A Wedding, A Baby & Charlie Manuel

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

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!

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)

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

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

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.