chasing rainbows and butterflies

Bohol 2011 (days four & five)

shelovessunshineydays — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:31:02 +0000

Day Four.

It was the day of our anniversary. Woke up late. Went to Bohol Bee Farm for lunch.

The food is fresh and delicious. And the ice cream? Don’t get me started with it. I’ll trade a limb right now just for a scoop.

those are edible flowers on the salad

the pogi lunch date

my mango and malunggay ice cream

That afternoon, we just bummed around the beach.

Come evening, like all the evenings we spent in Bohol, we went swimming in the pool. Our hotel’s nice… simple and clean.

Then we called it a day. Ended the day with a having our devotion. Sharing, reflecting on God’s faithfulness. We have nothing but thanksgiving. The Lord has been good to us. He has been faithful. He has been there, He upheld us. Marriage is a great thing. It very humbling to have your husband to pray with you and submit your thanksgiving, desires and whatever it is that is in your heart to God. I thank God for my husband, my leader.

Day Five.

Time to go back home. Bohol, you were so awesome!

Before heading to the airport, we intentionally dropped by Bohol City Mall just to have our last dose of Bohol Bee Farm ice cream (I wish I could take you home). The mall has The Buzz Cafe.

Jerem had mango and mango on a cabcab cone (cassava) while I had mango and malunggay. It was ice cream Nirvana. For round 2, believe me I had to force feed myself here haha, Jerem had mango again (how adventurous) and I had spicy ginger (that’s my favorite flavor ever, I’m glad I tried).

The trip was a refreshing getaway from the citylife. I skipped classes but the wonderful blessing was, out of the four classes that I was supposed to miss, three was cancelled, making me miss only one. And on that one class, I wasn’t called for recit. God is really good. I skipped work, but still, I wasn’t paid. Haha. Of course, my leave credits are all exhausted since August. But really, it’s all good. I am glad and refreshed.

And hey, these events transpired exactly a month ago, so happy monthsary to us today! That was a good thirteen months!

Sidenote: We saw Angel Locsin and John Lloyd Cruz at the airport. Seeing Angel, I’ve got a girlcrush instantly (she’s preeettiee). And John Lloyd’s not my crush anymore. Seeing him and Jerem within the same perimeter, I thought to myself, I’m more blown away by a Jeremar than a John Lloyd. Haha.

Bohol 2011 Day Three

shelovessunshineydays — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:42:03 +0000

Here goes the next installment.

Day Three.

Sea Tour. Woke up too early to go dolphin watching. We were at sea 5 AM. I didn’t have much expectation about this sea tour. I just thought that since this was one of Bohol must-sees, then let’s get over and done with it. I was wrong.

: this isn’t sunset, it’s sunrise

: waiting for the boat. i’m busy

Seeing dolphins in their natural habitat, uncaptured and swimming in groups… well it’s a happy heart event. There’s this silent sweetness in it, not spectacular, but I’m glad I witnessed it.

the cams we brought are pretty low-speed so these are the dolphins' pictures just about to dive back into the water

plus the ones taking photos are pretty low-speed too and giddy... and couldn't contain themselves ; )

When we decided we’ve had enough and told the boatman to head to the next island, a baby dolphin leaped in front of me, no kidding. And I screeched involuntarily. Hihi. I thought to myself, that was too nice, thank You God.

Then we went to Balicasag Island to snorkel, have lunch (glorious seafoods), rest and chill a little.

Next stop was Virgin Island. It was noon at too hot.

sea urchins. they're delicious

jumpshot (compliments of manang)

told you it was too hot

Went back to the hotel, rested the whole afternoon, swam in the pool early evening. Zzzzz.

I’m gonna pause here. I’m cooking lunch… ehrm bulalo. Next part… I hope within the day. It’s a holiday today yey!

my doodle planner for 2012

shelovessunshineydays — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:56:31 +0000

Got my 2012 planner last Friday! I was rooting for Belle de Jour but I wasn’t ecstatic about it and my liking for it didn’t grow on me. I saw this Filed Planner early this month at Fully Booked Gateway and I was instantly smitten but decided to sleep it off and thought maybe there’d be better ones. When I have set my mind on getting one, I was surprised that it was sold out on all Fully Booked and Powerbooks branches and their reservation lists were too long that there’s still no assurance that you’ll get one even if. I have placed reservations on several branches and almost everyday for two weeks called each one and inquired if stocks have already arrived. Believe me, getting one was such a stress. It seems many people (ehrm highschool, ehrm college girls?) are raving about it too. There was an instance where planners have arrived but they were too few that they weren’t enough and weren’t able to cover up to my reservation.

So I considered other options. If not Filed, I’d get a Slate 2012 or a Galison Fun Plan.

: Fully Booked Counter

But well, called Fully Booked Shang last Friday, and found out that there’s my Filed Planner waiting for me. They were about to text me but I was an eager beaver. I was there in just minutes.

it's features

This one’s a doodle-themed planner with white paper and no writing lines. I like writing on unruled sheets. It gives freedom on how big or small your font is for that given day, what direction you want to write, simply because my handwriting is most of the time not symmetrical.

The pages are thick enough to use sign pen and not bleed on the other side. But even if it does, I will still love you my Doodle Planner! I use sign pen for school, office and journaling. But the day before I got my planner, my sister gave me these Dong-A Hexaplus Fineliners. Yey thanks!

thus the pen bandolier

There it is. Bookstores have stopped accepting reservations. If you want one, you can place your orders online. The catch is, it will be delivered January 16-20.

For 2013, As early as November, I’m gonna decide which planner to get to avoid consumer mad rushes like this.

Enjoy the remaining days of the year! Being the atat that I am…

ako na ang excited ; )

Bohol 2011 (days one & two)

shelovessunshineydays — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:39:08 +0000

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in Bohol. Can’t believe it has been a year since December 4, 2010.

We booked for a five days-four nights stay at Panglao Regents Hotel, longer than the usual 3d/2n that most people do. We didn’t feel like jampacking days with too much tours and activities, we just wanted to laze around. Especially me, I am tamad. Vacation for me is being glued to the bed, watching television, taking afternoon naps, swimmming at late afternoons, and sleeping early. J always tells me “ang mahal ng tulog mo ah.” Those are the main agenda… always. That’s why nice and decent hotels are non-negotiables. Arte.

This post is for the first two days. Photodump begins here…

Day 1.

Raring to go. NAIA Terminal 3.

Obligatory airport photo.

AirPhil Express

Touchdown Tagbilaran

Mid-afternoon we arrived at the hotel. Checked in and rested a little. The eager-beaver coerced her husband to check out the beach even if we’ve got too much time in the next few days. Just itching to see how it fares. The beach was nice.

That cute family behind me ; )

Day 2.

We woke up early for the Countryside Tour.

This is our hotel. It's really clean and nice.

Blood compact monument.

Baclayon Church. Just Too Beautiful.

The church is breathtaking. I seldom go inside Catholic churches, but this one, I think it’s really beautiful.

Philippines' Largest Python.

I don’t know what this place is called. Let’s just call it the Python farm. It houses just a few animals (ostriches, few snakes, civet cats, iguanas). I used to have a snake picture (snake around my neck) in Thailand, but this one… I’m scared.

: This one’s an albino python. He’s extra sensitive ‘coz he has just shed skin.

She scared the hell out of him. Sorry lang.

Hanging Bridge.

The Tarsier Sanctuary. Tarsiers are nocturnal creatures so daytime is their sleeping time. How come they let us in? They commit suicide when they get stressed. So people are briefed to not use flash photography, to not touch them at any instance and to not make disturbing noise.

Tarsier: "Hey crazy woman! Tsk tsk!"

Pic 1: compare with Pic 2 haha

Pic 2: duma-the-hand ka pa kuya ha ; )

This one’s a different tarsier. You roam around the sanctuary and you’ll see them in their (closest to their) natural habitat. There’s this one lady who shook the leaves where a tarsier was sleeping thus agitating it. She laughed. It’s not funny! You pissed me off. There’s this another guy commenting, “mga Pilipino talaga.” Oh well, but the next two tarsiers, you can piss off.

Wild pa to, newly captured

Loboc River Cruise. Had our lunch here. It’s beautiful and refreshing, plus the entertainment. The restaurant stops by a stationary barge/raft where there’s locals folk dancing and singing. We’ll it’s nice and entertaining.

Serene.

That’s for the first two days of Bohol. Whew, lengthy post, but I hope you enjoyed. Till the next part. I hope I could, when it comes to blogging I’m quite non-commital. Haha.

this season

shelovessunshineydays — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:32:15 +0000

image from the web

Finally it’s Christmas (well from my perspective). Last night was my last class for the year. Too bad I wasn’t able to attend our corporate Christmas party. But it all paid off since I was called in class for recit (literally, I was the last person for recit for 2011). Had I chosen to skip Torts, that’d be a resounding 5.0 for a year-ender.

My husband and I haven’t shopped for gifts yet. I don’t know how or where to start. And I don’t even have a list yet. Malls are too crowded and I can’t stand the stress. Whenever I had to scourge the malls pre-Christmas for the usual errands, getting too overwhelmed with the swarms of people (I have a history of fainting in malls, ask J haha), it makes me think why should Christmas be so commercialized. Anyway highway… haha. But for the ones you love, yes it would be thoughtful to make them feel special some way or another. Let’s see, let’s see. This time I’m not pressuring myself. Note to self: Let’s make the most out of this, okay?

It would be a cliche to say that for all these, it’s Jesus! But really, it is! More than anything else, Christmas reminds me of salvation. How we can be rescued from death and assured of an eternal life. Grace.

And I look forward to this Christmas season to be a time to stand still, or maybe sit back, reflect on life, be thankful, and re-connect with family. So I plan to not go out too much, if I do, I’ll make sure that I’ll be all there, savoring the moment and the company of the people I’m with, and not think about anything else. It would also be nice to walk slow, hold hands and kiss.

Happy First Year Wonderful

shelovessunshineydays — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:40:58 +0000

It was a year ago when forever began. Never had I imagined that I’d be this happy. That moment I couldn’t believe everything was real.

Two kiddos eagerly thrilled… thrilled with that wonderful life ahead. And today, we are in that life we were just then dreaming of. And all I could say, it is beautiful. It is worth it.

I am glad gave me my prayer, my wonderful… I love you my Rayah.

*This post was earlier written and scheduled to be published today. I might be too busy bumming around the beach with you. Hihi ; )

what could be gayer than a pink disney movie

shelovessunshineydays — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:12:33 +0000

I saw Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure a few nights ago. Been eyeing on this at the video store for days but just couldn’t find a perfect time.

Perfect time was when J was out of town for work. I sure don’t wanna watch this with him because although he’ll agree to watch this with me, I wanna spare him this one because I am a considerate person, haha, and as a thank you for putting up with watching Bridget Jone’s Diary 1 and 2. I wanna save my drag-your-man-to-a-chic-flick point credits (no such thing) for a more worthy one in the future. And this is not a real chic flick, this is something a 12 year-old would wanna watch.

The feel’s just light. High-School-Musical, Lizzie-Mcguire-light. It’s a Disney movie after all. This is your movie if you want your dose of cute things, pink and all.

Ashley Tisdale’s outfits are so fab! All the pinkness reminds me of Legally Blonde… and the dog. Elle’s female dog was Bruiser and here, Sharpay’s male dog was Boy.

Oh well, I don’t care for her love interest. It’s her luggage and bedroom that’s worth talking about.

I like it because it’s entertaining, easy on the eyes and it’s an overload of cuteness. And oh, I also watched Prom last week after finishing my Legal Theory paper. Oh Disney movies, you make me twitch. Haha.

*all images from the web

shhleeep

shelovessunshineydays — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:03:37 +0000

I am 30% done with my law degree. Hello 13 days of sembreak of which 5 was already spent sleeping, watching movies (weekend fave: Kung Fu Panda 2 and Cars 2, yes I suck for missing them at the cinemas), replaying Bing Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family over and over, reading magazines, filling my tummy with useless calories, and the other one I wouldn’t mention. Was stuck in our custom zen bed the whole weekend. Thanks to the 300 thread-count sheets (wedding gift from classmates, well thank you), you feel like bedsheet heaven and you’re my favorite thing in our house that if there’s a fire, I’d pick you up first. If I couldn’t find you, I would still look for you, what’s the point of living if without you? Oh well.

image from the web

That weekend downtime was much needed. I never planned or wanted a trip in the first place. All I wanted was to shhleeep and rest and spend some quality time with Jerem. I had planned to organize my hard drive wash my Nike Airmax backpack and sort out my accessories and beauty products but ditched those for the sake of being lazy.

The past weekend, we never had any minute away from each other. But hey, I didn’t get bored a single moment. There’s this peace… that no matter what you’re doing, you know and feel that you’re in the right place.

*I intended to write about school thus the first sentence, but I ended up writing this. Oh well next time ; )

can’t wait

shelovessunshineydays — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:54:02 +0000

Last sem’s last final exam day. Then summer.

Can’t wait for this sem’s last final exam day. Then I’ll sleep.

It’s not that I don’t (yet). But after then, it’d be without guilt.

victory group assignment

shelovessunshineydays — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:24:07 +0000

We had an assignment in our Victory Group last week. Find a unique way to say ‘I love you’ to your partner and capture it in a photo.

Pressed for time, just made the most of what we had.

you make me wanna take you home

*pics by Cherrie

Kirby’s take: I was there. He sang and played (with Lester, one of my bestfriends in the world) in some bar last Saturday. I get really bitchy when I’m sleepy, ask my dear husband. Last Saturday was a final exam, and I haven’t had recompensed some sleep debt. Being there, listening, showing support, being proud of that pretty thing, and musing and drooling as he sings. I hope I have shown an ‘I love you’ there.

He was great. I am proud of him.

*pic by Abbie

Jerem’s take: He was in this picture with me. Why? Because I bugged him and when he did, he was all out. Funny really ‘coz this was just after a movie and swarms of people are making their way out of the cinema. ‘I love you” is that I would tolerate you on all your foolish quirks just because.

My impersonation is as lame as Bella’s character in the movie. And Jerem is like holding a laugh there? And no, I’m not fascinated with Twilight. Though I’ve seen all the movies (and will watch the next one), I think it is not a good movie for a teenager who still hasn’t developed strong convictions yet on matters of faith, dating, courtship and submitting to the authority and wisdom of his/her parents. It is quite misleading and imparts the wrong values. Now I’m glad I’m old! Haha. But then, I might be wrong. Only speaking having seen the past movies, maybe this last one’s better (?)

We celebrated my dad’s birthday the other night. We watched A Dolphin’s Tale courtesy of Jimbo’s Convergys (yay!) then dinner. I really appreciate Rayah extending himself to my family, how he loves them, how he treats them. It’s just nice.

It’s not quite unique in the usual sense that it is normal to have the wife in a husband’s affair, it is normal for a husband to be present in a wife’s engagement. What makes it so is the sincere acknowledgement of the other person’s presence in the most usual affairs in your life. The other night (actually it was way past midnight) coming home from Jerem’s gig, he said “Rayah, thanks for being there and showing support. I know you’re tired.”

We have those fireworks moments once in a while. We plan surprises, give unexpected gifts, do some creative things. But today, it is those little quiet things that speak the most.

And again, I’m smitten.

***

Photodump starts here…

Saturday Night

Mark, Cherrie, Jerem, Les, Kirby, Monet, Nimrod

+ Neal

I got to bring home the rockstar

Sunday Night
(other pictures are with EA, maybe I’ll post the others next time)

Abbie, Kirby, Isay