CAST your vote!!!

with the success and safety of our little one...we (well, more like i) haha...decided on a whim to do a gender reveal party. i was searching ideas online, and since the date that we wanted it was so close to the election, we decided to have an "election" themed gender reveal party. i took the idea and replicated it with my own little touches. thank you to this website for the awesome idea. we can't wait to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl!!!! our ultrasound will be this upcoming thursday.

my CYSTer

so...i'm back to blogging seeing that i have a little time on my hands. i recently had surgery on october 9 to remove a dermoid cyst that they found in one of my ovaries...only complication, is that i'm also pregnant at the time. praise the Lord that both the baby & i are safe...thank you to my doctors and nurses that took such good care of me, and of course, to all the prayer warriors out there that continued to lift me up in prayer during the whole procedure. they found it the day of my first ultrasound. i had to get a secondary (more in depth) ultrasound two days later, and then an MRI. it was pretty crazy, my doctor still couldn't fathom how i didn't feel the cyst, seeing it was 10.5" in size..yes, that's inches...not cm, but i had no pain, and my periods were always regular. during the surgery, i was awake the whole time...they had to deflate it before they removed it, but my only option was to remove it for the safety of myself & the baby. now baby has lots of room to grow. i lost 6-7 lbs upon returning home from the hospital, post-surgery & recover. the pictures are a picture of what the cyst looks like...pretty gnarly!!! that's actually my left ovary and my fallopian tube!!!!! 

bachelorette party weekend

what a wonderful weekend i had with the girls....my sister did an AMAZING job with everything. everything i could've wanted to do, we did. thanks sister for listening. it was great.

first, went to check in residence marriott in downtown and decorated the room. then meeting the girls there where we walked to den's dragon for dinner. the rain started pouring, it was hilarious...i couldn't help but just laugh and smile knowing what a memorable weekend this was going to be, running in my heels...what could be better! haha. we dried off inside, had a round of blue dolphin shots courtesy of adam (hahaha...so great!) and then dinner. DELICIOUS!!! the waiter jonathan was cool...even had ice cream with a candle (too bad they don't have a bachelorette song....) and a drink of grape vodka, sweet & sour, and something else....

then back to the hotel... (praise GOD it stopped raining)...then just hung out @ the hotel. we played games...pin the bowtie on eli, toiler paper dress, what the bride wore, and 2 truths & a lie. it was great getting to know each other....and they each shared their fondest memory with me...i am so blessed with wonderful friends. then we talked till about 3 in the morning...

the next day...i woke up early and snuck out of the room to have continental breakfast, and talk to eli on his way to work. the continental breakfast was so yummy....i got time to reflect and some quality time with the Lord to reflect. ven & chelsea joined me later, then my sister. after, we checked out and headed back to my house to get ready for the winery. we drove up to temecula to wiens cellar for wine tasting. some girls went home, and the rest of us had dinner at choices buffet in pala casino.

what a wonderful night....now, going to spend a day with the family and getting massages with my sister, and watching "in time" later..a great end to a wonderful weekend.

wrapping & more wrapping...

now that the giveaways are stuffed...we have to wrap. it's my attention to detail that does me in, but i know they'll be worth it in the end. first, we had to cut wrapping paper....we have our two colors, silver & aqua blue, then cutting. we're still in the process, but currently taking a break from wrapping. it definitely gets tedious after a while. i think we have about 100 left to go..."just keep swimming, just keep swimming.."

giveaways...

time for giveaways now...my whole family including my dad and my sister's boyfriend, ryan, all worked together to stuff the giveaway into the boxes. with all the teamwork, it didn't take us too long to do it. maybe about 2 hours all together. a lot of components into making it, just like with the invitations. thanks to my mom and sister to putting the boxes together though. they've been working the whole week assembling 300 boxes for giveaways. what are the giveaways..i guess you'll just have to wait until the wedding to see. hehe.

flowers...

so it seems eli & i have most of our vendors picked and made deposits...the only thing left to confirm is flowers and the wedding cake. today i met with jocelyn, a friend of the family, to discuss flowers. it was so awesome getting to hear her opinion and also get to see the kids again...noah, hannah, micah, and eli (elijah). so hopefully it will all come together and that will be booked soon. it's coming together......

6 months and counting....

wow, it's hard to believe and eli & i have six months left until our wedding....whoa!!!! it's amazing. i'm sooooo excited and looking forward to our new life together as man & wife. no nervousness yet, but we'll see as we closer to the date. haha. our last premarital class was last night. had a blast not only talking about the last chapter of the book...soulmates...but we chatted about movies (scary movies), games, our wedding, and about dogs. still so much to do....but the class definitely allowed me to be able to communicate with eli better. :)

p.s. to alexis & michael, your wedding is tomorrow!!!! so exciting!!!! may the Lord continue bless you tonight, tomorrow, and forever.