Dos Idiomas - Two Languages -» A Tale of Two Students in New Jersey

Lessons from 2011

Posted by OfeliaNJ on December 31, 2011 at 2:00 pm cooking, dinner, family, kitchen, Lesli, love, snow, surprise, walk, wife 1 Response » Tagged with: cooking, dinner, family, kitchen, Lesli, love, snow, surprise, walk, wife

Dec 312011

In the past year I may have experienced every positive human emotion. Gratitude, when I realized my neighbors watched for Lesli and me, by shoveling after the snow. Awestruck surprise, when Daisy invited me and two other ladies into her personal kitchen for an unforgettable cooking lesson. Pride, when I received the dean’s award. Joy, when Arthur asked me to marry him.

It would seem my heart has overflowed with all good emotions. Honestly, last year when I was watching the confetti drop on Times Square I never expected any of this. As 2011 comes to a close, this photo (snapped when I stepped away from the table during a dinner outing with Daisy) seems most appropriate.

Cherish Live Dream Lesson 2011

Cherish Yesterday – Live Today – Dream Tomorrow

As I think of 2012 I will be completing my degree and taking a walk to the altar. I look forward to more good things as the year starts in a few hours. I look forward to becoming a wife, and making a start as a family. What do you have happening in 2012?

Wedding planning with a “digital bride” twist

Posted by OfeliaNJ on December 8, 2011 at 2:42 pm crafts, event, home, wedding 1 Response » Tagged with: crafts, event, home, wedding

Dec 082011

My fiancee and I are planning a summer wedding. Summer 2012. It seems so soon! Since we have different work schedules, I have gotten creative on how to discuss wedding and reception ideas. So far a few things we did:

Create a joint wedding email account, which forwards to both of us. Then we can say: did you read that one from (insert vendor) instead of waiting until we see each other to discuss what was in the message.
Found ribbons in “our colors” at a crafts store, then going to a home improvement store so we could get paint chip samples. This is a little more manly for when he has to choose his tuxedo and pocket square, and a lot less messy than a ribbon fraying.
Drafted invitations online. No commitment to print or order from that vendor, but a nice image of how the words would look with different fonts and paragraph alignment.
Use an online “inspiration board” to collect ideas. This way I avoid bookmarking websites and forgetting what I liked at each one.
Design a virtual wedding dress online (I don’t want him to see the REAL finished product until the wedding day).

Have you found new ways to use technology for event planning? Do you have any ideas for other wedding planning shortcuts?

Another New Beginning

Posted by OfeliaNJ on December 5, 2011 at 2:10 pm chicken, dinner, event, Facebook, family, fish, food, Latino, Lesli, salad, school, tropical, Twitter, wedding, wife 3 Responses » Tagged with: chicken, dinner, event, Facebook, family, fish, food, Latino, Lesli, salad, school, tropical, Twitter, wedding, wife

Dec 052011

You may have seen my update on Facebook or Twitter:

It’s not Christmas but Arthur gave me something sparkly.

After Thanksgiving dinner, while the rest of the family lounged over dessert, Arthur suggested we move to the living room. He gave me a beautiful engagement ring, which made me lose my breath and giggle like a little girl. I ran to the dining room and flashed the ring. The adults refused to believe it until Arthur proposed loud enough for them to hear. We all hugged, some of us got emotional. We all floated away from the table happy and excited. I later learned, Arthur had Lesli approve the ring before presenting it to me.

The next morning it started to hit me. I AM GETTING MARRIED! I have to plan a wedding. Correction, we have to plan a wedding. I have to juggle my work schedule while finishing this semester, then Spring 2012, at least, before becoming Arthur’s wife (or as Latinos say, la señora de Arturo). Add in Arthur’s work schedule and we have a lot to coordinate while planning for the joyous event.

There are so many things to be planned, purchased, paid for, positioned. Every time I turn around it seems another item is added to the list.

So far we have decided a few things:

Ceremony location – the place where we met.
Colors – ocean and sand (shush, it’s better than blush and bashful in Steel Magnolias).
Theme – tropical, beach, relaxed.
Wedding date – early summer, after school ends for me and the children we want in the procession.

Invitations and printed items are still to be decided. Call me a digital bride, I fail to understand the need for tissue over the invitation. I also wonder about response cards. So many people call, text or email with questions. Enclosing these extras with the invitation seems a bit unnecessary unless the menu has choices like beef, chicken or fish. Which leads me to:

The reception menu is still to be decided. So far we know we want to share our favorite foods. We both enjoy sushi, barbecue, pasta, rice, seafood, pastries, cakes, you name it. This also leads to another sticky point:

We will not serve liquor during our reception, except perhaps for the toast.

As I mentioned above, so many things I never considered are now becoming important. What seems most important right this minute is to practice the following phrase, maybe use it two times a day during the planning and decision time:

I need to check with Arthur on that.

Been Gone Too Long

Posted by OfeliaNJ on October 18, 2011 at 10:55 am blog, book, church, Facebook, giveaway, Lesli, love, mom, school, Twitter, week 3 Responses » Tagged with: blog, book, church, Facebook, giveaway, Lesli, love, mom, school, Twitter, week

Oct 182011

Too long? Dang right too long! The time is now one month since my last post, and probably my post before that was a month earlier.

Instead of blogging, or using Facebook and Twitter, my time has been spent unplugged. My phone has been on silent or turned off for church, for class, for work. Late nights, early mornings, rushing or taking off my shoes to enjoy the feel of warm carpet.

There have been days where I completely forgot to turn on my computer, respond to emails, open my postal mailbox or check voicemails. On those days, I ask Lesli to do certain things. This is not a perfect system but it keeps me more sane than if I tried to handle every single detail of the day. Not long ago I would have tried doing everything myself, but I learned and re-learned the lesson until it sank in: if mom’s not happy, then nobody’s happy.

I have been mostly smiling – except for the times I giggle like a schoolgirl or get buried in textbooks. I write school assignments in my notebook, then draft blog posts in my head. I have WAY TOO MANY goodies in the house from events I have attended, and scribbles everywhere about how to arrange a giveaway. Or several giveaways. So here I am, starting back at the beginning.

Hi. My name is Ofelia. I started college in the fall of 2010, found love this past summer, then said goodbye to my thirties last month. My days are crazy, and my evenings too. Some days I leave my class notes at home and carry a notebook full of empty pages. Some days I carry too many books because my bag “always feels this heavy” and still manage to forget my calculator at home. Sometimes I carry my bookbag on the weekends because I do not want to go find another bag. I misplaced my lip balm last week so now when my lips feel dry I reach for an almost sheer lipstick.

What do you think? Can you forgive me for being gone so long? Will you be cranky when I disappear again for a while – when exams and papers attack all at once? Do you have any news to share?

Is she a Jersey Girl? Wordless Wednesday

Posted by OfeliaNJ on September 14, 2011 at 1:12 pm landmark, New Jersey, New York, school, walk, ww - Wordless Wednesday 3 Responses » Tagged with: landmark, New Jersey, New York, walk, ww - Wordless Wednesday

Sep 142011

I know for some this will be controversial, but that makes zero difference to me.

As a child I remember a school trip, where we walked up all the stairs to the top. For a while it was almost impossible to even stand next to her. Now you can make plans to visit her.

I tell people the reason New Yorkers can see her so well is because she is on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. Of course, my friend Chela knows the technical details of the Supreme Court decision establishing jurisdiction, something about underwater or dry land was involved in there.

Where do you stand? Is she a Jersey girl, a New York landmark or (fill in the blank)?