We've been living in our new place for a little over a week now and I think it's safe to say WE LOVE IT. I haven't gotten around to taking photos of it yet but I'm going to try to do that this week. We've been really busy since the move because John's best friend is home from Afghanistan on his two week leave so of course we have been spending all of our free time entertaining him and a couple other friends. Oh, and watching Milo and Marley learn how to navigate those big, scary things called stairs.
We had a great 4th of July filled with bonfires, pool volleyball games, s'mores, jello shots, and of course, fireworks. The weather was perfect - in the 80's and sunny all weekend long. Today is another story - it's going to be 102 degrees with humidity. In Connecticut. We haven't had temps this high in four years. So of course, I am all worried about John being out working in this heat - mostly because he got SO sunburned during our volleyball game yesterday.
I have also been assigned my wedding planner - yay! I'm excited to finally start planning out some details of our day, but it will probably have to wait at least a couple weeks so we can get settled here. Oh, and we scored AWESOME prices on our flights to Florida and back - we got both of our round trip, non stop tickets for a total of $378.00! How amazing is that?! We were shocked and so excited to get that out of the way.
Showing posts with label wonderful weekends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wonderful weekends. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
graduated
Yesterday marked the END of my undergrad career! Technically it really ended in December, but my school doesn't have December graduations anymore so I had to wait until May to actually graduate. I had an award ceremony to go to on May 13th because I graduated Cum Laude (like 0.05 points away from Magna Cum Laude, I was so mad!), and then the ceremony for the 1400 graduates was yesterday at the XL Center in Hartford. It was LONG. I was disappointed with the commencement speaker (one of CCSU's History professor) - she didn't really say anything that stuck with me. The Class of 2010 President spoke and it was kind of corny. I almost wasn't going to go because I didn't know anyone since I commuted for 4 years, but now I am glad I went. It took FOREVER to call everyone's name, but it was worth it to actually feel like I graduated. I'm glad that 1,000 students chose not to walk because that would have made it even longer.
Afterward, I tried to find John and my parents but there were SO many people that it took 30 minutes to find them! It was insane. The XL center was packed - there were more people at graduation than there are at the hockey games we go to! It was crazy. We went back to my parent's house after because Erin's senior prom was held last night also! In typical fashion, we took 648 photos to commemorate the day. ; )
Didn't Erin look STUNNING??
Sunday, May 2, 2010
summertime
We've had an unusually warm spring this year. Flashback to last spring when it was in the 40's until May and it didn't get above 70 until late June...and then it was cloudy practically ALL summer long. It was miserable. But this year Mother Nature seems to be making up for the pathetic excuse for a summer that we got stuck with last year.
Last Saturday, John and I took the boys to my childhood elementary school to play on the playground. It was warm - in the 70's - believe me, that is warm for April! We played on the swings, climbed the monkey bars, played four-square, and of course, we slid down the slide a hundred times.
Yesterday we went to Gabriel's baseball game and then had a cookout at John's sister's house. She made an amazing salsa to go on top of grilled chicken - it had fresh papaya chunks, avocado chunks, and chopped red pepper in a tangy/sweet sauce. It was delish! For dessert we had a super yummy peanut butter pie that wasn't exactly on my diet but it was too good to turn down.
And tonight we are headed to my parent's house to discuss the wedding budget/guest list and to enjoy some chicken on the grill. Hopefully they will be opening the pool soon and then it will officially feel like summer has arrived!
Last Saturday, John and I took the boys to my childhood elementary school to play on the playground. It was warm - in the 70's - believe me, that is warm for April! We played on the swings, climbed the monkey bars, played four-square, and of course, we slid down the slide a hundred times.
Yesterday we went to Gabriel's baseball game and then had a cookout at John's sister's house. She made an amazing salsa to go on top of grilled chicken - it had fresh papaya chunks, avocado chunks, and chopped red pepper in a tangy/sweet sauce. It was delish! For dessert we had a super yummy peanut butter pie that wasn't exactly on my diet but it was too good to turn down.
And tonight we are headed to my parent's house to discuss the wedding budget/guest list and to enjoy some chicken on the grill. Hopefully they will be opening the pool soon and then it will officially feel like summer has arrived!
Monday, June 15, 2009
house hunters
I keep meaning to write more about this whole buying a house process, because I know someday I'll want to look back and re-live it all. Some days are really frustrating, some days are really hopeful, and some days are just plain stressful. We've been going out with our realtor every weekend to see houses on our list, which has really been fun. We've seen a few houses that we love, a few houses that are decent, and a few houses that need a ton of work. It's amazing how horrible some houses smell...like, do the people notice the stench when the walk home everyday or what?
The first weekend we went out, the very first house we looked at...oh my gosh. It was beautiful. It was a ranch, completely remodeled and just gorgeous. I would have bought it on the spot if I could have. It had a detached barn with garage, good sized lot, and seriously...I loved the house, the layout, the architecture, everything. The second house that day was beautiful, but in a bad neighborhood and it had a shared driveway...which John promptly knocked off the list. The third was in a great neighborhood, cute house, but no basement. It had the water heater and stuff in closets throughout the house so the only storage spaces were in the bedrooms and the garage. The kitchen was kind of small, but it had a mudroom which I loved.
The second weekend, we saw mostly so-so houses. The first we didn't even go into because the outside needed so much work. The second was really nice, full basement, remodeled, garage, absolutely perfect...just out of our price range by $15,000. It even had a great backyard, but fifteen grand isn't going to magically appear in our laps. The third was a disaster...the inside was circa 1970 with a mammoth amount of work necessary, but the outside was resided and landscaped really nicely. We didn't even go upstairs in that one...clearly that was a no. The fourth was alright, it was a ranch and the square footage was on the small side, and the layout wasn't really functional. John didn't like the driveway, and the basement had a really odd layout...it was like one big room with random walls put up. Odd. It did have a really nice deck though, which I liked. This past weekend we went to one that seemed okay in the pictures we saw ahead of time but it absolutely reeked...plus it was really outdated, and I didn't like the location at all. No garage either, which we really want.
We realize that we arent'y going to find a perfect house, but we're starting to learn what we can live without and what kind of work we're willing to do on the house we buy. I would really like a basement and a dining room, John really wants a garage. A good neighborhood is absolutely necessary. We'd much prefer two bathrooms over one. It's a matter of give and take, and hopefully by the end of the summer we'll have a place to call home.
We're going up to meet with a mortgage company to officially get pre-qualified, and then once the end of August arrives we'll get pre-approved and lock in at a rate and with a loan program. Exciting, but seriously stressful. One bank that I contacted last week was telling me that because John is self-employed, he needs a certain kind of bank account in order for us to get approved (which he does not have) so we were scrambling on Saturday talking to different banks to find out if this was true, and luckily it's not a requirement with ALL banks. Insert huge sigh of relief here! It's just a stressful process because it's hard to know which bank to go with, which bank is really going to give us the best deal. Everyone's out to earn money, and I get that, but I want to find a bank that's going to let us keep as much money as possible.
I had a small medical problem that halted my 30 day shredding, so I've got to start that up again soon. I got really mad at myself for having to stop, but I couldn't really help it. I have John's oldest nephew's 5th grade graduation tomorrow night, the meeting with the mortgage guy Thursday, a wedding on Saturday, ahhh! I thought I'd have a lot more free time when the semester ended but clearly that's not the case. I forgot to do my laundry today too, so I have to find something to wear to work tomorrow.
The first weekend we went out, the very first house we looked at...oh my gosh. It was beautiful. It was a ranch, completely remodeled and just gorgeous. I would have bought it on the spot if I could have. It had a detached barn with garage, good sized lot, and seriously...I loved the house, the layout, the architecture, everything. The second house that day was beautiful, but in a bad neighborhood and it had a shared driveway...which John promptly knocked off the list. The third was in a great neighborhood, cute house, but no basement. It had the water heater and stuff in closets throughout the house so the only storage spaces were in the bedrooms and the garage. The kitchen was kind of small, but it had a mudroom which I loved.
The second weekend, we saw mostly so-so houses. The first we didn't even go into because the outside needed so much work. The second was really nice, full basement, remodeled, garage, absolutely perfect...just out of our price range by $15,000. It even had a great backyard, but fifteen grand isn't going to magically appear in our laps. The third was a disaster...the inside was circa 1970 with a mammoth amount of work necessary, but the outside was resided and landscaped really nicely. We didn't even go upstairs in that one...clearly that was a no. The fourth was alright, it was a ranch and the square footage was on the small side, and the layout wasn't really functional. John didn't like the driveway, and the basement had a really odd layout...it was like one big room with random walls put up. Odd. It did have a really nice deck though, which I liked. This past weekend we went to one that seemed okay in the pictures we saw ahead of time but it absolutely reeked...plus it was really outdated, and I didn't like the location at all. No garage either, which we really want.
We realize that we arent'y going to find a perfect house, but we're starting to learn what we can live without and what kind of work we're willing to do on the house we buy. I would really like a basement and a dining room, John really wants a garage. A good neighborhood is absolutely necessary. We'd much prefer two bathrooms over one. It's a matter of give and take, and hopefully by the end of the summer we'll have a place to call home.
We're going up to meet with a mortgage company to officially get pre-qualified, and then once the end of August arrives we'll get pre-approved and lock in at a rate and with a loan program. Exciting, but seriously stressful. One bank that I contacted last week was telling me that because John is self-employed, he needs a certain kind of bank account in order for us to get approved (which he does not have) so we were scrambling on Saturday talking to different banks to find out if this was true, and luckily it's not a requirement with ALL banks. Insert huge sigh of relief here! It's just a stressful process because it's hard to know which bank to go with, which bank is really going to give us the best deal. Everyone's out to earn money, and I get that, but I want to find a bank that's going to let us keep as much money as possible.
I had a small medical problem that halted my 30 day shredding, so I've got to start that up again soon. I got really mad at myself for having to stop, but I couldn't really help it. I have John's oldest nephew's 5th grade graduation tomorrow night, the meeting with the mortgage guy Thursday, a wedding on Saturday, ahhh! I thought I'd have a lot more free time when the semester ended but clearly that's not the case. I forgot to do my laundry today too, so I have to find something to wear to work tomorrow.
Monday, April 27, 2009
hello summer :)
It is hot. The temperature thing at the bank said 87 degrees today! I love it!
The weekend was beautiful; perfect weather for baseball games and cookouts...which is exactly what we did. We also went to a couple more open houses and absolutely fell in love with a condo in Meriden, but it probably will be gone by time we are ready to put in an offer.
I have a lot to do for school in the next several days, and I'm going to have to take a day off of work next week just so I can get it all done. 4 days left of classes over the next two weeks...this semester flew by. Which is awesome, because it means I only have one left until graduation, which is absolutely crazy!
I love this little guy : )
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Will you be my Valentine?
I am not a fan of Valentine's Day; I think that if you love someone you should show it everyday, not just on a random day that florists and chocolate-makers decided to claim as their biggest-profit-of-the-year-day. For this reason, John and I agreed to not get each other anything and to keep it a low key day (and besides, he does cute things all year long for me, it's not like I need a specific day for it).
I made him a card though, because I couldn't help myself. And he got me one too, with a whole bunch of memories we've made since last February 14th, which I thought was so incredibly cute and thoughtful...and at the bottom of the card, he wrote "the future" which obviously was the cutest of them all. Plus, he got my favorite chocolate and a long-stemmed chocolate rose. That boy is too good to me.
We took his two older nephews to a hockey game on Saturday night which was a lot of fun. I was surprised that the younger one was more into it than the older one; he actually paid attention throughout the entire game and didn't want to go home when it was over. Today we took Milo on a field trip to visit my grandparents, which they enjoyed immensely. He did okay, he was a little nervous at first but he warmed up and was checking everything out after a little while.
I made him a card though, because I couldn't help myself. And he got me one too, with a whole bunch of memories we've made since last February 14th, which I thought was so incredibly cute and thoughtful...and at the bottom of the card, he wrote "the future" which obviously was the cutest of them all. Plus, he got my favorite chocolate and a long-stemmed chocolate rose. That boy is too good to me.
We took his two older nephews to a hockey game on Saturday night which was a lot of fun. I was surprised that the younger one was more into it than the older one; he actually paid attention throughout the entire game and didn't want to go home when it was over. Today we took Milo on a field trip to visit my grandparents, which they enjoyed immensely. He did okay, he was a little nervous at first but he warmed up and was checking everything out after a little while.
John and the boys at the game
Milo's big adventure
I love my Valentine : )
Sunday, February 8, 2009
today was a balmy 50 degrees!
Milo being cute as ever.
What cool people play on Saturday nights.
He doesn't understand why he can't walk on the game board...and is very upset that we kept him off it.
Peanut butter cookies for the boy who melts my heart.
By the way, the credit card machine in the new Monopoly totally takes the fun out of it. You feel way richer with a stack of bills than with a measly plastic card. And I'm sorry, but how did Montreal beat out New York or Paris as the best spot on the board? Come on, Parker Brothers.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
moolah :)
Despite doing almost nothing this weekend, it turned out to be a pretty good one.
I filed my taxes and will be getting $1700 back, which is good because I will be able to pay off my debt to John and still have $200 left over for myself. I found out I will be getting a $715 refund check from my school, which will be a nice chunk of money towards my car payment. And, my dad finally caved and opened a package that was delivered to our house a month ago that we didn't order...turns out, it had a nice set of headphones and a web cam in it, both of which are now part of my computer. I also managed to get a good amount of homework done Saturday morning before John woke up which means less to do tomorrow night.
John and I were so lazy all weekend; we slept til noon both days and didn't make it to the gym at all. We went to see Defiance last night though and it was by far one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It's about three Jewish brothers during WWII who lead a group of over 1,000 through the Belorussian forests, on the run from the German army. It was definitely hard to watch at times because it was based on a true story, and obviously anything Holocaust-related is hard to stomach, but I find it all so fascinating. Makes you wonder how one man could convince hundreds of thousands of people that Jews deserved to be annihilated.
I can't think of much to write tonight, it's been kind of an off day. I am so ready for spring and sunshine and temperatures that don't keep me freezing all day long.
I filed my taxes and will be getting $1700 back, which is good because I will be able to pay off my debt to John and still have $200 left over for myself. I found out I will be getting a $715 refund check from my school, which will be a nice chunk of money towards my car payment. And, my dad finally caved and opened a package that was delivered to our house a month ago that we didn't order...turns out, it had a nice set of headphones and a web cam in it, both of which are now part of my computer. I also managed to get a good amount of homework done Saturday morning before John woke up which means less to do tomorrow night.
John and I were so lazy all weekend; we slept til noon both days and didn't make it to the gym at all. We went to see Defiance last night though and it was by far one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It's about three Jewish brothers during WWII who lead a group of over 1,000 through the Belorussian forests, on the run from the German army. It was definitely hard to watch at times because it was based on a true story, and obviously anything Holocaust-related is hard to stomach, but I find it all so fascinating. Makes you wonder how one man could convince hundreds of thousands of people that Jews deserved to be annihilated.
I can't think of much to write tonight, it's been kind of an off day. I am so ready for spring and sunshine and temperatures that don't keep me freezing all day long.
Monday, January 26, 2009
another semester begins
someone please explain why 3 year old ryan looks huge next to 6 year old gabriel?
Let me just start out by saying that I detest the fact that I have to go back to school tomorrow. It is comforting though, that this is my second-to-last semester.
This weekend went by too quickly, as they all do. Friday night we went to the newly renovated Pizza King which was surprisingly ten times better than it used to be. We got a buffalo chicken pizza that was so yummy, mostly because it wasn't too hot. Saturday we went to the gym in the morning, watched Titanic, and hung out wtih the boys all afternoon. We took them to the new laser tag place on the Berlin turnpike - don't go there, if you know what is good for you. $40 for the four of us for about ten minutes. Ten! That's all! I mean, I could care less because I hate laser tag but it clearly was not enough time for the boys but there was no way we were slapping down another $40 for a measly ten minutes. So, we did the boring thing and went back to their house so Uncle Johnny could play video games with them while I talked with Jennifer. Sunday we slept in, mostly because I had the most unimaginable cramps ever and I didn't want to move. After a ton of advil kicked in, we went to the mall to get my aunt a birthday gift and I finally got a new pair of running shoes for the gym. We also went grocery shopping and got lots of healthy food because we are both trying to not let our hours at the gym be in vain. That night we had a birthday dinner here for my aunt, ate yummy food and watched a video from my aunt and uncles wedding 14 years ago. All I have to say about that is hank goodness puffy bangs are not in style anymore.
This weekend could have been a disasterous one. Saturday was a significant date, one that I've dreaded for the last several months. Luckily, I have a wonderful boyfriend who kept me busy and my mind off of things. I am sure I will write about it later, but I almost want to let some time pass so it's not in my face as much.
Have I mentioned that I detest that I have to go to school tomorrow?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
i think i got it right this time
It's snowing. Again. It snowed last night, it's snowing now, and it's going to snow on and off for the next two days. Please remind me to move to Florida as soon as I'm done with school, ok?
I love weekends. I love laying in bed all day with John and Milo.
Speaking of Milo...he got a new toy. It's a pretty big one. It's a cat tree, and it goes from the floor to the ceiling, and has ledges every foot or so that he can sit on. As we all know, Milo is not the type of cat to just...sit. He tends to scramble to the top of the tree and look out over the entire room. He'll stay like that for a minute, or until he sees something he must investigate and then he jumps from the top down to the bed...a pretty big drop for a little guy. I'd been hearing about his newest antics all week and couldn't wait to see for myself when I got to John's on Friday night. It was funny at first, and as usual I took pictures of him flying through the room like super-kitty. Fast forward an hour or so, after we'd gone to bed, after we'd fallen asleep. Out of nowhere, I felt ten pounds of cat land on my back. After that happens a couple times, it gets to be not so cute anymore ; )
Remember the time I said I was going to make a book of all the sweet things John does, so that when I'm having a bad day I can look at it and be instantly cheered up? Well, this entire week I was going through John withdrawal...after spending 11 days straight with him, it was weird to not see him for five days and I missed him like crazy. And apparently I made sure I told him that 47 times this weekend, not to mention I barely let go of him for five hours ; ) So tonight, he sent me an IM telling me he was going to bed. It went like this (minus the screen names because there are lots of internets stalkers out there):
John: it's time for bed
Me: ok babe
John: sweet dreams, i miss you already!
Me: Awwwwwww!
You have to understand, he never says he misses me. I'd rather him not say these things because it's way cuter when he does : )
I love weekends. I love laying in bed all day with John and Milo.
Speaking of Milo...he got a new toy. It's a pretty big one. It's a cat tree, and it goes from the floor to the ceiling, and has ledges every foot or so that he can sit on. As we all know, Milo is not the type of cat to just...sit. He tends to scramble to the top of the tree and look out over the entire room. He'll stay like that for a minute, or until he sees something he must investigate and then he jumps from the top down to the bed...a pretty big drop for a little guy. I'd been hearing about his newest antics all week and couldn't wait to see for myself when I got to John's on Friday night. It was funny at first, and as usual I took pictures of him flying through the room like super-kitty. Fast forward an hour or so, after we'd gone to bed, after we'd fallen asleep. Out of nowhere, I felt ten pounds of cat land on my back. After that happens a couple times, it gets to be not so cute anymore ; )
yes, he has devil eyes ; )
Remember the time I said I was going to make a book of all the sweet things John does, so that when I'm having a bad day I can look at it and be instantly cheered up? Well, this entire week I was going through John withdrawal...after spending 11 days straight with him, it was weird to not see him for five days and I missed him like crazy. And apparently I made sure I told him that 47 times this weekend, not to mention I barely let go of him for five hours ; ) So tonight, he sent me an IM telling me he was going to bed. It went like this (minus the screen names because there are lots of internets stalkers out there):
John: it's time for bed
Me: ok babe
John: sweet dreams, i miss you already!
Me: Awwwwwww!
You have to understand, he never says he misses me. I'd rather him not say these things because it's way cuter when he does : )
Sunday, December 28, 2008
christmas is over already?!
I'm going to try to make my Christmas story as short as possible because it lasted four days, and that could turn into a really long post.
Christmas Eve all of the Swedes went to the Riverdale as usual. My mom, cousin Caroline and I set up the entire hall that afternoon, which took about an hour. I rushed home, made a yummy broccoli dish in record time, got ready in even better record time, and headed back to the Riverdale with John for the party. Uncle Gary & Aunt Laura brought the puppy who now has a name (Ursa!) which was fun. She pretty much doubled in size since I saw her last - which was only a week ago. We did the Silly Swap as usual, but John, Erin & I gave our numbers to our little cousins Katie, Lia and Jill since they didn't have numbers. It's more fun to see the kids have fun, anyway. I chatted with little Maddie, who is the sweetest thing ever. After, my family went to the midnight service at church, where Jenny, Christy and I couldn't stop giggling and where Baby Jesus magically lit Andrew's candle fifteen minutes early.
Christmas Day we woke up around 9am, and had to wait until 10 before we were "allowed" downstairs. My dad made the traditional Christmas morning cinnamon buns and Grandma Keser came over to open gifts with us. Santa came and left us all stockings - apparently he thinks we smell, because we all got deoderant, razors, and shower gel in our stockings this year. ; ) John came over around 11:30 and he & I exchanged our gifts. He loved his miniature Mustang RC car (that looks just like his!) and his book from Milo. Around 1:00 the rest of my family arrived and we stayed for a little bit before heading over to his sister's house to eat Christmas dinner and do gifts with the boys. It was fun seeing the boys so excited - Ryan was so antsy to open gifts - it didnt matter if they were for him or not! He tore into a couple during dinner, but all was forgiven since it was Christmas. We went down to the playroom while the boys tried out their brand new Wii, and Jen and I played with Ryan and his Batman Cave. It was a really, really nice Christmas, maybe one of the best ever. That night, we went back to John's where he gave me a white gold ring and matching necklace with my birthstone - they are absolutely beautiful. Like I said, best Christmas ever : )
The day after, we woke up and made pancakes and eggs for his parents and ourselves- yum! We layed around in bed for a while enjoying the long weekend and then came to my house to play with Cooper for a while. My dad made pizza for dinner with his new pizza stone which was yummy. We stopped at his sister's to give them another gift that arrived a day late (stupid mail) and headed off to see Marley & Me which I definitely reccomend, but be ready to cry. It's really sad. Even John was sad after! Saturday we met his mom and sister for lunch at Chilis, and spent a couple hours shopping afterwards. I'm lucky that he has such a great mom & sister, I have so much fun with them. Later on, we made a gingerbread train - I haven't made a gingerbread anything since about second grade! It was fun - Milo helped us out a whole bunch. He's always got to be in the middle of everything : ) We watched Stepbrothers that night, twice, and were very lazy again. I love being lazy. Especially with someone so cute.
Today we woke up and made waffles, played with Milo a whole bunch because we are going to miss him while we are in Disney next week. And I got a 20 minute backrub which was fabulous - my back hurts way less now. Which is good because we are going to Disney in less than a week! (!!!!!)
I have lots to do this week, like pack and clean and make sure I have enough change for the tolls. And AMANDA is coming to visit on Tuesday! Gonna be a busy week!
Christmas Eve all of the Swedes went to the Riverdale as usual. My mom, cousin Caroline and I set up the entire hall that afternoon, which took about an hour. I rushed home, made a yummy broccoli dish in record time, got ready in even better record time, and headed back to the Riverdale with John for the party. Uncle Gary & Aunt Laura brought the puppy who now has a name (Ursa!) which was fun. She pretty much doubled in size since I saw her last - which was only a week ago. We did the Silly Swap as usual, but John, Erin & I gave our numbers to our little cousins Katie, Lia and Jill since they didn't have numbers. It's more fun to see the kids have fun, anyway. I chatted with little Maddie, who is the sweetest thing ever. After, my family went to the midnight service at church, where Jenny, Christy and I couldn't stop giggling and where Baby Jesus magically lit Andrew's candle fifteen minutes early.
Christmas Day we woke up around 9am, and had to wait until 10 before we were "allowed" downstairs. My dad made the traditional Christmas morning cinnamon buns and Grandma Keser came over to open gifts with us. Santa came and left us all stockings - apparently he thinks we smell, because we all got deoderant, razors, and shower gel in our stockings this year. ; ) John came over around 11:30 and he & I exchanged our gifts. He loved his miniature Mustang RC car (that looks just like his!) and his book from Milo. Around 1:00 the rest of my family arrived and we stayed for a little bit before heading over to his sister's house to eat Christmas dinner and do gifts with the boys. It was fun seeing the boys so excited - Ryan was so antsy to open gifts - it didnt matter if they were for him or not! He tore into a couple during dinner, but all was forgiven since it was Christmas. We went down to the playroom while the boys tried out their brand new Wii, and Jen and I played with Ryan and his Batman Cave. It was a really, really nice Christmas, maybe one of the best ever. That night, we went back to John's where he gave me a white gold ring and matching necklace with my birthstone - they are absolutely beautiful. Like I said, best Christmas ever : )
The day after, we woke up and made pancakes and eggs for his parents and ourselves- yum! We layed around in bed for a while enjoying the long weekend and then came to my house to play with Cooper for a while. My dad made pizza for dinner with his new pizza stone which was yummy. We stopped at his sister's to give them another gift that arrived a day late (stupid mail) and headed off to see Marley & Me which I definitely reccomend, but be ready to cry. It's really sad. Even John was sad after! Saturday we met his mom and sister for lunch at Chilis, and spent a couple hours shopping afterwards. I'm lucky that he has such a great mom & sister, I have so much fun with them. Later on, we made a gingerbread train - I haven't made a gingerbread anything since about second grade! It was fun - Milo helped us out a whole bunch. He's always got to be in the middle of everything : ) We watched Stepbrothers that night, twice, and were very lazy again. I love being lazy. Especially with someone so cute.
Today we woke up and made waffles, played with Milo a whole bunch because we are going to miss him while we are in Disney next week. And I got a 20 minute backrub which was fabulous - my back hurts way less now. Which is good because we are going to Disney in less than a week! (!!!!!)
I have lots to do this week, like pack and clean and make sure I have enough change for the tolls. And AMANDA is coming to visit on Tuesday! Gonna be a busy week!
my sister and I on Christmas morning
with some of my little cousins on Christmas Eve
John and I on Christmas Eve
the fabulous gingerbread train
i sure am gonna miss this little guy next week!
Monday, December 22, 2008
so baby drive slow til we run out of road
the mickey wreath looking very festive
my neighbor's giant pine tree
our fence. and pepper in the background looking quite dirty =(
we shoveled and cleared off cars all day = we were cold. especially my nose.
a tree. i thought it looked cool.
I finished my Christmas shopping today, at Target. I feel like I didn't do much this year, but it's because my family did Secret Santa, so I only had to get my sister something. Even then, we had a spending limit and the thing she wanted was over the limit so that's all I got her. I did a photo theme this year, and I hope Snapfish follows through on their promise for delivery by the 24th. I am making a broccoli dish for Christmas Eve which is the DAY AFTER TOMORROW. Which means I need to go shopping and buy broccoli!
Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year. My Grandfather's side of the family (the Swedes - there are about fifty of us - not including in-laws) rents a hall for Christmas Eve and it's just fabulous. It's the only time we all get to see each other, and we do a pinata (we are Swedes that like to pretend to be Hispanic, apparently) and we do the Swedish tradition of St.Lucia, we do the "silly swap" (everyone wraps a funny gift and it's kind of like a grab bag with rules to make it even more fun) and Santa even makes an appearance. It's just the best night of the year. It makes me remember being little, and being SO excited that Santa was coming and getting to sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted. Years later, I don't know how I never realized "Santa" was my cousin, I suppose it is the blonde in me. Afterward, we go to the midnight service at church which is beautiful because it's all candle light. When I was little, we'd always get in trouble for making too much noise...but honestly, how can you expect three kids to be quiet in church when Santa is coming in a few hours!?
Disney is in twelve days. Yes, twelve. Twelve days until I will be basking in 85 degree weather, surrounded by all the most magical things in the world. It's the only thing getting me through this disaster of a winter we are having so far.
I also bought Taylor Swift's new album Fearless on iTunes tonight. I officially need to stop spending money otherwise I wont be able to afford my Minnie Mouse ears in Disney, which is clearly a priority in my life ; )
Sunday, December 21, 2008
it's looking like a white christmas
If I didn't lose my camera at John's, I'd be able to post the pictures of the blizzard that hit the northeast this weekend. It basically lasted 48 hours and left parts of the state with 15+ inches of snow.
I spent the weekend shoveling, cleaning off cars, and curled up in bed with John & Milo, and it was fabulous, minus the shoveling and cleaning off cars part.
I almost finished my Christmas shopping, I just have one more thing to get John and I'll be all set.
PS - This is Cooper's first real experience with a lot of snow, and he took to hopping like a rabbit instead of walking. I'm going to try to get a video of it because it's pretty entertaining to see ; )
I spent the weekend shoveling, cleaning off cars, and curled up in bed with John & Milo, and it was fabulous, minus the shoveling and cleaning off cars part.
I almost finished my Christmas shopping, I just have one more thing to get John and I'll be all set.
PS - This is Cooper's first real experience with a lot of snow, and he took to hopping like a rabbit instead of walking. I'm going to try to get a video of it because it's pretty entertaining to see ; )
Sunday, November 30, 2008
holiday recap
Thanksgiving was nice. I woke up to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, ate chocolate chip birthday pancakes that my mom made, and took my time getting dressed since Thanksgiving is supposed to be a lazy holiday. I opened some gifts with my family (necklace and Swedish alcohol) while my mom took 45345 pictures of us. We (my family + John) went to my cousin Tommy's house for a little bit to visit with my family, where John and I played foosball and pool, and where he beat me at both. It was quieter than most holidays with my family, and we only stayed for a couple hours. Then we went to John's sister's for dinner, and we had fun playing with the kids, even if Ryan was a ball of endless energy all day long. We had yummy turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, and his sister's homemade apple pie. I opened some birthday gifts (a fabulous "I <3 Lifehouse" hoodie from John, Enchanted from Jen and the kids, and Wall-E from John's parents) and by that time it was almost 8pm so we left. That night we watched Wall-E but I barely stayed awake for it all.
Friday, I went to work with John. It was actually a lot of fun. He let me wear his FedEx jacket and even made me deliver some packages by myself to residential areas. We delivered 186 packages and made (I think) about 45 stops. I only got in the way once, which was good since his truck is kind of cramped. We went to a big building full of different offices in Meriden where there were two really sketchy old elevators, where you had to open the wooden doors & gates, and crank the elevator to where you wanted it to go and match up lines on the walls before getting out...it was quite terrifying to me, but I survived. We got done around 3pm, since a lot of his stops were closed for the holiday. That night we went out to Dakota's with two of his friends, had really slowwww service, expensive and not-worth-it food, but good drinks. It took an hour to get our food, twenty minutes just to get our drinks! We were all so annoyed that we ate and left as quickly as possible, but it was still fun.
Saturday we came to my house for a birthday dinner and ate really yummy taco salad that my mom made. We decorated the Christmas tree, spent fifteen minutes taking a Christmas card picture, and watched Wall-E with Dad and Aunt Sonia. I opened more gifts (a Wall-E snowglobe from John, liquor from Art & Sonia, Bath & Body Works stuff I've been wanting from Erin, a shotglass from Andrew, and a car payment from my grandparents) and ate birthday cake.
That night, we went to the Casino with my grandparents. It was an hour drive- we left at 9:30pm and got there around 10:30. John and I went to the bar and he ordered me a Sex on the Beach which was really yummy. We gambled a little, I was ahead at one point but ended up losing all my money (which was only 40 dollars). John did well and went home only losing $10. We were out til about 2:30 and didn't get back to his house until 4am, so needless to say we slept really late today. (Til 3pm). We went to Denny's for a late (really late) breakfast, and to Walmart to get some stuff. We watched some corny Lifetime Christmas movies and were lazy, since it was disgusting outside (rainy, cold, and wet all day long).
Definitely a good weekend and I am sad to have to go back to work and school.
Friday, I went to work with John. It was actually a lot of fun. He let me wear his FedEx jacket and even made me deliver some packages by myself to residential areas. We delivered 186 packages and made (I think) about 45 stops. I only got in the way once, which was good since his truck is kind of cramped. We went to a big building full of different offices in Meriden where there were two really sketchy old elevators, where you had to open the wooden doors & gates, and crank the elevator to where you wanted it to go and match up lines on the walls before getting out...it was quite terrifying to me, but I survived. We got done around 3pm, since a lot of his stops were closed for the holiday. That night we went out to Dakota's with two of his friends, had really slowwww service, expensive and not-worth-it food, but good drinks. It took an hour to get our food, twenty minutes just to get our drinks! We were all so annoyed that we ate and left as quickly as possible, but it was still fun.
Saturday we came to my house for a birthday dinner and ate really yummy taco salad that my mom made. We decorated the Christmas tree, spent fifteen minutes taking a Christmas card picture, and watched Wall-E with Dad and Aunt Sonia. I opened more gifts (a Wall-E snowglobe from John, liquor from Art & Sonia, Bath & Body Works stuff I've been wanting from Erin, a shotglass from Andrew, and a car payment from my grandparents) and ate birthday cake.
That night, we went to the Casino with my grandparents. It was an hour drive- we left at 9:30pm and got there around 10:30. John and I went to the bar and he ordered me a Sex on the Beach which was really yummy. We gambled a little, I was ahead at one point but ended up losing all my money (which was only 40 dollars). John did well and went home only losing $10. We were out til about 2:30 and didn't get back to his house until 4am, so needless to say we slept really late today. (Til 3pm). We went to Denny's for a late (really late) breakfast, and to Walmart to get some stuff. We watched some corny Lifetime Christmas movies and were lazy, since it was disgusting outside (rainy, cold, and wet all day long).
Definitely a good weekend and I am sad to have to go back to work and school.
Monday, November 17, 2008
all that shimmers
Despite the rainy, damp, and cold weather, this weekend was pretty good. I spent all of Friday night cleaning out my closet, putting away summer clothes, and getting rid of stuff I don't wear anymore. My room is so clean, I love it.
Saturday we (my parents, Erin, John and I) braved the crowded mall and trekked through crowds of people to the Disney Store to buy our park tickets. I think I was the only one excited about getting them, but what are you gonna do? ;)Forty-six days until we leave!After that, John and I met Matt for lunch at Chili's, went back to his house, and we both fell asleep for a fabulous two hour nap. Then we went back to Chili's with Matt and we each got our own lava cake dessert - and do you know those things have 1300 calories in them?? Luckily I wasn't able to finish mine. Sunday was lazy, we slept in til after noon. John and I were just driving around that afternoon and we just happened to end up at this cute little gift store that he delivers to for work. He told me months ago that it is a store that I would like, and recently told me that it's going out of business. I've been dying to go, but I didn't know how to get there, or the address, or the name, or anything. My super-awesome boyfriend brought me there Sunday afternoon and we spent 45 minutes walking through the store (and I spent 45 minutes wishing I wasn't broke!) They had the cutest things, it reminded me of an Anthropologie store, minus clothing. I hope I get my sister for Secret Santa, so I have another excuse to go there before they close.
John and I started going to the gym last week, and it feels SO GOOD to be back. I forgot how much it de-stresses me, not to mention that I actually feel good about myself after. And it was a nice surprise to see that I didn't lose much of my endurance in the last 11 months that I have been without a membership.
Wall-E was released today and SOMEONE is very excited and hopeful that it will show up on November 27th as a birthday gift (hint hint) since I am obviously broke saving for Christmas and Disney. (Have I mentioned that I am broke?) Also on my list of Disney DVDs that I have not been able to afford in the last year: Sleeping Beauty, Enchanted, Robin Hood, Fox and the Hound, Mulan, etc. For anyone who doesn't know, I collect the animated classics and some of the newer movies, but they MUST be in the cardboard sleeve, otherwise I wont buy them. It's a collection, which is why they all have to match, duh. I am very excitd that Beauty and the Beast is re-releasing in 2010, and I'm pretty sure Snow White is in 2009. =)
It's cold, I have school tomorrow, and I am dying for Thanksgiving break. Next week I have two days of work and that's it. I'm skipping school on Tuesday, Thursday is my birthday (which is obviously why everyone has the day off, nevermind that it's Thanksgiving!), and Friday I have off work. And then the semester is pretty much over...hello Christmas break! Hello Disney!
Life is good. =)
Saturday we (my parents, Erin, John and I) braved the crowded mall and trekked through crowds of people to the Disney Store to buy our park tickets. I think I was the only one excited about getting them, but what are you gonna do? ;)Forty-six days until we leave!After that, John and I met Matt for lunch at Chili's, went back to his house, and we both fell asleep for a fabulous two hour nap. Then we went back to Chili's with Matt and we each got our own lava cake dessert - and do you know those things have 1300 calories in them?? Luckily I wasn't able to finish mine. Sunday was lazy, we slept in til after noon. John and I were just driving around that afternoon and we just happened to end up at this cute little gift store that he delivers to for work. He told me months ago that it is a store that I would like, and recently told me that it's going out of business. I've been dying to go, but I didn't know how to get there, or the address, or the name, or anything. My super-awesome boyfriend brought me there Sunday afternoon and we spent 45 minutes walking through the store (and I spent 45 minutes wishing I wasn't broke!) They had the cutest things, it reminded me of an Anthropologie store, minus clothing. I hope I get my sister for Secret Santa, so I have another excuse to go there before they close.
John and I started going to the gym last week, and it feels SO GOOD to be back. I forgot how much it de-stresses me, not to mention that I actually feel good about myself after. And it was a nice surprise to see that I didn't lose much of my endurance in the last 11 months that I have been without a membership.
Wall-E was released today and SOMEONE is very excited and hopeful that it will show up on November 27th as a birthday gift (hint hint) since I am obviously broke saving for Christmas and Disney. (Have I mentioned that I am broke?) Also on my list of Disney DVDs that I have not been able to afford in the last year: Sleeping Beauty, Enchanted, Robin Hood, Fox and the Hound, Mulan, etc. For anyone who doesn't know, I collect the animated classics and some of the newer movies, but they MUST be in the cardboard sleeve, otherwise I wont buy them. It's a collection, which is why they all have to match, duh. I am very excitd that Beauty and the Beast is re-releasing in 2010, and I'm pretty sure Snow White is in 2009. =)
It's cold, I have school tomorrow, and I am dying for Thanksgiving break. Next week I have two days of work and that's it. I'm skipping school on Tuesday, Thursday is my birthday (which is obviously why everyone has the day off, nevermind that it's Thanksgiving!), and Friday I have off work. And then the semester is pretty much over...hello Christmas break! Hello Disney!
Life is good. =)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
a little piece of fall for you
This weekend was the perfect fall weekend, even if it was a little warm.
Friday night we didn't do much of anything, besides go to dinner and watch tv. Saturday we rolled out of bed around 1pm, which was fabulous. We met John's friend for a late lunch at the diner and I got the best chocolate chip pancakes EVER, second only to my mom's. Then we played frisbee with Cooper for a while, which he loooved.
That night, we went to the Portland Fair with two of John's friends. I love the fair, even though it's really small and boring. We saw my uncle's giant pumpkin (497.5 pounds!) and visited my parents at the coffee booth, and split the firemen's french fries. Later, John and I drove my brother back to Qunnipiac and got to see the campus and Andrew's dorm room.
Today we woke up and about a half hour later, John's sister showed up at the apartment. We left from there to go to her house for lunch on the grill with her and the boys. Then we took the two older boys to Wadsworth Falls in Middlefield, which was gorgeous! We hiked around the waterfall with them for about an hour, which was a lot of fun, especially because it was perfect weather.
[gallery]
1. The boys, running.
2. Gorgeous day, gorgeous picture =)
3. Waterfalllll!
4. The boys with Uncle Johnny
5. Gabriel in front of the waterfall
6. My love<3
7. Posing literally ten feet from the waterfall
8. Heading up the stairs
9. With Gabriel
10. With Jacob
11. John took this one of the stream =)
Friday night we didn't do much of anything, besides go to dinner and watch tv. Saturday we rolled out of bed around 1pm, which was fabulous. We met John's friend for a late lunch at the diner and I got the best chocolate chip pancakes EVER, second only to my mom's. Then we played frisbee with Cooper for a while, which he loooved.
That night, we went to the Portland Fair with two of John's friends. I love the fair, even though it's really small and boring. We saw my uncle's giant pumpkin (497.5 pounds!) and visited my parents at the coffee booth, and split the firemen's french fries. Later, John and I drove my brother back to Qunnipiac and got to see the campus and Andrew's dorm room.
Today we woke up and about a half hour later, John's sister showed up at the apartment. We left from there to go to her house for lunch on the grill with her and the boys. Then we took the two older boys to Wadsworth Falls in Middlefield, which was gorgeous! We hiked around the waterfall with them for about an hour, which was a lot of fun, especially because it was perfect weather.
[gallery]
1. The boys, running.
2. Gorgeous day, gorgeous picture =)
3. Waterfalllll!
4. The boys with Uncle Johnny
5. Gabriel in front of the waterfall
6. My love<3
7. Posing literally ten feet from the waterfall
8. Heading up the stairs
9. With Gabriel
10. With Jacob
11. John took this one of the stream =)
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