A Year Ago

Today i woke up "early" at 8am. Ran errands for a few hours. Went out to lunch with Geoff. Browsed Floor & Decor making a game plan for remodeling our bathroom. Met up with friends and took their picture and went out to dinner with them. Came home and started working again. This has been my routine lately.
Wake up around 10am and go to bed around 2am.

Exactly one year ago today i quit my safe, m-f, 7-4, family ran business, job.
For a long while it was like having two full time jobs. Working with Shade Tree Films was (and is) a blessing. And then starting LPP with them and eventually taking over it fully. Id come home from a long commute from yucaipa at the STF office and start working on a LPP film until midnight to wake up at 5:45am and do it all over again. Id probably be dead if it werent for Geoff and i carpooling everyday and him taking the morning shift. After a few months of that schedule i had a breakdown and cut my hours even more from STF so i could try and keep up with the backlog LPP was accumulating. Still there? Good. After Geoff got a new job at South Hills Church (another blessing) and i lost my carpooling buddy, i went commission with STF and started working from home and gained like three extra hours of sleep a day!
Ive never loved my job more than i do today. Ive never loved my life more than i do today. Ive never been so blessed and felt favor like i do today. Our business is growing and we are now partnering up with EPlove and offering photography (<--even more freaking favor on us). I freaking love photography. Hope to have as many, if not more, photo weddings as we do video.
Our marriage is in a better place than its been in a while. I think its because we both get plenty of sleep now and feel more sprightly ;) no babes in the near future. though, seeing G play and wrestle with our friends kids makes it difficult at times. He's gonna be a awesome dad.
I guess the whole point of this post is to say that a year ago i decided to not live in fear anymore. I didnt live in fear that i would fail because i didnt except us not succeeding. I wanted this really bad and ive we've worked really, really, really, hard to be here.
One year ago I chose to live in love.

Thank you for supporting me. I love you.

J + A

Heres a highlight video geoff and i made for Jason (gayson) and April's wedding day. And can i just say how much i love april and gayson?! A LOT! im bummed that april had to move from being a few miles from the Chateau Brouillette to Long Beach, but hey, i dont blame her one bit haha. Their new nest is so cool and filled with love and cool Owl art pieces. and kittens that hide in the bathroom and great you while you pee. Like i said, so cool.

Check out the fabulous job Mike Radford did capturing their wedding -----> HERE

Stop Child Trafficking Now

A few weeks back geoff and i joined up with a group from remnant to do a child sex trafficking awareness walk in laguna beach. I was on a "camp high", if you will, from just attending shade trees workshop but still hesitant to bring my camera. im so glad i did though. even though it was incredibly hot and sweaty at the beach we had a great time. i wasnt aware that so many people had no idea about kids getting trafficked in our cities, let alone our country. its not just something that happens in other countries. it happens all the time in our counties. please help out by going to these websites and seeing how you can help save these babies, kids, and woman who are trapped in daily sex slavery against their will.

http://www.sctnow.org/

http://love146.org/

http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

Here's a little ditty i made of our awareness walk:

ur doin it wrong

How have people been getting this so wrong for so long? How are there people like the Phelps family, people wanting to burn the Qur'an, and others who claim to be Christians yet persecute people who don't believe what they believe? How is that anything like what Christ would do?!

Im sorry but i thought Christians are supposed to strive to be like Him. Jesus NEVER did this to anyone he came across. He didn't lecture them, talk down or guilt them. HE DIDN'T CONDEMN THEM. He forgave them and loved them. Christ's death made a new covenant making the old one (the one God gave Moses) obsolete. Why do people still want to judge, condemn and persecute others based on the laws of the old covenant?

And please, don't think for one second that those people are doing all this persecuting "in love" because its not. If you believe that then you should really (re)read what the Bible says about love. God is love and He is not in any of those acts that they are showing. Its all in fear. And fear is not of God.
GOD LOVES THEM. He loves them, He loves those you don't love and yet He still loves us! And Newsflash: You are not sinless. I am not sinless. Sin is a sin. 

And what do these people who are protesting and screaming from their soap box really think is going to happen? Like some gay person is going to be like, "oh, since you outlawed us to get married i guess i just wont be gay anymore" or "since you've really showed me how loving and accepting your god is i should become just like you and tear others down". Nobody is going to come to know God if you're misrepresenting Him. Show them who He is with your love and compassion! They will notice Him in you and want to be apart of it. want to know it. they'll want to know Him.

Ive never been so embarrassed, horrified and stirred up inside as much as ive been lately seeing people calling themselves Christians all while calling names, attacking and belittling others in the name of God. Its disgusting! Its ugly! And its not Godly or Christ like at all.

I think its time that all those people started wearing their WWJD bracelets again that way they can show their NOTW-ness and maybe take a second thought to the action they are about to take when coming into to conflict with someone who disagrees with their beliefs. 

Be Christ like. Be love.

florida + kristina

on 5.27.10 geoff and i had the honor of helping florida out with his proposal. he stopped by my office and dropped of a container of rose pedals, a bag of baby candles, a digital camera and a video camera. the man was well prepared.
i couldnt be happier for them and fully support this marriage! florida is one of the greatest friends geoff and i have ever had and for him to find someone with as big of heart as him is so amazing and heaven sent. and ive never seen him happier, soft, lovey and considerate with anyone like he is with kristina. i love kristina and florida a lot!

heres a quick video of what i was able to catch on camera. the editing is rough but thats what you get with imovie. hope you can still feel the love.




p.s- id post the video from my youtube but i guess the song isnt WMP approved or something so there is no audio if you play it with them. lame.

wedding picture time!

On 3.20.10 i married my best friend.

we decide to have our "first look" before the ceremony. personal preference.


(i just realized i used that same picture of geoff twice. oh well, hes just that good looking)



the groom and his men


my beautiful bridesmaids


the ceremony
before we walked out Holly asked me about who i thought was going to cry. i said probably both our moms and dads would, but i definitely did not think geoff would. i mean its GEOFF. and we had been hanging out 2 hours before taking pictures.
i was so wrong...

as soon as i was walking down the isle i noticed he was wiping away tears. geoff had officially lost it. so naturally, i did too. it was a big beautiful happy tear fest.

WOOO!

family pics

oops!


the deets:
sweetandsaucy.com

inthenowweddings.com (best decision ever, seriously)




april and brett in a dance off


best wedding ive ever been to, if i do say so myself. the day could not have gone any smoother. everything was right on time and perfect! a day filled with God, love, and laughing.
thanks to everyone who came and spent the day with us. meant a lot to have you there. and to the ones who couldnt make it we were thinking of you too!

you make my dreams come true

this is pretty much how i feel everyday since being married.
same context as the movie and all.


and now im going back to being a lady :x

minimoon

we stayed on crystal pier in our own private cottage with our own private back patio of the pier for 4 days. amazing to say the least. after the first day we thought how cool it would be to live there, on a pier, over the breakers. but after that first day we noticed a few draw backs you wouldn't think of like how loud it is to live that close to the crashing waves and not only can they get so loud that you cant even hear yourself pee but whenever a set comes in the whole cottage shakes! i would wake up in the middle of the night thinking it was an earthquake and geoff would just laugh at me. it was so fun! i wasnt a huge fan of SD area like 99% of people are but after this trip i kinda fell for it. i think la jolla is my favorite city down there.

favorite thing i did out there (besides geoff heyoooo)was go kayaking in la jolla. Es Kretzu said it was something we should do, so we did.
idk what we were thinking we were getting ourselves into but it was not was either of us were expecting. i kinda thought we were going to be in a bay like area with the 7 caves they were advertising but when we realized we were paddling from the beach to the buoys... it started out bad. im pretty sure i was useless the first 30 seconds of paddling. i couldnt grasp the fact that my whole paddle had to go all the way into the water thus dousing geoff (tandem kayak)with sea water hahah. we were in a race to get to the waves before they broke over us and i was kinda in a panic and i really didnt want to tip! dolphins and sealions came extremely close to our kayak and instead of going into the caves (the tide was too hide) we saw this major feeding going on in the water. i pretty sure every bird in a one mile radius was circling the water for fish.
the weather was just perfect that day and we were both doing something new together working as a team. love love loved it. i couldnt bring my camera on our lil kayaking escapade but heres some from the rest of our minimoon trip:

sham slam, jellies, star fish, before and after kayaking the pacific ocean, geoff serenading the surfers and some other goodness. 

no, thats not jesus' silhouette. thats just geoff in front of a giant magnifying glass in front of an aquarium. 

polar bear club

me, myself and i at crystal pier cottages (where we stayed)

its really happening

yesterday we got the keys to our first place, which is also geoffs first time ever moving. yeah, MOVING AT ALL. thats just crazy to me. sure ive moved 5x in the past 4 months but even before all that and when i still lived with my mom we were moving about every 1.75 years into a newer house. so needless to say we have a major decluttering operation in his room and throughout his garage.
he was saying how he felt like he was signing his life away after going over the 23 page contract and 10 different addendum's but i reassured him that its easier to get married than to get an apt these days and it will all be uphill from here on out.

and no, we wont be living together before we are married. i will be but he wont. after all this time i think we can wait another 3 weeks.



while i went back to work he started unloading my stuff from storage all alone. he is the man.
i was helping him bring in the couch and he slipped into a planter and i was laughing at him, being the supportive fiancee that i am, and in doing so didnt realize the curb coming up. feet stand still, my body goes forward, knees hit the cement, face plant into our new (to us) lazy boy couch, and expecting my fingers to be smashed off since im still gripping the bottom as it slams down on the cement. luckily the couch has feet so digits were unharmed. my knees and pride were not. as i was still laying there on the ground trying not to show my embarrassment tony comes around the corner, "AWWWW... did i miss it?!"
at least geoff got a good laugh!


i dont know why God continues to bless me with so much. i was driving to work thinking about how much He has provided for me lately and im seriously dumbfounded and humbled. when money starts running out or i dont know where i was going to live or what to do, He would provide me with just enough. Andrew opened his house up to me, Travis opened his house to june, larger than expected tax returns and to give me geoff as my husband, i mean seriously?! i just cry thinking about how He loves me and how undeserving i am to have His love and blessings. there are so many people who have less than what they need and i feel guilty. theres just not enough ways to show my love or thank Him.

23 more days.
(till im married, corre. :])

Little things

He gave me a bunch of his DVDs since I have no tv

And in exchange, when we swapped cars tonight, I made his new stereo stop flashing in DEMO mode.

Team work.


Good stuff:
Went cake tasting today mmmmm
Geoff is picking up June tomorrow from the sitters and trav is watching her
Ryan and Joanna are getting married on Friday!
I'm staying in a sweet house right now
Cassius is sleeping on the floor and sitting on command
I can move all my stuff in one car trip in my xB. Liberating.
I got a good parking spot in front of the door tonight.
God spoke to me through someone else yesterday. He told her to tell me He is listening. Always providing me with just what I need.
And I'm going to marry my best friend and the best man I know in 7 weeks!

betrothed

on new years eve night geoffrey proposed to me. i, of course, said yes!


i was kinda tipped off on wednesday night. we were all eating at chipotle and melissa asked me what we were doing for NYE and i told her how we had plans to get dinner at the beach and that it was geoffs idea to go take a walk on the beach. well i caught florida giving geoff this look of 'ooooooooh-thats-when-its-gonna-happen'. but i just pushed it out of my head and tell myself its prob nothing.
then my mom just wants to pop in early the next morning to say hi. riiight....
then the whole way out to the beach geoffs making jokes about proposing... "what if i said 'will you eat chipotle with me for the rest of my life?' or 'will you hump my bod for the rest of your life?'"
so im thinking this is totally going to happen tonight!
and he asks if i want to go walking before or after dinner.... ummmm BEFORE! i want to be engaged now. and then im thinking, crap im so not even going to cry or be surprised now because i know its going to happen.

so we are walking around at the wedge and the moon is out casting shadows and there isnt anyone at the beach. so perfect. we climb the lifeguard tower and he starts asking me if im ready for all the stuff we are planning and wanting... telling me mushy things and my mind is racing. im telling myself to enjoy this moment and at the same time im thinking ASK ME!

he gets down on one knee and says "will you marry me?" and flips open the box. a bright little light in that box comes popping on and then flickers and fades out! haha geoffs all, " ahhhh... my light!" and we start busting up laughing! it was just so perfect. and my eyes were welling up so bad i couldnt have even seen it if that light had worked. but wow did he do an excellent job picking out a ring! i was expecting a silver band but he went faaaar beyond my expectations! he asked my mom for permission the day after he got home from tour and they went ring shopping the monday before he asked me. im impressed. i never knew they were meeting secretly! haha

i still cant believe its finally happening. im relishing these last few months spelling my last name as valdespino.

wedding planning has already begun. march 20th 2010. we want to get married before he leaves for tour in april and my brother is getting married in may and i dont want to have a summer wedding because its soooo hot here and i dont want to wait till fall/winter. so march it is! its going to be a small wedding of just our family and closest friends. so excited.

thanks for all the kind words and support!

im so blessed to get to marry him and love him so much. Thanks God!

anticipation

changing it has become part of my morning routine.

i think its the combo of the holidays + not living with my friends anymore + things breaking/going wrong that he would normally take care of that makes it harder this time.
at least its only a month this time and its been flying by.

if you're the praying type please tell God to let our offer on a house get accepted. we will find out from the bank by friday. we really want this and are trying to start our life together and this would be a huge blessing and help us out a lot. supposed to find out any day now

the ups and downs

down: geoffrey is gone on tour.


up: getting surprises from geoffrey while hes gone. (look at june in the bottom right! haha)


up: christmas time at disneyland


down: its friggen cold!


up: watching YORK play


down: their CDs were mixed with a kid singing about Mac n' Cheese! haha

down: junes got a ear infection + yeast infection


up: having beautiful wonderful friends that help you clean out junes gross ear


up: meeting Amanda and living with her for 2 weeks (then june killed our other roomies dog... so ya)


down: not living with her anymore



i am so blessed. i really am grateful for everything i have and everyone i know. even you.

bob's big boy, norco ca

quick weekend recap

he bit me.

-CONGRATS to Lil' Ryan and Joanna! they got engaged on sunday! so freaking excitedhappystoked for them! and Joanna asked me to be a bridesmaid!

-Disneyland on a week night is the best. no long lines!

-im 25. dude, when did i get so old?

-my bday weekend was perfect. lots of relaxing, fun and love. thank you everyone who wished me a good one and hung out. loved it. pictures of the skate night will be up soon, i think. B's working on it.

-just when i thought, "wow, this august weather aint so bad..." BOOM. 100+ degrees.
can i fast forward to november? i want cooler days and cold nights. hoodies and scarves. baking nights and thanksgiving dinner. over this blazing summer. and im waaaay over sweating.

-i have 11 twisted vertebrae and pinched nerves. xrays confirmed this. the chiropractor said i am either used to the pain ive been having or just have a really high pain tolerance. when she realigned me i had never heard my body CRACK so loud!

-i need to make some investments so i can have my own business one day soon. i want to open a confectionery/coffee & tea & brewery shop that will cater to all different diets and have open mic nights and things like that. do-able.

Introducing Mr & Mrs Webb

Last saturday i got to see one of my best friends Matt get married to the beautiful and sweet Mareena. I didnt get any video of the ceremony because jojo and i were helping out with the coordinating so we were in the back for the first part of it. but let me tell you, i havent cried at a wedding in years and i got teary eyed there. you could just feel the love they had for each other and it was really intimate. plus i was just so over the freaking moon that matt found someone so amazing and lovely and with a huge heart for God.
so much fun at the reception that night.
here's a little bit of what my camera recorded. i had to use imovie again so its really crappy editing so dont judge me on that.

the sweetest remedy

anxiously waiting about everything
with prayer and petition and thanksgiving
You transcend all understanding
putting to rest my heart and mind

Philippians 4:6 just putting me at ease...

decisions pending...

i sent in my completed application on February 28th.
i heard back from them a couple times asking for me to resend my letter of recommendation and for my high school transcripts. people told me that them asking for my high school grades is a good thing, but if you knew my high school grades you'd know that its not haha. i wasn't a idiot or anything. just wasn't motivated. not like how i am now which is why the tone of my essays were: please ignore my younger years and see how much i have changed in the past two years...im an A/B student now all while working full time and going to school at night full time.
i just want to know already!

till then, im just sitting in this waiting room.
this whole summer is basically a waiting room for geoff and i. seeing where God takes the band, tour, work, money situations, school, a lot of big decisions this summer... just have to wait and see what God's planned. but im going to have fun till then

starting with memorial day! im so sunburned! just waiting for my mexican half to turn it into a tan because it feels like i am constantly receiving a indian burn all over my body. and i feel like weak sauce for being so sore after a game of softball and kickball. then the festivities continued at the shack with bbq-ing, swimming, karaoke, and games. some priceless video footage will be posted soon. (i finally figured out how to work my video camera with my comp but i really don't like using imovie) seriously, i have amazing friends. i love all of you that came over and hung out. made my day. i was so tired after that long day. up early for a crepe breakfast that jojo prepared for us and then june started ralphing all night :( lets recap everything she ate that weekend that wasnt from her dog bowl:
-3/4 of a cheese pizza from the night before
-pool water
-rope
-cork
-pool water
-raw hamburger meat
-grease
-pool water
-fruit bits
she seems to think the pool is her water bowl.

i know im no music critic but the new sleeping giant is so amazing! i cant stop listening to it. once i understood what he was saying, tommys lyrics are so moving haha. j/p. there's a lot more singing in this one which i love but it still has heavy breakdowns. the over all recording of the album is much better quality than the last one. and its over 45 mins long! cant wait for you guys to listen to the whole thing. beautiful worship. you can pre-order it now too. youll get the cd a few days sooner then the release date and a shirt.

California, you disappoint me. and to the Christians, where is Christ's love in all your discrimation? please show me.

happy anniversary

we are like a sorority and its the dorm college experience i never had. living with them has made me a better person.
iron sharpens iron, i suppose.

i love you ladies so bad!

mine's not a high horse

Last night brenda, jolene and i went out and treated ourselves to ah-maz-zing dinner at the melting pot (they set our chocolate on fire). Every Tuesday they have this "girls night out" deal (ladies, let do this at least once a month). it was so nice to just hang out and talk over fundue. we somehow got on the topic of plastic surgery and how we think God feels about it.
Where is the line drawn between sin and acceptable? is it out of self-esteem/confidence or vanity? i think obviously if there is a health benefit (ex: cant breathe through nose, cleft pallet, gastric bypass, etc.) then people are quick to excuse that. i am one of those people too. i do believe God does heal people through prayer. but isn't Him giving us talented doctors a blessing for us as well? haha
whats the difference (besides the obvious) in getting breast implants and straightening your teeth with braces? lip injection and wearing make up? or working out at the gym and losing weight? tattoos and piercings? buying fashionable clothes, jewelry and doing your hair?
is it because one is more invasive than the other that makes it a sin? or just because its more socially acceptable to wear make up and diet than have plastic surgery?
i think if the heart of it isn't glorifying God then yes, that's when it turns into sin. you are idolizing yourself.
i have heard many women quick to judge someone who has had work done when we should be loving on these people. women who are the first to condemn surgery but have tattoos, piercings and who are heavy handed with make up. how are you any different? obviously these weren't comfortable in their skin for some reason. what about the people who do it for confidence and not to be flashy or that whole "look at me"? i guess i don't see whats so wrong with person doing something to lift their self esteem if its not hurting anyone or taking attention away from God.
like my view on tattoos is pretty much the same. yes your body is a temple. but even churches have stained glass windows. they make them look beautiful in the name of God. why cant i do that on my own body? im just decorating my temple for Him.
anyhoo, i think i have rambled enough here. i would love to hear your thoughts so please share.

i'll be discussing my views on being gay tomorrow.

i kid. i kid.
...unless you really care to know haha

oh, and this is all in a loving even tone. i know that that can get lost in translation being that you are reading this and not hearing