Let me just break my newlywed bliss to post this sad news....
Today is a sad day for Philadelphians (students of Philadelphia High School in Quezon City). At around 2:15am this morning, Mr. Joel R. Nitafan, fondly known as "Sir Joel" by us Philadelphians, was pronounced dead at MCU Hospital. Autopsy reports say that cause of death was heart attack. He had no previous heart ailments and doctors presume it was because of stress. He was 35.
I've known Sir Joel for 13 years. He first came to Philadelphia High School (back then it was just Philadelphia School) when I was in Grade 6. He was to be our new Guidance Counselor. Over the years, i have come to know him and his family well. During my high school years, I was a regular "tambay" in his office. Not because of any school troubles though. My dad usually fetched us from school very late, and Sir Joel, being the workaholic that he is, would often stay late in his office. So me and other students (who were also fethced late) would stay in his office. We would help him with his files and other stuff (not the confidential ones of course) and when he had free time we would have bible study. Over time he formed a peer group that would meet a couple of times each week. We would have bible studies together and some chit chats and the groupe became close. During my high school years, he facilitated our retreats and other school facilities. He was like a brother to me. He knew of my crushes and boyfriends and would often share advice. He also became close to our family as my dad would often offer him a ride. We also became close to his brothers and his mom. When I went off to college, communication was cut. I was busy with school and he was busy with his work. He was now the Student Activities Coordinator and he was in charge of the the Bot Scout Movement, this I believe became his passion. The School's Boy SCouts Movemement won a lot of awards with his leadership.
A few years later, I decided to work at my alma mater. Sir Joel was still there, busy and a workaholic still. He was still the Student Activities Coordinator. He facilitated a lot, or should I say most of the School's Activities. One particular activity that he was proud of was the yearly Kids For Christ concert or musical. It was often a wonderful show and it funded a lot of the School's physical improvment and activities. It was often held during February and now we will miss it..we will miss him.
No Sir Joel was not a saint. Honestly, a lot of people don't like him much. Most of the time me included. He was often shouting at people, most of the time his words hurt. And a lot more other stuff that I won't enumerate anymore. But, he is very zealous for the Lord Jesus and he was a person with a lot of energy and passion in what he does. That's why I was shocked to find out that he already passed away. We may not have gotten along that much in the past couple of years, but I have a lot of good memories of him. Especially the Vacation Bible Schools where we both taught kids the dance and songs up on stage!
I am sad for his family and I grieve for their loss. Especially with what I found out yesterday. Sir Joel got married pala last December 21 in civil rites. For many years we often chide him why he doesn't have a girlfriend yet and sometimes he would often wail about how he would never marry anymore because he couldn't seem to find her. Now that he did, a month later, he left his wife of 1 month who is now also a month pregnant.
I know that Sir Joel is now with the Lord. But I grieve for his wife and family. They were married shortly after Jasper and i did, and I can not even fathom the pain she may be feeling right now...all I can do is pray for his soul, for his wife and yet-unborn child and for his whole family.
Sir Jo, wherever you are, thank you for the friendship. I will always treasure it. Your passing away is a great loss not only for your family but also for the Philadelphia High School Community. Here's a song for you..the song you taught us during our high school graduation. i know this is your favorite because you always teach this to all graduating students...
THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN
We hardly shared a glance
to greet and know each other
and now the time is up
the band is packing up
We'll find another chance
to meet again together
and fill each other's cup
I feel like breaking up
It's this time that almost
always makes me cry
before we say goodbye
I want to let you know I love you...
Thank you for playing my music
and thank you for singing my song
thank you for sharing a moment
'cause with you i feel i really belong
Thank you for keeping me company
and thank you for being my friend
and if our paths should cross somewhere someday
I'd love to sing this song again
I pray the Lord our God
richly bless and keep you
together let us call
and thank Him most of all
Somehow I'm feeling sad
I know I'm gonna miss you
I know I will recall
this warm and cozy hall
Still there's one more thing
before the day is done
before the lights are gone
before the curtain closes, let me..
Thank you for playing my music
and thank you for singing my song
thank you for sharing a moment
'cause with you i feel i really belong
Thank you for keeping me company
and thank you for being my friend
and if our paths should cross someday
then I'd really be glad, yes ill really be glad,
I'd like to THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN.
January 24, 2005
January 18, 2005
We're Back!
okay just got home from our Boracay Honeymoon. =)  Shempre inuna ko ang magblog nakakamiss! hehehe! We had a blast at Boracay. Medyo umulan lang yesterday pero shempre enjoy pa din! =)
We went to Boracay on a limited budget ;-) but still we managed to have fun. bale there were 5 of us - yes you read it right 5! =) we were there with 3 of Hubby's officemates na napakakwela talaga!  Sabi ko nga, mas naenjoy ko yung honeymoon namin because we had friends around pero shempre sa ibang room sila. :)  Tomorrow nalang ako magkukuento cause I have to rest :) My body's aching allover from our swimming and walking. :)
January 13, 2005
Keeping my mind busy...
Okay to keep my mind from wandering off, I did 3 more layouts today with Photoshop. :) I tried and did a 2 page combination layout. You may view the pics here. Hope you like them, and again, comments and suggestions are welcome :) Thanks!
January 12, 2005
Bummer! Bummer! Bummer!
Ok I just had to blog this. This is a big black spot on my otherwise yellow sunny day. I was just on the phone with my mom and she told me that my grandfather will be selling the lot on which our house is standing on. My grandfather did not have a choice as he loaned the money (he used for buying the land) from the bank. So instead of the bank forecloseing it, he is thinking of selling it and use the money to pay the bank and have some money left for us. Haay...my parents have decided that once the land is sold, they will be relocating to my father's home province in Cotabato. Miles away from me..waahhh!! I can't imagine them soo far away! I feel so homesick when they're just here in QC, how much more when they're already there?!? I could visit, but then it wouldn't be the same. :,( Haay! But just like the Bible says: "For everything there is a reason.." and like my friends say: "Be strong, this too shall pass.." :,( bummer!
January 9, 2005
Sad no more...
I'm feeling much better now. Thanks to my hubby who listened and smothered me with embraces (I love you honey!) And also because I am excited for our official honeymoon in Boracay!!!

Only 5 days more days and we're hitting the beach! I've been to Boracay before but this would be the first time that hubby and I would go there together. So wish us luck *wink*!
On another note, I've been holed up in our room the whole day. The only time I went down was during breakfast, lunch and dinner hehehe! I was busy tinkering with Adobe Photoshop, trying to do layouts for our DIY wedding album (yup you read it right DIY! A friend's gonna help us with sourcing the materials. Yay!) and here's what I've got so far (aside from the back pains hehe!) Oh and pardon the song lyrics and title stuff on it. I couldn't think of what text to place there so.. (palusot pa! hehehe!) :




I know these are still amateur stuff but I hope I'll get better with practice. Gotta squeeze my brains for the much needed creative juice to finish this project. Hey, comments and suggestions are welcome! :) 
January 8, 2005
Nostalgia
I'm soo homesick! :,(  I've been crying my eyes out for 5 minutes now and I can't seem to stop.
Hubby and I went to our house today and spent time with my family. We had a great time chatting and doing stuff with my parents and my siblings. We took turns in telling Hubby some family anecdotes and stories. We stayed there the whole day and my parents drove us back here and that's where the nostalgia started. I don't know, I guess, it was because so much has changed since I got married. I mean, my family weren't that close before. We would often keep to ourselves when we're home but since I got married, my parents and I interact more and my siblings have been really nice (not that they weren't before, it's just...I don't know..different.) I guess, I feel happy and sad all at the same time. Happy because finally we were bonding as a family, sad because it had to happen now that I am married. :,(
Waah! I just can't seem to stop crying. I guess this really comes with getting married. So Clarice, just in case you're reading this, just want you to know you're not alone with how you feel about leaving home (after the wedding). *HUGS*
January 7, 2005
Our Wedding Kuento Part III
December 18, 2004 The Reception
6:00PM
(I wanted to add more pictures here but Chito saved our pics on a dvd cd (sheesh! Not everyone has a dvd ready cd rom for crying out loud! =( ). We don’t have a dvd ready cd-rom, we only borrowed one from our friend and I only copied as far as the pictures here. Will update the pics as soon as we transfer them to another cd, one that hopefully, our cd-rom would be able to read. ;-) )
We arrived at Batis Asul (which was only 5 minutes away from the church) at the same time that the guests did. I was so happy seeing all our DIY luminaries outside the venue.


 We waited inside the car while all the guests were being ushered into their seats by our Bridesters.
We waited inside the car while all the guests were being ushered into their seats by our Bridesters. 

 Kuks retouched my make up again (and he stayed all throughout retouching my make up until the reception was over! such good service! ) and we made chit chat while waiting. Then we were ushered outside and got ready for our entrance. When we finally went inside Batis Asul, we were soo awestruck at the place! Balay kandila has transformed the simple and homey Batis Asul into an elegant venue! Our guests were heard saying that they felt like they were at the NBC tent! Balay Kandila hung white cloths in the garden area (sorry but I don’t know what you call those things. Promise as soon as I get the pics I’ll post them here) and the centerpieces were beautiful! We were greeted with claps and poppers by our guests and entourage.
The program started and we proceeded first with our cake cutting and wine ceremony (yum!) then followed by our first dance. Then picture taking per table followed. We had guests per table go up to our stage and have their picture with us before they proceed to the buffet table so we weren’t really able to eat as much as we wanted to =( While the guests were having dinner, my younger brother rendered 2 acoustic songs for us. one he composed himself and the other was “You Should Know by Now”, Nyoy Volante’s version. The third one was supposed to be sung by one of my MOH but then she was having trouble with her voice that day, so my brother just did it instrumental. The song was “Til They Take my Heart Away”. So my brother was just strumming his guitar and letting the guests enjoy their dinner, when halfway through the song, Jasper stood up and went for the mic – OMG!
Jasper: This is for my lovely wife..
He sang the second stanza of the song and due to nervousness, he forgot the lines! So in my seat, I sang the correct lyrics and he followed. It was soo romantic, me at our gazebo, sitting and singing, looking only at my groom, and Jasper doing same. Towards the end of the song, I joined him and we both sang the last chorus. The guest gave us such an applause! They were even asking for more! (more practice I bet! Mwehehehe!) I still feel goose bumps when I remember that part, because neither of us planned that. Jasper just sort of spontaneously stood up and sang and for me it was soo romantic! I feel giddy while writing this mwehehe! After which our emcee announced that our wedding cake by Alex Franco will be served! Yey!
After that we proceeded with the garter and bouquet game. I wasn’t planning on doing this but I couldn’t think of any other activity that could replace this part. For the garter game I prepared balloons, one of the balloons had the garter in it and they sort of passed it around and when the music finished, they held the balloons they were holding and popped it. I must say the guys had fun! For the bouquet, I had Tropical Blooms do an all white rose bouquet with ribbons attached to it. Supposed to be, only one of the ribbons was attached to the bouquet but alas! When the single ladies pulled on the ribbon, the bouquet was torn into bits!!! Hahaha! We all had a laugh with this and decided that the one ribbon who had the most flowers wins. The one who won was my younger sister’s friend. She was in jeans! (It was a wedding hello!!! hmph! Teenagers!) But I let it pass. Pictures with us followed and then on we went to the next part.
Jasper’s only brother gave the toast and then my parents and Jasper’s parents gave their message to us. I was touched! Specifically because my dad stood up and gave a message albeit short but very inspiring. My dad is a very private person. He despises being the center of attention and going up in front of a lot of people was a no-no for him. When I saw him stand up and take the mic, I was breathless and my eyes moistened with tears. He wished us good health and that we would love each other for the rest of our lives. Sheesh! now I’m beginning to cry!
After the message, we proceeded with prosperity dance where we danced and our guests pinned money on us. We had a lot of people joining this part because Jasper’s family (Mothers side) were Ilocanos and this was a tradition for them. After the prosperity dance, we proceeded to giving our thank you message and the party was over! =)
Looking back, we had a wonderful, memorable and special wedding. Our guests were texting us of how beautiful the wedding was, how touched they were, how they felt our love all throughout the ceremony and reception, how they enjoyed the food and the program, and reading and hearing all these, made our wedding very memorable and worth all the stress we went through. Now we have each other and we are one. We were able to make our dream wedding come true, with the help of our supportive families, online friends from weddingsatwork, and a roster of wonderful suppliers who have become our friends. If we could do the wedding again (sans the financial part! Hehehe!), we gladly will!
Up Next: Our Suppliers Ratings
Kuks retouched my make up again (and he stayed all throughout retouching my make up until the reception was over! such good service! ) and we made chit chat while waiting. Then we were ushered outside and got ready for our entrance. When we finally went inside Batis Asul, we were soo awestruck at the place! Balay kandila has transformed the simple and homey Batis Asul into an elegant venue! Our guests were heard saying that they felt like they were at the NBC tent! Balay Kandila hung white cloths in the garden area (sorry but I don’t know what you call those things. Promise as soon as I get the pics I’ll post them here) and the centerpieces were beautiful! We were greeted with claps and poppers by our guests and entourage.
The program started and we proceeded first with our cake cutting and wine ceremony (yum!) then followed by our first dance. Then picture taking per table followed. We had guests per table go up to our stage and have their picture with us before they proceed to the buffet table so we weren’t really able to eat as much as we wanted to =( While the guests were having dinner, my younger brother rendered 2 acoustic songs for us. one he composed himself and the other was “You Should Know by Now”, Nyoy Volante’s version. The third one was supposed to be sung by one of my MOH but then she was having trouble with her voice that day, so my brother just did it instrumental. The song was “Til They Take my Heart Away”. So my brother was just strumming his guitar and letting the guests enjoy their dinner, when halfway through the song, Jasper stood up and went for the mic – OMG!
Jasper: This is for my lovely wife..
He sang the second stanza of the song and due to nervousness, he forgot the lines! So in my seat, I sang the correct lyrics and he followed. It was soo romantic, me at our gazebo, sitting and singing, looking only at my groom, and Jasper doing same. Towards the end of the song, I joined him and we both sang the last chorus. The guest gave us such an applause! They were even asking for more! (more practice I bet! Mwehehehe!) I still feel goose bumps when I remember that part, because neither of us planned that. Jasper just sort of spontaneously stood up and sang and for me it was soo romantic! I feel giddy while writing this mwehehe! After which our emcee announced that our wedding cake by Alex Franco will be served! Yey!
After that we proceeded with the garter and bouquet game. I wasn’t planning on doing this but I couldn’t think of any other activity that could replace this part. For the garter game I prepared balloons, one of the balloons had the garter in it and they sort of passed it around and when the music finished, they held the balloons they were holding and popped it. I must say the guys had fun! For the bouquet, I had Tropical Blooms do an all white rose bouquet with ribbons attached to it. Supposed to be, only one of the ribbons was attached to the bouquet but alas! When the single ladies pulled on the ribbon, the bouquet was torn into bits!!! Hahaha! We all had a laugh with this and decided that the one ribbon who had the most flowers wins. The one who won was my younger sister’s friend. She was in jeans! (It was a wedding hello!!! hmph! Teenagers!) But I let it pass. Pictures with us followed and then on we went to the next part.
Jasper’s only brother gave the toast and then my parents and Jasper’s parents gave their message to us. I was touched! Specifically because my dad stood up and gave a message albeit short but very inspiring. My dad is a very private person. He despises being the center of attention and going up in front of a lot of people was a no-no for him. When I saw him stand up and take the mic, I was breathless and my eyes moistened with tears. He wished us good health and that we would love each other for the rest of our lives. Sheesh! now I’m beginning to cry!
After the message, we proceeded with prosperity dance where we danced and our guests pinned money on us. We had a lot of people joining this part because Jasper’s family (Mothers side) were Ilocanos and this was a tradition for them. After the prosperity dance, we proceeded to giving our thank you message and the party was over! =)
Looking back, we had a wonderful, memorable and special wedding. Our guests were texting us of how beautiful the wedding was, how touched they were, how they felt our love all throughout the ceremony and reception, how they enjoyed the food and the program, and reading and hearing all these, made our wedding very memorable and worth all the stress we went through. Now we have each other and we are one. We were able to make our dream wedding come true, with the help of our supportive families, online friends from weddingsatwork, and a roster of wonderful suppliers who have become our friends. If we could do the wedding again (sans the financial part! Hehehe!), we gladly will!
Up Next: Our Suppliers Ratings 





January 4, 2005
Our Wedding Kuento Part II
Let me try to remember the bits and pieces of the wedding day. Everything was surreal to me…but this is still long! Mwehehe!
December 18, 2004
4:00 AM
Someone was knocking on the door! At first I thought “WTF is housekeeping knocking at this time for?!” and then I saw my mom come out of the bedroom (I was sleeping at the sala of the suite as we couldn’t fit into the bed, huhuhu poor bride to be mwehehe!) and I realized it must be my dad knocking. He was fetching my mom cause they were going to attend simbang gabi. My mom opened the door and I tried to get back to sleep. Then, my dad, suddenly brought a chair on my side of the sofa, like the way he used to when we were kids so we would not fall off the bed. I hid under the blanket so he wouldn’t see the tears falling from my eyes. I was daddy’s girl no more… today, I’m getting married.
After they left, I tried my best to go back to my dreamless sleep, heck it was still dark outside! But unfortunately I wasn’t able to. So I went out of bed, and wrote 2 letters. One for Jasper, telling him how excited I am about this day and another one for my parents, thanking them for taking very good care of me and assuring them that even if I was already married, I am and will always be their daughter. After that I checked all the items again and made sure everything was in place. At around 7AM, I woke up my sister so we could avail of the buffet breakfast that came in with my suite package. I was in no mood for eating, I was anxious, excited, happy all at the same time. My sister gobbled down enough for the two of us hehehe! So after that we went up to the room again and lounged around. I was even able to get a few minutes of sleep.;-)
9:45AM
My mom and dad arrived from their simbang gabi and brought some items from the house that I requested: food for the suppliers, drinks, etc… My mom went like: “you’re both not ready yet? It’s almost 10. Go and get ready!” My sister went for the bathroom first and me and my mom made small chitchat. At 10AM, my Hair and Make Up supplier, Kuks Reyes, arrived with his (or should I say her?) staff. I was pleasantly surprised as the call time was 11AM. So I had them eat breakfast first and then they made up my mom’s hair while I took a leisurely hot bath. Everything that happened from this point onward was so surreal to me. Time ran so fast! Ais Duque, one of our day coordinators from Bridester arrived as I was toweling off and she was followed by the delivery of the gorgeous flowers from Tropical Blooms.
11:30AM
I was already being made up, as were some of my entourage. The video people were already there, so where the hell was our photographer?! Hay, this was the only supplier that gave me worries on my wedding day (read more on our supplier’s rating soon). While being made up by Kuks, Ais told me that Raquel was already talking to Chito Vecina. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for my ever efficient Bridesters, but kept looking at the clock anyway! By 12:30, Francis, the photographer, finally showed up! I was already done with my hair and make up then and was already waiting for our photo ops. He was so meticulous and OC in arranging the accessories and taking picture of each and every detail. Under my breath, I was muttering, “The pictures better be near perfect or else…”
Ais, had me eat something while waiting for Francis to finish up. Finally around 1:45PM we started our photo ops.
2:30PM
OMG! We’re still not finished with the pictures, he was making me pose in so many different ways! Crap! I wasn’t even dressed in my gown yet! I mean, I love having lots of pictures but hey, I was going to be LATE! Jasper was calling every now and then to check. Good thing, my day coordinators were really efficient as they handled all my incoming calls without bothering me. I was smiling but deep inside I was thinking we were definitely going to be late! Plus, my dad had to drive some of the entourage members, my brothers included, to church and was running back to our hotel room at around 2:50PM, I was all dressed up by then but sadly we couldn’t have a family picture inside the hotel room as we were already late. More pictures outside the hotel. Finally at 3PM we were rolling. Good thing the hotel was near the church or else I would’ve killed that photographer on site!
3:10PM
Arrived at the church. I saw Jasper outside with friends. The car was tinted so he couldn’t see me but I saw the look of anticipation on his face. Friends greeted me and waved at me while I was inside the bridal car. Kuks, my ever efficient make up artist did some retouches. I was peeking at what was going on and friends were making me laugh pushing my nervousness aside. Then, I saw this man holding a huge camera and I shouted “Kuya Chito!!!!” It was such a surprise! Chito Vecina, our main photographer told us 3 days before our wedding that he wouldn’t be there to cover our wedding and would send his back up Francis in his stead. This was what made me so disappointed. ‘tis a long story (read it at our supplier’s rating) but I was pleasantly surprised to see him there. (I found out after the wedding, that my day coordinator, Raquel, spoke with Chito. Didn’t know what they talked about but hell, thank God for Bridester!) More pictures, inside the car, peeking outside the car, pictures with my little bride and then.. this was it… I was asked to go down the car and stand at the closed doors with my little bride in front of me. “Ikaw and tanglaw sa aking mundo…” went the first lines of my bridal march, the church doors slowly opening and my stomach was suddenly filled with thousands of butterflies. Finally, it was my turn to walk down that aisle. Faces were blurred. I smiled through it all, and tried to look for my groom. When we finally came face to face, I saw my groom, red eyed with tears flowing down his cheeks. Awww…

 The ceremony was short but inspiring. Jasper and I kept stealing glances at each other.
The ceremony was short but inspiring. Jasper and I kept stealing glances at each other.
 My groom, nervous as he is, answered the priest with “Yes, I do.” Instead of “Yes, Father”, and then sometime during the homily, I stole a glance at my groom and my eyes widened! I whispered:
My groom, nervous as he is, answered the priest with “Yes, I do.” Instead of “Yes, Father”, and then sometime during the homily, I stole a glance at my groom and my eyes widened! I whispered:
 Me: Hon, you didn’t shave no?
Jasper: Hon, sorry nakalimutan ko e. (then gives me a sheepish grin)
We were smirking and whispering. Good thing the priest didn’t notice! But even so my groom looked dashing! During the exchange of rings, the priest was confused as to which ring was the bride’s! Haha! I think he asked my MOH which one was my ring, twice!
More pictures, more posing, and then we were finally pronounced man and wife!
Me: Hon, you didn’t shave no?
Jasper: Hon, sorry nakalimutan ko e. (then gives me a sheepish grin)
We were smirking and whispering. Good thing the priest didn’t notice! But even so my groom looked dashing! During the exchange of rings, the priest was confused as to which ring was the bride’s! Haha! I think he asked my MOH which one was my ring, twice!
More pictures, more posing, and then we were finally pronounced man and wife!
 One memorable highlight of the event was when Jasper, upon hearing the priest say “You may now kiss the bride”, checked his breath. Haha funny talaga itong husband ko! Then to everyone’s surprise and delight, Jasper went under my veil and kissed me ever so deeply and we hugged so tight.
One memorable highlight of the event was when Jasper, upon hearing the priest say “You may now kiss the bride”, checked his breath. Haha funny talaga itong husband ko! Then to everyone’s surprise and delight, Jasper went under my veil and kissed me ever so deeply and we hugged so tight.


 Pictures pictures with the entourage, family and friends. Again the ever meticulous Francis took such a long time with taking the pictures, I was ready to bite his head off! At last pictures done, off we walked for our recessional.
Pictures pictures with the entourage, family and friends. Again the ever meticulous Francis took such a long time with taking the pictures, I was ready to bite his head off! At last pictures done, off we walked for our recessional.
 All the guests were outside waiting for us and as soon as we stepped outside the door, poppers popped and showered us with lots of confetti! Then the big popper was popped and the effect was so beautiful!
All the guests were outside waiting for us and as soon as we stepped outside the door, poppers popped and showered us with lots of confetti! Then the big popper was popped and the effect was so beautiful!


 We then proceeded with our dove release and more posing and picture taking outside the church. Then, Chito informed us that he won’t be able to make it to the reception and would delegate Francis to do the pictures there. Disappointing but then I thanked him all the same. On the way to the reception, Francis, made the bridal car stop at the middle of daily mirror street and took pictures of us with the sunset as backdrop.
We then proceeded with our dove release and more posing and picture taking outside the church. Then, Chito informed us that he won’t be able to make it to the reception and would delegate Francis to do the pictures there. Disappointing but then I thanked him all the same. On the way to the reception, Francis, made the bridal car stop at the middle of daily mirror street and took pictures of us with the sunset as backdrop.


 Hmm.. he’s beginning to redeem himself.
Next... "The Reception"
Hmm.. he’s beginning to redeem himself.
Next... "The Reception"















Our Wedding Kuento Part I
A recount a few days before the wedding, from the bride’s point of view
We’re finally married!!!
For a little intro…
We became “us” in 1997. Jasper proposed Christmas of 2000 and we pegged our first wedding date for October 2001.Why the first? Well, God had other plans for us I guess. The first time I told my mom about our wedding, she requested that we wait a little longer as she felt we were not ready for that next step yet. So we moved our wedding to May of 2002. March of 2002, Jasper’s cousin Ceasar Cromwell Belen +, died in a tragic car accident, so in respect to the family, we decided to move the date again to September of 2003. Unfortunately, 2002 was not a good year as Jasper’s Dad and his brother both underwent operations respectively. So we again moved the date to December of 2004 to allow us to prepare for the wedding both emotionally and financially.
It wasn’t easy and we were both very frustrated reaching a point where we were both thinking “maybe we were not meant to get married” as there were a lot of things happening to postpone our planned wedding. But I guess God was truly wise as this was his way of preparing us for our upcoming marriage.
We delved into the preparations at the start of 2003. We reserved the church February of 2003. Then we were approved for membership at W@W and seriously canvassed and reserved for suppliers March 2003. During this time we had a lot of fun and learned lots of stuff with the help of W@W. We met a lot of suppliers, W@Wies and most of them became our lifelong friends. We participated in a lot of W@W activities and doing so made our preparations fun!
And like they say, time flies when you’re having fun, now the long wait is over, we’re finally married!
5 DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING
December 13, 2004
My Supervisor: “Nyree I’m sorry but your leave for December 16 and 17 was denied as you don’t have any leave credits yet.”
Me: Whaaaattt?!! So let me get this clear, you want me to walk out of this office on December 18 (which is my wedding day) at 8:00 AM (which was when my shift ends) and go straight to the hotel, have my hair done, make up and all , and then go straight to the church and walk down that aisle?!!! Is this company crazy or what?!
My Supervisor: I’m really sorry but I couldn’t do anything about ir.
Me: Okay, okay, I really don’t have any energy to fight over this right now, and warnings and suspensions are the last thing I want to think of, but just let me take a leave off work on the 17th, at least let me sleep peacefully the night before. Give me any memos, suspensions and warnings that you want I really don’t care anymore. (then I turn my back on her, muttering curses under my breath, wishing I could torch down that wretched call center)
December 16, 2004
4:00 PM
Gowns were delivered yay! I was talking to our day coordinator, Raquel Ocampo of Bridester for the details on the wedding day. We finished talking at about 6 PM yikes! Still had shift at 11PM and I haven’t slept yet waah! But I had to take a look at my gown before I slept, so I took a peek and was very awed at how Farley made the simple gown design I gave him into an elegant gown. I soo love my gown but I have to sleep now.
DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING
December 17, 2004
2:00 AM – Middle of my Shift
I was soo sleepy and was trying so hard not to fall asleep on my console. During my first 15 minute break, I approached my supervisor if I could do a half day shift and go home as I wanted to get some rest, at least, before I plunge into the busy atmosphere later. But, as usual, that @#$!*&! Call center did not allow me to. So I was sniffling all through my calls, with tears falling from my eyes. I so want to get some rest already…
8:00 AM –End of Shift
From our office in Makati, went straight to Jasper’s house and checked all the items inside the boxes that were to be brought to Century Imperial Palace Suites and Batis Asul. After checking the items, had breakfast with Jasper and went to Batis Asul to deliver the items for the reception. When we arrived there, we were awestruck! The staff from Balay Kandila were already setting up the place for our wedding and it was so so elegant! More than we expected! Also the “sala” area was transformed into a cozy one with Christmas tree and the colors matched our motif! This was done by no other than Ate Joy, the wife of Kuya Jun of Batis Asul. We were soo excited already and after some chit chat with Kuya Jun, we left Batis Asul and went back to the house. We were pondering where I was to get a body form. Farley Castro (the one who did my gown) said he could lend me one but I had to fetch it from his home-shop in Malabon. I didn’t have any time to go there anymore. Besides, I was really tired coming from shift and all so I called Farley again and asked if he could get anyone to deliver the body form at the hotel. Being the very nice person that he is ( He truly is promise! Read more on our suppliers ratings) he agreed but said that the body form will be delivered at 6 pm pa daw. I said okay that’s no problem and said my thanks. Another task done.
1:00 PM
“Where the hell is the receipt from Century Imperial?!?!” I was looking all over for it but can’t seem to find it. I requested an early check in at 12NN and yet I am still here. Grumble! Grumble! Finally, at 1:30PM we decided to go straight to the hotel and see what the hotel staff could do. Jasper and I arrived at Century Imperial 15 minutes later and was ushered to our room in as little as 5 minutes! The staff of Century Imperial were very pleasant and did not give us a hard time. Jasper helped me fix things up there and stayed while I took a rest. He stayed until my parents arrived at around 8 PM. Oh and the body form arrived exactly at 6 PM. =) My mom and my youngest (and only) sister stayed with me and slept at the hotel while my Dad went home cause no one was left at our house. We had a great time bonding with each other. My sister placed my gown on the body form and we were silent as we looked at it. It was my last night as a “Ms.” Finally, around 10PM we all went to bed.
Next “Our Wedding Kuento Part II” D-Day!! 
January 3, 2005
Templates
Okay, since I couldn't get a way around my downloaded template, I just used one of bloggers and edited them. Sheesh, I wish I knew more about html so I could personalize this as much as I want to.
Anyway, My hubby, Jasper, is feeling much better now wheee! I was up all night because his mom told me about a time when Jasper's fever went way up and he was taken to the ER! I was so worried! His temp was 39.4 all night and went down to 37.7 by 6am today and then went up again to 38.5. I'm just glad he's doing better now and his temp's normal already.
Thinking back to last night... so this is how it feels to be a wife. All the wedding preparations and the wedding itself was romantic and fun, but during the hussle and bussle of it all, I never fully realized the true meaning of what we were entering into. Well, yes, I knew we were getting married and all that and yet last night when my husband was sleeping, I was thinking, "what was happening? He was the one who's sick and yet I hurt." And then, it dawned on me... I finally understood... what used to be "me" has turned into "we". 
January 2, 2005
Pixelized Pictures and a sick husband
I added a customized pic on top but then it came out blurred and pixelized. I'll have to find a way around that tomorrow. I'd have to stop blogging muna, my husband is sick! He has 39.4 fever and am worried already. Do hope he gets well soon. 
January 1, 2005
Welcome to my new home!
Hello everyone! Welcome to my new blog page. =) This blog will contain thoughts and feelings of my life as a wife and more! For a start, my next posts will mostly be about our wedding last December 18, 2004. Our wedding kuento, suppliers rating etc...
Hope you'll enjoy your visit to my new blog! 
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