Continued Wedding Pics...

By request, I have uploaded a few more pictures from my wedding to the luurrrv of my life back in June 2008.

I hope that you enjoy!


I was extremely lucky in the planning of my wedding that both my sis and one of my best friends are photographers. My sis took my bridal portraits at the Parthenon in Nashville, TN about a month before the wedding.You can learn more about my sis's photgraphy here.

And my darling friend Natalie McGee photographed my wedding. I am so glad that she did as well, my photos are priceless to me and the experience was wonderful.

Anywho - that's a few more tidbits from that awesome day.

Makeover!

It's a blustery day in Central PA today and I decided that a good way to encourage Spring to arrive a little early is to Springify my corner of the blog world. Even if it's only in a tiny, little way, like brightening up my blog and forcing myself to wear bright colors. Hey I'm doing my part and I would encourage you to do the same! Oh and I'm looking through bathing suit catalogs. Though I admit, I'm focused more on the beaches and how warm the models look. And I am oh so jealous!

Anyhow, tell me what you think of the new look. Is it bright in a good way? Or does your monitor glow like toxic waste when you load the page?

GRE Insanity

Source- this is the cover of my favorite book at the moment.

This week, I have begun my study prep to take the GRE on April 28th. I have purchased all of the necessary study guides and downloaded the practice test programs from ETS. I've even set up study schedule for myself gauging approximately how many hours per day I will need to study to get the score that I want.

Standardized, scantrony tests have never been my strongest area. I am one of those weirdos who would rather write a short essay than try to ace the fill in the blank questions. Luckily, the GRE does include essay-style questions. However, it also includes some "sentence completion" questions as well. But,I'm not scared of the verbal section, the math is really what makes me worried.

I graduated college in 2005. I completed my math requirements my freshman year, with the exception of a finance and accounting classes for my business minor. This means I have had NO algebra or arithmetic instruction since 2002. Yikes! I now am trying to dig all of that high school algebra (and back even further, we're talking division of fractions) out of my brain and pretend like I remember this stuff. In actuality, the concepts are simple, it's just remembering all of the little rules that helped me through the first time that's the challenge.

Sadly, I am not mathematically inclined. I spent long hours in the Math tutoring center in college getting help from a gifted Indian girl named Krishna. She was able to teach me a lot, but I would liken it to beating a sharp, square peg into a tiny, round hole. Painful!

My lack of math skills is not due to genetics. My father is an engineer and possesses a brilliant, scientific and logical mind. Mathematics makes sense to him and I remember him telling me as a very little girl that understanding Calculus can help you understand the world more clearly. For him, the concepts of Math are the building blocks on which the world is understood. We spent many nights at the kitchen table with me crying out of frustration and him unable to simplify a concept further to teach it to me.

Thus, to say that learning math has always been difficult to me is sort of an understatement. I am attempting, once again to fill my mind with these concepts, rules, shortcuts, rhymes, limericks - anything to help me through. And speaking of studying, it is now time (according to my schedule) to work on my antonyms and (gag) a little algebra.

Wish me luck, please! And for anyone out there who has been through this whole Grad School admissions process and wants to shed a little light on the experience, please leave a comment!

Thanks and I'm off....

Moving, Muppet Babies and Purging Your Facebook Friends

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What is it about moving that sucks so bad? Oh wait, everything.

This weekend we helped my father-in-law pack and move his apartment near Virginia Beach. It's not that he was unprepared to move or didn't have a plan, or anything else. Moving just sucks and I have done my fair share. I have move one time (actually twice in 2008) every year for approximately 9 years.

One would think that with all my experiences with moving, I might enjoy it or be proficient in the science of it. One would be wrong on both counts. Moving, or even helping someone move is painful, stressful and sweaty work. It absolutely brings out the worst in me. I hate a mess and disorder makes me a grouch! Not to mention, packing away someone else's stuff is nothing short of awkward. It puts you in situations like, "sure I'll pack your flight simulator and wireless walky-talky headsets." Then you find yourself deleting this person from facebook and cell phones because you can't believe how WEIRD they are. If I hadn't helped you move, we'd still be friends. Such a senseless loss...

But I suppose being weird is no real reason to cut someone out of your life (although creating a little healthy distance between you and your bizarre-o buddy might be a good idea). We all have our weird stuff! I admit to owning a collection of old 80's happy meal toys. I don't have them at my place, they are with my Mom and Dad and I will not allow them to be discarded. Somewhere in my mind, that McNugget dressed like Crocodile Dundee has real value and should not be disposed of. A little irrational, I know.

Hey, in my defense, my nieces and nephews love to play with them in the bathtub though they have no idea about these weird characters I keep naming off. Fozzy Bear? Miss Piggy? Gonzo? I'm thinking, "come on, they're the Muppet Babies! They're classic treasures! Kids today... If the character doesn't have their own iphone, they're not cool." Then I promptly call myself an old curmudgeon.

I'm sure a day will come, maybe soon, maybe in the future, when I part with some of the knick-knacks of my childhood. Perhaps I will simply tire of them or perhaps I will lose so many acquaintances by asking their help in moving them in the next few years (because I'm sure I'll be moving more than once), that I'll be forced to be rid of them. Either way... moving sucks!

I am "the painting elephant of being awesome"

This post is dedicated to the shrine of incredible comedy that is 30 Rock. I LOVE this show - really, really, really love it.

It's so relevant and smart and Tiny Fey is incredible for her ability to laugh at herself. And she's able to point out all the silly things about being a successful, single woman in the entertainment industry living in NYC. While so much of what happens on the show is ridiculous and hilarious, she makes some spot-on points about what's it's like to be a successful, career-oriented woman.
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1. Women in charge are often treated like they're everyone's mother. They get a bad wrap for being a "nag," when a man in a similar position is allowed to be a complete micro-manager without getting that crap label.

2. Women in entertainment have crazy, messed up ideas of beauty and body image. This is extremely obvious, but shocks me all the time. I mean have you seen Madonna's face lately? Why is this considered beauty? I suppose it's insecurity that makes so many women buy into the bleached, tanned and surgically tightened versions of what the female body "should" be. And oh lordy, don't get me started on that idiot from The Hills.

3. People are funny. Everyone's workplace has a full cast of characters that are annoying, hilarious, crazy, exhausting, and full of idiocy to last for days. Oh, and I could write many love sonnets to the genius that is Tracy Morgan. It took me some time to come to understand the awesomeness of Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan's character in the show that is basically him, he's not acting) along with Dot Com and Grizz.

So, enjoy 30 Rock, but maybe try not to overthink it... like I appear to have done. I swear I don't watch the show while taking notes.

Why I could live in Madison, Connecticut

Isn't that beautiful? This is the beach at East Wharf Beach in Madison, CT. Hubs and I took our little Valentine's Day getaway to this lovely little town. Not only does this town lie on the Connecticut shoreline, it has more to offer than just a beach. The town's center is quaint with a few restaurants of varying styles, a little movie theater, independent bookstore, and a few local coffee shops/cafes.

We stayed at the Scranton Sea Horse Inn which was a fantastic deal! Our room was cozy and perfect and we were served a delicious breakfast this morning with our fellow guests. I would love to go back in the Summer and spend another weekend there.
The Sea Horse is full of cozy little nooks and places to relax, like this sweet window seat. The Innkeepers Michael and Brian have taken the guest into account in every way at their Inn. When you enter the Sea Horse you are like a guest in their home. Their inn is cozy, inviting and elegant while still being very comfortable.
Saturday night we went to Elizabeth's Cafe, which is a homey yet elegant bistro-style restaurant that serves a little of everything. We went with seafood, hubs having the monkfish (he raved over it) and me the scallops (cooked to perfection). We finished it all off with vanilla cream and chocolate cake bread pudding.


After dinner, we walked the five minutes or so to the cute, little movie theater and saw, "Crazy Heart." That is the movie that stars Jeff Bridges as "Bad Blake" with Maggie Gyllenhal and Colin Farrell, in a profile of an aging, country troubadour. We really enjoyed the movie and the music was surprisingly good. Colin Farrell sang a bit on camera (I think that was him) and Jeff Bridges undoubtedly sang on camera. Bridges was surprisingly good and had a real Waylon Jennings meets Kris Kristofferson thing going on.
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All in all, it was a lovely weekend and my valentine and I had a much needed change of pace in a very romantic location. I hope that everyone out in blogland had a happy Valentine's Day as well. Whether it was spent with your significant other or best pals, I hope it was an enjoyable day.

Now I must retire, because unfortunately my place of business does not close in honor of our favorite Presidents. How lame. I'm all about celebrating the Presidents!

Anyway, bon soir!

Emerging... Bleary Eyed and Confused.

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*Don't say I didn't warn you - this post is the rambling mess of a woman just emerging from severe cabin fever.

For those of us who live in the 'burbs, inclement weather means that you are stuck in your house for long, long extended periods of time. I am not a person who is great at being cooped up indoors. Even a day is a stretch for me. I have to get out, walk around, see the sky and see some other people. So the isolation of the past few days has nearly driven me nuts. I've walked the empty streets of my town, amazed at how my neighbors can hunker down indoors, only emerging to shovel snow and occasionally curse.


Bored. I have been bored, bored, bored to no end. And the more bored I get, the more lazy I get! What a vicious cycle. We have played cards, video games, board games, watched movies and still have been so, so bored. Just talking about it makes me want to get up and do twenty jumping acks to get rid of all my excess energy. How do people who live in Alaska get through the winter without going crazy? But I digress...

Something exciting happened to me last night. I was able to get in my car with minimal shoveling, and back out of my driveway with no sliding, slipping or crashing and drive to my yoga class. I had other people to talk to, not just my dog and husband. And, I got to see what the rest of the world has been up to. For a person whose looked at about a 8 block radius for the last three days, this was a thrill!

Today I am at work, and for once I don't even mind it. The change of venue in which to sit indoors is a nice variance.


Now however, I am reminded at this moment of how thankful I should be to have warmth, a job, a home to shelter me through this terrible weather. And I am trying to be thankful, though I know not enough. This is due to the fact that boredom overtakes my thankfulness and makes me think crazy thoughts about taking roadtrips to Arizona just to be warmer.

BUT, I am thankful. I am thankful that I got out of my house. Thankul that I was able to practice yoga and alleviate my "shovel shoulder" condition (I am still having some difficulty in getting my arms high enough to shampoo). Thankful for the company of my husband and dog.

But dang, three days in a house is my limit!

Une vacance Francophone!

(Openair Market in Aix-en-Provence)

Do you ever feel the need to throw yourself a little pep rally? Whether it's a day at the spa to get ready for final exams, a day at the beach to gear up for your wedding planning, or just a long bath to muster the pep for another day in the office, a personal pep rally is often a good idea.

I am throwing myself a little "Go back to school for your Master's and Possibly Ph.D" pep rally this May or June. Although I'm not sure where I'll be going back to school, I can tell you that I'll be getting my Master's in Education /French in order to teach French. I am signed up to take the GRE on April 28th and I plan on being is school in August 2010.

So, my pep rally is coming in the form of a trip to France. My husband will probably not be able to come with me, so I am planning on doing it with a friend. I am thinking a trip to the South of France, maybe a little time in Paris will really get me back in Frenchy mode and motivated to go back to school!

I'm pretty thrilled about this prospect and looking to mark another 2010 destination off my list.


So here is a picture of the gorgeous city of Nice (pronounced like niece) to get us all in the spirit! I visited Nice many years ago when I was in high school and have always wanted to visit as an adult. It's French, beachy and feels like the landscape is straight out of a painting. Just too perfect!

I'll post my plans as they come together. Anyone have any tips for traveling through Provence/Cote D'Azur, please let me know! I'm so open to anything that might help me have a great trip and save a lil dough :)

Waffles, snow and homebrewing

Saturday morning we looked out our front door and found this:A big ole snow storm blew through Central PA on Friday night we got about 28 inches of snow. But, fear not, we were prepared. I made certain we were stocked with food and drink to make it through a weekend at home.

We knew that Saturday was going to be a whole a lot of snow-moving, so a hearty breakfast was definitely in order. Homemade buttermilk waffles topped with a apricot preserves and bacon sounds about right.


Now properly fed, my sweetie got to work shoveling our walk and getting his truck mostly free while I cleaned up the breakfast dishes and took our very antsy dog out for a walk.

Unfortunately, with snow up to his tummy, he wasn't feeling very comfortable taking care of business... alas. Our whole neighborhood was out in full force using their snow throwers, shoveling snow, plowing snow, but still in a very chipper mood. Mick got lots of attention, so he was happy.

I took over the shoveling duty and Tyler took a walk with Mick and he made really good progress, but here's what we were working with:
Yes, that's my little Toyota Matrix. So after about another two or three hours, we had both our cars free of snow and had shoveled out our neighbors as well.

My little valentine's day gift for hubs arrived on Friday afternoon (pre-blizzard) thus continuing my streak as best wife on the planet. For Christmas this year I purchased him a homebrew kit to make his own beer. And now we are about a week away from having a batch of homemade lager. But, hub is not much a of lager man, honestly, he's more into the IPA's, occasionally the Belgians. So I purchased this for him:
The "refill kit" with supplies to produce four more batches of beer. This means, he'll be spending a lot more time brewing in the kitchen and bottling in the basement. This will probably induce the purchase of another keg to be used for fermentation. But, what can I tell ya, I just want my guy to be happy.

I'll be wearing my gold star for awesomeness this weekend when we're enjoying MY valentine's day gift of a getaway to Connecticut. Yippee! And the plans are really coming together!

We're staying here:
At the Scranton Seahorse Inn in Madison, CT and I made dinner reservations at a place very nearby. It's going to be great!

And now we are watching the final minutes tick away on the Super Bowl. I really don't mind either team, but at the moment it looks like the Saints are going to take this one home. So, congrats NOLA! You all certainly deserve a win. Though I admit, I love my Peyton and am a little sad for him.

That being said, CONGRATS WHO DAT NATION!

Puppies!!!

Puppy Bowl is maybe the most adorable thing in the world and it airs this Sunday beginning at 3 pm. In case you are not familiar with the concept, 20 little rescue pups are put on a little fake football field with toy footballs and rope toys and they play. They play with each other, the run around, they roll and tumble with each other and it's precious. Like make me giggle with delight precious!

As special bonus for me, a member of the starting lineup looks just like my man Mick did when he was a pup. Oh the memories. Here he is, Carson of the Puppy Bowl, in all his preciousness.
Is that a little lump you could just squeeze or what?

And here's what they grow up to be:
Like how he has himself wrapped around that pole? He's an expert at that, but what can I say, he's mine.

Here are some of my other favs in the starting line-up. All adorable and all up for adoption.




Which leads us to my plug for pet adoption. If you are considering getting a pet, please consider adoption. While I have friends who have gotten lovely pets from breeders, there is something intangibly grateful about an animal rescued from a shelter. They know that you saved them, and they're so, so loving in return.

And don't forget to check out the Puppy Bowl this Super Bowl Sunday at 3 pm on Animal Planet. It'll be all the cuteness you can stand.

Lunch Hour Confessions: Part Deux

Remember Bobby Salesguy? My gregarious co-worker from my first installment of Lunch Hour Confessions? The one who is cheez-wiz personified? Well he has struck again today, much to my disdain.

The only thing that is cheering me up at the moment is the fact that I'm working on a Disability Insurance case for a guy named Rusty Nipple. No kidding, that's his name. The jokes that have come from this have been my salvation from Bobby Salesguy and helped me to repress urges to poke him in the eye with my letter opener!

So here's the deal. I am on my lunch hour (thus the title), enjoying my healthy choice chicken and rice soup and yogurt feast, reading the blogs I occasionally read when I left my book in the car and simultaneously writing an email to a friend. Here comes Bobby S. all fired up off some great sale or something stupid, into my cube to look over my shoulder to no only READ MY EMAIL, but asks EXACTLY WHAT I'M LOOKING AT ONLINE. What is that?

I give some explanation to him of what I'm looking at, as I eye my letter opener, on my lunch break and tell him "You are the nosiest person I've ever met." This then solicits a slew of apologies, ranging from, "I'm not going to steal your soup" to "I didn't mean to invade your space." You can't help but tell someone it's ok when they grovel like that! But in truth, it's not ok. Because this nearly fifty-year-old man has not learned ANYTHING from this interaction.

He didn't learn that he was wrong to pry into my private email (not sent from the company address) or that when you are on your lunch break, eating in ze cube (depressing) because you forgot your freggin book, maybe you should just be left in peace.

RAWR! Sometimes it'd be nice to have a dinosaur-like roar that you could let out at moments like this. Bobby Salesguy would soil himself.

Snooooow Daaaayy!

On Wednesdays and Fridays, I am off work and free to pursue whatever my little heart desires. As I said earlier today, it snowed last night, so Mick and I ventured out to take some pretty snowy pictures.

It was also time for a Mickdog photoshoot as I have not taken many pictures of him lately. He is my furry son and means the world to me (I could go on regarding my devotion to my boy and maybe I will later) and so I am remiss for not taking more sweet, candid photos. I righted the situation this morning by taking no less than 20 action shots.

Here are the highlights of Mick/our walk together:

This is what happens when you walk a hound dog. You sniff and sniff and sniff.

Me and my main man, little sweetheart and best pal. I love my dog!

On a side note, can anyone tell me why my pics sometimes post with giant spaces between them? What gives?

A Waltz for a Snowy Day

Though the weatherfolks were only predicting an inch or so of snow to fall last night in our area, we actually got around 4-5 inches. Yippeee! Winter wonderland day :)

I know I live in the Northeast now and should really not be so excited over a snowy day, but what can I say, it still feels new sometimes!

So, while I'm out playing in the fluffy, white snow, here's a waltz for the morning. I just love this song!




Snow pictures to come, should anything strike me as lovely, which I'm sure it will.

Short and Sweet

Wooowww. I got a bit long-winded yesterday. It was a lot of describe, but geesh. I'm such a geef. (that's not a typo, it's a word I invented... geef. Use it.)

So, today I'm keeping this one short n' sweet. Remember that trip to Connecticut I was talking about taking earlier this month? I decided that throwing it together with less than a week's notice, while fun and spontaneous, is also majorly more expensive. So, it's on the books for Valentine's Day weekend.

The hub and I aren't big Valentine's Day people, however. This will mark the second time we've ever done something besides give one another card. We're not big on gifts, so I consider this trip our gift to each other.

Very exciting! I've got calls into this little inn and this little inn and a couple of other too. It's going to be a short getaway, but still a getaway. And a big plus, if all goes well, I will be checking one destination off my 2010 list. I hope it snows while we're there... lots and lots.

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? If so, how do you shower the ones you love with affection or do you throw up the finger at the very mention of "VD?"

*photo source

The weekend that was..

Thanks to Toothpastefordinner.com for this morsel

What a weird weekend! Looking back to Friday it feels like it was really long and normally that's a great thing and means that I had an awesome weekend, full of fun and generally little sleep.

But this was a different weekend. Friday I was home basically the whole day. I didn't accomplish much, but sometimes that's a good day. Friday night, we wento Cafe Bruge, in Carlisle, PA.

This is our favorite place by far in Central PA. We love to sit at the bar and chat with owner/bartender Garrett and scarf up the amazing food. An order of frites to start is a must, the rest our menu changes every visit. This time we had stoemp saucisse. Yum!!


Saturday, I completed my volunteer shift from 10 - 1 at the Susquehanna Art Museum and proceeded to have a meltdown on the way home. Over nothing! I'm blaming it solely on hormones. The meltdown took about an hour, from during my drive home and then the comforting from my befuddled husband.*

Saturday afternoon, is a complete blank for me? What did I do? I know we took the dog for a walk, but what else? I'm not sure. Saturday night we drove to Hershey to go to dinner at a place we like, called Houlihan's. Unfortunately, most of the residents of Hershey had the same idea. So, we drove around a bit till we found The Chocolate Avenue Grill. We went in with no expectations and found a very nice place to share a Saturday night! We started with the best spanikopita I have ever had and ended with a slice of lemon marscapone cake. My man had the steak special that came with sweet potato fries (his fav) and a giant tree of steamed broccoli. And I had the seared tuna encrusted in sesame and poppy seeds and a strawberry, papaya salsa. Delish!

So Saturday started with tears and ended with cake. A pretty good save!

Sunday was interesting! We ventured to Ski Roundtop to try our hands at skiing. I was excited all the way there and ready for the challenge! I was armed with all the advice and tips from friends and blogfriends alike. We got there, bought our passes, rented our equipment and lined up under the sign stating "First Time Skiers" and waited for our instructor.

Keith was his name and he was extremely helpful and knowledgeable and led us through a two-hour course on turning and sort of stopping and proper stance and proper pole position and side stepping up the mountain. It was all positive! I fell only once during our two hour class and didn't even a bad one. My butt didn't touch the ground.

I did however, manage to impale myself with my own ski pole while we were on the kiddo lift. Some lady hit the emergency stop button (so she could get the perfect shot of her lil angel exiting the lift) throwing everyone on the lift forward at the exact moment that I had my head down to put my glove in my pocket. There was a little blood and swelling. But I was being a trooper, no biggie! Still going to be a great day on the slopes!

After our class we decided to head down the bunny slope one more time just for good measure and did it successfully, gliding towards the chair lift up to the "easy" slope. We took the lift with a five-year old and her dad who told me the trick to skiing was just to "follow your Daddy and do what he does." I looked at my husband, who was not comfortable with this label, but it generally much more adept and athletic. He would have to be my Daddy.

Time to get off the lift and.... fall. Fall #1 was a simple tangling of poles and not standing up soon enough. Ok... back up! Hubs asked if I was ready, I said "No, but if I don't go down now, I won't go at all."

And we're off, skiing, building speed, losing control and... fall. This was the big one. My right knee was contorted behind me in a very unpleasant way. Trying to get up... fall. Thinking and saying out loud, "Why didn't they teach us how to fall and not kill ourselves? People die doing this? Why wouldn't they teach us?" I managed to get myself over to a poll (it was padded, thank goodness) and get my skis off. I then walked up the hill, and let the nice man from the ski patrol sled me down the hill.

Was this humiliating? Yes. Could I have skied down that hill? Probably not and walked away under my own control.

So, what happened? I was in control of myself earlier, where did it all go wrong? I'll tell you where: panic. I have a teensy tendency to panic when things go awry. So when I started going fast, all my previous skills like turning myself to slow down went OUT THE WINDOW.

I skied the bunny slope a few more times, feeling much less than confident. Then decided that's about enough for one day and took the skis off for good.

Today, I'm nursing a wonky right knee (it'll heal, I'm pretty sure) and a little cut on my very sore jaw. I am undeterred, however. I will go back to try it again in the future. I might even spring for a one-on-one lesson as I am not ashamed to say that I may be a challenging case.

It looks like so much fun for those who can do it! My husband had a great time and said that he feels he would enjoy it much more with me along. There's motivation right there!

And now here we are at Monday morning. I feel like that weekend had to be at least five days and I'm pooped.

*In my defense, we are experiencing the arrival of some major life changes. And while things are very exciting, they're also a little scary. Scary life changes + hormones = teary meltdown