OK, real life begins. And we are so happy for it!

As you can see from the post below, I had the best of intentions of writing something as wonderful about Christian as he did for me... unfortunately wedding planning consumed all of my free time the past six months, and here we are, two weeks after the wedding and still no post. But now all of you have met my hubby and can see for yourself what an amazing, generous, thoughtful, kind, considerate, smart, charming, talented, funny, cute man he is! My work is done here. :)

We will continue to update this blog into the future. Stay tuned for updates.

Love you all!!

My beloved...

Christian and I have spent SO MUCH time over the past months planning this wedding. In fact, the only thing I can think to compare this time in my life to is when I was in grad school! Except the outcome of all this hard work will be more fun and more satisfying than simply receiving my diploma in the mail! In spite of all this hard work, we have also had a really good time. :)

We have had time to learn more about one another... and I would like to share a few thoughts with you (after his amazingly sweet and wonderful post below, I have some stiff competition!).... these will be coming soon!

Ladies and Gentlemen here comes the bride . . .

Good friend. Good daughter. Good coworker. Good Peace Corps volunteer. A Sell... Those are few of the adjectives that I hear most commonly about Katie. And for sure, everyone of you could come with your own very appropriate adjective for Katie. But since I’m writing this post and I’m the groom, I would like introduce Katie as I know her…

Katie is my favorite person. And believe me, I have been thinking a lot about that sentence. And YES… She is my favorite person.

When I think about her, almost all the times, the first thing that I remember is the way how she laughs. But is not like when she sees or hears something funny, the kind of laugh that I am try to describe you, is the one that happens when we are by ourselves.

Es casi un murmullo, como un colibrí… If you are not paying attention, you would never notice it.

So silent. So intimate and so important that every time that I remember that sound it just makes me happy.

And of course Katie has strong values, is intelligent, knows how to get and do things and is cute. Of course she is the best friend that anyone can ask for. Of course she is the kind of daughter that would make proud –sorry, SUPER PROUD any parents in the world. With one hundred Katies any organization in this world not just it would success, it would exceed. With one thousand Katies, I believe, the hunger, the despair and the injustice would be something that belongs to a different world … I know that. I see it every day.

Now that I’m thinking about the best way to introduce Katie. I just can not do it. She is too important, too complex and too delightful, that me trying to describe her to you, it would be a personal lost for you not to talk or write her a few lines to discover that really Katie could be also your favorite person.

But there are few things that I want to share with you about Katie…

She has a good sense of humor.

Two of her favorite things to have at anytime: Good beer and good cheese.

We usually drink cheap wine, but after so many bad wine, she really can enjoy and appreciate a good wine – petite sirah, her favorite grape.

Worst moment to be around Katie: Morning before a cup of coffee.

Favorite dish: None. She almost eats everything – But mussels, steak tartare, chocolate soufflé and tacos al pastor always put a smile in her face.

Cappuccino or Moka??? : She hasn’t decide yet, both are excellent choices.

Dream Job: Work for an international corporation or a very well respected private Foundation in the social responsibility department.

Two events in her life that truly changed her: Summer Camp in New Jersey and those three years for Peace Corps en el campo in El Salvador.

Some of her favorite things to do: Dance –apparently any kind of Latin music, read and do stuff outdoors.

Some things that she has discovered about herself since we are been dating: As much as she likes to do stuff outdoors, spending the WHOLE day in pajamas from time to time, feels sooooo good.

Favorite world in Spanish: H-A-B-I-C-H-U-E-L-A

Worst thing about her current job at USAID: Too much bureaucracy and apathy from some people.

Best thing about her current job at USAID: The opportunities of learn about how the government works, the networking with interesting people and also the Fridays off every two weeks…SWEET!!!

Things she very much dislikes: SUVs especially all those Hummers, Mondays and the Bush-Cheney Administration.

The one thing that we are really not considering to put in our registry, but she is crazy about it: A baby blue Vespa.

The two most important things for Katie: Her family and her friends.

Favorite curse word: Mmm…So many, I can not say, plus now she uses a lot in Spanish.

The only person in this planet with the super power to drive her crazy more than one time per day: YOU BET… IS ME !!!

Ladies and Gentlemen . . . A proper introduction is indeed. . .

I know three things for sure.

One is, if you are reading this blog is because you know her or you know me, and you are really interested in following and reading these little pieces of our live during this process, for that reason you deserve a big thank you.

THANK YOU ! ! !

Second is, if you are reading this blog is because you kind of know her or you kind of know me,

(And been honest. No hard feelings. I can tell you that I believe most of the people to whom I was introduced during the last two years have a little difficult to understanding me, but it's OK, because I also, Yo no hablar mucho ingles...)

- and you are really interested in know a little bit more about us and you want to follow and read these little pieces of our live during this process. You deserve a big thank you too and a big welcome, because this post is just for you.

THANK YOU ! ! !

and

WELCOME ! ! !

And third and finally, if you are reading this blog and you don't know her or don't know me.

My friend, seriously, you have too much free time nowadays. And that is OK, with us. But at least, you should send us the most expensive gift on our wedding registry, and believe me, the Bride has expensive tastes...

So for you either number one or two, you are welcome to keep reading this post... And of course, for number three, you are welcome too, better have a open policy here now, that fight hate mail later.

NOW and after the previous disclaimer here are the basics statistics about the happy couple.

The GROOM (aka. Christian Garcia Fuentes previously also know as Chrisito) was born in Mexico City in April 21st, 1974.

His mom, Alma Fuentes Martinez (aka. Madruzca).

His dad, Gustavo Garcia Uribe (aka. Gustavo and these days just Dad).

Only child. Meaning no siblings. No half-brothers. No half-sisters. But with a very extensive tribe of age-related cousins.

Educated and lived all his life in Mexico City.

Moved to New York City for work with the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs or SRE for its acronym in Spanish, in 2000, after finished his college degree in Information Systems for Management, attending at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Campus Estado de México.

Kicked back to Mexico City after six months in NYC.

And come back to the US in 2002. Working again for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I guess some people don't learn from previous mistakes.

Two years ago, he meet the bride in a traditional posada (typical Mexican celebration during the month of December) and after a few discussions about NAFTA, friends, life in DC and the aphrodisiac qualities of Costco's Guacamole...el amor nacio.

The Proposal, 11/11/07, Cafe Cafe, Rome

This is Christian and I a few moments after he proposed!! We had just arrived in Rome few hours earlier, had walked around the Coliseum, and had found this great little cafe nearby. After a wonderful discussion about our life together, he asked me to marry him... of course I said YES!!!

Here's the blog, finally . . .

This blog is supposed to be among other things, as Katie always says "...Something fun to do," me in the other side, I see this blog as another "important" thing to do... like find a church, find a place for the reception, plan the menu, meet with the catering, look all over the great DC area in the quest for THE best bargain for booze, check the dress (Katie's dress, not mine...), make appointments with immigration lawyers, doctors and also with the counterpart of my work colleagues, the very best and finest DC's bureaucrats . . . En fin . . .

But here I'm complaining but keep writing, and thinking over and over again "this is fun"...And guess what??? .... It's indeed, FUN!!!

Let's start taking something off from the procrastination-list-to-do, and put it instead on the taking-and-showing-the-initiative-list.

So, let's be optimistic... Let's hope that planning a wedding is not going to be a stressful task and instead is going to be a journey to discover all the good things that made me fall in love with Katie in the first place, and why not, discover through the bad and uncertain the emotional "glue" that makes us perfect for each other...

And let's try to make this blog a window for all of you, dear readers and surfers, an easy access to a bunch of information about the upcoming event...

Y para aquellos que no hablan mucho o no leen ingles, of course, va a haber la spanish version de este blog, escrito por Katie...

Asi mama, papa, familia y amigos esten enterados como la estamos pasando con este pequeño asunto de la boda...