SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

This week's Show Us Your Life from Kelly's Korner is the Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony.

We were married on October 25, 2008 at 3:00 PM and our ceremony was at St. Ann's Church in the Bronx, NY. It was a traditional Catholic ceremony. And, of course, it rained. I was a little disappointed that we could not go to a nearby park afterwards for some outside shots, but what can you do? Fall is my favorite time of the year so we natually chose October for our wedding. Our flowers were filled with fall colors and our wedding party wore chocolate brown with my maid of honor in sky blue. I let my girls choose whatever style they were comfortable wearing.

Of course, when we chose our date, Freddy hadn't received his drill schedule for the next fiscal year. So the big joke was "No deployment until October 26!" :)

In addition, I had made the horrible mistake of choosing the same day as the Michigan/Michigan State football game. A HUGE snafu for a gal from Michigan. I didn't even think about it since they normally play each other later in the season. Unfortunately, Michigan lost so everyone quickly forgot...





Because of his job, my dad couldn't not fly into NYC until Friday night. Which meant he missed the rehearsal and was sort of winging it during the ceremony. When the time came to give me away, he asked if he had to do anything else. Freddy, in another classic "Freddy moment", just said "Go sit down." Of course, my dad will be giving him crap about that forever.





This is one of my favorite shots that was captured that day. I believe that was around the time he asked me if I was on something because I was too calm :) Hey, my mom, a nurse, only gave me a motion sickness pill that morning for the limo ride! Freddy will actually go down as the one who flipped out because I merely suggested the day before he modify his schedule to pick an additional item up.





You can't tell in this shot that I only had about 40 people there against Freddy's 100. All of my family is in Michigan so I was lucky enough to have some relatives fly out for the ceremony.





That is my 82 year old Great Aunt Ilene. I was so happy that she was able to fly out from Michigan for the wedding. My grandmother passed away in 2005 and the only thing she ever wanted was for her granddaughters to find someone to take care of them. It meant a lot that Antie Ilene was able to come out.





I loved the back of my dress with the color panel and received a lot of compliments about it.





I also enjoyed my hubby in uniform all day!





Our wedding party consisted of all family and close friends.

Maid of Honor - Andrea Marshall, sister of the bride
Bridesmaid - Esther Olvera, sister of the groom
Bridesmaid - Viviana Matasaru, sister of the groom
Bridesmaid - Michelle Henning, friend of the bride

Best Man - Sayedul Rahman, friend of the groom
Groomsman - Phil Wend, Jr, friend of the groom
Groomsman - Sebastian Matasaru, brother-in-law of the groom
Groomsman - Tony Marshall, brother of the bride

Flower Girl - Nia Carter, friend of the groom
Ring Bearer - Nikko Olvera-Vera, nephew of the groom

Usher - Lenny Daniel, friend of the bride
Usher - Jaymes Hodges, friend of the bride

Freddy's family - Esther Olvera, Sebastian Matasaru, Viviana Matasaru, Clara Olvera, Alfredo Olvera, and Nikko Olvera Vera.





My family... all the way from Michigan - Debra Marshall, Andrea Marshall, Tony Marshall, Heidi McArthur (my future sister-in-law), and Rocky Marshall.









Next week is the Wedding Reception and Honeymoon.

~AKO

Too Much

Sometimes I think my day is just too much with 10 people vying for my attention at any given point of the day. It seems like every day I'm in back to back meetings and when I'm not, there is always someone at my desk asking for help. Now, I know I'm a manager and responsible for my team and their issues, however, most of the time I can never get my own work done! As a result, I spend many days in the office until 8 or 9 in the evening. Since I arrive to work normally around 8:30-8:45ish, that is a twelve hour day. Multiple twelve hour days in a week equals EXHAUSTION!

In addition, some people apparently feel it is perfectly fine to do a half-ass job and get rewarded for it. When just about everyone in the office doesn't want to work with you some would think you would catch on. It also must be nice to sit all day at your desk and surf the Internet when members of your own team feel they cannot come to you for help. In this economy people should be working their asses off to keep the job they have and be grateful they have a job.

Thank God it's almost Friday and I got to come home to this today...





~AKO

SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Wedding Dress

Kelly's Korner is hosting a weekly "Show Us Your Life" blog and last week was Show Us Your Wedding Dress. Granted I'm a week behind but better late than never :)

We are still only 89 days away from our 1st Anniversary as a married couple. We were married on October 25, 2008.

I loved my dress. It was an Alfred Angelo strapless with a sky blue colored panel on the train. There was also beading on the bodice and on the trim. It was weirdly comfortable and I couldn't believe how well it fit. I originally tried it on at a Bridal Shop in Mt. Pleasant, MI with my mom and my sister. It was the last one I tried in the second store that we visited. The only reason I tried it on was because the color panel in the sample was green, which is my sister's favorite color. So she and her friend pulled it out just for fun and it ended up being "The One" :) I purchased it at Russell Bridals & Tuxedos in Linden, NJ. The staff there was so nice and helpful through the entire process.


Before the ceremony with my Daddy. He just made it into New York the night before and could only stay until Sunday, but I was so happy that he was able to make it in.



JUST MARRIED... SSG & Mrs. Fredd Olvera!










Next week will be the Wedding Party and Flowers!

~AKO

Jealous Thoughts...

Today marks the half way point for Freddy's AT. On the various forums that I frequent as well as with people I interact with everyday the question comes up "Does it get easier?" While he has not been deployed while we've been together, this is the 5th AT he's been on in addition to the random 2 - 3 week training courses he attends throughout the year. I can tell you it does not get any easier. The lonliness is still there. The weariness from being responsible for all of the things we normally share is still there. Even the kitties know something is not the way it should be.

Yesterday, I was walking behind a couple who couldn't detach themselves from each other to walk up the subway stairs. As a result they sort of stumbled up the stairs. Of course, my first thought was "For God's sake, it won't kill you to let go for the two minutes it takes to walk up the stairs!" Then the familiar twinge of jealousy set in. While they looked rediculous, they were still together.

Of course we all knew what we were getting into when we said "I do", as we are told by those who will never be able to share in the same experiences.

The following photo was sent to me as I was contemplating all of this the other night. My Army boy and his guidon.





~AKO

Wordless Wednesday

My first Wordless Wednesday!!!







~AKO