Serra Plaza

I have always dreamed of an outside wedding... In fact getting married outside was about the only thing I knew that I really wanted when I thought of how my wedding will be. 

My fiance and I were online the day after he proposed and were looking at venues online. Serra Plaza was the first place we saw on theknot.com we instantly fell in love. It seemed perfect. Right away I wrote an email to Mary the coordinator for weddings there and requested a walk through. A weekend later we were there on our walk-through and everything felt right...

About 2 weeks later we went back to the beautiful San Juan Capistrano, and put our $2000 deposit down. We rushed it. Not knowing that things may change from the time we booked the venue till the time we were actually getting married. I lost my job, my zumba classes slowed down, and we are no longer depending on my parents to pay for my wedding. We did not want to burden my parents with that obligation anymore...

So about a month ago I wrote Mary an email telling her we no longer would be able to afford to have our big day at Serra Plaza.. I can't quite wrap my head around it... My heart is broken, however I know that the decision to strictly budget is going to be a wonderful decision. 

Now we will be having our reception at the beautiful Fullerton Ballroom in my hometown. We haven't decided where we will be having our ceremony yet though, because a girl still wants her out-door ceremony! But I am sure we will find a place equally as beautiful as Serra Plaza without breakin our bank!

Luckily, I teach Zumba at the Ballroom, and the owners will be giving me a generous deal!!! So we will be able to put money towards other things, that we would not have been able to do at Serra Plaza. So already we made a great decision.

any ways... I be on here in a little to share all my wedding things I have planned and plan on so far!! <3

Event Details - Zumbathon Application

Ill be holding a Zumbathon for Susan G. Komen for the cure!! Save the tatas!! :)


Event Details - Zumbathon Application

My Big(because she is taller) lil sister

My sister Tiana...

From Left to right. Me with/boring long hair and zero fashion sense, and then my sister fun hair, crazy face. Simply Awesome.

We are like oil and water. Completely don't mix, or at least we shouldn't mix, but when you put us together we make a beautiful rainbow. I love her. Tomorrow she moves 2 hours south from me to San Diego. You are probably thinking to your self 2 hours is not far, but it really is. When you go from sharing a room together since birth, to sleeping across the hallway, to just 5 miles apart, to 20 miles apart, to 100+ miles apart its far, and heartbreaking. However this is bittersweet, she is finally going to school for fashion design which has been her dream since diapers...

We were both young designing are barbies outfits, cutting their hair, and playing stylist, then her barbie makeovers turned in to art (mine remained a barbie makeover)...

It's been a long road for her; she has been trying to go to school for fashion for the past 3 years or so, but financially it was too hard on my parents. Now she is old enough to do it by herself. 

::Crying::

It's gonna be a hard one for miss Brooklyn who loves her auntie Tiana so much. I am sure she will constantly ask where Auntie Tiana is when I go over to my parents house, But she is just a phone call away!! :)

Well T-Baby, I am so proud of you and love you so much. We always have our ups and downs but me, you and Katrina will forever be sisters, and will always remain close. I can't put into words how excited I am for  you! And when You start getting those designs done for my wedding dress mail them over! 

I promise to make a family day trip down to San Diego soon!!! We will go to the Wild Animal Park... 

Again I love you, and I am sorry for throwing a battery at your eye brow, while screaming at each other under our beds hahha. 

Show your school what you are all about!! Kill it like us Harris' Do!

What's cookin 2.

Last night I made a chicken stir-fry and Fried rice and boy was it DELICIOUS. It was my first time making these dishes, I learned from watching my mom when I was young of course I added my own twists.  I am bad at directions but I'll try to explain ;)

Recipe ::Chicken Stir-fry::

1.5lb Bonless skinless chicken breast

 1Tbs peanut oil 

1/2 Red crushed peppers (Or to your liking)

1 cup edamame

2 heads of Broccoli

3 carrots

4 green onions

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbs Oyster sauce

1.5 Tbs Hoisen sauce

a splash of orange juice

1/3 cup Chicken Broth

**all of these are estimates as I do not measure (sorry)

First I cooked the chicken, about 7 minutes, then added Hoisen sauce,and red crushed peppers. After the hoisen sauce is on all pieces of chicken I added all other ingredients (medium heat) Let simmer on low heat for about 20 min. 

Recipe (fried rice) 4 servings.

2 cups rice

4 cups water

1.5 Tbs peanut oil

4 green onions

3 eggs

1 cup peas

soy sauce to your liking

Directions, First I cooked the rice, and lets it cool before I fried it. After it has cooled for about 30 min I heated up frying pan with the peanut oil. Then, added the rice and started to brown it. After it has turned light golden brown I added the green onions and peas. Then, in a bowl I mixed the eggs, then added it to pan, make sure eggs cook all the way, add soy sauce and mix then you are done! :)

Sunday Funday...

While most of my friends spend Sunday at the bar I spend it at home with my family. Sunday is usually the day when I clean my house(room) from top to bottom, dusting, laundry, wash the walls, and everything... I usually end Sunday wishing I had started the day by going to church but that never happens :( "keep the sabbath day holy"

My fiance is Catholic and I am an inactive LDS. I have always wanted to become involved in the Mormon church but always felt like an outcast... As I am black and Mexican; majority of the LDS members around my town are white. I know race shouldn't be an issue but it always has been, since I was a little girl sitting in sacrament feeling like everyone was staring at me and my family. Which they were... Wide eyed and all. They stared and gave many compliments to my family and I... Sure this kindness should have been welcoming but I always pushed it away. However, now that I am older and have a family of my own, becoming involved in church seems like a must, it's just now I don't know what church...

The missionaries come over a lot and teach the gospel to me and my fiance, I have grown to love the company of the missionaries even though sometimes they come over at the wrong time (haha) and when they do come over they always emphasize the fact that the Mormon religion is really about "Families being together forever" this element is something I have yet to find in another church and is the one thing I love most about being Mormon.

The family factor has even drawn my fiance to some likings of the church. He is an inactive catholic, I was so happy when the missionaries finally got my fiance to go to church. It was so heart warming. He attended church by himself, as he wants no pushing from me or anyone else to get baptized. So I let him go alone, I stayed home wishing I was there with him...

Another thing I love about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (quite the mouthful) is how they are a bit old-fashioned or thats at least how I see it. Majority of your Mormon families the wife stays home, and daddy works.. I have loved that As I am a stay at home mom. And tell me why it seems like most mormon women can bake, cook, coupon, sew, crochet, and blog like no other!? I love that.

And then there's things I like about the Catholic church... Like the history, the communion, and the way everyone prays outloud (that's a joke)...

Oh I left out how I love that in the Mormon church families can be sealed. What is a sealing? (I googled this)In Mormonism, a sealing is an ordinance (ritual), performed in temples by a person holding the sealing power. The purpose of this ordinance is to seal familiar relationships, making possible the existence of family relationships throughout eternity...
Don't you just love that. The fact that families really can be together forever even after death. And When I marry Jesus there would be no "Til death do us part" I love it. He would be stuck with me FOREVER!!! ::evil laugh:: but really this is the one thing I told myself when I was a little girl sitting in sacrament getting annoyed at all the stares. I always said I wanted my family to be sealed. I always said when I marry I would become an active member of the church. That I would teach my daughter about the Book of Mormon, and that I would try my hardest to treat my body like a temple (this is the thing I struggle most with).

who wouldn't want to be sealed in this temple?? gah gorgeous.

Well I will let you guys know how my Journey to finding a church for my family and I goes... Until then, c'est la vie!

officially addicted.

I am officially addicted to blogging. I tried blogging out a few years ago, but this was before I had my daughter and maybe I was just way too into partying to find a liking for being posted at my computer....

However, Since I started blogging again I cannot get enough!!!! I have been stuck posting, following, and sharing others post.


I have found some great recipes, can't wait to try them out. I will post this new chicken enchilada recipe tomorrow!!

Well short and sweet... see you all in the a.m. GOODNIGHT.

Whats Cooking 1.

Hmm, what's cooking tonight?. We have a completely empty fridge. Kept telling daddy all week that we needed to go grocery shopping. Did he  listen?? No, of course not. I would have gone to the store by myself but I cannot drive stick! And with this heat lately walking was out of the question... So basically in our fridge is cheese, about a cup of milk, salad (that has frozen because we put it too close to the freezer) butter, and turkey. In our pantry is bread and lots of it.

So what does this leave me with to make.... A grilled cheese sandwich, not just a grilled cheese sandwich but a turkey grilled cheese sandwich with???? KETCHUP.

 

Brooklyn and I have a strange addiction to ketchup, ranch, thousand island, basically any dressing you can think of! And when we can put it on something-- we will!

My best friend Yvonne is the one who got Brooklyn addicted to "dipping sauce" I think Brooklyn was less than a year when she first experienced a french fry and ranch! Thanks Yvonne! ;)

Unfortunately, daddy is at work late tonight and cannot take part in eating our amazing grilled cheese sandwiches :(

Just Organize Yourself: The Organized Zone

Just Organize Yourself: The Organized Zone: "Organizing can be extremely overwhelming. – that's why I organize by zones ! When your house needs an organizing overhaul, here's what to ..."

2000 Dollar Budget Wedding: From Conception to Reception

2000 Dollar Budget Wedding: From Conception to Reception

I found this cute blog, as I was searching different wedding blogs. This blog became at the top of my list... If you are a a bride with a super low budget read it! You will not be disappointed :)

babies. and (Brooklyn)

Now I know I said I was going to talk about weddings, however babies are on my mind. I do not know what it is about them but I just love 'em. Maybe it's the cute cooing, or their complete innocence in this brutal world. I don't know... all I know is that they are absolutely adorable. 

I keep telling Jesus I want another baby (he does too!), we are just waiting to get married first before having our second baby! Since we did things a little backwards before we want to do things in the right order the second time around. Even though I think it would be so sweet to include both babies in our wedding! hmm...

Maybe I can talk Jesus into it.. But then there's the fact that I do not want to deal with losing post pregnancy weight again. And what would happen to my Zumba classes!! Who would teach them? So for now holding off on Brooklyn's baby sister (I know I will have another girl, I already have her name picked out) is best :(

Oh!, and have I told you about those terrible twos!? Let me tell you they are no myth! Brooklyn really can be a little devil. From time outs on the bed, to two minutes in the corner, nothing seems to help!!!!! She screams at the top of her lungs, throws herself on the ground, hits, bites, and somehow still manages to break my heart when she makes her sad face--I give in. 

Now tell me why the only thing that EVER seems to get her to stop whatever bad thing she is doing is when I say "You want me to call daddy"?? She immediately acts like the lil' sweet pea I love and adore!

I mean come oooon... How can she possibly be scared of him... 

I think I look a lot MEANER... just sayin'

The one thing Miss Brooklyn is always getting yelled at for is my makeup (i.e. Lip gloss, chapstick, nail polish, lotion, eyeshadow)

and my iPhone, better known as her myPhone. Tell me why she knows how to operate that phone better than my mom?!?! She can Youtube like no other, she has her favorite videos saved! Let me remind you she is only 2! She even knows how to take picture with my phone, she has taken pics of me on the toilet too many times, thank god I always check my pics before I let somebody see them!!!!

 but its moments like this...

that only a parent can experience... That make me love babies so much! Those unforgettable moments, The first words, the first times doing mischievous things, first fall, first i love you, first bedtime story, and kiss good night. All those and more make me want to have another baby! Plus, Brooklyn would get a little sister or brother... who she desperately wants!

uhhhh, waiting.

After, 3 long impatient years of waiting for Jesus to ask me to marry him, On March 2, 2011 he finally popped the question... Before I tell you how he ask me, let me tell you a little bit about those impatient years awaited.

Sure, Jesus and I had our fair share of relationship problems, but majority of our problems were me! I would become irritated, and fix up these crazy thoughts in my head because he still had yet to ask me to marry him. He would just tell me "I'll know when I want to Marry you." And for some reason I just could not fathom those words. They were like daggers to my heart. I became worried, maybe he has found someone else, maybe he will find someone else, he doesn't love me.

My dad had those same thoughts too. He told me why would he ask you, why milk the cow... when he already has the milk.

and those words "why milk the cow, when he already has the milk" often became the topic of our arguments.
Finally, after about 3 years of me impatiently waiting I noticed things in our relationship really started to change. We became serious. And by serious I mean mature.

We never wanted to be those young parents with the baby, who go out and party, and get hammered. We never wanted to be like those Facebook friends of ours, that if it weren't for the pictures of their baby you would never even know they were parents because of how horribly irresponsible they were. Family became our lifestyle and family came before those drunken nights with friends....

Jesus got a promotion at work and became department manager, my fitness business became super successful, Brooklyn started dance. Everything was falling into place. Our love was growing stronger, we had no more stupid trust issues, we no longer were having stupid fights. He really became the man I had always dreamed of, and I know I became that woman of his dreams. (I will go into never giving up on relationships in another blog called Do's and Don'ts)

Now back to March 2, 2011, We had been scooping out rings and wedding talk became a regular talk in the weeks/months prior. I came home from teaching my Zumba class (I will soon have a blog on Zumba too!!) and Jesus was playing his video games... He wouldn't look me in the eye and gave me a nervous kiss hi. So I hopped on the computer and started looking at engagement rings while Brooklyn was climbing all over me. I started pointing out some and showing Jesus, his eyes seemed more focused on Call of Duty than the rings but he was looking. I made a joke like "just ask me already babe" and he didn't laugh... Instead he started to sweat. He asked me if I wanted to go on our walk and I said yes. Nightly walks was something we would do every now and then. So we went. He stopped and got down to what I thought was to tie his shoe, he pulled out the ring got on one knee and said "I love you with all my heart, I can't imagine my life without you in it, Will you marry me"? (something like  that) and I started to cry and said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have my promise ring on too in this pic, forgot that part! That's another reason why I became so impatient!!

First comes love, then come baby, then comes the thought of marriage.

I was never one of those girls who played wedding dress up. I always dreamed of a big wedding yes, but never went into details with those thoughts. I knew the simple things like.

• I would marry for love
• I wanted an outside ceremony
• My sisters would be my Maid of honor(s)
• My reception would be a huge party
• I would have a choreographed 1st dance
• My best friends would be bridesmaids

and basically thats about all I knew. 

So as soon, as I had Brooklyn, we decided to hold off on a wedding. We did not want to get married just because we had a baby. We wanted to be in love with each other, we wanted to be responsible, we wanted to mature.

You think teen moms are bad, Imagine being pregnant at 20! You are almost 21, finally got freedom from your parents, so maturing before marriage was an absolute MUST.

Maybe it was all those late nights up feeding baby, or lonely nights without Jesus home, but I seemed to mature a lot quicker than Jesus. I started to become impatient... I wanted to marry him, and started to question what was taking him so long to ask me. You may be asking yourself ask you, why would he need to ask you? Well even though I had a baby before marriage and did things just a little backwards I wanted some things right. I wanted Jesus to ask my dad for my hand in marriage. I wanted Jesus to get down on one knee, and me to start sobbing uncontrollably before I could utter the words yes. I wanted a long engagement before wedding.These are the things I wanted and would get :))
 

First Comes love, then comes baby??

First off, this is me and my little family. From left to right. Jesus, the man of my dreams (and sometimes beautiful nightmares) Brooklyn, my little devil I mean sweet angel. (she has hit those terrible twos full force)! And me Cassaundra (The woman of Jesus's dreams)

How we met?
I met Jesus through a mutual friend, no actually that is a lie. I met Jesus from his ex girlfriend! Yup I am one of those horrible girls who dates their friends ex's(sarcasm)...  but really I did. I did not like Jesus at first because of all the horrible "stories" I heard but turns out he really is not that bad :) then sometime later I met Jesus again through a mutual friend. We started hanging out weekly, then it turned into daily (nightly is more like it).

People always say you should let the guy pursue you. Well I got tired of doing that, I threw so many hints at Jesus it became a bit ridiculous. I was basically screaming in his face "HELLO, I LIKE YOU"

We had this place in Yorba Linda "our spot", that we would always go to. It has a beautiful view you can see from Yorba Linda to Irvine. One night as I was getting ready to drop Jesus off at home, he told me to stop because he forgot something at our spot. He lied, he turned down the radio and grabbed my hand (at least that's how I remember it) and said "Do you want to be my girl?" I laugh at this now... This was during his underground hip hop days. So on September 11, 2007 at about 12:01am we officially became boyfriend and girlfriend. We both ran home and hurried up to change the status of relationship on our MySpace. Seriously.

Well a little fast forward...
I had a bunch of family drama going on (sorry mom, and dad) and started to frequently stay over at Jesus' house. Days became into weeks, weeks became into months. Sometime in January 2008 I "officially" moved into Jesus' parents house. However, I still have a crap load of stuff at my parents house, and in storage. Some where there my dad told me how he was worried because he knew I would become pregnant, and sure enough about 2 months later I found out I was pregnant with Brooklyn. 
Then there was lunch with my mom to tell her I was preggers, and the dreaded phone call to my dad. I was supposed to tell him in person, but he guessed what I wanted to talk to him about. So there was no point.

Then talks with my parents and Jesus' parents about marriage... Which brings me to the point of this blog.