On Waiting

It’s a good thing that I’ve been busy and occupied with work these past few weeks. It somehow diverted my thoughts from something that has been a great anticipation for me since the start of this year.

Waiting. This is exactly what I and my hubby are doing right now. I learned that to wait for something you genuinely wish for is not easy. It entails faith, optimism and a grand deal of prayers.

We’ve done our part and it is now beyond our control. It’s up to God to decide what’s best for us. All we can do is pray harder and remain hopeful more than ever. God knows the desire of our hearts.

I once read this somewhere and it sure made a mark on me, “Waiting is a difficult task. How well we wait reveals whether we have faith in God”.

A Day of Thanksgiving

God has blessed me another year in my life.

But today is nothing like my usual birthdays spent in the company of people dear to me – Zach, my family and friends – where we had overflowing food, drinks, talks and laughters. Nor is it the same as last year when I celebrated not with the familiar people in my life but with new-found friends and acquaintances from all over the world. Today is different. Today is a day of reflection and thanksgiving. Today is the day to thank GOD for all the blessings that have been abundantly poured to me and my family.

Thank you, Lord, for my life. For all the 29 years of miracles and guidance. I have my fair share of downs and trials, but You are always there to lift me up and give me an encouraging push when I need one. You have blessed me with people to make this life worth living.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of love - Love that I shared with others and the love that was shared to me. All these years, You showered your unconditional love upon me through my family and Zach who nurtured me and accepted me as the person that I am. Thank you for making me feel how it is to love and be loved.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of friends. I take great pride for the friendship that we are sharing that transcends time and distance. As each of us are working hard in reaching for that gleaming star of our dreams, it gives us solace that we can just look back and the comfort of our friendship will see us through.

Thank you, Lord, for making my dreams come true and for making the impossible possible. It seemed so surreal that I am exactly where I dreamt to be.

Thank you for the opportunities that come one after the other – opportunities that extend to my loved ones. Thank you for making me feel Your Divine Presence and Intervention. I know that this is all because of You.

Thank you, Lord, for my capacity to share. You have blessed me with material things that make it likely for me to extend a helping hand and inch by inch I am realizing a life-long dream.

Thank you, Lord, for the bliss, peace of mind, strength of heart, and faith in YOU. I know that that there will be bumpy roads ahead but I am very sure that as long as I have YOU with me, I’ll never go wrong. YOU have manifested Your great love for me in so many ways.

Thank you, Lord, for the bright and promising future. Thank you for the inspiration to do better and bring back all the glory and honor to You.

Life is beautiful; God is good all the time!

Love Month Celebrants

It's that time of the year again!!!

Naturally, I will always remember the natal days of these friends who, at one time or more, shared with me in throwing a birthday blow-out.

Here's to more blessings and bliss in life and in love!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Cool Slideshows

A Wedding to Remember

I can’t particularly recall the time I woke up that morning, the 17th day of December, the day that Zach and I had been anxiously waiting. I was not even sure if I had a good sleep that night. All I know was that everybody was up and full of energy even if we all slept at about two in the morning after completing the DIY wedding favors, a small chitchat by my family and Zach’s who came over to our villa that night, waited for my friends who travelled from Manila, and settling all minute details and stuffs.

The day was more than perfect for us. Everybody came on time – the make-up artists, gown designer, florist, the coordinators, photographers/videographers, and my wedding entourage and guests. I was made-up and ready at three o’clock in the afternoon and had plenty of time for our outdoor pictorial before the 4:30 wedding. However, my excitement turned down a bit when my personal assistant informed me that we need to give our go-signal for our outdoor reception venue to be transferred to the convention center as gray and thick clouds were hovering over us. At first, I can’t decide as I’ve always wanted a garden wedding reception but then we really can’t risk it. So, in our effort to make everything smooth, we decided to go ahead with the transfer. But God is truly good, miracles of miracles, as if someone blew away those gray clouds, the sky cleared up and the sun shone brightly as ever. I saw my PA hurrying towards me and informed me that they will continue with the reception set-up in the Lake and Lagoon. Thank God!!!

times three?!

Finally ready

All smiles!

I had this unexplainable feeling when my wedding car approached the chapel much more when I got off and walked a few steps towards the chapel entrance. I was so happy, excited and nervous at the same time. Behind the closed doors I heard my wedding march…then slowly the doors opened and amidst the bubbles and fog, I emerged with my simple yet elegant gown and my long and glistening veil and waited for my flower girl for my bouquet of pink tulips. It was more of dreamlike for me and I felt short of breath as I approached my parents and together walked towards Zach with his parents behind him. Zach was himself was full of excitement and he looked extra-handsome in his barong.

picture of serenity

The whole ceremony was very solemn all through the end. The kids in the entourage were in their best moods and didn’t have any tantrums save for one of the bearers who chose to sit with the flower girls. Hehe!!! The priest, my cousin, Fr. Jonathan Tianero (who came all the way from Bukidnon) gave a very inspiring homily about love and marriage. The choir, The Sentimental Groove, didn’t disappoint us with their heartfelt rendition of our choice of songs. It was a blissful feeling seeing all those significant people in our lives present and witnessing our union…our families, relatives and friends who took time out of their busy schedules to share that moment with us.

We said our impromptu vows since Zach wanted it that way as he said it should come directly from the heart and saying something natural shouldn’t be memorized. Thank God I was able to gather my wits and find the right choice of words. Hehe! As much as I wanted to write down something days before and organize my thought, I wasn’t able to, because of so much things to do. So, I just convinced myself that Zach’s right, something coming from the heart does not need any preparation. We were so much into the whole ceremony that we just found ourselves being applauded by everybody…the wedding is finished and we are officially MARRIED!!!! Though, we finished late than scheduled (because the wedding before ours started late), the chapel administrator was kind enough to allow us to finish our church pictorial. We were not pressured to leave the chapel, like the weddings I witnessed before, even if there was a night mass immediately after.

Finally! Mr. & Mrs. Zachary Joseph Halili

Both Zach and I were in total amazement the moment we saw out reception venue. It was exactly how we wanted it to be. The lights were vivid and our color motif blends perfectly with it. The gazebo looked marvellous. I think the most wonderful sight of all is seeing all those people dear to us with joy in their eyes as they share that moment with us. It was priceless!!!

Dance with my father

Almost all the guests agreed with me that our programme host – Cecil Carreon (who is also our wedding coordinator) was the absolutely the best!!! His hosting style was one-of-a-kind - professional, entertaining and informative. Our band, The Sentimental Groove (yes! they were the church choir who transformed into a show band for the reception) entertained our guests with their boss nova and jazz repertoire. We shared our early years by showing a presentation slide of our captured moments and some photos taken earlier during my preparation and church ceremony as guests feasted on the dinner prepared by Fontana. After the traditional games, the father-daughter dance and the couple’s first dance, our friends and relatives danced the night away.

What makes our wedding different and meaningful was our tribute to our dear parents. Zach and I wanted that day not just a day for us, the celebration of our love, but also a day to give thanks to the people who made everything possible for us. We wouldn’t be the person we are today if not for them.

Definitely, it was a wedding to remember as everybody talked about it for weeks. It was flattering to know that everybody enjoyed and found the whole affair remarkable.

Personally, I am giving all the credits to ZACH. He had done a superb job in organizing everything whilst I was away. He has established a rapport with all the suppliers thus gaining their respect and support. He went through all the coordination, pressure, sleepless nights, and my kakulitan. He just made everything PERFECT for me thus I was a relaxed bride. He gave me the wedding of my dreams. Thanks for all the love and in our lifetime together, let me make it up to you. :-)

I'm Back and I'm Married

Obviously, I’ve been in a blog hiatus. From the moment I stepped on Philippine soil, I’ve been busy. But happily and excitedly busy preparing for my BIG DAY: My Dream Wedding.

Now, I’m back to my reality – back to work, back to cold England and back to being alone ( well, for the time-being until my dear husband can join me here). Before going home, I thought I’ll have all the time I want with my 5-week holiday but now, looking back, it seemed so short as I would have wanted to spend more time with my family, my in-laws, my friends and previous colleagues and of course my then-boyfriend and now-husband – Zach.

The first week was spent attending to all wedding-related issues such as marriage license application, family planning seminar, pre-nuptial pictorial, make-up trial, gown-fitting and meeting with suppliers and coordinator. It was really amazing that my gown fits me perfectly and didn’t even require any alterations. I was so proud of my mom who did the body measurement while she was here last August; of our designer, Glen Canlas for doing a very excellent princess-like gown; and of course of myself for maintaining my figure for 4 months. Hehe!!! Zach did a great job of choosing our wedding suppliers and coordinator as they are very friendly and professional people. They went an extra mile in extending help to us especially to Zach who was solely doing all the plans and coordination as I was abroad all the time.

After a year...back in each other's arms.:)

In between appointments, Zach and I bonded and pampered ourselves together by going to facial, body scrub, body massage, foot spa, manicure and pedicure, and hot oil treatment for my hair. Towards, the end of the week, we met up with my highschool friends and shared an all-seafood dinner and chatted over coffee afterwards.

At Marina with all-time friends

Catching up over coffee

Kantahan na!!! (Fritz, would you like to share the other mic with us?)

On the second week, we juggled between Manila and Angeles as relatives and family members from abroad started to arrive. After a busy first week, this was kind of breather for us as we have finalized almost everything with our suppliers and we were only dealing with minor things. We even had time to go to the chapel and reception venue for an ocular check and witnessed an ongoing wedding ceremony just so to get a feel of what it will be like on our wedding the following week. We were fortunate that Typhoon Seniang came a week early and did not bother to wait for our big day (unlucky for the couple who married on that day though!).

Working together on our DIY wedding favors. L-R: Auntie Baby, my mom's cousin and the Tres Marias - Auntie Nenet, Nanay and Auntie Darling. They went back home in the Phils just for my wedding. ;-)

The week after, I spent most of the days with my father and my younger sister, Joy, who came home from Qatar. I also took time out to visit my previous colleagues. The rest of our family members and relatives from Bacolod arrived just two days before the wedding and didn’t even waste time to roam almost all the malls in Metro Manila before travelling to Clark on the 16th of December where our wedding will be officiated.

Our BIG DAY started out smoothly (which I will be discussing in detail in the next post) with our make up artist, florist, coordinators and photographers coming in earlier than expected. Friends and relatives started arriving early in our rented Holiday Inn Villa in Mimosa Leisure Park.

It was not a complete rest for us the week after the wedding though. We attended dinners hosted by cousins for our balikbayan relatives, meet up with friends, and frequented the airport to send-off those that flew in for the wedding. Due to the limited time as I was scheduled to go back to London in two weeks time, we cancelled our planned honeymoon and didn’t really have a formal one. Huhu! Guess, we’ll just have to postpone it later when Zach will, hopefully, be coming over here in England.

Christmas Eve was spent with Zach’s family. We went to Midnight Mass and went home for Noche Buena. We hardly slept after as we had an early morning flight to Bacolod to have Christmas Day with my family in the beach.

The following days were spent pigging out with Bacolod’s authentic fresh seafood recipes, La Paz batchoy, cansi, inasal, KBL and others (Oh my! It’ll be a long time before I could taste them again. Huhu!!!), shopping, family gatherings, and meeting friends. On the 30th, my parents prepared a post-wedding lunch buffet at home where neighbors, friends and relatives who were not able to make it to our wedding attended and shared our joys.

Moments of Relaxation:

We welcomed the New Year in Bacolod and it was more of poignant for all of us as we were all missing my dear sisters who were not able to spend the holidays with us. Nevertheless, we still had a merry new year with my little brother, Eugene and nephew, Kyle, enjoying the fireworks and firecrackers and of course having an official new member in the family, Zach!

It was indeed a busy, fun-filled and merry holidays cut short because of me having to return back here. As always, vacation days spent with people close to our hearts are never enough. I guess, I have no other choice but to look forward to my next homecoming to my dear Pinas.