Adriancito's Birthday!

Mon and Cristina's cutie patutie turns 1 today. And there is no better way for a one year old to celebrate his birthday than with a giant mouse! Chuck E. Cheese that is.
Here are a few pictures of his big day.
Here is Mon & Cristina... Proud Parents


Skii Ball anyone?


Here is Adriancito enjoying his birthday cupcake.

Finger Lickin' Gooood!

Happy Thanksgiving!

That's about all i have to say about that.
Who am i kidding? I'll be back later. =-)

Update:

I would just like to say that Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. (Flag day comes in a close second)I love the meaning of this holiday. Don't get me wrong, Jesus's birth is non less important, when its true meaning is still celebrated. Whats wrong with today's society is that Christmas has become commercialized, for the benefit of the retailers who profit from it. Thanksgiving, brings families together to celebrate the things they are grateful for, not material things, but like, the special people in your life, the clothes on your back, the food on your plate and roof over your head.

Sadly, sometimes people don't take the time to be truly thankful for what and who they have in their lives.

I think this world would be a nicer place if people would stop and think about how lucky they are to have everything that God has given to them. When we learn to not take things or people for granted we will truly see how much we really should be thankful for. I could sit here and list all the things that i am thankful for, but i wouldn't want your left overs to get cold. So i will make it brief: I am thankful for Love, Life, Family & Friends and all it encompasses.

T'was the night before thanksgiving...

And we were Chicago bound. It was just us girls (my sister Gaby, Cookie & I)and our mochas...

My uncle Leonardo was coming from PA for the thanksgiving weekend before returning back to his family in Mexico. He has been here since april, back when juju and I got engaged. We were to pick him up at the greyhound station around midnight, he and a few other people drove here and they were going to drop him off and we would pick up the road trip from there. Even though we had a GPS we still, somehow managed to take a few wrong turns. Shortly before arriving at the greyhound station my uncle called and said he would meet us at the oasis near Gurnee, IL, but since we were past Gurnee we agreed to meet at the O'Hare airport oasis.

We finally made it. Sweet success.

We packed his bags into my car and headed back home, but not before taking a few more wrong turns. We made a stop at Jalisco's for a 'quick' 3am bite. Yes, you read that right. 3 in the morning.

I felt bad for cookie, she couldn't quite get confortable. She tried falling asleep but Megan (the lady inside the GPS) spoke loudly. Sadly, i think we easily spent close to $10 dollars at the tollways. Seriously. I got on and off the freeway so many times! Sometimes, I feared that I would get the same person and they would call me out on the fact that i had just passed through their.

All in all we had a good & safe trip. We went to bed around 4:15 in the morning. In a few more hours, it would be time for thanksgiving dinner.

Commitment Shmamitment

I didnt panic and order a burger this time. We had decided on the color clover green for the bridesmaids dresses. Out of the blue Juju wants something more 'neutral' He suggested champagne, I suggested no. Nothing is ordered, I just really like the color we had chosen. Here is what the dresses look like in the clover green. This is Candy. I liked the depth of this color because of the great contrast it would create agains the pink flowers.

and this is the color i am willing to compromise to....

Its still green, just not as bold. It still goes well with all of the tones in the wedding. So it might not be too bad. This just means that the pink flowers have to be Pinker. Please note I am not related nor affiliated with the person in thie picture.

Have the record show that it was not me who changed their mind, This ones all on you Juju.

Courtesy Basket

I purchased our courtesy bathroom baskets at Michael's a few days ago. They were inexpensive. It was 1 large and 2 small wicker baskets with linen lining for 30 dollars. But wait! I had a 50% off coupon, so they were only 15. And I will be able to re use them later.


Last night, I went to target to pick up a new windshield ice scrapper thing and I thought to take a walk over by the 'trial size' items to estimate how much I was going to spend. I have to admit, I was in awe at how cute some of these items where. I mean, have you ever seen a bar of Dove soap smaller then a potato chip? And the itsy bitsy little bottles of lotion?

I decided to buy them, I mean, why wait? That will be one thing i can cross off my long to do list. So I went to get a basket and filled it with tons of things...
I bought:
Mouthwash
Aspirin
Mini Lint rollers
Hand sanitizer
Shout Wipes
Dental Floss
Deodorant
Mints
Facial Tissue
Gum
Hand Lotion
Hair spray/mousse

Then there is a few more items for the Women's basket, they get everything above plus:
Hair ties
Bobby Pins
Nail Files
Female hygiene products

I think that's it, so far, I'm not sure what else I could be missing. I'm sure I'll think of something else and go back for more stuff.

I debated back and forth with myself whether or not I would purchase the deodorant, they are travel size, and its one of those things you really don't usually share. (only in the event of an emergency) I mean, if any of our guest, really, really, really needs it, they can always wipe it off and use it. Right?

I stood there, as the cashier rang every single one of my travel sized items. She looked at me funny. I just gazed off into space with a grin on my face, waiting for her to finish. Beep. Beep. Beep. 30 bucks. Not bad, considering I had just about everything I needed for the baskets, and the tissues for the angel tears packages!

I'll post pictures in a bit!

Houdini's Offspring

Because cookie is a short hair chihuahua, and takes after her mother [me], she is a coldy-cat. She shakes and shivers, I think I might have heard her teeth chatter once, but I'm not certain. She has a few tee shirts and sweaters for the winter and skirts and dresses for the summer. She even asks for 'special event' outfits, such as thanksgiving, Christmas & new years.

Well, last week, we had a few snow flurries and i decided to throw some salt on the stairs to prevent it from icing over. I took cookie upstairs and sat her on the couch. She was fully dressed in her red poinsettia sweater and winter coat. I went downstairs to salt the stairs... and when i returned.

I give you:

My Little Escape Artist

Notice where the sleeve of her sweater is....
See her paws?
empty shell..
Perfect!

Oh Yeah! The Wedding

So I haven't really posted much about our wedding, and with thanksgiving right around the corner, I'm sure i will be super busy.

I did though, a few weeks ago, find this cute idea. I think they called it "Angel Tears". Its basically a little package with a few tissues you set out at the church in the event that someone needs them. I thought this would be a cute way to add a more personalized touch. I ventured off to Michael's. Bought ribbon & clear plastic self sealing bags.

This is just a mock up, and I drew the R by hand. The pink ribbon doesn't look like the actual color, but you get the idea. I used some left over paper i had laying around and simply cut a small slit to slide the ribbon through. I'm not going to make a lot of them, I'm sure not every single person who attends our mass will take/need one. Plus, their very, very easy to make.

Frankly Yours Ikea

So... seeing that we had been there yesterday, we figured this would be an "in & out" type of deal.

Boy was I wrong.

We headed out to Ikea hoping to find our table. We went straight to the As-Is section to find our table. We immediately loaded it onto two carts and proceeded to check out. I was very excited, i couldn't believe we found our table! Mon did a bit more shopping and a few hours later we left Ikea with a table, 2 dressers, a vanity and a few kitchen gadgets. Off to lunch!
This one shows the size where it fits 10 people
This one shows the size where it can seat 8
And this is for 6, the smallest it goes.

We saw a small hot dog place on our way to Ikea, so we decided to try it out.

I give you... "Frankly Yours" (I thought the name was cute)

Juju & Mon had Chicago style hot dogs and I had a chili cheese dog. Theirs was obviously a bit more photogenic.


After Frankly Yours we headed back home, making a "quick" stop in Pleasant Prairie, where they have a strip of outlet retailers. I didnt buy anything, sad for me, happy for my pocket.

Ikea

Oh how i've heard things about you.... I finally got to go this past weekend, since there is none in our area, we drove out to illinois.I had browsed the website a few times, but nothing could have prepared me for the monstrosity they call Ikea. It has 3 floors, filled with every possible household item you can think of, and very a smartly positioned food court area

We browsed through the hundreds of items for sale. I gawked at beautiful custom closets that would make a wonderful home for my shoes. Sat on what had to be some of the most comfortable couches and chairs ever.

This was our Ikea Posse: JujuAdrian aka Mon & Cristina, Mon's Fiance


But if we are in the market for anything, it would be a table. We have a pretty decent amount of things for when we get married, the biggest "item" we would need is a table. We have a fridge, a stove, couches, TVs, Beds, lamps, even a few coffee/side tables. No table.

I had initially found one on Ikea.com It was pretty neat. It was simple, expandable, casual enough for everyday dinning, yet large enough for entertaining. This table sat anywhere from 6 to 10 people. Ten people. I was table-love strucken. I know its only juju & I, we dont need a table that big, but it will come in handy when we entertain. The only problem, is that even though it was moderately priced ($400), we werent looking to spend that much on a table alone, with 6 chairs we would be looking at upwards $840. So we were just going to try and shop around.

5 hours, a can opener and 2 cutting boards later, we were ready to check out. We walked right next to an As-Is section. Hmmm... I wonder if they have something there.

TAH-DAH!

There it was. My table. It was a returned item (already assembled), so they could sell it on the floor. 6-10 people. It had the leafs and everything. And it was only $169! I was so thrilled. Before you jump for joy, this story turns south.
We had to pay for it and take it the same day. We drove out there in Juju's cousins Corolla. HA! talk about a swift kick in the ass. They dont deliver as-is items, we could rent a truck but this would mean drive all the way home (WI), unload, and drive all the way back to Ikea (IL). The only thing we could do would be to come go back the next day. Oh wait, did i mention, there was no holds. So i couldn't just pay for it and pick it up the next day. There was no guarantee it would be there.

I sadly dragged my feet as i walked away from the table. We were going to try to go back to Ikea the following day, in hopes to get our table.

Candy's Birthday

Candy's birthday was pretty low key. We had initially decided to go out after dinner at her house, but it evolved into a fun family affair. Here are a few pictures:
Dulce & Nate
Nate had to work the next day so he didn't stay late, we did enjoy a few cold ones in honor of the birthday girl.

Here we are drinking kool-aid from tiny little cups =-D We (the hot chicks in the picture) finished the whole bottle of Xrated. Quite an accomplishment
Juju and I-Proud Sponsors of Miller Lite

It was a lot of fun. We laughed, we cried, we drank. We sat around the table with our 'older' cousins and shared our many adventures. We opted not to go out, everyone was having a good time and it was cost effective to drink at home vs a bar. Tough Economy.

Tres Amigos

Although I have a huge family, I only have 2 cousins that are around my age.
First theres my cousin Dulce (which means candy). She is more like a sister to me. We grew up together, we even wore identical dresses for our first communion. We always have each others back. We've done some pretty stupid stuff, as well as made wise decisions together. She will be my Maid of Honor next may.

Then theres my cousin Nate. Although he is younger then both of us, he is very protective. I remember when we were in grade school, he wouldn't want anyone to mess with us. Matter of fact, his mom was so concerned that he would beat up kids that messed with us, they later moved him to another school.
My little cousin, the big bully. Nate will also be standing up in my wedding. Nate, Candy and I have become closer over the past few years. He's still is as protective as when we were in grade school, but at least now we can convince him not to beat anyone up =-). Candy's Birthday is this weekend. I'll make sure I take more pictures.

Cookie

Cookie has been a true blessing in our lives. As a child I always wanted a pet, a real pet, not like a bird or a fish or a hermit crab. (RIP yellow bird, grey bird, Herman, Herman II, Herman III, Chocolatito, Pinchy and Shady)My mom never let me had one, I remember i once cried at a flea market because they were selling puppies and i really wanted one. Nope, nothing. I tried negotiating down to a kitty. She didn't go for it. She wasn't a pet person, she didn't want the house smelling like pets. And since i was only 8yrs old, i figured this was a battle i wasn't going to win.

Until one day I came home with a dog, Cookie.

I adopted Cookie from the local Humane Society. She had been abused and neglected in the past and she was simple looking for someone to treat her the way she deserved.

This is what she looked like when i adopted her.

She looked so frightened. She laid at the corner of her cot, rolled up in a little ball, her nose was buried into her body. All you could she were her big brown eyes. In her eyes, you could see how sad she really was. It was heartbreaking, really. So i decided to bring her home. Boy was that night fun. I was nervous, I had never been a pet mom before. She was nervous, she was going into a brand new house. Needless to say the first night she cried and whined until 2 or 3 in the morning. I put her in kitchen, i was afraid of letting her sleep in the carpeted rooms. The next night, i let her into my room, but again i wasn't sure about her sleeping on the bed, so we crashed on the floor together. And little by little she made her way up to curl up right next to tummy. After the next couple of week she made her way to my bed, and every since that, bunk together (im usually the back spoon =-) )

This is a 'glamour shot' of cookie... I never thought I could ever love a pet so much. She truly is a part of our family, she is my mom's first Grandpetdaughter, and my siblings see her as a niece. She is loyal, protective, always greets you at the door and is happy to see you, and above all her love is unconditional. She loves to snuggle and lounge around, and she greatly enjoys a good scratchin' behind her ear or a nice long belly rub.
Unfortunately Chihuahuas have a bad rep for being little vicious 'yelpy' dogs. Not Cookie, i think that what she has gone through in the past has taught her to be grateful, as funny as that sounds.

My Lobster

"He's My Lobster" I'm a big Friends fan. In case you dont know where thats from.

You've read how we met. Here are a few pics of us. Some pictures are older, so we are a bit more baby faced.

I think what I love most about Juju is the fact that he can make me laugh like no one has ever made me laugh. Even when we dont agree, he says or does something that makes me entirely forget what we had been in disagreement about. He is the type of person that tries to find the positive in every situation. He'll do anything to make you smile.

This is New Years 06'



This was dinner at his aunts house, I think this was right after Christmas 07'


Its hard finding good pictures of us, because like i said, he'll do anything for a laugh, so in most pictures he is cheesin' away. Thats my Babe!

The Other Man

This is my Godson that Nick and I had the pleasure to baptize this past September. I just wanted to share his cuteness with the world. It would be rather selfish of me to keep him to our selves.

Commitment

A 10 letter word. Commitment. In respect to some aspects of my life, I can definitely work on my commitment issues. For example, I can peruse a menu for 15 minutes, and i will change my mind at least 3 times before the waitress/ter comes. And even then, when its my turn to order, I panic, and change my decision from what i had origanally committed to and always end up getting a burger. So far, this hasn't affected any other areas of my life.

Until I had to choose our wedding colors.

So many choices! I always wanted the look of our wedding to be very romantic, candlelit, with alot of pinks, peaches and creams. Then I was reminded that it was not only my wedding. =-) After going back and forth with different shades of yellow, and pink and green and orange we decided on Pink and Green. I know it might sound silly, but my ideas was having a bright and bold (not neon) green with a pink contrast.

I cant take credit for these images or ideas but this is a bit of what I mean.



The girls dresses arent ordered yet, but im almost sure pink and green will be the final colors. Unless i panic and order the burger instead.

Meet the man

Nick and I met in the summer of 04'. Ah yes that summer. I started working at an elementary school as a fine arts instructor. I spotted him the first day and though he was a looker, but really didn't know much about him. Later on i found out he was my boss's son. Nice. Well i randomly struck up a conversation one day, made him an offer he couldn't refuse and the rest is history, or destiny some might say.

Every day during my lunch hour I would enjoy some quiet time. Me, my turkey sandwich, on wheat, and a book. I know, I know, wild! But i enjoyed it. I was a nice time to relax and have some quiet time away from the kids. I noticed that Nick (Juju... deriving from JujuMan [I'll explain later]) always left for lunch. So i asked him one day what he did for lunch. He proceeded to tell me he went out for lunch, fast food, whatever was closest. So i told him that i ate by myself ( sounds sad huh?) and he was welcomed to join me.

We didn't actually spend any time together alone until one, destiny stricken day. I brought in left overs and was pulling them out of the fridge in the teachers lounge. Nick and my boss were in the teachers lounge. I went to open up my tupperwear to pop it in the microwave, when lo and behold, sitting in front of me was a tupperwear FULL of BEANS. That's right, good ole' refried beans. I grabbed the wrong one in the morning, trying not to be late to work. So i had two choices, either eat the beans, A LOT of beans, or ask nick if he could pick me up some lunch, I explained the situation, with out getting into too much details about the beans, and he told me to come with. And from that moment forward we just stuck together.

What a story for the grand kids huh?

My Ring

I wanted to add a quick picture of the ring. Im not sure why my hands looks so orange. But trust me, no self tanner was abused in this photo.

My camera setting are a bit goofy, i'll try to fix

The proposal

It was a normal wednesday afternoon, 9:15 if i recall correctly. Juju and I were watching Dan in real life, nothing amazing, typical movie, boy meets girl, girl is taken, ... etc. As we sat there, Juju kept his hand in his pocket, i didn't really think much of it, in fact, i didnt think it was odd for him to get up mid-movie to hop in the shower. As I said goodbye to juju, his hug lasted a little longer then usual, he then proceed to fall to one knee and and ask me to marry him.

I cried.

For a while, in a matter of fact. Juju simply stood there, on one knee, waiting on a response. YES! (duh) I jumped up and hugged him. I ran from room to room searching for someone to share the news with.

I drove home that night, quite distracted. I think I stared at my hand most of the time. Im getting married! I am getting married to a wonderful man. I wanted to scream it out the window, which I later opted not to.
The funny thing is, that it was not the most romantic proposal. I was in a t-shirt and jeans, but it was perfect.