Esther & Hector's Wedding

Last night I witnessed one of my oldest friends tie the knot. I love weddings!!! I love everything about weddings! I love all the details that go into it, the events leading up to it, the anticipation of the bride arriving to the church, the look on the grooms face as she walks in. The preparation of a new home and I especially love sharing in someone elses happiness. I can not stress enough how much I love weddings!! Getting married is a special time in a couples life, and should be cherished. Watching my friend reminded me of that special time Fernando and I had as well, and I can not believe we are almost a year in. I am am very happy for you my friend as you open a new chapter in your life. Congrats to Esther and Hector as they begin there new life together. I pray that you always put God in the center of your marriage! I love you guys! I can't wait to see your honeymoon pictures!

Mr. & Mrs. Hector Mesa!!!

Photo Sign In

Party Time

Goodbye!

Note: Photo Credit to Fernando Herrera & Melissa M. Hernandez-Herrera

Pumpkin Carving Contest 2009

Yesterday evening I participated in my very first pumpkin carving contest. Some friends of ours (Julie and David who were also the judges) invited a big group of us to their home for an evening of pumpkin carving and hanging out around a fire. I was very surprised to see how nice all the pumpkins came out considering that many of the people who participated had never even carved a pumpkin before. We had a great time and I am already looking forward to doing this again next year.

The pumpkin we picked for the contest!

Carving

The Final Products

Eight of the Nine Pumpkins

Everyone!

My Teams Pumpkin!

Miami Springs Pumpkin Patch

Some co-workers and I decided to visit the Miami Springs Pumpkin Patch. We get an hour and half for lunch to eat, run our errands and go about our shenanigans. So what a better way than to spend a fall lunch hour at a pumpkin patch. I love fall!! I love how it gets so much cooler than the usual 90 degree weather here in South Florida, its so nice when its in the 70's, and breezy. Thank God for cold fronts! I usually don't go anywhere near a pumpkin until the day before Halloween, which is when my Husband and I pick out a pumpkin ourselves for our annual pumpkin carving. We have been carving pumpkins on the 30th of October since we began dating, and it is a tradition I hope to keep throughout our marriage and with our children in the future. Pumpkin carving is also a tradition I have had with my father, but this year is a bit different for one I no longer live at home and for another we will be participating in a pumpkin carving and pumpkin pie contest this Friday at our friends David and Julie's home. I am very excited about the pumpkin carving contest because I have never participated in one, nor have I ever baked a pumpkin pie. So I decided to buy a little pumpkin to begin preparing for the world's best pumpkin pie. That's right my pie will be the best!!! I bought 3 pumkin muffins and a pumpkin for $2.75, not a bad price I'd say, so if your looking for the right pumpkin at the right price check out the Springs Patch. Anyhow I look forward to visiting another pumpkin patch by my home with my husband to pick out our contest pumpkin, and again later next week to pick out our traditional pumpkin, perhaps I will invite my parents and create a new tradition with both them and my husband.

Here are a few pictures of our lunch time shenanigans.

This is the Pumpkin I bought to make my first Pumpkin Pie from scratch.

Wish me some luck, because I am going to need it!

Touchdown Tuesday - Week 6

Hallelujah!!! I finally won a game!!! I think it's now safe to say that the Brady curse is over. He got me 48 points in fantasy this week, what a performance!!!! I am so excited, I am praying for another win next week. Hooooahh...thats for you Manny!

Here is my match up for week 6

Congrats to ME on my victory!!! Whoo-hoo!! Sorry Ian!

As far as my boys they were off this week they had a bye week! Hopefully they took this time to refocus and strategize for the coming games! It was good week, and I am happy! Hallelujah!

Connect Weekend 2009 Video Recap

New Moon Soundtrack

The New Moon Soundtrack is being released today which is four days earlier than the original intended date. We are 34 days away from New Moon hitting theaters, that's right I am counting! I can't wait until November 20th, I am so excited! Anyhow here is the iTunes ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack track list: ENJOY!!!

1. Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox
2. Band Of Skulls – Friends
3. Thom Yorke – Hearing Damage
4. Lykke Li – Possibility
5. The Killers – A White Demon Love Song
6. Anya Marina – Satellite Heart
7. Muse – I Belong To You (New Moon Remix)
8. Bon Iver & St. Vincent – Rosyln
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Done All Wrong
10. Hurricane Bells – Monsters
11. Sea Wolf – The Violet Hour
12. OK Go – Shooting The Moon
13. Grizzly Bear (with Victoria Legrand) – Slow Life
14. Editors – No Sound But The Wind
15. Alexandre Desplat – New Moon (The Meadow)

BONUS:
16. Lupe Fiasco – Solar Midnite
17. The Magic Numbers And Amadou & Mariam – All I Believe In
18. APM Orchestra. – Die Fledermaus – Duettino: Ach, ich darf nicht hin zu dir
19. Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox (Music Video)
20. Ulf Bastlein – Wandrers Nachtlied II, Op. 96, No. 3, D.768 (preorder only)

Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox Music Video

Connect Weekend 2009

Where do I begin? All I can say is what an awesome weekend! I love my church, and I can clearly see God really doing something here at Relevant. What I love about connect weekend is how people connect (hence the name connect weekend..lol), the silly games and pranks everyone is involved in, the worship, the lessons learned, the friendships created, God moving, and the list can go on and on. Connect weekend is all about connecting to God and to others and that is exactly what happened in Bradenton, Florida this past weekend. I am hoping to have a video recap by the end of the week from Bryan Lobos so stay tuned for that.

Here are a few pics my dear husband (DH) and I took of Relevants awesome weekend.

The Welcome Bags

Everyone

Green Team

Some of the Blue Team

Yellow Team

Red Team

The Little Boy Who Stole My Heart

The Worship

The Moon

Touchdown Tuesday - Week 5

I feel like a broken record! I think I must be a cousin of the Energizer Bunny because I just keep losing and losing. Ugh! I must admit I was not into fantasy football at all this week. I was out of town and completely disconnect from the rest of the world, so fantasy nor football were at the top of my priorities list. I watched zero football this weekend so this weeks touchdown Tuesday is not as eventful as others have been, come to think of it I don't know if it ever has been considering I am 0-5. I guess the KC Chiefs and I have one thing in common because they are also 0-5, I can hear Manny M. poking fun at me already (Hoooaaah). Victory "would have been" so sweet this week since I played my adoring husband, but I guess the victory was sweet for him. Ugh!

Here is my match up for week 5

Congrats to my hubby on his win! No one can say I am a sore loser!

This week my beloved Boys played the Kansas City Chiefs and beat them 26 -20 in O.T. I guess there really is a pattern with these guys they win, they lose, they win, they lose and well they won this week. I really hope they break this pattern with another win next week. I hear that Austin Miles did a phenomenal job in Sunday's game, boy am I sorry I missed that sight.

Austin Miles running to score the game winning touchdown.

I like to think Miles is giving God the glory for the win.

The Boy's vs. The Chief's

10/11/09

3-2

Flipping the page...

So I decided to help a friend of mine move today, since I am going to be out of town this weekend and will not be able to help her out because of my trip. Can I just say how excited I am for her, and her new place it's really cute and in a great location only 6 blocks away from Miracle Mile. I can't wait to see it once she is done decorating and everything is in it's place. I can't wait to see her no longer living out of boxes, but living in this place she will call home. After spending a couple hours lugging several things up the stairs, and a quick visit to Publix, we went to grab a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks. I love Starbucks, but what I love more than the coffee is the time spent talking with friends about our lives etc. once we are there. I love the exchange we have about our hardships, failures, relationships, friendships, successes, joys, advices given, and the support we give to one another. Every time I help one of my girls move I always feel like it's a new chapter in their life and in mine as well because we are all so close. It's a fresh start, and an opportunity to bring what you want from your past or leave behind whatever stuff you may feel can not accompany you into the unknown. It's nice to know that if I need help I have there support as well. It's also nice to know that they worry about me as I worry about them.
Jessie I hope you are excited about your new chapter I know I am excited for you! I love you!

Since we both looked horrible from all the work we did, we decided to take a picture of the street sign in front of the Starbucks.

Only in Hialeah...

Being an employee for this city of progress sometimes allows for a few perks. My perk for the day along with some 1,000 plus others was free food for all city employees at the new pre-opening of the Chipotle on 49th and 4th. I absolutely love Chipotle and was thrilled when they opened the one in Miami Lakes, because I no longer had to drive to Griffin just to have some of this Mexican delight. Tomorrow the restaurant will be giving free food to all, so make sure to stop by. Anyway, now to the point of my story, my co-worker and I were driving to our free lunch and discussing our options for dinner, she said she was going to be cooking fish and needed to go to the market to buy some fresh limes. I am not kidding a second after she said that a guy walks by the car holding a bag of fresh limes for sale. Only in Hialeah will you able to buy fresh limes off the street from some guy! Tell me you see that in any other surrounding city? Oh how I love Hialeah.

My friend above says she needs to go buy a zipper tomorrow, maybe a seamstress will be selling some on 49th. Who knows?

Bank of America Tower

In light of Breast Cancer Awareness Month I thought I would post a few pictures my husband took with "my" new camera of the Bank of America Tower in Downtown. I say "my" camera because he is obsessed with it as I am, to the point that I am considering buying him one so I can have mine back. lol. He always says so innocently it is not "your" camera but "our" camera because we are married. Apparently my husband does not believe my parents gave it to me but to us, I guess this is what happens when you get married. I love my husband and I love how we are both learning how to use "our" new toy even though I give him a great deal of grief about it. Anyhow back to the the point on the Bank of America Tower, this building has to be one of my favorite buildings in downtown simply because of it's night time illuminations. It is a 47 story building, and is one of the top ten tallest buildings in the state of Florida. On most nights it is lit white, but changes in colors for the Christmas season, St. Patricks Day, Independence day etc. Another building I absolutely love for its architectural structure is the Conrad, but we will save that one for another blog post.

These pictures were taken from my sister-in-laws apartment,

on October 5th which also happens to be her birthday!

So Happy Birthday ERICKA!!

Note: Photo Credit to Fernando Herrera

Touchdown Tuesday! - Week 4

So I decided that this year I would record how well I did in fantasy every week here on my blog. Apparently I choose the wrong year to do so, because I am not doing as well as I have in past fantasy seasons. I am 0-4 which means I have not yet won any games, this by far is my worst year. I did better in my first fantasy league when I really had no idea what I was doing. UGH!! Someone please explain? It's all luck I tell you! So aside from recording how well I do in fantasy I also decided to record how well the Dallas Cowboys do this year, which I may add are not doing the best, but are definitely not the worst. Ugh!! I am starting to feel that perhaps it was not such a great idea to have Touchdown Tuesday on my blog! If I don't have a win in fantasy next week I think I am just going to have someone take over my team!! Just kidding I won't give up that easy! I need some wide receivers. ugh!

Here is the match up for week 4!

Congrats to Mari on her Victory!

As far as the Boy's go they had there second loss this week, and what a stupid loss it was. They might as well have rolled out a red carpet and handed him the ball to walk his 51 yards. Ugh!!Romo has good games and he has bad games, and well he had 5 sacks and 2 turnovers in this game I'd say it was a bad game! I see a pattern here Win, Lose, Win, Lose, so I guess next week will be a WIN?!?! Now I am going to get superstitions, I must think back as to what I wore and did on weeks 1 and 3 and must continue to do the same for the rest of the season! They failed to score in the 4th...I will leave it at that!

The NFL Supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Denver Bronco's Invesco Field

Tony Romo getting sacked!

Dever vs. Dallas

10/04/09

2-2

Esther's Bridal Shower!

Today was Esther's Bridal Shower and what a huge success it was! I am so proud of our hard work, and it was finally nice to see everything come together. Everyone enjoyed the food, decor, the one game (lol), and of course the great company. The best part of the day was seeing the huge smile on Esther's face. Congrats on your upcoming marraige my friend!! I love you and I pray that God bless your marraige always.

Here is a little recap of her special day!

The Centerpieces

The Wishing Tree

The Chocolate Flower Pops in a Pot

The Cake

The Bride and Groom

Friends

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

If you don't know, now you know! October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so be sure to wear pink and show your support! I hope to make my way down to the 2009 Miami Komen Race for the Cure which will be held Saturday, October 17, 2009 at Bayfront Park in Miami.

http://www.komenmiaftl.org/

The Miami Dolphins have partnered with Boar’s Head to help fight Breast Cancer. Through the month of October the Dolphins will play 3 home games (vs. the Bills, Jets, and Saints) and they have set up an opportunity to see the game at a reduced price while helping find a cure for breast cancer. If you purchase an upper sideline seat for just $52 (a $30 savings) The Miami Dolphins Foundation will donate $10 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Log on to Ticketmaster and type in "support" as the offer password.