★☆ Cousin Doug's Wedding and Birthday Thoughts☆★

[Currently listening to "Your Love is My Drug" by Ke$ha - she's kinda my current music obsession at the moment :) ]

Good morning again everyone :)

I know, I did say that I was going to update last night, but I got an excuse ^-^;; Some of you guys may or may not know about this already, but I do go either to the pool or the gym after work on most days during my week. I love to stay physically active and looking forward going to the gym or the pool after a good shift at work is very motivating. But for something more exciting, I've been doing something in addition to my routine!

In the last week, Rich - one of my good guy buddies who's one of the cooks where I work - is teaching me boxing! He did professional boxing for quite some time, and I learned this when I was working out one night; he came in with a few guys who I see sometimes at work and they put on their gear and started knocking each other out, lol! I thought it looked pretty interesting and asked Rich about it. Soon enough, I started learning how to make the proper fighting stance, jabbing, perfecting my hook, and I'm now learning how to slip (making my body go down to dodge a punch). It's so aggressive, but it's so much fun too! I got a couple of my co-workers Dice and Jas to join too - the more the merrier, right?? :D

...but I think I pushed my limit last night, and sucker-punched myself right out x_X It was so much fun, so I guess it was worth it :)

So now that I probably bored you with my gym story, why don't we get on with some of the pics from my cousin's wedding? :)

Saturday, July 10th, 2010 in the city of Philadelphia was one of the most exciting days for me and my family. My elder cousin, Douglas, married his very cute and lovely wife Christina :) It was a very lovely wedding - Caribbean music played as the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their way to the altar, a song sung by Celine Dion played as the bride's march, a wonderful and motivating pastor led the way, and all followed with a fun wedding reception :) I've been waiting a couple of months to meet this wonderful Christina, and I finally got to meet her on this day - she's so pretty and fun, I'm so happy that Douglas found a wonderful woman like her and I'm praying for a loving, happy life together <3>

Here's me with my mom, dad and handsome brothers Jerome and Jonathan :)

My cousin JR with lil Elijah, the ring bearer - this little guy is so funny: when he approached the altar, he handed the rings over to Douglas and tried to run away, lol!

The cousins! We're from my dad's side of the family. From L to R: Bridget, Kimberly, Richard, my brother Jerome, JR, me, other brother Jonathan, and Ryan. :)

Doug and Christina cutting the cake - it's so gorgeous, I loved the colors!

My cousin Rich dancing with his really cute girlfriend Kristen :)

Just a few pictures for now to show you guys - I've yet to upload the pictures on my Facebook, so I will post a link on my Twitter and in a later edit tonight :) It was my very first time at a wedding, especially at a family wedding, and I will never ever forget it :)

Time for me to get ready for work, guys... I wish I can write to you a little bit more, but look out for an update later on tonight and you guys can always follow me on Twitter too :)

Before I go though, just wanted to say that I just placed in an order for something I wanted to get myself as an early birthday present: DSKJewelry's Strawberry Lemonade necklace :) Isn't it gorgeous? I absolutely love the colors - their warm colors are just so sweet, summery and... I guess you can also say, yummy :)

Speaking of which, DSKJewelry's Model Contest ends this coming Sunday, August 15th - cast your votes now if you haven't! :) You can vote at: dskmodel.tumblr.com (best viewed either in Mozilla or Safari because it's being weird in Internet Explorer).

Have a wonderful day everyone, and I'll check back with you all later on tonight -- promise!! xoxo

Much love,
Reiko

Edit!!
The pictures are now uploaded on my Facebook - visit here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019471&id=65300438&l=955e740e50

Enjoy the pictures! :D

♠ Reiko's Back - About Damn Time :)v ♠

[Currently having some breakfast with her little brother, Jerome :) No music involved, but has Owl City's "Strawberry Avalanche" playing in her head :)]

My goodness, it really has been a while everyone - sorry for the delays again >_<

I'm crunching on time at the moment, so for now, I just want to bring you guys up to speed to what has been happening with me in recent days:

How's Reiko? Overall, feeling great and just going about my busy days loving each day to the fullest, even on the toughest days :) Due to some personal issues that I have experienced recently (which I can't explain to you guys here, I'm sorry... :( ) in many ways, I feel that I have matured from it all, and I'm taking the baby steps to becoming an even better person than I was a few weeks ago. One day I will be able to tell you all, but for right now, rest assured, I'm doing well, and I'm loving life! :)

Family: In about 2 weeks' time, my family and I will be venturing up north for my cousin Douglas and his fiancee' Christina's wedding. :) Douglas is one of my cousins that I've admired since I was a kid, and now I'm very happy that he is very happy to start his new life with his soon-to-be wife, who will also become a wonderful addition to my family :) I'll be gone for about 5 days to venture up to New Jersey to see my extended family, and then to Pennsylvania where the wedding will take place. I'm very excited not just for the wedding, but for the trip itself. It's been a while since my family and I had a vacation together, and this will be a real treat. I haven't been to New Jersey since seeing my relatives to embark on a flight to the Philippines together 5 summers ago, and I've never been to Pennsylvania before - I'm really looking forward to the adventures to come :)

Work: I'm loving and appreciating my work as a bartender/waitstaff in that retirement home more and more by the day :) I know some of you guys are wondering how on earth I'm able to cope working in a place like this, and I can simply tell you that it takes a lot of love and patience. There are times when it gets busy and difficult, but I know that in the very end, everything will fall into place and will be all right. I like being with people (especially talking to them) and I get along fairly well with the people I work with and work for. Love and patience are the keys, my friends! :)

Friends: Unfortunately, due to my very busy schedule, I only have very little time to see and/or chat with my friends in real life or even online (Facebook, Myspace, etc.). I was able to see a couple of good friends in recent weeks - Kai and Eleni - which is a good start, but when I have time to hang out, or even have an online chat with you, etc. , I will let you guys know :) I may not be able to say this to each of you individually so I'll say it here: I love you all and thank you for being a part of my life :) xoxo

Love life? Taylor and I are doing very well :) I feel that he and I have gotten much closer since the last time I posted, and that makes me feel very good. Tay is a really important person in my life, and I'm very grateful for everything he does and even just being there for me. He's been by my side even through the most recent slumps - I don't think he realizes how much I appreciate his love and loyalty to me... But anyway, we are doing very well, and we'll be celebrating our anniversary (1 year, 11 months) in a few days, as well as his birthday... which is a week from today! Whoo! xoxo

Car accident update: Remember the car accident I had back in March? Well, the case will come to a close in the next few days: On Monday, I will be appearing in court to testify as a witness in the case against the woman who hit me and my car, Rinoa. I have been looking forward to this day for a while - this will be my very first time testifying as a witness in court. As I said before in my post-accident post, I have forgiven the woman since that night, and I still do to this very day. I'm not sure what the outcome will be for the other woman, but I do hope that from whatever punishments and/or fines that will fall upon her, she will learn from that so that she won't have to experience that ever again. After this, my family and I will be truly ready to move forward from this, and I pray that she will too.

So yes! That's the gist of what's been going on with my lately, but I do want to announce one other thing... As of yesterday, I now have a brand-new digital camera!

This is the model of the digital camera that I now have: Samsung T220 digital camera, 12.2 megapixels and dual LCD screens. I'm loving this camera the more I use it :) ...should I come up with a name for it? :D What do you guys think?? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

And of course, I wouldn't end this post without showing you guys a few pictures from my new camera eh?? :D I had to compress them in order for them to fit here, so if they appear small for you guys, I apologize - I will have to work on them later :(

My handsome boyfriend, Taylor :) He made dinner! ^0^

A very interesting mug that held some tea he brewed for me :)

Dinner! Little steak and vodka pasta! We had a huge helping of seconds after that :)

My brother, Jerome finishing breakfast... and trying to be cute. :p

...and there's yours truly! :)

And there you have it guys! Now that I have a new camera, I'm looking forward to posting more for you guys. I'll update when I can, but I'll definitely chat with you all soon. Have a great day!!

xoxo,

~Reiko :)