The Aftermath

So our first Christmas as a married couple went pretty fabulously. I think we did a wonderful job with each others gifts. I got this badass amazing telescope so I can spy on other planets...and apparently other galaxies if the mood should strike me. I got some new clothes and fun things for the house as well. We also got lots of checks and cash from the rest of the family.
On Christmas Eve we all went to my grandparents like we always do. It was probably the most fun I've had over there in a while though. It was quite fantastic.
Then yesterday we had our Christmas, I made breakfast, and then we went to Mom's, saw John's family, went to Dad's, then went to Aunt Patti's. There was so much food there, and not many people...I feel like I'm getting fatter just thinking about it all! After Dad hustled everyone on the pool table, he found a guitar and started playing..then Chase started playing and Dad sang along (all Christmas songs). It was very pretty and made me all sorts of happy.
Today we've got so much to do. I've got to clean...the thought of going on vacation for a week and coming back to this is just not acceptable. I've also got to pack and take down the Christmas tree. Our flight out of Rochester leaves just before 6pm so I don't have a lot of time to do this stuff. We'll be in Houston until Friday next week.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Today we celebrate our first Christmas together as husband and wife...yay! We've already had our Christmas this morning...it's the first time we've had our own Christmas at our own place. I'm about to make breakfast then it's off to Mom's, then Dad's, then my Aunt Patti's...It's going to be a long day but I'm excited.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a safe time of it.

Holy snow Batman!

So over the past few weeks it has been snowing here and there. A few inches would fall then it would melt. Well yesterday it fell and fell and fell. We've probably got about 9-10" of snow on the ground right now. It's so pretty. It took me 50 minutes to drive the 13 miles home from work yesterday. The snow was falling at about 1-2" per hour. It was nuts.
(these pictures were all taken around 1:30pm...the snow continued to fall until around 4ish)

A few too many...

Last night I sat down to chose the 60 wedding photos I would like to put in out digital coffee table album...

I ended up with 141 photos.
Not bad since we have close to 2,000 pictures. But not good since I need 60.

We've got leaves...

So last night Dad and Kim came over for dinner. I made baked ziti, cheesey garlic bread, and turkey meatballs. Dessert was Wegman's apple pie and vanilla ice cream. YUM! I had a good time, they're fun company. Ken was thinking he could come because he was in NYS but ended up needing to go to NJ instead of Erie. Sad day. He called though and I got to talk to him about moving back here. It's so strange to hear him say he wants to move back and him and Sharon have a few things to figure out and do before they can...but they are. It was just a few months ago that he was calling me up, telling how dumb it was for me to move back to Rochester. Now he's coming back and I couldn't be happier!

On another note, we've got leaves. Lots of them. We no longer have grass, or really a sidewalk, just leaves. The kids love to play in them though. It's really cute. I took a few pictures today...
Our front yard:

Kids hunting:
Zeus and his little teeth/Elvis face:

Welp, it's time to go relax on the couch for a bit...watch me some Greys. Then it's bedtime. I'm so old, I need to go to bed early or I can't function the next day and tomorrow I have to work, then we're going out tomorrow night to see my dad's band play. Should be fun as always!

We're screwed.

I'm aloud to be upset today...and for the next 4 years.
I voted, therefore I have the right.

Here's to hoping all the 'change' he promises doesn't happen.

Election Night

I voted tonight. Did you?
I voted in the last election and I'm proud to say I did it again.
I'm really quite scared about how this election is going to turn out.

In good news, the campaign ads will finally come to a stop. They've been flooding the radio and TV and I'm happy to see that the end is near, very near.

Tomorrow Dad and Kim are coming over for dinner. We thought that Ken might be in town, but it turns out he is needed in New Jersey not Erie, Pa. I'm sad that he won't be here, but excited for dinner nonetheless. I'll be making baked ziti with turkey meatballs and cheesey garlic bread. For dessert I bought an apple pie and some vanilla bean ice cream. Yum.

Yesterday we had a girl come to work as a trial and I really liked her. She's about my age and is very easy to talk to. She's coming up tomorrow to work also. I hope that this can turn into a regular thing so that I can finally get some help and get weekends off. Today as I was leaving work, Shelly was interviewing Casey. He seems like a real nice guy and will probably fit in nicely too. I'm just concerned for my job at this point. Shelly doesn't want to have a lot of employees... We'll see how that goes.

That is all. Time to go watch some TV...poll results.

Changing Seasons

Today there was snow in the air...and on my car, and a little on the ground. I'm probably one of the few people in the greater Rochester area excited to see snow. I guess living in Texas for 2 years will do that to a girl. I'm really excited for our first big snow fall...I'm rather jealous of the eastern half of the state. Now keep in mind, I do work outside. :) It feels like winter outside. Wegman's (and everyone else) has Christmas decorations out already..I love it. I love the holidays. Thanksgiving is coming up so soon, it seems unreal. We will be having 3 Thanksgiving 'dinners' this year and I'm all sorts of thrilled. In other news, the hubby and I went to see Legally Blonde the Musical on Friday. It was hilarious and better than even I thought it would be! We made a total date night out of it and had dinner beforehand. It was really nice. I had a great time.
Sunday my mom and John came over for the Bills game. We made a ton of food, watched the game, and put plastic up over my windows to help fight drafts. All in all it was a long, but good day.
Not much else exciting to report.
Off to nap before Private Practice starts. No, I cannot stay up until 10pm without a nap.
Zeus found my tulle/white lights (from head/cake/gift tables at the wedding). He's so unimpressed.

The Little Things

I don't think i'm a boring person. I have a cool job, and a cool wife, and a cool slit level townhouse, and two cool dogs, and two cool turtles, and a cool family. I'm kind of a big deal. I don't want to turn into one of those people who says things like, "yeah, I used to be like that...but then I got married and had kids and blah blah..." I know, why in the world would I need to justify my coolness to the world? Luen says things sometimes like, "I don't know how I used to do, working 50 hours a week, going out all the time, and taking care of Ace." What she doesn't realize is that she is still that person. She works six days a week, rides with Cara, goes out with me on Friday's, cooks dinner most nights, and has time to be a good wife. I don't think I've changed all that much. I may be more mature, and a bit more tan, and a bit more hot, and a bit more rich, but all in all, I'm pretty much the same. I see a lot more of "the old her" now that Cara is around. It makes me happy. Being back in Rochester is bringing back parts of her that I fell in love with all those years ago. Life is good.

On a side note, I'm really getting tired of the election coverage. I'm missing good shows. I know for a fact that no matter who gets elected, they are going to do whatever they want to do once they're in office. Political campaign promises are rarely fullfilled, because they don't have the power to do what they promise. The president can't magically pass legislature. They have to work with a bunch of frustratingly old, crotchedy farts who are hardly ever present when it comes time to vote. I'm so fed up with this countries government. But, if I don't vote, then I'm just contributing to the problem. So, I have to vote. I'm just not super happy about it. Excuse the rant.

I should go pro...

Sometimes I amaze myself with my photographic abilities. I always wanted to be a photographer, it seems like so much fun! I took these pictures over the last 3 days. They are of the first frost of the season (at my job on Monday) and then the sunrise yesterday morning (on my way to work).

Ok, time to go doze on the couch for a bit before Grey's starts. :)

Just Settling In

Well, I suppose I should share my side of things. Our one month anniversary came and went. It doesn't feel like one month at all. I see how my parents/grandparents/old people in general used to say that time flies as you get older. I look at the calender and think, "Wow, is it already October?" Some times I kind of resent time speeding up. It's as though time senses life becoming more ordered and presses the gas to shake things up.

I'm very excited that I get to see my family soon. I do miss everybody. Some of the best moments are getting random phone calls from my family; Dustin calling to tell me about some new songs that he's written, Dad calling to tell me that his plant was in danger of shutting down when Pawpaw came up with a plan that kept it running, or Mom calling to chat about anything. I've noticed that my family calls me much more often now. I guess that is what 1550 miles of seperation will do to a person. Little Harry might be coming to visit over spring break. I think he should come up in January. He would like snow.

Speaking of winter, I'm really excited for my first winter in NY. I've visited during the winter, but living here during the winter should be quite a bit different.

I am really happy right now. I still have problems, but they don't really matter all that much. I have been working on accepting things that I can't do anything about. I've also learned that thinking about a problem's eventual resolution makes my head hurt. I love my wife (and 2nd wife), I love my job, I love my pups, I love my family, I love my inlaws, I really like my apartment (except the spiders), and I like building a savings for once.

Time to get back to work.

1 Month!

I was planning on writing an actual blog tonight, but after all the fighting I've done with this layout...I've changed my mind.

However, I do feel the need to mention that we've been MARRIED FOR 1 MONTH!!! 1 month ago I was dancing like a fool at our reception with all of our closest friends and family.

That is all.

For now.

Our wedding day

What better time to write about our wedding than while my hubby is downstairs glued to the TV since football is on.
Where to start...

On Friday we had the rehearsal at Steamboat Landing and it was windy...very windy. Quite amusing with all of us girls in knee length (or shorter) dresses. I'm really glad we went ahead and did the rehearsal, originally I wasn't going to. That would have been awful. We ran through the whole thing twice, and ironed out all confusion, answered everyone's questions. We were also able to tweak our actual ceremony with Chase's grandpa, the minister. We had table linens and favors to drop off as well. Lindsay and Alejandra were thrilled because my dad rode the bike out there...and brought a change of clothes for dinner. Silly man.
After we were all set at Steamboat everyone left for dinner at Hawthorne's. We met our grandparents, Amy & Courteney, and Ken, Sharon & Brent there. Our party was too big for the private rooms, so they gave us the whole main dining room. It was a little bit cramped in there, but it was fine. The food was incredible, I took way too much on my plate that's for sure. It was good to see Ken again....I've seen him so much lately, 3 times this summer. That's so unusual, but I'm not complaining. He and Chase got to meet for the first time which I was really happy about. Brent and Livvie loved each other also, so cute, Brent gave Livvie a flower. :) We were at Hawthorne's for a few hours...we gave the wedding party their gifts there. The guys loved the RayBans and wore them the rest of the time they were here in NY. My girls really liked their gifts as well which made me really happy since I was so indecisive.

Anyways, after all that we headed back to our place where Chase and JC finished the photo card box. It didn't turn out quite like I'd imagined, but it did it's job, and all the guests at the wedding loved it! After the boys all left for the hotel we got to working on the programs and table numbers. We had more problems with printers than I'd care to remember. While all this was going on my Dad called me and told me he hired a new DJ. Someone with more experience than Wendy. That was fine with me, I didn't really like Wendy. We gave up at 2am and went to sleep. I was so worried about sleeping that night, I figured I'd have too much on my mind and wouldn't get to sleep. I was wrong. I passed out.

Cara and I got up in the morning to go get my hair done while Ali went and ran errands, Lindsay and Alejandra hung out at my place, cleaned up (it was a mess with all the people staying here) and then they worked on the programs. Back to my hair....It looked beautiful! I was worried while Rachael was doing it, but it all came together and I loved it! We ended up putting my veil under the curls, and it turned out great. I actually wore my veil all night! Our limo driver got here 10 minutes early which sent me into panic mode. We hurriedly finished the programs and packed the limo...our dresses took up so much room! We got to Steamboat right on time. My cousin Jeanne was already there. She graciously videotaped everything for me. When I got there it hit me...I'm getting married. The room looked beautiful with the ivory linens with chocolate overlays...the favors. The ladies there put our tulle and white Christmas lights up on the head/gift/cake tables. We had some concern about the weather, it'd been raining all day and was real gray and wet outside. We did end up holding the ceremony outside, but moved the cocktail hour inside.
It took us girls forever to get ready. Of course I took the longest. After getting into my dress, with the help of my 4 closest friends...and the photographers looking on, snapping pictures, Cara did my makeup. I knew she'd do a fabulous job, and she did. I loved it. It was very natural but still very pretty. Since it took us so long to get ready, they photographers went out and took pictures of the guys. After that we went outside and got pictures with the girls, and my parents. This is when my mom brought out our bouquets. They were so much more than I had imagined. They were beautiful! The stargazers were so perfect. I'm glad that Cara had suggested them at our florist appointment. I loved them. Then all of a sudden it was time to line up and get ready to walk down the isle.

When it was just Dad and I standing on the side of the building waiting for our turn I noticed a bunch of people at the park and walking along the lake had stopped to watch. Dad was very emotional. I'd never seen him like that before. As we rounded the building he whispers "I'm biting my lip". Then about 20 feet later he said the same thing. I too was fighting back tears the whole way. I couldn't believe the moment I'd been waiting for, been planning for forever, was finally here. Dad lifted my Daddy's veil and kissed me on the cheek saying "You never looked so beautiful." Then I was Chase's. Then it started to rain...big, heavy rain drops. I don't remember most of the ceremony. It was like an out of body experience. I didn't cry. It was like I was hovering above us and looking on. Chase's grandpa spoke quickly so we wouldn't all get soaked. I messed up my vows a bit when I put the ring on Chase's finger...I was distracted by the ring, no joke. The ceremony was short and very sweet...just what we wanted. After it was over I couldn't hold the tears anymore.
We immediately took pictures with our families outside...we did them fast and actually missed a few that I would have liked to have gotten. Oh well. After that we went off to do our pictures and pictures with the bridal party. Can I just say, I love my bridal party? They are such a great group of individuals and I am honored that they came to share our special day with us. Our first pictures were done right outside Steamboat in front of the lake. When it rained we went under the pavilion or trees....We also had a few large umbrellas. We only managed to get 1 formal photo. All the rest of our pictures are hilarious, and so perfect. We had a boy band pose picture, Charlie's Angels, pictures with umbrellas, pictures with wine/beer, casual pictures.
We finished pictures there pretty quick and still had 45 minutes left so we piled (literally, into the limo...we lost Dustin...he was under David. Luckily Ellen was crammed in the back with us and took pictures) down to the boat houses. I'm so glad we did. Some of our best pictures came from that location. I mean, really now. What would a wedding be without a photo next to a Speed Hump sign?!

We finished pictures a few minutes late, had our introductions, first dance, then dinner. Our first dance was to I Cross My Heart by George Strait. We didn't get a chance to take dance lessons, but it was fine. It was perfect. Before dinner was served Dad gave his speech/toast. It was funny. It was touching. It was perfect. The 2 bites of dinner that I had were fabulous. I had no real appetite at all. After dinner Chase got up and thanked everyone for coming, I wished my grandparent's a happy 61st anniversary and Cara a Happy Birthday. That was when they were supposed to bring out Cara's cupcake I got her. That didn't happen, but that's ok, she got it after her speech. Then Cara and JC gave their speeches. They were both perfect. Cara quoted Sex & The City which was oh so appropriate for us. JC made everyone laugh with his "If I'm the best man, then why are you marrying Chase?"

After speeches, Dad and I danced. Dad recorded I Loved Her First by Heartland for me and it was beautiful. I know he was worried about me liking the song, and I love it so much! I keep the CD in my car and listen to it daily..multiple times. I was worried about dancing with Dad. I never really had since I was really little, and wasn't sure how it would go. It was perfect. He was emotional again. Towards the end of the song he told me, "Soon I can start enjoying myself, the 2 hard parts are over." Later in the evening his friends stopped me and were like "Wow, so your dad isn't stone cold, he does have a heart!" Haha, I've known that for a loooooong time.

We did an anniversary dance for my grandparents. It was to Remember When by Alan Jackson. I thought he was just going to have all married couple dance to it. No he got us all up there then had any couple married less than 10 hours exit the dance floor. Then all couples married for less than 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and so on until he got to 61 years at the very end of the song. My grandparents were adorable out there dancing all night. They looked like they had so much fun and that made me very happy. Then it was party time! Our DJ was incredible. I love him! He did a great job! He played lots of classic party/dance music and we danced all night long. I don't ever dance and you couldn't get me off the dance floor!

The 1 bite of cake that Chase fed to me was fabulous. I didn't have any more than that...and I'm guessing by the amount of cake we brought home, not many other people did either.

We forgot a few things...I'd printed business cards with login information to my shutterfly account and I forgot to put them on the gift table for people to take. If you're reading this and have photos of our wedding, comment/email me and I will give you the login info. I want to see your pictures!!! We also forgot about our Thank You sign until the very end of the night. We went into the restaurant to take those pictures and I didn't like how they turned out, so we used other pictures on our Thank You cards...I LOVE how those turned out. I will be including the cards in our TY's.

I was a little bit upset at how many people left after dinner or soon after that. We stayed until the end, cleaned up, then went to Jose & Willy's down the street. That was funny....lots of very intoxicated people there.

I know I'm forgetting so many details, but that's the jist of it. I'm loving married life. I loved the wedding. Seeing 17 months of planning finally all come together is incredible. It was more beautiful than I'd even imagined or dreamed about.

Details about our Honeymoon to come at a later time. Sorry for the wait.

We're MARRIED! Finally.

So it's been about 7 months since I (we) have updating this thing. Which really is unfortunate. Throughout the move back to NY, Chase graduating college, the trip to Costa Rica, moving to a new townhouse, starting new jobs, planning a wedding, and the wedding itself, then the honeymoon I'd hoped to update more so I'd have all the memories written down. However, all of that proved to be very time consuming and I haven't had a chance.
Tonight or tomorrow night I will take the time to sit down and write a up a whole recap on the wedding. So much happened, and it flew by so fast. We had a fabulous time.

Stay tuned.

New Title

I'm tired...worked 10-6 today...ah well.
So I was promoted at work on Sunday. We're opening a new Hampton Inn & Suites in Waco on March 1 and I was originally going there to be the front office manager. Well I worked my last A shift this past Sunday at the old hotel and while my manager was there he said he wanted me to be the Reservations Manager instead. I know you probably don't think there's much difference...there is. First off, I get my own office! Secondly I work Monday-Friday. Third, I will be mainly booking groups, meetings and special events. Fourth, (not sure if it'll actually happen since I'm only there for 3 more months) I get business cards. Fifth, I got a raise. Now my raise isn't much, but it's still there. Mostly I'm excited about having an office and not having to stand at the front desk for hours on end. It will greatly improve my "at work" attitude.
In other news, I move back to NY in 3 months. I can't begin to get into how excited I am about that.
I got my hair cut last night and it was fabulous. The girl did a great job and I'll be sure to go back 1 more time before I move.
I think it's time to watch some tv...but just one final note:
I hate my downstairs neighbor. She is inconsiderate, loud, moronic...basically a 1st class pain in the ass. Her music is always so loud, she talks so loud, and she parties so loud. I can't wait to not have to deal with her anymore.






I've been missing Ace a lot lately.

Good night.

Song in progress

The concept of the song comes from the ability of a women to turn a good mood into a bad mood with the ease of flipping a switch. This isn't necesarrily a bad thing though. In order for a woman to have this emotional control they must hold a place of adoration and respect in their victims heart. This deals more with the reality of relationships that popular music tends to pass over. Case in point: my fiance has the ability to take me from cloud nine to ground floor in about 30 seconds. The conversation starts with something that I feel is witty or important. Then she belittles my statement, which makes me try harder to convey the significance of what I've just told her. When she finally drops the hammer, I have successfully completed an emotional J-turn (a 180 degree turn for those not into stunt driving). This sounds like a bad thing, but not so. She wouldn't hold this power over me if I didn't love her and care for her opinion. She also has the uncanny ability to cheer me up no matter what I'm going through. It doesn't happen often, but I do get upset. It never fails that all she has to do is say something in baby voice and smile and I'm ok again. She kind of got the shit end of the stick. I can't cheer her up for the life of me. I think the fact that I'm happy all the time just makes her more pissed off, rather than rubbing of on her. So it's ok that she rains on my parade, because she's the reason it happens at all.

"Rain on My Parade"

Verse: *In Progress*

Chorus:
Sometimes she rains on my parade,

By telling me it's not gonna be ok.

I could turn my head and pretend,

that she didn't offend and make me feel 3 feet tall,

But without her, there'd be no parade at all.

Rest of Song:
*In Progress*

Van Halen Rocks

Up at seven, taking Luen's car to the dealership, class till eleven, taking Luen's poor car from the dealership to Just Brakes in order to save $600, driving to Houston, dealing with my father's delinquency, navigating downtown Houston, standing in a historically long line...all to see the greatest band in the world. Van Halen was definitely worth it all. Luen and I got sweet t-shirts...for $40. My brother got crazy wasted. David Lee Roth is way too ripped for his age. Eddie Van Halen's son played the bass in front of a packed arena with incredible composure for his age. The concert was amazing.

The three hour drive back to Waco was not so much fun. I was nearly asleep the entire time. Class was useless. I got a two hour nap that felt like ten minutes. I am so completely exhausted, but somehow managed to get DSP homework done. I get some of the best sleep when I'm exhausted. Tonight is going to be awesome.