this is OFFICIALLY my fave wedding picture...

courtesy of Viko...

Love it... Soo pretty!!

*besos*

EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

the photog's called chris today...

Our Pictures Are Ready!!!!

since they don't want to mail them to us, dini is gonna go pick them up, and save them 'til they come down next weekend. chris asked if i wanted to make a lightning trip up there to pick them up... i decided that i could wait...

::sigh::

i wish i could have them now!!!

*besos*

i couldn't help stealing some from fran!

such a lovely day!!

*besos*

please pray for chris...

most of you know that he mangled his wrist pretty bad last week...

well, this morning they wheeled him off to surgery. he has bad nerve damage, and they wanted to see if they can fix anything.

i know he'll be alright, and the God is control, but i'm kinda angry about the whole thing. i'm not sure who i'm angry with... but it all just sucks super bad.

pray for chris' cut, his surgery, and his healing time. pray for my stress level and my heart.... pray that i can pull it together so that i can actually be of some use to him when he'll really need me.

*besos*

in 10 days....

i will be wearing my beautiful dress. i will be taking pictures with my girls. i will be freaking out, yet eerily calm. i will be ridiculously giddy. i will be beyond excited. and i will be getting married.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

*besos*

I LOVE MY DRESS

i went to my final fitting yesterday.... my dress is AMAZING!!!! i'm so in love iwht my dress. i told chris that i was never going to take it off....

*besos*

oh my beefy beefiness...

chris is going today to sign papers... AND TO GET THE KEYS!

holy mother... i'm really getting married in 3 weeks. i'm really going to be a wife to chris o'roark.

*nervous laughter*

!!!!!!HOW EXCITING!!!!!

in three weeks, about 200 people will be getting ready for my wedding...

HOLY MOSES!!!!

*besos*

24 Days and MAJOR NEWS... well, hopefully...

i think... we may... have... a place.

yes, it's true. we should be signing the papers and giving the deposit this weekend. and then.... the newest o'roarks will have a place to live.... *EEEEEEEK*

i had a mini freak out this at 5am this morning. i had to call chris.... don't yell at me, he was at work, wide awake!!

i just woke up and thought about all the things that need to get done in 3 weeks. why did i ever go to micheals??? i need to stop going on the theknot!!! too many ideas! but, i already started, so i can't stop now!!!

then, i thought about all the things will need to actually live. first, we're going to be paying rent. i'm going to cook for someone every day. as excited as i am about that, i think it's starting to freak me out a little bit. plus, we'll have to buy our own things... go grocery shopping for ourselves.. i feel the need for a job upgrade.. real fast!

not just that, but we need a bed, and a bed frame. i need a new dresser... we need a fridge, a couch.... an hd tv converter!!! oh my moses... we don't even have sheets!!!

i should stop, i'm starting to breathe heavily again...

seriously???? seriously.

*besos*

seriously?!?!?!??!

26 DAYS!!!!!

Holy Mother!!!!!

amy!!!! we need to get a craftin'!!!!! are you free saturday???? who's free on saturday!!!

*besos*

so i got a text this morning....

from miss e baldwin... it said "One month!:)"....

oh my holymen!!!! i'm getting married in one month!!!!

honestly, this is really insane to think about. cs and i went to check out these apartments in lakewood. they are not too far from where joel and ashley live. we were approved for a place in the same complex where they live, but would couldn't wrap our mind around paying $1425 a month. *yikes* is right! so, we let that go. we were kinda worried that we were letting our only option go... but we got over that pretty quick!

anywho, we saw two places in this funny little complex that has about 20 units. i thought the place was cute. the two apartments were on the 2nd floor, and one had 1 bedroom while the other had 2. i liked both. i like the 2 bedroom because the living room/dining room looked bigger. but, the 1 bedroom was nice too. the bedroom was bigger than the other place.... plus, you 'll never believe the storage space! seriously, the hall closet could qualify as a second bedroom! and, this one is no where near $1425.... we applied for it...

in all the house hunting, i'm really sad. the chance of bringing rubi with us gets slimmer and slimmer. i almost started to cry yesterday when learsi was after me about considering a place that had no room for her. i know what she means, but, it's not like you can just rent a place with a yard that lets you have a dog! it's soooo sad... i wish i could bring my little baby with me.. but, i know God has a plan...

my plan for her?? introduce her to this spastastic dog i know, sampson. then i'll let amy take her... dude, those two dogs would drive her crazy!! imagine: 120 lbs of psycho dogs! little rubi jumping like a loon, and sam joining her! too fun!!! yes, we must plan a play date!

anywho, so... i get married in a month!!! i'm sooooooooooo exciiiiiiited!!! slightly freaked out, but i think that's normal....

*besos*

beauty is such a pain

PSA: there will be graphic language in the following post...

so,

i've been going to get facials every month for the last 7 months. it's great.. really, it is. i really look forward to going and getting my pores de-clogged. then she does the fabulous micodermabrasion. i have spent a not so small fortune on getting my face bridal ready...

however, there are times when it isn't so fun. like yesterday. my face has been misbehaving rather badly these last 2 weeks. and, i suffered greatly for it.

i knew it was going to be painful when i woke up last friday to feel some of those yucky under-the-skin pimples. you know.. the really painful ones? so yeah, i had more than one. i said to myself "self: at least you have an appointment to get a facial on wednesday" then i cried a little b/c i knew it would hurt.

flash forward to yesterday. when i got to the office, the facial lady called me into the room and i told her that my face was doing pretty bad lately. she agreed and prepared me for what lay ahead.

for those of you who haven't had a facial before.. they aren't all fun and games. if you have to go for an acne cleansing... be prepared to cry! first, she wiped my face with cleanser and left me under the humidifier for about 10 minutes. and that's when the fun ended.

with out too much gore: they get this sharp little tool and stab you pore to open it up. then, if it's a small one, they use this scraper thing to extract whatever is inside. but, if it's big, they stab it a few more times and squeeeeeze the life out of it. i thought i was going to die! i swear there was blood and nast everywhere!

it was horrible!

but, now, after surviving the worst facial of my life (yeah... it was that bad... *tear*), i think i'll be okay. i made two more appointments between now and the wedding. so, hopefully i will be bridal ready... or, i will be using a TON of make-up.

*besos*

holy cow...

40 Days!!!!

i'm getting married in 40 days!!!

we're filling out applications for apartments... pray we get something soon! chris is feeling the stress more than i am because, and i quote, "he's the guy".... i heart that he wants to take care of me. and, i heart that he like for me to take care of him... i like doing that.

but... seriously... 40 days!

*besos*

new fun on the wedding front...

too much work at work to really get in to it all but... here go my checks...

1) had the dress fitting *yay* i loooooooove my dress. it's fabulous. i wish i could wear it every day. but alas, i must treasure those moments when petra makes me stand on the platform and stare at myself in the mirror....

2) rsvp deadline in here!!!! those of you you have yet to send them... send them! or, you may receive a phone call from either myself or the handsome christopher. so far, we have plenty of people who have promised t be there.... now, if you say are coming... that makes me excited.... so you can't decide that day to not come!! *sigh*

3) we have our marriage license!!!! it gets harder not to run off and get married. but, then we think about all that we already have invested... no way would i run off now! although, these next 43 days might just kill me! i still have about a million things to do! luckily for me, amy gets bored when she's not at work... i love when she's on vacay!

4) we found a few possibilities for housing... the likelihood that little rubi won't come with us is very high *tears* *many tears* but i know that whatever God gives us will be perfect!

i think that's about it for now... actually, wait!!! i have something!!!! trivial and frivolous, but still..... i found my wedding nail polish!!! no, i'm not doing the french tip thing.... so happy!!!

*besos*

had a fabulously productive saturday!!!

yay the shopping!!

amy came over friday night (you should ask her about all the freeways she was on... her poor car!) and we made a plan of action for saturday. i dont remember what time we went to bed... but i'm sure it wasn't as late as other times we've gone to bed. *side note* we all slept over at amy's house once and we up 'til 3 doing elisabeth's hair.. then around 4 or 5, amy, elisabeth and i fell asleep on the rug on floor, and astrid and gracie slept on the couch. we then woke up at like 8am... it was great! or the time elisabeth tried to sleep on my head... oh the sleep over fun!

anywho, we went to bed around 1... you see, early! then we were up but about 9. amy was desperate to play with rubi. i think you can say rubi was excited too! we didn't have breakfast b/c there was no food. really, even my mom was like "there's no food!"

so off we went... *i drove all day* we went to micheals first and spend like 2 hours there. 30 minutes of that was spent in line. note to self: don't go to micheals at the peak time to redeem some random coupon. anywho, we found A TON of fun stuff. i won't disclose too much info, but we've reached the artsy craftsy part of wedding planning. chris calls it crazy. i call it therapeutic!

then, we went to home depo for more stuff... "what?" you ask? fret not, it'll be great! it was really funny! lets just say , this nice man came to our rescue!

then, went home to drop all the stuff off. then we went off to the south bay. and amy was okay with me driving on the freeway! it was like a roller coaster! oht eh fun! we went to look for this bra shop to find my wedding underthings.. but we didn't stike gold. kinda lame.. but it was okay. so... we headed off to the mall.

if you know any of us.. you know the dangers of the mall... any mall

we first went to get some food... we were starving. remember, no breakfast *i bought a kitkat bar and mini peanut butter cups at micheals. it was a sad state of affairs*. it was yummy, but amy ate it too fast... lame amy! then we went to joanns craft store. can you say drama! we were looking at some fabric. then we went to get card stock for yet another project. we found what we needed... then realized there was a sale... 5 sheets for $0.95 it was amazing... amy went card stock crazy. but, we found some awesome paper. i really wich i could make wedding programs out of hello kitty paper. maybe for amy's next wedding!

anywho, after foreeeever in that store. we got in line, only to realize we had to go to the bano. it was great...

okay, we finally paid for our stuff and went off in search of my underthings... long story short, after many attempts, we finally found something. it's interesting... chris' only request was that it would be easy for him to maneuver. i think this may fit the bill.

then, we did a little christmas/amy needs sweaters shopping. i found one gift. but hey, it's off my list now!

then, we came back home to my house... first got some el pollo loco.. yummy! *sad side note* i had told my dad that i was going to buy him a lasagna from smart and final for dinner. b/c we expected to be home earlier. so, my dad was sad that there was no lasagna. but hey, i made it up to him on sunday!

after eating, we painted. remember the artsy craftsy stage? into full force!

all in all, i think my list is getting smaller... oh the joy! plus, i got to spend time with amy. we don't do that too much any more. not like when i practically lived at her house... sad... but, who knows, if we dont' find a place, out with micah, in with the cso's!

*besos*

*

yesterady i asked chris what he was going to get me for christmas with all this holiday pay he got from working thanksgiving....

his answer: "a wedding"

does that mean no present???

*besos*

it's always an exciting time planning my wedding...

i got a phone call yesterday that some fabulous news.... that was kinda sucky (sorry fran..... i am excited!! really... but sad too...)

my cousins frances, scott, and elijah got the phone call they had been dreaming of. the phone call that told them that they had a court date!!!! yay!!!! it really is exciting.... even if it is 2 days before the wedding.

that's right. they will be in ethiopia when i get married. i almost started crying when she told me. i was excited for them, but really sad for me. but not in a selfish way, i don't think. even if they weren't going to have any part in the wedding, it's hard for me to imagine getting married and not have them there. even as i type this, i'm holding back my tears.

frances and scott are these amazing people that mean the world too me. they were the one's who made me really see God, and what He meant to me. they are the people that would tell me when they weren't happy of what i was doing... and when they were bursting at the seams with pride in me. i mean, they flew out to la all the way from ohio for my collage graduation! it was so huge for them that they had to be there.

and now, it really isn't about finding someone else to do the ceremony, or having my aunt play instead of my cousin... it's about the fact that some of my closest family won't be able to be there.

but, i really am way happy for them! i told them before, if the baby comes then, go get the baby. that is more important than my wedding. and, i can't wait to meet my new cousin, jonathan. then,maybe they can come in the summer time and i can get him a peter pan hat from disneyland.... to match his big brother's!

*besos*

60 days and counting...

holy mother... 60 days? seriously?? *yikes*

so, this weekend we did a billion things for the wedding. i felt so bad because cs was so sick this weekend. but, he drove us up to santa maria and around santa maria for our appointments. it was great... here's a recap..

~saturday 11/22~
we left my house at about 6:45am... yes, you read corretly. we drove up the 101 for a few hours, stopped at seaward in ventura for breakfast at mcdonalds. chris had a sausage egg mcmuffin stacker. if you know him, you can totally see this. her was hungry, but couldn't do too much carby bread, so i suggested getting two egg mcmuffins and putting them together. he gave me this look that said "My beautiful Leilani, you are a genius!!!" i try.
but back to the important stuff... we got to santa maria about 10:00ish. way earlier that expected, but it was great. we got to hang out with the worlds greatest inlaws for a bit before going to mee with Roxann, our florist. she's great, and i totally love working with her. plus, our flowers will actually be LESS than that budget! yay!!
then, chris and went to get lunch.. hello santa maria burger!!! mmmmmmm, i want it now! for any you going to the wedding, santa maria burger is a must!!
okay, then dini and i went to meet with bruce to do my hair trial #2. it went really well. it took a bit, but he got my vision... i'm excited!
then.... THANKSGIVING!!! dini made the full on meal because cs and i weren't going to be up there for the actual day. amy will... let me tell you are they excited! *i think they like amy more than they like me.. .and if they likeme more than they like chris... well, i guess you know who the favorite child is!* okay, back to the food.. amazing! i think cs expects me to make such magical dinners when we get married... i'll have to take some lessons....

~sunday 11/23~
we woke up that morning to make ceviche for kevin. i made it for him the first time i went up to santa maria 3 years ago *dude that was a loooong time ago* before chris and i were dating. why was i up there? long story. but, as you guessed, i was not so secretly in love with him then... anywho, we were all chopping and stiring; it was great.
then cs and i had to go meet with out photog. nice guy... i like his dog daisy. anywho, it was fun. we got to get a timeline with them in order. *huge help* and it was nice to know that he and his wife were like "it's your day, anything that happens, planned or not, we'll just be taking pictures!". so nice... and we really like his work. so, it'll be great.
when we came home, we had left over turkey sandwiches.. yummy! then dini and i went to look fro mother of the groom dresses. there were some nice ones. i liked the gray and black ones... but cs and kevind are like "what's wrong with you!! it's a wedding". dini, wear what makes you feel pretty!
we came home and everyone fell asleep. it was great. were we're all sitting in the living room watching tv.. then one by one we fell.. chris didn't fall asleep then, but her did later!
and we got ready for the san juans to come over for dinner. we had ceviche and tostadas de frijoles. we talked wedding the whole time, since michelle and sheldon just got engaged. chris amd i tried to share some of our wisdom with them. if anything, i hope tehy got 2 things out of it.. .michelle, buy your dress soon!! and that there still needs to be money for after the wedding too. but, i think they'll be okay!

~monday 11/24~
two months to go!
that morning we went to the santa maria inn to meet with sarah, the sales manager. we got to check out the rooms, i'm sorry, suites, that we'll be staying in. oh my moses, it's fabulous! she's really nice. she and her husband will be coming to the wedding too. oh, and she's anthony and cheryl *the sanjuans form the nite before*'s daughter in law. yes, we like to keep things in the family.
after that we went to put a deposit on our cake. and bought soem jalapeno cheese bread...
then.... the rings!!! we got our rings!!! i wanted to keep mine on. i think chris is going to have to hide them really well, so we won't go to the courthouse.... but, it'll be okay... my dress is too fabulous to run to the courthouse!
then we went back home to ahev ceviche for lunch with kevin... went to visit dini at work... then headed home.

chris missed work again last night... pray that her gets better. he couldn't talk on sunday, i felt so bad.. my poor little man...

best part of the weekend... lookign through old pictures for the slide show... it was great! i love chris as a little boy. and, i think i probably wouldhave had a crush on him when he was in high school....

*besos*

totally had a bomb bridal shower this weekend!

i'm lame... i haven't blogged about it yet... but here you go!

it was fantastical. and there were a ton of people there. chris' mom and aunts came; so that was cool. my mom was really nervous to meet nina and aunt lu... but i think it went well. i was sad that chris' aunt irene didn't come... but that's okay.

so, the party started on friday when it took me 2 HOURS to get to santa ana to pick up ely. traffic on the 5 was horrible... but it was worth it! i picked her up, then we went to ziba to get my eyebrows did (tre nice), and took the 405 home. the 5 north was worse the 5 south... no way was i getting on that back home!

anywho, we got to my house and it was total chaos. amy and diana had come over to help learsi set things up (my parents were in texas for my grama's funeral... they flew back early saturday morning). adriana *my other mother* and abraham were there with broken amred sophi to bring table and chairs. i wanted to get inside the house, but i was not allowed. so, i was given keys to move cars from the driveway... yes, we're soo mexican we have a ton of cars sitting around! after moving cars around, i was finally let into the house.

pizza and my little rubi flying around the house... that's what i was met with. then i walked into the kitchen... i think they bought every imaginable thing to feed the world the next day....

because this could get very long if i keep describing play by play... i'll get quick...

i got a ton of gifts for the house... sooo many... now i have to write ll the thank you notes... i have a year, right? *kidding* lots of unmentionables. let me just say that we don't know miss elisabeth as well as we think we do!

it was so much fun. i'm so thankful for my mom and my sister for working so hard, even with my grama's passing so recent. and i'm super thankful for amy, diana, eli, elisabeth, jenny, adriana, sophi *and her cast*, and everyone else that helped.

i'm so happy that so many people came. it was great to feel the love from all of my friends and family. i wish the out of town bakers lived closer... but i know you were there in spirit!!

thank you all for everything! now... on to january!

*besos*

this one is the best....

this is our favorite picture... well.. it's my favorite anyway. there are other super cute ones... but i really like this one because i think you can really see how we feel.... ahhh, he makes me happy!

*besos*

just thought i'd try this out...

i think it worked!!!

*besos*