Wedding Perfection

I am not trying to brag, but our wedding was perfect; at least for my standard. Everything went smoothly and the day was just flawless. All of the hard work and intense planning paid off.

Daniel and I got married July 7th 2012 in the San Diego Temple. We are both from San Diego and the temple is very close to both of our houses.  We got sealed at 1 PM and our reception was from 7-10 PM that night. There were about 400-500 in attendance and we did a good job at making the rounds. There were about 80 people who came from out of town and the amount of love and support shown to us that day was incredible.  We had 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen in our wedding party.  They were so helpful making sure everything got set up correctly and that everything was done in time on the day of. They helped me hold my dress and fix my hair as the day went on.  After our temple sealing, we went with the photographer and took pictures around La Jolla, (where I'm from) at the beaches. We then went to our reception where we talked with people, at cake, threw the bouquet, did the creepy guarder thing, and danced our booty's off. It was seriously the most amazing thing ever! The reception started when it was light out and progressed to a gorgeous and romantic candle lit night.  We had black silver and accents of sea-foam green so the whole wedding looked pretty elegant and classy. (I am biased) My parents did not want to do dancing at the wedding because they thought Mormon weddings with dancing always end up being awkward and lame.  What Daniel and I explained to my parents was that if the couple loves dancing, and all of our friends love dancing, PEOPLE WILL DANCE.  My dad told me after the wedding that he had to suck up his pride and admit that everyone danced and it was the most fun wedding he had ever seen. Little kids, teenagers, college students, parents, and even grandparents were out on the dance floor! It brought the whole group of people together and we got to dance with all of our favorite people! It was better than we could have ever imagined! I got so into the dancing that I ripped the side of my dress a little bit! Whoops?

By 10 we were not ready to leave but my parents said we had to get going so the D.J. and caterers and everyone could start packing up.  I went and changed into my getaway dress and the remaining wedding guests grabbed sparklers and lined the exit.  Once we were ready, we held hands and ran through the crowd! It was so fun and exactly what I pictured.

We drove to an amazing resort hotel about 20 minutes away and stayed there for our first night.  The next morning we went out for an amazing breakfast and then headed to my parents house.  They had taken all of the wedding gifts there after the reception and once we arrived we got to open all of our gifts.  Daniel's parents drove down that morning so they could be with us to open the gifts as well.  We took a little nap and then got our honeymoon bags together and went to the airport.  We flew out to TURKS AND CAICOS that night and my next post will be a tiny more about that!

The pics are in TOTALLY RANDOM ORDER!

These are all temple/reception pics:

I am so lucky to have been able to marry my favorite person on this earth.  We are so goofy and ridiculous together and we have the best time together no matter what we are doing. I love him with all of my heart and I am so grateful I get to be with him forever!

Priorities

So far this blog screams !OBSESSED WITH HER DOG!... But to be honest, I love my husband a whole lot more than our puppy, even if she is ADORABLE.

I wanted to back track, to our engagement story! I am sad I have not really written in a journal since I met Daniel but I guess that is because I have been too busy being in love with him! I am going to write our engagement story here so I always am able to look back on it. I wrote this on January 16th 2012 which was the day after our engagement.

So my fiance's name is Daniel Jacinto. He is also from San Diego and we had never met until the end of summer 2011. We had only been dating since September 25th 2011 but I understand the saying, “when you know, you know.” We are very in love and very happy together and about a month ago we started looking at rings. I figured out the style and look I really like and about two weeks later we sent pictures of the ring style I like to a jeweler in San Diego because he is a family friend of Daniel. The jeweler said that he has a store back east that had the perfect ring and told Daniel he would alert him once the ring came in. This last weekend, we had a three day weekend so on Wednesday of last week we decided to fly back home to San Diego. Thursday we went to classes and flew home that night. We had an amazing few days doing things like going to an amazing concert with my brothers and sisters, our families got together and went to dinner, I got to hear one of my best friends give his farewell talk, and we ate some amazing Mexican food for every meal. We truly were having an amazing trip. On Sunday after church, the plan was that I was to go to Daniel's house to hang out with him and we were going to spend the evening there with his whole family to celebrate his older brothers birthday. I drove up there and Daniel was getting ready so I was helping his mom make dinner. We were just chatting and when Daniel came down his parents suggested that we go down to the beach and watch the sunset. Little did I know he had arranged all of this with his parents and he said he wanted to stay and help with dinner but they insisted we go and that they could handle it. As we were making the 5 min drive down to the beach, Daniel told me he had talked to the jeweler and that the diamond had come in. He then said the band was on its way so it should be arriving within the next week. I was really excited to hear the progress and didn't think for a second that he was not telling the truth. We got to the beach and walked down to the sand. I played with some birds and then we kept walking down the beach. It started getting a little misty and we felt a few drops and I suggested we go back but he said he wanted to keep going. We got to these rocks and I wanted to climb to the top but he said he wanted to just sit right there. We sat and talked for a few minutes about how pretty the sunset looked, and what a fun trip we were having. He started shifting and getting kind of nervous and I had no idea why because we had just talked about how the ring was not ready yet so I did not think there was ANY way he could be proposing. He sat on the rock and held me and started saying really sweet things. I was flattered and kept thinking, man this would be my ideal proposal spot, too bad the ring isn't here yet because now we have to get engaged up at school. Then he got off the rock and moved so he was standing looking at me telling me how much he loved me and reached for his pocket. I though, no way... there is no way he is about to propose, I know he doesn't have the ring, ah I wish he were going to but I know there is no way. I was just so confused because it seemed so perfect and ideal and what was he doing if he wasn't proposing? Then he pulled out the box and got down on one knee in the sand. He asked if I would marry him and be with him forever and of course I yelled YES and he stood up and hugged me. I couldn't take my hand off my mouth because I was so excited and shocked. I then asked if I could put the ring on because it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was beyond perfect and it was all mine. We took pictures and hugged and then headed back to show everyone. It was the best day of my life up to this point and I will never forget it.

After looking back now at this story, it truly was an amazing memory. Our wedding day was of course an even better day because we were able to be sealed for time and all eternity in the San Diego Temple. There will never be something as amazing as that experience. I will post about that later because that will need to be a separate post. I will post some of my favorite pre engaged pictures and then some of our engagement. I am not going to write about the times when we were just dating, although that too was an amazing time in my life. Amazing enough to know I wanted to be with him forever! haha

Our First Picture Together 

NUGGET IS HERE

So after a very long process, Nugget finally arrived last week.  My mom flew to Oklahoma because as I mentioned, we had searched for months for the perfect puppy and she inconveniently was in Oklahoma.  My mom fly's for Southwest Airlines so she offered to fly out to pick up Nugget so we did not have to pay the 300 dollar shipping fee.  She made the flight out to Tulsa without any problems. When she went to rent a car... the problems started.  She did not have her credit card because it got stuck in an ATM machine and she was waiting for the new one to arrive.  She took my card to rent the car and that did not work out so well. They would not let her use it because it was not her name on the card. Long story short... she was stuck for a few hours trying to devise a plan.  She was supposed to drive two hours to the meeting point where the breeder would be with Nugget. He is on a basketball team and had a game later that night and he did not have too much of a time gap.  I was here in Utah stressing out because I was not there with my mom. I was trying to think of options and eventually we came up with a plan. My mom had one of the southwest employees rent her a car and she payed them directly.  (Luckily Southwest employees are very nice to each other all over the country because they have a little bond!) My mom started driving to the meet up spot and ended up getting very lost.  She couldn't figure out the maps on her phone so for an hour, I was trying to verbally direct her from the general area she was explaining that she was at. Once she finally got back on the right road... the time was running out. The breeder was not thrilled that he had been waiting for a few hours but luckily he waited to leave for his game until my mom got there.  FINALLY I got a call from her saying they made the exchange and she was on her way back to the airport. The only problem now was that she was going to miss the last flight out for the night. She went back and returned the car and the same southwest employee booked a hotel for her and drove her there. (Southwest is the BOMB!) She sent me many pictures and videos as I anxiously awaited the arrival of my puppy. She caught the flight back the next morning and got to Salt Lake mid day. I had SHAYNE CLARKE'S class at 5 and couldn't risk missing it so Daniel had to go to the airport to pick Nugget up from my mom. My mom wanted to hand off Nugget and jump on a plane home to San Diego because she had work the next morning.  Daniel went and got Nugget, and my mom flew home. (SHE IS AMAZING ISN'T SHE?!) My mom would do anything for us kids! I am so lucky!

After MCOM ended, I ran out the door and down the stairs because Daniel came to pick me up with little Nugget! It was so amazing to finally hold the little pup and see her in person. She is tiny and even WAY cuter than I could have ever imagined! Daniel and I love her so much!

A special thanks to my mom for making this all possible. We love our new little addition!

First time holding Nugget right after running out of class!

She is such a cuddle puppy! My jacket is her favorite spot!

Potty training is a little difficult for this little girl, but she is improving every day!

She loves her little Pet Apartment! Her bed is so cozy! She doesn't even ever cry at night! 

BYU Killed it tonight!!! SDSU OUT! It was awesome getting to be there with my WHOLE family!

The day of the PUPPY

Dogs. I have always loved them. From my first memory of a dog, I have been obsessed. Not the creepy cat lady type obsession, but still obsessed none the less. People who know me pretty well would maybe find it odd that I love dogs for two distinct reasons. 

1. When I was four years old, I was at my grandma's house playing with her dogs. She had two dogs: Checkers and Daisy.  Checkers was 'my' dog and Daisy was my older brother's dog. We were playing with the two mutts in the front yard and my grandma came outside to give us each a bone to feed to them.  I was hugging Checkers and I had a tight grip on her neck as I fed her the bone. She thought I was trying to take it from her, and she attacked my face. I got mauled. If you know me, and know what I look like, it explains that... Just kidding. I ended up being pretty lucky with the scaring on my face, but needless to say, many would hate dogs or at least be scared of them after this type of experience.  

2. I am a clean freak. You can ask Daniel; because it drives him a little crazy sometimes.  I hate when anything is out of place and I never leave anything out.  I like my clothes washed after each time I wear them and I always like smelling good.  Dogs often shed, drool, and do quite a few other things I'd rather not mention.  So once again you would think I would probably not like a dog in my house dirtying and messing up everything. 

Well, for some reason, I still love dogs.  I love when they cuddle with me, nuzzle me, and just act like I am the best thing they have ever had in their life. They love with such unconditional love and it is really nice to have a little buddy so you never have to be alone. I HATE being home alone because I get super freaked out and paranoid. I will save the stories about that for another post.  

The reason I am writing about dogs today is because today, DANIEL AND I ARE GETTING OUR PUPPY.  When we got engaged a year ago we decided we wanted a dog once we got married. Since the time we decided that, we have looked into every type of dog there is in order to find the breed that would best fit our living situation. Then, when we started to look for housing, we had to find a pet friendly apartment.  It took us eight months to finally decide on a breed and finalize housing plans that would allow a puppy. The breed we decided on is a Morkie, which is a Yorkie/Maltese mix.  They have less health problems than the purebreds and they are adorable! They do not shed, they are very lovable, and they stay small which is ideal for a small apartment. They do not even have to be walked which is very nice for busy college students.  We looked for months to find an affordable, yet adorable puppy. That seems easy enough but just as we thought we found the perfect puppy, we would read terrible reviews about the shady breeder, or the dog having behavior and health issues. When we found Nugget, her breeder didn't have a bad word about him on the internet! Hopefully everything works out with her because to us, she seems perfect. 

I could go on and on and although many people think we are crazy to get a puppy at this time in our lives, we will be home all but about 3 hours each day and we are willing to make a few sacrifices to have a puppy! Daniel and I are best friends and we are just excited to have a little buddy while the other is at school/work because our schedules conflict all day! Anyway, I can't wait to hold little nugget in my arms for the first time! SO exciting! 

Until later

-Christie

Meet Nugget! You will see pics of us with her soon!