It's official! =)

We fit together
Like puzzle pieces
Like spoons nestled close
Like two words that rhyme

We’ve been transformed
By loving so deeply
As we’ve traveled together
Through the pathway of time.

March 28, 2008 marked our 10th year anniversary as a couple.
March 29, 2008 the beginning of our lives as husband and wife.

Today, 2 days since our wedding...

I have yet to see the official photos and videos from Smartshot Studio (our official photographer/videographer). Thanks to some friends who played paparazzi during our big day. Geez, the cameras that night were overwhelming! *hahaha*

Here are some teasers. *wink* Mostly, taken by our Kuya Bing (Robert's bro).

Xavier the Groom

Tammy the Bride

Chapelle de Vie Fernbrook Gardens

Very cute shot! With our flower girls and bearers

My 2 MOHs, Tricia and Maita

Mr. & Mrs. Banate

More photos soon! Watch out this page and my Multiply.

Easterrific!

Most of the people are out of town. Perhaps in Boracay or Palawan. Some would be in their hometown provinces or Subic and Tagaytay. Surprisingly, a huge number of people took advantage of the peace and quite Manila, us included.

Here’s a photo of a massive Alay Lakad (a Filipino tradition) held on Maundy Thursday.


They literally occupied the entire street us having to counter flow on the opposite side of the road going home. They have to walk from their place of origin all the way to Antipolo and some of them barefooted. Whoa!

Last night I noticed the church in our nearby village full packed and having a mass for the Salubong. I was surprised that Salubongs in Manila are done in the evenings unlike in provinces (like Bataan and Ilocos to name a few) we have to be up by 430am to witness this event. I remember when I was a kid, I used to go to church with my Dad, Mom and brothers this early to watch the little kids dressed in angels singing and doing this ritual of removing the black veil of Mama Mary which symbolizes the end of mourning for Christ’s death.

God is alive, Happy Easter!

*****

Here’s an Easterrific treat for all.

Click the picture to enlarge.

iPhone now has the new 16gb capacity at $100 more. Not bad. (For me) more capacity is always better. *wink* I can’t wait for Maita’s next visit to the US hopefully NOT this week. *heehee* It’s just so exciting to have new toys from time to time, right? *teehee* Like Tina, who have just gotten her 43 inch TV, iPhone 16gb, Macbook Pro and an LV Vernis wallet in RED. Wow, that’s what you call real shopping! *drool*

Peeps, go to mass and celebrate Easter with your family!

Ciao!

Booked!

Some books to share…


The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

“All endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time…”

“Five People is a powerful book…like Eddie, Albom has touched the lives of a lot of people he never even knew”

Must read!

I’m now on my second book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

Holy Week is a perfect time to read good books.

Any nice books to share? ☺

Good Friday

For many years during Holy Week I make sure I’m out somewhere for a vacation. I usually file leaves ahead of time to have a week off from work. This is a yearly practice for me. I love summer and I normally prepare for this season. I’m a beach lover and I’d always love to sun bake while sipping my favorite shake. Oh well, but not this summer…

There’s a superstitious belief that during the month of the wedding date for some reasons couples are advised not to travel. So here I am stuck in front of my computer with no one to chat with as I assume everybody is out for a vacay. *sob*

Anyway, here is something to rave about. Cecile who I fondly call Cyl is a good friend of mine gave me a call. I haven’t seen and talked to her for a long time already since she left for US. Talking to her feels like our chickahan days in our condo’s living room. Oh, good ol’ days…I terribly miss her! *sob* Do you know the feeling of wanting to hug a person but you can’t? Waaaaa!

This photo was taken years back in Dencio's The Fort.

Tammy, Boogie & Cyl
Miss you both!

Shower Party 03.15.08

I haven’t been to any shower party in this lifetime. I didn’t know that my 1st would be my own party. *smiles* So, naturally I was left clueless on venue, guests, and main event.

Call time was 9pm but I was late for an hour and a half. I had my power nap in the afternoon and overslept. So it took me some time to prepare. Xave and I were actually late in meeting up Khryssy, too! *sorry!* We convoyed going to the meeting place and Khryssy hopped in with me. Of course, shower parties are intended for the ladies so Xave had to step back and we parted ways along Ortigas.

The ladies prepared this all for me. *BIG thanks to all, mwah!* Victoria Suite Room 253 was reserved for us.

It was a funny experience for Khryssy and myself to be driving along Pasig and making that left turn. *hahaha* I was so conscious that some people might recognize my car and realized we were starting to get lost in that vicinity! *bwahahaha!* We didn’t know exactly where to turn left. I had to roll down my window to talk to the guys outside waiting for hmmm, signals. Then we thought, why should we mind them in the first place? We’re just going to a party. Justification not needed. *beams*

Anyway, let me share with you some of the snapshots during the unforgettable party in room 253. *wink*

Maita getting mad na yata because I didn't want to be blind folded...*hahaha*

Here we go....Yikes!
Someone grabbed my hand and place it to the stripper's chest! I felt the skin...He was topless and I freaked out! Next, I felt someone was doing a lap dance on me. I was in tears behind my eye cover but I can't do anything as I've been hearing people shouting "kasama sa bayad yan!" So I felt guilty and tried to compose myself but I hear people roaring and got more scared...Then, somebody removed my blind fold and I saw Xave right in front of me. I threw him my big tight hug and I bawled! *waaaaaaa* It was a different feeling all together. I was scared to death and at the same time relieved to see it was Xave. *whew!*

Everyone was laughing out loud. *huwaaaaaaa!*

Bestman and Groom as "strippers"!!!

The culprits: Tricia & Maita

Connivance in action: Khryssy, Lizzy & Xave

My girlfriends: Tricia, Amby, Maita, Lizzy, Kate and Khryssy

Ladies with the Groom (This is a favorite photo)

All married couples except us (soon-to-bee!) *wink*
You guys really made my night! Thanks for this memorable evening. This is a story worth sharing to our future kids and grandchildren. *hahaha*

Thanks to all!

P.S. My apologies for the late post. We've been soooooo busy with the preps. Some more pictures still to be uploaded in Multiply and Facebook. I'm just waiting for others to hand me my copy of pictures from their cam. Stay tuned. *wink*

18 days to go...

Exactly 18 days to go until our wedding day. I can’t blink. I can’t move. I’m stunned! I’m actually staring on my laptop screen thinking of what to write next…

Am I dreaming??? *slaps my face* OMG, I’m so excited!!!

I can’t wait to see everyone. I can’t wait to be in that beautiful dress my hubby-to-bee personally chose for me. *sweet* I can’t wait to walk down the aisle and see Xave with a big smile on his face reaching for my hand. *sweeter* I can’t wait for our exchange of vows *sweetest*.

18 days, and I will be a wife to a loving, responsible, God-fearing and heaven-sent Xave. 10-year episode of our relationship is about to unfold a new chapter in our life, marriage.

We wanted that special day and eons to come to be filled with love and happiness. Our wedding is just not a day for Xave and myself. It’s for you, our guests who we find very special and were carefully handpicked by the groom and bride to be part and witnesses of us, being one.

Invites will be out tomorrow. Shower and stag parties are in the air!

Let’s parteeeeeeh! ☺☺☺

Prenup Photos

Some photos to share... *wink*

Elegantly Wasted

Hmm, nice title huh? *wink*

So tired. I barely get a decent sleep. After the prenup pictorial yesterday, my body is in pain. *bwahaha* After our “encounter” with the big rocks and bridges my body is yelling me for a good massage. Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of time to visit a spa yet. *sigh* My schedule is so crazy, believe me! Work on weekdays and weekends for wedding preparations. No long slumbers. I need some time to unwind. I can’t wait for Friday! Woohoo!

I missed my officemates. I haven't seen them for almost a month! So many kwentuhans, besos, reminiscing of our Punta Fuego planning and making fun of our photos. *hahaha* Oh, I just love this company I am in now. Everybody is always on the look out to help one another as teammates and we are all good friends which is very important for me to be able to work effectively. *smiles*

By the way, I will be having a Dell billboard somewhere in Edsa north bound, hopefully (as per my preference) featuring my new baby --- Vosto laptops and desktops. I have to get the prime spot and will definitely post a photo here once it’s up. *wink* Content would be changed quarterly. Exciting, isn’t it?

Another good news, Maita and Elaine who are part of our entourage had their gown fitting today and I’m so glad to know that they are happy with their dresses. Atleast I have something to smile about before I go to bed. *beams*

Good night peeps!

Prenup Pictorial

We had our pre-nup pictorial today after a number of delays due to our very erratic schedule. Finally, we're done!

For many times, we’ve been browsing pictorials of our photographers. I’m a person who knows myself very well, my strengths and weaknesses. I recognize the things I cannot do.

For one, I’m not good in camera projections. *blushes* I don’t know if people will believe me if I say I’m a shy-type of person. (I am. Really! Convinced?) So I don’t know how the output of our pictorial would look like. I’m not into sexy and kissing pictorial. We wouldn’t be effective models. *muwahaha* Surely not for us. Xave and I are crazy couples!

Our pre-nup venue was in one of the rivers/lakes in Rizal as suggested by our photographer. It was a bit windy that day and I don’t know how my hair looked like in our photos. *guffaw* My make up done by Deng Foz. I like my make up very much.

Just to share you this photo which was taken 7 hours after my ‘do’ and 4 hours after the shoot,


which was so challenging as we were asked to climb big rocks beside the falls and crossed bamboo and vintage bridges. Whew! I couldn’t complain. I wanted our pictures to show the different sides of Xave and Tammy. Curious? We are trice as curious, too! We can’t wait to see our pictures!

This is not my supposed to be hairstyle. I just detached all the invisible clips and put my hair down before I take my hot shower and realized I have to take a snap of us. Hmm, make up still intact after our looooong day. I couldn’t believe I still look so fresh. Galing pala ni Deng Foz. *heehee*

Deng Foz is a guy, who does the make up of Zsa Zsa Padilla and Vilma Santos among others. What I like about him is the no-makeup fresh look that is so difficult to achieve. He is such a genius! *wink*

Life Lessons from Paulo Clemente

Tonight is the last night of Paulo. Hearing stories about him from different people I do not know made my heart melt. A guy talking about Paulo moved me. He is a staff of Fernwood Gardens and Paulo is supporting him to school and will be graduating this March 30, Paulo’s birthday. I really can’t hold my tears hearing this story. Paulo has a very big heart. Everyone will definitely miss him.

Pau didn’t know that he gave me lessons in life…

Before meeting Paulo and Ces, I was overly worried about planning a wedding because I’m not good at it. That’s why we got him as our coordinator/wedding singer/event host. Think, all-in-one/ one-stop-shop. I wanted peace of mind. Right there and then, I felt so confident that we are in good hands and everything will run as planned, very smoothly.

I was born perfectionist. I live by the list, post-its, mini notebooks, planners. Oftentimes, too many that I get confused. Hahaha.

During the course of our meetings, Ces and Pau have been telling us wedding horror stories from a cake falling down from the table on its own, a bride falling down on the stairs, families fighting over seating arrangements and many more. I always wish these wouldn’t happen to me.

But life indeed is full of surprises! If only I have the powers to amend an episode of the past, I would rather have bloopers on my wedding day instead of losing a good friend...sad to say, I don’t have that ability. HE has other plans for us...

The incident taught me how to adopt to change and not to be frustrated on the possibilities of things and life may offer, good or not so good. I wasn’t even bothered at all. If there’s something that I should be proud of, it is the faith I have in God that everything will be all right. He never fails me. Not even once. I might have some questions initially, but as time passes by I get the answers.

Paulo taught me to smile and be happy regardless of the bad circumstances happening. He taught me to loosen up a bit. He taught me how to put my heart in all the things I do and be sincere. All this I learned from him and I didn’t had the chance to let him know or even thank him…*sobs*

Lastly, he taught me how to “enjoy the moment”, which is just about to come in 27 days. *smiles* He will still definitely have a special part on our big day. A special prayer will given for him and his songs/CDs will be played as well.

Moving forward and on the lighter side, we already have a new event host by the name of Atom Ungson. Click here to find out more about him. Discovered, mentored and highly recommended by Paulo himself.