Top O' the Mornin'...

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!


As far as I know, I have absolutely no Irish blood running through my veins. Which means that my parents don't either, obviously. But you know what I'm really missing this year?


Corned beef, red potatoes, and cabbage. And green milk.


Growing up, we had this for dinner every year on the day of St. Patrick. I don't think I loved it when I was little, but I really did love my milk being dyed green. My appreciation for the tradition of this meal grew as I also grew (mostly up). Leftover corned beef makes great sandwiches and is one of the only times I actually like mustard. And the potatoes and cabbage, smothered in butter and salt and pepper...


Seriously, I am salivating.


Maybe we'll have to re-celebrate St. Patty's this summer when we come home. Can you get corned beef at the grocery store in the summer time?


We might go to a nearby Irish pub for some live music tonight with some of the other teachers, but I don't know. Depends on how tired I am, I suppose.


The other reason this is a special day is because it's our 2nd anniversary of our engagement! Last night, Huzz tried to tell me it's been three years.


He's wrong. It was fun reminding him. Ha!

Have I told our engagement story on here before? I can't remember. If not, I should really soon. Maybe I'll get to it tonight.

Until then, enjoy your St. Patty's day! Don't forget to wear green.

June #1

Well, we have been in the middle of a complete whirlwind and will be in one for the next week and a half or so. So, that is why I haven't posted in awhile and why I might not, once we are in the Big K for a little while.

June began with Husband and I moving out of our first home together: our humble 375-ish square foot studio with "sprawling views" of 2nd Avenue and a "short walk" (4 long blocks) to Central Park. These may seem like disappointing things, but they are the things we loved about our place. We will miss it.

After our moving our stuff ourselves from DC to Bethesda, we vowed that from then on, we would be hiring movers. If you remember that story, you can sympathize, I'm sure. If I haven't told it to you, I should sometime.

Anyway, here's what we did while the movers hauled our things down 5 flights in the super tiny elevator and down the narrow 5 flights of stairs for things like the large couch.

After sitting from our perches, directing what was going in the truck to Colorado, for only 2 hours, the apartment was empty. Except for the desk (in the pictures) that we deposited in the basement and the coffee table, which a wonderful friend took for us.

Although this kitchen saw more cooking in the last 8 months than it had seen in the prior 2 years before I showed up, I will not miss its lack of counter space and dishwasher. Plus, the burners on the stove were awful. Plus, there was no garbage disposal, so cleaning the drain of food escapees was a usual and necessary occurrence.

We will miss you, little home! You were a great comfort to Stephen, as a bachelor for a while and we created you as our first home together. You'll be a

good story when we tell our kids how good they have it. I'm sure one day we'll be telling them that "everyone" should live in close quarters when they first get

married. They'll "appreciate" each other so much more!

PS - I am losing my patience with blogger and pictures. It's driving me crazy! What you are seeing is not what it looks like in my "compose" window. Grrrrrr..........

Update...

So, after hunting for an available cab on Saturday morning for twenty minutes, Stephen spent the day taking his final CFA exam!

When I asked him how it went when he got home that evening, he said, "It's over."

He says he doesn't feel like studying any more would have helped. He did his best. If his best isn't enough....it is what it is.

We are both so glad it's over. He will get his score in August sometime. Regardless....

I have a new husband! He is relaxed and happy and able to do what he wants without feeling guilty because he should be studying.

I am so proud of you, Stephen! You were so diligent with your studying and the amount of dedication that you have shown is unbelievable to me. You have so much more self discipline than I will ever have. I admire you for that!

CFA Numero Tres

It is 12:21 am and I am still awake, as my wonderful husband is still awake.....studying. Bless his heart. He started studying for this exam back in February and really hasn't stopped for too much.

All of his hard work and dedication towards this [stinky] test will finally come to an end on Saturday, when he shows the silly CFA people that he knows his stuff!

We will be starting off the day with a very early morning breakfast before he heads to the test site. Don't worry, people, I'll make sure he has a super breakfast, full of protein and goodness for his brain matter. Last summer, when he took the CFA Numero Dos, we did the same thing and I'm sure the eggs did a wonderful job of holding his appetite until his Chipotle run at lunch break.

Yes, he already looked it up and found that there is a Chipotle by this year's test site, too.

I am learning Stephen can be a little superstitious!

Please keep Stephen in your thoughts, especially on Saturday. He has worked so hard. He knows his stuff, so I'm just praying that he keeps a level head and remembers the things he has been studying. I know he is going to pass.

I will love him no matter what, though. Because that's why I married him.

I do really hope, though, that this is the last time I, I mean he has to go through this.

Just Married...Five Months Ago!

Stephen and I married each other on October 13, 2007 in Colorado Springs, CO, at my home church, Covenant Presbyterian Church. We had a small, intimate ceremony with 230 onlookers! People have asked me what my favorite part of that day was and I think it was the ceremony, itself. It was exactly how we wanted it: a true worship service.

So, what's been going on since October? We went on our honeymoon to Costa Rica, which was AMAZING, even though it rained most of the time we were there. The sun fully came out the morning we left and it was incredibly HOT, of course. However, it gives us an excuse to go back at another un-wet time of year. The pictures are on my desktop, which at the moment, does not work. I really need to start it up and work on getting my files off of it.

My sister, Kelsi, came up from North Carolina for Thanksgiving. We celebrated the day at our good friends' apartment, Nathan and Katrina's, along with Nathan's family. Nathan and Katrina are our family here in New York City.

This picture is NOT from Thanksgiving, but actually from the first weekend I ever spent in NYC, when I started dating Stephen. It's amazing how we have all changed in a year and a half-ish.

We went home to Colorado for Christmas and shared the time between both sets of parents' houses. It was good, quality time with family and both families were able to come together Christmas Day for dinner at my parents' house. We all have fun when we're together, so that works out great! We are both blessed with parents who have been married to each other for many years. Between the parents, there is about 60 years of marriage experience! Incredible, I think.

My parents came out to NYC at the end of January for a weekend. We wanted to show our thanks to them for their generosity with the gift of our wedding. We saw Mamma Mia on Broadway with them. For both of them, it was their first Broadway show and they really enjoyed it! We mostly showed them what it means to eat here in the city. Sushi, burgers, pizza, diner food, etc. Mom had never been to Central Park, so we went there and showed them where we got engaged, which is what the picture shows.

My good friends in Colorado, Tom and Ali, had their baby, Elijah James on January 22nd. He wasn't due until February 6, but I had planned on going to meet Eli at the end of February after Tom and Ali's parents had left to help out a little. It was good to be home for 6 days. My dad was out of town, so it was just me and my mom. Great quality time! And we were able to set up a girls' night so that I could see some of my ladies without taking away from my time with Ali and Eli. Now that I think about it, we didn't take a picture! I need to get better with taking pictures and getting them off my camera.

I went to West Palm Beach with Stephen two days after I got back last week. He had a business meeting and spouses were invited, so my sweet husband got me a plane ticket! We were only down there for two days, but it was so nice. It worked out great because Kelsi was there for a horse show (she competitively jumps horses) and my dad was down there, too. My dad drove over from Naples, where my grandparents live, with my Grandma. We all got to spend the afternoon together. Our trip back to LaGuardia was a nightmare, however. Our flight was supposed to leave at 12:15, didn't until about 3:00. The 3 hour flight turned into about 9. We were supposed to land in NY at 3:15 and finally landed at 9:15, after being diverted to Baltimore. It was one of the most insane flight days I've had. We were exhausted when we got back! Then, Stephen came home from work last night, saying his throat hurts and he's kind of achy. I loaded him up with drugs and he went to bed early, so hopefully he'll get enough rest and recover before we leave again on Thursday!

We are going to Seattle to visit Stephen's brother, Erik and his wife, Julie. Erik and Julie got married just 7 weeks before we did, in Portland. I'm really looking forward to it because I want to get to know Julie better. I feel like I know Erik pretty well, although there's always room for more! I've never been to Seattle before, so we're forcing them to do the touristy things that everyone always wants to do, I'm sure. My new resolution is that when I blog about our trip when we get back, I will have pics to put on the blog right away!

It will take some getting used to for me to be consistent with this blogging thing. I figured we should start one, like everyone else, and then those who are important in our lives can read about what we're up to, if they're interested. Let me know if you have a blog and I'll link it on here. I love reading everyone else's blogs, too.