Thanksgiving surprises...

Back in October Chanel and I had decided that on December first we would do Rock, Paper, Scissors  to decide whose family we would go with for Christmas. But, he had gone to visit my family various times while we were engaged and I, on the other hand, had met his mom for the first time on the day of my graduation and had spent some time with them for those two days and then hadn't seen them again until the wedding when I was at his house for about 10 seconds before the chaos of the wedding schedule began. Not only that but Kevin was going to leave in the coming year for boot camp.

So,  I decided that for this year we needed to spend it with his family and for Thanksgiving we were planning to stay in Utah. I was looking forward to having our first Holiday as a newly weds and being in charge of my own turkey and doing our thing and having a little Thanksgiving get together with Dennis and Meg.

Early in the week my Dad called Chanel pretty much begging him to make the drive and come down or Thanksgiving. Chanel explained that we couldn't. We had work on Wednesday and Saturday and only had two days free. If we went we would have to take his car because it is brand new and has gap insurance where as my car is older and was a higher risk of leaving us stranded. However, his car is stick and since I can't drive stick he would have to make the 12-14 hour drive there and back by himself. My Dad pleaded some more but Chanel knew it was too dangerous and risky.

After the phone call, however, the idea popped in his head that maybe we wouldn't be able to drive down but we hadn't explored the possibility of flying. He checked the flights knowing it would be a long shot since it was the holidays, but miraculously the flights looked really good.

We didn't decide we were actually going until Tuesday night. I was reluctant to drop my Thanksgiving visions of spending the first holiday as a couple doing our own thing. But since I wan't going to be spending Christmas with them I figured I should go since I didn't know when the net opportunity would come up to see them.

Chanel got a free standby from his mom and a buddy pass for me.

Wednesday morning Chanel and I left work early and drove to the airport.

Our flight had a connection in Seattle. Around 6:00pm While we were waiting to board the plane to Fresno. My dad called me. He was still hopeful that we would be driving down. Indifferently I told him we were at the movies and that I would call him after. His voice choked up and asked, "so you're really not coming?" more as a last hopeful plead as it sunk in that we were not on our way.
I mustered all my strength to keep my cool. "No, sorry dad, we couldn't make it happen. I'm going to stay and have Thanksgiving with Dennis." "You're mom's been crying" he said and I could tell he was struggling to figure out how he would tell her the news. "Sorry, I really am, but can I call your later?"
"Ok. Call us after the movie."

It was cruel. I know. But I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

When we landed in Fresno, Valerie and David were there to pick us up. I had them park across the street and a house down and then Chanel and I sneaked up to the house and rang the door bell. Carmelo answered. "Hey!..." I put my finger to my lips shushing him. He smiled and let us in. I walked to the family room where my Mom and Dad were sitting with their backs to me watching what I assume was a novela.

I nudged my Mom's arm.

"Dianita!!!" She screamed after a loong gasp and moment of shock. Tears rolled down her face as she hugged me. My dad stood up alarmed, saw me and Chanel and was in shock for a couple minutes.

"It can't be, no, it can't be" he kept saying too shocked to believe we were really there, Home for Thanksgiving.

We got there Wednesday night and had to leave Friday morning, but it was worth it.

My mom's stuffing is the best and we left with stomachs full and crazy blackfriday stories to tell.

Chanel had his life threatened one moment and the next was hugged and kissed by a complete stranger.

We went to Walmart to keep Daniel company while he waited in line for a tv that was going to go on sale.

We showed up and cut in line where Daniel was. Daniel had already made friends with everyone around him. And when we showed up the lady in front greeted us with a friendly smile asking if I was his sister.

A little bit later, the walmart employees came to tell us that we needed to keep a straight line and be grouped by household because they couldn't tell who was with who and how many tvs they needed to count.

Suddenly this guy towards the back starts shouting, Points at Chanel and says "that guy has been cutting and blah blah blah...

Chanel smiles and calmly tells him that we are not even buying a tv and that we are just here with Daniel.

For some reason Chanel smiling seemed to anger him even more.
"Wipe that smirk off your face or I'll go over there and slap it off blah blah blah...

Then Daniel whose a security guard bellows out in a matter-of-fact way: "Um sir, that's illegal"


A fight is about to break out but, yes, Daniel indeed it is illegal. Would you like to tell us our rights as well?

The older lady that Daniel had made friends with in line had our backs and told the guy off and then the employees took care of him so no fight broke out but Chanel and I decided to leave the line anyway.

Who knew smiling on Thanksgiving could get you in so much trouble?

Chanel was upset after, disappointed in humanity that such behavior would be displayed on thanksgiving.

Bit a couple moments later as we were walking down an aisle a lady grabs Chanel to a halt and exclaims, "mijito! look how big you've gotten! it's been so long!" She huggs and kisses the life out of him and Chanel keeps smiling and hugs her back.



perplexed, i wondered who he knows that I didn't in my hometown.


As soon as she's behind us, I ask" do you know her?
no, do you?
no!

Chanel claimed she was sent by Heavenly Father to make up for the other person yelling at him

We'll never know who that lady was who restored Chanel's faith in humanity.

Overall it was great trip and its great to know that people miss you.

Sonora, Mexico

Last Friday, Chanel and I got up and started getting ready just like any other Friday morning, but... by then end of the day we found our selves sleeping in a car next to the Mexico Border. (By our own will).

We had a spontaneous moment (the kind that is rare these days) and decided to drive down to Phoenix, surprise his mom and drive down with them to Sonora, Mexico for his Aunt's huge birthday Party.

The party was big, the family was huge, the tacos were amazing, the pesos were plenty, and the trip was totally worth it.

I definitely bonded more with his family(i guess that's what happens when you're all stuck sleeping in the car) and it was so much fun stepping foot in Mexico after 14 years.

 

Who would've thought one year ago on Nov. 19th so many wonderful experiences would come to my life by me saying yes when Chanel asked me to be his Girlfriend. 

On another note, I am now working from home. Yay! My work uniform consist of fuzzy socks and a robe. I save on time and gas and I don't have to face the snowy months. 

November 7, 2014

We Bought a Keyboard! I love it...I feel like I've gained some part of me that was slipping away back. Now I just wish I had more time to play. I think Chanel uses it more than me.



And in case you can't tell from our makeshift costumes, we were ninja turtles for Halloween which was super fun and I'm so grateful for Dennis who gave us a reason to dress up instead of staying in with candy and a movie.

FALL IS HERE!

Summer went by way too quickly and I'm not looking forward to snow, but the good thing is that I still have a couple of weeks before the snow to enjoy one of my favorite seasons...FALL!

 Here's a couple reasons why I LOVE fall:

1. Scarves!  As my dear naive husband pointed out as soon as I took out the winter wardrobe..I have a lot of scarves...he is still learning

2.Pumpkin patches!!! Pumpkins that are too heavy to carry, pumpkins that fit in your palm, corn mazes with no rhyme or reason, that hay ride i wish we'd gone on but it was too late, mini haunted houses where you get scared by a little kid who pops out at you, petting zoos with a huge pig that Chanel refers to as bacon....

3. Food...soups (hello zupas), thanksgiving meals(who says that can only be in November?), pumpkin bread(even though I burned it watching the lego movie which I should have listened to Chanel and not have rented it in the first place b/c it was...well lets just say it wasn't the best movie I've picked)

Some may see Fall as a sad thing; The regret that summer passed in a fleeting moment and didn't care that you hadn't checked everything off your summer bucket list, the dread of the snow that's coming and knowing that it means slipping, scraping, and shoveling.

But you can't complain too much when you know it also means warm blankets, movies, and hot chocolate with your best friend

 

Its hard not to be in love with fall when the colorful leaves on the ground remind you of that crisp cold morning you held hands and went for a walk trying to find crunchy leaves to step on and the day he asked you to be his girlfriend 

....goodbye summer....

Doughnuts, Rolls, and... a Hair Cut?

We're falling into our schedules now. Chanel goes to school in the mornings and then has work. I blog, clean, and occasionally go to the gym in the mornings then go to work. Chanel works out and then does homework. I come home around 8:30pm And then we chill or do whatever we need to do before we go to bed at 10:30.

So nothing really exciting happens during the week. But on weekends, we have fun.

Two weekends ago we found out about crispy cream's Dress like a Pirate day where you get a free dozen doughnuts if you dress like a pirate. Thanks to Kayla, we managed to get outfits.
The place was EXTREMELY crowded and it was all fun and games... until I had an anxiety attack.

I'd NEVER had one before and I had no idea what was going on.
All of a sudden, I felt trapped, I couldn't breath, my fingers and hands went tingly and numb, and then just when I felt like I was gonna blackout... some lady grabs me and sits me down and tells me to put my head between my knees and breath.
The feeling passed and we still got our doughnuts, but thank Heavens for that lady!

A couple weekends ago we met Dennis' friends, Q and Rachel, during a game night we hosted.

They're cool, funny, and fit in right into our Hispanic humor.

Last weekend we were all invited over to learn how to make California Rolls by my talented Japanese Sister in Law, Meg.

They were delicious!!!

I've been thinking... I've lived her for about three going on four years now and it has not felt like home until now.

The difference is that I have family here now: My husband, brother, and sisters-in-law. I"m so grateful for them, more than they probably know.

Also, I came home from church this past Sunday and got the sudden urge to cut my hair...so I did. By myself. With Chanel's Scissors. Yup, that happened.

My Birthday Celebrations

Well, I am finally 21! My birthday celebrations began over the

three day labor day weekend when my parents surprised me that they were coming to visit. We had blast and they bought me new pots and pans!!!(who would've thought that would be a present that I would be excited about at 21) Anyway, we had a lot of fun showing them around, playing pictionary(or trying), and eating good food.

That Tuesday Chanel started school! I'm a widow now...he's always doing homework. He's such a good student. I wish I had been as diligent when I was in school.

On Saturday before my birthday, we went to Texas Roadhouse because they have my FAVORITE bread and I was craving ribs. Then we went to see the fault in our stars where I pretty much cried like a baby.

My birthday was on Sunday, so we just chillaxed all afternoon. Then I made a cake and we went for a walk in the evening. Then we made time capsules and wrote letters to our future selfs.

On Monday, we had Papa John's Pizza which is my favorite and we'd been planning forever to have with the excuse that it was my birthday week.

I'm not sure where life will take us, but I can say one thing:

I am such a lucky 21 year old.
I can't wait for all the years to come, because I have the most amazing person to spend them with.

A fun, fun, fun weekend...

Well this weekend was awesome! I've had to work the past weekends because of the job I had, So it was really nice getting a three day weekend. Key words: the job I had. After a couple interviews I ended having three job offers and my current job was begging to keep me. I really don't feel good about myself in sales though, even if I'm good at it. And I want to have Sundays off. My new job that I'll be starting today is mostly data entry, Mon-Thurs and Saturday at 13.00/hr. Only problem is that its in Lehi, so its a bit of a drive, but I also think that we've gotten used to everything being within walking distance. Most people back in CA would think its about an average distance.

Anyway, so I had a three day weekend and it was a good weekend to quite, because it was Keyla's graduation and Chanel's parents came to stay with us. We ate at a REALLY nice restaurant that Keyla works for and her connections hooked us up with free desserts! We played pictionary where Me and Chanel killed his parents and then in the boys vs girls round Chanel completely lost it laughing. We had a Carne Asada picnic and his mom taught me how to make some AMAZING salsa. We went to Park City, and then to SLC where we went up this mountain where Brigham Young said this was the place...or something like that, but it was a really cool view. We had some DELICIOUS tacos from a little stand and then we went to Sandra's fair a well/ Birthday. It was great.

On Sunday, after his family left we were kinda lazy all day(Chanel even took a nap). We went to go play piano(Chanel wants me to do a special musical number...we'll see about that...) and then later we went to go take pictures with Dennis and Meg at the Provo Temple. That was great because we didn't get to go to church in the morning. Afterwards, we had watermelon and played Pictionary against them.... And me and Chanel totally creamed them.

Just call us the Pictionary Champs.

Life so far

Well, Me and Chanel have finally settled in. Sort of. He's working two jobs at BYU and The Boys and Girls Club. I'm working at a call center for DirecTV. We both got new cars. Mine's a 2006 Ford Fusion. His is a 2014 Nissan Versa. We love Watching movies, going to the Nickel Arcade, playing board games with Dennis and Meg, and Keyla, and going to the gym(even though he goes more often than I do). We're both currently looking for new jobs since his have nothing to do with his major and mine is only temp. Life is good. We're getting there, although I'm not really sure where "there" is, but we have plenty of time and in the meantime we're having fun figuring it out.

We like to eat,,,

Our 4th of July Hike

 

 

I got to sing on stage with Alex Boye

For Chanel's birthday we had a Carne Asada at Bridal Veil Falls

In the end, I love him, and He loves me, and God loves us.
And I think that's a pretty good place to start.