Oh how times have changed...

When I graduated high school the first thing I did was go out and start buying dorm room stuffs and the item I was most proud of was, if you can believe it, a five-bulb lamp. I was so extremely excited and proud of it because it was actually furniture. Something that said it was my own, that I was branching out and needed my own things.

That's how I felt when Louis and I started receiving wedding gifts. The first time was when I opened a box and it contained these beautiful Christmas, regal red napkins and a tablecloth with leafy designs. I looked at them and couldn't help myself: turning to my mom I gushed, "I have my own TABLE CLOTH!"

As our wedding date came closer, my aunt told me that she had my great-grandmother's dining room table and chairs and a hutch. Louis has a lot of furniture already, but he agreed that the family value was a huge factor that we had to have it. We picked it up from my aunt's house on Friday and I can't wait to get it cleaned up for Easter.

But the biggest part for me is the nostalgic value. Underneath the table my grandfather wrote down dates. in 1933 the table was purchased in California by my mother's grandfather, Joaquin Tena. Then my grandfather wrote down in 1967 when he refinished the table and in 2003 he fixed it up again with my uncle.

And now I'll be able to start my own legacy with the table. We also took my great grandmother's couch table and it's so beautiful to think that I have both sides of my mother's family represented in our house. My dad's uncle also sent me two silver platters that my great grandmother would use. My grandmother sent me her china.

One could see it as people excited that they get to hand down a bunch of stuff that takes up space, but this is my history. It's almost incredible to think about!

Sally Homemaker

On Friday night I'd had enough.

I've been staring at a half done wall since we got married. Granted, we've been trying to paint the house since Luis and I met. Probably about a month after we met, I came over to help him and his sister paint the first room in the house as you walk in the door, the formal living room. We finally finished it about 7 months later. Then last summer we all got together again and extended into the family room, where I finished the red accent wall and we made it onto the opposite wall of the family room, but it never got finished.

So on Friday, I finished part of what was started of the pony wall and on Saturday we had a huge get together of my two cousins, Louis, Marcus and Eriel and little CJ.

We accomplished so much I am so excited! I finally got into the kitchen, which still needs some touch-ups, but I think the house looks warmer! Louis and Marcus finished off what my cousins started of the wall that never got finished and now we're making progress. Today, Louis finished the wall he and Marcus started yesterday and I couldn't be more excited about the progress. I hoped we'd be finished yesterday, but all is well.

So I thought I'd show off some pictures!

Broken home

So i've been sad, missing my foo foo puppy named Fitzwilliam. He's a Maltese rescue dog that I bought back in September in 2008. He's a loving dog with the cutest face. He was made to be loved and cuddled, no joke.

When ever I come home to my mom's house, he's already barking at the sound of my husband's truck even before I turn the corner. My mom eggs him on and says, "Momma's home!" He looks at her and stars wining at the door or the front window, looking for me to walk in at any moment. When I do he goes nuts!
Sometimes I'll barely be getting out of the truck, my mom will get him worked up and open the front door, and he'll bound down the sidewalk to see me. The token activity that I know he thinks I'm special, is that Fitz will almost collapse into a ball at my feet and turn onto his back so that I can rub his stomach. He doesn't do it with my mom or anyone else in the family, but me.

Mom and Dad came over for dinner last week and it was such a treat to have my little man come with his nana.

He was pretty rambunctious at first, running around and getting his bearings. And as we all started eating dinner he settled down a bit. Luis and I are going to want a dog after I finish school and will probably be home more often. My dad wanted me to take Fitz when we got married, but I can't take care of him being at school all day. The poor little guy needs attention. He really is like taking care of a little kid. 

He demands attention, I have to make sure he can get out if he goes to the bathroom, he's got thick fur so I wouldn't be able to leave him outside all day, he demands attention and love, I have to make sure he's brushed all the time since, again, he's got so much fur, I have to make sure he's fed, but most of all he demands attention (had I said that yet?) 

I love the little guy so much, but I'd hate to take him away from my mom. I'm thinking we'll still be able to work things out, but it's almost like Fitz is a divorce child just because I only see him every so often. Louis teases me about it, especially with the baby talk with which my mom and I shower Ftizy. 

Paranormal Activity (not really)

So it's spring break and while a few of my classmates are out enjoying time at the beach, I'm enjoying my house and waking up two hours late (which really is only about 7), walking around in a robe until about 8 and wondering what to do with my time.

Homework is a four-letter word I've been refusing to think about. And mostly I've been cleaning and running errands.

But one thing that has been eating at me is this:

Monday morning Luis told me I just about gave him a black eye in my sleep.

Granted, since we got married he's been teasing me about how I move around in my sleep, steal the covers, and introduce him to my elbow every night. I go to sleep on my side and usually wake up the same way so I had no clue that I travel the bed. When my mom teased me about it I'd just shrug it off and say she got me confused with my younger brother who definitely travels the bed. One Saturday morning in 2001 while our family was living in an apartment when our house was being built in Indianapolis, my brother and I shared a bed. He had turned himself upside down, feet toward the head board, and kicked me in the face at 5 in the morning. Not the best way to wake up, trust me.

So now that my husband's telling me this I feel horrible. I had not only kneed him in the back twice, nudged up against him leaving him no space on the king sized bed (On a king-sized bed, really? how can I do that?!) we share, and stolen the covers, but I had literally punched him. He said he'd just about gotten so mad at me that he was going to go sleep in another room. He knows I wasn't doing it on purpose, but he's a very light sleeper and I was mortified after he told me the story!

Doing my own research, I might have Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) which is somewhat related to Restless Leg Syndrome. Haha, I'm gonna have to go on drugs. He started researching restless sleeping and he said it's caused by melatonin, I think. He said it's a chemical that your body produces when it's dark and if it's not regenerated enough it won't keep your body still and in a somewhat paralyzed state while you sleep.

I started thinking about that creepy movie Paranormal Activity where the girl stands over her boyfriend for hours and stuff...oye so creepy. What just adds to the creepiness is that his house creeks when the wood settles every night between the hot and cold of the night. And we'd just watched "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" the other night. hahaha, we might have to have an exorcism of the house.

Kiss me in the rain...

I love rainy days. In Indianapolis I enjoyed them very often. But now that I'm back in Tucson, I'm they're few and far between. I especially love the thunderstorms during the summers with the continuous, amazing electrical spectacles.

But even more, I love them for my husband.

Our relationship was still new, possibly almost a month of seeing each other and not even official yet. Louis had gotten out of work early - around the time I got out of class. It was a Thursday. We met up and parked our cars just off of University Avenue and Park behind Chase Bank. While we were talking on the sidewalk, he gave me a big hug. Because I didn't want to seem like I was enjoying being close to him too much, I started to pull away and he didn't let me go - I got chills. I asked him how his day was at work and he spoke about how he was stressed and tired with the long hours he'd been putting in lately.

"I can let you go if you want-," I started to protest.

"No, no, no. Not at all. I don't get to see you and do this very often," he answered. I melted and hugged him a little tighter. He likes me!

We then started asking what to do about dinner. I pointed out the number of places on University. He then pointed out that he preferred a burrito.

"I have the perfect place! My friends and I used to go there all the time after long nights out," I said. We hopped in his truck, a maroon-red Nissan Titan fondly referred to as Clifford, and took a trip down to The Taco Shop on Highland Avenue  and Broadway Boulevard. It wasn't as good as the Nico's brand, but we enjoyed it. And I was getting more and more infatuated with him with every moment I laughed and talked with him.

By the time the hour was over I was on cloud nine, but we discovered that it was raining as we walked out. So we decided to brave it and walked toward Clifford. We were walking hand-in-hand through the short parking lot and as I started walking toward the passenger side, he pulled my hand and brought me closer to him. He kissed me ever so sweetly and smiled.

I grinned ear to ear and started giggling.

"What?" he asked.

"Every girl thinks it'd be so romantic to be kissed in the rain and now I can say I have," I replied, shyly.

I looked down, embarrassed and he stopped me. He took my face in his hands and gave me a passionate kiss.

....I may have embellished the details, but this is how I remember it. It remains one of my fondest moments with him. And to this day, while I'm at school and he's at work and it would start raining, I still send him text messages saying,

"It's raining outside. Consider yourself kissed."

The Princess and the Pea

Since we've been married for about two months now, I've gotten used to the scary horror stories that Eriel used to tell me about Louis's snoring. I've gotten used to waking up earlier than he does and going into the guest bath to get ready for school so I don't wake him; he's a very light sleeper. I already feel bad enough when my alarm goes off at five in the morning and his doesn't until a quarter to 7. Not to mention he's laughed about my attacking him in my sleep. I definitely travel the bed. 

He laughs about how one night he was laying on his back and all of a sudden, my hand slides under his head and his pillow. It wasn't just my hand though, it was balled up in a fist. Another time I had stolen all the covers and wrapped a leg around them. He woke up and couldn't believe I'd done it, so to continue the teasing, he woke me up with a flash in my face so he could show me what I do. (Funniest thing I've ever seen, not gonna lie).

The one thing that I'm still trying to get used to is sleeping on our bed. It's a super firm king mattress with a Tempurpedic mattress pad. I usually sleep on my side and end up on my back during the night, but lately I've been feeling aches and soreness in my neck and shoulders. Louis has another bed in one of the guest rooms that he used to sleep on when he was going to ASU (still don't let him live that one down :) ). It's a queen bed with a fantastic pillow top. I had ostracized myself there when I was sick and then slept there again to try it out and see if it was a good idea to switch out the beds. I decided that if we had a queen bed in the room I'd probably push Louis off the other side.

Back to when I tried out the bed for myself, it took even longer for me to get to sleep. Then it hit me, I couldn't get to sleep without Louis next to me. I've even gotten used to sleeping next to him and I'd never thought it would feel weird sleeping alone.

And the sweetest thing happened the next morning when Louis continued the conversation about moving the queen bed into our bedroom. I told him not to worry about it. The pain's not so bad that I can't handle sleeping in our bed. But then he melted my heart when he said, “But I want you there with me.” The king is still in the bedroom but it's still the sweetest thing to hear him whisper, “Goodnight m'lady, I love you.”

HDADD: Home Decorating Attention Deficit Disorder

This past weekend, my husband, his sister Eriel, her 9-month-old son DJ, Louis and Eriel's younger brother Marcus, and I went up to Phoenix to participate in the Heart walk in Tempe. While we were up there, Louis was all excited to take me to Ikea, a furniture store just off of I-10 as you're coming into Phoenix. 

Let me tell you, I've always been a fan of decorating. I loved putting stuff like posters and twinkle lights all over my dorm rooms in college. They were girly and perfect! But now I'm worried about trying to decorate our house without it looking too girly or too bare or too mismatched. So far, all we've really done is to attempt at finishing to paint the walls of the house (which we started when we met about a year and a half ago). But even that's not getting done very quickly. One wall is partially painted and it almost looks like we meant to, but it doesn't. There's some touch-ups still that need to be made in the formal living room at the front of the house where we started and took us the first year to finish. (We lived too far apart, I just couldn't find the time, haha) And now, our house is my canvas! I've asked Louis his thoughts on how to decorate and I wonder if he gets flustered with me since I'm so excited and all over the place about things. I understand, though. When I'm excited about something I start to rattle off what I'm thinking, not even realizing that the other person is not in my head and probably isn't following along with what I'm talking about as far as colors that go with a certain picture I have at home or something of that nature.

Ikea was not lacking in examples and ideas for one's house or apartment. There's eclectic styles for everyone including the chic, modern looks of white and black and boxy. The longer I was there, though, the more I felt like it was a lot of girlyness. I'm trying to stay away from anything floral since it's not just me living there and I don't want it to look like I'm overbearing with my decorating. But then again it's so hard to find a comforter or bed dressings that aren't floral :( But then again, I want it to be simple but not so plain as just a flat color like red or blue. Louis keeps drifting toward a blue master bedroom since he was a bachelor and loves the color blue. I'm all for it, but just plain blue? There needs to be some variation in there, so we'll see what I can come up with. A majority of the examples at Ikea, though, seemed to me to be perfect for a freshman dorm or small apartment. But even though I wasn't really finding huge items that screamed, “You have to buy me!” we spent two solid hours in that store.

But I didn't come out empty handed! :) I couldn't resist getting three gorgeous glass candle sticks which would go anywhere: dining room, breakfast nook if I wanted to make an intimate evening, pony wall for decoration during a dinner party. We also picked up a towel rack for the master bath so that we could hang both our towels next to the shower instead of having to drape them over the shower door, and a coat rack that looked somewhat-rustic enough to hang next to the front door. My last find was a lamp for the guest bedroom that gave it a soft glow instead of the bright, in-your-face light from the fan.

Now, how should I attack the master bedroom...