SHOW US YOUR LIFE! Wedding party and ceremony/flowers

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner (Kelly) is hosting Show us your life. Today is wedding party and flowers/ceremony!

These are out of order, and I don't have time to put them in the right order!! Our wedding was almost 3 weeks ago (July 11th) at the Bellagio. We had planned a Cabo wedding in May, but two weeks before we had to cancel due to the wonderful Swine Flu! Long story, which you can read about here if you so wish. BUT, our Vegas wedding that I planned in about 2 months was AMAZING!! We had dinner afterwards at Sensi in the Bellagio and the food was phenomenal! We loved everything. The Bellagio really did a great job.

I love this picture. This was when we first walked in and Alex was giving his speech, you can see some of our flowers in the background.

A view at the restaurant:

LOVED MY FLOWERS!!!!

These are the bridesmaid flowers with our favors. We were going with a starfish theme which worked perfect for the Cabo wedding. haha!

My bouquet was amazing!! It was sooooo heavy though!

Being silly with my girls!

Our wedding party! We were missing a few (there should have been 3 more).
This isn't the best picture, but it gives you a good idea of the flowers.
Getting ready in the room with my girls and mother in law!
Alex walking to the chapel with his boys!

Working out...

I have been working out off and on for the last few years. I started to become really serious about working out when I was training for the Aids Lifecycle Ride (bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles - around 650 miles in a week) back in 2007. I really enjoyed working out, but riding EVERY weekend 100+ miles was wearing me thin. So after the ride was over, I pretty much stopped everything for a couple months. I don't know what happened, but I think I needed a huge break after working out like a mad woman for 8 months straight. We had also moved to Texas in my few month hiatus, so I had to try to find a new gym.

I started working out at the YMCA in November of 2007 and have loved it so much. I started Body Pump in April of 2008 and have been going ever since. It's a tough class, but it works! I typically go twice a week, but I am going to step it up to 3 times a week, adding in a Saturday morning class. I have been kind of a slacker for a few months and it's time to make some changes.

I joined Weight Watchers last week and signed up for a new gym with my husband. We will now go to Gold's Gym. I will miss my workout partner, Leslie, very much. She is calling me a traitor. ha! I feel horrible, but I figured if I signed up to go to Gold's I could go with Alex and we could push each other. He has been doing great!

P.S. I tested last night! hahahahahahahahahahaha! BFN! I bought some cheapy $1 tests from the Dollar store, so I don't feel so guilty testing now. I should start my period today. I know I am not pregnant which is sad, but it's okay! It's only the first month trying. It works out perfect because I can now enjoy a few beverages on our honeymoon! Yummy wine in Italy, a cocktail in Monte Carlo...that sounds like heaven! And, as it turns out, I should be ovulating the first week of our cruise! Honeymoon baby!?!

I did it again...

I tested last night and again this morning. I officially have issues. Of course they were both BFN's (big fat negatives). I knew they would be too! I am having no real symptoms. I know I am not pregnant, but I still had to test. Today I am DPO 12 (days past ovulation). On some of the sites I have read that it is too early to test, but then on others, people have had BFP (big fat positives) that early. I am done. No more wasting money like this. I will ONLY test when I have missed a period. I think becuase this was offically the first month of trying that I got all excited. Now I know to just wait. No more being a spaz.

I'm such a loser

Okay...first of all, I am never allowed to drink alcohol again! Saturday night we ended up going over to our neighbor's house for a little party. It had been awhile since I had drank and I now know why. I got hammered and made a total ass out of myself!!! Well, at least I think I did. I decided at some point (with Liz)to climb their swing set. Let's just say my butt has some nice bruises all over it. I don't even remember the entire night! Judge me as you will. I don't typically do this, but as of Sunday morning...I am never drinking again. Ever. I just keep thinking...what if I AM pregnant!?!? I don't think I am, and on Saturday the embryo wouldn't have even implanted yet. I think?!

See, now you can see why I am such a loser! I went Sunday and bought 5 pregnancy tests. I took one as soon as I got home. hahahahaha. My goodness, what is wrong with me!? I apparently like to waste money on these things because there wouldn't be any hCG hormone even in my body! I had to check though. I may be losing it.

I will NOT check again unil Saturday. Aunt Flo is supposed to get into town on Friday. So I will wait until Saturday. I WILL wait! I will not waste anymore money on tests that I KNOW will be negative!

On another totally random note, we are officially ready for our cruise! We made sure everything was taken care of (immigration forms, emergency contact information, etc.) and everything seems to in order. There was one problem though. When we went to pick our seats for the flights we realized that on the LONGEST leg of the flight (15 hours from Houston to Rome)there are only two seats left. Both aisle seats and not sitting next to each other!!! AHHHHHHH! We are going to try and see what we can do about getting next to each other, but I highly doubt someone is going to want to move to an aisle seat so we can be next to each other. I will bring cash and bribe them! I will do all I can because I don't think I will be cool sitting in the middle of two strangers for that f'ing long.

I thankfully took NO pictures this weekend. We did not need any proof of drunken debachory.

I am a bookaholic!

I am a avid reader. I love a good book. I am really picky though. I realize I am picky when it comes to just about everything (food, clothes, make-up, books, my house, the list is endless). I guess I am a little OCD! Anyways, not to get off track here because my OCD'ness is a whole other post.

I started reading this book about a week ago and fell in love! It's a very easy, good summer read.



I got this from Amazon:

The pricey, popular bistro of the title is the real star of Hilderbrand's fourth novel set on Nantucket. After years of hotel employ, peripatetic Adrienne Dealey, 28, lands her first restaurant job within hours of disembarking on the bucolic Massachusetts island. She's got a lot of learning to do as assistant to co-owner Thatcher Smith. Adrienne's soon attracted to the handsome Thatcher, and he seems to return her feelings. But just what is his relationship with his partner, the famous, utterly reclusive chef Fiona "Fee" Kemp? And why will no one talk about her? Hilderbrand specializes in beach reading (Summer People; The Beach Club); the plot doesn't go too far beyond standard romance and the characters don't reach beyond the conventional (though Adrienne does drink a bit more than the average heroine). But the complexities of running a bustling, ambitious restaurant in a summer hotspot are absorbing, and as Adrienne develops survival techniques with the customers and staff, readers follow her progress with genuine interest. Though the romance is a bit tepid and a subplot involving Adrienne's father's new girlfriend doesn't add much excitement, this is still a perfectly enjoyable beach book.

It's funny because as I was reading this morning, I realized that there really isn't much of a plot. It's not one that I "can't put down," but it is definitely one that is worth reading.

Last night I picked up two more new books:




I have heard great things about both books and cannot wait to read them!

My Wedding Dress!

I love love loved my wedding dress!! I just got married two weeks ago (July 11th) at the Bellagio. It was the best day of my entire life!!

I got my dress from David's Bridal. I had a pretty large dress budget, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend over $2,000 for a dress!! So, I decided to try David's Bridal and found my dress for $400!!! Steal! I just about shocked everyone, including my husband. HA!

Trying to Get Pregnant...

We have been talking about trying for a baby for a long time now. Of course we wanted to wait until after we got married to start trying, and thankfully that time is FINALLY here!

We have been SO careful. I stopped my birth control back in January (due to complications which I explained in a previous post awhile back). Since I stopped my birth control, we were so worried about having sex. I was keeping track of when I was supposedly ovulating and we used protection, but the whole time we were worried about the possibility of getting pregnant. His family is very traditional and if we were to get pregnant before the wedding, we would pretty much be shunned! I am sure that is the extreme, but it wouldn't have been pretty. That scared the shit out of us.

Now that we are married a huge weight is lifted off of our shoulders. I have to admit...sex is SO much better!!!!! There is no more worry! We can finally relax and let things happen, so to speak. HA!

From the little charting I have done in the last few months I figured out I should have been fertile last week. We took full advantage of this and offically starting "trying." Now, a week later...I can't stand the waiting!! I am pretty darn sure I didn't get pregnant on the VERY first try. Who am I kidding? BUT...the thought that I MIGHT be is killing me!

I took a pregnancy test this morning. I know, I know, I know! It was a total waste of money. I knew it would be negative, but I almost had to do it just to make myself relax! I am not even supposed to start my period until next week. I only ovulated a week ago. We had planned to make this fun. I am not going to be crazy, but it is so hard. I hate that I am the type of person that plans and worries. I have a feeling this will NOT go away until I finally get that big fat postive.

Think what you will, but I am pretty sure I am NOT the only one that is like this. I have done TONS of reading and research online. I have read other blogs and posts on various baby websites to know that I am not alone. I am probably a little more psychotic than most, but hey...I can deal with that.

Wedding Pictures!!!

We have almost 600 pictures! Wow! You can see them here:

Website: https://shop.cashmanpro.com/

Customer ID: aseif
Password: bellagio

It is going to be SO hard to choose!

Finally a married woman!

Wow...I am finally his wife! I cannot begin to explain how excited I am. Our wedding was amazing. It was by far the best day of my life. This is how it went...

On Thursday my office took me out to lunch (again) to celebrate our wedding. It was a blast. We went to La Bodega (Mexican food). Everyone was in a great mood and many laughs were had. I even had an alcoholic beverage. mmmm. Marc, my boss surprised me and told me to take Friday off (I had planned on working half a day). That was a VERY nice surprise. I had so much left to do before we left. It was nice not to stress out when I got home that night.

Friday was very calm. I cleaned the house a bit because I really didn't want to come home to a messy house. I even changed the sheets on our bed so we would have a nice clean bed to come home too (that was very nice)! We packed, I went and tanned and ran to the store to grab a few last minute things and then got ready. We were ready to head to the airport around 2:30.

I had to carry my wedding dress, but it wasn't that difficult. The flight was seamless and we got to Vegas where we had our limo driver waiting for us. That was awesome! I wish we could travel that way all the time! ha! We checked into the hotel, unpacked and I called the bridal shop to come and pick up my dress and his suit to get steamed. I was so calm at this point. I was excited to finally be there! Our room was pretty nice. I wasn't totally impressed. I thought the room was going to knock me off my feet. It was nice, but I heard the Trump rooms were better. We did have a pretty awesome view of the fountain though! We were able to watch the show from our room which was pretty sweet.

After settling into the room we headed down to find the restaurant and to see the chapel. The restaurant was AMAZING! They took us back to the room where the dinner was going to be and we fell in love. The pictures online do not do it justice! We then tried to find our way to the chapel where we got a little lost and then found it only to find that it was closed. Oh well. We grabbed a beer and met up with Alex's dad in the VIP area for a drink. His dad decided to take everyone to dinner at the Bellagio Buffet, so everyone (about 23 of us) met up and had a fantastic dinner. It was SO nice to have everyone there. It was almost surreal to have all the people we love the most in the same place at the same time.

After dinner a bunch of us headed over to a bar at the Paris hotel for some drinks and dancing. We had a really nice time. I had two beers and danced a little and then we headed back to the hotel around midnight. I didn't want to stay out that late, but it worked out perfect!

On Saturday morning we got up and went to get our marriage license. We got to take another limo ride (fun!) and walked into a completely empty office. No lines whatsoever! That so nice! We were in and out of there in about 15 minutes. We headed back to the hotel and met his dad for a light breakfast in the VIP area and then I headed to the hotel to get ready for our very busy day. Our rehearsal was at noon, and of course I was a little late. I was waiting for my dress to get delivered and then I had to take it out of the bag and lay it on the bed. By the time I got to the chapel everyone was there waiting - and then we got the show on the road! There was SO much to remember. Alex wanted to run through it twice. ha! We had a blast. There was lots of laughter. My sister wasn't there yet, so we had Yan stand in for her. haha! That was hilarious.

After we were done at the rehearsal everyone split up. Alex and I took my mom to have lunch at the Buffet, but I couldn't really eat. I was starting to get a little nervous at this point. My sister got to the hotel and I met up with her and Liz. It was so nice to see them! I almost burst out into tears when I saw them! I was starting to get really emotional. ha!

After lunch Alex took my mom for a drink and I headed up to my room to grab my stuff to take over to my sister and Liz's room. I had to rush because of course, I was late for my salon appointments which started at two. I rushed to my room, packed up all my stuff and then rushed over to their room to drop it all off. I gave the favors and guestbook to them to take to the restaurant and chapel. Thank goodness for their help! Then I was off to the salon. I was only about 10 minutes late, so it wasn't too bad. I started off with my manicure and pedicure which were pure heaven! It was AWESOME! From there I went and had my hair done and then it was makeup time. Sheri came in and brought a bottle of champagne! Thank goodness for her!!!!! It was awesome! I felt amazing afterwards. I really felt beautiful.

When we were all done getting pampered, we headed back up to the room to get ready. I was really nervous, but we had a blast. I had to write a card for Alex and it was so hard to concentrate. Liz ordered chapagane and a few appitizers (there was no way I could eat though). I did have a little champagne though! We got ready, laughed, took pictures, were silly and then the photographer got there to take some pictures of us getting dressed. I got into my dress with the help of my mom and Tawylia while tons of pictures were taken. It was a blast!

The photographer left to meet up with the guys and we headed down to the chapel. Liz almost made us pee our pants. We got a wheelchair for my mom because her arthiris was bothering her. The walk was too much for her, so I asked Liz to push her. On our way there all though the hotel Liz pushed my mom into people saying, "beep beep." We were dying. My poor mom was embarassed, but she was having such a good time.

I didn't realize that there was a wedding going on and we barged into the chapel area and were a little loud...whoops! I felt kinda bad! We were escorted into the dressing room where we waited until the other wedding was over and the guests could finally be seated. It felt like forever. I was shaky and very nervous at this point. I just wanted to see Alex already. Finally Sara, the wedding coordinator, told us it was time and everyone left the dressing room. I was all alone. I didn't know what to do with myself! I walked around the room. Looked in the mirror, fixed my lipgloss, wondered what the hell was taking so long, fixed my hair, ate a mint and then finally Jeff was brought into the room. I was SO happy to see him! He made me feel so much better just by being in there.

Then...it was time. It was finally time to get married. Sara took us out to the waiting area. I heard the music start...I took a deep breath while Sara fixed my dress and the doors opened. Wow. The chapel looked amazing. I couldn't really see Alex yet because everyone was standing up. I didn't see anyone as I tried to find his face and then I saw him. The melted. He looked so handsome. It was finally here. We were finally going to be husband and wife and that was all I could think about. Jeff passed me over to Alex and I couldn't stop staring at him. Wow. The Reverend said stuff, but I heard nothing. All I could think was, "wow, he looks amazing. Oh no, my flowers are shaking, maybe if I hold them tighter they will stop, nope, no luck, oh, look...there's my honey." LOL! The whole ceremony was a bit of a blur. I cried a little. Looking into his eyes while professing my love to the man I would spend the rest of my life with really got me. The best part of the whole thing was the kiss. WOW! It was AMAZING!!!! We were pronouced husband and wife and made our walk up the aisle as husband and wife.

Afterwards everyone gave us hugs and told us how happy they were for us. It was so nice to see everyone. It was all a bit of a blur though. We were then whisked away to take TONS of pictures. We literally took pictures for over an hour and a half! We went all throughout the hotel and I think we got some really amazing pictures taken.

We got to the restaurant at about 9:30. We walked in to tons of cheers and clapping. I had goosebumps and chills. It was an amazing feeling. Alex have a brief speech thanking everyone. To be honest, I don't even remember everything he said! We enjoyed dinner very much. I totally should have got the steak. haha. The fish was good, but Alex's was way better. My sister and Kelli gave amazing speeches as did Rick. It was all such a whirlwind.

We had planned on going to Nine Fine Irishmen, but we were SO tired that we called it a night after dinner and headed up to the room.

All in all the weekend was AMAZING! I was sad it was over so fast, but I wouldn't have changed anything. It really was the most amazing day of my entire life. I love being his wife!