A Closed Office, A Teenager Moves Away, A Wedding, And An Elimination

HELLO... 👋

Today is the first day of November 2021. It's been a few months since I've written down any of my thoughts and feelings, so lets dive into this with a little update.

💥 My candle business is up and running. Still trying to iron out some kinks, and we've made some sales. 

💥 At the end of May, our office officially closed. They decided it was too expensive to have a bunch of offices in all the locations, so they shut ours and we are all working from home now. 

💥 At the beginning of June, I decided it was time to shed some of that quarantine weight I put on, so I started running. I would run 2-4 miles every day. I fell right into a routine, and before I knew it, I was down 15 pounds. Amazing!

💥 In the middle of June, RJ moved back to Texas with his dad. The reason he came here, was because his dad had allowed him to drop out of high school. Since that went against everything I stand for, I stepped in. I made arrangements for him to come live with me, while I helped him get high school finished and started at a job. We were successful in all those things. He returned, just two short years later, to a much happier situation, with a high school diploma and job experience. So proud of all he accomplished here. 

💥 At the end of July, we celebrated ME with a Bridal Shower. It was so much fun! And being spoiled for the day, was pretty nice. I drank a lot of margaritas. 

💥 By mid August, I was knee deep in wedding dress fittings. The dress that I had bought BEFORE covid, didn't fit. I knew at the time it was going to need to go through some serious transformation in order to fit. Let me tell you, the seamstress was AMAZING! My weight fluctuated so much because of not eating right, running, and stress. She made it happen, just in the nick of time. Whew!

💥 In September, we got married! Finally! After having to change the date AND the venue, we were finally able to make it happen. It took a village to make it all come together, but it was a night I will never forget, and an absolute dream come true.

💥 In October, I watched Squid Game. That was a mistake. It was so horrifyingly accurate. Ugh. 
Way back before any of this was on television, I remember a younger Mel Gibson opening our eyes to Adrenochrome. Hollywood's elite blew it off, acting like Mel was crazy and making up stories, but was he really? Or was he trying to shed some light on something which we didn't know at the time? I tell people to do their own research. And by that, I don't mean get your information from TMZ or even the mainstream news. Do real research. Find the real answers. They're out there, I promise. And maybe old Mel isn't so crazy after all. 

💥 We are coming to the end of another photo season, so there will be more time for blogging. Although most of my free time is now spent dealing with candles. 

💥 Kyle Busch was eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs yesterday, after failing to make the Final Four. So heartbreaking. Two years in a row. I blame Covid. 😡

Until next time, Y'all!

Wedding Talk

Operation Wedding has begun. Although our date is still two plus years away, the planning and organizing of it all, needs to start. And this means first and foremost, coming up with a date so we can lock down a location and get a deposit made. I refuse to wait until the last three months to do it all. Absolutely refuse. And I’m pretty sure my Maid of Honor will kill me if I wait too long to do certain things. She’s already chomping at the bit to get things booked.

Location:
I’ve searched through website after website for locations. I’ve gone all the way from Santa Barbara to Temecula. Lots and lots of choices. Do you have a suggestion on location?

Colors:
I have my colors picked out. SS doesn’t care anything about what color dresses my bridesmaids should wear, and certainly doesn’t care what color flowers are going to be on the tables, so, colors are all me. Thankfully, it was an easy choice and that decision is made. ✔ that off my To Do List.

Maid of Honor/Bridesmaids:
My MoH choice was simple. There was no question that I wanted my sister to stand next to me and keep me sane through this whole process. She’s already taken the reins on most things.
Bridesmaids will be a tougher decision. The wedding party is an important part of this. If I’m going to have wedding photos hanging around my house, I want it full of people that I love. Full of people that are amazingly awesome and want to be a part of our special day. People that I’ll want to look at all year long, for the rest of my life. So far, I only have one bridesmaid chosen. A friend that goes all the way back to 4th grade. She will also help keep me sane. I’d like to come up with at least one more, so fingers crossed.

Honeymoon:
We’ve talked about where we want to go, but nothing has been decided. I know where SS wants to go, and while I think it’s a super safe and good choice, I’m thinking I’d like to look at some additional options. If you have any suggestions, let me know. I’m open to options.

There is so much still to decide, but don’t worry, I’ll take you along with me the entire time. Can’t wait! So excited!

Vegas Weddings

Vegas. The Entertainment Capital of the World.
A place for gambling, drinking, prostitution, crime, love, bright lights, fancy shows, and weddings. Not the kind of place I ever imagine getting married, but that’s one of my favorite things about America. Anyone can get married any way they want. And it’s totally okay.

Over the weekend, my favorite cousin got married. After a few years of dating, they finally decided to do it. And since not everyone in the family could go to France, they decided the Paris hotel in Las Vegas, was close enough….

The photographer that was provided by the venue, wouldn’t follow them around town to take photos at the various locations they had in mind, so I broke out the D90, and down the strip we went….

They were greeted with smiles and well wishes for the future by just about everyone we passed.

SS and I jumped in for a few pictures of our own…

Then we stopped for drinks….

And then this happened……

SS was given the garter. I was given the bouquet. I know what this is supposed to signify, but SS and I are so far from entertaining the idea of getting married, that people just need to simmer down. It’s something that could be in our future, we won’t deny that, but trust me when I say It’s nowhere in the near future.

In all the times I’ve been to Las Vegas, I’ve never been to the New York hotel to ride the rollercoaster. So, this time we made sure that happened. And it was sooooooo awesome!! I highly recommend you do it if you’re ever in Vegas.

Until next time….

 

I now introduce Mr. & Mrs. Squid

It came and went, and we’re exhausted. An entire day off work today to just relax, was the best thing I could have ever done. Who knew dancing so much would make my legs unable to function?

The wedding was fab. Couldn't have been more perfect. It’ll be a few weeks before the pictures come back from the photographers, so this post will be short of professional wedding pictures. But fear not, I have a few from a friend.

LZ and Dad…here comes the bride

LZ and Squid…dancing

Last I wrote about my +1 for the wedding, it was still a secret. I didn’t now if the plan would fall through, so I didn’t want to talk about it and get excited. Turns out it worked out perfectly.

My date for the wedding was RJ!! The X let me against court orders take RJ for the entire weekend. It. Was. Amazing. At times it was overwhelming, but it was definitely a learning experience and I don’t regret one second of it. During the reception, RJ had a song dedicated to me. While Richard Marx sang Right Here Waiting, we danced and sang to each other. I was crying, and so were a few other people watching. RJ kept wiping my tears away, but he couldn’t keep up. They just kept falling. They were happy tears. I was in heaven.

RJ and I…

Seeing friends and family was fantastic. Reuniting with some people always makes me realize why it’s so long between visits. ha.

I found a date!

Ever since JK and I broke up, the thought of who was now going to be my +1 for LZ’s wedding next month has been on my mind. There isn’t anyone else in the entire world I want to go with except JK, so I just assumed I’d be the one dateless person there. Lame.

Well folks, this morning I received some of the greatest news. I now have my +1. He’s the greatest guy in the whole world. I can only hope he’ll be equally as excited. So far, it sounds like it.

I can’t tell you who it is yet. There are a few rules I need to follow for now, but I promise I’ll tell you as soon as I’m allowed. For now, just know that he’s the perfect replacement.

And I have a pretty good feeling that if JK ever knew who his replacement was, he’d totally be okay with it. He was awesome like that.

And now…dress shopping!

Life.

Here we are…off to order wedding invitations.

On the road again…

Invitations, napkins, glasses…ordered.

A hint at what you’ll see in April.

While eating lunch, this newly wed couple came in for a quick drink. With nobody else around to see the first moments of them as husband and wife, we captured the moment.

Flan. The perfect ending to any Mexican meal.

Sangria.

Just a quick ha ha to Mom, who’s not here to enjoy this moment  :-)

We sisters so rock!

Learning to deal

It happened again. Today. I saw the car that haunts my life. (story here.)

I see it almost every day, but today, it pulled up next to me, and parked. *Deep breath* I’ll be honest, it freaked me out a bit. My heart skipped two beats, and then skipped two more, until I saw the man get out of his car. His tall slim build, dark hair, glasses, and slight pot belly, sent my heart racing. I couldn’t deal with it. My heart was actually causing my chest to hurt, so I quickly changed gears and drove away.

In nine months, LZ and Squid will be getting married. He will be in attendance, and believe me when I say I’m so not prepared to handle that. I want nothing more than to have photos of LZ walking down the isle in her beautiful wedding dress, but there’s not anything I can do about the man that will be walking with her. It’s not my wedding, so my opinions have no merit, and my sanity, for one day, will be put on the tailgate of a pickup truck and bounced off ever so lightly as I drive to the ceremony. I will hold my head up high, have the time of my life, and show him exactly who I’ve become and how happy I am, without him in my life.

Now, to find a date. Such dilemmas.

 

-Val