My "I DO" Do

So one day I was at work and I noticed on the table in the break room a wedding magazine (Martha Stewart Weddings).  Just for fun I started to look through the pages and I found one page that talked about hair care, called "Hair Helpers".  I personally find my hair to be so thick and somewhat frizzy that I have a hard time to manage it and I'm just never happy with my hair.  I was reading this article and thought I would take the challenge.  Even though I was already doing somethings it said and not doing the things it said not to do, I thought I would try new things no matter what the cost.  I am happy to say that after a couple of uses, Mark and I and noticed good changes in my hair.  So I would like to share with all of you.

START....
 
SUDSINT UP GENTLY.  Keep your hair's natural moisture in balance, and protect your color with a nonstripping, sulfate-free cleanswer, like L'Oreal Paris Ever-Pure Moisture Shampoo.  Then follow with a conditioner for your hair type. 
UTILIZING A LEAVE-IN CONDITIONER.  Work in through damp hair before heat styling.  Mark Heiner, owner of Slate Salon in New York City likes It's a 10 Miracle Leave-In Treatment.  Loaded with sunflower-seed extract, "it protects, detangles, and adds volume",  he says. 
APPLYING A WEEKLY MASK.  "Intensive treatments can dramatically imporve the quality of you hair, even after one use", says Heiner.  For mor body reach for Pantene Fine Hair Solutions Ultra-Light Moisturizing Treatment.  If hair is color treated or dry, pamper it with Frederic Fekkai Essential Shea Ultra Rich Mask.  Thick or curly? Try Phyto Phytokarite Ultra Nourishing Mask, which enlists cashew oil to moisturize. 
FEEDING YOUR HEAD.  Nourish your scalp to ensure healthy hair growth.  "Work two drops of rose-hip oil into your roots before bed", says Margo Marone, founder of the Organic Pharmacy in London.  It's full of conditioning fatty acids." 
EATING A PROTIEN-RICH DIET.  "Hair relies on it for strengh", says Philip Kingsley, a trichologist in New Yourk City.  To get your fill, consume low-fat dairy products, lean meats, and beans. Aim for 46 grams of protein per day. 

STOP.....

DETANGLING HAIR WHEN IT'S WET.  It's most vulnerable to breaking when it's waterlogged.  "Instead, brush before getting in the shower," says Heiner.  After, blot it dry (don't rub)with a towel to remove excess water, and carefully lossen any tangles with your fingers. 
WASHING EVERY DAY.  Over-cleansing removes natural oils-and, ultimately, that vibrant shine says Eddie Ngai, a stylist at the Rita Hazan Salon in New York City.  Lather up just two to four days a week, depending on how greasy you get. on the off days, spray on a dry shampoo, like Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo.  It de-slicks and gives fine hair thickness and volume. 
BRUSHING TOO MUCH.  "The less you do it the better", says Kingsley.  "Hark pulling can break the hair and scratch the scalp".  When you do brush, use natural boar bristles, which distribute the oils from scalp to ends.  Bumble and Buble's Flat Classic Hairbrush reduces static and gently untangles.  Or try a conditioning comb. 
OVERDOING IT WITH HEAT.  Hot tools can cause damage.  Bottom line: "In the months leading up to your wedding, lay off the blow-dryer, curling iron, and flatiron at least three days a week", says Ngai. And don't take scorching showers.  Sure they feel good, but "over time, hot water can dry out your hair and fade the color", sayd Heiner. 
USING ELASTICS WITH METAL.  They can tear your hair, resulting in logs of broken pieces.  Instead, look for metal-free styles.  like Sephora Snag-Free Elastics.  And "always wear your ponytail loose", says colorist Giselle.

(Martha Stewart Wedding, Winter 2011)

A-E-I love U

I want to share with everyone just how creative Mark is and one way he makes me feel very lucky and special.  The past couple of weeks have been rough with the wedding details.  When I get down Mark does this cute thing where he sends me a text message in the middle of the night telling me how much he loves me, for me to find when I first wake up.  This morning a very special message was on my phone.  This is what he wrote.

All the vowels went camping.  As the letter I  was setting up his tent first, it started to rain.  As A, E, and O shoved past U to cram into I's tent, I set up a second tent for U.  He then went fishing and cooked dinner for U while the others ate dried fruit.  The next morning A, E, and O found out and started yelling at U.  So I stepped in front of U and told the others to back off.  The other vowels stopped being friends with I, but I didn't care.  He took U by the hand and went on to live an amazing life together.  The moral of this story?  Simple.  I will  always be there for U to lend a helping hand, and I will always back U up even if it means losing a friend.  Because I love U and want to live a long happy life with U by my side.  

Jaw Drops and Tear Drops

After Mark and I got engaged the hardest part was to tell the parents.  Well, actually telling my parents.  I was so nervous on the drive home, but I was so thankful that Mark was coming back to my house to tell the news.  My parents wouldn't kill me in front of him.  When I got to the front door of my parents house the door was open with the screen door locked.  When I was trying to unlock the door my Mom was at the kitchen table and yelled "YOUR GRANDMOTHER IS NOT HAPPY WITH YOU!".  (Oh Great!  With all the excitement I didn't give my Grandmother a phone call all day, when she doesn't hear from me in every 2 hours she starts to worry.)  Well I got into the house and I saw my Mom sitting at the table grading her papers and getting frustrated with her students lack of trying.  She was slamming papers on the table yelling at each student as if they were able to hear her.  Waiting for an opportunity for my Mom to be in a good mood to tell her the news that I wasn't sure how she would take was not coming.  So I just put my hand in front of her face and said "look what Mark got me".  With a blank look on her face and not a word she just looked at it for a few seconds then looked at me with a confused look on her face.  Nothing was said but a grin was on her face.  So I went to Chico,  I showed him what Mark gave me, again not a word just a confused look.  After about 15 minutes went by and the news sunk in my parents started to ask us questions to find out if what they are thinking is really true.  After 30 minutes of them asking questions and finally believing the fact Mark and I went to my Grandmothers house to tell her the news.  When I got into my Grandmothers house I was expecting to be in trouble for not calling her all day, but she was quiet.  I showed her my ring, she stared at it, looked back at me and said "what that cost $50?"  Mark and I chuckled then she asked "so is this something permanent?"  of course it was and she went to bed.  I posted my new relationship satus on Facebook and my brother Jason found out that way before I was able to call him.  He called me right away and I was not able to answer the phone so he left me a message "is this some kind of a joke or is this real?  if it's real congratulations, if not, YOU SUCK!".   LOL!  I couldn't help but laugh at that.  So I called him and gave him the good news.  The next morning Jason drove to my Grandmas to congratulate us.  My Grandmother walked in the room "YOU'RE ENGAGED!?! I thought it was a friendship ring".  So Mark if this is a friendship ring I can't wait to see what else you get me.  : )

So to summerize my family didn't believe me. 

LET'S HEAR IT FROM MARKS SIDE NOW......

There wasn't any doubt in my mind that the second my family heard the news, stock in Kleenix facial Tissue would skyrocket for weeks.  So I really wasn't nervous about telling anyone.  However, I really wanted to tell my mom in person, to see her Kaleidoscope of emotions spill out in front of me, but with the magic of Facebook, everyone was findng out right away, and I was feeling guilty that my parents still didn't know the news.  So I told Holly I was going to call her cell phone and tell her.  She answers the phone with a harsh," What?!!"  I jokingly answer," Is that any way to answer a call from your son?"  She then, as anyone who knows my mom can tell you, felt the need to tell me her entire schedule for the day from the time she woke up at eight in the morning to the time I now talked to her at 10 pm.  She went on and on and on and on and ON and ON and ON AND ON AND ON AND ON, until we finally arrived at this pleasant conversation we were now having.  I said," Are you just about done?"  My mom answers," Yes, so what can I do you for?"  And I said," Well, your future daughter in law here beside me wanted to tell you something."  DEAD SILENCE.  Then her emotions took over and she spoke in fragments," W-What.........Di......*snifff* you.....just...........s-s-s-say?"  So I said," I asked Holly to marry me, we're engaged now."  I heard Auntie Lilla in the back say," Is Mark engaged?"  My mom said," Put Haw-Haw-Holly on....the.....phone *sniff*"  So I hand the phone to Holly who had an "oh crap" look on her face as she took the phone.  And I could hear my mom bawling as she told Holly how happy she is for the two of us.  She then hands the phone back to me with this "wow" look on her face.  And my mom started telling me how happy she is for us, and how I made her night.  With the tidal wave of emotions that was nearly drowning Holly and I from this phone calls, I completely forgot I hadn't told my dad.  lol.  I get a call the next morning from my mom saying," Well you please tell your father.  I want to celebrate with him, but I can't because he doesn't know yet."  First words out of my mouth," Oh crap, I forgot."  lol.  So I immediately call my dad, who had fallen in love with Holly the day he met her, and told him the exciting news.  He was ecstatic and congradulated the two of us.  That morning, I was getting an ambush of phone calls and text messages from all my aunts, uncles, coursins, and friends who were all overjoyed with the good news.  I seriously think at age 36, most of my family and friends had given up on this day ever happening for me.  lol.  Anyways, Holly and I are now in the planning stages of this incredible day for us.  And note to all of you who are kicking yourself for not buying that Kleenix stock, don't worry.  You have a second chance on the week of our wedding day :)

The Proposal....

MARK: I remember the day I was planning on asking Holly to marry me.  I was on the train from San Diego to Fullerton, looking at that engagement ring, planning out every detail of how I would ask her.  It was perfect, nothing was going to go wrong.  I was going to sweep her off her feet, and she would forever remember how confident, calm, cool, and amazing I was the day I asked her.  We'd get engaged in the very place it all began.  I'd ask her to marry me at Disneyland, and everything would go flawlessly.....so I thought.  Then after two hours of planning out every detail, my train arrived in Fullerton, where Holly awaited.

HOLLY:  Mark and I started to talk about getting married very early in our relationship (3 weeks into it).  But nothing became too serious till we had a "serious" talk in August.  We had a more serious talk about our futures and what we had planned for ourselves.  When I mentioned to him that I seriously fallen in love with him and wanted to marry him his face couldn't hold back the emotions.  I knew he was planning something.  So I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited.  It was like waiting for him to ask me out all over again.  So on October 14th when Mark insisted on going to Disneyland after I pick him up, I knew something was up.

MARK: So before getting off the train, I had to check the buttoned pocket of my cargo shorts to make sure for the one millionth time in two hours, that the ring was still there (OCD, gotta love it).  I get off the train, feeling the nerves start to build up, when I saw Holly.  I gave her a hug, and the first words out of her mouth were," I was thinking maybe we should skip Disneyland today."  I, trying not to sound TOO obvious that I had something planned (but failing I later found out) said," No, let's go just for an hour.  I feel like riding Ghost Galaxy."  She said," Okay.  Anything for you."  And I was thinking," Oh I so have her fooled."  Us men can be so clueless sometimes.  lol.

HOLLY:  So we arrived at Disneyland.  As usual we skipped the tram ride and walked to Downtown Disney.  I had some kind of a clue that something was up but I didn't want to convince myself that today was the day to crush my hopes (again).  Anyways, I asked him if he wanted to go to the Grand Californian first.  We love to go up to the third floor balcany and it is a special place for us to go and enjoy piano music and the scenery.  To my surprise he said yes.

MARK: We entered the " elevator of no turning back " and pressed the button for level 3.  The doors slammed shut, and I swear they SLAMMED shut and the car immediately shot upward at a much faster rate than I remembered.  Holly was talking, and I was trying to pay attention, but all I could hear was the beating of my heart.  Bubum Bubum Bubum.  Level two BuBUM BuBUM BuBUM.  Approaching level three, BUBUM BUBUM BUBUM!!!!!  The door shot open and Holly leaves.  I walk out, my legs feeling weak.  I followed behind her approaching the balcony, making sure, once again, that the ring is still in the pocket.  I kept repeating in my head, among the drum solo of my heart, word for word what I was planning on telling the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

HOLLY:  I was so happy when we got to the balcony, the piano player was playing "A Whole New World".  I wanted to relax and enjoy the moment but Mark kept talking.

MARK: I stood behind her and put my arms around her, as I often did on that balcony, and realized that my heart was still beating a mile a minute.  So not wanting her to feel that and give away anything, I stepped back, and just placed my hands on her upper arms, rubbing them.  I start my preplanned proposal speech.  I said," Holly, I love you so much, and there's nothing I'd like more than to spend my life with you."  She turns around, faces me, looks into my eyes and said," Well, you know what you have to do for that to happen?"  The rest of my speech leaves my brain, and I said," Well....." I reach down to my cargo shorts pocket to retrieve the ring, to find that the pocket was still buttoned.  Part of my flawless proposal involved unbuttoning that pocket in the elevator.  So I try to unbutton it with my left hand, while looking into her eyes, and the thing wouldn't come unbuttoned.  So I looked down, and try again, with one hand.  Wouldn't unbutton.  So I use both hands, and finally get it open.  I pull out the ring box, look into her eyes.....

HOLLY:  All he is doing is staring at me with this closed box in his hands.  He wasn't opening the box.  I was just staring at this box thinking "if those are earings, I'm going to kill him". 

MARK: I said," I hope you like it," as I opened the box.  Now my heart is pounding so bad, because what I failed to tell you is that she had told me about two dreams she had had in the past month where I proposed to her and gave her the "ugliest ring I had ever seen."  I open the box, she sees the ring, and I said," Will you marry me?"

HOLLY:  I was in shock.  I took me a few seconds to realize what happened.  He opened the box with the ring and put it on the ledge of the balcony.  I couldn't stop staring at it.  I always felt that marriage was for the lucky and in the past I was never lucky.  He went out and got the exact ring that I described to him (not the wooden one from my dream, but one I always dreamed of).  I gave him a big hug and said "yes of course".  So I was still staring at the ring that was still in the box still sitting on the ledge of the balcony.  "So are you going to put that on my finger?" I asked.

MARK: I take the ring out of the box, and slowly moved to put it on her finger.  My hand was shaking so badly, I had to steady it with my other hand to get it on her finger.  She threw her arms around me, and said,"Yes."  So after a year of being  friends, ten months of dating, and 3 months of planning, I was finally engaged, even though nothing in my wedding proposal went as planned.  I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world, for getting the chance to marry someone who was so patient in waiting for me to first ask her out, secondly to give her that first kiss on our first date, and thirdly to ask her to marry him.  Nothing that day could get that cute smile off her face.  She was glowing as we walked out of the hotel.  First words out of her mouth were," This day is all about you.  Anything you want to do, I will do."  So the first words out of my mouth were," Awesome.  Let's go to Tower of Terror!!!"  lol.

MARK AND HOLLY: Now we just had to tell the family the news :)