Sing Off & X-Factor

I am loving this season! So many singing shows!!! Rob is hating it but me...wow you really can't peel me away from all this amazing talent out there!

Who knew that "Sing" by My Chemical Romance could sound this good a capella.

So what do you guys think?

But I am really thinking that Delilah is one of my favorite groups. After listening to them sing Grenande...Wow! I was blown away! The judges keep saying girl power...and seriously they are power houses!

So have I talked you into watching the Sing Off? I have been addicted to show since the first season. And I am excited they added more groups and it's now longer then one week. 

Now to X-Factor. I am truly enjoying this as well. I was blown away from a little kid. He was soo cute! And the song is a total hit! I could see it blown up radio. I love how he goes off on Simon at the beginning. The look on Simon's face.

I can't wait to see more! So who are you all rooting for? 

BTW I LOVE LOVE LOVED Vocal Points rendition of "Just The Way You Look Tonight". Wow wish I could find it online to post. 

Vacation Time July 2011

So I know I just moved to Brawley, California and I just started a new job and I decided to request some time off. It was only three days off but it was much needed. I needed some time away from the heat and some time to just sleep in and sight see in Los Angeles and pretend I had never been there before. :)


I guess I didn't realize how much I hadn't done before in Los Angeles. But lets back up to tuesday night when Robert and I drove into San Diego to pick up his friend Rui (one of his groomsmen) from the airport. This would be the first time I would be meeting Rui. I had only heard funny stories from Rob and the family so I really didn't know what to expect except that he's a Police Officer in the State of CT. So we are circling the airport waiting for Rui and Rob keeps asking me if I see him....hmmm...ummm Rob I don't know what he looks like. haha! Rob finally finds him and we check into the W Hotel in Downtown San Diego. It was beautiful inside. I totally forgot to snap pictures of the room until we were leaving and instead just got this:

It was such a gorgeous day in San Diego! I was sad that we were leaving to go to smoggy L.A..

I had to snap a photo of Rob driving. I love how concentrated he looks navigating through the streets of Downtown.


But before we could leave San Diego we made a quick stop at:

 I ordered a scrambled egg with ham and of course I had to be mexican and add avocado and jalapenos!

Rob and Rui got the Tractor Combo:

"This is Rob's Plate Near the End"

But I have never seen someone ever finish a Tractor combo. I mean EVER! I have seen the Travel Channel and Hash House Featured on it and the main guy trying to finish it. But good ole Rui out it down with little effort.



"Rui's before"

                                                                                      "And Rui's After"

Our Journey then continued onto Los Angeles, California...the City of Angels...Home of the Dodgers...Hollywood...a place with so much to do and eat with so little time!

We check into the Sheraton, Universal Studios...down the way from Universal City Walk. The last time I came to this area we ate at a Brazilian Restaurant. It's the same concept of Rodizzio's Grill in Utah or Rei de Gallo in San Diego. I couldn't wait to eat every kind of meat and chicken. Dinner time comes and off we go. 

"The boys enjoying the evening"

"And yes finally a picture of me too with the boys"

So enough about food and dinner. i made sure not to get photos of of stuffing our faces. :)

Part two will follow tomorrow! It will have all my Warner Bros Studio Pictures.

Stay Tuned!



September 11

September 11th, 2001...I was getting ready for class in Salt Lake City, Utah. My freshman year in college, when my roommate comes starts yelling for Melody and I to come watch the Today Show. She was yelling that something hit the World Train Center. I run upstairs and Katie Couric and Matt Lauer are talking about how some our speculating a small plane had hit it. They are on live feed when all of a sudden we see the second plane coming into the picture and hitting the second tower. There was nothing we could do but hold on to eachother and scream. I knew my mom would probably not be up so I call her frantic and crying tell her to turn on the TV.

After that day...Our world became a much different place.

This September 11th was very inspiring. I watched the memorial service and as the Brooklyns Childrens Choir sang the National Anthem.



All I could think about was "America is truly the home of the brave!" We lost many lives that day. Some didn't have a choice whether they would live or die...and many did have that choice! Flight 93 Fought back...All of the fire fighters and police officers tried to save as many lives and died trying to save as many as they could.

I watched Vice President Biden give a memorial speech and words of comfort to those heroes lost that day:

"That your loved ones, those who you lost, who we now call heroes, were already heroes. They were already heroes to you"

I hope, truly hope, they felt that way.

He went on to say these inspiring words:

"It was a declaration of war by stateless actors -- bent on changing our way of life -- who believed that these horrible acts of terror -- these horrible acts of terror directed against innocents could buckle our knees, could bend our will, could being to break us and break our resolve.

But they did not know us.  Instead, that same American instinct that sent all of you into the breach between the 4th and 5th corridors, galvanized an entire new generation of patriots —- the 9/11 Generation.

Many of them were just kids on that bright September morning.  But like their grandparents on December 7, 1941, they courageously bore the burden that history had placed on their shoulders.

And as they came of age, they showed up -- they showed up to fight for their country, and they're still showing up.  Two million, eight hundred thousand of that 9/11 Generation moved to join our military since the attacks on 9/11, to finish the war begun here that day.

And they joined -- they joined knowing that they were in all likelihood going to be deployed in harm’s way -— and in many cases deployed multiple, multiple times in Afghanistan and Iraq and other dangerous parts of the world.

Those of you, Admiral, who command this building turned this generation, this 9/11 Generation into the finest group of warriors the world has ever known.

And one more thing about this 9/11 generation of warriors -- never before in our history has America asked so much, over such a sustained period, of an all-volunteer force.  So I can say without fear of contradiction, or being accused of exaggeration, the 9/11 Generation ranks among the greatest our nation has ever produced.  And it was born -- it was born -- it was born right here on 9/11.

My prayer for you is that, 10 years later, when you think of them -- 10 years later when you think of them that it brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.

My mom used to say that courage lies in every man’s heart, and her expectation was that one day -- one day it would be summoned.  Well, here, on September 11, 2001, at exactly 9:37 a.m., it was summoned.  It was summoned from the hearts of the thousands of people who worked here to save hundreds.  It was summoned in the hearts of all those first responders who answered the call.  For courage lies deepest in and beats the loudest in the heart of Americans.  Don't forget it.  We will not forget them."

He is truly right on when he talks about the 9-11 volunteers...We have family, friends that we consider family who have stepped up to volunteer to keep us safe.

I want to personally thank the following men in my life currently serving this great nation:

• Hector Ruiz
• Joshua Linares
• Tim Matheson
• Seth Carter
• Jay Welihan

And thank you to their family who also make the sacrifice as well.

I saw the video below as a commercial...and absolutely loved it! I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I do!

 

I love how at the end....It's made by State Farm :)



Save the Date!

I am soooo happy our Save the Dates have been mailed. But here's the story behind the save the dates:

The day when I chose them was a crazy day. I probably made 20 million phone calls to Robert to help me make a final decision. Thank God for iPhones!!! I was able to text him pictures. 

Daydreams was amazing in giving me options. I had originally gone in to price out my invitations and I decided to take a look at the Save the Dates, since of course I needed to get those done ASAP. Everything online was super expensive and more than anything else it was just not what I was looking for. (Robert also didn't like the idea of having 2-4 photos of us on someones fridge.) So I explained what was wrong with the magnets I was finding online to the lady that was helping us and she said why don't you custom make them. HELLLOOOO why didn't I think of that. I do LOVE scrapbooking! So she gave me the pricing on them and I look at the price and said SOLD. It was less then half of what I had found online.

I walked out of there a happy bride to be!!! Thanks to my Mom, Aunt Rachel, Melody, and even little sister Audrey my save the dates were put together and mailed out.

There were little speed bumps along the way like running out of glue dots half way through and realizing Target and Walmart don't carry glue dots and Office Depot closes at 8pm on Saturday night.

I am just happy I was able to come home for a weekend and spend time with my family. Even got to have lunch at Seau's with my Mom, Audrey, Noah, and Alec.

This is my Save The Date as it hangs on my refrigerator. I couldn't wait to go home to place it on my refrigerator. Makes me happy to see it every morning and evening! Its officially now less than a year to go!

Sneak Peak - Engagement Photos

I have to admit I was really looking forward to my engagement pictures. For two reasons. 


Reason #1  Now I actually have some pictures of me and my hubby to be. 


Reason #2 I would have amazing Lillie B Photography to shoot my engagement pictures. http://www.lilliebphotography.blogspot.com/ Lillie is amazing. I have been secretly blog stalking her and "patiently" waiting for my turn. 


I grew up with Lillie back in the day when she was Lillie Frisch. In my eyes she is still a Junior and I am still a Freshman at Bonita Vista High. And believe me when I met up with her she still looks just as amazing as she looked then. 


Meet Lillie, my friend, and the photographer (and her handsome husband):

So Robert and I met up with Lillie on Saturday evening in Indian Wells, California for a 2 hour photoshoot at a Golf Course. She made the shoot soooo perfect and comfortable. 

Take a look at some of these pictures and let me know what you think :)

We are getting married!!!

This was one of the first photos we took :) And Robert of course cracks a joke and I couldn't hold it together.

Rob practices this pose a lot:) He even has a certain way he stands when he does this pose. Nonetheless he looks amazingly dreamy!!!

I really like my smile in this picture.

His eyes look amazing.

I wish we would of taken a picture of the view we were looking at. It was sooo pretty and it was a beautiful sunset. I could of just held on like this for awhile.

Besame Mucho!!!

So when I saw this picture first thought that came to my mind is "So thats what we look like when we kiss."

BTW Noah close your eyes when you see this picture:) hehehe!

This picture of Rob has to be my favorite picture!!! He looks so handsome! And his smile is sooo perfect. When I look at this picture I can't help but smile.

When I saw you I fell in love and you smiled because you knew.

This is just a sneak peak of some of our engagement pictures. Stay tuned for more photos :)

About my Team and Venue!!!

I feel like I have an amazing team of planners. So let me introduce you to my team:

First, my cousin Melody Corvalan, who is also my wedding planner. 

Melody has planned over 20 million weddings and before I met Robert I would always tell her "Someday you will plan my wedding."

Second, My Beautiful Mom, Mary Zelaya. 

She always takes time out of her busy schedule to take my random phone calls about wedding ideas.

Third, My Aunt, who is the visionary, Rachel Ruiz.

I love how she has these amazing creative ideas! BTW she has planned three weddings so far.

Fourth, Alyssa Zoe Zelaya, the babysitter who helps with Noah, Alec, and Diego.

Fifth, Audrey Zelaya, also the babysitter who helps with Noah, Alec, and Diego.

They all helped me narrow down my venues to three so that I wouldn't overwhelm Robert with all the choices. More importantly they helped me imagine what an empty room could possibly look like. 

So we chose The Westin Emerald Plaza in Downtown, San Diego.

This is the place Melody used to be a Catering Manager at. She is helping Robert and I have the wedding of our dreams!!! Thank you Melody!!! I can't thank you enough for helping us soooo much!

We Are Getting Married!

"Robert and I are getting married!" Ahhhh Just saying that still seems soooo surreal. Most say it won't set in till after the wedding. So I guess I will be excited for the next year to come.


I truly am so lucky to have met such an amazing man and truly blessed that he came into my life when he did. It was a time when I was okay with being single and finally getting used to answering the dreaded "Why aren't you married?" question. 


Hahaha! Okay all you mormon folks know I was becoming an old maid hehehe. So many of you, my beautiful friends, are married and have one beautiful girl (Jackie) or boy, and now are moving on to their second (Brandie) or third(Marissa???Any more additions???) or fourth (Christin...I know you have 5 but maybe quadruplets???). 


I am just starting out my life with the man I love and I am soooooo blessed to have learned so much from all of you. Especially from reading all of your blogs. So I have decided to start blogging about this journey. So feel free to chime in and give me some advice as I plan this wedding. I know a lot of you have that DIY talent.