Love is in the air

G & I have never been big on valentine's day celebrations....oh who am I kidding. We have always celebrated! He would even drive down to San Diego no matter what day of the week it fell on just to bring me flowers and take me to diner. *swoon* But once we got married we stopped making such a big deal. i.e. no plans for tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

My friend Diana had this cool survey on her blog. I'm bored at work so I'll fill it out.

1. Where/how did you meet?

G & I met in high school. Freshman year we had English and History together. I actually didn't care for him when I met him. I later found out he was in love with me. I eventually got to know him better and started liking him. He apparently was over me. :( Sadness. I know. It wasn't till the beginning of our Sophmore year that my BFF at the time set us up. We started hanging out at lunch every day. One November day, at lunch, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I said I would think about it. LOL. I got so much shit from my friends for saying that. So during our last period I was going to Tennis practice and he was going to Soccer practice and I yelled out his name, he turned around, and I said, "Yes!" He immediately knew what I meant and ran over to hug me. Cheesey!

2. How long have you known each other?

13.5 years

3. How long after you met did you start dating?

1 year

4. How long did you date before you were engaged?

9 years!

5. How long was your engagement?

1 year.

*Our 2 good friends came with us on this "Birthday" trip to NYC and made this pic for us.


6. How long have you been married?

2 years 2 months 19 days

7. What is your anniversary?

November 25th - The day we started dating. 10 years later, to the day, we got married. So our dating and wedding anniversary are the same day.

More cheese!

Engaged 11/4/05 - proposed atop the Empire State Building

8. How many people came to your wedding reception?

About 225. Too many, but we both have big ass families.

9. What kind of cake did you serve?
Chocolate with whipped cream I think. It was really good.
















10. Where was your wedding?
Church - St. Elizabeth in Altadena
Reception - La Cañada Country Club


11. What did you serve for the meal?
Chicken is what we could afford. It was good though.


12. How many people were in your bridal party?
A crap load.















13. Are you still friends with them all?
Of course!


14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?
Yes! He choked up during our vows! I was the one expected to cry and I didn't! I was too happy and relaxed to cry.


15. Most special moment of your wedding day?
Heading back to our wedding suite. We were finally married. Our first night together as husband and wife.


16. Any funny moments?
This isn't so much as funny as it is freakin' awesome. G is a huge Pearl Jam fan. So the DJ played "Even Flow" and our entire wedding party & friends & family danced in a huge mosh pit singing every word out loud. Funnest memory of the night.

17. Any big disasters?

Of course. But I had a great day-of wedding planner that took care of things. It just sucks that I people who you think want the best for you make you feel like shit on your wedding day.


18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
ITALY! Gawd I want to go back. Florence to a teeny Tuscan B&B to Venice to Rome.














*Florence - our favorite city.


19. How long were you gone?
13 days. Definitely not enough.


20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change?
Smaller more intimate.


21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
Right. Use to be the left but these days its the right.


22. What size is your bed?
Cal King. We had a Full the first 1.5 yrs.


23. Greatest strength as a couple?
We are BFFs. We can talk about anything and everything.


24. Greatest challenge as a couple?
We are both hot heads with strong opinions.


25. Who literally pays the bills?
I do. And I'm kinda over it now.


26. What is your song?
It is now the song with first danced to.

27. What did you dance your first dance to?

John Legend - Stay with You


28. Describe your wedding dress.
Jasmine Couture

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?

30. Are your wedding bands engraved?

Nope

YouTube Tuesday!

Thank you Darlene for having this on your blog. I *heart* me some TJs.



Song originally seen on Slashfood.com.

Dead to the world

Lately I have been so very sleepy all the damn time. When I first started working out I felt a new surge of energy and I didn't feel lazy anymore. It is great, except now I'm seriously sleepy by 7pm. Like eyes burn and everything. If I sit down at this time to read or watch TV I just pass out. I have been passing out every night for the 2 last weeks. even on the weekends!

I know that it's just the new way of life for me. A baby gets you pretty tired, now throw in working out. I guess it trips me out because I use to be a total night owl. Midnight was my bedtime...on a good day. Now I'm up by 8am every day [most days it's way earlier than that]. Pre-baby I was sleeping in till 11am! It's just such a change for me. But I'm surviving. Slowly becoming a morning person. I have to have my "happy face" on for baby.

Last night I stayed up to watch the Grammy's. G actually went to bed before me. I think I made it to 11ish and then woke up just after midnight...still on the couch. My Sunday paper horoscope was right! It was a late night! LOL.

I am taking some vitamins....but maybe I need to add another kind. G and I are sharing a jar of Centrum. We should probably get the Performance kind instead of the OG kind. Performance has more B-vitamins and ginseng. Any thoughts or tips?

One more thing - Saturday night I went to hear Ray Bradbury speak at the Sierra Madre Elementary auditorium. A, Rob, and Chris came along. This guy is OLD [89] and it was great to hear him talk about his book Fahreinheit 451. He has a great sense of humor. He kept stressing to "Do what you want and love what you do." Can't get better advice than that. He also said college was full of crap and libraries are all you need. Read! Read! Read! I love books, and libraries, and reading, and I hope to instill this in Andy.

Andy has enjoyed being read to since he was just a few weeks old. We keep a habit of reading to him nightly. His current favorite book is "Where the Wild Things Are." And I must say it's my fav too and I don't mind reading it night after night. In the middle of the book there are a few pages with no words, just pictures depicting the "wild rumpus" as Max calls it. I made my own little [wordless]tune for this section and Andy loves it! As soon as I turn the page he looks at me with this little grin like saying,"Here comes the music! I love this part, mommy." :-p Or at least that's what I think he's thinking. He just gets this big ole smile on his face. It melts my heart.

I do hope that this love for books continues to grow. I'm thinking of changing my "work from home" day to Tuesdays so that we can go to Storytime at our local Library in the mornings. It'd be nice for him to see other babies too.

Oh - we didn't get our book signed. They said only the first 100 people and there was a mad dash. His words have been imprinted into my brain and that is enough for me. :)

YouTube Tuesday!

It's back!

I found this while I was "dicking around" on my computer.

Thanks

I just want to say thanks to all 4 of my faithful readers. You guys came back! Even though I had a long hiatus you stuck around. So thanks. And thank you to the few new readers - I hope you're not disappointed.

When I Grow Up

As I was saying on Twitter - growing up is a lot of work. Life has gotten so crazy with a baby thrown into the mix. Most days are jammed packed with things to do, places to go, schedules to establish/follow.

Let's take today for example.

Just before midnight we are awaken by the rain which was quickly followed by crazy lightening bolts that we were landing very close to our apt. It was scary loud with bright green flashes that made shy away from the light. Then the hail started to fall very hard against the windows. This kept me awake for a good half hour.

Then I wake up at 4am to feed Andy because he hardly ate the day before because his impending won't allow him. Thankfully by 440am with are both back to sleep.

At 6:09am my alarm goes off. Snooze. Snooze. Snooze. Finally at 6:50 I get up and quickly get dressed before Andy wakes up. At 7 he is awake and in need of a bottle. I feed him before we leave the house or he is a grouchy guy thru traffic on the way to my moms.

7:30am I put him in his car seat,I gather my bag and his bag and head downstairs to the car. On the way Andy decides to poop and then gets mad because he's sitting in it. 20min later we are at my moms changing a dirty diaper and trying to finish his bottle. I'm simultaneously drinking coffee and having breakfast.

850am - I've hung out for too long at my moms. Take off for work.

9-12:30pm - Work

During lunch I head to Rite Aid for some teething tablets for Andy hoping to give him so relief. I then head to my moms, say hi to Andy, have lunch, say hi to G as he arrives to pick up Andy, and then head back to work.

At 4:45pm I am bored outta my mind so I pack up and leave work.

I head to Target in search of some Pilates bands I need for my class tomorrow and other misc. items.

Then I hop on the freeway, get a bit of traffic, and make a stop at Toys R Us to get Andy the next level bottle nipples and other replacement parts for his Dr. Brown bottles. He needs the nipples to help him eat more. Sucking hard is hurting his impending tooth so he just gives up on the eating.

I then head to Trader Joes (thank god it's in the same parking lot) to pick up some veggies, fruit, and eggs.

Finally I'm home! Say hi to G and hold Andy for a moment. Then I put away the groceries and get started on dinner. While G finishes up dinner I put away some dishes, wash some dishes, and practice rolling over with Andy. We play until dinner is ready.

7:15pm - Andy sits in his highchair while we eat, but he is super tired and gets very fussy so I scarf down my dinner so I can get him to bed.

I change Andy's diaper, put on his PJs, read him his favorite book (Where The Wild Things Are - and if you saw how his face lights up you too would see it's his fav book), say goodnight to dad, give him his bottle, and he is passed out just before 8pm.

(G is getting a night off because he's getting sick - he usually helps more)

I then clean up the kitchen. Put away the clean dishes to make room for the dinner dishes I wash, make G some tea, boil some bottles and new parts, start typing this post on my phone, finish in the kitchen, get in bed to finish my post.

*now breath*sigh*

Yup. I don't even know what time it is now. I just want to go brush my teeth, wash my face, and come back to bed to read some of my Sookie book before I doze off. Most days are like this. Today isn't any kind of special. Other days I'm just trying to sneak in a workout or visiting a set of grandparents.

So you see. It's a lot of work. I ain't complaining - I'm just sayin'. I had no idea. But I wouldn't change a thing. I love my life.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Weigh In

Sundays, January 25, 2009 results:

Week 2 Loss: 2lbs
Total Loss: 4lbs
Pounds to go: 25lbs
This weeks challenges: Couldn't get any cardio in. Missed Saturday's training. Will make it up this week.
This weeks goals: Drink more water! I am so bad at this!

Yay! I'm not asking for anymore than this [2lbs/week]. I am eating better but totally not dieting. I still eat most everything. It really is about portion control. I am also looking forward to cardio being added to the next 3 weeks of Pilates. That should help.

I should also give a shout out to the hubs who has begun his own weight loss challenge. He lost EIGHT pounds his first week! He has really scaled back his calorie intake. Plus, he's a guy....I've said this before - all he has to do is think about losing weight and it happens. Hoping he has a great week 2 since it is tougher. :)

Photoshop

I've been learning new Photoshop skillz by surfing the web lately. I have so many pictures of Andy and I want to make them look semi-pro. I was very excited when a blog I frequent - Becoming Mom - decided to make a tutorial for her readers on tips for bringing the best out of your photos. After watching the first video I was able to do the following -

Before:

After:
Pretty good for my first try, right? I was even using crappy Photoshop Elements. I know this picture could be better, but I'm happy for now. Can't wait to learn more! Check out Becoming Mom.


Oh Oh Oh wait! One more just for fun.

Before:

After:


Yay!


***Disclaimer: All photography credits belong to my assome brother.

Scale-it-down

Here are the Facts for my first weigh-in post. I will officially post this on Fridays since that's when I have been weighing in. Although I think I'm gonna change my weigh-in to Sunday. Hmmm....so maybe I won't post again till Sunday. Here we go!

Total gained? 15lbs pregnancy + 15lbs miscarriage = 30lbs

Total lost so far? 13lbs [lost 20lbs 2mth postpartum & then gained some back :-\]

How much more to go? 17lbs for pre-p weight + 10 more = 27lbs

This week's successes? [weighing in on Sunday]

Ba humbug

Why can't I make time to blog? I really don't have an answer for that. I seem to have time...I just don't seem to want to blog. Not sure why if it was my favorite thing to do. And I have tons I could be talking/typing about. Sad. It's been 37 days since my last post. THIRTY SEVEN!!!! I guess having a baby really does change your priorities....I just didn't think not blogging would be up there.

So to kick start things I'll do one of my random thoughts posts:

- 1st time I have every felt so proud/emotional/hopeful about a new President. I think seeing so many Americans feel this way too and come together makes my feeling even stronger. How can you not be hopeful?

- I feel super excited to think of how much hope Obama brings for us [Latino's] and all American citizens from immigrant parents. How much more real is the idea of a Latino President or an Asian President. I get emotional thinking about Andy having just as much a chance of becoming President some day....because he will.

- Politics aside....I am trying to get healthy this year. Pregnancy throws a serious curve ball at your body and I am slowly learning that it'll never be the same again. It will take some serious hard work on my end to get back to a comfortable size. I am prepared for the challenge.

- I have begun training for the Mt. Wilson Trail Run. You guys thought I wouldn't didn't you? Sure I barely survived week 1 of training, but that alone makes me want to push harder. I must say it is insanely hard to train when all I want to do is spend every free moment with Andy. Week 1 was truly hard on that front. I saw Andy for a total of 4 hours that entire week and felt like the worst mom/wife in the world. This week has been way better. I am making it work!

- I will be posting here any weight changes and/or inches lost. I want to go public so that I can stick to it. Next post will be for that.

- Andy is growing big and strong. He'll be 6 months this coming Tuesday and it boggles my mind to think he is halfway done with his 1st year.


Enough! I'll save some for tomorrow! [promise/pinky swear]

Gee Family

Garcia Family
Originally uploaded by 2xistrob

Here's a preview of our 2009 Holiday card [Just the picture...I designed a layout for it]! Could you be one of the few lucky recipients? Maybe!

Thank you Rob for the last minute photo session. I can't believe Andy smiled in 95% of the pictures. He loves you!

YouTube Non Tuesday [cause I'll forget by then]

I missed SNL last week and in case you did too -

Almost 1 month ago...

I wrote my last post! :-O I know...sorry.

I don't want to leave you all high and dry. I know there are still a *few* faithful readers that check in every day in hopes of a new post. Although I don't have the will-power to write a full post today, I will do one of those random listings of my life. I know those can be entertaining to.

So until I get motivated to write for reals....


- I love the cold weather! I wish it were colder ALL the time. I also want it to rain a lot more. Although I must admit that I cannot enjoy these things as much now that I have a baby to worry about. I now worry about him being cold or having to take him out in the rain.

- I really really want to go to Disneyland before January 4th. I Love this time of year there. Starting with Halloween. The Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion. LOVE IT. But I know...we won't make it there this year. I'm gonna save my nickles and dimes to buy a yearly pass when Andy is old enough to enjoy it.

- Speaking of Christmas, *hopefully* we'll go buy our tree tomorrow and do some decorating. Looking forward to it. Although I do get a little sad when I think about the empty space that will be underneath the tree. Not many gifts being bought this year.

- I wish I had the time, energy, and money to throw another holiday party this year. I love having people over.

- Heroes tonight. Which reminds me, there was a Storm Chasers marathon last night and they are ALL on my dvr! G wasn't too happy about that. Must make time to watch some.

- Just took a 15min break from writing this to sort thru my junk mail and shred it.

- I keep thinking that I want to play Blockles.

- Looking forward to breakfast next week with Diana.

- Also looking forward to Leslie's 4th Annual Christmas Tea gift exchange on the 20th. Haven't seen this girl in many many months. Have absolutely no clue what cool non-generic gift I will buy her. Been sucking real bad at gift giving lately.

- For some crazy reason I am beginning to look forward to training for Mt. Wilson Trail Run. We start in January. I know a lot of it has to do with the fact that Andy is 4 months and I haven't lost much weight. My clothes still don't fit right and it's pretty damn depressing. I'm also looking forward to signing up for pilates [next week] at the Arcadia Rec Center with an awesome instructor I had at 24hr Fitness a few years back. Classes Start in January! This should all get my weight loss efforts going again.

- Also depressing is not having very many shoes to wear. Especially now that it's getting cold and I really only have sandals that fit. Don't exactly have tons of money laying around to spend. Like my brother said, maybe I should make a trip to Payless and Ross. Sometimes you can find some cute cheap stuff. Maybe....I don't know.

- I have a problem. since I started this post I have refreshed Twitter 5 times! Why don't people update???



Ok enough. This is like my brain just threw up into this post. Let's save some for a rainy day.

Candid Barack Obama photos from Election night

20081104_Chicago_IL_ElectionNight1247
Originally uploaded by Barack Obama

Check out this cool stream on flickr for some candid pictures of the First Family on Election night. Click on the photo to go to the set. Obama's campaign photographer, David Katz, uploaded tons of photos.

"It's the end of the world as we know it..."

see Sarah Palin pictures

Election Day Recap

On Tuesday we had our mini-election day party. There were 4 of us [me, G, Rob, and Chris] +Andy. It was crazy and hectic. Being on the West Coast meant many states were already being called by the time I got off work.

But first things first, after dropping Andy off at my mom's I headed up the street to vote. I waited almost an hour, but it went by fast. Took me all 2 minutes to vote since I had my sample ballot filled out. I then decided I was already pretty late to work so I stopped at Starbucks for my free tall coffee and some tea since I was getting sick.

At lunch I went to my mom's so that she, my brother, and sister could go vote and I would watch the kids. They only waited 5 minutes! Before heading back to work I went down to the democratic headquarters [which was crazy busy] to buy more t-shirts. They were all sold out. But I was able to get Andy I tee to match my own. Later G told me that since the official one's were sold out he would get a bootleg one from some guy at the gas station. Here's our official Election Day family portrait!


Isn't Andy cute! This kid is all smiles these days.

I was so tired by this point. After work I rushed to the grocery store to buy supplies for our party...last minute, I know. I then rushed home to get dinner started. The menu wasn't patriotic, but the main dish is worth mentioning. I made sausage meatloaf cupcakes with creamy potato frosting. They were so good! My brother really wanted me to try this recipe after seeing it in my Rachel Ray Everyday Magazine [October 2008]. They were super easy to make and were enjoyed by all.

So the plan was to take weak jello shots every time a state was called - a red shot for the red states and blue for the blue states, but that didn't happen. First, we were all too tired and it was a work night. Second, G made the strongest jello shots ever! Great for a real party, but not for our purpose of taking many in a few hours. I also never got around to making my drink of the night - I Can See White Russians From My House. I bought all the supplies but was too tired and my throat was really hurting by the end of the night. I felt too sick to drink.

All in all we had a good time flipping between CNN, NBC and ABC news. I got chills and a little teary when CNN called it for Obama. I just knew he had to win. I had an overwhelming feeling of confidence in Obama a week ago. That's when I knew he was meant to be President. Call me crazy...but I told G and my sister. They are my witnesses.

So here we are. A new time, a new beginning for our great country. Soon, Barack Obama will take office. The man that was able to inspire hope in billions of people throughout the world.

Yes We Can

I Voted!

RIP Maternity Leave

Today is my first official day back at work. I planned to take it easy, and boy have I. I have done nothing but surf the web all morning. I missed the internets. I guess that's a plus to being back.

Leaving Andy with my mom this morning wasn't hard. I guess because it's my mom and not some strange daycare. I went at lunch and he was sleeping soundly on my brother's bed. He didn't wake up till I was about to leave. I do miss him though.
I miss hanging out with him all day.
I miss my couch.
I miss my DVR.
I miss watching True Blood.
I miss reading.
I miss reading to Andy after his morning nap.
I miss my PJs.
I miss napping.
I missed Monday Mommy Movie today.
I miss walking to SB with Andy....wait....that only happened once. Still...I miss being able to if I wanted to.

Yeah...there's a lot to miss. But I like the internet to keep me busy.
I like talking to adults.
I like not talking about baby stuff.
I like not talking at all.
I like peeing when I want to.
I like getting dressed.
I like putting on makeup and combing my hair.
I like eating healthy.
I like eating...period.
I like being able to roll the windows down.
I like fresh air and not A/C.
I like being able to hear the radio.
I like being able to "run errands" without the extra load.

So its got its pro's and con's.

Since my CW Chris isn't here today [out with the flu] I plan to do no work. I haven't been caught up and don't want to mess with the money that someone else has been counting. This is good for you since it has given me time to blog. Praying that this becomes a daily thing.

Tonight we're hosting a pre-election night/SNL Bash party. Any excuse for a party really. I have a feeling that the only guests at this party will be me, Andy, and G. We'll see. I really wanted to have an Election party tomorrow. I love watching CNN and seeing all the states turn blue or red....but mostly blue. Totally lame...I know...but another excuse for a party. Plus, we suddenly have like 5 bottles of wine in our stash! A miracle! We never have more than half an opened bottle [Thanks Rob for the 2 bottles on my birthday. Another 2 came from our wine tasting night at the San Dimas Wine Shop with my friend A on Friday night. Totally cool place btw. The 5th bottle was purchased at Costco before any of the other 4 showed up.].

Don't forget to VOTE tomorrow people! No matter who you vote for, let your voice be heard!

I'll be going at lunch time. It's never busy at our polling place during that time. Might go in the morning. I'm also thinking of swinging by the democratic headquarters on Lake Ave to purchase us some OBAMA/BIDEN t-shirts for our parties that no one else is attending but us. Good times.

Feliz Dia De Los Muertos

I LOVE Dia de los Muertos. And have always wanted to go to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for their awesome celebration. Again, this year I did not attend. It was last night and G was working till late. Maybe this will go on my 101 in 1001 list [That list will be explained in a later post].

Today is a day to remember our loved one's that have passed on. So take a moment to reflect, remember, and honor those close to you that our no longer with us in body.





[the beautiful image was borrowed from here]

Hello Lover

Baby did good! Details to come...