Serena Williams is so good in tennis court

I'm a big fan of Serena Williams because of the way she play tennis and in every game she has it is always a great game. I always get updated on every game she has. Here's some information about her:

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is a professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 2. She has won 18 Grand Slam titles: nine in singles, seven in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She also has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. In 2005, Tennis magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player of the preceding forty years. She is the younger sister of a former World No. 1 professional female tennis player, Venus Williams. Serena currently resides at Ballen Isles in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Serena Jameka Williams
Williams playing World Team Tennis in 2008
Country	United States
Residence	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S. [1]
Date of birth	September 26, 1981 (1981-09-26) (age 27)
Place of birth	Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Weight	150 lb (68 kg)[1]
Turned pro	1995
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Career prize money	US$21,774,846 (3nd in all-time rankings)[2]
Singles
Career record:	398–83
Career titles:	32
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (July 8, 2002) (September 8, 2008)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (2003, 2005, 2007)
French Open	W (2002)
Wimbledon	W (2002, 2003)
US Open	W (1999, 2002, 2008)
Major tournaments
WTA Championships	W (2001)
Olympic Games	QF (2008)
Doubles
Career record:	110–17
Career titles:	13
Highest ranking:	No. 5 (October 11, 1999)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (2001, 2003)
French Open	W (1999)
Wimbledon	W (2000, 2002, 2008)
US Open	W (1999)

Career

Early years

Serena was born in Saginaw, Michigan. When she and her four sisters were young, their parents, Richard and Oracene (also called Brandy), moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Compton. Her father dreamed of making at least one of his daughters a tennis superstar, hoping that involvement in sports would give them an opportunity for a better life. The children were homeschooled.

When Serena was four and a half, she won her first tournament, and she entered 49 tournaments by the age of 10, winning 46 of them. At one point, she replaced her sister Venus as the number one ranked tennis player aged 12 or under in California.

In 1991, Richard Williams, saying that he hoped to prevent his daughters from facing racism, stopped sending them to national junior tennis tournaments, and Serena attended a tennis school run by professional player Rick Macci in Haines City, Florida at Greneleaf Resort and Conference Center instead. Macci had already helped the careers of Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce, among others. Soon Richard, who had struck a deal on behalf of his daughters with a major clothing company, was able to move the rest of the Williams family to West Palm Beach, to be near Serena and Venus.

1995-1998

Williams became a professional in September 1995 at the age of 14. Because of her age, she had to participate in non-WTA events at first. Her first professional event was the tournament in Quebec City, where she was ousted in less than an hour of play.

Williams's biggest achievement of 1997 was her run in Chicago; ranked World No. 304, she upset both Monica Seles and Mary Pierce, recording her first career wins over top 10 players. She finished 1997 at World No. 99.

1998 was the first year that Williams finished ranked in the WTA top 20. She began the year in Sydney as a qualifier, ranked World No. 96, and defeated World No. 3 Lindsay Davenport in a quarterfinal. Williams was then expected to do well in her first Grand Slam tournament, but lost in the second round of the Australian Open to sister Venus.

Williams reached six other quarterfinals during the year. She won the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi, completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand Slams. Williams won her first pro title in doubles at Oklahoma City with sister Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA tour women's doubles title. She earned U.S. $2.6 million in prize money during the year.

1999

In 1999, Serena defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France tournament in Paris, the same day that Venus won the tournament in Oklahoma City. This was the first time in professional tennis history that two sisters had won titles in the same week.^{[citation needed]}

In March, Williams won the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, becoming the second of only five unseeded Tier I champions in WTA history. Williams (ranked 21st) defeated the World No. 2 Lindsay Davenport in the second round, the World No. 8 Mary Pierce in a quarterfinal, and the World No. 7 Steffi Graf in the three-set final.

At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, sister Venus halted Serena's 16-match winning streak in the final. This was the first all-sister singles final during the open era. Serena defeated World No. 3 Monica Seles and World No. 1 Martina Hingis en route to the final.

On April 5, 1999, Serena made her top 10 debut at World No. 9. Venus was ranked sixth the same week, marking the first time that two sisters appeared in the top ten simultaneously since April 22, 1991, when Manuela and Katerina Maleeva were in the top ten.

Williams teamed with sister Venus to win the women's doubles title at the French Open but lost in the third round in singles at that tournament. Williams missed Wimbledon because of an injury.

In the summer, Williams won the hard court tournament in Los Angeles, defeating World No. 8 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, World No. 1 Hingis, and Julie Halard-Decugis.

At the US Open, the seventh-seeded Williams defeated World No. 4 Seles, World No. 2 Davenport, and World No. 1 Hingis to become the lowest seed to win the titleand the second African-American woman (after Althea Gibson in 1958) to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.

Williams went on to take the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, defeating Venus in the final.

Williams won her singles match and doubles match during the tie between the United States and Russia in the final of the Fed Cup. The U.S. won four of the five matches and its 16th title overall. In their doubles match, Serena and Venus defeated Elena Dementieva and Elena Makarova 6–2, 6–1.

Williams finished the year at World No. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour.

Williams became the focus of many ad campaigns, including one with shoe and clothes maker Puma, which signed her to a U.S.$12 million agreement.

2000

Following her breakthrough season, Williams's results declined slightly in 2000. Her best Grand Slam showing was a run to the semifinals at Wimbledon, before losing to sister and eventual champion Venus. Her defense of the US Open title came to a disappointing end when she fell to Lindsay Davenport in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

Perhaps the highlight of Williams's year was picking up the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics for women's doubles, along with Venus. The Williams sisters also teamed up to take the women's doubles title at Wimbledon, while Serena picked up singles titles in Hanover, Los Angeles and Tokyo. She finished the year at number six, a slight decline on her finish the year before.

2001

Williams reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time before falling to World No. 1 Martina Hingis. Serena and her sister Venus won the women's doubles title there, becoming only the fifth women's doubles team in history to win all four Grand Slam doubles titles during their career, a "Career Grand Slam".

Williams then won the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California.

Williams reached the quarterfinals at both the French Open and Wimbledon.

During the North American summer hard court season, Williams captured her second title of the year at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating World No. 3 and top-seeded Jennifer Capriati in the final. At the US Open, Williams defeated Hingis in the semifinals to reach her second Grand Slam final before losing to sister Venus.

At the year-ending WTA Tour Championships, Williams saved eight match points before defeating Capriati in the semifinals. She then won the final by default when Lindsay Davenport withdrew.

Williams finished the year at World No. 6 for the second straight year.

2002

Williams was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open due to injury but won her first event of the year in Scottsdale, defeating World No. 1 Jennifer Capriati in the final. She then won the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, again defeating Capriati in the final. She then captured her first career title on clay at the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Justine Henin in the final.

Williams was the third-seeded player at the French Open and dropped just two sets en route to the final. She then defeated sister Venus 7–5, 6–3. At Wimbledon, Williams won the title without dropping a set, defeating Venus once again in the final. This win earned Williams the World No. 1 ranking (dethroning her sister and becoming the second African-American woman to hold that ranking on the Women's Tennis Association computer). The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at this event.

Williams captured her third straight Grand Slam singles title at the US Open, once again not dropping a set en route, and defeated Venus yet again in the final in straight sets. Williams then won back-to-back titles in Leipzig and Tokyo. She reached the final at the year-ending Home Depot Championships but lost to 19-year-old Kim Clijsters 7–5, 6–3.

Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 record, eight singles titles, and the World No. 1 ranking.

2003

At the Australian Open, Williams dropped only one set while reaching the semifinals. She then defeated Kim Clijsters 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, recovering from a 5–1 deficit in the third set and saving two match points. She then faced her sister Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and won in three sets, to become the fifth woman in the open era to complete a Career Grand Slam, joining Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf. The Williams sisters won their sixth doubles title together at this event.

Williams then captured titles at the Open Gaz de France in Paris and the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida and went into the French Open trying to capture her fifth consecutive Grand Slam singles title. However, she lost to eventual champion Justine Henin in the semifinals 6–2, 4–6, 7–5 (having led by a break in the third set) in a match marred by controversy, in which Williams was booed. Two weeks later, however, Williams won her sixth Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Henin in the semifinals 6–3, 6–2 before defeating Venus in the final.

Wimbledon was Williams's last event of the year, as a knee injury forced her to withdraw from all other events (including the US Open). As a result, she lost her World No. 1 ranking to Clijsters in August, having held it for 57 weeks. Williams finished the year ranked World No. 3, despite having played only seven tournaments plus Fed Cup.

Williams's older sister, Yetunde Price, was murdered on the morning of September 14, 2003, by gunshots as she passed by in a car driven by a man in the Compton area.

2004

Williams delivering a serve in 2004.

Williams withdrew from the Australian Open to continue rehabilitating her left knee. After eight months away from the tour, Williams began her comeback at the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where she defeated Elena Dementieva in the final. She then lost in the French Open quarterfinals to Jennifer Capriati 6–3, 2–6, 6–3, which was the first time she had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001. She reached the final of Wimbledon, but in one of the most surprising upsets in the tournament's history, the 17-year old Russian player, Maria Sharapova, defeated Williams 6–1, 6–4.

On July 30, Williams withdrew from her quarterfinal match in San Diego against Russia's Vera Zvonareva with another left knee injury. On August 1, she announced her withdrawal from the Rogers Cup due to the same injury. The injury also forced her to pull out of the Summer Olympics.

Williams's next tournament was the US Open, where she lost a quarterfinal match to Capriati. The match was plagued by disputes over calls with the umpire. Williams protested later on the Ellen show by wearing a bright orange shirt with white capital letters, stating "THE BALL WAS IN!"

At the China Open in Beijing, Williams defeated the newly crowned US Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the final. Williams earned enough points there to reach the WTA Tour Championships, where she again lost to Sharapova in the final. Williams suffered a stomach muscle strain during the match after leading 6–4, 2–1, consequently Williams began delivering serves barely reaching the 100 mph mark and Sharapova eventually won the match, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. Despite the loss, Williams finished the year at World No. 7.

2005

Williams won the Australian Open, her seventh Grand Slam singles title. She defeated three of the tournament's top four seeds (#2 Amélie Mauresmo, #4 Maria Sharapova, and #1 Lindsay Davenport) en route to the title. Williams saved three match points against Sharapova in the semifinals. The win moved her up to World No. 2, and Williams stated she was now targeting the number one spot in the foreseeable future.

Williams did not reach the final at any of her next five tournaments. This period included a loss to sister Venus - her first since 2001 - in the quarterfinals of the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida.

An ankle injury forced Williams to miss the French Open. At Wimbledon, Williams was defeated in the third round by fellow American Jill Craybas (ranked World No. 85) 6–3, 7–6(4).

At the US Open, Williams lost to her sister Venus in the fourth round 7–6, 6–2. This was the earliest the sisters had met in a Grand Slam tournament since their first meeting at the 1998 Australian Open. Williams played just one more match during the remainder of the year, a loss to World No. 127 Sun Tiantian in Beijing.

Williams finished the year ranked World No. 11 and with just one singles title.

2006

Williams hitting a return at the US open in 2006.

Williams did not participate in any of the official warm-up tournaments for the Australian Open.^[6] Williams was the defending champion at the Australian Open but fell to Daniela Hantuchová 6–1, 7–6(5) in the third round, provoking media reports that Williams had lost enthusiasm for the sport, which she denied. Her world ranking then fell out of the top 50 for the first time in many years, and she withdrew from the tournaments in Antwerp, the Dubai, and the Key Biscayne, Florida.

After withdrawing from the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, Williams's world ranking fell out of the top 100 for the first time in almost nine years. Shortly after, she announced that she would miss both the French Open and Wimbledon because of a chronic knee injury. She said that she would not be able to compete before "the end of the summer," on doctor's orders.

Williams, however, returned to the game earlier than expected, accepting wildcards to summer hard court tournaments in Cincinnati and Los Angeles. Ranked World No. 139 because of her inactivity, Williams upset the Cincinnati tournament's second seed and World No. 11 Anastasia Myskina 6–2, 6–2 in the first round before losing in the semifinals to the eventual champion Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 6–3.^[6] Williams's ranking rose to World No. 108 after Cincinnati. In Los Angeles, Williams defeated Hantuchová in the third round but lost in the semifinals to Jelena Janković 6–4, 6–3.^[6]

Williams was granted a wildcard into the US Open, as her ranking prevented her from gaining direct entry into the tournament. She was unseeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 1998. However, she defeated US Open Series champion Ana Ivanović in the third round before losing to top seed Amélie Mauresmo in the fourth round 6–4, 0–6, 6–2. Williams did not play again for the rest of the year.

Williams ended the year ranked World No. 95, her worst end-of-year ranking since 1997 when she finished World No. 99.

2007

Williams finished 2007 ranked World No. 7 and won two singles titles, her best performance in both aspects since 2004. She was also the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.

Williams began the year by stating that she had no doubt she would be World No. 1 again, a comment that attracted criticism in the press from Pat Cash.

Williams competed at the tournament in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia as a warm-up for the Australian Open. However, she lost to unseeded Sybille Bammer of Austria in the quarterfinals. Williams was unseeded at the Australian Open because of her World No. 81 ranking and was widely regarded as "out of shape". In the third round, however, Williams defeated fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova, which was her first win over a top 10 player since defeating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final. In the quarterfinals, Williams was two points from losing to Shahar Pe'er before prevailing and then defeated tenth-seeded Nicole Vaidišová in the semifinals in straight sets. In the final, Williams defeated top-seeded Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win her third Australian Open singles title, her eighth Grand Slam singles title, and her sixteenth Grand Slam title overall. Williams dedicated the title to her deceased sister Yetunde. Her performance in the final was described by TENNIS.com as "one of the best performances of her career" and by BBC Sport as "arguably the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis". Her ranking rose to World No. 14 as a result of the win.

Williams next played at the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. In the fourth round, Williams again defeated World No. 2 Sharapova 6–1, 6–1.^[12] She went on to reach the final, where she defeated World No. 1 Justine Henin in three sets after Williams saved two match points in the second set.

At the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina on clay courts, Williams received a first round bye and then retired from her second round match due to a groin pull. The following week, Williams won her first singles match in the first round Fed Cup tie against Belgium on hard courts but withdrew from the second singles match to rest her knee.

Williams played only one clay court tournament in Europe before the French Open. In Rome at the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Williams lost to fourteenth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6–3, 2–6, 7–6(5).^[12] After the tournament, however, she re-entered the top 10, moving up to World No. 9.

Williams at the French Open in 2007.

As the eighth seed at the French Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Henin 6–4, 6–3. Following the match, Williams said her performance was "hideous and horrendous" and worse than ever. She also said that she felt "violated."

Despite this loss, Williams was one of the favorites for the Wimbledon title. During her fourth round match against Daniela Hantuchová, Williams collapsed from an acute muscle spasm at 5–5 in the second set. After a medical timeout and holding serve to force a tiebreak, the rain came and play was suspended for nearly two hours. When the players returned to the court, Williams won the match 6–2, 6–7(2), 6–2. Williams then lost her quarterfinal match with World No. 1 Henin 6–4, 3–6, 6–3. Williams started the match with a heavily taped calf and was forced to use a one-handed backhand slice because of an injury to her left thumb. Williams drew criticism when she claimed after the match that she would have beaten Henin had Williams been healthy. After Wimbledon, Williams moved up to World No. 7, the highest she had been since 2005.

Because of the thumb injury, Williams did not play a tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open. At the US Open itself, she beat 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in the fourth round, setting up her third consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal with Henin. Williams lost again, 7–6(3), 6–1, her third straight loss to Henin in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event.

In October, Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Stuttgart to World No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 6–3. Williams then reached her third final of the year at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating Kuznetsova in the semifinals. In the final, however, she lost to Elena Dementieva. Nevertheless, Williams's performances at these tournaments increased her ranking to World No. 5 and qualified her for the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid. Williams's participation there was short. Because of injury, she retired from her first match with Anna Chakvetadze after losing the first set and then withdrew from the tournament.

2008

Williams started the year by participating on the U.S. team that won the Hopman Cup for the fifth time in Perth, Australia.

Williams entered the 2008 Australian Open as the defending champion and seventh seed but lost in the quarterfinals to World No. 4 and third-seeded Jelena Janković 6–3, 6–4. This was her fourth straight loss in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. In the women's doubles event, Serena and her sister Venus lost in the quarterfinals to the seventh-seeded team, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi.

Williams then withdrew from the tournaments in Paris, Antwerp, and Dubai due to an urgent need for dental surgery.

Upon her return to the tour, Williams won three consecutive singles titles. At the Tier II tournament in Bangalore, India, Serena defeated sister Venus in the semifinals 6–3, 3–6, 7–6(4) after Serena saved a match point 6–5 in the third set. This was the first time they had played each other since the fourth round of the 2005 US Open. Serena then defeated Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the final. At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Williams won her fifth career singles title there, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles titles at this tournament. Williams defeated World No. 1 Justine Henin in the quarterfinals, World No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals, and World No. 4 Janković in the final. This was Williams's 30th career singles title. At the clay court Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, Williams defeated, for the fourth consecutive time, second-seeded Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals 7–5, 4–6, 6–1. In the final, Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva^[25] to capture her tenth career Tier I title and first clay court title since the 2002 French Open.

Williams's 17-match winning streak was ended by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin 2–6, 6–1, 7–6(5). Williams was the fifth-seeded player at the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and made it to the quarterfinals, where Alizé Cornet received a walkover over Williams because of a back injury.

Williams was the fifth-seeded player at the French Open. Although she was the only former winner of this tournament in this year's draw, she lost in the third round to 27th-seeded Katarina Srebotnik 6–4, 6–4.

Williams stretching for a ball at Wimbledon 2008.

At Wimbledon, the sixth-seeded Williams reached the semifinals for the first time in four years. She defeated former World No. 1 and 2006 Wimbledon champion Amélie Mauresmo in the third round 7–6(5), 6–1. She then defeated Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals and Zheng Jie, a Chinese wild card, in the semifinals. Williams, however, lost the final to her older sister Venus in straight sets.Serena and Venus then teamed to win the women's doubles title without dropping a set the entire tournament, defeating Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the final.

Williams then played four World Team Tennis matches for the Washington Kastles, contributing 49 points for her team.

Williams was seeded first at the tournament in Stanford, California. After defeating fifth-seeded Schnyder in the quarterfinals, Williams retired from her semifinal match against qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak while trailing 6–2, 3–1 because of a left knee injury. That injury caused Williams to withdraw from the tournament in Los Angeles the following week.

At the Beijing Olympics, Williams was the fourth-seeded player in singles but lost to fifth-seeded and eventual gold-medalist Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals 3–6, 6–4, 6–3. Serena and her sister Venus were the second-seeded team in doubles. They won the gold medal, beating the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-0 in the final.

Williams was seeded fourth at the US Open and defeated her seventh-seeded sister Venus in the quarterfinals 7–6(6), 7–6(7). Serena trailed 5–3 in both sets and saved two set points in the first set and eight set points in the second set. Williams then defeated Safina in the semifinals 6–3, 6–2. She went on to win the title, defeating Janković in the final, and became the new World No. 1.

At the Tier II Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament in Stuttgart, Serena was the top seed, but lost to World no. 30 Li Na 6-0, 1-6, 4-6 in the second round.

Williams also entered the doubles draw in Stuttgart with her sister Venus, and are the fourth seeds. They beat the team of Daniela Hantuchova and Agnes Szavay in the first round, 6-4 6-1. But due to a left ankle injury to Serena, they had to withdraw from the tournament.

Williams issued a statement on 3rd October 2008 announcing her withdrawal from the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, citing a continuing left ankle injury and a desire to give her body time to recover from a packed 2008 playing schedule. In her statement, Williams recognised that her withdrawal from the Kremlin Cup significantly hindered her chances of finishing the season ranked No.1 in the world

lumpia history and its popularity

My baby's favorite Filipino dish is Lumpia so I always make lumpia for him whenever his home from work. It is one of my in laws favorite too, so it's everybody's favorite. I'm glad that here in the United States especially in our place,we have an asian store here to where I can get all the ingredients I need when im cooking lumpia. Just a thought,where does this word lumpia came from and what does it mean?

Lumpia/h are pastries of the Philippines and Indonesia of Chinese origin and are similar to spring rolls. The term lumpia derives from lunpia (traditional Chinese: 潤餅; pinyin: rùnbǐng; POJ: jūn-piáⁿ, lūn-piáⁿ) in the Hokkien language. The recipe, both fried and fresh versions, was brought by the Chinese immigrants from the Fujian province of China to Southeast Asia and became popular where they settled in the Philippines and Indonesia. In the Netherlands, it is spelled loempia which is the old Indonesian spelling for lumpia and has also become the generic name for "spring roll" in Dutch. A variant is the Vietnamese lumpia, wrapped in a thinner piece of pastry, in a size close to a spring roll though the wrapping closes the ends off completely, which is typical for lumpia.

Indonesian

Lumpia Basah

It literally means "wet spring roll" which means spring roll without frying. It is similar to the Vietnamese spring roll with bean sprouts, carrots, shrimp and/or chicken, and served with sweet tauco (another Hokkien word for salted soybeans) sauce.

Lumpia Semarang

Named after the capital city of Central Java in Indonesia, Semarang. It was created by Chinese immigrants in the city of Semarang. It is filled with bamboo shoots, dried shrimp (ebi in Indonesian) chicken and/or prawn. It is served with lumpia sauce that is made from dried shrimp (optional), coconut sugar, red chillies, bird's eye chilies, water, ground white pepper, tapioca starch and water and can be served in either fried or unfried condition.

Filipino

Lumpia Hubad

Lumpiang Hubad literally means naked spring roll. It is basically an unwrapped Lumpiang Sariwa (without the crepe).

Lumpiang Sariwa

Lumpiang Sariwa, or fresh spring rolls in English, consist of minced ubod (heart of palm), flaked chicken, crushed peanuts, and turnips as an extender in a double wrapping of lettuce leaf and a yellowish egg crepe. The accompanying sauce is made from chicken or pork stock, a starch mixture, and fresh garlic. This variety is not fried and is usually around 2 inches in diameter and 6 inches in length; it is also the most popular among the Filipino variants.

Lumpiang Shanghai

This type of lumpia is filled with ground pork, minced onion, carrots, and spices with the mixture held together by beaten egg. It may sometimes contain green peas. Both lumpiang shanghai and the sweet and sour sauce are served with attests to the Chinese influence. This variety is by standard an inch in diameter and approximately 4-6 inches in length. However, most restaurants and street vendors often serve lumpia shanghai in smaller diameters, typically one-half to three-quarter inches, and is served with a spicy sauce instead of a sweet and sour sauce.

Lumpiang Prito

Lumpiang Prito literally means fried spring roll. It consists of a briskly fried pancake filled with bean sprouts and various other vegetables such as string beans and carrots. Small morsels of meat or seafood may also be added. Though it is the least expensive of the variants, the preparation – the cutting of vegetables and meats into appropriately small pieces and subsequent pre-cooking – may prove taxing and labor-intensive. This variant may come in sizes as little as that of lumpiang shanghai or as big as that of lumpiang sariwa. It is usually eaten with vinegar and chili peppers, or a soy sauce-and-calamondin juice mixture known as toyo-mansi.

Lumpia has such enduring popularity that one can see at least one variant in almost any set of Filipino or Indonesian festivities. Its distinct taste and ease of preparation (the Shanghai variant at least) has caused it to be one of the staple food products on the menus of many Filipino restaurants in the United States, including Jollibee and Chowking.

What is true love and how do you know when you have found it?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
—I Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)

This verse describes the characteristics of true love. These qualities can certainly be found in the person of Jesus Christ, and they can be found in all truly loving relationships. The problem with trying to “find” love in our dating lives, is that too often we don't look for these characteristics. Rather we look at physical appearance, popularity, or wealth. These are not the qualities that God looks at and neither should we.

IDENTIFYING TRUE LOVE

We can only identify true love and know when we have found it, based on the Word of God. When we match our relationships up to what the Bible says that love is—and we are honestly prepared to make a life-long commitment to that person—then we can say that we are truly “in love.” The three keys to that statement are:

We have to…

1. look at the Word of God
2. be completely honest with ourselves
3. understand the level of commitment that comes with true love

Love is best seen as devotion and action, not an emotion. Love is not exclusively based on how we feel. Certainly our emotions are involved, but they cannot be our only criteria for love. True devotion will always lead to action—true love.

Went to Gulfport today

I and my father in law went to Biloxi Gulfport to pick up him and mom's friend. It was a nice trip,a little rough for a while though because it was raining and you could barely see the road. It's a bit scary because you wouldn't know if somebody is ahead of you but thank God our trip went well going to Gulfport and back to Moselle. It was a 2 hours travel. Dad tour me around Gulfort before actually headed to the airport. I took some pictures of vintage cars at the parking lot of one of the hotels there. We went to the casino for a while and played. It was fun because it was my very first time to go to a casino. I got the chance to play their machine and it was a whole lot of fun. I hope they will take me back there though. My day just went fine although it was raining but everything went well.

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

When I'm all alone,negative thoughts will sometimes popped up in my mind then I will end up crying. I always try to divert my attention to something that won't bother me but sometimes it's just hard to do it especially when it's stuck on my head. I know it's not proper to get serious with those negative thoughts but it scares me. Lots of questions on my mind,that what if it will happen and just a thought of that makes me so weak and helpless. I don't know how to overcome those and I'm hoping I could eliminate those things because it's not doing anything good to me. I really want an answer or guide on how to overcome those and as I was browsing some site, I found some informative data that could help me with my negative thoughts.It says:

Negative thoughts are the enemies of victorious life. Since our life is very much determined by our mind, our thoughts can make or break our life. Negative thoughts will distract your focus from the important and drain your energy. At the end, you will no longer have the ingredients necessary for success. Knowing how to overcome negative thoughts may make the difference between victory and defeat.

I believe there is an important principle at work regarding negative thoughts, and that is:

Attention is self-reinforcing.

If you give attention to negative thoughts, they will get stronger and stronger. What seems like a small matter in the beginning may become monstrous at the end. What you should do is breaking the vicious cycle by shifting your focus to something positive. You can then reinforce this positive attention until you completely defeat the negative thoughts (read more at attention management).

Here I’d like to share 20 tips to overcome negative thoughts mostly based on this principle. Not all tips are suitable for all situations, so choose the ones that work for you. Here they are:

1. Realize that you only hurt yourself with negative thoughts. Don’t let them trick you.
2. Decide that you will live your day with happiness and not let negative thoughts steal it.
3. Look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I’m a positive person. I won’t let negative thoughts control me. I’m a winner in life.”
4. Read positive quotes. You can go to Quotations Page or ThinkExist and browse the topics. Or, if you want random quotes, you can go to Random Quotations.
5. Never say negative words in your conversation.
6. Change the tone of your thoughts from negative to positive. For example, instead of thinking “This problem is too difficult” think “This problem is cool and challenging”.
7. If you think negatively about someone, remember positive things about that person. Shift your attention to the positive side.
8. Smile. It’s more difficult to think negatively when you are smiling.
9. Walk and act confidently. Good body language helps you have good thoughts.
10. Pray or meditate. Spiritual peace and calmness is among the most effective ways to overcome negative thoughts.
11. Gather with positive people. Be careful not to choose the wrong people or the situation will only get worse.
12. Take a nap so that you will wake up with a fresh mind.
13. Read an inspiring book. Spiritual books often do well.
14. Go out and appreciate the beauty of the world around you.
15. Sing a cheerful song.
16. Make yourself comfortable with failure. Failure is the stepping stone to success, so don’t be afraid to fail.
17. Have realistic expectation. Accept the fact that people could make mistakes since nobody is perfect.
18. If you think negatively about a situation, decide that you won’t give up even if the worst happens. Prove yourself to be a tough opponent. You are a winner.
19. Accept yourself and be comfortable in who you are. You can’t be perfect but neither can anyone else.
20. Help someone. Shift the focus away from yourself and do good to others.

Wedding Invitation Symbols and Their Meanings

When you browse through invitations or wedding paper, you're likely to run across a wide variety of images. Most of these images are important symbols of marriage and love. Below is an explanation for some of the most common symbols you'll find:

Bride and Groom: When a bride and groom are pictured on a wedding invitation, they are meant to symbolize the couple getting married.

Double Rings: Double rings symbolize the joining of two lives and two people. The rings are usually made of a strong metal, such as gold or platinum, to show the strength of the bond between the couple.

Double Hearts: Double hearts, like double rings, represent the joining of two people. Because we associate the heart with love, this symbolizes that the two people are connected through love.

Gold Color: Gold usually symbolizes the 50th wedding anniversary. Part of the reason for this is that gold is an unusual metal. Not only is it the most malleable, but it is the only metal that will not tarnish or rust. For this reason, gold came to stand for a marriage that retained its beauty for a long time.

Clock: The clock is usually used on save-the-date cards. However, clocks can also be used on invitations for around the clock wedding showers (each guest is assigned a time of day and must purchase a wedding gift appropriate for that time).

Silver Color: Silver usually symbolizes the 25th wedding anniversary. Like gold, silver is highly malleable (one reason it can easily be used in jewelry). However, it also resists corrosion and is only affected by one chemical – sulfur. As a result, silver has come to represent something precious that lasts a long time.

Gown and Tuxedo: When a gown and tuxedo are pictured on the invitation, these represent the bride and groom. The gown stands for the bride. The tuxedo stands for the groom.

Horse and Carriage: The horse and carriage symbolizes two things – romance and tradition. Today, the idea of a horse and carriage ride is the epitome of classic romance. Plus, using the horse and carriage as transportation symbolizes the Victorian era when many of our most beloved wedding traditions were started.

Butterfly: The butterfly has a long history of symbolic meaning. Early Christians believed the butterfly represented the human soul. In China, it stands for marital happiness while some Native American tribes looked to the butterfly for guidance when their lives were going through changes. Most commonly, the butterfly stands for pleasant change because of its metamorphosis from a less attractive, crawling caterpillar to a beautiful, soaring butterfly.

Birds: Birds are a common symbol, but their meaning varies depending on which birds are being shown. For example, doves (probably the most common on wedding invitations) represent enduring love and peace. Here are other examples: storks represent good luck, cuckoos suggest a happy marriage, swans symbolizes beauty.

Toasting flutes: Toasting flutes symbolize celebration and happiness.

Cake: The cake has now become a standard symbol of weddings. In fact, cakes or similar food items have been a part of wedding traditions since the days of the Roman Empire when a loaf of bread would be eaten by the groom then broken over the bride's head to symbolize his dominance over her. In Victorian times, the white wedding cake was known as the bride cake and symbolized her purity.

Unity candle: The unity candle symbolizes the joining of two lives in marriage. Although not a traditional part of any one religion's ceremony, the use of the unity candle started becoming popular with couples in the 1990's. The mother of the bride and the mother of the groom each light a single tapered candle to represent their daughter and son. Then the bride and groom use these candles to light the larger unity candle. The flame on the unity candle symbolizes their new life as man and wife.

Blush roses: Blush roses mean that only one person understands the holder's heart. When used in the bridal bouquet, therefore, blush roses would signify that only the groom really knows how the bride's feeling.

Calla lilies: The calla lily symbolizes magnificent beauty. This particular flower is sometimes also a floral symbol for the sixth wedding anniversary.

Hydrangea: The hydrangea stand for understanding, an important component of any successful marriage.

Rose: The red rose symbolizes love and passion. It is also the flower of June which is considered the traditional wedding month and stands for the 15th wedding anniversary. Other rose colors have different meanings, including the following: pink roses mean happiness, white roses mean innocence, yellow roses mean joy and friendship. Additionally, the combination of red and white roses in one bouquet symbolizes unity.

Tulips: In general, the tulip symbolizes the perfect lover. Different colored tulips have different meanings. For example, red tulips symbolize one's declaration of love while yellow tulips signify hopeless love.

Daisies: The daisy symbolizes innocence and a love that is loyal.

Here's a sample of our wedding invitation:

Wedding Invitation Colors

The Meaning of Colors in Your Wedding Invitations

When you choose your wedding flowers, you probably gave at least a passing thought to what those flowers symbolized. For example, red roses usually represent passionate love and snapdragons symbolize deceit. Well, when you're choosing colors for your invitations, you may want to keep the idea of symbolism in mind, too, because every color has associated meanings, as well. You may want to read Feng Shui Wedding Invitations.

Plus, those color meanings vary from culture to culture, so if you're marrying into a non-Western culture or inviting guests from many different cultures, you may want to keep some of these differences in mind.

White

White is a common color used with weddings in the West – mostly because of its association with purity and innocence. However, white can also be associated with coldness and cleanliness (think about how white a doctor's office is), as well as winter, snow, and peace.

In Eastern countries, white is often associated with death and mourning, possibly because dead bodies are covered in white shrouds. This association should not seem that strange since even in the West, when we think of someone dressed up like a ghost we picture them covered in a white sheet.

Black

Black is not as common for weddings because in the West it has such a negative connotation. When we think of black, we think of unlucky black cats, evil lurking in dark places, as well as sadness, grief, and death.

However, black is also associated with sophistication and modernity. That's why so much modern furniture and most electronics are black.

Blue

Blue is perhaps one of the best wedding colors to choose. Research has shown that blue is related to the least amount of negative connotations and the most positive ones, regardless of culture. It seems you'd have a hard time going wrong with blue, especially since it is associated with so many good things, such as clear skies, quiet seas, tranquility, loyalty, fresh water, and truthfulness. In fact, in some other cultures, blue is viewed as a color that can keep away evil spirits.

Probably the most negative connotation for blue is obscenity. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, laws forbidding immoral behavior were called blue laws. The reasons for using the word “blue” to describe them is not known, but even that negative association is not common in today's generations.

Red

Although red roses may be a sign of love, the color also has a number of less positive connotations, including blood, war, death, anger, fire, and danger. Red also symbolizes passion, sex, and excitement, so it might be a better choice for the honeymoon than for the wedding invitations.

In China, however, red stands for good luck and celebration and in India red means purity and is frequently used as a wedding color – that might make it an ideal choice for announcing your special event.

Pink

While pink is a tint of red (basically red mixed with white), its connotations are usually more in lines with what you'd expect for a wedding invitation color. In fact, marriage is one of its meanings. Admiration, love, and spring time are also associated with the color. Plus, it is the color of femininity so women tend to be drawn towards it.

Of course, pink's associated with breast cancer awareness may make it somewhat less desirable for some couples.

Green

In the U. S., green is a powerful symbol of wealth and money, as well as its associated characteristics – greed, jealousy, and envy. Green is also strongly associated with nature and the environment, as well as fertility and rebirth.

Green has also been associated with evil spirits, including the devil during the Middle Ages. Some European countries view green as unlucky while others view it as the color of disgrace and corruption.

Yellow

Yellow is a bright color that conjures up thoughts of sunshine and summer immediately. It is also associated with good feelings like happiness, joy, and hope. Some may also view it as a color of wealth because of its closeness in shade to gold. In Japan, yellow is a particularly important color because it is associated with royal family and stands for courage.

There is also a down side to yellow. Yellow can symbolize illness (because of jaundice), caution, and cowardice. During the Middle Ages, yellow – like green – was associated with the devil, as well as with death. In Egypt, yellow represents grief and mourning.

Purple

Purple's many shades have become a popular addition to weddings over the years, possibly because of some of its associations. Like yellow in Japan, purple has come to symbolize nobility and royalty in Western cultures. Darker shades of purple are also associated with sensuality while lighter shades represent romance.

Purple also has other connotations. For example, purple was adopted by many homosexual rights groups for a symbol in the West. In Thailand, purple is the color widows must wear while mourning their lost husbands.

As you can see, most of the colors above have some positive and negative connotations. What's most important is choosing colors for your wedding invitations that symbolize good things for the two of you.

DO YOU KNOW THE TRUE MEANING OF WEDDING?

When two lovers decided to get married, they would start to plan and make lots of decisions in order to make their wedding day perfect. However, have you ever thought of what is the meaning behind all this preparation?

Once you get your big day confirmed, you need to settle the budget and all the details, no wonder you will need to stand lots of pressure till the end of your wedding day. What is all this pressure for? It is somehow as harsh as you are taking a second job. Some brides would ask with the following answer - "the wedding day is the most important day in my life. If I do something, my marriage would be ruined".

No one would try to argue with you how important the wedding day is. However, it is also important to realize you are not planning for just a wedding day. You are planning for the first day of your marriage. The relationship and lives in marriage is more important.

It is nonsense to put you in debt just because you wish to make your dream wedding come true. There are many ways you can make your wedding remarkable.

A good planning would help you to achieve your goal under budget. Even though you have a very tight budget, you can still make your wedding special. The key is to use your imagination and make the stuff with your sincere. Your guests would be impressed by your sweet thoughts and your devotion on preparing the wedding day!

The first thing is to come up with a guest list. With the guest list completed, you would mostly have an idea about the quantity of all the stuff such as wedding invitation, cake and food in the wedding reception etc. you need to prepare on the wedding day.

Both of you should make schedules to take pre-marriage courses together. Those courses would help you to know each other better. Lots of couples find this kind of courses very helpful for a happy marriage. Remember the reason you are so busy with the preparation work for your perfect wedding day is a memorable first day of marriage.

Through the discussion among your family members and between you two, you can reach a consensus among all the family members. Asking for help is essential too. You would ask your friends and relatives and they can share all their invaluable experiences with you. It can help you to save a lot of money, as well as plenty of time.

Once again, you should bear in mind that the wedding day is just the first day of your marriage. There is no point to lose your temper and offend your partner because of the details such as the way to decorate the wedding venue and the style of wedding invitation.

I have attended a wedding before, my friends had a really tight budget but they created a very memorable wedding ceremony for the guests. For example, they bought the frosted cake from supermarket and decorated them with fresh flower themselves. Although it cannot be compared with professional baker, all the guests are impressed by their creativities.

A wedding day is the first day of your marriage. There is no point to feel disappointed just because of some minor mistakes. With a mind appreciation, you would find the wedding more enjoyable and a blessing for the life time long marriage.

WEDDING

In 18 days time I will be marrying the love of my life Forest Eaton. I never thought that the wedding here in the United States is a whole lot different in our country in the Philippines. The thing that is new to me is the Grooms Cake. In the Philippines we don't have a groom's cake and just a single cake alone for the couple. They don't have a coin ceremony here and we do have that ceremony in the Philippines. There are things that I've just learned when we were discussing about the wedding details but I'm glad things are set now for our upcoming wedding and I'm so excited about it. Here's a details about how the wedding in the Philippines is usually done:

Philippine Traditional Weddings

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Kasal .... meaning "wedding". Ikasal.... to wed or to marry. Kasalan.... the wedding ceremony. The traditional Filipino kasalan in the Christian community is unique in that it adds three more ceremonies into the basic wedding rites. These additional ceremonies are: the veil, the cord and the arrhae or coin ceremonies. The whole wedding thus takes just a little bit longer, and a few more participants are required, but it certainly makes for a more memorable wedding day!

The Wedding Participants

Wedding participants are the Priest/Minister, the Bride, the Groom, Maid of Honor, Best Man, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Flower Girl/s, Ring and Coin Bearer, Bible Bearer, Parents of the Bride, Parents of the Groom, Primary Sponsors, Secondary Sponsors.

Historical Background

Traditionally, the coin, veil and cord ceremonies were performed only in the wedding rites of the Roman Catholic church in the Philippines. Today, other Christian churches have adopted it as well, and it is up to the bride and groom to request its inclusion from the officiating Priest/Minister.

The Spanish colonization period in the Philippines (1521-1898) brought the Roman Catholic religion to the islands. These special wedding rites were part of those which were brought by the Spanish friars to the Philippines, and similar wedding rites are found in Mexico today. Spain ruled the Philippines through Mexico, and a regular schedule of merchant galleon trade ships plying the Manila-Acapulco route joined the three countries' cultures in more ways than one.

Songs for the Wedding Ceremony

What else could give more essence to the ceremony than music, especially a voice, or voices to send those "chill bumps up one's spine", and start the tears flowing from everyone?

Serenade to the Bride: The groom and his best man has marched in and standing in wait at the altar. The parents and sponsors have been seated. While the groom is awaiting thus, a song is offered as a "serenade to the bride".

Ring Ceremony: A song is usually sung just after the exchange of rings.

Offertory or Communion Song: Another song is sung during this time. Usually, the Ave Maria and the Panis Angelicus.

The Lord's Prayer: May be sung instead of recited at the appropriate place in the ceremony.

Songs after the ritual mass/service: Sometimes more songs are offered after the wedding ceremony, to serenade the wedding party during the long photo sessions which follow inside the church.

The Wedding March
Order of Entry

The Priest/Minister stands at the altar and the march begins. The best man leads the way, followed by the groomsmen. Then the groom follows. Marching with him, to his left side is his mother. Behind him on his same side is his father, and to his father's left, is the mother of the bride.

Behind the families are the primary sponsors, with the female sponsors marching to the left side of the male sponsors. Respectfully called Ninong (male sponsor) and Ninang (female sponsor), this is a position of honor. One cannot choose his parents, but they could choose their godparents. They are like second parents to whom the couple could depend upon encouragement and counsel in their married years to come.

Behind the primary sponsors, march the secondary sponsors, again with the female sponsors positioned to the left of the male. These secondary sponsors play a part in the wedding ceremony, and each couple has specific functions: lighting of the unity candle, putting on the veil and the cord for their respective ceremonies. They are usually chosen from friends of the bride and groom.

The bridal party then follows in the following order: ring bearer/coin bearer, bible bearer*, flower girl, bridesmaids, maid of honor, then the bride with her father. She stands to the left side of her father. All guests stand as the bride marches in.

Note that all the female members of the bridal party (with the exception of the bride), stand or walk to the left of the male members. This is in keeping with the oriental yin and yang principle. Female energy is yin, and therefore should be to the left of the male yang energy.

Order of Entry

(Standing at the altar)
Officiating Priest/Minister

Best Man
Groomsman
Groomsman

Mother of Groom - Groom
Mother of Bride - Father of Groom

Primary Sponsors
Ninang 1 - Ninong 1
Ninang 2 - Ninong 2
Ninang 3 - Ninong 3

Secondary Sponsors
Candle: Female - Male
Veil: Female - Male
Cord: Female - Male

Usually, the Parents, Primary and Secondary Sponsors would have taken their seats in the first
one or two designated front pews
before the rest of the party marches in, as follows:

Main Bridal Party
Ring/Coin Bearer (male child)
Bible Bearer* (male or female child)
Flower Girl
Bridesmaid 1
Bridesmaid 2
Bridesmaid 3
Maid of Honor

Father of the Bride - Bride

The Bride is on the right side of her Father (or whoever gives her away), so that when they get to the altar, he will not be in the way of the Groom who will be on her right side throughout the ceremony.
_________________________

Not traditional, but a common alternative nowadays, is that the Groom marches with both his parents, and the Bride with both her parents, hence:

Order of Entry

(Standing at the altar)
Officiating Priest/Minister

Best Man
Groomsman
Groomsman

Mother of Groom - Groom - Father of Groom

Primary Sponsors
Ninang 1 - Ninong 1
Ninang 2 - Ninong 2
Ninang 3 - Ninong 3

Secondary Sponsors
Candle: Female - Male
Veil: Female - Male
Cord: Female - Male

Main Bridal Party
Ring/Coin (Boy) Bearer
Bible (Boy or Girl) Bearer*
Flower Girl
Bridesmaid 1
Bridesmaid 2
Bridesmaid 3
Maid of Honor

Mother of Bride - Bride - Father of Bride

The advantage of this latter arrangement is that both parents participate equally in the wedding rites. The disadvantage is that because there are three people marching together at one time, it is crowded and there may not be enough room in the aisle.

*Bible bearer - in Protestant ceremonies, a child (either male or female, usually male) brings a bible to the altar on top of a cushion, and there is a place where the officiating Minister, blesses this bible telling everyone of the couple's wish for their home to be ruled by God's word. This bible then becomes the couple's home bible and will be used in all religious ceremonies and devotions in their household.

How they stand at the altar

Priest/Minister

Bridesmaids-Maid of Honor-Bride-Groom-Best Man-Groomsmen
Flower Girls Ring/Coin/Bible Bearer

Seated in First and Second Rows
Parents of the Bride Parents of the Groom
Primary Sponsors** Secondary Sponsors**

(**This could be evenly matched on either sides. Some put the Secondary Sponsor pairs together, as they have to go to the altar at the same time for the veil, cord and candle ceremonies.)

The Wedding Rites

The Bride and her Father marches to the altar. The Groom meets them, and all three will face the Priest/Minister. The question of who gives the bride away is asked, to which the bride's Father answers, "I do" . He then gives her daughter's hand to the groom, after which he takes his designated seat in the front row with his wife.

The Exchange of Vows follow.

Ring Ceremony: The Priest/Minister may, at this point bless the Bride, Groom and rings with holy water. He holds their hands together in unity, then they exchange rings.

Arrhae or Coin Ceremony: The Priest/Minister then drops 13 pieces of coins (silver or gold) called arras into the Groom's waiting hands, who in turn drops it into the Bride's hands. The Bride then puts her hand above the Groom's then drops the arras into his hands again. The Groom allows the coins to then be dropped into a plate held by an acolyte.

The metal tinkling of the coins being passed from one pair of hands to the other, is a distinctive reminder of the groom's promise to take care of his wife materially. The bride in return, by giving back the coins to his hands, convey that what they both earn become part of each other's. The trickling sound also signifies abundance and success in the couple's joint efforts. The husband gives his material earnings to his wife who manages, saves and invests the money wisely, as basic Filipino tradition dictates.


Veil Ceremony: In the Catholic ceremony, the Priest continues with the nuptial mass until the "Sanctus". When the bell for the Sanctus rings, it is also a signal for the veil sponsors to come up to the altar. In Protestant ceremonies, the Minister explains the veil ceremony to the congregation and this constitutes as the cue for the veil sponsors.

Together, they pin a veil from the groom's shoulders, extending it to cover the bride's head and shoulders. This is symbolic of the groom pledging his strength and protection to his bride - the wife who he promises to take care of, from this day forward.

Cord Ceremony: The Cord Ceremony follows immediately after. The Cord Sponsors come up to where the Bride and Groom are kneeling, and put a figure of eight cord over the veils that are on the heads and shoulders of the Bride and Groom. This cord symbolizes unity and infinity - a love together, forever!

Candle Ceremony: The Candle Ceremony is first and last. As soon as all the primary and secondary sponsors have been seated, the Candle Sponsors proceed to the altar where they light the two side candles beside the middle and larger (unity) candle. This represents the two lives and two spirits who will be joined together.

Towards the end of the ceremony, at a signal from the Priest/Minister, the Bride and Groom come up and approach the candles. They each take the smaller candles, and use it to light the middle unity candle. This means that from then on, their lives go together, kindled as one.

The Unity Candle is saved and kept by the couple, to be lighted on each wedding anniversary, as a reminder of this first day when they gave their promise to each other.

The rest of the wedding ceremony is the same as that in the west... the kiss after the priest or pastor introduces the couple for the first time as "Mr. and Mrs.", and the guests applauding them. The march out of the church is definitely faster and more spirited than the wedding march to the altar. Rice and flower petals are thrown gently to the couple outside the church door for luck, prosperity and marital bliss. In America, bubbles are blown.

The Wedding Reception

At the reception, everything follows the usual similar western practice - the throwing of the bridal bouguet, the garter, the cake and champagne. One thing that is different however, is that during the reception, there is a bell shaped basket that hangs in the middle of the room. After the toast, the bride and the groom approached this bell-shaped basket, and pull on its ribbons to open a trapdoon, from which would fly two love birds - usually two white doves which are set free afterwards. For the birds to fly up towards the heavens when they are set free, is an omen of good luck, predicting a successful life together.

Two Filipino Traditional Reception Practices

Sayaw sa Batya- dancing inside a batya. A batya is a huge flat metal container about one meter in diameter and about 6 inches in height. It is used for handwashing clothes. In some localities in the Philippines, the couple dance inside the batya, while the guests throw money to them inside the batya. This money is the seed money which the couple will use to start their life together.

Sayaw ng Pera - the money dance. The couple dances a slow waltz and relatives of the groom pin money on his clothes, while relatives of the bride pin money on her clothes. The couple, of course, gets to keep all the money.

Filipino Wedding Dress

The Bride typically wears white, off-white or ecru, especially if she is wearing a dress made from the expensive jusi or pina cloth, which natural color is ecru. The groom wears a barong tagalog, a traditional hand embroidered formal shirt made from specially hand-loomed jusi or pina (pineapple fiber) cloth.

The Bride chooses a color scheme for her bridesmaids, flower girl and maid of honor. Typically, the female sponsors follow this color scheme.

Wedding Expenses

In the Philippines, the Groom's family spends for everything except the bridal dress and female entourage dresses. He pays for the church, flowers, limousine, invitations, reception, etc.. The Bride only pays for her dress, and the dresses of her bridesmaids, flower girls and ring bearer.

Wedding Superstition Trivia

1. It is bad luck for the bride to be seen by the groom trying on her wedding dress at any time before the wedding.

2. It is bad luck for the groom to see the bride the night before the wedding ceremony.

3. On the wedding day, light showers are considered lucky as they will bring material blessings to the union.

4. Typhoons bring bad luck should it come on the wedding day. A sunny day means a life full of married bliss.

The End

And here's the meaning of the coin used during the ceremony:

History The custom of the wedding unity coins originated in Spain. The madrina de arras holds the thirteen gold unity coins (arras) are given to the bride by the bridegroom, signifying he will support her. Often presented in ornate boxes or gift trays, this represents the bride’s dowry and holds good wishes for prosperity. These coins become a part of their family heirloom. Groom’s pledge to the bride The groom gives the bride thirteen gold unity coins as a symbol of his unquestionable trust and confidence. The symbolism, which may be explained by the officiant, is that the Groom recognizes his responsibility as a provider, and pledges his ability to support and care for her. Acceptance by the bride means taking that trust and confidence unconditionally with total dedication and prudence. Why 13 coins? The number 13 represents Christ and his 12 apostles. How to use in ceremony The Unity coins are presented to the officiant by a friend or relative (usually the purchaser). The officiant then blesses the coins and hands them to the bride who places them in the groom's cupped hands at the beginning of the ceremony. The coins are then placed on a tray and handed to an assistant to be held until later in the ceremony. Near the end of the ceremony the box and coins are given to the priest who places the unity coins in the box and hands them to the groom. The groom will then pour the unity coins into the bride's cupped hands and places the box on top. This represent his giving her control as his mistress of all his worldly goods. (Sometimes their hands are tied with a ribbon for this portion of the ceremony.) Wording on the Coins These tokens generally have the words "Recuerdo Matrimonial" which translates as "Wedding Souvenir" or "Marriage Memory".

Great day!!!

I had a great day today, I had a good sleep after talking to my beloved on the phone and woke up with a smile. I woke up around 9 in the morning,well the typical time that I'm up but sometimes a little early to that. When I woke up I fixed my bed and went to the kitchen and had my coffee. While having a cup of coffee, I'm thinking of what to do today and it popped up on my mind to do some mowing at the yard. Since I learn how to run the mower, I always been so excited to ride on it and can't really wait for the grass to grow again and mow it again. Yes, it is very addictive and I can ride on it the whole day. I had fun to do mowing today. It is like you are having fun and at the same time you do some productive things around the house. It makes my time much occupied. It is not an easy task to do because you just have to ride on it and drove it away. Hope you guys had a great day too. What did you all do today?

Went to the church today

It's always been a great feeling when you hear the word of God,yes I went to the church today.I went alone because my other behalf is still offshore but we go to the church together whenever his home. The word of God was great and I am very blessed. Since I got here in the states, I'm glad that we found a church to were we could go every sunday and hear the word of God. Our church here is THE UNITED METHODIST and it's been 3 sundays since we first went there. The members are very friendly and accepted us wholeheartedly. You feel like you belong to them as a family and to think we are a new member of that community. You won't feel you are intimidated by other members because they will open their arms for you and will welcome you completely. God is really good all the time. He is good because he will always send his people to welcome you,who will accept you of who you are or whatever you are..Hope you all had a great sunday service guys...God Bless

Fun to ride a mower!!

I never thought that riding a mower is such a fun thing to do. At first it was scary but when the moment you are enjoying the ride,it's very addictive. Thanks to mom debbie who thought me how to run this thing. I know I still need more practice to master it but I am very much willing to learn and so looking forward to more rides. It wasn't really that hard to get started. It is more like you are driving a car or driving a motorcycle. It doesn't even require some balancing because it has four wheels on it. It's a very fun thing to learn. Hope you guys have some unforgetable experience that you will treasure and share the fun to the people you know.

FLEA MARKET DAY!

Yesterday, my parents in law have decided to sell some stuff at the flea market. I wasn't suppose to go with them because I'm still tired and have informed mom already but dad and my behalf have insisted that I must go and they didn't buy my reason on just staying at home,so I decided to go. I was excited too because it's my very first time to join this such event. We woke early,getting things set and ready to leave. The weather was so cold,well for me I guess because I'm still adjusting to their climate but in the middle of the day it was getting hot. I had fun of what we did. Well, honestly i didn't do anything aside from helping them unloading the items to sell and the rest I was just watching and observing what they are doing. Since I got here,I'm still shy to do things but sooner or later I'll get use to it. So my day went well, I had fun,met new friends,learned another thing and it was a great experienced. I am looking forward to do that again but hopefully I will be able to participate already. Hope everyone had a great day today..

Just an information about FLEA MARKET :

A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoor or outdoor. The term originated from the observation that buyers and sellers are as active as fleas or because the original people and goods were infested.

Many flea markets have food vendors, and may be associated with carnivals or concerts.Some have become infamous as outlets for bootleg movies and music or knockoff brand clothing, accessories, or fragrances.

The original flea market may be the Marché aux puces of Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is a large, long-established outdoor bazaar, one of four in Paris. From the late 17th century, the makeshift open-air market in the town of Saint-Ouen began as temporary stalls and benches among the fields and market gardens where ragpickers exchanged their findings for a small sum.

Some television shows focus on the appraisal of second hand goods often found at flea markets that are worth far more than the buyer paid. The most popular of these shows is Antiques Roadshow in the United Kingdom, which led to American, Canadian, Swedish and Dutch versions of the show.

My 1st month in the United States

It's been a month now since I got here in the United States. Things are doing pretty good and still adjusting to my new environment. Thanks to my parents in law who are always there to guide me on all the thing i need to learn and also to my beloved forest who's been supportive from all this and patiently teaching me of the things around here. It feels so wonderful that finally the waiting is over,things had happened already as to what we are expecting to happen. I know I still have lots of things to learn here but I am very much willing to learn them all in my utmost capability. Some things might be so hard for me or some things might be so easy but I'm looking forward to learn that all day by day.



My 1st week here was a bit rough because I'm having a hard to sleep. My days and nights are all mixed up. You see, when it's morning here I'm so sleepy but when it's evening here I'm wide awake..lol but things are getting better now because I am wide awake in the morning and slept good at night..thank goodness. I also had a hard time to there facilities here but have learned almost everything already,so things are going smoothly.



All in all i can say, I love my stay here because I'm with my future husband now and aside from that I am able to learn new things that I wasn't be able to learn when I was still in the Philippines. And also I am so looking forward to gain some new friends here in our area. Yeah, I miss my family back home but that's just part of it and I have a constant communication with them, I also miss my friends but they will always remain in my heart and will always be my friends..So that's it for now guys and may everyone have a wonderful evening..Goodnight