because hubby is a history buff as I am.  He likes visiting temples as I do..Our trips have always been about getting to know the culture of a country, befriending the locals, stumbling into quaint restaurants, and finding those serendipitous moments that new adventures bring.

This may be our last DIY backpacking trip in a long time after all.  We’re welcoming a new person in our lives and that necessarily brings change.  We don’t mind.  We are ready for a different kind of adventure but we just have to have this one last one.

In closing, I just have to say that my heart is so full these days.  I am a child of God and I am blessed.  Thank you Lord, for everything.

Thinking Beyond Me

So this is what it’s like.  I feel ecstatic, apprehensive and thankful all the same time.  This rollercoaster of emotions is something I’m not so used to but I will have to adapt.  I’ve decided to stop reading technical books and just enjoy what’s happening as it happens.  My strong imagination has always been scarier than even the scariest horror stories..so for now, I will feed my imagination with fanciful tales of ever after.

I pray for courage to prepare well for this, to be able to take care of the Lord’s gift in the best way I can.  I pray for hubby and me. Help us find our way to the wonderful future you have prepared for us Lord. We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

A Beginning

I can’t wait til thursday! It’ll be the day when we find out for certain if we have been given a special gift. We trust in You Lord. You know what’s best for us. We love You. Goodnight.

The Embarrassing Side Effects of Having Recently Read "The Hunger Games"

Reblogged from Holley Maher | Official Website:

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Yes. I did it. I finally read the first Hunger Games book, in exactly one day. I had an 8 am flight from Pittsburgh to Memphis to Nashville, so around 6:30 or so after making my way through security in Pittsburgh, I wandered into one of the airport bookstores. About 20 hours later, I’d finished reading it. Actually, I don’t think what I did was “read” that book, it was something more akin to ravenously devouring it, only stopping occasionally to eat, drink, and pee.

Read more… 706 more words

Read it last night in time for the movie and now I'm a fan of Katniss Everdeen! We need more women characters like her.

Watch “Somewhere In Dreamland (1936) Max Fleischer’s Color Classic Animation” on YouTube

Off to Dreamland

There’s this silent short cartoon that remains strongly entrenched in my memory. It begins with a little girl and a little boy sitting by a table with their mom. They’re in tattered clothes but they’re oblivious to their poverty. They heartily share a hard bun and dip it water, imagining the liquid to be milk while their mom worriedly looks on. They’re happy despite their circumstances.

Then the cartoon moves to a dream sequence. The children are seen walking on clouds and having their heart’s desires…

And then, my memory fails me. I can’t recall what happens next… I’ll have to search the net and hope someone uploaded that clip sometime ago.

The moral of the story remains with me though, we can’t let our circumstances defeat us. We are not what our circumstances make us.

Every man has the capacity to reach his dreams.  All it takes is faith, faith in God and faith in one’s self.
After all, life is a journey, a journey involving great leaps of faith.

Hiatus

I haven’t blogged in a long time.  I just want to say that this is truly a wonderful world. ;D  Life has been full of surprises lately.  There is still one major surprise hubby and I are waiting for but we can wait.  The Lord has the most wonderful plans.

Surprise #1  -  I’ve mastered the art of “pabati-bati”.  The dictionary would say that the English term for that is hinting or innuendo.  However, I don’t quite agree that the English terms conveys the same subtlety and ease that a woman directs on her love when she wants something without asking for it directly.  Now, that, my friends, is an art.

In any case, after hinting that I missed the days when he used to bring me flowers or the little surprises he had in store for me, hubby finally succumbed to my pabati-bati.  We were in Iloilo the weekend before Valentine’s Day for a pre-valentine celebration.  When I got home to Bacolod, I found a Valentine’s card in my backpack.  There he wrote that he was looking forward to the day when we would be spending Valentine’s day together and that he was sorry that we wouldn’t be together this time.  (We both had to work on Heart’s Day).  I sent him a quick thank you text for the card.  After all, there’s nothing like the joy of reading your love’s handwritten notes.  :) In this day and age, I still insist on receiving the handwritten notes, the personal gestures that no amount of digital card and emails can replace.

The following day, Tuesday was Valentine’s Day.  I had a very big trial coming up.  I would be presenting my first witness in a reverse trial and my mind was on overdrive.  I was up very early going over the questions I would be asking, praying hard that the Holy Spirit would be direct me all through out the day.  My hearing started at 8:00 am and lasted until 11:00 am.  I was feeling a little exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.  I am truly glad to be practicing again.

One of the court staff, called me aside and told me that there was someone who was looking for me.   I entered the staff room and received a hug from who else but hubby.  Apparently, he had taken my hints to heart and had successfully executed the perfect surprise.  I really had no idea he would be coming–with a bouquet of flowers, no less.

We had a quick lunch at Chika-an, one of the restos in Rob’s Central City Walk.  Hubby had to report to the hospital at 7pm but we made the most the time we had before his 2:45pm trip back to Iloilo.

Surprise # 2 – I’ll have a nephew soon! My sister is finally out of the hospital and in two months I’ll be an aunt then.  We pray for her and her baby Lord.  Bless them.

Surprise #3 –  Life just keeps getting better.  I had another hearing this morning.  I can’t disclose what happened but I must say that I feel like I’ve found my new home.  I think this is where I should be. Thank you Lord.

 

Who Am I

Restlessness.  This isn’t an entirely new feeling.  All through my life there have been moments when I’ve wondered “who am I”, when I’ve questioned the value of living, when I’ve felt a little lost.  The irony is that it is in these moments that I’ve felt closest to the Lord.

Earlier this evening, we began talking about a dear friend who passed away a few years ago.  In my restlessness, I remember him and the afternoons we spent talking about life and what we could all do to make a difference.  I was forever listless in college.  There was something that seemed missing in my life, I rushed from one activity to the other in a frenzied attempt to find meaning in my existence.  I always envied him the sense of peace he had about life.  He  lived exuberantly but with a simple grace that drew people in.  Whenever we talked, I felt renewed..somehow, I knew I had a lot to offer the world and that one day, I would find myself, become the person I was meant to be.

His greatest legacy to me was an mp3 track of a song he sent me through ym.  It has since become my battle cry.  Whenever I feel lost, I listen to this song and am comforted.  No matter what, the Lord loves me.  I trust in His plans for me.  With him, there is nothing I should fear.

“Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart?

Not because of who I am,
But because of what You’ve done.
Not because of what I’ve done,
But because of who You are

[Chorus]
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still You hear me when I’m calling,
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling.
And You’ve told me who I am,
I am Yours.

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me?

Not because of who I am,
But because of what You’ve done.
Not because of what I’ve done,
But because of who You are

Chorus

I am Yours.

I am Yours.
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
‘Cause I am Yours,
I am Yours.”

“Who Am I” by Casting Crows