Buc Days Rodeo. What...a monstrosity.

I like meat. I like animals. I... am a hypocrite. I was not quite aware of the last statement (or rather unwilling to admit it) until this weekend. This weekend was the Buc Days Rodeo and Carnival in Corpus Christi. There is nothing I like better than live events and fair food...needless to say I was all about this event. My roommate was amped to play some carnie games and we had a friend in town from Laughlin AFB - it seemed like a marriage made in heaven.

We started out at the Rodeo. I must admit there are some amusing things that happen at the Rodeo. Professional Bull Riding really appeals to the sports enthusiast in me, Barrel Racing is entertaining as the only womens event, and how cute is the mutton busting? Where I absolutely drew the line was when about a dozen 12 year-olds gathered in the ring to chase about 4 young calves. The boys and girls were vigorously chasing the poor calves and throwing themselves in the horse and cow poop to do so. The people running the rodeo were glorifying their efforts by putting them up on the big screen as the kids were in a sexual position with the calves. The object of the game was to wrestle the calf to the ground and put a harness around the mouth and then bring the calf back the middle of the ring. EXCEPT the overseers let the game run on longer than it should for the entertainment of the crowd...which was in complete laughter. Once the calf was in its harness, obviously it was stubborn to go anywhere, so the kids would literally DRAG them to the center. Oh but wait, not by their rope but by their TAIL. Throughout the whole process the calves where scrambling to avoid the whole thing and were making sounds to show that they were not happy with the situation. I...was appaled and almost on the brink of tears.

My point is, I obviously found this event blatantly wrong. Why only this one? I suppose to some exent I found the roping event wrong too - but at least that is a sport too. I'm not sure why I found this teenager game inhumane as compared to the others. Oh wait yes I do...This was for the amusement of the crowd so some kids could win a meal at Whataburger. On the reverse side, the calves are probably going to grow up to be a nice burger on my plate one day and the PBR's win some sort of monetary prize (I'm speculating). I am sad and conflicted. I am a hypocrite. I'll continue to eat my beef the way God intended - without knowing how it got there and free of morals.

Wedding Colors

Gustavo and I went to Lowe's yesterday; with our roommate Paul in tow. It was a pretty big Sunday! We spent some time in the paint department looking at swatches and finally settled on our wedding colors. I have always wanted the colors blue and green in some capacity to compliment a beach wedding. You know, the water and the sky...right? Well I have quickly realized it will be difficult to find tropical flowers to go along with those colors without getting too complicated. We compromised on brown(the sand), jade (a mixture of green and blue) and berry (the floral color). That is the preliminary choice. We'll see if it changes when I meet with the florist and the wedding planner in a few weeks during my trip to the Dominican Republic.

As always, also check out our wedding page at: www.theknot.com/ourwedding.com/KristinNoble&GustavoGarcia

Wedding Planning - DR style

Aright people, dont freak out - but Gustavo and I got married on February 19th. Pretty amazing actually. When Gustavo and I moved to Texas and moved in together, we knew that we were going to get married. It wasnt until January that we decided to speed things up, get moving, and get married the following month at the courthouse. My parents were about to come to Texas to visit, so we planned the date for when they arrived. At some point Gustavo and I talked about when the actual wedding and reception would be. We didnt want 2 separate dates, so we settled on our 1 year anniversary.

Which, brings me to this blog. It is my intention to write on this blog about the planning process. I want my friends and family to come here for information about the wedding. It is my hope that as many friends and family from the states can come as possible. This blog should make it easier: where to fly into, where to stay, whats going on during that weekend, etc.

To start the planning process I overloaded myself with as much information as possible and also signed up for theknot.com. By the way, Gustavo and I have a wedding website on the knot. Please check us out there as well. It all got a little overwhelming, so I enlisted the help of my new sister in law, Aimee. She has been SUPER helpful.

First step, pick a location. After much debate, Gustavo and I finally decided on the Santo Domingo area in the Dominican Republic. We are working with a tight budget, and we wanted to maximize the amount of people who could make it to our wedding so we decided on there. Next month (May 17-21) Aimee and I will be going to the DR to solidify the ceremony location and reception location. Side note: I have not met any of Gustavo's family that lives in the DR, so the first time will be without him. I'm feeling a bit nervous :) Anyways the celebration will be on the beach and attached to an all-inclusive hotel for ease of all involved. One of the places that are in the running is the Hotel Hamaca Boca Chica and their restaurant El Pelicano. Understand that this is not final, but the type of place that we are looking at.

While we are there we are also going to start the process of cake, decorations and flowers. I'm very interested in keeping the decor simple and local to highlight our beautiful surroundings - as well as utilizing the beach/tropical theme to its full potential.

On a personal note, the wedding planning process is new to both Gustavo and I. I was never that girl that sat around planning her wedding - so both of us are basically in the dark about what we want, and more importantly HOW to do this. It has caused much frustration amongst the 2 of us...but hopefully in the end it will all have been worth it. I love you Gustavo.

We are obviously working with a tight budget, but I went to look at a few dresses today. Lets just say that Corpus Christi is NOT the hot bed for wedding fashion. It suits me though, my main concern is finding a dress that is cheap but doesnt look it. Goodbye couture dreams :)

Lemme know if you have any questions.