Wedding day part 2

I have attempted to finish posting on our wedding but get so frustrated by the old way of uploading photos. It took FOREVER to upload a photo, assuming it even uploaded. So I got so fed up I just stopped trying. But I just discovered that blogger has changed their upload system and is now way easier. So here goes attempt #...too many!

Photos taken between ceremony and reception:

Rivera side

Hollingsworth side

Malaythong's

We love them! Two days before our wedding Rillz was feeling very sick and didn't look to good. These guys took good care of him and made some SUPER yummy soup to make him better and Davy had us stay over to get away from stress at the house :)

Friends

I love my flowers! So bright and colorful

Looks like I am smelling my armpit!

These boys are so funny

Davy had these random sunglasses laying around his house. They just happened to be our wedding colors and so they just had to wear them!

In some of these pictures we were waiting forever to get the "perfect" splash on the rocks behind us.

Isn't he handsome!

Downtown Honolulu. People loved staring. And there was a parade going on at this moment

This was our card box. I layered the bottom with moss

This was our "guest book" Quilt squares that I am making a quilt with

Table decoration. The driftwood from the ceremony and then flower arrangements

Our Cake. Our florist SAVED the cake! The hotel did not do what I wanted with it so the florist put all the flowers on it. I ended up loving it! The hotel forgot to set out the cake cutting knife too so we just used our dinner utensils.

Table centerpieces. Simple but I liked them

Our wedding favors. Soy sauce bottles with our names and wedding date on them! Rillz came up with this idea and it was awesome. (Not so awesome filling 250 bottles though!)

I like this picture! Just looks happy

The dessert plates were decorated so cute!

These two were so cute! Gunnar and Mali just danced like no one was watching

Who doesn't get teary eyed when dancing with their dad!

Can you believe the hotels tablecloth. So ugly and out dated. Haha!

The garter tradition thing has always been such a weird concept for me. Rillz wanted to do it though. So, there he goes. :)

Mom is a crier! I love my in-laws

Filipinos have a different style of money dance. The guests place money on the bride and then the groom has to get it with his mouth. And vice versa with me getting it. My dad placed it on my butt. (see it rolled up where my train is buttoned up)

Rillz getting some booty action! Haha.

We took a picture on the beach. Haha (we ran out of time to go to the actual beach and take pictures and there was just too many tourists on the beach by the hotel)

I loved my hair! Marlou did an amazing job.

I like the colors in this one. This is the hotel lobby.

More pictures...

Can you believe Kristi with straight hair?!?

Finally, I was able to download some photos! Here is Rillz and my special day together. The beginning to a new Rivera family. I am so happy and excited to spend my life with this loving, caring, funny, hard working man!

I love you Rillz! Thanks for choosing me to be your wife!

We wouldn't have been able to have a stress free wedding without the HUGE help of Rillz's family and friends. A big thank you to Beang, Mike, Davy, Marlou and Arlene for all your help on our wedding day!

Homemade Nutella and Reese's cheesecake

Yesterday I got a call to make dessert for a family dinner today. I guess I felt creative! I wanted to make a cheesecake. I have NEVER made a cheesecake and it looks tuff. I mean, you have to use a special form with a little release clasp. That makes it tuff to make right!?! It was so easy to do. I took a basic cheesecake recipe and folded in reese's cups and then decided to get real fancy and melt reese's chips with heavy cream and spread it on top! Looks delicious. Hopefully it doesn't poison my family. Haha!

 

Cheesecake recipe:

Master Recipe for Rich and Creamy Cheesecake (from allrecipe.com)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 3 tablespoons crumbs from Famous Chocolate Wafers, graham crackers or ginger snaps, OR
• 1 (3 ounce) package soft ladyfingers (24 total) left whole, but trimmed to fit pan (optional)
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Heavy-duty foil for pan

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, and heat oven to 325 degrees. Brush interior of a 9-inch springform pan with butter. Add crumbs of choice and tilt pan in all directions to evenly coat, or line pan sides with ladyfingers. Tear off two long strips of heavy-duty foil, overlap in a cross pattern, and set the pan in the middle. Bring up sides, crimping around exterior top of the pan and forming a tight seal. Set it in a roasting pan large enough to hold it.
2. Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down bowl sides and beat again until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition to ensure a creamy batter. Slowly beat in vanilla, then cream and sour cream. (Meanwhile, bring tea kettle of water to a boil, then turn off heat.)    In this step I added 9 Reese's peanut butter cups. Cut them up in 8 pieces and fold in.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Set the roasting pan on oven rack and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake until cake perimeter is set but center still jiggles, about 40 minutes (some flavor variations will take longer). Turn off heat and leave oven door ajar; let cheesecake sit in oven so the residual heat continues to cook it, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove pan from water; set on a wire rack. Let cool to room temperature. During cooling I made the glaze for the top. I melted 10 oz. of Reese's chips (in the chocolate chip area) in double broiler and mixed 1/2 cup heavy cream. While cheesecake was still cooling on cooling rack I spread over the top. Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled, about 3 hours (can be refrigerated up to 4 days). Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan, loosen the spring siding and serve.

I am excited to eat it tonight! Yummy.

I didn't stop there with my creative cooking though. I decided to make homemade Nutella! Yum. I love Nutella. (It is healthy right!?!) Ok that is a joke. Have you heard of the recent Nutella lawsuit. Someone is sueing Nutella for false advertising that Nutella is healthy. HAHA! Read labels people. Anyways, I made it. I couldn't believe that it was so simple and tastes just as good!

Roast 7 oz. hazelnuts for about 10 min on medium. Then cool completely

Stick hazelnuts in food prodecessor until smooth like peanut butter. Takes a while. (I was making the cheesecake at the same time!

 Over double broiler, melt 9 oz. dark chocolate

mix in 1 can sweetened condensed milk

 .

Then mix in the hazelnuts.

 It will be thick. So add milk until it is the consistency you want. I mixed about 1/4 cup of milk.

 Stick in jars/containers and enjoy. Unlike Nutella, you do have to refridgerate after making.

 Yummy!

Caines Arcade

What a talented boy with a very supportive dad! And for Nirvan to take the time and stop to give a little boy a smile! This video is definitely worth watching!

Rillz update

Rillz's birthday was in February. He loved his birthday this year. My dad made dinner for the family, Heidi made dessert and we all celebrated. Rillz got a Lowes gift card, gun stuff like clay pigeons, bullet, and a clay pigion thrower thingy, and also a foodsaver with extra bags. The foodsaver is benefiting both of us nicely. :) I LOVE this thing. We vacuum seal just about everything! My parents have always had one so we used theirs for all their food but to have our own shiny foodsaver is awesome!... oops I mean, for Rillz to have his own is awesome... haha. And of course Rillz is crazy about all his birthday gifts. Oh, and we got more super yummy hawaiian hot dogs and mochi! Yeah us.

Another note on Rillz that happened yesterday:

It was Saturday, our sleep in day. I get woken up at 2:00 A.M. to Rillz saying "I have to go to the hospital". Huh? He was fine yesterday. What is going on? "I think I am having a kidney stone". So off we go super stinky breath and all to the hospital. He was in SO much pain. I felt so bad for the guy. They always say it is kinda like having a baby right?!? Anyways, they drug him up and have a paramedic in training guy do the IV except he couldn't get the needle in. When he finally did after the 5th poke blood came gushing out. Rillz said he thought he was going to strangle the guy. Haha. Rillz was in and out for a while, got tons of morphin, got a C.A.T scan, and vomited a few times. At 5:30 we were sent on our way with 3 different meds. Rillz came home and slept, tried to eat but almost vomited, and then went to work at 12:30 p.m. Hello?!? Mental if you ask me, hard worker if you ask him. He ended up passing his kidney stone at work yesterday but was still in pain the rest of the night. That was his second experience with a kidney stone and perhaps not his last.

Emergency vet surgery

This morning I had to undertake a huge task. I was presented with a very hurt animal... unicorn had untwisted his horn!

At that moment I didn't know if unicorn would make it. If he (yes, the purple unicorn is a he) wasn't loved very much by his owner, I am sorry to say it but, he probably wouldn't have made it. This was an urgent matter people!

I have been faced with some fluffy vet work in the past.

Polar bear needed some stomach work done. I think his owner thought he was a bit too fluffy for his size.
Dolphin needed a fin repair.

But unicorn work?!? This was going to be my hardest surgery by far!

I am happy to say, though, unicorn and surgeon made it through surgery just fine. The owner couldn't be happier. Unfortunetely the owner is not letting unicorn get the proper rest needed. :)

All in a hard days work!