Engagement Party

So earlier this summer Ryan and I had an Engagement party and invited our close friends and family. It was so awesome to have our families hanging out, eating, playing volleyball, pillow polo, and slow pitch softball. With many athletes in the family everyone got pretty competitive. It was awesome and sooo Fun!

Here is a picture of all my girls Nadine, Megan, Dani, Me, Crystina, Jenn and Sandi (not pictured Rachelle)

I LOVE MY SIBS! Me (24) , Matt (26) , Jill (29) and Nick (31)

The first time all ten of us have been together. Everyone and their partners! All of them are great additions to the Leal Family! I look forward to so much with this group of friendly faces and open arms. I look forward to our upcoming weddings, holidays, celebrating birthdays, having babies and watching them grow up and play with their cousins and do the silly junk we used to do. I look forward to having my nieces and nephews spend the night and having all our little crazies camp out at grandma and grandpas house in our old bedrooms. :)
I could not be blessed with a more perfect amazing group of people to call family and the neatest part is I get to be part of the same thing in the Andrade family! I am so excited to finally make this all official and be an Andrade, although I'll always have the heart and break rules like a Leal! :) JK!

And the weddings continue

So this weekend one of my coworkers got married.

It was very beautiful!

It was a Catholic wedding combined with some Filipino traditions also.

MaryJane and her husband Mark were glowing with love and happiness!

I had a great time but I missed my better half, RY!

Being engaged and being in the wedding planning phase I really felt like I was looking at the wedding with a different set of eyes.

I kept thinking things like I wonder how much they paid per plate, were the center pieces made by hand, and what the time line of the evening was, and what should mine be like.

I really do think weddings are so very special and I just want to get to spend time with everyone there.

The past 3 out of the 4 weddings I've been to, I've been in the wedding so it was nice to be a guest and be in the background.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall at more weddings so I could see the do's and don't's of a wedding.

Ryan and I have been slowly checking things off of the list, and it feels good!

Wedding update:

Today we designed a label for our favors! It is super cute!! :) Although I'm partially bias.

We will be meeting up with the caterer some day this week or next.

I have my DRESS!!!

I need to still call Father Rudy to meet up with him to figure out all the ceremony details.

I also made an invitation today, which was fun! It is simple and neat.

I have to go to Michael's to get paper and find an envelope that fits it too.

Ryan and I started doing them together but Ryan quickly got kicked of invitation making team!

Way to many questions and comments! haha!

I honestly think if it were up to him an evite would be the way to go. :)

Everything has been awesome and I can't imagine planing this with anyone else!

Ryan is my Best Friend and I love him soo much!

Cheers to a continued stress free wedding planning environment!

166 DAYS TO GO!!!!

My old and new kids.

OMG I miss my old class so much. I see them playing out on the school yard and some still come say hi to me and grab my leg and give me hugs. And some are over me and it breaks my heart. But I'm trying to be grown up about it. hahaha! I miss them! They will always have my heart being my first class! And I'm proud to say 11 out of 13 were potty trained by the end of the year! Think I've Aced the potty training phase!

These are my new kiddos minus 2 kids. I only have 10 which is awesome! They are so cute and filling my old kids shoes nicely! I have 7 boys and 3 girls, yes this means we play cars, trains and with balls for majority of the day. They are learning new words everyday and I'm getting back into the swing of changing diapers.

Cheers to another fun school year. At least this time around I kinda know what I'm doing, well more so than last year! :)

Where have I been...

It has been so long since I've written on my blog and much happened.

I started a new school year with 10 kids, back to diapers and trying to understand what they are trying to say.

They are soo cute but I miss my last class!

I think I will always has a very special attachment to my first full time class ever.

They still come hug me and peak in my window calling my name.

I miss them and love them so much!

This past weekend my friend Sandi and I planned and ran a Retreat for the Junior Facilitators at our church.

It is for the teens that just got their Confirmation and want to come back to help.

I love being around teenagers and watching them open up to one another and grow in their faith together.

Having a very strong faith has got me through so much and I thank God everyday for blessing me.

Ryan and I have been making head way on wedding planning and on honeymoon planning too.

We decided to head to Bora Bora and also another island Taha'a.

It is amazingly beautiful!

Also we have been working on finishing up our wedding website and registries.

We are very excited to slowly be checking things off our long list.

And I'm proud to say it has been very stress free.

We met with a DJ last night and it went great, way fancier than we need but in our budget and seems like a great guy.

Next we are going to figure out the caterer thing and all of the big things will be taken care of.

I found and got my dress but I still need to find a veil and shoes too.

It is very simple, elegant and in my eyes beautiful.

I cannot wait to share our special day with all of our close family and friends!

Hello Summer!

Our first BBQ and wine on the balcony...

Jena and I had never really BBQ before and decided to make a Tri-tip. My mom got Ry this little propane BBQ for his birthday and we put it together and went for it.

Cheers!

It started out looking sooo yummy!

And then I burnt the shit out of it!!!

But OMG it tasted sooo good! Not going to lie one of the best dinners!

Here's to a summer hopefully full of many more BBQ's! If only the weather will warm up!

It is all becoming so real

Ryan and I picked a date for our wedding!

There is something about having a date that makes it all so real.

The count down has begun...

We already had booked the Church a couple weeks ago and earlier this week we got the reception site all lined up.

We are starting to check things off of our list, and it feels so good!

I picked my bridesmaid dresses and love them!

I actually never thought I had a mental picture of what I wanted till I saw them.

I also found the paper that I will be making our invitations out of.

It is all soo exciting.

I haven't gone wedding dress shopping yet but I will be soon.

Ryan and I have been together for almost 8 years now and are so happy to get to share our special day with all of our loved ones.

Thank you to our friends and family for your constant love and support.

Here is a sneak peak of our wedding colors.

I Love You Ryan Andrade!!

Happy Tuesday!

Sending a Smile on this fine day!

And I could not be more excited to have Friday off!

Think we are going to have a family girls shopping day.

Some may say my classroom a mess but I call this learning at it's BEST!!

My kiddos love to play Legos or as they call them Yea-gos.

Much love always!

~Hugs~Kristina~

Who knew this day existed

Today was the Celebration of the Young Child. Which I guess exists not only at my school and is really on April 15th.

Anyways was on a Friday and a great excuse to party ALL DAY!!!

My school had a big jumpy house with a slide and some how i was token teacher that was inside the jumpy house. Mind you it was like a sauna in there.

My kids were soo excited to get to be in the jumpy house although sadly some were out because of pink eye or vacation and 3 didn't really like it. Think I ended up with 6 jumpy house die hards.

I got to paint on their arms (not faces) but it was still fun. Not sure how excited some parents were when they picked up their child with paint smeared on their arms but whatever!

We even got ice cream this afternoon, which was awesome! My Jamba Juice scooping came into great help and I really enjoyed watching two year olds eat ice cream dripping all over their faces and down the cone. One little girl actually bit off the bottom of the cone. :)

Here are a couple pictures from my class today and this week!

Oh PS. the Director of my school told me yesterday that my class is the ONLY class that has not had one complaint ALL year! Might just be the best compliment...to bad I don't get a raise for that!

This week we decided to play with wind up water toys, it was so fun to watch and my little guy that never does anything for longer than a few minutes stood there for a good ten minutes.

It quickly became a splash fest and I ended up having to change basically everyones clothes, Great activity I know! hahaha!
We have also started doing more fine motor things like putting cheerios on pipe cleaners to make bracelets. Mistake number one telling them they could eat the broken ones.

As you can see this little guy is eating cheerios and there are none on his pipe cleaner. :)
My paintings consisted of flowers, heart, lion, cat, balloon, rainbow, bat, dolphin and butterfly. They got better as the day went on!

Watching kids eat ice cream=PRICELESS!!

And the Jumpy house was a hit not only for my 2's but the toddler class too! Since we were with the little kids my class had to stop doing flips! JK!

They are definitely better with log rolls, frog jumps and the chicken dance.

I'll have you know, I'm currently teaching my kiddos how to do the Robot and Air Guitar!!! And they rock at it!!

My class is AWESOME!!!

Oh Tink...

Not sure why or if any of you have noticed but in the last 6 years or so Tinker Bell has made an uproar and has suddenly become somebody important at Disneyland.

Tinker Bell even has her own little Fairyland with all her Fairy Friends, and to take a picture with her sometimes you could possibly wait more than an hour....worth it, Ugh I think NOT!

For some reason I just think Tinker Bell is kinda slutty, her dress is way hoochie short and she is so jealous of Wendy and Peter Pan.

My friend Sandi and I have a running inside joke about Tinker Bell and we love to watch her in the firework show...good ol' Pixie D(Cr)ust!! hahaha!

Ever since a firework show, who knows how long ago we have been buying each other funny, shitty, retarded Tinker Bell things. For example...Tink socks, Tink pillow with tassels and jewls, messed up antenna topper, glow in the dark Tink, Spread eagle pin Tink, morning after pin Tink, lip gloss watch Tink that broke in 10 minutes.

Oh I almost forgot remote control flying flutter fairy Tink! That has a flower wand to make her fly!

Long story short Tink makes us laugh and we both now own a ridiculous amount of Tinker Bell CRAP!! I mean stuff!

We saw this Nighty at Disneyland and died laughing.

It says, "Who were you expecting...Sleeping Beauty?"

I mean common Tink...Sober up! hahaha!

Anyways this post goes out to you Sand hope you are having fun!

I'm a Fiancée!!!

Can you even believe it!

It happen Friday as soon as I got home from work...There was a Rose in the door handle.

And I thought to myself ugh...is this really happening?

I opened the door to a path of rose petals leading to my bed.

Ryan was hiding and then came out holding a rose all dressed up in his black suit.

The whole proposal was genuine, simple and US!!!

I'd tell you more detail but Ry is a private guy and he reads my blog so I'd never get away with it!

I couldn't have wished for it to be another way and my ring couldn't be more BEAUTIFUL!!!

Just wanted to share a couple pictures from that night and the weekend.

Enjoy!

Awe...Doesn't he look sooo HOT!!! Get used to it because that is probably exactly what he'll be wearing on the special day.

For Dinner he even had the Bestie Sandi surprise me! Thank you Sandi and Steve for being part of our special night.

Ryan took me to dinner at Shadow Brook in Capitola

And my ring is amazing and Ry did an amazing job!

It is so unique and I love to wear it and look at it all day!

So excited to start planning and continue the adventures of Ry and K

I love you Babe and can't wait to be an Andrade, but note to self if you want to be a Leal thats okay too! :)

Feels like Home to me

When I'm alone I spend a lot time listening to music and it so amazing that a song could just speak right to your heart and soul.

Just thought I'd share the song that does it for me.

It Feels Like Home to Me

By: Chantal Kreviazuk

Something in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to lose myself
In your arms
There's something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life
If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how long I've felt so low
If you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you've done

Chorus: Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where
I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

A window breaks down a long dark street
And a siren wails in the night
But I'm alright 'cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see through the dark there's light

If you knew how much this moment means to me
And how long I've waited for your touch
If you knew how happy you are making me
I've never thought I'd love anyone so much

Chorus

Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

Just listen to it and I think you might agree!

Happy Tuesday Family and Friends!

Oh Boy

Yes that is my smart little Stanford Boy fixing our boards for the new season on the snow.

I'm not going to lie I don't care what job he has in life but holy crap he looks cute as a grease monkey.

To bad he might never have a job that he gets to wear coveralls.

Ryan learning how to fix cars from his hero/dad Joe Andrade.

Ry loves being his dads wingman.

Always working hard side by side.

Hard work, Honesty, Integrity AND LOVE!!

The Andrade way!

I love to watch it and be a part of it!

Six words that made a difference in my day...

I was on Facebook today just looking at some new updates and doing whatever else people do on Facebook

And I often check random people's profile pages and I came across this statement:

"Everybody Dies but NOT Everybody Lives."

How true is this...

Just makes me think about life and living each day like it was my last.

There are times when I just get lost in my head thinking about my life and those around me.

When I drive around and I look at people driving by and I wonder if they are happy.

Every time I think about stuff I always start to pray and thank God for the life I have and the Amazing people in it.

I've been part of the Confirmation program at my church since I was a freshmen in high school which was 10 years ago now.

But since I moved to Sacramento and San Jose I haven't been as much involved as I'd like to be.

And this past Sunday I went back to Confirmation and my heart was filled with comfort and old memories.

Made me miss being part of a community and place where God is very present and teens are finding themselves.

The Confirmation program and youth group helped me have a good head on my shoulders through high school and through the tough times in my life.

God plays an important role in my life and I wish I was able to talk about it more.

But I always feel so cheesy when people talk about religion and God stuff.

I feel like I live life being the person I was born to be, helping others and just living out love.

And I wish that others would find the good in themselves and others too.

So every time you come in contact with a negative Nelly just Smile.

And when you think things are tough and you are struggling with things just know that this to shall pass and that you are put on this earth for a reason.

So live your life and do what you can when you can. Idk! Thanks for listening...

My whole Class

My class is now up to 11 and by the first of February I'll have 12.

Ahhhh!!!!

They are so busy but I love all of them and every moment I spend with them.

Ohhh.....Jillian Michaels

So I have this odd crush/fascination with Jillian Michaels.

I love to watch Biggest Loser, Losing it with Jillian Michaels and I sickly enjoying watching Jillian interact with people.

By interact I mean yell and break them down but the I love when she helps them realize what they need to do to get their lives back in order.

She helps people and I love when people help others.

So my sister swears by Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and so tonight I started on my 30 day journey.

I guess if I need to do some exercise I may as well be doing it with Jillian Michaels.

We will see if I last 30 Days... I'll keep you posted!

YAY Disneyland!!

Yup it is true...

Friday marks a very important day.

The girls are road tripping to LA for my Grandma's 80th Birthday.

I've actually never been to Disneyland with my Grandma and my mom said that her and my Grandpa used to go all the time.

I guess my mom would try and get her to take us kids with them but they would only take one of us and my mom couldn't pick who.

Long story short we never got to got with our grandparents.

So for the first time we are getting to go with our Grandma, bummer is she cannot walk as well as she used to so we will have to push her in a wheel chair.

The cool thing about that is we get to go to the front of lines, but I wouldn't mind waiting forever to have my loved ones be able to be healthy and walk forever.

I'm so blessed to have loving family and God bless Girl trips!

They are what make the world go round, sorry Men! (Ryan)

So YAY Disneyland I'm so excited to be going to the Happiest Place on Earth