Tag: 52-Saturdays

The Search is On for Tagaytay Wedding Venues

Rhiza6 Comments

That 500 Days of Summer song felt like last Saturday’s soundtrack!

Saturday, May 5, 2012. A few friends and I went on a road trip to Tagaytay to scout for a wedding venue. It started out as a top-secret mission, LOL, but since word has been out in the grapevine already anyway, I thought there’s no point hiding from our friends (and from this blog) what we were up to that day.

We had a specific purpose going there alright, but mostly, I’m happy for the excuse to be out with good company. It was a day of sun, and laughter, and food, and jokes we wouldn’t dare talk about in front of our pastor, haha.

The people you’re seeing in the photos are just some of the friends I grew up with—back from when we were diaper-clad toddlers, through our semi-reckless, semi-rebellious teenage days, to now, traversing through adulthood and growing in age and in faith. Two of them are getting married (to each other!) in August, and as I said, one of them is on the lookout for a wedding venue.

It’s easy to lose track of the years when life is so full, eh? :)

The photos above were taken from Jardin de Rosella, Leisure Farms, and Ville Sommet—all of the beautiful wedding venues in Tagaytay that are worth considering when you’re planning for a destination wedding. I thought of posting rates and reviews, but this blog has never been about reviews so I guess if you’re interested to know more about these venues, holler in the comments section and let me share the info I’ve gathered to you. :)

That Fleeting Moment Before it Rains

Rhiza15 Comments

Saturday, March 24. Just before the rain poured, my husband and I thought it was a great day to spend some time “out” (and by “out” we meant, by our spacious roof top). So I cooked macaroni for lunch and we spent some quality time outside—him, by the laptop, and me, with the guitar. I know Perry Noble said it’s not romantic for a husband to tinker on his gadget while his wife sits beside him, but I guess we consider ourselves an exception. Once in a while when one of us has to work on the computer, we find it romantic actually to just sit next to each other while the other does his thing. :P

The cool wind is the added perk that day, I could almost feel the rain about to pour.

Edit. Apparently, my husband tweeted that moment too:

So.. he had a preaching assignment for our Youth Worship again, two Sundays in a row, and you already know how happy that makes me. On that same Sunday, I was leading Praise and Worship too, so while the husband studied, I was having my own quiet time strumming some chords and meditating on the songs in my line-up. I couldn’t stop thinking, I certainly wouldn’t mind.. a lifetime like this, serving the Lord in ministry together.

And then I found myself reading Leviticus 26 again, and these verses popped from the pages of my Bible,

3 If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

6 I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

9 I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling placeamong you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

~Leviticus 26:3-4

I know these words may sound a little bit ancient and out of this world to some of you, but for me, every word, every line, cut deep into my heart until I felt tears on my cheeks. God is going to pour in rain to our life. There will be abundance, and blessings, an increase. There will be a great harvest! God will walk with us and never forsake us. There will be peace and quiet, and we will no longer be slaves to people who cause us pain. One by one I claimed each promise enclosed in that short chapter.

Soon, the rain literally poured and my husband and I had to retreat back inside our house.

Later that day, we found out I’m pregnant.

But that, is a story for another time. :)

Saturdays and solitude

Rhiza7 Comments

There was a point in my life when being alone made me crazy; times when I made it a point to be surrounded by people whether I knew them or not. Good for me, those days are gone. And now that I’ve come to acknowledge solitude as a gift, I welcome it with a huge smile on my face and a long, exaggerated, happy sigh. Thank God for Saturdays. And solitude.

Two Saturdays ago, I spent my alone-time studying and marveling at the book of Ephesians, in preparation for that message I had the privilege of sharing at our church last February 19. Ephesians is beautiful (not to mention cheesy), you know? Go, read it and see for yourself! :)

A clean house, a cup of coffee, some vanilla oreos, and a solid, quality time with God’s Word—it was another happy Saturday for me!

Do you feel it too, when something BIG is about to happen—a new adventure looming in the horizon? Time spent in solitude, they say, prepares us for changes and challenges that are about to come our way. My husband and I don’t know what our new adventure is going to be exactly, and when, and how, but something inside me is feeling giddy and restless these days. In a good, bring-it-on-Lord kind of way. :)

This Little Boy I’m Crazy About

Rhiza5 Comments

Isaac is growing up fast! He’s turning 2 years old this week, and his Mom and Dad threw an advanced birthday party for him last Saturday. There’s something about balloons and little kids running around that makes my heart turn jell-o. You bet, Saturdays are made for these.

Isaac probably wouldn’t remember this day (I can’t remember how it was like when I was two years old!), but I’m sure, years from now, when he sees these photographs, he will know how much this family loves him!

They say you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. I’m so glad I didn’t have to choose mine because God already chose it for me. It’s not perfect, but I’m happy to be born into this particular one—big bones, chubby genes and all. And to make it even sweeter, our family has grown with 3 beautiful additions in a span of 3 years: the sister, the husband, and my most favorite baby boy in the world who amused us all with his presence last Saturday.

Say hello to my beautiful family:

Isaac’s party did not have any specific theme to begin with, but the photographs remind me of balloons and flying houses. :)

We obviously couldn’t get enough of Isaac!

Kiddie party and balloons aside, tears freely flowed on my cheeks while I was post-processing that last photograph. It was a Sunday afternoon, day after the party. My husband was sleeping right next to me on the couch, rain was pouring down, and I was alone with my Lightroom, thoughts, and (day)dreams. It’s amazing how much love and joy can be captured in a single photograph, and how much it can awaken feelings you didn’t know you had.

Once in a while, God blesses us with defining moments that make the long, torturous waiting in between worth enduring. When you find yourself in these moments, savour them, preserve them in photographs, write them down, keep them in your heart. You see, life has a way of making you lose sight of your dreams sometimes, making you feel tired and impatient. So when that inevitable feeling of helplessness hits you, then you’ll know exactly where, and from Whom, to draw strength from.

I never blurted this out online before, but watching Isaac laugh, and run, and smile, and hug his Mommy and Daddy makes me excited for when my husband and I get to finally have our own little one. How awesome that day would be.