Top 2 Tuesday!

I've seen a lot of the blogs I read participate in this, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Top 2 Random Facts About Yourself

1. I hate to wear my hair down. And although I know I complain about not being able to wear it down enough - when I actually fix it to wear down, I just end up pinning it back up somehow again. I love the way it looks but down here in South Texas where I live, the humidity is just too unbearable. So really, with my being finicky and all about my hair, I'm still limited as to when and how often I can.

2. I hate my major. I was always too scared to change it. The thoughts I conceived in my head were something like "You're too far in now, it's too late. You're almost done just stick with it. You're gonna need a good back up just incase whatever you really want to do doesn't pan out." And in all honesty, when I was starting out my college career I loved it! It started out with math. All math. Problems, scenarios - numbers. I love math. But then you get into the upper division classes and it all turned to theory. Where'd the numbers go? I know you need to learn the theory to understand how the numbers work and why they belong where they do. But it got so boring and tedious, I got to the point where I'd do enough to get by each class as they came. And I know recently I haven't tried to hide that I'm unhappy with where I am in the "real world", but I'm always thinking of ways I can get out of where I am, do something I love or at least like, and apply what I have gained from my degree so all that time wasn't for nothing.

Happy Birthday Little Sister!

So it's here! Finally!!! In all this wedding madness, today is a day about you! Even though I don't say it enough - I love you Audrey! You're like my mini-me, but taller!

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY LITTLE SISTER! Don't worry, next year will be way better ;)

A very, very unbirthday!

So my little sisters birthday is tomorrow. Not today. lol

But because it's on a weekday we decided to celebrate today. And what she wanted to eat: hamburgers.

Homemade hamburgers.

So it was my job to prepare the meat. I used 80/20 ground beef and added an egg, some ketchup, some bread crumbs, a packet of onion soup mix [HCF brand-nothing wrong with generic, besides HEB brand] and a secret ingredient. I can't share. Sorry! lol.

Here they are in all their glory! The patties I mean.

There are 3 more patties underneath those pictured :)

And because they were 80/20 they didn't shrink much at all once cooked on the grill. The burgers were huge!

This was my serving. I could only eat half! I shared with my Danny.

This is what my dad's looked like. I don't think the picture does it justice to show how ginormous it was in reality! I don't know how he finished it all! Or where it goes, lol. He's super skinny!

I also baked my sister a cake, because I love her that much.

Strawberry Swirl cake.

It was delicious! There is just about 1/3 of it left! And I just baked it this afternoon! lol.

These are the presents Audrey got today:

Bouquet of flowers from Mom.

And the above pictured from everyone. We all contributed!

Memories.

So in high school I used to play this:

It was an easy way to get out of taking PE. LOL.

I played in the band and with the mariachi for 4 years.

Being in the Valley, Mariachi gets quite competitive. When I first got to high school, our Varsity team used to be one of the ones to beat. We had anywhere between 10-18 members at a time. It was like a little family. Good times.

So this week at work I kept hearing a commercial on the radio about some festival going on at UTPA and that Eva Longoria - Parker was gonna be a speaker with concerts following featuring Mariachi Vargas and some other group lol.

Now Mariachi Vargas is like the best of the best in mariachi music. They "live" in Mexico in Epcot at Disneyworld. When I was in high school we were fortunate enough to meet them, play with them, and learn from them in workshops.

So being fans, my sister, my fiance, and I were all interested in checking it out. One day my sister jumped on the computer to find out the exact time frame the concert was going to be and discovered they'd perform after a middle school/high school marchiachi group winner. Which meant there had to be a loser! lol. A competition! We got excited right away and were pretty determined in cathing the competition before the concert.

Sitting in the audience brought back memories. Some of the groups blew us away with how strong and together they were. Others disappointed and flooded our minds with memories of what they all used to be.

Mariachi Oro from McHi

 

Mariachi Los Coyotes from La Joya

Mariachi Vargas greeting everyone during the competition

Mariachi Primer Orgullo from Rio Grande

*** Please excuse the picture quality - I used my phone and we were not very close to the stage.

The afternoon continued with a walk to Which Wich for lunch and then some waiting outside by the parking lot for the festival to begin and get started. There was a book fair going on inside one building - Dr. Seuss themed complete with the grinch, the Cat in the Hat, and Thing 1 & Thing 2 walking around. They even had some cut outs that you could take your picture in.

At the end of the night before the exhibit closed. That's me on the left and my sister on the right.

We browsed through the book fair exhibit and then parked ourselves in the hallway to charge my phone. Good thing I almost always carry my phone charger with me! :)

Then we went outside in search of something to drink and to check out some of the booths they had. We didn't get very far becuase it wasn't long before they announced Eva Longoria-Parker was about to take the stage. So everyone, and I mean everyone made their way before the stage. I do have to admit it was awhile before she actually came out on stage, but she did eventually.

She's so teeny tiny!

She was there as a motivational speaker. She talked about the deficiency in literacy amongst Hispanics and how we as a community needed to stand together and turn off the tv's once in awhile and read to our kids to ensure that they get a fully rounded academic upbringing. So that they'll want to go to college and do great things in the community, and in the world.

Then after the winners of the mariachi competition played [again], and after the UTPA mariachi played a bit, it was finally time for Mariachi Vargas to take the stage! They did not disappoint, as I don't think they ever have. It was a great concert. And it was free so that made it all the more better!

Wedding Wednesday!

We have 24 days to go people! There's really not much going on to tell you the truth.

I just had my bridal shower this past Saturday and due some extremely bi-polar weather, the turn out was pretty low. Significantly lower than expected. I'm glad at least a handful showed up. Later we learned some people forgot, and some actually got lost - which we found quite odd because we included the address on the invite as well as a map with a phone number to call if they got lost. But that's another rant . . . It was nice and quaint, aside from the weather of course. I'm so glad my family was all there to help. Thank you guys!

The guys are getting fit for their tuxes, I hope.

Balances are being paid, or we are working hard to pay them.

Everything had been picked out and details have been more or less finalized.

The only thing that we need to do is finish making the wedding favors, and put the centerpieces together.

We were finally able to see our engagement photos [some of them at least]. I liked a lot of them! And RGV Photography is going to put together a guest sign in book for us using some of those pictures we took. 20-25 I think. I'm really looking forward to it! More on that to come once I get more details!

Other than that that I've mentioned above, we're just taking it one day at a time while we can. It's coming up and will be here before we know it! There's so much to be excited for, I can't wait!

DWTS Returns!

So DWTS season 10 premiered last night! I gotta say, I've been waiting for a long time for it to come back, that and Glee which returns the Monday the week of the wedding!! Wow! Crazy how time has been flying. Anyway, I do admit I was impressed with everyone I wasn't quite looking forward to watching as much as some of the others.


Chad 85: not bad! I didn't care too much about him going into the premiere but I was impressed. I liked how determined he was.

Jake the bachelor: as cheesy as he is, I thought he was adoreable. He was so nervous and it showed. I know the nerves won't be as apparent next week and I hope he does well.

Niecy Nash: I loved her! I was laughing so much, and especially that part where she told Louie that she was not going to lose all her jiggly parts. I think she'll do pretty good.

Kate minus her 8: she was the one I wanted to watch since they announced her being in the cast! I don't think she ever got used to the "spotlight" that had been thrown on her from time to time, but once she kinda embraces it, I have a feeling she'll do a lot better. She just lacked confidence, but it's understandable.

Shannen: I was very curious at how she'd perform, just because of the personality she has - But she's partnered with Mark Ballas so I think she'll go pretty far.

Erin A: I thought she was not going to do too good! Really, that was my opinion before she performed. But then they danced and did well! The only thing is I thought her arms were kinda flailing at times.

Nicole: she did pretty good! Thought she would and she didn't disappoint.

Buzz: so does not look 80 years old! Poor little old guy, you couldn't help but go aaww. But in all seriousness, why is he on the show? He's 80 years old for crying out loud! It was nice to see him, but I don't think he'll be on much longer.

Evan the winter Olympian: ok this guy, I gotta admit ticked me the wrong way from the get go. I don't know, maybe it was his ego that blew up because he'd just won gold in the Vancouver olympics ... But anywho, didn't care for him. He danced well and was kinda put in his place, per the judges of course. They humbled him a bit, because let's admit it - his performance was good. Just good. Not as good as he thought, but with more guidance he could be dancing very well in the weeks to come.

The soap opera hunk: honestly I can't remember what I thought about his dance. I remember he was pretty cute, but the dance ... Oh yeh the Duran Duran song! Yeh the dance pretty much stank. Poor guy, at least he was in time. I think he'll do good once he gets comfortable with it.

Pam: ok everyone noticed it right? She was little "happy" lol. The dance was eh, but everyone was just staring at her and not really watching them dance. Idk how she'll do, but she's got the attention of the male audience for sure.

So that's everyone right? Yeh all 11. So I voted for Jake, Kate, Shannen, Niecy, Erin and ... I think that was it. Those are my picks, I hope they do good next week!

Test. Test. This is a text test. I'm trying to figure out how this blogger feature works. Lol.

Random Tuesday

So this hardly ever happens to me. For awhile now, I've come home with several ideas for blog topics . . . but for the past couple of days I got nothing! All that has consumed my head is how fast my wedding is coming up! I'm so excited that it's all I can think about! I've seen similar things in past posts in blogs I've read so I thought I'd might give it a try.

10 [Random Facts] About Me:

1. When I find a new blog to read I go back and read all the past posts from the author - from the very first post.

2. No matter how many dogs I may own, I will always want to bring another one home.

3. I hate to exercise. Mostly because I can't wrap my mind around it because until recently I never really had to work out before. And the only exercise I do like is running outside playing with the dogs or at the rec center playing Raquetball.

4. I adopted my now only dog, Bella, as a solution to a problem I was having with my old dog Bonnie. As much as I miss Bonnie, I can't imagine my life without Bella. She's got the oddest personality, and she's so innocent you can't help but like her.

5. I like the idea of dresses and cute strappy sandals, but I can never committ to actually styling myself or actually going out and buying.

6. I would die without my iPhone. I love it. I live it. I'd be lost without it.

7. I am a germaphob. A big germaphob. Seriously.

8. I like picking at things. I really like to pick off fleas from the dogs. My sisters dog Pudge has really come to enjoy it.

9. I picked up at Rockband pretty quick. Drums specifically I guess. No one ever likes to play the drums. It's not that bad! lol.

10. I love the idea of super short hair, I willl never, ever cut it that short. My hair is way to thick and it gets way to damn hot down here to wear it down all the time.

There are probably a whole lot more things I could've written, but those were the first that came to my mind. I even had to research a bit. lol.

Easy as 1,2,3!

So I've been absent for a few days, but don't worry I'm ok and alive! Although I have been absent for different reasons. lol. I saw this the other day at Christine's blog and thought it would be fun - so here we go!

ABC'S about me!

Age: 22


Bed Size: Queen, but now that I have to think about sharing - a king sized bed would be perfect! lol.

Chore you hate: Dusting. I find it tedious and annoying, and another reason for me to have to sweep the floors again.

Dog’s name: Bella

Essential “start the day” item: I need 2-3 cups of my Cinnamon Chai Latte :) It does a body good!

Favorite color: Yellow and Orange, but not mixed together. Gray has been a recent favorite.

Gold or Silver: Gold. Yellow or white.

Height: 5'6"

Instruments you play: I played flute all through MS and HS. And I was able to take a piano class in college. I'd love to get back into it someday!

Job Title: Assistant. lol. To a CPA. I do all the grunt work :-/

Kids: Just one spoiled pooch for now and for awhile!

Living Arrangements: With Dad and my big little sister, 4 dogs and 2 cats.

Mom’s Name: Dee. Her real name - Maria Delores

Nickname: Jess. Jecka. Flaca.

Overnight hospital stays: I want to say that time I put my arms through my grandma's old washing machine . . .but I might've just been there for several hours . . . possible future blog topic . . .

Pet peeve: People who try to drive and multitask when they can barely handle driving at all. Drivers who don't use their turning signals. People who chew and talk with their mouths open and full.

Quote from a movie: "It's a bust!" [that one is for you Yum-Yum]

Righty of Lefty: Righty

Siblings: 2 sisters

Time you wake up: Between 6:00 AM - 6:53 AM

Underwear: I have way too many too count. However, that will not stop me from buying more!

Veggie you dislike: Lima beans. Peas.

Ways that make you late: Oversleeping. Dogs getting in the way. Smokey showing up to eat just as I'm about to load up the car. Stupid drivers getting in traffic accidents.

X-rays you have had: Dental, probably my arms from the washing machine incident . . . and on my left wrist from my ganglion cyst. It's still there.
Yummy food you make: Cheesecake. Carrot cake. Chocolate chip cookies. Oatmeal Rasin cookies. Pies-apple, peach, lemon meringue, banana cream, turtle pumpkin, million dollar. MJ cupcakes . . .   :) And the possibilities are endless now since I've gotten my Kitchen Aid stand mixer!

Zoo animals you like: Elephants.

I am: The Dog Whisperer.

According to Audrey of course.

I'm a sucker for those cute puppy dog eyes. I just melt.

So if there's a sign for "Puppies for Free" or the Adoption Fair that goes on in front of Petsmart and I'm there, you know there's gonna be trouble.

When we were out and about this weekend we walked the entire plaza at Trenton and guess what? There's a Petsmart there. And it was Saturday. So that means: ADOPTIONS!

There were so many pets! I think we were there outside with the dogs for at least 30 minutes. Audrey just looking around mostly but I was taking my time and petting as many dogs as I could. There was this one Lab/chow mix named Candice who was just crying in her crate, but while I was petting her she calmed down and got playful. Poor girl started crying when we made our way down to the rest of the animals. I saw one dog that looked so much like Bella! Seriously she could've been her long lost sister. She even did that wrinkled forehead thing [like in the picture above]. LOL. Audrey said "NO!" I tried, really I tried. Sorry Bella.

I really don't want more than 2 dogs at a time, I just seem to forget that fact everytime I'm in one of those situations. Poor Danny's gonna have his hands full with me! LOL.

I probably would've brought at least 3 of those dogs home with me if I could've. See, trouble. LOL.

Free. My most favorite thing in the world!

Don't you just love Starbucks? Don't you enjoy it even more when you're craving it and then you just go and satisfy that craving? lol. It's wonderful! hahaha. But I have to admit, Starbucks has become just a little bit too rich for my blood. And no I'm not poor, I'm just getting married. Enough said right?

This past Saturday, Audrey and I were out and about and got the craving, not just for Starbucks but for caffeine in general. And this craving struck us right at the checkout at HEB, only there were no cold beverages near the aisles except for one that contained HEB brand drinks. And I don't have anything against HEB brand items, but I really really wanted a cold Pepsi! Insert disappointment here.

So we pack up the car and think about what to do with our lack of caffeine plus the 30 minute drive home. And that's when we see the Starbucks across the street and remember that we have a few giftcards in the car armrest and Audrey offered to use hers as well. So we head over and wait in line and order, which surprisingly didn't take too long. While we were in line we discovered there weren't just a few gift cards, we had 4 - not including the one in Audrey's wallet. 4! Unfortunately we had no clue as to how much was on each card! So I pick one thinking it had cents to maybe a dollar on it. And guess what? That card had more money on it than we thought and paid for our drinks.

Man do I love these things.

There is nothing better in the world than not having to pay out of your own pocket for anything. LOL. So if you don't know what to gift to us - for anything, you can't go wrong with gift cards ... from Starbucks that is. :)

Salsa Fish over White Rice

I don't really know what else to call it!

My mom was the first to make this dish [that I know of], and for the life of me - I cannot seem to remember what she called it! She'll probably correct me after she reads this, but oh well.

So here's the ingredient list:

• Fish fillets
• Extra long grain white rice
• Medium/Large jar of salsa of your choice
• EVOO
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley
• A couple of lime wedges (optional)

So first get your white rice going. Boil then simmer the rice [2 cups water for every 1 cup of rice]. Then season one side of the fish fillets with all the seaonings and warm up your skillet with some evoo.
Place the fish in the skillet [seasoned side down] once your pan is hot and then season the unseasoned side. Cook for about 3-4 minutes before flipping - this should be a sufficient amount of time if your pan is pretty hot and good to go. Once the fish is pretty much done cooking on the 2nd side add the salsa to the skillet so it warms up nicely and serves well with the fish. Once the rice is just about done cooking, sprinkle some parsley flakes on the top. Serve the fish and salsa over the white rice, or to your preference. I think it looks pretty with fish over the rice :)

Happy eating!

I'm a maniac, maniac that's for sure!

Drivers in Donna beware if I wake up late! Stay outta my way! lol.

Oh and then I hate the people that are turning [to go to the high school] and they still try to turn after the protected turn light shuts off and the northbound traffic gets their green. I honked and got all up in front of some stupid cars. lol.

Alas, this still remains true and sad. I am always late. I'm not exagerating either. I'm ALWAYS late. I'm also not trying to brag as I am NOT proud of this. I get mad at myself all the time, yet apparently not enough to actually change it.

I work for my uncle at his CPA firm. Lucky? Yes. Priviledged? No. Although I probably should've been fired by now, but I haven't so I guess that last one is kinda true. I do my work. And I like to think I do a pretty good job too. But that's not enough. I know it's the principle that I'm not getting. I need to get to work on time! So after having been gotten after at last week, because well I was 20 minutes late [and seriously not my fault], I've made a personal goal to myself that from here on out I'm going to make it a point to get to work early and or on time. That's enough.

I've been successful 3 out of the 4 days this week already. That 1 was out of my control, and I would've been on time if it weren't for that stupid 3 car pile up on the highway that caused traffic to go nuts. Lucky for me I was at the front of all that mess and was able to get out in 10 minutes - making me 10 minutes late to work. Awful I know. But later that morning I heard on the radio that the traffic wasn't moving at all! Everyone who was on the highway was stuck, and I heard this at about 9 AM I kid you not. So I was lucky. But apparently the part I haven't learned yet is to call when you're late and it's out of your hands, which would've helped avoid the awkward silence and silent treatment at work . . . well, now I know!

Wish me luck!

Wedding Wednesday!

45 days till the Wedding! Did you hear that? 45!!! That's insanely close! And I couldn't be more excited.

To be honest, we haven't done any wedding errands . . not really. We're just making payments and getting it all paid off.
Lets see . . .last Thursday we had our Engagement Pictures, which I already blogged about here. No wedding errands on Friday . . . none on Saturday . . . oooh on Sunday I finished up printing the rest of the invitations, finally! Now I don't know when they'll all go out because as I was reading them off to Danny he kept saying "I'll take it .. I'll take it ..etc." So I'm going to trust that he'll get it done.

Before he didn't really care who was going to come or not, but now that he's invited people from work I can see the excitement coming from him. And in turn, that makes me more excited!

I've already blogged about some of the wonderful presents we've received. Both things that we wanted and things that we are going to need.

I really don't have much else to say other than I cannot wait! I know I've mentioned before to my MOH, that at times it felt like we were just planning this big party and not a wedding. But now I'm totally getting the wedding vibe and it feels pretty cool. 

I'll be going in, hopefully this weekend, back to the tux shop because I forgot to pick out colors/styles for the dad's tuxes! I know! I can't believe it! LOL. It'll get done, don't worry.

And hopefully soon we'll be getting to see our engagement pictures! I was super excited right after we took them and now I'm extrememly anvxious! I think I've spread all the anxiousness throughout the house. Danny will call periodically throughout the day and ask "Are our pictures up yet?" I love that he's looking forward to things like this :) That's who he is.

I'm giving it up!

I'm going to try - to the best of my extent, not to check my registry . . . on my phone.

LOL. One step at a time people!

The gifts are supposed to be a surprise, and the registry kinda ruins the surprise. I mean I love the purpose of the registry, it's just the surprise part I'm missing. And while I also love knowing that we won't have to worry about buying things that we need/want, I don't want to lose that element of surprise when we open all the wonderful gifts from all of our thoughtful and generous friends and family.

I'm already super excited knowing that people are using the registry for gifts. And I think that is more than enough to keep me offline from checking it ... daily. LOL.

I'm a BBB Predator...

This is the new name that I've been dubbed by Daddy Dearest. lol. Clever isn't it.
For those of you who might be wondering what BBB means, it stands for Bed, Bath & Beyond!

How it happened you're wondering? Well I'll tell you! Yesterday (Monday), Danny was here at the house doing some laundry and scraping off some paint on the side of the house so that we can repaint it before the Bridal Shower - whole 'nother story ... but anyway, Fed Ex [?] made a delivery and Danny sent me a text sayuing "We got more gifts!" lol. And I thought he didn't really care if we got anything or not. So I guess that answers that question. Mean punk didn't want to tell me what we got! All he would tell me was that we received 4 presents from one of my Tia's and her boyfriend.

I don't know how many text messages later but he said nothing! So I took a stab at it while recalling the registry I check daily, and I guessed that it was a stir fry pan, a blender, a grater and a paring knife. And you know what his response was? "I'll give you a hint later." So at that point I gave up until . . . Danny sent me another message saying my dad was home and maybe he'd tell me if I asked.

So I did.

And you know what? He wouldn't tell either! So I went ahead and tried my guess again since Danny didn't say whether I was right or wrong. And he said "How'd you know?" LOL! So I told him I check the registry daily and his response: "You bbb predator." lol.

Later in the day I explained the story about the gifts to my sister, and her response was "You know you're not supposed to open the gifts until your wedding day." And I told her if they were not wrapped, as the first gift we received wasn't, then it was a free for all. And to my amazement, when I got to my bedroom the gifts were gift wrapped! Yeah I know, unbelievable. It's not like I was gonna use them.

I'm just gonna keep them stacked in a corner in my room :)