The day I became Mrs. Aquino

July 25, 2014 was a memorable day for me, not only did I turn 29, I also tied the knot to the man whom I promise to love each day. Who would have known I would settle down this year? That was out of my plan though I joke about it at times. Truly, God created this miracle and I will always be a believer. I met Xave late last year, last week of December 2013 to be exact when I was helping out a friend for their wedding. Well, I actually met Xave a few years back but I just can’t remember it even if he recalls the story of him offering me a burger and I declined. Haha! Was I that snob? All I can remember was that I was so busy with the photoshoot. Anyway, our relationship was quite different from the rest I guess, we didn’t have that cheesy and long courtship type. Not even flowers and chocolates and endless movie dates. All we felt was that time was on our side and you know that feeling when they say “Once you find true love, that’s it and there’s no turning back” and yeah, this was IT for both of us.

Enough of the intro, I am excited to share with you all the photos during our civil wedding.

 

A few weeks before the wedding, I started preppin’ up for the big day. I asked friends for empty wine bottles since I have been wanting to create our own table centerpiece. Luckily, I was able to collect around 20 bottles (as you can see from above). My friends and sisters also assisted me in making colorful paper pompoms that will be used as the main decor. Thanks to Youtube and Pinterest for the easy to follow DIY’s.

Of course, Pinoy food will always be my choice. Super thanks to everyone who assisted my Mom and Tita Tek in preparing and cooking all these viands. We were so full and everyone enjoyed the Hamonado, Pancit, Menudo, Imbotido, Lumpiang Bangus, Chicken, Mixed Veggies and Lechon!No cupcakes this time but this tasted better, believe me!!! Who can go wrong with Puto Flans? Thanks Tita Tek for the gift, I enjoyed it so much I finished two. Photo quotes are all from Pinterest, yep my fave app after Instagram.
The serious yet happiest civil wedding I have ever attended (not being biased here since this is my own wedding, but I think the feeling is similar to a Church wedding). I was crying and laughing the whole time, I cannot control my emotions, grateful isn’t enough, it was more than that. Thank you to our parents, Mommy Lily, Daddy Lebong and Mommy Mila for being there the whole time. Big love to our witnesses Tito Al, Tita Malyn, Tita Edith and Jhoanne.Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

I got great girlfriends who literally laugh and cry with me (even photo’s can’t hide it). To our witnesses and parents who all gave a heartwarming message, thank you. Though I noticed that most of them said “Go and have babies”, lol! We were so happy we couldn’t even speak, I should have written down a poem instead 🙂“The KISS that would last a lifetime.” There’s no turning back, we both signed it! Officially Mr. & Mrs. Aquino. From L-R Gonzal, Dad, Mom, Jhoanne, Tita Malyn, Tito Al, Tita Edith, Mommy Mila and us.Yep, the biggest family of them all.
Xave’s Mom, Jhoanne, Tita Edith and us. We enjoyed our cake, until the day after the wedding. Tastes real good with coffee 😉 Thank you thank you thank you to all who came, sorry I was not able to invite all our friends. Tito Oyet and Tita Ting, thanks for the booze! Do not worry, we still have a Church wedding planned 2-3 years from now. We will ensure that all the important people of our lives will be able to witness us exchange vows before the altar. To my niece who also celebrated her birthday last July 23, 2014, a very happy birthday Caitlyn. May you receive more blessings from our Lord above. We love you!A quick question to my girls… “Who’s next?”.
The biggest smile ever, happily married.

Love, Joycelyn Aralar Aquino

 

Donate Your Hair and help a Cancer patient

Last year, I shared plans of donating my hair for Cuts Against Cancer – Donate Your Hair Org. However, they needed 12 inches minimum to create a wig. This year, I am happy to say that my hair lengthened to 10 inches long. So I contacted the team again and asked some details just to be sure. My timing was pretty perfect 🙂 This coming October 5, 2014 they are going to have a big event: Setting Up New Guinness World Record in Philippines & Most important Helping Kids & Woman with Cancer by Cutting your Hair. So what are you waiting for? Let us help in spreading the word. Visit their Facebook site for more details and videos.

In three months I am ready to say goodbye to my beloved long hair so I can help one cancer patient. I hope that the child/lady who will receive my hair will be blessed with longer life and a beautiful future.

Have a great night ahead and be safe,

Joycey

 

 

 

 

Did you know August?

Do you know him? I mean the month of August? Funny how I came across this website where they have a list of the ‘Bizarre and Unique Holidays’ for certain months. I want to share that this month is “Romance Awareness Month” (that’s new for me, I thought that word Romance and Love can only be over used during February, lol!)

Also listed were the weekly events such as the following:

• Week 1 National Simplify your Life Week (how do I do this? repeat to myself ten times before going to work: No to Stress!)
• Week 2 National Smile Week (smile like the Miss Universe candidates?)
• Week 3 Friendship Week (good works for my friends)
• Week 4 Be Kind to Humankind Week (shower some warmth in any way I can)

And a few exciting days that I want to take part in:

4 Friendship Day – for all my loves!

4 International Forgiveness Day – greatest we can give to one another is Forgiveness

4 Sisters Day – Jolly, Rose and Kriss

6 Wiggle Your Toes Day – just wiggle it!

9 Book Lover’s Day – photo session with my books?

10 Lazy Day – equal to sleep all day

15 Relaxation Day – spa, massage or mani and pedi?

18 Bad Poetry Day – yes, more poetry like mine, haha!

Now you that you met him your month will not be so boring at all! Imagine all these holidays? 🙂 Last month before we enter the BER months and the holidays are here again! Maligayang Pasko na!!!

 

Wrapping up July!!!

Tomorrow is the last day of July! Whew! The long wait was over, I am now officially a young lady/adult. Wohooo! Cheers to being 28! Thank you so much for my wonderful birthday greetings! I got tons, all of them are memorable but these crazy friends of mine went out of their way and exerted extra effort that made me super happy 🙂

Blog posts

Instagram

SMS

Facebook

Youtube

And lastly, gifts!!!

Thanks Cla, Rose and Allen Mae 🙂

Now it’s time to start another birth year! Thank you Lord for all the never-ending blessings, family and friends!

Mc and Gen, sail away! ♥

Weddings are one of my favorite events, glad that Gen invited me to witness them exchange their vows before the Lord. The celebration took place at old San Agustin Church inside Intramuros. The Church was stunning in all aspects, I kept looking at the ceiling most of the time 🙂 . Glad they were able to preserve such a historic and sacred place.

The reception was cozy and romantic at the same time. The sailor theme was very lovely to look at and food tasted great. Just by looking at the faces of the guests and my friends, I am very sure they enjoyed watching the newly weds doing all the sweet stuff together. They look so in love together and yes I did wonder… when will I have the chance to walk down the aisle? Haha! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos below.

flower girl and ring bearer

with the newly weds

san agustin church

lovely wedding dress

fountain

freebies

message in a bottle

give aways

san agustin church

yeng, I and marielle

lovely dinner

catch the flower

happily married

my message

free the doves

blue balloon

walking out the church

couple chairs

sailor theme

happy family

cute cake

momi doris and her message

oh roses!

hmmm… floor tiles?

red flower

Sponsors:

Editorial Wedding – click here to watch their onsite wedding video

Make Up by Marielle

Event: Be the HEROINE of your LIFE

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” – Marilyn Monroe

~~~

We all have our down moments, though I consider myself a happy gal, there were times I can’t escape loneliness and self-pity. But as you know, I am a believer of positivity! Yes, it’s one of my most used phrases “BE POSITIVE”. Being an optimist made me do things I never imagined I can. Guess what! It all lead to a BETTER ME!

Now, most of my friends know I love joining events like the one below. Since I am everyday working on how to become better, I know this is gonna be a great one. Sorry for the late invite, hoping you all can attend! Excited to hear GREAT and POWERFUL stories of women from different places.

**BE INSPIRED**

Time to say no to the victim mentality. Time to refuse passivity. Time to stand up for yourself – because you are worth it.

Great stories happen when you choose to be the heroine of your own life; when you step out of the role of supporting character and embrace adventure, courage and hope.

Join us as we talk about heroism with Aia Arkoncel. It’s going to be a night of celebration wherein the celebrant is YOU.

June 17, 2013 • The Forum, Fully Booked High Street • P250 per head including food and drinks • RSVP @ betterstoryproject@gmail.com

See you there! – The Better Story Project

Pampanga’s Best, let’s do this!

We were invited by Mr. and Mrs. Figueroa for the Christening of their first son, Dwayne Dom. We were more than guests, we were God mothers and God fathers of this little cutie. Proud to be a part of this big event, I made the invite above and so glad that Jeanne (Dom’s mother) loved it so much.

Since the event falls on a Sunday, we decided to have a quick road trip and left after our Saturday shift. First stop, the famous San Guillermo Church where Santino used to pray for the Filipino Teleserye “May Bukas Pa“. For those who plan on going anywhere Pampanga, this is a must visit! Why? It’s so beautiful! An earthquake and the Mt. Pinatubo eruption may have ruined it, but it’s still very captivating.

A closer look, old and ruined by time.

From the outside, the Church may look small. Wait until you get inside, you will be more than amazed. The altar is glorious! You will notice small bats that hang around the ceiling. The area is quite big on the inside and I have seen some weddings that was celebrated here on Facebook. Must feel nice walking on these wide aisle 🙂 Photo on the lower right shows how deep the Church was buried. That used to be the upper part of the windows.

The right side holds “Museo de Bacolor” where they kept numerous paintings and photos of San Guillermo Church. You can see pictures of how the place looked like before and after being buried in hot molten lava. If you walk a little further, you will notice their small adoration chapel, so unique and I tell you, this is a room where you can feel the Lord’s presence, so quiet and homey.

One of the paintings that awed me.

One last photo before we continue on our road trip, meet Arjay, Daniel, Ruby, I and Ami. Gen took our photo 🙂

Second stop… Toll House. Any road trip would not be complete without trying out the best restaurants in town. Ask anyone how’s the food and service, I bet they would all tell you that they had the best experience. This was my second time to eat here, the first time was when we attended the Hot Air Balloon Fest. Like the first, the food didn’t fail me at all, I enjoyed my yummy Caesar salad and Calamansi juice.

Now that our stomach is filled with food as it should be, we drove to Antonina’s Resort. Fixed our stuff and started our mini drinking session. So many funny, “kilig”, and laugh out loud stories. Being with a cool crowd is a must when going out. No dull moments, just good music, stories and fun stuff. When dinner time came, our tummies were at the war zone again, thus making us leave Antonina’s to Ronald’s house (Dom’s father). But before that, we needed to search for this super big cake since it’s Ron’s birthday. Good thing, there’s Goldilocks! Dinner was quick and before we knew it, we were back at the resort having a good time at the pool.

Sunday came and the new batch of God mothers arrived. We bought pandesal and coffee early in the morning. But wait, there’s more, can you imagine a group of crazies hopping from one store to another looking for “toothpicks” early in the morning? Hmmm, that would be us? Lol! Ms. Glory would be finishing her cupcakes and toothpicks are really important for this one. Though we got weird replies from cashiers, we didn’t care. We still asked and looked, thanks to a small shop who has one! Life saver! Look how happy we were making these cute blue and yellow cupcakes. Thanks to Ms. Glory for letting us help her with the design and toppings, it was a fun experience.

Time to swim for a while before the main event.

Tadah! A sunny and good morning to everyone! The photos above were taken during the Christening ceremony inside the ‘Parish of the Lord’s Ascension’. Jeanne and Ronald looked so happy all through out the event, big smiles everywhere.

The God fathers and God mothers with the Figueroa Family. 🙂

Before leaving the Church.

Lunchtime food attack! Thank you so much Jeanne for the overflowing food and drinks, sorry I was not able to sing because I feel so sleepy after eating a lot! Haha! Again, you made our tummy so happy.

All kinds of meat and chicken viands plus veggies, talk about “handaan”. Another cute souvenir, baby cupcakes and my vanity moments.

One last photo of the group, it was indeed a fun, unforgettable, full of happy moments weekend! (Meg, I, Ruby, Anna, Rosche, Dan, Mhadz, Gen, Ronald, Jeanne, Glory and Ami.

To close the event, we stopped at Razon’s for the best halo halo in town. A few minutes of reminiscin’ on how the weekend went then we’re back on the road to Manila.

One reminder, wear sunblock if possible especially if you are going to visit Pampanga during the summer season. The weather was really hot and I bet you would stop at any halo halo store just to cool the temperature of your body.