Family Night

Last night was our first family home evening! We saw the movie Angels & Demons and really enjoyed it. I thought it was so much better than The DaVinci Code. Although both movies are good. After wards we had a late night dinner at The Olive Garden. It was a great night.

Teaser

Here is a quick ad that my cousin sent to me that might be used to advertise her wedding photography business. The rest of the photos we will be able to see this week and I will definitely post for all to see soon! Anyway what do you think of the wedding models?

The one with the dust buster

So, to answer the common question "How is married life treating you?" I will have to say GREAT! But it's treating Kiel's mattress even better, thanks to the dustbuster given to us as a wedding gift. Yep, below is a picture of Kiel vacuuming the mattress with a dust buster. Who does that? Well, my hot sexy husband of course!

Honeymoon!

Monday
Woke up way earlier than we wanted to and received two phone calls from Patrice telling us to get Purell hand sanitizer and face masks to protect us from the swine flu that according to the news had taken over Mexico City and would soon be conquering the entire world. We quickly packed, booked a taxi to take us to the airport and waited for its arrival. As we waited, I thought about the swine flu and how much better Hawaii sounded. By the time the taxi came to pick us up (40 min. late) I was really paranoid about the new epidemic and the cab ride to the airport didn't help. The only thing anyone wanted to talk about on the radio was the wide spread disease that could turn you into a pig while you were sleeping (or something like that) and how flights were being cancelled right and left to Mexico. I told Kiel to call Costco and see if we could change our trip to Hawaii but I already knew it was too late. Instead, we bought $20 bucks worth of Purell and I breathed through my sweatshirt. The flight there was quick and customs was annoying. We got hassled by the timeshare people and decided that we couldn't pass up a free breakfast, parasailing, bottom glass boat ride for two, helicopter ride and $250 bucks to spend on jewelry just for the exchange of sitting in a boring presentation. So we gave the guy $40 bucks and made an appointment to be taken to Cabo San lucas the next morning. Finally, we got to the resort, layed out by the pool and enjoyed the free snacks. Swine flu, was no where to be found.

Tuesday
We woke up early to make our appointment with the timeshare guy but the hotel's bell boy was on to us and wouldn't let us leave without telling him where we were going. So instead of making our appointment we negotiated more free stuff in exchange for not going to their competitor's presentation. We scored a Caribbean and tiki night dinner and we didn't have to sit in a 5 hour presentation. Up early, we decided to go to the breakfast buffet and then hang out by the pool. The resort was all inclusive, and all of our meals were paid for including the mini bar in our room. Our days consisted mostly of eating, sleeping in the sun, eating, swimming, eating some more and then sleeping some more. Basically, our honeymoon was the perfect definition of a relaxing vacation. Tuesday was also the day for our Caribbean night dinner, and since pictures are worth a thousand words, I will just post those ;)


Wednesday
Kiel and I took part in what was now becoming our regular routine and then went to dinner and a show. The resort had a theatre and put on performances regularly. Tonight was re-enactments of dances from famous movies for every decade starting with the 60's. The first re-enactment was "Singing in the Rain," other performances were "Footloose" and "The Mask." The dancers did a really great job and overall the show was good.

Thursday
We went para sailing and afterwards went on a sunset cruise, where they served dinner and cruised by the famous arches. We took a shuttle back to the resort and in the lobby a painter was painting gorgeous scenes of Mexico with just his finger. We decided to buy one as a keep sake and watched him paint it.
Friday
This was Tiki night. They set up dinner right on the beach and had an MC to entertain the audience. When it got dark they had fire dancers put on a show that was really neat to watch but my pics didn't turn out. After which Kiel and I went for a walk on the beach and enjoyed the warm night air.

Saturday
We decided to stay out of the sun today, and just relax indoors. The theater was putting on another dinner and a show and this time it was a magic show. Kiel got picked out of the audience to participate in one of the magician's tricks. His assistant that was tied up somehow was able to take off Kiel's jacket and put it on herself while her hands were tied behind her back. The knots and rope, stayed intact over the jacket. It was a fun night.

Sunday
One more bite of the Royal Solaris buffet style breakfast and we would have rather stabbed our eye balls with a fork. We were ready to go home, so ready that we were packed by 11am and our flight didn't leave till 3:30. So to kill time we ran around and took pictures of each other. When we got home, we returned the million voice mails concerning swine flu and reminded everyone that more people die of the regular flu every year and that we were of course safe and sound ;)

Bachelorette Party & 40 Tacos

Make way for the star! My friends planned a special day just for me, two days before I got married. It started at 9am when my PR team picked me up in my limo aka Fran's giant white truck and drove me to my private jet aka bart and took me to San Francisco! Beth was determined to keep everything a surprise so I had no clue what we were doing for the entire day but the theme was "Melissa's a celebrity" and they even had a red carpet. The day in SF started at a photo shoot, where we took pictures for a modeling agency and then we trotted off to the next event...private dance lessons! It was sooo much fun and we all got a nice work out as well. Afterwards, we went back to the bay area to get ready for dinner. They made reservations at a Morroccan restaurant. The food was delicious and they had a belly dancer that made me go up on stage and try to learn how to belly dance. Then all of us got to go on stage and learn how to dance. It was a lot of fun, but I don't think any of us will be belly dancers in this life. Lastly, we all went to Beth's house for dessert and coco. It was great to be spoiled and to catch up with my bay area friends. I miss them so much! I have to especially thank Frances and Beth for really going ALL out and making me feel really special.

While I was getting completely spoiled, Kiel was having a blast with his friends as well. I posted some pics below!

Oh Love Plant ;(

When Kiel and I first got engaged, I got a seed and planted it in a tiny pot. It was to symbolize our love as a couple and I nicknamed it "Love Plant." Love plant out grew its house so I planted it in a shiny silver bucket. I was determined to keep it alive until Kiel and I died. I even fantasized about our children planting it on our graves. Well, after being in the bay area for a whole week preparing for the wedding, Kiel and I came back to a messy apartment and a parched plant. I quickly nurtured it with water, but once again we had to leave for our honeymoon. I would take a picture of it dead, but I think it would want people to remember its alive days rather than the dead ones. I'll miss you plant.

Ps, I know I might seem a little too attached to the thing, but it was the first time (after many attempts) I was able to make a thing grow with just dirt and water. My green thumb is cursed I tell ya, or just nonexistent. Boo!

My best friend, Beth

Hat's off to the Birthday girl! Elizabeth L. Bingham turned 26 April 17th and because I was slightly preoccupied ( I was getting married, alright!), I am just now writing her birthday blog. Sorry chica.

Elizabeth, aka Beth is by far the most endearing person I know and one of the best friends I have ever had. I intended to write this blog a week ago, but was having trouble finding words to describe just how amazing she is. So I apologize in advanced, for this will simply be an inadequate way of trying to describe a woman who has brought an overwhelmingly amount of joy to my life. I thought about what it would be like if we hadn't reconnected this past cinco de mayo and then I realized the year of 2008, just would NOT have been the same, no way, no how! Every day since May 5th 2008, we would talk for hours on the phone, go out to dinner, plan parties together and talk for hours more about all of life's happenings. When I moved in October, she was there to help pack my stuff, purge the unnecessary garbage and take my clothes that I didn't have room for (according to her). She threw me a going away/early birthday party and cried with me as I finally said goodbye to the town that I grew up in.

I quickly gave Beth the nickname Yellow dot, after the Walmart happy face that rolls back prices because she is always trying to make everybody happy. She can't stand it if you are not having a good time. If she was stuck in a room with 50 miserable people (her worst nightmare) she would not leave until every single one was in a pleasant mood. Which also reminds me that she is quite the entertainer and the life of the party. Beth can shake it better than Shakira, have all eyes stare at her and say "let's go get some m&m's" as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened. Which, for her, nothing did but for everyone at the party, magic just happened right where they were standing.

One thing that drives her completely nuts, is having nothing to do. She gets stir crazy and her right eye (if that's the bigger one out of the two) starts to twitch. She is the busiest unemployed person I know. Dance lessons, working out, helping others and the endless quest to find her destiny consumes her days and weeks. I have had so many exhausting conversations regarding her purpose and the deeper meaning of her life and what she needs to do to fulfill that purpose. I can't help but think what an amazing example she is to us all as she ALWAYS, ALWAYS strives to be the best person she can be without falter.

Thank you best friend for your constant advice and direction. Thank you for trying to make me a better person. Thank you for the anti-bacterial soap and the toilet paper. Thank you for your patience when I was a stress case. Thank you for throwing the best bachelorette party anyone in this world could ever have. Thank you for your wisdom concerning the gospel and your incredible testimony that enlightens everyone. Thank you for being so funny and making me laugh ALL of the time. Best of all thank you for the adventures. The year of 26 will be an amazing year, and you deserve it!

xoxo,

Melissa

Holy Moly, we have some catching up to do!

Coming Soon!
1. The Birthday Girl - Beth Bingham had a birthday and we must write a blog in her honor!

2. The week before - a lot of fun things happened before we tied the knot and we must share!

3. The Wedding - pics, coming soon! (Ps. Kiel and I are wedding models)

4. Honeymoon - We'll tell ya all about it and how we avoided swine flu ;)

5. We're Back - Curious on how the newly weds are getting along in Redondo Beach? I didn't think so, but we like to tell ya anyway.

6. Love Plant - It passed away while we were on our honeymoon *tear!

7. Our Story - Some are curious on how we met, and yada, yada...this will clue everyone in ;)

Melissa hopes to get this all updated with pics, this coming weekend...so hang in there loyal fans...aka Beth and Sunni!