Dude…totally!

Remember Crush and Squirt?  

You know…just keep swimming, just keep swimming.  Finding Nemo.  

My jaw dropped when I saw these HUGE sea turtles at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach. Actually, my jaw dropped the first time when we passed by the Komodo Dragon.  I thought I could skip the reptile exhibit since we are going to the "Aquarium", but nope!  It's there, and I think it was actually waiting for me.  Eewww!  

Anyway, from Washington, we headed to Virginia Beach for a week-long stay with my hubby's relatives.  The real purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding of Raymond's cousin, Jake.  (More on that on my next post!)  It was a "short" drive; we even had time to stop by Maryland where Raymond's other Auntie lives.  

Since we were going to be busy helping with the wedding prep, we decided beforehand that we will do something special with the kids amidst the busyness of the event.  So we braved the crazy Virginia Beach weather (hot and humid one minute, raining on the next) and headed for the Aquarium.  A little costly, if you ask me, but totally worth it with the sea turtles. 

Enjoy the photos! :)

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A "Long" Blogpost

A "long absence" blogpost. That's what it is.  A long absence from the blogging world.  Not totally the whole blogging world, just this blog in particular.  Not that it's not important to me.  It's actually the most important blog, at least in my hubby's eyes.  And I have been slacking (neglecting!!!).  No excuses.  Just stories of what happened to us while we were not blogging for those three long months.

Now, how can I squeeze those three months of absence into one post?  Answer:  I can't!  So we will do a few blogposts this week to catch up :)

In today's post, we have Washington, D.C. as our subject.  We have never driven past Pennsylvania, so driving there was an adventure already.  Twice the fun, too because we were with Raymond's sister and her family.

We got a 4-star hotel Downtown Washington, a block away from the White House.  Such a huge blessing especially because we have kids in tow, so walking around DC will be so much easier.  Got the deal from Priceline's Negotiator.  Gotta love them!  3 days, 2 nights at J.W. Marriott Hotel.

Our hotel

Downtown Washington at night…and day :)

World War II Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

Strolling to find a food court :)

Extremely hot day.  Perfect day for popsicles, except it ended on the ground :(

Three days and two nights are not enough to enjoy what DC has to offer.  Hubby already promised that we will definitely go back there.  

Oh, and on our way to DC, we got lost.  We missed an exit, and wanting to stay on course and be in-sync with our printed Google directions, I decided to be the expert and told hubby we can take the next exit and I will navigate to get back to I-29.  Bad idea!  We drove around for 45 minutes, uphill and downhill, looking for that elusive interstate.  Forget the map and GPS!  I turned on my iPhone and checked the maps, and we got back on track.  It was actually a good thing because we were able to meet with my sister-in-law for lunch, and we drove together from then on to Washington.  All went smooth after that.  But hubby made up his mind that we are taking the fastest way next time; no more scenic, "shorter" way.

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SOLD!!!! Plus a million other things.

Two and a half months of silence.  What's going on?

Well, there was a LOT that went on.  So much that blogging has to take the back seat.

- After pulling our house on the real estate market for a Winter break last year, we decided to put it back on the market this Spring.  Why?  Because after deliberation and calculations, we figured that it would be cheaper and wiser to move than to renovate.

- We spent March Break at home :(

- One week after we activated the listing, our house got an offer with conditions to be met and finalized in ten days with closing date in six weeks.  Yikes!

- We went crazy looking for houses so we will not be left homeless after six weeks.

- Seven days after the signed offer, the buyers released us from the contract because their condo unit is not "officially" sold because of some condo fund issue, which left us with no sale.

- That same night of release, there was a couple waiting at our dining table; waiting to give an offer to our house that they so badly wanted since they saw it last year before we puled it out of the market.

- Five days after the signed offer, they did not proceed with the sale because they were too worried about the roof condition, and their mortgage appraiser has not shown up.

- All through these, Raymond was having sleepless nights.  Anxiety, worries and panic.  NOT GOOD.  So we got out of private selling and we hired our realtor friend, Greg Brown to list our house on MLS.

- Craziest five days ever!  Buyers were constantly viewing the house.  We were hardly home.  No cooking, no messes, no clutter…nothing.  We were supposed to keep it "buyer-ready" all the time.

- Five days after being active on MLS, we had multiple offers!  Praise the Lord!

- Three days after the offer, we had a deal!  Praise the Lord!

- Our realtor was busy during the week, so we were initially reserving viewing houses on the weekend.  But we managed to squeeze five visits in two nights.  We found the perfect one.  Perfect location, perfect set-up, but price is a little more than what we were allowed to borrow from the bank.

- We made an offer the following day, praying that they will accept.

- The next day, Friday, they accepted the offer but negotiated on the price.  The asking price is exactly what we have been praying for.  Praise the Lord!  We got a deal!

- Insurance, financing and home inspection all in just two business days.  Deal was closed and closing date is June 3.

- June 3???  That's just 3 days after our trip to Virginia Beach.  I will most definitely have not enough time to pack in three days.  

So purging, organizing and packaging started ASAP.

- I've been buried in boxes since then…and I'm still not done.  

- All these plus two location photoshoot and one in studio…plus hours of editing…plus getting ready, practicing and educating myself for my very first wedding on Saturday.

- There are probably more that I have not written down, but I am already overwhelmed :(

See, I told you "a million other things."

We are still here.  Somewhere behind one of the boxes in the house.

And before I go, I'll leave you with a proof to show that we are still here

because a blogpost is boring without a picture!

The kids' Easter picture.
There is a story behind it…I'll tell you tomorrow.

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Cousins

Our family got together last Sunday for hubby's not so surprise birthday celebration.

And with pretty clothes on, we agreed to do a photoshoot for these crazy bunch.

The setting up of the studio probably took more time than the actual photoshoot.

Angelina, the youngest in the bunch, was very cooperative at first.

But when it's time to take group pictures,

…

let's just say she did not want divided attention.

Here are the outtakes (unedited)…

"Let me go!"

"I am not facing the camera!"

"The pink necklace looks better on me!"

And this one is... priceless!

(I love how Virginia, top right, is posing for the camera yet looking strangely at her sister;

and how the girls behind are posing away while the boys are struggling to keep Angelina calm.)

You can find the "better" photos at Nostalgia Photography

though if you ask me, these outtakes are the better and normal ones :)

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