my personal mission statement - draft pa lang :)

In time for the season of reflection, I attended a 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for Associates Seminar. And one of the exercises was to make a draft of our personal mission statement. To be able to find our goal, our purpose... and to begin with an end in mind each day. So I just thought I'd share this to you :)

Disclaimer: first draft toh ah, so its nearly not perfect... but in the light of the lenten season, I just like to share this :)

April 7, 2009

To become the daughter, the sister, the wife, the mother, the friend, the hero, the blessing that God created me to be.

To make my parents proud, not because I ended up exactly how they want me to be, but because although I chose to lead a different path, I am a reflection of how well they raised me.

To provide a happy, solid environment for my children in the future. To be a nurturing mother and friend.

To be all that I can be to my (future) husband. A partner, a lover, a companion, a crying shoulder, a fan, a wife and a bestfriend.

To create lasting moments of happiness with my loved ones; to spend my life loving them and laughing with them.

To be the voice of women. To make sure each girl is treated like a princess, and every single lady know her unique beauty and capability.

To be the woman that God wanted me to be.

Just reposting nice blog entries

Yes, I suddenly had the urge to repost some of the nice blog entries I found from different wedding blogs :) This one below is a good read :)


http://www.apracticalwedding.com/2009/03/what-happened-with-i-stopped-reading.html

Just so you know, I'm really not ready to kick the habit of reading wedding blogs just yet. I guess because I'm enjoying and still learning from a lot of them. Especially in the best suppliers to get. I also visit blogs of several wedding suppliers. Of course, I have to be in the know ;)

Anyway, maybe I should just work on my new post (which I haven't finished yet) before I repost other entries :)

Posted from Wedding Bee

I was trying to take a breather by browsing weddingbee one time, and I came across this blog written by Ms. Glitter. Except for the first paragraph (which is totally opposite) and the part about the groomsmen's ties (I totally knew that), it was so me! It was like I wrote this blog and felt it by heart...

Anyway, let me share it to you na lang:

Can I tell you a secret? I’ve never planned an event in my life (unless you count a friend’s birthday at a local restaurant as “event planning”). And I don’t know what I’m doing. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.
Often times, I feel genuinely out of my league when reading through the posts of other bees or looking at weddings in magazines or online. Picture-perfect brides remind me of that girl from one of my college English classes. She always had the correct answers, and her nail polish matched her shoes. Next to her, I felt like the awkward girl in the back of the classroom who needed to borrow your pen and wasn’t caught up on my reading. I was always one step behind.
I care about wedding planning (or I wouldn’t be blogging about it), but I’ve got to be honest with myself: I’m a big picture type of person. Ask me what marrying Mr. G means to me, and I could probably write a novel about it. Ask me if the groomsmen’s ties should be matching the bow on the bridesmaids’ dresses, and my indecisiveness takes over.
I have general concepts of what I want everything to look like and how I want the day to run. But, now it’s crunch time.T-minus three months to go. Wedding tasks are becoming very specific. Details, details, details. I feel myself wanting everything to be just right. Since when did I become a perfectionist? And who said everything had to be perfect, anyway? I’ve got my stomach in knots every night. But why? Maybe I’m trying to be the flawless girl from English class. But I can’t be her; I can only be me.
I need to remember to remain true to Mr. G and I, and what we want our wedding to be. Weddingbee and other sources of inspiration have helped me tremendously. Without them, I honestly don’t know where I would be. But, when all of this is done, I can guarantee two things: my wedding will be over and I’ll be married. Through all of this, Mr. G and I may not be featured in Martha Stewart Weddings. It probably won’t be perfect, but I hope I’ll love it because it will be ours.
Have you found yourself striving toward wedding perfection? How have you dealt with that need to get every detail just right?

updates, wishful thinkings and divi-ilaya trip

I was really the busy with work the past few weeks, events here and there, I wasn't even able to devote time to our business. But more than that, I missed the wedding preps. Imagine, almost a month passed by and I haven't done that much preparations except look up some photographers, go to bridal fairs and my proposed venue.

I guess Babe and I are pretty much done with the conceptualizing thing na, we basically know what we want for our big day. So we're entering the implementation stage na kaya lang its kind of in a halt kasi before anything else, I really want to finalize the reception venue.

The last I heard about it from my future brother-in-law, the management hasn't gotten back to him. Apparently they're busy because they're moving to a new office. So no progress there yet. At the same time, I have finished drafting the letter for our town's congresswoman slash the owner of the clubhouse. I still haven't printed it out though, I'm stil dilly-dallying on whether I should send it. But I badly want to finish booking the venue, that was my objective for March and its now the first day of April :( so I might just send that letter after all.

Anyway, we held our event last weekend in a hotel, and it really made me smile that despite the fact that I wanted to be somewhere else that time, I was surrounded by happy brides...and grooms of course. There were 5 weddings in the hotel on that date! Well, it was a Saturday, and it was one of the more popular and nicest hotels in the metro. So even though I was just so exhausted and wanted nothing more than to be at home and chat with my babe, just looking at the brides and how radiant they are and how pretty their dresses are, with their grooms holding their hands and they entourage and guests dressed in their best, that somehow made me smile and eased the exhaustion that I was feeling. My favorite was when I realized that one bride has the same color motiff as mine (nice dresses too) and then there was a semi-bride wars moment. Two couples crossed paths at the hotel. And it was sweet that although they didn't stop, they smiled at each other and wished each other the best. It was nice to see something like that at random.

And then of course, even though I have been so busy and tired working all week, I didn't let the weekend pass without me doing some shopping and a bit of wedding preps. So because my MOH and Bridesmaid stood me up :( , I just went with my cousin to Divi. Lets just say it was a tiring day. But fulfilling because I was able to score nice clothes, bag, shades, etc. I went to Ilaya to find swatches for my wedding gown and entourage's gown, but I was disappointed. I was expecting a mecca of cloths of different colors, but it wasn't that much. Well, it was partly my fault since I really didn't know what to ask for naman and I really went just to know what kind of cloths and colors were out there. Anyway, I'll leave it all up to my designer.

Those are the updates for now. Hopefully I hear from Portofino soon. Of course I need to pay the reception venue first before I pay for the caterer and for the photographer right? oh wel...

why I want a merry map :)

well, this was a pleasant surprise when I read sis khim's blog. I followed her link and I came across this amazing supplier. Another prized find from my fellow W@Wies. Grabe, i think they're (busy bee projects) one of a kind kasi they focus on maps, which are actually very pretty and creative. I never thought I'd pay much attention to the map, since most of our guests are from the south.

But then I thought of the other guests who will be coming from Makati, Manila, QC, etc. So I thought, I have to win this... or, maybe I'm just inventing a reason to justify including this very pretty map to our invites. The samples were just so cute! Very much my personality because I doodle a lot! Friends notice when I'm bored because I draw on my notebooks or any paper, and lets face it. I have doodles on almost every page. I have 12 pens in different colors on my office desk and I use them every day.

and okay, this would be a fun surprise for my babe since making a map might be an easy feat for him, an engineer, yet I want him to do the rough draft and leave it to me (or to busy bee project to make it so alive and colorful :)

Actually, we really haven't received a confirmation for our target venue yet, but i'm pretty sure we'll get it ( heck, i'm writing the owner, a politician). That's how determined I am. Plus I'm kinda lucky that way, you know? Hehehe. In Christmas parties, or random raffles, I always get the grand prize, or the most coveted one. Which is why I have a good feeling about this thingy :) If I win this, I'll have to include this as one of the reasons why I need to get confirmation of the place (Madame Congresswoman, I'm really serious with the venue, in fact, I even had a map made signifying that the reception will be made in Portofino Clubhouse) hahaha.

Background about the venue, there are two ways of getting there from our chosen church. One is via Alabang Zapote road and going to Daang Hari, which will take about 10-15 minutes for those who aren't Las Pinas residents, and then there's Friendship route, a way from inside the village, kinda complicated, but with the help of a MAP, can take guests there within 5 minutes.
Grabe, parang panalo na eh noh... well, as the saying goes, believe before it conceives. :)

Bottomline is, I find it really really pretty, and although I know that IF I don't win I can still find a way to have this done because my super nice, and the best fiancee and husband to be in the world would still let me have this pretty add-on to our invites, I'm thinking maybe I've had enough of that, uh, spoiling. I've had my way with the videographer, photographer, church, date... he's been so giving and really generous. Considering I was the one who told him we're gonna stick to this budget, yet I talk him into getting suppliers that are hmmm...kinda pricey. Its been great but I don't want to be abusive. Heck, I don't want people thinking na I'm just doing all the picking and he's the one with bills to pay. So yun. This is me doing my part of the bargain. Ako yung may gusto, I need to do something to acquire it. So here I am, trying my best :)

Anyway, i hope it was a pretty fun read, coz whether I win it or not (if I don't, hopefully one of my W@Wie sisters get it), this was a pretty good post and a really good supplier that more people should hear about them. So...really, there's nothing to lose. Win-win :)

in line with this creative projects, allow me to show you one project I made for my babe for Valentines Day. I used scrapblog here, just a proof that I'm one of those girls who still think that its the thought that counts (heck, I made this for free! yet its cute naman don't you think? :) )

Super pretty find - Twigs and Honey

Sis Maan is really an angel. hahaha. Through her, I came across this really great online store called twigs and honey, which specialzes in accesories for the bride. Since watching the finale of Gossip Girl Season 1 (where Lily got married and had a white flower for hair ornament) , I knew I wanted to have flowers on my hair when I get married. So I was always on the lookout for nice hairpieces in wedding websites, but I never found something that's pretty, chic and laidback enough for me, and for my theme.

Until... I read Maan's blogentry about twigs and honey. It was then that I found the perfect accesory. The prettiest flower for my hair. Its too beautiful for words, so you just have to know that I gasped and almost shed a tear when I saw this piece. I can't fully describe how I felt when I saw it, but some people may refer to it as "orgasmic." Maybe love at first sight holds true for me and pretty things ;) Its the exact color and style that matches the dream gown in my head.

Perfect timing for me to view the blog, since my cousin from Florida is going home this April to get married. I just might ask her (as a favor or pre-wedding gift) to buy it for me. It just sounds more affordable and reasonable in dollars than in peso. I mean, lets get real, brides here don't really spend that much for a hairpiece. But for my wedding day, I think its worth the investment. Besides, I want something from my wedding to be an heirloom piece to my future duaghters and grandchildren. They may not want to wear Lola's wedding gown, but at least they can use something old and pretty for their hair :) Fresh flowers are a no-no since they wilt. I'm also thinking of getting a buttoniere for my fiancee. So that we have a part of our wedding clothes to keep for memorabilia.

Anyway, here are the photos. I know my wedding is seasons away, but I hope I can get my cousin to buy for me. Maybe she should also buy for her own wedding :) I do hope Twigs and Honeys still sell items from last year's collections.

for my pre-nup pictoral, I want this one above. For my wedding day, the choices are below...

for my babe's buttoniere, here is my proposed buttoniere:

And then, I was never really a fan of shrugs (boleros), but the picture below just made me think twice :)

Oh well... Great website, the blog even helped me find the hairstyle that I like. I love all things nice and pretty, so this is really a find for me :)

Ever mine, ever thine, ever ours

Why the title? Hahaha wala lang :)

I was just feeling a little romantic. The wedding preps and wedding talks came to a halt the past few days, because Babe and I were arguing about several stuff and it just didn't feel right to talk about the wedding. Some arguments were serious, others almost became serious. There was even an instance when one of us thought of not pushing through with the whole thing. I guess that really happens to engaged couples, when they start arguing about something, and then all of a sudden they just start relating it to the big picture, because "hindi magkasundo" and they start thinking that this is how its gonna be when they get married.

Of course, always, or most of the time, it ends up with them working on their issues and still tying the knot. Maybe, a very important occasion such as a wedding brings out the best and the worst in you as a couple.

But notice when I said that when we were fighting, it didn't feel right to talk about the wedding. Wedding and not the marriage, because I never contested us getting married. I never thought of letting go, or giving up on him despite our 'occasional' diffierences. Since we got together, we have had A LOT of fights. There were even the heavy ones that almost did it, but I never doubted US. I knew we were going to make it. Its like I always knew he was gonna be the only one for me and that whatever our problems and our differences are, we can resolve it. Its like, we may need a day or two for time-out, but I'm faithful that in the end, he loves me and I love him, and its still the two of us. Its like what I always tell him, I will love him forever.

Honestly, I have never been this committed to anything, or anyone before. And if this is what marriage is all about, staying and believing that two very different people who love each other can make things work despite all the conflicts and stay in love forever, then I feel like I have been married with him a long time ago. Hahaha. :))

haha emo lang eh... I just miss my babe... For a while actually, we weren't arguing or getting in a fight, because we were both too busy with work and planning our wedding. I guess we're just getting used to the situation kaya bumabalik na sa normal. Hahaha, but as long as this rollercoaster ride involves gim, I'm on board :))