Which will it be...???

Who knew it would be so difficult to decide on a First Dance Song. Since the soon to be hubby and I don't have a song together, we basically could chose any song. Naturally, we wanted the lyrics of the song to fit us as well.
Finally! After search high and low, we narrowed it down to the following songs:

• You and Me by Lifehouse (acoustic version)
• Follow Through by Gavin DeGraw (song is a bit fast, but hoping to find an acoustic version of it)
  

"You and Me" has been favorite of mine, since I first heard it on the radio. And just recently, I stumbled upon the Gavin DeGraw song, and absolutely fell in love with it. Lyrically both songs speaks to us, which makes the decision even harder.

Excerpts from my song choices:

Follow Through
Oh, this is the start of something good
Don't you agree?
I haven't felt like this in so many moons
You know what I mean?
And we can build through this destruction
As we are standing on our feet
So, since you want to be with me
You'll have to follow through
With every word you say

And I , all I really want is you
You to stick around
I;ll see you everyday
But you have to follow through
You have to follow through
...

You and Me

What day is it? And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time

Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you
...

Waiting on the World to change...

The World has changed. America has changed. Change has come. Today Barrack Obama is/was sworn in as our 44th President. I was fortunate enough to watch the swearing in on TV. It was quite amazing to see and hear his fantastic Inauguration Speech.

"...On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

The entire speech can be found here.

Ceremony Readings

My two readings I chose for the wedding. What do you guys think? Simply adore this poem by Pablo Neruda.

Love Sonnet XVII
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off. I you as certain dark things are to be loved in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers; thanks
to your love a certain solid fragrance, risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or why, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without
complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way.

than this: where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

My second reading come from the Bible. It's commonly used for weddings, but still love it nonetheless.

1 Corinthian 13:1-13
I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I have nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patients, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keep no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. but where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues they will be stilled, where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned lie a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Most likely I will just use excerpts of the poem and the bible passage. Have not quite decided just yet.

Slowly but surely...

I'm crossing things off the To-Do-List. Yippie!! Getting up early definitely has it's benefits. While I don't think I'll make a habit of getting up early on weekends. Love, love, love sleeping in!! However, I was able to accomplish a lot today. These are the items I purchased:

Waterford Toasting Flutes

Vera Wang "With Love" Cake Knife & Server Set

In addition to those items, I bought my unity candle set. Sorry no pictures. I still have to pictures of them, and can't find them online. Oh, almost forgot I also bought one of the gifts for one of my Bridal party. Woohoo! Slowly but surely... =)

Commit to be Fit

"In running it doesn't matter if you come first, in the middle of the pack, or last.

You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

~ Fred Lewbow, NYC-Marathon, co-founder

One of my goals in life is to complete/run a full marathon. And wanting to get in shape and look fabulous on my Wedding Day - this was the perfect time to join a running group, instead of procrastinating, coming up with excuses why I have pursued this goal. Well, I'm not a runner. Growing up I always despised running. Yes, it is weird that I've always wanted to run a marathon, yet do not like to run. What can I say I'm full of paradoxes. Anyway, but now I actually ran out of excuses to procrastinate. Therefore, in October 2008 I joined a running group with these goals in my: Look fabulous on my Big Day and slowly morphing myself into a runner.
Naturally, I had to start in the beginners group, where we trained for a 5K. I can proudly say I completed two 5k runs within two weeks from each other. Not to mention, that I was able to improve my time tremendously from my first run. I improved my running time by 12min, which is a fantastic, considering I had just joined a running group and my first run was only two week prior.
Well, I'm still running. Yet, I don't despise it as much as use. Currently, I'm training for a 10k. However to prep myself for the 10k, I decided to run the Brea 8k in February. With that in mind our running group has been running 13 miles a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we (the running group) run 4 miles, and on Saturdays we run 5 miles. That's a huge increase from what I was previously running. Unfortunately though, both of my ankles have noticed the increase and they've been hurting a lot more. Hopefully with some orthopedic soles and taping up the ankles , will lessen the pain. Since we will be increasing our runs to 5 and 6 miles, in a few weeks.

Also, it's been awhile, since I posted updayed stats of my body. To see the improvements, I've made, I posted my measurements pre-running days.

August 2008:

• Bust: 33.''
• Waist: 27.5''
• Hips: 36''
• Weight: 117.5 Ibs (ugh, my heaviest I've ever been)

January 2009:

• Bust: 32.5''
  
• Waist: 27.3''
• Hips: 33''
• Weight: 116 Ibs
  

All in all, I'm quite happy with my stats, except for losing inches around my bust. Seriously?!?! My bust wasn't one of my problem areas. Ugh! As I've stated before, it's not as if my bust is well endowed. Oh well, thankfully nothing a good bra can't fix. I've lost a few inches around the waist area, not as much as I hoped for. Thinking positive though, hopefully in a few months my waist size will drop to 26.5" - just means I have to step up my side crunches.However my hips showed the greatest improvement. I went from 36" to 33". Woohoo!!! On to my weight, it appears I haven't lost too much weight, but I doubt the scale I have is correct. The scale one day tells me I'm 16Ibs and the next day it say 119Ibs. All that running I've been doing coupled with weekly gym visit and eating smaller portions, the scale tells me I've gain weight. It can't be right!

Twigs & Honey

For my wedding day, I wanted to wear a Floral hair accessory. However I couldn't find anything I truly liked. But thanks to the lovely ladies on theknot L.A. board, I found Esty seller Twigs & Honey. Myra, the owner, creates these amazing custom hair pieces. I contacted her back in September and got lucky. Shortly after I contacted her, she wasn't accepting any new order until January 2009. I asked her to create a Bridal hair accessory from silk flowers and to add some swarovski crystals, so that it will match the beadings of my dress. ***drum roll*** please! Here's what she created for me.

I absolutely love it, and can't wait to wear it on the Big Day!

Invitation Wording

I wish I wasn't so indecisive when it came to choosing my invitation wording. Here are the options,I'm considering:

Option A:

Mr. & Mrs. Simply Sapphira parents
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sapphira
to
Sapphira's Fiance
son of Mr. & Mrs. Fiance parents
on May 9, 2009
at 5:30 pm
Dove Canyon Country Club
Dove Canyon, California

Option B:

Mr. & Mrs. Simply Sapphira parents
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sapphira
to
Sapphira's Fiance
on May 9, 2009
at 5:30 pm
Dove Canyon Country Club
Dove Canyon, California

Option C:

What great thing is there
for two human souls
than to feel that they are joined
to strengthen each other
to be one with each other
in silent unspeakable memories.
Mr. & Mrs. Simply Sapphira parents
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sapphira
to
Sapphira's Fiance
on May 9, 2009
at 5:30 pm
Dove Canyon Country Club
Dove Canyon, California

As of right now, my favorite is Options C. Option A & B are very similar. And honestly, I'm not too fond of the. I just included them in my choices, because fiance parents are a bit more traditional. What to do?? Any thoughts, just let me know.

Appointments and To Do List

Here's my updated list of all the upcoming appointments I have. I'm sure I'll be updating the list more frequently in the next few weeks.

• Jan. 24 - Scout out Location for Boudoir Photo shoot
• Feb. 13 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Rockwell's Bakery
  
• Feb. 14 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ All About the Cake
• Feb. 19 - 4:30pm Food Tasting @ Dove Canyon
  
• Feb. 22 - Running the Brea 8K
  
• Feb. 24 - 11 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Beverly's Best
  
• Feb. 28 - Boudoir Photo Shoot
• Mar. 25 - meeting with my Photographer
  
• Mar. 31 - 2pm Pre-Wedding meeting with my DOC
• Apr. 28 - 2pm Final Venue walk through with DOC
• May 8th - 3pm Rehearsal
• May 8th - Rehearsal Dinner, Location still unknown
• May 9th - The Big Day
  

My To Do List:

• Set up meeting with my officiant to go over the ceremony
• Scout and check out restaurants to hold rehearsal dinner, preferably a place near the venue
• Send in courtesy agreement back to the hotel
• Choose Invitation wording.
  

As with the above list, I'm sure the To Do List will grow as well.

We're 4 months away!

Wow! I have about 4 months until the big day. I'm slowly feeling the pressure of making sure I have everything completed and checked off. So last night, I sent out emails to most of my vendors to schedule follow appointments if necessary. Not to mention choosing readings, figuring out time schedules, looking into different restaurants for the Rehearsal Dinner, checking out and blocking off rooms at a hotel (still searching), squeezing in my gym time and running time, so that I will look FABULOUS on the Big Day. Basically I've been running around like a mad woman. ha ha!

• Jan. 14 - Follow-Up appt. with Florist before setting up Flower Trial
• Jan. 24 - Scout out Location for Boudoir Photo shoot
• Feb. 13 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Rockwell's Bakery
  
• Feb. 14 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ All About the Cake
• Feb. 22 - Running the Brea 8K
  
• Feb. 24 - 11 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Beverly's Best
  
• Feb. 28 - Boudoir Photo Shoot
• Mar. 25 - meeting with my Photographer
  
• Mar. 31 - 2pm Pre-Wedding meeting with my DOC
• Apr. 28 - 2pm Final Venue walk through with DOC
  

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Wow, I can't believe it's 2009 already! 2009 will be a good year! In 4 months I will be getting married. Woohoo!! With that said I also decided to get in the habit of blogging more and keep everyone in the loop with wedding related items, personal & professional life, photography and my goals for 2009. I decided not to do any New Years Resolution, but instead to set myself goals, I want to accomplish within this year. Here's a glimpse of the goals I have set so far for myself:

• Get married (05.09.09)
  
• Run a 10 K (inprogress)
  
• Find a better paying job (jobmarket sucks)
  
• Take a Photography class (still searching for an evening or wkd class)
  

I'm sure once the year progress I'll add to the list of goals. But for now I think this will keep me busy.