OSMA.

0h
So
Many
Acronyms.

Well, here I am 12 days married and 3 days on the job. This is what has happened in the last couple of weeks:

Wed, Aug. 13--Celina got offered a job at Heart of Texas Region Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center(MHMR)...woohoo!
Fri, Aug. 15--Celina had a bridal luncheon, went to MHMR to sign paperwork, went to have her urine tested, and then had a rehearsal dinner.
Sat, Aug. 16--MARRIAGE...and my dad's mom went to the hospital
Sun, Aug. 17--left for PUERTO VALLARTA...it was fabuloso!
Wed, Aug. 20--Grandma Felipa Trevino died when Tommy and I were in Puerto Vallarta
Fri, Aug. 22--returned to Dallas
Sat, Aug. 23--flew to Brownsville
Sun/Mon--funeral services
Mon, Aug 25--got back into waco at midnight.
Tues, Aug. 26--I started work at 8 am!

So it's been a whirlwind, but marriage is so fun and I think I am really going to like this job. That brings me to the title of this post...

So I am a caseworker for a load of about 23 level-3 mentally ill clients...level-3 means a variety of things but simply put i have to see each client 3.5 hours a month. as their caseworker I work on psychosocial skills like socialization, accompany them to doctor's visits, work on short and long term life skills goals moving towards stabilization. basically i hang out with crazy people all day long. perfect job for me! haha. but they use SO MANY ACRONYMS HERE. i think i ask what something stands for like 15 times a day. PIRS, SMART, TRAG, CABS, SP1-SP4, HX, SUBHX, POC, MAC. are just a few. it's kind of nuts.

well...it's five...i'm out!

chickity china the chinese chicken...

you know that old song by the Barenaked Ladies, "One Week"? I never understood the meaning of that song...just a bunch of nonsense all strung together...well, now that I am officially "one week" away from the wedding, I might have a deeper appreciation for the drama behind that song...this whirlwind of thoughts, feelings, tasks, etc...I imagine if you tape-recorded my mind it might sound similar to that song. HA!


Actually, I am feeling relatively calm. I know it is the result of my loved ones sowing in prayer...because it is probably ABNORMAL how chill I am right now. I came home this weekend to kind of spend a few "last" days with my family. Tommy went home to Arkansas as well. I highly recommend this for you guys in the future:

1) it makes your family feel SO valued and special in a time when they are preparing to give you over to your husband
2) it seems to mark the transition very significantly...I don't think the wedding is going to get here and I'm going to be taken off guard...it really provides a time to get away and process everything and prepare yourself for the change.
3) i would recommend taking specific time not wedding-related...ie, my family and I are going to see Jersey Boys tomorrow. Going to musicals together is something we have enjoyed doing for years. It will be just the four of us.
4) i think it is kind of good to be away from your fiance...for me, I've really had a chance to think about him and pray for him...something about being away has sweetened this for me. it kind of builds the romance too...i mean i'm ready to see the man i'm going to marry! it is good to miss him right before i marry him...does that make any sense?

in closing...some pics of the wedding site that we'll be at in 6 days!!



*the gazebo we'll be married under*

*the house itself...refreshments will be served on the porch during bridal party pics

things are heating up...

so i have this weird obsession with being first on your lists...i think i'm like 8th or so on Amy's list right now and that will just not stand.

we are officially on the wedding countdown...in 45 minutes it will be August...which means that 16 days from now...i will be wed.

its starting to hit me how different things will be in 16 days. i mean my life will change and never be how it was. this isn't just seasonal...meaning this time of my life won't come around again...it's just big CHANGE. it's will revolutionize, uproot, and rearrange my world. i'm pumped for it, but man, this is an undertaking. it is really easy to prioritize very insignificant things at this point. the other day i had to kick myself as i spent 2.5 hours looking for honeymoon attire. I mean, really? it's not like i'm going to be naked (and everyone laugh at the innuendo i'm NOT making)...meaning i have clothes to wear. but with realizing the intensity of this life transition, i think i will be more inclined to the more significant things. like understanding the complexity of the marriage covenant. being aware of how now, my sin and flesh affect another, since we are one. learning to encourage more than criticize. learning that as much as this man knows me, he can never really know me like the Father. learning that Tommy only knows as much as I tell him. digging into the Word and discovering that God's divine romance models perfectly how we are to treat one another. learning to extol and respect my man like the Shulamite maiden respects and honors Solomon in Song of Songs. relinquishing my rights again and again.

it's been such a revelation of grace though. on two points specifically:
1. We know each other well...past yucky stuff, present struggles, future dreams. Though he has seen my flesh for what it is...gross and raw and sinful...he loves me...and he is enabled to love me because of the Father's love. if he can love in spite of and through that stuff, HOW MUCH MORE does my ABBA love me?
2. I don't think I will ever feel "ready" to be a wife...I look back to the summer, or even past 7 months and say "man I wish I had prayed more on this...or read more on this...or studied more of this...or listened to God more on this..." And yes, maybe my performance could have been better in some places, but I will never be ready and perfect and perfectly well-read and well-prayed. But oh His grace, will help me through the places of weakness and imperfection. so I don't have to fear.

in other news, it is HOT. and i have an outside wedding. I have held out hope all summer, because it has been relatively mild. last week, it got HOT. nasty, mucky, texas HOT. I am now scared.

God...85 degrees...and a breeze. and maybe rainfall say 4 days previous?

goodnight!

new layout

what do you think? like the design update?

that's all really from this front...23 days till wedding...

feelings:

readiness, anticipation, zeal, peace, nervousness, excitement, givenness, oneness, thankfulness, closeness with the father, solemnity, self-awareness, busyness...

i'm sure there are more...that's all for now.

love!

a smattering in seven minutes

i only have 7 minutes to make this post but as i am doing blog update catch-up i notice my name falling lower and lower on your list of recently updated friends and i'm just not ok with that.

so this weekend, shower in dallas, and my bridal portraits!

the shower was fun, it was themed "the times of our lives" and the guests were instructed to bring gifts that corresponded with a certain time on their invitation. this worked out all right until my lovely lovely mother made one of her friends who had a middle of the night time get me a pretty little nightie...

now most you know that i'm not modest...around YOU. but put me in a room around a whole gaggle of adults most of which are more friends of my parents or family, and INCLUDING the mother of my ex-boyfriend (who we are family friends with, so it isn't really that weird that she was there) and the mother of my FIANCE...well.........MODESTY! I was slighly embarrassed and flustered by that and wanted to quickly move on to the next gift but my lovely sister made me lift the thing up and shake it around. GAG.

Bridals were fun though, we were out in a park in Rockwall, very rustic looking. at one point i had 2 grasshoppers going for a ride in my skirts. and i had to stand perfectly posed and still as my feet were being attacked by ants. but it was worth it for the shots we got i think.

last note, as i only have 2 minutes....i think i'm going to call my wedding the wedding of contradictions. that's the best way i think i'm starting to think of it. modern, yet vintage inspired. simple, yet structured. organic, yet constructed. traditional, yet unique. young, yet mature. think on that....

later!

you can take the dog out of the city...

what a weekend.

to finish the title of this blog, you can take the dog out of the city, but apparently, cannot take the city out of the dog.

an impromptu trip to Arkansas happened this weekend, after a call from the jeweler that said he needed to see my ring ONE more time to finish my wedding band. it was either take the trip or send my ring over UPS which neither tommy nor I were very keen on. (we are getting my band custom-made because my ring is quite difficult to match) so off we go to the ranch (tommy's house) with a car full of Judge (the puppy), Dez (who I was so grateful to spend time with), and Leslie (my current roommate). let me just say, 3 girls and a dog for 5+ hours in a car is alot for a man to handle. in retrospect, i feel bad for the guy. i mean, he had to keep us from listening to camp rock soundtrack at least 5 times.

anyways, so we THOUGHT judge would love the ranch...rolling in grass and mud, running through the field, chasing bunnies, scaring cows...

not a chance. oh for the first couple of hours, he had a grand old time, he rolled all in the straw, splashed in the creek, ate some algae...but then the family went inside. Judge spent the whole rest of the trip jumping the porch gate (getting spanked and shooed back out afterwards), jumping the porch gate again, smashing the flowerbeds trying to jump the porch gate. then it started raining, actually storming. so they have a fenced in area where they kennel the dogs and it has a little dog house in it. we put him there during the storm figuring he would be smart enough to go inside the dog house. apparently, his idea is to get on TOP of the dog house. eventually, he escaped somehow. we were all in the dining room playing dominos and we see some big ears peeking at us through the kitchen window. he ended up spending the night on the porch, where he destroyed some flowers and left a nice pile of poopy. he wanted NOTHING to do with the other dogs or the ranch. we were one hour from leaving when he decided he would try to steal the yellow lab's food...let me just say he LOST that fight, and he now has a nice gash under his eye that will probably need a stitch or two.

to make up for his traumatic weekend, we took him to the vet today to get neutered.

oh judgie...

planning...

Hello again!

So our wedding invitations are coming VERY close to completion. This has been quite an involved process. Let me run down a list of steps, somewhat vaguely so as not to ruin the surprise of opening up your bulky envelope from Moi.

1. cut x 2 different aspects
2. tape
3. label
4. stamp
5. punch x 2
6. measure and cut
7. tie
8. stuff x 3
9. print
10. stamp
11. stuff-final

and multiply it all by 300

thank you to the following: Jenn (sister), Mom, Dad (and his pocketbook), Greg (bro-in-law), Leslie, Dez, A-whit, Elizabeth, and Judge (our puppy who affectionately found a few parts to chew on)

Here is a preview of coming attractions.

In other news...dress fitting tomorrow!! my first one! i will NOT be posting pictures of it. ha.