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.

Success comes with proper management

Coming from a busy 2-month vacation in the Philippines, it feels weird to just sit around the house and have 24-hour access to internet. I welcome the lazy change but I missed the busy lifestyle every once in a while. It must have been quite hectic with people who have kids, family, household chores and work to take care of. This can be challenging but I’m pretty sure they need to have some kind of a time management program that will help them put everything in balance. This holds true even to successful businessmen and top executives who are responsible with so many different corporate projects. I believe many of them are using effective project management software to help them in their strategic planning and operations. These programs don’t require large budgets anymore, a lot of them can be easily accessed over the web, however, finding the right tool for your needs can be a complex process.

Battle of the Bumps

In my constant battle with acne, I’ve learned that acne medicine is not the only way to treat stubborn skin imperfections. Regular visits to a skin care specialist at least once every 2 weeks will help control acne problems. I have done this for 2 months while I was in the Philippines and I must say that my face was a lot better than before. Now that I’m back in the U.S., I’m determined to find a good skin care clinic to help me with my acne problems. I know it won’t be an easy feat since I live in a small town with mostly retirees as residents. If I had to drive 30 minutes to an hour for a good clinic, then I would do it. I would do anything for a clearer face.

It bothers me no more

When I was young, I was often told to take maximum hours of sleep, take vitamins and eat the right kinds of food so I would grow tall and healthy. I guess it had helped me grow healthy but not really as tall as I ever wanted. I realize that my human growth hormone has something more to do with my height than lack of sleep for that matter. At my age, my height no longer bothers me. Especially now that God has given me a tall husband, lol! At least my future kids will have a better chance to end up tall like my hubby.

The next time around...

I came across with our old photos taken at our Branson vacation and I remember how fun it was. If you like to travel, Branson is one of the destination places. We went there Spring of last year and we visited museums and exhibits, and we even watched some shows particularly the Acrobats of Shanghai China. We would have wanted to go to Silver Dollar City and water theme park but we didn’t have the luxury of time. That’s something we would definitely try on our next visit to the place though. Yes, we’re going back to Branson. Especially now that we’re quite a lot closer to Branson than it was before. The Branson vacation packages were too tempting so as early as now, we plan and think about our next Spring adventure to the city of Branson.

It takes more than exercise and diet

I’ve always wondered what’s the best way to lose weight? Is it by exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, dieting, living a stress-free life, or avoiding vices? To some, doing one or combination of everything makes them lose weight so easily but it’s not the same case with me though and probably to a lot of people too. I’ve had a hard time losing weight. I don’t have self-discipline and patience to exercise. Well, I guess I just answered my own question. Losing weight is not easy. It’s got to be a total change of lifestyle and habits. Are you committed to do it?

Settle for superior quality handles

Safety is one of the biggest concerns in industrial plants. Having a husband who’s involved in industrial undertakings, I have been aware of the risks that industrial environments have. I have seen myself different kinds of machines, equipments, tools, and many industrial materials that I’ve never seen in my life. It’s amazing how they get very meticulous when it comes to quality standards as far as their tools and equipments are concerned. Even small details like industrial handles, they have to be made of superior quality to withstand longer use. That makes sense, especially when one’s life and security are at stake.

We need another one

A vehicle in the U.S. is a necessity, so we’ve been thinking to get a fuel-efficient car for me sometime this year. Back in Ozark, I was the one who had been using Jeff’s truck since he can walk or bicycle to his work but we no longer live that close to his work this time in Lakeview so he needs to drive every day. At the same time, I need to drive my own vehicle to get around town while Jeff is at work so we’ll start to look around for a car and we’re also gonna take a look into affordable auto insurance quotes. Insurance is very important and it can be downright expensive so it's good to shop around before committing on one.