Pinches Chaquistes

Having tons of bugbites on your feet when you’re too ticklish to properly scratch them is the worst feeling in the world.

Didn’t get much sleep last night.

(Life is sooooo haaaaaard!)

Luckily I brought Vitacilina with me to work today, which has been a lifesaver. If you don’t know what Vitacilina is… you have never watched a Mexican morning show.

 

**Positive note: Itchy-scratchiness is from pesky chaquiste bites while enjoying my best friend’s awesome beach wedding… so maybe I’m whining too much. Will hopefully post photos later this week. 🙂

Our One Year Anniversary

Today is our one year wedding anniversary. We’ll be celebrating with a romantic dinner tonight! (I have no idea where, as it’s a surprise)

I’ve finally decided to catch up to technology and insert a slide show of our wedding day. Love you, Jorge!

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Yet Another Mexican Wedding

A close friend of mine recently started a wedding coordinating business. Last weekend, she had her first wedding and asked Jorge and I if we would help out as part of her staff.

I spent half of the reception seating guests at their assigned tables as they arrived. Let me tell you, some people do NOT know who they are. (Once gentleman told me he was the father of the bride. After 5 minutes going through the list with him, it turns out he was actually her grandfather and had a completely different last name than what he had originally told me.) Other than a few minor last name setbacks, things went very smoothly with the seating.

I also got to practice my nighttime photography, which I’ve mentioned before is VERY hard for me. I loved the centerpieces, but couldn’t get a good shot. This is the best I could do:

Jorge was in charge of the candy table. Mexican candy is very, very different from American candy. They prefer things to be a mixture of salty, spicy and sweet, and they often cover them in chile powder or chamoy. The candy table even featured a chamoy fountain (as opposed to a chocolate fountain), which was used to drizzle over cucumber slices, jicama, carrots and homemade chicharron (fried pork rinds). It was a huge hit with the guests!

Overall, it was a fun and successful event, even though it didn’t end until 5 am!

Just Thursday

It’s Just Thursday again! If you want to play along, just click on the icon and link up with Murdock’s Mama.

Outside my window.. sunny, with lots of light cloud coverage. Since we had our daylight savings time change last Sunday, we’ve been able to see beautiful sunsets from my work desk window in the afternoons. I’ll be sure to share some photos as soon as I recharge my camera battery haha

The time is..9:36

Today I feel..happy because one of my best friends/coworkers just came back from a 2-week vacation.

I am thinking..that my eyes are really itchy. Stupid allergies.

At the moment, I am thankful..for our professional wedding photos! Just got them Monday night 🙂 Here’s a little preview…

I am going.. to work really hard this month to make money for Christmas.

I am wearing..my work uniform.

I wish.. I had curtains in my living room. I feel bad for the neighbors who have to stair into my empty living room every time they walk by.

I am reading.. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

I am working on.. more revisions and translations at work… boring.

I am hoping.. to keep losing weight!! (although I guess I won’t really know until I get a scale… but do I really want to obsess over pounds? I dunno.)

I am hearing.. office chit chat.

I bet you didn’t know.. that I saw the women’s US soccer team play a game in Cancun last Saturday! Not a lot of people there, so we got to sit front and center for only 50 pesos 🙂

One of my favorite.. drinks is hot chocolate!

Weekend Plans.. as usual, I have no idea until the weekend is already upon me haha. Tonight I’m getting together for drinks with 2 other expats, though! Excited 🙂

 

My Mexican Wedding Reception Part 2

Ceremony photos are here, and Reception part 1 photos are here. Enjoy!

Noelle teaching Daddy to take a tequila shot. He drank half of it, then said, "WHAT? You're supposed to drink the whole thing?"

My friend Fumiko 🙂 Loooove the kimono!

Jorge with his hands on my legs

Salsa dancing with Grandpa 🙂

My best friend Zareth flew in from Toluca for the wedding!! We usually don't like to stand next to eachother because she feels really short and I feel like a giant... in this picture, she's wearing heels and I'm wearing flats, to give you an idea haha

Cousin Naivi teaching flower girl Mirle to dance 🙂

Mexican tradition... Bride and Groom stand on chairs with a veil between them. All the single girls form a line and dance around the room, always going under the veil when they pass by. This is followed by throwing the bouquet.

Sister Sarah caught the bouquet!

Another Mexican tradition... the single men form a line while the groom pours tequila down their throats. Gotta love Mexico!

And my fave picture…

Me ringing the hacienda's bells with my sister Noelle 🙂

Mexican Wedding Reception Part 1

 Here they are finally! Pics of our wedding reception at Hacienda Teya in Merida.

**Check here for pics from the ceremony!**

I can't tell you enough how much I LOVE LOVE LOVED this cake!

Me and my cousins!

first dance 🙂

First dance with my parents

First dance with Jorge's parents

Mariachi band!!

Crowning moment of the evening... Grandma and Grandpa belting Cielito Lindo with my Mexican college buddies. Mariachi music brings everyone together 🙂

Me with my sisters... oreo!

I got this far until WordPress stopped letting me upload pictures again… more to come… eventually! haha

Jorge and Laura’s Wedding Ceremony, Hacienda Teya

*Note: These are all pictures taken by various guests/family members. Within a few weeks, I hope to have the official ones from the photographer! Sorry if these are a bit limited.*

Last Thursday, everyone in my family took the 3-hour trip from Cancun to the beautiful city of Merida for our wedding.

The first thing we did once we got to Hacienda Teya was the rehearsal. My awesome sisters had made me a bouquet for the rehearsal out of bows and ribbons from the gifts we got at the bridal shower.

We spent the rest of the day getting hair and makeup done, while eating some Burger King. I was pretty calm the entire day, and the stylists were telling me I was the calmest bride they’ve ever seen. I guess I just knew everything was taken care of, and I was mostly just excited to see everybody at the reception.

My family got to the hacienda around 5:30 and spent some time taking pictures.

ME! about 20 minutes before the wedding.

My Uncle John did the ceremony, with the help of a friend who translated. Everything went very smoothly. Two bridesmaids read from 1 Corinthians 13 (everybody does it, I know, but I just love that chapter!) My sister Sarah read in English, and my friend Damayanti read in Spanish.

My sister Noelle and my dad performed one of my all-time favorite songs, Rock of Ages. It was beautiful!! (I cried… not gonna lie) I hope the photographer has pictures.

During the vows, Jorge began to cry and couldn’t continue on for about 30 seconds. He was embarrassed about it, but everyone thought it was so sweet (including me). I later found out that when Jorge started crying, all my uncles/cousins/guy friends in the crowd also started to shed some tears. Awesome 🙂

We threw in some Mexican traditions, including the arras (exchange of 13 golden coins to represent how we share financial responsibilities), and the lasso (a Catholic tradition when a cord with a cross on it is placed around the bride and groom’s necks, symbolizing their union in Christ). I hope the photographer got pictures of that, too!

Before the ceremony, I was nervous it wouldn’t turn out well because of all the translations, plus the mix of traditions we were using, but I have to say it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I’ve ever seen, thanks mostly to my Uncle John. He did a great job of having everything so organized, so profound, yet so simple. I know, I know, maybe I’m just bragging, but SERIOUSLY! It really was a perfect ceremony. A few minor glitches here and there, but mostly those little things make for great stories later.

The groomsmen

Cousin Aubrie with the cute little hand fans we handed out to the ladies... very useful to cool off and to dry tears, so I hear.

Jorge's dad taking my mom to her seat... I still keep hearing about how gorgeous my mom looked at the wedding 🙂

My bridesmaids: I love these girls 🙂

Jorge's cousins as flowergirls (dresses made by Jorge's grandmother)

Daddy and me

 

Me trying not to step on my dress as I sunk into the carpet/grass

 

Bubbles!!

My favorite part of the entire thing was the setting. As Jorge and I listened to my Uncle John preach, we had a great view of a beautiful bamboo forest behind him. Not to mention the lush plants growing all around the garden walls. If you notice, we really didn’t have many flowers or decorations for the ceremony because, quite frankly, the space is perfect just as-is.