Say Yes to the Dress

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this!  Two weeks ago, my mom, dad and I headed out to our first bridal store!  To say I was excited would be a complete understatement!  I was soo ready to try on dresses and get one step closer to finding "the dress".  My consultant Maurice was amazing and so very brutally honest, which is exactly what I needed.  The first thing he asked me was what I was looking for and to be honest I didn't really know what I was looking for, but I definitely knew what I was NOT looking for.  No ballgown, no strapless, and no corset back.  Other than that I was pretty much game for anything. The only thing I was sure of was that I wanted it to be fitted (umm I've worked hard for my body and I wanna show it off!). 

So he brought me several dresses to try on.  Let me tell you, this was amazing fun!  I LOVED trying on all the different dresses and imagining myself walking down the aisle to marry my best friend.  Now, I am not an emotional person usually so I kinda figured that I wouldn't be brought to tears when I finally found the right dress so I was interested to see how I would react.  In total, I think I tried on almost 20 gowns but in the end I kept going back to #5.  When I put it on, I didn't wanna take it off.  I wanted to dance, I wanted to walk around in it and I wanted to take it home right then and there.  That's how I knew.  And when I looked at my dad, he was doing that thing that men do, you know clearing the throat, walking around nervously and not really saying much.  I guess that that could only mean he was getting choked up... awwww =)

So that was it... One store, 20 gowns and I found the dress.  I was sure this was gonna be a very looooong drawn out event but I guess when you find the right one, you just know.  So for all you out there dying to know which gown I chose, I'm going to do something very taboo...  I am going to post a picture of my dress here =) Enjoy!

Isn't it PERFECT!

Wordless Wednesday

Disneyland Half Marathon 2010

This past Sunday I did something I never thought I would do... I ran 13.1 miles.  In one day.  All at one time.  Yes, that's right I ran a half marathon!  Amanda and I had signed up for this marathon months ago and to be honest, when race day came along, I wasn't feeling 100% ready.  The furthest I had run in my training was 9 miles and I think I would have felt so much better if I had just gotten to 10 or 11.  But ready or not, here it came and I woke up on Sunday (at 2:45 am!) to drive to Anaheim and be ready to race at 6am.  On only 3 hours of sleep I was definitely nervous.  But my adrenaline was pumping and I was ready to go.  For me, this race was all about me.  I wasn't trying to compete with anyone, I only had 2 goals: Finish the race, and to run the whole thing... no walking.  And I succeeded!  I ran for 2 hours and 35 minutes straight, through Disneyland and Angels stadium and when I crossed the finish line I has almost emotional with pride.  I couldn't believe that I had actually done it.  The girl who used to weigh nearly 200 lbs was now running 13 miles and feeling pretty darn good too.  Amanda and I both finished the run and we both ran the entire time.  I was so incredibly proud of us and even thought I said this would probably be my first and only half marathon, I think I may have to just try it again!  Amanda and I have decided to make this one a yearly tradition!

Amanda and Daylin on the day we picked up our BIB #'s

Our ginormous medals!

There were a ton of photographers taking pictures all along the course so I really cannot wait to see what I look like after running for over 2 hours =/ but as soon as those are posted, I'll make sure to post them here =)

Things I love about Luis

In case you haven't noticed, I really love my fiance.  After almost 6 years together he still gives me butterflies in my tummy.  Hes just that awesome.  Granted, there are sometimes when he gets on my last nerve, and when those times come along, I just try to remember all the things that I love about him.  Here are just a few that I will share with you:

1. He hates when I buy him anything.
2. He will hug me/kiss me/tell him he loves me regardless of where we are or who is listening
3. He repeatedly tells my parents how much he loves me.
4. He repeatedly tells me how much he loves my parents and brothers.
5.When its cloudy and rainy outside, he will always tell me "its Mami Lupita weather".
6. Anytime we pass a baby he will always look and comment on how cute it is.
7. He doesn't snore and his feet don't smell.
8. Anytime I ask him anything, he always responds with "Yes/No my love".
9. He loved me at 190 lbs and he loves me at 135 lbs.
10. Every time I paint my nails he always picks out the color, and he knows all the names of the OPI polishes.


So there you go.. a little insight to why I want to spend the rest of my life with this man... I think I may have to make this a monthly topic =)

Wordless Wednesday

My dearest friend does this every week and I decided to follow her lead.

I think it's pretty self explanitory =)

Engagement Pictures

Last week, Luis and I took our engagement pictures with Aurora from Studio Eternity Photography.  She often shoots at the UCR Botanical Gardens and after seeing some of the pictures, I knew thats where we had to go.  Lush and green, it was the perfect backdrop for what I envisioned.  She took A TON of pictures but for now, here is a sneak peek =)

Love them <3

A little recap, and a promise

So Hi there... yes its me and I'm BAAAAACK! Life has been a little busy and crazy but oh so fun so here is a recap of the last month or so (omg its been that long???)

August started out on a great note.  Luis and I attended a fundraising event for Homeboy Industries a nonprofit organization that gives former gang members a second chance.  Started by Father Greg Boyle, these former "homeboys" can get their tattoos removed, recieve job training and a safe place to go to if they ever need advice.  Father Greg Boyle is hands down the best speaker I have ever had the pleasure of hearing in person.  I am so grateful for people like Father Boyle for helping those who society has deamed unfixable.

In August, we also added to our little family.  No, I'm not preggo, but we did adopt an adorable little kitten named Teddy.  There is no cooler cat ever, seriously, ever... He is amazingly funny and quirky and we just love him =)

Ok, now on to the fun stuff! We (meaning my mother and I) have finally decided on all the paper for the wedding.  Invites, programs and escort cards are done! Well not DONE but done in my mind, they are being ordered and we can start getting all those designed and assembled.  Luis and I also took engagement pictures last week with Aurora from Studio Eternity Photography who was just awesome! We shot them at the UCR Botanical Gardens which was so pretty and it was like taking pictures at 5 different places.  I seriously cannot wait to get them back!

I also have an appointment to start trying on wedding gowns! I am crazy/insane/batty/insanely/cockoo excited about this! I do have somewhat of an idea of what I am looking for, but I look forward to trying on lots of different gowns!  I do know for a fact that I DO NOT want a gown like this:

Thats right, no ballgown for me please!  I've worked hard for my new body and I'm ready to really show it off!


Lastly, after spending way too long in school I graduated and realized it was at the absolutely worst time ever.  The economy sucks, and no one is hiring... no one except Oak Grove, a residential treatment center and school in Murrieta.  I got hired on call (they don't hire new employees full time so I've gotta work my way up from the bottom) and my first day was on Friday.  I freakin' love it.  I finally feel like this is what I am suppose to be doing, I enjoy work and I am excited about working again.  What better job is their than just helping kids and making them get better??? I'm so excited about this new chapter in my life and am looking forward to finally feeling fullfilled.

So there is a recap of the last month or so in the life of Sara... and my promise is to keep you all (all my 3 readers) updated much more frequently =)

Caoi

Just an Update

Today was a milestone in my weight loss journey.  I have reached my lowest weight in 7 years and I weigh less than my drivers license weight (you girls all know that number is never actually accurate lol).  I have a much longer, detailed post coming complete with before and after pictures but I just had to toot my own horn here and celebrate!

A few checks off my list

"After my fight" is a phrase I hear ALL the time, especially when it comes to anything wedding related.  Every time I bring up anything about the wedding, whether its the guest list, the catering or tuxedos, Luis' response is always the same... "after my fight".  Usually I wait just a few weeks too long and then sure enough, Luis is already training for another fight so again I hear "after my fight".

UGH!  

So this time, I smartened up and asked told Luis that today we were going to get a few things crossed off our wedding list, before he could go back to the gym, back to training or decide to fight again.  And to my shock he said yes without even so much as a sigh or a rolling of the eyes! SCORE!  So I thought it would be a good time to decide on the tuxedos and go pick out wedding bands.

Now Luis is definitely the "just tell me when to be there" kind of groom and while I am a little bit of a control freak, I really want Luis to at least have a say in what he was going to wear on our wedding day.  But of course, I did this in the classic women way, but making him think he was picking out what he liked which actually ended up being exactly what I wanted.  Yup.  I'll admit it, I'm that kinda girl, but hey, he was happy and I was happy so no harm done right? And these boys are gonna look super hot in their tuxes!  You can all thank me in about 11 months.

Finally, we headed to the mall to pick out wedding bands.  Now this was definitely something that was 100% up to Luis because he will be wearing this band for-ev-er and I want him to love it.  This time, without any womanly coercion, he picked out a super awesome wedding band.  Grey, and thick and manly... perfect!

Luis and I then picked out a beautiful diamond wedding band to go with my engagement ring.

So we've made some good progress on our my to-do list. Still much more to do, but I think I can handle the rest of it on my own =)

Luis Fights Again!

This past Sunday, Luis had his 5th Pro MMA fight at Soboba Casino and he won by Unanimous Decision! YAY!!! His opponent was a tough guy (who also weighed in 5 lbs overweight and was WAY bigger than Luis on fight day) but Luis used leg kicks and take downs to win the fight.  Here are a few pics of the fight, we have a ton more coming too!

Love this one!

♥So proud of you babe ♥

Eclipse

Tonight is THE night.  At 12:01 am I will be (along with hundreds, possibly thousands of other teens/women) sitting in the movie theater waiting to see The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on opening night!  I can't even explain to you how excited I am.  I have had my ticket purchased for 2 months, I have requested the days off from work and I even will be sporting my Cullen shirt (even thought I haven't officially picked a team yet).  Now, before you start getting all Judgy-wudgy on me, just remember that someday you will have an unhealthy fetish for bad fiction and tween heart throbs and I promise you I will be there to support you.  This is mine.  Why you ask? I have no idea but I love the books (I've read them at least 6 or 7 times each) and I watch the movies at least monthly.  There is just something about it that entertains me, and tonight will be no exception! 

There is nothing like a day off

Something about a day off during the week is so amazing.  No place to go, no alarm clock, nothing to do at all except whatever I want!  The house is quiet, the weather is cool and perfect and I'm sitting here naked as a jaybird, after my 12 mile bike ride, just chillin'... pretty awesome day =)  I've got plans to meet up with my friend Silvia for Starbucks (after I get dressed of course) and catching up on the last 6 weeks that shes back in Belgium visiting her family.  There is one thing that I suppose I HAVE to do, but it's definitely something that I WANT to do too... I'm gonna officially drop my deposit off for my reception venue for my wedding! YAY!  And then after that? Who knows... But I can guess its gonna be a pretty great day!

Wow, it's been that long?

I just realized its been about 3 weeks since I've blogged!  Time to catch up on some things that have happened since then:
- It has been 9 weeks since I've had any soda at all!
- I've lost 10 lbs in the last 3 weeks
- I've booked my church and reception area for our wedding
- Picked out DIY wedding invites
- I've also met with a florist who I just love!
- I have 2 weeks left in school!!!
- Watched Sex and the City 2 with Cassie, Heather and Victoria and had a great night =)
- May have changed my mind (AGAIN!) about our honeymoon haha
- Luis has another fight in 2 weeks

I will definitely be posting more regarding some upcoming wedding details as I check things off my list =)

Manzanillo, here we come!

After having severe honeymoon ADD, Luis and I have finally decided where we will be honeymooning after our June 2011 wedding.  We definitely wanted to go someplace tropical, but June is pretty much the worst time for most places because of hurricanes, and nothing kills romance like a category 3 hurricane!  So we will be heading to Manzanillo, Mexico.  Located on the Pacific Ocean, June is absolutely the best time to be there!  With day tempuratures in the mid 80's, beautiful waterfalls, snorkeling and relaxation, I can't imagine a more beautiful place to spend the first few days of my life as Mrs. Iniguez.  Here are a few pics of this beautiful resort town:

My medal

Running my first triathlon in April completely changed my life.  I found something I was really passionate about and something I actually enjoyed doing as much as possible.  Just completing the triathlon was amazing but I was really looking forward to having a medal to commemorate my first tri.  Except, when I finished and went to get my medal I was told they ran out.  SUPER BUMMER! I was still on an endorphine high from completing my tri but was pretty bummed I didn't get a medal.  Apparently, a ton of people had signed up the day of the event and they didn't have enough.  My awesome cousin Dom even offered to give me his but I couldn't accept it, it was his first too! I figured I'd just have great memories of completing it.  

Until I told one of my customers who works for the Temecula Rotary which put on the Triathlon that I didn't get a medal.  Next thing I know, she was on the phone with Terry, the man who helped put the whole thing together.  Not one week later, she tells me that Terry was going to come and drop off my medal to me personally.  I was beyond shocked!  He felt so bad that it was my first tri and that I didn't have something to take home with me.  He actually came to my work, put my medal on me and congratulated me on finishing himself!  He was so awesome and gracious! And now I have my first (of hopefully many) medals!

30 Days Sober

Thats right people you heard it.  I'm an addict.  A Coca-Cola Addict.  I drink ENTIRELY way to much, sometimes multiple times a day and not just a glass here or a sip there, I'm talking about a Super Sized cup refilled at least one more time in one meal!.  Yes, it was that bad.  Just so we know what we are working with here, a large 32 ounce Coke from McDonalds (who FYI has the best Coke EVER!) comes in at nearly 400 calories!  That is equivalent to a healthy sized lunch.  So no matter how healthy I eat, throw in one Coke a day and that can pretty much double a meal calorie wise .  Not to mention what it does to your insides and your teeth.  So a week before my triathlon last month I decided that I wasn't going to drink any Coke to prepare for my Tri.  Then I didn't have any the next week, or the next.  And today I hit 30 days.  It has been 30 days since I have had even a sip of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero or any other carbonated variation.  Just water and Minute-Maid light Lemonade for me.  Sometimes I miss it, but most of the time I'm just happy that I am one step closer to being healthier.

Sometimes its not about how far you run

The last few days I have been in a running funk. I can't seem to get myself going and I think I may have increased my milage a little too much in one week because I was sore after my nearly 6 mile run on saturday. Today Amanda and I tried to run our usual 3+ mile course but after a mile or so we just weren't feelin' it. A combination of poor meal choices on both our parts and just plain old tiredness contributed to us walking most of our "run". But you know what? It was really great. It was a beautiful evening, the brisk walking was a great way to losen up our legs and we got to catch up on a little conversation, which we never get enough of. So even though I didn't get nearly as many miles in as I wanted to, I realized its not always about how far we run, but about the fun we have doing it.

Ms. Green Thumb? Hopefully!

I started a garden.  I have no idea what I am doing and I've never grown anything in my life, but I figured I'd give it a shot.  I planted tomatoes, grape tomatoes, Serrano chilies and jalapeños along with some mint and rosemary in little pots until I can treat my soil in my actual garden to put them in the ground.  My friend Cassie started her garden a few months ago and it really got me thinking about how much better this could be.  Cheaper (hopefully as long as I don't kill anything) and totally organic.  If this goes well I'm hoping to plant some lettuce, squash, cucumbers, cilantro, raspberries and blueberries.  Here's a little sneak preview of my mini-garden so far.

Temecula Challenge Triathlon

I did it.  On Sunday I completed my first (of many I hope) triathlons!  I can't even explain how much fun and how accomplished I felt afterwards!  Out of about 350 triathletes, I came in 261st and I was 12th in my age division.  Not bad for my first one I think!  This specific Triathlon was a reverse one so we started with the run, then the bike and finished with the swim.  I got a personal best time on my run which I was really excited about, since running is not my strongest event.  I told myself I would be happy if I did the 3.1 miles in 30 minutes and I ended up doing it in 26:36! I was so excited! The bike was a little tough, considering it was 17 miles but I did pretty well.  I lost some times there compared to the other girls in my age groups so I know what I have to work on.  The last leg, was the swim which I kicked butt on!  I was the third fastest swimmer in my age group!  I completed the triathlon in 1:36:55.  Here are a few pics from Sunday.... I can't wait to do it again!

The start of the run

Finishing up the bike portion

The swim

My friend Jackie with her medal for placing in our age division! She did awesome!

The best part was that my cousin Dominic and I did our first Tri together and we ran the 5k portion with our cousin Mo.  It doesn't get much better than that =)

So Excited!!!

I've been a little MIA lately especially when it comes to blogging about my triathlon training but it has been going pretty well.  My running is getting better and I have been biking about 10-20 miles a week.  The only thing that has been hindering my riding is that I was riding my dad's mountain bike that was a little too big for me.  Getting off of it was awkward and riding for a long time was painful on my booty and lady parts =D.  Anyways, I was starting to dread my triathlon, especially riding the bike for so long and was actually starting to panic.  But then, my dad came to the rescue!  He texted me telling me that he found a great bike for me on Craigslist, for a GREAT price and we needed to go see it... NOW... because it was going to go quickly!  So we met up with the seller and I fell in love!  The bike was incredibly comfortable and I bought it right there and then!  Here she is:

Another added bonus was the girl selling it was about my age, a pretty experienced rider and was looking for some girls to ride with!  I love riding with people more experienced than me because they make me push myself.  I took the bike for a little spin this evening and I'm totally excited now!  I'm taking her out for her maiden voyage tomorrow morning and I've got 10 days before Tri-time! Can't wait!!!