(43-341) "HOME"

The very best thing about my 43rd year (other than surviving it), has been that I've formed a beautiful relationship with my cousin Jackie and her family.  I've told you before that Jackie is more like my sister than a cousin, and in the seven months that I've known her, she's brought an abounding love and contentment to my life.

Jackie and I are in communication one way or another on a daily basis and even though we're going to New York together on the 28th, we wanted to have a family visit as well.  Luis and I thought that it would be special to spend our anniversary and July 4th weekend with Jackie and her husband, Gene, so we drove to California  yesterday so that we could all be together.

Since I lost my parents so many years ago, I haven't had a "home" to go home to; so whenever Luis and I would go to Puerto Vallarta, I would say that we were going "home."  But, I now feel like even though I'm not from where Jackie lives, and I'd never been there before a few months ago; wherever I see Jackie, that's "home."

I've told you repeatedly that I have the most fantastic friends; and I'm so fortunate because they all go out of their way to make me feel welcome and comfortable in their homes.  Needless to say I'm so very appreciative of that; but their is a feeling in my heart when I'm with Jackie, that I've NEVER felt before.  There's an unspoken reassurance, an understanding, a commonality, a kinship, an acceptance and a love that I can only imagine comes from knowing that she's my family; and for once, I feel like I truly belong somewhere.  Amazingly enough, I can see the same reaction from Luis and my kids; and it is so comforting to know that they feel the same way too. 

We didn't want to make any big plans for this weekend.  No theme parks, or special activities; just family time at home.  We swam,played Scrabble, and just spent time enjoying each other's company and I don't think that any of us would have wanted it any other way.

I am a firm believer in expressing my gratitude.  If you're a regular rider, then you know that I thank my family, I thank my friends, and I thank my readers on a very regular basis; and I do so because I think that if there's something that makes your life special, then you should show your appreciation for it as often as possible; because sadly, you never know when that something might be gone.  So thank you to my cousin, Jackie and her family for embracing me and my family with open arms and making our lives so much richer. And thank you to you, for taking the time to join me on "The Bumpy Ride."
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-340) 17 Years

17 years ago today, I married the man of my dreams.   After a very brief courtship, (which I told you about in "My Real Life Love Story"), Luis came to New York on a fiance visa.  This type of visa stipulated that we get married within 90 days of Luis' arrival in the U.S. or he would have to relinquish the visa and return to Mexico. 

Even though we hadn't known each other long, Luis and I knew that we were going to be married before he ever even arrived in the states.  We discussed what type of wedding to have, as none of his family would be able to attend (since they didn't have visas),  90 days wasn't enough time to plan a wedding in New York,  and we didn't want to get married at city hall because we only wanted to get married once, and in a way that would be as special as our relationship.  While looking through a bridal magazine, I saw an ad for Disney Fairytale weddings and I told Luis about it.  We thought that having a Disney wedding would be perfect for us because it would allow us to have everything that WE wanted in a wedding.  AND I was able to plan everything over the phone and fax.

As there were going to be less than ten people at our wedding (including us), we were able to arrange our wedding in an a la carte manner.  We chose to have our ceremony in a gazebo, in the rose garden at the Disney Yacht and Beach Club.  We wanted to be able to have a first dance (to "I Swear" by All 4 One), have a champagne toast (with Pink Fairytale wedding champagne) and have a wedding cake (German Chocolate.)  And with the help of our Disney wedding planner ALL of this was possible.  We wanted to take our guests (bridesmaids) Stacy F and Michele Q, (Best man) Russell, his wife Randee and Michele's (now husband) Tony, out to dinner and the photographer recommended that we go to the character buffet at The Grand Floridian, because it was an ideal place for photographs and he reasoned that if you were going to get married at Disney World, you might as well have Mickey and Minnie in your wedding pictures.  He was right, our pictures were spectacular and the food was excellent.

One of the benefits of getting married at Disney was how natural it was to walk around in a wedding gown and tux.  We were treated like royalty, and at one point a mom came up to us with her son (who couldn't have been more than 7) and she said "He likes you both very much."  I think that he thought that we were a prince and princess; and for that night, we sure were.

After dinner we all went to Pleasure Island (Disney's nighttime entertainment complex) and again we were treated like celebrities.  Our wedding party never had to wait in line, and we were congratulated and wished well by more people than we ever could have imagined.  It was the most magical night of our lives; and everything that we could have hoped for.

The day after our wedding, Michele, Tony and Stacy, joined us at The magic Kingdom.  It was the first time that Luis had been to Disney World  and the experience was priceless.  Luis had told me that he'd seen commercials for Disney World when he was a kid and he'd asked his dad if they could go, and his dad said "probably not."  So to have actually been married there, was VERY special for him too.  We said goodbye to our friends at the end of the evening and spent the rest of our honeymoon alone.  Two weeks after we returned to New York, we hosted a brunch at a Mexican restaurant so that the rest of our friends could celebrate our marriage with us.  We played our video, shared our pictures, I threw the bouquet and we had cannoli cake.  It was a wonderful way of incorporating our other friends into our jubilation.

17 years ago and it seems like just yesterday to me.  I guess it really is true that time flies when you're having fun! 
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-339) The Perfect Black Dress

I have way too many balls in the air today; and you have to know that if I'M saying that - I AM BUSY!  I worked for four hours this morning, did I don't know how many loads of laundry, took Kelsie to Kohl's, Target, Subway, The library and Wal-mart; and yet I still need to write this post, pack up for our swim meet, go to our swim meet and pack to leave for California. Whew!

I have to say that I totally lucked out though, because I've been thinking that I need to start looking for an outfit to wear to "Mamma Mia" and when I took Kelsie to Target to look for a new swim suit; I just so happened to find the perfect black dress.  I tired it on, and much to my surprise, it was a great fit.  Kels thought it looked cute, so with her reassurance I bought it.  I modeled  it for Luis, Nicky and Lyndzi, when I got home and they all thought that it was a keeper; so at least that's one errand that I can check off my list. 

I texted Jackie to let her know that I unexpectedly found a dress, and she wrote back, "That's what happens.  When you're looking you don't find and when you're not looking, you do find... like our husbands."  I thought it was ironic that she said that because tomorrow Luis and I will be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary; and she's absolutely right -  I found Luis when I WASN'T looking.  But more about that tomorrow.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING