NEW APARTMENT: Our first in San Francisco

So we finally moved to a place of our own. It was so hard looking for apartments here because there is more demand than there are houses but luckily, with the help of a friend, we managed to find this cute in-law close to the Bart so commute wont be so hard. We were so lucky too that our landlords are Filipinos who are very nice. So far, we don't have anything but a bed and a table but I am very excited to fill our house and decorate!

BACK FROM THE GRAVE!

It's been so long (4.5 months!) since I wrote here. I was kind of giving up on blogging until I opened one of the posts and it made me smile to remember all those memories that's why I've decided to keep this. I want to keep smiling as I remember the things we've done throughout the years.

What happened since I last posted:

1. 2nd Year Anniversary was spent in Las Vegas from May 9-12, 2014.

at Gordon Ramsay's BurGR

being tourists at Gondola ride

Bellagio Lobby

VALENTINES DAY 2014

This Valentines day, we decided to just stay at home and cook one of our favorites: Boiling Crab! It was a success and (I think) even better because of course, we were able to adjust the recipe to our liking. Master Chef Emil did a great job! Only down side about this is cleaning up after cooking. But overall, it was a great experience to cook and experiment together in the kitchen.

Emil also gave me a fancy bouquet of roses and Ferrero. sosyal. I gave him socks (because he said he needed it) and a tie. haha Now that I am typing this, my gift wasn't romantic at all but just too practical. hahaha.

Side note: This day also marked the day when I wore my first eye glasses!

We cooked two dungeness crab that we got for around $23+ total. We didn't even touch the second one so the price wasn't bad for two meals for two people. 

One was enough for both of us with a bunch of shrimp.

Masterchef Emil about to clean the crab.

Enjoying my delicious dungeness crab with my new glasses 

I didn't even know that I needed one for my right eye (yes only for the right) 

until I went to get my license and failed the vision exam!

NEW YEAR AT THE AMANTES

Holiday 2013 was Emil and I's first time coming home after we got married so we didn't know how we will divide our time for my side of the family and his. We then decided to spend Christmas with my side since we always have a family reunion then New Year's in Pampanga. Unfortunately, I got sick during new year's eve so I needed to sleep early and just woke up 10 mins. before the countdown so I can join the count then slept again after. haha. The food was great though! Eimerie prepared chicken, Eunice prepared spaghetti which is by the way so good as if it came from Jollibee! Tita Mae marinated the BBQ which is so delicious as well then mom cooked it. It was just such a great feeling to be with family as we start another year of our lives.

Christmas 2013

One of the best things for me during the Holidays is that we get to spend it not only with family but with my mom's relatives. Ever since I can remember, we have a reunion every year Christmas time and have a Kris Kringle. This does not only include my mom's siblings but even her cousins, her aunts and uncles. Now that I am much older, I realize how special this tradition is no matter the circumstances may be. It makes extended family much closer even when the family gets bigger and bigger. Even though life is tough, everybody still tries to be part of the reunion. I've already missed two Christmases with them when I was in Hawaii but I catch up through photos they post on Facebook and that's how I know that another member of the Omadto Family has been added. Aunts and Uncle marry but we still have this tradition and they bring their spouses to our reunion. This year was extra special because we got to go home and mama's older sister Tita Nina, who lives in Iloilo was able to come as well. I even brought Emil and mom for the first time and Emil even joined our Kris Kringle. He was so happy to be part of it and we've talked about doing the same thing when we will have our kids in the future. This is part of the reason why I love spending Christmas in the Philippines! It's the traditions that we have that makes life happier.

Part of the reunion was of course the food. We had plenty because we spent Christmas day here. After eating, we exchanged gifts which is one of the best part, games and Karaoke. What Filipino party doesn't have Karaoke right? We even have BIG prizes for those who hit certain scores! There was also a pool available so there was also a team swimming competition.

Another tradition has been added to the Kris Kringle. Every year we take a photo of our own families and extended families and see how much we've grown. If I am not mistaken, only a few family was not present at the reunion which is a record! Yay!

Reunion was held at a private resort at Pansol, Calamba, Laguna. Sometimes we travel to different provinces to have our reunion (both Summer and Christmas) but this time, we didn't go far.

Paz Family 2013 (complete!)

Amante Family 2013 (minus ate Rhea and Ethan)

Omadto Family 2013

(pink team: Tito Andy's family, mama's younger brother

blue team: Tita Nina's family, mama's older sister

red team: Paz Family

halo halo team: Tito Legie's family, mama's eldest brother)

1st and 2nd cousins (Omadto 3rd generation)

I am so blessed to have family and extended family like them. My mom and her cousins are close and even us cousins may it be first or second are close too! I am blessed to be part of such a happy family.

Happy 25th Anniversary to my fayrents!

I was so happy to give something back to my parents after their long suffering while nurturing us. hahaha. Emil and I gave them a trip to Thailand for their 25th anniversary and they came with our lola. It was my mama and lola's first time to be out of the country so the trip was extra special. They also met with their high school classmate Tita Cecil who also accommodated them while they were there (thank you po!). Mama really enjoyed being a tourist and said 'bitin ang shopping.' haha. Alam na natin kanino ako nagmana. Super mega over beyond grateful to have parents like them! Love you mafa! :)

Kualoa Ranch Saturdate

I've been working at the ranch for over a month now and this is the only time I get to go around with Emil since our schedules haven't been matching for a long time. During my days off, he will have most of his classes and when he doesn't work or doesn't have classes, I am at work! It was like this for almost a month so finally, I got to have a Saturday off..

We did Ocean Voyage where you ride a Catamaran and sail by the Kaneohe Bay and the Turtle Reef. Lucky enough, we got to see three turtles! We also did Jungle Expedition where you ride a Pitzgauer jeep and go up the mountains through the rough terrain which was very exciting and adventurous. The view up there was breath taking. Photos that we took did not give it any justice because we only used our phones. haha

By the way, we all got these tours for free. The ranch allows employees to have 7 free individual experience tours a month that they can share with families and friends after their introductory period of three months. I don't have this privilege yet since I've only been working there for a month so I asked one of my co-workers, Sylvana, to hook us up. The only down side about this is you have to stand by, meaning, you have to wait if the tour gets full and if it doesn't then you have a chance to be on it. The Jungle Expedition tour goes every 30 or 45 mins everyday so it wasn't very hard for us to get in one and we chose the earliest Ocean Voyage because I know people don't like to get up early so we got on that pretty easily. haha. They also ask you to check in half an hour before the tour and if you do, most likely you'll get on tours you like.

Picture taking while waiting for our tours to start.

on the Catamaran cruise

Chinaman's hat or Mokoli'i Island behind us

too bad we didn't get to take photos of the turtles because my phone died!

views while on the Jungle Expedition

Photoshoot with the Alombros

Its been 2 weeks since I last posted on here. I've been so busy with the demands of life (char!) but I don't think any special thing happened to me aside from the Pumpkin Carving activity and Miki's baby shower that I organized. Soon, when photos are sent, I will post something about that. It's such a pain when something happened and I don't have my camera with me! I have to wait for photos from other people. haha.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago I had an opportunity to take photos for the Alombros before we all leave Hawaii. They've been our neighbors for the past year and a half now and this coming December, its time for us to part as they are going to Colorado and we are going to San Francisco.

This day was quite challenging because it was about to rain and the sky was overcast. No sun at all and the colors looked so washed out. Good thing some photos came out better than I expected. Haha. Here are some of my favorites:

these were my favorites :)

Photos were taken at Laie Point and at the back of Laie Hawaii Temple.

Thank You Card

Thank you card for everybody who helped us before, during and after the wedding. I was pretty pleased with how it ended up. Had fun placing everybody's face in the "sky." haha (though not everybody noticed it!)

May 12, 2012: The Greatest Day of Our Lives

We were supposed to get married on April 21st but because of the accident, we waited a couple of more weeks to go on with it. Well, it was worth the wait! Though Emil couldn't walk normally yet, everything else fell into the right place, and even better! I was very particular on how everything was supposed to go, but what our friend said was true, nothing else mattered after entering the house of the Lord to be sealed with your eternal companion for time and all eternity.

Our bridesmaid did a very good job on their dresses! It was very hard to look for a peach modest dress and yet they did it! they all look so beautiful!

Though our families didn't get to come, we were joined by our supportive friends.

We can't thank all of our friends enough for helping us especially the day before. We prepared all the food in our house while decorating the ballroom too. Almost all the Filipinos were there and we were told that we are very lucky to have such friends. Check out the photos from the reception. 

Even they guys helped out making these tissue pompoms. 

I think we made almost a hundred of it if not more.

I TRIED playing The Wedding Song for Emil as a surprise
but I didn't give the song any justice since I haven't played in a long time.
It was originally played by Kenny G.

Check it out: THE WEDDING SONG

Emil surprised me with She's Always A Woman to Me by Billy Joel

Our friends performing for us:

Larry as my tatay.

Our wedding photos were featured at our photographer's blog, no other than Rommel Lardizabal. Check out the link to see more of his stunning shots.