She said she want someone to treat her as an equal & right then we started speeding towards Reno

Reno was a much too short of a trip. I think I want to go back.

The drive through the Sierras in the dark was unreal. A little scary and a little wonderful. Christmas looking trees with thick snow still stuck in the branches. At one point as we hit Truckee, I saw little flakes of snow blowing in the wind. The lamp posts at the side of the road would catch it in the light and you could see these little fluffy bits floating down. Snow was falling and it was almost magical. The lonely, winding roads made me a little afraid but Jose was cool, calm and collected. He drove over 1,000 miles on stick shift and made it look easy. His siblings in the back (twins) Cas and Diana helped me pick out music on my ancient iPod. We laughed, sang and joked around the entire way. It was the perfect bonding experience.

The weather in Reno was incredibly cold for my warm, Southern California blood but I enjoyed the change. The air was heavy with cold and my breath looked like a giant vapor cloud. I saw snow on the ground for the first in decades. Granted, it was dirty, parking lot snow but I still played with it. Not enough to make a snow angel or a snow ball but enough to crunch around in. Snow is completely foreign to me so I took lots of pictures and held the soft, COLD, fluffy stuff in my hands as long as I could.

We hung out with Jose's dad and cousins the entire time. They're all very nice and generous people, so I'm happy to soon call them my family. Even the Reno relatives asked us if we were going to get married soon :)

Speaking of which, it was fun looking at rings on Saturday night. I picked out what style I liked and we set a reasonable budget. Even Jose started looking at wedding bands for himself. This was the ring I liked the best, but maybe the color of the stone might change. Blue is my favorite color, so it was hard to slip this off my finger...

2016 is definitely looking like a great year! I have this wonderful nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach knowing that I will soon be Jose's wife. I am so overwhelmed with happiness each and every day. I go to sleep excited for the next day because it brings me one day closer to our next new chapter. I love him absolutely and completely, with every fiber of my being. 

Take my hand, take my whole life, too...

Welcome to 2016! Another year and another promise of new experiences, opportunities and milestones :)

Here we are in January and I'm brimming with excitement! I'm bursting with happiness and looking forward to what this year with bring! 2015 set the groundwork and 2016 will be the launch pad.

We ended the Christmas season with a few great promises: our weight loss and exercises plans went well, despite all the yummy, fattening holiday food. Jose ended the year 50 lbs. lighter and I lost a total of 20 lbs. Things are looking skinnier in the mirror...

Jose also told me he'd been talking to his dad in Reno about getting a ring and that "a ring is on its way." He kept measuring my finger and asking for which rings fit me the best. I did my best to maintain my composure but truth be told, I was flipping out inside. I was DYING to tell my girlfriends but decided it was better to just wait. Then on New Year's Day, Jose decided he wanted to see his dad in person and that it would be better to get fitted for an engagement ring at his jewelry store in Reno. OH BOY!!!! :) :) :) We slapped a trip together with his siblings (twins) Cas and Diana, booked a hotel, got snow chains for Jose's tires and we're leaving for Reno, Nevada this afternoon. Not only am I stoked to see Jose's dad again, but I get to meet all his cousins I've heard so much about. I'll do my best to keep my cool during the engagement ring fitting.

But with all the awesome, happy news...there are other things that are not maybe as great. Jose had his final exams in mid-December, which was then followed by my birthday and the Christmas holidays. This meant parties, new family and friends to meet, crowds, lines and generally more social events than Jose is used to. He fell in and out of moods during this time when he didn't want to go out or leave the house. He decided to stop taking his medication for a bit. On Christmas Day, he left my cousin's party to get coffee and didn't feel like talking to anyone. I felt a little embarrassed but I knew something had to be up. At the grocery store the next day, his behavior was different and he felt like the man standing behind him was too close. I had never seen Jose this freaked out. It all spiraled from there. After a couple of squabbles and frustrating fights, I discover that not only is Jose dealing with his depression and schizophrenia, he also had been treated for tremors (his head would sometimes shake involuntarily) and social anxiety. I'm slowly learning now about his conditions, so I don't know for sure if they're stand-alone or part of a larger disease. What I do know is I love him very much and I am undeterred. There were some tears and emotional hugs. In the end, we felt good about the future and Jose felt I understood where he was coming from. He made me feel safe, too and told me nothing had changed: he wants to get married and he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. He went back to taking his meds and we compromised on our weekly grocery trip. Now we get our groceries delivered by Vons each week and it's actually a lot cheaper than driving to Walmart. He said something that resonated strongly: "We don't run." As in, we will not run from our problems, we will not run away from each other when times get tough. We stick together and talk it through, no matter how hard it is. We will go through this life, hand in hand. 

I can't wait to hit the road on our trip in a few hours. We're packing light and we're packing warm. Photos of our cool trip coming soon! I hope I finally get to see snow fall from the sky or at least on the ground. Also, I'm looking forward to finally leaving the state with my boy and his siblings. I predict some hot chocolate for me and coffee for Jose, spending time talking and laughing. He is my whole world and when times get rough, I always feel like my love for him goes stronger and takes on a new dimension. I feel myself growing: becoming selfless and more mature. It feels good to know I am also a source of strength and support for him. Each and every day, I think of what we have and I know I'm lucky.