So...We Got Married

Once upon a time, a boy fell in love with a girl. He asked her to marry him and she said yes. They planned for a year long engagement and worked out the finite details of their wedding. Questions like 'Brown shoes or black shoes?' 'Should flowers go on the chairs for the ceremony?" "Where do we find an adorable, but slightly promiscuous cake topper?" and "Hair up or hair down?" invaded their minds for just over 365 days when that special magical night arrived at last. In the blink of an eye, the wedding flew by and they said adios to a week in Jamaica and married life began. 

And the end. 

Or really, the beginning!

So...yes! We got married! I am still adjusting to the idea of having a boy in my life permanently (it feels completely natural, yet surreal) and still getting used to the idea of our engagement. Somehow, time passed and we made it to our wedding day. 

We are seriously so excited and have already been planning what is next to come. I want to finish my 30 before 30 list and have a myriad of the goals in mind. I am mentally processing the fact that I turned 30 about a month ago, so my list may need some editing. 31 before 31? We have to consolidate our belongings and move in together. Our first holidays as a married couple are rapidly approaching. Christmas cards, anyone? We are getting started with our wedding thank you cards. We still can't believe people actually showed up at our wedding. It was truly unbelievable. 

In the meantime, I will be documenting details from the past year and sharing memories from wedding planning in all of its glory. I am also waiting for my next friend to get engaged ASAP so I can pass on my newfound wisdom and offer to make a timeline for them. Because who doesn't love a good timeline? 

Thank you for reading along! 

GIF credit: Aaron Lin

XO, Connie Lin Tsai 

He's For Keeps

Just like babies hit their developmental milestones, Yung and I are hitting wedding planning milestones left and right. We took our engagement photos on June 29, 2016 and anxiously waited 53 days to see them. We love our photographers and will be bragging on them and all of our amazing hand picked vendors post-wedding.

I was a little sick on photo day. I transmitted whatever I had to Yung and it mutated into a horrible prolonged fever and eventually pneumonia for him. Awful.

This was probably the moment that I spread my germs.

:(

It was also a very warm summer day, which made for an exhausting two hours of smiling. We changed outfits in our car, which is always an interesting feat. We had a great time exploring downtown and walking down streets and alleys that we have never encountered before.

We will always remember this season in our lives as the dreamer stage. Although we are grounded in our grown up lives, we also love to dream about the future and all of its possibilities. Hopefully that will never go away <3

Cheers to love and dreams~
xx
Connie

Photo Credit:
Two Pair Photography

Becky, Tammy & Stephanie

I recently finished precepting my first pediatric nurse practitioner student, and her name is Stephanie. She graduated last week, so this is an exciting time for her! I have had several students follow me for a few hours or a few shifts, but Stephanie was the first to stick with me for 2 whole semesters as we prepared for her entry into the real world as a nurse practitioner. She was a natural, and I know she is going to love NP life. 

Walking with a student (and now friend!) through this journey made me think of Tammy, who was my first nurse I precepted as a RN. Tammy was my guinea pig. She stuck with me through thick and thin and somehow we made it through her orientation together. Tammy's caring personality and attention to detail made it very easy to guide her through her training. 

It takes tremendous responsibility to be a preceptor. You become a role model to help shape how an individual enters the nursing world. None of the above would have been possible without Becky, who taught me everything there is to know about being a nurse and helped me survive each shift without tears (mostly). I despised clinical in nursing school and had worries that I wouldn't like this career. Thankfully, real life is better than student life.
I worked Becky's schedule for 5 months and she stood beside me as I learned the ins and outs of how to be a registered nurse. We worked with some of the sickest kids you will find in the hospital, and somehow found solace and camaraderie through all the seriousness that surrounded us. But that is a whole other story in itself.

That was 7.5 years ago. My little brother was graduating high school the year I started my job. He has since finished college, has worked at his own grown up job for a year, and is flying through medical school.

It's fun sometimes to relive these memories and see how far we all have come.

Have a happy Sunday<3
xoxo
Connie

Three Happy Years

We have been celebrating our three year dating anniversary for about a month now. Three dates, three plus new dining experiences. It all started with beautiful flowers delivered to my office from my fiance who was sick with pneumonia. Even when he is sick, he is so thoughtful :) When his appetite returned, we began our celebrations.

1. Boulevardier-French-ish cuisine at its best. Brunch was yummy, and we'll definitely be back to try dinner.

2. Ida Claire~Southern fusion with a flair. This was definitely a unique dish--Sweet potato chips, duck confit, goat cheese, duck fat gravy, and a sunny side up duck egg. You can bet we'll be back for seconds!

The chocolate cake with BACON was a rash decision. I can live without bacon fat with my dessert :)

3. Neighborhood services-Fun atmosphere for a date or night with friends. Definitely hip ;)

4. Magic Cup- You're looking at Kimchi fries right there. We also had the yummiest fruit boba drinks that we'll definitely have again soon.

What wedding diet? Clearly, I'm the worst dieter in the universe.

Happy 3 years <3

xoxo, Connie

Summer Dates

Back on Memorial Day, Yung and I attended our one and only wedding cake tasting and also went out on a date that night. We had the best time eating at Trinity Groves and walking across the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge. How was that two months ago? Summer, please don't leave me yet! I put together a a short summer bucket list...some of which we have already completed and will probably do again. Who couldn't use another snow cone?

Summer 2016 Bucket List 

1. Go get a snow cone. Or two or three or four. We went and got a snow cone last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed people watching and eavesdropping on others' conversations. Serious entertainment right there.
2. Go get frozen yogurt. Because it's fun and I like to eat mine with fruity pebbles and mochi.
3. Watch dollar movies. We discovered a dollar theater not too far from Yung's house, so major score for that one. Who wants to go watch Bad Moms with me?
4. Go kayaking. Because we love being outdoors and we haven't been in a long time. We want so badly to bring Colorado to us here in Texas. 
5. Catch more Pokemon. Because it's a little silly and a ton of fun. I actually haven't downloaded the game yet on my phone, but yours truly's fiance has, and I think it is funny :) My little brother used to collect Pokemon cards and we've gone to see the movies together so seeing this evolve into a virtual game is pretty neat.
6. Stand in line at Carlo's Bakery. Because back when I used to have cable, I used to watch Cake Boss, and the last time I was in the neighborhood, I didn't have time to wait in line to get a treat.

Cheers to summertime!

xx Connie

#TheSultanAndHisBride

Mid-June, we treated ourselves to a relaxing stay at the Omni while we attended Feven and Sultan’s wedding. Feven and I met 9 years ago in nursing school and throughout the years, we have bonded through supporting each other in our life, careers, and relationships. She has been my gym buddy for the last year or so, which has been awesome. We got engaged within a week of one another last October, so it has been fun to walk together on the wedding planning journey. 

It was amazing to witness a wedding celebration with such a rich infusion of culture and traditions. Yung and I both felt an incredible sense of community throughout the 2 day event. Everyone came together to celebrate the bride and groom who truly looked like royalty.

It has been a treat to get to know Feven’s sisters and her friends that I have heard her talk so much about. One commonality I have noticed is how inviting and welcoming everyone is. Seriously a beautiful testament to how they were raised.

Isn't everyone just gorgeous?????!

Weddings are always a great place to see friends you haven't seen in YEARS! Hi Lauren!

Two very important things I do not want to forget from my experience:

1. When attending an Eritrian event, you must train your mind to be on a different clock. Kind of like being on Island Time when you go to Hawaii (not that I've ever been..but I've heard :) ) If the invitation states a 6pm start time, that may meant 8pm, but it might really mean 9:30pm.  I learned this the hard way in the beginning, but I think we did pretty well at doing our best to be "late" over the weekend. I like living life without a clock. We would probably all get fewer headaches and be more stress free if we adopted this regimen. Just bring a book with you where ever you go and you are set! 

2. The food was one of our favorite parts of the wedding, and I am happy to announce that I now love injera. Injera is a cross between a pancake and a crepe. It is really like a tan or brown colored, thin, squishy, sour pancake, with lots of craters that makes it look like the surface of the moon when it isn't feeling well. I first tasted it at Feven’s house many years ago, and ate it just to be polite. Clearly, I was not an immediate injera lover, but something happened over the weekend and I am now raving fan. All of the wedding food was traditional, and we enjoyed every bite. So many different flavors and curries and deliciousness. My favorite was a sour tasting injera salad that I would not mind purchasing by the pound.

We couldn't finish the first evening without a 2am photo of us and me in my first Rent The Runway dress!!!! It was a bit long, but otherwise, great renting experience! Use this link to rent a dress with a discount!

The second evening was more cultural, and Feven looked like a queen! Different decor and clothing, but I was excited to be eating the same food! 

Serious props and kudos to everyone that helped put the weekend together. They ended up hosting 800+ guests and pulled it off seamlessly.
Cheers to the newlyweds <3 <3 <3 Wishing ya'll a lifetime of hugs and happy times. 
xx Connie

Oh, What It Took

Since I posted about our girls night, the four of us have gotten together a total of two times. Once after I got engaged and once more a few weeks ago. Although I may see or talk to the girls on separate occasions, it took us almost 5 months this time around to schedule a date.

Between the four of us, we have 4 significant others, 3 children, 8 pets, and ~8 jobs. Being a momma is a job and some of us have another job outside our nursing job. Two of us work normal day time hours and two work night shift. We also live on opposite ends of the metroplex, which I believe is the greatest challenge.

But what ever it takes. I look forward to our bi-annual dinners and will see you at the next one!

Cheers & love as always,

Connie