We love you Tello

Tello- just like a brother to me-we'll miss you my friend.

Tello Vasquez

1979-2007

Rest In Peace my Coconut!

My elementary school best friend, my partner in crime in middle and high school, my college roommate, my maid of honor, my soulmate-forever friend Candice Pickett Vasquez has recently lost her precious husband Tello (pronounced tay-o). Not only has my best friend lost her husband but Tony and myself and hundreds of other people have lost a dear, fun-loving friend. However, with all of the sadness and grief, I know that we will see Tello again. Just seconds before he passed, Tello looked up at his best friend, Kinon, and told him "I'll be okay" with a grin on his face. Tello is with Our Father in heaven, where we will see him again. I pray for the Lord to give Candice strength and that He would heal her broken heart. She has astonished me with her grace in grief and her unwavering faith in God even through the worse possible loss in life. If you know Candice, please do not be afraid to get in touch with her. She wants to hear from friends and wants to be with people...if you do not know Candice, please pray for her and her whole family. The long road through grief and healing has only just begun. Tello loved life and really lived it to the fullest at all times. The main message at his funeral was to "make things right NOW." None of us are promised tomorrow and the death of my strong, handsome, lively friend Tello has only reaffirmed that NOW is the time to get "right" with the Lord so that we can all live together for eternity. It was a beautiful service and was much more than a funeral. It probably saved many peoples spiritual lives.
I have so many wonderful, warm memories of Tello and all of our times together in college and beyond. Candice and I met Tello at the same time our freshman year of college. He was actually our suitemate's boyfriend. He was at the Citadel and we were at the College of Charleston. After the suitemate and Tello broke up, Candice and Tello reunited and started dating. He has been like a brother ever since. We did a lot of our partying in college with Tello and he introduced us to so many of his friends. He was always up for a good time and loved a lot of things in life...USC football, fishing, golfing, drinking a cold beer and his Candice of course...just to name a few:) I celebrate his life and the time we spent with him. I know the heavens are celebrating now too to have Tello there. This entry has the title "Rest in Peace my coconut" b/c Tello always said he and Tony were coconuts. Brown on the outside and white on the inside. Tello is from Rock Hill, SC and doesn't speak Spanish. His biological father was from Chili...but he was raised by a wonderful, loving, southern mama...Pam White. He may have a hispanic name and some pretty olive skin...just like Tony,but that's about it. We used to laugh and laugh about them being coconuts. I thank God for his friendship and for the wonderful husband that he was to my best friend Candice.
Link below is about his accident.
http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/200627.html

WHY have I not done this before!!!

I keep saying this over and over to myself "WHY have I not done this before??" Some people may enjoy going to the grocery store however I am NOT one of those people! I love to cook but hate to go to the grocery store! Caroline has her first ear infection and does not feel well at all, it's the day before Thanksgiving and the grocery stores are slammed, and here I am again at Thanksgiving wearing a back brace (as I was last year on Thanksgiving:)...so at 11pm last night I got on www.lowesfoodstogo.com and ordered all of my groceries! It is wonderful...it shows you a picture of the food or any item so you know exactly what you are getting, it shows weekly sales, and it is only a 5 dollar fee. I'm sorry but going to the grocery store in my PJ's and no bra or makeup is worth 25 dollars to me! No more fighting Caroline to stay in the cart, no more fighting the thanksgiving crowds, no more buying stuff just because I see it....PULL IN and they bring it to you! I love it! I highly recommend this for anyone who does not enjoy going to the store! I even called like 15 mins before and added something to my list and they said to call and add anytime...so GREAT! Check it out!

Today is THE day!

I had a surprise 30th birthday party for Tony about three weeks ago... Had to do it early to surprise him AND I wanted to squeeze a Halloween theme in with his birthday b/c he likes that holiday sooo much! Anyway, TODAY (November 19th) is Tony's 30th birthday! Happy Birthday 30th birthday my love! May the next thirty plus years be as wonderful as the last thirty!

Beautiful Family Morning

Caroline followed her Daddy around the yard for at least 30 minutes. Daddy's little girl! Caroline in her precious lamb hat! Had to keep the baby warm! (13 1/2 months old)
Walking to the lake! Such a big girl!
Caroline taking in the beautiful colors of Fall in the backyard!

We have had such a GREAT Saturday morning! We have recently had our gas logs taken out and have converted back so that we can use wood in our fireplace! We should have done it sooner. This morning we all got up and sat by a big, beautiful, crackling, REAL fire that Tony made! Tony and I drank coffee while Caroline played on the floor. After Tony's BIG breakfast (that he shopped for, cooked and cleaned up:) we went outside to enjoy these beautiful leaves. Here are some precious pics of Caroline walking and playing outside!

A visit from THE TWINS!

Meg, Mollie, and Erin...Friends for Life!
Erin and Caroline...two precious girls!
Meg and Big lips Baby C!
I lived in Charlotte, NC for about 11 months after I graduated from college. I took my first job at Huntingtowne Farms Elementary School on Park Rd. In less than a year I formed a friendship with Erin and Meg Bronson that will last the rest of my life! I am so very very blessed to call these sweet girls my friends! They make such an effort to keep our friendship strong...They recently made the trip to High Point for a Mollie & Caroline visit on their day off from work on Veteran's Day! Meg has recently gotten married and is now Meg Braddy and Erin is getting married in Key West, Fl in May and will then be Erin Phillips! Congrats girls and thanks for the great visit! Oh and I almost forgot...they are CRAZY about Caroline! They brought a precious white snow bunny outfit for her and they gave her Pinky, her favorite stuffed animal! I'm having trouble uploading pics from their visit...hopefully they will come through soon!

Walking

Well, it's official! Caroline Perez can walk...and she walks everywhere! It is so precious...she wobbles back and forth and looks like she has been drinking. We just went to her one year appt. and she weighs 21 lbs. She used to be pretty large for her age but now she is looking like a little thing compared to other kids her age. It probably has something to do with the fact that she is not a very good eater. She eats fruit, cereal, and crackers most of the time. I have even tried to mix veggies in with things to "hide" them....she will actually fish the vegetable or meat out of her mouth and literally throw it on the floor....ha, and then swallow the other food that she likes. I just bought Jerry Seinfeld's wife's book...it is a cookbook for picky eaters. We'll see if that helps. Caroline STILL does not have her first tooth but it looks like it may be in the near future! About three days ago I notice a little spot on the bottom right front of her gum and it almost looks like a little ulcer or sore. I've been told that's what it looks like before they come in. So it looks like she does have teeth in there after all...no baby dentures needed! Even though she doesn't have any chompers, the girl can talk! The Dr. asked us the other day if she could say 5 words....I was like "uhh yeah..more like 55 words!" She conquered all of the basic words (mama, dada, dog, bird, up, etc.) a few months ago. She now is impressing us with words like turtle, water, bottle, bowl, bless you, pinky, book, night night...and so on. It's pretty cute. But I do have a feeling we have a talker on our hands! Hhmmmm...Wonder where she got that...ha! :)

Dirty Little Secrets

A few friends of mine and myself have recently found a new little "secret" indulgence! It is a book and website about people's secrets. It is an ongoing community art project where people anonomously send in their deepest secrets. There are several books, the most recent one is called A Lifetime of Secrets and the website is http://postsecret.blogspot.com

Pretty wild stuff!

SURPRISE! Happy 30th Tony!!

DeAnna as Rainbow Bright, Patti as her beautiful self, & Marti as a giesha!
Pimp Daddy Danny and Burger "King" Jason! Great Costumes!
ARRRR....Ryan and Rebecca! Great Friends and a huge help to me that night!
Caroline the Pooh made an appearance to really surprise her Daddy! She was so great all night! Party Girl!

I have been planning a surprise 30th birthday party for Tony for months! It was a great party and he was very surprised! So surprised in fact that he looked behind him when everyone yelled "surprise"...funny...I had to tell him that it was all for him! His birthday is November 19th so I did it a few weeks early to really throw him off. It was a Halloween/costume party themed b-day party. Here are just a few pics. I still haven't gotten mine developed. I'll post more soon.

October 27th

7:00 pm

The Loft at Natty Greenes