Happy Birthday Jesse!

Yesterday was Jesse's 26th birthday. Thankfully we were both able to take a day off from work to go celebrate. Our plan was to go ice skating in San Francisco and then have lunch at North Beach Pizza. Unfortunately, neither of these things happened. The ice skating rink was full school children and we didn't want to wait until the afternoon because it was going to rain.

So we walked through the Embarcadero Center and China Town to get to North Beach Pizza. When we got to the pizza place it was closed or had moved to another location, so we had hamburgers instead at Moe's. At least we were able to go to the movies and watch The Chronicles of Narnia, which we both liked.

Later that evening we had dinner at Jesse's parent’s house. Both of Jesse's sisters (Melina and Wendy) bought him the same present without each other knowing. So Melina decided to get him another present. It was very funny how his sisters bought Jesse the same present. After dinner we went back to my house where Kevin, Josue (my little brothers) and I tried to beat up Jesse but to no avail since Jesse is pretty strong. My mom had to come and save us from Jesse's wrath by tickling him off of my brothers and me.

Anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSE!

Sorry About the Bitter

I just wanted to let the world know that while Melissa and I may be sickening, we're not all about that. It has been brought to our attention from a couple of sources that these holidays must be so much nicer for us since we're in love and getting engaged and everything. Before I being ranting, let me just say that I'm very much looking forward to spending my holidays with my girl and I love her very much, however:

Where do people in the church get this idea that life sucks if you don't have someone to hold? We get this idea from the world (movies, books, TV) that when you've got someone suddenly birds fly a little slower, the sun shines a little brighter, the sky is a little bluer, etc. The problem is that in Christ our lives aren't dead and empty without a significant other. The world isn't right. As single people Melissa and I both were happy, fulfilled, and *cough* Purpose Driven. My life was good before I met her, and hers was good before she met me. People who center their lives in Christ should not need another person to bring joy and completion into their lives. I constantly feel this implicit stigma in church towards the 'unattached' as if somehow they're suffering and they'll be happy once they get someone to cook and clean and have sex with. Read I Corinthians 7. Marriage is a blessing, but so is singleness.

Once again, I think Melissa is great, and I'm really happy I met her and we're going to get married, but she doesn't give my life value any more than I give her life value.

Part II: The First Month

Melissa and I decided to go out the Tuesday after we got back from Mexico, leaving about three and a half weeks before she went to Georgia for training. I decided that it would be a good idea to have dinner and then go sit at Starbucks, so I called her that Monday as I went to get fitted for my tux for the Perdue wedding and asked her if she wanted to go to The Texas Roadhouse. She was very happy that steak was on the menu, and I was very happy that she was happy that steak was on the menu. A woman after my own heart.

I picked her up around five that Tuesday, a little nervous, she'd already told me that her dad and older brother were going to beat me up, plus she was all dressed up, and as most of you know, very beautiful. I brought flowers, because wisdom says you’re never supposed to go get a girl without bringing her something. Her brother and dad weren't there though, only Josué, Milca , and Nohema. So I met her little brother, her mom and her sister-in-law. Nohema was very very pregnant when I met her, and on all fours, in the process of cleaning the bathroom floor. Apparently the lady likes to clean. I don't remember what Milca asked me, just that she showed me their back yard for a few minutes, then we went to dinner. For those of you that know me, I'm not a real talker so it's saying something that I was at least entertaining enough to get a second date for nearly five hours that night. It was fun, I don't remember much, just that I enjoyed myself.

We went back to her house later, the door was locked and so she knocked so someone would let her in. Kevin, the 13 year old brother came to the door, we saw him look at us then leave to go get his beanie to look tough then he came back and answered the door. I said hi to her dad and older brother, both Ricardo. They paid me only passing interest, or maybe didn't want to admit that I exist, I couldn't say. We agreed to go out again the following Saturday, I was going to take her to the beach in Santa Cruz.

Two days later on Thursday I called her up again. Neither one of us wanted to wait for the weekend so we decided to go to Starbucks after I was done with Bible study that night. It was cold that night, and knowing what I know now, that was very uncomfortable for Melissa sitting out there for a couple of hours talking. By the time we were ready to go Melissa was wearing my sweater on top of her jacket. Anyway, it was really good to know that she liked me as much as I liked her. I came over to her house again on Friday night and talked with her older brother for a little while, he decided that he liked me after discovering that I had a degree in Electrical Engineering, which was better than the beating with a baseball bat that Melissa had often promised me. We spent that night looking for a church she could go to in Georgia and found the one I think she ended up attending for her six months there.

The next morning I picked her up and we stopped for breakfast at Jack in the Box. Come to think of if, we go to Jack in the Box for spicy chicken sandwiches all the time even now. The drive down to Santa Cruz was nice, but right when we drop down out of the mountains we hid the fog and the cold, and for those of you who don't know Melissa, she really doesn't like the cold. We ended up driving from the Boardwalk along the cliffs by the cliffs there until we got to the Natural Bridges Park. We walked on the beach and on the rocks and sat down for a bit to watch the ocean, she might not like the cold, but she does like the water, more specifically the beach. We left the beach and drove up Highway 1 to 92, checking out all of the cool (and cold beaches) along that stretch. Once again, and I say amazingly, we spent an extended period of time together and didn't really get bored.

That night she came to Crossroads with Roberto Thompson so we could go to the Mexico wrap up at Julia's house. It was kind of weird trying to interact with someone who might appropriately be called my girl friend around a whole bunch of people I didn't really want to be in the know quite yet. We spent the evening at Julia's house recounting our good times in Ensenada, I think everyone there knew we were going out and Kara of course told everyone she knew it. (except for Roberto, I think I actually told him and a look of great understanding came over his face and he told me that he though we were just really good friends)

The next day I was hanging out at the Starkey's for a Forth of July youth party and Melissa came by after church to play ping pong and see my people. She was alright at ping pong, not as good as me, which isn't really very good at all. Also awkward to trying to look like I was trying, but not trying to really kick butt. We talked to Andrea, and Nancy and Andrea seemed particularly pleased with herself over us as a couple. We left from there to go to the Circuit City parking lot and set off fireworks. Melissa's one year old nephew , Daniel, played with the bleached blond hair on my arms and called me a "mono" (monkey in English) . That was fun too.

I saw her again on Tuesday, we were taking her brothers to a baseball game, the Giants were playing the Rockies. I never know what I'm thinking when I go to SBC Park and I don't bring a winter parka, Melissa didn't really know what she was getting into either and we were both freezing cold for three hours. The only redeeming thing was that the Giant's lost (and I got to spend time with Melissa).

Before we were dating I had invited my parents over to the Nicolet house for some BBQ compliments of Nate, so I brought Melissa over to meet my parents. My mom was so tickled I think I could have been dating a seven foot five hundred pound troll and she would have been thrilled. Melina, relatively fresh off her Italy experience and in the middle of summer may have been darker than Melissa. I don’t remember what all happened. The important thing is that everyone met each other and it was a good time.

Next Saturday was Jackson's wedding. I didn't get to sit with her, but I did get to point her out to John Pack and Adam Richman. John correctly noted that she was beautiful. Then I watched her beat Nate Berge up in the food line. Finally, while people were eating I got to go see her and hang out. After that the wedding party had to dance, but then I got to go sit with her and introduce her to everyone who came by. She went to the bathroom, and while she was in there in the stall apparently Jackson's mom and Adam's mom came in and started talking about 'Jesse's new girl friend.' She then walked out and they quickly apologized for talking about her. Horrible awkwardness. After all the rounds had been made and the newlyweds jumped ship we said our goodbyes and went back towards home. We stopped at the Kaiser in Hayward to see Melissa's sister in law and the new baby, Andrew , who may have been the fattest, hairiest baby ever. After that we ended up back in Fremont, where Adam was passed out drunk on the couch at the Nicolet house after having consumed much champagne in fear of dancing earlier. We had dinner with the Pack's that night. John paid that night because he "felt like he owed us $100 dollars because just a month ago he said that he would pay a hundred dollars to meet the girl who would knock my socks off." And the socks had clearly been knocked off.

Some time after that I took her for Thai food. This was my first experience with the Melissa who just would not eat something that was clearly delicious. No matter how hard I tried to convince her that it was awesome she just wouldn't eat it. It was a little frustrating. Note to self: She already likes steak and potatoes, don't push your luck.

I don't really remember the rest, it just felt horrible knowing that she was going to be gone from the middle of July to the middle of January. We said our goodbyes and that was that, she was off to Georgia until Thanksgiving. Georgia is a long way from Fremont, California.

So Many Choices!

This is for the girls (or girl) who read this blog. There are so many makeup brands to choose from for my wedding makeup/stylist/etc. I think I'm going to go with Mac makeup, since it is party makeup. I've never gone and had my makeup actually professionally done, I've just practiced on myself using all my thousands of magazines as reference.

My plan is to have my makeup done by makeup artist and then practice by myself many times before I get married. Then I'll do my makeup on my wedding day. I guess my question is what makeup would you suggest for my wedding day?

Voting

I voted and Jesse did too. We've done our part to save California. I got a sticker too.

Bridesmaid Dresses

So the bridesmaids dresses have finally been picked. After many phone calls to stores and looking through magazines we finally ordered the bridesmaids dresses. Picking the bridesmaids dresses was harder than picking my wedding dress.

It all started like ten weeks ago Grace (my cousin) and I went to the Stoneridge Mall, just the two of us. But alas, we did not find a thing. I think we ended up buying earrings or something. Grace went back to school for a short summer class, and when she came back I went with her and my mom to about five south bay stores and again nothing. Not even anything that we liked. Oh well, I think we ended buying something... maybe some earrings? My cousin Jessica couldn't come with us because she was super busy getting her masters and working. But even so, she did a lot of work looking for dresses on-line and actually going to stores on her own. My other bridesmaid is my college friend, Jessica. She lives in Chicago so I think she has an excuse not to be terribly involved.

My cousins sent me many e-mails with dresses that they liked. I finally picked one and called several stores to ask about pricing. Some stores are weird and don't like to give prices over the phone. I finally called a store that allowing price-sharing and they told me that the bridesmaid dress I wanted was $295.00!! Crazy! I don't think so. So I continued looking all the e-mails my cousins sent me.

My cousin Jessica went to many stores the last couple of weeks and looked at many dresses without me. Thank you for doing a lot of footwork. We found a very pretty dress from Mary's Bridal. I went to a small boutique in Fremont called Andrea's Bridal. It used to be right across the street from Tri-City but moved to Washington Blvd and Mission Blvd. in Fremont. They didn't have the dress but they could order it.

I went with my mom last Wednesday to look for that specific Mary's Bridal dress and to look at others. They had many dresses but I still liked the Mary's dress. The saleswoman Kim was extremely nice and helpful. My cousin Jessica went yesterday to Andrea's Bridal and actually order the dresses.

I'm very relieved now. Now everyone has clothes to wear at my wedding.

History - Part 1

I had had a little contact with Melissa before late June, 2004. The first time I met her was before a 180 service some time in November when she asked me for some of my French fries (I was unaware of her love affair with French Fries at that time). I saw her a few more times before and during 180 although I kept my distance, in case you haven’t noticed she’s a very pretty girl, and I didn’t want to compete with anybody I called my friend. I had more excuses to talk with her after she agreed to go to Ensenada with our youth group for a short term mission trip.

She called me once on the phone to ask me some questions about Mexico paper work while I was on my way to ski. I saw her again at the 180 immediately following that trip and got to describe a really spectacular wipe out I’d had where I notched my sunglasses with my ski and split my forehead open, if I put the glasses on you could see the line of the ski. All of this making me look very manly of course. She found me again after a Saturday night practice for Esperanza Viva during our lasagna feed, and accused me of eating every time she saw me. The next time we saw each other was when Melissa came into church before youth group, Andrea Starkey and I were sitting there and she talked to us for a few minutes, after she’d gone Andrea had this big smile on her face and gave me a look and told me that Melissa’s smile ‘just lit up the room.’ I asked her what she meant by that and she just smiled and I chided her for trying to hook me up. I called her one other time from my parents' house, her older brother answered and was a little hostile when I asked for Melissa. She had just been spared being stationed in Fresno and told me all about it, I didn't know quite how to respond, but I was on the phone with her for a few minutes and they (parents, sisters, Nate? Frances?) started giving me crap when I came back in. I saw her again at the pre-trip meeting and all I really remember was how much of an older sister she seemed to Roberto.

On the morning we left for México I was really happy when she decided to come down in my AC-less car then talked to me. Everyone else went to sleep but Melissa stayed up and talked to me. We talked about tennis, my coming to Christ, her commitment to Christ. We talked about cultural Christianity, I had just seen Saved! and how it had affected me and disturbed me about how the world views us, and really how we act. We talked about school, her job, my degree and job and the disparity there. I had really only been working with Pete for five months at the time and was enjoying myself but wanted a legitimate job, etc. etc. It was a lot more fun than a day long car ride without AC down I-5 had any right to be.

She worked hard in Mexico, I liked that, and she helped lead the work and the kids, I liked that too. We talked a lot more, although I don't really remember about what we talked about down there in at the Rancho Refugio. Only that she still makes fun of me for describing cybernetic monkey arm experiments. She thinks I’m crazy, but we’ll see who laughs last when the chimps come for us. Anyway we had fun down there.

On our way back I had to return the van and get another one and it took all afternoon, I did get to relax in the hot tub with her and others, after sitting in traffic for several hours, and apparently after a conversation with Jackson... Thanks Jackson. (This is Melissa. For your information, I did not answer any of Jackson’s questions. He takes credit for getting us together, but I don’t. Sorry Jackson, you are still my friend) We did the dishes at the Stramecki’s house and she insisted that I moisturize my hands, but that was just an excuse so she could touch me I know. (Melissa again, his hands were really dry it looked like they were cracking.) Scott walked into the room and saw Melissa rubbing my hands, gave us a look, and walked out. That’s right Scott. We tried to stay up and watch the Rundown, but didn’t make it.

The next morning we came home from San Diego. We drove north then, fortified by coffee, everyone slept a lot. She stayed up again and talked to me, and then rested on me when she put your feet out the window (she’s pretty short) this drew an 'aww' from Joel, who I think was jealous. She went to sleep near the end of Hwy 152, only to be awakened by a really loud big rig two minutes later and freak out, I thought it was funny.

Back in Fremont I wanted to ask her out, but she ran inside to get her nephew Danny, her brother came out and Jackson was there too, so that was a bust. Thanks again Jackson. Thankfully she came to church that night, after which she threw her hands up in the air and declared that she smelled pretty. I thought to myself that this was definitely the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. We went in her car to Sweet Tomatoes, Kara rode in the car, once again someone cutting in on any chance I had. At the restaurant we didn’t sit together, I sat over with the Voses and the interns. Finally she escaped from Nick and Jared and I escaped from the teenage girls, covertly *cough* working our way together. Julia was looking out for me that night because when we wanted to go she made sure Kara knew that she would take her home. Thanks Julia.

That was the first alone time I'd had with her ever I think. We talked about the hole in Juan, a joke which I still think is funny, but none of you will ever hear. Back at church (where my car was waiting) she threw something at me that hit me in the eyeball. Alright- sympathy points. I told her that I had had a really good time over the week and asked her if I could take her out on a date some time. Some time soon. She said yes.

Dinner and Painting

Melissa's room has been undergoing a painting, it's gone from a light blue green to a dark green on top of which we will sponge some pale green. We'll take a picture when it's done, but she has been sleeping on the couch for the last two days. It's kind of funny she sleeps better on the couch than on her bed and ever since I've known her she has claimed to be unable to sleep on anything but her bed.

We also had dinner with the Thompsons last night. Thank you Thompsons. They made us quesadillas with two optional salsas, a pico de gallo situation and some vinegar and onion concoction, that stuff is really tasty, in fact I want some right now. They're really cool people and Roberto Sr. worked for a long time with the late John Coker, small world.

That's all I have for now although supposedly some bridesmaids dresses will be chosen tonight...

Almost there

As you may or may not know, they day is fast approaching, we're making plans and trying to get through the holidays here before we really kick this into high gear.

We have actually reserved CBNC now, paid them a deposit and set up an appointment with the pastor so he can make sure we're up to snuff.

As many of you also know, my grandpa died a few weeks ago and this as led to Melissa and I getting some furinishings for our, as of now non-existent, apartment from my parents and from my grandpa. So we have to find a place for a table, chairs, a china hutch, and probably some other things for the next 160 days.

We're also going to need some people to help out serving and doing other jobs during the reception, so if you read this and haven't already been assigned a task, aren't a groomsman or bridesmaid and don't have small children then please let us know how happy you would be to help with our reception.

That's all we have for now. Adios.

Sunday's

I wish that the weekend could be longer. Towards Sunday evening I'm exhausted, and if I'm not in bed sleeping by 10:00 p.m. I'm a wreck on Monday's. I love playing the piano at church but it sure tires me out. Try singing and playing six songs for about an hour. I probably shouldn't have sang this weekend (since I am sick) but oh well, I can't help it I really like it. My throat hurts again.

My Mop

So I'm growing out my hair. (This is Melissa). I've been growing it out since last November, because I really want long hair. If you haven't noticed I have a ton of hair, it weighs like ten pounds. Don't get me wrong, I love my hair. It's getting to an irritating point that it gets caught on everything, like the back of my chair, seat belt, etc. My co-workers make fun of me because I have ten different hair styles a day. Whatever. I just want it out of my face. I think I should learn how to make french braids on myself.

I guess this has nothing to do with my wedding except that my hair is going to be super long by the time I get married.

New Pictures

New pictures are up. Check the picture link on the right.

Neckties

Neckties are a small thing. They are worn by I would guess less than 5% of men on a given day. I wear a tie maybe twice a year. They're pure decoration, they don't keep you warm, they don't cover anything you don't want other people to see, all they really do is constrict blood flow to and from your head. So really a tie is only functionally useful if your aim is to be lightheaded. Otherwise it's a decorative piece that most people don't really care about. That said, Melissa and I went to Macy's yesterday to get a couple of things and we were looking for a shirt and tie for me for some fancy dinner we're going to later and we had a fight about the color and style of tie that I should have. I must ask, what is the world were we thinking? How in God's holy name did we both end up caring so much about a strip of cloth that we actually got mad at each other because we disagreed about how it should look? We realized our stupidity relatively quickly, but really what were we thinking?

In other news: We're inheriting my great grandmother Griffin's silverware, they're stamped 1917 and belonged to my dad's mom's mom, they're solid silver, which is really really pretty. We got a nice mahogany box for them and spent several hours last night polishing the set. They look nice now, silver is cool.

Dreams...

I hate having stress dreams, period. Especially about my wedding. I stress about almost anything. Jesse told my mom to drug me up the night before our wedding so I could sleep.

Bikes and Church

The Glogowskis have sadly gone to New York now, we hope and pray they have a good time trying to start up a church out there and survive the winter in their new 2500 square foot house. They gave Melissa and I two vintage Triumph bikes. All original parts from the 50s (except the tires), they're pretty cool looking, three speeds, and right up Melissa's alley. We went on a little cruise around the Nicolet neighborhood Sunday morning, good times.

On an unrelated note, we had our first meeting with the CBNC person and talked about what we have, what we need, and where in the heck we're going to put everybody. It looks to me like we're going to be more than OK for the ceremony, the church will for sure fit everyone. The reception on the other hand, looks like it's going to be pretty tight, we need to find a way to seat about 250 people for dinner in a room probably about 50% bigger than the one at IBC. I suppose that's the price we pay for being so loved. Really though, that shouldn't be a huge problem either. I hope everyone is ready to have fun next April 8.

Jesse is beating Melissa

So for a brief moment (like 5 minutes) Jesse reveled in the glory that he was inviting more people than me to the wedding. Since I'm hispanic I'm supposed to have like 2,000 people coming to our wedding. We were reviewing our invitation list last night and Jesse had 200 people invited from his side and I had 192 people on my side. We don't expect them all to come, but oh well.

Anyways, Jesse was rubbing in my face his superior numbers, celebrating that the white guy has more people invited than the hispanic girl. I decided to go through my side of the list and figuring that I forgot to put some people on my list. They were already on my list, but I hadn't put them in the quantity column. So slowly and surely I gained on Jesse and ended with 204, which, to my knowledge is more than 200. Sadly Jesse still didn't beat me even trying to count Ricky's unborn baby. As I went down my list and kept on adding numbers on my list, Jesse's finger pointing and big eyes slowly went away. Oh well, I guess we both like to win but I don't rub it in. Except by posting it on the internet...

Commenting

Evidently this had been set so only bloggers could comment, no longer, you may now comment to your hearts content, even if you're not in google's pocket.

Engagement Period and Hair cut

I really enjoy my engagement period with Jesse. It's such a wonderful time our relationship. Not only do I get to plan our wedding party together but even better, we get to plan our lives together. Some people have a really short engagement period and that might be fine for them but if you can have one year engagement period I really do suggest it. You have enough time to prepare for you wedding and actually have time to think about what marriage really is rather than worrying about which caterer to pick. Whatever, I just like having lots time to prepare for our wedding and for my marriage to a really cool guy.

Anyways, I also wanted to say that I cut Jesse's hair!! It only took me one hour and a half. I think I did a pretty good job other than cutting my finger. Oh well, no catastrophic mistakes. Lot's of fun, after I got over my panicky stage.

Pictures

There's only one in there as of now, but you can also see pictures - I hope - in that "Pictures" link down at the bottom of the links.

Almost there

The next phase in this awesome website is complete. You now know not only when and where the wedding is, but exactly how many days you have to prepare for it and make plans.

Also, any ideas for formatting here, please let me know, I'm not too familiar with HTML, so I may need help if you have a really good idea. Thanks.

Welcome

This is the blog of the wedding of Jesse and Melissa. The greatest wedding ever. Feel free to look around, even though there's nothing here.

We will update this site with information about us, dragged over from less useful sites (re: the knot), as well as how it's going with the planning and other things that you all are facinated in.