things I didn't appreciate until B came along

basketball

the Rocky movies

the importance of clean dishes

the power of a good kiss

veggies

actually, eating healthy all-around

tupac & michael jordan

being active

a little green Saab turbo

the forgiveness that coincides from true love

being adventurous

strong muscles that can carry just about anything

 and myself



B, thank you for encouraging me to be me and constantly loving me for who I am (despite my quirks, moods, and sleep-talking). You're the best hubby there is!


PS. Check out hubby being tupac as we worked on the apartment last night. He's a keeper!

news and lists

Here's a little bit of news for you: we're moving! We're leaving our little first apartment together in the heart of Black Rock and making another place our new home. The hubby and I decided that we really can't afford to live in a six room apartment. So we are making use of the resources we have and moving into Bryan's parent's in-law apartment. Its vacant and we can really save some money moving over there, so we decided to do it. That leaves us less than 3 weeks to move everything out before school starts back up for me.

Here's a few pictures of my favorite little first home with B...

  

                          

So... my to-do list just has just quadrupled in its size. This is what the list looks like today:

1. Plan a meal for dinner tonight. 

2. Wash dishes (and put them away- hate that part)

3. Call Att Uverse, UI, and the gas company to find out their cancellation policies. 

4. Start packing.

5. Try not to take a nap.

6. Tidy up the apartment because the landlord is coming over to show the apartment to another possible tenant...*

7. Remember to pick-up Bryan at the train station.

8. Cook dinner.
9. Go to bed early and begin packing tomorrow...

Goodness.. Better start now!



*How are you supposed to keep an apartment "clean & tidy" when you are trying to pack and move out?!

another New York experience

On Friday, I went into the city to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met with my mother-in-law, Mama J, and my sister-in-law, Kelsey. This exhibit has been going on since May and has been extended two times because of the popularity. Kelsey had gone with Brad and Jacki to see the exhibit previously and was told there was a 2.5 hour wait. We wanted to give it a try anyways.

When we got to the Met, they had only been open about 5 minutes. Lines went off both sides of the steps at the Met and we chose one of the sides.

Doesn't look so bad here right?

 Oh, but wait, this is all the way down the block. The line wrapped around about 5 times.

Mama J and Kelsey waiting in line

Kels and I

 The line from the top of the stairs. We'd been in line for an hour and we hadn't even gotten our admission tickets yet.

Once, we had our admissions tickets (and found out the actual line for the exhibit had been closed), we waited another 3 hours. 

The architecture of the Met is so beautiful.

Obviously, photography wasn't allowed in the exhibit. And even though I know little about fashion and designers and even less about art, I was still in awe of how this exhibit was put together. Alexander McQueen was a genius designer and yet still had many problems of his own. His designs were amazing. Each gallery had its own theme. I enjoyed seeing his works evolve.

Later, we went to this little pub to relax while waiting for Bry and Devon, Kelsey's boyfriend, to get out of work. This little place called Brinkley's was the cutest little mismatched pub in SoHo.

How cute is this place!

Love the stools!

Then Kels and I met up with Bry and Devon right near Grand Central and we had drinks and appetizers. 

progress

Bry gave me the ok to decorate our bedroom a little bit.
It had looked pretty plain...

Boring right...?

Well...

TaDa!

I think it looks much better now! 

awkward & awesome thursday!

awkward:
-This photo. Thumbs up?

-My ironing skills. I am horrible at ironing.
-Sleep talking. Oh, the things I've been saying to Bry the past few months...
    "Are these spelling words too hard for you?"
    "That's their side!"
    "Where is everyone?!"
    and my personal favorite... "COUPONS!"
-My strong desire for fall fashion right now. I said this last time, but I am dying to wear jeans, boots, sweaters, and scarves. Can't really do that in 80 degrees.

awesome:
-Getting into a routine of cooking dinner most weeknights. Yayyy for me cooking 3 nights this week (I'm ashamed to say this is a record for me... but I'm working on it!)
-Making pork chops with steamed broccoli and skipping a side just so we can have chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cup ice cream for dessert.
-Bry's responses to my sleep talking.. A: "Where's my basket?" B: "Over here, babe" You are too funny, Mister. Gotcha back though!
-Ironing B's clothes that came out of the dryer all wrinkly. Took me about 40 minutes (again, see awkward), but I scored major wife points on that one. Hubby was proud :)
-3 more weeks of summer left!
-Hubby let me organize and finish decorating our bedroom (meaning, he let me go to Target and buy a few things). It is now my favorite room to hang out in!
-Watching the LOST series again with B. This time at a much slower pace, however, it is just one of the best. shows. ever!

Off to cook dinner and maybe watch LOST or Shark Week. Either way, I'm a happy girl!

in honor of shark week

As the hubs and I watch Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, I am reminded of our shark adventure in Hawaii.

Brad and Jacki, Bry's brother and sister-in-law, lived in Hawaii for about a year after they got married. Bry and I (with the help of our parents) took a nice little 8 day vacation to Hawaii to visit them. And it was one of the best trips. Our parents gave us the tickets just after Thanksgiving, in time for Bryan's b-day. On top of opening up their home to us, Brad and Jacki bought us shark diving tickets the Christmas before we visited. "Shark diving?!", you say? Yes. Shark diving. The type of shark diving that we did was like this...

We had to be at the dock on the North Shore of Oahu at 7am. Once we got on the boat, we went about 3 miles offshore (I think) and stopped. There is a cage, that stays partially afloat so that you are not completely submerged. Part of the cage has plexi-glass on it so that your limbs can't slide through the cage in the middle section. The cage looked similar to this one...

{via}

The crew gives you snorkeling gear to use so that you can look around under water. They basically tell you to get in and then let the cage drift from the boat. Attached to the bottom of the cage deep down in the water is chum, which once the cage starts moving, attracts the sharks.

We get to our "launching" spot and the other group of people goes first. They get about 15 minutes in the cage before its our turn. Well, while we are waiting on the boat, just looking into the sapphire blue water, there are sharks just swimming around our boat. 5 foot, 6 foot, 8 foot sharks, just swimming around, their dorsal fins above the water.

My stomach was churning. Practically doing flips from the boat's movement, and then.. seeing sharks swimming in the water, well I was a little bit of a mess. I knew this was something I'd regret not doing, so I made the best of the situation and faced a HUGE fear of mine. (This is coming from the girl who gets nervous to go snorkeling.)

Its our time to get into the boat and the crew tells us that the sharks are about 8 feet long. They are Galapagos sharks.

{via}

We climb into the tank, which is easy because the water is basically the temperature of bath water. And we start looking underwater. There they are, just swimming around the cage. One of the sharks was as long as the cage (10x10). In so many words, I hyperventilated under the water. I kept coming up for air and to take my head out of the water. I was clawing into Bry's skin, I would NOT let go. And now that I think about it, I'm not really sure what I was scared of. Was it that we were in the water and sharks were 5 feet away? Was it that the cage didn't seem sturdy enough? Was it that I have a big fear of sharks? I'm not sure, but regardless, we went shark diving and we made it out alive and well.

See, I still wouldn't let go and this was after shark diving.

Bry, Brad, and Jacki showed no fear. Of which, I commend them. I seriously felt like a scaredy-cat, but based on the situation, I think it's ok to be a little scared.

Thanks for the adventure, Brad and Jacki!

back when we were babies..

...well we weren't babies, but this was back in high school. 

First picture ever taken together. September 2004

 I had to teach that boy how to really smile. 

 Tough guy over here!

 Snugs.. We did lots of that!

 The beach was our spot at night.

Notice: no teeth smiles for B at all in any of these? 

Baby, 

It's been the best 7 years of my life being with you. I am excited for the next 77 to come. I hope I can make you smile (with teeth) everyday. Love you!

A

{Hopefully he doesn't kill me for putting these up. Teeth smiles to come later!}