Monday, June 29, 2009
remembering MJ
One day in your life
You'll remember a place
Someone's touching your face
You'll come back and you'll look around you
One day in your life
You'll remember the love you found here
You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day...
One day in your life
When you find that you're always waiting
For the love we used to share
Just call my name
And I'll be there
You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day...
One day in your life
When you find that you're always longing
for the love we used to share
Just call my name
And I'll be there
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
to my sisters
L + M, this post is for you.
here are my gown inspirations. thanks to the w@wies who shared some of them! :)
here are my gown inspirations. thanks to the w@wies who shared some of them! :)
kenn's wedding
i have been friends with kenneth for so long. back in high school, we would burn telephone lines well into the night. about what, i can't remember anymore. too bad i don't have any embarrasing photos from back then to share haha!
when i went to the big city for my college education, he also went to a nearby city for his. every vacation, we managed to go out with friends at least once. we had a circle of friends that kept in touch through the years.
fast forward to 2009. i heard he was tying the knot, but didn't believe it. baw hambal ko masunggod gid ko kung indi nya ko paghambalan kag imbitahon hmph! i had to hear it from him, i said.
around may 2009, he called from texas. yep, he's getting married. he said i should come. of course, i wouldn't miss it for the world.
3 weeks before his big day, i met his fiance for the first time. she seems nice. she should be, she's marrying my bestfriend. :)
then came 20 june 2009. iloilo city.
me and my sister went with my dear friend raym. how time flies. everyone's getting married, had gotten married, and now have kid/s. we are indeed getting older. :)
so happy for you, kenn and lesly! enjoy your wedded bliss! and as promised, you guys would come to mine if you were in town. :)
when i went to the big city for my college education, he also went to a nearby city for his. every vacation, we managed to go out with friends at least once. we had a circle of friends that kept in touch through the years.
fast forward to 2009. i heard he was tying the knot, but didn't believe it. baw hambal ko masunggod gid ko kung indi nya ko paghambalan kag imbitahon hmph! i had to hear it from him, i said.
around may 2009, he called from texas. yep, he's getting married. he said i should come. of course, i wouldn't miss it for the world.
3 weeks before his big day, i met his fiance for the first time. she seems nice. she should be, she's marrying my bestfriend. :)
then came 20 june 2009. iloilo city.
me and my sister went with my dear friend raym. how time flies. everyone's getting married, had gotten married, and now have kid/s. we are indeed getting older. :)
so happy for you, kenn and lesly! enjoy your wedded bliss! and as promised, you guys would come to mine if you were in town. :)
happy father's day!
was able to spend this year's father's day weekend with my family. hooray! :)
i love you so much, dad! :)
i love you so much, dad! :)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
7 things no one tells you about marriage
a yahoo article which was shared by a w@wie. what a nice read! :)
You're smart. You know life is no storybook. But admit it: Somewhere deep in your subconscious lurk romantic visions of Cinderella, or maybe Julia Roberts. The images may be sketchy and a little outdated, but you can still make out the silhouette of the bride and Prince Charming riding off into the sunset. In real life, sometimes your Disney fairy tale ends up feeling more like a Wes Craven horror flick -- and you're the chick who keeps falling down and screaming for her life. I've been there. Let's face it, marriage is not for the faint of heart. You want to believe your pure love for each other will pull you through. And it does. But it ain't always pretty.
1. You will look at the person lying next to you and wonder, Is this it? Forever?
When you get married, you think that as long as you pick the right guy -- your soul mate -- you'll be happy together until death do you part. Then you wake up one day and realize that no matter how great he is, he doesn't make you happy every moment of every day. In fact, some days you might wonder why you were in such a hurry to get
married in the first place. You think to yourself, "This is so not what I signed up for."
Actually, it is. You just didn't realize it the day you and your guy were cramming wedding cake into each other's faces, clinking champagne glasses, and dancing the Electric Slide. Back then you had no idea that "for better and for worse" doesn't kick in only when life hands you a tragedy. Your relationship mettle is, in fact, most tested on a daily basis, when the utter sameness of day-in/day-out
togetherness can sometimes make you want to run for the hills. That's when the disappointment sneaks in, and maybe even a palpable sense of loneliness and grief. It's not him. It's just you, letting go of that sugarcoated fantasy of marriage that danced in your eyes the day you and your beloved posed in all those soft-focus wedding photos. You're learning that marriage isn't a destination; it's a journey filled with equal parts excitement and tedium.
Waking up from a good dream to face the harsh morning daylight may not seem like a reason to celebrate. But trust me, it is. Because once you let go of all the hokey stories of eternal bliss, you find that the reality of marriage is far richer and more rewarding than you ever could have guessed. Hard, yes. Frustrating, yes. But full of its own powerful, quiet enchantments just the same, and that's better than any fairy tale.
2. You'll work harder than you ever imagined.
Early on, when people say, "Marriage takes work," you assume "work" means being patient when he forgets to put down the toilet seat. In your naivete, you think that you will struggle to accommodate some annoying habit, like persistent knuckle cracking or flatulence. If only it were that easy. Human beings, you may have noticed, are not simple creatures. Your man has mysterious, unplumbed depths --
and from where he sits, you're pretty complicated, too. You have to learn each other the same way that you once learned earth science or world geography. And getting married doesn't mean you're done -- it just means you've advanced to graduate-level studies. That's because every time you think you've mastered the material, he'll change a bit. And so will you. As two people grow and evolve, the real work of
marriage is finding a way to relate to and nurture each other in the process.
"It's like losing weight," says Andrea Harden, 45, of Buffalo, NY. "You want it to be a one-time deal. You lost it, now just live. But then you learn it's a lifestyle. That's marriage. The effort is a forever thing."
So don't be too hard on yourself -- or him -- on those days when you feel like you're struggling through remedial math.
3. You will sometimes go to bed mad (and maybe even wake up madder).
Whoever decided to tell newlyweds "Never go to bed angry" doesn't know what it's like inside a bedroom where tears and accusations fly as one spouse talks the other into a woozy stupor until night meets the dawn. If this scenario sounds familiar, I've got three words for you: Sleep on it.
You need to calm down. You need to gain perspective. You need to just give it a rest. I've found that an argument of any quality, like a fine wine, needs to breathe. A break in the action will help you figure out whether you're angry, hurt, or both, and then pinpoint the exact source. Maybe the fight that seemed to erupt over the overflowing garbage can is really about feeling underappreciated. Could be you're both stressed out at work and just needed to unload on someone. Taking a break will help you see that, and let go. Or maybe you really do have a legitimate disagreement to work out.
Without a time-out, sometimes a perfectly good argument can turn into an endless round of silly back-and-forth, rehashing old and irrelevant transgressions as you get more and more wound up. Even when you do manage to stay focused and on topic, there are some fights that stubbornly refuse to die by bedtime. And if you stifle
your real feelings just to meet some arbitrary deadline, your marriage will surely be the worse for it.
"This was a huge lesson for me," says Andrea. "As women we've been trained to make nice. But the whole kiss-and-make-up thing just to keep the peace was eating me up
inside. I'd let things build up inside me until I just exploded. Now I wait a while to get hold of myself -- let the emotions settle a bit -- and state my position. Even if that means reopening the fight the next day."
4. Getting your way is usually not as important as finding a way to work together.
I can be a bit of a know-it-all. There, I said it. It's really not my intention to be hurtful or brash with people I love. It's just that a lifetime of experience has taught me that in most areas, at most times, I am right about most things. What shocked me several years into my marriage, though, was the realization that the more "right" I was, the more discontented my husband and I were as a couple. See,
oddly enough, throughout his life Genoveso has been under the misguided impression that he's right most of the time (go figure!). So we'd lock horns -- often. That is, until I learned a few things.
Namely, that when it comes to certain disagreements, there is no right or wrong -- there is simply your way of looking at things and your husband's. "I used to be very black-and-white earlier in our marriage," says Lindy Vincent, 38, who lives in Minneapolis. "Now I see that I'm not all right and my husband is not all wrong. There's more gray in life than I thought, and that's taught me patience and the value of compromise."
5. A great marriage doesn't mean no conflict; it simply means a couple keeps trying to get it right.
Maybe you think that because of my newfound wisdom, Genoveso and I never fight anymore. Ha! As important as it is to strike a balance, it's also important to have a big, fat fight every now and then. Because when you fight, you don't just raise your voices; you raise real -- sometimes buried -- issues that challenge you to come to a clearer understanding of you, your man, and your relationship. I wouldn't give up our fights for anything in the world, because I know in the end they won't break us; they'll only make us stronger.
6. You'll realize that you can only change yourself.
Ever seen the '80s sci-fi cult classic "Making Mr. Right?" When the stylish heroine, played by Ann Magnuson, is hired to teach a robot how to act like a human, she seizes the chance to create a perfect guy. A hotshot commercial whiz, she uses her marketing prowess to shape John Malkovich's android character into her personal version of the ideal man -- sensitive, eager to please, and willing to listen.
There is a bit of that makeover fantasy in all of us -- something that makes us believe we can change the person we love, make him just a little bit closer to perfect. We may use support and empathy or shouts and ultimatums, but with dogged conviction we take on this huge responsibility, convinced we're doing the right thing.
Whatever our motives, the effort is exhausting. Transforming a full-grown man -- stripping him of decades-old habits, beliefs, and idiosyncrasies -- is truly an impossible task. And you will come to realize, sooner than later if you're lucky, that it is far easier to change the way you respond to him.
7. As you face your fears and insecurities, you will find out what you're really made of.
There were clues when Genoveso and I were dating, especially with the trust thing. Early on, I was supersuspicious of him. He used to say things like, "I'll call you at 8." Then, just to try to trip me up, he'd call at 8. I knew he was up to something, I just couldn't figu e out what. The same kinds of experiences followed after the wedding. Except occasionally he would actually mess up. And I had no sense of scale when it came to rating his offenses; everything was a major violation. Whether he teased me about a new haircut or came home late, I seethed for days and even let thoughts of divorce creep into my head. I figured, if he loved me -- really and truly -- this stuff wouldn't happen.
I'd like to be able to say that this irrational behavior lasted only a few months and I eventually worked it out. Kind of, sort of, is closer to the truth. After years of looking deeply into my soul and talking to good friends and the best sister a girl could ever have, I've come to recognize certain things about myself. Not to get all Dr. Phil about it, but I've had to examine my history with an emotionally distant dad and a strong-willed mom and face up to all the ways, both good and bad, that those relationships have affected how I approach my marriage.
That's the strange beauty of marriage: It's full of hard times and hard lessons that no one can ever prepare you for. But in the end, those are the things that give richness to your life together -- and make your love even deeper and stronger than when it began.
You're smart. You know life is no storybook. But admit it: Somewhere deep in your subconscious lurk romantic visions of Cinderella, or maybe Julia Roberts. The images may be sketchy and a little outdated, but you can still make out the silhouette of the bride and Prince Charming riding off into the sunset. In real life, sometimes your Disney fairy tale ends up feeling more like a Wes Craven horror flick -- and you're the chick who keeps falling down and screaming for her life. I've been there. Let's face it, marriage is not for the faint of heart. You want to believe your pure love for each other will pull you through. And it does. But it ain't always pretty.
1. You will look at the person lying next to you and wonder, Is this it? Forever?
When you get married, you think that as long as you pick the right guy -- your soul mate -- you'll be happy together until death do you part. Then you wake up one day and realize that no matter how great he is, he doesn't make you happy every moment of every day. In fact, some days you might wonder why you were in such a hurry to get
married in the first place. You think to yourself, "This is so not what I signed up for."
Actually, it is. You just didn't realize it the day you and your guy were cramming wedding cake into each other's faces, clinking champagne glasses, and dancing the Electric Slide. Back then you had no idea that "for better and for worse" doesn't kick in only when life hands you a tragedy. Your relationship mettle is, in fact, most tested on a daily basis, when the utter sameness of day-in/day-out
togetherness can sometimes make you want to run for the hills. That's when the disappointment sneaks in, and maybe even a palpable sense of loneliness and grief. It's not him. It's just you, letting go of that sugarcoated fantasy of marriage that danced in your eyes the day you and your beloved posed in all those soft-focus wedding photos. You're learning that marriage isn't a destination; it's a journey filled with equal parts excitement and tedium.
Waking up from a good dream to face the harsh morning daylight may not seem like a reason to celebrate. But trust me, it is. Because once you let go of all the hokey stories of eternal bliss, you find that the reality of marriage is far richer and more rewarding than you ever could have guessed. Hard, yes. Frustrating, yes. But full of its own powerful, quiet enchantments just the same, and that's better than any fairy tale.
2. You'll work harder than you ever imagined.
Early on, when people say, "Marriage takes work," you assume "work" means being patient when he forgets to put down the toilet seat. In your naivete, you think that you will struggle to accommodate some annoying habit, like persistent knuckle cracking or flatulence. If only it were that easy. Human beings, you may have noticed, are not simple creatures. Your man has mysterious, unplumbed depths --
and from where he sits, you're pretty complicated, too. You have to learn each other the same way that you once learned earth science or world geography. And getting married doesn't mean you're done -- it just means you've advanced to graduate-level studies. That's because every time you think you've mastered the material, he'll change a bit. And so will you. As two people grow and evolve, the real work of
marriage is finding a way to relate to and nurture each other in the process.
"It's like losing weight," says Andrea Harden, 45, of Buffalo, NY. "You want it to be a one-time deal. You lost it, now just live. But then you learn it's a lifestyle. That's marriage. The effort is a forever thing."
So don't be too hard on yourself -- or him -- on those days when you feel like you're struggling through remedial math.
3. You will sometimes go to bed mad (and maybe even wake up madder).
Whoever decided to tell newlyweds "Never go to bed angry" doesn't know what it's like inside a bedroom where tears and accusations fly as one spouse talks the other into a woozy stupor until night meets the dawn. If this scenario sounds familiar, I've got three words for you: Sleep on it.
You need to calm down. You need to gain perspective. You need to just give it a rest. I've found that an argument of any quality, like a fine wine, needs to breathe. A break in the action will help you figure out whether you're angry, hurt, or both, and then pinpoint the exact source. Maybe the fight that seemed to erupt over the overflowing garbage can is really about feeling underappreciated. Could be you're both stressed out at work and just needed to unload on someone. Taking a break will help you see that, and let go. Or maybe you really do have a legitimate disagreement to work out.
Without a time-out, sometimes a perfectly good argument can turn into an endless round of silly back-and-forth, rehashing old and irrelevant transgressions as you get more and more wound up. Even when you do manage to stay focused and on topic, there are some fights that stubbornly refuse to die by bedtime. And if you stifle
your real feelings just to meet some arbitrary deadline, your marriage will surely be the worse for it.
"This was a huge lesson for me," says Andrea. "As women we've been trained to make nice. But the whole kiss-and-make-up thing just to keep the peace was eating me up
inside. I'd let things build up inside me until I just exploded. Now I wait a while to get hold of myself -- let the emotions settle a bit -- and state my position. Even if that means reopening the fight the next day."
4. Getting your way is usually not as important as finding a way to work together.
I can be a bit of a know-it-all. There, I said it. It's really not my intention to be hurtful or brash with people I love. It's just that a lifetime of experience has taught me that in most areas, at most times, I am right about most things. What shocked me several years into my marriage, though, was the realization that the more "right" I was, the more discontented my husband and I were as a couple. See,
oddly enough, throughout his life Genoveso has been under the misguided impression that he's right most of the time (go figure!). So we'd lock horns -- often. That is, until I learned a few things.
Namely, that when it comes to certain disagreements, there is no right or wrong -- there is simply your way of looking at things and your husband's. "I used to be very black-and-white earlier in our marriage," says Lindy Vincent, 38, who lives in Minneapolis. "Now I see that I'm not all right and my husband is not all wrong. There's more gray in life than I thought, and that's taught me patience and the value of compromise."
5. A great marriage doesn't mean no conflict; it simply means a couple keeps trying to get it right.
Maybe you think that because of my newfound wisdom, Genoveso and I never fight anymore. Ha! As important as it is to strike a balance, it's also important to have a big, fat fight every now and then. Because when you fight, you don't just raise your voices; you raise real -- sometimes buried -- issues that challenge you to come to a clearer understanding of you, your man, and your relationship. I wouldn't give up our fights for anything in the world, because I know in the end they won't break us; they'll only make us stronger.
6. You'll realize that you can only change yourself.
Ever seen the '80s sci-fi cult classic "Making Mr. Right?" When the stylish heroine, played by Ann Magnuson, is hired to teach a robot how to act like a human, she seizes the chance to create a perfect guy. A hotshot commercial whiz, she uses her marketing prowess to shape John Malkovich's android character into her personal version of the ideal man -- sensitive, eager to please, and willing to listen.
There is a bit of that makeover fantasy in all of us -- something that makes us believe we can change the person we love, make him just a little bit closer to perfect. We may use support and empathy or shouts and ultimatums, but with dogged conviction we take on this huge responsibility, convinced we're doing the right thing.
Whatever our motives, the effort is exhausting. Transforming a full-grown man -- stripping him of decades-old habits, beliefs, and idiosyncrasies -- is truly an impossible task. And you will come to realize, sooner than later if you're lucky, that it is far easier to change the way you respond to him.
7. As you face your fears and insecurities, you will find out what you're really made of.
There were clues when Genoveso and I were dating, especially with the trust thing. Early on, I was supersuspicious of him. He used to say things like, "I'll call you at 8." Then, just to try to trip me up, he'd call at 8. I knew he was up to something, I just couldn't figu e out what. The same kinds of experiences followed after the wedding. Except occasionally he would actually mess up. And I had no sense of scale when it came to rating his offenses; everything was a major violation. Whether he teased me about a new haircut or came home late, I seethed for days and even let thoughts of divorce creep into my head. I figured, if he loved me -- really and truly -- this stuff wouldn't happen.
I'd like to be able to say that this irrational behavior lasted only a few months and I eventually worked it out. Kind of, sort of, is closer to the truth. After years of looking deeply into my soul and talking to good friends and the best sister a girl could ever have, I've come to recognize certain things about myself. Not to get all Dr. Phil about it, but I've had to examine my history with an emotionally distant dad and a strong-willed mom and face up to all the ways, both good and bad, that those relationships have affected how I approach my marriage.
That's the strange beauty of marriage: It's full of hard times and hard lessons that no one can ever prepare you for. But in the end, those are the things that give richness to your life together -- and make your love even deeper and stronger than when it began.
manila hop on, hop off?
saw these jeeps in the main lobby driveway yesterday. hmmmm. maybe they toured the climate change event attendees around manila.
during my last trip home, i got a metro manila map at the PAL terminal with ads for these touring jeepneys. will cost you around Php700. stops include the makati shopping district, and manila area.
UPDATE: found this through google:
http://www.jeepneytours.com/about-jeepneytours.html
during my last trip home, i got a metro manila map at the PAL terminal with ads for these touring jeepneys. will cost you around Php700. stops include the makati shopping district, and manila area.
UPDATE: found this through google:
http://www.jeepneytours.com/about-jeepneytours.html
most favorite romantic flicks of all time
went to the mall today, and bought these. who can resist a BUY 1, TAKE 1 sign!?!!?
i saw this movie during the holidays last year. love, love, LOVE jude law!
i LOVE this movie. since gradeschool, i think! don't exactly remember why, but i do. :)
what's YOUR favorite? :)
i saw this movie during the holidays last year. love, love, LOVE jude law!
i LOVE this movie. since gradeschool, i think! don't exactly remember why, but i do. :)
what's YOUR favorite? :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
wedding preps update
so. 5 months, 25 days and counting. panic mode slowly creeping in. need to get back into the preps groove, ASAP!
first off, an update.
1. church - check!
2. reception venue - check!
3. entourage - pumipili pa rin!
4. guest list - madugo!
5. caterer - check!
6. photo and video - check!
7. bridal gown - check! measurement taking to happen soon.
8. entourage gowns - still scouting
9. barong/s - still setting a mtg with mang rey casedo
10. invites - check!
11. coordinator - check!
12. flowers - c/o k's friends yey! :)
13. souvenirs - check!
14. music for the church and reception - check!
15. priest - still trying to get fr. mario sobrejuanite. if not available, c/o church na lang
16. cake - check! (c/o caterer)
17. bridal car - check! (c/o caterer)
18. mass readers/lector - pumipili pa rin
19. reception emcee - check (c/o caterer)
20. hair and make up artists - check for the ento. still searching for mine :)
21. gift for PS - check!
22. hotel preps - none yet
23. bridal accessories - c/o gilda yey! :)
24. wedding bands - wala pa
sana wala akong nakalimutan. back to my w@w community ulit for tips and ideas. thank goodness for W@W! :)
first off, an update.
1. church - check!
2. reception venue - check!
3. entourage - pumipili pa rin!
4. guest list - madugo!
5. caterer - check!
6. photo and video - check!
7. bridal gown - check! measurement taking to happen soon.
8. entourage gowns - still scouting
9. barong/s - still setting a mtg with mang rey casedo
10. invites - check!
11. coordinator - check!
12. flowers - c/o k's friends yey! :)
13. souvenirs - check!
14. music for the church and reception - check!
15. priest - still trying to get fr. mario sobrejuanite. if not available, c/o church na lang
16. cake - check! (c/o caterer)
17. bridal car - check! (c/o caterer)
18. mass readers/lector - pumipili pa rin
19. reception emcee - check (c/o caterer)
20. hair and make up artists - check for the ento. still searching for mine :)
21. gift for PS - check!
22. hotel preps - none yet
23. bridal accessories - c/o gilda yey! :)
24. wedding bands - wala pa
sana wala akong nakalimutan. back to my w@w community ulit for tips and ideas. thank goodness for W@W! :)
Monday, June 15, 2009
independence day weekend in baguio
k and i went up to baguio for the long 3-day weekend, and enjoyed it a lot! we did all the touristy stuff, went to see the usual tourist trail, ate at the recommended restos, and basically enjoyed the cool weather and perfect company - each other! :)
upon arrival at the victory liner station
when in baguio, stay at the hotel veniz!
scenic and iconic mines view park
kinaya pala naming isuot ang costumes, it helped na senior citizens ang may hawak nito. tulong na rin hehe
their ube jam is the best!
art at the tam-awan village. we had portraits done here.
you've never been to baguio lest you pay a visit to cafe by the ruins. pricey.
makukulit ang mga lola sa baguio botanical garden
we had to take a photo at the mansion, but of course!
horsing around the wright park
it was a sunday, we stopped to pray at the baguio cathedral
had coffee and blueberry cheesecake at the manor. yum-o!
we want to stay here next time
the best back ribs in baguio - little john's at mile hi center, camp john hay
upon arrival at the victory liner station
when in baguio, stay at the hotel veniz!
scenic and iconic mines view park
kinaya pala naming isuot ang costumes, it helped na senior citizens ang may hawak nito. tulong na rin hehe
their ube jam is the best!
art at the tam-awan village. we had portraits done here.
you've never been to baguio lest you pay a visit to cafe by the ruins. pricey.
makukulit ang mga lola sa baguio botanical garden
we had to take a photo at the mansion, but of course!
horsing around the wright park
it was a sunday, we stopped to pray at the baguio cathedral
had coffee and blueberry cheesecake at the manor. yum-o!
we want to stay here next time
the best back ribs in baguio - little john's at mile hi center, camp john hay
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
derek and meredith's vows
"this is forever." i love it. *swoons* :)
thanks to a co-wawie for sharing this.
thanks to a co-wawie for sharing this.
Monday, June 8, 2009
gossip girl
i'm not exactly a fan, but i watch this show whenever i can. way to go, countess D! :)
oh, and by the way, i love that all of these "help" have accents! :D
oh, and by the way, i love that all of these "help" have accents! :D
Sunday, June 7, 2009
precious moments
k and i visited iloilo, roxas and kalibo in 2.5 days. whew! :)
we were in town to commemorate my mama's 2nd year death anniversary, attend's our bunso's confirmation (which we missed because of the long travel time from iloilo to roxas), and introduce k to my lola daisy in kalibo. while in kalibo, my sister asked that we pass by sampaguita gardens. my dad obliged. :)
we were in town to commemorate my mama's 2nd year death anniversary, attend's our bunso's confirmation (which we missed because of the long travel time from iloilo to roxas), and introduce k to my lola daisy in kalibo. while in kalibo, my sister asked that we pass by sampaguita gardens. my dad obliged. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)