Maura

Quote: Originally Posted by Adinu We weren't even given the option of doing it in one day. We had the choice of doing three saturday's in a row of 4-5hrs each, but that was it. The priest was actually not very excited about that and pushed us to do the 7 week every-thursday night class instead. He said we'll get more time to reflect. With that said he was not very impressed with us period, (a)we're "co-habitating" as he called and (b)we're planning a wedding away and not in his Church He gave us a loooooooong speech about all that, and suggested that I move back in with my parents. I'm not totally sure what the FOCCUS questionnaire is, because we weren't given anything like that yet. We're registering and attending our first official class tomorrow so we might be given it then. dont feel bad about how the priest treated you --- we also got the "you're sinners" blah blah blah long speech from the local priest here who is preparing us, because we also live together. and yeah they were irritated we are not getting married in the church at home, but they appreciated the fact that my FI is from mexico so that is why we are doing it there. honestly, sometimes id like to tell our priest to shove it, but we only have one more meeting with him before we're done. you will likely take your FOCCUS questionnaire on one of your nights of the class, we met privately with our priest to take it in january, and then did the all day precana because we didnt want to drag it out over 7 weeks because frankly we are busy people and it conflicted too much with our schedules. the foccus questionnaire is kind of nervewracking -- let me tell you in advance that any question you answer "unsure" takes points away from your "compatibility". going over the results of it with our priest was nice though because it got us talking about stuff we dont normally talk about, or things we had discussed awhile back but forgot about. we have one hour appointments with the priest, and we only got halfway through the results, so we are meeting with him again in a few weeks to discuss the other half. showing him our precana completion certificate and then he will put all our documents into an envelope with a letter signing off on our requirements being done, and we will give that to our family priest from new orleans that we are flying to cabo for our wedding. Quote: Originally Posted by Betsy We had our Pre-Cana weekend about 2 months ago - it was very....informative I guess I would say - The priest that was there kept talking about how children before marriage aren't really a part of God's plan because you are not supposed to have sex before marriage and if you do you are abusing God's plan - things I totally don't agree with - so it kind of struck a sour note with me.......We did get worksheets too and a notebook that we answered a bunch of questions on - I loved that part because it really re-emphasized that FI and I are meant for each other! We had our Focus test and that actually went really well! Our priest told us we did really good so that was exciting - then he set us up with a sponser couple from our church which we have met one time. We are meeting them 1x a week for the next 3 weeks. They were super nice and totally put this whole double wedding thing in perspective for me! I was really glad it went so well!! Sorry this is so long!!! we went to special precana because if you are over 30 (and my FI is 32) or if you have been married before, you have to go to the "special" one....honestly from what i heard from my friend who went to the regular one, its no different. some of the people at mine had kids already too. one thing i REALLY didnt like was how they pushed the natural family planning stuff on everyone. im sorry i just dont agree with all the teachings of the church, and THAT is one of them. its not my priest's business, and i didnt appreciate that part of the precana at all. we also did really well on our foccus questionnaire, we got a bunch of 100 and 91 percents! our priest was asking us all these questions about how we know each other so well and he was impressed or whatever that we did so well on the questionnaire, and we really made a sticking point with him of the fact that "well since we live together" etc etc you shoulda seen his face. however, we do not have to do the whole sponsor couple meeting thing like some churches require. thankfully we are a part of a huge archdiocese and they dont require that.

i love what ann wrote!

hey! actually, we did our precana class last saturday as an all day one time get it over with quick option. it wasnt that bad actually. they gave us a workbook, we did some worksheets in it separately and compared our answers, we got to write a love letter to each other (what FI wrote me was really sweet, and i had expected him to write something goofy and blow it off, but i saved it because it was so heartfelt). id be happy to answer any questions you might have. did you already do your FOCCUS questionnaires?

Janette! lots of resources to help you choose!

alex! i am very jealous of you getting married in italy, i lived in italy in 2004 and really wanted to get married there, but the exchange rate is so bad right now we decided to go with los cabos so we could afford to do the kind of wedding we wanted.

sandra just out of curiosity, because i love the second dress, what size do you wear? wondering if maybe i can fit in it....i wear an 8 usually

hahahaha those are amazing. i am dying here laughing! and i agree, how rude of the lookey-loos (esp. the topless one!)

when i get my hormonal cravings during PMS, my FI always asks me "are you pregnant?" and has this look on his face like the world is going to end hahaha

hey, im an early august bride so im in the same boat with you gals, but FYI if you want to avoid problems with the postage rate change, buy some forever stamps NOW, and put those on your RSVP cards for people to send back, that way you'll save on the rate change! also, theres always the option to do your RSVP online like we are. we are including an RSVP enclosure with the invite, just not asking them to send anything back -- but to visit our website and rsvp there instead FYI, the rate change occurs May 12

Quote: Originally Posted by hollisandsteph Ok I might be getting in late on this one but this goes with my confession: I have a future step-son with a recent (finally) diagnosis of Asburgers- a form of Autism but is most just like a severe ADHD with little to no ability to understand social situations. I have been with his father for 8 years and his mom is not in the picture. He is soooo difficult somedays I don't just want to cry I do cry! My actual confession is that his dad wanted to give him up for adoption when he was born (he and his ex wife were young and already had a child they could not take care of and his ex was already in and out of the picture leaving him to take care of thier daughter) and I secertly wish they would have. He would have been better off raised in a home where he was an only child! I always feel guilty when I think it and have never told anyone so here you all go. Another confession: I am sitting here debating on deleting this whole thing...:-( my best friend's family is currently looking for a residence program for her brother, who is 14 and has aspergers. they just cannot handle him anymore. they have 2 other relatively young children (my friend is 25, but her siblings are 14, 13 (who is adopted), and 10 --because her mom remarried and had 2 kids and adopted another with her new husband) and its just too hard for them. they love the kid, but realize they cannot provide him with the kind of structure and life skills that he needs in order to successfully deal with his ailment and become a productive member of society. obviously, this is an expensive option, but something that her family needs to do because they feel like caring for him is only detrimental to him because they dont know how to care for him. my heart goes out to you, i know how much agony my friend's family is going through with this difficult decision.

we discussed doing guayaberas, but in the end decided that both our dads are going to wear khaki cotton or khaki colored linen suits.

omg kate, i am literally crying at work and i am so happy i booked marci & enrique after talking to you about it. i was so on the fence, and even still a little apprehensive after booking, but now that ive seen your vids, i am sooooooooo excited about it!!!!!! thank you for posting!!!! i am trying to figure out a way to favorite them haha but i dont know how to do it on photobucket.

Quote: Originally Posted by lauren c. my assumption would be that you need to type the country code 00 so the number would look like: 001-555-555-5555 actually, when texting you shouldnt need to enter the country code if you are texting another american phone. i have tmobile and FI has at&t and we have never had to type the country code in order to text other american numbers. however, if we text a mexican number then we do have to do the country code. we also have blackberrys and prefer to use the "ping" system between the two of us since it's free. but when the ping system isnt working (sometimes it's spotty in mexico), we have to rely on plain text messages. but you should contact your service provider, because sometimes if you dont have your international plan turned on (which is usually free), then calling and texting is outrageous. the one thing the international plan does not help is data usage (like using the internet) from your blackberry in mexico. i am usually able to pick up telcel service and one other provider on ocassion, movistar.

carly, those are really great. they look beautiful! (and i just noticed you changed your username! i like that too!) and dont listen to your dad, dads are old and dont get wedding stuff anyway ;-)

oooh tara, first i LOVE that dress on you. second, i would order the 10 if i were you, the alterations to take a 12 in everywhere versus letting the bust out in the 10 are going to be expensive. and if you lose more weight, then your boobs will probably get a bit smaller and fit into the 10 anyway. when i lose weight, my boobs are the first thing to go haha.

if you are also blowing your nose a lot too, check if your pharmacy sells the puffs with vicks vaporub in them. it works wonders!

Quote: Originally Posted by LindsayG My confession: I met my fiance through an online game that we both played. He lived in Montana and I lived in Louisiana. About a year after I met him, some friends of mine moved near where he lived, and they met up and became friends. I went to visit them and met Billy, and it was love at first sight. We got engaged a few months later after only spending like 2 weeks together. He moved down here in August. Thing is, I'm SO embarrassed about how we met. My family sees me as totally normal and would think computer games are nerdy, and my mom was TOTALLY weirded out about how we met. She has really been cool with it, but we haven't told extended family or friends how we met. At my company Christmas party, one of my coworkers asked us how we met since my fiance is obviously not from Louisiana. Billy blurted out "We met on an internet game!" and I about died. I can't ever imagine telling my old sorority sisters from college, coworkers, or really anyone the real story on how we met. People always ask couples how they met, and I wish I wasn't so embarrassed by my story! mehhh just tell people you "met" through friends, because technically, you DID! nobody has to know the details. i hate how people are so judgmental. my FI and i went to our precana class last saturday and like 4 of the couples had met online.

the baked cheetos are definitely not as good as the 100 calorie ones IMHO.

Quote: Originally Posted by Morgan don't you think he just faked that logo? Or maybe he bought www.wpja.cc.com & made a trade with them for membership. honestly, i thought the same thing, and i checked the wpja site, and he is actually listed as a member. how disappointing.

i must confess that i am too stressed out from my job right now and have spent the last several hours on BDW instead of doing any work, when i am so swamped. i just needed to escape it for awhile. and kathy, i also cringe when my FI doesnt put a dryer sheet on bottom and on top, you are not alone!

often to get them to match a price, the low price needs to be from another authorized retailer FYI. but angela is right, try calling around different bridal shops in your area and see if you can find it any cheaper.

IMHO, id cancel with miguel mayo if i were you. totally not worth it. after looking at his stuff, i really dont understand how the WPJA let him in.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mandy Maura, any advice on renting a car in Guadalajara? Quote: Originally Posted by Mandy I guess we have to pay about $19/day for insurance on top of renting the car. Thrifty has the best rates so far. What about a cell phone? In Nicaragua, I bought a SIM card and put it into my AT&T quad band phone. Can I do the same in Mexico? jose says thrifty has really good rates. we are renting from thrifty in cabo because they happen to have a rental office at the westin where we're staying. in general, he told me the other day that renting a car in MX can be very expensive. and yeah, you should get the insurance just in case. for your cell phone, at&t has international calling plans. i have tmobile, and its an unlocked gsm phone (blackberry pearl). when im down in mx city, i'm able to pick up a signal from telcel and one other carrier usually. if you call your cell carrier before you go down there, ask about turning on your international calling plan (which is often free) so that you dont get roaming charges. mandy i think you have my personal email already but always feel free to email me if you have a question if i dont respond quickly on the forum! work is getting crazy lately and i get behind on posts and dont always see stuff until a few days later.

i saved $400 simply by asking to have the price matched... just FYI it never hurts to ask, the worst they can say is no!

anybody else?