Discovery Weekend Experience

Alvin and I attended the Discovery Weekend last July 17-19 at the OMI Retreat House. It was a gift from my mom. I am thankful so much to her because she sent us to this retreat. I know she loves us both very much and would not want what happened to her and Papa, happen to us.

At first, I was so nervous. It was because they said that in attending this weekend retreat / seminar, it can make or break your relationship. Come careful thinking, I said to myself, why not try it. Even if we have already booked and paid ALL of our wedding suppliers, we decided to be brave enough and attend this seminar and see if we were really ready to get married.

On Friday morning, we proceeded to St. James the Great first for our Canonical Interview. I have to mention here that i highly commend the service of the parish staff of St. James. They are very acommodating and understanding to their clients. Unlike the Cathedral of St. Andrew's in La Huerta Paranaque, where, aside from being so rude to Alvin, they have this "i don't care if you're getting married. I will release your baptismal certificate when i feel like it" attitude. Grabe! Somebody really has to write to the Monsignor in that church. Cathedral pa naman sila! Instead of welcoming people to their church, they drive them away with their attitude! Seriously.

Anyways, happy thoughts. The Canonical Interview went well. The Monsignor that interviewed us was Bicolano and was so nice and patient with Alvin and Me.

It was raining really hard that day. After the interview, we picked up Alvin's mom in RITM, had lunch at Festival mall and went back to our houses to pack. At around 4pm, we left for Fairview where the Discovery Weekend will be held. They gave us a map that was so easy to follow. Therefore, we didnt have a hard time getting there.

We arrived at the OMI Retreat house at around 6pm. It was a very peaceful place with lots of trees and grass. Alvin cant believe that there's such a place in the middle of Metro Manila. After registration, we were pointed to our separate rooms. Yes, girls stay on the second floor while boys stay in the ground floor. The room was tidy with two beds and its own CR. Except for the pillow (which was hard as a cement bag), i love the acommodations.

The bell rang at 7pm for dinner. This bell will control our actions althroughout our weekend. It will signal the waking up time, meals, ending of the dialogues and whatever reason our chaplain says. After dinner, we had a session with DW graduate couple sharing their experience. It was nice. We ended at around 11 pm and after saying our goodnights, went to sleep. Well on my part, I TRIED sleeping. It was so difficult not sleeping on your own bed.

The next day was full of activities. Two sessions in the morning and two at the afternoon. We were never hungry though. There was always food and in fairness, the food was okay. They never repeated a viand =) Every after sessions, Alvin and I would dialogue about the questionnaire given. We were not allowed to talk to other couples. If you see the place, there are a lot of chairs in pair scattered around. You would just have to find your spot so that you can talk with your love one. There was no sharing of feelings with other couples. You do not share your problems with the group. It was just you and your partner. They have also requested us to leave our cell phones and watches in our room. The whole weekend will be just about the both of us. Alvin was so busy with work and I was so busy whining and doing the wedding preparations all these weeks so this was a good break for us to focus on each other. Like what they said there, you should not only prepare for your wedding but also for your marriage.

We had confession that Saturday night and before we finished on Sunday, we celebrated Mass.

I think that this was the most sulit thing that we have ever spent on. We got to talk about things that we haven't talked about before. I came to understand Alvin and myself. We were taught how to fight without damaging the relationship. The DW graduate couples shared their real experiences and most of them were really entertaining.

Our chaplains Tito Jojo and Tita Dixie really did a great job.

There after we have graduated, I felt closer to Alvin. I am more convinced that we made the right choice of getting married. Some of us weren't that successful. With the experience, they realized that they are not ready to get married and decided just to be friends. However, one cannot say that they lost in that aspect. Its still a win win situation because you discovered yourself, your partner and your relationship. Whatever decision you will make after the seminar/retreat, it will be for your own good. It removed the possibility of you getting married and later realize that you made a mistake.

We highly recommend this experience to the other couples. It will worth your time and your money.

For questions, comments, violent reactions etc, please do email me at

mommyfleur@yahoo.com

For coffee invites, spa invites or other lakwatcha invites from my readers, please do email me too! I'd love to meet up with all of you!

Prenup Pictures Teaser

Believe me! I wanted to post ALL the pictures in that prenup CD that Michelle Pineda of Split Image gave me. But, she and Alvin made me promise to post at most, only 2 pictures of the edited prenup pix. Fine!!! Here they are! =) oh, by the way, the middle photo isn't edited yet so i guess that doesn't count? haha!

The First Ever Entry

I have so many blogs that i maintain. But, Alvin and I decided to make one to document our married life together. The excitement in the planning of our wedding this September, the joys, travels and new things that we will experience will be posted in this blog. And i feel that there's nothing better than to start this blog on how we came to how we are now =) Allow me to repost the re-telling how this love story started:



"There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who won't anymore and who always will."

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While Alvin and I were in Baguio last weekend, i found myself staring at him while he sleeps. I could not imagine that after all these years, we are together and sheepishly in love... If people would know our love story, they would understand why i have to sometimes pinch myself to see if this isn't a dream anymore...

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

THE BACKGROUND

It all started in the summer of 1993, i was 13 and he was 15. Alvin asked one of our common friends to introduce him to me. He started courting me and after a gang fight (literally with his friends in front of our house), we became a couple. I became his FIRST girlfriend. However,my parents did not know that he's already my boyfriend. But we tried to work it out. However, because we were still young that time, Alvin broke up with me and told me that we should concentrate first in our studies...

We kept in touch because we have common friends in the village. Two years after, I asked him to be my prom date. All those times, he would be the one I run to for advice. He has this matured perspective and I would absorb all his stories, analysis and mga payo. We shared heartaches also. I remember him calling me at 12am just to talk coz his girlfriend has broken up with him. In our annual get togethers on christmas and new year, we were sweet towards each other. The special connection never left. Our boyfriends and girlfriends get jealous with either of us. I always tell everybody that he is my Alvin-Could-Have-Been. We never got together officially coz all the time either one of us has a relationship. It never happened that we were both free at the same time...


THE PACT

Because of this, we had a pact. This was before the year 2000, before i reached my 20s. We agreed that when I reach 27 and he reaches 29, if we were not in a relationship at that time, we'll get married..

Christmas of 2006, we got to talk about our pact which we made when we were kids. This time i didnt have a boyfriend anymore. But, he was in a relationship. Anyways, I asked for a more time. I said that since i was taking up my MBA, will it be possible to move the age to 28 instead of 27. He was laughing but he still agreed..


FAST FORWARD TO THE PRESENT


When 2008 entered, I turned 28. I have been single for a record breaking two years. That time, I still did not have a boyfriend and was trying to get over this somebody. I was high on my career. It was also the point where life has already taught me to be the matured person that i am now (well almost!)

Alvin and I started dating again. Okay na sana e. However, during one of our dinners, when he opened his wallet, there was a picture of another girl! So after that i felt, i concede already. I thought maybe it was never meant to be. That was until he asked me to go to Batangas last May. I prayed to God that if we were really not meant for each other, he'd stop asking me out. But for some reasons, i went with him to Batangas. And it all started there. We got to talk about everything including how we felt about each other. All these years, we never talked like how we did this time. We realized that the love has always been there but was just put in a corner where the extent was not noticed until now.

The other day, he was telling me a story. When we went to a church in Carluega last May, he was praying to God. He asked God that if I was meant for him, give him a sign. Then after i prayed, i went over to him (coz i was at the other side of the church). And i hugged him really hard. And there was the sign! I still get goosebumps everytime i hear that story =)

After that, we were inseparable.


JUNE 8, 2008 -BAGUIO

"Why can't we be an official couple?" I always ask Alvin that. He would always answer with, "I have waited for 14 years for this, I want it to be special. I want to prepare something" Fine.... Eto na, we were sitting sa may botanical garden. We were lost in our own thoughts. Suddenly, he came to me and asked me, if i could be his girlfriend. And ofcourse i said yes. I felt bad for a while because i thought he was preparing for something. What happened was really a no brainer! He just asked, out of the blue! Well in fairness, he really has something planned for June 16, 2008 (which was our original monthsary when we were kids) but he was overwhelmed with what he was feeling towards me that time so it just came out. Fine... It didnt matter anymore e.. We are now officially commited to each other =)

So there,, this is the start of my 14 year in the making love story... As they say, "sa kahaba haba man ng prusisyon, sa simbahan din ang tuloy"

I hope with all my heart this is it! I know this will work because I never wanted something this bad to never leave my life anymore. Destiny and fate already dictated it. Love never left. It couldn't be more than this perfect. And I love it!