Welcome to January. And welcome to my 365 project which you can find at http://365.catieronquillo.com!

And for a little preview of today’s post, here’s the alternate shot I took:

Say goodbye to my last piece of Red Velvet cake for the time being, to be explained in a later post this week. Enjoy!

If you’re interested in starting your own 365 project or checking out all the folks who have started a project, visit Tasra’s site at http://www.tasramar.com.

Happy Tuesday!

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One holiday that Cent and I have been able to spend together for the last two years as well as this year is New Years. I remember the first New Year’s that we spent together was going into 2007. Cent told me that we couldn’t clean and that we had to eat specific foods. This was totally new to me. So on New Year’s Eve, we tidied his apartment and bought the ingredients for New Year’s Day dinner. In Southern tradition, a meal of collard greens, black-eyed peas and rice are prepared. The greens represent money and the black eyed peas and rice are for good luck in the coming year. We don’t clean on New Year’s Day so as not to sweep out the good luck and good fortune. So, while greens and I are not BFFs by any means, I still want to honor Cent’s traditions.

Same for this year. Above is a quick photo of our New Year’s Day 2010 dinner. And I think I ate an equivalent of 2 tablespoons of greens! Trust me, that’s progress.

Cent met some new traditions spending Christmas with my family. In my parents’ house, we traditionally go to Midnight Mass and then we open gifts when we get home. After taking a quick poll amongst my friends, I learned that most of my friends do what Cent and his family do – open one gift Christmas Eve and then open the rest on Christmas morning. Well, we roll differently.

What new traditions have you met with your significant other/fiance/spouse?

So, I like the idea of intentions. An intention is a determination to do something act in a certain way.

In 2010, here are my intentions…

• Personal intention: GIVE – Spend quality time with my hubby (laptop closed/phone aside!), give back to my community through our church. Give back to myself through healthy eating (Hello veggies!) and exercise 4 times a week.
• Business intention: FOCUS & DEVELOP – Work on my business, not in it. Focus on following up and following through. Develop relationships with local wedding vendors.
• Relationship intention: CONNECTION – Check in with my parents, sister once a week to see how they are doing. Check in with extended family and friends monthly. “Do it now” instead of the “I’ll do it later” (and forget) mentality.

I’m also going to be SMART. I’ve found that writing out goals have been far more successful, especially when written in a S(pecific), M(easurable), A(ttainable), R(ealistic), T(imely) way. For an easy way to write out your goals for 2010, you can download a SMART Goal Planning Exercise PDF from Sage Wedding Pros, one of my favorite resources for wedding businesses. They also blogged their intentions for 2010, love it!

I also found a set of Goal Setting Questions for 2010 from Simple Mom. It provides a great overview of all personal life aspects.

Another great tool for setting up goals for about 3 years is out is writing a 101 in 1001 list. I reviewed my list a couple of weeks ago and it was fun to see how much progress I made and how far I’ve come since 2007. I still have a little less than a year to go, and goals to cross off the list.

What are your goals for 2010?

And for a little fun to ring in the new year, here’s a Mash Up of Billboard Top 25 Pop Hits.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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January: I joined a fitness bootcamp through Ala Vie Fitness. I woke up and started exercising before the sun rose. Crazy.

February: I attended my first WPPI Conference in Las Vegas. I met a TON of photographer friends in person and reunited with old friends too.

March: I launched this blog in it’s new and improved prettiness. Click here to see the old version.

April: I flew out to New York to hang out with my cousin Mercy in Brooklyn. I got to see her perform in a local cafe and we got Magnolia’s cupcakes. And she was my awesome assistant for an engagement shoot at the Brooklyn Bridge.

May: My mom graduated from her 18-month intensive Master’s program in Nursing Education. I attended the Fast Track Photographer Workshop.

June: I rallied in the last month-long stretch before the wedding and prepped all the last minute details. Including Martha Stewart Pom Poms.

July: We got married! After a long 16-month engagement the big day finally arrived! We went on our honeymoon in Kauai and went ziplining!

(photo by Travis Hoehne)

August: I moved into Cent’s apartment in Dallas. The long-distance part of our relationship came to a close. I went to Washington, DC for a final business trip from my full time job and shot some engagement sessions too!

September: I met and joined the Dallas Wedding Photographer community. Big props to Twitter and Facebook for the pre-move connection! We put an offer on a house.

October: I launched my website create with Showit Sites: www.catieronquillo.com!

November: I attended Pictage’s PartnerCon in New Orleans. We CLOSED on our home. First Thanksgiving with the new family. It was a tasty feast to say the least!

December: I participated in Help Portrait Dallas. We bought our first Christmas tree. We went to California for Christmas with my family. We flew down to Anaheim for a whirlwind adventure through Disneyland and California Adventure during the holidays.

And as for 2010, I know that great things are in store. Big things. Fun things. Exciting things!

Happy New Year’s Eve! This year, we’ll be ringing in the new year very low key in our new home, and toasting each other at midnight!

How are you celebrating?

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So here are our belated Christmas and holiday greetings!

I’m so thankful that we had no problems traveling. We made it out of Dallas the day before it snowed! Had we left a day later, we might not have made it to California. On Christmas Day, we took a flight with my parents and sister to Orange County to the Merriest Place on Earth!

It was the first time that we had been to Disneyland at Christmas time. It’s a Small World is so cool and worth the wait! The Haunted Mansion is transformed into the world of Jack Skellington and Nightmare Before Christmas. After going on the ride, I resolved to watch the movie. Yeah, I’ve never seen it in it’s entirety. Until tonight.

We’re showing that it’s -1 days til Christmas. Or 364. Whatever works for you.

My good friend and bridesmaid Krystle was able to join us in Disneyland, yay!

And it was seriously the COLDEST it’s ever been in Southern California. (Which for anyone who regularly experiences snow this time of year is like summer weather But you know us Californians…) Needless to say, I did not dress appropriately. By the time the sunset, we were all freezing. And at dinner, we ate at the Plaza Inn where there are outside heaters, except that we sat next to the one defunct heater, boo! I guess we brought the cold weather from Texas?

I received the awesomely fun Flip Video recorder from Cent. Like he literally read my mind. I was shocked and soooo excited! We made silly videos our entire trip!

And as for the fun recap of our trip to California for Christmas, here’s a video I put together using the Flip software. Easy peasy! Guest starring my parents and sister. And the not-so-little guy is my cousin who was also our ring bearer. He makes some hilarious faces and has some great dance moves!

Christmas Fun Times! from Catie Ronquillo on Vimeo.

I hope you all had a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Here’s to 2010!!

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So what does 55lbs of food look like? Here it is stacked on our counter:

If you’re thinking of making a food donation, here are a few helpful guidelines to follow when shopping for items. While food banks take all donations, they suggest donating the following nutritious canned/non-perishable food items:

• Tuna
• Stew
• Pretzels
• Peanut Butter
• Rice
• Fruit Cocktail
• Chili
• Beans
• Pudding Cups
• Mac & Cheese
• Cereal Bars

Thanks again blog readers, we couldn’t have done without all your comments!

If you’d like more information about Cans for Comments or want to join the effort, click here.

Safe travels wherever you may be going this holiday week. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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This weekend Cent and I ventured out to Ikea to purchase an entertainment center, gifted to us by Cent’s parents, since our TV has been sitting on the floor since we moved into our house. A month ago.

We found the Besta Collection and tried to figure out what pieces we wanted. We liked some of the sets on display, but what to buy was a little confusing. While we attempted to piece together what we wanted, we eventually settled on an entertainment center pieced together in the brochure. When we came upon the boxes we started to worry they wouldn’t fit in the car. The boxes were taller than Cent! And he’s 6ft tall.

Luckily it all fit.

Then reality set in. We still had to build everything.

Instructions for Ikea furniture can be viewed as either a blessing or a curse. The instructions are international, everything is in pictures. Made for men, I like to think.

We were able to decipher the pictures of the different screws, nuts, and bolts. Piece by piece, we successfully assembled the entire set. We didn’t yell at each other. We didn’t kill each other. But I’m not gonna lie, there was an eye roll or two. Or three. But we worked as a team. Afterward, we felt like we had both been run over by semis. Seriously. Cent had played three flag football games and his team won the championship (Go Total Chaos!) and I was still fighting this pesky cold. It was a workout, between crawling around, bending down, standing up, squatting, I feel like I made up for all the working out I missed during the week.

Ta da!

Our house is starting to feel like a home. Yay!

And I totally think that Ikea furniture assembly should be on the docket for any team building activity or premarital counseling. If you can get through that, you can pretty much get through anything.

What do you think?

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