John & Mel: Workplace Sweethearts

John & Mel- a forbidden love, since their relationship started in the office. Starting this kind of a relationship can be risky, because things might end up badly, but in this situation only good came from it.

2004-
I had met Mel when I first started working here. Kris had introduced us (he was my lead at the time). Through Mel and Kris, I met John & Jho.
The company Christmas party was coming up and I saw Mel is the bathroom.
“Hi Mel! Are you going to the Christmas party?”
“Yes, are you?”
“Yes, I am. Are you going with anyone? Do you have a boyfriend?”
She laughed a little and said, “I’m going with someone…”
“Are you… going… with that one guy, John?” I didn’t know Mel very well yet, and didin’t want to come off nosey, but I made a guess since (at that time), when I would walk around the company, I would always see John hanging around Mel’s cubicle.
“Hahahah!” she said, “It’s going to be our ‘coming out’ party. But, don’t tell anyone…”
“Oh, of course not…”

Up in Cambria Pines, a place I had never visited before, held a quaint and quiet lodge where the ceremony and reception would be held. It was a very intimate wedding- only about 90-100 guests.
Jho and I drove up together. But, due to a bolt wedged in her tire, she was unable to make it to the rehearsal.

The morning of the wedding came, and Jho was out the door to get her hair done by 7:30 am. I rolled out of the bed and started to get myself ready as well. By 11 am, I found my way to the Lodge’s garden and situated myself next to Jamie, Kris’ wife and Kim.

You can say it was an LB-Production.
Kris, aka KB, aka the Rev, presided over the ceremony. He did an excellent job, and was praised by many of the guests. Jho, a bridesmaid, and what a lovely bridesmaid she made. Me- the LB photographer… there to help YOU guys see what the festivites looked like!

The ceremony was sweet and thoughtful…
“Love is patient, love is kind…” was read to us by John’s sister, Lisa.
A passage by Maya Angelou was read by John’s sister, Michelle.
Mel read her delicate vows to John.
John, the romatic soul he is, wiped his eyes as he read the poem he wrote for his amor and then read the vows he wrote to Mel.
There was a handtying ceremony- a Scottish tradition.
And then the kiss.

The reception was a happy occasion. Her father, Jenny (MOH) and Steve (BM) said their speeches and made us laugh and smile.
Their first dance was to “Sabor a Mi”.
The cake- Oh my! Three different layers… It was specially made for them by the baker in John’s family, Lisa. It was excellent and so beautiful and intricately designed.

John & Mel: workplace sweethearts… and best friends.
Congratulations, Mel & John!
XOXO always…

Top left- The wedding party, consisting of siblings and good friends.
Bottom left- the LB, of course!
Right- Sweet Melissa in her exquisite Melissa Sweet gown & her handsome groom.

Click here: John & Mel: 6.27.08 to see more photos- the cake, the ceremony, the dancing… the garter catching.

Pretty Awesome!

We post photos of ourselves online.
We tag us or our friends on Facebook or Myspace or whatever.
We write in our online “diaries” and put photos of us and our friends…

But, what’s it like having your photos posted by someone you don’t really know?
Or, what’s it like when you have your photo posted where EVERYONE can see?
Well, lemme tell you… It’s pretty awesome!

My beautiful Ate Leila- a wife, mommy & glorious hula dancer! I’ve seen her and her hula buddies dancing. The swish and sway of their hips as the music (or drums) play, every bend, ever foot pointed up, every turn of their heads… technical and yet artistic at the same time. She’s really good at her skill. Sooo good that she was unknowingly photographed and was placed on a billboard in LA. San Vicente & La Cienega to be exact.

That’s her, smack dab in the middle of the billboard! Isn’t that cool? Temporarily immortalized at the San Vicente & La Cienega intersection, but forever remembered in my blog.
Here’s a link to somoeone’s gallery… http://gallery.mac.com/jalisaming#100889 you can see billboard from various angles and focal points.
If you’re ever driving around that area and see that billboard, wave hi to it an say, “Hi Irma’s cousin!!”

Princess emailed us a couple of nights ago.
Subject: Fwd: VOTE VOTE VOTE – For 2008 Picture of the Year, and WIN!
Inside was a link to the photographer that both Princess & Paulette hired for their engagement and wedding shoots.
I click on it and see bridal stuff. And I scroll down… “Okay, where’s Princess or Paulette?” Extremely lovely photos, but why was Princess telling us to look at it.
But, I looked closer at the website and saw different categories to vote it: Bride & Groom, Bridal Party… and then WHOOO! I found US! But to my surprise, it wasn’t just one photo, but a photo from BOTH WEDDINGS!!

Melissa, Paulette, Jessalyn, Princess, me & Michelle

Princess, me, Michelle, Shareemae & Cassie

Although, I wasn’t as lucky enough to be as stunning as Michelle to have both photos show her face! I love the little “shoulder look-back” that Mish is doing- it’s so flirty, don’t you agree?
Maybe he was totally entranced in Michelle… Who wouldn’t be?

This was really a surprise that Andre Niesing choose these photos. I’ve visted his blog and website http://www.anphotographer.com numerous times and have seen all the amazing work he’s done… TONS, actually! But he picked US! Out of all the weddings he shoots year around… he choose OUR photos! Maybe he saw how much we care for each other when he shot the weddings… I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that Michelle, Paulette, Princess, Melissa and me all love each other truly.

So, vote ya’ll!! I can’t win anything, but you can help Paulette or Princess!!
http://www.anphotographer.com/2008-photo-of-the-year/bride-photo-of-the-year/index.php

If you’re looking to book an amazing photographer- engagement, wedding, babies, ANYTHING! Try and ask him. You never know! You might make his 2009 or 2010 list!!

And Mr. Niesing, if you’re “Google-ing” your name and stumble across my blog, YOU’RE WELCOME for the free publicity and the “tagging”.

Maybe Princess & Paulette will win… but if not, thank you for choosing us.

Memory

As I walked down the aisles of our cubicle farm at work, Jay laughed and yelled, “Hey, Irma! What’s up with that hair of yours?” I touched the back of head and felt a small part of my hair sticking straight out. I pressed it back to my head. I smiled and said, “Oh, I have a cowlick. I’ve had it since I was a little kid. I must have rested my head on the back of my seat wrong.”

I turned around and continued to walk down the aisles until I exited our department, my hand still on my cowlick trying to make it stay put on my head. I suddenly remembered the first time I encountered my cowlick. It was about 12:45 pm when I arrived home from kindergarten. The sun was high in the sky and as I walked up the steps to our house, it casted a shadow, and I saw it.

As I waited for my dad to open the door, I stood there and looked down at my shadow and wondered if the lump on shadow’s head belonged to me. So, I swayed from side to side and saw the lump sway with me.

I don’t really like my cowlick. Whenever I cut my hair really short, it seems to have a mind of it’s own, and is hard to tame, unlike the rest of my hair. But, I’m thankful at the same time, because if I didn’t have it, then it would mean I didn’t have hair there… or my hair wouldn’t be a “mediumly thick” as everyone tells me.

I’ve just finished reading “New Moon”, the second book in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” saga. Most people tell me that it isn’t as good as the other three of her books, but I liked it. It’s full of excitement… and at times, painstakingly difficult to read, but the ending made me smile. I stayed up until 3am because I needed to know how the book was going to end.

…okay, time to get started on “Eclipse”.
Let’s see what time I fall asleep tonight… I’m sure it will be tomorrow morning. Her books are definitely on the “page turners” list.

btw- Happy Father’s Day!

Oh, no… I’m only on page 461 of “Eclipse”.
But, I ended on a really cute part.

Wedding Bliss

From Skimbleshanks to DJ Kooyaa to TQ-1… Kuya Arnold is now a married man.

“The love of a family is life’s greatest blessing” -Unknown

We love you, Kuya Arnold & Chinky!!
I’ve been to St. Dennis in Diamond Bar before, because thats where I would go while I was in college, but I’d never seen it in the afternoon. I didn’t realize that there was a courtyard with a fountain and how large the church actually was.
The ceremony- beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!
The bride- GORGEOUS, of course!
The groom- handsome, but Pamplonas are just good looking peeps, mmmkay!
Everything made me want to cry… but, I held back, cuz I don’t like showing emotion other than laughter.
As the priest said his thoughtful sermon, I sat with my face resting on my fist and I looked over to my cousins, I thought to myself, “How lucky, how blessed, how wonderful. Two people, two families coming together…”

The reception… two words: OPEN BAR.
Two MORE words: THANK YOU!
I’m sure the parents, aunts and uncles had a nice, calm time, but us cousins had a SUPER, SPECTACTULAR, FUNtastic time! Dancing, laughing and taking photos with each other, oh yes… and also partaking in a limited amount of libations!

Highlights of the evening-
- Kuya Alfred’s bestman speech
- The attachment of a 50 dollar bill to the bouquet as Chinky threw it out to all the single gals
- The attachment of a 100 dollar bill to the garter as Kuya Arnold threw it out to all the single men. Peep this photo:

Don’t worry Kuya Arnold! You look great in the top photo! TRUST ME!

Join me in congratulating Kuya Arnold and (officially) welcoming Chinky to our family!
Kuya Arnold & Chinky: The Wedding

ahh!

i don’t know what to wear to kuya arnold & chinky’s wedding! this is sooo stressful!!

Fun In the (Limited) Sun

Ahoy there, mateys!
What weird, wacky weather we’re experiencing in sunny socali! Sure, there’s such thing as “june gloom”, but lately, it’s been raining! But, i’m not complaining because we can always use a little bit more water!

This past weekend, I was able to join in on Nick’s SummerJam ‘09. The sun was playing Hide & Seek, so we tried to get some rays in when we could.  Some people swam, I just layed there on a chair soaking up some vitamin D.

Nick tagged a lot of us in this photo. I ended up the gal in the background with the white sunglasses. Of course, Nick is the HOTTIE in the front with the awesome hair. “It’s business in the front, party in the back!” Or, whatever the funny saying is.

I had a really good time, as all I did was take in some sun and eat, eat, eat! Eat chicken, eat hotdogs, eat oysters, eat crawfish, drink beer and soda. Oh! And I made chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!! I didn’t tell many people that I was the one that made cupcakes, but it did make me smile when I heard, “Man, there’s no more cupcakes!” and “The frosting was really good!” and “Ooh, theses are good!” hehehe…

We all cheered the Lakers on, and were sooo relieved when they pulled off the W in overtime! Whew! It was funny, because we were all screaming when someone made or missed a shot and when they actually won! Okay, well, “we” weren’t all screaming, because I just stayed quiet and attentive and my eyes widened when something good or bad happened. But I was in the back, all the way in the corner, so no one noticed. But I gave high-5’s to who ever turned around and wanted one from me. LOL.

I’m going to write a little something about each person, starting from top left all the way to the bottom right. Feel free to read (or NOT read) what I hafta say. It’s a free world, after all…

Patti- A theater arts major, had a role in Westside Story and is a dancer!
Mark- He always, always, ALWAYS wears a hat!
Maureen- she’ll be heading off to Europe in a couple of days for about 32 days! WOW!
Brian- super cool guy! But, we didn’t chat much yesterday. Next time, tho… next time!
Jasper- Here! Check his blog out: Nerdy Affilliate He’s a really smart guy!
CherylZ- My LT! I haven’t seen this gal in such a long time! I LOVE YOU, LT!!
Joe-Joe… He’s taking ballroom dancing!
Cherrie- She’s a very talented fashion designer for 12by12 (Forever21).
Ellen- our newest RN! She’s heading to Hawaii soon.
Steve- MY FAVORITE tutee of all time! HI STEVE!!
Nick- The man of the hour and host of the party! LOVE YA, NICKY!
Kathy- She needs a filter for her slr to protect the lens from gunk like, yogart.
Alex- He has his own house now! Cool beans, Alex! It was nice to see him.
Daniel- He keeps calling me “emma”. I find it amusing.
Me- I look super cute when half of my face is covered, donchathank?
Larry- larry is a really great guy and I really like talking to him, but we hardly talk!

One photo that I wish I had, is with Paulette! She and Matt came, but I was so busy just laying by the pool and chatting with her, that I completely forgot I had my camera with me… until she left to go to work. LOVE YA, BABE!

Wanna see some more photos? Or, see the originals from where the “yearbook” photos were cut? Sure! Check ‘em out: Nick’s SummerJam ‘09 But there aren’t that many…

Closing Another Chapter

I knew that May 29, 2009 was going to come one way or another.  But when I started this journey 4 years ago, I never imaged that it would a.) take me this long to finish and b.) finish the way I finished. I never imagined how hard it was going to be… all the late nights of studying and even on the weekends. I had to dedicate the weekends to studying, and while I tried to have fun here and there, I was never completely happy because I always had school in the back of my mind- what hw was due, if I was going to have a quiz, when the midterms were coming, how good/bad i was doing in my classes, how I was going to make it through the end of the semester (let alone the program), etc.

But, if it wasn’t school that was on my mind, it was work- what deadlines were coming up, which spacecraft was going to get launched, how to prepare for it, how I was going to finish everything, etc. I did 2 years of a modified work schedule coming in by 6am on days I had to go to school and staying later on the days I didn’t go to school.
All in all, I’m am so thankful that I am done.

Not alot of my cousin could make it to the graduation, but that was okay. Besides, commencement was on a friday afternoon at 1pm. People had to work, so of course I understood.

krista, jorge & derek

for some weird reason, this is my favorite picture from the bunch (to date). I don’t know why… i guess it really captures my true feelings as I saw my family cheering me on. The people captured in the photo with me are super smarties. Krista has a 4.0 graduate GPA, derek is up there and will be going to UC Merced to continue on with the Ph.d program, and Jorge… This guy finished all his required classes in one year! He’ll be heading to NY to continue with a Ph.d program, too.

Here’s Paulette and Michelle, 2 of my 3 best friends. And there’s a little gray silouhette of Princess. We all wished she could be there, but she was being a mom to new born, lucas. We missed ya, gal! But, we love ya!

I’m going to update my blog again with some more cool photos, like a photo of my cap, and some photos with my family. I think Kuya Noel has them on his camera.

Taking a Breather With an Update

It’s been a while, friends. Yes, over 2 weeks since I’ve blogged.
I’ve been busy… work and school and whatnot. Fun and here, afterall– all work and no play makes irmy a dull gal.

Let me take a moment to share some interesting photogs from a couple of weeks ago.
So, ya know how Kuya Arnold and Chinky are getting married? Their bachelor and bachelorette parties were a couple of weeks ago. They were separate, of course.  While Kuya Arnold and the boys cruised to Mexic– I mean, Catalina Island (darn you, swine flu), the girls enjoyed a night out on the town eating dinner at El Cholo’s Cafe and drinks and dancing at Boulevard 3 in LA. Aimee, Chinky’s cute little sister (and maid of honor) arranged it all for us. There were a lot of girls in attendance, over 20! But, it was fun.

And this is us with our Bride-To-Be!
Shot after shot, drink after drink! She took ‘em and she was a trooper! A SUPER TROOPER, as she was still feeling the effects a week later at the wedding shower.
So, dinner, dancing, drinks and fun with her girls. Sounds like a great bachelorette party to me!
I think we had more fun than the boys, but i’m sure they’ll disagree. I heard Kuya Arnold had to work on a project while on their cruise boat.
-_- ZzZzzz
oh, sorry. I feel asleep thinking about their trip.

But now, lets move on to the Wedding shower!
Good food, good people, good times!
Jo Anne was the mastermind for the event, planning and setting up for the party. We all helped of course. Cousins made dishes like salads and kahlua pork, spam musubi, etc. I made chicken katsu!
We played some fun games like, “the leg game”. This is where the bride-to-be is blind folded and she has to pick out her hubby by feeling his leg. It was funny, b/c the boys moved around in between “rubs”. Needless to say, she picked Kuya Arnold… NOT! She actually picked Kuya Michael’s leg. LOL.
But the funnest game was the toilet paper bride game!
Enjoy these phots of our “husbands-to-be” or are they the brides-to-be?

Kuya Arnold won the game. But his dress was exceptionally done. Better phots will show the corsage that was made to accompany his ensemble.

love you guys!!

☻ Some of My Favorite People ☻

Photos from last Thursday’s festivities-

How We Do It

Revlon Run/Walk- Helping to Find a Cure

Breast cancer incidence in women in the United States is 1 in 8 (about 13%).

I walked in this years Revlon Run/Walk to support helping to find a cure for breast cancer. It was my first one, but my family’s 3rd. It was an amazing experience because there were so many people gathered together to try and find a cure. I was proud to be a part of this.

But, I’ll be honest, it was somewhat of an emotional experience for me. I saw so many poeple who had shirts and signs letting people know they were walking “in memory” or someone they lost. Some of the photos that were on the posters or shirts were woman who looked so young. And even older woman who said they were walking for their mothers or sisters that passed… It was very hard… at times I just wanted to cry. But I held it together and Jo Anne told me, “I know it’s difficult, but it’s good we’re doing this to help the cause.” I agreed.

Team Pamplona (some of them): Ate Leila, Isabelle, Kuya Jojo, Jo Anne, Kuya Noel & Tita Ched. About 5-10% of breast cancers are caused by gene mutations inherited from one’s mother or father. Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. Women with these mutations have up to an 80% risk of developing breast cancer during their lifetime, and they often are diagnosed at a younger age (before age 50). An increased ovarian cancer risk is also associated with these genetic mutations. Men with a BRCA1 mutation have a 1% risk of developing breast cancer by age 70 and a 6% risk when they have a BRCA2 mutation.

Believe it or not, but there zillions of people behind us! If you think that’s a lot of people, you should have seen how many people were IN FRONT of us!
Walking around the USC/Colliseum area- there were a lot of historical landsites. Like, old churches and buildings. Not to mention some 7-11s and AM/PM minimarts. Christina, Kuya Alfred & I stopped at the 7-11 about a half-a-mile into the walk. We were parched!!

About an hour after we started, we made it to the 1mile mark! But, we weren’t slow! There were so many people that day, that we walked like we were smashed in a sardine can! hehehe…. But, trust me when I say it only took us about 20 minutes to get to mile 2! And that’s only because we visited a church and a house a long the way and took some photos.

About 40,480 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2008 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1990. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
Isn’t that photo cool? Christina and I were both glad to know that the number of breast cancer deaths (although still high) have lowered.

At last, we had finally found our team. A “not-too long” of a walk in the somewhat-sorta beating sun results in happy faces and REST in the stands of the LA Colliseum. I sat down in the chair and thought, “This seems so familiar!” I then remembered I watched a football game there. Christina is looking at the sign, bewildered saying, “Wait a minute! This isn’t OURs!”

hahah! LOVE YOU! Wanna see more shenanigans? Here: Revlon Run/Walk 05.09.09

As of 2008, there are about 2.5 million women in the U.S. who have survived breast cancer.
This is our beautiful aunt, Tita Amy. She’s one of our survivors! We love you!!
A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. About 20-30% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have a family history of breast cancer.
Breast cancer is scary (any cancer for that fact), but don’t let yourself be a statistics! Support the cause in helping to find a cure! Ladies, don’t let your family be sad and cry because they lost you due to this horrible disease! Check yourself regularly to see if there are any abnormal bumps on you.

If you’d like read more alarming facts about breast cancer, you can visit this site: Breast Cancer Statistics

 

I hope everyone has a nice day!!!