I'm Still Here!

Whew! Where were we again? Apparently I get an F in blogging lately. But then again.. life gets in the way, and sometimes it's good to take a break. What have I been up to?? Let me fill you in.

Left for Kentucky Friday. Got there just before dark. Set the tent up All.By.Myself. Tried to sleep even though my back was yelling at me for the minimal padding between it and the ground. Woke up. Jumped on the back of Z's 4-wheeler, and rode around for a few hours. Held on for dear life while getting covered in dust. Had fun though. Went back to campsite for lunch. Washed grit out of my teeth and ate a PB&J. Took a nap with A (Z's cousin's wife) while the boys (Z & said cousin) did some "real" 4-wheeling. [sidenote: apparently it's not real 4-wheeling unless you're doing like 55 mph in the woods] Drove to the "lake" with A, only to find out it was filled with algae & would no way get me any cleaner than I was. Went back to campsite. Took "shower" in little water spiget that came 2 feet high out of a concrete slab. Felt fresh again. All was well. Boys got back. Made supper over the campfire. MMMmmm, pizza pie! Made s'mores. Colapsed into sleeping bag. Woke up, ate muffin. Packed up all our gear. Took the tent down All.By.Myself. Did a wee bit more 4-wheeling. Headed home.

If you just read that, you're a trooper, and I love you. :) The only pic. I have with me at work is this one, of our campsite.


Once we got home we showered & went to the viewing for my boss. We waited in line for 3 hours just to see the family, but I wasn't annoyed at all. I was so happy that many people were there. The estimate was 1,000 people. Crazy. It was pretty tough, not gonna lie. Seeing so many pictures of him, and momentos from his office on display was such a stark reminder that he wasn't there anymore.

I had monday off for the funeral, and so Z took it off too. We went an hour early just to get seats. If I thought the viewing was tough.. whew! The funeral was way worse. They opened it up for people to share memories of him, and several people barely choked through theirs to get words out. Like I'd said before, he crashed with his good friend, who survived the accident with minimal hurt. Well, his friend was there, sitting a couple rows in front of us. He got up spoke only a few words because he was so choked up- he said that he didn't understand, didn't know why he hadn't seen him that night, that he was such a good friend, etc. Oh my gosh.. there wasn't a dry eye in the place! The line of cars to go to the graveside was so long they had intersections blocked off and police escorts. It was hard, but I'm doing well. Please continue to pray for his family- It's going to be a long time before anything feels normal for them again.

After all of that was over, my WONDERFUL hubby took me south for a little retail therapy. We hit up a new outlet mall, and somehow I only walked away with one shirt from JCrew. Don't know how that happened! We went to Ikea after and let's just say.. I walked away with slightly more than that. :) Check out Project Pretty in a day or so to see what we scored.

Now, we're all unpacked, the house is cleaned up, and we're back to work. Still feels eerie looking down the hall at a closed door, but life is going on. And that's what he would have wanted.

SUYL: Wedding Reception/Honeymoon

Today @ Kelly's Korner it's Show us your life: wedding reception/honeymoon, and I'm excited to join in!

Once the ceremony was over, I had to rush into the back room and loosen my dress.. I almost passed out.. lol. This would be me telling my parents I needed to go.. now! :)



Our reception was held at the grand ballroom at a local college.

Z & I took lessons and did a swing dance to Glen Miller's In the Mood for our first dance.


My dad and I danced to Stephen Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella", performed live by a friend of ours.


I played the piano and my bridesmaid sang "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill for the Mother-Son dance.

This would be my sisters dancing w/Z.. if you can't read the caption, it says, "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?". lol..


From the looks of things.. our guests had a pretty good time:


My sisters gave an hilarious toast:


Z got the garter..


I threw the bouquet.. (please excuse the 'girls popping out..) :)


We played a slideshow showing us growing up & meeting. We recorded our voices telling "Our story" in the background. Props go to Z for the video editing. :)



We left to a sparkler send off:


We took a short honeymoon in NYC & a cottage in PA (can you tell Z was the photographer?):


Whoa! Sorry for picture overload.. I had like 1500 to choose from, can you blame me? :)

Vacation Reflections: The Photos

Z preached a heck of a sermon at my home church! I was so proud of him!

Sister & I

Sisters & their friend

Sister & Z

I <3>

This would be when we went fourwheeling.. I wore my dad's rain suit..lol.

Family photo


That's it for photos, but stay tuned for the giveaway I mentioned this week!

Vacation Reflections: The Words

Hi everyone!! I'm finally back to the blog world. While I managed to sneak out one post and a few comments here and there, I was pretty much MIA last week. Z and I spent a week at our friends' cottage on the lake in Nothern Maine with my parents and sisters. It was wonderful. Rather than carry on with all the details I'll try to sum it up with a few points. This post will just be the words, as I don't have time right now to add all the pictures- that'll be coming.

There is just something about being out on the water..
...about laying in bed and listening to the rain on the log cabin roof
...about relaxing on the rope hammock and seeing the sun peek through the trees
...about grabbing a super-fast lunch so you don't miss out on the afternoon sun
...about making s'mores around the campfire just like you did 10 years ago
...about eating breakfast with the family every morning and hugging them every night
...about lake water dried in your hair as it whips around in the wind
...about seeing a bald eagle soar over your head as you're floating in the middle of the lake
...about swimming for ages and seemingly never getting any closer to getting back in the boat
...about kayaking races with the hubby
...about being daddy's little girl & mommy's cooking helper again
...about walking out of the rest area bathroom to find your hot husband waiting to walk you back to the car :)

Can't explain it, but nothing beats it.

It doesn't matter that the temps were only above 70 three days..
...that my plans of waterskiing turned into 4-wheeling for a couple days thanks to cloudy skies
...that the decor in the cottage would have made my stomach turn in any other place
...that, as newlyweds, there's only a thin wall separating your room from your parents' room and you can hear EVERYTHING each other is doing.. :) (no, no hanky panky last week!)
...that I got a lovely sunburn that made it hard to sleep (thank you, pasty-skin-resulting-from-office-job)
...that a bat followed me in the front door (story coming)
...that the ground was so saturated from a month of rain that the septic holding tank was full and we couldn't shower there (luckily my parents are owners of a time-share condo w/ showers just down the road)

None of it mattered, and in fact, it only made the memories richer.


I was SO sad to leave, but was so thankful for the much needed vacation. Thanks Mom and Dad, for having us! And thank you, awesome readers, for putting up with my lack of posts & comments! You're all the best!! :)

Out of the Wild

Day 1 here.

Day 2 of our Memorial Day weekend we woke up after having gotten little sleep due to the lack of pillows and the hard surface we laid on. And.. sure enough, it had rained.. A lot. Luckily the pack with our food that we had tied up in a tree (to keep away from bears) was waterproof, so the contents were mostly dry. So we got up, ate some gorp & apples, and started cleaning up our campsite.

We left all our gear, except one pack filled with water, gorp, & toilet paper (of course), at the campsite. Our hike for the day was into a place called Abram's Falls.

See those people to Z's right? Unfortunately, the trail they were on led them straight through the river! :)The sign & bridge right before we got to the falls.
There were a lot of people at the falls because there was another trail that led there from a nearby parking lot. We saw a group of twenty-something guys goofing off near the edge. Some were jumping off the cliff just to the left of the falls. Z and I couldn't help but think that it would be awfully easy for them to get sucked under by the current.

Then we found out on Monday that someone actually died a few hours after we left. Wow.. that sign wasn't so amusing anymore! You can see the article here. It's such a hard, sad way for people to learn a lesson. I can't imagine what his friends are going through.

The hike back to the campsite was pretty tough. The fatigue from the previous hiking was starting to set in. When we got back we packed up all our [wet] stuff into our packs & started back towards the car. If it hadn't been for my ankle braces, Z's encouragement, and several quick breaks, I might've been in pretty sad shape! The front of our toes were in serious pain from the steep downhill & our (okay my) legs felt like Jelly!I've never been so excited to see a car with AC. It was ridiculously humid, especially for this New England girl! Combine that with the fact that I was probably sweating more than I ever have, and you get one wifey who was very excited to find a hotel! More on that next time though.

As we were driving out of the Park, we saw this:

I just love seeing rainbows. They always make me say a quick "thank you" prayer.

Day 3 to come!

Take a Hike!

I'm a little late getting this posted, but it's been a whirlwind since we got home, and I imagine it will continue to be until my mom gets here on Thursday! But anyway, on to the Memorial Day weekend recap.

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Tennessee. And of course it just wouldn't have been the same if we hadn't stopped and taken some random tourist photos:


And then it was time to stop messing around and get on the trail. Z's cousin & her husband were sweet enough to lend us their awesome backpacks and sleeping mats. After loading those things up with 45-50 lbs. each, we strapped ourselves in & started the trek to where we'd set up our own little camping area for the night. Don't we look hardcore?

our little camping area.. that's the fire pit we made ourselves

And this would be our "shower/bath" :)

Back Country Camping Essentials:Gorp. Known to most as trail mix. Bonus points if you make your own!
Disinfecting wipes- this kind was awesome! I even used them to wash my face and felt perfectly fresh after.. well, almost.
Toilet paper- when ya gotta go, ya gotta go! [Note: Please do not make the same mistake I made. Make sure there is not a trail with hikers on it directly behind the area you're sticking your pasty white bum out.]A Mini Propane Lantern. Worth it's weight in gold when your hubby realizes he just used his only pair of socks as a loofa to wash up in the river. Yes, if you have patience, it will dry your socks. Just don't burn them.Whaatt?? These ARE essentials! Who says you can't brush your teeth and deororize in the woods?? Just be prepared for the hubby to give you a hard time.


Lastly, don't forget to admire the gorgeous handiwork of your Creator & Lord. Man, He's good at what he does!!
More on Day 2 & 3 of our adventure to come!