I'll see you on the beach...

Wisconsin!!

2009-06-28T19:00:00.061-04:00

I know it's been quite a while since I posted last, but its taken some time to get all the pictures together. June 18th I took a little trip to Wisconsin for our annual summer family picnic. Unfortunately, Brett couldn't make it because of work but I wasn't going to miss it for the world. I was so scared of the plane rides but it turned out to be not as bad as I expected. My cousin Jamie was there at the airport waiting for me. It was so nice to see him since the last time was almost a year ago to the day for my wedding. We spent a few hours driving around and showing me the area. Its amazing since I haven't been there in almost 4 years but I remember so much. Feels like home to me. My parents of course had issues with their plane so it took them a little longer to get there but I got to spend some amazing quality time with my family.

Friday, while my dad spent the day golfing, my mom and I went to my grandma's house and spent pretty much all afternoon there with her and my aunts and cousins. Everyone played cards and we really had a nice time.

(favorite picture)

Friday night, my Mom, me, my Dad, my Aunt Judi, and my Uncle Rich all went to watch the local armature baseball team, the La Crosse Loggers. We had such a great time and it was really nice to see Aunt Linda (who works there). I even got my picture taken with the mascots (thanks mom) We had a blast and they beat the Green Bay Frogs!

Saturday was our Burch summer BBQ. So many people showed up and although not many recognized me, once they knew who I was, we had such a great time. It was great meeting all my cousins kids whom I have never met before as well.

(cutest picture EVER)

(they never smile)

After our picnic, we went the the bar/bowling alley near my grandma's house. My aunt owed me a shot so we all got together and had a few! It was so much fun having everyone there. Remembering the old days when my mom used to take us there when we were underage...lol Wisconsin law states a minor can drink when a parent is present. See what she started! And she doesn't even drink!

(my beer looked like a bowling pin??? or.....)

(the retired shirt)

(Sam get your hand off her butt)

(first shot of the night)

(Second shot - BS and Gummy Bears! all night baby)

(third shot, or was this the fourth?)

(oldest and youngest grandchild-not telling age difference)

(should we do another shot?)

(stop playing with my beer bottle, Kelly!)

Sunday, was a relaxing day after our long evening. Even Grandma slept in till about 10. Monday, my mom and I decided to drive around and take some pictures of the area we love. We had such a good time just the two of us.

(largest six pack in the WORLD)

(the king paying tribute to the six pack)

(no need for explanation...)

And finally the tearful goodbyes. I miss her so much, words cannot express how much I love this woman. She's my hero!

NKOTB!!!!!

2009-06-12T15:30:00.016-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,
After 20 years, I finally got to see the New Kids On The Block! My Work has "season" tickets to every concert that comes to the Virginia Beach Amphitheater. The seats are only one section away from the stage and it's VIP so there is special parking and separate bars and food that are cheaper and not crowded. Mr. Lyon asked me if I would like the tickets for NKOTB, and I jumped at the chance. My friends Chaya and Dana came with me. That day, the weather was terrible! It was like a monsoon but nothing would keep me away from seeing them! I think we were all surprised at how good they really are and how good looking they still are. Donnie is still my man of course but I must say time has been on all their sides. The show opened with the Jabberwalkies, Who won America's Best Dance Crew on MTV and they were amazing! Then Jesse McCartney came out. He did pretty good too. Definitely has white man syndrome and cant really dance all to well but he can sing his little butt off. The pictures aren't great quality because I took them with my phone. But you can kinda get the gist of everything going on. I had so much fun though, Thank you ladies for going with me!

(Jabbawalkies)

(Jesse McCartney)

(NKOTB!!!)

(Still sexy - Donnie - and no I wasn't this close to him, this is from the monitor. He would have been molested had I been this close. Sorry Brett, but you have Jessica Simpson. hehe)

Another weekend home...

2009-06-02T13:59:00.013-04:00

Brett and I went home this weekend. Brought the puppies along for the ride. We knew the weekend was going to be so jammed packed that we had to divide ourselves and try to see everyone we possibly could. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to do everything we wanted to do.

Friday night we spent the night over Brett's parents house. I went and got my hair cut by Jennette while Brett visited for a little while with his parents. By the time I came back it was well past my bed time and everyone else was almost asleep.

Saturday we got up early to go visit at my parents house and to be ready for a BBQ in the afternoon. My sister, Bobbi, her husband, Tony, and the baby, Tommy, came too. I miss them all so much it is so nice to see them when we come home. Specially my goobie. He is getting so big I just cant believe it anymore. He's definitely going to be a heart breaker one day. Looks more and more like my sister everyday.

Saturday night was my cousins Beef and Beer. As some of you may not know, my cousin, Nikki, was in a horrific car accident. Her friends and her were driving home when the driver lost control of the vehicle, flipped six times, throwing Nikki and the other female from the car. Everyone but Nikki walked away from the accident, she was the only one critical. Being that she is only 16 they took her to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. For the first week everything was touch and go. The doctors really didn't think she would make it though this. She broke her neck and spine and shattered her arm and knee. Also when she hit her head her brain swelled so much they had to shave her head and remove part of her skull. We were completely beside ourselves. To be so young and have your whole life ahead of you and for it to be ripped away from you that quickly.

Well, I am very happy to report that she is doing amazing and recovering nicely. It's going to take some time but she is doing so good already that its just a matter of time before she is back to normal. We were so happy to be able to see her at the Beef and Beer. So many people showed up and I got to spend lots of time with her and most of my friends that came out to support her. This child is so loved it's just amazing.

Keep up the good work Nikki, I love you so much.

(Nikki)

(Aunt Danielle)

(Dannae and Aunt D)

(Jennette - Got a little captain in ya?)

(Dannae)

(Christine)

(Dannae)

(Leah)

(Vicky)

(Vicky)

First day at the beach...

2009-05-18T18:37:00.013-04:00

May 10, 2009...

Today was the first really nice day that everyone could get together and go to the beach. There were 15 of us. We all had so much fun. Spent all day there too so we made sure we brought our cooler full of food and another cooler full of beer. The boys all got in the water except a select few that had to be manually pulled in (Brett). Then slowly the ladies got in. The kids had a blast playing in the sand and they really wanted us to bury them. Rick had no problems burying his kids...lol

(Brett)

(Tanya)(Tbo)

(Brett, Mike, Jerry)

(Rick, Cheyenne, Bradon)

Zoo!

2009-05-18T18:34:00.010-04:00

May 9, 2009...

It was such a beautiful day and the first time in a long time that Brett had off work so we took full advantage of it. We got up early with all of our neighbors and went out to Breakfast. It was the first time in a long time that i could eat what i wanted since my wisdom teeth were removed. I think everyone is very surprised by how much i can eat and still be tiny. I figure it will probably catch up to me some day but till then I'm going to enjoy it.

After breakfast we all decided to go to the Zoo. It was my first time ever to the Zoo in Virginia and my first time going to any Zoo since i was in 9th grade. Brett and I were really excited.

First thing you see when you enter the Zoo is this humongous black ball that has water coming out of it. Of course being the adults that we are, we had to play in it. Then we went to see the pigs. I have never seen a pig this big before. I wanted to take it home with me it was so cute! We spend a good couple of hours looking at all the animals they had. I don't even thing we had enough time to see them all. But that just means we can go back again. :)

Trip home

2009-05-18T18:33:00.014-04:00

May 1 - 3, 2009...

My neighbor Nicolyn and I decided to go home for Tommy's first birthday party. After a very long 5 hour drive we finally made it to New Jersey, stopping at the one arch McDonald's, of course, since Nicolyn has never seen one before.

When we eventually arrived at my sisters house, she had everything prepared for us to make this MASSIVE dinosaur cake! This thing was amazing and my sister really has some awesome ideas in that head of hers. It was 5 cakes cut out by hand. I really think Tommy loved it. I know he probably wont remember his first birthday party, but I surely will.

Sunday we went to visit some friends of mine. First, we went to Kristy's. I got to see my nephews Johnny, Vincent (my godson), and Chase. They are getting so big. They are so cute, being the aunt, they get away with murder with me. :)

After our visit I took Nicolyn for her first Inside Out - the only real place to get one which is at Double Decker in Ridley, PA. These things are amazing and among one of the many things I miss very much in PA. I found a picture of one on the Internet but ours are different, this one is baked and ours are fried.

After we ate, we went to Dannae's. She probably would have murdered me if I hadn't at least stop by. Finally,after another little visit I had to say goodbye and start the drive back before it got too late. I was welcomed back with open arms and my babies were so happy to see me. Achilles missed me so much he slept in my suit case that night.

Summer is getting close!

2009-04-27T12:30:00.008-04:00

Finally a beautiful weekend! Everything is so much nicer in the summer, with going to the beach, and laying out, and taking the boat out. Brett had off all weekend so Saturday and Sunday he took our boat out pretty much all day. He came back looking a tad bid like a lobster but he had a lot of fun so the sunburn doesn't matter to him.

We met our new neighbors, Tonya and Rick. They are from NY. We spent all Friday night at their house hanging out. Then Saturday night they had a BBQ, so Brett and I got to meet their neighbors as well. They are a bit older then we are, but super nice people. They have already invited us out of town with them and to go to the amusement parks. We see many good times in our future. Rick has a really nice Harley with a custom flame paint job that I am begging to go for a ride on. I think I am slowly wearing him down. Brett and I are so happy we are living near some really amazing couples that we can actually do things with. A lot of houses on our block are for sale so hopefully some more young couples move in.

One of the houses on the corner has a slip and slip...Remember those? The one I remember was just yellow, almost like a giant trash bag and you put the hose on one end and have at it. This one was amazing! It was multi-colored, which is pretty awesome, and had a build in sprinkler system. I was so jealous. Seems like every child in the neighborhood was coming and using it. Then the kids decided they wanted to get Tonya on the slip and slide. It was hilarious, because they all ganged up on her. There was a four year old hanging from her back, a child on each leg, and another pulling her fingers apart tourturing her into submission till she finally gave up falling into the water in defeat. They were so proud of themselves.

The four year old is adorible. He was hiding behind a tree when I first met him screaming "I see you!" By the end of the night, before him and his sister were carried off to bed in their cozy little PJ's with footsies, (I totally want a pair) he screamed across the street "Goodnight, little girl!" (meaning me) His mom was histerically laughing because whether I like it or not I now have a four year old boyfriend.

Wisdom teeth...

2009-04-19T10:24:00.008-04:00

April 17th, at 8:00 in the morning, Brett took me to get my wisdom teeth extracted. All four of them! I was so nervous and scared. I know its silly cause its just wisdom teeth, but I've heard so many horror stories and I was so afraid of the after math. In the middle of the procedure I woke up, they told me I still had one more tooth they needed to remove so I should go back to sleep and I gladly obliged. I woke up in so much pain. Brett, bless his little heart, staying with me all day and took care of me. Because my stomach is not used to pain killers, the Vicodin they gave me made me very sick. I couldn't keep anything down. So my oral surgeon has informed me to stay off all pain medications and just tough it out. YEAH ME! So my cheeks are so puffy and painful. But everyday gets a little bit easier. They say that day four and five are the worst, which means when i go back to work is when its going to be the toughest. I guess time will tell.

So for me its mashed potatoes, pudding, jello, and yogurt for the next week or two.

(before)

(after)

Life is better at the beach...

2009-04-16T10:13:00.036-04:00

This past year has been very eventful for us. For those of you that do not know, December of 2007, Brett and I bought our first home. We are settling quite nicely into our new home. It’s a three bedroom rancher, with a huge back yard, just perfect for our tiny family. Forgot how nice it was not being able to hear everything going on in our neighbor’s houses. We now live in Chesapeake, Virginia. Thank god there is no more jet noise. But we thankfully live very close to both of our jobs.

The house (a bad picture but you get the idea)

Brett still works at Surface Tech; which is a subcontracted company that the Navy uses on their aircraft carriers. He is a mechanic in the water blasting crew. I work at Lyon Shipyard. Been there going on a little over three and a half years now. For the past two years, I worked as the accounts payable clerk in the purchasing department. Our company is in the process of renovating around the yard and the purchasing department moved across our yard. The owner and office manager decided they didn’t want to give me up to the other side of the yard so they gave me my own office. This, after having many disputes with my former boss, was very much appreciated. So now I am in the main office, in a cozy new office as the only Accounts Payable Clerk/Subcontractor Insurance Administrator.

During the first half of last year I was kept very busy with planning my wedding and planning my sister’s baby shower. In April of 08, along with my 25th birthday came my little goobie (my nephew) Tommy. Although all of my friends have children, technically I was already an aunt. Nothing compares to being a real blood aunt, and seeing him grow and turn into the little man he is becoming. Looks just like Bobbi.

On June 21st, 2008, Brett and I finally got married after a two year engagement (and 7 years of dating). Everything went so perfectly. I really am glad we waited that long to give ourselves enough time to plan everything. We had it at my home church in Norwood, PA. I am so thankful to everyone that came and shared in the celebration. We went to St. Lucia on our honeymoon. It was absolutely amazing! We went horse back riding. Which was funny cause I am not that experienced as a rider and the horse I was riding was in the front of the pack, apparently he knew the way and liked to kick other horses and didn’t need instructors so I was alone most of the time enjoying the scenery and the sun. Brett was at the back of the group (about 30 people between us) because his horse also liked to bite and kick people. We also went on an ATV adventure which, naturally, Brett had us jumping over dunes and me clutching on for dear life almost flying off the back. I never laughed so hard. We went on a party boat cruise around the island and also went Zip lining. Zip lining was amazing swinging from canopy to canopy. That was my favorite part of our adventures.

Shortly after we came home from our honeymoon and into reality we had a nice visit with Brett’s parents. They came and saw our house for the first time. It was such a nice week.

We also now have a new member of our family; no we are not having a baby…not yet anyway. Her name is Athena. She is a four year old rat terrier. She was my best friend Jordan’s dog but she recently had to move back to Texas and couldn’t take her so we took her in. She and Achilles are getting along better then what I expected. He still is a very curious puppy when it comes to her but day by day they are getting more and more used to each other.

On thanksgiving, my parents came for a nice visit. Saw our home for the first time. Pretty much saw everything for the first time since the last time my dad came I was in the hospital with a collapsed lung.

Christmas time was very quite for us. We stayed home this year. Unfortunately Brett had to work so we didn't get any time to come home but hopefully this year we can.

At the end of March (09) Brett and his friend Larry decided one weekend, while I was home in PA, to rip apart our bathroom so they could remodel it. Well, with some expected problems, it didn't get done in that weekend like they had hoped. Instead it was a project I ended up having to do by myself, Brett's work got super busy and so he had no time to do anything so I was left with no shower, no toilet, no sink and no idea what I was doing.

Unfortunately, it still isn't completed quite yet but its well on its way. The floor was tiled, the shower was tiled and we now have a toilet, YEAH! And I did it all by myself. It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

The first weekend of April, I decided to have a girls weekend for my birthday. My friend Lauren flew in from Chicago, Nicole flew in from Philly, Heather drove from New Jersey and Jordan drove from Texas. We all had so much fun getting massages and hitting the night life. I think I enjoyed it way to much (ended up being sick most of the time.) Wednesday, April 8th, was my 26th birthday! YEA! I had to work that day which was great but I was so surprised by everyone that remembered my special day. I got flowers, and huge balloons from a few guys in the yard, and flowers from my parents. My office had a cake for me and sang happy birthday it was so nice. Even though I couldn't be with my real family on my birthday it was nice to celebrate with my second family. I came home to a lovely surprise, Brett bought me flowers and a card with a note that said "look in the freezer" When I looked there was an ice cream cake, individual size, all for me. We went out that night with a few friends for some drinks. It was all together a pretty nice birthday.