feels like real life...

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” –- Joseph Campbell

A wedding entry is long overdue, but life has been extremely busy lately! In my last post I mentioned that Al is starting a new job in DC during the next few weeks. Since then, I've been a good future wifey by trying to find us a new apartment and some furniture, in the midst of studying for my exam (which was yesterday and went quite well, I think). But I am happy to say that everything seems to be in place for his move, and I'm ridiculously excited.

In more wedding related news, I stumbled upon these dresses by Jenny Yoo on the stylemepretty blog and I love them all! What do you think? Before I was leaning towards all my girls wearing matching dresses, but after seeing these, I think I might be able to give them a few choices and have them pick the one they like best. I even like the purple, although we are still planning on using yellow. I have so much to blog about but so little time! Hopefully I'll be able to blog again some time during the next week, but I'm not making any promises. :)

Also, a few new blogs for you to check out: my brother's, my sister's, my sister-from-another-mister's, and my med school buddy's.

"Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" -- Philippians 4:1

blessings & overdue praise.

"Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should" -- Max Ehrmann

First of all, I apologize for the blog hiatus. Life has been quite busy! But anyways, on to an update (about life for now, not quite wedding related)... Several months ago I had a pretty clear idea about what I wanted in my life and for a while I was praying that everything in my head would become a reality. In the months that followed my prayers changed from "Please let this happen" to "Please let my will align with Yours," and as I began to trust in God's plan for my life, everything continued unfolding perfectly. I've been in Washington, DC for nearly 3 months now and I've been so blessed, especially by the handful of people in my life here who have supported my academically, personally, spiritually and every other possible way! The few things that still are missing here are my family, a few friends that I miss dearly, and my Alphonse.

Up until a few weeks ago Al had a few job interviews in the area, but nothing seemed to be a good match for him. That Sunday I kept praying for clarity because I was feeling a little discouraged not knowing when we'd be together. Later that afternoon one of my friends shared one of the most amazing stories I've heard about how God was "connecting the dots" in his life (ask me about the story some time... it's kinda long) and I felt quite uplifted. A few days later, I had a very discouraging encounter with my landlord, followed a few hours later by the good news that Al got a teaching job in DC! And once again, despite the emotional and mental roller coaster of a week I had, God showed me how he revealed clarity in someone else's life and then he gave me some clarity of my own. And I say it often, but I do love my life and I really am blessed. :) Here's info about the new school that Al will be working at: DC Prep.

Al and Shania on their field trip to the zoo last year (I was a chaperon!) Isn't he so adorable?!

And I promise an actual wedding entry in the near future!

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long" -- Psalm 25:4-5

engagement party recap!

"You are my very greatest earthly blessing." -- Martha Finley

This past Saturday was our NJ engagement party hosted by my lovely future in-laws, Rosanne and Alan. Everything turned out quite perfect, from the food to the dancing to the fellowship. And speaking of perfect things, that boy of mine said all the right things all weekend... He always makes it so hard to leave him, and he makes me wanna marry him right now!

We both would like to thank everyone who came out and made the event so enjoyable for us, whether you traveled for hours by car or train, or whether you just took a stroll down the street... We're glad that you were able to share in our happiness and we're very blessed to have you all in our lives. And of course there were many that were missed, but there will be plenty of time to celebrate over the next year! And in the midst of all the picture-taking and people-greeting we did, we were told that that was just a small dose of what we'll have to do at our wedding, so any interim celebrations will be good practice! :) . Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment, feel free to email us others at alphonse.katrina@gmail.com!

Click to enlarge.

For more pictures, click here. And a few other random tidbits that I wanted to share: (1) congrats to my se17-mate Len, who recently got engaged (I think this captures the moment pretty well), (2) as of this afternoon I'm through with another one of those dreaded med school exams, and (3) someone bought the toy car that Al added to our registry (now we're waiting in anticipation to see who did it!)

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings" -- 1 Corinthians 9:23

one GIANT night.

"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us" -- Ashley Montagu

Tonight was the first night of football season, opened with a win by none other than our Superbowl XLII champs, the NY Giants. As the first regular season game since their amazing end-of-the-season run last year, this was quite an exciting night for Giant fans, such as my future hubby (who had food catered for the event with his buddies, sans the wives/girl friends). Now you may be wondering what tonight or the Giants or football has to do with our wedding planning. Well, in fact it has everything to do with our wedding! As I told you many months ago, Al proposed to me the Thursday after the Superbowl because he "was having such a good week, that he just had to do it!" And he said that his original plan was to propose the following week, on Valentine's Day, but who knows... without that Giants confidence/happiness boost, he could still be just my boyfriend (although I don't know why he said he was nervous, of course I was always going to say "yes.") So thank you, NY Giants, for winning the Superbowl and making Alphonse's week/our life so wonderful.

And congrats to my SE17 friends, Mark and Pam, who recently got engaged!

Superbowl XLII with my boy

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" -- Deuteronomy 31:6

happy future anniversary?

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." -- Germaine Greer

August 23rd. Today is a very important day (for a couple of reasons). First off, my sister is returning from Uganda/Dubai today! Now while this reality may be sad news to her, it makes me quite happy since I have greatly missed her over the past few months (and I can't wait to hear stories/see pictures of her adventures abroad). And now that she's back in the States, she can reprise her MoH duties, which I'm sure she was thinking about constantly while she was being a humanitarian in a war-torn country (just kidding). But all jokes aside, today is also exactly one year from my wedding AND Alphonse is on his was down to visit again this weekend! So happy future anniversary to us... I'm so happy that I get to spend it with my honey (even though he laughs at me everytime I mention "happy future anniversary"). The way I see it, this is the only future anniversary we have, so why not celebrate it, champagne and all :P ?! And if that isn't corny enough, I just thought you should know that it's both the big things (like looking for jobs in DC) and the little things (like unexpected kisses) that Al does that keep me falling in love with him... and I doubt that will change over our many anniversaries to come.

My favorite girl + my favorite boy + me = sallykat

"...And that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."-- Deuteronomy 30:20

08 x 3 and recent happiness

"I can only think of one thing greater than being happy and that is to help another to be happy, too." -- Jim Thompson

Last night was a big night... not only did it mark the start of the 2008 summer Olympics, but it also was the most popular day to get married so far in 2008. I mean who wouldn't want to get married on 08/08/08? And on top of that, one of my good friends proposed yesterday (an engagement of Olympic proportions perhaps?). Together with all of my other friends who have been sharing happy news of their recent engagements, this new addition to the engaged club made me quite happy, to say the least. Seeing other people happy and in love makes smile (a lot).

Here are a few of my friends who recently got engaged: (L-R) Andrew and Julia, Julie and Dean, Jeff and Tara. Mazel Tov to each of you!


"...Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" -- Matthew 25:21

happy 6 month engagement!

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." -- From When Harry Met Sally

Today is exactly six months from when Al first proposed to me. Part of me is in disbelief about how quickly time has gone by since that day, while the rest of me feels like: "Let's just do this already!" I can't believe it's still over a year until our wedding!

Six months, twelve months... one thing's for sure: we're still as in love and as silly as ever. To prove it, here are a few pictures from my NJ visit a few weeks ago:

Click to enlarge

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" -- Ecclesiastes 3:1

some afternoon inspiration...

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." -- Henry James

When I first started my blog, my intention was to capture and share all the different aspects of my wedding planning with each of you. As you might have noticed, the blog sort of evolved from a wedding blog to a "life of Katrina & Alphonse" blog, which is okay since many of the exciting things in my life as of late are related to the wedding and looking forward to the rest of my life (as a doctor and a wife!). However, having just returned from a blissful, last-minute summer weekend visit with my honey, I've decided to try to return to the true spirit of my blog and write about a seemingly appropriate theme: blissful summer weddings.

I don't think I've ever been to anything but an evening wedding, so when Alphonse and I were leaning towards an afternoon wedding, I was initially hesitant. But when we visited Nanina's during the daytime, the venue was absolutely gorgeous (from the waterfalls and grounds outside to the natural light coming in to the ballroom), and we knew that we had nothing to worry about. And knowing our guest list, I have no doubt it will be a party from start to finish. Next up, booking the music to make sure you put your dancing shoes to good use ;).

Photos from Nole and Andrew's wedding. Click to enlarge.

Browsing a few wedding blogs, I stumbled upon the wedding pictured above (Click here or here for more details from this wedding). I thought it perfectly captured the light, warm, daytime happiness that I hope is at our wedding.

"God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night..." --Genesis 1:16

a belated party recap.

"Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year - it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul." -- Author Unknown

Since I'm not sure when I'll find my camera cord (or give in and buy a new one), I've decided to give you a pseudo-picture summary of the July engagement/meet-the-family get together (before it becomes too untimely...) There were seashell inspired centerpieces and the lovely country backdrop for a little relaxation, family photos on display for old and soon-to-be family to view, a swimming pool for a fun break from the heat, lebanon bologna and other tasty local foods for hungry bellies, state-war volleyball games for bragging rights, tents for shelter, bug spray for warding away pesky guests, champagne and vino for toasting, and a late-night bonfire for 'smore making. And thank you again to everyone who came, especially those who traveled from NJ and MD and other far off places! Soon enough, it'll be time for the next engagement/meet-the-family party!


"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." -- Genesis 8:22

chillin' out maxin', relaxin' all cool...

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." -- Ovid

Tuesday morning I filled out my exit paperwork at work, and by Wednesday morning I was on a bus to Washington DC with a change of clothes, a list of phone numbers of people I needed to contact, addresses of potential apartments that I planned to visit, and no return ticket, since I planned to stay until I secured a place to live for the next year. With orientation for med school starting this upcoming Wednesday, finding and securing a place to live, with less than a week to spare, was no small feat. But alas, God is good, and of course everything is falling in to place perfectly. Less than 72 hours (and about 20 apartments) later, I found exactly what I was looking for and I'll be moving in this weekend! And to top it off, the party this weekend was a successful meeting of the families (pictures coming soon!), the Mets are on a winning streak, and my first homework assignment for medical school is nearly complete (to name a few recent blessings). In short, everything that stressed me out a week ago has resolved itself better than I could have predicted, as most things in my life do.

And I should warn you now, amidst settling in to my new apartment and embarking on this medical school adventure, I'm not sure how much time I'll have to update the blog during the upcoming weeks. But perhaps it's better this way, since Tom (our wedding planner) told us to "just relax and enjoy the next few months" since we have most of the major details in place. In honor of being stress-free and thankful (and to hold you over until my next entry), here's a picture that embodies a time when such feelings were the norm:

Sara, Katrina, Jordan, and George del Fierro circa 1995 (click to enlarge)

"A heart at peace gives life to the body..." -- Proverbs 14:30

another ball-game/park

"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base." -- Dave Barry

One of Al's life goals is to visit all the baseball parks across the United States. As his future life partner, I might as well be part of this goal. So alas, this past weekend, we made some progress on our cross country (cross century?) journey by visiting Nationals Park in Washington, DC. What better way to spend the longest day of the year, than by soaking in some summer baseball? The park was absolutely gorgeous, and brand spanking new. And the many hours that we spent on bus/train/foot this past weekend made for some quality talk time about a variety of topics, obviously the wedding being one of the most prominent. I would be lying if I said that all this planning isn't stressing me out one bit, but I'm glad that Alphonse and I are talking through each decision and truly making this wedding our own.

Here's a sampling of photos from our ball park visit, complete with a goofy Alphonse photo.

Also, as I side note, we've been to four games this season and have yet to see the home team win... perhaps, we should stop watching live baseball. We'll see how things play out at the Mets game we go to on Tuesday. And even if we have no luck in baseball this year, we've been pretty lucky in love so far.

"But he said to them, 'Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.'"-- Genesis 24:56

a walk in the park...

“In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, / When birds do sing, hey ding a ding; / Sweet lovers love the spring.” -- William Shakespeare

Yesterday Alphonse and I visited Nanina's in the Park (parents and siblings in tow) as a potential venue for our wedding. It was a gorgeous spring day to visit a venue that was just as lovely. I was most impressed by the property grounds and the elegant dining presentation -- they have so many options for cocktail and main sitting dining, including more stations than I can keep track of, specialized chefs for making mozzarella and sushi, individual white glove service for each table, and Romeo and Juliet main course. For more details on the full menu, click here. To say the least, I think you can probably fast for a few days before coming to eat at a celebration here. And to top it all off, the price was amazingly reasonable and the staff was extremely accommodating and helpful. All around, I definitely recommend this location. Here are a few pictures of the venue (click on the photos or check out the website for a better view):



Over the next few weeks Alphonse and I will probably check out a few more places, but we were very pleased with what we saw here.

As a side note, a couple of weeks ago when I was writing about love and sports, Alphonse chimed in and started listing off random facts that he thought I should mention. When I turned to him and said: "Hey, get your own blog!" he paused and responded, "Maybe I will." And thus was born his blog, which I highly recommend. If he listens to me this well during our marriage, it looks like it'll be smooth sailing. :)

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come... Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." -- Song of Solomon 2:11-13

post-cruise.

"Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day or your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation" -- Anonymous

Right now I'm back in the Big Apple. Outside it's a rainy 41 degrees and I'm sitting in my apartment a few shades darker (too much sun), a few pounds heavier (too much food), and a few dollars poorer (too much shopping) than I was a week ago. That being said, last week was great. It would be difficult to justly describe all the fun that Alphonse and I had in one blog entry, and since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a 14,000 word summary of our trip:


For more photos, click here or here. And if you didn't already know,


"The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon." -- Psalm 64:16

a very decent proposal

"For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of / Long before I knew / Someone warm like you / Would make my dream come true" -- Stevie Wonder

On February 3rd, 2008 the Giants won Superbowl XLII. The win came as a surprise to many people, but not to my boyfriend, who named the win one of his best fan moments. On February 7th, 2008, the boy, still riding on Superbowl joy, gave me a surprise of my own. There were flowers -- roses to be exact. There was music -- our song, For Once in My Life, by Stevie Wonder was playing. There was surprise -- no need to elaborate. There was a four word question and a one word response. There was a ring -- something like this (but see the previous post for more details). There was jumping and "eeeeeee-ing" and running up and down the hall. There were phone calls and text messages -- to family and friends. And of course, there was dancing -- happy dancing, slow dancing, fast dancing, all sorts of dancing as Stevie played on repeat.

As someone who loves to capture every thing on camera, I am quite sad that I didn't have my camera with me for this momentous occassion. But then again, I was probably too overcome with joy to sit still for a photosession anyways. So here are a few mushy photographs from the night we got engaged +1.

"Blessed be Your name, When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be,' Blessed be Your name
... Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise."