coming soon!

i've read the book and i have nothing but raves. it'll be interesting how they will be able to put life into this long-time Arthur Golden bestseller. (More info about the movie here.)

what got me more excited about the film is that it will be shown during the holidays. will definitely watch this with hubby. :)

tagged again!

i can't sleep. buti na lang holiday bukas. i overslept during one of my rarest afternoon naps and now i am so wide awake.

and so i decided to blog-hop. stumbled into Jacq's and found out i was tagged. here goes.

2 names you go by
Leah
Lami

2 parts of your heritage
Filipina
a little bit Spanish, a little bit Chinese

2 things that scare you
not having my own kids
death

2 of your everyday essentials
internet access
reading a novel

2 things you are wearing right now
boxers
striped tank top

2 of your favorite bands or musical artists (at the moment)
Alicia Keys
D'Sound

2 favorite songs (at the moment)
Unbreakable by Alicia Keys
That's All by Michael Buble

2 things you want in a relationship (other than real love)
sense of humor
open communication (you can talk about anything)

2 truths
I am in love!
I can be really OC.

2 physical things that appeal to you (in the opposite sex)
wonderful smile
eyes that draw you in

2 of your favorite hobbies
designing blog templates
reading, collecting books

2 things you want really badly
get pregnant
be with my husband

2 places you want to go on vacation
Europe
U.S.

2 things you want to do before you die
raise a good family
see my grandkids!

2 ways that you are stereotypically a dude/chick
PMS
I'm a sucker for flowers.

2 things you are thinking about
wedding details
Joseph coming home next week

2 stores you shop at
Book Sale
Powerbooks

2 people i would like to see take this quiz
Sheryl
Via

-o0o-
i went out with friends from work for a little dinner and coffee at Greenbelt 3. they tried to mislead me that it was our friend Johann's birthday celebration. but me, being suspicious and all, couldn't quite fall into their teensy trap.

for one, i knew for a fact that Johann already treated them to lunch last week. so why would she do it all over again for the same group of people? something was just too fishy but i just played along. :)


L-R: Kathy, Johann, Janet, Vanessa & Me

soon enough, my friend Vanessa, revealed that it was actually their send off dinner for me. i was right. it wasn't actually a regular shower thing that you'd expect, but it turned out great nonetheless. besides, it's been a long time since we last went out for dinner. it was fun. thanks guys! :)

3 months na kami

amidst all the rush and excitement, it just dawned on me that today is our third monthsary as husband and wife. :)

having two wedding dates leaves us quite confused sometimes. we even greet each other every sixth of the month since that is our monthsary when we were still dating. i suppose it really isn't a dilemma. this actually just gives us more reasons to celebrate! ;)

Happy happy, Beh. :)

-o0o-
speaking of celebrations, i just want to congratulate two of our suppliers for making it to the Top 5 W@W Suppliers of the Year. Congrats to Mimi Abesamis (our photographer) and Veluz Reyes (my bridal gown designer)! Another round of applause please for Veluz for being the W@W Supplier of the Year! they so truly deserve it. :)

the letter in the mail

after a tiring day at the clinic and at the photocopy shop, i was informed by our helper that the Australian Embassy sent me a letter. for a minute or so, i panicked because i was thinking that maybe our application lacked some important documents or i failed in the medical exam. i had to tear apart the pouch to reveal what the message was all about. wanna make a wild guess?

Date: 24 November 2005

By Courier

Interview Reference

Dear Ms E:

Thank you for forwarding your Partner/Fiance visa application to the Australian Embassy by courier. Your application has been checked against the Partner Migration Checklist and is now ready to proceed.

Please contact the Call Centre to make an appointment to lodge your application and attend a partner migration interview.

You must:
> bring your valid passport
> pay the visa fee when you come for your interview.

Yours sincerely,
Australian Embassy Manila

waaaaaaaaa!!!! i was screaming and jumping around. LOL! in other words, i was hysterical! well, who wouldn't be? i just asked the courier to pick up our application last Tuesday, November 22 and had my medical exam last Saturday. and now, i'm up for interview?!?! pretty fast noh?

and yes, they do issue visas on the spot, upon interview. so it's good as saying that my visa's been approved already. it's just a matter of them attaching it to my passport.

is this for real? i am really hoping so. right now, i can't wipe away the grin on my face. makes me look stupid tuloy. LOL! i don't think i can sleep tonight with all the adrenaline. :D

30 days to go!

is that really correct? 30 days? time flies! and am in panic mode na rin.

i say panic mode kasi i haven't had enough rest for the past few days and my poor body is starting to suffer. yesterday, after a tough day at work last Monday, i couldn't even get the strength to sit down in front of my PC to chat with my hubby. that was how tired i was. i was all aches and pains and i couldn't deny it anymore that my body was in desperate need of a respite.

nevertheless, here are still some updates. hehe.

Entourage Gown Fitting
We went to Emma Panaligan's house last Sunday to have their fitting. the gowns looked great! Yun nga lang, everybody seemed to be on a diet kasi all their gowns were loose and will definitely require some alterations. View pictures here.

Hotel Accomodations
I called up The Bellevue Manila yesterday to reconfirm our reservations. it was still okay but i learned that check-in time was at 3PM and check-out time was at 12nn. that's less than 24 hours and it doesn't give us much time to prepare. we are eyeing now Vivere Suites for our accomodations. They have a promo for local residents and i'm hoping we could avail of it next month.

Engraved Wedding Bands
I went to Rustan's Makati last Saturday to have our rings engraved. for the two rings, it amounted to only P150. the only available style was a calligraphed font, which was quite okay with us. we got the rings after thirty minutes.

Missalette
I'm practically done with the covers for our missalette. all's left now is for me to photocopy it and have it binded at a shop near the hospital where i work. i'm doing this on Friday. :)

-o0o-
Joseph is coming home in less than two weeks. i can hardly contain my excitement. finally, the long wait will soon be over. :D

I am left brain dominant!

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (34%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (64%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Left brain dominant individuals are more orderly, literal, articulate, and to the point. They are good at understanding directions and anything that is explicit and logical. They can have trouble comprehending emotions and abstract concepts, they can feel lost when things are not clear, doubting anything that is not stated and proven.

Right brain dominant individuals are more visual and intuitive. They are better at summarizing multiple points, picking up on what's not said, visualizing things, and making things up. They can lack attention to detail, directness, organization, and the ability to explain their ideas verbally, leaving them unable to communicate effectively.

Overall you appear to be Left Brain Dominant.

-----------------------------------------
According to Darwinian theory, optimal evolution takes place with random variation and selective retention. The evolution savvy individual will try many different approaches when faced with a problem and select the best of those approaches. Many historical intellectuals have confessed their advantage was simply considering/exploring/trying more approaches than others. The left brain dominant type suffers from limited approaches, narrow-mindedness. The right brain dominant type suffers from too many approaches, scatterbrained. To maintain balanced hemispheres, you need to exercise both variability and selection. Just as a company will have more chance of finding a great candidate by increasing their applicant pool, an individual who considers a wider set of options is more likely to make quality decisions.

So, what are you? A righty or a lefty? :)

all a-glitter!

my mom came home today and told me that she had a litte surprise for me. take a look!

necklace and earrings set

aren't they gorgeous? :)

can't wait to wear them on our wedding day. :D

good news!

today was spent mostly in the x-ray department of the Medical Center Manila. we had to wait for 2 hours because my OB had to attend first to her patients at her clinic. this made me more tense as the hours ticked by.

finally i was asked by the technician to enter a room where the procedure will take place and to don the hospital gown. a few minutes after, my doctor arrived and immediately started the procedure. gosh, i was so tense! she kept on telling me to relax and just lie flat on my back. you see, i kept on arching my lower back, which didn't help make the insertion any easier.

at first, i felt no pain. it was just like any examination i had before. then my OB warned me that there'd be "konting hilab." konte my a**! i was in so much pain that i was out of breath! i thought it would never end but after around 2 minutes, the pain eventually subsided. but i still felt weak inspite of the 2 mefanamic acid tablets i took earlier. the nurse had to help me get up from the bed.

then my OB gave me the results of my test. both of my tubes are patent! the right tube is a bit narrow (but still open), but the left one is definitely clear! all the pain just simply left my body and i did not have cramps (as what the literature forewarned me) even as i left the hospital.

i guess what hastened my recovery was the fact that there's still a great chance for us to have kids. i told Joseph the great news and he breathed a sigh of relief as well. i will be back to see my OB on Thursday so she can explain to me more the results of my tests and probably options that Joseph and I could take in the future.

i am so happy. God is good. thanks to everyone who prayed for us. you know who you are. :)

tired and scared

having gone through so much in the treatment of my endometriosis, i think i cannot ever get used to the pain associated with the condition. all sorts of pain. and i am plainly tired of feeling it.

and yet, tomorrow, i will be seeing my OB again. she will be performing a diagnostic test on me. it's called a hysterogram. after scouring the web for more information on the procedure, i am made to think that i have nothing to worry about because i will only feel a mild discomfort, much like that of menstrual cramps. i had just gone through a week of cramps last week because of my period and tomorrow, i'll be going through another one.

when does it ever end? this i question myself endlessly. i know, i know. you'd probably say that things will be fine and i'll be okay. well, i'd very much like to think that but sometimes, i just can't. i guess sometimes i get tired too of convincing myself to be a positive thinker.

tomorrow will definitely define our fate as a couple, if we can be parents or not. not only am i tired, i'm also scared out of my wits.

what dreams may come

the human mind is a powerful thing, no doubt. even if we are asleep, it continues to function. i've always believed that our dreams allow us to take a peek into our subconscious. it may be about our fears and apprehensions. it may also be about the future.

in my experience, my dreams have always been extraordinary. there have been bad dreams where i wake up and realize that i was crying in my sleep. other times, i get to continue my dreams after waking up in the middle of the night because of my rhinitis. i'd also get episodes of deja vu. then there's the usual monster-chasing-me-but-i-can't-run-any-faster bit when i was i child.

here's one naman that's wedding-related. obviously, it was all about my fears. it was a terrible nightmare alright. mostly it was about all the things needed for a wedding -- a ceremony venue, my gown, and our cake.

to start off, the ceremony was to take place on a sidewalk! i saw the pews but they were all lined up along the sidewalk! there was even no carpet for me to walk on.

our cake? well, it wasn't so bad. it was from Goldilocks daw. think choco and mocha rolls! i have nothing against Goldilocks. it's just that i have a different kind of cake in mind.

and the finale was my gown. i was wearing something that was nowhere close to my real gown. i was just wearing a camisole!

in my dream, i felt so helpless and i just cried and cried. it happened a year ago but i've never had any recurring dreams since then. what a relief! but i'm keeping my fingers crossed that this won't be another deja vu episode.

that's all

joseph and i were finalizing our song list for our ceremony and checked out the String Minstrels' site for their audio clips to listen to some samples of their music. i stumbled into "That's All." it gave me the shivers! although we couldn't squeeze it anymore into the church repertoire, we are sure to include this into our reception song list -- as our song for our First Dance. check out the lyrics:

That's All
I can only give you love that lasts forever,
And a promise to be near each time you call.
And the only heart I own
For you and you alone
That's all,
That's all

I can only give you country walks in springtime
And a hand to hold when leaves begin to fall;
And a love whose burning light
Will warm the winter night
That's all,
That's all.

There are those I am sure who have told you,
They would give you the world for a toy.
All I have are these arms to enfold you,
And a love time can never destroy.

If you're wondering what I'm asking in return, dear,
You'll be glad to know that my demands are small.
Say it's me that you'll adore,
For now and evermore
That's all,
That's all.

If you're wondering what I'm asking in return, dear,
You'll be glad to know that my demands are small.
Say it's me that you'll adore,
For now and evermore
That's all,
That's all.

ain't it terribly romantic? *sigh*

in tearful anticipation

an audio CD arrived in the mail today for me. it was from my hubby, Joseph. it was a compilation of all the songs that we chose for the String Minstrels' repertoire, to be performed during our nuptial mass.

the songs were just audio clips that he downloaded from their website and i had been expecting it for weeks. what i didn't expect though was the fact that i was moved to tears while i was listening to the songs. sheesh! talk about emotional! :P

i honestly couldn't help myself. if you really think about it, it was actually a preview to the big day in December. being all alone in the house this morning gave it an even more solemn tone to the whole listening experience.

i can already imagine myself as i walk down the aisle to meet with my husband at the altar. i just hope i don't make a fool out of myself and ruin my make-up in the process.

+++++
yup, guys, Christmas is just around the corner... and so is our wedding! :) and to add a little Christmas-y spirit to our humble abode in Blogosphere, i've put up a few decors.

speaking of decors, we've also put up ours at home. everything looks wonderful, save for the fact that our pet kitten Betty has been playing with everything that is hanging on our tree! it's kind of cute at first. but after seeing a Christmas ball being seized, one after another, you just want to hang her as well. this spells a lot of potential disaster in the future so i told the maids to not put any decor on the most bottom branches. and you think that was successful? think again. this little kitty is smarter and more determined than i thought. when there's a will, there's a way. cliche, i know, but it works! what was i thinking?

our blog's worth

it's been months since i bloghopped. along my journey last night, i stumbled into this:

My blog is worth $22,581.60.
How much is your blog worth?

wow, i didn't realize that our blog could be worth as much. that's around 1.2 million pesos. hehe! oh well, just for fun... what's your blog's worth?

wedding update

i can't believe it's November already! next month, and another 22 days, i'll be walking down that aisle with my beautiful gown and shoes to be with my husband for eternity! still surreal, i tell you!

anyway, here's a rundown of the things that we have accomplished so far:

Church: Parish of Saint James the Great
Fully paid.
Officiating Priest - we're having a kababata of my brother-in-law celebrate the mass for us. fortunately, he came home last September from Sydney and will be here 'til after the New Year. He will be calling the parish priest of St. James to determine the requirements that is asked of him.
Clearance from Chancery - done
Canonical Interview - done
Marriage Banns - submitting the letter from St James to our parish this weekend.
Pre-Cana - done
Document Requirements - submitted all except my marriage bann

Reception: The Palms Country Club
Confirmed reservations.
Paid 50% downpayment last September.
Food tasting - done.
Details of the reception still being finalized. preferred food items still up for approval by their chef.

Other Documents
Marriage License: done
Family Planning seminar: done
Birth certificate for marriage purposes: done
Confirmation certificate for marriage purposes: done
Cenomar: done
CNI: done
Marriage Certificate: have already copies of our marriage certificate from NSO.

Photo: Karmina Abesamis Photography
Paid booking fee (25%).
Prenup pictorials - done
Paid second installment of 50% of total package last week. Have scheduled preproduction meeting the 2nd week of December when Joseph is here na.

Videographer: Imagineer Digital
paid Frank booking fee of 20%.
need to schedule a pre-production meeting as soon as Joseph's home in December.

Bridal Gown and Barong and Pants for the Groom: Veluz Reyes
gown embroidery c/o Ate Beth de Leon - done.
had my final fitting last October 30 and paid third installment (25%). was able to fit my shoes too. perfect!
gown for beading and another fitting is to be scheduled before the month ends.
Pants and Barong for the groom - done

Veil: Veluz Reyes
part of the bridal package

Shoes: Seeds
Shoe design agreed on
tried them on already and found them to be really comfy!

Hair accessories: bought some U-pins from divisoria.
Veluz will also give me a hairpiece, as their gift to all their w@wie clients. hairpiece is by Niko.

Cord and Pillow: part of bridal package

Secondary Veil and Garter: part of bridal package

Wedding arrhae: c/o Joseph
we will be using Australian coins for this. Joseph will be bringing them in when he comes back in December.

Female Entourage Gowns: Ate Emma
gowns still being sewn. fitting is tentatively scheduled on the second week of November.

Male Entourage Barongs: c/o male entourage members :)
They will all be wearing Piña Barong. We bought cloth though for the 2 little boys' Barong from LCM in Divisoria. they had their fitting last October and will be expected to get their barongs by end of November.

Ento flowers: Flora@eleven_01
Reservation paid (20%)
pre-wedding meeting to be set 2 weeks before the wedding date to finalize the flowers
Pay in full 2 weeks before the wedding date

Church Decor: Mother Butler Guild
fully paid.
have confirmed time and date of ceremony.

Cake: selected design already
part of wedding package of the PCC

Flutes for wine toasting and Cake Server Set
The PCC will probably provide, need to speak with them. If not, will bring our own.

Ceremony Music: String Minstrels
50% paid, balance remaining to be paid a week before. will submit song list within the week.

Wedding Rings
Bought rings from Karat World.
Have rings engraved. Decide on what information to engrave on rings.

Invitations: QP Designs
Done printing, have addressed 80%.
full distribution to be completed a month before the wedding.

Missalette: DIY
Done, approved already by the church.
Design cover lay-out (c/o brother David).
to be photocopied, submit 6 copies to St James a month before the wedding.

Guestbook: included in the wedding package by the PCC
we're also considering to get Mimi's guestbook using our prenup pictures.

Guestbook pens: None yet

HMU: Anne Castaño/Tess of Tropicana
Paid Anne in full. Anne will be doing my make up.
Miss Tess will be doing our moms', my MOH and our BMs HMU. Paid her already the booking fee.

OTD Coordinator: Events Experts
Paid 50% booking fee last January.
met with Jody Liwanag last September for turn-over of contracts and discussion of program and other details.
still need to finalize on the program and other details of the event. to be discussed with Jody.

Accomodations: Bellevue Hotel
will be reconfirming our reservations.

Gifts for the principal sponsors: Paintings c/o Joseph's brother
We have already chosen the theme, colors and strokes that we want.

Souvenirs/Give-aways for the guests: nothing definite yet.
will decide by the end of the week.

Honeymoon: Australia
Have already booked our tickets. we couldn't get tickets so that we can go back together. :( i'd have to leave at a later date.

Anything else?