The Three C's of Marriage

February, love month it is. In the church where I am attending service every Tuesday, this month's series "Will You.." have three weekly topics: Week one: ...be my Friend?; Week two: ...be my Valentine?; Week three: ... Marry me? The topics aimed to set a biblical perspective in every person's relationships.

Of course, my favorite topic is topic number three: "Will you... marry me?", not only because it is where my season of life is but because I was enlightened with the three C's of marriage:

1. Marriage is not about a contract but a covenant.

Marriage has no expiration, it is forever!

2. Marriage is not about convenience but commitment.

Marriage has its own joys and pains. There is no turning back, you have to go through the hardships and sacrifices of a marriage.

 3. Marriage is not about compatibility but complementary.

Marriage is about two different people who have agreed to understand, respect and love each other no matter how different they are from each other. 

This is my most favorite among the three C's of marriage. Believe me, the soon to be ex-boyfriend and I have an unending list of differences compare to a handful list of similarities. We argue even on the smallest things but at the end of the day we always choose to love each other; we are just two bright minded young couple who loves to exchange intelligent views on anything under the sun. 

There is another interesting thing that our pastor shared last Tuesday about arguing or proving when you are right. According to him, it is not wrong to argue specially if you are the one who is right but you should also be in the right spirit. He have sited a very intriguing sample:

If you are driving in a crossroads and you saw a truck at the other side of the road which continues to move even if the traffic light on its side is a red light. On your side is a green light, will you still continue to drive because you are the one who is right?

How about you? Will you still continue to drive?

Countdown Begins: Nine Months Before our Big Day!

November 16, 2013 marks the beginning of our journey to infinity. :) 

It is exactly nine months before our wedding day! 

We are both excited to enter the marriage life. We will never know what will be our life after being married. Yes, we have been in a relationship for more than nine years but a husband-wife relationship differs from a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. We know the challenges and hardships we have faced during boy-girl relationship is miniscule compare to what we are going to encounter on our marriage life.

We do not know what exactly we are going to face as we enter marriage life but we have already decided. He will be my husband and I will be his wife for the rest of our lives and even beyond infinity.

Credits to the Soon To Be Ex-Bf: Reception Venue Booked!

I have asked the soon to be ex-boyfriend to book our reception venue last Monday, February 11, 2013. It was a holiday on their organization since their counterparts is based on Singapore and it's a Chinese New Year then.

And finally, our reception have been booked! I give the credits to my soon to be ex-bf for the job well done. 

Do you know how blessed we are? According to him, all Saturdays of November ( November 2, 9, 23 and 30) have already been booked except for our chosen date November 16. Whew! Can you imagine that? I can feel how the holy spirit is taking care of our wedding preparations. Realizations? There are three of us in a team - myself, the soon to be ex-bf and our leader Jesus! Now more than ever, I am at peace that our big day will be a success no matter what comes our way because our leader is more powerful than any issues or hindrances we might face.

Why Our Lady of Abandoned Church?

Why did we finally book Our Lady of Abandoned Church? I have told in my previous post Exploring for the Perfect Wedding Church that I have reservations on booking OLA even if it passes our criteria for a perfect wedding church. I still wanted to convince myself that OLA is really the church for us.  So what have convinced me to finally choose OLA?

Last February 2, my younger brother and I had an ocular visits on possible church and reception venue around Pasig. The soon to be ex-boyfriend have a company outing plus we are not in good terms so he will not be able to join me. Even if we are already 85% decided that we will be booking Our Lady of Abandoned church and Kapitan Moy, I wanted to convince myself that we are making the right decision. If a company needs three or more bidders before they get a supplier then ideally for our wedding we have to compare three possible ceremony venue.


First stop - Sta. Clara de Montefalco Parish at C. Raymundo Ave. corner Mercedes Ave., Caniogan, Pasig City which is considered the tallest church in the Philippines.

The 57-meter high church in Caniogan, Pasig City

The soon to be bride in Sta. Clara stairwell

My supportive younger brother during the ocular visits

Sta.Clara de Montefalco's long aisle

Criteria 1: Within our hometown - Checked! 

Criteria 2: Near the reception venue  - The Sta. Clara de Montefalco Parish Function Hall is currently not open for holding events. 

Criteria 3: Ample parking space - Checked!

The Parish have two packages rates: Package A Php10,000 includes Wedding Rites with the Holy Mass, Red Carpet, Electrical Consumption, Choir/Soloist and Instrumentalists, Ushers/Usherettes/Lectors, and Car Park; Package B Php3,500 only includes Wedding Rites with the Holy Mass and Car Park. The rates were less expensive than what I have thought but OLA still stands to be more affordable.

The church boast to be the tallest edifice in the Philippines, it is a sought-after wedding venue in Pasig, and have a very beautiful interior but there's just no "This is it" feeling. I have also read from their Wedding Guidelines that the Parish Office will not accept the applicants' reservation fee if the required documents are yet to be completed. Aside from this you have to pass the canonical interview before you can reserve a date. This will cause a lot of stress and hassle on our part because we will not be able to finalize other wedding lists as well. 

Second stop - Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in Plaza Rizal, Brgy. Malinao, Pasig City which had a electronic chromatically-tuned carillon bell and a very long aisle which can make the bridal march more dramatic.

Pasig Cathedral is comparable to beautiful cathedrals in Manila

Outside the Pasig Cathedral

Vendors just in front of the church' door

Criteria 1: Within our hometown - Checked! 

Criteria 2: Near the reception venue  - There is a reception hall inside the vicinity but according to my cousin it can hold only 150 guests 

Criteria 3: Ample parking space - The church have a provision for parking space but there might be a problem on its availability because there were many establishments near the church vicinity.

We were not able to inquire the rates and wedding guidelines of the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral because it was already closed when we got in the place. But when I again saw the number of vendors outside the church, I have already decided not to pursue the inquiry with regards to rates and guidelines the following day. I love our Cathedral but since it is in the middle of a busy area and there are a handful establishments near the church vicinity, it can be too crowded during the ceremony.

I am hundred percent convinced, we will get married at Our Lady of Abandoned Church, Marikina City.

Church Reservation: Checked!

After months of waiting and after a series of pressures from our friends whenever they asked us when is the date of our wedding, finally, we have made reservations today at the Our Lady of Abandoned Church (OLA), San Roque, Marikina City.

We have also planned to book and pay for the reception venue, Kapitan Moy but their office is every Monday to Friday only so we were not able to proceed with the plan. Incidentally, the soon to be ex-boyfriend have no work on Monday and Tuesday because of Chinese New Year and since they are reporting to Singapore it will be holiday then on their counterparts. It was a perfect timing because we do not need to file a separate leave in order to reserve Kapitan Moy on our wedding date. God is really good all the time. Soon to be ex-boyfriend and I is optimistic that our chosen date is still available.

After booking the church, my soon to be ex-boyfriend and I treated ourselves because we have crossed one tasks on our long lists of preparations. We pig out at Pan de Amerikina, a famous place at Concepcion, Marikina. The ambiance was very cool, the food is tasteful and yet affordable.

The First and Only Chess-Themed Restaurant in The Philippines

The soon to be ex-boyfriend loves chess and he's loving the human-sized chess pieces.

Checkmate! I already captured my King!

The Queen after capturing The King

The soon to be ex-boyfriend captured! 

Second Bridal Fair with Friends

2013! This is it! It's for us, it's our year! But what happened to me? Any progress on our wedding preparations?

The start of the new year was not great for me; I have been sick from the 30th of January until the first day of    2013. I was disappointed because I have planned to write my yearly goals on the last few days of year 2012. I have also wanted to cook something special and unique on the New Year's Eve for the family. I have also thought of eating out with my family on the first day of the year. 

None of my plans have been pushed through because of my sickness; I felt excruciating pain in my back and it stretched to my stomach. I felt sick and weak on the first two weeks of January because of fever and chills every now and then. Occasionally, something sharp was piercing my back and sometimes the pain was not tolerable I forced myself not to shout. I could not afford not to report to the office even if I was not feeling well because it was year end and for accountants's working life, year end closing is very critical and busy period.

I began to feel scared because my health condition was not getting any better as months passed by. On October, before the wedding of my dear friend, I had urinary tract infection (UTI) and almost missed attending the big event.  November, I have suffered from pyelonephritis and have to be admitted on the Emergency Department of The Medical City. Few days before December ends, I have high fever and was too weak to celebrate the new year with a bang. And now January, I have a weird feeling of always feeling sick and week.

I am scared because even before my soon to be ex-boyfriend and I start our life together I am in agony because of my health condition.When you plan to spend your life with someone, you want your life to be long enough in order to have more time to build your life together. If eternity is possible, you want to wish for it because no matter how much time you have spent with that special someone, you just can not get enough of him or her.

Realizations? God allowed my suffering in order for me to take good care of myself more. These pains were his way to tell me that I need to be more health conscious, more cautious on my lifestyle. Honestly, I am very thankful to Jesus that he have given me these painful experiences, he have sent me a warning message before my health condition worsened.

At this point in time, I am still in the process of changing my lifestyle in order to improve my health condition. I see to it that I drink eight or more glasses of  water a day. If the situation permits, I drink coconut juice once in a while. I also lessened the intake of any colored beverage, be it coffee, ice tea, juice specially soda.

Thanks to God, I felt better on the third week of January and have manage to see old friends. The soon to be ex-boyfriend, I and the rest of Raissa Republic met with our good friend from Dubai, RR at the Mall of Asia last January 19. He treated us for lunch at Dampa and coffee in the evening at the Starbucks.

The soon to be ex-boyfriend and I have also attended the Getting Married Bridal Fair with the group at the SMX Convention Center. We still have not reserve a date for our wedding so we just look on the supplier's booth during the fair but have not booked any vendor yet.

We have tried Click the Fun Photobooth during the Bridal Fair

Getting Married Bridal Fair Name Tags

To end our day, we have celebrated Chris birthday and have some taste of Mindoro sling at Padi's Point Seaside.

On January 26, the soon to be ex-boyfriend accompanied me at SM Megamall to meet with my high school friends from Singapore, Reynan together with Malou and Venus. On the 30th of January, I had also bonded with girlfriend Ann and Erna and we have a few drinks at Steaks Unlimited with JR.

On the 31st of January, the soon to be ex-boyfriend and  I have also fought again because of some silly things. And you know what? I felt God is talking with me just like how he sent messages for me to take care of my health. On a Friday morning in the office, February 1 in the midst of our (soon to be ex-bf and I) arguments, the first and only yahoo messenger status update of a friend goes like this:

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts, it is sword that kills.    

Now more than ever, I agree with our VGL Ayie, God is talking to us everyday of our lives and it's up to us if we will turn our head above and will take our time to listen to what he is trying to tell.

My realizations for the month of January? I should be open to changes:

1. Change to a healthier lifestyle
2. Change the way I think on my relationship with my soon to be-exboyfriend
3. Change on my current company's management and processes after the January 17 event (or can it be considered milestone)

Changes here you come!

Opening A Wedding Fund Joint Account

It's been a while since I last updated this blog. So where Am I, December 2012?

December might be the busiest month for the majority of us. It is indeed a very busy month for me because aside from the fact that we are celebrating Christ's birthday during the month, incidentally it is also my birthday month. My weekends were already scheduled to meet with my friends and family members. 

On the first weekend (December 1), I have met with my Raissa Republic family at Gloria Maris Podium to celebrate the birthday of November and December celebrators.

On the second weekend (December 7), my G4S friends and I went all the way to Binanongan to celebrate our godchild's birthday Ian and also to have bonding moments with our dear friend, Ate Peatchy.

On the third weekend ( December 15), soon to be ex-boyfriend and I celebrated my birthday on Corregidor, a small rocky island at the entrance of Manila Bay. It was also an early Christmas celebration as I will be spending the Christmas holiday in our province. 

On the fourth week (December 21), we have our company Christmas Party at the St. Ignatius Social Hall. On that weekend, my family and I also traveled to Pangasinan to attend the yearly Christmas celebration and family reunion of Lomboy clan. I was not able to meet with the soon to be ex-boyfriend before going to the province because we have fought on the night of our company Christmas Party. :(

On the last weekend (December 29) of December, the soon to be ex-boyfriend and I had our last movie date for the year 2012. We have supported one entry on the Manila Film Fest, One More Try, a romantic drama film starring Angelica Panganiban, Dingdong Dantes, Zanjoe Marudo, and Angel Locsin.

Ooops, sorry. I know I have to update what have been the progress of our wedding preparations. 

Big step! We have opened a joint fund account for our wedding after our lunch date on the day of my birthday, December 10. In my opinion, having a joint account is a very good start for a soon to be married couple.  Marriage is also a partnership, your partner in life will be your team in creating a family life together so you should jointly manage your finances. 

Opening a joint account also requires a hundred percent trust on your partner since either one of you can withdraw on the funds. In order to avoid friction, both of you should agree on rules with regards on how you will deposit and withdraw your funds.

Our rule? We have to deposit a predetermined amount every payday and any non-wedding related withdrawals will be charged 10% of the amount withdrawn. The interest charges will then be added to the wedding fund. 

Yey! We're now moving forward on our wedding preparations.