La Boda (The Wedding)

We'll tie the knot on July 11, 2009 at Leslie's dad's house in Chico. Get ready for homemade sangria, pintxos (Basque style tapas), music, food, and good friends. Dress for warm weather, it is Chico after all. See you soon!

If you want registry info, check the links at the right of the page :)

About Us

Leslie: I met Lewis in high school. We became pretty good friends right away. I remember him telling me about his summer trips to visit his family in Alabama and driving around Chico in that old car he was so proud of. We started dating in college and I had a feeling he was gonna be around for the long haul. He was there when I needed him and could always make me laugh. We survived all the parties and craziness that came from living at the Normal Street house. And when Lewis said he would move to Spain with me and learn Spanish...I knew that what we had was really special. So, we finished college, packed up all our things, and moved to Spain. Lewis started learning Spanish and we both made a ton of really great friends. We taught English together and traveled every chance we could get. About 6 months after moving to Spain, we started talking about getting married. We talked a lot, and then finally decided we were ready for that scary but exciting next step in our lives. So we planned a trip to the Portuguese coast to celebrate our engagement. There, on the beach, Lewis got down on one knee and proposed. So now, here we are, back in Chico, planning our wedding with our friends and families and looking forward to our next adventure together, our honeymoon! We're going to Belize to scuba dive, check out the Maya ruins, and enjoy the beach with cocktails in hand!


Lewis: I met Les back in 10th grade. We had different friends but we randomly started hanging out one day. I think she might have been using me for my car... Then we became really good friends during our first year at Chico State and started dating. We rode bikes, spent lots of time in the park and basically spent all of our college years together. Leslie had all of these great stories and memories of traveling and studying abroad, so I guess you could say I caught the "travel bug" from her. She went off to Spain twice while we were in college, so this time I decided I would go with her. So we put off being grown ups for a while, moved to Spain, and traveled together. We experienced other cultures, learned new languages, tried new foods, made new friends and had the time of our lives! Now we're taking the next step and officially starting a new life together. The memories we have from our adventures together are really special to us and I know that we'll add more and more of these experiences together in the future.

Engagement Party in Chico, California

My Aunt Amy and Aunt Nancy decided to throw us an engagement party (instead of the traditional bridal shower) and man, do they know how to throw a party!! It was a Mexican Fiesta themed party with absolutely delicious food: a complete taco bar, mango margaritas, and homemade flan. Tons of friends and family came to celebrate with us and everyone had a blast. We played some games (thats what the flags are in all the photos!) and ended the night sitting around the firepit and then camping out in the backyard.

To see more engagement party photos go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lbanes615

Leslie's California Bachelorette Weekend

Thats right...MORE PARTIES!! My sister, Kelly, organized a weekend trip to California's beautiful wine country, Sonoma. We stayed in the Sonoma Mission Inn, a super luxury hotel that my aunt works for (thanks Aunt Amy!). All my chicas and I hopped on a bus that took us from winery to winery where we tasted different kinds of wine, stopped for lunch, and then continued wine tasting the rest of the day. When we got back to the hotel we enjoyed the HUGE rooms with fireplaces and took advantage of the giant jacuzzi tub (those are made to fit 8 people, right?). We drank margaritas and champagne until late and then cured our hang overs the next day with the hotel's "spa bathing rituals." We put on fluffy white robes and headed to the spa. After soaking in a series of different temperature pools (that really remind me of the Turkish baths in Madrid) and saunas and drinking flavored waters, we felt refreshed and not so hung over anymore. It was a wonderful relaxing weekend and I loved getting to spend so much time with my friends. Thanks Kelly, Shannon, Holly, Kaitlin, Alma, Stacy, and Erin!

To see more California Bachelorette Party photos click:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lbanes615

Leslie's Spanish Bachelorette Weekend

Before we left Spain, my girlfriends took me to Madrid for a weekend of fun, food, and lots of drinks. We did all my favorite things, ate churros con chocolate, went shopping at the huge street market (el rastro), went to indian food, and the best part was, they took me to see Cirque du Soleil!! I absolutely loved the show, it was the craziest acrobatics/gymnastics I've ever seen! Amazing costumes and incredible music. Then we hit the town for a night of mango daquiris and a list of "goals" I had to accomplish by the end of the night. The list had things like: find the oldest guy in the bar and get his phone number, find the cutest guy and get him to kiss me on the cheek, get 10 signitures on the back of my "despedida de soltera" (bachelorette party) shirt that the girls made me, and tons of other crazy things. :) Que buenas amigas tengo!! Os quiero muchiiiiisimo!!

They dressed me up in butterfly wings with my name on them, a red cowboy hat, and whistle I had to blow everytime we went into a bar. So much fun!!! What a perfect way to end my stay in Spain...

To see more photos of my Madrid bachelorette party click here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lbanes615
More photos coming soon...

Lewis' Spanish Bachelor Party (Despedido de Soltero)

Before we left Spain, my best guy friends had a little party in my honor. We had the fabled Bachelor's Party. Now, there is a Spanish custom about the bachelor party. It's the same as its American counterpart, but with a twist. The friends of the bachelor get to choose what the bachelor will be wearing during the night. I lucked out, because my friends decided to go easy on me. Oh wait, what?! That's a lie. As you can see in the pictures, I had a wig, headband, makeup, cave woman shirt, a regular low cut chick shirt, a skirt, fishnet stockings and 80's style leg warmers. Awesome. I made a pretty hot chick. All the other guys wore a little costume too. We all started at my house. We ate and drank and played some Power Hour. Then we hit the town. We took the usual route and met lots of people who were very interested in us. We partied all night long and had one helluva time!

To see more bachelor party pics click here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lbanes615

Pistache Bash!

Yesterday I fullfilled 25 years. A quarter century, joder! In order the celebrate we had a Pintxo/Mustache party, the Pistache Bash. Everyone was supposed to bring a pintxo and some booze, and me and Les provided the staches. It was a success! Les made bacon wrapped cherry tomatoes, I made a pintxo with rasberry jam, goat cheese and carmelized onions, our friends brought guacamole, spicy garlic shrimp, artichoke croquetas, fish and chip pintxhos and tons of other ones.We all ate a lot of delicious pintxos and had some drinks and then we took off to the old part of town to start the bar crawl.