One Year Anniversary PhotoShoot In NYC

0033For our one year wedding anniversary we knew we wanted to make it special… it really does only come around once! So, we did… We knew we wanted to travel somewhere for that date and had been talking about it for a while before we actually decided where we would go. At first, we thought we would go to a place we hadn’t visited yet and thought of Colorado. But.. shortly after we were thinking of our plans, we got pregnant! haha.. Our plans had to change, especially since we had been planning to do hikes up mountains, possible snow activities were also in the talk, and we surely did know that with a pregnant belly, none of those would be a good idea. So plans got placed on hold, we were now on a budget with baby on the way.. but last minute we found a great deal on flights to our favorite city! New York City! It only made sense, we have wonderful memories in this city and it holds a special place in our hearts. Not only do we love getting a taste of the hustle and bustle of the city, but this was the place we got engaged and one of the most memorable places in our love story. We couldn’t wait to re-live and re-visit some of those places and make more memories while documenting along the way. Hence this awesome photoshoot that I absolutely love and  was so excited to share with you all!  0031I always had this idea in my head that for our one year anniversary we would have a photoshoot and remember our day and what it meant to us, something small, and just personal. Luckily for us, I ran into the sweetest, nicest photographer! I also must mention, very talented and professional. If you’re looking for some great photos in the city at a great price, she’s your girl! She was so awesome and we were so happy with the end result!

I love these photographs, what they mean to us and all the feelings they encompass. Its another chapter in our lives and couldn’t feel more blessed for these memories we are making along the way and all the memories we are about to make together very soon!

All photography  by : Tatiana Katkova

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My favorite smile, My lover and Best Friend.. ❤
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OUR JOURNEY IN THE BIG APPLE: DAY THREE

DSC_2606Our Journey in the big apple, is way past due! But after almost a year of putting it off, I have decided to give it a try once again! For those of you who are not aware of these previous “Journey in the big apple” post, you can check them out here and here. Last October we made a trip to New York City and it was an unforgettable trip, experience and a true trip to cherish, especially since it was the trip where we got engaged. With the engagement put aside, the trip in all honesty was an amazing trip. A trip where we experienced so much of the city on our own that we were so proud of ourselves. I don’t think there’s a week we don’t go without reminiscing on our trip. With the warm weather already paying a visit to us down here in sunny south florida, I can’t help but to think back on that cool, chilly weather we experienced on our trip. It was such a pleasant change for us Floridian’s who really never get to see the change in seasons.

Day one and two consisted of our arrival day and day two included our engagement day in Brooklyn. Well day three, we decided to head on over to the west side and visit Chelsea. Here we made a couple stops during our day! After breakfast we made it over to the Chelsea Market, walked the streets of Chelsea and made our way over to The Highline Park. Other stops also included The Frying Pan NYC at Pier 66a, Hudson River Park Pier 66a, and Madison Square Garden at night for a music event we had originally planned on attending. If you’re wondering if any of these are worth visiting, I hope our pictures can convince you of a big YES!

::First Stop after our breakfast at Friedman’s Lunch, was: Chelsea Market and district::DSC_2601

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How NEW YORK is this? Fashion shoots in the city.
How NEW YORK is this? Fashion shoots in the city.

:: Second Stop: The Highline Park, a railway line converted into a trendy park full of activity and art::DSC_2610

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::Third Stop: Pier 66 Maritime Bar & Cafe along with The Frying Pan NYC, a historic rail float barge with the Frying Pan historic lightship permanently docked, who becomes a local favorite bar and hangout spot in the city.DSC_2639DSC_2642

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::Fourth stop: Hudson River Park Pier 66a::IMG_4236IMG_4213

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::Fifth Stop: Madison Square Garden::

Stay tuned for our last two days in the Big apple! More exciting places to share!

-Jen ❤

*all images are property of La Vida, life as it comes 

OUR JOURNEY IN THE BIG APPLE: DAY ONE & TWO

Our Journey in the big apple has been a journey in the works as far as sharing it with you all! But as promised, within the next two weeks I will share the exciting places we got to experience in our trip to New York, day by day that we were there. We have way too many pictures to share of each specific day, that each day deserves its own post! Hope you all are as excited as me! Again, like mentioned in our previous nyc post, it will be our daily adventures.. so please bare with me throughout the next two weeks. Our first post was dedicated to some tips while we were there and what we found helped us save some money while there. Now you will be able to see all we saw and did while there. Like our previous post mentioned.. we were definitely on a reminiscing mood when we wrote about our tips. Now that another post is ahead of us, i can’t help but to get excited each time I look at our pictures. I hope you all enjoy them as much as Xavier and I do, and we hope you visit some of these lovely places in your future travels, if you haven’t already of course.  Here are our adventures through day one and two of our stay. I decided to bunch these two days together only because day one was pretty short, since it was our arrival day. Well… here it is! Our journey begins! Enjoy.

.::DAY ONE:: IMG_3938

A wait in the airport, a tour of our hotel, and a stroll around 59th St and 5th ave. Followed by a quick stop to time square.IMG_3943This line at the airport for a cab, was crazy!

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First stop East Village, Tompkins Square Park, near by where we had breakfast.

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From there we headed down towards the Financial District and made a stop at the World trade center.IMG_4344

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This lovely day, was also the day we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge (where we got Engaged!) and of course headed over to Brooklyn. In Brooklyn we made a stop at Brooklyn Heights where we walked over to the Brooklyn bridge Park and Fulton Ferry.. they’re pretty much all in the same area!

And being in 'awe' by the view was sufficient enough to keep me blinded as to what was going to happen next...a Proposal!
And being in ‘awe’ by the view was sufficient enough to keep me blinded as to what was going to happen next…a Proposal!
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Here we celebrated our engagement with some Brooklyn pizza and ice cream! yum!

The night was young, and after our Brooklyn adventure was done, we headed over to the city to see the view from up above! Empire State Building was waiting for us, a chance to take in the view, our day and our future ahead.. oh and did I mention the freezing cold air?? Yeah it was a quick view from up above. lol

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Well… there you have it! Day one & two in a nutshell… sort of lol. Lots of pictures huh? I wanted to make sure you all got a great idea of our day, our adventure and wonderful journey through the city those two days. Now that I have shared these two days with you all, I can’t wait to share the rest of our days! I want to go back to NY already!? Whose with me?

I hope you all stay tuned for the upcoming post! They’re going to be exciting and full of more pictures and our adventures. Would you like to visit any of these places or already have?? We would love to hear all about them and which are your favorites!

-Jen ❤

*all images are property of La Vida, life as it comes 

THE PROPOSAL!

IMG_7883The proposal! Yes, our proposal! It was simply perfect. Xavier and I are officially engaged and we could not be more excited! Not only are we excited but we are so remarkably blessed! Our relationship has been a blessing in disguise from the very beginning. Xavier and I met in Nursing school and to many’s surprise, he and I were not even friends in the beginning. I was a little apprehensive to start a friendship with Xavier, mostly because of his “I’m a stud and I know it” kinda walk he had, lol. According to him, he always just “wanted my attention.” I didn’t give him my attention until some semesters after in school where we actually had to be in clinical’s together. We got to know each other some more and we actually became great friends. Towards the end of nursing school our good friend Anita, aka cupid, started stirring things up for us and long behold the truth came out! We actually liked each other and we both were okay with it. Our last semester in nursing school, Xavier and I were pretty much inseparable and he asked me to be his girlfriend! That moment alone was unforgettable… picnic by the bay, asking me to be his girlfriend and dolphins swimming right by the water. No seriously, that’s exactly how it went! Just lovely. We also have been so blessed to share graduation together, passing our boards together and being hired as Nurses weeks apart!  Some months into working we even got our own place! So many memories.. and to think that we have so many more in our future together fills my heart with so much love. God has truly been watching over us and for that we are grateful.

For those of you that have followed my blog, you’ll know that Xavier and I had a trip planned to NYC this past week. That trip was ‘supposedly’ meant to be a mini-vacation to NYC and to attend an event in Madison square garden.  Little did I know, one of the most important questions in my life would be asked. On that day, Xavier and I woke up to the usual New York city noise and the hustle of the crowd. Little did I know Xavier had been planning this day for some months. Our day started by getting some very delicious breakfast and a walk in the park. After our bellies were full we headed to the world trade center memorial. From there we had plans to meet up with Xavier’s friend and his girlfriend to head to Brooklyn. After some debating on where we were really going to meet them and lots of painful walking, Xavier told me that we would meet them at the Brooklyn bridge, so we could walk across it. Lets jut say I was not a happy camper and my feet were in so much pain that I quickly told him, “I am not walking the bridge!” Well to my surprise, Xavier turned around and gave me a very sturdy and loud “WE ARE WALKING THE BRIDGE!” I was so stunned that I just stayed quiet and agreed,lol. I gave in, sucked up the pain and headed to the bridge in pain but excited to see the great Brooklyn bridge! Little did I know, this was all planned.

THE PROPOSAL: We got to the start of the bridge, Xavier stopped to put his jacket on and get his camera ready so we could take some awesome shots! I quickly followed his steps so that we wouldn’t have to stop in the middle of the bridge and hold up people who were doing the same. ( This was the moment that he very sneakily put the ring in his pocket that he had been carrying in his camera bag!) I was so blinded by the view that I didn’t even notice this! lol. Well, we walked close to the middle of the bridge were we met up with his friend and his girlfriend and we all kept walking together. To my surprise as well, they were in on the plan! Just about midway on the bridge we all stopped to take some shots. Xavier asked to use my camera so he could take a panorama shot while I took a picture of his friend and his girlfriend. ( This was the moment he took a picture of a small piece of paper with some very important words) Once again, I of course did not even notice, lol. Well right after, Xavier asked me to give his camera to his friend so he could take a picture of us on the bridge. The next part, is the best part of this story!!

On October 17, at 3:20 in the afternoon, Xavier and I made one of the best memories in our lives thus far. He asked me to grab my camera and look at the cool shot he had taken with my camera. To my surprise, and it was a very unexpected surprise! It was the most beautiful picture i had ever seen! It was him holding a little piece of paper with the best words on it… “WILL YOU MARRY ME?”  The moment was perfect, the timing was perfect and the setting was breathtaking! A this moment all I could do was cry. I literally threw myself on him while he was on one knee and ended up on my knees too! lol.  I cried out of excitement and the feeling of love that was rushing through me. It was a feeling like no other and a feeling that I cannot even describe with words.  Knowing that you will spend the rest of your life along with the love of your life, your soul mate and your lover is the best feeling ever.

It was a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life and that when thinking back on it, will always bring a smile to my face. It will be a memory that will be in our hearts forever and a moment that will remind us of our love. Our proposal was perfect for us in every way possible. We were experiencing a new place together, doing something that we enjoy doing as a couple (taking pictures.)Our story thus far has always had ‘unexpected moments’ and this is another that will be added to our list. These ‘unexpected’ moments for Xavier and I have been the best moments and moments that show us our endless blessings.

We are so thrilled for our future ahead. I know that I cannot imagine spending a future without him. He makes me better, he supports me, takes care of me, loves me unconditionally and makes me complete. I know that we will always be there for each other through the good times and the bad. I can only pray that God continues to bless us in our future ahead. We are very excited to share this moment with all our loved ones and with you all. So here are our perfect pictures captured by Mike, Xavier’s friend. THE PROPOSAL.

ps. It was a little windy that day.. lol

love,

Jen and Xavier.

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Thanks to everyone who has already congratulated us and to our families for giving us your blessing. It means the world to us and we love you all.

A special thanks to Mike and Jisbely for helping Xavier capture this special moment in our lives.

Jen & X.

*all images are property of La Vida, life as it comes 

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