The Yochum Wedding: Our Trip to Boise

Justin and Michelle got married on August 28 and we spent a week in Boise celebrating with them. The wedding was absolutely beautiful - a full Catholic mass at St. John's in downtown Boise with the reception at the BSU Sky Center. The rehearsal dinner Thursday night, was at Justin's parents' house and catered by a local Basque restaurant. Everything was delicious.

Some trip highlights:

1. Spindlebomb! Best cover band EVER. We went out to Tom Grainey's after the reception and ended up at a taco truck (bad idea).

2. Shea's girlfriend Andrea. They are just adorable and getting pretty serious... Way to go Shea!

3. (Fernando): Playing FIFA for hours and making beer in Eric's garage

We had a great time in Boise. It was fun to have all of Fernando's crowd together again and to be able to spend more time with them - our wedding was such a blur. We also spent some time with his parents who will be back in Dallas this weekend to check out their new house. They took us out to eat at a delicious Spanish place called Barbacoa and we had some really good paella.

Now that we are back home, it's time for a diet. We definitely ate our way through summer - from our adventures down I-35 last week to Eric's biscuits and gravy and everything in between. We both feel we are gaining the newlywed 20.

Go Broncos!

River Trip 2009: Aug 21-23

Our second annual trip to float the Comal River was a a big success - organized by myself, Tracy and Valerie - we increased our attendance from 10 to 20! Muesebach Station (same as last year) which is about 200 yards from jumping in the water was our river home. It's a great little duplex just off the train tracks - last year we rented just one side and this time we got both.

Fernando and I left town early on Friday and made several stops along the way --- First Czech Stop in West, then Outlet Shopping in San Marcos, back to Austin for Torchy's Tacos and groceries and then on to New Braunfels to our river home. That alone was a fantastic day and we had just begun. We had such a good time road tripping, eating our favorite foods and shopping. The outlets were a highlight because they have a Pottery Barn store! We got some major deals on PB and Williams Sonoma items. I also got a dress from White House Black Market and Fernando got a shirt at Barney's (both outlet deals of course).

Later that night our friends arrived and we stayed up playing games. Saturday morning we made sandwiches and loaded up the coolers -- off to float! It was a perfect day for it -- we went down twice. There's not much better than floating in a cool river on a hot day with some of your best friends.

After floating we headed back to the house for Robby's famous "buguz" (translation "burgers") and Tracy's potatoes. We had way more food than we could eat - it was all sooo good. More games and up all night....

Sunday morning we crawled out of bed and cleaned up. One more stop at Torchy's before heading home... and a stop at DQ for a Tagalong (formerly Peanut Butter Patties) Blizzard - yum!

What a great weekend!!!

Rebecca Hackl Events Here I Come!

I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!!

I'll start after our trip to Boise for Justin's wedding. I cannot express how excited I am for this. It's a whole new chapter in the EFG book of happiness.

ADAM & RACHEL ARE ENGAGED!!!

And thus explains the big news announcement below. I didn't want to be the first to blab it to the world, so I gave them some time.

Thursday night, Adam FINALLY pulled the trigger. After nearly 6 years with Rachel, they returned to the spot of their first date, the DMA for a nice night out. They had met there after work and drove home separately. Adam was dressed up more than usual because he said he had a presentation at work. When Rachel opened the door she was surprised to see several bouquets of pink and red flowers. Adam then explained that he was not dressed up for a presentation and that he had had dinner with Rachel's dad the night before. He pulled out a piece of candy that was taken from an art display on their first date and a ring box. Down on one knee, the ring, he said was his grandmother's and just a symbol. They went ring shopping the following Friday, but have not committed to a choice yet.

Ring shopping was followed by dinner and drinks at Gloria's, which sadly Fernando and I both missed. He was in Boise and I was working at Pottery Barn.

Congrats you two!!!

Who's next?? I'm looking at you Chrismay : )

One of Our Friends FINALLY Has Very Big News!!!

More to come...

Sweetie-Free

Fernando left me for Justin's bachelor weekend in Boise. I'm all alone until Sunday night. I also have a friend's bachelorette party on Saturday, but mostly I'll be working - no fair! I'm waiting up for him to call and tell me he's landed safely...

I Can Freelance Too!

I will now be working for EquaTerra (where my cousin Kim works) doing list building and sending marketing packets for an hourly wage. I'm awaiting all my passwords and instruction. Yeah!

In-laws Visit

Erika is home from Spain! She loved it so much she is already talking about next year. The parents were in town and went house-hunting and THEY BOUGHT A HOUSE! It's a beautiful home in Burleson (close to Aunt Doris and Uncle Lonnie, yet still 'city'). The move will probably be next summer. We had fun hanging out with the family and getting caught up. Bertica even introduced us to a new game - Bananagrams. It's like speed-scrabble. Fernando challenged me on "nos", but we looked it up later at home and I WON (at least that round), so ha!

Wells Fargo Update

We finally got our money back from Wells Fargo! Oddly enough, we finally heard from the hotel the same week. They have credited us back too, but it may take a while to post because of their location...will we end up with two credits now? So that mystery is there and Wells Fargo still owes us some interest, but the bulk of our money is back where it belongs... and we only started this transaction 3 months ago -- nice!

Dissapointment and Letting Go

I've neglected the blog lately because I have been in denial of my feelings and have not wanted to share. It's been a tough couple of weeks with lots of ups and downs.

I had my interview at Todd Events. It was great. They are looking for two interns Sept.-Dec. Work weeks would be unpaid, with paid events on the weekends - I even have the same wedding date as the girl who interviewed me! I left with a good feeling and the promise of a decision the following week.

The interview was on a Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday morning I got an email saying the positions have been filled but it may be for the best because they can no longer pay for events. Remember that this interview was scheduled months ago. I didn't understand how this was possible. I had been away from my computer all day and read the email right as I was leaving for yoga class that night. I didn't say a word to anyone-not even Fernando. I was too embarrassed. I had been planning for this for so long - how could it be over? I was starting to feel like a failure. Not just because I didn't get one internship - in general. I've not had a steady job since March. I was getting depressed about all the unknown in our future and all the jobs "on hold" or going another direction.

Fernando on the other hand, was just offered a long-term contract position at BeautiControl (the same place he freelanced for before). He'll be redesigning their internal magazine until the end of December. He even got called back into work at Razor for a day. He's barely had any non-work days since his lay-off.

Being the sweetie that he is, he was telling his family all about my interview and how great it would be if I worked for Todd. He was just updating them on his offer and any recent news of how we were doing. It all sound so good when he said it. The truth was killing me. I started going through all my emails looking for contacts to follow-up with. I found the perfect wedding planner who I had first contacted before our wedding and emailed her. Again, didn't say anything to Fernando just yet.

I was really down and we ended up talking about our future plans for some reason -- I don't remember the whole conversation and I just blurted out "I didn't get it". He thought I was joking and then I started crying. He was very comforting and said all the right things. When I got over the tears I told him about my new email. I had actually already heard back and would have an interview on Monday - I followed up at just the right time!

The interview was with Rebecca Hackl Events. It started out all wrong - I got lost on the way there! I called Fernando frantic and asked for directions. I also called Rebecca to apologize and let her know--got voicemail. I ended up near tears and 15 minutes late - such a bad impression. Rebecca didn't seem to mind, however - she was tied up on a call and it was better for her to start late. We talked for over an hour! Everything went really well. Her company is small -- 3 or 4 people and does corporate events and weddings. They also do custom stationary. I was so excited about this and showed her samples from our wedding. She is looking to hire two interns with the possibility of hiring full-time and the decision should be quick.... she told me everything looked good...stay tuned.

MAW has kind of been all I have that is my own project lately. This is making Fernando's life difficult because after a long day at work (8-12 hours a day), he hears about how much MAW stuff needs to get done. There have been many tears over this as well. We decided a solution would be a project board---that way he has a visual reminder and I can back off. It was a great idea but doesn't guarantee that things will get done when I want them to -- paying jobs come first and he gets worn out. I have to let go a little bit apparently. We need a compromise between "it's pro-bono, it will get done when it gets done" and my detailed time lines and reminders. What can I say, I'm attached to my work. Remember to check out wish100.org!

Despite my emotional ups and downs, we are well taken care of for both of us being technically unemployed. We now have multiple sources of income that more than cover everything we need and we are applying for health insurance on our own through UniCare. I'm working on the rest with the help of my loving husband.