Aunty V

I'll miss her greatly... my aunty vivian or what we call her as "aunty V". She was always positive about everything and nothing could keep her from being in a good mood.  Even when she was in pain... everything is always "okay". 

I'm going to miss you a lot aunty v.  How can we ever have another camping trip?  You were always the cook! I don't think I'll be able to plan one.... for a very long time.... a very very very long time. It would hurt to go to Mammoth without her there... 

Even when I was getting married in the Philippines... she was excited to go!! When I first told her that I wanted their family to be at my wedding, I remember her saying, "Of course!" without any hesitation.  She was even more excited when Fred and Natasha got married 18 days ago in New Jersey... Now here I am looking through the photos during the wedding... searching for my aunty V.

She definitely lived a full and happy life... raising three successful/faithful/active children that I am proud to say are my cousins...  and through them, I'll see a part of her always...

I miss you aunty and I am grateful to God for giving me an aunt like you...  Until we see each other again... and yes, I'll be sure to take care of Joy ;-D as well as Jodick, Fred, and Uncle Willy too.

I got a Shootsac!!!!!

Today, I got to work and totally forgot that I had a package coming... when I got in, I already had a ton of things to do, so when Brad came by and handed this package to me, it made my day!

Here's my shootsac! I love it already! I tried it on and I can't believe I didn't get one of these a long time ago... it really does conform to your body unlike the typical camera bags out there. Plus what's cool is that the cover can be changed too!! I need to get one for Ryan :-D.

So, if any of you would like to give me a gift for whatever reason... a gift certificate from shootsac.com would be soooo awesome! *hint hint* :-D

Last Day In NY

I haven't had the chance to blog about our last day in NY, so here it is!

We got to ate Peachy's home around 9pm on Saturday after Fred's wedding. Before we got home though, ate Peachy wanted to take us to a Thai Restaurant to get some dinner, especially since Ryan and I didn't really get to eat during the wedding. Sorry, but I forgot the name of the restaurant... something with "Thai" in the name.. Ryan says it was called, "Thai Food" (go figure)... Here are photos of our meal :-D We got some sort of salmon dish, a papaya salad dish, and of course, the ever popular pad thai dish :-D


The next day, before worship service, Ryan and I ate breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. It's all over the place, but I never really tried their donuts until now. Gosh, I just realized how much food we've eaten throughout the trip... okay back on my diet tomorrow! =P. Sparkpeople... here I come ;-D


We attended worship service the next day at Bellmore Locale (formerly known as Long Beach, NY locale). The lesson was really nice and inspirational.. as we remember it, it was about trusting in what God can do for us... and not specifically the instruments He uses... :-D Here's a photo of me and Ryan outside the chapel after the worship service.


We hung out with some brethren. Actually I met them a long time ago at a chat room known as INC mIRC. They are my old mIRCer friends from long ago!! Here are some pictures of them :-D Oh and happy birthday KAT!
I also got shot of Ricci and Carlo (old IRC friends) and their adorable Riley! (I hope I spelled his name right!) He is the cutest CWS Bellmore baby ever that I know! ;) I just realized that the couples shown on this blog are products of INC IRC :-D.


Well, Ryan and I had to book a hotel room for Sunday evening at the Sheraton because our flight back home was canceled. Before going to the hotel, ate Peachy, Ryan and I passed by Jones Beach to take some photos. We then headed off to Jordan's Lobster Bar for lunner (lunch-dinner)...

Fred & Natasha - Wedding Slideshow

After months of preparations, the day finally arrived! Fred & Natasha were wed on a beautiful Saturday morning in a quiet little town called Sicklerville, New Jersey.  These two must have been one of the most "in love" couples I've ever witnessed!   Just by looking at Fred, you can see how much he loves her... and how much she loves him too.  I thought it was so much fun that after the wedding, Fred treated a lot of us out to get some Italian Ice at Rita's Italian ice... This definitely was one of the most fun weddings I've attended with their Hawaiian themed reception!

Fred and Natasha are currently driving across the country during their honeymoon. How cool is that?!?  So I wanted to get this slideshow up so that it'll be ready when they get to California.

For those of you who were not able to attend, I hope you enjoy this slideshow as well! Please click on their photo below to get the slideshow started!

John & Chas: Wedding Video Summary

Click on the picture to play the video. Please be patient while the video loads.

East Coast Weather and Esguerra Wedding Preview

The weather in the east coast was the reason our flight out yesterday was cancelled and the reason why we had a 6 hour take off delay going back home this morning!  So for now, here's a preview of photos taken during Fred and Natasha's wedding. I'll try to get the slideshow out by tomorrow night because after 12 hours being inside a plane, I just want to crash... in bed that is...

For now, please enjoy these photos of the newlyweds!

Ate Peachy's Photoshoot (Just for fun :-D)

I wanted to take photos of ate Peachy who is Ryan's cousin.  We did this just for fun!  Ate, thank you for your hospitality during our stay in the east coast as well as for driving us all over the place! Next time I visit, I hope to go during the fall!

A Day In Philly

Before starting off the rest of this blog... here are some "phlavors" from philly :-D

We started off eating breakfast in the Marriott Residence Inn (the hotel we stayed at during our stay in New Jersey - so yah, the breakfast photo is actually from NJ :).  A group of us planned on going to Philadelphia to do the following: Eat a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, visit the Rocky steps, and check out the Liberty Bell.

We got our sandwiches at a place called Tony Lukes. They are popular for making delicious Philly Cheesesteaks. I really enjoyed my sandwich as well as the brownies pictured above.  We then headed off to Rita's Water Ice and I ordered a Mango mixed with Vanilla flavored italian ice.  It was soooo good! These places are a definite MUST when planning on going to the east coast!

Afterwards, we headed off to run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a.k.a. the Rocky Steps). Here's a picture of Ryan as well as some of us that got to the top first.

Here's my handsome Ryan :-D

Here are some of the others... Johnson I think is confused about which movie this place represented ;-P

We headed to check out the Liberty Bell as well as Independence Hall. A group shot of everyone is shown sitting on the grass in front of Independence Hall - the place where the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution of the US were signed.

Statue of Liberty to South New Jersey

Our morning started at about 5:30 am. Ryan, ate Peachy, and I were running really late!  We were suppose to meet everyone at Battery Park by 7:30 a.m. but because of the traffic and overall craziness of NYC, we ended up meeting my brother, cousins, and friends from Long Beach, CA at around 8:45 a.m. They waited for us for over an hour so our apologies to you all and thank you for waiting for us as well as picking up our tickets!!

As soon as we got there and had our tickets in hand, we went directly to the ferry boat that takes us to the Statue of Liberty.  This was our view from the boat.

Since we were all rushing in the morning and did not get a bite to eat, we decided to get some brunch at the refreshment area when we arrived at the Statue of Liberty island.  Ryan, Johnson and I ended up sharing two orders of fish and chips! YUMMY!! Afterwards, we headed off to line up to go inside the statue... AND it took about an hour to an hour and a half!! 

There are so much more photos from our trip to the Statue of Liberty, so to view them, please click HERE. 

We were planning on eating some NY Pizza but we were running late and had to get to South New Jersey (SNJ) for the wedding rehearsal! So we ending up getting some fast foods at a service/rest area on the way...

Here is one photo of the couple during the rehearsal.  They are so cute!  I think...no... I know I'm going to get teary eyed when I see these two get married... I still CAN'T believe that my cousin is getting married! After years of seeing him grow up... I know I'm going to get emotional... Good thing I have the camera in front of my face... I can hide it ;)

Everyone from the rehearsal left for Natasha's house where food was prepared.  It was really nice to have met some of the brethren in SNJ.  They're soooo friendly!  It's really a blessing to be members of the INC! No matter how far we live from each other.. whenever we meet, it's like we've known one another for a long time.. because we share the same faith :-D

ANYWAYS... Natasha and Fred surprised me and Ryan with beautiful personalized/engraved gifts! Fred and Natasha, thank you for everything! We are sooooo happy for the two of you!

Applebees! Finally!

After worship service this evening, ate Peachy, Ryan and I went to Applebees to get some dinner.  This is the FIRST TIME Ryan and I tried the restaurant so it's a big deal and should be blogged about! ;-D. Here's a picture of Ryan and Ate Peachy (two of the Arellano cousins - represent!).

We ordered 2 appetizers, the spinach artichoke dip and buffalo wings. I got an apple walnut chicken salad as well. I think ate peachy got a California something salad and Ryan got a Chop Steak with a baked potato. The food was deliciouso! (or what they say in tagalog: ANG SARAP TALAGA!!) We will definitely go back to an Applebees in California! Sorry if my pictures aren't large enough to view the food.... I didn't want any of you to get hungry and start salivating on your computer screens heheh ;-D

Okay goodnight/goodmorning! It's now 1:16 a.m. and I have jetlag! 

We have to wake up in 3 hours to visit the Statue of Liberty!

We're In NY!

We landed at the JFK Airport at around 5:40 am today. Ate Peachy picked us up and took us to this really cool restaurant called "Maureen's Kitchen" in Smithtown, New York. I was looking for a website but could not find any.  Just do a google search and it'll pop up reviews. Inside the restaurant looks like a herd of cows exploded because there are black and white cow patterns all over the place and cow figurines everywhere! Really cute! Here's a picture of the signage outside:

Regarding the food....All I can say is, DELICIOUS!  When ate Peachy says she has found a really cool place to try, I believe her to the fullest! The staff was really friendly and the food was yummy! Ate Peachy told me to try the French Toast Croissant with Cream Cheese stuffed with a kind of Rasberry Jam, so I did.  I'm going to use this blog as a means to spread the word on this place because I would definitely come again and try that french toast!

We're still a bit jet lag.  It's 12:36 PM east coast time which means it's only 9:36 AM west coast time.  Ryan is still napping and I'm just relaxing :-D  We'll be attending worship service today at the locale of Bellmore, NY. Tomorrow we'll be meeting up with my brother, cousins, and friends to visit the Statue of Liberty!   Ryan and I didn't get to see it the last time we visited NYC (which was 2 years ago) so we definitely have it as a TO DO this time! 

I'm actually enjoying the day doing nothing but just relaxing here at ate's home.  She has a cool collection of magnets from places she's been to.  I think my favorite one is the "good friends" magnet. It reads: "good friends are like stars, you don't always see them, but you know they're always there." And of course, I need to focus on the Statue of Liberty magnet cause we're in NY!

Here are some photos I took here at ate peachy's home :-D. I need more stock photos for my use... I intend to take more during this trip!

More pictures to come! Signing off, unless I find something awesome to blog about again!

Congrats Grads!

Earlier this year, a friend of mine contacted me and asked if I would be willing to take her graduation photos as well as 9 of her classmates.  I accepted :-D. 

After work on Friday, Ryan and I drove to Cecile's classmates home.  A couple of the grads were already there, ready to be photographed.  They were really nice!! I thought it was really cute how close they all were.  They studied together and now they are graduating together.  From what Cecile had told me, the graduation ceremony the next day was just for the 10 of them. Like an intimate graduation ceremony... 

I'm so happy for all of them, especially Cecile! Congratulations!

The graduates

The graduates having a fun moment

Cecile

INC 94th/40th Anniversary Celebration

Ten years ago, during our 30th Year Anniversary for the INC in San Jose, CA... I walked around alone thinking how it would be so cool to one day have Ryan in the US to celebrate the church's anniversary.  I thought to myself and prayed silently that one day, he and I will have an opportunity to help the church to work on a big celebration..  It was always a dream... a prayer of mine that I kept to myself.  It "WAS" just between me and HIM above. 

When I found out that we were going to have a joint celebration with the District of Northern California, I was so EXCITED! All the more I kept asking, "please...please...please... I really want Ryan and I to be a part of it... somehow.. some way.. in any way.... HE definitely heard my prayers... 

- - -

It surely is a weekend to remember.  After all our efforts in practicing, all the meetings, emails, phone calls, sleepless nights, as well as the last minute request to compose the Parade of Flags song and orchestrate it as well as orchestrate the Voice of a Child song composed by sis Kate it was definitely worth it!  The day finally arrived! It was finally time to celebrate the INC Anniversary!  

I'll miss EVERYONE that I had the honor to work with.  From the CWS Children  to my fellow District Officers.  They are an inspiration and I can't wait to work with them again on our upcoming district activities! It's a blessing to be part of this District of Southern California. I'm so proud of us all for doing an AWESOME job! Above all, I'm so thankful to God for giving me and Ryan an opportunity...... an experience of a lifetime!

Click on picture to view larger version :-D.  When I get Socal's CWS Choral Group Photo, I plan on adding it on to this blog as well! :-D For now, this is all I have...

A picture of me and Ryan with our Staff Shirts and Badges ;-D

P.S. Another prayer answered...