Friday, November 11, 2011

Shoes and the Cat

I love shoes... well, just running shoes and crocs. I ordered a pair of these shoes earlier in the week and cannot wait for them to come in. They are super comfy and best of all match my Tink costume.I've put in several long runs with the pair I currently have and no blisters or achy spots since they are mostly a mesh/fabric construction and the lacing system isn't connected into a logo (which can sometimes create pressure points). The sole is flexible and allows for a smooth heel to toe transition. I won't bore you with the details of my awesome shoes... but if you ever want info on shoes let me know.
In other news, I think that Thunder Paws is feeling a bit lonely and wanting attention. She plopped herself on my school papers. I guess she misses all the hours she got to spend with me over the summer.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

For my Sister

Well Jen... since you are bored since I've been so busy and haven't posted, here is a little something for you:
What the classroom looked like when I "moved in"
Now it is full of papers and pencils and stuff.
Followed by a cross country meets and a pasta load:

More running:

An out of town wedding (not many photos though from that, her photographer was taking a gazillion)

More running:

and another pasta load:


So, between the coaching, teaching and running I haven't had time for keeping this interesting for you. Now that coaching is over I will post once a week and more if I can. Have a great November... and I'll make sure to look for an embarrassing photo of you as a happy be-lated birthday post. Oh, never mind. Happy late birthday to my oompa loompa sister:

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Honeymoon

We had no real plan for our Honeymoon other than a direction (somewhat) and a few locations to stop at and anything else we happened to come across on the way. First stop, Zippo factory/museum combo Pennsylvania Welcome Center. Not much here in terms of visitor information. Oh well. Next, we drove to Freeland, PA. It was a small town and the people there kind of kept staring at us. Obviously we weren't locals. We ate at a cute pizza place and the food was good. It was getting to be around 7:00 so we headed towards our next destination and would stop somewhere in our Room Saver book on the way for the lodging. Although we weren't anywhere dangerous Luke told me "no running" in the morning since the only road was basically highway.
On the agenda for day two was the Yuengling Brewery and Hershey's Chocolate factory tour and of course, anything we happened to come across. The Brewery was very interesting. It is America's oldest brewery... and can be called that since during Prohibition they were still allowed to make Porter since it was deemed healthy for pregnant women to drink providing nutrients, etc. In order to obtain the drink though they needed a doctor's note. Yuengling also operated an ice cream place across the street (which is there but no longer in use).They have a stained glass window over the kettle since the workers complained about the glare off the copper and it allowed light in but filtered the blinding light. They also took us down into the cave (which is no longer in use) and let us all take a bung (the cork type thing that used to be used in kegs after they were filled). The strange part of our tour was the fact that the girl giving the tour was 20 so she couldn't even recommend a brew at the end for people to try. I tried their Yuengling Premium (it was good) and then had a root beer (I believe they called it birch bark). After we drove not too far to Hershey for some chocolate. Can we say yummy BOGO milkshake lunch thanks to my printing a coupon at home? It wasn't what we expected, but there was definitely a lot of goodies to buy if we wanted. We wanted too, but it was so darn hot that it would have melted horribly in the car.
After, we drove towards Philly in search of a hotel. Philly was one of the places we knew we wanted to visit on our multi-state adventure. Our hotel was phenomenal (a suite at more than half off thank you room saver). Once we checked in we went out to dinner at Maggiano's. Knowing we would be at our hotel for another night and their great left overs and our kitchenette it was fantastic.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Wedding Details

Well, here is a bunch of photos from the wedding of some of our details...




Monday, August 29, 2011

Wedding Party Time

After our very short ceremony it was time for some photos and then of course dinner, dancing and dessert. After taking some of the traditional photos that we wanted (bridal party, grandparents, parents...) we headed out onto the golf course for some just the two of us photos. We were only gone about 40 minutes during the cocktail hour and wanted to keep the reception moving by having dinner at 6:30. Dinner consisted of a buffet (which everyone says was delicious... I had chicken fingers from the snack shack). During dinner we opted for instrumental Disney songs to go with my love of Disney and help keep things tied together. After eating we went around and chatted with friends and family as they finished their meals. We cut the cake. We decided not to smush the cake since we didn't want to ruin the suit/dress. There weren't any napkins on the table so being the classy lady that I am I used the tablecloth to wipe my hands and face (hey, it worked). Next, we had our first dance to You and Me by Lifehouse. The song debuted shortly after we started dating (I believe) and I heard it performed on tv for a wedding. Then I danced with Papa Bear to When You Wish Upon a Star by Louis Armstrong. Jen danced with him to Gone Fishin' by Louis Armstrong so I thought that would be a nice thing to have the same singer but different song. We had Ben & Jerry's ice cream as well as fruit tarts that my sister Jen made plus Hostess cupcakes and cookies among the desserts. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening hanging around and chatting, using the photo booth and dancing. A gigantic thank you to my parents for hosting such a wonderful day/evening to celebrate the two of us getting married.
We had such a great time and did not want the evening to end. Our DJ was phenomenal. She let me pick the "last song." I chose I'm yours by Jason Mraz (she couldn't find Lucky in Love fast enough). My friends Dani and Kelly stayed out dancing with their fiances' and us til the end. Immediately after the song I picked she popped on I want to grow old with you by Adam Sandler. Not one person asked our DJ to do this, but having gotten to know us and seen some of our details the "real" last song was Mickey Mouse Alma Mater. Cue the waterworks from me (which lead to tears from mom, papa bear, Luke and Dani). I hear the song on every Magical Express bus trip home from Disney and it is the "it's really over," song. There could not have been a more perfect ending to a perfect day.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Ceremony

Jen (our coordinator at Jack's) insisted on putting a table cloth on the table and bringing me a bottle of champagne saying that everyone deserves to be treated extra special at least one day. Dani and I hung out in the closet while Jen and Sydney went out to find the boys for their button-ears. I had to use the bathroom so Miss D went with me and would have crawled under the door if I couldn't handle holding the dress by myself. All that gear from coaching and using port-a-potties paid off cause I was able to keep the dress off the floor and out of the toilet without any help. She was saved from having to dive under the door. Meanwhile, the zipper on her dress was broken and kept splitting a little further. We just hoped she'd make it through the ceremony with the dress holding up. Brendan stopped by to make sure I had the marriage license. Here I am posing with the Disneyland pen that Luke and I used to apply for the license and that I insisted on all parties involved using to make it official that day. I'm just a little superstitious that way.I spied Luke through the blinds in the closet. He looked so calm, handsome and happy. Then aunt Lou called my mom to say they were in traffic and could we wait to start? My response to my mom, "I don't want to wait, I want to be the one person who starts their wedding on time." Mom replied that there might be others in traffic. Fortunately, our processional started at 5:03 verizon time, not bad at all considering.
Our harpist Donna was playing When You Wish Upon a Star. I definitely wove Disney throughout the day.

Luke caught a glimpse of me and I've heard from several people he said, "Wow." The plan was to stop and give Grandma Pearl a pin that matched the girls necklace/earrings. When I handed the bouquet to my dad he dropped it, quickly saying, "it's all right. I got it," while proudly hoisting it over his head like the girls that dive for it when they "win."
The ceremony went quickly with a little bit of pixie dust followed by the force being with us. Approximately 5 minutes later (if even that long) we were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. (let the party begin) and walked out together to Ever, Ever After by Carrie Underwood. Here is the Disneyland pen making it official:


Friday, August 19, 2011

Girls getting ready

So I need to make a post about the actual wedding, but that will come after we provide some of the details about the 15 minutes of makeup and getting dressed at the house. When I say 15 minutes, I mean 15 minutes and probably not a minute longer. Jen did our make-up and then we got dressed. Dani and my mom helped me into my dress. This is my "something old." It is a piece of lace from my Grandma Pearls neighbors dress from when she married Grandpa Zip. It is over 100 years old and all the girls on my dad's side of the family have worn it on their wedding day.Incase you are wondering, my something new were my white crocs shoes, something blue was a Dory charm on the shoes, something borrowed was a pin that belonged to my mom. My dad offered to let me borrow a dollar...he said he'd make sure he got it back.
Erica, our photographer took a few photos of us getting ready and around the house. Prior to heading over to Jack's Place Miss D and I had a little fun over at the track. Say what? That's right, what would a wedding day be without a few laps. Lucky for us the huge soccer tournament was in a time out or half time. We got quite a few interesting looks as we put on our running shoes and had a mini-relay handoff. This time though we didn't opt for the blind handoff that is now famous from our college relay 4x800 days.
Very fitting that I am handing off the baton to Dani who will be marrying Greg in February.
We then skeedaddled over to Jack's Place so I could "hide out" in a little closet until the ceremony.