Things to do

Gosh, I have SOOO many things to do. The late nights at work means that I only have the weekends to do all these things. However, weekends are also the only time that I can see and spend time with my husband. There's only one week left from September and the means I have to have them done soon.

1. Thank You Cards
    Etiquette says that thank you cards should be sent one month the most to people who gave gifts or attended the wedding. I haven't barely started on them. I managed to list down the stuff that people gave so at least it gives me an idea on what to write. I don't know why I'm making it difficult for myself by insisting that I handwrite all of them. But well, it is what etiquette dictates and being the sucker that I am, it's what I'm now doing.

2. Fix the 2nd Room
    We have a second room where we're supposed to put our other stuff and my books. Somebody gave us some bookshelves and we have to put them up. Then I have to get the books from Banzon and store them here.

3. Choose Pictures for Wedding Album and Video
    We were given a guide to choose pictures for our albums. We still have to go through all our pictures (hundreds of them!) and chose what we want to appear in our album. Such a difficult thing to do when all the pictures are exceptional!

4. Sort our gifts
    As 90% of our gifts are kitchenware, we can't use all of them so we're storing them away for future use. We've already allocated the cabinets for them. I just need to write everything down and catalogue them for easy retrieval in the future. Who knows when the 3 sets of pyrex plates will come in handy.

5. Store away our wedding stuff
    I've already managed to send my wedding gown out for dry cleaning. I just need to store away the rest (unused invitations, petals from my bouquet, wedding horseshoe etc). I need to find a nice storage box where I can put all these things. Some sort of memoir box.

6. Do our Christmas shopping
    Actually, we've started this already. I'm so happy over the stuff that we've already bought. Bazaars over at St. James are already done every week so it's easy to buy stuff.

Bridal March - Anima Choir sings "Ikaw Lamang" video

For those who were not able to hear or would want to hear the choir again who sang during my bridal march, they videotaped their performance during my wedding. They sang "Ikaw Lamang" acapella. It's really beautiful. I found myself getting teary-eyed just listening to them sing the song again. You can view the video here.

50 First Reactions

Got this from Ivy's blog.

50 first reactions ...before you start, erase my answers so that you're not influenced by my answers. Message: Okay this is called 50 FIRST REACTIONS... type what comes to your mind FIRST whenever you hear these 50 words. Don't think and don't go back and change. Doesn't matter how random just type it! Repost it for all of your (bored )friends.

1. Beer: SAN MIG LITE (though I don't drink the stuff)

2. Food: PIZZA

3. Relationships: LEO

4. Your CRUSH: Other than my husband, PAPA PIOLO!

5. Power Rangers: ALLAN, MAX and the picture they took during my wedding

6. Life: IS BEAUTIFUL

7. The President: CANNOT PLEASE EVERYONE

8. Yummy: WEDDING CAKE

9. Cars:HONDA

10. Movie: SIMPSONS

11. Halloween: COSTUMES and PUMPKINS

12. Sex: FEMALE

13. Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC

14. Hate: POLITICS

15. Fear: IS FEAR ITSELF

16. Marriage: LEO

17. Blondes: JESSICA SIMPSON

18. Slippers: HAVAIANAS

19. Shoes: RUSTY LOPEZ

20. Asians: JAPANESE

21. Pass time: SURF, WATCH TV, READ!!!

22. One night stand: IS THAT A BOOK?

23. Cell Phone: RIGHT NOW NOKIA. I MISS SONY ERICCSON

24. Smoke: NEVAH!

25. Fantasy: DRAGONLANCE!

26. College:LA SALLE!

27. Highschool Life:ST SCHO

28. Pajamas: LOVE WEARING THEM WHEN IT'S COLD

29. Stars: BIG DIPPER, SMALL DIPPER...

30. Fitness Center: FITNESS FIRST PLUS

31. Alcohol: GREEN CROSS

32. The word love: IS SOMETIMES OVERRATED

33. Friends: JENNIFER ANISTON

34. Money: CANNOT BUY YOU LOVE

35. Heartache: IT DOES END

36. Time: AFTER TIME

37. Divorce: NO

38. Dogs: PUG!!

39. Undies: JOCKEY AND BENCH

40. Parents: I HAVE NEW PARENTS!

41. Babies: WOULD WANT ONE SOON

42. Ex: Y Z?

43. Song: SING A SONG

44. Color: PERIWINKLE BLUE

45. Weddings: SEPT 1 2007

46. Pizza:YELLOW CAB AND DOMINO'S

47. Hangout:ATC

48. Resto:CIBO

49. Goal:FIX OUR ROOM!

50. Inspiration: LEO

The Newlyweds

Leo and I have been married for two weeks and I could say that we've managed to fix some stuff and our schedules quickly.

I wake up every morning at 530, quarter the 6 the latest. I eat breakfast and then  the driver brings me to Alabang Town Center where I catch a shuttle going to Makati.

Work was not traumatic this week. Everyone congratulated me on my wedding and still received gifts.

It took me a couple of days but I found a nearby terminal (where I used to catch the shuttle going to BF) where I can catch a shuttle that will drop me at Town Center. The driver will then pick me up from there and bring me home.

However, Leo and I only "see" each other during weekends. His office schedule is from 2pm to 12am. Thus, I'm already asleep by the time he gets home.

Today was productive for us. We've managed to squeeze our respective laptops and the TV here in our room. We've also managed to arrange our closets and bathroom. We still need to fix our other room which we will use as storage and where my books will be placed. We got some bookshelves as a wedding gift and we need to put that up. My books are still in BF and we need to get them as well. Our wedding gifts are all stocked up in one corner and we need to store those that we still cannot use.

It'll probably take a few more weeks before we've finally settled down. By that time, I'll be able to focus on the post-wedding stuff (photo album, wedding video etc) and decorating our room.

CSI Season 8 Premier (US)

Start:

Sep 27, '07

Hay naku, it would probably reach us February pa :(
I can't wait to find out what happened to Sara

Honeymoon Pictures - El Nido, Palawan 9/3/07-9/5/07

We had our honeymoon at Lagen Island, El Nido Palawan. We left Monday, Sep. 3 and returned to Manila, Wednesday, Sep. 5. We stayed in one of the water cottages near the breakwater.
If ever you see pictures wherein Leo and I are in the same frame, it means that our co-tourists/honeymooners took the picture for us (or Leo took it for the both of us). Incidentally, we were the only Filipino tourists on the island. Most of the guests were Koreans or Japanese.
Enjoy and see how beautiful Palawan really is.
On a side note, this was my first time on a plane since 1990. So it was a nice repeat experience for me. :)

Prenuptial Pictorial 8-23-07

These pictures were taken on August 23, 2007 at Tagaytay Highlands where we had our pictorial. Our photographer is the one and only John Mateos Ong.

Back to Work

After 3 weeks of vacation, I'm returning to work tomorrow. I don't know what to feel when I get to the office. Happy that I had a perfect wedding yet sad as my lolo passed away. I'm going to be one confused person.

We had our lolo cremated this afternoon. It was surprisingly fast. Our lola took almost 3 hours while my lolo was done in an hour and a half. Maybe because he was not embalmed and having no food or water intake for the past 4 days drained his body of fluids. We took his ashes to Sacred Heart where a mass was said and the urn was blessed. We then proceeded to my lolo's house in Makati where a small gathering took place; where people talked about him and remembered him fondly.

I'd better turn in early as I've set my alarm for 530. I intend to leave by 630 so I can be in the office by 730. I have 3 weeks of email to go through. Also, I have to look for the terminal for the shuttles going to Makati at Alabang Town Center. If I can't find it, I'll just have the driver bring me to my previous shuttle terminal in BF.

It was good while it lasted. The real world beckons.

Goodbye, Lolo

My lolo Ruben passed away peacefully at 2 o'clock this afternoon. He died in his home surrounded by family who loves him.

Lolo Ruben was diagnosed with liver cancer last May. It was a big surprise to all of us as he's known for his healthy living. My grandmother, his wife Pacing, died 4 days after his diagnosis. It was Mother's Day.

I guess it's only apt that Lolo died on Grandparents Day. He was a loving lolo to all of his grandchildren. We will really miss him.

Two weeks before my wedding, he was rushed to the hospital as he had difficulty breathing. It turns out that his cancer has metasticized to his chest cavity area and the mass was pushing against his trachea thus the difficulty in breathing and eating. He was hooked into an IV and it is only there that he gets his nutrients.

I used to have this fear that he would pass away days before the wedding or on the wedding day itself. But when I visited him a week before the wedding and saw him lying in bed, I just let everything go. I silently told him that if he needs to go, I won't mind. If he wants to be with my lola, then nothing should stop him. I'll be fine. We'll be fine.

But he hung on. When my dad came home from the wedding, he whispered to my lolo that the wedding was done. My dad said that my lolo smiled and after a few minutes, his arm began to swell. Apparently, the vein where his IV was connected collapsed. They couldn't find any vein anymore on his arm so they connected the IV to his foot. When we got back from our honeymoon on Wednesday, we were told that the IV was removed as the veins on his feet also collapsed. We knew then that it is only a matter of days before the inevitable.

My best memory of my lolo was when I was a little girl, he knew of my budding love for books and magazines. He would call me from our house next door and he would tuck me beside him and we would read his magazine together. I remembered we would look at the Larry Alcala comics and we would make it a contest on who would find Larry's head first.

In compliance to my lolo's wishes, we will hold no wake for him. His remains will be cremated tomorrow and we will have a memorial service for him right afterwards in his home in Makati. Still a simple man up to the end.

My lolo was a great man. He will be very much missed.

Pictures and More Pictures!

Jong gave me 3 CDs of all our wedding pictures (3-4GIG all in all). I'm choosing the nice ones to post and so far, I've already posted some in the photo album portion here. Give me a few more days and I'll be able to finish posting all the pics. I've also managed to post the slideshow presentation that Jong prepared that was shown during the reception. You can view it here. It took forever to upload but it's so worth it.

I also need to upload our prenup pictures at Tagaytay Highlands and our honeymoon pictures at Lagen Island, El Nido, Palawan.

I'm doing the upload while fixing our room, closets and bathroom. Who knew both of us have so much stuff! And our wedding gifts! We still haven't sorted them out yet.I'm already done with the bathroom. I just need to transfer Leo's clothes to his new closet and I need to get my clothes from BF and bring them here. I have 3 days left to finish everything as I return to work on Monday.

Leo & Sunshine.mov

The slideshow that was shown during the wedding reception.
Photos and slideshow by John Mateos Ong

Wedding Pictures

Some pictures of our wedding. Photos by John Mateos Ong.

Mrs. LPS III

I am now officially Mrs. LPS III. It will be quite confusing if somebody calls the house and asks for Mrs. LS. Hehehe :) I have to get used to this.

Leo and I got married yesterday and everything was just so perfect. It was how I wanted it to be. Of course, there were some glitches but I was able to let go of them. I'll be posting supplier ratings and some pictures soon. Actually, I have the official pictures already as well as the slideshow presentation shown at the reception. Unfortunately, the slideshow is too big (174MB!). Youtube and Multiply doesn't want to accept it (unless anybody has other suggestions).

As for the pictures, my father-in-law is still browsing through them. Each picture file is more than 2MB! (HIGH RES!). We also opened our gifts today. 90% of the gifts that we got are cookware. So far the best gifts we got are (other than the cash) the luggage (thank you Tita Melanie!), the comforter (thank you Ninong Nes) and the towels (thank you Eddie and Ipe!). I got the nice spice rack from some officemates (thank you Abby, Ca, Macris, Shey, Peter, Anthony, PJ and Mark) as well. I can't wait to start cooking!

Leo and I are leaving for El Nido tomorrow. I'll post more when we get back.