prayers

lots of prayers for lots of people ...
sending our love and prayers to all of you, especially during this hard time ...
keep strong my loves as they have returned to their Creator.
love you ...
we're here if you need us, just let us know what you need ...

the worst nightmare

so i had the worst nightmare right now. as you know, i work nights so i sleep during the day. and i sleep so much so that i can dream. and i had the worst nightmare. if i didn't explain already, the venue for our wedding is two floors. if you chose the bottom floor, you have all of the patio, which includes the bridge and the picture taking. if you chose the top, you have the higher ceilings but you would have no access to the patio. so anyway, i have this nightmare just now. it's the day of our wedding and this other wedding party strolls onto our patio and through our whole dining area! and i'm freaking steaming! and THEN they're wearing the YELLOW color that i love and they're just staring at me! and then i see the bride and lo and behold, it's freakin JENN - joey's ex gf! OMG, i was even MORE pissed! and she waltzes through and doesn't look at us and goes straight to the patio, to the bridge to take her pictures! i was so seething! anyway, talk about a nightmare. bleh.

the dresses

productive weekend this weekend - bought ten dresses total - 8 bridesmaids, my mom's and mine. story to come later. really tired and must go to sleep (worked last night and haven't slept yet)

until next time ...

difficult

so we went bridesmaid dress / wedding dress shopping for the first time and i've figured something out ... my bridesmaids are difficult. just kidding. just joan. just kidding. there was a big joke that joan was the difficult one and that was the recurring theme of the day. so now, any time anyone is being difficult, that's all we have to say. anyway, six out of the eight bridesmaids were there and i think we've made some progress on dresses. hopefully we can figure it out within the next month. but i think purple is still prevailing.
they put themselves kind of in the order they're supposed to be in - tallest to shortest with the matron of honor at the end. it's cassie, michelle, joan, me, roxanne, my and my sister. day and cel are missing but we'll get them in the next time.

a Lopez nuptial

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Jorge Lopez! In no way are they related to Joey, this is Gracie and Jorge's wedding. It started at Our Lady Queen of Angels Cathedral in LA. Jorge kissed his bride in the aisleway
and then off to the Glendale Hilton for the reception!
I love Gracie's expression here!
cute huh?
so we go to hang out with the O's
that's us
Phoebe was at our table - they gave her both cider and champagne
and the Kims
Joey showered me with rose petals ...
this is Cheryl's chocolate cake... yummy ...
so here's table 14 with the newly married Lopez's! yay sister-in-law!!

Congratulations you two! the wedding was awesome! Since Gracie's uncles and grandfather were the founders of their troope - there were plenty of cultural dances during dinner - and even Gracie performed! in her wedding dress! they were awesome! go culture!

if you're thinking of marrying ...

So after we saw Gomez, he gave us this list of questions for anyone contemplating marriage. I thought they were really cool, so I decided to share.

1. Is the person your best friend or at least becoming so?
2. Aside from sex, do you enjoy each other?
3. Is there chemistry between the two of you?
4. Does the person have a number of good friends and at least one very close friend of the same sex?
5. How does the person treat others?
6. What problems do the two of you have now? And what inner voice of doubt, if any, are you suppressing?
7. How often do you fight?
8. Do you share values? the best part of this answer is: "Love conquers all pre-maritally. Not post." Love that answer.
9. Do you miss the person when you are not together?
10. Is the person unhappy?
11. How much of your love is dependent on the sex you are having?
12. What do people you respect think of the person that you're considering marrying?

I thought they were in interesting group of questions. The answers are long so if anyone is really interested in the answers, let me know and I'll post. but for now, they're just questions to think about.

FOCCUS

so joey and i met with gomez on friday for the first time. we took the FOCCUS (Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding and Study) test - which is basically kind of like the compatability test for engaged couples to see how they think on different issues. for the most part we did ok.

what we scored highest on was:

personal issues
family / extended relationships
friends
communication (surprisingly)

what we scored lowest on was :
values / beliefs
financial issues

Gomez said that it wasn't bad - he's seen a lot worse - and it gives us something to work on before the wedding. He said that the issues that cause the most problems are financial, communication and infidelity. so being low one of three isn't bad. I'm scared and excited all at the same time. kinda weird. one of our uncertains was our method of family planning and gomez recommended this one clinic we go to learn all the methods of natural family planning. tell me how weird that is coming from your godfather. anyway, we also went over the engagement encounter stuff - i think we're going in March. Joey wasn't too excited about the "Saturday evening group discussion." he makes an "uh" sound every time we read it. but he'll get over it. i'm so excited!

my newest child model

look at this cutie patootie! she totally posed for these pictures!!! this is kiana - arnold and tootsie's kiddo. isn't she a ham? yes, definitely a ham - but a cute one at that.

oh look how we've grown

welcome to our 4 newest dazers: Dean, Derrick, Mark and Jonas! Congrats to Men's Batch 35 for a job well done!

and look how we've grown! Evan is 4, Sepi almost 5 and Lucas 3!
Lara's 5 months, Lucas again and Sandro is 20 months!
here are all the girls ....
and the expansion of boys!!

i love it! i love you guys! basta!

live auction

so i participated in my first live auction today - i actually got to hold my sign up and bid. i actually did it a few times but I won one of them! the first time that I bid was for Laker tickets (value of $270) that went for $700! and then I bid on some spa stuff but that got expensive too! then the people started to dwindle away and they had 2 passes to Disneyland with parking, a Disney art book and tricycle. the bidding started at $25, I bid $50, then it went to $100. My last bid was $125 - i wasn't going to get any higher than that. and i waited. and it was going, going and gone! and I got it! and I think that's the price of 2 tickets to Disneyland and parking anyway nowadays and I got a bonus free tricycle seen here. Joey's grandma is part of the Intercommunity Child Guidance Guild - they help to raise money for the center which focuses on behavioral therapy and counseling for children. it's a good cause and it's tax deductible! yay! anyway, here's me and my tricycle.

my favorite part

this is my favorite part about our wedding reception. it's water under the bridge. haha. made deposits on the reception and the photographer yesterday so they are confirmed. waiting for the florist to call us back and now looking for a dj. yay!

Happy birthday Grandma Spot

it was Grandma's 70th birthday and we celebrated with Mexican food and margaritas - her favorite combination! I just posted the pictures with her kids. Here's my new mom-in-law, Grandma and Joey. and here's the pitcher of margaritas for everyone to share. yummy!

Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you!