The Bridal Party and Flowers ~ Show Us Your Life: Week 2

This week, over at Kelly's Korner, we are sharing all about our bridal party, flowers, and the ceremony!

Ryan and I were married on July 7, 2007 in the breathtaking Maravilla Gardens. Our colors were periwinkle blue and yellow (my favorites from the beginning of time!) You can see my flowers pretty well in this picture of my sister holding my bouquet.

I asked the florist to make it look like we'd gone out into a field of wildflowers and picked our bouquets. I think he really hit the mark! I had the aisle decorated with Shepard's crooks holding more bouquets.


I had six girls in my wedding. My two sisters were the maid and matron of honor. I also had my three best girlfriends from childhood and high school. Jaime, my oldest friend (like about 26 years or so) also sang. She's carrying baby Alex under that dress! My new sister-in-law rounded out my bridal party. None of my girls live in San Diego, so being all together in one place made for a very special occasion!

Jessica's daughter was our lovely flower girl. Is she not the most precious girl!!

Ryan's guys were made up of cousins and close friends. I couldn't have hand picked better guys to stand beside my husband on our most important day! They look a bit mafioso in this picture, but really, they're great men!


We had the world's cutest children in our wedding! My nephews were the ring bearer and Bible boy. I have a great story about Cameron, our Bible boy, and his amazing Bible tricks, but that will have to be on another post!


Since our wedding took place outdoors, I didn't want to risk a unity candle blowing out, so we did the sand and stone ceremony.


I can't wait to buy a home with a mantle and display this proudly!


I could go on and on! It was really the PERFECT day and was everything I could have hoped and dreamed! And to top it all off, I get to spend the rest of my life with Ryan!!

The Dress ~ Show Us Your Life

Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner, has changed her "Show Us Where You Live" to "Show Us Your Life" and I'm excited to finally participate! The first week is the wedding dress. Although I have never been the "princess" type of girl, I fell IN LOVE with my princess dress! The bodice is heavily beaded, and the skirt is miles and miles of tulle! I also really wanted a tiara, even though I'm an everyday kind of girl!

This picture was quickly snapped by my friend as I was about to walk out to the ceremony. I love how the crystals on my bodice sparkle!


Dancing with my husband for the FIRST time as man and wife!


I love this picture of my sister and Julia trying to figure out the bustle on the dress! I show it to my students every year when they learn the vocabulary word "bustle!"


I love this picture for several reasons. Mostly because my sister took it at a compromising moment! I also love that it looks like I'm swimming in tulle! You can also see how the tulle sparkled! This dress was magical to me, and was a great partner on the most important day of my life!

The Last Vacation of my Vacation

That's right. I'm heading back to school in two days. Boo! It has been a beautiful summer, and I'm relaxed and happy. As I prepare my classroom and lesson plans, I just have to keep focused on our trip to Hawaii in September!

To finish off my summer break, I reconnected with my college roommate! It's been 6 years since we've talked, but it was as if we'd never been apart. She's that kind of friend - the best kind!

On Friday morning, I got up at 3:30 AM to head out on the road. I had 400 miles to drive, and didn't want to sit on the freeways in LA for half the day! With only a few pit stops (including the SCARIEST off ramps in Fresno - I have a knack for exiting the freeway in the WORST part of any town) I made it to Manteca, and Stephanie's new house, by lunch! We spent the rest of the day trading stories, sharing pictures, playing with Steph's brand new puppy, Lola. Mom Honzell came over for dinner and we did more catching up!

Sweet Lola! She is 6 weeks old and just over two pounds!


Saturday was the highlight! Some friends of Steph's live on Discovery Bay off the California Delta. They decided to take their boat out for the day, so we headed over for some sun, swimming, and tequila, of course!








Sunday was our day of rest. We made it to church, and I got to tour her church's new facility. The sermon was AWESOME, about the indescribable size of God. We then lunched with mom and dad Honzell, and did some more chatting! That night we watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. I thought it was great! Not as good as the books, but really, what movie is? It was cute, and perfect for girl time.

I had to leave on Monday to drive back home, but, again, I didn't want to sit on the freeways in LA, so I spent the morning with Stephanie and her roommate and headed home around 2.

It was such a great time, seeing Stephanie again and getting to reconnect! Everyone I talked to couldn't believe I had left San Diego to vacation in Manteca. I told them all that San Diego is great, but only Manteca has Stephanie!!

Anniversary Numero Dos

My husband is THE BEST!! I have to start this post with a disclaimer. As I mentioned in a previous post, we have decided to alternate BIG anniversary gifts. Last year (year one) was mine a very nice weekend in Palm Springs, so this year is his. I already posted that he took me to the ABBA concert in Del Mar!! What a blast!!
This is what Ryan wants me to wear for Halloween this year. What do you think? Would third graders love this or what!! OK, so maybe I'll stick with the Miss Nelson is Missing idea for the kids and do ABBA for our ADULT party!!

For part two of our Anniversary Extravaganza, Ryan planned to take me to the Getty Center in Los Angeles, but it decided to burn that weekend, so we put it on hiatus.
When Ryan found out that we weren't going to make it to LA, he was so bummed. Luckily, my little sister lives in South Orange County, so we were able to hang out at her pool and salvage our Saturday before returning to San Diego! So, now he not only owes me our trip to The Getty, he also owes me an anniversary weekend cruise to Ensenada (that was our over the top anniverary gift to me)!! Whoo hoo!! Who has the greatest husband of all time? THAT WOULD BE MOI!!!

Blonde Again!

As much as I hate sitting in the salon chair for hours upon end, I love being blonde!!
(Notice the honeymoon picture on our bookshelf in the background - one of my favorites!)

Year Two - The Cotton Anniversary

Today is our best day! Two years of marriage, already! I can't believe how time has flown. In fact, I met one of my bridesmaids for lunch yesterday, and she said she couldn't believe we were already going to be married for one year!



The two year anniversary is the cotton anniversary. I bought Ryan a pair of Sexy Love Sox! They just arrived in the mail today. Perfect timing! I'm going to take him out to dinner tonight to either Rei do Gado Brazilian Steakhouse in Downtown or Turf Supper Club in Golden Hill. I haven't decided that part yet... We are going to watch our wedding video tonight, too!

With this being my official anniversary post, I have to post some pictures of our wedding, right!


I, Krista, do take you, Ryan,
To be the husband of my days, the companion of my house,
The friend of my life, and the father of our children.
We shall bear together whatever trouble and sorrow life may lay upon us.
And we shall share together whatever good and joyful things life may bring us.
With these words and all the words of my heart I marry you and bind my life to yours.


I, Ryan, do take you, Krista,
To be the wife of my days, the companion of my house,
The friend of my life, and the mother of our children.
We shall bear together whatever trouble and sorrow life may lay upon us.
And we shall share together whatever good and joyful things life may bring us.
With these words and all the words of my heart I marry you and bind my life to yours.

Guess where I'm going tonight...

To start off our Anniversary weekend, Ryan is taking me to the San Diego County Fair for the ABBA show!! I LOVE ABBA!! So, it isn't the real ABBA, but from what the reviews say, this is the best ABBA cover band out there, straight from Sweden! I've never been to the SD County Fair, but I'm sure it's nothing like the fair I went to every year as a kid, the Mariposa County Fair, with the big rodeo and all...
As I mentioned, this is Ryan's and my anniversary weekend. Just like birthdays, we don't like to spend one day celebrating, so we're going to spend the whole weekend celebrating our anniversary (and the 4th of July, my FAVORITE holiday!). Inspired by some family friends, we have decided to swap who plans our anniversary celebration each year. Last year I planned our trip to Palm Springs, so this year it's his turn. It's all a surprise, other than the ABBA show, and I can't wait! Ryan is so creative and always plans the perfect surprises for me. Be expecting a post about our fabulous weekend very soon!

Misadventures of a Newlywed: let the giveaways begin!

Misadventures of a Newlywed: let the giveaways begin!
Mrs. Newlywed is giving away some great summer items this month for her blog anniversary. The first is Barefoot Wine paraphernalia! Now, if you know me, you know Barefoot Chardonnay is my FAVORITE wine! In fact, I used the color of the foil as inspiration for my wedding! I'm going to try and put a link in my side bar as well, so you'll easily be able to find her giveaway!