TOOO long...

My, my has it been TOO long! Our computer has gotten a virus and we have sadly been without internet access for over a month! I feel so disconnected from the outside world! lol Something was up with our router too which wasn't letting Lij log on with his laptop. Miguel must have spent about four hours on the phone last night w/AT&T getting all back up and running. We NEED to take our computer in to get fixed ASAP, but just haven't had the extra money with all the wedding stuff coming up. AND, we have added a new member to our family....a four legged one, and that was an extra expense we were not anticipating. His name is Max and I wish my computer was working so I could post a pic of him because he is just THE cutest!! He's part Lab and part who knows what! LOL We got him from some lady at the park about a month ago. She said a stray had the puppies under her house and she was giving them away...7 of them! Max immediately stole my heart with his cute little face and those EYES! He had the saddest little eyes! I could NOT walk away from that puppy! Poor thing was covered in fleas! We brought him home and bathed him about FIVE times with Dawn and literally picked them all off. It was GROSS! But I bet he felt so much better after. We took him in to the vet that weekend, got him checked out and put on a Wellness plan. He already got his 1st vaccine last weekend. He was a trooper and got a new chew toy for being so good :) Yes, he is a tad bit spoiled! I am amazed at how big he has gotten in the few short weeks we have had him and although he is a handful with house breaking him, he is SO worth it :)
Wedding plans are still coming along....got the bridesmaids dresses, changed the reception location to a place we both just LOVE, working on some of the decorations....have to change the inserts in the invites to the new location....need to get my shoes still, my veil, my dress altered....lots done, but still LOTS more to do...I feel very unprepared with only two months away. I am leaving it in God's hands and I know that it will all come together.
I have done NO scrapping since my computer has been out! Wait, that's a lie....I did ONE page a couple of weeks ago at Chon's house and my scrap bag is still sitting unpacked under my scrap tables!
What else?? Can't think of anything else right off the top of my head. Hopefully, we will get our computer up and running really soon! Nighty! :)

Wedding Centerpiece

Just uploading this here so Chon can see it :)

A page

Finally, finally scrapped a page! WHEW! That was a long stretch there! And I have to say that it didn't come easily at first. In fact, I started a whole different way, didn't like the page AT ALL and tore it up! lol Yep, I tore it up! I love this a whole lot more. Also included a whole lot of journaling which was to me, the most important part of this page since it talks about how Miguel proposed to me. I wanted to get this page done soon while it was all still fresh in my mind. The journaling is hidden in that tag peeking out from behind the pic.
SO.....still making wedding plans and sadly....haven't hit the gym like I wanted to yet! I know, I know! Not watching what I eat either! I'm stressing out and in turn stress eating! Thankfully, haven't put on one pound, but haven't lost anything either. I need, need, NEED to get back to the gym. If not to lose weight, to at least stay in shape and to destress. We picked a photographer. Miguel and I really love his work. It was actually a toss up between him (Mark) and another guy (Mario), but Mark ended up matching the quote that Mario gave us and we did love his work more than the other, so YAY for us getting Mark! We are meeting up with him this coming Sunday, God willing...to look over the agreement and his portfolio and put down our deposit. Um, what else...oh yeah, I ordered my dress yesterday and it already shipped out today! I should get it in a week or so! SO super excited about that! I am just DYING to try it on! I bought it online at David's Bridal.com, but had gone in to the actual store weeks back to try on a similar dress to figure out my size. I had two dresses in mind, and had decided to go with a white one instead of my original choice, but just my luck, they were sold out of my size :( I'm going to go with my gut and say that the dress I ordered is "the one" because even though I loved other dresses, I kept coming back to this one. I found a really pretty pearl and crystal headband on Ebay that I think will look PERFECT with my dress, so I need to order that too. I need to decide whether I want any other kind of jewelry such as a necklace, bracelet, ect...don't want to overdo it....want to stay clean and simple. I definitely want some simple faux pearl stud earrings....will think about the necklace or bracelet, but if I do, it will be one or the other...not both and will be in pearls too. Tonight Miguel and I sat down and looked over our budget and did some figuring and it looks like we will be okay and have everything covered. I know that God has it all under control...my heart knows this, but it's hard for me to not stress about it...because of the way I am....trying to work on this...need to pray about it more....I know it will all work out...have to keep saying that to myself. What else? Not much else going on. Mikey had been sick...both ears and throat infected REALLY, I mean REALLY badly! Poor thing, his throat looked HORRIBLE....it hurt me to look at it! And he wasn't eating at all because he said his throat hurt and I don't blame him, but I would hear his poor little tummy growl and it just broke my heart! I hate it when the kids are sick! :( Thankfully, he got antibiotics and is back to his old self. Unfortunately, I have it now! Not the throat thing...at least not yet....but sneezing and congestion. Feel alot of pressure on the bridge of my nose. I really need/want to get some scrappy time in. This has been a SLOW year for scrapping...don't even know how many pages I have for the year, but nowhere near the number I had last year around this same time I'm sure. And I don't anticipate getting alot done either with all the wedding plans and then Mikey starting school this year. Excited, but sad about that. I will miss him SOOO much!! :( My baby is growing up! Okay, that's pretty much all for now. Will try to update more often and hopefully will have some scrappy stuff to share soon! :)

The Proposal

It's official...we are "officially" engaged! I was really NOT expecting this AT ALL! Miguel and I had even discussed this a couple of weeks back when he had mentioned something about needing to get me an engagement ring. And while I thought it was oh so sweet that he wanted to, I told him it wasn't necessary. I mean, we've only been living together for over 6 years and I didn't want him going and spending any money we could use for other wedding stuff. But like everything else...lol, I guess he didn't listen to me. He proposed to me on Sunday. We had just left his best friend Juan and his wife Laura's house. We had gone over to discuss some of the wedding details w/them and get some stuff priced and written down ect. And btw, they along with Juan's family so graciously offered to take care of the costs of the food as well as prepare it. That was a very nice and unexpected surprise! So many people are offering their help financially and physically and we are both quite touched. It just shows us how much we mean to our friends and family :) So anyway, we had left there and were on our way to Miguel's parents' house to tell them the good news because Miguel had STILL not told them! So we were driving along, and we were passing some park and Miguel says something like "I think there's something wrong with one of the tires." We were in his mom's vehicle by the way. So he slows down, pulls over at this park and gets out. The kids were in the backseat and I stayed in the car up front. So, I see him walking around to the front driver's side and looks at the tire, then he goes to the back and does the same on both sides. I started messing w/the radio and next thing I know he was at my door trying to open it, but it was locked. And so I look up at him and he says "Look, come check this out" I'm thinking there must be something wrong with the front tire, so as I'm opening my door to get out, he drops down on one knee and he's holding a box in his hands. I didn't even see where it came from! And so I'm sitting there half hanging out of the car and I'm kind of in shock. I mean, I know why he's down on one knee..I get it..I know what it means, I know what he's doing, but it's kind of...I don't know...surreal. So, he asks "Will you marry me?" and I say "no, I'm just kidding...I didn't mean that. Yes." lol Time Traveler's Wife...remember that line when he asks her to marry him? I can't help it...I couldn't resist! And so I get out of the car and we are hugging and I'm crying and Miguel has tears in his eyes. And I hear Mikey say something from the back seat and Elijah tells him "Mikey, be quiet..this is a very special moment." lolol

And there it is! lol It's a small ring...very small..but I ADORE it because he picked it out. And because I know that he gave it to me with all his heart! :) It's taking a little getting used to. I am not a big jewelry wearing person. Much less rings. And it fits a tad big, so it kind of bugs me from time to time. But I like the way it looks...it's so shiny :D And I like to look down at it and think about what it means and think about the upcoming wedding. And about how I'm going to feel walking down the aisle seeing him standing there at the end of it...waiting for me. And that it means that we will love each other for the rest of our lives. And that we will grow old together and that after all this craziness of planning and budgeting and list making and shopping...it will all be worth it :)

Lists, lists...and MORE lists...

I feel like I am up to my ears in lists! LOL Lists of stuff we need to buy, guest lists, supply lists, wedding party lists...I usually like writing lists, but right now I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with them all! But it's a good thing. I have to keep telling myself that it will all come together. I am just so scared that it's just going to sneak up on us. Four months can fly by SO fast! And in the middle of all this, Miguel has his upcoming retreat, we have summer with the kids home, we have Mikey starting school, not sure where Lij will be going next year, MY retreat the week before the wedding...so much going on! We start our marriage classes on the 6th of May...don't know if I mentioned that already. I think we meet every Thursday for 7 weeks. Should be interesting.
In case anyone noticed on the invite, I changed my colors...they are now black, pink and white. LOVED the Tiffany blue, but it's so hard finding stuff in that exact shade :( :( Still happy with the new colors :) The girls dresses will be black. I'd love for them to have some kind of pink sash or bow on them. I decided that every girl should pick her own style dress seeing as how I have different sized girls in my bridal party and not everyone will look good in the same dress. This way each girl can feel pretty and comfortable in her own style dress :) I also changed MY choice of dress. It was the one I had originally LOVED, but it was a bit more than the other w/the sash, but I decided it was worth the difference in cost. So, now that the colors have been changed, the cake will not be different. Just the colors. What was going to be the Tiffany blue, will now be pink. My friend Mio...who actually introduced Miguel and I has volunteered to get the cake for us. Her mother works in a bakery and makes all sorts of cakes. My uncle and aunt have volunteered to get the DJ for us. That was a very nice and unexpected surprise! My uncle will also be walking me down the aisle. He is the closest thing we have ever had to a father. So, getting those two things out of the way are a HUGE load off! But there is still a LONG list of stuff that still needs to get done and taken care of! I'm trying to breathe and take it day by day! I am going to try and put the "lists" aside for a couple of days and maybe give myself some scrappy time. I think I need it!! That's all for now :)

You're Invited....

We decided to make our own invitations to save money. I wanted something simple, fast to assemble and inexpensive. I think this is what we are going with. I got the sentiment off some website and then used my Hallmark card software for the clipart and font, ect, ect. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. We'll see what Miguel says :)

Save The Date

We met with Father Michael yesterday and filled out the necessary forms. He gave us the new schedule for marriage classes which we will, God willing, start on the 6th of May. And we set a date! September 4, 2010! Yep, it's only four short months away! Can you say "freaking out"? lol Not because I'm getting married to Miguel....hello? We have been living together for the past 6 1/2 years, we have a child together...we are not "new" to each other..lol But because there is SO much planning to do and only 4 months to do it in! I don't know why exactly we decided on September. Well, we did want to get married this year and we needed the time to do the classes, and we figured we didn't want to do it in July..it's TOO hot, August is back to school for Lij, Lij's birthday AND the start of school for Mikey...waaahhhh...lol... October because of my birthday, not November because of the holidays, December is too hectic w/Christmas..so September seemed perfect! Just too soon! We went by the kids godparents' house after to talk to them. Juan, the kids godfather and Miguel's best friend is going to be Miguel's best man so he went over to ask him. His wife, Laura was so excited and already started making plans and writing lists and giving me so many ideas! She is totally a party planner! LOL She is going to be SO helpful to me! Last night, I literally couldn't sleep just thinking about all the stuff that needs to be done, how we are going to fund it all, ect. This is by no means going to be an expensive, elaborate wedding AT ALL, but even cheap costs money! lol Money we don't have! So we are just taking it as we go and starting to save what we can and get people to help us out. But I was browsing davidsbridal.com last night and I think I found the PERFECT dress for me! And even more perfect....is the price!! Only $139 plus $14.99 to ship. It's very simple, yet very pretty and I just LOVE it! The sash in the picture is burgundy though and I think the colors I have decided on are turquoise...kind of like the color of this text...and chocolate brown. Love those colors to scrap with too! LOL :) Maybe throw in some white here and there. Here are some pics to share.....


THE CAKE
I'm thinking I want this in a square cake and not rounds...and of course on a bigger scale because we are anticipating around 200 people...mostly on Miguel's side I might add...I don't even know that many people! In real life that is! I have tons of online friends! lol I love the way each layer looks different! On our cake though, I want the white icing to be chocolate...I HATE white icing. So, it might not look like a "traditional" wedding cake, but it will taste good and I'll eat it :) and then the turquoise accents on this cake, will be turquoise. I think I would also like a big, elaborate turquoise bow on top in place of the traditional bride and groom figure.

THE DRESS

Isn't it beautiful? Simple, but SO pretty! Like I said, the sash will be a different color. I'm not sure about how I want my veil and I think I want a little tiara type thingie. I'm pretty sure I'll wear my hair down...don't like wearing it up. Hopefully it will grow out a bit more by then...shouldn't have cut it and left it long, but oh well!
Okay, so that's about all I have for now. Been working on the guest list and writing down what we need to do, get, ect...I really have NO idea where to start, so looking on alot of online wedding sites. If anyone knows of any neat invite ideas (we will be making our own) or has any nice centerpiece/decorating ideas, please link me up! I need all the help I can get!! :)

WHERE have I been???

I just realized that it's almost been two months since I last updated my blog!! I'm a bad blogger! I don't know what it is...sometimes I just get SO lazy about updating. Don't know why because I still keep up with everyone else's blogs, just not my own! I don't think I'll try to recap everything that's been going on since I last blogged....just list a few things that have been going on recently.

1. As of right now, THREE of us have a stomache bug...blah! I got it first on Sunday night, Mikey started on Monday morning and Lij started last night...just great! Thankfully (THANK YOU GOD) Mikey was spared and seems to have got it the least. I, the worst :( Lij doesn't seem too bad either although I hate to say that he is THE WORST sick person....EVER! DRAMA! Mikey seems to be back to normal, but I still don't feel 100%...my stomache doesn't feel right...still queasy and can't eat much although it's not coming up anymore. I hope Miguel or my mom don't get it.

2. I got a new camera with our tax refund. It's a Canon Rebel and I LOVE it! Still reading the manual here and there and playing w/it and getting to learn new stuff. Really need to sit down and play with it more.

3. I've been reading. Just finished a book by Don Piper called "90 Minutes in Heaven".....it's an autobiography I picked up at the Family Christian Store....such a good book.

4. Started back at the gym last week and did three days...felt good...then I got sick.... back to it next week God willing.

5. Miguel and I are FINALLY getting married!! Sound the trumpets! lol We have an appointment to meet with Father Michael at his church tomorrow. I really could care less about getting married in a Catholic church, but Miguel wants to. I'd much prefer South San Filidelfia (my church). I think after we speak with Father tomorrow and get a general idea of what we need to do, we will set a date and start the preparations. It will be nothing big or fancy...don't have the funds for that, but I WILL wear my white dress and have my church wedding :) We are thinking early September or early November of this year.

6. Still scrapping. In fact, we got together at Laura's a couple of weeks back and I got three pages done...just been too lazy to take pics and post them! Also been organizing my sb area...AGAIN! I know, I know...it's never ending! I'm waiting on some of that new Basic Grey Basics stuff I just ordered from Stop and Scrap. It's loook AWESOME! Totally my style! Was also wanting to order some of the October Afternoon...Fly A Kite and Thrift Shop. As always...still shopping more than scrapping :( lol

Well, I think that's a good summary of what's been going on. Going to try REALLY hard to keep my blog up! Until next time! :)

Scrapbook group

So my sis and the girls and I got together last Friday for some scrappy time. I spent the day w/my sis shopping, having lunch and just hanging out while our Mom watched Mikey. I really look forward to those Fridays when I can leave Mikey at home and just hang out w/Chon...good times, good times :) So, we hit our usual spots, but I don't think I got much in the way of scrappy goodies. I did get the kids and Miguel's Vday gifts. And I got myself THE CUTEST canvas print at Target! It was in kids' room decor, but it has OWLS, OWLS I tell you!! HOW could I pass that up?? lol We did go by Scrapbook Heaven which is always such a disappointment to us :( But I did walk out with about 5 sheets of paper and some Sass stitch stamps. At HL I picked up a cute butterlfy punch I'd been wanting and a sheet of stickers w/Scriptures on them. That was pretty much it as far as shopping. Laura wasn't able to stay because of car problems, but she did eat dinner w/us and then we all exchanged little Vday gifts and cards :) I didn't even get as much scrapping done as I'd hoped...only 4 of the 8 pages I'd packed, but I finished up the others on Monday. Probably the most scrapping I've done in a while. With going to the gym, watching the baby now, doing what I have to do around here...I always feel like I don't have enough time to do anything "fun" :( Can't even imagine what it would be like if I had to work outside of the house. Probably wouldn't get anything fun done! Thank God that I am blessed to be able to stay at home w/the kids and have some free time :)

What else? Still going to the gym. Not as much as I'd like to or should. Last week, I only went ONE time :( I know...VERY BAD! But this week, I've gone twice already. Aiming again for tomorrow and then Friday to make four days. That is my goal...to go at least 4 days. Thankfully, although I haven't lost any more weight. I'm still maintaining so that's good. What else? Oh Valentine's Day....was a good day. Went to church...LOVE Sundays and going to church. Miguel met me there and then he took me and Mikey to eat at Chili's. We walked around The Quarry Market after. Even went to M's, but left with nothing. There was actually NOTHING there that I wanted...lol! Miguel got me the cutest Hoops & Yoyo card! I LOVE them! And he really liked the glasses I got him...it was JUST what he wanted! For ONCE I got him a gift he LOVED! He kept saying how much he loved them! :)

Okay, I think that's it for now. Here are my most recent pages. You can check them out in my sb.com gallery too if need to know a specific product! :)

A Case of the BLAHS.....

I've had a slow going week. We've had some colder, very rainy weather here this week and maybe it's draining me. LOL Blame it on the weather right? It's affecting my allergies that's for sure. As well as Mikey. He's had a cough and sneezing and runny nose on and off since Saturday. Thankfully, it's not keeping him up at night like it did the first couple of nights. I've been giving him cough/cold meds every 4 hours, had the humidifier going by his bed at night, rubbing Vaporub on his chest at night. Anything and everything. Dreading taking him to the doc just to be told it's just a cold or allergies and we leave with less money and no meds. I figure as long as he doesn't have a fever and his cough isn't affecting his sleep or eating, ect. I looked in his throat and it doesn't look red at all, so we shall see. I woke up feeling a little head congestion and I've had a tiny 'sting' in my throat all week. I am pretty sure there's something in the air lately.

Anyway, enough about the weather. I haven't gotten to go to the gym this week. Bad, I know. But since Mikey has a cough, they won't take him in Kids Klub. The girsl and I were going to meet up at the gym on Monday morning, but I had to skip it because of his cough. Last Friday, I went and had a good workout. I was able to run a mile in 16 mins non stop. I know. I'm back to my "running thing". I don't know....I just want to get good at running. It's something I've had in my head/heart for a while and I really want to do it. Right now, this darn cold weather just keeps me from going to the gym as much as I'd like. And the time change....don't want to be catching the bus in the rain/cold OR the dark! lol We have this thing at church going on...The Biggest Loser and we all broke off into teams of 4. Pretty much the same concept as the show. Liz, Yocasta, Diana and I are on a team called the Slenderellas! lol I have 30 lbs to go to get to where I really want to be. Of course losing more than that would be great, but 30 is enough for me. I'm not really concerned about the prize either. Losing the weight is reward enough for me. The added prize is just a "bonus" :)

I was able to get some scrapping done on Tuesday. Did two pages that I really love. Both "semi lifts". One off of Stephanie Howell and one off of April Yap over on 2 Peas. Oh wait, and I was able to do one page yesterday while the baby was playing quietly in her playpen and Mikey was napping. That was also a lift off of Gumpgirl on sb.com. Don't know that I'll get anything done today. I took an allergy pill before the baby came because I didn't feel too well and now I'm drowsy...not good. And I only took one to try to avoid feeling sleepy, but I guess that didn't help any. Okay, enough for now....have a great Thursday everyone...yay...weekend is almost here :)