Wedding Information

This is our wedding website.
http://slynnandrgonzalez.weddings.com/

I have added some pictures and filled in some details. If you have not RSVP'd, this is a great place for you to do so, or you can call me at 806-786-4121 or email me at smile729_81@yahoo.com.

Because the wedding is during the 4th of July weekend, I would suggest making your hotel reservation as soon as possible. Rooms at the Inn of the Hills are almost gone. However, our other hotel, The Big Texas Inn, still has the 6 rooms that we blocked off.

Only 65 days away! Looking forward to sharing our wedding day with our family and friends!

A Wonderful Wedding Shower

A Wonderful Wedding Shower

Ruben and I were blessed by co-workers who threw us a wedding shower yesterday afternoon.

They had a proper tea party in our honor.

Here is Ruben as we walk down the hall to the conference room where the party was being held. We were greeted by the four hostess at the door.

Nicole, Caroline, Elise, and Meghan all worked very hard, and did an amazing job in setting up and implementing the party. It truly was special.

Being British, Caroline, made sure that everything was authentic. She is wearing a traditional wedding hat and pouring some dark tea from an old family tea pot.



Elise set up the decorations, and they were so beautiful! She brought real linens and china.

The food was made by hostesses as well as the guests. Yummy finger sandwiches, cupcakes, and cookies, were the perfect mix of sweet and savory with the yummy tea that was available. Here my co-workers help themselves to the goodies.

Here's Ruben, holding mine and his plate.

An afternoon tea during the workday turned out to be tons of fun!

The Lyric is a big organization, so unfortunately, we don't get the chance to mingle with the various departments throughout the company. Yesterdays crowd was a great mix of production, artistic, development and marketing departments.

The hostesses sat us down to open the presents. It was so fun!!

We got some great stuff from our registry.

I'm really excited about the new compost pale that is for the kitchen counter. It has a filter, so it won't smell up the kitchen.

Another friend got me a large serving bowl. LOVE IT!

Ruben opened one box, but it was a good one.

Here is the tea pot station. All the various teas being kept warm by the tea cozies. :)

These are homemade shortbread made by Nicole and homemade scones made by Caroline.

Someone brought a bucket of cheese balls. I controlled myself, but when I was a kid I would have devoured them. :)

The party was a great success, so much fun and food! And dirty dishes.

But the hostesses would not let me help clean, and here they are as they wash all the china.

Here's Ruben as we walk back to the office with all our wedding loot.

It really was a special party! Such great energy and love from everyone, and it was truly amazing! Afterwards I sat in my office reading the cards and enjoying the moment. Ruben was sitting at my desk when he took this photo.

The countdown for our wedding has begun. I sent out the invitations, and a few people have rsvp'd. We invited 132 people total, and are estimating 80 to attend. We'll see how the final numbers are working out in the end. :) It's going to be a great event.

More generosity from friends and family has been pouring out to us. Our friend, Amber O'Neill, who was planning on attending is doing the flower design for us as a wedding gift. It's so awesome that our friends and family are using their talents to bless our event! It just makes it so much more personal and special. I'm understanding that it's not just mine and Rubens special day, but it's your special day too. If you are in some way connected to us, and share this day with us, we will be forever connected by a shared event. That is really amazing.

More to come I'm sure. Till then, much love to you all!

Things to do.

Seven things to do when your man is out of town for 3 weeks:

1. Get a new do.

2. Enjoy your favorite wine.

3. Hang out with your dogs in the sunshine.

4. Watch seedlings grow, and educate yourself on growing a kitchen garden.

5. Enjoy some time hanging out with friends. (This is my friend, Melissa hanging out with Nikon.)

6. Go workout.

7. Go see a play with some fun ladies from work. (This is Lucy and Maureen and they run the costume shop at the Lyric.)

Meanwhile, Ruben has been laying floors at his Moms' house. He's been there since March 29th, and I'm expecting him home on April 17th. I'm so ready for him to be home and for us to be able do some of these fun things, too. :) However, just because he's gone doesn't mean I can't be productive and have a good time, right! ;)

Crafts and Gardening

HOORAY For Spring Projects!!!!

I'm sure you all have been wondering what I've been up to the past few months. Sorry that it has taken me so long to update you on the goings on.

Ruben has been busy playing gigs for various symphonies and traveling to auditions. So far, no jobs, but lots of good experiences and gained confidence in his abilities. I'm really proud of him, and know that the perfect job is waiting for him.

I have been working on wedding projects through out the past months, as well as working on fitness and healthy choices. Not only am I interested in looking great for my wedding, but also, in having a long and healthy life with Ruben. We have been really working together to eat good foods, and to cut out bad foods (although, pizza is our favorite, and not so good.) We have also added more exercise to our routines. Ruben recently started boxing with a golden gloves boxing group, again. He's boxed with this group before, and is getting back into it. Meanwhile, I have continued to do my jazzercise and adding weight lifting.

The opera season is over, and I have been winding down the paper work for the closed productions and getting ready for the next 8 productions that we will do next year. It's pretty quiet in my department now, but come July it will be busy again. :)

Here I am sitting in my office. My hair is getting really long (which I grow out for the winter), spring time means time for a cut!

Even though we have been busy with work and other projects our up & coming wedding has been in the back of our minds constantly. (Or at least it's been in the back of mine.) When I first got engaged, I immediately started planning for our big day. I have been basically stage managing my wedding and approaching it just as I would approach organizing for a new production. I put together a book with tabs and printed off inspiration and ideas that I loved, then figuring out how to implement all the ideas.
Trying to plan a "destination wedding" in Kerrville, TX while living in Chicago has proved to be a little challenging. Having one of my Maids of Honor live only 20mins away has helped. Thankfully, Heather has been able to drive over and with the help of Isaac take video's and pictures of the space, to help with planning. I am certain that having the wedding during my family reunion at the Inn of the Hills Resort, is going to be a ton of fun and really beautiful! I'm getting so excited.

What's been really amazing about this experience, is all of the people who have offered positive thoughts and given effort to make our wedding to be great & a one of a kind. A wonderful example was Catalina, Rubens' Mom, who was so excited about a flower garland idea, that she made all the flowers for the garland by hand out of spare fabric she had in the house. It's been so nice to connect with her through crafts. :)

This is just a few of the flowers that she made. I took them all and strung them up on a thick yarn to create the garland.


I had enough to make 8 strands and have some flowers left over. :)

Here is one of the strands hanging in my living room. I love it so much that I left it there for a whole week before taking it down. :)

Another friend, Tina Louise, works at a paper supply company called Paper Source, and with her discount purchased all the supplies necessary to create our wedding invitations. Tina purchased rolls of paper, card stock, and envelopes. With the help of my friend Jane, we traced out all the envelope liners, card sizes, and sashes. I spread out the rest of the work on printing and putting them together over the past several weeks. I am so pleased with how they turned out!

Here is an example of the finished product.

In an effort not to get to crazy about my wedding and becoming a bridezilla, I am also working on other projects as well.

This time of the year means getting ready for warmer temperatures and gardening.
And believe me, I'm ready for both!

So, I've been reading like crazy trying to get ready to plant a vegetable garden and get the back yard ready for our wedding reception here in Chicago.

To start your garden you first have to start with seeds, and they need time, lots of light and water. :)

So, I put together the plant light kit that Mom gave us for Christmas, and set my vegetable seedlings next to it, so that they can soak up the extra light it gives off.

The light container is growing herbs (basil, chives, thyme, mint) and the seeds are spinach, tomatoes, and zucchini. I sure hope they grow healthy and produce a bounty for us to eat during the summer. :)

Surprisingly we have had warm weather the past few days. Sunshine is so fantastic here, it's not taken for granted by anyone. Even the dogs. :) They love to sun bath, as Nikon is here doing on our porch. :)

Here is the back yard, waiting for me to make a plan and make it beautiful. Although, I don't need to put too much into it, it's already so pretty to be around.



It's been warm enough for some of the flowers to bloom!

Here, Canon and Nikon are checking out the place.

With having a bit more free time, I will be able to write more and keep you posted as to whats happening in our neck of the woods. I have more wedding plans and ideas to post, so stay tuned.