I Fell In Love With The Boy In The Coffee Shop

No, it's not what you think.

It wasn't some random stranger, a fated young man on the far side of the cafe, our eyes meeting and lingering as I sit there in the corner of my booth, book in hand and the sweet aroma of brewing beans in the air. No, I don't turn my eyes away, my cheeks burning, half expecting him to get up and walk over to me until he finally does. He doesn't slide over, charm me with his smile, and strike up a conversation that will forever be immortalized and hailed as the most romantic conversation in the annals of history. No, I don't smile and he doesn't smile and we don't decide right then and there that this is it, the thing most people spend their whole lives searching for, rare and unadulterated and pure, the white-hot fire of raw love burning deep inside our hearts and threatening to consume us completely.

No, it was nothing like that.

But there was a young man. There was a lingering of eyes, a runaway fire, a coy smile, a spark.

There was a coffee shop.

And I fell in love.

.....

A secret meeting in a bookstore, when he called me and I turned around to see him. To this day, I still keep turning around for him, seeing his face light up and feeling my heart skip a beat. A trip to the comic book store. Some embarrassing geekiness. The realization that we are kindred spirits—broken and found and pieced together—and despite taking forever, our time has finally come.

.....

Falling in love is nothing grand.

On that first date, it's the twitch in the corner of his lips, a hint of a smile. It's him leading me across the coffee shop, the touch of his fingers on the small of my back—light, unsure, afraid. It's the endless stories we shared and the beauty of our silence, nodding our heads and feeling like we understood each other even though no words were said. It's him leaning forward on the table across from me, eager to hear everything. It's the wave goodbye, the promise of another meeting, the giddiness that reached up to our eyes. It's the way I bit my lip, my heart racing, thoughts of dancing in my room and me gazing out the car window on the way home.

I was twenty-three, and there I was, in a cheesy Taylor Swift song, one that I never wanted to stop. I’ve had my share of heartaches, but her song was right: on a Wednesday, in a cafe, I watched love begin again.

.....

It’s been five years. Now I'm lying in bed in the dark, listening to the soft rise and fall of my husband's chest, my hand over his heart, his hand over mine. I can still see the hint of a smile on the corner of his lips, the same one that captivated me all those years ago. I can still feel the spark in his touch, the gentleness in his fingers. I can still see him, that shy stance and those hopeful eyes, as clear as the day we first met.

He is still that same boy in the coffee shop.

And every day, I fall in love with him.

Wear That Pink Ribbon: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and aside from wearing a pink ribbon, here are some of the things you need to know about the most common female invasive cancer in the world.

Basic overview: What do you need to know?

Developed from breast cells, breast cancer occurs when a malignant tumor forms in the breast’s lobules or from the milk ducts. The first symptom is usually a lump felt by the woman on her breasts, and while most breast lumps are non-cancerous, it’s always best to seek medical attention just to be sure. Another sign may be some sort of pain in the armpits unrelated to the monthly period of a woman, a rash around the nipples, or perhaps an unusual discharge from the breast. The breast size or shape may become irregular, and the nipples may become inverted or sunken. The skin on the area may also flake or peel.

Boyfriend vs. Husband

The new year always brings some fresh perspective into anyone’s life. In my case, 2015 is shaping up to be a great year to appreciate my husband more.

In this short-short post, I’m just gonna go ahead and list down a few of the small, mundane things that have changed now that I am married.

1. When we were still boyfriend and girlfriend, he would lean over to kiss. Now that we’re married, he leans over to fart.

2. We used to text all day about sweet nothings. Now we text about what’s for lunch.

3. Goodbye, sexy outfits that take forever to complete. Hello, lounging around the house in comfy sleepwear all day.

4. In the movie theater, we used to cuddle while watching the film. Now, we either eat like ravenous kids or fall asleep.

5. Fights then: “You said WHAT?” Fights now: “Who had the last gulp of soy milk in the fridge?”

The bottom line: I love married life. I thank God for my hubby every day. I wake up with a smile on my face when I see him beside me each morning, sleepy and disheveled and just as unglamorous as I am.  And whenever he looks at me or smiles at me or does whatever it is that drives me insane sometimes, I just know that he loves me more and more each day.

Which is perfect, really. Because I feel exactly the same way.

How to Win Every Argument in Your Relationship

My father-in-law is harboring chickens in our house.

Caged in their bamboo homes with that distinct poultry smell, the chickens would cluck away in the most ungodly hours and attract all sorts of flies and crawlies nearby. They’re cute, though, the chickens. They would poke their heads at us every once and a while, and the little kids just love them whenever my husband’s brothers come visit.

What’s weird though is that they’re all hens, all of them. And as I stand there in the garage looking at them, these female chickens pecking at the floor with no mates to call their own, I feel a certain twinge in my chest.

My mother always said that she and my father fought all the time because of their Chinese zodiac signs. He was a “rooster” who liked to crow at her nonstop, and she was a “dog” who barked all the time. But we had a dog, too, once. He didn’t seem too happy to be alone, either.

Despite all the fighting and the tears and the storming out and the pain, we all need our relationships—arguments and all.

Now that I’m married, I’ve come to realize even more that regular little spats are normal. Sometimes, the issue is big or small and they come and go and resurface even though we think they’re long buried. While arguments will always be a part of married life (or any relationship for that matter), it doesn’t hurt to spare yourselves the pain, does it?

There is no one surefire way to win an argument. It all really depends on what you mean by “winning”. In fact, if all you really care about is winning an argument with your beloved, then you probably shouldn’t even be in a mature relationship, right? But for those who want to emerge victorious in different ways after a fight, following these steps guarantees that you’ll never have to “lose” an argument with your significant other ever again.

How to Score an Epic Win in an Argument

What to Expect at the Pre-Cana / Marriage Interview with Your Priest

SMACK!

Startling. That was the sound that echoed throughout the court when my husband hit the shuttlecock. I watch him squint his eyes, lunge forward, and swing his racket. The umpire raises his hand a final time—they’ve won. His peers all turn to look at me with smiles on their faces.

“Inspiration,” they tell me. “Everything’s possible when you’ve got a personal cheering squad.”

A personal cheering squad. That’s me. It’s my hubby’s badminton tournament for their architect chapter, and I’m sitting at the bleachers holding his towel for him. Everybody’s reaction for the day: “You guys are married? But you look so young!”

We get that all the time, and it’s a compliment, really. In fact, that was exactly what our priest said when we went in for our marriage interview. And when you’re sitting at the parish office and your excitement is filled to the brim at the prospect of getting married, that’s really not something you expect to hear.

We were not prepared AT ALL, because we had no idea what to expect. We ended up attending two interviews with different priests and had to answer forms with “no cheating”. We really wish we’d known what would happen beforehand, so to keep anyone else from making the same mistake, here are some handy tips for you engaged couples out there:

What to Expect at the Pre-Cana Interview with Your Priest

How to Be a Good Wedding Guest

After months and months of losing sleep and sweating it out on a guest list, my hubby and I finally had a perfect seat plan for the reception. You can imagine just how much a guest wanting to bring an unexpected plus one to the wedding made us want to rip their throats out.

Thankfully, most of our wedding guests were amazing people who made our wedding day extra special because they were all just wonderful. We love them all so, so much. :)

We were very lucky with our wedding guests, but most couples are not as fortunate. Unruly wedding guests can be a pain. Being one of the first among my peers to get married, I am now witnessing the steady stream of my friends getting hitched one by one. And if you don’t want to be blacklisted as a horrible guest that nobody will want to invite ever again, read through these tips.

How to Be the Model Wedding Guest of Any Couple’s Dreams

The Complete Step-By-Step Guide To Getting Your Marriage License/Certificate in the Philippines (As Of 2013, For Catholics and Filipino Citizens)

So I’ve been getting a lot of questions from brides-to-be on how to get the ever-elusive marriage license.

Before I got married, I had no idea where to even begin getting the necessary documents to make our union legal and binding. There were just too many requirements and nobody to ask, being one of the first of my friends to get hitched. My hubby and I ended up going to different city halls, church offices, and even notary public centers for affidavits of our marital status. I tried to Google these things to no avail, and it always irked me that nobody ever posted stuff like this when this is actually one of the most important things to do in a wedding.

Why? Why had nobody ever thought about making a step-by-step guide for this?

And because I don’t want soon-to-be-brides to ever feel lost and confused again (you have enough on your plate to worry about; I know), here’s a comprehensive how-to for those pesky papers you just want to get out of the way (kidding).

The Complete Step-By-Step Guide To Getting Your Marriage License/Certificate in the Philippines (As Of 2013, For Catholics and Filipino Citizens)

Not-So-Random Tips On Your Big Day

Being one of the first among my friends to get married, I had no clue what I was supposed to do.

Will I really fit into that gown? Do we even need a cake? What in the world is an arrhae?

License? WHAT LICENSE?

I was never the type of girl who had her wedding all planned out since she was 12, so you can just imagine my panic.

Still, my husband and I planned our wedding in 10 months, and thankfully, after the hectic schedules and the crazed trips to all the suppliers, we pulled it off and got hitched smoothly. It was a hell of a ride, one that isn’t without its flaws. Looking back, as we both fondly recalled everything that happened, we found some things that we could have done differently, if only we knew them ahead of time. Like if someone from the future went back in time and warned us and stuff. Or something not ripped off from every sci-fi movie in the 80s.

So, fresh from my first-hand experience, here are some not-so-random tips for your big day:

So you're married. Now what?

The very first thing I did when I got home was pee. Really.

I was filled with too much excitement just waiting to be released. I was stepping into a wonderful new life with a husband I love dearly, and I was filled with that “Just Married” aura, so much so that I just hadn’t snapped back to reality yet. There were just too many things to do, and so many burning questions that I had to find the answer to: how will our bathroom routine work? Which is his side of the bed? Can I keep doing freelance work in our room? Where will I put my Playstation 3?

The important questions.

Thankfully, I was coming home to my husband’s parents’ house—now my in-laws. So really, there wasn’t much to fix because everything already has its place. Some people might think that living with the in-laws is a big no-no, but honestly, it suits me just fine. More on this on later posts, though.

Image Credit: DaveShelton.com

So we unpacked for six days and tried to settle down. Even though it seemed like forever, we actually got the hang of our everyday routines. But two months came by like a blur—I honestly can’t remember the first few weeks of married life. All I know is that I was a lovestruck girl living in my happy little bubble.

Of course, that’s not always how it works best. So let’s get into the nitty gritty.

Congratulations! You’ve now begun a new chapter on the road to your happily ever after. You’ve snagged yourself an awesome man and he’s officially the luckiest man on earth. When all the flowers have wilted and when the wedding gown can no longer fit (hopefully not that fast though), you come home with your beloved hubby with stars in your eyes and your heart bursting with love and joy. You’re now left with a mountain of gifts (yay!) and with a new life you’re excited to begin. How do you start?