(latest wedding update/ details from fiance)

Hi, babe. I just wanted to let you know that I called about the marraige license and the tux. We don't need an appointment to get the marraige license. The lady said that Monday and Friday are the busiest days, but it shouldn't take longer than 15-30 minutes. I'm telling Michelle that I need to leave at 2 or 2:30 pm on Nov. 7th, so I can pick you up and drive downtown to get our license. I could probably wait until 3pm, but I don't want to take the chance of there being a long line and us not being able to get it that day. I'm not sure what they have planned for the little celebration or party they want to have for us, but I'll let you know the details as soon as I know them. It'll probably just be for about an hour or so someplace near work, like Four Green Fields or the Dubliner (both Irish pubs), or some other bar/restaurant.

I called about the tuxedos and everyone has been fitted. I also got our group number so I can look at what we ordered online. They had the wrong vest color in the system, so I asked the guy to change it for me. I'll be picking up my Dad's, both of my brothers' and my tuxes at Citrus Park and your Dad's, Allister's and Corky's will be at the Clearwater store. I'll call again about a week before the wedding to verify everything is correct because the website doesn't show pickup locations.

At lunch, I went to Alessi's to pay the deposit. It was like $71, so the balance due on Nov. 18th will be around $214. Maybe, we'll go there on Sat. Nov. 15th to buy the cake topper and pay the balance. I think we should look around Tampa for other places that might have toppers because the ones there are pretty expensive. The nice one that you were talking about is $45, but I think they have another nice one for $30 or $35. I heard that Party City has a wedding section and I think there is a $5 off coupon in the paper, so maybe we can go there one night later this week to see what they might have.

Well, that's about it. Hope you are having a good day. I'll see you in a few hours.

Love,
Jimmy

from start to finish, the day had its moments.

[from past weekend: our saturday with current pix of us included in entry]


Sandals Voucher for Jamaica + upcoming Honeymoon

Jimmy got the voucher in the mail saturday as he finished paying the final balance for the trip, I think, a few pix to document this :D







Saturday before leaving apt and at University Mall:





University Mall Courtyard- This is us sitting at a table, after a visit to candy shop to check out Davant Sweets-










Starbuck's Break







Jimmy hated this picture as I took it when he wasn't expecting it and he looked annoyed. He always gets testy when we are at the mall and he is in a hurry to finish things while I'd like to enjoy my time there since we hardly ever go and I see no reason for being so crabby. Its the weekend and we rarely go out, I was trying to have fun!





I got this coffee cup at starbuck's because it was not that expensive and I had admired it the previous time we were there and really wanted it since it was so pretty. I rarely drink coffee but drink green tea, chai tea, or cocoa on occasion during the colder months so I thought it would be perfect.

Plus Ive never had my own personal coffee cup so I thought it would be nice for those rare occasions. I really loved the floral print and colors especially paired with the lovely pale aqua blue inside the inner rim of cup and mixed in with red floral print- that is what I was drawn to. I am a very visually stimulated person.

Btw I had my usual at starbuck's - a grande iced caramel macchiato [spelling?] with extra caramel. they put a little too much caramel and i couldn't get the drink to come out of the straw. of course because i am a klutz, i accidentally spilled coffee on my jeans and the rest of shopping trip, all I could smell was coffee lingering from my body. That annoyed me, I don't like that smell of coffee if you spill it all over something on you.

Luckily i was able to wipe it up good and we did all of our laundry last nite [we did it in the middle of the nite so we ended up being up pretty late, watched SNL in between loads and waiting for everything to be done. by the time we went to bed we were exhausted. i fell asleep right away]

Tux Fitting at Men's Wearhouse for Jimmy

I was sitting in the back of the dressing room while the young alteration girl had my Jimmy try on his tux for our wedding. I'd have taken a picture of them but then that would have embarrassed him, so instead while he was busy in the fitting room and the salesgirl went in the back, I took a quickie picture of myself sitting there in front of the 3-way mirror to capture the moment and memory plus I was mesmerized by the way the mirror reflected so many angles .

Not to sound vain or anything, but I admired my own outfit, while passing time. This mirror made me look better than the one at home and it looked like I definitely lost weight so that made me feel happy as the past year or two Ive felt pretty down about my heaviness. I was wearing some black skinny jeans which I got last year and couldn't even wear because a few months ago, they wouldn't have even fit.

If I sound obsessed over my weight, its because I've felt stuck in a rut for 2 yrs now and it makes me happy to be able to wear clothes that were too small not long ago. It also motivates me to keep myself in check so that I don't gain that weight back. I haven't felt very positive about myself in a long time and it feels good that I can feel this way now but I'm still hesitant, because I'm afraid that if I feel truly happy, I will end up back in that rut again, heavy.

It's blurry but somehow I still like it. I think I might actually look thin and if it seems like I am stuck on that. If I seem fixated on this and surprised, it is because I never thought I'd feel good about myself again and it just seems like some kind of miracle. I did still weigh 101 pounds when I last checked. I was around 107 over a month ago.

I still would like to lose some more weight but I am satisfied with the weight I am right now, if that isn't possible. I feel much better with myself at 101 than 107. Before I actually would have times where I'd get very sad over it and feel so awful inside over it. Depressed.and Hopeless.

These pix serve as a reminder to myself to keep striving to eat healthier and take better care of myself. I am going to try my best.

After alterations, we stopped at michael's arts and crafts for some wedding favors geared towards candy, the tins to hold them and then had dinner at Chili's before heading home. He watched his game he was anxious over missing of course and I spent some time organizing, cleaning and writing.

I took this picture on our way home while in the car. This is where we live near. We live in a college town. It was very overcast much of the day although both yesterday and today felt like fall was in the air and looked brighter than this at different parts of the day and felt quite breezy with right amount of sun/warmth.

That made me pretty happy, the feeling of fall, although you cannot tell by the looks of it.

Florida doesn't really show 'seasonal change' like other states do, it is tropical after all. :)

Saturday evening we spent doing laundry and watching the latest Saturday Night Live episode which had the most hilarious rap by Amy Poehler with other members of cast.

I loved the eskimos rapping alongside Amy and the cheesy portrayal of todd palin in snowsuit with that funny looking shaped goatee. fucking hilarious. LOL

We loved it so much we rewinded and watched it a second time and are keeping it to record to a vhs tape hehe

Here's the clip that appeared on a fox show. they tend to be slanted in their beliefs there and are known to be very conservative right wing but it was the only clip I could find of the actual rap skit. I didn't really listen to what the hosts of that show said on this video as i just fast forwarded to make sure the SNL rap skit was covered in it! For those interested and who love a good laugh, take a peek :D

they no longer allow embedding so here is the link which allows u to play the SNL snippet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ya39slPgs

PS sarah palin is annoying. they rave about how great palin was and how she knows how to have fun. i still think palin is tacky and do not agree with their thoughts at all. i think she looked like she was 'pretending' to be hip but she is so far from that, its not even funny.

for once, postal service was quite good.

passport arrived in my mail box this weekend!

three things-

1. that was fast and it looks really cool, they've changed it to a really nice design,updated, accdg to Jimmy. His is not like mine.

2. I did not get my original passport returned to me from when I took a trip to philippines as a teenager which was very sentimental to me and upsets me that I lost it. I didnt even scan or take a pic of it for memories sake. I am a little upset about it. I think maybe it might be because my original passport had my maiden name, this one has my married name as i never changed my last name after divorcing. [i've been divorced for approx 5 yrs now]

3. it was the best piece of mail i got this weekend and quite a surprise!

have a looksie :)

AFTERNOTE: Turns out, I did get my OLD passport returned to me yesterday in the mail, days after I got the new one. HUGE sigh of relief!!!! :D

p.s. been waiting for this since last season ended.

looking forward to sunday fall season premiere of this, see below!!!

'Desperate Housewives' recap: Fast forward We find out what the ladies of Wisteria Lane have been up to for the last five years in the season opener

exotic locales, my origins + our sandals honeymoon.

http://www.sandals.com/main/whitehouse/wh-highlight1.cfm

Honeymoon French Deluxe Beachfront Patio Room $2232.50

Original Price: $3,910.00

Book today and save $1,677.50

Our package we chose plus price we were charged - we did get a special deal that Sandals happened to offer recently and the resort we've chosen is all inclusive which means 7 gourmet restaurants, unlimited food, unlimited bar and alcohol, ride to airport to and from hotel, hotel rooms, and plane tix. the only thing we'd even have to pay for is any souvenirs we buy, tips to airport drivers + if we decided to have an adventure or outing outside of the resort such as outdoor excursions [sightseeing] OR a driver in town etc. more than likely we won't be doing much of that as we've been warned against exploring too much outside of resort since it's a very poor island and not safe to do.

so anyway, we have booked our honeymoon, whitehouse resort in Jamaica - outside of montego bay [about an hour away] with sandals all inclusive pkg in a european styled resort with a patio beachfront first floor honeymoon suite.

I have to apply for a passport this weekend [last time i had a passport was when i was 16, in 1988, when my mom took my brothers and i to visit HER homeland- the philippines. long story short, my mom studied as an intern and then became RN via school program in Philippines as exchange student in Chicago, IL, USA months later met my dad, who was white, an irish catholic - american. they dated and quickly engaged in order to not lose each other, i think. they of course married within six mos and my mom got her greencard. she's been an american citizen since before i was born and that was 1971 so i'm very americanized altho recognize my culture and mixed ethnicity to a great degree. because i was raised 'white', it has made it harder for me to feel i fit in any place totally. i never fit in with full filipinos because i was never perceived as looking even remotely asian or pacific islander and even white people couldn't believe i was not white and was mixed. i kind of grew up feeling separated and divided and longing/yearning to fit in and belong somewhere. although, i feel i had numerous issues that made me feel isolated growing up. ]

sadly, that passport has LONG since expired and i am due for a new one. i am all torn up that i have to turn in my past passport of my 16 yr old self due to sentimental nostalgic reasons that i traveled to my mom's country very far away back in 88 and was there for 6 wks. it was one of the most monumental and memorable experiences in my life and in my teenaged coming-of-age years. though the country was very poor and didn't have the luxuries or amenities we take for granted in USA [and it was about a million times more humid and hot than it is here in FL] - it was a great cultural experience. btw, i left as brown as can be by the end of the trip LOL

so anyway that above was a good memory, and i'd have liked to keep the passport book marked with philippines in it and as part of my souvenir from that time, but apparently when you sign up for a new passport to replace an expired one, you have to turn the old one in. i'd like to find out if its possible to just lie and say i lost it or forgot it but worry the extra fee for not turning it in and exchanging for new passport MAY be excessive and unaffordable- moneywise.

anyone out there know?

we need to find out IF we need vaccinations by a dr before traveling to the carribean or if it's required to travel by law although I think Jimmy told me last nite he was told they aren't required by law but I wonder if they are at the very least recommended.

I have never been to the Carribean in my life and neither has he. So it's a bit anxiety provoking but its also very exciting especially when you take a look at the website and link I included at top which shows you the beautiful resort we've chosen, the beaches, island, the sands, the luxury and romance of it all.

I've never done anything like this and never had a real honeymoon during my first marriage becos in all honesty my ex was too poor and made minimum wage, had no credit, had bad credit/bankruptcy etc.

Exotic trips or trips out of the country were not even an option when i was with him and was out of our league so this is something i am not entirely accustomed to, in any romantic relationship inc. marriage.

I look forward to my first real honeymoon and truly hope it will be a specical memorable romantic time with minimal fighting as sometimes we clash with different personalities and natures, I think. It is a five day trip all in all. I think it wll be good for the two of us and want to make it positively memorable for both of us so I'm going to try to be on my best behavior despite my crazy manic mood swings LOL :D

Here is a copy of our travel agents detailed email in regard to the honeymoon pkg we signed up for lastmonth and fully booked our trip and flight with her by making the minimum deposit already.
+++
email from travel agent:

Hey Jimmy and April,

It was great to meet you both yesterday. Please know I am here if you need anything!

Here is the break down of what we discussed last night:

Sandals Whitehouse in the Honeymoon French Deluxe Beach Front Pation Room $2232.50 for the travel dates of December 1- December 6, 2008.

See the airfare choices below. The one I quoted you is the cheapest, however has the worst layovers. So I am sending you 3 different choices. This does not mean this is all there is, I just did not wish to send you too many. When you are ready to book your airfare, I will do further research to make sure you are getting the best price on the flights you choose.

Honeymoon French Deluxe Beachfront Patio Room $2232.50

Original Price: $3,910.00

Book today and save $1,677.50

Description:

Large beachfront room with a patio and views of the beach and or pool. Located on the first floor in the French Village.

Room View:Beach and or pool

Here are some air schedules:

$691.38 for 2:

AA #1773	Dec 01, 2008 06:00AM - 07:00AM	Depart: Tampa/St.Petersburg (TPA) Arrive: Miami International (MIA)
AA #469	Dec 01, 2008 09:40AM - 11:10AM	Depart: Miami International (MIA) Arrive: Montego Bay (MBJ)
R E T U R N I N G
AA #1812	Dec 06, 2008 03:50PM - 05:30PM	Depart: Montego Bay (MBJ) Arrive: Miami International (MIA)
AA #1831	Dec 06, 2008 10:55PM - 11:55PM	Depart: Miami International (MIA) Arrive: Tampa/St.Petersburg (TPA)

Click here: Sandals Whitehouse European Village & Spa - All Inclusive Vacation