Civil Wedding

Here are a few pictures from the civil wedding yesterday--not very exciting for me but the Chileans were all like, "How does it feel to be married but not married?" The actual "ceremony" if you will was 5 minutes long and we were "married" by a woman judge so that was kind of weird. Basically she just read a statement from the government and then made sure all of our information was correct. We signed a paper and that was it! We had a toast with ginger ale, ate some cake and then went to Pablo's house to have a small barbeque with a few friends. Now we are both more excited then ever for Saturday to get here!!

UPDATE!

I was reminded today by my dear friend Katy (who attacked me at the mall) that I haven't updated my blog...so this is for you! I just got my bridals done today by my friend Tiniel who did an AWESOME job! Seriously I am so pleased and love what she did but I'm not posting them because I don't want to give it all away. Thanks Tiniel for giving up your Saturday for me and for being an amazing friend through these last 10 months!
So here is the plan: My parents and I are leaving on Thursday to go to SLC and flying out for Santiago Friday morning. That puts us arriving in Santiago around 7:30 am where Pablo will be waiting. On December 23 we will be civilly married which is the law in Chile. It is a small, basically family only event but it fulfills the requirements. Then after Christmas at my good friend Andres' house, December 26 we will show up at the temple in Santiago to be sealed! I seriously can not wait for that moment!! I'm so glad that my parents and good friends will be there with me but also that Pablo will be mine--FOREVER! We will have a Chilean reception complete with fancy dinner and dance and then off we will go on the honeymoon.
I come home on January 3rd and Pablo will follow as soon as his Visa gets approved. Depending on how fast we can get it taken care of and they submit and approve it all--it could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. At this point I am trying to just think about the time we will have to be together and that it will all be worth the wait. What's a few months when we will be together for eternity, right?
I just wanted to thank all of you for being my support system and cheering me on when I was down. I have such amazing family and friends and I love you all so much!! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and be waiting for more pictures to come soon!

A little warmth for your cold day

BRRRR!! Today I woke up to snow--ick. And it wasn't the kind that flurried a bit and then melted away. No siree. It stayed. My dad even made me help him shovel the sidewalks. (Downside of being as old as I am and STILL living at home.) So this afternoon my mom made something warm to brighten our day--Best Ever Cream Cheese Brownies. (That's the upside of living at home!)

So here's the recipe to add some warmth to your cold day. If you didn't wake up to snow today, you will soon! *Except for those of you who are SMART and live in non-snowing states.*

Cream Cheese Brownies

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
dash of salt
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup melted butter

Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
8 oz cream cheese

Mix brownies and pour in a well greased 9 x 13 pan. Mix topping and and pour on. Run a knife through it give a marble effect. Top with semi-sweet chocolate chips and bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Yum.

PS Recipe courtesy of my "sweet" sister-in-law Amber.

Random Ramblings

I was just looking over my blog from these past months and I realized what a LAME-O blogger I have been ever since I moved home. I averaged one lame post a month (if even). When I first moved home, it was hard. I missed Pablo, I missed my easy, awesome job working in a fancy lawyer's office but I loved being back with my family. But not seeing Pablo every day was really hard. I told myself that it was going to go by fast and for the most part, time really has. But it has been hard too. I put on a happy face but in all honesty, cross-continent relationships are not fun.
I got asked the other day by a doubting "supporter" of my engagement if I have had any doubts since being apart from Pablo. The honest truth: not one. If anything it has made us even closer because we have to rely so much on communication and having limited time to say it all. He has been so patient with me and is making so many sacrifices for me. I love him. If you don't believe me, look at my face everyday when we hang up the conversation. I'm giddy like a 12 year old school girl with her first crush.
49 days and counting. I think they will be even longer than the other 8 months that we have been apart. But is he worth the wait? Oh yeah.
So what is my point from all these random ramblings. Well, I may not have been the most happy, excited, separated from my loved one blogger but I promise to try better and look for something to share. Not just for your sakes, but for mine too. So bare with me, soon I will try a little harder and be a little better to find excitement in life!

Just some stuff...

Here's a little tag from my buddy Tiniel. Thanks for starting the trend again! She requested Top 10 Movies, Books and Songs. Here you go.

MOVIES *not in any particular order
1- Pride and Prejudice (with Kiera K.)
2- Little Women
3- Serendipity
4- Dan In Real Life
5- Steel Magnolias
6- Little Women
7- Fried Green Tomatoes
8- Monster's Inc.
9- Mamma Mia!
10- Rudy

BOOKS
1- Pride and Prejudice
2- most Nicolas Sparks books
3- The Giver
5- Uglies (just the first book)
6- Harriet the Spy
7- Skippyjon Jones (Children's books)
8- El Tunel by Ernesto Sabato
9- Walk Two Moons
10- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series

SONGS
1- Hands Down-Dashboard Confessional
2- No Me Doy Por Vencido-Luis Fonsi
3- Fidelity-Regina Spektor
4- La Vida es un Ratico-Juanes
5- Home-Michael Buble
6- La Bamba-Richie Valens
7- Sunday Bloody Sunday-U2
8- Love Song-Sara Bareilles
9- Pride and Prejudice soundtrack
10- Stay-Lisa Loeb

Las Seis Amigas

In High School your friends can either lift you up or pull you down--these girls were my life savers! How I love them all for different reasons! We got together last week at my friend Shara's house to catch up on each other lives! It was so fun to talk about the present, reminisce on the past and discuss our plans for the future. I don't know about them but when we get together I still feel like I'm 16 again. Man, we had some good times! Whether it was crashing on snow mobiles, spying on a New Year's Eve first kiss, playing laser tag in the trees or our crazy group dates, we ALWAYS had a good time. I'm so grateful for these girls and all they mean to me. And there is something about surviving high school together that makes you have a bond that lasts. There are so many other friends that I have from high school that I love too, don't get me wrong! But these girls saved my life!

Tacky? Yes. Neccessary? Of course.

It's about that time--the gathering of the addresses for my master list of addresses to send wedding invites to. Yup. THAT time. And I want everyone on the list. So I realize that this is very tacky but also very efficient which is what I am going for.

Pretty, pretty please send me your address! Even if you think I have it, send it again just to be sure. What will you get in exchange? A beautiful wedding invitation with Pablo and I's picture on it. Nice, I know. So e-mail me at beckitabonita@gmail.com Thanks for complying!