BEHIND THE SCENES – The Making of Our Engagement Photoshoot and Teaser Video

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This is the making of our engagement teaser video. If you haven’t watched it yet, you can check my previous blog post here: Our Engagement Teaser Video

Or head straight to my vlog. It’s a beautifully done romantic and fun video, and Mahal and I never get tired of watching it. This is connected to my Shangri-la Mactan 5-star vacation post.

Before, I used to envy couples who get engaged and share their pre-nup videos and I kept wondering if something like that could ever happen for me. I wondered how they had done it? What preparations, sacrifices, situations did they face to reach that blissful phase in their life? Now that we’re doing it, and we’re doing it just the way we want the whole engagement and marriage done, I couldn’t be any happier! My time has finally come! Hihihi!

Actually, I had no intention of sharing the raw videos of our photo and video shoot but when I watched them, I realized how “bungisngis” we were, meaning, we were really just laughing all the time, enjoying each moment of the shoot, and just appreciating this wonderful time in our relationship.

Anyway, you’ll know what I mean when you see the video. So without further a do, here it is:

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Our Engagement Teaser Video

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Mahal and I have been best friends since 2012, have been life partners since 2014, and have been formally engaged since April 24, 2022. Our lives have changed since then and with the hustle and bustle of running our businesses, homeschooling Tuz, and enjoying our lives to the fullest, it’s just now that I’ve had the time to share this beautiful engagement teaser video with you. Between the two of us, I am the more open one… like my life has always been an open book to the public. But because I want to also respect Mahal’s more introverted and private nature, I’ve slowly adopted this demeanor of his. I don’t immediately share now some stuff going on in our lives. But eventually, I do find a way to make them come out to the public… lol!

We’ve already watched this video a gazillion times and now we’re ready to share it with you guys. After all, our beach wedding is in 5 months and we really need to get things going.

By the way, this is just our post engagement video. It is not a pre-nup shoot yet so to speak. We just wanted to have a remembrance of how we got engaged at Shangri-la Mactan and how lucky we are that two of the best photographers and videographers in Cebu City (in my opinion + they were featured at Sugbo.ph) were the ones who did this for us. They will also be the ones to do our Pre-Nup shoot this coming summer and we are so excited about it!

For now, enjoy our engagement teaser video.

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How to Communicate Better With Your Significant Other? [Real Talk with My Then Live-In Partner]

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The recording of this video happened 13 months ago, Nov. 17, 2021, at Crimson Resort in Mactan as we were celebrating Tuz’s 6th birthday. I’ve always wanted to share this here in the hopes that it may give some helpful insights for other couples, particularly those living together for several years now, who are trying to be better partners and lovers and trying to find certainty about where their relationship is really going.

I mentioned it here on my previous blog post that Mahal and I have had our share of tough times in our relationship prior to getting engaged last April 25, 2022. There have been so many fights and we almost broke up for good. I believe that one of the major reasons why we were able to work things out, stay together, and continue to love one another was because of our willingness to be better communicators. We already know we love each other so, so much. That’s already a given. But if we don’t know how to properly communicate our wants, needs, thoughts, and feelings, we will continue to crumble as a couple.

So I’m very thankful for talks like this because it made loving each other much easier. Plus, looking back, it just makes me all the more proud of how far we’ve come in our relationship, how deeper our understanding of each other is now, and how much more we’ve grown to love each other, more than we ever did before…

So, here it is… bring some popcorn with you because this is quite long… ❤

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Of Weddings and Breakups [a Raw Conversation with a 6 Year Old]

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On October 30, 2021, about 14 months ago, even before Mahal and I got formally engaged, we faced a lot of trials in our relationship. We actually fought and broke up a few times and Tuz was there to witness it all.

We didn’t mean for our young son to see our fights at that time because we always did our best to be careful. But he is such a perceptive and sensitive kid that even if Mahal and I are not shouting, Tuz can recognize the differences in our verbal tones and non-verbal expressions.

It’s a good thing that the stormy season in our relationship has passed and we are now in a much, much better place. Because of those fights, Mahal and I learned to communicate better, love each other better, and Tuz witnessed all of that too. Perhaps that is why he is such a happy boy who acts and thinks more maturely for his age.

Anyway, this video that I am sharing with you here is my raw conversation with Tuz at that time. Mahal and I just patched things up and I wanted to document how it affected our 6 year old boy. (Actually, he was just 5 but would be turning 6 in 17 days at that time, so I just rounded it off, hihi!)

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Holiday Musings [and a Recap of Halloween]

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Our 2022 is about to end. I’ve been reviewing my previous blog posts here and my life has really been “more of the same” kind of thing. Just like last 2019, when I wasn’t even able to blog about our Halloween celebration because of my jam-packed schedule at work, with motherhood, and family! And it’s happening again this time of the year!

Don’t get me wrong though — I DO LOVE OUR LIFE AND THE LIFESTYLE WE’VE BEEN LIVING — it’s been the best year so far — so many celebrations, so many happenings, so many blessings despite the sleepless nights from my VA work, being a homemaker, and homeschooling our now 7-year old kid! So, I’m gonna give myself a little pat on the back here…

Jen 1: “You’re such a superwoman, Mommy Jennie!”

Jen 2: “I know… I know…” 😉

Anyway, I am not going to let 2022 pass by without documenting here my most favorite holiday. For those who have just started to follow me here, Halloween is my most favorite and Christmas comes second. Though I like Christmas, Halloween is just more fun for me with all the trick or treating, candies, and costumes. Don’t you think? So though it’s already December and we’ve started decorating our little home resort for Christmas (you can check my FB page for updates), sharing my favorite holiday here with you this late is better than never, isn’t it?

But before that, let me just give you a rundown of our Halloween activities since Tuz was born. Re-reading my blog entries here… Oh what a roller coaster ride it has been! So many trials, joys, financial troubles, and tribulations. From being in a long distance relationship with Mahal, to finally living together in my first dream home, to giving that up in exchange for living the hard kind of life at the farm, then back to city life and experiencing tiny home living and finally, living the beach kind of life which has always been my dream. It makes me all the more grateful for the life we have now because we are living our best life so far and we can’t wait for things to keep getting better and better…

(2014, 2015, 2016) Nuvali Night Sky Cinema

(2016) Thoughts This Halloween

(2016) Nuvali Night Sky Cinema 2016 Family Event

(2017) Halloween 2017: How to Let Go of Attachments

(2018) Halloween 2018 – Transformative Lessons and Realizations

(2020) How to Celebrate Major Holidays During a Pandemic: Halloween Feature + a Guide

(2021) The Root of Happiness (And How I Found It Around Halloween)

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Calculators.org Online Games: Perfect for Mental Breaks that Bring Back Good Childhood Memories

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Happy Halloween, everyone!!! 

We’ve just celebrated Halloween the last 4 days (Oct. 28-31) and again it was a blast! I’m still in the middle of preparing a vlog and blog post for it so I can share with you all how we celebrated my most favorite season this year. I hope yours was a happy one too! Stay tuned!

On the other hand, I feel like this will be the last time I’m celebrating this way my fave holiday. It’s been 20 years of blissful spooky celebrations, from Malate street and Boracay beach parties in my early 20’s, to Oktoberfest celebrations in my late 20’s, to house and costume parties in my early 30’s, to trick or treating with Tuz and Mahal in my late 30’s to early 40’s. My wish every year was to have more of the same and I was lucky enough to be given that. Thank you, universe! You’ve been good to me all these years, making me happy to have the chance and budget to party. I’m now passing on the torch to our almost 7-year old son, Tuz. I told him about my plan to retire and pass on to him organizing such parties but he said he’s not yet ready! 

Maybe I‘m just feeling a wee bit sad, tired, and drained as of late. Adulthood  is probably taking a toll on me and I will soon need a proper break — break from work, break from taking care of Tuz, break from taking care of our household, from thinking and worrying about it all. We’ve just been  on a one week trip to Cebu City to run some errands and take care of some medical stuff. Though the trip has been very productive and positive, it just left me over-fatigued and wanting of a much-needed mental reprieve. 

But since work has always been hectic (which I am thankful for, don’t get me wrong!), I really can’t afford yet to take a real vacation (give me 8 hours/day of sleep please with nothing to do in between if possible!) But I do need to take mental breaks every now and then to keep my brain fresh and ready to tackle again the next task. So one of the things I actually do especially now that HBO’s House of the Dragons Season 1 has ended is I actually play online games. I’ve mentioned to you on one of my previous posts that Tuz and I love to play online games to keep our brain refreshed and functioning well in between homeschooling and work. One of the sites I go to is https://www.calculators.org/games/board-games.php. They have these games that remind me so much of my childhood. My favorites are: 

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Relax and De-Stress with Online Games at Solitaire.org (and Decrease Your Chances of Dementia As well)

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Work has been non-stop lately (Well, what’s new? Thank God for work!!!) that the only thing I can do to de-stress is play some online games! Remember before when I shared with you 3 Simple Ways to Reduce Stress During These Hard Times? One of those stress-relieving activities I do (and I sometimes do it with Tuz too) is playing online games.

I discovered another website that brings back so many childhood memories simply because it reminds me of my mom’s favorite game that I’ve seen her play a gazillion times while I was growing up — SOLITAIRE! 

The website is solitaire.org and the best thing about it is, it has a lot of other games you can choose from like other card games, mahjong, logic puzzles, word puzzles and more! But what really caught my eye and what I’ve been playing around the past couple of weeks during my break are these three games:

 

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How to be Unbreakable by Rob Dial and Dean Devries

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OMG! I just finished the 1st of 2 live events of Rob Dial and Dean Devries. It’s about how to be UNBREAKABLE despite life’s uncertainties. They are teaching us, FOR FREE, how to be the person we want to be despite all the craziness we are all experiencing in the world today. It was so inspiring and uplifting!!! Thank you, guys!!!

Basically it’s about being a better version of you a year from now. They are teaching us concrete ways on how to go about it. I’m so excited to be Jen 2.0 or maybe 5.0? Lol! I’ve changed so much over the years I’ve lost count! It’s so motivating! Excited for the 2nd part tomorrow! In case you want to join, just head to https://www.robanddean.com/unbreakable-1 and try to register if still possible. Join also the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/538088811356136

Just a little background… Rob Dial is my go to podcaster every day when I do my workout and morning walk. The title of his podcast is The Mindset Mentor. You familiar with him? He’s on Spotify and Apple. He helped me a lot get to this level where I am now — more calm, more successful, more positive. And I just want to continue applying what I’ve been learning from him. He’s a great fan of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Gor Rich (a book I super love!), and I assume of Tony Robbins‘ teachings as well because many of his podcasts resonate with Tony Robbins’ teachings. 

One thing I want to share with you that Rob and Dean said is this: 

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Thoughts About Real Estate and Mortgages in These Trying Times

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Hello, hello, hello!

I’ve been catching up on a TON of work since we got engaged!!! A lot of things have been going on in my personal life as well but I’m hoping to share more of our adventures real soon. And one of these adventures that I’d like to share here with you now is not just about travels that we’ve been doing but more importantly, stuff that we’ve been accomplishing to help fulfill those goals we’ve set out for ourselves for this year and the next. I gave you some ideas before about how to reach your goals for 2022 and I’ve also shared with you some financial tools if your goal is a financial one.

So, this other adventure that I want to share here with you is also a bit related to finances. As you may know, Mahal and I are getting married next year and we are in the works of fulfilling our dream of having a beach wedding in Mactan, Cebu. Even if what we want is just an intimate one with only a few guests, it would still be considered as a big spend for us frugal folks so we’re doing everything we can to augment our income. We don’t want to spend so much on the wedding because we have a bigger fish to fry so to speak. Or shall I say “fishes”? Teehee.

And these “fishes” are:

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Romantic Engagement and Fine-Dining By the Sea at Shangri-la Mactan

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I’ve just been engaged! And it’s a different kind of engagement, way, way better that how I thought it would be… In case you’re interested to find out, you can check my 2 previous posts. This is about our unique engagement and this one’s about our bespoke engagement rings… 

For this blog post, I just want to make a special shoutout to Shangri-la Mactan for creating a one-of-a-kind engagement / romantic fine-dining experience for us. And in case you want a similar one, I’ll share with you the inclusions and how much a set-up like this can cost. Read on…

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OUR BESPOKE ENGAGEMENT RINGS

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When it comes to jewelry, especially rings, I don’t like surprises. I want jewelry that I consider one-of-a-kind, truly beautiful, symbolic, and something that I will never get tired of looking at for the rest of my life. I think this is one of the reasons why Mahal doesn’t like surprising me. He wants to please me as much as he can and wants only what’s best for me and what can make me happy.

And so, we chose to have our engagement rings customized. Normally, it’s just the girl who gets an engagement ring, right? But as you may know, if you’ve been following me for a long time now, you know that I don’t follow the trends or what’s considered normal (lol!) I personally wanted us all to have one ring each to symbolize our promise to each other that we will soon become one legal family.

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