Christmas Eve - a good time for feel good stories?

I woke up this morning to a warm, muggy Christmas Eve here in Miami. The headlines abound with feel good stories of soldiers coming home for the holidays and the impending rain that is due to fall by tonight. There's always going to be good and bad in a society on any given day. Christmas is no exception...

The Miami Herald today wrote about a Cuban Woman, apparently the wife of one of the 3 Cuban spies that just last week were traded back to Cuba. She wanted to get pregnant and the Cuban Government collaborated with the CIA to get her some of his sperm. Yes, you read that correctly: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article4834107.html The US GOVERNMENT helped a convicted spy get his sperm to his wife so she can get pregnant. This story is all about Christmas Cheer, right? We helped a thug, who was a convicted felon here in the US, get his wife pregnant. Where in the annals of US doctrine does that felon have rights that allow for that??

That is a disgusting story and I am not happy that an animal like that, who was directly responsible for giving information to the Cuban government, is able to procreate. It's just not right. OK Rant over.

I have tons of mixed emotions with the Cuba thing. Most of it is a passionate & emotional response to what happened 50+ years ago with my own family. I refuse to allow this generation of young adults to grow up and forget the stories that were told and lived my our forefathers. I will always tell our stories and continue to be a proud CUBAN-AMERICAN. My parents and grandparents fought to leave the oppressed country so that I would have a bright future. Everyone deserves a free future.
Merry Christmas to whoever is reading...

Pondering Christmas

Saturday morning, 5 days until Christmas. I find myself wondering if I bought the right gifts, if I wrapped them prettily enough and if I am ready for the holidays. Then, I turn on the news... and all of my petty worries go away.

Things going on in the world are getting out of hand: From movie companies being hacked by a terrorist country to Cuba and US opening up talks to normalize diplomatic relations. A few things I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. I think we are weaker as a nation than we once were. I think we are caving to the wrong people. Nelson and I are in agreement with the Sony hack, but we are in distinctively differing positions with Cuba. Thankfully, we are both intelligent individuals that can actually talk about differing opinions like rational human beings.

I rather just focus on Christmas. Who else remembers the magic of Christmas and what it means to us. The magic of Santa & his reindeer, the birth of Jesus Christ, the happiness of being caught under the mistletoe with the person you love... Can we just take a break from everything and focus on Christmas? That's what I'm going to do...

The Road to Married... The Big Day plus 77 days AND TANGENTS!!

The last statement on my last Blog piece was "I love the planning stage". Well, I do. I can talk about it, blog it, make lists and go on and on. Once the event is over, I'm like a person in deep mourning. I've abandoned the blog once more because I didn't know what to write about.

My friend Alina said I should write about anything. Write about the stupid people you encounter. Write about politics. Write about how much I like Rick Sanchez (no judgement, it's a secret crush). So I'm going to try just that to see if I can get some creativity flowing from my brain.

This mourning period has to pass. It's been 77 days since the wedding. A wedding and honeymoon, which is quite possible the most fun a couple can have if they truly belong together. Nelson and I had a grand trip and we made the most of every day. I have 2200 pictures to prove it, and not creative outlet to show for it. I tried Shutterfly and pic Monkey but I'm in a creative coma. I don't want to look backwards and create a photo album, I want to look forward and plan more trips. Psychotic, I know. 

So I'm going to try something new. I'm going to write and then create. I'll give myself a few hours daily to create and edit a few pictures at a time. I want to get through this. I'll get behind in the projects and then I'll never finish and never have a proper photo album. That's not fair to Nelsons. He should be able to see what the painstaking hours of photography at the top (and bottom) of Matador Beach looked like. What the hours of photography at the Partners Statue at a minuscule Disneyland Castle can look like....

Wow, this just took me on a major tangent... Blogger just auto-corrected my spelling of miniscule. Which led me to research miniscule vs minuscule: According to the website: english.stackexchange.com  The word was originally minuscule, borrowed from French. The minuscule spelling has always been the preferred spelling. However, miniscule is not as simple as a typo. According to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary): Variant of MINUSCULE adj., probably arising partly from shift of stress from the second to the first syllable, and partly from association with MINIATURE adj., MINIMUM adj. 

So, there are two reasons that miniscule persists as a variant.

The first is the shift in stress. In English, unstressed vowels are often reduced to schwa, [ə], no matter what the fully stressed vowel would have been. Minuscule used to always be pronounced with stress on the second syllable (containing the "u"), and was therefore unambiguously an [u] sound. When minuscule began to get stress on the first syllable, it was no longer clear from hearing the word what the second vowel was. The second was the existence of semantically similar words that contained the spelling mini, such as miniature and minimum. The word mini is associated with small things.

Therefore, a person spelling the word minuscule, having no auditory cues to indicate the spelling "minu", and knowing other smallness words contain "mini", has every logical reason to think the spelling should be "miniscule". 

Furthermore, it should be noted that minuscule has its origin in lettering, as in writing letters of the alphabet. The "minus" in this case means less, not small, and it means lower-case letters. It is the opposite of majuscule. (This makes the most sense to me, since in Spanish, the capital letters are "majuscula" and the lowercase letters are "minuscula")

See what happened there.. a neat little tangent became something to write about. I still plan to finish the wedding and honeymoon photo albums. They are memories that deserve a story. 

I'll keep trying to remember to write. As I have more things to say or acquire more readers, I'm sure it will be easier. There will always be someone that says or reports something that make a story. Thanks for listening. Here are a few pictures of my events so you can see it truly was an amazing trip:

The Road to Married... 6 days!

We have SIX DAYS left!! This is amazing that I started counting about 400 days ago and all of the hard work is about to pay off!

We are leaving on Wednesday and we can't be more jazzed. We have a few errands tomorrow (Labor Day) and Nelson is going to finish packing tomorrow. Tuesday, we are both due int he office for one final day of work. I hope it flies by. I'm only working until about 2pm, but it's still a work day and we must be able to focus. Nelson isn't as lucky. He probably has to stay until about 7pm tying up loose ends.

I keep looking up websites for Restaurant recommendations and possible party hot spots. I think that listing has reached it's apex. I have more than a dozen restaurants in each city and we are only staying maximum 4 days in each. I'm a bit food-crazy. I have top things to do plus eateries but top 10 lists on every stop. I'm driving Nelson crazy.

I guess that's what happens when I have too much time to plan, but I wouldn't have it any other day. I love every second of the planning...

The Road to Married... 14 days!

So I woke up this morning and I make my coffee to sit down and write while browsing through my morning emails. San Francisco had a 6.0 earthquake this morning... Wait, what? You read that right: Another earthquake in California. They have had like 20 of them this year alone. My Mom & Dad experienced the "big one" in Los Angeles in 1971 while pregnant with me. That's the closest I have ever come to feeling an earthquake. I've been to California over 3 dozen times and I've never been shaken up. Truth be told, I have a little quake in my tummy thinking about it.

I quickly read the news reports (with California Dreamin playing in the background) and I'm happy to discover that no one was hurt and that it was a very shallow quake just north of San Fran. All clear. Just a few thousand without power, which is a containable situation. I checked all of my reservations in Los Angeles and with the exception of San Diego, I'm in Villas for my entire stay (nothing further up than 2 stories). One thing I have always panicked about is being too high up to be able to "get outside". No power and staying on a 34th story of a building is NOT ADVISABLE!

So back to the topic "Road to Married": It's 10 days until our trip (14 days until the wedding). We are so excited! My travel spreadsheet is done and I'm ready to start putting things into the suitcases. I feel like if I start too early, I'll have to take everything out and re-pack or I'll over-pack (done THAT before). I'm focusing on tweaking the spreadsheet and doing it all at once. Jewelry, Make-up and Toiletries are done. That was a project all on it's own.

I'm struggling with the wedding dress. I want to put it in a smaller garment bag so it's easier to carry but I don't want it to be wrinkled. I'm taking a mini steamer but it's a wedding dress!! I still haven't figured a good plan for it. I'll come back to that problem.

We had a last minute cancellation. I'm hoping it's the only one. We are dangerously close to the count that I had guaranteed for the reception. I just have to cross my fingers and know that "it is what it is". Getting 40 people organized for one trip is A LOT of people to coordinate (and we did it!). Yay us!

The Road to Married - 29 days

I'm getting married in 29 days. I hadn't let that sink in too much due to fear of overthinking and managing expectations. I just didn't want the plans to go awry, so I had played it cool.

I was watching the football game yesterday (not into it 100%) with my brothers, Dave and Nelson and we took the commercials to talk about Vegas plans and potential places to see & do. It's some f the most "Vegas" talk I've had around me and I guess it hit me last night.

Couple that with the fact that I bought myself a "Bride" shirt and a tiara and I guess you can say I've gone full princess. (I crack myself up) Who can imagine me walking around Las Vegas with a freakin tiara? I have seen so many girls walking around the Strip with the bride shirts and the pink tutus and the huge tiaras and I secretly always wanted to be them. Now, I can be...

So back to the countdown. I have 25 days until our flight. Not much left to do by way of planning: I have to prepare the freight and I'm still worried the boxes will get ruined in transit, although I think no found pretty sturdy boxes that can make the trip. I have a bunch of paper organizing to do (printing tickets, retrieving reservation receipts, printing copies of contracts, etc) At this point, it's all just busy work.

So right now, it's 6.49am on a Saturday morning, and I'm up. I could be sleeping and instead, I'm obsessing on the Vegas plan and what I should work on next. Oh, and fighting a cold, which I need like I need a hole in the head.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Road to Married - Heading into the last 30 days!

OK. I'm not freaking out, necessarily, but this is the last month of preparation!

I have tons of things going on besides the wedding prep that I am definitely running out of time: Nelson is in Indianapolis for 5 days in 2 weeks! I have to ship out the freight in 3 weeks! Labor Day weekend is in 4 weekends after this weekend. That's less than 30 days!! With work and everyday stuff in the way, the days are going to FLY BY! Let's not forget about FOOTBALL. That will definitely have to be counted. In the next 30 days we have 4 pre-season games (2 we will go see live) and 2 more scrimmages we are going to... That takes up more days.

Do you see a pattern? See how I can potentially run out of time?
Relax, Dalia... It'll be OK.

I spent last night researching restaurants and making a few reservations. I also made a list of potential wineries. The Honeymoon plans are coming together nicely. We have tons of down time, which is especially great while we are on the beach and up in mountains. Nelson has plenty of museums, battleships and history and I have a ton of photography spots and foodie choices. Disneyland will be non-stop action so we want to relax during the first parts of the honeymoon.

34 days is the official count until Vegas and it's 38 days until the wedding, but in my mind... it's practically tomorrow.

The Road to Married - Forty Days and Forty Nights

I'm not mocking my Catholic Background, I promise! It was just a fun sign-songy way to state how many days until the wedding.

The biggest struggles I am facing right now are whether to wear a traditional veil or a birdcage veil. I am hoping the girls will help me with that decision on August 13th at the fitting. A traditional veil yells wedding, but the birdcage veil says Vintage Vegas. I am leaning towards VV but I really do love the traditional veil approach. Not sure how my hair will behave.

We leave for Las Vegas 37 days from today. We have quite a bit of things to do before the trip that do not include packing and leaving (those are the 2 fun things!) We still have to finish the goody bags and ship the boxes of wedding stuff to our friend's restaurant in Nevada by Aug 20th. I still have to apply for the marriage license, have to order the limo and make my spa appointments. Nelson still has a business trip to Indianapolis on Aug 13-17. I have my dress fitting on Aug 13th and I want to get at least 2 massages and a facial done before the trip. Sounds like a bit of fluff but everything on that list is important.

Miami Dolphins Training Camp

Few things get me more excited than Miami Dolphins football. It's 6.17am and I'm wide awake in anticipation of my 6.30am alarm bell. Today is the official 2nd day of Dolphins training camp, but it's the first weekend. Opening at 8:00 just means a lot of sweat, a lot of heat, and a lot of people. We are going to be there early! I can't wait to take in the scent of freshly mowed grass, to hear the roar of the fans and to watch the fast paced action that brings me one-step closer to the splendor of football season. Just 13 days until the first preseason game. The anticipation is intoxicating.

For the lot of us, this is the first look, the first anticipation, the first letdown? We always get excited about a new season and this one is no different. I'm bummed I am going to miss the first home game, but it's for good reason. Just 43 days until the wedding. Just 43 short days until the Miami Dolphins have to perform in one of their most difficult challenges of the year... The NE Patriots in our home opener... Will glory be ours?

Our niece seems to think so. My sister-in-law taught her the Miami Dolphins fight song and she just can't stop singing it. Let's hear it for the boys in teal & orange. Look great out there today.

The Road to married - 48 days!

Hey folks (or perchance I'm writing this for my own amusement). Once again, I've abandoned the blog. It's now been 60 days since I've written anything, but there hasn't been much to report. We are diligently finishing all of the to-do things and have paid off most of the wedding. Now the waiting game. The waiting game is such, that I wish the wedding was tomorrow, and then I panic, because I'm not ready, but I am ready, then I realize there's something else to do... confusion ensues...

I actually dont have much to do thankfully. The favors are mostly done, the playing cards are done, the CDs are being copied and the labels are being printed. There is a bit of busy work but we will finish the rest of the stuff in the coming weeks (only seven left!)

The next thing I am working on is saying my vows, but my hormones have gotten the best of me. I am mostly finished writing them and I keep practicing saying them to a picture of Nelson. I cry every single time. I think that if I read them from a paper, it will be easier, because if I have to look into his eyes, I'm a mess. I'll report on the progress.

Not much today. Just felt like getting some thoughts on screen.

The Road to Married - 115 days!

It's weird. This past year has brought about lots of changes in my personal life. I had a job change, which was quite the momentous occasion. After working with a company for 23 years, I decided it was time for a switch. And so I happened to lock in a position with a Candy distributor that gave me the freedom to pursue sales on my own and create my own company. I work about 18 hours in an office a week and the rest of the time is my own to create and build my business... Gives me a bit of free time, which I'm thankful for since I am also planning OUR WEDDING!! Time to get back to the blog. It was meant to open a window into our life and I have failed by not posting since our Mediterranean Trip.

I titled this post The Road to Married since that is my soon-to-be status :) In 115 days, I will be his new Mrs. Today 5/15/14 is actually 7 years that Nelson and I started dating. That's a lot of days; over 2500 of them (2556, to be exact). It's kind of sad to think that May 15th wont be our "anniversary" anymore. I mean, we will still celebrate it as our special day, but soon, it will be all about September 7th!

We are getting married in LAS VEGAS!! Planet Hollywood, here we come! We have lots left to do: make ribbon wands, fill favor bags, sticker the playing card favors, rolling the wedding programs and addressing the invitations. All stuff I can handle in the time I have left. We have a lot of the usual wedding stuff going on: deposits due, trying to lose weight, getting reasonable flights. We also have some of the not-so-common stuff, like the Best Man dropping out 4 months before the wedding and the wedding party being MIA for helping us do stuff, but HEY! We are coping!!

I promise to write more. I haven't done a very good job of giving The Raven's View it's due time. Here are a few Planet Hollywood Hotel and Chapel Pics and a sneak peek of Engagement pictures. Can't wait to share the remainder of the journey from Engaged to Married...