It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Posted by Riz on November 28th, 2011. 1 comment

It’s December in 2 days and I bet you’re wondering too where on earth November went! Time flies fast, no?

Last night, we put up the Christmas tree at home. We started putting up Christmas lights at the veranda, too, last week, getting the place ready for some Christmas parties and get-togethers. It’s our first ever Christmas together since we met 12 years ago, and I’m kinda giddy about celebrating it with him! I used to think that Christmas is the saddest of all holidays (I had my share of depressing blog posts, IKR), but this year is bound to be so much different from all the other Christmasses we’ve had apart. Sweeter, and happier, for sure.

So I had my brother deliver to me the old tree I’ve had since 2009. We deliberated on buying a bigger tree this year, but we thought we’d save the money for a much-needed, much-awaited Christmas present we want to give ourselves instead. Besides, this little Christmas tree is perfect for our little home, for now. The idea of using Instax photographs as ornaments came about last year, and we thought we’d do it again this year.

This could be the start of our very own Christmas tree tradition or something, putting up photos on the tree like a timeline, representing milestones and beautiful memories of the year that was. I’m all for traditions these days, especially now that I’m starting new ones with Bud.

I’m excited to post more photos, for some reason. I think Christmas looks really pretty in photographs because of the Christmas lights. (:

Polaroid Pogo prints, Habakkuk 3, and some link love

Posted by Riz on November 24th, 2011. 4 comments

1. Polaroid prints. We got a Polaroid Pogo Printer more than a month ago, but my excitement died down with each passing day as I realized how difficult it is to find Polaroid Pogo films in Manila. Why, surprise, surprise. A pack of 100 Zink photo sheets came in the mail last Friday, and I was left wondering again how my husband manages to cook up surprises like this from under my nose!

He ordered the Zink sheets from ebay, the package was shipped to the Philippines from California, and just like that, my love for instant photography is back. Mind reels that there’s a separate blog about this sometime soon. You bet. (:

2. Habakkuk 3:17-19. Last Sunday, David preached in church for the first time and the experience was awesome. I know, that last sentence was pretty biased, coming from his wife and #1 fan by default. But what’s truly awesome to me is how God prepared him for this. Sure, he didn’t have a degree in Theology, but his message felt so real to me because I’ve seen Habakkuk 3:17-19 happen in his life more times than my fingers can count and my mind can recall. I sat there front and center, listening to him preach God’s Word, feeling like I was getting to know him a little bit more, and feeling blessed and inspired of the message that God placed in his heart. So okay, I may be biased, but come to think of it, if there’s anyone who sees this man for who he really is now—ups and downs, good days and bad days—it’s got to be me. And I’m soo thankful to be a witness to how God is continuously working in his life, and our life together. (:

3. Link love. And now I send some link love to these people whose blogs/videos inspired me this week. After the jump.

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Photographs from Boracay

Posted by Riz on November 18th, 2011. 2 comments

The following photographs were stolen with our MacBooks, so if ever you see them anywhere beside my Facebook account and this blog, let us know ‘coz we’re still looking for suspects. Haha. (Kidding, we’ve let that issue go and have forgiven the bad people, just for the record.) That said, I’m glad to have backed these up by uploading them on Facebook. Don’t you just love how the world wide web can become your personal Time Machine sometimes? (:

Moving on. The thing is, it’s impossible to come home from Boracay without an SD card loaded with lots of memorable photographs of the sunset, the skies, the ocean, the white sand, and the fire dancers. And you don’t have to be an expert to take beautiful photos; anywhere you point your camera lens to is simply picture-worthy! Ok, I’m going to shut up now and just let the photographs do the talking blogging story-telling.

Getting to know Boracay: Taking lots of photos by the beach on our first night, lots of walking and scouting for good food, and feasting on some yummy Gelato! (:

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Day 30: Home is wherever I’m with you

Posted by Riz on November 15th, 2011. 8 comments

30/30: Anything goes! After almost two months, this 30-day project has finally come to an end. And although it took me double the time to finish this one, the fulfillment is still the same as (if not greater than) the first time I did it.

And so our fairy tale wedding was over. It’s going to be the quickest day of your life, one of our Ninongs said. And he was right. We said goodbye to single life, boxed up my gown and his coat, went off to a quiet honeymoon just within the city (we reserved the out-of-town getaway for later), and the spotlight started moving slowly away from us, leaving us in our own little world.

Coming back from our honeymoon, we spent the rest of the week moving into our humble apartment, which soon became our very first home. Home. I just love the sound of that. 

Moving in is actually not a new thing for me. I’ve been apartment-hopping for years and I’ve had this love-hate relationship with packing and unpacking for as long as I can remember. But this time.. this time, it’s different. This time, I have someone carrying and unpacking boxes with me. This time, I’m not alone anymore.

Blue. Lots of blue. But of course we had to take our wedding motif home. (:

I absolutely enjoyed this time of our life together—cleaning up, unpacking our stuff, shopping at home depots, moving furniture around, making our own house rules, and seeing everything come together and fall into place. It’s a tedious task, but seeing the result of our hardwork was truly worth it all.

Now, coming home and spending time at home are my favorite times of day. Although our apartment was trespassed a few weeks ago and our most priced material possessions were stolen, nothing could take away the warmth and the love that our home is made of. The fact remains true, that God did not only bless us with a beautiful wedding, He also blessed us with a beautiful home. (:

So.. before I give in to the temptation of ending this with “and they lived happily ever after” (No? Too late?), allow me to sign this project off by sending some link love to our awesome wedding suppliers:

30-day Challenge, Round 2, over and out! (:

Day 29: Hey, it’s November 13!

Posted by Riz on November 13th, 2011. 4 comments

29/30: Self-portrait. Yay, it’s a photograph of us taking a photograph of us beside a cake-topper that looks like us. (:

The days feel like getting longer. David has started going to school and we’re once again adjusting to some schedule changes. For one, he has classes on Saturdays so that means we’ll be missing some quality time at home. I haven’t quite got my head around that just yet but I’m sure we’ll always find time to make up.

It’s the 13th today and I’m posting this from the iPod touch I gave David last year as an engagement present. We’re in choir practice as I type this (sshh) so friends, what you’re seeing is multi-tasking and resourcefulness at its finest. Lol.

Exactly one year ago, on this day, I arrived in New York to begin what turned out to be one of the most life-altering trips of my life. On my first night there, we found ourselves in the basement of the Oyos home, watching the Pacquiao-Margarito fight. I don’t know what’s so special about November 13 that Manny keeps choosing to, well, pick a fight on this date.

As for me and David, this marks not just our third month as husband and wife, we are also reminded of that night in Manhattan when we were reunited after a long time of being apart. Man we’ve come a long way! Last night we had a special celebration at home but that deserves a separate post. God is good. (:

One last photograph, coming up!

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