Spring in Bellevue

For Engaged Girls...

11 tips ...because I just married my best friend, and it was great! ...because the excitement is still hard to contain, and the details are still fresh. ...because when I was a bride-to-be, I asked recent brides for their best advice.

Here goes... Take em, or leave em! (They are in no particular order)

1. Involve your fiance enough to let him know that it's his day too. Listen. Incorporate the things that are important to him. It actually is his day too. Exclude him enough to get the job done. ALWAYS keep the lines of communication open.

2. Only spend what you have. It's ok to go over budget a little here and there, but think hard before you go into debt. After the day is done, you'll still be married. (How to stay in budget - prioritize your list with "must haves" at the top. Don't be afraid to chop the things on the bottom of the list when the money runs out).

3. DIY projects: only for creative brides with lots of free time. No experimenting with new craft/makeup/hair/sewing projects on your wedding day.

4. Only put things on your gift registry that you actually want.

5. DO NOT skimp on the money that you spend on your dress (unless that's just not your thing).

6. DO NOT skimp on the money that you spend on your photographer. Period. The pictures (and videos) are the only things that will last beyond the day. Great photos can make an inexpensive wedding look like a million bucks. A wack photographer can make your million dollar wedding look like hot cheese.

7. Be calm, respectful, and polite to all who are involved in helping you. Be gracious and properly thank people who were awesome during the process.

8. Keep God first in your relationship. Don't let the wedding-planning come before having worship with your boo, going on dates together, and being loving towards each other.

9. Don't send out invitations with a date and venue listed before you actually book the venue on that date... and don't start announcing a venue before you are certain that it's THE ONE (that you can afford and that you LOVE).

10. PACK YOUR WEDDING WEEKEND BAG like two weeks before the big day. Underwear, cute changes of clothes, socks, makeup... everything! If you're spending the weekend in a hotel, you don't want to be scattered all over the city trying to find your things. The last few days will be a whirlwind!

11. Remember why you are planning a wedding - its not for the wedding day, its for the marriage. So, don't sweat the small stuff!

Congratulations! You'll be beautiful! Smile pretty :) Everybody is taking your picture.

What am I going to do after I graduate?!?

That's what everyone is wondering...

Just a few years ago, a student at a T1 law school would win any bet on having a firm job. At firms big and small, 1st year associates were welcome... money was flowing. Now, things have changed. Thankfully, God has a plan for my life - one greater than any plan that I could come up with on my own. For those who do not rest in that sweet confidence, this is a very stressful time.

This month's ABA Journal included a story about a law student who decided to create (or rather, modify) an online bidding service where clients can select lawyers who bid the lowest rate hoping to get some work! Pretty sad that we have resorted to "E-bay lawyering..." Still, I say kudos to the kid who came up with it. It's time to embrace the change in times and think outside the box. I'm thinking of teaching and business and art... Not because I am afraid of the law. I'm actually grateful for the recession which has given me an "excuse" for boldly switching gears.

For anyone who considers harshly judging a graduating law student who has chosen a different path... think again (after reading some stats on the job market).

Perspective: Spring at Vanderbilt

Photography is more about creativity and perspective than equipment or "skill." The photographer's eye is trained to aim from artistic angles to capture depth in a flat frame... trained to compose a photo so that the simplest of subjects can be interesting... The great photographer's mind is bright and ever active.

Oh to be...

I am blessed to study on such a beautiful campus!

Love love love the cherry blossoms!!!

God is the master artist!!!

Love photos of things in a row for some reason... I always think that there is meaning in seeing the whole picture instead of focusing on the one tree or "thing" in front of you...

Finally learned how to focus and blur the background!

These next shots make me nostalgic in advance... these are my final days in school! (probably forever!!!)

I am such a HUGE fan of cherry blossoms and dogwoods... Shameful that we only have them for a short time at the beginning of the year.

This is depth.

Raquel Buzz Words... and thoughts to follow them.

Law School: over in 56 days. Hallelujah!

New husband: at work... I miss him.

Photography: difficult, but exciting. I recognize my need for training and practice.

Work: I am boss. If I work for a traditional employer, then I am my boss with only one client. My ideal is to be a boss with many clients. Excited to see where that goes...

Art: still intriguing.

Immigration: still intriguing...

Money: necessary evil.

The "funnest" day of my life...

in photos.

...so far marriage is just sugary sweet!

Who am I? Why am I here?

Challenge: to write about my the topic (title) in 140 words or less, with wide latitude on interpreting the topic...  Professor's tips: "No extraneous BS!!! No fluff!!! Make it interesting and funny! Remember your audience!!! ME!"

Context: First assignment in an interesting (to say the least) "Effective Writing" class.

Setting: Panera Bread Company.... mid-morning after the breakfast rush and before the lunch crowd... in front of a deliciously warm jalepeno egg and cheese bagel and a small (VERY small) cup of orange  juice...

Finished Product:

I have only 34 more days as “bride-to-be!” My life is filled with love songs, flowers, dresses, and phone calls from mommy with new ideas. “Kell! Check out this new shade of violet.” Oh the joys!


… Oh the stress! I’m counting down the days and the dollars drained from my account for caterers to feed uncle so-an-so and aunt what’s-her-face... I’m counting the times my fiancé said, “Baby let’s just elope?” I can’t even remember the reasons against it that I once spouted freely.

So, I’m here. I’m maintaining sanity. Between working as an art instructor and finishing law school, I have managed to avoid that sad stupor of bridezilla-ism. No watching re-runs of “Say Yes to the Dress” for me. True love is the hustle of learning, working, and being the organized superwoman that I think I am.

What do you think? Success?

Love Lesson from Lombard Rd.

This weekend I let my photography-bug run wild as my Honey and I traveled to Cousin Frank's for pre-marital counseling and family time... Here are the fruits of my hard labor :) Can't wait to see my improvement at the end of this ten week photography class!

My favorite take-aways from our first session left me feeling more confident that taking this "plunge" is a gift from God. To find a companion who doesn't complete you, but instead adds to your completeness and loves your soul, not just your physical appearance and temporal beauty....wow. It's breath-taking... I'm thinking of all the ways that I can do little things that aren't expected of me so that Chris always knows how much I cherish being his wife (in THIRTY FOUR DAYS!!!)

Can you tell? I'm just a tad excited to marry this man!

Art

Tragedies are commonplace....

all kind of diseases, people are slipping away...

...as for me all I can say is THANK YOU LORD for all you've done for me....

...YOU'LL be my PROTECTION every step of the way.... and I wanna say THANK YOU LORD!!! for all you've done for me....

This is the song in my heart tonight. Its a Walter Hawkins gospel tune... the verses are sitting heavy on my heart right now.  I'm Grateful, so truly grateful...

Tonight I witnessed the most horrific scene of my life. I worked at the art gallery assisting a class of about 80 people as they painted a red cross. I watched some of them as they painted the cross... thought silently about some of the irony in it... the painting was called "Faith" and represented Christ's sacrifice and promise... I wondered if any of the artists pondered the meaning of their work. Long night... I was tired and so ready for Chris to come pick me up... chatted with my coworkers. ....Hopped in the car a few minutes later and got caught up on the evening with my love... I think I had a slight attitude about him showing up a few minutes late... I was riding beside him in silence, cold.... it was 14 degrees out tonight...

In the next moment, a silver Mini Cooper flew past us. I was actually relieved to say "man that car was flying..." It kind of broke our silence... The little car had to be going at least 100 mph... Too fast... so fast that I instantly knew it was going to crash into something... "Lord please, Jesus please, Chris he is going to crash..." Chris slowed down so that we wouldn't be target when he spun out of control... and the rest was like watching a movie in slow motion.... The mini sped swerving toward a median dividing the highway from an exit... I imagine the driver thought "this is my turn... or is it? do I take the exit... Oh man I'm going too fast... stay on the highway.... get it together man.."

He slammed into the concrete median at full speed, flew into the air, instantly caught on fire and landed upside down.

That coulda been me.

We pulled over and called 911. I stayed in the car and prayed. Chris ran to help... Afterward I learned that the driver lived, for a while at least... A man heroically pulled the driver out of the flaming car. Chris helped the man pull the driver to safety and remove his fiery clothes. He used my blanket to help beat the fire off of his reddened body. The man lay fully naked, not a hair left anywhere on his exposed body in 14 degree weather... alive. We, along with many other witnesses, waited for rescue crews. The flames from the fiery car bellowed into at least two lanes of the highway and sent up a monstrous ribbon of gray smoke that covered the other two lanes and filled the sky.

It was horrific.

For Chris, the strangest and most memorable thing about this accident was the cold silence... there were no screams and no cries. Aside from the crackles and pops that escaped the car as it burned, the hushed whisper of the spectators (most of whom were speechless)... there was nothing to hear. The driver's screams were silent because his lungs were on fire.

On the way home... I thought about how silly it was to be upset that Chris was late. I thought about the fact that not one of us has any control over life or death... we just have to live as if today were our last day on this earth. I thought about how undeserving I am to be here - how grateful I am for God's grace and mercy. I'm here, beside my honey, proud of him for always being a valiant first responder (this is the third time I have witnessed an accident with Chris in the short time that I have loved him. Before meeting Chris, I had never witnessed an accident. I know that ministering to those in emergency situations is his calling).

Tonight left me clinging to the joys of life.

For the Love of Money

"Finding something [a career, a hobby, a life partner] that you truly love is a million times better than finding something that will make you rich...."

Do you believe this? I do.

"Do what you love, and the money will follow..."

Do you believe this? The jury is still out for me.

Afterall, if I love giving away food and clothes to those in need, there is a great chance that absolutely no money will follow no matter how good I become at it. But, at the end of the day, does it really matter? The difference between the first principle and the second is the central focus for the person contemplating it - is your focus true happiness or money?

Before answering, remember that you can't take any of it with you when you're gone. Would you rather look back over your life knowing that you enjoyed your career and your family, or would you rather look back knowing that inspite of not following a more desireable path, you earned incredible amounts of money and protected all of your assets from others?

Its a no-brainer for me...

December to Remember!

From my fabulous German Chocolate Cupcakes (delicious and baked with love by my honey).... to Mexican themed Christmas dinner, this has certainly been a December to remember. Here are a few of my favorite photos from Christmas 2010.

This year has had its ups and downs... Thank God that the good days have outweighed the bad days. He is SO good to me! Earlier this week, I prayed "Lord, just make everything alright..." and HE DID! He always does...


As I go into 2011 (a truly exciting year for me), I'm inspired to take the lessons and laughs only... I'm leaving the bad days where they are - in the past.


What will you carry with you? Stress? Old drama? Let it go... Live, love, and laugh often (there is a reason that expression is trite... it's a pretty great recipe for happiness).

this is why I ROCK

I am feeling SO empowered right now (Thank you Lord, because this is a HUGE change from how I was feeling earlier in the day). Here's how my story goes...

In the past two days I have been overwhelmed by reminders of how much evil exists in the world... from the horrific rape scene in the movie "For Colored Girls" to the very distrubing attack in the show Private Practice (maybe I'm watching too much tv).... Well those weren't so bad because they are ficticious stories afterall... but then this morning CNN gave me the rundown on all the rapes and murders in real life! To top it off, this afternoon I met with a victim of domestic violence who shared details of her pretty intense story. To say the least, at the end of all of that I was a little down.

I'm so grateful to God for such an inspiring and caring fiance...I came home to a delicious meal prepared with love and a listening ear. That was just really really awesome. He told me simply, if this world were perfect there would be no need for Christ's redemption and His soon return. Once I put things into perspective, I melted and relaxed and started thinking about what I could do to make the world a better place... not just for me. Clearly, I have been blessed with a comfortable home complete with candles and couches, good food, and all of the reminders that God loves me. But, how can I make this world a better place for the unfortunate few who are caught up in the evil side of this world?

For starters, we can all do the little things - like sharing the good news of God's love and grace with those who do not know how much He changes our lives once we invite Him in. Sharing positivity and inspiration from our blogs (or just face to face like in the olden days ;). Being the change that we want to see in the world - another great step. But I know I am called to do more, because I have way too much potential.

I care about my communuity, so I refuse to run from any opportunity to change it for the better. Mom has always reminded me that to whom much is given, much is required. And so, by the grace of God, I want to live up to my responsibility.

After watching a little bit of "Black Girls Rock" on BET, I started thinking... why can't I make a difference in the way that young beautiful women are doing all across the country? I thought all the ways that God has blessed me. He has given me guts and smarts and ambition. He has allowed me to travel, learn languages, learn skills, make connections... I'm creative, confident, and only 6 months away from a Vanderbilt Law Degree. Considering some of the hard times that I have gone through, I'm nothing short of a survivor...

So yes, I'm feeling a little empowered at the moment. I hope that you are too. I know that each person has his/her own special gifts and talents. It just takes a little confidence to dig em up and acknowledge how much you rock. And then, don't stop there. DO SOMETHING WITH IT. Next year, I want to open a law firm to help indigent victims of violence and immigrants at 24 years old. And that's why I ROCK. At this point in life, I rock because I have no choice.

He adds hot sauce... I add PEACH SALSA!

My little lesson this week was to [try to] savor the moments when my Mr. is away.... YES, savoring is better than sulking. This time that he left town for a few short days, I pulled out my recipe book and started looking for recipes that pulled me in. Sometimes, the dishes that combine fruits and vegetables turn him off... so what better time to try them?

I settled on Peach Salsa, a delicious cure for almost any bland dish... and its full of fruits and veggies! I love this dish because it adds color to every plate of food... My mama was always an advocate of pretty plating. She'd say, the first test of good food is visual appeal.

So.... I'll stop selling and just tell you what I did.

Chopped lots of tomatoes (about 6 or 7 roma tomatoes to be exact...)

Then added some chopped peaches, onions, green pepps, and even some chopped pears...

All together, then I added a dash of lime juice, orange juice, ginger, curry seasoning, salt, and two cups of sugar (little brown and little white granulated)...

Brought it to a boil, then let it simmer for an hour and a half...

 <-- and this is the finished product!

Even better over pan seared Tilapia! Yum! After all that, of course I offered a taste to the Mr. ... he still prefers hot sauce but I got a "that's pretty good" out of him.