These are just a few of the songs we want played at our wedding. Just thought of sharing it with you guys.. Enjoy!!:-)

So I was thinking, after the "joining W@W" blog and the 2 articles about "getting married" blogs, what should I next blog about.. (Whew! a lot of "blog" word there.. Hihi!:)) And so I thought, why not about choosing and starting our very own wedding website!;)

The first time I learned of these sort of sites was from an ex-colleague. She was getting married (obviously!;)) and told us about their wedsite. Back then I was already excited of HOW I was doing mine when the time comes... Didn't know that "the time" would be a loooong time from then.. Hahaha!:)

So going back... now that "the time" has finally arrived I was ecstatic to get started!! Little did I know that it isn't as easy as it looks..

First of my "challenges" was choosing our website host. I honestly checked out a LOT, and subscribed to a few! Until my choices narrowed down to the two most common sites: MyWedding.Com and WeddingAnnouncer.Com.

Both sites are free and had their own pros and cons. With MyWedding.com, I like it that they have more variety of themes, which are better looking too. With WeddingAnnouncer.com hands down it has better page functionalities and have some planning tools too, which are very helpful with keeping couples better organized... So which one did we choose?....... BOTH! Ahaha!!:):):)

Well, actually we were able to launch our MyWedding WEDsite first. This will be our WEDsite for everybody. For the WeddingAnnouncer WEDsite, we're still trying to update it. Good thing too, as just recently something happened with their server(s) and lost everyone's pictures!:( Saved me some time and effort re-uploading our images. This site will probably be more for our wedding party and w@wies, since I can protect the pages with passwords..;)

Of course after deciding to keep both sites comes which theme to pick! We also changed themes numerous times, until we finally settled to the ones we are using now..;) And then comes what to post.. To date, the sites are undergoing continuous update.. But I'm enjoying updating it!

And so, that's the story behind our wedsites.. Ahaha!! Ang haba noh?..;) Grabe, WEDsite pa lang yan... **worried laugh** Like I said, it's a lot of work, but I'm enjoying it!:)

xoxo,

Another article I found from CBN.com. I told Anthony that I want us to answer these (maybe not ALL of it), separately of course, and then compare and discuss our answers afterwards. Would be a lot of work, but I think we'd also learn a lot from this..;)

We're doing this one question per day.. until we finish the important questions before our wedding day.. so far, we've already answered.... ONE! ahaha!!! But I'm hoping we'll do much more soon..;)

Talk It Out Before You Say, “I Do”
By Julie Ferwerda

CBN.com – You’re thinking about spending the rest of your life with that special person. But do you really know them as well as you think? Are there areas you need to know about (or they need to know about you) that you haven’t discussed? The best time to get down to the nitty-gritty with each other is before you say, “I do.”

You need to know what to expect after the wedding day, and to decide if you really want to spend the rest of your life with this person the way they are now. Chances are they (and you) won’t change that much, so if you really want to know who you are agreeing to love, work through these questions together. There’s no hurry—take all the time you need. But there’s one rule. You must be completely, gut-wrenchingly honest! If you misrepresent yourself…they will remember.

PURPOSE

My biggest goal in life is to…
I find satisfaction in…
Before I die I want to…
I am here because…
My dream is to someday…
I will be ready to die when I’ve…

PAST

The best part about my childhood was…
The worst part about my childhood was…
The scariest thing that ever happened to me was…
Something I’m afraid to tell anyone about my past is…
A past situation that could affect my future is…
I’ve had [ ] sexual partners before this relationship.
The way I feel about my past relationship history is…

WHO I AM

My biggest fears in life are…
My biggest needs in life are…
My most frequent mood is…
The thing I hate most is…
The thing I worry about most is…
Three things I want to change about myself are…
Three things I really like about myself are…
My most common daydream is…
I get angry when…
My favorite kind of house pet is…
My overall opinion about myself is…
I think my greatest personality asset is…
My greatest personality weakness is…
I find the greatest enjoyment in…
The sin I struggle most with is…
I’m most ashamed about…
Someone I greatly admire is…
The way I feel about death is…
I think war is…
I feel happy when…
I have no use for people who…
When someone acts rude to me, I…
When someone is unfair, I…
I feel jealous of…
My dream vacation would include…
The things I find the most fun are…
My favorite sport(s) is…
Playing sports in my future is a [ ] on a scale from one to ten.
Watching sports on T.V. is a [ ] for me on a scale from one to ten.
I am disgusted by…
When I am afraid (substitute sad, angry, happy, lonely, tired), I…
My hobbies include…
I spend [ ] hours a week at my hobbies.
What I really want when I am sick is…
The part of my body I am most bothered by is…
The part of my body I am most happy with is…
What hurts me most is…
The best (and worst) thing about life is…
The first thing I notice about someone is…
When someone is angry with me, I…
When someone is disappointed in me, I…
The worst (and best) thing about the opposite sex is…
Being teachable means…
People (including me) should say they’re sorry when…

MARRIAGE

My reasons for wanting to get married are…
I think the keys to a good marriage are…
The biggest mistakes I made in past relationships are…
The area I’ve grown the most in relationships is…
Relationships in the past have taught me…
I’ve always viewed marriage as…
My parents had a [ ] marriage.
I learned [ ] about marriage from my parents.
I think the things in marriage you should be honest about are…
The areas I’m concerned about being married are…
The areas I’m excited about being married are…
Marriage for me will be giving up…
Marriage for me will be gaining…
I think separate vacations are…
Traveling together is…
When having conflict, I like to: cool off by myself before discussing the problem; discuss and work the problem out right away; pretend there is no problem and just move on; analyze the problem as to what it is, why it happened, how to avoid it in the future, etc…
Arguing and or fighting is…
The best way to handle disagreements is to…
What I fear most about marriage is…
What I anticipate most about marriage is…
The role of in-laws in marriage is…
The thing that will make me most secure (and insecure) in marriage is…
Dating (each other) after you are married is…
Love is…
“Till death do us part” means…
I think people should be allowed to divorce when…
For me, divorce is…

SEX

I think sex is/will be…
I think a healthy marriage involves sex [ ] per week or [ ] per month.
I’m aware that real sex in marriage differs from Hollywood in the following ways…
I think being naked in front of someone is…
On a scale from one to ten, sex is a [ ] in importance in a good marriage for me.
What sex means to me is…
Talking about sex feels…
Being spontaneous or creative in marriage sex sounds…

MONEY/FINANCES

I think money is…
Spending money is hard/easy for me because…
The biggest waste of money is…
The best investment of money is…
I have [ ] in personal debt.
I use credit cards for…
I think car loans are…
Saving up to buy big ticket items is…
My savings plan is…
My retirement plan is…
The way I feel about tithing is…
I hope my spouse is a: saver, spender, somewhere in between.
On a scale from one to ten, financial security is [ ] in importance to me.
I want to save up to buy a…
The kind of house I want to own someday is…
Other items I hope to own are…
Charities I want to contribute to are…

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Is my own appearance important to me?
Is it important that my spouse maintains his/her current physical appearance/weight throughout our marriage?
How important is hygiene to me, i.e. brushing teeth, taking showers, deodorant, etc.?
How do I like to dress for special occasions? For church? For dates? For work?
Do I want to be able to have a say in my spouse’s choice of clothing, hairstyle, or general appearance?
Do I care if they have a say in mine?
Is cologne/perfume important to me?
What physical features are attractive to me?


HOUSEHOLD

How clean is a home that is comfortable for me?
What is my favorite thing about home?
What can I not tolerate in my home (noise, clutter, dirt, pets, unmade beds, etc.)?
How many/which jobs do I think I should do to keep my house maintained?
How many/which jobs do I think my spouse should do around the house?
Who should keep the yard maintained (spouse, both, or hired out)?
Who will maintain the cars (spouse, both, or hired out)?
Who will make decisions for and carry out decorating the home (spouse, both, hired out)?
Who will cook family meals?
How many meals do I expect to cook or for my spouse to cook daily?
Who will do the shopping?
Who will do laundry?
Who will do the dishes?
Who will pay bills?

RECREATION

My idea of recreation is…
To me, camping means…
My favorite sports are…
The way I relax on the weekends is by…
What areas of recreation do I want my spouse to accompany me on?
What areas of recreation do I want to do with my friends or alone?
How often will I want to spend time away from the family in my own recreation?

KIDS

I think kids are…
Kids get on my nerves when they…
I love it when kids…
The way I feel about other people’s kids is…
The way kids usually feel about me is…
Kids should be disciplined when…
The way I want to discipline my kids is…
The role of a parent is…
I want [ ] kids someday.
How important is showing physical affection to my kids?
Is telling my kids I love them important?
How much time do I think I should spend with my kids daily?
How important is two-parent interaction and discipline?
I think the bottom line for discipline should be with the (mom or dad)?
How important is it for kids to respect their parents in my home?
When it comes to discipline, I think I will be: lenient, strict, or somewhere in-between?
Where do I want my kids educated (private school, Christian school, home school, etc.)?

HEALTH/HISTORY

Taking care of myself and my health is [ ] important to me.
I think a healthy lifestyle includes…
Physical exercise is…
To me, eating right means…
My idea of a good work out is…
My life fitness plan is to…
My health problems (present or past) are…
I take medication for…
I think life long-term supports are…
People in my family have a history of the following health problems…
People in my family have died at the ages of…

INTIMACY

I feel loved when…
The way I show love to people is…
Which of the following are ways I feel most loved? Time spent with, words of encouragement/praise, gifts, being touched and hugged in a non-sexual manner, when people do things for (serve) me.
Showing affection in front of kids or friends is…
Intimacy is developed through…
I think a good marriage needs at least [ ] hours a day (or week) of focused communication to stay connected.

WORK

My idea of a dream job is…
I think the average number of hours a person can regularly work a week and maintain family commitment is…
Providing for the family is whose responsibility?
My career plans are…
How important is a steady job to me?
What kind of work ethic do I want in my mate?
Where do I draw the line with a job that demands too much time?
My plans for retirement are…

SPIRITUALITY/RELIGION

The way I feel about God is…
I think the way God feels about me is…
On a scale of one to ten, going to church is [ ] in importance for my life and future.
I want to raise my kids in the [ ] faith.
Will God be the center of my home? Why or why not?
If yes, how will I make Him the center?
Prayer is something I do when…
To me, the Bible is…
Other religions besides Christianity are…
Eternal life is accomplished by…
Select and discuss the following. To me, God is: personal, real, distant, vague, angry, happy, loving, harsh, demanding, gentle, kind, good, make-believe, living, powerful, weak, or other.
The way to have a relationship with God is…
For me, including God in my daily life is…
On a scale from one to ten, obeying God and His word is a [ ] to me.
When I die, I…

xoxo,

I found out about this article from my fiance's schoolmate's blog. It's quite a long read, but a good one too, so I'm sharing it with you. Happy reading!:)

Getting Married: How Do You Know for Sure?
By Belinda Elliott
CBN.com Daily Life Producer

CBN.com – Always a bridesmaid…that is what I thought I would be. As I watched friend after friend walk down the aisle and say, “I do” to their prince charming, I wondered if I would ever be a bride. I had dated several guys who wanted to become more serious, but when they would start talking about marriage I would start backing away – quickly. Marriage was a huge commitment, and I wasn’t about to take it lightly. In all of my relationships I had never felt like I knew for sure that the guy was the one.

How do you know that for sure? I would often ask my friends or spiritual mentors. The reply was always the same, “You just know.” Thanks for clearing that up for me.

What does that mean anyway? You just know. I know a lot of things until I change my mind about them. I just knew that I loved the comforter and pillows that I picked out for my bed – until a year later when I decided I needed a whole new look. I know this is trivial compared to marriage, but the logic seemed the same to me. Even if I was sure now that this person was the one I should marry, would I still feel that way in two years? What about in 20 years? I was signing up to be with the person for the rest of my life; I had to be sure.

So how do you know for sure? I would like to offer some ideas. These are things that helped me when I was facing the same decision.

In my case, I already knew Matt quite well. We had attended college together and had become good friends. We even went on a couple dates, but I was never interested in anything more than friendship. But eight years later that friendship had turned into something more, and we began dating. However, I still wasn’t sure I wanted to marry him.

Ask Questions

What did it take to convince me? A lot of talking. I don’t mean that he spent hours trying to talk me into it. I mean that we had to discuss a lot of things. I wanted to know all about him, his hopes, his dreams, his fears, his expectations for marriage, and anything else I could think of. I wanted to talk about every possible situation that could arise in a marriage and find out how he would handle it.

It turns out there are actually books that already have questions like these for couples. I searched the books and the internet to find suitable questions. When we were together we took turns asking each other these questions. Since he didn’t live in the area at the time, we also asked and answered questions by mail. We agreed in advance which questions we would answer and mailed our answers out on the same day so that the other person’s answers wouldn’t influence our own. We learned a lot about each other and what we expected from a spouse.

The questions covered everything from how many kids we each wanted and where we would like to live to who would do the dishes and take out the trash. You can find many of the questions we used in the book, 1000 Questions for Couples by Michael Webb. Or check out CBN.com's article, Talk it Out Before You Say I Do. Other books with similar questions are The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say "I Do," by Susan Piver and 101 Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged, by Norm H. Wright.

It’s important to remember that some people are introverts and need time to process things before they answer. If your significant other is one of those people, respect that and allow him or her to take the time needed. You don’t have to cover all the questions at once. Spread them out among your other activities and conversations. However, if you find that the person you are dating repeatedly avoids answering questions, or feels that the whole idea is a waste of time, be careful. Even guys (or girls) who don’t like to talk about their emotions should be able to communicate freely with the person they love. If they can’t, it could be a red flag in the relationship.

Meet the Family

If you have "interesting" family members, perhaps an over-protective father or an annoying sibling, having your date spend prolonged amounts of time with your family may seem scary. But when you marry someone, you also marry that person’s family. They come with the package. So it is important for each of you to know what you are getting into.

In addition to spending time with each other’s family, discuss your childhood experiences. The way a person was raised shapes their belief system and who they become as an adult. For instance, how did they spend family vacations? Did they even take family vacations? How did their family handle conflicts? How did they handle finances? What are their holiday traditions? These seem like simple things, but when you combine two people with very different holiday traditions, sparks can fly when Christmas rolls around! If you know these family traits ahead of time, you are better prepared to consider what each of you grew up with and decide which of those traditions you want to keep and which you want to change.

It is also important to know about problems within the family. If there were things like abuse or alcoholism in either of your pasts it is important to discuss these issues.

Consider Your Friends

It is true that love can blind us. Often our friends can see things about our relationships that we can not. Do your friends like the person you are dating? If your friends express concerns to you, don’t immediately tune them out. Take some time to prayerfully consider whether what they say has any truth in it.

Take Your Time

Regardless of what you heart (or biological clock) says, you do not need to be in a rush to get married. It is important to take the time to prepare yourself for such a huge step. Are you emotionally ready to get married? You should question your reasons for wanting to marry this person. If it is to make you happy or relieve loneliness, you may find yourself disappointed after the wedding. Or if you have emotional wounds from your past that you have never dealt with, perhaps you should seek counseling about those issues before proceeding to marriage.

Couples also need to take time to prepare themselves financially for marriage. Love can hold people together through tough times, but it doesn’t pay the rent. When you marry someone their credit history and debts become yours too. Be sure your finances are in order and try to pay off any large debts before you get married.

Prayer

Perhaps, the most important step in deciding if you should proceed to marriage is prayer. God created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows which person will be the best match for us, and He will let us know if we are willing to listen to Him. The key is that we must also be willing to be obedient to what He tells us. We can’t ask God if this person is the right one, then plug our ears because we don’t want to give up the relationship. Surrender your relationship to God from the beginning and be willing to trust His guidance for it.

You Just Know

Once you do all these things, you will have a much better picture of who you are dating and what you both expect in a marriage. There will always be new things that you learn about each other if you do get married, but knowing as much as possible from the beginning will make the transition to marriage much easier.

So how do you know for sure? I think my friends were partially right. In a sense, you do ”just know,” but it isn’t because of some magical feeling that all is right with the world. Just knowing comes from time spent contemplating your similarities, your differences, and how well you fit together. It comes from asking God in prayer if this is His will for you. And it comes from making the decision in your heart that you will remain committed to this person no matter what the future holds. When those three things combine and you sense God’s total peace about the decision, then you can know for sure.

It doesn’t mean that you won’t encounter problems in your relationship along the way. But it does mean that regardless of what those problems are you can look back and know that God brought you together with this person and He will see you through.

xoxo,

Sis Macy tagged me, so here's my post:


1. Each blogger must post these rules.
2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
3. Bloggers that are tagged need to write ten facts about themselves. You need to choose ten people to tag and list their names.

So, here are my ten, weird, random, little known facts or habits about myself.

1. I love to collect anything with Coca Cola and or dolphins on it. Click on the links to view my small collection..

2. I love cheese and almost anything with cheese on it!

3. I can sleep faster when it's noisy around me, than when it is quiet.

4. I eat food with milk like ice cream, cakes, cookies, or whatever, but I don't drink milk by itself. There's just something about it's smell that I don't like!

5. The smell of coffee or books usually make me want to go to the toilet! BUT...

6. My ideal "chill" time is hanging at Starbucks reading a pocketbook or just doing stuff with my laptop!

7. It may sound nerdy, but I like to program.. There's just a different kind of fulfillment for me everytime I am able to make a certain set of codes work!

8. I'm not much of a blogger (well at least compared to others that REALLY blog), but I have a lot of blog sites and social networking sites! The few I try to maintain as much as I can are: Flickr (for my photography), Multiply with my fiance, my own personal Multiply, Facebook, Friendster, Blogspot, and of course our WEDsite! I have a few more others that I haven't opened for a while now!

9. I love to sing, but I'm not good at memorizing lyrics or identifying the song with its title or singer.. ehehe! That's why... I also LOVE KTVs!

10. I'm a happy W@Wies engaged to be married to Mr. Anthony Mogan Muñoz on December 18, 2009!:)

I'm tagging the ff. people: Jasmin, Jajah, Jeng, Aileen, sis Candy, sis Grace, sis Ni, sis Lorna, sis Sharon, and sis Aby.:)

xoxo,

Initially, I made this blog site for my personal experiences that I wanted to share with people. But now..

It's STILL about MY experiences, but most probably the next few blogs you'll be reading here would be wedding-related na!;) Here I'll be sharing with you a more detailed kwento of the "proposal".. or of how we picked our wedding date... or what happened during a supplier meeting.. or how we came up with our wedding plans, etc... You get the idea..;)

I still want to keep the "theme" of this blog though, which is counting my blessings. And with that, I am thanking Papa God for W@W (and W@WSG)!:) This community has surely helped us thru the joys and pains of preparing a wedding...:) And of course, many thanks to Sir John and Ms. Benz, for creating this group, which has surely helped lots and lots of soon-to-weds like me.

And of course, for new friends, thank You! Definitely priceless!:)

xoxo,