I'm (Finally) Engaged!

On Sunday, December 18th, 2011 Jeff and I took the train from Albany to Penn Station to spend the day in NYC. We saw the Rockettes, had lunch at TGIFridays, wandered and shopped, and then made our way back to Rockefeller Center when it got dark to see the Christmas tree. We settled on a bench across the street to look up at the twinkling lights and just enjoy the moment of being there together right before the holidays. It was here that he slid off the bench and down on one knee to ask me to marry him--and of course I said YES! To read the full details of our engagement day story, visit my new blog, which will chronicle my wedding planning adventure .

August 2011 Mini Book

I used this 6x6 mini album that I bought years ago at the Dollar Tree to house double page mini-spreads of all the fun things I was able to do with my family when they visited last week and the week before. It was great to see my cousin Mary and her beautiful family, my sister Elise was here for a week, my great Aunt was here for the month from CA, and my friends Ginger and Mike and my Aunt Claudia where able to join Jeff, Elise, and I for a trip to the Adirondack Museum on Blue Mountain Lake one rainy Monday. We got some icecream, did a few short hikes, relaxed and had smores by the lake and did some shopping in Speculator. I couldn't have asked for a better summer so I had to document it in this little book before the hecticness of my last grad semester and substitute teaching sets in next week.

"Fly" Card for Daddy

Okay, I admit, I knew this card would make my dad cry, but I had to send it. I miss my parents so much since they moved to Virginia in December, and I know they are having a hard time getting established there so these lyrics have a double meaning. Dad and mom prepared me to be on my own and survive in the world, but the lyrics are also about me being proud and appreciative of them too. I cry everytime I hear this song and think of my dad. And I love to look at this photo of us when I was little (I have had it posted on the bulletin board over my desk since I stole it from their house before they moved). I combined both the lyrics and the photo to make a meaningful message for my father; I want you to soar too! You guys will make it! And I'll be okay (even though I miss you so much it hurts sometimes!) I love this photo and the lyrics because they represent a simpler time in our lives, where a rope swing in the woods on a sunny afternoon was pure bliss.

Snow Day Snowman

Well, it worked out that everything I was supposed to do got cancelled today and I enjoyed myself outside in the snow with Aly and Brinkley and Jeff. What do you think of our Snow Friend?

Family Halloween Dinner 2009

my favorite thing about Halloween: caramel apples

the geek and little red riding hood make a cute couple

the R/C plane pilot

Spooky dead bride

a snack spread to die for

some ghoulish girls

the night of the living dead

no bones about it, this was a cool table setting

I couldn't tell you why exactly but Halloween is my family's favorite holiday. For as long as I can remember costumes and decorations have been a big deal for my mom. In grade school my sisters and I won one firehouse costume contest after another, and we decked out our basement as a haunted house every year of high school, and each year the guest list got longer and longer.

As we have gotten older, we have reserved our celebrations to more intimate family affairs. Our haunted dinners are an excuse to still dress up and eat weirdly delicious foods and decorate from floor to ceiling with cobwebs, streamers, bones and spiders galore. This year was no exception. Although Jeff and I wished to wear out pjs to the dinner party and just collapse on the couch after the meal, we should've known we wouldn't get off that easily. Upon arrival to my parents' house in "street clothes" we were soon cooerced upstairs to the costume closet to change. I'm secretly glad they got me motivated despite how tired I was at week's end because Halloween wouldn't be the same without a costume: no matter how pathetic and impromptu it may have been.

Mom made "bat wings and mummy toes" for dinner (chicken wings and pigs in a blanket) along with coleslaw, baked beans, and cornbread. For dessert we had chocolate covered pretzel rods and my favorite caramel apples. I love the ambiance and the comraderie of the occassion and I will miss it next year after they move to NC next month. Halloween will never quite be the same, so I had to be sure to document the tradition this year.

Butterfly Tattoo Adventure

So, my younger sisters have been bugging me forever about us going and getting a tattoo together...and since they will be moving to North Carolina in a month or so, I gave in and we made an evening of it at Saratoga Ink. Our tattoo artist, England, specializes in small detailed tattoos...so that was perfect for what we were going for. Something small, meaningful, and in my case for teaching, hideable. Elise and I went with the traditional colors of the monarch butterfly and Aly went blue to match the tattoo on her chest. They all came out gorgeous and I was impressed with the cleanliness and professionalism of the place (they changed my point of view and expectation of tattoo parlors!). We were there from 4:30-9:30 and were starving by the time we were done. We settled down to watch Twilight on DVD with some pjs and a large cheese pizza and I passed out half way through the movie. It was a long day, and painful, but I'm sure once it heals and I can admire my minature work of art, it will all be worth it.