Feliz Ano Nuevo!

I think I'm looking forward to this year's end as much as David. We're almost through my health crisis and looking forward to our first wedding anniversary.

To say this was a bad year is really not true. We had some great moments and some really rotten  moments but we've been strong, our love has grown and we are ready for the New Year.

It amazes me how fast the year flew by. A year ago we were sending last-minute invitations, making the last of the wedding payments, finalizing the flowers, paying the hotel and the guys were getting their tuxes ordered. Christmas last year flew by and we didn't really have time to think about the loved ones we were missing. This year, I think David had a harder time without his mom. In 2009, we were celebrating our first Christmas together and her death was still so fresh and raw, that I think it was something he tried to not think about for a while. This Christmas we were still raw and living through my breast cancer diagnosis. In fact, Christmas and New Years has falling right in the middle of the radiation treatment and the loss of his mother really hit him this year. I've watched him maintain strength and courage for me, but I've also seen him worry and feel sad as well.

I think we both felt a sense of relief when we knew that I was going to be ok-- but there were moments when we both were scared and sad. There are still moments where the fears creep in and make me lose it emotionally, but as I'm almost through the hard stuff, I feel better. I know that the prognosis is good but it will always be part of me. And while it is not defining me, it will define the way I live the rest of my life and the steps I take to keep it from coming back.

2012 will bring change and might just bring some nice surprises for us. Hopefully, we'll get our houses sold and be on the way to building our dream home. We both hope to be healthier, stronger and fitter by year's end. I hope we'll have good news on the baby front as well. I just know that I appreciate all that I have so much more, that life is sweet and precious.

I'm blessed.

Liturgy of the Word

I've been meaning to post the readings from our wedding. Today seems like a good day as any. 8 months ago these were read on the day David and I wed. 

We did our best to pick readings that reflected who we are and how we felt about each other. 

From the Old Testament. 

Allow us to live together to a happy old age.

A reading from the Book of Tobit 8:4b-8

On their wedding night Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife,
“Sister, get up. Let us pray and beg our Lord
to have mercy on us and to grant us deliverance.”
Sarah got up, and they started to pray
and beg that deliverance might be theirs.
They began with these words:
“Blessed are you, O God of our fathers;
praised be your name forever and ever.
Let the heavens and all your creation
praise you forever.
You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve
to be his help and support;
and from these two the human race descended.
You said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone;
let us make him a partner like himself.’
Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine
not because of lust,
but for a noble purpose.
Call down your mercy on me and on her,
and allow us to live together to a happy old age.”
They said together, “Amen, amen.”
The word of the Lord. 

From the New Testament:

And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians 3:12-17

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one Body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
The word of the Lord.

The Responsorial Psalm

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall be ever in my mouth.

Let my soul glory in the Lord;

the lowly will hear me and be glad.

 Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Glorify the Lord with me,

let us together extol his name.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

 Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,

and your faces may not blush with shame.

When the poor one called out, the Lord heard,

and from all his distress he saved him.

 Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

The angel of the Lord encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Taste and see how good the Lord is;

blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

  2. 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

The Gospel

They are no longer two, but one flesh.  

A reading from the Gospel of Mark 10: 6-9 

Jesus said:
“From the beginning of creation,
God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate.”
The Gospel of the Lord.

It's another 12th...

Two years ago today, David walked into my life. We celebrate that day today. I remember thinking, yeah, I'll see him, we'll hang out and maybe become friends. I wasn't going to let myself fall in love with him. My heart was shielded and protected, the last thing I wanted was to get hurt again. The best thing that happened to me, was that I fell in love with him.

The day was bright and golden, warm sunlight cast down and we just ended up spending the entire afternoon and most of the evening talking, catching up on our past but most important, talking about who we were at that very moment. We clicked that day and my heart that I'd protected for so many years felt safe; it felt love. It was probably just a few weeks later we professed our mutual love for each other but it was real, it is real, and it was right.

So, now here we are, eight months after our wedding day and two years after it all started. Our love has been romantic, exciting, glorious and blessed. I hope for many days like this to come. I pray we will always continue to grow and love one another. 

In the Heat With a Blue Jean Girl

David and I went out to our "second high school date" last Friday night.  (Our first one was going to the Horsemen/Demon football game last year.) Now, of course these dates came 20+ years after we were in high school and technically aren't "high school dates" but since we knew each other in high school, these are things we could have done on dates, if we'd actually gone out on a date. Sometimes, I still wonder what it would have been like if David and I had dated in high school. We talk about that from time to time, but I like our dates now. We have more money to do better and more exciting things. 

For my birthday, my beloved bought tickets to see Night Ranger, Foreigner and Journey. He totally caught me by surprise and thrilled me with the gift. Ever since I was a high school girl, I'd wanted to see Journey. It was my favorite band. I'd spend nights in my bedroom listening to "Escape" and "Frontiers" dreaming away to the music. As I grew up, my musical tastes changed, I grew more toward bands like The Cure, U2, the Goo Goo Dolls and other genres besides classic rock, but I always had a soft spot for my favorite band from high school.

For me life without music is pretty lonely. I'm not musical, you really don't want to hear me sing, especially in the shower, and I only sing at Mass, because it's Mass. Nonetheless, I can't live without music. It helps my mood, it helps me write, it centers me and can calm me down or can serve to help me release my stress, my anger or my negative emotions.

The concert was the best therapy and medicine I could have ever asked for right now. It brightened my week. I sang, I danced, I laughed and enjoyed every minute of it, with David by my side. I'm a lucky woman to have a husband who loves me so much. He's supportive and I can't imagine my life without him. We both had a great time. It was the perfect night for a show. It was cool, but not to chilly, the music was loud but not deafening. The bands sounded great. We heard all of Night Ranger's show but didn't get to our seats in time to see them on stage. Foreigner was great. I enjoyed their whole show and I loved Journey. (Maybe more on the shows later.) I really, really loved the concert. I was sad that our best man couldn't join us, but it was a blast going with David. I'm glad that we didn't miss it.


We had planned to stay with our friend, but he had to leave town to be with a sick relative.We debated on Friday if we were going to stay overnight or come back home. All the inexpensive hotels were booked-- it was also the start of Balloon Fiesta and so there wasn't a vacancy in any hotel near the airport. In the end, we got a hotel room at Hotel Parq Central . It was a lovely hotel, converted from an old hospital, which at one point had been a mental hospital. The owners are from Santa Fe, and I've known one of them for years. I had no idea he had gone onto develop this project. It is truly awesome, luxurious  hotel and worth every penny for the night we stayed there. It was the perfect getaway, at a time when we needed to get away. We checked in a couple of hours before the show and then came back to our room and slept like babies. We had a lovely breakfast the next morning and came home. I felt refreshed. We didn't make it to the 4th floor bar/restaurant, but we'll go back one of these days and enjoy lunch and look at the city of Albuquerque.

I really felt like that girl again--- the one who dreamt about going to the show,  quite possibly going out on her first date with her first boyfriend. Of course, I've grown and David is not my first boyfriend, nor was this my first date with a boyfriend, but it was a special night with my husband. I couldn't trade what I have now to go back to a time when I was young and naive and had no clue about life. And even if we could go back in time, so that David and I could date in high school, I don't think I'd want to, especially if that meant our present and future would be different. It might make for an interesting fictional story, but I'm not sure that I want to write it. I like the story David and I are writing together, now and each day forward. We have a few bumps in the road, a few challenges to face in the immediate future, but we're doing it together and we're going to be stronger in the end.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night...

Life for the blissful newlyweds has been a bit rough but we're finding our way through this patch of darkness. On August 8th, I found out that I had a small breast tumor, which turned out to be cancerous, and needless to say, it took us both by surprise.

I'm on the mend after a lumpectomy, but it took a while to get here. We're now waiting to see what the further treatment will be. I'll have an idea tomorrow if it's just more than radiation. It's early stage, hasn't spread, it's very treatable and the tumor is out of me. Thank God. At this point now it's all about prevention of recurrence-- at least that's my understanding.

It's not what neither David nor I expected to deal with so early into our marriage, well to be honest, ever, but it's here and we have to do our best to get through it. We were hoping that we'd be seeing fertility doctors in our quest to start a family; not breast surgeons, oncologists and others to treat my early stage breast cancer.

I am going to admit right now that I'm a big baby about all this. My emotions are a wash of rage, sadness, hate, self-pity and even a bit of acceptance and peace. I'm doing my best to stay strong, hold onto my faith in myself, my faith in God and others who are entrusted to handle my medical care and treatment. I have faith in David. He's strong, but I know this isn't easy for him. David and I talk-- I hope we will always continue to talk-- but it's not easy sometimes. How can it be easy to watch the person you love struggle with something potentially life threatening and devastating?

Until we knew it hadn't spread or how bad it was, for nearly a week, I was sure I was going to die. I cried every day. Now, I believe that I'm going to be ok, but I think the fear of it coming back will always lurk somewhere deep down inside of me, no matter what treatment follows. The story of my first MRI is quite a drama. That will probably come another day with the rest of the early details of this tale of woe.

My faith in God wavers from the size of a mustard seed to something bigger. I'm shaky but I am doing my best to lean on Him, give Him my fears, anxieties and worries while I go through all this. I am not angry at God, but I do want to know why this happened to me. I wish I knew if I could have prevented it from happening and I do wish that I could return this unwanted, unwelcome gift. I cannot re-gift it or exchange it either. I hope in time I will know what it's purpose in my life is. Maybe it's a wake up call. The days are sweeter now. Life is precious and cannot be taken for granted.

Of course, there are good days, days when I'm feeling like I'm in limbo and days that everything is going so fast and I feel lost. Most days have been good, but the negative, scary thoughts manage to creep in and let in the darkness. I get sad all the time and I am grieving for so many things. I'm doing the best to hold onto my dreams because those are getting me through the worst of it.

I'm blessed to have David and my family. They've been there for me. David most of all. My parents are devastated and worried. It's really hard for me to be around my parents right now. I'm trying not to lean on them so much and I've taken out much of my frustration and anger out on them and I've put all my fears, worries and burdens onto David.

Still, anyone is a potential punching bag right now, but I'm actually doing my best to let out my anger, sadness and other emotions right now. I think it's better to let those things out than bottle them up.  Maybe that's why I'm writing out this post tonight.  Now if only my characters would talk to me, maybe I could start writing fiction again. That was always my biggest stress reliever.

This was supposed to be a post about other stuff going on in our lives, but right now, this is the biggest thing going on in our lives. And while things are a bit up in the air as far as what the next step treatment wise is, the surgery is over and now we'll see what's left tomorrow. I might have some difficult decisions to make, but I think with a lot of soul-searching, prayer and research, I'll make the right one. There might is still  hope that we can still have a child of our own and we can definitely adopt a child when all is said and done. I'm still looking to the future and going to keep fighting to kick this cancer's ass out of our lives because I've got dreams I'm living for. I just want it all to be ok so that in a few years we'll look back and this will be a distant memory.

The Twelth Comes Every Month

And we usually remember to acknowledge it. Many 12ths have gone by since I last posted an update. I can attest that married life suits me just fine, in fact I really enjoy being married and can't imagine my life any different.

I suppose like every marriage, ours isn't perfect but I think it's good. Like in every marriage, there are tests of faith, courage and love-- I think we got that early on (more later about that) but I think with everything we've faced so far, we're stronger.

As this is about all the 12ths... let me see if I can remember them since Feb. 12, 2011.

March 12, 2011 we were married for a month. June 12th was the anniversary of our engagement. It was the last time we went up to the Jemez before the Las Conchas Fire (oh my, it has a Wiki already) and after, we went just after our 6-month anniversary.

We pretty much got same treat we had on the day he proposed. I had a delicious eclair and a diet Coke, I think he had the same kind of danish and a grapefruit drink. I couldn't believe a year had gone by and that we'd been married four months. It seemed like a dream but I didn't have to pinch myself because it was very real and very wonderful.






 I declared David King David of the Rocks that day. Here he is on his throne.

I think it's a quite nice picture. It captures a nice memory for both of us.

Here we are feeling goofy and obviously enjoying the day. It was a beautiful day. 

That eclair was certainly tasty but the memory of the day and of our first four months of marriage even sweeter.

And I even have my own rock. Granted, it's not a throne. I still had fun.  Wish we could have taken it home.











I still hope to make the annual trek to Battleship Rock every year around the 12th.  When we returned mid-August, it was a difficult drive. What hadn't burned from the Cerro Grande Fire of 2000, burned in the Las Conchas Fire. The devastation was tragic and it was hard to believe how different the forest looked or how close it actually got to LANL. David was out of work for a week because of the fire. What was amazing was to see the Valles Caldera starting to green up and thrive.

The End

Diamonds are pretty but Emeralds Take My Breath Away

Saw on this blog an interesting tidbit about emerald rings.  I stumbled upon this blog while looking up information about a ring I saw at Tiffany and Co. online a years back. It was the "ring" I used as inspiration in my novel for my main character's engagement ring. I have a picture of it, but I couldn't recall the type of gemstone in the ring. It was an aquamarine now that I've done a bit of research.

That was for a story but for real life, I'm a more of a Green Kind of Girl and nothing is more treasured and precious to me than an emerald. I knew that if I ever got married, I'd want an emerald ring. I'm lucky I found a man who appreciated my love for this precious gemstone.

Wedding Planning 102

Now that it's all said and done for us, our Wedding Day was beautiful and truly incredible. It couldn't have been done without the help and support of our families, friends and the remarkable vendors and service providers that we found in Santa Fe. I was overjoyed to be able to support so many local businesses in planning our wedding.

First off, there could not have been a wedding (at least in our opinions) without our wonderful parish church, Santa Maria De La Paz and Father Adam to witness our sacrament. I know many people who have been reading our blog or attended our wedding are not religious or don't have a faith background, but have appreciated our wedding for what it was. I also know other couples, who are not religious have beautiful, spiritual and meaningful weddings in their own traditions and beliefs. I'm not demeaning that, but for David and me, part of what made our wedding day special was that it was sacramental in our shared Catholic faith. We have continued to grow and nurture each other in our faith and so, for us, we knew we had to have a wedding in our church. But the thought of stealing away to a fabulous getaway or destination for a wedding, is certainly romantic and appealing. Heck, we even joked about going to Vegas and getting married by Elvis. The latter we did not seriously intend, but it was fun teasing people that we were going to do it.

Honestly, I wonder what people thought our wedding would be like-- if it would be traditional or contemporary. If it would be in some beautiful New Mexican landmark or even a church? There are certainly some beautiful places to have a wedding here in New Mexico. We certainly went the traditional route, didn't we? It suited both David and me.

The Catch-All Post

Now that the wedding has come and gone, I'm not sure what will happen to this little blog we've put online. We've certainly had our fair share of attention and definitely have lived our Fifteen Minutes of Fame, (well, we still have to submit the Wedding Announcement) and it's been fun blogging about it. I honestly don't know if our "married life" will be anything to post about, but who knows, we might try to write about the funnier or more memorable moments of our first year together as a married couple. Who knows, maybe we'll be talking about the adventures of sprout-raising or house building. Those are our two big dreams right now. 

So, before this blog does go dark, here are the picture links. They'll stay up a while, but I don't guarantee that they'll be up too long.  

Some pre and post wedding pictures

Pictures from the Mass.

Bride and Groom pictures.Yep... more pictures of David and Maria hamming it up. 

Formal Portraits We didn't get all the Familia together but we did get a few formal shots with David, me and my parents, and cousin, Karina. And shots of David, me, his dad, sister and niece together. None with all of us together and none with Melissa's family and us.

Reception Pictures.  I started adding captions to them but there are a lot of pictures, so I’ll tackle them little by little till they’re all captioned.

And if you're not bored with us yet, the Highlights Video clip is here, just click the image to launch the player. You shouldn't have to download anything to watch it. 

I'm still happy that it's over but already want to relive the day.  At least I can with the photos and videos. Ah, now it’s off to tackle thank you notes.

Thank all of you for sharing in our day who could be there and thank you for your love, best wishes and support across the miles. 

Wedding Bash Video Highlights

Click the image and it should take you to Picasa, where you should be able to view the wedding highlights. Let me know if you have any trouble. You shouldn't need a player to see the video nor need to download it. 

From Feb 28, 2011

Wedding Bash Pictures!

These are the first batch of wedding pictures. Reception, family portraits and me and David are yet to come.



This is a slideshow of just the Wedding Mass.





Links to just the albums:

The Wedding Bash Album
The Wedding Mass Album

My Wedding Dress

Or at least the back of it.

Wedding Wrap Up

I'm trying to poke my head out and reply to email and messages that are more than a week old. I got some great emails before the wedding, one made me cry, with both tears of joy and sadness because my best friend from college couldn't be at the wedding. I had a great time with another dear friend who flew in from New York City for the occasion. I'm working my way to the thank you notes and other acknowledgments I have to make here, FB, email and IRL. I have a huge pile of boxes in the back patio that I need to break down and save somewhere.

The day was like a blur to me. I remember it, but it was like a dream and I was watching myself go through it. What's funny is that the week of the wedding, I was pretty stressed and nervous, but by the night of the rehearsal and the actual wedding, I was calm. David and I bickered from the Wednesday of that week until our Wedding.  My anxiety didn't really flare up that week. I was stressed but didn't feel like I was going to fall apart. In fact, I feel worse this week. (Too much asthma meds I suspect.)

We had breakfast with his dad and best man the day of the wedding, no one else was up to joining us. Then it was time to start getting ready. I took care of checks for Father and our vocalist, and I forgot to give the best man a check for the band who was playing at the wedding. That was almost a disaster. I jumped in the shower close to 11 when I was supposed to be at my mom and dad's where my cousin was going to do my hair. The photographer showed up at 11:30. My bridesmaids all showed up in time to have some pictures taken. I got ready. David's niece, now my niece, did my makeup and I think it looked beautiful. It lasted the night. I felt really comfortable in my dress, heels and and everything else I had on. It was time to head to church, where I stuffed myself and my dress in the passenger seat of my 4Runner and my matron of honor drove. My maid of honor and her son rode in back. Getting to church was the big production. I called ahead so they could keep David out of sight while I snuck into the cry-room/comfort room to wait. I was late, it was 1:40 when I arrived. So many people popped in to see me. Ingrid, from NYC, hung out with me-- she was dressed in a black dress that matched my bridal party. I should have made her an instant bridesmaid. Having her there meant the world to me. It was wonderful that she made the trek and she even liked "the boy".

Then the bell was rung and everyone lined up to go into the church. I was there alone for about 5 minutes maybe more. It seemed like an eternity. Then Alice, (she was part of our sponsor couple) came to get me. Both my parents walked me down the aisle. My dad broke down when we met David in front of the altar. I wasn't prepared for that. I cried a little bit. In fact, after David sat me down, I pulled a tissue from my dress, yep, right from my bra. Oops. I hope Father didn't see that. ;) My maid of honor laughed, as she had someone put tissues near our chairs, in case we got teary eyed. Well, I forgot.

The Mass seemed to fly by for David and me, not sure what the guests thought, since most weddings are short, unless they're celebrated in a Catholic Mass. For his homily, our priest talked about the readings we chose, he talked to us directly, then the congregation. He said some really wonderful things to us and I think both David and I felt uplifted and blessed. We exchanged our vows, then Father blessed our rings. next we put them on each other-- at this point I was still feeling like it was a dream. Then we had Communion and took flowers to the Blessed Mother, another Catholic tradition which we liked. We didn't do any of the Hispanic traditions that we often see in weddings here: the rosary lazo (which is more Mexican)  and the Arras (the 13 coins, which is more Spanish). We also we didn't light a unity candle, which is more Protestant anyway.

The music was incredible. A childhood friend played the piano and a vocalist that sings at her parish sang for us. I had never heard such gorgeous music in church before sung by a soloist.

After the final blessing, Father presented us as Maria Feliz and David, told us to kiss and then we processed out of the church. We hid in the chapel and waited for the people to clear out. We didn't have a receiving line at the wedding nor the reception. We had a lot of people in church. 120 or so. I don't think we had many programs left.

We took pictures in the church and then outside because it was a lovely day. I lost all track of time. When it was time to clear out, we were still taking pictures. We were outside. Our photographer had a blast shooting us in front of my classic Mustang. In the midst of all this, somehow I ended up shoe less. My maid of honor and matron of honor cleared out the cry-room and took all my stuff with them, in my car. David and I drove off in the Mustang. I had no keys, no shoes, nothing. We stopped by the house, packed for our night at the hotel, stopped by my parents' house and picked up everything, including my checkbooks, which I proceeded to misplace for most of the night but found them so that I could pay the band.

The reception was huge. 300 people or so. I didn't get to greet everyone. I tried, but it was impossible. We barely ate. We had mariachis for two hours and then a band the rest of the night. The plan was to do La Marcha with the mariachis leading the way, but they had to leave before we could get it going. We decided to have everyone eat and then we could do the march and go into our first dance right after. (There is a description here about La Marcha.) Our first dance was to a Green Day song. Um, lots of dancing, fabulous cake, lots of people, seeing friends, family and making new friends and family.

The best part was the weather cooperated. It was in the upper-40s, sun was shining, no wind, no humidity so it was a great day for a wedding.

I really don't feel any different but yet everything has changed. I'm someone's wife now. It's a huge thing for me, who has always been Miss Independent. I'm thrilled and excited to have found David. He truly is amazing. And while I'm still myself, an independent person, I have someone to share my life with now. A little bit of my identity has changed now that I'm a Mrs, but I'm still me. It seems so weird. I don't know if any other newly married women go through the same thoughts, but it just feels different from what I expected. Like I said, nothing has changed and yet it's all different.

Pictures!

The first of the wedding photos. This is all I have, picture-wise I hope you can see them.


More later. Hopefully pictures will be available soon from both the photographer and Ingrid who took some.

JUST MARRIED! 

Facebook reconnects former classmates, leads to wedding - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Facebook reconnects former classmates, leads to wedding - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Will post more later, but David and I are newlyweds! Thank you all for sharing our day with us, in person or virtually on this blog.

Three Days...

Ok, it's weird for a former news reporter to be interviewed for the newspaper. A reporter from the New Mexican just left the house after interviewing David and me for a news story that will run I think in Sunday's paper.

One thing I can say, I miss being on the other side. Maybe it's time I go back to journalism. Man, if there were only jobs.

Anyway, the Fifteen Minutes continues.

Our Fifteen Minutes

And we are now down to the single digits. Or will be in 1 hour and six minutes.

11 Days To Go

And we got snow.

Ok, not that much in Santa Fe. That's actually a picture I took last March/April in the Valles Caldera on the way to the house in Jemez Springs. But we're having record lows for highs this week. I hope by the wedding the weather is back in the 50s.

Anyway, things are slowly coming together. David and I had our friends take us both out on Saturday night for Bachelorette/Bachelor dinners. He went to the Bull Ring and I went to the Shed. I had family (my mom, his sister and niece there) old friends and new friends there. It was really, really nice. My oldest friend, Michelle made it really special, with trinkets, mixed CDs and lots of pink, but she arranged the best surprise of all. David and the Groomsmen crashed the party. He brought me a dozen pink roses, which smell heavenly even today 3 days later and lots of sweet kisses. It was quite a lovely surprise.

Neither of us wanted a traditional and outrageous bachelorette/bachelor party. We don't party much, we don't feel the need to make fools out of ourselves on our "last night of singledom". I mean, we're really not single anyway. We've been in a committed, monogamous relationship almost since day one, so we weren't celebrating the death of our single-hood, but the beginning of our married-hood, so to speak. In the end, we both got the night we wanted.

I've felt very blessed and very loved these last couple of months. I've been given two showers, a luncheon and now a dinner. I've had friends and family express joy and excitement for me. I'm very grateful to everyone who has been so kind and generous to me. David's family has been especially kind and welcoming to me. My parents are truly giving and loving. I'm still overwhelmed by all the love and support. Sometimes it feels like this is happening to someone else. It makes all my ranting and annoyances seem petty and childish... but I really wish people knew how to respond to RSVPs and read invitations!

I can say that I've learned many things planning this wedding and there are many things I'd do differently. I'll save it for another post.

Well the snow is coming. It's bitter cold today, but I'm hoping that we'll be back to the 50's come wedding day. We're down to 11 days. I feel like I have tons and tons of people to contact before the wedding.

18 Days...

So how many of you are tired of my countdown? Well, it's almost here and I'm still shaking my head wondering where all the time has gone? It's flying by and yet it seems like it's at a standstill. 

Let's see, I am the first to admit I made mistakes in planning and budgeting. Somehow we ended up with 340 people RSVPing. It seems hard to believe that many people want to come. I think it's crazy. I'm sad that many of the people I really want to come to the wedding cannot come, but I understand why many of you cannot come. 

We nearly doubled our guests and went over budget by a number I am horrified to even admit, but it will be ok. My dress is finished and gorgeous. I have a couple of bridesmaids who still need to have their dresses altered. They ordered them from the David's Bridal store here, which closed over the holidays. I am hoping they find someone to get their dresses altered. It has me a bit worried but not to the point that I'm going to stress out about it. It will be what it will be and they'll figure something out. 

I ordered and paid for our cake. Hopefully it will feed enough people. I ordered Bischochitos and Mexican Wedding Cookies from Chocolate Maven to give away as favors. I might order another couple dozen just in case I need a few more, but as of Friday, we'll have a final tally on guests and that's it... no more people can come. I feel like making a ranting post about RSVPs and how upsetting it is when people don't respond, don't even think twice about bringing a handful of guests and I could go on and on but I won't. 

I picked out the music for the ceremony.  I picked out stuff that is accessible and that my priest/pastor would approve of. Everything is in the missal we use at the parish, and I even think he'd be happy that we're picking Ubi Caritas for Communion. Our vocalist can sing it alone. My childhood friend is playing the piano at the wedding and she's bringing a vocalist she works with to sing. Suzette, the vocalist has a beautiful voice. 

I need to get a list to the photographer of shots we want. We have to pay him by this weekend. We have to pay the band soon. The florist is cool and wants his money the day before the wedding. The flowers are going to be beautiful. I think it's expected that the arrangements we use at church stay there-- so, I'm debating whether to get two more arrangements for the gift table and the guestbook table/place card table. What would you do? Would it be tacky to take the arrangements from church and have someone bring them back early the next morning for 7:30 Mass? Would anyone really do that? That is the question.

Saturday, David and I are being treated out to a night on the town. His best man has arranged his dinner and my maid of honor has arranged mine. i hope this heartburn thing clears up by then, because we're going to The Shed, which is really the only place I like to eat New Mexican Food. I'll eat at a few other places, but never red chile. No one makes red chile like my mom/family does other than The Shed. We have a rehearsal dinner the following weekend, even though the rehearsal isn't until the night before the wedding. We'll give our gifts to the bridal party, make toasts and whatever else happens at a dinner like that. It will be small and intimate. It's actually going to be a potluck at the maid of honor's house. It will be better to do it that night than the night before the wedding. I want everyone to rest that night. I'm not even sure how I'm going to do it, but we want to have a mellow night before. 

21 Days To Go

I finally got around to making a few announcements, one to the news paper and the other to St. Mike's. The newspaper announcement was rather generic, but I included this picture with it.

Roman and Theresa Salazar of Santa Fe, announce the engagement of their daughter, María Feliz Salazar to David Duran. David is the son of J. David Duran and the late Charlotte Duran of Santa Fe. The couple first met as students at St. Michael’s High School where they graduated in 1986, but had not seen each other since college where they both attended the University of New Mexico.  Last year, it was through the magic of Facebook they reconnected and are now engaged.

They plan to marry February 12 at Santa María de la Paz Catholic Community. 

This went to St. Michael's.

Imagine what happens when classmates and fellow graduates from the Class of ’86 suddenly find each other again on Facebook? For some, old friendships rekindle, for others new friendships are born and for one particular couple romance is found.

María Feliz Salazar and David Duran were graduates of the Class of ’86 and hadn’t seen each other since the days when they were both students at the University of New Mexico. They didn’t run in the same social circles in high school, but they always remembered each other fondly. They’d see each other on campus at UNM from time to time, but they didn’t hang out together.

A couple of years ago, María received a Facebook Friend Request from David. At first, communication between them was brief.

They exchanged a few comments on each other’s walls, but nothing much beyond that until David left a quick comment of condolence for María after the death of a family member she mentioned. That comment turned into a long conversation and lead to a lot of reminiscing on María’s wall. That sparked other conversations, which lead to a poke here and there, then they sent smiles to each other and even  left notes for each other in the game Farmville. Eventually, that lead to private chats, long private messages and the start of some innocent online flirting.

 As they continued to communicate, a romance started to blossom but there was one problem. María and David had yet to see each other in person. David lived in Jemez Springs and María in Santa Fe.

On Columbus Day, 2009, they met for the first time after twenty-some years. They immediately felt comfortable with each other, like they were old friends and the attraction was obvious. They started dating and fell in love. David proposed June 12, 2010 after a romantic weekend in Jemez Springs. On Feb. 12, they will marry at the Santa María de la Paz Catholic Community.

So what started out as a simple friend request on Facebook blossomed into love and marriage.

They will make their home in Santa Fe. David works at LANL and María works in real estate and continues to write the stories her characters tell her to write. She’s still hoping to publish a novel one day.

Registry Help

Emily Post and Miss Manners and I think even Martha Stewart talk about where you can and cannot put registry information. My mother is another etiquette stickler, so that is why there was no information in the invitations about where we are registered for the wedding. I imagine this annoyed some of the guests coming to the wedding. Sorry about that. I am the product of my mother, "Auntie Martha" and Zeta Sisterhood, which has ingrained what to do and not to do when planning a formal affair. I have broken the no white after Labor Day Rule many times though. 


That is also why we put "other info" notes in the invitations to direct people here.

Anyway, registry info is supposed to be disseminated by word of mouth or listed on websites and web blogs, which is what we've done. There are links on the side of this blog, but they seem to be a bit troublesome, Dillard's especially.


On the Dillard's Registry home page, there is a section to the left that says shop a registry. There you can enter mine or David's name, the state of NM or the registry #  of 124761552  to get to the registry. You can also go into the store and print out a registry list at one of the kiosks in the store.


Anything off the Nambe Registry maybe purchased online and in any store. You might even find some of the items in a local department store. At the Nambe shop, they can look up the registry information but they cannot indicate if something has been purchased in the store. So, I'm trying to keep that registry as up to date as possible.


Kohl's seems to work directly.

30 Days....

Happy Anniversary.

In one month we will be married. 

I can't wait. 

Thirty Three

What a big number for a myriad of reasons but in this case it means 33 days to the wedding!