"Our first Doctor visit!"

Well after a very busy Christmas we are starting to settle back into our routine. Unfortunately our routine started off with a visit to the vet's office. We have had kitty for about a year and half now and we have yet to take her to the vet but today was the day. After a brief struggle to get her into her cat carrier we headed off to the vet's office. Weiser was very well behaved until it was time to be examined by the doctor. Weiser started hissing and growling at the doctor, and she didn't like her shots at all, too bad we have to go back in a month for another round of shots. On top of everything else kitty is trying to make me feel guilty by laying around all mopey looking. This is all kitty has been doing since we got back at 10:30 this morning. I thought kids were the only ones who got sick after having shots, apparently kitty's do to. Our final goal is to be able to get kitty spayed in February to put a stop to her being in heat every month. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

"Who would have thought?!"

This should have been posted yesterday but I didn't think of it until later. Yesterday, Wednesday, December 10th, was 5 years since Kurt and I first met on that fateful night at the Marble Hill Inn in Sherrill. My cousin Danielle dragged me there to hang out with her and some of her friends from work. Little did I know that the guy in the gray sweatshirt and red Budweiser hat was my future husband. We started talking that night, he asked for my phone number and low and behold just 5 short years later we are married, and to celebrate that fateful night we did what so many married couples do had dinner, watch tv and then went to bed to we could get up and go to work today.
Fun huh? Hopefully we can think of a more exciting way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. hehe.

"eVeR hAvE oNe oF tHoSe DaYs?"

Ok today was one of those days when we just should have stayed in bed. It started very early this morning when we awakened to the pitter patter of rain drops falling on our kitchen floor. Unfortunately our roof has a leak and when it rains our kitchen is a little on the flooded side. I would have included a picture of all the towels and buckets but I haven't had a chance to transfer the pictures yet. So as if being up almost an hour earlier than we needed to be wasn't bad enough. Things only got worse for Kurt later today. When Kurt got out of work today he discovered that someone had smashed the passenger side window of this truck and stole his radar dector, that is 8 years old, without the cord! We figure some jerk got the raw end of that deal and stole it thinking it was a GPS, lucky for us we know where we are going. Oh and all Kurt's tools, snowmobile jacket and other valuable odds and ends all escaped untouched. At the risk of sounding like a redneck Kurt figures he has to be black. Oh the joys of working in the high crime neighborhood of Syracuse. Now we just have to wait to hear from the insurance company!! Happy Holidays to us!!!

"I hope he acts just like you"

My dad had always hoped that my brother Ryan would have a son that acted just like him, well his wish came true. Ryan sent me this picture of my nephew eating dinner in his high chair the other night. Last night we had dinner at my parent's house and everyone was there and instead of eating Carter smashed all his food with his fork and made faces at me. Last night Pa tried to get him to say my name and it came out T, so I am now Aunt T, the one who gets him water out of the fridge. On a final note I am happy to report that mom and dad are doing fine. Mom went back to work last Monday and dad is now driving himself around using his left foot and probably his crutches.

Weiser, "The Great Hunter"

Last night Kurt and I were watching tv and I saw Weiser start to walk into the dining room with something in her mouth. She has lots of toys so at first I didn't think anything of it, then I noticed this funny, skinny tail hanging, it was then I realized that she might have a real mouse. Yes, Weiser is now a great hunter. She caught her 1st mouse, unfortunately it was in our apartment. Hopefully this is the only one, or if more should happen to appear kitty will be one the job.

"Grandma in Training?"

In June about 2 weeks before the wedding I started crocheting this blanket. I finally finished about 2 weeks ago. The blanket is big enough for our queen size bed. The blanket is so cozy and warm. Well worth all the hard work and long nights spent crocheting it, especially since the weather man is threatening a chance of snow this week. It has been cold, dreary, and rainy here and to top it all off I'm fighting a cold and the possibilty of either a sinus infection or strep throat. You just have to love Central New York and it's lovely weather. I'll be nice and give my kindergartners a break and blame my cold on the weather instead of on all their coughing and sneezing and not covering their mouth. If anyone is willing to be patient this "grandma" is training is taking orders for homemade blankets.

Like Father, Like Son

Now that mom and dad are house bound, they have been able to spend quality time with everyone. My nephew Carter has been providing us with some much need comic relief. Unfortunately this is not the best video, I missed the really good clip of him imitating his daddy and Uncle Gopher. A couple of night ago Carter saw his dad lift his leg and pretend to fart, this is now Carter's newest trick. My dad always hoped Ryan would have a son that acted just like him and that wish has come true. Enjoy the comic relief!!!

"LoveBirds"

Mom and dad have been missing each other like crazy!! The other night before we left mom wanted to kiss dad good night and this is the sweet kiss. It was quite a site to see dad in his wheelchair trying to kiss mom good bye who was hooked up to all kinds of machines. I am happy to report though that mom is home and they couldn't be happier. They finally released her this afternoon about 1pm. I would like to thank everyone for their kind words, prayers and all the kind acts. It has really meant alot to us and we are so thankful for all of you!!!

The Curse of the 3's

Well, you know some things just have to come in 3's and apparently bad news is one of them. On Wednesday afternoon a paniced phone call from my sister-in-law revealed that my mom was having a heart attack and was being rushed to the hospital. The shock of the news was too much for my dad to handle and he had an anxiety attack and kept fainting. My brother Jeremy couldn't keep him awake and drive at the same time so he had to pull into the Tractor Supply Store in Rome where an ambulance was parked and asked the paramedics to take a look at him. The paramedics said they had to get my dad to a hospital so Jeremy told them "take to St. Elizabeth's, that's where they're taking my mom." So we spent most of Saturday afternoon running between the emergency room where dad was and the Cath lab where mom was. But I am happy to report that they are both doing much better now, and I am so very thankful for all the kind words and prayers that everyone has been sending our way. Thank you so much. A very cute picture of the lovebirds will be coming soon, so check back.

No news is both good and bad

Some sad news to report, On Saturday night August 23nd my parent's barn caught fire and burnt down. The fire marshall isn't sure what caused the fire and unfortunatly everything was destroyed. Luckily though no one was home and no one was hurt and the house is fine. The above picture is the back of the barn where are snowmobiles were. My dad's tractor and it was the biggest part of the barn.
This is the front part of the barn. On the step right there is Cindy's saddle that is now mostly crispy =(
The one bright spot was that Friday, August 22nd, I got a phone call from Rome Catholic School and was offered a job teaching kindergarten. On Monday, August 25th I was officially hired and the following week I signed my contract and school started. I had about a week and half to prepare for my first full-time teaching job. These are some pictures from my very own classroom!!!
Finally all my hard work had paid off and on Friday, September 19th, I received my first full time paycheck and let me tell you it was a beautiful thing!!! I guess it just goes to show that good things really do come to those who wait.

And one final note, Just a little update on my dad. As some of you may know my dad fell on Wednesday, September 10th and broke his hip. He has to use a walker to get around but he has an appointment tomorrow with the orthopedic surgeon to see how his hip is healing and we are hoping that things are healing as they should be. If for some reason they are not there is a possibility that he could have to have hip replacement surgery. I would have blessed you all with a picture of "speedy" but I fear for my life after he is fully recovered around Christmas. =) haha.

Weekend Race Warriors

This is Kurt and I with our friends Tim and Angel on the track at Watkin's Glen. After the race on Sunday we got to walk the track back to our campsite. It was so cool the track was covered in pieces of rubber from the tires. We're hoping that the pieces we picked up are off of Dale Jr's car.
This is the view from the straight away before the cars head up through what they call the Esses. This hill doesn't look that steep but it was quite a walk but well worth it.
Saturday afternoon after the Nationwide race we walked over the track and up the hill near where all the race car haulers are parked and we got to see Boris Said up close and personal. Angel was brave enough to ask him for a hug and she got to hug him. It was the highlight of her weekend, that's all she talked about. Too bad I wasn't thinking fast enough I could have gotten a picture with him. Oh well, live and learn.
This is the view from our seats, we sat right across from the exit at pit road. We had a good view of the cars coming back out onto the track. In the background you can see Jr's car leaving pit road. Jr started out strong and lead laps on 2 separate occasions. Unfortunately he had a few problems with his car and ended up finishing around 20th or so. We had a great weekend, despite the rain and the fact that our tent flooded Saturday night. Luckily our friends Shane and Jackie had their camper their and let us crash in the camper. It was close quarters but tons of fun. Hopefully Kurt and I will actually be home for a while now.

Camping at Nick's Lake

On Friday night, August 1st, Kurt and I got out of work, packed up the car and headed up to Nick's Lake in Old Forge to spend the weekend camping with Kurt's mom and dad and the triplets, Laura, Rachel and Rebecca.
Kurt's mom said that it had rained off and on pretty much all week while they had been up there. Later Saturday afternoon it started raining again and we had to put up "tarp city" to protect the tent. The tarps protected our tent and added something "special" to the camp site.
Saturday night Kurt's mom and dad took us all out to dinner and we went for a short ride afterwards, we stopped in this parking lot and made friends with the deer having supper there. The girls had picked crab apples at home and brought them up. I feed these two little deer apples right out of my hand. Later we went up this other rode and Kurt fed a momma deer with twin fawns apples out his hand too. It was so cool!!! They weren't afraid at all.
Saturday morning after we ate breakfast, we went out on the canoe, Kurt tried his hand at fishing and after several attempts, he finally caught a small trout. Kurt said it was only "fish stick' size so he let him go.
We took a break from fishing and rowed back into this cove in the lake and it turned into a small stream. We beached the canoe up on some rocks and walked through the water over the bridge. It was a beautiful view. We had such a great time camping with Kurt's parents, I can't wait for next summer so go back.

Our Honeymoon

On our way to Florida we decided we needed a "mini" vacation on our way down to break up the trip. Kurt's sister Jen was a sweetheart and made a reservation for us in Myrtle Beach. We spent 2 nights there and this was the beautiful view from our hotel room. We had such a nice view of the beach. Our last night there we took a walk on the beach and saw this jellyfish washed up on the beach. I'm glad this guy waited until night to make his way to the beach. I wouldn' t have wanted to run into him while swimming in the ocean. Ouch!!

The highlight of our honeymoon was the Nascar race at Daytona. On Saturday afternoon we went into the area called FAn Zone, which gets you up close to the pit area and the drivers. Saturday was the last inspection of the cars before the race, this is Dale Jr's car going through inspection. It was so awesome to be that close to the cars. It was just unreal, usually we just see them on tv, so this was an amazing experience.
Before the race Saturday night Kurt and I were sitting in our seats watching all the people down there on the track listening to the band "Lady Antebellum" and decided that we should be there too. We walked down the steel stairs (in the back there) and got to walk on the track at Daytona!!!! The track is so steep that you have lean forward to walk up the track. We also got to sign our names on the start-finish line. This was really just the coolest thing that we got to do during our vacation.
From the track we made our way over to pit road were the cars were lined up to start the race. This is Dale Jr's actual car that he raced that night sitting on pit road waiting for the race to start.

Wedding, Honeymoon, & the whole Crazy thing

Well with a mixture of relief and sadness the wedding is over. Despite the minor problems that occurred the day of, it was a beautiful wedding. Of course right when my bridesmaids and I got ready to leave for the church it was absolutely pouring rain, but we made it after receiving an umbrella escort to the tahoe. But no sooner had we entered the church then the power went out. Our ceremony was held by candlelight and our closest family and friends were nice enough to sing and provide us with some pre-entrence music. With the wedding over we were greeted with sun, heat and humidity. Emmanuel Vaucher was our photographer had us travel in our limo to Forest Park for some very beautiful and unique pictures, which can be viewed if you visit the website were are pictures are posted. http://emanphoto.photostockplus.com/event_198708. If anyone knows someone who is getting married you should choose Eman as your photographer, you will not be disappointed. Anyways while we were having fun in Forest Park and unbeknownst to me we almost did not have a reception because of the power being out. But God smiled on us that day and the power returned and we were able to have on heck of a party at Katie & Karl's. After such a great party Kurt and I decided we needed a little R&R and we left on Tuesday for our honeymoon. Pictures of that will soon be posted. We had great time in Florida and hated to return.

Anticipation at the start of Football Season

Anticipation at the start of Football Season

After such a great ending to the Giants season in February, we are ready for the kickoff of a the new season to start. In the meantime we are challenging you to take the NFL trivia quiz and test your football knowledge against Kurt's. August 7th is the first Giant's preseason game, a little over 3 months to wait.
GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!

Corning Field Trip

These are just a few of the beautiful of the beautiful glass pieces we got to see on our tour of the museum. I think any of these would make gorgeous wedding gifts. (haha) Also did you notice the Cinderella slipper. I think a glass slipper is just the accessory I need to go with my wedding gown. What do you suppose a girl has to do to get a pair of those? The best part of the field trip was that on our way home just outside of Corning the bus started to act funny. After a few more miles we had to pull over into a parking lot and sit for almost 4 hours and wait for another bus to come and get us. We were supposed to be home at 7pm but we didn't make it home until 10:30pm. Nothing says fun like a 15 hour day with 4th and 5th graders. Luckily there were only 6 kids. Can't wait to do this again!!!

On Saturday, May 10th, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel to Corning to the Glass Museum with a few of my after school students. We got to ride the bus 3 hours all the way to Corning. When we finally arrived we got to sit in on a glass blowing show. It was so neat to see a little "blob" of glass become a pumpkin. After seeing all that went into making the pumpkin it's not wonder they are so expensive in the gift shop.

Bridal Shower

Maddie helping to open presents, I think she was more excited than I was.

Rachel, Laura, and Rebecca

Saturday, May 3rd, was my bridal shower given by my mom and my bridesmaids. This is mom and I with Kurt's mom and his youngest sisters. I received many beautiful gifts and has lots of help opening the presents. Mom made way too much food, and we've been eating leftovers for a while, which has not been good, especially with my first wedding gown fitting fastly approaching. It's next Saturday!!! Good thing it already fits, otherwise I'd be signing up for that show "Bulging Brides." This morning I'm headed to the post office to mail the invitations, so be watching, you should get them soon. We also went last Friday to pick out my wedding band, it's gorgeous!!!! I can't wait to go pick it up this Friday. The next couple of weeks are going to be super busy, besides my fitting, I have another bridal shower given my my aunts on my mom's side and then a third one on June 1st to be given by my soon to be "sisters" it should lots of fun. Anyways have to run, off to so some errands and then off to work.

'The Deer"

Well Kurt has been asking and asking me if I have put a picture of his deer on our blog, so I am finally granting his request. Kurt shot this deer in November on opening day of hunting season. It's was a 14 point, and it weighed so much that Kurt had to use his truck to hang it in the tree. Kurt used to gun that I had gotten him for Christmas the previous year to shot the buck. It was such a big deer that we decided to have it mounted. Now Kurt is just paitently waiting for a phone call saying that it is done so he can go get it. I know it's just going to look "fabulous" hanging on the wall in our apartment. This was Kurt's proudest moment this year, he shot the biggest deer around. We have been so lucky that we've been eating vension since November and will probably still be eating this November as well. Well I will update more next week with new info because I'm getting ready for a couple of bridal showers and will have wedding updates soon. Until then.

Long time, No write

Ok, so I know that I haven't updated our blog since I started it but this is all new to me, so bear with me. Not much has been going on around although, for some reason I seem to extremely stressed. Over what, I have no idea. Wedding plans continue to progress nicely, and special thanks to my out-of-town matron of honor for cooperating so nicely from so far away!!! Love ya, dear. As you can plainly see from the above picture, all this wedding planning has been causing Kurt to lose much sleep!!! haha.

Well I have been hard at work trying to get everything done and organized for the wedding, and I think things are finally under control now. I was able to find a new lady to make our wedding cake, and I think she'll do a wonderful job. The pictures she brought of her work were gorgeous. I am very excited!!! Now my big goal is to finish losing a few pounds before I have to go for my dress fittings. All for now I'll keep updating as the wedding gets closer.