Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

We had a rough couple of days last week. My mom was just in the hospital last Tuesday for the first of two reconstructive surgeries she'll have for her leaking implants that she got back in the mid 80's due to her battle with breast cancer. Fortuantely she's still in remission! But I feel so bad that she has to go through more pain even now almost 25 years later. Seeing people I love in pain kills me. When they hurt, I feel the hurt too. She made it through this initial procedure wonderfully and there were no complications during surgery. Unfortunately, she gets very sick from anesthesia so that was pretty brutal for her. Also a little brutal for me, I'm one of those people that gets sick if I hear other people getting sick, but surprisingly I managed just fine. I guess when it comes down to it, you just do what you have to do. John and I stayed with her overnight to be there to check on her and make sure she was OK. Everything went as well as expected except for the fact that it rained terribly and Mom has a doggy door and our family dog Shelby must have found a nice big mud puddle to play in because when we woke up mud was tracked throughout the entire house. I mean everywhere. She found every available piece of carpeting to walk on. So while keeping an eye on Mom we also worked on cleaning the carpets and then of course we had to give Shelby a bath as well. I'll admit to a couple of frustrated tears while scrubbing the floor. Dirty carpets apparently make me sad and angry.

So after an exhausting day of playing nurse and cleaning crew we excused ourselves to go home and shower and grab a bite to eat. The showers perked us up and then we went to eat at one of our favorite places, Gengis Grill. Mmmmm Mongolian stir fry. We had just been brought our food when John gets a call from his step dad. His mom had just gotten home from work and found their family dog Annie had died sometime during the day in her crate. The look on John's face broke my heart. We immediately got our check and raced over to his parent's house. His mom was outside sobbing. Seeing her and John cry broke my heart even more. We went inside to see Annie. She looked like she passed away in her sleep. No signs of being sick or any kind of physical distress. She wasn't even 2 years old yet. Even writing about this now makes me want to cry again. His step dad got home and we all got Annie ready to take to the animal hospital. Tests were requested to determine her mysterious cause of death. Sadly, it turned out to be a heart condition that no one knew about. So at the animal hospital we said our final good-byes to Annie. She was a chocolate lab/border collie mix and she was the happiest puppy dog ever. She will be missed so very much.

With our hearts dragging on the floor we finally got home around 9 o'clock. We stood in the kitchen in exhausted amazement of the past 48 hours. We looked at each other and thanked each other for being there and being so supportive to one another. I really don't know what I would do without John. His love and support is like a constant flow of oxygen to me. I don't have to ask for his help when I need it. He is just there already helping in his huge and quiet way. And I am there for him just as fully. I feel so blessed that this incredible man wants me to be his wife and wants to spend the rest of his life with me. Even when you have a really shitty day love makes everything better.

Glass Green Strawberry Passion

Sooooo we've made some progress! First of all we decided on our wedding package, its called Strawberry Passion. Oo la la. We ended up going with the slightly more expensive private beach dinner. I know, I know, but my mom brought up a good point when she said we should give all of our guests the nicest evening possible in order to show our appreciation for them coming all that way to be with us on the Big Day. When the lady's right, she's right. Also, we would have ended up spending about the same amount of money had we gone with the cheaper package. It was pretty bare bones and after we included the essentials (like a minister!) it ended up being roughly the same cost. So decision is made, check! Here are all of the lovely details included in our package:

- Premium wristband for bride and groom
- Decorated seaside wedding location
- Special Amenities and bottle of sparkling wine sent to the room
- Document arrangements
- Justice of the Peace or Non denominational Minister
- Marriage certificate
- Bridal Bouquet and Groom Boutonniere
- One Tabletop flower arrangement
- 50 minutes Massage for Bride & Groom
- Manicure & pedicure with strawberry essence for the bride
- Make-up and hair style with natural white orchid for the bride
- One-tiered Wedding Cake (for up to 10 people)
- 3 bottles of domestic champagne (for up to 30 people)
- Live Music during the Wedding Ceremony
- 3 Hours Private Served Dinner on the beach with exclusive waiters with set menu
- 3 Hours Open Bar during the reception
- Celebrate your Honeymoon with Champagne Breakfast in bed the next morning
- Late check out until 3:00pm (on request, subject to availability)
- Wedding Coordinator services
- Witnesses if required
- Guaranteed King-size bed.
- Bathrobes and slippers in your room.
- Special decoration in the room and rose petals on the bed
- Special gift courtesy of Barceló Maya Beach Resort

There will be a few more things we are going to add like a mariachi band, a hupa ,and obviously a photographer as well. They are pretty strict about not letting people bring in outside photographers and making you use the resort photographers instead. If you want to bring in your own photographer you have to pay for a couple nights stay for them at the hotel. What a rip off. I think you should, at most, buy a day pass for them. But whatev, we'll make do. I'll give very specific instructions to the resort photogs about what pics we want and then I'm sure our guests will be taking a ton of pics as well.  No worries.

I recently found this picture in a destination wedding magazine. It pretty much captures the essence of what I've been picturing. What the groom is wearing, the white flowers, the color of the bridesmaid dresses and even the gauze wrapped hupa (its exactly like what our resort offers yay)

Which brings me to my next thought, the bridesmaid dresses. When I saw the pic above I fell in love with that shade of green and immediately started an online investigation to find something similiar. Then voila I found a dress I really like by Alfred Angelo. I think the style of the dress is perfect for a beach wedding, its flowing, not clingy, a light chiffon fabric and the color is very beachy. Its called Glass Green but if I could rename it I would call it Sea Foam. Mmmm. Here it is:

                                              

Love it! But nothing is set in stone. I'll run it past the ladies and then check it out in person. For all I know this pretty green color could look like something pulled out of a sewer in person. I'm also open to the girls wearing different dresses but all in the same color. My main objectives are to make sure they feel pretty and above all else feel comfortable. I love these girls too much to make them suffer!

Editor's Note:  I wrote this late last night, a little worn out and tired, and I forgot to mention about the quality of the resort photographers. Some of you may have been wondering why all the fuss about bringing in an outside photographer and its because of the horrible reviews I've read about the resort's company Foto Carribean. Very old school 'posey' pics and I like a more photo journalistic style.  And that's just my picky reason. I've also read that they've shown up late to ceremonies and also lost a couple's pics! Yikes! But I have also read some good reviews, mostly from people who I feel are more laid back about the picture aspect and know that a few good shots are all you need to capture the memory of the day. While I don't want our pics lost or for them to show up late, I do think they should be good enough. I'm hoping the horror stories are just random experiences and not the norm. ps. Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! In the spirit of our Mexico wedding I shall be enjoying some margaritas later today on the beautiful patio of one of my oldest and dearest friends and his lovely, lovely wife. !Bueno!