one millionth prenups! - ratings and kwento

Photographer: Little Dreams - Edu Cortez - 10!

i love our pictures and our photographer! edu cortez, our main photog for our wedding, is SOOOOO good! to think na ang bata pa nga niya (he's 23 years old) pero ang galing niya talaga! siguro rin kasi i really like the photojournalistic approach kaya nga nag-little dreams/decisive moments ako eh. although may script ng kaunti yung prenups, yung pag-capture ng "moments" totally depended on edu. isa pa, except for the last 12 pictures or so, hindi siya gumagamit ng flash so yung lighting namin totally dependent on the available light.

isa pa, we were able to get the CD kaagad after the shoot. pagbalik namin sa studio, ni-burn niya lang tapos okay na.

history: i was not supposed to have a prenup shoot sa little dreams but i realized that i haven't met our photog yet so i arranged for a pre-production meeting. jocelyn told me na mag-studio pictorial na lang daw ako. sobra akong happy kasi may prenup rin pala ako kahit papano sa little dreams. then when i met mel cortez last sunday, he told me na sa parks and wildlife na lang daw kami mag prenups! yey!

ang funny pa dun, a few days ago, joanna ni rey (hi sis!) told me na they're thinking of having their prenups sa parks and wildlife tapos na-inggit ako kasi hindi ko naisip na dun magpa-prenups! tapos nung nakita ko rin yung AVP ni rhodora at ryan, lalo kung ginusto na mag-prenups sa parks and wildlife pero dahil nga sangkatutak na ang prenups ko, i just let go. tapos nung sinabi ni mel na mag-parks and wildlife daw kami, halos ma-hug ko siya sa tuwa!!!!

so there! basta sobra ako happy tuloy with our photog. gusto ko style niya. i especially liked yung silhouette shots tsaka yung studio pics na naka-formal outfits kami pero very natural yun tawanan.

yun lang! :)


Make-up Artist: Brenda - 9.5

i need another make-up artist for my ento kaya i thought na mag-trial pa sa iba. isa pa, since yung main MUA ko is also part of my ento, ayoko naman siya i-harass masyado kasi kukuha na lang ako ng someone to do my hair.

i had two trials with brenda. the first was during rhodora's wedding. the second was for the pictorial. okay naman. i really like the make-up. feeling ko ang galing niyang gumawa ng bridal look.

so bakit 9.5 lang? what i did kasi was have brenda do my hair for rhodora's wedding and the pictorial. aside from these, i also made her do the exact hairdo i will have on my wedding day. dun sa hair sa wedding, sobrang walang problem. sobrang gusto ko at lalo na ng maid of honor ko. the prob was my hair during rhodora's wedding and the pictorial. although i really like brenda, i realized na hindi siya naniniwala sa akin pagdating sa buhok ko. sinabi ko naman kasi sa kanya na baka hindi kakayain nung silicone treatment na ilalagay niya sa hair ko at bubuhaghag pa rin yung buhok ko. pero sabi niya kakayanin daw. syempre hindi kinaya. during the pictorial naman, hindi ma-okay yung pagka-blower kaya hindi maganda yung effect. parang mas okay na nga lang kung pinabayaan na lang na curly yung hair ko kasi kaya ko naman ayusin ng matino yung buhok ko by just using mousse or gel. oh well!

pero since nga gusto ko yung magiging ayos ng buhok ko sa wedding (simple chignon lang), kukunin ko pa rin siya. tsaka sa make-up wala akong masabi kasi ganda talaga.

:)

painting the condo

for the past two saturdays, we've scheduled a house painter to come over to paint our condo. for some reason, though, the usually punctual painter whom my dad contacted did not show up, for two saturdays ha! naiinis na talaga kami ni jojie.

so kanina, i talked to my dad again regarding the painter. sabi iya kuha na lang daw siya ng iba. nagtataka nga rin siya kiung bakit hindi dumadating yung tao eh yun naman yung usual na nagtratrabaho for us, both sa mga projects namin at dito sa bahay. while we were talking, my dad mentioned na we can just paint the condo by ourselves. sabi niya madali lang naman yun. oo nga naman, madali lang naman. i remember when i was in high school, my best friend and i painted my room. yun nga lang mas matagal pa ata yung time na ni-spend namin noon sa paglagay ng pintura sa mukha ng isa't-isa kaysa pag-paint mismo.

anyway, my dad taught me again how to do it. sabi ko, i'll think about it. after a couple of hours, around 2:30, jojie called. since alam ko na mejo hindi niya gusto yung idea na ako yung magpipintura, i asked him, ever so nicely, to consider the thought of me doing the pianting job since i know i would enjoy it naman. i can do it while he's at work. sabi niya pag-iisipan daw niya muna. after mga 15 minutes, i asked him again. sabi niya, "eh di tayong dalawa na." :) yehey! :) so the next question was when. sabi ko, today na. you can leave the office na and i can go to the condo na. so yun! i went to my dad again, gathered the materials needed (syempre the painss, the rollers, the brush, the mixing stick, the paint tray, etc.), at nagpaturo uli ako. i then proceeded to the condo. jojie got there around 10 minutes after i did. we ate muna (kakatawa kasi we both bought barbeque for merienda, since gutom na kami and thinking na baka gutom na yung isa't-isa. since dalawa kaming bumili, ang dami naming barbeque! kakatawa talaga kasi when i saw him with the brown paper bag i knew immediately na he bought BBQ. reaction ko, bumili ka rin? ako rin!).

after eating, inayos na namin yung mga materials at saka we rearranged the stuff sa condo para hindi malagyan ng paint. syempre sangkatutak na dyaryo rin ang linagay namin. tapos we started mixing the piant na. we had fun doing this kasi we were aiming for a particular color eh. in the end, we were able to get the perfect shade of yellow that we liked (this was for the walls). tapos yun, we started painting na. it was fun! even jojie, who's not really into DIY stuff, had fun. we would kiss in the middle of teh painting job. ang saya ng feeling knowing na pinaghihirapan talaga naming dalawa pagandahin ung condo. :)

so yun. we were not able to finish the whole condo kasi we also want to paint the ceilings. isa pa, we're painting one side of the wall orange. yun yung magiging accent wall namin so that means we have to mix paint again. we'll resume painting tomorrow, after the prenups. excited na ako!

:)

pag-career ng prenups

ako ang taong napakaraming pictures na prenups. first, there was w@w5ive. since i volunteered, i had 12 photogs. i had a total of around 200 pictures from w@w5ive . next, we had carlo villongco of photograhico for a prenup pictorial sa UP naman. meron din kaming mga around 200 pictures from that day. ang prob ko lang, i realized na despite my sobrang daming pictures, i have never worked with little dreams, my official wedding photog, kaya hindi ko man lang sila kilala at natatakot ako na mahirapan ako sa wedding day mismo. but then, since mejo mahal ang kanilang prenup package, i just let go of my concern and isip ko lang na i will make sure na matino ang pre-production meeting namin para kilala ko sila prior to the wedding.

two weeks ago, i called little dreams to confirm our scheduled pre-prod meeting. when i talked to jocelyn, sabi niya magpa-studio pictorial daw ako para makilala ko yung photog. so syempre ako naman hindi humindi. ito na nga yung sagot sa takot ko! at isa pa, another chance to pose yun noh! :) so syempre mega-plan ako ng outfits namin. i decided since we have 400 prenup pictures na naka-casual, naisip ko na mag-formal naman kami this time. so ayun, naayos ko na yun. i even bought a dress (which i also wore to rhodora's wedding) for the pictorial. hahaha!

so ito na, yesterday was rhodora and ryan's wedding. syempre nakigulo kami sa hotel. nakakatawa pa nga kasi nung nakita ko yung prenups nila rhodora and ryan (also shot by little dreams) sa may parks and wildlife, nainggit ako. sabi ko sa sarili ko, parang ang ganda naman magpa-preup sa parks and wildlife. pero isip ko naman sa dami ko nang prenup pics, dapat makuntento na ako.

ito na talaga, since little dreams nga sila rhodora, mel cortez (really nice guy!) was also there in the hotel so i was able to make chika with him. he told me na they had to change my photog kasi the one they initially told me na magiging photog ko ay may prior commitment daw na hindi pwedeng alisan. so sabi ko basta bigyan niya ako ng magaing kasi kung hindi iiyak ako. he told me naman na magalign daw yung papalit. bata pa raw. 23yo lang (ha? mas bata pa sa amin!) pero magaling. para raw hindi ako nerbyosin, i must work with him prior to our wedding. so i told mel that jocelyn scheduled a studio pictorial for us on tuesday. sabi niya, "ha? bakit pictorial lang, mag-prenups na kayo, sa parks and wildlife." grabe! i was so happy, muntikan ko nang ma-hug si mel! hahaha!

so there, we'll be having our one millionth prenups tomorrow! studio pic muna na naka-formal tapos naka-casula outfits uli sa parks and wildlife!

:)

hay! puro preps na lang!

i wasn't able to post the whole of last week because i was so busy with preps! (ay naka-post pala ako pero isa lang.) sayang, ang dami ko pa naman ding guston i-kwento kaya lang sa dami ng nangyari baka i-delete ng blogger! hahaha!

highlights:

1. filed for marriage license na! i love belmonte! ang daling mag-file sa QC! hahaha!
2. was able to check out the church wedding singer. sabi ni candice (na as usual ay kasama kong nag-preps. i really love my MOH!), may boses naman raw yung singer, kaboses ni jimmy santos! waaaahhhh!!!
3. was able to have hair spa, massage, and a body scrub at fitness first. gift ni jojie! heavenly!
4. hindi masyadong preps for me pero it prepared me na rin... hosted rhodora and ryan's wedding reception
5. was able to claim jojie's barong. ang gwapo ng mapapangasawa ko! :)
6. was able to submite banns and permission form (sa church ko pa lang though)
7. had jojie's pants made
8. had the barongs of jojie's dad, brother, and nephew made (syempre kay mrs. bautista na rin)


parang yun lang naman. at least yun lang ang naalala ko. :)

oh my gulay!

i realized a week ago that i must finish my MA this march so i can work by june. in order to do that, i need to defend my thesis by february. in order to do that, i need to be done with my analysis, of course, by feb. and to do that, my data gathering has to be done by december. which means i only have november and december (with my wedding on december 18) to gather data! oh my! and with this realization, i also realized that i need to finish the preps by end october!!!

weekend preps

jojie and i had a very productive weekend.

after dowa's shower last friday night (more on that later), we went home and he slept over at our house. we figured this would save us time when the pintor comes in on saturday (we're having the condo repainted kasi). but for some reason we still don't know, my dad's pintor didn't show up on saturday morning. (on second thought, since we went to bed at almost 4 a.m., mabuti na rin ata na hindi dumating yung pintor. hahaha!) so since our scheduled preps activity (yung repainting nga) was cancelled, we decided to just make gel candles. we had fun making the candles. we ran out of starfish and twigs though so we had to go to balay kandila to buy additional supplies. (funny pa kasi dowa, ryan, and dowa's mom were also at balay last saturday and nagkita-kita na naman kami dun. grabe! that means three days in a row kami nagkita ni dowa!)

after balay, we went to SM to claim the stickers i had made for the candles. ganda sana kaya lang may mali. when i ordered kasi the stickers, i wrote 12.18.2004. i told the girl pa to make sure na period yung ilalagay at hindi dashes. when i went back to claim, hindi nga dashes yung nakalagay pero hinid rin period. what they had was 12-18-2004 na instead of the dashes, dots yung nasa in betwen ng numbers. so ang in effect, naging dash na bilog ung nakalagay. eh di ba mas weird? okay naman yung girl sa robee kasi they tole me na claim ko na lang daw sa tuesay kasi ipapagawa nila uli.

nagpuyat kami ni jojie that night making the candles. i also did our envelopes. he slept over here again.

this morning naman, pinaakyat ko na sa roofdeck yung mga candles para mabilad na sa araw at maalis yung bubbles. tapos we continued making more candles (we're halfway through). jojie left the house just before lunch to go home.

candice, our MOH, arrived around 3:45 for the measurement taking of the ento. since she arrived a little early (our usapan was 4 p.m.), we were able to make kwento pa. next to arrive was alysa, one of the little bridesmaids, with her whole family. i thought hindi na makakarating si alysa kasi ate carol said may fever daw siya. buti na lang nakapunta sila. ate jing, jojie's sister and one of the bridesmaids, arrived next. by this time, natatakot na ako kasi wala pa si farley and it was mga 4:20 na. katkat, our emcee and one of the secondary sponsors, arrived around 4:35. wala pa rin si farley, complete na yung susukatan! (this was our 2nd measurement taking appointment kasi. nauna na yung mom ko, sister (a bridesmaid din), and kat (my makeup artist and secondary din). pag dating ni jojie, nagtataka na kami kung bakit wala pa si farley. we called his house a couple of times pero as we expected, wala naman siya kasi we knew nga na buong araw siyang nag-iikot.

he arrived around 5:10. in fairness to him, our usapan naman was from 4 to 5 so he was just mga 10 minutes late. takot lang ako kasi mahihirapan na akong ma-gather uli yung ento. katkat and candice both live in the south and alysa lives in pasig. mejo malalayo ang pinanggalingan nila.

when farley arrived, sinukatan niya na yung mga tao. okay naman. mabilis lang yung sukat. katkat and ate jing wanted different designs so nakipag-usap pa sila kay farley. si candice, my ever reliable maid of honor, of course, was very excited about the design i picked so wala siyang naging prob.

we'll have the first fitting on november 14. :)

ate jing and alysa and her whole family left na after a while. katkat and candice stayed so we can talk about the reception program. it was a productive meeting, i think. natapos na namin yung program and we have ideas na on what songs to use.

natutuwa ako kay candice and katkat kasi i think they hit it off. hindi naging awkward for them mag-usap kahit na it was just their first time to meet. mabuti na lang! yun yung fear ko eh, yung mamroblema ako sa ento kasi hindi sila nag-uusap. since we'll all be working together, natutuwa talaga ako na okay sila sa isa't-isa.

candice left around 7:30 and katkat stayed pa for dinner. she left around 8:30.

jojie and i talked a bit lang before he went home na rin. natutuwa kami kasi unti-unti naayos na yung kasal. hay salamat! ang goal nya pala by 3rd week of november wala na kaming gagawin. naku! mukha namang hindi kaya yun! oh well, we'll see. for now, though, i'm just happy that we had a productive weekend.

always

Dear Jojie,

I was looking at my Friendster picture (the same one we used for our invitation) when it struck me (again) how much I love you. I love you, Jie. I love you to the depths of my being. I love you so much I can feel the love blossom inside of me whenever I look at you or think of you.

I love you. Just three simple words but these three words embody the universe of emotions that I feel for you.

I love you. We are embarking on a new chapter in our lives. I pray to God that we make it, that we have a successful marriage. But if, God forbid, for some reason we fail, whatever happens, do not forgot that I love you and I will love you forever.

I love you. I look forward to the day when I will bear your children and I can take care of you and our little ones.

I love you. I just can't get tired of saying these words to you.

I love you. I imagine growing old with you and I smile. I am not afraid of growing old as long as we're together. In fact, I am not afraid of anything as long as I know you are with me and I am with you.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.


Always,
Ging

appeal for help

i'm sorry if you're feeling pretty bombarded with news about bea. i just learned today that bea's body was released by makati medical center only because her mom signed a promisory note. they still owe the hospital over one million pesos. we are humbly asking for your help. cash donations can be coursed through Banco De Oro branches (S/A1200088653 account of Beatriz Liwanag) or sent to their residence at 2391 Dapdap St., United Hills Village, Paranaque City, Metro Manila 1700, telephone no. 7766097 and mobile no. 0920-908-1440.

thank you very, very much.

bea

bea joined the Creator and the Holy Mother today, October 8, at 2:37 a.m.

please pray for the repose of her soul.

bea

bea was my student in assumption. this girl was the typical assumptionista - pretty, popular, kikay, very sweet, very loving. i loved having her in my batch. she was one of the few i didn't worry about coz i knew she was smart and very sensible and would not just jump into things (like what most teen-age girls, unfortunately, do).

i remember the first time i saw her cry. it was during a group counseling session. but she didn't cry because of the session, she cried because she received word that she had a low grade. and that made me realize that she really cared about her grades! wow!

i also remember the first time i talked to her, as in really talked to her. we were seated on the bench along their corridor. it was for the routine interview (hahaha! this was bawal, conducting the interview along the corridor but she enjoyed it.). she told me about her family. she didn't say it out loud but i could feel how much she valued her family.

i remember her telling me that she already made sagot her then suitor, miguel. she was so happy! i told her that having a boyfriend was okay as long as she knew what her priorities are. isa pa, i told her that i consider her to be very sensible and i knew that she was not the padalos-dalos kind. among all her batchmates, she was the ONLY one i didn't worry about when she told me she had a boyfriend (sorry, girls!). kasi nga i had faith in her. i just reminded her to not to forget school and not to forget to tell her mom about the relationship. hehe!

i remember talking to her mom in one of the PTCs. her mom was laughing while telling me that bea asked her if she (bea) looked mataray. she answered daw, "bea, what do you think?" hahaha!

yeah, bea certainly looked mataray and i'm not gonna lie and tell you she's not because she is really. :) but she's also very sweet and very loving. vivacious and bubbly, she had her whole life ahead of her.

that is, until she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. and like everything she has been faced with before, she is fighting her illness with courage and faith in god.


=====

for some reason, i can't continue this anymore. just please, please pray for her. i received a message early this evening that she is unconscious but holding on. her family and loved ones have already said their goodbyes. i really pray that God gives her the strength to survive this. please, please pray.

sigh!

i modeled my wedding shoes for jojie to see. i probably looked funny coz i was in my pambahay and my wedding shoes. i walked in front of jojie and let him see the shoes from all angles. he liked it, said it was simple and the heels were just the right height. he stood up to see how tall the heels made me (jojie is taller than me by about 7 inches). then, he cupped my face and said, "tamang-tama yung height kasi hindi ako mahihirapan.." then he kissed me oh so tenderly.

can't wait for our first kiss as husband and wife.

:)

divi trip!

went to divi last tuesday to buy tela for the little bridesmaids. i bought tela na for them before but with the design i had in mind, one yard each lang ang kelangan nila so yun lang ang binili ko. when i talked to farley, though, he said na hindi daw pang little bridesmaid yung design ko so i needed three yards pala for each! so we had to go to carolina's again to buy the tela.

we arrived at divi around 4.30 na. went straight to carolina's coz we thought na sarado na sila ng 5pm. hindi naman pala, 6 sila nagsasara. anyway, when we got there we went to see manang wilca, our beloved suki. she gave us teh tela we needed. while there, jojie also bought tela for his pants (so that's one thing off my list. yey!).

since we were also in the hunt for the packaging for the gel candles, we asked manang wilca if she had the material starbucks uses when you buy coffee beans (not the paper nor the foil but the combination cloth-paper material). manang wilca said they do'nt carry it since the material is importaed (from japan ata). what they had, instead, was this really gorgeous material, also a sort of combination of cloth and paper but it costs P200 per yard! since we needed at least 8 yards, that's at least P1,600! that's a little less than our budget for the gel candles! (sobrang mura nung candles di ba? hehe!) so we told manang wilca we couldn't afford it (actually, my exact words were "manang wilca naman, alam niyo namang nagtitipid kami eh!" hehe!) and set out for tabora.

once in tabora, we saw these sinamay bags that were just PERFECT for the candles! since we brought a sample, we were able to buy the right size. jojie also liked the bags and although each costs P12.00, okay na rin. basta it's really so nice. i'll post a pic asap. :)

next stop was the bodega sale. (have you seen this building? oh my gosh! sa dami ng laruan dito, you would like to host a kiddie party.) we bought additional bubbles. i also bought some bubbles for dowa (a w@wie friend who's getting married on the 17th. i'm one of the reception emcees! ang galing talaga ng w@w kasi you get to have real friends through online interactions. :)). after the bubbles, i looked naman for poarty poppers, also for dowa.

after bodega sale, we went to columbia to buy extra wick for the gel candles. we wanted to buy at gody but we don't like buying there kasi hindi accommodating yung mga tao so kahit na mas malayo yung gody, we went to columbia.

with all our to-do's accomplished, we played hooky na by going to the DVD section and buying pirated DVDs (okay, okay, i know this is illegal. oh well!). afterwhich, we went to eat at KFC then went home na.

a productive trip, i'm so happy! :)

shoes

after our divi trip today (more on that later), as i was driving home (i dropped jojie at our condo), my mom called me and asked me to pick her up. nasa SM kasi siya at maraming dala. so i turned around to pick her up. nung andun na ako sa SM, sabi niya hintayin ko raw siya isosoli lang niya yung shoes na binili niya kasi masikip daw (weird! eh kabibili niya lang nun a couple of hours before that!). so sinamahan ko na lang siya. at habang naghihintay ang aking nanay sa kanyang bagong sapatos, i saw this shoes na sobrang simple at eksakto yung heels at kulay sa gusto ko. so i called her and asked her if i can use that for my wedding shoes. sabi niya oo daw at na-excite na siya. sabi niya bilhin ko na raw. syempre ayoko pa kasi wala naman sa plan ko mag-wedding shoe shopping. i also wanted to have jojie see it first.sabi ko "ma, i'm sure marami pa yan. sige, tignan mo, tatanungin ko yung salesman, i'm sure marami pa yang stock." so tanong ako kay mamang salesman at consult naman siya sa kanyang logbook. uuhhh ohhhh! isang pair na lang ang natitira sa size ko! so syempre nagpanic ako! what if, pagbalik ko ng saturday (kung kelan pwede na si jojie), wala na yung shoes? i don't want to go to all the trouble of finding THE perfect shoes na naman. so ayun, binili ko bigla. so may wedding shoes na ako!:)

new look

hi! what do you guys think of my new skin? feel free to drop me a note, okay? :)

bubbles!!!

i love bubbles! i wanted to have a bubble machine but since i'm having a mega-tipid wedding, i opted not to have one. isa pa, ang ayoko sa bubble machine, sa isang side lang napupunta yung bubbles.

so in lieu of the bubble machine, i decided to buy bubble bottles. ilalagay ko na lang yung bubbles sa guest table and ask the guests to blow bubbles for us, probably during cake cutting. each bottle cost me P2.00 lang! since i'm having 120 guests lang, i bought 60 bottles. (P120.00 lang compared to P1000 pag bubble machine! thanks, abie, for showing me where to buy cheap bubbles in divi!) sa sobrang aliw ko nga lang sa bubbles, nakaubos na ata ako ng mga lima sa kaka-blow lang habang mag-isa! hahaha! i love bubbles so much i even have a bottle on the shelf by my bed! hahaha!

as i mentioned in my post below, eeew yung labels nung bubble bottles. hehe! so i decided to print my own labels. :)

and since i'm really getting the hang of posting pics, here are a few of the pictures i took.



bubble bottles with our labels bubbles!


bubbles uli!

:)

Confirmation pics!

The pics from Ninong MP (a.k.a Manong Photographer) arrived! (For explanation, please read Unusual Confirmation.) So guys, here he is, our beloved ninong!


This is me with MP touching my shoulder.


Me and Jojie, getting our confirmation certificates.


This is our free picture, yung gift ni MP.

:)

gel candles

Our finished products!

preps over the week

my jojie while painstakingly arranging the shells inside the glass candle holder :)


these were our accomplishments last week:

gel candles for wedding favors
when jojie and i first started making our gel candles (for the wedding favors), we argued about every little thing - gaano karami na sand, paano at sino ang magpo-pour ng gel wax, paano yung design ng shells, etc. it came to the point na ayaw ko na gumawa ng gel candles kasi i didn't agree with his ideas and he didn't agree with mine. this was also during the time when we were so stressed out that we had that really bad fight. after our fight, we realized that we had to prioritize the things we had to do and making the candles was not a priority then so we stoppped muna. jojie even wanted to just order the candles from balay kandila para bawas daw sa load namin but i was adamant that i wanted DIY favors (feeling creative kasi ako eh. hehe!).

last weekend, with only 70+ days to go before our big day, we had to start making the candles again. and lo and behold! hindi kami nag-away! we really had fun making the candles! i think i had more fun than him because he was so focused (he's as OC as i am eh) on what he was doing that he didn't realize that i was making him do all the work. what i did lang was to heat and pour the wax. kung meron man akong nagawa siguro mga lima lang and we finished 23 candles all in all! :)

i'm excited na for our next gel candle making session!

p.s. jojie is so OC with the candles that he doesn't want me to pour wax on the candles i've done designing on my own. inspect daw niya muna! grabe!

preps with MOH
candice and i met for lunch last tuesday. we ate pizza and pasta at a veneto (yummy!) then went to our lady of consolation to pass the baptismal and confirmation certificates. afterwards, we went to little dreams so i could show candice sample videos and photo albums. she really liked little dreams' works! tapos ang okay pa dun was that mel cortez was there and he entertained us. sobrang aliw si mel, tuwang-tuwa si candice sa kanya that she told him na ire-recommend niya siya sa iba pang ikakasal. during the course of our kwentuhan, nagpabili pa ng puto at coke para sa amin eh si mang mel! hehe!

i also asked candice to be in charge of the music for the ceremony and reception. musically-inclined kasi siya so i know that she'll enjoy doing this.

and lastly, i asked her to do the calligraphy on the envelopes and she excitedly agreed! ang galing! bait talaga ng maid of honor ko! :)

given invites to my college barkada
i know it's too early to give out invites but last tuesday night was camille's party and since my whole barkada was supposed to be there na, i decided to give them the invitations kasi i don't want to schedule another get-together just to give the invites. knowing their schedules (lahat sila kakapasa lang ng med boards... doktor na lahat ng college friends ko!!), i know i'll have a difficulty finding a common time when we can all meet. kaya kahit na sobrang aga pa, i decided to give na the invites. jojie was okay with it naman and so was candice (candice belongs to the same group of friends). candice practiced na her calligraphy skills by addressing the envelopes. :)

asked inch and bryan to man the registration table
in the same party, i asked inch and bryan to take charge of the registration table. syempre pumayag sila kasi wala naman silang choice eh! hehe!

envelopes again!
i'm making good progress on the envelopes. isa pa, wala naman ako choice eh kasi i need to give the envelopes na to candz so she can start on the calligraphy.

wedding calendar
for the past couple of weeks, since mejo erratic ang aming schedule and we concentrated muna on our project (we had another research project kasi), jojie and i didn't have definite wed preps sched but instead we just prepped whenever our schedule permitted it. last saturday, though, we werre able to sit down in front of the computer and organized our wedding calendar. kaya pag tinignan uli yung calendar namin, may laman na uli! hahaha!

guest list
we were able to finalize our guest list last saturday, too. naayos na rin namin yung names to be written on the envelopes para pag bigay ko ng envelopes kay candice, together na with the names. :)

bubble bottle labels
i don't think i've mentioned that we're placing bubbles (as in yung pang-kids na hinihipan para may lumabas na bubbles, i don't know what you call it eh) on the guest tables. para may participation naman sila. i bought na 60 pieces and since ang pangit nung labels, i decide to put our own labels. so i printed na the labels, cut it, and used double sided tape to attach it to the bubble bottles. okay na. done it na. :)

house preps
we were able to talk na to my dad re painting the house on saturday. need to just remid him to call his foreman para tawagan na yung pintor. raw sienna (a shade of yellow) yung walls namin tapos we're having an accent wall na color orange (siguro parang sunset orange). and then light blue naman yung kitchen cupboards and closet. excited na ako!

so there! we had a productive week if i may so. :)

lola

*i did not have any plans of writing about my lola but she came out of her room just now while i am surfing the net. i assisted her and brought her back to bed. as i was bidding her goodnight, she touched my face and kissed me on the cheeks. i was so touched.

picture of lola taken last christmas


i am the eldest apo in my dad's side of the family. as such, among us cousins, i had the most memories of my lola.

i remember when i was in prep and my mom was abroad and could not go home for my graduation, it was lola who pinned my medal on me. she was so proud of me that day.

i remember when i was in grade 1 and i wanted to have my own business, it was lola who financed my undertaking. she gave me P5.00 to buy cracker cornik (parang nagaraya cracker nuts pero cornik yung laman) from the cornik factory near our house. then she bought plastic bags, took her weighing scale out of the cupboards, and then commisioned our helpers to help the two of us repack the cornik so i can sell the repacked corniks in school. i sold a lot!

whenever i did not like our ulam at home, i would go to lola's house and eat there. actually, whenever i was hungry, i would go to her and ask for food. she never ran out of biscuits and bananas.

i remember playing in her night dresser day in and out, putting together my secret potion - a mixture of baby powder, baby lotion, baby oil, and rubbing alcohol. to my eight year old mind, i believed that my secret mixture would give me magic if i can only bury underground or keep it in a deep dark place for a couple of months.

i remember lola giving me P100 on christmas and my birthdays. this started when i was still in kinder and went on until i was 19 or 20 (yeah, hindi na rin lumaki, P100 lang talaga!).

i remember when she learned that she i was getting my own room, she gave me a bed cover she made for me. she saw and embroidered it herself.

i remember her praying the rosary everyday. i remember her teaching me how to pray the Lord's Prayer in spanish. i remember her teaching me another prayer in spanish to be prayed when there is a strong typhoon.

i remember when i was in 1st year high school and i had a fight with my dad, i ran away from home. i did not hesitate, did not even look back! i proudly walked out of our house and went straight to my lola's house a couple of doors away. (hahaha! akala niyo ang layo noh!) it was 11 p.m. i knocked and woke my lolo and my lola up. i remember sleeping beside my lola that night [my lolo slept in the living room to give me his side of the bed. i miss my lolo. :(].

i remember lola being so full of life.

but now, all these are just distant memories. you see, my lola is 90 now (turning 91 a couple of weeks from now) and she isn't as strong as she used to be. whereas i used to be her favorite apo, she can't even recognize me now. everyday, she would always ask the helpers who i am and then she would smile when she is told that i am "Ging".

when i told her that i am getting married, she asked me who i was marrying and then expressed that she wanted to meet my fiance. although she forgot that she already met jojie (interviewed him in fact when i introduced him to her), i was still pleased that she was able to grasp what i was saying about me getting married. the moment i turned my back, though, i heard her asking the helper who i was.

i love my lola and i haven't even realized how much i love her until now. it hurts me so much to see her this way. how i wish i could bring back time so i could spend more time with her and tell her just how much i love her and how much i appreciate all that she done for me.