A Hokie & A Wahoo

My Boys & The Beach

2012-01-30T07:50:00.000-05:00

This pretty much sums up our weekend. It's nice having the entire beach to yourself...

(even if it is in January).

Roller-Coaster Week

2012-01-26T19:51:00.002-05:00

Phew. This week has definitely been a roller coaster! Husband was offered a new job that doesn't involve a 2 hr. commute each way (which he has been doing for the last 3 years), we purchased a new car since both of our cars hit the end of their (very long) lives, and we got to see McNugget on Monday at the anatomy scan :) Yay, Yay, Yay, Yay, Yay!

However, today went a little crazy starting with the moment I walked into my physical therapist's office at 7:30 AM. Let me preface this by saying that before I began appointments with the office three weeks ago, I provided my insurance information and a prescription from my doctor. I also provided my insurance card my first visit (they photocopied it), and I asked if I had a co-pay to which I was told no. I have had 6 appointments prior to today. This morning they told me that they are actually considered an out-of-network provider by my insurance company, and that all of my visits cost $75.00. I'm fairly certain my heart stopped for a while. I mean if I had known that from the beginning I would have gone elsewhere. I'm planning on fighting it tomorrow, but if you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated. I also got home and realized our oil heater is broken. We're hoping to be able to get someone who can come out and fix it tomorrow. Craziness!

Deep Breaths. Deep Breaths.

I'm going to try focus on all of the pluses from earlier this week, and stare at pictures of mcnugget. Happy thoughts! The scan was a bit of a wash, as our baby decided to curl up like a burrito and stay feet to chin so that the technician couldn't get most of the needed measurements. Baby also didn't cooperate during their 12 week ultrasound, and we had to come back a week later. At the 13 week ultrasound the technician had to poke and prod fairly intensely, and no lie our little bugger lifted their fist and shook it. Needless to say, we didn't have very high expectations this time around, and mcnugget proved once again that they really, really dislike the ultrasound paparazzi. So, we have to go back again in 3 weeks to see if they can get the rest of the measurements. I'm not gonna lie...I kinda secretly like that our baby is waging a war with the maternal fetal imaging department, because it means I get to see him/her a lot :)

The "Thinker" Pose

Hmmm...methinks you should stop taking my picture.

Trying out for the 2028 Summer Olympics?

Look Ma, my feet can touch my chin!

Hopefully tomorrow goes back on the upswing! We're heading to the shore for the weekend, so it'll be nice to get away for a bit. Have a great weekend everyone!

What I Didn't Expect While Expecting Pt.1

2012-01-21T13:33:00.000-05:00

I don't necessarily have anything planned for part 2, but I'm quite certain there will be a part 2, and probably a 3, 4 and 5. But for clarity sake, this will cover the first trimester and the first half of the second trimester.

Anyhoo, lets be honest, pregnancy and child rearing is the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest everyday for the type A personality girl. Everything is one big massive question mark. I knew that it would be a toss-up for some symptoms...morning sickness or no morning sickness, fatigue or no fatigue, food cravings, etc., but somewhere in the back of my head I thought I would have it fairly easy. I mean, my mother had four kids in six years and never once was sick. But, she also walked out of the hospital in size 6 jeans after each one of us, so that right there should have been my number one sign that she's part alien or something. But I digress...most of my cousins come in sets of 3 and 4, and my both my grandmothers had 5 kids. I mean, isn't in in my Irish-Catholic bloodline to have easy pregnancies?

Then the universe laughed in my face.

I should have seen that coming.

From week 5 to week 17 I threw up in more places than a hungover college student after a night at an open bar event. I saved plastic grocery bags to store in my car so I could toss my cookies in random locations. I'm sure there are more humbling experiences to come, but this definitely knocked me down a notch or two. Morning sickness was a lie. It was all day, especially between the hours of 2 AM and 4 AM. Also, did I ever tell you that I walk through a kitchen multiple times a day while setting up for events for work? Nothing makes a nauseous pregnant girl feel better than seeing raw chicken and beef being chopped. The hardest part was that no one at work knew for the entire first trimester. All I wanted someone to hug my secretly pregnant self and tell me that I never had to look at raw meat ever, ever, ever again.

Now, maybe the nausea and sickness wouldn't have been so bad if I had some sort of pregnancy food cravings. A craving for anything would have been just awesome. But my body took a more creative, less travelled path and went for full on food aversions. I literally hated all food, except for one thing that my stomach deemed ok for a period of 3-4 days. Which is extra awesome if you have food allergies. After that period ended, the specific food previously deemed ok was relinquished to the "never to be seen again unless you want me to throw up on you" pile. And of course, the food I did want was never easy food like rice pasta or berry smoothies. Oh no it was hard to find, off the wall stuff... like stuffed grape leaves or chicken pad thai with gluten free sauce. Needless to say the husband is quite happy that this phase is over, and our little Mediterranean/Thai child (who seems to have issues with their actual heritage) seems to have developed a more expanded palate.

Also, did you know that is possible if you aren't having cravings for food, to have cravings for really weird stuff? Because I did. All of the sudden I regressed to my 16 year old self, and felt the need to listen to Britney Spears and the Dave Matthews Band. All the time. To the point that I would play the Britney station on Pandora on my iPhone while taking a shower. Some babies hear Bach and Beethoven while in the womb. Mine will come out of the womb knowing all the words to "Hit Me Baby One More Time." Mothering fail. Additionally, I began to hate all of my favorite tv shows, and instead felt an overwhelming desire to watch Jeopardy, Antique Roadshow and M*A*S*H. I have no words for this really, as I'm not quite sure how to describe the fact that I'm a 16 year old one second, and a 60 year old the next. Needless to say, turning 30 isn't looking so bad now.

On to the next topic. I didn't know that by week 16 I'd be sleeping in a recliner instead of a bed. I don't know if it is because I had surgery on both of my ankles when I was younger, because I was on my feet working 80+ events during the month of December, or because I'm a weirdo who was born with hypermobility. What I do know is that something is very, very not right with my hip. For four weeks straight I was up every 15 minutes in excruciating pain. Then I borrowed a recliner from my parents, and now I sleep for 4 hours straight before the every 15 minutes of pain thing starts. I'm not quite sure how to explain the pain, but it's probably along the lines having an abscessed tooth in your hip. I'm seeing a physical therapist, and that has helped some. I'm also trying to get an appointment with an osteopathic doctor that specializes in hip pain. Fingers crossed. Because pain is a gazillion times worse when you are feeling it on zero sleep. If I could recommend anything, it would be that if you have ever had any sort of back, spine, hip, leg, foot issue please, please, please start doing lots of stretches and maybe see a physical therapist before you get pregnant. I will most certainly be doing this if we are lucky enough to be blessed with more kids.

And finally...oh goodness...pintrest pulled me in with those cute pictures of pregnant girls taking weekly pictures of their adorable baby bumps. I swore up and down I would do that when the time came. So I took a picture at week 4, and then promptly stopped. Want to know why? Because I'm fairly certain that the first 7 pounds I gained went directly to my chest. I literally went up two bra sizes in two weeks. This would be totally awesome if I started out as an A or a B, but for the love, I was already a D. Instead of a cute pregnant belly, I just look like an overweight person with boobs 5 x bigger than my head. I might be able to make this look cute if I had a lot of time/energy/money, but lets be real...I haven't slept in 18 weeks. Looking cute is not on my list of priorities right now. So until my stomach goes out farther than my mega chest, there will be no pictures.

Week 4. Before the Boob-strocity took over.

Obviously, I am very, very thankful to be blessed with mcnugget, and I'm sure I'll probably laugh about this one day (like 50 years from now), but I figured I'd lay it out there for anyone who isn't having the easiest pregnancy...because you know, it just makes you feel better when you know you're not the only one throwing up in the parking lot of a McDonalds :)

First Comes A McWedding, Then Comes A McNugget...

2012-01-13T17:55:00.000-05:00

Also known as the story of how Ryan found out he was going to be a dad...

First, thanks everyone for the congrats! We're super excited for our newest addition in progress.

Ok, so where to begin. It was Tuesday night, October 11th. I was sitting down watching TV, while eating some of my husband's famous guacamole (no lie, I'd list that stuff in the top 5 reasons of why I chose to marry him...it's just that good). Then about 20 minutes later I realized I ate the entire bowl. Yup, 8 avocados worth of limey, tomato-y, onion-y goodness. A bowl big enough to easily feed, I dunno, about 4-6 people. Something was definitely up.

I decided to take a test for the heck of it. I wasn't really expecting to see anything because it was really early, so needless to say I was a bit shocked (albeit happily shocked) when I got a positive result.

I ran downstairs and made up some lie about needing to run into work and help set some stuff up for a pop-up event the next morning. This was not completely out of the ordinary, so the hubs actually bought it. Which is a complete surprise considering I am the world's worst liar. Like as in, I would do something wrong when I was a kid and then send myself to my room because I couldn't even lie about it. After patting myself on the back for not raising any suspicions, I jumped in the car and promptly called my friend Steph. She answered, and I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of, "Oh my goodness, I took a test, blah, blah, two lines, blah, blah, blah, oh my goodness..." Thankfully, she can read my mind, because any other person would have thought I was crazy. Lets analyze this for a second...

1) Yeah, I told my friend before I told my husband. Wife fail. But lets get real...there was no way I could safely drive my car without telling someone, and for the love of all things good in the world, I wanted to tell Ryan in a sweet way. So it was either a cute surprise, or a crazy wife running down the stairs blubbering incoherently about babies, and a broken car, and a broken computer. Yup, my car and my computer broke the same week we found out. Option one for the win.

2) My conversation with Steph was lacking any kind of normalcy, because OMG... BABY. Yes, this baby was planned, but nothing really prepares you for seeing those two lines. All of the sudden you are filled with intense joy, excitement, love and lets be real, equal amounts of anxiety. You think about cute little baby cheeks, while wondering at the same time if you ate too much deli meat that day. But, maybe that's just me and my neurotic tendencies.

3) Lets be honest. A wonderful girlfriend knows just what to say when you are blubbering and neurotic. They just get it.

So anyways, Steph calms me down so I can be a good motorist, and excitedly asks how I'm going to tell Ryan. Luckily, I had come up with this idea when babies were just a plan for the future, as I'm pretty sure coming up with something that day would have been a complete disaster. My plan had two components...McDonalds and Baby Socks. Obviously those two things go together...

Lets rewind 3.5 years to the day we got married. I believe I've mentioned before that my maiden name was a Mc name (McCoy if your curious. BEST. LAST. NAME. EVER. I still miss it...), and I married someone with another Mc name. Nothing like staying in the same place in the alphabet. Anyway, we jokingly referred to our wedding as the McWedding, and even served McDonald's hamburgers at the end of the night. See below for proof:

Yup, the card even says, "Thank you for coming to our McWedding."

We always jokingly referred to our future children as McNuggets, so I knew, whenever the time came, I would tell Ryan using a McNugget box. Properly calmed down (thanks Steph!), I made my way to Mickey D's and Marshalls (luckily, they were both in the same shopping center). After putting everything together, I made my way home and lied (again) to Ryan about picking him up some dinner since it was late, and I felt bad for having to run out and head into work. At least I'm a caring liar ;)

I'll let the pictures tell the rest:

Holds a better surprise than any kids meal...

Smells something fishy.

Yay!

A McNugget Special.

I chose these socks because I like dogs, not because I think we're having a boy.

It's actually a surprise baby, so we have no idea if it will be a he or she until June!

Needless to say Ryan was ecstatic. If you know my husband, than you know that being a dad is like the ultimate life long dream for him. He's total dad material....like t-ball coach, helping out with a science project at midnight, excited to do driving lessons type of dad. This kid is pretty darn lucky to have Ryan as their dad, if I do say so myself.

And that is the story of how my husband found out we're going to be a family of 3.

In case you are wondering, baby mcnugget is officially due June 19th. Ironically, that is the same day that my mom was due with me. I actually came a month early, on May 20th, and attended my own baby shower. I have a feeling that this baby is either going to follow in my footsteps, or do the opposite take it's sweet time and come in early July. I think I'll honestly be fairly surprised if I have a June baby.

The (Little) Reason I've Been M.I.A. ....

2012-01-12T17:38:00.000-05:00

more details coming soon!

You Eat What?

2011-09-06T20:52:00.001-04:00

I went grocery shopping today, and thought it would be a good idea to do a quick (ok, well 12 minutes long) video blog about what you can typically find in our kitchen. I am usually asked once or twice a day what I eat, since I have multiple food sensitivities and allergies. I find it humorous to see people's responses (they are usually quite surprised that I can eat anything, and have a hard time figuring out foods that don't contain wheat or dairy). So here's what we usually work with!

Please note that my diet has been continuously, medically supervised over the past three years. This is what works for me, and not necessarily other people. Also, I was not paid to review any of the products that you see in our fridge or freezer. These are just things we buy regularly and are available in the stores near our house.

Also, I feel like most of this video features my hand. Maybe I should have been a hand model a la David Duchovny in Zoolander:

Missed life calling.

Without further ado:

Anyone craving a blueberry kale shake yet? ;)

Home Is Where The Hokies Are! (Well For Me Anyway)

2011-09-04T21:17:00.000-04:00

Oy. There are so.many.things I need to write about, but this has been one crazy summer y'all. I made a job change back in April (more on that later), and soon after ended up taking on the responsibilities of another job on top of mine. That means I'm often working days, nights and weekends, leaving little time for anything else. Job 2 should be ending in the next few weeks (fingers crossed), so hopefully I'll be back on a somewhat normal schedule soon. Phew.

Anyway, Ryan and I were able to sneak out of town this weekend to catch the season opener of the Virginia Tech 2011 football season! I was beyond excited to be able to catch a game in Blacksburg...it was my first game in Lane Stadium since 2005. I caught games in New Orleans, Miami, D.C. and Charlottesville, but somehow getting back to Blacksburg in the fall seemed to be an elusive goal. This trip was definitely long overdue.

One of my favorite sights when you drive onto campus.

This is Laura aka one of my VT "moms." I was a class officer (you're elected "for life"), and a member of the Student Alumni Association while at Tech. Laura is the advisor for both, and a trip to VT isn't complete unless I see her.

I wish I could have a license plate like this. Probably never going to happen. Insert sad face.

The real reason I married Ryan...his amazing guacamole and salsa ;)

He learned the recipes when he lived in South America. Amazingly delicious.

Yup. You can even get VT wedding bands now. Wish they sold those 3 years ago ;)

Best ad ever.

Hokie bird statue.

Hanging out with my Euro roomies Susan & Meredith. Meredith and I were in the same major, and after two years of classes together, we finally realized that we grew up 20 minutes from each other. Too funny. Susan and I were in the Student Alumni Association together. After graduation, we went galavanting through 11 European countries in 30 days. It was amazing.

Tailgating at the Manor.

VT Cornhole!

Ryan has great form...sadly he was paired with me. If you know me, you know I have ZERO hand-eye coordination. AKA we lost. Badly.

Enter Sandman entrance. Best entrance in collage football.

See for yourself:

Game time!

25 years of Frank Beamer = 25 years of Awesomeness.

Yay for Ryan coming to Blacksburg for a game! Boo to spending 30 minutes straightening my hair for nothing. Oh Blacksburg weather.

There was a lot of this going on. 66 points worth of it.

Virginia! Best state ever. I hope we can move back there someday.

VT!

Nuts for Hokies.

So happy that my favorite season is back! Football season!

It was a wonderful weekend spent catching up with friends, walking around campus and watching the Hokies start of the season with a (strong) win. All in all, the perfect end to the summer!

Honeymoon Take 2 Pt. 8: Magical Montenegro

2011-08-09T15:53:00.000-04:00

We decided to rent a car for a couple of days while we were in Croatia, so that we could take trips to neighboring Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. When we first started planning our trip, we were looking to go somewhere that neither of us had visited. We were sitting in Barnes & Noble looking at a map, when Ryan exclaimed that he wanted to go to Montenegro, because that is where Casino Royale took place (however, we would later learn that not a single shot from the movie was actually filmed in Montenegro). After a bit of research, we realized that it was probably better to stay in Dubrovnik, as there was more to do, but we could still schedule a day trip to the town of Kotor in Montenegro. Score.

On Wednesday morning, we left for Montenegro bright and early, so that we would have be able to cross the border before traffic became too heavy. Luckily, it was a fairly smooth process, except for the part where I lost the great last name debate. See, my maiden name is a Mc name of Irish origin, and when I married Ryan, I acquired another Mc last name (it's a McCoincidence....har har). I've tried for years to convince him that his last name is Irish, and he has always defended that it is Scottish (lets be honest, he secretly wants a reason to wear a kilt). Well, the Montenegrin boarder patrol agent took one look at our passports, turned to my husband and said...Mc****, what a nice strong Scottish name. So, yeah, if a Montenegrin border patrol agent tells you that your last name is Scottish, it must be true. Ryan: 1, Katie: 0.

The drive to Kotor, and around the Bay of Kotor, was actually one of the best parts of the trip. The scenery was unbelievably stunning (the pictures don't do it justice, of course), and just got better and better as we went along. Plus, they drive on the same side of the road, and on the same side of the car as we do in the U.S., which makes everything run a lot smoother (i.e. I'm not screaming every 5 min. that I'm going to die in a car crash). There is one point where you can take a ferry, which takes a good amount of time off the trip, but I'm so glad that we didn't do this. By taking the longer route, we were able to pull over at a bunch of different points and take the time to admire everything.

We passed some very nice yachts along the way...

Welcome to Montenegro! Or, should I say...Dobrodosli!

Ryan was obsessed with the supermarket. Hence the reason we have a picture of it.

Another great part of any road trip through the former Yugoslavia...playing "Dharma Van" (for any LOST junkies out there). So much more fun than "Punch Buggy."

There were a lot more signs of the war, and of the communist era in Montenegro than we saw in Dubrovnik:

This is the town where the ferry is located (which you can see on the right side). Also, I'm not quite sure what is taking place in the billboard in the background:

But, by skipping the ferry, we got to see things like this:

If you enlarge this picture, it almost seems as though the mountain is coming over that little town.

Beautiful scenery, and smashingly handsome husband. Pretty sweet deal.

Gorgeous.

Look at the amazing blue colors of the water! The guy isn't too bad looking either...

Driving through Montenegro, and even more so in Bosnia-Herzegovina, you see lots of memorials to people who lost their lives in the war.

Taking in the stunning surroundings.

After about an hour and a half (which included many a photo stop and the time spent getting through the border crossing), we arrived at Kotor. Part of the Bay of Kotor, just outside of the town walls, was a bit of a disappointment, as the town allows very large cruise ships park there. This means that most of the best views of the Bay surrounding the town are obstructed. The town was very pretty though (it almost feels like your somewhere in the side streets of Paris), and I'm glad we spent a few hours walking around and exploring.

Entrance to Kotor through the city walls.

Everything looks better with strands of large glass hanging lights.

You know...just wandering around the tiny alleys in Montenegro.

I think green shutters may be required in Kotor. Lets be honest, green shutters are quite pretty.

Lovely old building.

One of the main attractions in Kotor is the Church of Saint Tryphon. Legend has it that a ship carrying St. Tryphon's remains had to take refuge in Kotor because of bad storms. However, every time the ship tried to sail after the storms, more storms came along. The sailors finally took it as a sign that St. Tryphon wanted Kotor to be his final resting place.

Located behind this screen are 48 relics, which include Saint Tryphon's head and bones. Creepy, yet interesting at the same time.

The church was really quite fascinating and housed what almost felt like an art museum on the second floor. There were all sorts of wonderful paintings that often showcased the town's position on the border of Eastern and Western Christianity. Often the faces were more life like (western/ gothic style) and the bodies were stiff and elongated (eastern/ byzantine style).

While the main attraction is a Catholic church, the town of Kotor is actually predominantly Orthodox, so we also took the time to stop in one of the Orthodox churches.

Outside one of the Orthodox churches.

And inside. I loved looking at all of the beautiful icons.

First up: Perast. Oh my goodness Perast. Words cannot describe how pretty this town is.

Again, gorgeous.

Only local traffic is allowed in the town, so you have to park at the top of a hill, and then walk down towards the town. This is what the walk looks like... not to shabby!

As you get closer to the town, you see lots of tiny (and larger, touristy) boats with sailors waiting to take you out to Our Lady of the Rocks. By taking one of the smaller boats, you get to pay less AND you get to have a private boat ride. Score. While the island is beautiful, the trip there and back is definitely the best part.

Just chilling on a boat with my husband.

View of Perast from the boat.

I'm on a boat. I'm on a boat. Everybody look at me cause I'm sailing on a boat. (insert SNL skit reference). Yup, I went there.

Right before you get to Our Lady of the Rocks, you pass the island of Saint George, which is closed to tourists, but houses a small monastery:

Then you come upon Our Lady of the Rocks. This island is that it is completely man-made. Legend has it that two fisherman discovered an icon of the Madonna in the reef near the island of Saint George. They tried over and over again to bring the icon ashore, but it kept getting washed out to sea to the exact same spot. Eventually, fishermen returning home began dropping rocks in this spot. The practice then took up among the villagers, and over two centuries, an island of rocks was formed.

View of Our Lady of the Rocks from the sea.

Walking around the island. It's really quite small. There's a church (coincidentally called the Church of Our Lady of the Rocks), a small museum and a snack stand where you can buy beer and ice cream (both of which my husband bought).

Ryan on one end of the island.

I shall call this my sassy island girl pose.

After wandering around for a bit (and purchasing Ryan's ice cream and beer for the trip back), we jumped back on our boat to enjoy another ride.

Thumbs up for Montenegrin beer. The brand is Niksicko incase you are wondering.

This is Ryan with George, our boat owner & sailor. George knew little English and we knew no Montenegrin....however, George knew Italian and Ryan knows Spanish, so somehow they bonded and communicated through a combination of the two. George also told us the island of Saint George was named after him. He was pretty awesome.

Perast as seen on our ride back.

George was even kind enough to take a picture of us.

After leaving Perast, we continued on our drive back to Dubrovnik, and made one more stop for some tasty food at Konoba Catovica Mlini. The restaurant is a bit hidden in the town of Morinj, but there are a lot of road signs that lead you in the right direction.

The restaurant has been family run for over 200 years!

You have to walk through a bamboo garden to get to the restaurant.

Ryan in the bamboo walkway.

The food was unbelievable and unbelievably affordable, given that the service is quite formal and you are in such a beautiful location.

I wish I could eat meals in front of views like this everyday.

After the delicious meal, it was time to continue on our way, and before we knew it we were back in Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik love.

As the night ended, we were treated to a lightning storm that created some amazing scenes right outside our window:

And before we knew it it was time to rest up for our trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina the next day!

Honeymoon Take 2 Pt. 7: The Scars Beneath The Beauty

2011-08-03T07:06:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday morning, we grabbed some coffee at our now favorite bistro, and tried to figure out the best way to start our day.

Coffee (even plain old decaf) just tastes better when you're sitting at a cafe in Europe.

We also listened to some jazz music playing on the corner. Surprise, surprise, they were playing Sting songs. Sting seems to be quite popular in Croatia.

We had a private tour scheduled later in the afternoon, so we wanted to spend our time doing something that was fairly nearby, and would still allow us a bit of time to relax before the tour.

We had discussed trying to go up to Mount Srd, the highest point in Dubrovnik, but thought we would have to drive up it, as most of the travel books stated that the reconstruction of the cable car (damaged in the war) had not yet been completed. We only had a rental car for a couple of days, and did not believe we would have the time to make the trip with the other timelines (aka border crossings) we had to work around. So, we were thrilled when we found out that everything was open and working. We wandered around the the city outside of the walls for a bit and eventually stumbled upon the cable car entrance. It was a quick ride (about 3 minutes), and it was so neat to see the city get smaller and smaller as we went up.

Smaller.

& Smaller.

The feeling of possibly falling off a mountain in a cable car was totally worth it to see this.

Quite possibly my favorite picture from the trip. I loved taking the time to sit at the top of the mountain and overlook everything.

Apparently I felt so zen, that I broke out a yoga move (note, I do not actually do yoga, so I am not sure if this is a legitimate pose or not. I'm just being a goofball, because that's how I roll).

Ryan, on the other hand, felt like Superman.

Or possibly, like a world class diver.

The original cross overlooking the city was destroyed in the war. The fragments of the old cross were blessed by Pope John Paul II in 2003, and are being used in the foundations of new churches throughout the city.

The lack of trees around the mountaintop is mostly due to wildfire, not the war. Due to the fear of landmines in the area, locals did not fight the fires after the war as aggressively as they normally would have done.

Communications tower. The Croatian flag was flown above the tower to give hope to the besieged residents below.

Next to the tower is Fort Imperial. The fort houses the "War of Independence Museum." The exhibit is still a bit of a work in progress (lots of random artillery just sitting out in the open on the floor), but was definitely worth the visit.

It was crazy to see that the weapons and armor used to fight in the war looked like they came from 50 years ago, not 20 years ago (probably because they did).

Yes, those are a bunch of weapons surrounded by bullets sitting out in the open on the floor.

There were large pictures on many of the fort walls depicting the damage done throughout the war. Looking at the city now, it can be hard to imagine that there ever was a war. The pictures really emphasized just how bad things were.

Bombs hitting the port and walls.

City coming under fire.

This is the same square across from our sobe.

Map of the city outlining the damages.

Grave just outside of the fort.

After the museum and a quick lunch, we took the cable car back down to meet up with our personal tour guide, Maja. She took us around the town, and we stopped at places such as the Franciscan Monastery, the Rectors Palace, the Sponza Palace, Big Onofio's Fountain, and many others. I was really happy that we took the time to do this, because it allowed us to learn about the town from someone who lives there, see all different sites, and ask questions without being a part of a large over-crowded tour group.

Inside the Franciscan Monastery.

Outside the Monastery.

Stradun at dusk. Interesting fact we learned from Maja- A U.S. travel association helped pay for the marble walkway on the Stradun to be repaired after the war. Dubrovnik, more than most areas, knew that the key to their recovery was getting the tourists back as quickly as possible.

Maja even took the time to tell us about her own experiences during the war. She explained to us that at the time, her son was ten years old, and her daughter was in college. Right after the war began, her daughter left to go and take classes for a year in England. However, even though she had all of the proper paperwork, she was stopped at the German border, and wasn't allowed to proceed any further. Fortunately, she was able to find family friends to stay with in Germany. Unfortunately, due to the siege, neither Maja or her daughter could communicate with each other. It wasn't until the siege ended that Maja learned her daughter never made it to England, and her daughter learned that her family was alive. I can only imagine the stress this must have cause on them (and the countless others who also lived through horrible situations throughout the war).

It is definitely possible to get swept away in all of the beauty that surrounds the city. Because the town has done so many repairs and has recovered faster than most of their neighboring cities and countries, it is easy to turn a blind eye to what happened here in 1991. We were both glad that we took the time to learn about how the war affected the city itself, and that we took the time to learn from someone who was there to witness it, how it affected the people that lived through it.

If you would like to learn more about the siege of Dubrovnik, please go here.

As always, here is a video with all of our pics from the day:

Honeymoon Take 2 Pt. 6: Drinks at Buza & Rooftop Kisses

2011-07-18T08:16:00.001-04:00

We woke up on Monday morning, feeling a bit like normal human beings again (especially after some delicious fried eggs and bacon from the bistro below our sobe), and decided to take a leisurely stroll to get to know our surroundings.

One of the things that you come to love most about Dubrovnik, is that you can walk all of the main parts of the town in less than an hour. You can take some time and just stroll the Stradun, or get get intentionally lost with a yummy cup of gelato (or some fresh cherries from the market) walking around the side streets. The fact that the entire town is contained in a beautiful fortress of stone walls makes every experience seem more intimate. Before you know it, a piece of your heart is freely given and forever intertwined with this city.

Rooftop Flowers.

Life.

City Harbor

Side Street with Dubrovnik Stairs.

Dubrovnik stairs are no joke. If you enlarge this photo & look in the background, you can see how high the stairs can go on the side streets.

Pile Gate. Sometimes I look at pictures like this and wonder how many random people have vacation pictures with us in them.

Looking at the ocean from just outside the city walls.

Fort Lawrence & the Adriatic Sea

Handsome Husband & Gorgeous Background

Us.

I wish all doors were sprinkled with tropical flowers.

At one point in the day, we walked up a large set of stairs and stumbled upon this sign.

We had read about the "Buza" bars (there are two), and had intended to find them at some point in our trip. They are a bit hidden (Buza II is easier to find than Buza I), so we were quite excited to see that we were close to one of the bars. We decided to follow the sign...after all, who wants to miss the, "most beautiful view?"

We went down this alley.

And eventually found this entryway in the city wall.

Which led us to....

Yes, that is a bar on a cliff. It is even more amazing than you could ever imagine. Also, don't be fooled, this is actually the "safer" of the two bars. Buza I barely has any railings.

We found an empty table, and we agreed, it really was "the most beautiful view."

We watched a pirate ship sail by on its way to the Elaphite Islands.

And saw some people cliff dive.

Ryan tried out the local beer.

And we spent a good part of the day just taking everything in. Cold drinks while sitting on the edge of a cliff looking out over the Adriatic = heaven.
P.S. that song is what was playing on the bar speakers at the time.

After we returned home from our morning of exploring, we decided to get freshen up and go on tour of the city walls. We had heard that it was best to go either very early in the morning or late in the afternoon, as the walls would be much less crowded during those times (there are some narrow sections where you can get held up if there are a lot of people). We went around 4:30 in the afternoon, and it was truly the perfect time. It was much cooler, and there were no crowds. It made for a spectacularly stunning and romantic (2 hr.) stroll. The temperature factor really does matter, as again, there are a lot of stairs.

Ready to take on the city walls. I'm pretty sure I made my husband take this picture because I was in love with the high ceilings, grey drapes, lovely arch and pretty chandelier at the top of the staircase in our sobe.

Walking on the ocean side of the walls.

Beautiful.

I love this place & I love you.

One of the higher parts of the walls we had to walk.

Ryan was locked up along the way.

I assume this destruction is from the time that the city was under siege in the 90s, but I'm not positive.

Up on the rooftop.

My pink dress made me feel like a ballerina, so I decided to pose like one. However, if you know me, you know that I lack any semblance of coordination.

View of the city pt. 1

View of the city pt. 2. If you look closely, you can see that a lot of the roofs are orange, and some of the roofs are brown. All of the orange roofs are new roofs, as most of the original roofs were damaged or destroyed during the war. It makes you realize just how much destruction took place.

I've got the world on a string, sitting on a stone wall...

The walk was definitely something we would recommend if you ever get a chance to visit Dubrovnik. It is unbelievably scenic, and a wonderful way to spend time together.

We were quite hungry after the walk, so we headed out to grab some dinner. There are a ton of restaurants all throughout the city (most selling the same items), and unless you are going to one of the more upscale places, the quality of all of them is pretty equal. The majority of the restaurants have staff who stand outside with menus and ask you if you would like to eat at their location.

However, earlier in the day, as we were walking around the city, we stumbled upon a restaurant manager who gave an oscar worthy performance to convince us to eat at his family's restaurant. He pulled out all of the stops, and explained to us that his restaurant was to be our home, and if we didn't like the food he would be forever upset with himself. Given the amount of effort he put into his sales pitch, we promised him we would come back for dinner.

He even remembered us when we came back, and made sure to check on us throughout the meal just to make sure that we enjoyed everything. The food was delicious, and really affordable. I'm quite glad everything was as good as he promised, as I would have been very sad if the manager had to be upset with himself "forever."

Ryan with another local beer.

One of the waiters was nice enough to take a picture of us (yes, on some stairs). A stair picture is pretty much required in Dubrovnik.

After dinner, we decided to check out the Troubadour Jazz Cafe, which has live music during the evenings. When we first got there, I was the only female in the crowd. This meant that the lead singer felt as though he should direct most of his singing to me. This was all well and good until he pulled out his rendition of Sting's, "Roxanne," and sang to me, "you don't have to put on the red light." I don't know if he knew what the song was about, but he may want to look into that (haha).

Here is one of the better songs from the evenings. At least in this song I feel a bit more "lovely"...

Stradun at night.

It was a great way to end an amazing day. We headed home even more excited to see what tomorrow held for us.

Here is a video recap of our pictures from the day:

Honeymoon Take 2 Pt. 5: Beautiful, Beautiful Croatia

2011-07-13T18:12:00.004-04:00

I'd like to say that our airport drama ended once we were reunited with our luggage, but the airport gods had other plans for us. Our first flight out of Manchester was delayed for over an hour, and when we arrived at the London Gatwick airport, the first thing we noticed that there was no information posted next to our flight number. We went over to the British Airways information desk, and we were told that there were mechanical issues with our plane (yup, thats 2 mechanically challenged planes in 3 days). They weren't sure if our plane would be able to be fixed or not, and they told us that we just had to keep checking the flight board. After being up for over 30 plus hours (for the 2nd time in 3 days...I'm sensing a theme here), I may or may not have turned to Ryan and told him to just take me home. Thankfully, after about an hour, our flight was listed as ready to board.

I'm super happy that my husband decided to convince my way-beyond-exhausted self to keep going. You want to know why? Because this is what you see when you get off the airplane and drive around the windy roads to head towards the city of Dubrovnik:

This view alone was totally worth (well, almost totally worth) all of the insanity it took to get there.

Before we knew it, our transport driver was dropping us off just outside the city walls (in front of the Ploce Gate), where Peter, the owner of our sobe greeted us. While there are hotels around the city (mainly outside of the city gates), they are often overpriced and are not usually in convenient locations. The best places to stay are in sobes, which are private apartments. They are much, much more affordable, and tend to have better views. We splurged (at a whopping $120.00 a night, which we considered a steal by European vacation standards) to stay in Apartment Baldo, which was located on the second floor of the Apartments Martecchini.

Here's what our little apartment looked like from the inside:

Dining area/Kitchen.

TV & Desk (Which we really never used. I think we watched the BBC once or twice), and the crazy stairs to the loft.

Close up of the wall and windows. I told Ryan I booked this place because the inside walls were made of Hokie Stone. Lets be honest, I don't think he would expect anything less from me.

Our little dining nook. I was super concerned about having a kitchen in case I had to cook a lot because of my food allergies. Then I found out that it was easier to eat in Croatia with my allergies than it is to eat in the U.S. So, yeah, that table pretty much went unused.

Bed.

Oh wait, our windows overlook one of the main squares on the Stradun, which is the main street inside the city. That's probably more sweet than a double rainbow.

Yup, this is what we got to see every day.

Oh, and this.

Oh, and the Church of Saint Blaise.
Dubrovnik is a very Catholic city, and they consider Saint Blaise to be their patron saint. You can find statues of him all over the city, on the two main city gates (Pile & Ploce), and on different areas throughout the city walls.

Dubrovnik at Dusk.

I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been going on 38 hours without sleep, I would have just stared out of this window and watched the town all night.

Since we didn't get in until around 3:30 PM with the layover and delays, we didn't do much the first night in town. I'm pretty sure all we did was shower, unpack, eat (Ryan had his leftover airplane sandwich, and I had a bag of dried green beans I packed from Trader Joes), and sleep. We truly didn't even have the energy to try and find anything else to eat, or to even do anything else.

The sleep was definitely worth it though, because it was absolutely amazing to take in the city with well-rested eyes the next day!

Honeymoon Take 2 Pt. 4: Sometimes Your Guardian Angels are Maintenance Men in Terminal 3 of the Manchester Airport

2011-07-09T18:14:00.000-04:00

Oh goodness. Here comes part two of our airport/luggage saga of epic proportions (I am only slightly exaggerating here). So, where did I last leave off...oh yes, Ryan and I had to leave the wedding early. Why is that, you may ask? Well, throughout the day (before the ceremony, after the ceremony, before the reception, during the reception, multiple other times) we contacted the lost luggage claim center (I don't know the official name, but this one seems official enough), and no one could confirm that our luggage had come through customs or was in the airport. Insert massive knots in our stomachs. No Bueno.

See, our flight to Croatia was scheduled to leave at 6:30 AM the day after the wedding. It was originally scheduled to leave late in the afternoon, but we received an email a little less than a month before the wedding, informing us that our flight had been cancelled. They automatically moved us to the only other flight British Airways had going to Croatia that day...and, well, it left at 6:30 in the morning. We tried in vain to find another way around this flight, but nothing short of an extra 1,000 dollars would allow us to leave at any other time.

This meant that we had to go through airport security at 4:30 AM. Our original plan was to catch a few hours of sleep, and then drive to Manchester. The uneasiness that grew throughout the day had us reconsider that plan. We figured it was best to get there with an extra hour or two to spare so that we could try and track down our long lost bags. This ended up being the best decision we could have ever made.

We packed up what we had, and hit the road around 11:30. My job was to find the worst music possible to keep us awake as we drove on the other side of the road late at night. It's quite surprising how many bad American songs you can find on the British airwaves late at night. But that is neither here nor there.

We arrived at the airport around 1:00 AM, and entered the outgoing flights terminal, which was, well, closed. Did you catch that? Yes, the main floor of our terminal was completely empty. Well, except for the two maintenance men who were cleaning the floor. Being in an empty airport is about one of the creepiest experiences you can have. Airports are always bustling with activity, people coming and going, loud noises, etc. To enter an airport that is completely and utterly silent is like walking around in a haunted house. Eerie.

We tried calling the lost luggage center, but repeatedly got the answering machine. Since we couldn't get through security (as it wasn't open), we couldn't find out what was going on over there. After a while we walked over to the two maintenance men, who explained to us that the outgoing flight terminal didn't open until 4:00 AM, and that the lost luggage center didn't open until 6:30 AM (so much for the "open 24 hours a day" spiel that they told us on day one).

I'm pretty sure big, fat tears started running down my exhausted face as I squeaked out, "but we have to go through security at 4:30, and our flight leaves at 6:30." The poor men were either 1) super, super sweet or 2) completely freaked out by the hot teary mess they had standing in front of them. Whatever it was, they got on the phone with a friend who worked unloading luggage from planes. He was able to confirm that our luggage was in the airport, albeit in a completely different terminal. He said he would bring it over to us around 3:00 AM, when he had his break.

We could not believe how blessed we were. Had we come to the airport at any other time, we most likely would not have run into these guys, and most likely wouldn't have had our luggage for the rest of the trip, as we were traveling all over the place for the next 7 days. It was kismet, and a huge answer to our prayers.

We headed over to the couches and tried to rest a bit. Around 2:45 AM, our favorite maintenance men in the whole wide world, came over with a cart carrying our much missed luggage. We even tried to tip them for everything they did for us, and they wouldn't even consider taking our money. They truly were our guardian angles!

Want to see what it looked like when we were reunited? Warning...it isn't a pretty sight when you've been up for 20 hours, been to a wedding, a reception and had a 2.5 hour drive to the airport. But I'll keep it real...

Could it be? Our luggage? Unbelievable!

What are the chances that this is how we would find our bags?

Needless to say, we were reunited, and it felt soooooooooo good.

Yup, I went there.

Next Up: Croatia!

Homeymoon Take 2 Pt. 3 Cont.: Drinks, Dancing & Dear Friends!

2011-07-05T20:38:00.002-04:00

The cocktail hour took place at James' grandmother's house, which is literally called, The Old House. Love it. It was a beautiful, scenic background with old buildings, rolling hills, and sheep. We had a wonderful time talking with other guests, and making some new friends. One of the guests went to Croatia when he was younger, and was so happy to tell us about how amazing it was. It made us even more excited for our next destination (if that was even possible)!

The hats!

Quite possibly my favorite picture from the day.

Everyone's best friend should get married in England to so they can have pictures just like this one.

Colette reused the initial charm from her bridesmaid bouquet in my wedding on her own bridal bouquet. This makes my heart smile so much.

After the cocktail hour, we took a trek through the sheep pastures to get to the wedding reception at the Howgills Bunk Barn. It's not everyday you get to walk along sheep to get to a reception!

The other wedding well-wishers.

They wanted to join the party after they finished their dinner of grass...

Over the river & through the sheep fields to Colette & James' wedding we go!

I can't wait to see the professional pics of this walk. I bet they are gorgeous.

Almost to the wedding reception!

Guest Book

Bunting & Pictures. The couple hung pictures of themselves with all of their guests throughout most of the reception area. It was such a thoughtful touch and meant a lot to the guests who travelled near and far to celebrate the day.

More pictures throughout the reception site.

And even more pictures! I can only imagine how much time and effort it took to do all of this!

There was an entire wall of paper (in addition to the guest book) for people to sign and leave longer messages.

Pretty Bunting

View of the room right outside of the reception tent.

Colette & James took a year off from work and traveled around the world together from 2009-2010. The tables were named after the different countries that they visited.

We sat at the Fiji Table, and it was awesome! You know how there is always that one, loud, boisterous table at each wedding where you wish you could be seated? Well, that was the Fiji table, and we were very happy to be seated with some amazing, fun loving guests!

Colette and I designed our wedding bands on debeers.com during sophomore year of college. Most likely during fall finals. Remember that fad? Don't deny it...you did it too. Luckily our husbands did a better job picking out our rings than we did when we were 19!

Reception Room

I love this pic.

And this one. I just love the joy on our faces.

One of my favorite parts of the reception was the speeches. Both fathers spoke, the groom spoke, and then the groomsmen gave a powerpoint presentation. The reception was really laid back, and didn't adhere to the super tight timelines that you typically have with American weddings. That in and of itself was really quite nice.

Colette's dad's speech was priceless.

The groom gave a sweet, touching speech about his new wife.

Oh my goodness, the best men's speech...or should I say roast. They took their duties seriously and made a powerpoint presentation which chronicled the tales of James' poor sense of direction, penchant for catching salmonella poisoning (twice), and ability to be just a little to trusting of strangers (a bunch of friendly students left him with a bill of a couple hundred dollars in a tea house in Hong Kong. Yes, hundreds of dollars spent on tea.). Best (Best Men's) speech ever. Really, the power point presentation put it over the top. I think all weddings should have speeches like this!

Me & My Dashing Husband

The cake. It was a fruitcake, made by the groom's mother, I believe. Seriously, one of the most lovely cakes I have ever seen. I adore everything about it.

Yes, the topper is two sheep on a couch drinking tea and eating cucumber sandwiches. Does it get any better than that? I think not.

Close-up of the details on the cake.

Cutting the cake turned into quite the adventure, but eventually they were successful. By all accounts given to me (from the husband and the rest of table Fiji) it was delicious!

Cake swap.

First dance.

I asked Colette how she picked her first dance song, and she told me that the band only knew one slow song, so that was it. It didn't mean anything to them, but now it would. I love this... sometimes you just have to go with it!

Adorable. I wish I looked that good when my husband dipped me. I lack any semblance of coordination.

Dancing with bestie Colette.

Not quite sure what is going on here, but it seems typical for both of us.

Same with this picture.

Oh, and this one.

Soon it was 10:30, and we had to head home (for reasons I'll get into in my next post). It was by far one of the most gorgeous and fun weddings I have ever seen or attended. Hats of to you Colette & James for all of your wonderful work, and for putting together such a spectacular event! Cheers!

The sheep that greeted us on our walk home.

Here is the video of our pictures from our time in England:

Enjoy!

Honeymoon Take 2 Pt. 3: It's A Nice Day For An (English Countryside) Wedding!

2011-06-28T21:41:00.001-04:00

We woke up Saturday morning feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep. We decided to take another walk through the town, grab some breakfast, and then get ready for the big event. It was a bit rainy, but we kept our fingers crossed that it was just morning showers and it would clear up for the wedding (it did!).

We started the day with a cup of tea and some pastries (for Ryan) at hOwGiLLs Bakery & Tea Room, and then walked to check out the church where the wedding would take place. The church, Saint Andrew's, was built around 1130 AD. It is technically a Church of England parish, but they have an agreement worked out with the Catholic Church, where a Catholic priest says mass at noon on Sundays, on holidays, and for sacraments such as marriage.

Beautiful flowers already decorating the church gate!

Wedding today? I think I have to be there...

Rocking my dress from the night before & my new pretty pink umbrella. If Kate Middleton can recycle dresses, so can I! Hmmm, I wonder what Kate would do if she lost her luggage...

Walking in the rain.

I love everything about this shop.

This makes my heart break into a million little candy pieces.

I think this guy is smashingly handsome! I say smashingly, because, well, it sounds more British.

Sedbergh!

See that hill? I believe the groom and groomsmen ran up it the morning before the wedding. The wedding planner in me had heart palpitations over possible broken legs. Luckily, everyone survived.

Ryan and I stopped in this cute little centre, where I met more of Colette's relatives (an aunt & uncle from Indiana). I'm pretty sure the town was 90% wedding guests that weekend. I also found an sheep ornament that said, "Ewe Are My Sunshine." It may or may not be my current most prized possession.

After our walk, it was time for a quick lunch at Duo Cafe, where we ran into even more wedding guests! I was initially very nervous about finding places to eat because of my food allergies, but I would say that the restaurants in Sedbergh were even more aware and accommodating than most restaurants in the U.S. It was a huge relief!

Soon it was time to get ready and head off to the ceremony! The rain cleared, the sun came out, and the church bells announced that it was time for a wedding to take place!

Wedding Bells for James & Colette!

Time to make it official!

Pretty Topiaries!

I'm pretty sure my heart swelled a thousand times with pride & love when Colette walked down the aisle with her dad. Doesn't she look so very beautiful and elegant?!

Teary dad, Teary daughter= Teary Guests

Colette was quite possibly the most excited bride ever. She would make eye contact with a guest, then break out an enormous smile, as evident in the picture above. There was so much joy in this little church.

Right after the marriage license was signed. In England, signing the marriage license is part of the ceremony. I wish we did it this way in the States! It's such a nice tradition.

Mr. & Mrs.!

Handsome Groom & His Beautiful Bride!

We were all given cones of flower petals to throw. It made for some stunning pictures!

Love.

Petals & Lace.

After the ceremony, the bride & groom led the way as we all walked through the town and up some hills towards the cocktail reception at James' grandmother's house. Seriously, does it get any more amazing than that?

Luckily Colette had her sister & James' sister to help carry her train!

First walk, hand in hand, as a married couple!

The wedding guests followed along.

Soon we were heading down a little lane towards the cocktail reception! I would like to take a minute to give Past-Katie a pat on the back. At the last minute, I threw a spare dress into Ryan's garment bag, just in case I wanted a choice of dresses for the wedding. This meant that I had two items of clothes to wear while without luggage. Past-Katie, you are awesome.

Finally we arrived at the cocktail reception, and were greeted with lots of champagne & delicious hors d'oeuvres! Cheers!

Next Up: Cocktails, Sheep, Dinner & Dancing!

Honeymoon Take 2 Pt. 2: Sweet, Sweet Sedbergh

2011-06-27T17:32:00.001-04:00

After a rather sleepless flight, we landed in Manchester Airport on Friday morning. We immediately headed over to the lost baggage kiosk, and filled out all of the appropriate paperwork. They confirmed that our luggage was going to leave Philadelphia and arrive sometime Saturday evening. Because we had to fly out at 6:30 am Sunday morning (our original flight was scheduled to leave later in the afternoon, but it too was cancelled. Worst. Luck. Ever!), they said it was best to keep our bags in the airport. We were given a number to call, and were told that a representative would bring our luggage out to us when we arrived to check in, as we could not access the baggage claim part of the airport until we had gone through security. And, well, we couldn't go through security until we had our bags. They assured us that they were open 24 hours a day, and that it would be a smooth process to reclaim our luggage. This will be an important fact to remember in part 4 of this story!

Once we had that settled, we went on our merry way to pick up our rental car. The girl working that day was kind enough to put in the location of the nearest mall (Trafford Centre...which is huge!) into our GPS, and we were on our way to pick up some toiletries, sweaters (it was 50 degrees cooler in the UK), and an umbrella. We caught a lucky break on our way into the mall, and immediately stumbled upon a Boots and H&M. One hour, and a Starbucks stop later, we were on our way (on the other side of the car & road) to Sedbergh!

Ready to hit the (other side of) the road!

Two and a half hours later we arrived in beautiful, sweet Sedbergh. The town is literally the definition of English countryside. Beautiful gardens, crisp green rolling hills, adorable streets and shops, and.... sheep pastures. More on those later. We stayed in a quaint little home called Reader's Cottage:

Our front door.

We decided to spend the afternoon strolling around town, taking everything in. It's hard not to feel peaceful in a place like this:

View outside of our cottage

Lovely hills

Union Jack flags!

Gray and Lavender...one of my favorite color combinations

I wish my garden entry looked like this.

Winding roads

Beautiful old church.

Ubiquitous phone booth picture

I love crooked signs.

Ryan liked this home because it reminded him of Lord of the Rings.

Eventually we stumbled upon the house where most of the bride's family was staying. Colette & James placed a message board outside to update everyone on where they would be during the day.

I was outside taking pictures of the sign (not realizing that anyone was in the house), when Colette's uncle came downstairs and welcomed us to the town. He was very, very sweet, and even invited us inside for some cold drinks. We had a wonderful time chatting with her aunt, uncle and cousins. It gave us a chance to catch our breath, and made us even more excited to celebrate the wedding the following day.

Afterwards we decided to grab some dinner at The Red Lion. The area is known for their sausage, and I can see why. I'm pretty sure it was the first meal we had since lunch the previous day, and it was delicious. Yum!

Yummy dinner restaurant!

After dinner, we headed to the Dalesman Inn for a pre-wedding welcome happy hour. We got to catch up with old friends, and make a bunch of new ones! It was a great way to kick off the celebrations!

Me & the Bride!

p.s. See the blue cloth in the background? That's my airplane blanket. I used it as a shaw. No shame.

Suddenly, it was 10:00 at night, and since we had not slept in around 36 hours, we thought it would be best to get some sleep to rest up for the big day!

Random Fact- The sun does not set until around 10:30 PM in Sedbergh. This means that you will think it is 7:00 when it is in fact, much, much later. Eyemasks are a must!

Next up: Colette & James get married!

Here are the pictures from our first day:

Honeymoon Take 2 pt. 1: How I Almost Missed My Best Friend's Wedding

2011-06-24T10:11:00.001-04:00

As I alluded to in my last post, the beginning of our trip was nothing short of a monumental disaster. But, I digress...lets back it up two years and explain why this trip meant so much to us. Just three short days after returning from our honeymoon in 2008, I became severely ill and ended up in the hospital for almost a week. Some may say that I was giving that "in sickness and in health" part of our vows a run for its money. What was supposed to be a quick recovery, turned into a 2 1/2 year journey to try and piece my health back together again. Needless to say, the memories of our honeymoon were quickly overshadowed by the challenges that we now faced.

So when my bestest Colette got engaged, we were over the moon to plan a trip to England to celebrate her & her fiance's wedding. We decided to make a long vacation out of it, and considered it a honeymoon do-over. For two years we'd scrimped and saved, spent time at the coffee shop researching and planning, and dreamed of the day we'd finally be able to take some time off. I also used the trip as motivation to keep moving on my mission to get better. There were so many times I wanted to give up and throw in the towel, but I kept trudging forward knowing that I couldn't miss this wedding. Needless to say, there was a lot of emotion built into this trip.

Fast forward back to present time...

We went above and beyond to make sure everything was in order before our trip, so that the day we left would be as relaxing as possible. We got to the airport fairly early, and were surprised at the lack of traffic we had heading into Philadelphia. There were no lines to check in our bags, and again no lines to go through security. Everything was running extremely smoothly...a little too smoothly for airport travel.

We settled into the chairs in the waiting area, and that's when things started getting weird. We saw a firetruck go flying across a runway, sirens blazing. Then one of the alarms above a door in our section kept going off. It probably went of 14 times before they were able to stop it. Then we looked at the tv and saw the massive thunderstorms that had stopped the Phillies game. The game that was taking place just a few miles away from the airport where we sat. We looked up and saw the black clouds billowing towards us. It was like the universe was telling us that everything was about to get out of control.

And out of control it got. It was about 15 minutes before we were supposed to board our plane, when a fellow passenger came over to our section and said, " I think our flight is cancelled...it says cancelled on the board!" No announcement had been made about a cancellation, so everyone ran over to the U.S. Airways desk. Here's just how awesome U.S. Airways is (insert sarcasm). The people at the desk had NO IDEA the flight had been cancelled. So they told us all to calm down and go back to our seats. No one followed their directions, and we all stood there just waiting for an update. The knots began to form in my stomach, but I tried to convince myself that if the flight was cancelled, surely the airline workers would know it, right?! Oh, how naive I was. About 10 minutes later, one of the desk people grabbed a microphone and made the announcement that our flight, was indeed, cancelled due to mechanical failure.

I broke down in a mess of sobs. I'm not usually a crier (especially not a public crier), but I was just filled with a whole mess of fear (that I'd miss my best friend's wedding), frustration, anger and sorrow. Two years of planning for this? Flight delays I had mentally prepared for...but mechanical failure... I had not. Instead of being helpful, the U.S. Airways people handed all of the passengers a piece of paper with a phone number on it, and told us that they wouldn't be able to assist us in getting flight information. We were to call the number and they would answer all of our questions. (Horrific customer service, I know.).

Ryan got on the phone and tried to get a hold of someone, anyone, who could help us. I could hear the people around me who had gotten through to a representative. "Your next flight to London isn't until tomorrow at 4:45 PM? With a layover in Germany? So, we won't get into London until Saturday afternoon? The connecting flight to Manchester won't get in until the early evening?"

I may or may not have started hyperventalating at this point seeing as how the wedding was a 2 + hour drive from the Manchester airport. If this was the only flight we could get on, we wouldn't arrive at the wedding until 9:00 PM.

All of the sudden, my husband ran off down towards the other part of the airport. I had no idea where he was going, and since I had conveniently forgotten to charge my dead phone, I had no way to text him to see what was going on. So there I sat in the middle of the airport for 20 minutes with tears running down my face, all of the worst case scenerios running through my head.

All of the sudden Ryan came running back, and said, "Come on! A direct flight to Manchester was delayed due to the storms, and we can get on that flight!" We went to try and get a hold of someone to ask about our luggage (which was loaded on the broken plane). There were a bunch of U.S. Airways managers standing in a huddle (not behind the desk where they could help people, off to the side standing away from the people they had just left stranded). We ran up to see if we could get our luggage put on the other flight. That's when they told us that the luggage could not be taken off the broken plane. We were flabbergasted...it's not as if the flight could go anywhere. And it's not as if any of the other flights were leaving or coming in because of the storms. All of the working planes were just sitting, going nowhere. We explained that we really needed to get our luggage, because there wouldn't be time for it to be delivered to the town we were visiting...we had to fly out early Sunday morning to another country. One of the managers called the luggage workers, and explained our situation. But it was a no go. They refused to take anyone's luggage off the flight, and they refused to give anyone a reasonable answer as to why.

Given the choice of missing my friend's wedding and having luggage, or making the flight (and wedding) and having no luggage, the choice was pretty easy. We made our way onto the new plane, luggage-less (and not quite sure if we would ever see our luggage again on our trip) and exhausted, but on our way to England. The sad part was that the plane had a lot of empty seats, and that so many other travelers on our original flight were not given this new flight as an option. It was just another major fail by U.S. Airways...

Because we were so worked up, we didn't sleep at all on the flight. But there we were, on our way, determined to try and keep perspective on our situation.

Here are the blessings that we were able to come up with:

- The thunderstorms caused the Manchester flight to be delayed. If it had not been delayed, it would not have been an option for us.

- Our original flight had a layover in London. We were now on a direct flight.

- When we first got on the new plane, the pilot announced that we may be sitting on the runway for 1-2 hours, as we were 15th in line and the runways still were not open due to the storms. 10 minutes later, he made another announcement...the runways were now open and we were now number 3 in line! Because everyone had been taxiing for so long, a lot of planes had to refuel.

- We were going to make the wedding! Granted, we had no clothes to deal with the 50 degree temperatures (it was 100 degrees in Philly), but we were going to be there!

I promise the next two posts will be happy :) Before luggage saga part 2 happens!

And, We're Back...

2011-06-21T19:33:00.000-04:00

with a few more stamps in our passports!

Ryan and I just returned from our 10 day adventure through 4 countries, 3 airports, 2 car rentals, and 1 stranded island (insert Gilligan's Island tune here). The trip started off a little rocky (well, extremely rocky...thanks to a U.S. Airlines and then a Manchester Airport debacle) which left me having more than one breakdown. I'm still a little jaded over the awfulness of it all, but I'm hoping that all of the good memories (and there are a ton!) will gradually wear down the memory of the bad experiences.

Oh, and those good memories...they are so very, very sweet.

I got to watch one of bestest friends get married in a truly stunning countryside wedding (complete with walks through sheep pastures... seriously, sheep pastures!), with one of the most moving wedding homilies I have ever heard (I teared up more than once) . It was one of those British country weddings that everyone here in the U.S. tries to emulate, but falls slightly short of because, well, we're missing the British backdrop. I cannot wait to share the gorgeous, gorgeous pictures.

After the wedding, we headed off for a Croatian (and Montenegrin, and Bosnian- Herzegovinian) vacation. Words cannot describe the wonderful time that we had. Each town that we visited was uniquely special, and it was truly an honor to learn so much about the history of each place from the amazing people who took the time to show us their countries. All of our research paid off, and we were able to do every. single. thing that we wanted to do on our trip (and more!). It truly was the perfect vacation for us filled with lots of walking, espresso, history lessons, border crossing, and just the right amount relaxation (ok, we probably could have used maybe a tiny bit more of this). Not everyone's cup of tea, but I'm happy to be blessed with a husband who has the same travel outlook as me.

In the end, we left with big smiles on our faces, lots of joyful and funny stories (to over-ride the sad and frustrating ones), some new friends (hi, ana & andy!), and a new place in our hearts for each town that we visted. Success.

My plan is to spend the next few posts going through each part of trip (with lots of pictures!) as we experienced it. We can't wait to share our memories with you!

A Letter to Cole-Slaw

2011-06-08T08:04:00.002-04:00

Dear Colette,

It seemed like only yesterday I moved into the halls of West AJ and started my adventures at Virginia Tech. It quickly became apparent that my roommate was a "princess" in more than one sense of the word. I watched my parents start the six hour drive back home, and knots of dread filled my stomach as I wondered how I would make it through the year being so far away from everything I was familiar with.

Then I met this girl next door who also had a crazy roommate (although crazy in a completely different way). We commiserated over how we could have possibly ended up in a situation like this, and quickly bonded over Deets ice cream. Oh my goodness, how much do you miss Deet's ice cream?!? Little did I know then that we were placed in those rooms so that we could end up becoming best of friends.

You were the Blink 182 poster to my Monet. The free spirit to my overly cautious mindset. The techno music to my pop. The Aurora to my Belle. The Cole-Slaw to my Katie-Did. But for as different as we were, we were also a lot alike....we ruled over the study room at the end of the hall working our backsides off for those good grades, and unknowingly, as a joke, we even bought each other matching princess tiaras for our birthday. The year was filled with ups, and downs, and lots of ketchup. But somehow we survived. And then we made the decision to be roommates for the rest of our time together at college.

Looking back, the years seemed to fly by. There were lots of good times, crazy times and a good amount of late night talks. But through it all, you were always by my side. Before we knew it, graduation came and we had to move our separate ways. It was scary and exciting all at the same time (mostly scary though).

Then one day you called me up and told me about this guy you met through work. I knew right away that he was different than all of the other guys you dated. Well, for one, he wasn't American (hello, charming British accent!), but more than that, he was confident, funny, intelligent, worldly and adventurous. The perfect fit for someone who was the product of parents that met in the Peace Corps. And when I finally met him in person, it confirmed what I already knew...he was the one for you. You had finally found your "prince charming."

A few years went by, and an amazing proposal came on a hiking trip. You both then set off to travel around the world for a year, before coming home to plan your wedding. The wedding that will finally be here after two long years this weekend! Tomorrow, Ryan and I will hop on a plane and fly all the way to Sedbergh to celebrate with you and James. We could not be any more excited for you both!

This is just the beginning of a life filled with even more wonderful adventures, happiness (and probably lots of ketchup). Thank you so much for always being there for me, and I can't wait to be there for you as you start your married life together!

Hokie Hugs and Lots o' Love,

Katie-Did

File This Under...My Dad Is Awesome

2011-05-31T19:28:00.001-04:00

My dad has always been my hero, and I like to think that we've always shared a special bond. When he found out that my mom was pregnant with me, he told everyone that he hoped he would have a daughter and that he wanted to name her Katie. He got his wish, and exactly one week before his birthday, I came into the world. I think it is so great that he wanted a daughter, as almost all guys I know pray that their firstborn is a son. My dad...always marching to the beat of a different drummer. He's always been so patient (which is near impossible when you have four children in six years), loving, supportive, intelligent, hard working and creative. He started out as an 8th grade teacher (probably where he learned that virtue of patience), and now runs four successful restaurants and a consulting business. Nothing was ever impossible to him, and he's instilled that mindset in all of his children. I was always pretty picky when it came to guys, and I know why...it's because my dad set the standards sky high. Luckily, I was able to find someone who met them!

But, enough with the sappy stuff. Let's be honest...my dad also knows how to be the life of the party. For example:

One of my dad's signature dance moves. He's also known to break out the "raise the roof," "sprinkler," and "pop-eye." No occasion is to small for his dancing skills.

So, this past weekend, when my dad turned 60, we knew it was go big, or go home. So, we all piled into my parent's beach house in Sea Isle City, NJ (and I do mean all...I think we had 13 people there), and geared up for a big celebration. And what did my dad want to do for his big 6-0? He wanted to do a bar crawl, and visit all of the places where he bartended back in his glory days.

But, we knew it had to be a proper bar crawl, and nothing says bar crawl like a theme. See, my dad started going gray when he was in his 20's, and was completely white by his 40s. He also made sure to pass that gene down to all of his kids (thanks Dad!). Somewhere along the line, when my brother was in high school, he and his friends bestowed the nickname "The Pearl" upon my dad, to honor his amazing (lack of) hair color. So the theme for this big shindig went something like this:

Yup, all the guys (minus my Dad & Uncle) wore white wigs, polo shirts and boat shoes. It's a standard Pearl look.

This is my Dad & my brother. My brother is a "Pearl-in-Training."

Ryan & Middle Sister's BF walking to our 1st stop. Be honest...who doesn't want to find their 20 something, white haired soul mate at the Jersey shore?

Middle Sister's BF, Brother, Dad, Brother's Friend, Husband, Uncle at La Costa

Next stop...Ocean Drive...don't worry, my brother will continue to make faces in all the pics.

Me & The Pearl

Not quite sure the husband has mastered the awesomeness of rocking snow white hair.

Dad & Husband

This was in a bar called Shenanigans. It was by far the most "Jersey Shore" bar. 90% of the patrons wore their sunglasses inside. We felt like we had to fit in.

Why we never sent out "family portrait" Christmas Cards.

This would be a cute picture if my husband didn't look like a white haired muppet.

Not your everyday boardwalk sight.

It's like looking into a crystal ball and seeing my future.

As the day progressed, so did the state of the hair.

I'll love you in good times and in bad, I'll love you if you go bald, gray or white...

Sisters!

Middle, Oldest, Youngest

My dad photobombed our sister pic. PRICELESS.

I have to wonder what people thought when they walked by and saw this scene.

Sailing off (not really) into the sunset with my wannabe white haired husband.

We all had such a great time, and followed up the evening with an amazing BBQ. I even found the recipe to my grandmother's Applesauce Cake, and surprised my Dad. It was such a great weekend, and I hope we don't have to wait until he turns 70 to celebrate like this again!

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!

That Time When I Ate My Way Through My Birthday

2011-05-24T21:30:00.003-04:00

Ryan and I were able to get off work a little early on Friday, which meant we were able to head into Philly for one of my new favorite restaurants, Banana Leaf. It's a small Mongolian place in Chinatown that we stumbled upon after leaving The Legwarmers concert back in March. I'm sure they just loved having customers decked out in 80's costumes piling into their restaurant at midnight! Anyway, the food was so yummy (and super affordable) that I was just waiting for an excuse to go again. I think celebrating my 29th fit the bill perfectly!

Dominating the pyramids of sushi

Coconut water with delicious chunks of coconut on the bottom

Ryan and his enormous bowl of duck soup

& his even larger pork dish

After dinner, we headed to the movie theatre to see the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean. See, I made a deal with Ryan back in April that if I could go to an Ingrid Michaelson concert on his birthday, he could see the new Pirates movie on mine. Note to past self, this was not an equal switch. I'm pretty sure the Ingrid concert was a gazillion times better. The movie was ok...better than the 3rd (which weirded me out), but I will admit to some dozing off. However, this may or may not have been due to the pre-movie, self-inflicted food coma.

We both worked on Saturday, and had plans to celebrate with my family on Sunday. Things got a little hectic with a slew of last minute craziness, and it needed to be rescheduled. My dad's birthday is this week, so maybe he'll let me share in a little of his celebrations.

Sad because the family party was cancelled, and because my mom gave me socks for a gift. Not any socks though...slightly imperfect socks (love you Mom & your Marshalls/TJ Maxx addiction!). Apparently I am slightly imperfect too.

Since the big BBQ shindig was a flop, (and because the socks weren't cutting it) my mom decided to treat me and Ryan to dinner. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda glad it worked out this way, because dinner was AMAZING.

We went to Sovana Bistro in Kennett Square, PA, which I had been wanting to try for a while, and I can't say enough good things about the restaurant. Going out to eat is usually a huge endeavor for me because of my food allergies, and it becomes so much work that it takes a lot of the joy out of the experience. I usually have to study a menu beforehand, call a restaurant to see if things are made with cream or butter (wheat is a lot easier to figure out than dairy!), see if substitutions can be made, and then pray that the chef knows what they are doing. Even if a restaurant has a gluten free menu, most of the items contain corn or dairy, which I am also allergic to. Needless to say, I often end up eating a hodgepodge of things, or something I may not have really wanted because there really isn't much leeway on a lot of menus.

I grew up in the restaurant industry (literally), so I know that there is only so much that can be done, and I totally accept that and go with the flow. But I've dreamed of the day when I'd actually be able to order all of the things I really wanted. And Sovana Bistro...well, they definitely made my dreams come true. When I asked the waitress about a certain dish, she responded with, "Oh just let me know what all of your allergies are, and I'll see if the chef can make the dish around those. If not, you can just let me know what you like, and we can create a dish for you." I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped on the floor. They would make a dish around things I wanted?!? Be still my heart. Dear Sovana Bistro, you win the BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT award.

Everyone at the table got a small tasting spoon. The one on the left was especially for me! I didn't even have to ask...they just made a special one!

Scallops, Pork Belly and Kale. My stomach is still celebrating the awesomeness of this dish.

Brussel Sprouts!!!

Brussel Sprouts are my favorite food (I eat them for breakfast...weird, I know).

Ryan and I both ordered a side of them, and I ate them both. Consider it my birthday cake.

All and all, it was a great birthday weekend! I loved all of the messages, cards and phone calls I got from family & friends, and or course all of the yummy food I got to eat. I'd consider it a great start to the last year of my twenties. Hopefully there's a lot more exciting (and delicious) things coming my way this year!

Twenty-Nine

2011-05-20T00:00:00.003-04:00

Today is my twenty-ninth birthday.

The last year of my twenties.

And, I'm actually pretty excited about it. I'm pretty sure your 20s are much more chaotic than your teen years. Everyone prepares you for the craziness of being a teenager. No one really prepares you for all of the major life changes that tend to come in your twenties (college, 1st jobs, serious relationships, job changes, moving, marriage, etc.). The past 3 years have been especially hard and challenging for me because I have had to deal with a lot of health issues. I'm ready for my 30s. I feel (and hope and pray) that they will be a much calmer decade. I could definitely use some calm in my life. Bring it.

P.S. I found this bible verse while looking for images of the number 29. I like that it's the 29th chapter, and 11th verse because I turn 29 in 2011. I'm weird like that :)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper & not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

- Jeremiah 29:11

Bo & The Bully

2011-05-18T21:50:00.001-04:00

Our dog (like all dogs) has quite the personality. We like to compare him to Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother.

To sum it up, he thinks he is awesome. ALL THE TIME.

And, even when you get mad at him, he looks at you like you must be crazy, cause you know, he thinks whatever he did is LEGEN-wait for it- DARY.

I didn't tear up my dog bed...I created snow. INSIDE. In MAY. AWESOME.

Yesterday, we dropped Bo off for the day at a new doggy day camp. We are planning on having him stay there later this summer while we are away on vacation, and the camp requires the trial to see how your dog gets along with all of the other dogs. Well... it didn't go so smoothly:

I is sad. Someone messed up my awesomely handsome face.

Apparently he didn't do the best job of picking out a new friend, and ended up with a nice little gash on his nose. He was pretty mopey the rest of the day, since this was the first time that someone had seemed to question his awesome-ness.

So we gave him lots of treats and snuggle time, and he seemed to recuperate quickly. Plus, like Barney Stinson says...

True Story.

p.s. the other dog ended up in "doggy time out" and Bo received 5 tail wags on his report card, so he actually did quite well.

A Wedding, A Baby & Charlie Manuel

2011-05-16T22:29:00.001-04:00

This weekend ended up being quite the whirlwind trip for us. We woke up early on Friday morning, dropped Bo off at my parents house for a sleepover with their dog Roscoe, and then started the drive towards our favorite state of Virginia for a friend's wedding at Smith Mountain Lake. GPS had us going through D.C., and down the middle of the state, which we knew would be a nightmare during the morning rush hour traffic. So we google mapped an alternate route and started on the beginning of our very long trip.

All was great until we got off of good old interstate 81. We continued to dive as civilization seemed to get farther and farther away. We went up winding mountains and down the same treacherous mountains in the middle of the pouring rain. I, as the passenger and the Criminal Minds addict in our relationship, felt the need to continuously remind my husband, that this would be the most opportune time and place for a serial killer to come after us and make us meet a grisly demise. I am nothing, if not imaginative. Luckily, my husband let me stay in the car after said comments, most likely because he would have felt guilty leaving my friend a bridesmaid short on her wedding day.

Finally the rain let up a bit, and we landed on a blessed stretch of non-curvy road. I still felt the need to constantly question where in the world we could possibly be, when Ryan lit up like a Christmas tree, and yelled, "We're in the hometown of Charlie Manuel!!!" You have got to be kidding me, I thought. I'm pretty sure we're somewhere God forgot after 1952. But, alas, my husband was right...we were, in fact, in Charlie's hometown. Want proof? Here ya go:

A little piece of home in VA

Rock on Charlie.

This restored my faith in the fact that this weekend would indeed, be awesome, and after our photo op, we hit the road again.

It was about this time that my phone started to ring, and I got the much awaited news via text message that my friend Ashley's little baby boy would be making his much anticipated grand appearance sometime over the weekend. Ashley is a Jersey girl at heart, so of course this news made me feel the need to follow up with a text saying, " I hope your baby comes out fist pumping, and that his first words are "caaaaaaabbbbsss are here!'" This statement may or may not have come back to haunt me later.

We eventually arrived at our destination, and headed off to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The next day it was up and at it early in the morning for hair and makeup, and then getting ready. It was so wonderful to spend the day catching up with the bride, Meredith, and my fellow bridesmaid Susan. Meredith, Susan and I all went to VT, and spent a month traveling after graduation through eleven European countries. Meredith and I were also in the same major in college, and did not realize until Junior year that we grew up 20 minutes away from each other. Delaware- the home of one degree of separation.

Finally, it was time to get married! The bride was absolutely beautiful, and the ceremony was perfectly filled with tears, laughter and love.

Making it official

Double fisting bouquets

Unity candle

The new Mr. & Mrs.!

We then went off to take some fun photos, and hit up the cocktail hour. I use the word hit-up loosely, as my weird food allergies prevent me from being able to drink alcohol. Trust me, the irony of the fact that my family owns Irish pubs, yet I cannot drink is not lost on me. Life is a funny thing.

Here are some of my favorite "fun" photos:

Susan, Meredith, and I cheer on the Hokies

Touchdown!

The groom went to Georgia Tech. Yup, another mixed marriage.

How many blondes does it take to bustle a wedding dress? Apparently, three.

Success!

Before we knew it, it was time to be introduced and celebrate! The couple chose an amazing wedding band, and I seriously did not get off the dance floor the entire night (nor apparently, did I feel the need to take my sunglasses off). So much fun!

Let's get the party started!

Yay for the newest members of the married club!

One of our table members is not like the others (*cough*cough*Ryan)

1st Dance

I wear my sunglasses at night. Ryan perfects "blue steel."

Nothing shows people how tough you are like throwing gang signs while wearing pink sunglasses.

Amazing wedding band!

We seem to lack the ability to ever take a nice couple picture together. It's cool, we've accepted it.

We had such a great time, and it was definitely one of the best weddings we have ever attended. Unfortunately, we had to be up pretty early the next morning to make the long trek back home. Fortunately, I am an amazing wife and let my husband take another alternate route home that allowed us to stop in Charlottesville for some brunch. It was such a beautiful day, and it was nice to get out of the car and relax for a little bit. I may have been in enemy territory, but my stomach never turns down good food, and trust me, Charlottesville has a lot of it.

Sunshine and coffee, two of my favorite things.

Ryan made friends with a waiter, hence earning him lots of free samples of beer.

After brunch, we hit the road (again), and that is when I got the wonderful news that Ashley's baby was finally here! She was such a trooper, as it ended up being quite a long delivery, made more difficult by the fact that her son decided to enter the world fist first (hence the reason I felt guilty for making my previous text message). I am going to have to buy this to make it up to her.

Luckily for us, the hospital was on our way home, so we got to stop in and meet Baby M. He was so adorable, and I am so happy that he held off on his arrival so that I could meet him! I'm pretty sure it was the first time I've ever held a baby that young...I have 3 younger siblings, but the youngest was born when I was six, and since I threw a fit about getting a sister instead of the brother I wanted, I can pretty much guarantee my parents didn't let me near her alone (love you Laura!). It was so wonderful!

Go ahead, insert obligatory, "when are you going to have one of those" comments. I'm pretty sure I get them about once a week anyway.

So, in a time span of 36 hours, we managed to see where Charlie Manuel grew up, watched two amazing people get married, and met the newest and cutest little boy (and future Hokie). Our hearts are full! Congrats Meredith & Andrew, Ashley & Charlie!

Quick Picture Update

2010-11-09T18:21:00.002-05:00

Here's a quick picture update of the past few months:

We started tackling our dining room which prior to now was a beautiful shade of pale yellow with hints of bright red peaking through (awesome). Maybe the goal was sunrise on a wall? We may never know.

The first project up was a wall o'wood a la Bower Power. It's about 90% done (needs one board replaced & some artwork), so we're holding off on finished product pics until then. We also painted the accent wall white because the brown wood wall on brown wood flooring was a little too much.

Yay for newly painted grey walls and black window accents.

We're going to attempt to build our dining room table in the next few weekends using this plan from Knock Off Wood. It'll be our first adventure in building furniture, and we have a feeling that we're either going to succeed splendidly or fail miserably. Either way, we'll be sure to document it for you.

We had some 10 year reunion fun. Gotta love being a member of the Class of 2000!

Katie took the plunge and got bangs.

We spent some quality time at the Jersey Shore (insert t-shirt time joke here).

Where we found out our golden retriever is absolutely terrified of water. This is his Hellz No look.

Bo took Ryan for a couple of runs on the beach

And after a few days he decided to try and get his paws wet with a little coaxing from Katie.

We attended the wonderful morning wedding of Ryan's cousin in Virginia Beach on 10/10/10.

Beach + Early Morning Sunshine + Brunch Reception = Amazing.

Katie decided to go on a baking spree. This is the Pioneer Woman's Tres Leches Cake.

She couldn't eat it, but everyone said it was amazing, so it gets a definitely recommend rating. Plus you gotta love any recipe that has step by step instructions with pictures. It makes baking so easy!

Katie & the best roommates EVER had a reunion in D.C.
Somehow, the only picture is with this fuzzy blanket.
Fail.
However, the weekend was amazing (as was the fuzzy blanket)!

We attended the beautiful wedding of our friend Katie B. in Virginia. This was the first wedding where the person getting married knew both of us before we knew each other. Weird and awesome all at the same time.

We ended up going to a ghetto bar between the wedding and the gorgeous reception at Mount Vernon.

Ghetto = Peering into Painted, Boarded Windows.

Classy.

Yay for seeing VA friends! It was like a 2007 reunion.

This is Katie & her bestest Steph doing the "Rawr" move.

RAWR means, "I love you" in dinosaur.

So with that, RAWR.

Have a great night everyone!

Year Two!

2010-08-04T18:12:00.009-04:00

Ryan and I celebrated our second anniversary on July 26th. The year was full of a lot of exciting changes (buying our 1st house, getting a puppy, lots of friends getting married or adding little babies to their families, and a new job for the husband), and some challenges (continuing health issues, sick family members, and job insecurity). No matter what happens though, I know and am so blessed to have my best friend by my side throughout it all. I'm very excited to see what year 3 brings us!

We decided to follow in the footsteps of our first anniversary, hopefully creating an easy to stick to tradition. We went to mass at the church where we were married, and then ate brunch on the lawn where our reception was held. In the afternoon we headed into Philadelphia to take in the Phillies game. All in all (minus the insane thunderstorms at the game), it was a wonderful day and the perfect way to remember the day we said "i do" to each other :)

Pretty reception site

Year 2!

Random ring shot

Pretty butterfly in the gardens

Taken.

Me & Ryan

Wedding shoes! I hope to keep them in good enough shape to wear every year :)

Home Run!

At the ballpark

Yay! My favorite part of the anniversary day!

(our last name is edited out)

Here's to an even happier, healthier and blessed year 3!

Heaven is a place off of Exit 118 B (on Interstate 81)

2010-08-03T18:44:00.005-04:00

This past weekend Ryan and I made the 6 hour drive to spend some time with friends at my favorite place in the whole entire world...Virginia Tech. Seriously, life is so much better with maroon and orange fire hydrants and hokie bird images everywhere. Since my husband chose to go to another Virginia university, you'll notice that his image is conspicuously missing from the majority of the photos below.

It was such a wonderful weekend despite the crazy un-summery weather (high 60s and rainy), and we had a great time catching up with everyone. I'm really hoping that we can get down again this fall for a football game. The hubs still has yet to experience game day in Blacksburg, which is just totally unacceptable after 4 years together. Fingers crossed we can make it happen this year!

Exit 118-B to Blacksburg. Ironically, UVA is also located off of an Exit 118-B. My exit is better.

The waiter suggested a prom pose, and we actually obliged. This picture will make me snort milk out of my nose when I stumble upon it 5 years from now. I just know it.

College pride is still carrying your student i.d. 6 years after graduation.

VT pose in front of Lane Stadium. SO EXCITED for football season!

Thumbs UP.

We spent one afternoon enjoying the golf course on campus. I like this picture because it shows off the hubs' sexy arms. Seriously, hugs with those arms make me forgive his school choice.

Happiness is riding in a VT golf cart with one of your best friends!

I may or may not have jumped up and down like a 13 year old girl watching Twilight for the chance to drive the VT golf cart.

Heart. Virginia Tech.

Heart. Fist Pump. Virginia Tech.

Thanks for welcoming us back VT!

This picture was taken for the sole purpose of showing off the maroon and orange skirt I found in a Target (in Delaware) a week earlier. We're taking over the world...

So sad to leave

Asleep on the ride home in my brand new hokie colored Phillies hat. Best purchase EVER.

Until we meet again Virginia Tech....GO HOKIES!

Mr. Bogangles

2010-07-22T14:16:00.004-04:00

Meet the newest member of our family:

Bojangles (Bo)

International Doggy of Liesure

Bo's 1st day in his new home

Learning to sit

Seriously. Cutest puppy face ever.

4.16.07: neVer forgeT

2010-04-16T05:00:00.000-04:00

Originally Posted 4.16.09

I had spent most of my junior year checking out pretty much every college from Delaware to South Carolina. Yet none of them felt right.

Then one day a classmate randomly mentioned that he had been to Virginia Tech and that it was really cool. I checked it out online, and mentioned to my parents that I'd like to visit it if possible. My parents (who were going through this whole college search thing for the first time and were beginning to get paranoid that I was never going to find a place I wanted to go to), made an appointment to visit the school the following weekend.

I'll never forget the feeling I felt when we turned into the campus. Many people probably say that you can't fall in love (especially with a school) at first sight, but trust me I did. I remember driving up past Lane Stadium, and then driving past the dorms, drillfield and classroom buildings. I was absolutely sold. There was no where else I wanted to spend my college years. I knew that something about this school was going to make those years special. I knew it was going to be the place where I really discovered who I was, and it would help make me the person I was meant to be.

Once I started school at VT, I was determined to take advantage of every opportunity. Freshman year, I ran for class office, and was elected Vice-President of my class (at VT you hold the position for all 4 years). I also was a member of the Student Government Association and the Student Alumni Association. I often got to emcee the pep rallies, which I absolutely loved doing. I was also co-founder and vice-president of an organization that many of you probably have heard of by now- Hokies United. The group was created after 9/11 to help the campus deal with the tragedy of that day. We made the organization so that it could be reinstated in times of difficulty...which it was for things such as the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. I still remember sitting on the floor of the room that night hashing out the plans for the group with my fellow students... never, ever in a million years did I expect that it would be reinstated one day to help deal with the biggest tragedy the school would ever experience.

The activities I was involved in were only one part of my experience at Virginia Tech. The friends I made there are the friends I know I will have forever. They are a family to me. I also had wonderful relationships with so many of the teachers and administrators. When I said that the school would make me who I was meant to be, it was these people- my friends, the teachers, and the staff that made that all possible. I can truly say I graduated having accomplished everything I set out to, and I had grown to be a much better person all due to the support of these people. I graduated with a second home, a larger family, and a place where part of my heart would always reside.

Like I'll never forget where I was on 9/11, I'll never forget anything about April 16, 2007. In fact, it took me four tries just to write this post because the feelings are still so raw. Sometimes I struggle with that...struggle to figure out why, almost two years later, it still hurts so much. But I'm learning to give into it, because, after all, they don't exactly write grief books for massacres. They don't really have support groups for this kind of thing. You come to realize that there isn't a right or wrong way to deal with something like this. You learn to deal with it anyway you can by trying to figure out some way in your mind to semi-comprehend what happened.

It's hard to comprehend that level of evil. And if your sane, I don't think it's possible to ever really comprehend it. Putting chain locks on doors so that rescue workers can't come in. Shooting so many rounds that faces were unrecognizable. Taking the time to mail a video to NBC in between shootings just so the whole world could see even more just how sick you were. 32 innocent people killed. 32 innocent lives taken in such a horrendous fashion. 32 angels who should still be here today. It's a level of sickness that I never thought I would have to learn to try and understand...and have to try to learn to forgive. Sometimes forgiveness comes, and other days you take it back in anger. Anger at seeing another mass shooting happen in the U.S. Anger in knowing that as graduation nears, there will be empty seats for those who won't get the chance to throw their cap up in the air and walk away head held high with their diploma.

But you try not to let the anger win. When you fight through it, and through every other emotion that you have- the grief, the sorrow, the disbelief- these feelings that hit you on levels you never knew you would have to experience- you try to come out of them with a positive thought. You come to realize that this experience will always leave you with a wound on your heart. Yet, somehow, even though you have seen the worst the world has to offer, you can look around and realize that there is more good in the world than bad. And that's what makes you carry on.

In reality, this could have happened at any campus. Unfortunately, it happened at mine. Sometimes though, I like to think that if it had to happen, it happened at my school because God knew we'd be able to show the world that evil does not and cannot prevail. But we will prevail.

WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH. WE WILL PREVAIL.

Obligatory Blizzard Pics

2010-02-07T16:44:00.005-05:00

We got 28" where I live. Definitely not as much as some places in D.C., MD and the Jersey shore, but still a lot. We were actually in a state of emergency where we weren't even allowed to drive until today. Crazy! Here are some pics:

Outside our kitchen door about 1/2 way through the storm. The snowdrifts were insane...that's a 6 foot fence in the background.

Somewhere, in there, is my car...

Don't mess with William Penn. He'll throw a snowball at your face. Just sayin'.

JUMP. For your love.

Mr. Mallard is cold.

Ivory soap is the cleanest AND nicest soap. It also floats. The wall says so.

I hope everyone had a safe and warm weekend!

Our McReception Part 3: A 1/2 Cup Token of Love

2010-02-05T20:30:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite parts of our wedding was the few minutes that Ryan and I were able to sneak away, exchange gifts and let everything set it. Ok, I'm not going to lie...I was also SUPER EXCITED to finally be able to give my gift to Ryan. On a scale of 1 - 10 of sheer awesomeness, I would rate it a 10. Ok, wait, maybe a 9. Exchanging vows would have to get the 10.

Anywho, about 3 months before our wedding I decided that I wanted to get Ryan something special for the big day. And since he was taking care of the top secret honeymoon, it had to be uber special. Also, since I was one broke a$$ bride at this point, it had to be relatively affordable. So i got down to business and thought about Ryans #1 pastime...cooking. Coincidentally, my number #1 pastime is eating. We are totally MFEO (made for each other).

Back to the subject. So I thought long and hard, and decided I would make Ryan a cookbook....but not just any cookbook. I would use my super stealth Jack Bauer skills and get tons of recipes from friends and family members. Mind you, I had just moved 2 hours away from all of our friends and had just started a new job, so I had some serious panic attacks about whether or not I would be able to pull this all off (along with keeping everything a secret from Ryan).

In order to keep everything as simple as possible for the recipe writers, I mailed out a poem explaining what I was trying to do, along with a recipe card and a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope so that mailing everything back would be easy-peasy.

Here is how the poem went (incase anyone else wants to do something like this):

The wedding is getting closer, and very soon it will be July

But first I need your help, so please take the time to reply

I want to give a surprise to Ryan, for when we say "I do"

Something that is from the heart, instead of something shiny and new

I know I'm a very lucky girl, because Ryan loves to cook

So what I'd like to do, is make him a special recipe book

Please take the time to tell us how to make your favorite meal

You can even include some wishes if you want to sweeten the deal

Family and friends mean the most to Ryan, your words will mean a ton

Especially since when I try to cook, he tends to want to run

I want to thank you in advance for taking the time to be so sweet

If you visit us after the wedding, we'll make sure to cook you a tasty treat!

p.s. please keep this a secret

Love,

Katie

Somehow the stars aligned, and the responses I got were beyond amazing. So many friends and family members went the extra mile with their recipes. A lot of friends provided recipes passed down from generation to generation in their families, and some family members provided recipes in the original handwriting from our grandmothers and great grandmothers. A couple people even wrote VT Fans or Hokies in the "serves" part of the recipe card (way to get into the spirit!). I can't even begin to tell you how overwhelmed (in a good way) I was by the responses. In short, we gained a little bit of everyone's family in one little book.

Now onto the gift opening! I was originally planning on having my brother deliver Ryan's gift to him, but both my mom and the MIL protested and insisted that it had to be done in person. And, like the typical wise women they are, they were right. I'm so happy that I have pictures of this moment.

Ryan's gift- In typical 1st child possessive behavior, I began referring to Ryan as "My Ryan" shortly after dating....

Completely surprised that Ryan had gotten me a gift too (the even bigger surprise came the next day when I found out he planned our honeymoon to Anguilla)

Checking out my new, beautiful necklace

Love this pic

Ryan opening his gift

He was the perfect gentleman, and opened his card first. Unlike me...I turn into wolverene at the first sight of wrapping paper (instert wrapping paper claw marks here).

Close up of the card. I had it made here on etsy. I loved it so much that I've had it made for other weddings too!

Getting to the good stuff

Pointing out a recipe from my grandfather. He personalized a quote from House Beautiful, Feb. 1957 "How, Where and Why to Read a Cookbook." Again, I'll include the quote which you can also personalize if you're ever making a cookbook for someone:

" Ryan cookbook is not just for cooking...his cookbook is for inspiration, for lifting the spirit and freeing the mind, for brightening your outlook as well as for parties and table conversations...for the understanding of people and places, for the revelation of the past and for the interpretation of the present...for culture, education, for inviting the soul, reliving memories, reliving experiences. Ryan's cookbook, like poetry, is for the intensification of precious moments. Where except in cookbooks and in lyrics, does one find so much emotion distilled, charted and recollected in tranquility."

Lookin' at all the love found in a simple recipe card

Wrapping paper scraps and shoes :)

Previous Recaps:

Getting Ready: Part 1

Getting Ready: Part 2

Getting Ready: Part 3

Our McWedding: Part 1

Our McWedding: Part 2

Our McWedding: Part 3

Our McReception: Part 1

Our McReception: Part 2

All photos courtesy of Kate Leigh

Our McReception Part 2: Lets Hear it for our (Bridal) Party

2010-01-31T17:01:00.006-05:00

There's still not much going on over here, so I figured why not finish up with the wedding recaps. You know...the wedding we had a year and a half ago. Yeah, that one. Maybe I'll get all the recaps done before our second anniversary :) Either way, I figure better late than never...

So, here we are. I last left off with some bride and groom pics, so I figured I should follow that up with some pics with our amazing bridal party. A wedding is sweet, but having your best friends by your side just makes it so much sweeter.

Walking in front of our reception site

Me & My Beautiful Bridesmaids

The Entire Wedding Party

Some of you may be wondering what we are laughing at in this pic. I wish I could say it was something cute and funny. However, this picture is the direct result of my youngest sister letting out what may have been the loudest belch I have ever heard. Classy.

Yet, the barstool behavior resulted in one of my most favorite pictures of the day:

Yummy Bouquets

The Girls

When we first looked at our reception venue, I fell in love with this abandoned building. The first words out of my mouth to Ryan were, "we have to get pictures here!" He thought I was crazy. Luckily, our photographer thought it was an amazing site too. First day of marriage: Katie:1 , Ryan: 0

Proof that I can, indeed, run in 3 1/2 inch heels and a wedding dress

Group shot in front of awesome green building

Serious Bridal Party

Silly Bridal Party

And one more in color...

Next Up: A little Gift Exchange

Previous Recaps:

Getting Ready: Part 1

Getting Ready: Part 2

Getting Ready: Part 3

Our McWedding: Part 1

Our McWedding: Part 2

Our McWedding: Part 3

Our McReception: Part 1

All photos courtesy of Kate Leigh

The Great Storm of 'Snow Nine

2009-12-20T10:02:00.008-05:00

Yesterday Ryan and I hunkered down at home while the massive snow storm that hit most of the East coast came to our town. It was the first time in over a year that both of us had a Saturday off together, and it was absolutely wonderful to be forced to relax and do nothing. We watched Christmas movies all day, and our neighbors even brought us homemade chicken dumpling soup and cake. In short, it was perfect. Today may not be as fun as we have to shovel ourselves out of the 20 plus inches of pretty white stuff, but it was definitely worth it yesterday!

I took lots of pictures last night and again this morning as we walked to and from Mass. All of the snow makes our town look like it came straight out of a Christmas card. I think I'm in love ...

Outside our front window yesterday afternoon

And the back side

What it looked like later in the evening

Sunrise

Brick wall almost completely covered

So beautiful

The lamp posts in town

Snow on the Green

The Courthouse

Ryan trying to find a path where we could walk

Icicles!

Walking home from Mass

Seriously, isn't this just gorgeous?

More icicles and lanterns

Winter wonderland picture #1

Winter wonderland picture #2

What happened to the car?

Pretty church picture in the center of town

I hope everyone else who was hit by this storm is safe and warm!