The Quinn-tessential Life

I'm leavin on a Jet Plane!

2009-05-26T18:33:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I head out to Japan and gosh am I nervous! I am nervous for a lot of reasons. Leaving my home country for one. Flying for over 24 hours is another. But the main reason I'm so nervous, or should I say sad, is saying bye to my family. Oh gosh I know that this is going to be the only hard part for me but I really hate that I am moving SO far away. I said bye to Molly and Ben on Sunday and unexpectedly, I got really upset. I don't know why that suddenly came on. I know I'm going to talk to them a lot but it's not the same as living a drives distance away. It makes it kind of hard you know? Don't get me wrong though, I am SO excited to see Mike and officially set up our house. And to have a job...and basically start my life. But the anticipation of it all, the unexpectedness, the foreign reality of what is to come makes it quite difficult for me to swallow. I still feel like I moved back to the states where everyone spoke English and I was able to buy any clothes that I wanted at any of the stores. Now that will all be more of a challenge. I just have to get used to it all I guess. And I am...but I don't think I've ever related to the expression "Bittersweet" until this moment.

To my many friends that read my blog, can I just say how sorry I am that I didn't have the chance to call you before I left? I know I have the time to type this post but I sort of feel guilty talking on the phone when I only have a couple hours left to spend with my family : ( I will definitely call you when I am in Japan but right now, so much has been going on that I really haven't had the time for a much needed friendly chat. Relating to the subject, let me post my phone number in case you guys ever want to call me: 404-478-4605. This is our home number with an Atlanta area code. I've told you all already that it's a stateside number so please don't be hesitant to call because it won't cost you anymore than it would to call my old number!

Also new in my life is a NEW BLOG! I really don't like the address that I use now (what the heck does "snippetsfrom2284" mean anyway?) So I've been working on a new blog for the past couple of weeks. There are no posts on it yet but if you have the time, could you please change me over to this address? http://thequinn-tessentiallife.blogspot.com/

Once I get to Japan, which will be Thursday night your time and Friday morning my time, then I will start typing on that one!

I really will miss you all...and Barnes & Noble, The Cheesecake Factory, and the many glorious malls that surround our country...but I hope to post happy experiences of my next new beginning for you all to read!

xoxo, Bridget

Tegan

2009-05-17T15:02:00.003-04:00

For some of my SHAPE readers, you will know exactly who I'm talking about when I mention The Munns Family. When I was in 7th grade, I became friends with Kirby Munns (Now Kirby Fish : ) and was warmly welcomed into their family.

Unexpectedly, Kirby's niece Tegan has recently been diagnosed with cancer. To better inform you on her condition and what you guys can do to help this family out, please check out their blog dedicated to Tegan.

http://teganlyn.blogspot.com

Some Boxes, A Wedding, and Roasted Cat Fur!

2009-05-15T12:04:00.004-04:00

Doesn't that title just draw you in??? Well then you must read on to find out what I'm talking about!

Since coming back from California on Tuesday, I've spent the past three days packing up boxes to ship over to Mike. In total, I've sent over TWENTY of them! Now before you freak, let me just say that these boxes are quite small, about the size of two text books put together. On the first day that I went to the post office, the lady was really nice and told me I could save a lot of money if I packed all my things in the small priority boxes because the aren't charged by their weight. The standard price is $11.95 a box so times that by twenty and it adds up for sure. But, realistically it could have been so much more had I packed large ones and was charged by their weight. The ladies at the post office have be SO nice. They know me by name at this point and keep giving me all of the priority boxes for free! It has made my life so much easier and I'm so grateful that they are being so helpful. I have one last stack of boxes to take to the post office today and that should be it! (Minus the box of Christmas decorations that I'm not sending over right away.)

Tomorrow morning, my mom and I are getting up early and driving to NY to pick up Molly's wedding dress and alcohol for the wedding. Monday and Tuesday will be spent cleaning the house, picking up programs and dropping off supplies for the reception. Then on Wednesday, our family will start flying in up until Friday. On that day, we'll have the rehearsal, the dinner, and maybe celebrate my birthday in between all of that? (Shout out to my Auntie, it'll be her birthday too!) Then Molly's wedding is on Saturday! I'm SO excited! I've written a pretty unique speech and after the wedding, I will post it for fun so you guys can read it. Unfortunately, there will be no pictures from me for a while : ( Remember when boo-boo schmitty lost her life due to the sunscreen explosion? Welp, my camera did as well.

Oh and on a side note, Molly's cat Milo is an idiot. I had a candle light in my room and Milo thought it'd be a great idea to stand over the candle and roast his fur! Now he has a black mark under his tummy and when I went to check him to make sure he still wasn't on fire (yikes!) he swatted at me! He hates having his tummy touched, let alone roasted by a small flame : ) So the purpose of lighting this candle was to make my room smell good, but now it smells like burnt cat fur...

Outside of House

2009-05-12T00:31:00.002-04:00

Our First Home

2009-05-08T21:35:00.004-04:00

As most of you know, for the past six months that we've been married, Mike and I have basically lived out of a suitcase. When we found out we were going to Japan, we did some research and learned that we could live in an apartment or a garden unit. The difference between the apartment and garden unit is that the apt. is in a ten story building and the garden unit is like a town house that has a front and backyard. Both of us really wanted a garden but everyone told us that it was highly unlikely that we'd get one since it's just the two of us. Welp, my husband pulled some strings and we were able to get our garden! I really don't know how he did it actually.

Below is a video of our new home for the next three years. You guys are seeing it for the first time like me and let me tell you, I got very anxious watching this video. I'm anxious because I really can't wait to get over there but also, seeing all of those boxes...oh man. I am not looking forward to moving in a house full of chaos. I pride myself on being organized and I just want wait to get my hands on this house and make it feel like a home. And yes, there were parts where I cringed watching this video. There's no carpet, only linoleum throughout. Having a washer and dryer exposed in our kitchen like that...yikes! And those ugly brown doors and kitchen cabinets! Oh and the air units! Man, I could just go on and on about all of the little details of the house. But you know what? I am so grateful that we have one. When you don't have one for a while, being offered ANYTHING that closely resembles a place that you can call home will make you happy. I know Mike and I will be happy in this house and I hope you guys come and visit us...after it looks cute I mean!

Here is the new House!

Bachelorette Weekend

2009-05-03T21:46:00.002-04:00

This weekend, Molly and Ben came home for their bachelor/bachelorette parties. We kept Molly's day really low key and had a mom/daughter/sister weekend. In the morning, Molly and I went to get facials and our eyebrows (ok and lips too) waxed. Then the three of us went to the mall where Molly got a make-up trial at the Clinique counter. Let me just say that "Teresa" did a HORRIBLE job on Molly's eye make-up. I mean, every time I looked at Molly, I would crack up laughing. This lady went so crazy with the make-up that she made huge purple circles around the tops and yes, bottoms of her eyes. It looked like someone decked Molly in the face in each eye! Anyway, that experience wasn't extremely helpful but I think I get the idea of how I will do Molly's make-up...no purple circles! Then we went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant so that Molly and I could eat a fully carb-loaded dinner since we were running the Broad Street run the next day. When we left the restaurant, I noticed that my coach bag had a huge black stain all around the bottom. Turns out my aerosol sunscreen container burst inside my purse and completely ruined my $300 baby. I was devastated. I mean, I didn't cry or anything but I only had that purse for a year and a half...it was my first purchase when I got my first paycheck and it was a reward for getting into grad school. Anyway, boo-boo schmitty (that's what I named my purse) will be resting in a quite place until I can find a way to bring her back to life...or bury her for good. Then today, Molly and I got up extremely early and ran 10 miles in the rain through the entire length of Philly. For the first 7 miles, I was feeling pretty great. Then it was like I hit a wall and both of knees were just killing me. I have no idea why. They never bother me when I run on my own. I knew I would finish the race, it just made it that more uncomfortable for me towards the end. We finished at 1:29 which is pretty average. I was hoping to finish at 1:20 but like I said, the pain made me slow down a bit. Now I'm just recovering on the couch and planning out what I'm going to pack for my trip to California! I leave on Tuesday and will be there a week. I am so excited to see my family!

Welcome to Japan!

2009-05-01T18:13:00.005-04:00

Today makes a week that Mike has lived in Japan. The first few days were new and exciting for him and Mike said he couldn't believe how green Japan was. He said he flew over Tokyo before landing at Yokota and he couldn't tell where the city began and ended. Then on Friday, I got a call from Mike at 6 am telling me that he debit card was stolen along with some money from his wallet. He said he was at the gym for two hours and noticed right away that it was gone when he checked his wallet outside. Long story short, the jerk spent over $600 in two hours before Mike called our bank and had them cancel the card. Not exactly a warm welcome to Japan but we're grateful not more was stolen out of his wallet. Can you imagine his ID and pilot's license right in the middle of inprocessing? Anyway, we had to come up with a few ideas for Mike to get cash since that was the only debit card he had and we couldn't figure out where we put his checkbook between all of the boxing/moving that was going on. Everything is fine now and we've been fully refunded for the cash that was taken but I'm really bummed that it had to happen right at that second. Every few days, I'm sending another box in the mail to him with some of our x-mas gifts/wedding gifts or things we've collected since September and each time they're mailed, another $20 is gone. This may be the longest three weeks of my life!

Will moving ever be easy?

2009-04-24T20:10:00.004-04:00

On Wednesday, I had to say bye to Mike at the Raleigh airport. He got on one plane and two hours later, I got on another. Leading up to the day that Mike left was pretty emotional for me because as you all know, moving isn't easy. There were so many things left to take care of that had to wait until the last minute and it made it overwhelming all at once. Because we've lived out of suitcases for nine months, there were more things to pack than suitcases available. That left me to box and wrap them all up as well as pay lots of money to ship them to an overseas location. And lets not forget that we had no address at the time so we had to send it to Mike's sponsor. I'm sorry if I sound negative. I'm really not. I am just amazed and grateful that we were able to get through that week.

Now I'm back at home and I haven't heard Mike's voice since he left. To get to Japan, we had to pay out of pocket for a plane ticket to Seattle. Mike left at 6pm on Wednesday and made a connection in Houston. He landed there at 1130 at night and had to recheck his bags at the AMC terminal in the Seattle airport. Then, he had sit at the gate at 3 am and wait to board his next flight which was set to leave at 5 am. THEN, when the military hop took off, it made a pit stop in Anchorage four hours later. Finally, the flight took off for its final destination to Yokota Air Base...which was another seven hours. By this time, it was 10 am on Friday morning Japan time and 9pm east coast time. The poor guy traveled a total of 27 hours! Yay...something I get to look forward to. I waited anxiously to get an email from Mike since we both knew that he couldn't exactly pick up his cell phone to call me. I kept checking my gmail and then I noticed that Mike was online at 11 Thursday night! I quickly im'd him and was so happy to see the sentence, "Oh my gosh! I was just writing you an email!" I talked to him online for about an hour and then we made plans to hook up online again in the morning. Mike told me so many cool things that I was too excited to fall asleep. I had that nervous excited feeling that you get the night before the first day of school. I still feel that way actually! I've got plans to meet up with him again in a half hour so I'm hoping to hear some more cool things about our new foreign home for the next three years.

Now I'm facing my end of the moving to-do's that are still unchecked on my list. None of it is hard, just overwhelming at times. Molly's wedding is making me a little nervous too as I have to come up with an original MOH speech and help her with last minute details. Oh well, all in good time my friends!

Family Time

2009-04-13T22:16:00.008-04:00

Since I've been home, I've been able to spend a lot of time with both my mom and sister in NJ and NY. On one of our trips to the city, my mom and I went to Kleinfeld's where Mol got her first fitting. Here's a pic of what her dress looked like when she first tried it on.

Then we walked around the city a little bit and I couldn't resist to take a picture of this cute bulldog waiting for his owner inside the coffee shop ; )
My mom got a fancy mocha and it brought back memories of Clemson as you can see!
On another trip to NY, my mom insisted that I snap a picture of this fancy group of dog walkers that we spotted in Central Park. It's so cool to see how these guys do it!

After Mike got back from SERE school, we went to our first NHL hockey game where the Philly flyers played against the Florida Panthers.

We also went to a Phillies baseball game the next day against the Braves but because the Braves lost, Mike was in a bad mood...which is why there are no pictures to post of my "happy" husband.

For the rest of the week, Mike and I kept our schedule pretty simple. My mom took a couple days to spend time with us and we went to play miniature golf. I had never played a game of putt-putt until I met Mike and because of all of my years of having a personal trainer by my side, I've become quite the putter! In fact, I actually beat Mike at this game by one point and made the final challenge hole and won myself another free game. Mike handled his loss much better than I thought!

After the game, we went to a fun place right by my mom's house called Johnson's Farm.

On Saturday, Molly hosted Easter brunch at my mom's house since Mike and I were leaving for his parent's on Easter. Ben's parents, Helen and John, came along with his brother Howard and his girlfriend Kelly. We snapped this picture after Mike handed out name tags that he made for everyone to wear since Kelly didn't know any of us yet. Notice how my name is supposed to be an egg but looks like a football and how Molly's is shaped into a short bus...

Here's a close up of the fancy tablescape! I made the place cards.

Mike and I were having a little too much fun with our chocolate bunnies and were making them do inappropriate things when no one was looking! They look quite innocent in this picture ; )
For those of you that have been to my mom's house, you know that her basement has this enormous seating arrangement that we like to call "The Sleeping Couch." Mike surrendered to its temptation after a satisfying meal while I snuggled and sipped my coffee.

Every Easter, Mike and I like to make each other Easter baskets. They're never fancy but each year, we try to outdo the other by making our baskets have something extra special! This year, I found a camouflage basket and I thought I sealed the deal. However, Mike outdid me by hiding 16 camouflage eggs all over the house. It was fun to search for eggs with my little basket...I can't really remember the last time I did that! For the next couple of weeks, we always enjoy munching on the candy that comes with them. In fact, Mike confessed that last night he woke up in the middle of the night and ate one of my Reester chocolate bunnies! Hmmm, guess they're that good that you have to get up at 2 in the morning?!?!
Now we're at Mike's parent's house relaxing and taking in some more family time before Mike heads off to Japan on the 22nd! I won't be leaving until after Molly's wedding but it will be about a month before I see Mike again so I will be sad to see him go : ( I'm sending Mike with our video camera so that he will post some videos of Yokota and maybe even some of our new house! At this point, the hardest thing is saying bye to our family, not the move itself. We both can't wait to get settled and finally unpack our suitcases that we've lived out of for seven months! While Mike's in Japan, I'll be in NJ training for the Broad Street Run. Then on the 5th, I'm flying to California to spend a week with my family in Huntington Beach! It will be so nice to hang out with my cousins and my grandma! I will see everyone soon after for Mol's wedding but my grandmother is too old to travel so it's important for me to spend time with her before I leave the country for good. Then when I get back to NJ, Molly will probably have a lot of little things for me to do during the two weeks leading up to her wedding. It's going to be a very busy time for everyone but we're all so anxious and can't wait!

April showers bring May flowers!

2009-04-06T21:43:00.003-04:00

And the rain continues! But you know what? It is so nice to look at your window and to see the green grass and cherry blossoms budding from the trees. Last Friday, when I entered my last post, I actually got motivated to get off of the couch and go for that dreaded 6 miler. When I got outside and got into my running groove, I was actually having a lot of fun...that is until the worst thunderstorm of the century opened up and I was right in the middle of it! I've run my share of rainy days but oh my gosh, this storm was CRAZY. There were lighting bolts crashing around me and I couldn't see through the veil of hail/rain that was pattering on my face. I was pretty far from home and got so scared that I thought I'd knock on someone's door and ask them to let me in. But then I got scared that the door that I would knock on would belong to a psychopath so I basically just sprinted the rest of the way home...with five pounds of soaked clothes to add on to my journey.

Today was no different as the rain continued, except for that I finally have my sweet husband again! He's done with SERE school and is about 15 lbs lighter! He looks like he did our freshman year of college. It's been so nice having him with me again. He'll be on leave for the next two weeks before he heads off to Japan on the 23rd. I am anxious to hear what he'll say about our new home. In the meantime, Mike and I have some activities scheduled like going to the Flyers hockey game tomorrow and the Phillies vs. the Braves baseball game on Wednesday. He also has to have that coveted Philly cheesesteak while he's here. (I hear they're pretty good...I wouldn't know from personal experience!) Then we're going to go to NYC on Thursday and Friday so that Mike can see central park for the first time and stay the night at the infamous shoe box that we call Molly and Ben's apartment. To end the week, Molly is creating a feastive Easter brunch on Saturday where Ben's family and our family will eat to our hearts content.

Well, I'm off to go make Easter decorations using an idea that I saw from Martha Stewart!

What to do when its raining...

2009-04-03T08:50:00.002-04:00

1. Sit on the couch with warm peanut butter and banana toast and a happy cup of hot tea
2. Browse through mom's digital cable
3. Goof around on the internet
4. Anxiously await for talk shows to commence
5. Look at the list of to do's for the day
6. Think about that list
7. Get up and continue to think about list
8. Think about that 6 mile run that is supposed to happen today
9. Decide its too cold and snuggle back under the blankets on the couch
10. Browse through mom's digital cable

I've made it to #3 so far...

Goals

2009-03-25T10:07:00.006-04:00

This weekend, I had an epiphany and that was to set goals for myself. I do better when I have I routine or a schedule that I follow on a daily basis. Some may call it OCD...others may call it organized. I kind of sit in between the two interpretations. Looking back on last year, I was at the busiest and most hectic point in my life. I moved to New York City and was adjusting to the stress-packed bustle of existence. I enrolled in graduate school where limitless amounts of paperwork and portfolios loomed over me. I worked 25 hours a week with a very angry boss and 19 happy 4 year olds. I tutored before and after work for 3 hours a day. I went to class for an additional 3 hours. I trained for the Philadelphia marathon. I planned our wedding. And on top of everything else, I shuffled back and forth, making plane connections in between to Mike's home (whether it be Oklahoma or Alabama) and helped him along with his struggles through flight school. It was a CRAZY year...

But yet I think I was at my happiest because I felt proud that I could do so many things and accomplish so much. I could not let myself get overwhelmed and therefore followed a rigourous and demanding routine to get me through each day. I was able to grow more as a professional and as an individual. During that time, I could do the things that I wanted to do and I loved every minute of it. Now, I find that I have an endless amount of time but not enough to make a difference. I am so used to not working or having a demanding schedule that I worry I won't adjust well when that long awaited job does come. I have this yearning to do things that are of value and that are respected.

My mom exemplifies that lifestyle as I have experienced these past two weeks being home. She goes to choir practice once a week with performances on the weekends; she's a girl scout leader; she's a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House; she's a great homework helper to Paul's two young boys....these are all in addition to her 40+ a week job. Above all of that, she still knows how to be a great Mom. Molly is amazing too. Her job is so demanding where she is on her feet all day. She gets up a 5 in the morning and sometimes doesn't get home until late at night! But because of her professionalism, Molly is well respected and all of the top executives personally request her to handle their parties because she does such an amazing job at it. And lets not forget about Mike. His work hours are crazy. Presently speaking, he's out in the woods somewhere eating bark (poor guy) but at least he's doing what he loves. Mike is at the end of the pipeline and is finally going to experience and cherish 9-5 work hours. And then there are my friends, the mothers and the prominent workers. I can't even begin to describe what you must go through but know that you have earned my utmost respect and admiration.

I could go on and on about what my loved ones do for themselves and how they make their world and those around them better to live in. I want to be in that place myself. I do my best with my current situation and shadow my mom with her various activities. I've even been offered the chance to be a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House myself and I am anxious to accept it because I want to do things that are of value. Everyone keeps telling me to cherish this "freedom" that I have because soon I won't have it. But you know, sometimes when it's too quiet, your thoughts overtake the white noise and reveal those goals that have yet to be reached. My goals are do things that make the world a better place like working with children or families of the sick. I want to run again so I started training for the Broad Street 10 mile run in May. I want to cook and clean (silly I know) because it makes me happy to see others happy. After the end of May, I will have new goals because with each new situation comes a new reality.

Back on the east coast!

2009-03-15T15:36:00.011-04:00

These past few weeks have been very busy with getting Mike ready for his FINAL phase of training in Washington and last minute paperwork to get ready for our move. Our drive across the country was quite interesting because we actually drove through a very bad snow storm. Memphis, TN got hit pretty bad and we were fortunate enough to get stuck in five hours of traffic trying to find a way out of that mess. We pretty much saw snow the whole way back to NC.

Here are a few videos of our trip!

Sometimes I wonder about him...

After four days of driving, Mike and I finally arrived at his parent's house in Fayetteville, NC. It was so nice to see a kitchen again : ) Sparky (the family dog) was happy to see us as were his family...although I think by the end of the week, they were ready for us to move on! Besides staying at home, we also visited the UNC campus where his brother Steve is a junior. I went up twice, Mike went three times. I also visited my dear friend Ari in Wilmington for dinner on Sunday and Mike visited his sister Liz at UNC Pembroke. We celebrated Mike's birthday at a Japanese steakhouse on Monday early since he would still be at his training on his real birthday. Then on Tuesday, we packed up the truck again and headed north to D.C. Mike flew out of there the next morning and I continued on to NJ. Now I'm back at home (still living out of a suitcase) and shuffling between my mom's house and Molly & Ben's place in Brooklyn. I will be here for the next few months but I'm trying to find ways to keep me busy. I was thinking about going out to California to see my relatives and am trying to save some extra money since it will cost a lot for us to move to Japan. I was also thinking of substitute teaching but it takes a while to get all of the paperwork together so who knows if that will be an option. Since getting our wedding photos, I've also be going through all 3000 of them and writing down the numbers so that our photographer will make us a photo album.

So now I have you caught up on what I've been doing. It's mid-March and I can't believe the school year is almost over...that means I haven't been working for almost a year! But I have a feeling God is going to bless me with a teaching position when we get to Japan and this will make all of my waiting and boredom worthwhile. I already got word from a fellow friend of mine that one of the principals in Japan is considering me for a position because they contacted her for an additional reference! Cross your fingers that everything works out!

Bye bye Albuquerque!

2009-02-27T13:12:00.002-05:00

Today is our last day in Albuquerque and Mike and I are SO ready to be done. Being in a hotel room and living in such tight quarters has gotten so old that I think we may leave tire marks on the pavement on our way out of here! I've called the ambulance TWICE while living here. It's actually funny though because my phone pulls up a menu when I dial 911 which is basically asking me, "Are you sure you want to call this number?" Once was for the accident and another time was for finding a man that was laying face down in parking lot bleeding out of his head!

But in all honesty, this experience hasn't been as horrible as I may have complained to all of you! There were great things about living here and Mike and I have made so many wonderful memories. We're a stones throw away (I've always wanted to say that!) from some of the best ski resorts and the beautiful mountain views and sunsets have been breathtaking to watch. My health is better living here because the air is so clean and my lung capacity is much stronger! Seriously, our first week here, Mike and I went for a run and I had to stop after ten minutes because I was so winded. I thought I was just out of shape but found out later that it was the altitude that made it so difficult. Now I can run outside with no problem so I may be able to run farther and longer once we're back on the east coast.

Here's a video of the mountains

Because of our experiences here, moving to Japan will feel like such a luxury. We'll finally have our OWN house (and I don't care how old it is!) As long as it has a kitchen, I will be SO happy! I feel like such a bad wife because I don't cook and you guys know that I love to cook. It will also feel like Christmas because we have so many wedding gifts that are unused (and some even unopened) as well as new furniture still in its packaging. And lets pray that a job will fall into my lap soon after moving there. I've put in all my stuff to teach on base and now I'm just playing the waiting game until someone wants to interview me. Ever since I've graduated from college, I've longed to have my own classroom. My first year of teaching was at a private daycare center and I was the kindergarten teacher. I didn't have any of the benefits that regular teachers have at a public school. I've grown a lot from my experiences there as well as my part-time job at Hollingworth but I feel as though I haven't really applied my training in a real-life setting and I hope Japan offers me that opportunity.

For the next few days, Mike and I will be on the road (mostly on I-40) driving to Fayetteville, NC to spend time with his family. I will post video and pictures of our road trip later.

Wedding Photos

2009-02-24T12:28:00.004-05:00

We finally got our wedding photos and I created a website that family and friends can order from here.

I'll include of a few of my favorites...

She's a Winner!

2009-02-23T11:38:00.004-05:00

Last week I got a call from Molly telling me that she was a finalist in the Haas Avocado Recipe Contest. To qualify for the contest, Molly had to create her own original recipe using...haas avocados. I really can't remember exactly what she made but I have some great pictures of what the end result looked like!

So after finding out that she was a finalist (which meant that she would at least receive $500), a few days later she found out that she was the grand prize winner! With the grand prize, Molly has won a free trip to San Francisco valued at $5000 plus $1000 in spending money! Her recipe will also be featured in various magazines! Way to go Molly! You've finally won something!

Today is also Molly's 27th birthday so Happy Birthday Molly! I love you!

Our Mini-Honeymoon

2009-02-16T17:10:00.006-05:00

For the long weekend, Mike and I took a "mini-honeymoon" to Taos, New Mexico (which happens to be where Julia Roberts lives also!) Taos is a small artsy town nestled between beautiful snow covered mountains. We had an amazing time exploring the town, skiing at Taos Ski Valley and Angel Fire and eating at mom n pop restaurants. Our favorite part of the trip had to be where we stayed. The American Artists Gallery House was a B&B in the center of Taos and was amazing! Neither of us had ever stayed at a B&B before but were so pleased with how wonderful the place was! Charles and LeAn are the owners and they were so fun to see every morning. They cooked us delicious breakfasts and made sure to have chocolate covered strawberries and red velvet cake waiting for us when we got back from a long, cold day of skiing! There were so many happy animals including a feisty peacock named George and a lap cat named Annie. We didn't take any pictures when we were there BUT we took a couple videos!

Here's a clip of Mike skiing down the mountain

Here's George the Peacock eating his breakfast : )

Here's a view of the beautiful mountains in Taos.

And here's where we stayed!

9 Reasons I Love My Husband (plus 1 for luck!)

2009-02-16T16:48:00.004-05:00

1. I love that Mike compliments me every single day. I could be wearing my favorite pj pants with holes in them and glasses from high school and he still makes me feel beautiful.

2. I love that Mike will seal off the shower for me so that no cold air will get in.

3. I love that Mike will randomly say to me, "Do you know that I love you? I have so much fun with you!"

4. I love that in a crisis, Mike will stay absolutely calm and say "I've got this Bridget" and hold my hand.

5. I love that Mike makes me laugh every single day.

6. I love that Mike is so responsible and wise and thinks about things in every angle before making a decision. Well, it can get annoying at times but that is why I love him!

7. I love that Mike has red hair and freckles!

8. I love that Mike is great at all sports. I love to watch him play or compete.

9. I love that I've been best friends with Mike since we were 14 years old.

*10* I love that Mike and I are finally married and with each day brings a new adventure and a deeper understanding of love and commitment.

Mike & I celebrating spirit week in 10th grade

Mike on his way to work

I love you Mike!

Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

2009-02-13T12:53:00.006-05:00

Mike and I are going to Taos for Valentine's Day and I'm SO excited! I've wanted to go there since we moved here mainly because of the skiing and how beautiful and fun the town is. We are staying at a B&B in the center of town. I will post more about our stay when we get back!

Speaking of skiing, last weekend we went skiing in Santa Fe. This makes ski trip #3 and counting : ) The snow was just beautiful and the trails were so long and smooth. We had a great time!

Here's a cute little ski lodge at the top of the mountain

Mike was very cold because we ate our lunch outside

We found this cool little cave...thankfully there weren't any bears in it!

This is me coming down the trail in Santa Fe

Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

Molly & Ben's Shower

2009-02-04T23:04:00.008-05:00

Molly & Ben's shower was a huge success! They may have had their suspicions but they had no idea who was coming or what the theme of the party would be! Friends and family from PA, NJ, and NY came to celebrate Ben and Molly's upcoming wedding at Eddie & Michael's house in Philly. Michelle and I had been working on this party since the beginning of December and knew Molly would be a hard person to please because she is so perfect at planning her own parties. Anyway, here is a short clip of them when they first walked into the house.

Ben & his younger brother Howard

Molly & me

I just liked this picture of my mom

Mol, Michelle (Best friend and bridesmaid who helped plan the party), and me

Here's our beautiful tablescape of the yummy Greek food! You can thank Michelle for that!

My mom and her boyfriend Paul

Mol & Michelle

Ben, Eddie, Molly, & Michael. They were there the ones who so generously opened up their home and let us throw this party!

Cute cake huh?

I just had to throw in an old photo of us from halloween year ago...

And another one of us at the end of the party.

Michelle & I at the after party at 700 club. I was quite tired by this point!

Well there you go! We had a great time and I'm so excited for their wedding in May : )

Weekend Events

2009-01-25T12:05:00.010-05:00

I had the most amazing time with Mike this weekend and we really didn't do anything that grand! On Friday night, we met up with Mike's old flight commander (and now friend) and had a few drinks...Well, I'm being nice when I said Mike had a few but it was Friday and lets just say he had a good time. Surprisingly I did too even though I was the dd! We got in really late that night and weren't able to sleep in because Mike wanted to go skiing again. It was so fun, just the two of us on the mountain most of the time. Mike told me that I was "a very good little skier" which is saying a lot from him because he's great at it. There aren't many physical activities we can do together besides running and skiing so its very fun to create memories like that. Plus, although we look forward to our weekends together, we sort have a routine that involves running a lot of errands. It's so fun to change it up a bit!

Right now I'm at the airport on my way to my sister's bridal shower! Shhh...it's a surprise! We're actually hosting it for both Molly and Ben and I'm not going to give any details away on this in case she does read it. Although, she is so busy she never has time to but just in case. I will post pictures of it next week.

Leaving Mike for my four day weekend was not hard but just different. I'm so relieved that I don't have to be in a long distance relationship with him anymore. So when I say different, it's just funny to say bye when we're at the airport cause it's not this long drawn out process. We had a good laugh this morning when he dropped me off because we reminisced on our usual goodbyes. Basically we hug and kiss like thirty times and give each other a long speech about how we'll see each other in a month, how its good that we're going back because we both have a lot to do and it won't be much longer til we live together. Today it was like a slap on the butt and a "c-ya later" kind of good bye. But back to the leaving part...It's good to get away sometimes because we're living in a tiny room and basically on top of each other. He's really excited to have his "guys" weekend. He has plans to go eat at Rhudy's...a good bbq place in abq, ski with the guys for free (military special), and play lots of playstation while I'm away. I don't know how that equates to a guys weekend though cause I let him do those things even when I am around!

One last thing that has nothing to do with my post is but is good info for you guys is to go see the following movies: The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke and Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood. Both are GREAT movies to see with your spouse and leave you thinking about it for days afterward. I'll be honest and say that neither have a really happy ending, but they are well worth the $10 you'll pay to see it. I highly recommend them both.

Car Accident

2009-01-22T16:18:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I was in a car accident. I was sitting at a stop light and had about a cars length distance between me and the car in front of me. I left some room in front of me because there was a school bus in the residential neighborhood (to my right--I was on the far right side of the street) that was waiting to turn onto the busy street. Unexpectedly, I was hit from behind while in Mike's truck and the whole truck was surged forward about four feet. Thankfully there wasn't a car close in front otherwise I would have been hit from both ends. Anyway, I immediately turned into the residential neighborhood (where the school bus was still waiting) and parked on the side of the road. I had not a scratch on me and felt fine...just shaken up. I figured the car that hit me would also turn into this neighborhood so that we could wait for the police to arrive. I got out of the car and took a look at the damages. Luckily, there wasn't much done to Mike's truck although I can't say the same for the car that hit me. They were driving a Lincoln town car and their hood was totally crunched. There was steam coming from from the front of the car and their trunk was also open. As I gathered the courage to call 911 (never have before so it was a scary thing for me to do) I saw that the car that hit me was starting to drive off! They didn't get far before the stop light turned red again. While I was on the phone, I ran after the car and took down their license plate number. Also, a witness started to run after the car as well and knocked on their window and told the driver to pull over. They didn't listen and kept on driving. She ran back to me and told me that the drivers were an elderly couple and that they were both bleeding...not to mention that their air bags were deployed as well. She told me she was going to go after them to get them to pull over. I stayed on the phone and was told to wait for the police to arrive. Ten minutes later, I got a call from the police telling me to meet them three blocks up because they were with the elderly couple that hit me. As you can imagine, I was shaking pretty bad but I was more concerned with this couple. My worries increased when I got to the location as there were two cop cars, two ambulance trucks, and a fire truck. The paramedics were both working on the elderly couple. I was quickly informed that they would be both be okay, that the wife sustained some injuries that required her to go to the hospital, and that they were both 90 years old. The witness was able to get the elderly couple to pull over. She told me that when she got there, the husband got out of the car and wanted to know what happened to his car. She said they both didn't realize what happened to them. I felt totally awful at this point and had no amount of anger towards them. I pictured them as my grandparents and was very worried that minor injuries would turn into something greater. Long story short, I exchanged information with the police and Mike and I are now waiting on an estimate for the damages done to his truck. I am still very worried about this couple and have prayed several times since it happened. I am so lucky that this accident was not any worse, but considering this was my first (and hopefully only) one, I hope to never experience such a shake up.

Some Wedding Photos...

2009-01-20T20:37:00.003-05:00

Cindy Patrick recently posted some of our wedding photos on her blog so take a look!

http://www.cpatrickphoto.com/blog/

Skiing & Moving Update!

2009-01-13T12:03:00.023-05:00

Last weekend Mike and I went skiing on the Sandia Mountains. It was amazing! We had no idea how close the ski resort was to us (only 30 minutes!) or how big it was going to be! It cost about $100 for the two of us to buy half-day passes as well as rentals but come on, that's a great deal! There were probably 30 trails with PLENTY of snow on them. It was kind of eerie at some parts because there were times when Mike and I had the entire trail to ourselves. Here are two videos that we took with our new flip video mino.

In other news, we got new information for when we will be moving to Japan. Originally, we were told that we would be there by the end of Feb. That would have meant that Mike would have completed the N model training in the middle of Jan and then sent off to survival school right after. However, Mike's training at Kirtland has been relatively slow which pushed his completion date til mid Feb, moving survival school mid march, and moving the big move to mid April! That's a mouthful of mmms huh? To sum it all up, we SHOULD be in Japan by the middle of April.

Anyway, since September, we have both grown accustomed to the idea of living in Japan but still had our worries and anxiety. We knew it would be hard on our family (and us as well) being so far away. We weren't too excited about the idea of having one tv channel and constantly buying phone cards to make long distance calls. We worried about what we would do with our cars (since we have to sell them both) and the possibility of collecting lots of transformers since we only had American appliances. These weren't things that we talked about often, just little moments of concern when we thought about regarding the upcoming move.

All that changed last Friday when we got a soft little knock on our door. Quick back story, I made a cheap little sign that said "The Quinn's" on the front of our hotel room door. I had to make our hotel room a little homey alright?

Anyway, we got a knock on our door from Mike's boss who lives out in Japan as well! (He was there on a business trip.) He saw our sign on the door and knew that "The Quinn's" would be PSCing there soon and wanted to see if we had any questions. Of course, Mike was extremely polite and somewhat nervous meeting him for the first time. Me being bold and friendly, I went right in with the questions and found out some pretty neat stuff. He told us all about the houses and what our home will be like. He talked about the free flights that are offered stateside and around the Pacific on a weekly basis. He knew about all of the schools where I will hopefully get a job and about the local community outside of base. Some really exciting things that he told us was that we would be issued an AMERICAN telephone number! That's right, that means no long distance calls on either end! So when we call you or you call us, it will be like using your cell phone! We will also get 50 US channels on the tv. I don't know what they will be but let me tell you, I would be sad to miss out on The Food Network, TLC, and HGTV. Mike would miss his sports...so this news is great for us! Also, he said that buying cars over there are really inexpensive. If you wanted to buy a top of the line car (used of course) we'd pay at most $3000 for it although most people spend around $500 for a car over there. And lastly, he talked about how the base and work environment will become our family. We are SO excited to move there now...make some friends, get settled, go on vacations. We are done living in the hotel room and are so ready for our "new beginning" which seems to be the common theme in our marriage.

Some Nutrition Tips

2009-01-06T13:16:00.003-05:00

So I've gotten a few comments from people saying that they have similar health-related resolutions and I wanted to put down some things that I've found helpful in the past (and present.)

The first thing is CARBS. They are not bad despite what a lot of people may say. The important thing is that you eat whole grain carbohydrates and not the white stuff. Examples of whole grain carbs are wheat bread, wheat pasta (Barilla is a good brand), oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat couscous. Anything that says "Enriched wheat flour" is not the same thing as whole grain/whole wheat flour so be sure to read the labels. When eating carbs, try on most days to eat them with your breakfast and lunch but not with dinner. This is because carbs are foods that we use for energy and by the end of the night, we're not using as much--therefore the carbs turn into sugar which then turns into fat in your sleep!

A pet peeve of mine that I see people do quite often (myself included when there are no other options) is to eat processed foods. That means ANYTHING that comes from a package. I know a lot of you are busy and don't have time to cook absolutely everything on your own but its SO important to check and see if that packaged food that you're about to eat contains partially hydrogenated oil. This ingredient is very bad and it quite often means that there's trans fat in that product. When you eat trans fat, it aids in clogging your arteries AND the scariest part is that once its in your body, it will stay there for the rest of your life! It is a chemical and should not be eaten! So again, check your labels!

What else? Oh yeah...artificial sweetners=BAD. These things are found in all kinds of things--splenda, diet sodas, some waters, and low-fat or fat-free yogurt. Any kind of artificial sweetner is a chemical. Just think about it. Is it really healthy to drink a sweet drink that has zero calories knowing that it is a chemical? I know a lot of people that love this stuff. I used to drink diet coke all the time in college. Even now, if I feel a craving and there's a diet soda option, I may drink it. It's okay if you have that stuff everyone once in a while, but having it on a daily basis is not a good thing. I mainly drank diet sodas for their carbonation...such drinks made me feel full. Now if I'm at a restaurant, I always order water with lemon. That's it. If seltzer water is an option, then I'll have that with a lemon and still get my carbonated-full feeling! There are so many natural waters at grocery stores that have natural flavorings in them and are carbonated. Get out there and try them!

I know you guys all know that fruits and vegetables are extremely important. Colorful vegetables are great such as peppers, beets, sweet potatoes, carrots, and leafy greens. Eat lots of berries, apples, clemintines and oranges. Just include them in your diet. That's all I need to say.

The main things I can tell you are: don't diet...don't count calories...and don't weigh yourself. Not right now. When just starting off, get used to your new way of eating. It's overwhelming to exercise and eat healthy. There are days when you will go out to eat and dine at a friends house so you won't have an exact routine of what you should eat everyday. That's good because you're training yourself to making healthier choices outside of the comfort of your own kitchen.

My (Many) Resolutions

2009-01-03T22:51:00.003-05:00

Here's my list of resolutions for 2009:

1. I will stop saying bad words...but lets be honest, it's going to take a while. My plan is to limit my foul mouth to one, maybe two bad words a day and then gradually decrease my allowance until I am not saying any naughty words by the end of the month. I need to focus on replacement words such as "fudge" "shnikey" "geez louise" "gosh darn" (Please feel free to provide any other suggestions)

2. I will floss my teeth everyday. I'm honest when I say that flossing is not my favorite thing to do in life and I'm lucky if I squeeze in a good floss twice a week! My dentist says my teeth are great but that's still not an excuse for not keeping my gums healthy.

3. I will get back on the wagon with a healthy diet. In college, I was great at making sure I had enough fruits, vegetables, and protein throughout the day. Now that I live in a hotel room and don't have a kitchen...it's hard to maintain that balance. I also need to take my vitamins.

4. I will exercise 5-6 days a week. Sounds like a lot huh? Well, I have done extensive research on health and fitness throughout my life and I'm going to honest when I say I've sort of fallen off the bandwagon. Before thanksgiving, I worked out everyday at the gym and was very happy with my effort...BUT then I'd go home and eat Oreo cookies so that kind of cancelled my exercise out. Heck, last year I was in grad school and worked 30 hours a week and I STILL had time to train for a marathon. It's almost better when you're busy cause you're less likely to develop this laziness. I will make the effort to alternate cardio and strength training every other day. Research says that you burn more calories and fat when you incorporate strength into your exercise regime rather than just cardio alone. This is because your body burns a lot of fat and calories to repair those torn muscles hours after you have left the gym. That sore feeling is a good feeling in other words : )

Okay, I think four resolutions is enough for me to conquer this year. It's official. I've posted it on my blog for all of you to see. I understand that I will not see changes overnight, and may not actually master any of these resolutions until the end of next year. But I've got time.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:17:00.003-05:00

Mike took me on our first mini-honeymoon in downtown Fayetteville. We stayed at the Hilton and ate at a nice restaurant called Pierro's Italian Bistro. We kept it low key by having a drink with dinner and another at the hotel bar. It was exactly how I wanted to spend my new years...although Molly said we were huge nerds cause we didn't go out!

Trust me, I've had my share of fun outings for the new year--Celebrating the millennium in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, ringing in 2004 and 2006 at Times Square in NYC, and partying in the year 2007 at Wild Bill's in Atlanta. Here's a group of us at Wild Bill's close to Becky and Casey's one year anniversary.

Now I'm sitting with Mike while watching Clemson play against Nebraska at the Gator Bowl. I enjoy watching Clemson play...although I'll admit I'm not a huge football fan. Plus, when the Tigers start playing bad, that's when Mike starts to get in a bad mood. I am on pins and needles hoping that they play well, otherwise my day won't be so fun : (

Christmas at The Quinns

2008-12-28T20:08:00.004-05:00

Christmas has blessed me in so many ways! To start my two week reunion with Mike's side of the family, I got to spend the holiday with Mike's aunts, uncles, and cousins at The Quinn's house. We shared stories, opened presents, and even watched clips from our wedding video.

On Christmas Eve, Mike and I went to children's mass with his brother, sister and parents. It's much easier to attend rather than midnight mass (I'm lucky if I ever stay up that late anymore!) After church, Mike, Steve, Liz and I had a gingerbread house competition. Mike's parents judged them when we were done and Steve and I tied for first place : ) Then his parents read "Animal's First Christmas" and "The Night Before Christmas" to us kids while sitting in front of the fire. I know it may sound a bit corny, but it was wonderful to reminisce with childish Christmas traditions. I found that as I've grown older, I sometimes forget the important things and tend to concern myself with meaningless worries. This Christmas was a reminder to me of how I used to feel as a child and how important it was to be surrounded by loved ones.

Santa and the family gave me wonderful presents to open Christmas day. Some of my favorites were a digital picture frame, a flip video camera and all kinds of kitchen aid utensils/pots and pans! I was so spoiled!

The day after, we all hopped into our car and drove to Myrtle Beach for three days. Mike's Aunt owns a condo there and we stayed right on the water. Below is a video clip of our view of the ocean.

Now we're settled back in Fayetteville for the remainder of our break. Mike has something special planned for New Years so I'll keep everyone posted!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas together with your loved ones!

Christmas Activities

2008-12-17T09:31:00.009-05:00

This past weekend I went to Brooklyn and stayed at my sister and her fiance's apartment for our annual CINY experience. For the past three years, Molly, Ben, Howard (Ben's brother) and I meet in New York City and try to do a lot of festive holiday activities. Each year, we invite friends to join us. For two years, Taz (a great friend of Howard's and now of all us as well) joined us for CINY and this year my dear friend Bronwen from way back in 9th grade tagged along as well.

We started the event by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge into the city-something we've all wanted to do but never made the effort. It was SUPER cold but so beautiful to look at. Half-way through our walk, we stopped and sipped on hot cider that Mol had packed in her purse for such emergencies. Once we crossed the bridge, we went to Union Square where there's a huge Christmas market every year. Then we went to BLT Burger and ate homemade burgers (or veggie burgers.) Next, we met Taz in Times Square and walked over to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree and the ice skating rink. During this time of year, the place is a zoo and it's just too crazy to hang out there for very long. After seeing the tree, we stopped at the Mariott Marquis and sat in the biggest hotel lobby even know to man and again sipped on hot cider. We also ate cookie crumbs (back story-I made cute Christmas cookies and Mol put them in her purse to eat later...needless to say, they weren't very cute once we pulled them out.) I was a little disappointed cause every year that I go to the Mariott, there's an awesome gingerbread house display set up in the lobby but not this year. By the end of the day, Mol, Ben, and I went to the movies and saw "Rachel Getting Married" and then went straight to bed at 10 pm. It was a LONG day.

The next day, I helped Molly get ready for Ben's art studio Christmas Party (well I watched while she cooked in the kitchen.) By my third plastic cup of wine, I was very happy to be at the party and showed such happiness by spilling red wine all over my shirt and pants. Thankfully everyone was engaged in conversation so no one witnessed my clumsiness besides my sister. Plus I was wearing dark colors so you couldn't even tell!

Now I'm getting ready to drive down to North Carolina to spend Christmas with Mike and his family. I've VERY excited to see him-it's been three weeks and when you're a newlywed, that's too long! I'm super excited to spend the holidays with Mike's fam but am a little sad that I won't be with my mom and sister...the first time without them in 24 years!

Working in retail SUCKS

2008-12-10T20:48:00.002-05:00

Basically my title sums up my entire blog but I'll rant anyway...

I took a position working at the Lord & Taylor department store over the holidays. I was hired to only work for two weeks but I can barely make it through my first week and (gasp) I want to quit! I mean, I can totally suck it up through next week BUT the problem is that this job is interfering with my vacation! I already had to cancel on two friends whom I made plans with before I was hired for the position and now I want to make plans with other friends but am being held back by this job. I only took this position at the advice of my oh so sweet husband saying that I should take it just to keep busy but heck! Now I'm skipping out on peeps that I want to see and that's just not fair! Oh well, I will sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning. I hate to put people out. But this job has NOTHING to do with what I went to school for so I shouldn't feel obligated to stay there.

On another note, on my day off, I made (and ate) plenty of Christmas cookies for our annual CINY (Christmas in New York) gathering coming up this weekend. I am so excited for it and will be sure to take lots of pictures to load on this here blog. Happy Christmas festivities everyone!

Missing My Husband and Movers

2008-12-01T08:41:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I dropped Mike off at the Philadelphia airport and watched as he made it through all the security points...minus me! We had originally planned for me to leave a few days after Mike because plane tickets are ridiculously expensive and leaving on a Wednesday saved us like $300 versus leaving on a Sunday. However, back in NM when we were trying to find great deals to fly to Mike's parents for Christmas, the best we found was over $1000! I mean, I love Mike's family, but there was NO way we were going to spend that much on plane tickets. If we did that, no one would get any Christmas presents. So needless to say, Mike had the idea that instead of me flying back a few days after Thanksgiving, I should just stay at my mom's house and drive down to North Carolina for Christmas and meet him and his family there. We'd still be paying for one ticket, but I am basically getting two trips for the price of one.

That all being said, I love being home and spending time with my mom and sister. It's just weird to be without Mike because I'm so used to the little family that we've started. I miss our little Christmas tree in our hotel room too! (We named him Charlie) While Mike was here, we were finally able to open up all of our wedding gifts! That was fun although Mike said I made out more than he did because we got mostly kitchen stuff. I quickly fired back that the "kitchen stuff" would benefit him as much as me so he better not complain.

Anyway, after opening up the gifts, I had to get everything organized for the movers. Mike's stuff is already in Japan but mine has been in storage, also known as mom's basement. We really didn't have a lot of furniture before we got married. To compensate, we bought a brand new couch, coffee table, end table, mattress, and a huge t.v. console to hold Mike's 50 inch t.v. We got all of this with our wedding money from Ikea and the total was less than $900! Pretty good deal when you're a newlywed. All of the fun gifts that I am so anxious to use are still wrapped prettily in their packages...the kitchen aid, coffee maker, panini machine, belgian waffle maker, dishes, linens, pillows...okay pretty much everything! I can't wait to set it up in our new house or apartment. We really have no idea what we're going to get.

Oh, quick update! You might have been thinking, "Wait, wasn't there a problem with her asthma and moving to Japan?" Well, that all got straightened out when I met with the flight doc. I told him about my mild asthma and what the other people said about not letting me move because of that. He was a major, a great guy from jersey and his exact words were, "That's bull$@%!" Those are his words, not mine : ) He told me that my case of asthma wasn't even appicable to that rule but for safe measure, he wasn't going to put that down anywhere on the forms.

Now, I'm nestled upstairs with the pets while the movers are downstairs in the basement gathering all of my things. My mom is beyond excited to get my stuff out of here!

Turkey Trot Run and Christmas Cards

2008-11-20T11:21:00.003-05:00

So since I don't have a job while I'm in ABQ, I've been trying to find things to occupy my time. On Tuesday, Kirtland AFB hosted its annual Turkey Trot run. I showed promptly on time...and to my surprise, no one really wanted to be a part of it I guess. Only five people showed up to the race (it was a 5K) so needless to say, the race wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. After the race, they gave me a turkey because I won. I actually think its really funny that they classified it as a race with only five people but anyway... I happily took the huge frozen turkey and took a picture for the Kirtland AFB newspaper and then walked back to my car with the frozen turkey on my shoulder. I got a few honks and hollers asking me if I won the turkey. It was a little embarrassing. Anyway, as I got to the car, I realized that not only did I not have a place to store this turkey (we only have a mini-fridge), but I didn't even have a kitchen to cook it in : ( I really wanted to cook that turkey but instead, I brought it to the base chapel so that they could get more enjoyment out of it.

Now, I'm thinking of competing in the Christmas Card competition! I know...my life doesn't sound too fun does it? But besides that fact, if you have any ideas of some fun Christmas card ideas, please fill me in. I'm in it to win it ok? Plus, I will get money if it gets first place!

Ok, you can laugh.

Yesterday's Homily

2008-11-17T15:19:00.004-05:00

Mike and I have recently become acquainted with our Catholic church on base. Whenever we come to mass, we always seem to make it right before it starts and the Deacon is happy to point out our tardiness! Yesterday, our Deacon gave an inspirational and motivating homily. He started out by asking us to provide a ratio for the number of marriages that end in divorce. The answer was 1 out of 2. He then asked for the ratio of Catholic marriages that end in divorce...and yet again, the answer was the same. Then he asked us for the ratio of divorce for Catholic couples that attend church around three times a month. I thought the ratio would be much higher considering that most couples average around three times a month at church. Yet, the answer was 1 out of 3. Finally, he asked us to guess the ratio of divorce for Catholic couples that attend church every Sunday, pray together every day and spend five minutes of quality time together everyday. The answer was 1 out of 14,429! His message was short and simple, yet one that I have thought about and shared with others.

As a newlywed, it is important for me to not get caught up in all the small and stressful details that we will continue to encounter throughout our marriage. By praying together and spending quality time together everyday, we are acknowledging that our marriage is between God and Mike and I. It is important for me to remember that when we fight, we must also forgive. Mike is my lifelong partner and I am so excited to be starting this journey with him.

Since being married, we have LOVED spending time together. Not that we didn't before, but marriage has provided us with a new perspective regarding love and responsibility. Maintaining a long distance relationship, completing graduate school and flight school AND planning a wedding forced us to get caught up in silly issues that didn't seem to matter once the argument and stress was over. I am so grateful that I married my best friend and I am excited for the new journey that awaits us!

On a side note, tomorrow is Mike and my one MONTH anniversary since we were married. For those of you that have been married, one, three, six or many years after that...I will allow you to laugh at my statement. But before we were married, we were partners for eight years and nine months. We have watched each other grow up and have definitely seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is just so wonderful that we are now acknowledged by God and our loved ones as a married couple.

Albuquerque Zoo

2008-11-13T17:14:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, Mike and I had an amazing time at the Albuquerque Zoo. It's funny because out of all the years that we've been together, we had never been to a zoo before. I mean, we love to look at animals and always find ourselves outside of PetSmart on Saturdays to look at all of the adoptable dogs. So needless to say, the zoo was so fun! We were surprised at how big this zoo was and how many different animals were there! My favorites were the polar bears and the lions!

Here are a few pictures:

Oh yeah, here's a picture of my short hair!

It's starting to feel like fall

2008-11-06T12:19:00.002-05:00

To start off the new month, I flew out to Phoenix visit my dear friends Becky and Casey and their little one Nolan. They are my first batch of friends that have a baby and they are wonderful parents! I was amazed with how at ease they both were with raising Nolan. I mean, I guess its a HUGE plus that Nolan is probably the easiest baby ever...but none the less, he's CUTE so even if he was bad, his cuteness would outweigh it! They invited me to Casey's squadron Halloween party where I dressed as a Geisha. I had a pretty cool costume but had a tough time trying to make my eyes look Japanese. I also visited my grandparents who live in Scottsdale and my good friend Kirby! I had seen her two weeks earlier because she was in my wedding but we had such a good time this summer that it was nice to see each other one last time before we both move overseas!

It's nice to be back home with Mike in our clean little hotel room! He had the day off yesterday so we were finishing up all of the inprocessing that we needed to do on my end. While doing that, Mike found out that there's a strong possibility that they won't allow me to go to Japan with him because I have asthma! Can you believe that? Apparently the pollution is so high there that they avoid sending military families with any cases of asthma. I lived in New York and had no problems with it. It is only triggered when I do intense sports or if I'm around cats. There's no need to worry yet because we have to meet with the doctor who will give me the ok or not to go. My case is so mild so I really don't think that it will be an issue. BUT if it is, we will be going somewhere else...

I'll keep you posted!

Wedding Video Sample

2008-10-30T19:41:00.001-04:00

I just got a video sample of our wedding and I'm posting it for everyone to look at. Damon Bilger of Eight Creations Videography did an amazing job with this one clip. I can't wait to see what the finished product will be!

http://www.eightcreations.com/bridget/index.html

Getting Settled

2008-10-28T22:38:00.002-04:00

Being in ABQ with my HUSBAND (it's so fun to say that now!) is so much fun! We keep joking that I'm going to leave to go back to NJ but actually...I'm not. I'm here for good! Sometimes Mike gets this look on his face like he's not too excited about the fact that I totally control what he eats and watches on t.v. Hey, I compromise from time to time ; )

For the next few months, we will be staying in a hotel while Mike finishes up his training. It's an adjustment that's for sure. We go out to eat all the time because we don't have a kitchen. Our hotel room is like a small apartment actually...minus the stove and sink. I'm trying to get creative and make our room "wife" cute by adding fall decorations that don't cost much. Today, I made a little sign that said, "The Quinn's" and stuck it to the front door. I would have put a wreath but I don't know if we're allowed to.

After celebrating Halloween with Mike on Friday, I'm flying to visit my friend Becky and her baby in Phoenix. It will be a short trip but there will be enough time to catch up with old friends and loved ones. My grandma and Kirby live there too!

On a side note, I cut my hair super short and I love it! I had been growing my hair out for so long and I needed a change. One day I will post a few of the new do.

Pictures from our Friends

2008-10-22T12:47:00.004-04:00

These pictures are in random order but I wanted to post some of my favorites that our friends captured on our special day!

What a WONDERFUL Wedding!

2008-10-20T10:07:00.002-04:00

Oh my gosh! We had the BEST time! I seriously did not want to leave. It was so wonderful to see everyone there, old friends from high school and college and family from all over the world. We had our own reunion and there isn't one thing that I would change about our wedding. As soon as I get access to pictures, I will post plenty for sure.

In the meantime, I've added my photographer to my blogger list. Cindy was AMAZING. I can't even express how awesome and talented she is. Here sister Robin was there as well and they were all such a big help. Once I met Cindy, I knew that our wedding would turn out beautifully. It is because of Cindy that our day was displayed and captured so magnificently. She recommended our florist, Marie from Mums the Word, and our videographer Damon from Damon Bilger Videography. We were so blessed to have her be a part of our special day!

We've only been married for a little over a day so I don't have a lot of experience, but married life is tons of fun ; ) After the reception, Mike and I left in our painted Dodge Neon while our close family and friends saw us off. We had to get up at 4:30 in the morning to catch our 7 am flight and let me tell you, we were both exhausted! Mike is currently at work as I am blogging away but I am on cloud nine.

To everyone that was there, I must tell you how honored and happy we were that you took the time out of your busy schedules to be at our wedding. It meant so much to both Mike and I and we are still talking about how much fun it was to catch up with everyone.

To those that could not attend, we love you and missed seeing you but can't wait to plan a mini reunion soon!

Thank you thank you! xoxo

One week left as a Buckie

2008-10-10T15:47:00.002-04:00

Now there's only a week left, I am much more relaxed and starting to get excited about our wedding. Before I couldn't because I had so many worries and an overwhelming list of things to do but now that most of it is done, I can finally sit back and relax.

This week I feel quite ugly as I am letting my eyebrows, armpits, and "mmm hmm" grow out in amounts I didn't know I had. I was told that I could not wax until next Tuesday so I'm going to be furry over the weekend I guess. It's also strange cause usually I highlight my hair and now it's totally back to its natural color. Earlier in the summer I went in to see my stylist and made myself a cup of coffee and was sitting in the chair with my robe. When he came by and saw my hair, he actually REFUSED to dye it. He said brides are more gorgeous when they go natural and he promised he would chop of my hair and dye it blonde after the wedding. My next thought was, "What do I do with my coffeee?" He happily took my warm beverage away and I was left with the original mousey brown hair that I came in the salon with. In all honesty though, I'm glad I didn't highlight it because it is SO hard to get your natural color back. I shouldn't really dye it until the gray starts to come in. I've also wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love for over a year so I'm anxious to send in my ponytail! It's only a few more days, I can take it...

On another note, I got a job offer to be a reading tutor within the Albuquerque public school system. I'm very excited because the schedule is very flexible and I'll be able to do what I went to school for: Teach children how to read! This will probably be my last post before the wedding so I will have a lot to tell you the next time!

Two weeks to go!

2008-10-01T13:20:00.002-04:00

So I've got two weeks to get everything set, organized, finalized, whatever you want to call it. You know, when Mike and I first got engaged, I was SO enthusiastic about it. I bought magazines, watched "Whose Wedding is it Anyway?" and took on every task that needed to be completed. Now that there are only two weeks to go to our wedding, I'm totally spent. I'm tired, I feel overwhelmed and I'm so worried that things aren't going to work out like I hope they will.

One problem while planning the wedding is that our reception hall is under construction at the moment. I had originally rented out the entire facility where we could use both the upstairs and the down stairs. However, while taking a walk in Haddonfield, I stopped by our venue and took a look in the windows. To my surprise, the entire first floor ceiling had caved in unexpectedly. I got a call from the Women's Club of Haddonfield (they own the building) and they told me that there was some freak accident, probably because the building is so old. They had planned on doing some renovations during the month of July so it was a good thing that they didn't book any weddings during that time. Flash forward to two weeks before the wedding and the ceiling still isn't done. Once the insurance was able to cover the costs of the repair, the workers found additional things that needed to be fixed. Because the building is historic, papers have to filed with the Borough Hall of Haddonfield before construction can begin. The reason I'm not freaking out is because the second floor of the building is totally fine. It's actually much larger than the first floor so we will be able to fit tables and a dance floor quite comfortably. It's just a lot of stress anyway.

Yesterday, my mom ran a lot of wedding errands with me and it was so fun to spend some time with her. I get sad when I stop and think that I'm going to be moving from home in two weeks time. She has been just amazing and she keeps having to put Molly and I back together. Mol's stressed too cause she's got a wedding in about six months to plan for!

So now I've done some things to get ready for the wedding but I still have LOTS to do. Combined with organizing my things for my move to New Mexico, it's a lot to deal with but I'm surviving!

Wish me luck!

Road Trip Pictures

2008-09-25T10:22:00.005-04:00

During the first two hours of our trip, we drove up the state of Alabama where Mike's car got creamed with these nasty "love bugs"

Thought you'd like a close up of how many bugs were actually on his car. We had to pull over and totally wash down the car for over half an hour!

This was Mike's dog neighbor named Trooper! We were really sad to say bye to him : (

After two days of driving, we were on our third and final day and stopped at The Big Texan, a local tourist attraction in Amarillo, TX.

Geez, looking at this picture, you would think Mike was a little person, am I right?

Saint Theresa's Prayer

2008-09-24T11:05:00.002-04:00

My future mother-in-law sent me this prayer and it was so moving. I felt as if this prayer was speaking to me at this very moment and helping me to realize that God has a purpose and a plan for me.

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you
are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities
that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be confident knowing you are a child of
God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom
to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

We have arrived!

2008-09-24T10:27:00.004-04:00

We are in BEAUTIFUL Albuquerque, NM and I just LOVE it! There are gorgeous mountains to the east and three volcanoes to the west. There are so many things to see and do here like hiking or skiing. We are located in "Mountain Time" where the altitude is high and the air is quite dry, a nice change from the sticky humidity of Alabama.

Mike and I are checked in at the Kirtland Inn where we will be staying until we move to Japan. We are basically in a hotel room, although the room is much larger than standard size. We have a separate bedroom and living room and a decent sized bathroom. Two things that aren't so great is that there is no kitchen and you can't get internet service in your room, only down in the basement. Mike and I have been eating out quite a lot but I figured out a way to change that. You see, my absolute FAVORITE grocery store is only a ten minute drive from where we live. Last night, I made Mike go to Whole Foods with me so that he could experience all its goodness. Whole Foods always has out amazing free samples so Mike was just following me along and snacking on various goodies while I got a few things to last us for the week. Whole Foods is also great about making homemade meals that you can just microwave at a really low price so Mike and I will probably live off of that for the next four months! When we left the store, Mike was like, "I can see why you would like this store Bridget!" He's totally not into health stores but to know that he likes it means it is really as great as I think it is! Heck, I may even apply to work there since we're only here for four months.

Speaking of work, I have applied for a few jobs on base and some off. Most of them are to be reading tutors part-time. I am also going to look into subbing with the public school system. I'd love to have my own classroom but I really can't since we're leaving in the middle of the school year. Mike started his first day of work yesterday and seems to really enjoy it. As with most Air Force pilots, Mike is still in training even though he graduated from flight school. He is training on the UH-1N which is what he'll be flying in Japan. He said his flight commander was super nice (which is a huge plus) and the schedule is nowhere near as hectic as he is normally accustomed to. This should be a nice change for him.

Mike is so funny though because he is not used to the west coast at all! We were at the mall and he was like "What's that funny looking food stand?" I looked over and said, "You don't know about Hot Dog on a Stick?" Now for those of you who don't know, Hot Dog on a Stick is food chain usually found in restaurants where employees wear ridiculous outfits and serve you...yes hot dogs on sticks! But not only that, you can get cheese on a stick...the list can go on! They also have fresh lemonade!

Although I have had a wonderful time this past month hanging out with Mike, I have to go back to NJ and finalize all of our wedding plans. I have so much to do that it's too stressful to think about. Last night, I was freaking out to Mike saying "What if I'm sick on our wedding day? What if I have the flu? What if I have a cold?" Of course Mike rolled his eyes and told me that I need to worry about things when they are worth worrying about and not before. I totally know he's right. I just tend to think the worst case scenario, that way I am prepared in case it does happen!

I will add photos on my next post of our road trip!

The Movers are Here!

2008-09-17T11:14:00.003-04:00

I'm camped out in the guest room while the movers are packing up all of Mike's stuff. If you guys have moved a lot, you know what I mean when I say that I feel awkward. I feel like I should be helping them move/pack things but you're really not supposed to do that. We've been giving them lots of drinks and we're getting them lunch so that should count for something...

Last night and super early this morning, Mike and I went through his whole house and had to decide which stuff would be shipped to Japan and which stuff would stay in storage until we get back in in 2012! There's a lot of crap that is going into storage that will either be thrown out or donated when we get back but we're in such a time crunch that we didn't want to deal with the additional headaches at this point.

I found myself arguing with Mike over which stuff could be moved, stored, or thrown out. For example, Mike has this horrible pirate flag that hangs over his bed (or used to) and I immediately put it in the storage pile. It's not like I threw it away or anything, I was just hoping that he would grow out of his liking for it when we got back. Anyway, Mike asked why we couldn't bring the stupid flag and I was like "Are you kidding me? That flag is not going to hang in my house" Let me just give you an image of this flag. There is a picture of a skull drinking from a bottle and it says "Life is better when you've got a bottle of rum!" Mike doesn't even DRINK rum so why would he want that in our house? Then he said that he could hang the flag in his office. This just added more fuel to my fire. Eventually I won the argument as I always tend to do. But seriously, am I wrong for have the final say on what stays and what goes? If I let Mike pack everything, we would have all this crap in Japan and our house would look like a Bachelor pad.

Change in plan...

2008-09-15T16:18:00.002-04:00

Welp! Originally, I was supposed to get on a plane to fly back to NJ tomorrow. However, because the Air Force can be so darn unpredictable, Mike and I decided to change the plan bit. After Mike's assignment night, we found out that he needed to report to Kirtland Air Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 23rd. That gives him NO time at all to move! I mean basically he had two weeks. And lets keep in mind that we have to think about the foreign move to Japan on top of everything else.

So now our plan is for Mike to outprocess this week and we'll hop in his truck and drive to New Mexico over two or three days. I'm actually excited about this part because we'll be able to make some fun memories, stop at some cool landmarks, and take LOTS of pictures along the way. Once we get in New Mexico, I'm going to hang out there for five days before I have to head back to NJ to really finish up the wedding plans.

I still need to go in to get my second dress fitting and finalize who's coming. I also need to make place cards, finish the programs, pay off the vendors, oh gosh the list goes on and if I mention it all it will just stress me out even more so I'm going to stop.

Flight School Complete!

2008-09-12T17:43:00.002-04:00

Today Mike got his wings and to be honest, there was a few moments when we both thought this would not happen! It was a perfect ceremony with only four guys in his class. My favorite part was during the pinning. I was secretly instructed to punch him right on top of his "Blood Wings" and it made a really loud noise in the auditorium. Everyone thought it was really funny. Mike also gave me my own wings to wear around a necklace. I honestly feel like I earned them after all he put me through!

So now we're done and on to our next journey...New Mexico! Mike has to be down there next week! They didn't give him anytime to relax after helicopter training. He'll be there for a month then I will join him after the wedding! Once I get there, we'll be there until March and then move to our next assignment at Yokota Air Base in Japan! We'll be there for three years! When we found out that was where we were going, I was really shocked. We knew it was a possibility, but neither of us thought it would be so soon. So needless to say, I needed a few days to really saturate the news and rethink my plan for our future.

A lot of things need to get done before going to Japan. I mean, we have to put stuff in storage knowing that we won't have it for three years. We both have to sell our cars because there's this emissions rule in Japan and it would be too expensive to ship and fix them to Japanese standards. We have to live on base and I'm trying to find out some things about Yokota housing but I really can't find anything. It's gonna be an adjustment, that's for sure! I've already gotten my application started to be a DoDDs teacher and just need to submit a copy of Mike's orders once my name gets put on them.

First Day

2008-08-26T18:29:00.002-04:00

So I'm back in Alabama for three weeks, and let me tell you...it's not easy to get here. I had to get up at 4 in the morning to be at the airport by 530--flight leaves at 7--make a connection in memphis--land in pensacola--rent a car and drive myself two hours to Mikes house--spend time with Mike for one hour--then he leaves for work at 3pm and I won't see him again until 4 or 5 am. Let me just say that besides Mike of course, I feel that I should get some special treat once graduation has come and gone. It's been a LONG year and three months!

Weird dreams

2008-08-24T20:36:00.003-04:00

I don't know about you guys but lately, I've been having some weird dreams. And when I mean weird, I mean WEIRD. I think it has to do with wedding planning, don't tell me why. I mean, one of the dreams I had was about me having a hole in my front tooth that didn't appear until the day of my wedding. Everyone kept saying that it wasn't too bad but that I should be sure to NOT smile for any pictures. What I want to know is how does a hole just appear in your front tooth like that?

So far, I've had a great summer but I feel that the days are just dragging until Mike's assignment night, graduation and the wedding. I felt anxious sending out the invitations because I was worried about last minute changes that Mike always seems to conveniently suggest at unacceptable times. When I told Mike I sent out the invites, he was like, "I know...I hope I can come." What does he mean he hopes he can come??? I don't care where the heck he is on October 18th, his butt will be there for the wedding. Anyway, I got so paranoid that I sent him a wedding invitation too, just to be safe. And I told him that he needed to RSVP to it, that way, I'd have it in writing that he was going to be there.

As far as the planning goes, sometimes I wish I had the money to hire a wedding planner. There's just SO many things to think about and you're never sure if they will all get done in time. I know I'm lucky that I don't have a job while doing wedding stuff, but at the same time, my budget is very limited with what I can do. I'm trying to be creative and am currently working on the program for our ceremony. Who knew that a full Catholic wedding program was so detailed?

Besides planning for the big day, I'm also trying to do my own version of "Bridal Bootcamp." Basically, I alternate days between cardio and strength training, giving my muscles a chance to rest in between days. I'm doing the best I can being that I'm pushing myself, but the results aren't as immediate as they would be if I had a trainer. No money in the budget for that! Tomorrow I am going to my first fitting so it will be good to see how I fit into my dress.

Later this week, I'm off to Alabama again to be with Mike for about three weeks. I am trying to convince Mike to get a dog from the local animal shelter while I'm there. He wants one as much as I do but we always hesistate if it's the right time to get one and back out. I'm hoping that I will get to pick my first "child" soon!

Where did July go?

2008-08-09T20:50:00.003-04:00

Ok I know it's still the beginning of August but geez, I really must've been busy because I haven't added a post in a while. To be honest, my life has kind of been uneventful and I haven't really had anything to post!

I spent two weeks in Alabama and totally surprised Mike that I was coming. I suprised myself actually cause I was just goofing around on travelocity one day and found a really cheap ticket for that day. I couldn't get a hold of Mike cause he was at work for the day so I just basically went ahead and booked the flight and hopped on that afternoon. I called Mike for the next six hours (still at work) and finally got a hold of him at 8 that night when I was making a connection in Charlotte. He was surprised, especially when I told him that I charged his credit card...yeah ok I know it was bad.

Anyway, it was great to have two weeks with Mike. He and I so use to just visiting each other one weekend a month so it was great to not feel pressure to do as much as we had to in two days. When he was at work, I tried to keep busy with wedding planning and reading and work out videos. Yeah I still think they're cool, plus it was too hot to run outside so I had to do something. I even managed to pick up a stray dog and feed him cheese sticks. That was all I had! Oh, and I also got into the Twilight series books by Stephenie Meyer. Great books, about vampire and stuff but it's not as stupid as it sounds, really.

After the two weeks, I flew back to my mom's and my friend from WAY back in 9th grade through me the BEST bridal shower/luncheon. She and her mom made the best food and organized such a great party with tons of fun an games. It was so fun to have her around Philly this summer cause during the school year she lives out in Tempe, AZ with her husband while he's in law school. After the shower, I found out a few days later that Becky-poo had baby Nolan. He's SO cute from the pictures I saw. I really want to go out and visit them.

This past week I've been recovering from a really bad cold. Combined with asthma and the fact that I'm allergic to cats forced me to have an attack which wasn't fun. I'm pretty much recovered now and I guess can't use the "I don't have to work out cause I'm sick" excuse.

So now, I'm keeping myself busy with visits to our church. I'm also addressing invites, typing out our program, and selecting songs to be performed at our ceremony. AND my sister is getting married in May so I'm already doing stuff with her too! Tomorrow I'm going to visit my sister and Bronwen in Brooklyn and probably stay the night. I've got nothing else to do I'm such a bum. Ok, long post again.

Summer time?

2008-06-19T07:31:00.003-04:00

Today is my last day at work. I actually can't believe I've been there for a full nine and a half months! I'm going to miss all of the kids and the convenience of my job. I'll tell you, I'm definitely going to miss my paycheck... But it was a great experience overall and I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to have this job.

This weekend I'm going to visit Mike in Atlanta and I can't wait! I haven't seen him since the beginning of April so it's been a while. We are making a compromise in that he gets to see a Braves game if I can go to Stone Mountain and go for a long hike! Usually when I visit him, there's not much time to do anything other than go to a mall and walk around. We're changing that habit and going to go on some different excursion/adventure every free weekend that we get! On July 13th, I'll be "moving" down to Alabama for the summer. I put moving in quotations cause I'm not going to move my furniture down, I'll wait until the military does that for free! But I'll be down there keeping him company and making him some healthy meals. He's been so busy lately and just needs a friend. You girls know flight school isn't fun and Mike's been in for OVER a year now. He won't be done until the beginning of September and it feels like these will be the longest three months ever. Poor guy.

Wedding planning is also starting to pick up. I am meeting my caterer next week with my Mom and Kirby. I'm excited cause we'll finalize the menu, pick out the china and linen patterns, and possibly the chivari chairs! I am also thinking of hiring a lighting specialist to come in and make the reception hall more beautiful than it already is. I also need to schedule an appointment to meet with the dj, give numbers of the bridal party to the florist, make a trial hair appointment...ok the list goes on so I'm not going to go any further. My friend Nikki is making our invites and they look great! People should be getting them by mid-August!

As I'm here in NY for less than a month, I've taken advantage of the city and hung out with my sister quite a bit. She moved to Brooklyn in a VERY cute town back in April with her fiance and since I haven't had anything to do but work, I go down and visit her. It's been nice to meet her for dinner or go shopping. It's funny cause I'm so used to seeing her that last night when I was saying bye, I got kind of sad and was like, "Okay, well I'm going to Atlanta so I won't see you this weekend...when is the next time I'll see you?" I've gotta get used to that cause once I'm on the move with Mike, it will be much harder.

Summer is around the corner and I'm waiting anxiously to lay out by a warm pool with a nice book to read. I've already read the newest book by my favorite author called "Love the One You're With" and now I'm near the end of the newest book "Chasing Harry Winston" from the same author that wrote "The Devil Wears Prada" (which I read too!) Maybe there will be a chance to sneak away on a trip at some point? To those that already have plans, happy travels!

Hasn't hit me yet

2008-05-19T20:59:00.002-04:00

So I'm sitting in my dorm room with John and Kate plus 8 in the background. I've got a cup of pomegranate tea on my night stand with my cell and remote control resting on my lap. Plus my mac so a lot is taking place at this moment...Life is kinda weird right now because I don't really have anything to do. I mean I'm still working (double shifts the majority of this week) until the middle of June and then I'm taking the Teachers College Reading Institute for the first week in July. Then I will leave this beautiful city with all of the dancing bums and barking men to a better place filled with toothless bums and tobacco spitting men. See? New York and Alabama really aren't that different.

Living here has been a bittersweet experience. Although I don't have a diploma in hand, I've done what I needed to do to finish the program. Seriously, I didn't know if I would make it through the program until my thesis was approved. I always had a feeling that being here was too good to be true and that someone would realize they made a mistake when they accepted me here and then kick me out. But it hasn't happened so far so I feel like I'm pretty much guaranteed a diploma from this place. I won't be participating in the graduation ceremony cause they won't let me walk with just 3 credits shy but what could you do? I don't really care. I have flashbacks from graduation at Clemson being stuck in the center of the arena and freaking cause I had to pee but I didn't think I could just get up and walk out during the ceremony.

Besides paper writing and researching, NY has blessed me with new memories and growing independence. I am among friends in this vegetarian friendly city and can always find exactly what I'm looking for. I buy my produce from the farmers market on Thursdays and run by the same old man and his french bulldog at least twice a week. He seems like a grumpy old man but the next time I see him, I'm going to stop and talk to him. I mean, this guy is OLD and he takes the time to walk his OLD french bulldog both morning and afternoon. They look alike...seriously. The dog even walks like his owner...head down with a soft trot and appreciation for Morningside Drive.

My birthday's coming up on Thursday and I've got plans to see the new Indiana Jones movie with Mol, Ben, Howard, and Tazzy Bear on Friday or Saturday. I don't think I'm doing anything on my actual birthday. Last year I remember I ate a milky way bar in my room and sang "Happy Birthday" to myself so anything should be better than that experience.

Happy May!

I'm adding my first post!

2008-05-02T18:03:00.000-04:00

Hello! I am currently at a crossroads between my graduate school and the new and happy life that awaits me. At this point, life is bittersweet and has worked out in so many ways. Let me backtrack to exactly one year ago when I moved into my TINY (Becky, you know from personal experience) dorm room.

I started graduate school on May 17th and was quite lonely I might add. I had just returned from a month long vacation staying with Mike in GA and now I had to officially start my new life as a grad student. I honestly didn't think it would be that bad. And for the first few months it wasn't. I actually had time to work, go to class, and train for a marathon at the same time! Life was good, but I knew it wouldn't be for long. I knew going into my program that I wanted to take extra courses so that I could finish in time to get married to the one and only guy that I've been in love with since I was 14. Usually, the Reading Specialist program takes a year and a half to complete. On top of classes, tremendous papers, projects, and a thesis, there are three practicums, countless lesson plans called LISPS (or as us practitioners like to say FLISPS) and reflections on such lessons that are such a waste of time that I usually bs'd my way through them and pretended that each lesson was beneficial and meaningful to each child that I worked with. Let's be honest, all teachers know that there are some days where you aren't as great a teacher as you would like to be, your students aren't in the best mood, or a combination of both. HOWEVER, there are also those days were you see the light bulb click with your student and you feel like you have actually made a difference in their lives. I love those days. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that instead of doing my program in a year and a half, I decided to do it in a year so that I would be done with my program and then transition to being a happy wife living down south in good ole' Alabama. To do this in a year, I had to double up my course load and take two practicums instead of one, plus work, and class all at the same time.

A typical night of sleep was no longer than five hours. I usually got up at 5:30 in the morning to make my scary trek to PS 8, an inner city school in Harlem. The first day was the most shocking for me as I met with the cooperating teacher and the two 6 year olds that I would be providing reading intervention services for. During the first fifteen minutes that I was there, two 6 year olds got in a fight and were just thrown out in the hallway where I was working on the floor with my students (They were unable to provide a room with desks and chairs for me to work with). Needless to say, I grew a lot just from that tutoring experience. After my morning sessions, I had just enough time to go to work where I taught very gifted (and very privileged children if I might add) for the rest of the school day. Quite the opposite from my PS 8 students. After school, I went straight to class, followed by another round of tutoring with an amazing little girl. Although I longed to crash on my bed after that, I still had to go to the computer lab (and stay there until they closed) just to finish typing those FLISPS before my midnight deadline.

All this has come to an end this week and now I can finally look back and be proud that I made it through. I can't remember the last time I cried (which is a good thing right?) and I am getting so much closer to so many things! Graduation, living with Mike, our wedding. It's so great to finally see the finish line. After next week, I will readjust to a "normal" routine and get back on track with taking care of myself and maintaining friendships that I was forced to ignore this semester. I should actually be typing papers this minute but I feel much better venting my thoughts to my white little mac that has since become my new best friend.