A lot can happen in 3 weeks!

Hello fellow blogging world friends! Last time I wrote was about three weeks ago, and I was celebrating my best friend's engagement to the man of her dreams. Well as God and fate would have it, the very next day ended up being one of the best days of my life. A day I had waited 5 years and 9 months for, the day a dream would come true. On May 2nd, 2013 Trevor asked me told me that he needed me to marry him. How did this long awaited moment feel you ask? About like this...

It seriously was the most amazing moment and I was completely, 100% surprised, which was quite the shock to me because I believed there was no way Trevor could pull a fast one on me. I am going to write a proposal story blog at a later time but I need to get all the pictures my dear friends JB an Jessica took of the big moment uploaded as well before I do that. Here's a few shots of the bling, boy did good. :)

So wedding planning has officially began and let's just say I am a moving quickly. In the 3 weeks and one day since we got engaged we have chose a date, booked the Church and reception venue, selected our photographer and videographer, chose our wedding party & wedding colors, and last but certainly not least, I have bought my wedding dress! We will be getting married on February 15, 2014. Can you tell I don't want a long engagement? 

Booking our church turned out to be way more complicated that I thought. With faith being something very important to both Trevor and I, we of course knew we wanted to get married in a church. We attend a Catholic church in the Copperfield area of Houston called St. Elizabeth Ann Seton  It's a very large congregation and they actually have like 8 masses on Sunday. (Very different form the church I grew up in with your choices on Sunday being 8 AM or 10:30 AM.) The head Priest at SEAS is Father Paul E. Lockey, PhD, and he is absolutely amazing. His homilies are incredible. This guy knows how to make you listen! We quickly fell in love with him after attending for a short time and new that is the church we wanted to call home. Well wedding planning comes along and I call to make an appointment to meet with him about planning our wedding. Not only is meeting with him just not really an option but the next appointment wasn't until June 4th. (I called on May 6th) That was a disappointing blow. 
So over that first week I called nearly every catholic church in our area trying to work out appointments...epic fail number two. Most of them wont even offer you the church for a wedding unless your a member...fair enough. And the ones that would allow it either A-was extremely expensive to rent, B- Not only expensive but you have to use our organ player for all music (old world wedding anyone?), or C- all of the above options and you could only get married at like 2 PM. Lucky for us though, we quickly found a lovely alternative that worked out great. 
Our friends, Marina and JC, attend a great Methodist Church (which works out because technically Trevor is Methodist) in the Memorial area which is an idea location since it's pretty central to all the places we were looking at using for the reception. After calling and chatting with their wedding coordinator, I was certain this is where we were met to get married. She was so easy to work with and wasn't asking me to give her $1,000 just to hold a tentative date and BONUS, the church is STUNNING, like for real. It's really big and dramatic looking and if there is one thing I've realized I like when it comes to my wedding it's dramatic things. THINGS not PEOPLE. No dramatic people please.

 After touring three venues in Houston and getting prices from countless others, I have decided one thing; the wedding industry did not suffer from the bad economy. HOLY CRAP are some of these places insane. You put a down payment on a monster house with what some of these people spend on wedding in the city of Houston. However, through the rainstorm of searching for a venue we found the sun, an incredible venue located in the neighborhood we both lived in when we first moved to Houston, The Heights. The owners of the place are just good people and aren't out to "nickle and dime" you out of everything nor do they ask for your first born as the down payment. The venue is called the Grand Ballroom at the Height's Villa. I can't wait to share more details and plans regarding our reception at this wonderful venue. If you are in the market for a wedding venue I HIGHLY recommend checking them out. Unless you have an unlimited budget then by all means head to the Crystal Rice Ballroom and go ahead and submit your application for Platinum Weddings. 

Our photographer choice was a no-brainer. Foto-Tech is a photography company based where I grew up, Beaumont, TX. Now some of you may ask why I would go with a photographer from back home when I have tons and tons of amazing photographers right here in Houston. I'll tell you exactly why...1-their work is amazing. 2-Their prices are equally amazing when comparing to Houston photographers giving the same quality of work, and 3-They are a husband and wife team that we have met at weddings we have attended and they are just good people. We already feel comfortable around them and have seen how hard they work at the weddings they photograph. Did I mention they are a blast and love to have fun as well? Win-Win situation. We have selected our videographer but haven't signed our contract yet so I will share once that is done.

Nearly all of our wedding party knows they have been picked to be a part of our special day. All of my girls know and Trevor has two groomsmen left, one needs to check his mail, the other has a special surprise coming. By next Thursday everyone will know and I can share how we asked in a later post. We are having 8 bridesmaids and groomsmen each, plus one honorary bridesmaid and 2 ushers. Yes I know that is a lot, do I care you think that's too many? I do not. Moving on.....

Wedding colors!!! I have always wanted a black and white styled elegant evening wedding with small use of an accent color. Choosing an accent color turned out to be a challenge. But after open house at our reception venue we have decided to go with..........a Tiffany blue/turquoise color!  It will be really fun to watch everything come together. Hopefully I can stick with the accent color selected without changing my mine between now and February.

 Lastly and most exciting for me I think was buying my wedding dress. I wanted to wait for a weekend when I could have my MOH's and bridesmaids in town but I clearly had Z-E-R-O self-control. One week plus a day after I got engaged I decided it would be good to just go look at wedding gowns since I truly had no idea what styles I liked or hated. My dear friend and Bridesmaid, Marina, came with me and it was such a fun experience to share with her. We went on a Friday at 2 so the salon was nearly empty. It was so fun to try on all the different styles and I quickly realized things I liked and things I absolutely hated. I walked out that day being in love with two dresses but knowing that my mom and grandma (who so graciously offered to buy my gown) wanted to be there when I tried on dresses I made plans to come back. Well, as you can see from this post, I don't move slow, and three days later I had my Mom and Grandma in town and we were off for another day of dress shopping. I'll share a post later about the experience of finding the dress but it was everything I could have hoped for an more. My dress is SO different that what I thought I was going to wear, which only makes me more excited! And my Mom and Grandma there with me meant so much and I know I will treasure that moment forever.

Okay enough wedding talk for today. I just had to share the exciting news and all the wonderful things to come!

Any advice or words of wisdom for me? Leave me a comment!

Happy Friday dolls! 

Not Your Average Wedding Wednesday

So Saturday....I woke up and dragged my butt to Zumba then Body Pump (second time team teaching, WOO!) and after went to the always delicious La Madeline with Trev. While were enjoying a fruit tart thingy my phone rings. It's my ever so awesome Housewife/Soul-Sister calling I'm sure to tell me about her weekend get-a-way she is at with her BF. 

ME-"Hey, what's up"

HW-"Colin Proposed!"

Me-"OHHHMYYYYGODDDDD!!!!"-

I use all caps because the volume was a bit much...like loud....so loud that the whole restaurant turned and stared at me. I swear even the cheerful French music cut off.

I run outside and proceed to hear the shortened version of the amazing moment she whole heartedly deserves. The full version I got a few days later once her phone had stopped being blown up, was even better.

I always love proposals where the girl seriously has no idea, and this my friends, was just that. She knew that her and C were serious but wasn't expecting the ring at this time. He even hired a photographer to take pictures of the proposal, which turned out fabulous. It also made Housewife realize she should probably pay more attention to her surroundings since she got stalked by a dude and his small son for about 30 minutes and never even noticed them. But seriously the pictures are amazing and C did a great job making sure HW had no idea that it was coming. I don't think I have ever seen her smile bigger or cry more. This girl is not a crier but the (happy) tears just wouldn't stop that day. 

This girl has been a huge blessing in my life for the past 5 years and I don't have any sisters but I tell ya she is as close as I'll get. She has the biggest heart and loves unconditionally. I seriously can't be any happier for her and cannot wait for all the laughter, probably some tears, and special moments that come with planning a wedding. 

MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

Long time, no Blog, New Obsession

SO I disappeared for a few months....sorry about that. But I'm back and ready to share some things going on with me!

Last June, Trevor and I moved into our own place. A house with a yard and all. It's fabulous. :) but I have a point here...

When we moved from our respective apartments to the new place we decided that we should probably find a new gym closer to our house, even though we had no complaints with our small, local gym in the Heights. We decided to enroll with a 24 Hour Fitness within a few miles of our house. The first day we went to work out, I decided to try one of the workout classes...it just happened to be something called Body Pump.

HOLY. CRAP.

I have never been more sore in my life that I was the following days. I must have been crazy, because I kept going back. Nearly 10 months later, I'm a bit obsessed now. I go at least 3 times a week and up to 5. I've personally never experienced a workout class that pushes me time and time again. The music is great and the track sets are always changing so your muscles are constantly being worked over.

Over the past 10 months the instructor has become a friend, which is great until I decide to slack for a SPLIT SECOND and get called out! (it's all for the sake of fitness I know) Becoming friends with the instructor has really motivated me to get the courage to look into getting certified, but I haven't been brave enough to take the plunge yet. As much as I know the routines, it's scary to think about being up there in front of a room full of people expecting you to go boss hog (there's the southern Texan coming out in me) on this workout, all the while being the perfect example for them. Plus, your talking...while working out...for an hour! It's a bit overwhelming. However, last Wednesday I did team teach an entire class with P (the instructor). That was a big step for me. I realized quickly that looking down the whole time just wont work and that you have to be able to handle all those people watching you. When the class first started I wanted to throw up I was so nervous, but then as the class went on, I got more and more comfortable. I realize that talking will be an even bigger step but it was a small step for me that gave me a little more push towards actually getting certified.

I've been reading as many blogs I can find on the certification weekend and have really found so insightful posts, which brings me to the point of my debut back in the blogging world. I am putting this out there! I will be certified by the end of this year. I'm putting it in writing. December is a long way off but I want to make sure I give myself plenty of time. However, I do think it will be happening much sooner, especially is Miss P has anything to do about it. Saturday I will be team teaching again. Saturday mornings are always completely filled up so this will be a big day for me, but I'm ready for it. It goes back to loving the workout and believing in it's results. When I walked into that class nearly a year ago, I was barely doing any weight and now I keep up with the "all-star soccer moms". I have muscle definition I didn't even know I could get. It really is an incredible workout and you can't ever peak because you can just keep going up in weight. I LOVE THAT!

Any already certified body pump peeps out there that have any advice for me??? Feel free to share!

Anyways, that is enough rambling for now, but I did just want to share this little update with you all.

There is some other exciting events that I hope to share with you soon as well but for now that's all I can say. ;)

Happy Thursday Dolls.

2013 so Far, and My Own Personal Angel.

Happy 2013 everyone! I hope that this year has been wonderful for you and your family so far.

 

My year started out (literally New Year's Day) with a trip to the ER. Oh yes, you heard right. Somehow I had managed to get something under my contact that went to town, and literally cut my cornea. Yes, it is as painful as it sounds. Once we found the ER room, (seriously, we got lost and Trevor wheeled me around in a wheel chair for 10 minutes looking for the dang place) it took only about another 10 minutes for me to get into an area for a Doctor to see me. Once seen by the Doctor, he informed us that we were going to do a saline flush. Hmmmm, that didn't sound too bad...hopefully that will clear all this up.


 I was so wrong! It was TERRIBLE! They put this really thick contact like thing in your eye that has a small tube attached to it and literally flush saline into you eye. It felt similar to a small samurai sword being stabbed over and over into my eye. After I started crying and withering in pain in the bed, they decided to turn it down at least to a drip, which was slightly better, but still painful. When Trevor asked how long I would have to endure this torture treatment, they nurse told his they wanted to go through a liter of saline. A LITER?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?! I don’t believe that we made it through the liter before I was nearly bawling. Finally the Doc came in and put some dye in my eye and did a light test which is when he informed me that I had a severe cut on my cornea. At that point, I was given some pain medication, two prescriptions and told that we could head home. The Doc was confident that we got everything out in time and that surgery wouldn’t be necessary. I was told eyes heal very quickly, which was great news because other than getting a shot in my head when I busted it open in 5^th grade, this was the most painful experience I had ever had.

 

The first few days after the accident I probably slept 85% of the day because that was the only time I wasn't in pain. I had to miss the first two days back to work because I couldn’t see, much less operate a vehicle. I ended up attempting to go back to work on Friday and immediately after sitting down at my desk regretted that. Looking at a computer screen was sickening. I managed to make it through the day and get out a bit early before returning home for another nap session. After a relaxing weekend and more time to heal, Monday and Tuesday of this week were much better than last Friday. Now here we are a week and a day later, my eye has healed! It’s still slightly out of focus if I look down quickly but for the most part I am better.

 

Now, I’m not one to go on a tangent like this because I know some people find it annoying, but I had to say that I am so blessed to have Trevor in my life. He was amazing last week with my eye and was also smart enough to force me to go to the ER, despite my protests. He was an angel, constantly checking on me, making sure I was taking my medicine, even calling my work for me to let my boss know the situation since I was knocked out New Year’s Day. And after all of that mess last week, Monday morning I wake up to find my battery in my car dead. (UGH 2013, why???) Trevor took me to work and also picked me up Monday, even though we work nowhere near each other. Tuesday morning we jumped my car to get it started and Trevor let me take his car, while he took mine to work and also to the dealership during his lunch break to have it fixed. He truly takes care of nearly any problems I have in my life. There are so many days that I can’t believe how lucky I am to have him.

 

Well dolls, I hope that your week is going wonderful so far. I hope this new year is filled with love, joy, happieness, laughter and spent with those you love. No eye injuries or car issues. ;)

Mr. Tubby Tubs and the Green Tin-Can on Wheels

Once upon a time...Life got extremely busy for me!  I apologize for the lack of blogging the past month and a half, but I will be making a conscious effort to blog lots and lots this December.

My job has really become time consuming lately. We had a woman in our department leave very suddenly for a new opportunity and in turn, it has made those of us left to become very thinly stretched. BUT HEY! Lots of people don’t even have good jobs, so I am thankful for even the busiest of days (and the paycheck that follows).

Speaking of being thankful, I have a very serious question for you all. Is it even possible for you to be angry before 6:30 AM? Now of course, there are those extreme cases where, for example, your car got broken into, or something similar, where anyone would be angry. But I am talking about just waking up on your daily routine and being pissed off! Me personally, not possible, I’m hardly awake at that hour, much less able to conjure up any sort of real emotion. This morning, however, that was not the case for the gentleman behind me on my morning drive.

I pulled out of my neighborhood to, what is a very busy street in the mornings ready for the day. Actually, more than ready because for a Monday, I knew this one would be great. (More on that later) As I head towards to toll-way that I take every morning, I noticed that the driver behind me driving a hunter green (ew) Pontiac Grand-AM was awfully close to my bumper.

Now, mind you, the road I am traveling on is very busy on weekday mornings and cars usually don’t go past 45 MPH and the road also lots of lights.  The truck I was traveling behind was a little bit slower driver than normal but again, who gets angry before 6:30 AM? I didn’t care if he was following the car in front of him a little bit more back that I normally would. His chosen driving speed wasn’t going to make me get to my destination any slower because of the lights we have to stop at every few miles anyways.  Clearly though, the grand-am gentleman thought that I was driving way to slow and that following right behind me would be a really good idea. I tapped my breaks a few times to kindly suggest for him to back off my bumper. He did not get the message I guess because he only continued to follow closer and then he decides that he is going to turn his brights on at me! At this point, I’m getting a little irritated because I truly have no idea why this guy is so angry at me! Lucky for me, his piece of crap car didn’t have very bright brights and I also drive and SUV and he was so close I couldn’t see his headlights anyways…idiot. I manage to finally switch into the left lane to get away from him and when he passes me he flicks me off with his fat finger! (Just for visualization purposes he looked like weight about 300 pounds)  Color me shocked. I was truly flabbergasted with his behavior. As he passed me and got behind the slower moving truck, and I moved onward to the freeway, I giggled. His impatience and rudeness was getting him nowhere, and I hope he realized that. Now I don’t know if he was just late and frustrated and decided I was the traffic angel screwing him over, or if he was a bitter longhorn fan that didn’t like my Texas A&M Century Club Member/blinged out aTm, but he seriously needs some Jesus in his life. I will never understand why some people lose their minds when they get behind the wheel. Moral of the story, don’t be that guy on your drive home today.

As for me and the rest of my morning, Mr. Tubby Tubs in the green tin can on wheels did not ruin it for me. Oh no! Tonight some of my wonderful girlfriends and I are having a Girl’s Christmas Movie night and I am hosting it at my home. Every girl is bringing some sort of treat in the form of dessert or wine, and we are going to watch the holiday classic, “The Holiday”. (Which just happens to be my favorite movie of all time) This week is definitely starting off right; Christmas movie, pizza,  girl talk, wine, and sugar. J I hope that everyone is having a better morning that Mr. Tubby Tubs and remember to drive like a sane person today.

Happy Monday Dolls!