Williams & Co.

California Family Vacation 2012 (Day 1)

2012-07-27T17:30:00.002-07:00

This year July 2012, my parents celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary! To celebrate this milestone properly we went to California!!

The 7 of us plied into 2 cars, and took the 12 hour road trip to San Diego!

Right before we hit the road.

We decide to travel at night so that we would get to San Diego and spend the entire first day on the beach.

We went to our favorite beach, Coronado Beach!

I love this beach the best because the sands are soft, the water is cool, and everything is so relaxing there.

We arrived at the beach early morning and it was cold and foggy, but so beautiful! We spent the rest of the day swimming, looking for shells, sunning, and having fun!

Family

Taking a closer look at the ocean!

Jake and I.

San Diego is so beautiful!!

Sandy toes!!

Sisters.

How cute is Jake!?!

Sunning

Chrysta and I covered in blankets and sweaters, that morning was chilly.

Happy 25th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Dad found a sand dollar! So cool!

The group, minus Jessica.

We covered Jake in sand and turned him into a merman!

Mom is so cute!! That water was cold!

After the beach we went back to the hotel to get ready for movie night. The resort that we stayed at has a Family Movie on the Lawn night. It was so much fun! The resort lays out blankets and pillows in the middle of a plush grassy area. We watched Tangled.

The movie screen

Mom, Dad, and Jenna.

Dad and Jenna watching the movie.

Jake and I with our movie popcorn!

Jess and Mom.

Day 1 of our trip was a success! We arrived in San Diego, had a fun time on the beach, and spent some great family time! Tomorrow we go to Sea World!!

Easter 2012

2012-04-07T21:57:00.001-07:00

This year Easter was family filled, as it should be! Jake and I are extremely blessed to live close to both of our parents and so we were able to spend time with both families!! We started the weekend off at the Williams Farm!

Its Spring time and that means everything on the farm is starting to bloom.

The cows are getting so big!

The farm has some new additions; Chickens!!

These cute chickens are Easter chickens!! Look at the colorful eggs they produce. hehe

The chickens are officially my favorite!

Cheeka was not too excited to wear the bunny ears. haha

Jake was the grill master for the day, and he did a great job.

And I made these super yummy bird nest cupcakes.

Marquez Family Time

Now its time to spend Easter with my family. We started the day decorating cupcakes.

Decorating Easter cupcakes!!

The finished product!! Yum!!

Mom and Dad

Now its time for an Easter Egg hunt!!

We had such an amazing Easter! So blessed!!

Our Country Christmas

2012-01-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

Jacob and I were able to spend this Christmas with his family on their new farm.

We had such a fabulous time!

We were able to have some serious family time, and I was able to get up close and personal with COWs!

The first morning we loaded up a trailer with hay and went out to feed the cows! It was sooooo much fun!

Look at this cow and tell me she is not the cutest thing EVER!!

Cheeka LOVES the Cows!!! This dog totally belongs on a farm. She loves to be outside and running around.

The Williams/Shirley men talking about future plans for the farm.

After feeding the cows we hit the woods to chop some wood.

For me a fire place has always been for romantic evenings, but on a farm you have a fire to keep the house warm!

The boys took the 4 Wheeler out so that we could gather tons of wood.

Little man wanted to help out using his 4 Wheeler! Too freakin cute!!

After watching Jake chop wood I thought, "Hummm this looks easy! I want to do it!"

HA! Boy was I wrong!!!!

Chopping wood is Serious business! I threw in the towel after 1 log. haha

It was the night before Christmas, and the next logical activity for us to-do was to go shoot some guns! haha

This is the first time I have ever shot a shotgun! I have to admit I was very intimated, but I did great!!

Me sporting my T-State hoodie!!!

Brothers bonding...

Now it was time to prep for Santa's visit.

The kids took special care making sugar cookies for the big man in red.

Time to open PRESENTS!!!!

We truly had a FANTASTIC Christmas with the Williams family!!

We love farm life soooo much I would not be surprised if later on in life we have our own!

I LOVE taking photos!!! So during my time on the farm I took tons of photos of the amazing property!!

I love this picture. If you look towards the bottom of the photo you will see part of an electric fence.

SIDE NOTE: There are tons of electric fences all around the property to keep the cows in the fields. While I was walking the property taking photos I decided that I could easily cross an electric fence... BOY was I WRONG!! hahahahah I shocked the crap out of half of my body hahahahah This is a true story! I was sooo embarrassed that I didnt tell anyone. But for some reason I decided to post it on my blog for all to read ahahahah. Moral of the story... NEVER try and cross a "hot" electric fence!

Our 2 year Wedding Anniversary

2012-01-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

Jake and I love adventures! So it was fitting that we planned a Mountain Biking trip for our 2 Year Wedding Anniversary! We decided to check out the trails in Ruidoso, NM. We booked a cute little cabin out in the middle of nowhere with a super awesome Jacuzzi tub, and a killer view.

We were both sooo excited to get out of town and hit some serious trails!

Road Trip Survival Kit: cute over night bag, magazines, mascara, Mrs. Berry (my phone)

Ruidoso, NM is a quick 2.5 hour drive!

The first night we ate at our favorite Italian place in Ruidoso!! Its super cute, and yummy!!

Eating dinner.

The next morning we watched the sun rise from our porch and relaxed.

And for breakfast, we had fruit and cinnamon rolls!!!

After breakfast we gathered all our gear and hit the trails! We rode for almost 3 hours.

Jake looks so cute with his helmet!

The trails were AMAZING!!!! Such an adrenalin rush, and a great workout.

We rode in some very rough areas and Jake got a flat. Good thing we had a fix-a-flat kit!

After the ride we went back to the cabin, and on our way there we saw this little guy.

The last day we woke up early and watch the sun rise. It so peaceful up in the mountains!

These were our favorite drinks of the trip!! haha

yummm

On our way home we stopped at our favorite Winery, did a tasting, and picked up a couple of bottles for our collection. All in All it was the best 2nd Anniversary a girl could ask for. We had fun and learned some very important lessons. But the most important lesson:

~If you want to add bubbles to a Jacuzzi tub use 99.9% less bubbles than you would normally! We learned the hard way and ended up with a bathroom (not just the tub, but the entire room) filled with bubbles!!! hahaha

Summer 2011 Balmorhea State Park

2012-01-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

Going to Balmorhea State Park is one of our Favorite things to do!!

For those of you that dont know about Balmorhea it is a Texas State Park with a 3.5-million-gallon freshwater pool built around a natural spring. The spring has a constant flow of 22 to 28 million US gallons a day. The water temperature ranges from 72 to 76 °F year round and is up to 30 feet deep. But the best part is that you get to swim with FISH and TURTLES!!!

Some of the fish <3

Jenna and Ness

Jake is ready for tubing

Our gear

Do you see Jenna's face? That face is saying, "WOW thats COLD!!" haha

The water was so cold I didnt want to get in!! haha

Look at the cute little fish!!

Jake coming up for some air

Jake and Dad!

At the deepest it is about 30 feet.

The Family!

Cool shot of Jenna jumping in.

After swimming all day long we made sandwiches! mmmm

I love spending time with my family!! Hopefully we are able to make it to Balmorhea again next year :)

Family Bike Rides

2011-06-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

My family has always been super active!

Each year we go camping, hiking, fishing etc...

This year our family is really into mountain biking!!

Right before a ride.

Jessica is so cute!!

Jenna loves her bike!

One of our fav spots to ride is on the Rio Grande!


Our Beautiful RIO!

Daddy and Jake

Mom :)


The sky goes on Forever!!!

During the ride we pass a field with beautiful horses!

Sometimes we bring apples to feed them.

The horses are a total highlight on the ride.

Another highlight on the ride is that recently someone put up a tree swing!!

Daddy pushing Jenna

Jessica looks so free :)

These bike rides are great family memories!

We have fun, get exercise, and the views of our beautiful El Paso, TX are priceless!

El Paso Balloon Festival 2011

2011-06-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Jake and I went to the Balloon Festival for the first time this year!!

We had an opportunity to go up in a balloon if the weather was good.

The sun was rising, and we were ready to see some hot air balloons.

It was so Amazing seeing all of the huge colorful hot air balloons!

And we were able to meet tons of new people.

The day we went to the festival it was too windy so we couldn't go up in the balloon but we still had such a great time!

Our balloon pilot did promise us a balloon ride in the future.

I am totally going to take him up on that!!

It was a beautiful day and we made some great memories!!

Life is so GOOD!

El Paso Wine Festival 2011

2011-05-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

Jacob and I really enjoy wine!!

So it only seemed natural to attend the El Paso Wine Festival at La Vina Winery.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. To get to the winery we drove through a beautiful pecan orchard.

The parking lot was an orchard! It was the most beautiful parking lot I have ever seen!

We met my parents at the vineyard. How cute are they?!

This is Bob, the man at the entrance. I loved the name tag he had on haha

"Bob Pay Me" haha

I love the wine glasses that were made for the event! So pretty!

The first glass of the day!

We saw Aaron, my brother from another mother! It was so great seeing him.

There was a Cigar tent at the wine festival. Jake does enjoy his cigars.

There was something for everyone at the festival:

Mom & I: WINE!

Jake: Cigars

Daddy: Turkey legs

The day could not have been more perfect.

The weather, live music, food, drinks, and company were the best.

We had such a super fun day at the 2011 El Paso Wine Festival!!!

I cant wait till next year.

Visit to Arizona!

2011-03-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

It was high time we took a trip to Arizona to visit Grandma!

One of Jake's best friends lives in Arizona also, so we made it a double trip.

Because Jake and I work so much we had to make it just a day trip.

We woke up at 5:30am, got ready, and hit the road.

We made it to grandmas house at 10:30am Arizona time.

Beautiful view down grandma's street.

(Did you know that the state of Arizona does not practice Daylight Savings? Learn something new every day.)

When we got there grandma was looking so great!

She was ready to bake us some cinnamon rolls.


Jake and Grandma baking!!

It was so nice to be able to catch-up with grandma, and see what she has been up too.

Jake's cousin Krista came to grandmas house to visit with us, and it was sooooooo great!!

During our visit Krista made some AMAZING lemon cream cheese cupcakes from scratch!

They were super da-lish!!


Baking those fantastic cupcakes!

After our great visit with grandma and Krista we drove another hour to visit MIKE!!

It was so awesome seeing Mike!

Jake and him were able to catch up.

While we were there Mike made the most A-MAZING dinner EVER!!!

The boys grilling!

There are no words to describe the amazing dinner Mike grilled for us.

Wowy Wow WOW!!

I think it is very important to keep good people in your life!

I have to say that Mike is good people!!

We left Arizona at 11pm and didn't get home till 3:30am!!!

Jake and I were soooo tired!

Luckily I was able to sleep-in the next day!

Jake was not so lucky, he had work the next morning at 9am.

My man is such a hard worker :)

We had a great time!

It was a day full of good food and even better people.

Hiking Franklin Mt.

2011-03-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

One beautiful Tuesday Jake and I decided to go on a hike!

The weather was too perfect to just stay inside.

We went up to Franklin Mountain State Park and took a hike.

Beautiful Desert!

Perfect day to go on a hike

We took cheesy rock shots! I love it!!

It seemed as if the sky went on for miles

US!

The trail on the way back down.

I love this photo

Beautiful Photo I took of a cactus! Gorgeous!! Its like a rainbow.

As you can tell we had a FABULOUS day!!

Skiing 2011

2011-03-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Each year Jake and I make it a point to go skiing!

We LOVE skiing!!!

I love everything about the sport!

The weather
The excitement
Adrenaline Rush
But most of all the Winter Fashions!!!!

Each time we go I get to buy new winter clothes, and accessories that I "need" to keep warm!!!

Its awesome!

This year Jake and I went to Ski Apache in Ruidoso, NM.

Jake eating Breakfast Tacos!!

The trip up was so great!

It is our tradition to get breakfast tacos each time we go on a road trip.

On this trip it was bean & cheese, and egg & chorizo from Taco C.

Jake and I talked, and laughed for the entire 3 hours up.

So much fun!!

We were excited to see what the weather was going to be like, because the weather channel said it was supposed to be windy and maybe snow.

Perfect Weather!

Once we got to the slopes the weather was perfect! The sun was shining, no wind, and there were not that many people there.

Getting ready to go SKIING!!!

All dressed!!

Once we were ready to hit the slopes it was snowing!! Each time we went down the mountain we had Fresh untouched snow!

Jake getting fitted for his equipment

Jake is good at everything he does!!

After a long day of skiing, Jake saved the day with Hot Chocolate!!

My hands were sooooo cold!

Message in the snow for Jake :*

A snow plow escorted us down the mountain!

On our way home we stopped at Heart of the Dessert Pistachio Farm. We picked up some great little goodies, and did a wine tasting.

Jake and I really enjoy our wine!!

All in all this was a fantastic trip!

We had so much fun and made some great memories.

I am soooooo excited for next years ski trip!

News Update!

2010-12-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

So for the past 5 months Jake and I have been very busy!!

Jake:

Jake was a manager at DTC but decided that selling tires was not what he wanted to do with his life. He did some soul searching and realized the industry that he has a passion for is Real Estate. During his quest he decided a good place to start is Real Estate Appraisal.

Jake took 75 certification hours of Appraisal class in 2 months, and is now a Certified Appraisal Trainee. He found an amazing Certified Appraiser in Texas and is training under him for the next 2 years.

Also starting in the summer he has decided to go back to school and get his degree!!

I am very proud of my hard working man!!

Vanessa:

I have been working on my BBA (Bachelors in Business Administration) for the past 4 years and in December GRADUATED!!

I am so happy to finally be done, and to set foot in the real business world.

Currently, my full time job is to find a full time job. haha

I have sent out many applications and know that I will get a great job soon.

So, that is the Update.

We are excited to see what God has planned for us.

The CATWALK in the Gila National Forest

2010-10-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places in all the world is the Catwalk Located in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. It has all the elements needed to have an adventure! There is some hardcore hiking, amazing rivers, gorgeous waterfalls, and best of all a legend of Geronimo and hidden treasure.

This summer Jake and I visited home for a week and my parents planned a day trip up to The Catwalk. We left early in the morning to get a head start on the trail and watch the sunrise. About an hour into the trip we stopped at this great hidden treasure of a place, and got real good breakfast burritos.

It was about 9am when we arrived at The Catwalk. We put sunscreen on, stocked up on water bottles and headed up the trail!

This place makes you realize how amazing nature is! Nature built The Catwalk with volcanic activity, and the power of erosion. We hiked up the trail and came across some beautiful stuff!

That rock looks like a hand!!

A picture of mom taking a picture

The metal path that they are on is why its called The Catwalk

The Parents :)

I love how green it is!!

Everyone hiking

How cute is she!!

Daddy being a spider monkey

Half way through the hike we found a great waterfall!! The last time we were here we were able to jump off the waterfall into the pool because it was so deep, but this year the pool was definitely not deep enough to jump in. But we still played in it. Wow the water was crazy cold!!! But it was sooooooooo much fun!

After we played in the waterfall we started to hike again. The trail ended with an old suspension bridge. It was creepy and awesome!! And we got some pretty cool pictures on it! :)

On our way back down the trail we wanted to stop, take a rest, and eat some snacks. So we got off the trail and found a really pretty river to rest next to.

Our Amazing rest area!

Daddy's fav hiking snack!!

After our snack we stared to play in the river we were sitting next to. We walked upstream and found an awesome cave with a waterfall in it!!!! So of course we had to play in that waterfall also!!!

So, after frolicking in the last waterfall we started hiking back down the trail. Instead of taking the dirt trail back down, my dad decided that we should walk in the river all the way down. At first I didn't like the idea because I didn't want to slip and fall but then it was too much fun!!! :D We were able to see parts of Gila that we would not have if we just went the same way down.

And there were fish over the place! While we were walking and looking at the fish someone found a lizard in the water!!! At first we thought it was a water lizard but then we picked it up and realized it was probably frozen (being cold blooded and all) because the water was so cold!! hahaha So then my sisters decided to do a photo shoot with Mr. Frozen Lizard. haha I love my sister!! :)

This was a great memorable trip I love my family so very much!!!

DTC dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse!

2010-10-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Discount Tire Company is a great company to work for.

Jake had been working at DTC for a while and was made an assistant manager at the San Marcos store A07. I am so Poud of him!!!!!!! He even got his own manager business cards!!! :D

During the summer the managers at A07 broke a huge sales record, and as a thank you DTC took all of the managers and their wives out to an amazing night on the town in San Antonio.

DTC rented us a great hotel room close to the river walk, and took us out to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse!!

When Jake told me about the thank you dinner they were planning I was so excited, because I have always wanted to eat at Ruth's Chris!

It was finally time for the dinner!! We got all dressed up and ready for a night out on the town.

The dinner was amazing!! We were able to order anything we wanted which was fantastic. I had steak, broccoli, and a baked potato the size of my head!! Normally dessert is my fav part of dinner but that night the best part was the amazing bottle of French Wine I had! WOWY WOW WOW it was so good. Dessert was my second fav, I had the best slice of cheese cake EVER!! The graham cracker crust had caramelized bits of pecans!! Geeezzz it was good!

The people that we were with were the best part of the night. All of those managers and their wives are so much fun! After dinner we walked around the river walk talked and laughed a lot!

Once all the bars were closing we walked back to our hotel and went to sleep. Our hotel was so super cool because its supposedly haunted :D and if you know me you know I love haunted things!!!! The room that was supposedly haunted was right down the hall from our room which was fun.

It was truly a great night with great people.

One Year Anniversary

2010-09-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

When it was time to start planning our One Year Anniversary I was very excited!!!!

At first I was thinking we should do a very romantic weekend on the River Walk in San Antonio. I wanted to go all out and have champagne, chocolate strawberries etc...

But as I was researching all of the different options I came across the best One Year Anniversary celebration idea ever!!!

First Jake and I went wine tasting at the best Texas winery Three Dudes Winery. It was very relaxing drinking wine on the deck looking out at the San Marcos River. We talked and laughed and just had a great time with each other.

The next day Jake and I were off to the Main Anniversary Event. We got in my car and started driving to a cute little town Wimberley, TX to go on a Zipline Adventure!!!!!!

On our way down to Wimberley we passed this amazing field of sunflowers (my favorite flower) so I had to stop and snap a few pictures.

We got to the Ziplining Ranch and had to take a little hike to get to the prep area. The zipline pros helped us gear up, and then it was time to hike up the hills to get to all 8 of the ziplines.

I have to admit I was so scared!!!!!!

I think the main reason that I wanted to go ziplining was so that we can do something that would allow us to overcome our fears, have an adventure, and make some great memories.

Going down the first zipline was a rush! As we were going down all of the ziplines they just got longer and faster. By the time we went down the 8th line we were pros!

We made some great memories and used team work to get through this adventure.

After we went to down town Wimberley and walked along the river, checked out the local boutiques, and eat some amazing Italian food.

Babies!

2010-08-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Jake and I have been married for a little over a year, and in the future would love to have children!

But for now we have decided that we are going to wait on having kids for a while. We want to be newly weds and enjoy each others company for a bit before we add others in the mix. So for now our dogs are our babies!!!!!

This is Brody Williams!

We got him from the San Marcos Dog Shelter when he was 6 months-ish old.

The people that had Brody before named him Rod (ugly name!!), and lived on a Farm. They could not handle Brody because he was super hyper and would chase the chickens so they gave him up.

Since he is a shelter dog we are not sure what he is but we think he is a Lab-Heeler mix. We think Lab because of his beautiful color, and the Heeler is his size and shape. But we don't really know.

Some people think he has some Pit in him, but I don't think so.

Brody loves to cuddle under the covers, and take naps in the sun. He is such a loving animal!!!! I feel like Brody is my guardian angel!

This is Tyler Durden Williams!!

We also got him form the San Marcos Shelter when he was about 6 months old.

Tyler was an abused dog that someone found on the side of the freeway!! The second i saw him at the shelter it was love at first sight!!!!

The shelter named him Almond, another ugly name!!

Since he is also a shelter dog we are not sure what he is but I think he is a Chihuahua-Rat Terrier mix. Jake thinks Tyler is just a Rat Terrier.

Tyler loves to cuddle with everyone!!!!

Its so cute to watch Brody and Tyler together because they love each other so much! Tyler follows Brody everywhere and refuses to go in his own kennel, he has to stay with Brody in his.

So, for now these two are our babies, and they are spoiled rotten! They sleep in bed with us, and we buy them the best food on the market, and I even spend more money on their shampoo then I do on mine! haha

Honeymoon

2010-08-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Jacob and I wanted to go skiing for our honeymoon.

I had been skiing once before, and Jake had never been so we were super excited!

We went to Taos, NM and stayed in the cutest little casita at the best bed and breakfast. The B&B is called Casa Europa Inn and Gallery. http://www.casaeuropanm.com/

The owners were so kind and attentive. One of the things that I loved was that every night they made us a special dessert form scratch, and let me tell you they were so good!

Our first night in Taos we ate dinner at the cutest little restaurant named The Love Apple. That place used to be an old church that they turned into a posh restaurant. It was so cozy and romantic, and the food was unlike anything I had ever had.

The next day we took skiing lessons at Angelfire.

We wanted to ski at Taos but those slopes are for experts so everyone told us to take lessons at Angelfire. We had a blast!! Jacob is such a fast learner 5 minutes into the lesson Jake was a pro. We spent the entire day on the slopes. By the end of the day we were exhausted and hungry. Jake and I have officially decided to try and go skiing every year. Maybe one day I will get the nerve to try snowboarding.

I love Taos!

Jake and I went to several art galleries, and amazing jewelry stores.

The rest of the honeymoon we spent shopping, relaxing, and eating great food.

Our Honeymoon was a dream come true!

The Wedding

2010-08-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

The Wedding day was finally upon us. That Day was magical!! :)

The Marquez women had to get up early to get our hair done. We got our hair done by my aunt, this was extra special because she was the one that did my moms hair for my parents wedding.

After our hair appointment my sisters and I went to the garden to put the final touches on decor. My dad had been at the garden all morning making sure that his baby girls wedding day was perfect.

Once we were done at the garden my sisters and I went to my hotel room to do our make-up and get dressed. While we were getting ready we had a photo shoot with Marcos. Oh man we all had too much fun!!!!

Since the wedding was in the evening, and outdoors we had to do our wedding photo shoot before the wedding. I know they say its bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding so I guess its a good thing we don't believe in bad luck. :) We had a very special reveal were we saw each other and then did the photos with our families.

Seven O Clock was finally upon us and it was time for the wedding.

I was so excited to have my dad walk me down the aisle and give me away to the love of my life.

Pastor Rochelle did such an amazing job on the ceremony!! It was so special!

After the ceremony we ate the best wedding food I have ever had!! We mingled with our guests and had such a great time.

Jacob and I did our first dance to the song Lucky in Love by Jason Mraz.

I wanted to celebrate the fact that both mine and Jacobs parents are still married so after our first dance we had both of our parents dance to my parents song Your Still the One by Shania Twain.

My father daughter dance was very special!! We danced to Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel K. I chose this song because my dad and I would sing that song all the time when I was a little girl.

I wanted to make the wedding all about family so after my father daughter dance my sisters also shared a dance with my daddy.

Everyone had a great time on the dance floor we partied like it was 1999 hehe

Then it came time for the garter toss the DJ played The Thong Song! hahah Mike caught the garter.

For the bouquet toss the DJ played All the Single Women and it was so much fun! I was aiming the bouquet at a special girl but I was way off !

Jacob's best friend Mike was the best man and gave the greatest best man speech ever!! It was so funny and amazing! My sister Jessica was my maid of honor but she didn't want to make a speech so my mom made a very heart felt speech.

I was about time for the wedding to be over so we all gathered at the entrance of the garden, and all of the guests lit their sparklers and gave us the best send off EVER!!

I wanted to thank all of the people that traveled from all over the US to attend our wedding!
You all made it the best wedding EVER!!

The Wedding (Prep)

2010-06-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Jake and I didn't want to be engaged for to long so we decide the engagement would be14 months, and we would get married on June 27, 2009.

Now that we knew the date we needed to pick the location. El Paso is my home town and I honestly love it! Nothing beats the amazing mountains, and the crisp dessert air. So it was a no brain-er when we saw the El Paso Botanical Garden. We immediately booked it was our venue. The one thing that I loved about the botanical garden was the water fountain in the middle of the garden. I knew that I wanted that to be the background as Jake and I said our vows.

My mom was totally my wedding planner. Since I was going to school in SM and was 600 miles away she really stepped in and helped me with everything!

Both of our families came together to help us create a dream wedding.

Picking the dress was so much fun! I did a crazy amount of research online to figure out what styles I wanted, and then narrowed it down to one designer. Then I found a local boutique that carried that designer, and set up an appointment to try on some dresses. Since my mom was in El Paso she was not able to come with me to try on dresses, so my friend Natalie and her mother stepped in and helped me pick the dress. They were so helpful and awesome!

Finding my shoes was the hardest part! I went shopping every weekend for an entire month, and finally found them. I wanted a classic style, with a very high heel, and I wanted them to be purple.
Is a beautiful purple shoe to much to ask?!
When I was about to give up on the shoe I found it!

The most important part of the wedding was finding a PERFECT photographer! And I totally found him!!! During my search I came across some pictures of a photo shoot that my friend Carlos was in and I knew I wanted that photographer. The photographer ended up being Marcos Gurrola. He was totally amazing and if anyone needs a photographer for anything definitely get in touch with him!!http://www.marcosgurrola.com/

Jake and I had our bachelor/ bachelorette parties 2 weeks before the wedding. My college friends took me to Austin on 6th street we and I had a total blast! And then my El Paso friends threw me another great bachelorette party, I am so loved and blessed.
Jake went to Houston where his best friend Mike threw him a very memorable party. Apparently its Guy Law that girls are not allowed to know what happens at Bachelor parties. :) So I don't know what happened, but its never a dull moment with Mike so i can only imagine! haha

The night before our wedding Jake and I went off roading with some of our friends. Jake's best friends Mike Arnold and Mike Pike came in town from Houston and Phoenix. I love this picture of the boys!! We had such a great time speeding through the night (in the beast), and shooting fire works. We found a super cool water tower in the dessert with all kinds of fun tagging, and took this cool pic.

We stayed up playing in the dessert till 3am! Which was not the best idea because I had to be up at 6:30 to get my hair done. But it was totally worth it.

The Engagement!

2010-06-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Jake and I had been dating for almost 3 years when I decided to go to Texas State University in San Marcos Texas.

Moving to San Marcos meant that I would be 600 miles away from my family, my church, and Jacob.It was a hard decision to make but I am so glad that I did decide to get my college education at TXState!

I knew it would be really hard to be away form Jake but we made it work.

While going to school Jacob and I made arrangements to see each other at least once a month.

And we had our daily routine:

~I would text him in the morning to say "GOOD MORNING! Have a great day!"

~I would be off to class till noon, which would be around the time Jake would get his lunch break, and we would talk then.

~Then I would continue classes, and other campus activities till the evening when we would talk again before bed.

That's how it was all school year long until one beautiful April morning!

It was a Thursday and for some reason that day my heart really missed Jacob!!

It was noon and Jake called me right as I was walking out of my Bio class; I was so excited to talk to him. I quickly answered the phone and we talked for about 2 minutes when he told me that his lunch break was over and he had to hang up.

I was totally bummed!

We hung up, and I started walking back up the hill to my dorm.

When I got to my room the door was locked, our door always randomly locked itself. I knew my roomie was there because I could hear the TV so I knocked on the door. My hands were full of books other wise I would have unlocked it myself.

When the door opened there was Jake! He was on one knee with flowers and the prettiest ring you ever did see!

I froze!

Then he said the magic words "Vanessa Marie Marquez I love you so much! Will you marry me?"

I dropped all of my books, and started crying. Jake stood up and we hugged for a good 3 minutes before I was able to say the magic answer, "Yes!"

It was the best surprise ever!

And that is the story of how we got engaged.

First Blog First Post

2010-04-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I should start at the beginning.

Jacob and I both worked at Adventure Zone in El Paso.
We started hanging out a lot and started dating. We had a blast getting to know each other!

On our first date I got all dolled up, I wanted our date to be super special, I even purchased new perfume.We decided we were going to eat at Chili's and then go watch Wedding Crashers. Jacob picked me up in his rusty blue 1977 International Scout II, with the top off (I later named his old truck The Beast).It was fun driving down Mesa with the wind in my hair. I had never taken a ride in an old truck like that before. There was a hole in the floor board next to my feet and I could see the road underneath us. :) When we got to Chili's we both smelled like car exhaust ha ha so much for my new perfume.

When the date was over Jake and I got in The Beast and started diving to my house. We had just exited the freeway when The Beast's engine turned off, we had run out of GAS!!! ha ha Once the truck was going slow enough Jake jumped out and yelled take the wheel! I drove while he pushed his 4 bazillion pound truck down the road. Luckily we were very close to a gas station.

I can honestly say that was the best date ever. We talked,and laughed so much. At the end of the date I knew that Jacob was a keeper!