8 days....

I´ve been doing a lot of last minute shopping these past couple of days. I´m having a lot of fun bonding with my friends. First out of town guest arrives tomorrow, my godmother Connie and her daughter Elizabeth from New Orleans, LA.

I´m not sure with how much frequency I´ll be able to write in the days building up to the wedding. Feel free to contact us by email or phone and we´ll do our best to help you with any questions you may have. I wanted to let you know that I´ll be using the blog after the wedding to update everyone from Hong Kong and to post pictures from the wedding and honeymoon.

I cannot wait to see everyone soon!

So, we are getting married in 15 days!!

Today is my last day of class! I just turned in my last final and wrapped up my graduate assistantship work. I am ready to take on all the last minute wedding planning stuff! It has been freezing cold in St. Louis this week. I cannot wait to go to Puerto Rico on Monday!

If you have not done so already, please take a minute to fill out your arrival flight schedule right here. It will help Ryan and I to know when everyone will be in PR and where everyone is staying so we can make sure we spend some time with everybody.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had lots to be grateful this year: health, family, friends, love!

The Thanksgiving Holiday started with the arrival of Gaby from San Francisco. Monday and Tuesday I spent hours at her house finishing up my wedding dress patters and learning how to cut fabric. The process has been so much fun for me! I'm so thankful that Gaby is giving me such a great gift!

On Wednesday, my brother drove down from Iowa with some friends. Our first Thanksgiving stop was at Ryan's grandparents were we joined his whole family for the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Best part was the desserts: a variety of everything pumpkin! After Ryan's family, we went to my friend Shelagh's house were we joined her family and some friends from the MBA program for an international Thanksgiving. When I say international I mean it. We had representation from China, India, Kenya, Puerto Rico, and of course, the US. Everything was very delicious and by the end of the night we were all about to burst!

We woke up Friday around 4:15 am to hit the stores for black Friday deals. Ryan and my brother finally got the suits they will be wearing at the wedding! We had a lot of fun shopping but by 8:30am we were all so tired we could no longer bare the lines, no matter how good the deals were.

Friday night, Ryan's family joined us for a Puerto Rican Thanksgiving at our house. I really enjoyed cooking for everyone. :)

Christmas decorations are now up!!!! Only 28 days 'til the big day!!!!

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated the first holiday at out new place this weekend: Halloween! We had a housewarming party, complete with a Halloween catwalk. Enjoy the best pictures of the night!

This year Ryan carved Kate Gosselin

Third Place: Freddy vs. jason

Third Place: Bavarian Couple

Second Place: Napoleon and Deb

First Place: Popeye & Olive Oil

So, only 55 days left to the big day!!!!! Don't forget to RSVP by Nov. 15!!!!

Y como siempre, al llegar a un final, tambien llegamos a un principio

The title is Spanish for "As always, when we arrive at the end, we also arrive at a new beginning". I read this quote in the newspaper when I was in eight grade and it has stayed with me since. It happens that I always find it true. Every time I arrive at the end of a stage of my life, I always start something new.

As it happens this time, I just finished the first semester of my MBA at SLU. I was really busy with school, which explains the lack of postings lately. In the end it was all good. I'm happy with what I've learned so far and I've met wonderful people along the way.

And, of course, during my last weeks of class we closed

on our new home! We've been doing some work... putting drywall in the kitchen to replace an ugly recess ceiling, painting, buying new furniture and decorating. We are having a lot of fun making this little house our new home. Below are some pictures of the progress so far. I will keep updating as we finish the projects.

Kitchen Ceiling Before

Kitchen Ceiling After

Also, in the last couple of weeks, we booked our honeymoon. I have to go to Hong Kong for school from January 2-13. Ryan will meet me in Hong Kong and we are taking a 14-night cruise around South Asia, including Vietnam, Malasia, Singapore, and China! The cruise is called Costa Classica, and it is an Italian brand. We are so excited for this trip!!!! :D

Family in Town

From July 9th to the 22nd my mom and my best friend and maid of honor Lydia were in town. My brother was also here for part of that time. We had a lot of fun going to all the St. Louis landmarks. They say their favorite thing about St. Louis was the Botanical Gardens, but I think that DSW shoes is a close second. My brother, Ryan, Dave (best man) and I ran the MLB All-Star 5K on June 12 and afterwards we celebrated Ryan and my mom's birthday with a party at Ryan's partent's home.

Showing off our race medals.

Mom, brother and sister.

My mom's birthday is July 12 and Ryan's is July 13th!

With my mom and Lydia

My mom, Lydia, and my brother went with me to see Gaby for a fitting for the wedding dress. This has been a great experience and it was really special to be able to share it with them. The dress is very lovely and should be ready very soon!!! We also found the perfect shoes to go with the dress. I finally picked a wedding color: SANGRIA! It is the perfect color as it is exactly the color of the orchids I had picked for my flowers. So Lydia picked her dress and Jill (Ryan's sister) got hers. Jill will make her daugther Ava's (flower girl) dress. Ryan's mom Colleen also found a great dress. So everything is coming together quite nicely.

Finally, Sisi and Maggie hosted a bridal shower for me. It was a very special night and both Sisi and Maggie did an amazing job organazing an unforgetable night. It was also really special to have all my St. Louis friends together with my my mom and Lydia.

with hosts Maggie and Sisi

everyone

6 months to go!

So we are exactly 6 months from our wedding day! We've been doing marriage prep. Today we got our group class certificates. We are also doing one-on-one counseling and we still have to do Family Planning class. We are really enjoying it so far. It has been really helpfull in giving us an opportunity to talk about our relationship and how to make it better. Our love grows every day!

House!

That's right, we bought a house! We are moving back to Dogtown, where it all started! We love this neighborhood. Our first date was @ Felix in Dogtown, and for the first 2 years of our relationship we lived across the street from each other on Louisville. We love how close we are to Forest Park and all those amazing restaurants. And save the date for next year's St. Pats, bc the party is at our place! Our closing date is August 13th. We cannot wait to move into our new home.

Ryan signs the offer.

This image of Old San Juan was hanging on one of the walls.

Our backyard.

Front of house.

New Beginning

Sorry for the lack of posting this month. I have been really busy wrapping things up at work. Today is my last day at Washington University. I start the one-year MBA program at SLU next Tuesday! I am really excited about this new adventure!!

On the wedding front, I can confirm we have a DJ! They are called Monument Sound, and the company is run by two of my mom's students. They will also be recording the wedding. I'm excited to have them, they are young and professional and awesome! They will be taking music request so send in your suggestions to make sure we have all the great music you love at our wedding.

Also, Ryan and I are looking for houses! Stay tuned....

Happy 3 year Anniversary!

This post is coming one month too late. We celebrated our 3 year anniversary on March 4th. This date marks our first date. We are one of those couples that don't know exactly when our relationship became 'official'. We have been inseparable since the first date, so that is why we chose that day. On Saturday March 7th we celebrated by going to the Melting Pot and to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. I had never been to the Melting Pot and I loved it. It was so much fun! It was also our first trip to the STL Symphony, where we joined Monica, Paul, and Paul's parents. David Robertson conducted with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago dancing while the orchestra played. The program included Mozart Symphony No. 40, Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge and Ravel’s Boléro. This was, by far, our fanciest date ever.

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!

Ryan and I had a laid back Valentine's Day. Ryan got me the Legally Blonde Musical soundtrack and a mix CD of Radiohead songs. I got him the Tim & Eric Season 2 DVD. I cooked us a nice Puerto Rican dinner and then we went out for dessert at Culver's! We also went to the mall and found some good deals on clearance winter clothes and ended our day grocery shopping at ALDI. =-D


Overall, a nice remainder of how happy we are together doing simple everyday things. We are looking forward to our first Valentine's day as huband and wife next year!

Super Party

We spent a few days in PR this January. There, my parents hosted a party celebrating their 30th's Anniversary, my brother's graduation with an engineering degree from Iowa State, our engagement and the never ending Puerto Rican holidays. Enjoy.

High school friends.

Marista crowd.

Neighbors, all grown up!

Happy couple. Ryan just smiled his way through the Spanish toast.

Best friend and maid of honor, Lydia.

They are so happy!