Who is the one that got away? I guess it’s that person with whom everything was great, everything was perfect, but the timing was just wrong. There was no fault in the person, there was no flaw in the chemistry, but the cards just didn’t fall the right way, I suppose.

I believe in the fact that ending up with someone, finding a longtime partner that is, does not lie merely in the other person. I can actually argue that an equal part, or maybe even the greater part, has to do with the matter of timing. It has to do with you being ready to settle down and commit to someone in a way that goes beyond the little niceties of giddy romance.

How often have you gone through it without even realizing it? When you’re not ready to commit in that mature manner, it doesn’t matter whom you’re with, it just doesn’t work. Small problems become big; inconsequentials become dealbreakers simply because you’re not ready and it shows. It’s not that you and the person you’re with are no good; it’s just that it’s not yet right, and little things become the flashpoint of that fact.

Then one day you’re ready. You really are. And when this happens you’ll be ready to settle down with someone. He or she may not be the most perfect, they might not be the brightest stars of romance to ever have burned in your life, but it’ll work because you’re ready. It’ll work because it’s the right time and you’ll make it work. And it will make sense, it really will.

So that day comes when you’re finally making sense of things, and you find yourself to be a different person. Things are different, your approach is different, you finally understand who you are and what you want, and you’ve become ready because the time has truly arrived. And mind you, there’s no telling when this day will come. Hopefully you’re single but you could be in a long-term relationship, you could be married with three kids, it doesn’t matter. All you know is that you’ve changed, and for some reason, the one that got away, is the person you think about.

You’ll think about them because you’ll wonder, “What if they were here today?” You’ll wonder, “What if we were together now, with me as I am and not as I was?” That’s what the one that got away is. The biggest “What if?” you’ll have in your life. If you’re married, you’ll just have to accept the fact that the one that got away, got away. Believe me, no matter how fairy tale you think your marriage is, this can happen to the best of us. But hopefully you’re mature enough to realize that you’re already with the one you’re with and this is just another test of your commitment, one which will just strengthen your marriage when you get past it. Sure, you’ll think about him/her every so often, but it’s alright. It’s never nice to live with a “might have been,” but it happens.

Maybe the one that got away is the one who is already married. In which case it’s the same thing. You just have to accept and know that your memories of that person will probably bring a nice little smile to your lips in the future when you’re old and gray and reminiscing.

But if neither of that is the case, then it’s different. What do you do if it’s not yet too late? Simple…. Find him, find her. Because the very existence of a “one that got away” means that you’ll always wonder, what if you got that one?

Ask him out to coffee, ask her out to a movie, it doesn’t matter if you’ve dropped in from nowhere. You’d be surprised, you just might be the “one that got away” as well for the person who is your “the one that got away”.

You might drop in from out of nowhere and it wont make a difference. If the timing is finally right, it will all just fall into place somehow and you know.

I’m thinking, it would be a great feeling, in the end, to be able to say to someone, “Hey you, you’re the one that almost got away”.

This was sent to me by a friend who let the love of her life slipped from her hands. Hope you find him again, friend.

I am a woman. I’m entitled to mood swings. Very True. Ha! ha!

Everytime I say “I Love You”, it comes from the heart and I truly mean it. Do you mean it too? Say these words to someone that you love today. Who knows maybe there would be no tomorrow for you to still say it.

Suicide is never an option. It is the coward’s way out, don’t you think? Please never think that no one loves and understands you. There are dozens of dying people out there who are willing to give anything and everything just for one more day. Don’t waste life, it’s beautiful.

Everything’s easy when it’s not about you. Things get complicated when the “you” is replaced with “me”.

Hugs make a big difference. It reinforces confidence, well-being and love. HUGS for everyone!

Work like you don’t need the money.
Love like you’ve never been hurt.
Dance like nobody’s watching.
Sing like nobody’s listening.
Live like it’s Heaven on Earth.

The dining tables are situated all around this magnificent staircase.

‘Twas a buffet dinner like no other. We were flooded with food! Literally speaking that is. We do not even know where to start. They’ve catered to all international cuisines such as Mediterranean, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, American, Italian, Indian and so much more. Please view the pictures below for you to have an inkling what I’m talking about. The pictures were borrowed from foodfor2.com

All kinds of salad for green-eyed monsters like me.

Bread galore for those who refuses to eat rice because they are dieting.

Cheese to go with the bread. You can choose from a wide array of it, goat, blue, cheddar, camembert, stilton, parmesan. Name it and they have it.

Sushi bar for Japanese food lovers and I am not included. Since everything that looks and feels like it’s still breathing is a BIG no, no for me.

I heart their grill station! I’m a sucker for anything grilled.

Curry anyone? This is their taste of India.

This is hubby’s favorite, the Chinese Dimsum station.

Still hubby’s fave, the seafood section. He’s addicted to oysters!

And here’s my much loved station, the Dessert Haven!

Feast your eyes on various choices of desserts such as crepes, creme brulee, cakes, cookies, jell-os, ice cream, crema de fruta and my fave of all, sugar-free panacottas! Their stawberry and dark chocolate mousse panacottas were simply the best!

I had paella, aspara bacon, lots of salad (I highly recommend their Waldorf, it’s so delectable), grilled tuna, steamed vegetables, osso buco, dumplings, a glass of freshly squeezed mango juice and my sugar free panacottas. I was planning to go Italian and Thai on my next round but I was so full already. So I decided to just leave it all to hubby. He went back to the buffet table 6 times! Wow, what an appetite! Maybe I was able to go another round if not for my big baby getting all the space in my tummy. But I’m not complaining. I know I made my child a happy baby last night too. Then during one of the trips of hubby to the buffet table, I’ve asked the waitress if they can make a simple cake for us saying Happy Anniversary as part of my many surprises for hubby and gladly they’ve obliged. It was like I stumbled upon a magic lamp and all my wishes came true that night. It was really a magical moment for us both. So when hubby came back to our table, he was so surprised when the cake was presented to him along with my gifts. He was such a happy lark. You may see the picture of our anniversary cake below. Unfortunately, we thought of photographing it when we were already almost through with it. It was so delicious. It was made of dark chocolate with chocolate sprinkles and topped with spiral white chocolate and it’s filling was so creamy that it tasted like ice cream already.

Our simple yet scrumptious anniversary cake courtesy of the hotel management.

Hubby deserved to be pampered even just for that night, since it’s been a year already that he has been taking care of me. I was in and out of the hospital since we’ve gotten married because of my difficult pregnancies. I lost our little one to miscarriage last July and now I’m about to give birth to our angel this coming July as well. Thanks to hubby’s love and care, everything is going well with my pregnancy now. I’ve gotten through with my very cumbersome first trimester because of hubby’s help. He takes care of everything in the meantime that I’m still heavy with child. He cooks for me and our little baby inside my tummy, he cleans the house, washes the dishes, he does all the household chores even if he’s too tired coming from work and he still makes sure that I’m comfortable and good even if he’s too busy. He even drives me to the office and fetches me right after. I just couldn’t ask for a better husband because he’s the best already. So I saved up for my gifts for him because he truly deserves it and so much more. I gave him a brand new watch and a new aviator shades. Since he’s been doing the budgeting in our household and paying for all my medicines, vitamins and prenatal check-ups, most of the time he doesn’t have anything left to splurge a little on something really nice. He’s just so selfless. It was my own humble way of saying thank you for everything he has done and still doing for me.

Here’s the picture of the best husband in the world:

The gifts that made him smile:

This is 152 pounds me. Very pregnant and happy.

And the gift that made my night:

I realized that love is not all about giving gifts, flowers, chocolates and candle lit dinners, it’s all about sacrifices and how much you are willing to give of yourself to the one you love. And I am giving all that I am and all that I’ll ever be. I will never forget that night since that was a special night that I named after my heart, soul and life, my husband Ryan.

Here is a picture of Piglet (that’s me!) and my beautiful Mom.

A few years back, I was hospitalized due to acute gastroenteritis. My husband, who’s my boyfriend then, would visit me every night. He would bring me things that would put a smile on my face. Since he knows my addiction to cats, he bought me a hello kitty pillow and it really made my day. But since I’m in so much pain also, I easily get irritated over little things. I remember that I would always try to pick a fight with him but he would just smile at me and say sweetly “Ang sungit sungit naman ng baby ko” (My baby is so moody). “May masakit ba syo?” (Are you in pain?). “Magpahinga ka na ha” (Take a rest, okay?). And he’ll give me a peck on the cheek right after saying that. I was feeling rather ugly lying in that hospital bed wearing a silly hospital gown. I had unkempt and oily hair, dry skin that I could practically write on it with my fingernails, cracked lips, puffy eyes and I was not getting any real baths at all. So you can just imagine how I would have looked like. I’m ugly that’s what I kept on saying to myself and I began to dread the night that he would come and visit me because I might turn him off with my unsightliness. But he made me feel otherwise. Even before I had the chance to speak my mind, he held my hand, squeezed it softly, he looked at me with love in his eyes and said “Ang ganda ganda pa rin talaga ng baby ko.” (My baby is still very beautiful.). And that’s when I knew in my heart that he’s the one that I can see myself growing old with. And that he’s the one that I would love to spend every wakeful and wake less moment of my life with. Here’s a guy who is caring enough to remember even the littlest things that would make me happy, here is a guy who is patient enough to bear with my mood swings. Here is a guy who is sensitive enough to see my insecurities and make me feel like I’m the most perfect and beautiful creature that God ever created. And right then and there it hit me, while I was looking at him intently that he’s the one. I might not have heard any bells ringing or music playing but I’ve heard my heart beating and telling me that from that day forward it would only beat for him and no one else. If people think that he’s lucky to have me, I’m telling you now that I’m luckier because he chose to love me.

“Baby, I won’t promise you that there would be no more fights between us because I’m certain that there will be a lot of it. But I know too that we’ll always end up kissing and making-up. I won’t promise you that there would be no mistakes because I’m not perfect and neither you are. But I’m sure that there will be lessons learned after every fault committed. I won’t promise you that there will be no more tears because one time or another we’ll be shedding one for our friends, colleagues, families and for each other. Actually, I won’t promise you anything. “But I will guarantee you that I will give all of me in being your wife and mother to our future children. I will give every thing that I have in understanding and accepting you as you are. I will give all my love in everything that I will do for you and our future family. I love you Ryan, my boyfriend, my best friend, my husband. Being with you is like making every single one of my dreams come true.”

Turned out, classmate siya ni Michael, si first bf, sa Mapua. Nakakahiya kasi anlayo na ng kwento niya when I asked his name. Hahaha… Na-gets ko naman na si Michael ang connection namin. Kaya lang I really can’t remember who he is. Engineer din sya tulad ni Michael and he’s working at Ayala Land daw. Ayun, kwento-kwento ng lahat ng kilala namin. Nauna kasi akong nag-graduate kesa kay Michael dahil 5 years nga ang Engineering while 4 years lang Accountancy (nung 1999 yan, ngayon yata 5 years na rin Accountancy sa lahat ng schools). Gawain na namin dati na ipapasundo nya ako sa driver nila tapos susunduin namin sya. Kaya kilala ko halos lahat ng classmates at friends niya sa Mapua… Dami na nilang may-asawa! Pati yung kausap ko married na rin with 2 kids.

Bago siya bumaba, nasabi niyang nag-uusap pa nga sila ni Michael from time to time…

Around 10pm, nag-ring na ang celfon ko. “Unknown” yung lumalabas kaya naisip ko na agad kung sino yun… si Michael! Expected ko na ite-text siya ni classmate.

Ayun, chika-chika. Uuwi na naman daw sila ngayong 22. Yearly na nilang ginagawa kasi may reunion silang angkan tuwing December 27. Syempre ask kami pareho kung malapit na ba kaming pasakal, este pakasal… parehong hindi pa. Hehehe… Hindi pa raw siya sawa sa pagiging binata. Ako naman, ayun, marami pang gustong gawin din. Pero may gf na siya. Ipapakilala niya raw sa akin pag-uwi nila.

Kalagitnaan ng usap namin, may umagaw ng fon, si mama niya! Sobrang labs ko mom ni Michael. If there’s one thing na super pinanghihinayang ko sa naging relationship namin, mom niya yun! Nung pinakilala ako ni Michael sa mom niya, iniwan niya kami to talk. After ng usap namin, close na kami! Mas marami pa kaming “dates” in a week kesa kami ni Michael. Halos dun na ako tumira sa kanila dati dahil lagi kaming merong chikahan portion ng mama niya na umaabot ng madaling araw. Hehehe… Mas marami pang niluha mom niya kesa sa amin ni Michael when we broke up. I realized then that one of the reasons why tumagal kami ni Michael ng 4 years was because ramdam kong love ako ng family niya. Hay…

When my mom died, isa si mama sa mga una kong tinawagan. Iyakan kami sa fon. Inaampon na nga niya ako. Kaso sabi ko paano kung magkabalikan kami ni Michael e di incest yun di ba? Hahaha… Nakaka-miss sobra!

Ayun, chika to death kami ni Michael. Naka-conference call na kami nung 12midnight. Parinig pa si mama na mukha raw kami talaga ni Michael dahil until now single pa kami pareho. Hahaha! Imposible! Tapos 1am to 4am, lahat na ng pwedeng balikan at pag-usapang tao, natalakay na namin ni Michael. Na-realize lang niya na hindi pala ako taga-US nung mga 4:30am na. Hahaha… Ako rin naman feeling taga-ibang bansa at talaga namang gising na gising pa! Pati ang pagba-blog ko naikwento ko na sa kanya. Lumipat na nga kami sa landline dahil kulang na lang umapoy ang celfon ko sa init!

Kaya eto ako ngayon, lumulutang na naman ang isip at hindi pa natutulog. Hyper pa! Pagbaba namin ng fon ng 5am, after 15 minutes tumawag ulit siya. Nakalimutan daw niyang sabihin na dito sila ikakasal ng gf niya sa June 2008. At kasama raw ako sa mandatory attendees. Hahaha! Sabi ko pag-uwi nila wag siyang papakita sa akin at sasakalin ko siya! Hindi ako a-attend at baka pigilan ko pa ang kasalan ‘no!

Joke!