Josh and Reah

25 na siya. Yak. The surprise party last Saturday was for our family and friends. We definitely needed to go on a birthday date so we did before November 10 officially ended.

We ate the cinnabon, very sinful treat..a gift by the food expert on his birthday eve. Sinful indeed! Kasarap sabi ni Josh and I so agree. More! More! More!

Anyway, we went to Astralis on his birthday, a restaurant by Diamond Hotel. We learned about it over Clickthecity and since Josh wanted their angus beef, we gave it a try.

I can’t write about food because I’m more of an eater than a writer(ha!) but I can say that our $31 bill was oh so worth it.

Yun lang. Happy Birthday ulit! Ano birthday present mo sa kin? Hahaha!

Here are some photos:

Cinnamon Rolls from CINNABON c/o Ptr. Jesse Dedel Read the rest of this entry »

This post is a tad too late but it’s always nice to remember yesterday. You see, Josh and I have been married for almost 10 months now but I will never forget the months before the wedding.

There was the engagement of course. I actually forgot about that we were approaching the 1st year mark of his proposal…our engagement. I was reminding him about it days before but I forgot on the day itself.

I’m the type who remembers every important date and would see to it that we celebrate. But this time, Josh remembered to make it extra special. No, we didn’t go out this time. We didn’t spend lots of money. I just asked him to buy us dinner because I didn’t want to cook anymore.

So he bought us dinner from KFC. Fine, it’s cheap but it was a hearty meal. But what made the night more special were the half dozen roses he surprised me with. He doesn’t always do that so I was actually touched that he remembered to give me something. Haha!

We had a very short engagement. Three months to be exact. He proposed on October 16, 2008 and we got married January 20 the following year. I didn’t want to go through the long months of waiting and preparing for a wedding so we decided to get married soon. Make that, we wanted to get married soon enough. We did obviously and we’re living every minute of our married life happy and blessed.

This was just the 1st Proposal Day Anniversary. We just made it up. Haha! I know I’ll write a longer piece on our 1st Wedding Anniversary. Mush. Mush. Mush.

___

A friend showed me these photos he saved the night Josh proposed. Aliw! Read the rest of this entry »

Jan 20 2008 - a day which will forever be etched in the deepest and most secret recesses of my soul.

I woke up at 4am because my bladder was about to burst. After taking a much needed leak, I could not sleep anymore. And then it hit me, “I AM GETTING MARRIED TODAY!” I swear I felt a massive head rush and realized how surreal things were. (To this day, it still feels surreal)…

It was still dark but even if I forced myself to sleep, the reality that it was the day Reah was going to be my wife under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines and under the name of God, struck me so hard that I just made my way to the kitchen and began to munch on anything I could get my hands on. Pandesal was on the menu. (Scientifically, eating causes the brain to release endorphins - hormones which provide a feeling of joy, even euphoria)…

After “unloading” all that I had eaten, I took a bath and began to prepare for the day - THE DAY!

My first task was to get the flowers for the entourage and the live butterflies in Megamall. Yes, the groom was making last minute errands the morning of his wedding. I didn’t mind because at this point, I was getting all the more excited.

My family no longer had the chance to go to church that day since everyone was busy preparing for the wedding. (I think a good number of people did not go to church that Sunday).. Sorry Lord….

When I came back to the house from megamall, a white and shiny car was parked in the driveway. It was the bridal car - a Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG which my cousin, Romney borrowed from a rich friend. The car, they say, is worth around P8M. So I understood why my cousin wanted to be the driver and not anyone else.

My brother (the bestman), his girlfriend and I were the first to leave for the Mango Farm. It was raining already but I was resigned to hold the wedding inside the pavilion instead of the garden, which was Reah’s dream. Reah texted and said that her heart was ready as well…

3 pm - The guys from Vatel were busy preparing the altar with beautiful flowers and capiz decorations. It rained even harder but I told Dylan, who was in charge of the decorations, “Sana talaga tumigil yung ulan. Ok lang sa akin kahit sa pavilion e. Pero Reah’s dream is to have a garden wedding…” Dylan replied, “If the rains don’t stop, we’ll really have to hold the ceremony inside the pavilion…”

I prayed so long and hard perhaps to a fault. God finally decided to cut the suspense because around 4pm, the rains stopped and the sun came out. This happened as the processional was about to start. God is indeed amazing.

I will never forget the time when Reah walked down the aisle. She was simply the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. And yes, I barely blinked as I focused all my attention on her - MY TALL and BEAUTIFUL BRIDE.

As the wedding progressed, it began to rain once again. During Ptr. Jesse’s homily, the rains became stronger. This was a turning point in the wedding. I Iooked behind me and watched as a few people took shelter at the covered walk or at the pavilion. I praise the Lord for those who stayed. Like my father mentioned during the reception, the people staying despite the rains was amazingly symbolic of their support for Reah and myself in times when we shall experience hardship in life. You were there when it rained and Reah and I deeply appreciate your support. Much thanks to you people!

For Reah and myself, the wedding could not have been any more beautiful. We simply had THE FINEST DAY of our lives. But of course, the honeymoon was still to come…

____________

To view photos, you may view my wife’s Multiply site : www.blueberry010.multiply.com
Site is on private access, just add her up.

…errr…Josh and Reah..

The Last Shot.

This is one of my favorites.

Haaay…Kuya Christian is just so amazing.

I’m more than inspired to get serious with photography.

Hmmm…I can smell the Nikon cam. Hahaha.

This is just one of our pre-nup pics.
Finally done with the pictorial.
Special thanks to Christian John B. Pascual for taking the photos.

Super amazing!

Feeling Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken…hekhek…

(more pre-nup pics will be displayed DURING the wedding and
will be posted here AFTER the wedding)

Your prayers will be much appreciated.
For God’s favor to be upon us, the weather, the guests, and everything.


~Josh and Reah~

I just got back from a looong morning with my fiancee and our parents. We were scheduled to attend a pre-marriage counseling seminar and we did…finally. The marriage license was actually ready to be released a couple of weeks ago but Josh still couldn’t take a leave from work. Fortunately, his new boss allowed him to do so this week.

We went to the local DSWD office before 8 o’clock but as expected, the session didn’t start after 2 hours. Two hours of waiting imagine! But whatdaheck, I wasn’t in the mood to complain then.

So off to the seminar. I was sleepy because I only had 3 hours of sleep as usual. I was working ’til the wee hours of the morning because I need to finish lots of things both for work and the wedding. Wedding preps can be too…too…I don’t know how to put it. Perhaps this is what they call ‘wedding jitters’.

Anyway, the seminar ran for only 2 hours when we were expecting it would last until noon. What we thought would be a simple talk on love and marriage, actually made me rethink about getting married. We were given a glimpse of what could happen. I never expected that married life will be a bed of roses but I was reminded this morning that I won’t be single anymore. That means I’d have to get up earlier to prepare my husband’s breakfast, clothes, etc. More bills to pay..more responsibilities…perhaps more misunderstandings.And definitely more adjustments.

Seriously, I wanted to tell Josh that I’m having second thoughts. No, not about him as my partner in life but on marrying at this day and age. There are times I’d wish we could have waited more ,saved some more money, traveled more, climbed higher the corporate ladder, bought a house and a car,among others.

But when I begin to have these thoughts, I am always reminded of why we’re doing this. Why we’re marrying is because we know we can be better together and we can help each other fulfill God’s purposes. We decided to be united in marriage not because we want to secure each other but because we know deep in our hearts that this is the will of God.

Even if we were both 8 year olds, I called her “ate” when we were still in Children’s church. When I was in Primary class, she was already in the Juniors class. It was most probably the obvious difference in height that either made me look much younger or made her look like my “ate.” Since the growth spurt was not yet happening any time in the near future, (and to this day, I think it never really did), she was at least a foot taller than me. Like any 8 year old boy, I did not care much about girls. I did not even care if she existed. In any case, this was how I came to know Reah, the woman who, back then, I never realized would turn out to be the woman of my life.

It was during a Summer Vacation Bible School week that I had one of the most important revelations I have ever had in my life. Reah and I were assigned to be councilors to a group of 5 kids. Reah was the head councilor and I was her assistant. The two of us lead our group and bested 5 others to become the overall champion in that VBS. But that did not matter to me for it was during this time that I fell deeply in love with Reah. This was when our friendship blossomed.

When I was in college, I began to court her. I made sure that whenever I had the chance, I would pick her up in UP in my gold Honda Civic, which increased my “market value” and sort of compensated for my lack of height.

Finally, on January 8, 2005, she said that all important “YES!”. I will never forget that moment. We were in the car in the college parking lot in Ateneo when she told me to look at her left earring. Lo and behold, the earring stared right back at me in bold and gold letters, “YES!” I swore I felt a massive amount of blood fill my entire head and caused a head rush that you only experience when you realize you’ve won the lotto. Reah not only became my tall and beautiful girlfriend. She became my best friend.

I will not deny that our relationship has had its generous share of those “ups” and “downs.” Our experience has brought forth the best and the worst in me. What I am truly thankful for though, is that God had been with me, with Reah and me the whole nine yards. Indeed, the strongest and most beautiful samurai is the one which goes through the most intense fire and battery.

I love my girlfriend with my life. In a few months, I will declare to the whole world that she is my wife: The woman whom God has intended for me, the woman whom I will spend the rest of my life with.

I cannot thank God enough for what (or rather, who) He has given me. Once, Reah and I were reading a book about love and relationship and I know deep in my heart that God spoke to us through that book. As we browsed through its pages, one line suddenly popped out. It read, “When you know deep in your heart who the person God wants you to spend the rest of your life with, forever can’t start soon enough.” I certainly can’t.

-josh

Be blessed…be loved..be lifted high..be treasured here..be glorified… Read the rest of this entry »