Happy Thanksgiving (eve)!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in Bloggyland! I hope that you are all able to spend time with loved ones, that your travels are safe and speedy, and that you have some time to reflect on the blessings in your life.

What am I thankful for this year?

The serious...

* Cody ... I can never put into good enough words to express how grateful I am that we found each other. We both were at the back end of long and wrong relationships, and we very easily could have decided to go on radically different paths. But instead we decided to listen to our hearts and give getting to know one another a go. I'm so happy we did. Duh.

* My family, of course. It's been a hard year, to say the least. I'm not sure how to say this, but I feel that we all learned life on this Earth is short and that it's time to put our differences and hard feelings aside and come together. Babies, and weddings, and now the holidays will hopefully continue to bring us all closer.

* Apart from my family, my parents. Especially my parents. For reasons unnumbered, I can never express my gratitude enough for all they've done for me.

* Epic Church. Without my church family, where would I be? What would my outlook on life be without them? How would I have gotten through this year without their support, advice, and friendship? I don't think I would have made it in one piece. I think a lot of folks are thankful for them this year, and I'm so happy to be among them.

* My dear friends, near and far. I am thankful for those that make the effort to keep in touch by phone and Facebook. I am still in awe of how many of them came by planes, trains and automobiles to attend the wedding. These girls (and guys!) are simply wonderful. I hope I am there for them just like they are there for me.

* My country, the good ole USA.

* Our men and women in uniform, so bravely serving at home and abroad. I can never thank them enough for the sacrifice they've made.

* A home with all the amenties I could wish for. I sleep in a warm bed. I have running water. HOT water. My fancy thermostat can adjust the temp in my apartment to whatever I want. Lights turn on. Laundry is washed and dried. The pantry is stocked with healthy and tasty food. I have a comfy couch to sit on while I watch television. What more can anyone ask for?

* My job. It might not be the one I always dreamed of, but I am thankful to be employed with a 40 hour a week job that results in a weekly paycheck. Oh yeah and benefits. Benefits rock. Go health insurance! Hopefully next year I can add that I'm thankful for all of my friends and family having health insurance that they can afford and utilize.

...and the not so serious...

* My anifamily! Ok that's dorky. But whatever, this is my space and I can say what I want. I love my cats and of course Patrick Swayze 2.0. I can have just a terrible, rotten day, but when I come home to 4 balls of fur just dying for a cuddle, it puts a smile on my face!

* Holiday Lattes from Starbucks. So good, so so sooooo good... (but expensive!)

* Beautiful printed scarves that keep me warm yet fashionable (in my humble opinion) in the chilly fall weather.

* My iPhone. Music, games, scheduling, email, web - all in one! I'd be more thankful if I got service but whatever. Let's not be picky. Who wants a phone that can make phone calls anyway?

* My glasses, because you're never thankful until you lose them for 2 weeks.

What are you thankful for?

So....what is up with YOU?

• Cody and I have been married for two months already... I can hardly believe it. Time flies! We got our professional pictures back not long ago, and we're in the process of waiting for our thank you cards to be sent to us. I can't wait to cross my last "to do" off the list, and let our guests know how much it meant to us that they came and were just so darn generous. It brings tears to my eyes!
• We've been working our apartment little by little. Cody had painted the living room shortly before I moved in, and did the kitchen last spring. In August he did the bedroom and the back bedroom. We bought an awesome sectional (holla holla party at our place) for the living room, as well as a beautiful new bed and dresser. Add in our shiny new kitchen toys, we are finally feeling like adults instead of overgrown college students. Our towels match! We have nice glass food containers instead of Chinese take out storage! WE ARE NOT SLEEPING ON A FUTON!
  
• Epic Church is grrrrowing and we're so excited to be a part of it! The two of us have been leading a small group with our good friend Sarah, and we love it. Well, Cody loves it, I'm just along for the ride. I'm still finding my voice when it comes to being a leader, and I'm still discovering how to put my faith into words. I've always been on the quieter side when it comes to speaking about my feelings, so this is a huge step for me. We've been doing a message series from Andy Stanley and it's been a big help for me in dealing with choices I've made in my life and finding out where I'm going.
• We've been dealing with two on-and-off sick cats. Miss Mitts has breast cancer and Vanna White has kidney failure. We're trying to keep them as comfortable as possible, without breaking the bank and putting us in economic trouble. So far so good! Miss Mitt's seems to be in good health and spirits, and Vanna is improving by the day.
  
• Our first holiday as a married couple is almost here. We'll be spending the day with my parents and sister and her family in New Jersey. I've always loved Thanksgiving... it always puts things into perspective for me. I have so many things to be thankful for, and it's nice to have a day in which to reflect on that. I'm hoping to do a "thankful" post tomorrow or the next day, so check that out!
• Now that the wedding is done, I'm ONCE AGAIN trying to iron out a plan for grad school. So frustrating! I'd like to take advantage of the educational benefits my workplace offers, but nothing is really ringing my bell if you know what I mean. I don't want to go a course just because it's convenient or better than nothing (hence how I ended up with current college degree). I want to do something that's going to be interesting, challenging, and bring me to a place I want to be. And so the search continues..........
• Still working on paying my debt off! Slowly but surely...
  
• I desperately want to go to Europe next fall or winter! I'm hoping to get some freelance or babysitting jobs in the next few months to help save up. Since I'm no longer doing the insurance thing (long story, we'll save that one), I need another way to bank some extra cash. Any advice is welcome.

Honeymoon

Cody and I debated long and hard about the honeymoon. Would we go immediately following the wedding? Should we wait a few months to save more money and have more vacation days? Cruise? All-inclusive? Do-it-ourselves wandering in Europe?

We decided to leave on the honeymoon on the Monday following our wedding. Our good friend Brad introduced us to VacationsToGo.com, a website specializing in amazing cruise deals. We booked our cruise in July, all while praying that we would miss any possible hurricanes cropping up in the Caribbean.

Best idea ever: Leaving out of New York City instead of Florida. No plane travels, no missing luggage, no flying through the airport a la Home Alone. Just a (frightening) bus ride on the Mega Bus to the NYC Cruise Terminal.

Later New York!


















The smiles of people finally ready to relax! Loving life at this moment... oh and HI Statue of Liberty!





















Drinking the official "Fun Drink" of the day.





















Day 1 at sea, 6am. Early riser! View from our porthole.


















Marcus Monroe, juggler extraordinaire!
































We ditched our fellow cruisers and hunted out this private beach in Turks & Caicos. Just a short taxi ride away and we get peace and quiet, excellent snorkeling, and did I mention peace and quiet?



















On the boat to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.




















Blue blue blueeeee water! Half Moon Cay = Heavenly.




















Beef stroganoff and spaetzle... I ate like a queen!



































So, cruises really try to suck whatever money they can out of you. Case in point: they took these goofy pictures of us, printed them, and wanted us to spend something like $30 for a print. So instead we broke out the iPhone camera... we look like undercovers from a bad 70s flick.



































Cody and I in front of the Bahama's Parliament House.



















We really loved coming back to our room and checking out the towel animals. This was our favorite!
































We came back from the honeymoon well-rested, happy, and a little crispy. We are SO glad that we decided to honeymoon right after the wedding. Cody and I both needed a vacation, and this was perfect for us.

We left from NYC on the Carnival Miracle on September 20th, had 2 "at sea" days, then went to Turks & Caicos, Half Moon Cay, and then Nassau, then returned to NYC after 2 more at sea days. The at sea days were filled with hours by the pool, afternoon naps, too much food and fruity drinks, and lots of fun activities. We saw a few comedians, an awesome juggler, played some games, watched some movies, read books, and danced our bottoms off. I got Cody to snorkel and try snails - both amazing feats.

If you like a vacation where you don't have to do a lot of thinking, this is the place. :)

more pictures...part II

Here are a few more from our wedding day!

My immediate family... younger brother Eamonn, older sister Michele, Cody, me, my older brother Louie, Dad, and my Mom.
















A great one of my friends Nikki, CJ, and Mary! My friends Jessana and Davey are dancing in the back. I think this sums up the great time we're having!

















My cousin Alex and I dancing to "Dancing Queen": a wedding tradition for the two of us.

















One of my favorite features, surprisingly, about the venue was the chalkboard. Within the hour of the dance floor opening, the chalkboard was covered in well-wishes...and inside jokes.

a few favorites from the sweetest day EVER!

So, the day has come and gone about a month ago - and it was amazing! Everything turned out just as I imagined. And then, the things I forgot to imagine or decided to blissfully ignore turned out pretty swell too.

Below are some memories captured by our talented and all-around awesome photographer Tim Hussey of Hussey Photography, LLC.

My cousin Mary Grace doing my make-up at the hotel... apparently I was a very calm, well-behaved bride! I woke up around 6:30 am, did some yoga, went swimming, and then had the world's biggest breakfast at the buffet (which I puked up later due to nerves but serves me right!). This is probably about an hour before I saw Cody so I was just about starting to freak out a bit!

This is right before Cody turned around to see me for the first time that day! Cody is very hard to keep surprises from - he's so impatient! I'm shocked he could wait that long to see what my dress looked like.
We decided to see eachother and take pictures prior to the wedding so we could have more time with family and friends at the reception. I am so happy we did this! The light was better, we weren't rushed, and we were both a lot less anxious prior to the ceremony. Or so I think I was...

This is me and my maid of honor, Crystal (or CJ as I sometimes call her). We've been best buddies for ten years - she's my lady soul mate! This awesome chick managed to fulfill her MOH duties in the middle of some crazy life issues, and getting her PhD from UNC. And she traveled up to Pennsylvania (and NYC for the bachelorette party) on multiple occasions. I owe her a kidney.

A great shot of my dress and flowers! The dress is from David's Bridal - I talked smack as I am a former employee and definitely was a skeptic. I got a great deal on the dream dress. Flowers are from Plaza Florist in Norristown, PA. They are gerber daisies, chrysanthemums, calla lilies, and roses.

Me and my handsome hubby!

My gorgeous girls... Jessana (friends since we were toddling), Liz (a wonderful lady I've gotten to know over the past decade), Crystal (my MOH), Kathleen (my cousin I grew up with), and Anastasia (my roommate from Prague and friend for life).

Boys will be boys....
Craig (Cody's friend and co-worker), Cody's dad Ron, best man Joey, Cody's long-time friends Eric and Jonathan.

Me and my amazing parents...I hope I look as good as they do when I hit their ages! I never heard so many guys tell me my mom was hot. HIGH FIVE MOM.

Great shot of the whole party! The ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful Morris Arboretum.

Our friend Emily sang and played guitar through the ceremony, and Cody's groomsman Jonathan also played. They did a fab job!

A great shot of the ceremony. So many people came from near and far to be with us, and it means the world to me.

Cody pulling one out from left field...I was shocked! He got down on one knee while putting the ring on my finger. Kent, our Pastor from Epic Church and officiant, gave him the idea. Thanks Kent! I'll never forget it!

I can't explain this one... I just like it. :)

Tim shot this after the ceremony, when we were trying to grab a minute to ourselves.

Our cake is from the Night Kitchen Bakery in Philadelphia in the Germantown section. They did an incredible job on the decorating and flavor - layers of carrot cake, chocolate raspberry, and vanilla with lemon curd. But our toppers stole the show! Our cats and chinchilla, plus us, in "Little People" form - by Fancie Frannies on Etsy.

I got the table decorating ideas from a Better Homes & Gardens e-newsletter I get weekly. The colors were inspired by one of the photos I saw. My mom did the centerpieces - vases from Ikea and flowers from the Amish Market in Mullica Hill, NJ.

Our first dance - so awkward! Cody hates dancing, so we didn't practice at all. We laughed the whole time.

And now my dad and I laughing the whole time because he thinks this is equally awkward.

Me and my godparents, my Aunt Roseanne and Uncle Tim. I lucked out!

More to follow!