Bouquets of Fun

Some of our creations bunched together. 

When my grandmother was in from Mexico and my aunt from Arkansas, one night we all got together for a girls night. In this girls night we were supposed to be doing lashes and girly things. Well, we did get around to those girly things, but something else remarkable happened.

Earlier that day, I had gone to lunch with my mom, aunt and grandmother, who we call "Mother." My mom brought up an idea I had mentioned a while back about getting a bouquet made out of broaches and/or fabric. Well of course, being the creative family we all are, we decided we could take it on as a project and build it ourselves. So, we decided to take advantage of our girls night and star making my wedding bouquet. 

My mom and I followed their advice on what types of fabric to buy, and we found alot of different textures and color...yes, I said color. We even have a splash of the wedding-taboo color black in the bouquet. 

My grandmother is practically a genius when it comes to making flowers and crafty things like that. My aunt Debbie also remembered my grandfather Lio's mom used to make "handmade lace" or "crochets." She was able to find some of it stored away, and we made bouquet flowers out of it too. It was a whole mess of fun, and while I don't have a finished product yet, I have all the flowers thanks to all the ladies of my family. 

We all sat down and created our own masterpiece. It was certainly a memory I will never forget. 

When it comes time to marry Josh, not only will I be assured I have my family's blessing and support, but also a piece of them will be up there at the altar with me. And when I get the bouquet preserved, I know I will forever have that to cherish. 

Here are some photos of the unfinished product, i'll post finished photos later:

Two of aunts, mom and mother all hard at work.

Cousin Gregory and Aunt Yvonne.

The beginnings of one of Mother's beautiful flowers.

How fun does this look!

Hard work, determination and lots of laughter

More flower making :)

Many jokes and fun stories filled our night.

My mom showing off her handmade beauty.

My Aunt Yvonne's beautiful lacy flower.

Perfect little flowers and the mess behind it.

Mi Familia

Lord, prepare me for marriage

Before I moved to Austin, I never had a great example of what makes a good marriage. I never had the solid foundation of unconditional love, and so, I’m very scared. I know I can do this, and I know I’m in love, but what is unconditional love? and how does marriage make use of it? 

Since moving to Austin, I’ve done a lot, but one thing I do daily is observe. I soak it all in like a sponge, hoping to wring out all the good observations over my life. The same holds true for marriage. Though I’ve only been here six years, I’ve observed the marriage of my new mom and dad, my friends and other newly-acquainted family. I look for the little nugget that keeps their marriage going and take it in. I hope after the wedding that I can use those nuggets as tools for my own marriage. 

I value tradition but I don’t have any of my own, yet. I never grew up with them. I hope to start a family of my own and make our own traditions. I’d like to change the way marriage is viewed in my previous family. I can only pray that I can reverse it all and become successful. One of my biggest fears is being doomed from the beginning, being doomed by my previous life. 

Luckily I know if I have faith, pray and trust in God these observations, hopes and dreams can one day come true. I hope on our Wedding Day that I can stop living in fear that this is all a dream - all of it: Austin, my new family, my love - and awaken as a person reborn, just as the day I was baptized and made my life-long commitment to follow the Lord. This is my prayer. If you’re reading this, I’d love your prayers too. Thank you.