The Story of Us

A fellow blogger Emily invited people to steal this and fill it out...so that's what I'm doing! I thought it was a good time, since we're down to just a month before the big day.

Q&A on Bryan and Tia

How long have you been together? Dating 2 years and 2 months, engaged for 5 months, to be married in a month (!)

How long did you date? A year and 8 months or so before we got engaged. I guess he figured that this time he'd better really think about it before he gave a girl a ring to make sure I was truly "the one."

How old is he? 31 (although if you asked him he'd say 29, I think he's only gotten more comfortable in his own skin and more handsome in the 2 years I've known him, so I'm telling the truth :)

How old is she? 26, and there will be the 5 year gap when we officially tie the knot.

Who eats more? Definitely Bryan, although I eat more often than he does.

Who said “I love you” first? He did, although I can guarantee you he doesn't remember it. I remember him kissing me and saying "things are about to get really complicated." I thought he was talking about me moving across the country, but then he followed it up with "because I love you." Aww.

Who is taller? He is, by about 6 inches...just perfect.

Who sings better? I really have no idea, since all we ever sing to is the radio, and neither one of us is that good at it.

Who is smarter? Hmm, I'd say him, but I'm curious to know if he'd say me. Okay, I asked him and he said he'd probably best me on the SAT's (he did), but I've made much smarter life decisions and I've been very successful my career. I do know that Bryan totally blows me out of the water when it comes to math...he is awesome at math, and I frequently refer to him as my walking calculator.

Who does the laundry? We both do, depending on who has more free time. But neither one of us irons, ever.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? (Looking at the bed, from the foot of it) I do.

Who pays the bills? Right now we pay our own bills, and I pay all of the mutual bills like rent and electricity (oh, but he pays for food). We're still trying to figure out the best way to do it when we get married. I do most of the shopping, but he's the one who manages his checkbook to the penny. Me...I'm feeling really good if I'm within $100 of what I think I have in my account.

Who cooks dinner? We both do. I definitely am more adventurous, but I can count on him for spaghetti, tacos, or anything fairly easy to make. I for sure am the baker of the two of us. I love to bake.

Who is more stubborn? Me, definitely me. But he’s no picnic. (ditto to Emily)

Who kissed who first? He kissed me, although I have given him grief since the day it happened because he doesn't remember it. It was his birthday, and I had promised him he'd get his first kiss on the day we had planned together (yep, I'm a bit of a prude and made him wait a bit for a kiss). We went hiking (where he says it happened...it didn't!), then to dinner, and while we were standing in line at the movies (Walk the Line), he said "thanks for dinner, it was wonderful" and as I turned to acknowledge him he kissed me. It was just a peck, but there was a better one at the end of the night ;)

Who asked who out? In the modern society of today, you could debate who asked who. I posted the ad on Craigslist, and he responded. We emailed back and forth for a few weeks due to busy schedules, then met up one Saturday for an all-afternoon date. It was SO much fun and I was hooked right then. He says had we been in Portland, the proposal would have re-created that first date (meeting at Powell's books, lunch at a vegetarian Chinese place, old school video games at Ground Kontrol, and cupcakes at Saint Cupcake). How cute!

Who proposed? He did. It was a moment that was totally unexpected, although the proposal itself wasn't. I'd really been expecting it a few weeks earlier on a trip to Toronto, but he says there wasn't ever a right time (and I agree). My parents were visiting, and we went to dinner at a friend's house. Bryan stayed behind because he "had to study." Turns out, what he had to do was drive to the store, buy a pumpkin, drive to 3 stores to find a carving kit (and come up empty handed), carve the pumpkin with a steak knife, and clean everything up before I got home. I got home, ran to the bathroom with a horribly upset stomach, slightly ruining his romantic plan! When I came out of the bathroom I thought it was weird that I couldn't find him, and when I opened our bedroom door there he was, on one knee, in the dark, with the lit pumpkin behind him. I think he said "will you marry me." Now, in hindsight, I wish I would have turned on the light so I could actually see him! He says I waited a bit to say yes, which made him nervous (I was too busy admiring the pumpkin, which was such a cute idea).

Who has more friends? Both of us aren't the type of people who collect friends everywhere we go. We have plenty of acquaintances, and we both have a few very close friends that we would do anything for. Who has more siblings? Well, I had 2, but since my brother passed away I have one sister. He has one sister too, so I guess we're even. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I am the only income earner, so right now I have a bit more control, but as the researcher, Bryan controls a lot of what we end up buying. I'm sure it will be even once we both have jobs.

Combination of 2 great things!

One of the things I love about Rochester is the Lilac Festival. This year, it is May 9-18th, just about the time we're getting married and headed on a fantastic cruise. Sure, I can't complain that we're missing the Lilac Festival since our other stuff is awesome. But today I read on the news online that Ingrid Michaelson will be playing. OH MAN, not only do I have to miss it, but I'm missing an up-and-comer that I really love :( (http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/ if you don't know her).

But then, I realize we're back late on May 17th. So I quickly flip through the music schedule...sure, what are the chances she would play on the one day we could make it? YES, 100% :) So not only can we make the festival our last year here in the snowy tundra, but we can hear Ingrid close out the festival, FOR FREE! WAAHOO!

Any opinions

With only having one income for the last year, plus an upcoming wedding and cross country move, spare funds for weekend entertainment are lacking. We decided to take a cue from my parents and have a little free fun and went to test drive a few cars. Either here or at the other end we're selling the Forester and buying a smaller, more gas friendly compact car. Since we had a nice sunny day here, we thought we'd go check out our favorites.

#1 Nissan Versa

This car is the only one that we both drove. It was roomy, and drove nicely. The seats were super comfy. The steering wheel had a bit too much vibration for me, but I'm thinking the better CVT engine might fix that issue. The car salesman was very nice and took us on a 10 mile test drive on the freeway (no bitchy needed...see previous post). Nissan is offering some great incentives - $1,000 off or 1.9% financing, plus $500 off for BK being a new grad. This one is a front runner, but we'd need to go back and drive the one with the CVT engine. They have some nice upgrades, including a sunroof ($600) and an upgraded speaker system ($300). BK was especially excited about the latter. These seemed like a good deal, until I read the fine print which is the speaker system requires upgrade package A, which is stupid stuff like a leather wrapped steering wheel, bluetooth capable, upgraded keyless entry which doesn't require a key to start the car, etc. Package A is $700! If you just want the sunroof, it requires the stereo package, which requires package A. Now please tell me what a sunroof has to do with a subwoofer addition??? I was very annoyed.

#2 Honda Fit

I've driven the Fit before in Oregon, and liked it a lot. This car has a HUGE trunk/cargo area. I sat in the back, which had great leg room. I should have sat in the front so I could compare the seats to the Versa. It's a zippy little car. The bummer is that Honda has no incentives or good financing, so the price is quite a bit more. Honda's hold their value better though, so this one is still in the running. The salesperson (a very non-salesperson young leggy blonde) was super nice, so no bitchy needed here either. It was a very pleasant experience.

#3 Scion xD

We went to one dealership, wandered around the lot and in the showroom and couldn't get anyone to help us, so we walked out. We went to the other dealership closer to our house. Salesperson walked us all around the lot...."oh, I guess we don't have any others, I thought we did." So we waited for the one that was out on a test drive. It was only a couple of minutes, but enough time for him to also tell us they were "out of brochures." He lets us look at the car, and hands us his card saying "I won't bug you, you can look on your own" and starts to walk away. I say "Is it possible to test drive it" and he says "You know we close in 10 minutes, right?"

I've been to TONS of dealerships, and they have always stayed after, no questions asked. No, we didn't know they closed at 5, but come on! We could have had a short test drive and been out of there by 5. This guy was such a jerk that we just walked away. Looks like no Scion xD in our future.

So have any of you owned any of these cars, or know anyone who does? Any thoughts or opinions? Both the Fit and the Versa are recommended best picks by Consumer Reports, and both get fairly equal gas mileage.

Sweet nothings at the car dealership

As we get to the dealership:
Him (getting out of the car): "I nominate you as our spokesperson, you're better at being bitchy."

Me: "Thanks for the insult."

Him: "That wasn't an insult, you're just better at being bitchy to car people."

Me: "Um, sure, that still sounds like an insult."

Him: "No way, and if my mom were here, I'd totally pick her over you because she's way better than you at being bitchy."

Trumped by the MIL once again. I think I'll let her win this one!

As we are walking back to the car at the dealership:
Him: "Is your knee still hurting from running outside? You're limping a little bit still."

Me: "Yes"

Him: "It's a good thing you aren't a horse, because with your hurt knee and sore hips I'd have to put you down."

Ah, the sweet words of someone who loves me. ;)

Stop in, say hello

I know there are quite a few of you out there who check my blog regularly, even daily. Please, introduce yourself! What brought you here? Anything you'd like to discuss? How about spring (or lack thereof)? Or the joy of artichokes? Or the hassle of moving? Or why all self tanners make people orange? Or how the rage around here is for little girls to get facials and manicures and I think that's awful? Or anything else?

Maybe, just maybe, if I know that some of you actually read this silly blog, I'll be more motivated to post regularly.

I don't heart New York

EVERYWHERE around here are those stupid I heart NY t-shirts. For a belated birthday trip a couple of weeks ago, Bryan and I went to NYC. A friend of mine from grad school is now living in NYC, so we had a free place to stay. While we had a fabulous time and she was a great host, I won't ever go back to NYC. It was crowded, dirty, loud, overwhelming, and just generally not the nicest place to go on vacation. But we got to see all of the fun sites, and it was so great to catch up with a friend of mine.

The Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island ferry (which was free!).


Riding the carousel in Central Park. Central Park was the best part of the trip, even though Bryan refused to go ice skating with me (and he didn't want to go to a Broadway show...he's well aware that I'll hold that against him forever).

From BK 31 birthday

When you go to Central Park you have to get a hot dog from a vender. Note the ice rink in the background. The weather was downright tropical to us. It was about 20 when we left Rochester, and I think the day in Central Park was about 50. We basked in the sun, and Bryan actually managed to get a sunburn!

From BK 31 birthday

Trying out the first White Castle burgers we'd ever had (that's my friend Tana who hosted us). This White Castle was in the middle of Harlem (which she assured us was safe now...um, yeah...I'd never been so scared in the daylight in my life!). The burgers were G-R-O-S-S. I didn't even eat mine.

From BK 31 birthday

All in all, it was a fun birthday get-a-way. We saw Times Square, Greenwich Village, Harlem, Chinatown (yummy Pho), Little Italy (yummy desserts) and probably many other things I've forgotten. We walked until our legs were going to fall off, and successfully navigated the subway. Thanks to Tana for being a great host and not minding that we took up a good 300 sq ft of her 600 st ft apartment with the blow up air mattress.

Rest in peace my friend

Even things you expect are unexpected.

Every time you pick up the phone, you think "thank god, it's good to hear your voice."

Then you get the call, and before you even hear a word, you know what's coming. Maybe if you don't hear it, it won't be true.

It is.

My dear friend Travis died on Sunday. I'm unsure of the exact circumstances, and I don't want to know them. I do know that he was safe at home in bed. His sweet roommate found him on Monday and has had the horrific job of calling everyone they know, including his parents.

Travis had a rough life and battled a lot of mental demons. He was much too young to go (26), but I hope all of his troubles are gone. Trav, I'll miss you.

Backwards birthdays

A certain gentleman lives with me. That certain gentleman had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. Said gentleman doesn't like that he has crossed a certain age threshold, so that gentleman decide he's counting backwards now. So the gentleman had his #29 this year. Due to some yucky commitments (school for the gentleman, some very important grant deadlines for me), we were unable to party ala Prince (Like it's 1999) the day of. However, we were able to have an eating feast thanks to my mom. And if you know us, and you are a loyal reader of this blog, you know that we love to eat. love might be too low-key of a word. LOVE might be more like it. This was our first encounter with Edible Arrangements. Heavenly delicious fruit in the middle of winter. Hooray! It caused a feeding frenzy around here. It fed the 3 of us for a week solid. Ours had cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, and chocolate-dipped apples. Although they are a bit pricey, they are worth every penny when all that is found in the grocery store is rock hard peaches and mealy apples. I highly recommend these as a unique gift that every fruit-lover will love.


This was the smallest basket of this variety available, and it filled up 3 GIANT tupperwares (after we'd already made a huge dent in it). The cute part is that the skewers are all stuck into a head of lettuce.

Shoot, work calls! More on our delayed birthday trip to NYC to follow......

Orthodontist update

So after being so bitter at my orthodontist, I heard back from them the same day, and they squeezed me in the next day (Thursday) at 12:30pm, which was as late as I could do since we were headed to NYC for a long weekend. When the receptionist called me with the new appointment, she apologized and explained that Dr. K had been out for 2 days for a funeral, and 4 staff had been out that week with the flu. Okay, fine, but don't pull out the pity card AFTER I call to make sure you are running on time and you tell me yes.

Either way, my polite yelling at the receptionist clearly made an impact. When I went in on Thursday, EVERYONE was apologizing to me. The ortho assistant, 2 receptionists, and Dr. K himself. I ended up having Dr. K for the entire appointment, which was his lunch break, because he felt badly about how I was treated. He told me the funeral excuse, but also said "That's no excuse, and I sincerely apologize for you having to wait and reschedule."

So all is fine, and although I'm still pissed about how much I've had to wait lately, they were genuinely sorry and did everything they could to make me happy. I also talked to the head receptionist about getting a discount, since I'll be out of treatment WAY early, and she said she'd talk to Dr. K about it. A few hours later I got a call from her, and he's going to review my chart and discuss how much discount I can have at my next appointment. Yay! Even if it's $50 I'd be happy, since they normally don't discount at all (you pay for straight teeth, not time).

And the biggest news of all......

THE BRACES ARE COMING OFF MAY 1ST!

My hatred of my orthodontist's office

Almost exactly one year ago, I forked over $5,600 (well, part of that, and I'm paying for rest) in the pursuit of straight teeth. Being one year older and one year wiser, I wouldn't do it again. But that's an entirely different post.

The point of this post is to state how much I hate my orthodontist, Dr. Kaufman in Rochester, NY (and yes, I sure hope this post shows up if someone does a search on him). I only have to go in generally every 8 weeks. The first few appointments were right on time, no troubles. They even squeezed me in with a tech the same day several times for poking wires, infections, etc.

Things have rapidly gone south though. 3 appointments ago, they were 30 minutes late. Okay, I figured it was a fluke and they apologized profusely. 2 appointments ago they were ONE HOUR late. Even when I finally was seated by a tech, the appointment was an hour and a half because Dr. Kaufman was still so far behind. To add insult to injury, 3 people were bumped ahead of me in line because they "needed less time with the doctor" (I was getting 8 brackets re-positioned). I spent a total of TWO AND A HALF HOURS there, for what was supposedly a 40 minute appointment.

I had an appointment today at noon. I called at 11:30 to see if they were running behind, since I had a lot of work things I needed to get done. The receptionist checked, and said everything was fine, come at noon. This same receptionist saw me walk in a half hour later and said "Hi Tia, I'm sorry to tell you that we are running behind now." I seriously thought she was kidding, since I had just spoken with her. She wasn't. I grab the latest issue of People and have a seat. I read it cover to cover, and they still haven't called me. I wait a few more minutes, until I'm fuming with anger. At 12:50, nearly an hour past my scheduled time (which was on time just 30 minutes before my time), I've had enough and I go to the receptionist and tell her I can't wait any longer. It took all I had to resist my urge to scream at her. It isn't the nice receptionist's fault that Dr. K can't keep up with his patients. She tries to reschedule me for a week from today. Um, NO, these are supposed to come off in 6 weeks, you're not pushing me off a week for my last adjustment, especially when it isn't my fault that it isn't happening today. She took my number and is calling me after she gets a chance to talk with Dr. K. Who knows when that will be, since he can't even manage to see all of his patients.

The moral of the story is that Dr. Kaufman is all about money and cares not at all about his patients. He has taken on more patients than he can handle, and I am suffering because of it. I'm no longer important, because I have already agreed to pay him, and that's money in his pocket. But I paid for 20-24 months of treatment, and I'm only going to end up with 12 months. You'd better believe I'm asking for some of my money back, and a nasty letter is coming his way.

Movies, babies, and movies about babies

This weekend marked the debut of Adelaide Marie! Congratulations to Joe and Maria on the birth of their first baby. I was so excited when I got the call from Joe. Then Bryan says to me, "See, that's the difference between chicks and dudes. You're all excited about this, and I'm depressed. I really liked hanging out with them, and this baby means that we have to find new friends. People with babies can only talk about babies." Men! I guess he is right in a way, in the same way that single people don't generally have married friends, but I have faith that life won't be 100% baby for Mo and Joe, as evidenced by her heading off to a conference in 3 short weeks, and to our wedding in 8 weeks (all with Addy of course).

Bryan was really busy this weekend with clinicals and homework, so I spent the weekend movie watching. Last night I went to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Oscar nominated (I think it won for something?), and depressing as all get out! Based on a true story, the French editor of Elle magazine is an ass, has a girlfriend and 3 kids with her, but cheats on her all the time. Then he has a stroke and is "locked-in" and can only blink one eye. He blinks out the story of his life, with the aid of a charming woman, and dies 10 days after the book is published.

Next up, and BY FAR the best of the 3 movies I saw, was the documentary "The Business of Being Born." It was done by none other than Ricki Lake, but in this movie there are no Jerry Springer-esque moments. It was a fascinating look about how we medicalize births in this country, to the detriment of both women and babies. The picture below is an actual picture from the movie, where this mom delivered her baby at home, squatting (a much more natural position), and picked it up just before the baby hit the floor. This movie really showed the nasty cycle of pitocin-epidural-pitocin-epidural that causes fetal distress and leads to a c-section, all because doctors are impatient and won't let the body do what it needs to do.

The third movie was a total chick flick called "Definitely, Maybe." It was cute, and had some twists and turns as you waited throughout the movie to find out which girl he ends up with. NOt a high-class film, but it was entertaining.

Also to relieve boredom this weekend, I went to DSW, the best shoe-store on earth (okay, the best affordable shoe store on earth). I got some comfy walking shoes (Kangaroos, which Bryan says he had as a kid, but I've never heard of them) and some cute/comfy shoes for the cruise.

From March 2008

From March 2008

Yes, those bare legs you see are because I was wearing a skirt, enjoying the high of 67 degrees! No worries, the next few days were in the 20's and 30's with snow and ice.

We ended the weekend with a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Bryan felt bad about being so busy all weekend, so we had a lovely dinner and spent some nice time together discussing the political state of our country. A very heady topic for dinner, but we had fun.

Fruit crisp and general updates

This is one of my staple desserts because it is easy to make and relatively healthy (as far as desserts go).

The recipe itself is designed for a 2 quart square baking dish. I like to make it in my ramekins, so I adjust the amount of fruit slightly. If you use the baking dish, it calls for 5 cups sliced, peeled cooking apples, peaches, pears, or apricots. Now here is how I make it:

Fill 4 ramekins (mine are from Ikea) about 3/4 full with fruit.

From feb 08

For the ones in these pictures, I used 2 granny smith apples, about 1/3c frozen blueberries that I picked in the summer, and 1/2 of the big package of raspberries at the store (or an entire small one). I usually use a mix of peaches (again, frozen from the summer, but thawed first) and blueberries, but we've eaten up all of the peaches from the summer :( The only fruit I have used that was a failure was pear. It made it way too runny. Because I use fresh fruit (or fruit I picked), I don't ever add sugar to the fruit.

Once you have the fruit in the ramekins, you make the topping by mixing these together:

1/2c oats
1/2c packed brown sugar
1/4c flour
1/4tspn nutmeg, ginger, or cinnamon (I've only used cinnamon because we like it the best)
1/4c nuts - optional (I've only used nuts once, since I'm not a big nut fan)

To this mixture, cut in 1/4c of butter until mix is crumbly. Divide mix over ramekins (about 1/2c per ramekin).

From feb 08

From feb 08

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes until nice and bubbly. They are best warm, and you can serve with ice cream if you like (Bryan likes his with whipped cream).

From feb 08

Our review of the raspberry, apple, blueberry combo is that is isn't the winner that the combo with the peaches are. We really like the sweetness and juiciness that peaches add.

If you like this and want to save time, I make a double batch of the topping (without the butter) and put it in a ziploc so it's all ready to go for the next time.

When I wasn't baking this week, I was taking care of Bryan, who was stricken with the evil flu. Of course, with his pre-existing issues, having the flu for him is really scary. Here is how he felt a few days ago:

From feb 08

Here's how he feels today:

From feb 08

He's still not at 100%, but he's much better and the gut-wrenching coughing is almost gone. We're both so happy that he's feeling better! I knew he was starting to feel a bit more like himself on Sunday when I heard him singing again. It is the cute way to judge his mood...he's always singing when he's happy. I was happy to finally get a kiss after a week of no contact in an attempt to keep me from getting sick (which worked!).

My sweet mom sent him cookies while he was incapacitated. Yum!

From feb 08

Markisa says thanks for the cookies too, as she loved the box.

From feb 08

And finally, if any of you are blog readers that haven't responded to your wedding invites yet, know you're in the dog pile! We are having a small affair with our nearest and dearest, and 6 of the 11 invitations have yet to be returned! Almost all of our non-RSVP-dependent planning is completed, and now we're really looking forward to the wedding and the cruise, especially since we're getting 8 inches of snow as I type this!

The terrible twos? No way!

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary. Two years since I met that adorable man in Powell's, and the first thing he said to me was "Darn, you caught me in the comic book section. I hoped you would see me reading some science book and think I was smart." I was already hooked! From there we went to vegetarian chinese food, played old video games at a funky arcade, and had cupcakes at Saint Cupcake. It was so much fun and was definitely the longest first date I had ever had. I never would have predicted that 2 years later I'd be living in the frigid east, preparing for my wedding!

Yesterday, like the romantic couple we are, we worked (Tia did) took a nursing school test (Bryan did), had spaghetti for dinner (it was too icy and snowy to go to the store) and watched 3 episodes of Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo. Tres romantique!

Yesterday, in other words, it was a pretty normal day. However, we did have a fun early celebration together on Sunday. After taking an early morning test (a 94, good job baby!), we went to breakfast at Simply Crepes, came home and relaxed for a bit, then headed off to the spa thanks to Sherri and my mom. It was so nice and peaceful. Then home to shower, off to dinner (oops, our favorite place is closed on Sunday, which we discovered as we drove by it). Dinner take 2 was a Vietnamese place. It was okay, but we were the only people in there and it was really cold! With it being a whopping 6 degrees outside, we were looking for warmth. After dinner we went to see Cabaret, with Portlander (and Rockstar Supernova finalist) Storm Large. She was great, but that musical is SO bizarre! We enjoyed it, even though Bryan asked me several times if I had slipped drugs in his dinner...that's how bizarre Cabaret is! The night was capped off with dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

Yesterday I was reminded of my future. My future with a man who said, spur of the moment when we were being silly, "We are going to have the best marriage." And I knew he meant it. Baby, if you ever read this, I wholeheartedly agree and can't wait for May. Here's to saying goodbye to celebrating February 12th and hello to May 9th.

Oatmeal chocolate chip banana muffins

It's no secret that I love to bake. Lucky for me, I live in a house where people love to eat baked goods. It's a win-win for all involved. My lastest find is from Allrecipes.com, my favorite cooking website.

These are just too good not to share the recipe. I've made them twice now, and both times they were fantastic. I used my new silicone muffin liners that my mom gave me. I'm not sure if they are the key to this, since I haven't made them any other way. I really like that you make this in just one bowl. No combining wet and dry required.

Directions:

Mash 3 very ripe bananas in a large bowl.
Add 1/2c sugar to the bananas and stir
Add 1 beaten egg and 1/3c apple sauce (I used cinnamon because it is what I had, and it was great) and stir
Add 1tspn baking soda, 1.5tspns baking powder, 1c flour, 1/2c quick cooking oats, 1/2tspn salt and stir
Fold in 3/4c chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

The end result:


You can see that just minutes out of the oven and many were already gone!

Updates for my mama

Mom, this whole post is just for you. Don't you feel special?

Here is the re-sized wedding band. I'm sorry the pictures is so blurry, but my camera just doesn't do close-ups very well. It looks fantastic in person and I love it. Thanks for coming to pick it out with me.



Bryan's ring. Note that he put it on his right hand. The left hand was "too scary." He's funny. There was no way my camera would take a picture of the engraving, but it came out very nicely.

From feb 08

Check out the cool ring "box" his ring came in. My ring came in a vintage heart box with a neat little clasp on it, but I forgot to take a picture of it.



The veil, which is 150 times better than the crummy one from Target.

From feb 08

The beautiful flowers you sent that definitely made my day. Unfortunately, as is the issue with tulips, they don't last forever, so we had to finally throw them away today. We all really enjoyed them though, and the red vase they came in is beautiful.


A few pictures of our apartment.





The view from our window today. Although 3 days ago it rained and the grass was bare, 2 days ago we had freezing rain and today it snowed on top of the ice. I haven't even been brave enough to go unearth my car for 3 days now.


Hope this catches us up on all of the things I've promised. More apartment pictures at some point. I love you and miss you. Can't wait to see you in May!

Some days are just crap

Some days I really miss having my girl friends spread out all over the country. Even many of the local ones have moved away. I guess it doesn't matter much anyway, as the only privacy I get on the phone is when I go sit in my car! And it's cold outside, and I've been forbidden from complaining via the phone, so blogging it is.

The day started off with a braces adjustment, which always makes for a crappy day since my teeth start to hurt a couple of hours after. They were running 25 minutes late, and then made me sit in the chair with those horrible mouth expanders in for 10 minutes while the dentist was running behind as well. They ripped off (literally) 8 brackets, filed down the glue that smelled so awful I started to gag, then replaced them and gave me ouchie new wires. Crappy thing #1

Today I found out a friend of mine recently got engaged. Is is terrible that all I could think to say to her (besides congrats), is "Be prepared for the hell of wedding planning"? Just don't do it. Get engaged, go elope, and be done with it. I can't even fathom being one of those women who spends 2 years planning a wedding. I would have become suicidal long before I reached the 24 month mark. Weddings really seem to bring out the worst in everyone, and it is a shame since it really is such a happy event. Crappy thing #2

I went to a meeting today for work. After the meeting I sat in my car and cried (my compatriot...we'll call her L...at the meeting did so as well, so it wasn't just me having a bad day). L and I have worked very hard getting a project going, and this nasty hag screamed at us for over an hour for absolutely no reason. I am NOT one to ruin a business prospect, but at one point I heard myself saying "there is no reason for you to be rude, that is inexcusable behavior." After the meeting L said she wanted to jump across the table and hug me for saying that. We have pretty much discovered that this group of people we were really excited to work with is using us (currently for free) with no intention of actually giving us business. They are clearly using us for our expertise and plan to screw us over right at the end. Thankfully we caught on now, but it makes it no less hurtful. The atrocities that have gone on are too numerous to list, but let's just say I hope a number of these witches lose their jobs soon (which actually is a real possibility). This town just breeds spiteful, angry, burned-out people. It's a shame, since the real losers here are innocent children, but it makes me even more happy to be going back to Portland. Crappy thing #3 (the meeting, not the going-back-to-Portland part)

I hold hope that tomorrow will be a better day!

P.S. Mom, I haven't forgotten about the pictures for you. I can't find my camera, but as soon as I do I'll take them for you.

P.P.S. The one bright spot in the day was I did my taxes and I'm getting a huge refund back! It helps make the loss from the house much more bearable.

A time, a place, a date

Yes ladies and gentlemen, after much debate and Mitt Romneying (i.e. flip-flopping), we have settled on wedding plans! A huge thanks to my mom who recognized the mounting frustration, took the reigns, and just started planning things. Another huge thanks to random person at Audrey's (my future MIL) work who came up with the final winning idea which Brad and Audrey so nicely went to check and give the thumbs up for. More to be announced once the very few invites go out this week. The rest of you will be invited to the "reception" sometime this summer in Portland.

In the meantime, here are some of my favorites of the engagement photos we had taken back in November. I had to wait to post them since many were Christmas gifts to family. It was a very chilly, rainy day, but the park by our old house was a great location and the photographer and her hubby were great to work with.

From Engagement ph...

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And our favorite, which will probably be used as the reception invitation:

From Engagement ph...

Stella (Tia) got her grove (Bryan) back

Thursday, December 20th the school gods decided to give Bryan a break and make that his last day for the term. The pukeys made him miss 2 days of clinicals, but due to the laziness of his instructors, they didn't want to have to make up the days with him. It's SO nice to have him "back." By Friday he was his normal, silly, picking on me self which I had so greatly missed.

We've been doing our best to have tons of play time in amongst selling the house and working (me). To celebrate him being done, we had a really fun date night going out to see Sweeney Todd (bizarre yet good) and having dinner at this very "Portland" upscale pizza place with the most fantastic tiramisu I've had in a long time. In addition to Sweeney Todd we went to see Juno last night (great flick) and we've rented Waitress (not that good, but I was still entertained) and Eastern Promises (which I have no idea what happened because I couldn't understand their thick Russian accents). Bryan has also watched I Am Legend and part of The Bucket List online. Yes, we've been movie junkies!

The movies were interspersed between a few episodes of Six Feet Under (which we love) and lots of cable...namely marathons of Flip that House (we were sucked into this until 1am one night!), Say Yes to the Dress (okay, that was me that watched a pathetic FOUR hours of it, but I did at least unpack while I was watching), Stand Up on Comedy Central, and some marathon on TLC about people at this fat center in New York. We clearly missed having cable :) I'm not ashamed at all to admit how much TV we've been watching, since come mid-January Bryan will be back to school and the TV will stay dark just like it did last term.

Christmas was a low-key affair, since we had adopted a family for Christmas. However, our parents still managed to spoil us royally. I guess the "no gifts" thing is impossible for moms! Christmas Eve we went to Sherri and Kevin's where we had a fantastic meal! Appetizers of cheese and crackers, strawberries, cold shrimp, and a fig/feta/hazelnut thing that was so good. Dinner was lobster, risotto, homemade mac and cheese, a fancy salad with raspberries in it, and bread. Dessert was homemade lava cakes. Of course the champagne was flowing as well, which was delicious with a splash of the marionberry wine added in that we had brought. It was a scrumptious meal and it was really fun to be around young kids on Christmas Eve and remember the excitement.

Last night (New Year's) we had a fantastic meal that Bryan made which consisted of cheese and artichoke quiche as an appetizer, fruit he picked out just for me (fresh pineapple and raspberries), steak that he did an amazing job of cooking, butternut squash, and rolls. Dessert was eclairs with chocolate frosting on the top. After the late dinner, we went to see Juno, then came back to watch the ball drop and toast with some Eye of the Bee, our favorite wine from a local winery (expect it to make an appearance at our reception).

When we weren't eating or watching TV, we were unpacking. Supposedly, after a last minute panic by the buyer that cost me $100 because I was too tired to fight anymore), my house finally closed. That was the 27th, and I haven't heard from my attorney or my real estate agent that it actually did close, but I know if someone had gone wrong the bitch..err...realtor would have called. I still need to write to her boss and tell him what a horrible person she was. I'm just thankful it's all done.

The sea of boxes has been downgraded to a creek of boxes, which is at least moving in the right direction. I hope to have everything unpacked before the trip to Portland next week for my dad's 80th birthday! Can't wait to be back home where the high is higher than 18 (which is the forecast here for the next 2 days!).

The wedding is, well, frustrating to say the least. Still no date, no plan, and no location even remotely decided upon. Every idea is shot down by at least one person. We're hoping to make progress when we are back home.

There's no place like home (wherever that may be)

I never quite know what to say when people ask me where "home" is. My heart considers Portland to be home, while my address and physical presence consider Rochester to be home.

Either way, I'm not at home.

Where am I? Oh, well THANKS for asking, because I was just going to tell you! Currently, I'm sitting in Penn Station in NYC.

My intended route was a flight from Portland at 7:20am, with a 3:30pm connection in Newark, ending in Rochester (and back with my love) at 5:45pm. Mother Nature didn't like that plan.

Everything was fine when I left Newark. By the time I got to Newark, all flights out to Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Boston, Albany, Portland Maine, and probably others were cancelled. They rebooked me for:

TUESDAY (keep in mind it was 4pm on Sunday)

Bryan the wonder finance (insert superhero music here) got his brain a-thinkin'. Renting a car wasn't an option due to cost and weather conditions. He found a train ticket that left from the airport at 6am Monday. Not the best, but better than Tuesday. Then he found out that Greyhound had a bus leaving at 6pm. The catch was that I had to get a cab and go to the bus station (which is also the train station), because they don't reserve seats (huh?). So I go. Turns out that the people he spoke to on the phone were morons, because the bus had been canceled to western NY.

So now I'm in Newark's Penn Station. To say it was scary is an understatement. Rampant poverty and homelessness, beggars, and a confusing, overwhelming system of trains and buses that only a native understands. But I put on my cute "help-me-even-though-I'm-dirty-and-smelly" face, and the very kind woman at the train took pity on me and walked me through buying a ticket to get to NYC ("you don't want to stay here overnight honey - no way") where I would need to wait 13 hours to get the 7:15am Amtrak to Rochester (an $85 ticket). She was so kind in a time when I really needed someone to be nice to me, lest I break down in tears in the big scary city. She had me come back near the time my NYC train was to depart and walked me to the right "line" or "platform" or whatever it was I had to stand on to catch my train to Hogwarts...er...NYC.

While sitting there a nice (yet scary-looking) African American man struck up a conversation with me, called me "mama," said that I was nuts to stay overnight in th NYC train station (a scary thought coming from him), and said I "looked like a woman with money....I know them braces ain't cheap." But he helped me get on the train, so I'll give him a thumbs up.

So now I sit at the NYC station (which is right at Madison Square Garden...cool if I wasn't so terrified to venture outside of the train station and get lost, plus it's cold). I'm 5 hours into my 13 hours. Thankfully they have internet (at 9.95, but totally worth it) to keep my occupied, and I bought some cheap headphones so I can watch some online T.V. I'm trying to stay under the radar because for some reason, even though I have a ticket and I'm in the special Amtrak area, you can only sit here for 2 hours. They have chased one sketchy looking guy out already, but I think as a descent (although yucky) looking woman, they will leave me alone.

What an adventure I would rather have not had! So overall I'm $105 and a day in the negative, but I should be home tomorrow afternoon (oh, it's today now!). Who knew that THIS would be my first time in NYC?

I heart Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is like a close piece of heaven. Okay, that is a little bit of exaggeration, but it is definitely my favorite place for an inexpensive, fun overnight getaway. It is like a smaller version of Vegas or any tacky tourist town, with it's Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not, wax museum, "house of horrors" and the like. But I love it because it's under 2 hours away and staying there is pretty cheap. Oh yeah, and the falls.

Last month (yep, I'm waaay behind), two friends and I met up in NF. One came from Pittsburgh and the other from Erie. We are friends from high school, and they hadn't seen each other since high school, and I had only seen them once or twice.

What a fun weekend we had! Seriously, we need to have girl's weekends more often! We just went overnight, but we managed to go to the spa and get facials, gamble a bit (I won $30!), go out dancing, and eat a 3 hour long buffet breakfast. It was such a blast catching up with them and talking about old friends and long-past high school days. We were out dancing until 1am I think (super late for Em and I, who might as well be old ladies now that neither of us are single), and then stayed up until 3am just chatting.

From Girls Weekend

Last weekend Bryan and I went to NF overnight just to get away from wedding planning, moving, and schoolwork. It was REALLY cold, but we had so much fun! We weren't so lucky with the gambling, but still only lost $20 between the two of us. Like the children that we are, we spent more time in the arcade. They have this fun mini-bowling game. I asked Bryan why he wasn't smiling in this picture, and he said "this is my focused bowling face." Hmm, funny to me that "focused" looks very similar to "deer caught in the headlights." He still hasn't figured out how the timer on my camera works, and it cracks me up.


We stood outside in the 28 degree weather to watch the fireworks over the falls. It was very cold, but neat. They also had the falls lit up and the entire strip had Christmas displays. The one below is my favorite.

From NF getaway No...

We went to the Hershey store and didn't buy anything since the prices were way higher there than at the grocery store. But we did get to take some tacky tourist photos there and at other locales.

From NF getaway No...

Tacky tourist photo #2

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Tacky tourist photo #3

From NF getaway No...

The shocker of the trip was going into Denny's for dinner, opening the menu, and finding out that no food item (including salads) was under $13! At Denny's! They had a special 3-course meal that was soup or salad, one of 3 entrees, and one of a few dessert choices. TGI Friday's (usually more expensive than Dennys) does this same thing for $12.99 sometimes. Guess how much it was at Denny's. $21.99. No joke! We ended up leaving and going to a lovely Italian place a few doors down. For $33 (including the 18% tax and tip) we got a yummy wood fired pizza, ceasar salad for 2, tiramisu, and drinks for both of us. A much better deal and much better food. To end the great overnight on a good note, we went to not one but TWO outlet malls and we sailed through the border crossing. Now that's my idea of a great getaway!