Ecstatic!

This is one of my favorite pictures. This was taken on my birthday last year at Dave and Busters. I love this picture so much I ended up printing it and putting it on my desk at work last school year. But I have come to love this picture even more because of what happened earlier that day...

This picture was taken on a Saturday. (Sidenote: My Saturdays for the past 2 years have been spent at LMU.) While I was in class that day, Derrick went Engagement Ring shopping with his bro and my Ate. Little did I know, Derrick purchased the ring that day! So as we sat down to snap this photo, Derrick, his bro, and my Ate all had a little secret: Derrick was going to propose (3 months later, that is...)! :)

I'm back! It's been awhile and I figured I dropped a line. There's no real story to the above picture. I just like it. It was taken the morning after the DnD wedding. I wonder what our first picture will look like the morning after our wedding. haha ;)

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

As many of you know, Derrick and I started dating as a long distance couple. Derrick lived in California while I was miles away in Montana. Our primary form of communication was the phone. We also used email and Gchat when I had access to the Internet. In one of our many emails, we decided to share some of our most disgusting pictures. And yes, this is how we fell in love with each other. Here are the photos shared between us, all from one gigantic email:

Kelly Kapowski, look out! (Judy is looking at me adoringly!)

In his gangsta days, Dante rocked long hair, bandana, and cap. (Long hair is still not okay, Babe.)

Apparently, I foam when I drink. (And why did I share this with Derrick? haha)

Why does Derrick's hair look as flowy as Kirs'?

My alter-ego "Tita Baby" performing at Seattle U's United Filipino Club Barrio Fiesta!

Nipples and bowl cuts.

Clearly, this is how Derrick fell in love with me: CHEMISTRY GOGGLES!
(Again, Judy stares at me adoringly. She can't help it! ;)

Why does Derrick look like a one-toothed beaver drowning in his clothes?!
And why is Brenton standing all alone in the background, in REEBOKS? (Love you Brenton! :)

So In Love

So young. So in love. So cheesy! haha This picture was taken shortly after we celebrated our 6-month anniversary. A couple of posts ago, I showed you a picture of the super cute mobile that Derrick made for me. He also gave me a nifty camera as part of his anniversary gift! This camera has a paint feature, and we decided to test it out one afternoon. We snapped this pic and then painted onto it: I heart U!

CAUTION: Inappropriateness is Derrick's middle name.

Yup, don't say I didn't warn you. hehe Derrick is a fan of crude humor and sometimes feels the need to "expose" himself. Just be aware when you're in his presence. If he's wearing a backpack, consider yourself lucky as his backpack acts as a barrier between you and his nipples. *sigh* Yes, friends, my future husband. oh dear.

Blog Hiatus

Got backed up a couple of days due to the Easter holiday, homework, and now catching a cold :p Anyway, on with the Daily Moments between Dante and I.

I love this pic! This was photographed by our dear friend Dianne during a Days Picnic/Reunion a few summers ago. I do NOT (I repeat DO NOT) love Derrick's hair in the pic. Long hair on Dante is not okay with me. But I accept him, nonetheless. (Babe, no you can't grow it out for the wedding. Thank you :) And for my friends encouraging it, please don't. hahaha)

Derrick and I are not very showy with our affections; rarely do we engage in public displays of affection, not for any particular reason. So this is a rare shot folks! ...One I treasure A LOT :D

Creativity is the way to my Heart :)

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! ALLELUIA! HE IS RISEN, TRULY RISEN! I hope you've enjoyed this blessed day with your loved ones. I know we had a special Easter Vigil celebration with Mom and Daddy, along with Ate and Chris. After a beautiful (and long!) Vigil Mass, we headed over to Korean BBQ to celebrate! (We gave up red meat for Lent.) What a feast for everyone! :D

On to the above picture. This photo was taken on our 6 month anniversary :) As you can see, I am holding a heart-shape. What exactly is it? It is a heart-shaped mobile with dangling purple butterflies! Derrick personally hand-crafted this 6-month anniversary gift! I love it! It's purple, it has butterflies, and it is thoughtful. That's love. :) This mobile still hangs in my bedroom to this very day.

D-Land (Derrick Land not Disneyland...jk)

I had this picture as the background of my phone for quite awhile. This was taken at Disneyland, a place we like to spend our very little free time. Kudos to one of our favorite couples, Carla & Eric, for this picture.

Honestly, I never cared too much for Disneyland. I took it for granted because I live only 15 minutes from there. But in more recent years, a lot of my close friends and family started going to Disneyland and even bought annual passes. This reminded me that acting like a child and having fun is nothing to be ashamed of and it's a nice way to get out all of the seriousness of the daily grind. I'm a big kid at heart.

So now, RoWing and I have our very own annual passes and look forward to using it more once all of the craziness has subsided. Here's to the Happiest Place on Earth and for all of the friends and family we have shared memories with there!

ZzZzZzZz

This is how we feel all the time. Tired. Tired. Tired. It's a miracle if we can squeeze in a lazy day into our schedules! There is one day I can remember where we woke up late, ate, went back to sleep, and didn't get around to starting our day until 4 p.m.! That was Presidents' Day of this year. Hopefully, we'll have more days like that in the future. And hopefully in a month or two, we'll be more like this:

Weeeee!

Have a Blessed Triduum!

As many of you know, Derrick proposed at the Chapel of St. Ignatius on the Seattle University campus (my alma mater!). The Chapel is a very sacred place for many people, and in our relationship, it holds a special place as well. The Chapel of St. Ignatius is where Derrick and I first celebrated Mass together when we first started dating. For those of you who don't know our relationship history, we started out as long-distance friends ("penpals" as Joseph Spencer would call it ;). Our friendship turned into like and eventually into love. After 5 months of talking long distance, we decided to meet up in Seattle. Seattle is where we first became official as a couple! And as previously stated, the Chapel is where we first celebrated Mass together. I remember sitting in the Chapel in prayer, thanking God that I found a man with whom I can share my faith with and grow in relationship with Christ at the center.

The above picture is one of the few pictures we have taken inside the Chapel. This was taken 3 days after Derrick proposed, and we returned to the Chapel to offer a prayer of thanksgiving. Here, we light a candle for our relationship, as well as the many people who have supported us through.

May you have a blessed Triduum as we remember Jesus' suffering, death, and soon enough, resurrection. For through Him, we have everlasting life <3

Clubbin' Love

Despite our busy lives, we always love to go dancing dancing. Here's a stalker pic of us from RoWing's birthday in Vegas. Can't wait to get our dance on at the reception!

Ohana Means Family.

Reg, Wing, Derrick, Gerard, Vanessa, Bianca

I love this pic! It's all the siblings: Davids, Tabones, and Catallas! This was my first ever Dodgers game last spring. We met up with Gerard, Vanessa, and Bianca at the game where we got endless food - hot dogs, peanuts, nachos, soft drinks, and Filipino food all for Filipino Night! What a great night! Let's do it again guys!

I Love You - YUM!

Friends and Fam, welcome to our blog! Follow us through stories and pictures as we reminisce through our journey as a couple. Above: Yes, those are cookies Dante baked and hand-crafted for me on Valentine's Day in 2009! Isn't he a sweetie? They tasted delicious! I can still taste 'em... (Babe, can you bake me some more? ;) Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. People can be so cynical and anti-Valentine's but, I for one LOVE IT! People argue that you should say I love you every day, and yes, 'tis true, but embrace this "Hallmark" endorsed holiday and take some time to really tell someone you love them through a letter. For all my retreat peeps, you know how meaningful palancas are. I LOVE writing palancas, which is why I love Valentine's Day! Writing letters, cards, and notes are great - especially when you really take the time to tell the important people in your life how much they mean to you! Derrick used cookies in this particular year, and I thought that was very creative! Derrick is a creative one.

Valentine's Day actually happens to be one of the first holidays we celebrated together during our courtship. As mentioned in our wedding website (weddingwire.com/derrickandrowena), he sent me a package as we were getting to know each other. In the package, he had sent a stuffed Eeyore, a bag of chocolate covered gummy bears, a box of tissues, and a V-Day card :) What a way to make a girl feel special! <3

- Rowena.Wing

Montana Baby!

Little did I know that I would ever visit the state of Montana. There was only one reason why and that was because of a girl. I would like to introduce you to my future wife!

-Derrick

Eye See You

In this picture, you see me checking out Ms. Rowena Catalla. And that's exactly how I look every time I check her out without having her see me.

Haha, but really, this was the day one of my bestmen ask me to be their best man on his wedding day. Soon enough, the roles would be reversed!

-Derrick