ah, halloween.

i wore my cow ears to work today as my "costume". come on, it's a children's hospital, for beef's sake. of course we're supposed to dress up!

anywho, i had a patient today and he loved my costume. he is very much one of amy's students, so i wasn't to shocked or concerned by his comment to my cow-ness. his mom was so embarrassed though...

but... he saw me, giggled a bit and with a big smile said, "some one is going to take you to the barn and milk you".

yeah... too funny.

*besos*

it's almost time...

we passed the 3 month mark last week with no real bang other than me getting sick. but, yes, we are down to less than 3 months. *yikes* *yay* i can't decide! tee hee... more yay than yikes!

anywho, i'm full swing into my bubble project. i need to finish another couple of packs of those.. so cute! learsi saw them and was like, "wow, nani... look at you!" and, we got our wedding favors *too cute*, and senor chris is working on those. yes, we're very hands on! next task that needs to start is the centerpieces. we have to glue stuff to things.. plus find the tall candles. they have them at micheals, but i'm still hoping i can find them cheaper elsewhere. eh, i'm sure it'll be okay. and, i need to ask my dad about making a card box. "why?", you ask? because i think it'll be cool.

but the big thing... invitation preparations. we have them, now we have to organize ourselves and start the tedious job of addressing them. i just wish we had all the addresses. but we're almost there! i'm actually quite impressed by all that we have done so far. oh, i need to call more people about hotel room blocks. yes, those of you who chose to stay out in santa maria will have a nice array of places to stay at!

oh.. the biggest thing of all: we need a place to live! keep praying!

*besos*

YAAAAAAY!!!!! WOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!

oh my beefy beef!!!

my cousin frances and her husband scott got the phone call they've been waiting for, for so long.... there's a baby waiting for them in ethiopia!!!

thank you for all your prayers until now! but, please pray that God will allow the process of getting him to ohio to be with his family to be a quick one!

fran, scott, and elijah... i'm soooo happy for you!! i already love my new cousin!!!

*besos*

i'm sick... like really

so... i have food poisoning... oh the joy.

the thing is, i don't know where it came from. i have von's sushi for lunch yesterday (it really isn't that bad...), but i didn't get sick until right before i started eating dinner at ms amy's.... so no, it wasn't her cooking!

but, i felt a little off before dinner, and didn't think too much of it. if you know me, you know my stomach always feels a little off. bueno, i ate dinner and what not, and felt super full. but i figured it was because i ate a lot.

flash forward a half hour... it was not good. then all last night, was not good either. the super stomach pains (the one's that make you dread child birth... yeah, those.) have finally subsided a bit. that just means they aren't as constant as they were before. but, yep, still there.

therefore, chris and i have taken over ms amy's house. i took over her bed, and just got our of it about 15 minutes ago. and chris, the good guy that he is, wanted to take care of me... he's sleeping on the couch. but that's fine. i just need his presence and i feel better!

okay, pray that i get well again... and that i can figure out what is trying to kill me from the inside!

i think i'm going back to bed... feelin' kinda light headed now...

*besos*

please pray...

i have a friend named amy, and she needs your prayer right now. well, we all need prayer all the time... but her dog is really sick. sam and copper are her babies... and copper is really sick. i have to be honest, i'm tearing up just blogging about it.

i know a lot of people are like, "they're just pets." but, if you have one, you know the bond that is created with your animals. i think of copper and imagine my little rubi. i amy is the strongest person i know, and she having a hard time right now....

please keep her in your prayers. and pray that copper will be okay.

*besos*

apartment hunting...

did you know... it's hard to find a nice place for a good price in a decent area of los angeles? yeah, it is. especially when you take into consideration that the people living in the house will have to travel to hollywood and long beach. those aren't exactly down the street from each other!

pray that we'll find a place to live. a place where chris will be comfortable leaving me alone, a place where i'll be comfortable sleeping, that won't make our commutes longer, and that will be affordable. hey, God wants us to be specific in our prayers!

*besos*

kinda freaking out here...

i just purchased the honeymoon package!!!! 7 days (well, 5 full days and 2 half days) and 6 nights in cozumel, quintana roo, mexico!! and, we booked packages to go to the ruins!! to of those full days will be spent trecking around the mayan ruins... and the other three days will be spent relaxing at the beach. i plan on getting dark! how exciting!!

but, i'm freaking out... about the honeymoon. but, about the money we spent on it. it was actually a good deal.. but getting married is pricey! if we didn't have our families helping us out... i don't know how we'd make it. really!!!

but, at least the big things are coming of the list! yay!!!

*besos*

sad

so... my car.. the one i'm still driving *not the super fabulous fantastical car that chris is still making perfect for me* lost a part of itself today... the heater/ac.

okay, it didn't really work to begin with. it always had to be on full blast, which is okay it it's really cold or really hot... but it's kinda loud. for the last couple of weeks i've been using the defroster for my windshield. granted, i had to open the windows too to make the process a little more quick... but it was something!

this morning, i went to turn on the defroster for my windshield... and nothing. and said to myself, "self, maybe you didn't turn the nob to full blast." so, i turned the nob to full blast. nothing. so i fiddled with it a little bit, and still. nothing.

it's kinda sad. my poor little car. i love my little car!

anywho, i'm in the process of finding it a new home. i think it may have one in east la with one of my former high school students (former... he just started collage!). he knows all about the falling apart-ness that is my little car. but i guess, there is time in every males life where he has to tinker with a car and be able to say 'I made this work!'... so, i think we'll let him do that!

but, i hope it isn't really hot on my way home!

*besos*

cute bubbles!

so,

i'm planning on having everyone in audience at the wedding blow bubbles during the recessional after the ceremony. and then maybe again when we leave the reception. but, i've been looking for little bubble wants that i can make look cute...

found them!

i found them at micheals. they are these little wands that *amazingly* produce a ton of bubble in one blow. i found some cute little white ribbon to tie around the tops of them, where you hold the wand. but, the best part is the cute little charms i'm adding to the bow. it's this little charm that says "to love and to cherish" on it. and i'm tying it right at the bow. they're so cute! plus, they aren't super dramatic.. and they aren't super expensive!

anywho, thought i'd share!

*leilani*

i have a new caaaar!!!

tee-hee... i like it.

if i could post pictures of things.. you'd totally see a picture of my car right now. but alas, i'm lame. actually, i should probably get a picture of it first...

anywho, it's a mini mini van. really. the kids at church are like, "leilani, it's like a young mom car." and astrid says, "you're like a soccer mom.... without the kids!" ps.. pray for astrid. we now need to get her a new car too!

but it's cool. it totally goes with chris' married man car. no, not girl car. responsible married man car. thank you. and, we're a family of little silver bullets.

but, God really is great. i needed a new car. but He gave me even more than that. He made sure chris would be concerned about my well being and safety, so He gave us a good car. but He also spoils me... i now have a wagon-y car; something i've always wanted. it has a radio (!!), a cd player, a heater (super !!!), and an ac (super duper !!!). it's amazing when you see how God gives you not only what you need, but He likes to bless you with even more.

i'm so happy!!! i'm super grateful for my car. i'm sad to let go of my little car. and this other one seems really grown up... but i'm excited!

*besos*

counseling...

huh, i really don't know what to say...

we went yesterday evening to counseling. it was pretty interesting. chris isn't too fond of the guy. i think he's fine. i just feel like sometimes he takes chris' answers about things as our answer. i guess it's okay, since he will be the head of the marriage.... but, eh.

and... i complain a lot. i know this already, and i've been trying. but, i'm sure i haven't been doing a very good job. also, i have to help chris not be so stubborn. good luck, says i! but, i guess i should be praying about that!

i think it'll be good. next week i think the lesson is about in-laws. this should be fun.... oh, he asked us if we were committing sexual sin. and again, we said no.

oh, ps... we found me a new car!!! actually, chris did. he's really good at caring for me. it's totally cute, and i really like it! we'll see how it works. it's a 2000 ford focus wagon. i've always wanted a wagon....

*besos*

oh the traffic... oh the drivers...

i left my house early this morning so i could get to work early enough to leave early for pre-martial counseling (go pastor stef!).... and... traffic.

not the freeway kind. worse. the surface street kind. it sucked because 3 intersections didn't have working lights. so it was like stop signs at major intersections.

normally i'm good with traffic. i really don't mind it too much. but, when i have a mission... i get a little upset. however, i was really okay with it this morning. i mean, what can you do? it's not like i can fix the lights myself and make the cars go faster.

but, the worst part was the drivers. these desperate people with complete disregard for traffic rules, lane lines, and other people. the were actually honking for other to get out of their way... when they were the one's ho could have used driving school!

anywho, that's my rant for this morning...

*leilani*

one more check!

so, after much deliberation..... we have ordered the invitations!! aside from a website glitch (it was a huge and costly pain... but it's ll fixed now!), i think it ran pretty smoothly. they aren't the most dramatic invitations, but we think they're really pretty.

now, all i have to do is wait for them to get here so i can address them....

*besos*

$900 for a cool chair, anyone?

you know... you'd think registering for wedding gifts wouldn't be such a big task. i mean... you get to go into a store and scan everything you could ever want for you... oh wait... and your other person.

then comes the drama.

you see, you have to register for things that BOTH of you want... and not just the super hello kitty bathroom stuff; all 700 pieces of it. and, you don't think it should be too bad. well, unless you listen to amy's story about when she and mike went to register. really, i'm surprised they still wanted to live in the same house! but, i'm glad they did!

so, i was worried that chris and i would clash one stuff. you know, because i'm all pink and girly. not to mention the fact that we have the task of registering for things to put in a house that we don't have yet. so, it's like i'm decorating walls that don't exists. what do i mean "it's like"... i am decorating walls that don't exist!! so we walk around the store with color schemes more than a whole look. but hey, at least we already have a bed frame!

anywho, back to the drama. you'd think we'd have trouble blending styles. but really, the pink girly stuff was too girly, even for me! so we really had to curb chris' love of the colors black and gray/grey. which wasn't too bad. he gets a black bathroom.... with cool purple towels!

i guess it's a good thing that we both like really simple things. i love plain white dishes... guess who does too! and, i don't mind that all the appliances aren't the same brand... just so long at they're the same color. plus, get this... i didn't beg for all the pink cooking things! just the mixing bowls and a frying pan. hey, i have the measuring cups and the can opener at home already! besides, i think even i would go crazy in a super pink house. however, i think i may go back and register for the pink standing mixer. i don't bake, but how sweet would that be!

funny story about registering... i discovered that chris likes to wonder off and add random things to the list. yes, could swear that he'd be right next to me, or behind me, when i would hear the scanner go off in some other ailse... far away. i'd turn around and see him looking at me, (the way rubi does when she's hiding something) with this huge grin on his face.... i guess he really needed a spider-man dish set.

but, all in all, it was great fun. we spent 12 hours at target, bed, bath & beyond, and macy's. and, i think we have too huge of a list... but i guess that's okay. oh, we found a really cool chair we wanted at macy's. but then we thought that $900 for a chair, on sale, might be a bit much...

*besos*

to new office... or not to new office...

so... if you've never been to my office... might not understand it's itty-bittyness. ask elisabeth... it was hard for the two uf us tiny people to be in this place. it's like a long rectangle. about 12 feet by 5ish.. small. and, i share it with norma. i love norma! so it's okay to be in theses cramped quarters with her. she and i are the ones who do tons of the research for the division. and our jobs include requesting lots of charts and looking through them for patient information. so, at any given time there are TONS or charts in our office. plus our desks, shelves and filing cabinet. and... we just have tons of stuff. it's not messy, it's just cluttered, and really it's because of our lack of space...

anywho, an empty office down the hall came on the market. and we want it!

it's about 3 times the size of this one.. if not 4. they want to give it to norma's sister. that's fine... she does tons of work. but.... there's only one of her. even she's like, "hello.... norma and leilani need the office!" besides, she works with the nurses, and our office is right next door to them. that other office is closer to the "research area" (as though there is one...).

so, we placed a bid on the place... and our manager is going to pass that along to the division director. so, we all know what happens when ideas get to the division director....

but, what if we do get it... then we have to move... all. of. our. stuff.

so my new thought process... how many times do we ask for things without every really thinking it through? i mean, really. we ask for everything under the sun. thinking we need it... but do we really? it's all really a fuzzy cracker, you know?

it makes me glad to know that God has my best interest at heart. because, i ask for a lot of things i know i probably don't need, or things i can't handle. but He knows. and He takes care of me.

so, if we get this new office. i will happily pack my stuff and move hem down the hall. then i will thank God for giving me a bigger working space! but, if we don't... i'll say "thank you for not giving me that office.... it obviously wasn't worthy of me anyway!"

*besos*

a mi nobre yo feliz respondere

so,

this past saturday was the 29th aniversary celebration at the church that i grew up in... just a little bit of history: my dad was the pastor there for 25+ years. then, 3 years ago we moved to montebello so he could pastor a church in east la. so, we went for the big shidig that they had. yeah, mexicans like to celebrate church anniversaries... but that cool!

anywho, learsi, viko, and i were sitting towards the back. there were tons of people there that i've known my whole life. and, it was really nice to see them all. i used to see them all the time, but i haven't seen a lot of them in over a year. learsi likes to bring that up as often as she can... but i try not to let it bother me..

but, that was not the reason for this post...

we sang this one song that i had sung a million times. in spanish, obviously.. and maybe a few times in english too. but it's When the Roll is Called Up Yonder (i think that's the name... correct me if i'm wrong). and they have each verse where it talks about working hard for Christ and living in fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters. and the chorus says (i'm writing in english about the verse in spanish... or else i'd just write the chorus in english!) that when the final roll is called, i will joyfully respond to my name.

and it hit me... when the final battle is fought, and when Jesus comes to take us home, the final roll call will be made. and your either in the club, or not... and it you are in the club, when they call your name to let you in.. how excited will you be?? i was like, "yeah!!! i can't wait!!! call my name already!"

cuando ya se pase lista,
cuando ya se pase lista,
cuando ya se pase lista,
a mi nombre yo feliz respondere!!

i can't wait!

*besos*

THE DRESS, Part 3

oh... it's magical.

i asked ms amy to come with me, since my mom would be able to, and learsi was going to be at work... but I"M IN LOVE WITH MY DRESS!!!

amy kept telling me to stop touching it. is was hard though...

oh, and all of my ladies now have their dresses... i saw amy and ely in theirs, and i think they look fabulous. they seem to like them. or, at least they say they do... but i believe them!!

it's all kinda sorta falling itno place!

~leilani~

THE DRESS, Part 2

i got a phone call yesterday afternoon....

MY DRESS CAME IN EARLY!!!!!

it's at the bridal shop... so i get to try it on on friday!!!

*besos*

THE DRESS

ahhh, the thing little girls dream about... well, i guess not all, but you know what i mean. The Wedding Dress.

my dress is fabulously magical. yes. i said used an adjective as a noun. but really, it is. i know every bride (i'm a bride!) says that about their dress... but mine really is. i went dress shopping only one day with my mom, learsi, amy and dini (chris' mom, remember?), and we found it at the second store we went to.

it wasn't one fo those everyone-starts-to-cry-s-you-know-it's-the-one sort of moments. honestly, when i say the dress i kinda thought, "are you kidding me?" but, considering that the dresses i thought would be best weren't, and the style i though i'd never be able to pull off in a million years kinda worked... tre nicely, i figured i'd give it a try. learsi kept pulling out these scarlett o'hara dresses... so i was scared every time they walked into the dressing room.

my mom actually picked out this one dress... and amy brought it inside saying, "your mom found this one. look, it has all the details you liked about the other dresses. just try it on. you never know." she might not remember that, but that's what she said! so, i put it on, having already decided in my head on another one. i went out to stand in front of the mirror....

**i couldn't stop smiling**

not only was i smiling, but learsi and amy's eyes just got all big and semi watery. and every person in the room had that silly grin on their face. similar to the one chris had after he game my ring. and i didn't want to take it off. it was magical. if you see the pictures, it was the dress i was wearing in all the pictures where i was smiling... the only pictures of me smiling in dresses.

but, since i had 7 billion other dresses to try on. i took it off *sadly* and tried on others. then i sales lady... super nice stacey, asked me if i wanted to put THE DRESS back on. duh!!! let me keep it on, please! so i did... it was magical (like the shower in enchanted!).

no one would let me order it that day. so i left, and had a dream about it that night. plus visions of what the whole wedding would look like. fabulous! i didn't order it for another 2 weeks. july 10th, to be exact...

anywho.. there is a point to this aside from my retelling fo the fabulous magicalness that is my dress....

i called yesterday to check the status.... *tear*....

it won't ship, from austrailia (!!), until mid november. putting it in torrance in early december, at the earliest. yes, i know. i'm not upset, or sad, or any of those... i'm just kinda at a loss. i mean, i know it'll be here on time. i know the alterations will get done in time. but still. it's like all of my wedding plans will be done, the guests will have rsvp'd and bought their tickets and such, and i might still not have my dress...

oh well, i guess as long as everything it needs is done by January 17th, the week before the wedding ...

*besos*