So we have found a place in Fremont and Sam has been living there since the 19th. We have been blessed to have pretty much all our furniture. It's a one bedroom, one bath but it's pretty roomy. The place feels very "lived in" and like a home. It is going to be a blessing because this place is closer to both our jobs and cuts our commute time in half! We are not quite finished decorating but here are the first few pictures of the place. And before people get crazy..NO it's not a Tv its the Gaming monitor for the Wii.
Our new apartment
Bridal Shower
So on September 19th, my lovely bridesmaids put together what I consider the best shower EVER!! (Of course i'm biased) Anyway, they really did a miraculous job. Sierra made the lovely pom pom decorations, the theme was butterflies and bright colors. Sis. Patty Malerich generously opened her gorgeous backyard for use when my bridesmaids asked. It was a gorgeous day not too hot and there was a slight breeze..perfect. The food was super good and the dessert was cupcakes with handmade candy butterflies on top. And of course my favorite, chocolate covered strawberries. They came up with some great games...the first was to put me on the hot seat and ask me questions that Sam had previously answered and see how well I knew him...I got 10 out of 14 not bad huh? Next they did love song charades...oh my goodness..it was hilarious. One of the most touching and memorable things was the "panel" where several married ladies, including my mom and mother-in-law to be, where asked to give advice based on their experiences. It was really special. Of course I must mention the gifts. I truely feel blessed and was very much overwhelmed. Everything was very lovely and I will never forget it. 
The OFFICIAL Engagement Pictures
I know this is something that some of us have been waiting for quite some time! I'm excited to say...Our engagement session now is complete!! (It's ok to squeal!) If you're not familiar with Sam Hassas's work, you are truly missing out on a creative genius. If you want to see Sam Hassas's favorite shots visit his blog HERE. Oh also…Don't forget to comment!
Raw Food!!!???
Sam, myself and my cousin Janelle have this tradition that once a month or so we go to different restaurants and be adventurous with our tastes. So Sam found this place called Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley. It only serves RAW food, nothing is cooked, no meat, only vegan. So we said "why not?" We walked in and the place was very nice, super comfortable with bench couches with pillows at every table. The environment was very "Positive", every menu item was named something like "I am refreshed"(Lemonade), I am Enriched (Enchilladas), I am abundant (Appetizer special) and so on and so forth. So Sam ordered a lemonade(I am refreshed) and Janelle ordered a LARGE lemonade...so when the waitress served us she said to Sam "You are refreshed" and to Janelle 'You are LARGELY refreshed" !! We were dying laughing...it was so hilarious. The food was actually really good, we were surprised at how tasty it was. I have to say though their desserts are to DIE for.. the best mint ice cream ever made from fresh mint. It was an interesting experience.
Janelle's LARGELY REFRESHED lemonade :)
Sam's enchilladas
Registrying
So we registered for our gifts last week and it was very interesting. We got first hand whats it's like to shop for our home. I had my list on hand, prepared to go to each item and just run through it and be done....ha not the case...we would get hung up on each isle..."oh i like that...that would look good there" Needless to say it took a little longer.Most of the stuff we agreed on and the stuff we didn't we found a happy medium. We had a blast though, from Sam scanning some questionable items....(see picture) 
to me trying to scan him..
Cancun trip
We took a trip to Cancun/Playa del Carmen this past June. It was Natalie, Ray, Sam, Isaac, Rosario and me. The water was as blue as you see in the pictures ..so beautiful! We stayed at a beautiful resort called Mayan Palace. All we did on our vacation was relax...it was a great break and much needed. Apparently this was the first vacation Sam had taken in a verrrry long time and it was just what was needed. We literally did nothing the first 2 days. The beach was just a stones throw away from our 2 bedroom suite, so we would walk to the beach and sit in the cabanas all day and go into Playa for dinner at night. The place was relativley empty due to the whole swine flu episode (or H1N1 to be politically correct) so we had the whole beach pretty much to ourselves.
We only took 2 days out of our 7 to go exploring. One day we went to Chichen Itza, and old mayan ruin considered to be one of the 7 wonders of the world. It was SUPER hot and we literally dragged ourselves through the ruins. The only thing that took away from the amazment of the structures was the history of the Mayan culture and how they would play their seemingly innocent ball game, but at the cost that the losing team would be sacrificed to their mayan God's. Talk about incentive for wanting to win.
Our other day excursion was going to X-caret(pronounced Ish-caret) That is one place I HIGHLY suggest anyone to go to if you are going to Cancun. It is an eco park which is kinda like a Marine World or animal park but in a more natural environment. The highlight of the park was the underground river, called cenotes, you can swim through. It is all natural and the water that runs through it is actually ocean salt water and the river eventually dumps into the ocean. Swimming underground was amazing, it was dark and damp but super amazing. In the evening they put on a show that was unlike any other folkoric show I've ever seen. They did either a dance or musical performance representing every state of Mexico. They called it Mexico Spectacular..and it truley was.
I can't end this blog without mentioning the awesome food we had down there. Some of the most memorable ones were Alux (A-loosh) and La Cueva Del Chango. Alux was a natural cave that had been transformed into a restaurant/lounge. It was one of those once in a lifetime experiences to be sitting under stalagamite and eating. The food was just OK but the atmosphere made up for it entirely. La Cueva Del Chango was a whole different story. The best food we had in Mexico during our entire stay. Very fresh and natural, the last picture is of my meal which was Chicken in a peanut sauce with rice and vegetables. Sabroso!
