Bittersweet memories!

Everything has an end. Even the long and wonderful vacation in my home country Philippines. The only consolation is we have memories to carry with us when we flew back to the U.S. We had a whole lot of photos that we can look back which chronicles the fun things that we've experienced from that trip. I'd say whoever invented the camera is awesome and the coolest guy ever. If not for him, I wouldn't have been able to capture the final moments with my mama and papa at the airport, a few minutes before we had to board the plane. I remember this wasn't a happy one. I didn't know what to tell my mom to make the tears stop. She was hurting inside. Well, I was too. We all were. I was just probably good with hiding my real emotions when in front of the camera, as you can see with my charming smile in the photograph. But once on the plane, I couldn't bring myself to stop crying. It was a comfort being held by Jeff while telling me everything is going to be alright. I've always liked hearing that line from him. It sends a certain message of light and hope whenever something is bothering me. Next to God, my husband is really my source of strength and love. With him, my every struggle is less painful. While it's always bitter to bid goodbye, I hold on to the sweet hope that in the near future, I'll be able to come back and see my family again.

"Dexter fix"

He has been keeping our primetime viewing entertaining and fun for the last two weeks. I didn't want to go to bed without a "Dexter fix". This is my DIL's fault. He lent Jeff a copy of Dexter while I was in the Philippines. The first thing Jeff wanted to do when we came back was to watch Dexter. I am actually talking about an American TV series about Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, who also happens to be a serial killer in his free time. Interesting...that was what I thought when Jeff first told me about the story plot. I've always liked to read books about crime thrillers and my choice of DVD movies to watch includes suspense and thrillers as well. Of course I get scared so easily but I find the suspense thriller movies exciting to watch. As a matter of fact, the last Netflix movie we watched together was Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead. It kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the end.

While Dexter belongs to the thriller genre, it's not your typical "chased by some kind of an inbred mutant cannibals in the jungle" type of a show. It's a very well-crafted story, with substance and with engrossing characters to watch. After seeing the first 2 episodes from Season 1, I got hooked! I can't seem to get enough of Dexter. When we finished watching all 12 episodes of Season 1 in 4 DVDs, I was disappointed because I wanted so bad to get a hold of Season 2 DVDs. It wouldn't be until next weekend that we get to visit Dad again so we could also borrow more of his Dexter collection. Luckily, I remember we had Netflix membership. Voila! We instantly watched Episode 1 of Season 2 on my laptop last night. Sweet! I didn't have to wait for a week after all.

Snow is the culprit

Watching my favorite Filipino shows on TV is one of the mundane things that keep me sane. So while it makes me really delighted when there's snow in our place, it's also kind of annoying when bad weather like that disrupt my afternoon TV viewing. It's ironic that in the past I've wished that we lived in a place that get snowed all the time, but now that we have snow more often than before, I'm starting to hate it. As of this writing, it's coming down pretty good, and I think it will just get worse tonight so I'm bracing for more snow and probably being stuck in the house in the next few days. Du'h! If this would mean more time spent on the couch watching TV, fine! Good thing our unit is still in perfect working condition. I've wanted to update to one of those fancy flat screen televisions these days but our present Sony Wega still serve its purpose so why spend unnecessarily?

Exploring Plantation Bay Resort & Spa

If you've lived in the Philippines, I'm pretty sure you've heard of Plantation Bay. But to those who don't, it's the premier resort and spa situated in Mactan, Cebu. After a stressful but successful grand wedding, we needed a beauty rest and some "us" time alone. Both me and Jeff love to be in the beach even if I can't swim, lol! There are plenty of pretty beaches in the Philippines but we wanted some place close and with excellent amenities. Now, when you think of luxurious resorts in Cebu, Shangri-la and Plantation Bay come easily to mind. We've already been to Shangri-la for our pre-nuptial photo shoot so we thought of exploring Plantation Bay this time and see if which place is really the best.

I must say both offer luxury and comfort, but with slight differences. I was so impressed with Shangri-la's customer service. The staff everywhere are ever-friendly and they greet you all the time whether you're in the restaurant, lobby or even when you're just walking around. Shangri-la also has a wider beachfront line than Plantation's. It is more accessible and closer if you're coming from the city. Both of them have very good and fancy restaurants but of course expensive. Plantation Bay, on the other hand, has a very impressive layout. The man-made lagoons and freshwater pools were beautifully designed. The view inside the resort was simply breath-taking and unique. But I think they could have done a better job in keeping the place clean and refreshing. The seawater lagoons are not that inviting to swim around because it doesn't look that clean. All I wanted to do really was take pictures, lol! The room rates significantly differ as well. Plantation Bay is more expensive than Shang but not necessarily better. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the whole stay and it was a very fun experience. Now as for my opinion on which resort is better, I would choose Shangri-la. Below are some photos we took at Plantation Bay.

*Scroll down for more photos*

seawater man-made lagoon freshwater lagoon pool outside the room

It pays to procrastinate

I am a self-confessed procrastinator. I’m not proud of it but I think it’s one of those harmless weaknesses anyone can have. I guess I am lucky since my hubby doesn’t seem to mind, especially when it comes to house work. He’s not the type that just sits around and let me do the house chores all by myself. He likes to help me all the time. However, sometimes when I know that he’s tired from work, I don’t feel right having him helped me. I don’t go to work and we don’t have a baby so practically all day, I can do whatever I want to do. I spend most of my time on T.V. and on the computer anyway, so I usually decline any offer from hubby to help me on week days. I’m not a good cook but I still try to cook for us as much as possible. I enjoyed doing it but I’m not wild about cleaning the kitchen mess right after. The procrastinator in me kicks in. I once left our kitchen full of dirty plates, pans and cooking utensils because I was too tired to even mess with it after eating. It was a horrible idea as I had a hard time getting the oil and slime to come off of the countertop. It probably won’t be as bad if we have granite tile counters, but since we don’t, I make it a point never to leave our kitchen messy like that again.

Make it memorable...personalize it!

The Day of Hearts is just around the corner. It's time to get those creative juices flowing and plan a romantic surprise for your loved ones. There's no better way of telling them you care but by giving them personalized gifts this Valentine’s. On our 2nd wedding anniversary last October, I gave Jeff this personalized pocket watch that you see in this post. It’s simple yet functional and most of all you can personalize it with name initials or messages which I find cute.

We'll probably skip this year.

Have you made special plans for Valentine’s Day yet? Have you looked around for romantic gifts for her already? I was watching “You Changed My Life” on T.V. last night while Jeff played a video game on the computer, then out of the blue he asked me where I would want to go on Valentine’s. I was too engrossed with the movie that I just shrugged my shoulder and mumbled the words “I don’t know, babe”. Since I got here, we would go out of town to spend Valentine's Day, but I am not that motivated to plan anything this year. The long out-of-the-country vacation that we just took and the grand wedding of course kinda’ throw my planning abilities out of whack. All I wanted to do for the meantime is stay at home, upload photos, update my blog, visit Facebook and watch Netflix movies. But I know that Valentine’s Day is a special day for couples so I’m anticipating a dinner date with Jeff. After all, we just got married (*wink), and I just got back from the PI, so this is going to be another first Valentine’s Day for us, so to speak.

I've learned my lesson well

…and that is to travel light as much as possible. When I pack, I have this ugly habit of stuffing everything inside my luggage as if I’d be moving out and don’t want to leave anything important behind. Well, don’t we all do that or am I just the only one? It blew my mind when I was charged excess baggage of over Php5,000 on my last trip from Cebu to Manila. It’s actually my fault since I didn’t get a connecting flight from Cebu to the U.S. but still the fee was ludicrously exorbitant. It would have probably helped a little bit if I didn’t overstuff my luggage. On top of it, I think I had too much carry on items as well. It didn’t help either that my laptop and camera are bulky and heavy. Oh well, I’ll do better next time. It’s no joy to travel long distance with all those bunch of heavy stuff with you. I’m looking into some nice Cyber Monday deals online. They might have that 8.9-inch ACER netbook that I’ve seen from my co-worker and probably an Olympus Stylus 7030 camera for my next travel to the Philippines. I told you I am really determined to carry just my purse and a small hand carry bag next time.

We're in love all over again!

It was a Monday, the day right after Jeff arrived in Cebu, we had our pre-nuptial photo shoot. Basically it was part of the wedding package that we had with our official photographer. The location was at one of the luxurious beach resorts in Cebu, Shangri-la Mactan Resort & Spa. I remember it so well. Rolando Pascua, the photographer, wanted to get a sunrise shoot so we had to wake up darn early. Jeff still had some jetlag while I, on the other hand, was feeling so jittery and anxious with how the pictorial would come out. It was a hot and muggy day and for the pictorial to look good, we had to change into different outfits several times. While a beach setting was already perfect for the shoot, we wanted to have a different location for the afternoon shoot as well. After we ate lunch, the photographer then led us to the remote and picturesque Busay Hills. It was indeed a very romantic ambience. I love the provincial feel of the place. However, the experience was not as comfortable as the morning shoot. If you've lived in the Philippines or even visited the country, you know how it would have been like to be out in the open under the scorching afternoon heat of the sun. To make matters worse, we didn't have a decent place to change outfits so we had to do it inside our van which is totally uncomfortable. It really was a good idea to hire a personal make-up artist that did the retouch in between shots. Do I sound like a celebrity now? Well, if you'd be photographed for 9 long hours, you'd feel like a celebrity, lol. One thing I've learned from that day, it's super duper hard to be a model, so I'd rather just be a simple Jenn, hahaha! Don't get me wrong, we had so much fun during the shoot. It's a once in a lifetime experience and we savored it until the last minute. Anyway, we're ecstatic that the shots came out great! My friends loved it and it makes me smile every time they'll say they want to get married again after seeing my photos, hehehe! Below are some of my favorite shots. If you want to view more, visit my Pre-nuptial Pictorial album on Facebook...

*Click photos to enlarge*

Wedding Highlights Video

You've seen the photos...

Now, let me present to you the video highlights of our wedding done by Franz Arrogante and his team. This covers the preparation down to the church ceremony. I personally picked the music background, "When God Made You" by Natalie Grant. It's one of my favorite Christian wedding songs and I've always wanted to use this for my wedding video. Below is the lyrics of the song and the video of course. Enjoy everyone!

It's always been a mystery to me
How two hearts can come together
And love can last forever
But now that I have found you, I believe
That a miracle has come
When God sends the perfect one

Now gone are all my questions about why
And I've never been so sure of anything in my life

I wonder what God was thinking
When He created you
I wonder if He knew everything I would need
Because He made all my dreams come true
When God made you
He must have been thinking about me

Bye Philippines...Hello U.S.

Our long vacation is over. We're finally back in the U.S. For some reason, there's something depressing about coming from a tropical country to a cold winter place. I'm surprised that even Jeff thinks that way. He misses the warm people, tropical climate, and being in an island where you can see the ocean even just on our daily commute to the mall. On his 1 month stay in the PI, we've been to Shangri-la and Plantation Bay resorts and to my dad's small province of Samboan where we stayed at a beachfront place. I couldn't blame him if he misses the breathtaking views and the relaxing sounds of the waves. On my part, I miss my family, the public transportation, mall shopping and other fun stuff we have done back home. But that's life. We're back to reality. Jeff is going back to work on Monday and I am going back to being a simple housewife in this very quiet small town. On a brighter side, I'll be able to get back full time with my blogging and Facebooking activities, hehe. However, I have to get my much-needed rest first. The flight going back was long and exhausting. It was hard to get a decent sleep while on flight. As tired and sleep-deprived as we are, I don't think sleeping pills are necessary. I bet we would pass out even on the couch for the next 24 hours or so, lol. As a matter of fact, as of this writing, Jeff is taking a beauty rest. I'll have mine after this update.

A sneak peek of our Philippine wedding

It's been almost a month since I last updated my blog. I've missed blogging but my wedding and of course my hubby are my first priorities while I'm on vacation so pardon me for not actively blogging lately. The good thing is "I'm back"... with a vengeance!!! The first 2 weeks of Jeff's arrival was tough. He was sick probably because of the extreme climate change. I was so proud of him though for trying to enjoy Christmas and New Year despite an imperfect health. He was back to his lively condition on his 3rd week here up until our Big Day. I'm sure most of you know about the wedding. We've been preparing so much for this. It has always been my lifelong dream to be a fabulous bride and my groom made my ultimate dream wedding come true. It went perfectly well. I was ecstatic with the outpouring support from family, friends and relatives especially those that took time off from their busy schedule to be a part of the memorable event of our lives. We "tied the knot" and renewed our commitment for the 2nd time before a priest on January 9th, 2010. I was the happiest girl on the planet and he was the most handsome groom on that day. I am so proud of our wedding so I would like to share it with you. We have partial official photos but I can't post all of them yet, so let me just leave you with a few sneak peek shots of our wedding day. A big thank you to our official photographer Rolando Pascua and his team. My wedding was even more special because of the great pictures that he took. Kudos to you guys!

*Click images to enlarge*

Never too late

Winter is perfect for a ski vacation in Aspen, Colorado. I once heard of it from a co-worker in a bank that I used to work with. She and her family went for skiing last year. It must have been a great experience. I have a cousin in Colorado and one day we would love to visit them there. It will probably be a good chance to swing by Aspen and try to ski. I haven’t tried it yet but it’s never too late to try fun things like this.

Unmotivated!

My family and I have noticed that I lost some weight while I was in the Philippines for 2 months. It was mostly because of the everyday stress of perfecting my dream wedding, the kinds of food I ate and being on the go almost every day. I was so afraid I’d gain weight and not be able to fit in my bridal gown since the food over the holidays were very tempting. Thankfully, I didn’t need any quick weight loss diet program as my gown still fits me when I’ve tried it on a week before my big day. However, now that I’m back in the U.S., that’s a different story since I started to feel lazy again and don’t feel motivated to use the treadmill. I am out of work so it feels like my purpose in life is to watch T.V., use the computer and eat. Arrgg! I’d better stop this bad habit before I start to gain some pounds again.

Salad in your diet

Are there diets that work? I’m sure there are. I was blogging while watching Unang Hirit on TV this morning and one of their segments featured Regine Tolentino claiming she has a 22-inch waistline. My jaw dropped! This drop dead gorgeous woman has kids, nevertheless, she was able to maintain a very curvy figure. She includes salads, soups, fruit and vegetable shakes, small portions of dark chocolates and definitely no rice on her diet and she works out regularly. No wonder she’s sexy. It really takes discipline, exercise and healthy foods to achieve that desirable figure.