The Construction Continues

Matt has moved on to the other half of the basement now. I am so proud of him. Somehow he squeezes in time while he works full time and is taking two college courses at the same time. We had to tear down the ceiling in the tiled room and one and half walls (which were stucco - yuck!) Matt raised the duct to give a little more headroom as well. He's also working on making the unfinished laundry room into two rooms: one unfinished tool room in the back and one finished laundry room in the front. It's really coming along considering the little time Matt actually gets to spend working down there.

Pumptoberfest '09

The second annual Pumptoberfest was a success. Pumptoberfest came around as a complete and total accident. Last year, Matt and I planned on attending Pumpkinfest in Keene, NH. We had planned to meet up with my AmeriCorps friends, Kate and Kelly, in Keene. Bad weather kept us home and we ended up setting up a tent in the back yard and having our own "Pumptoberfest". We went to the farm down the street and bought some pumpkins, set up the tent next to a roaring campfire, carved pumpkins, had a few drinks, roasted pumpkin seeds, and had a nice, relaxing night.

Since last year's Pumptoberfest was such a nice time, we decided to repeat it this year, adding in some other traditions to make a real day of it. Kate wasn't able to join us from Long Island this time, but Kelly made it up with her boyfriend Ashley. The plans were to hit up Connors Farm in Danvers. There we would pick apples, choose some pumpkins, and run the corn maize before coming back to our house to carve pumpkins and have a few drinks. The farm started out simple enough with only five of us, no apples on the trees, a few too many pumpkins, and a fantastic corn maize.

In the apple-less orchard

Kel, Ashley, Mariel, Matt, & I in the Corn Maize

We came back to the house to carve some pumpkins out in the backyard.

I made this really cool haunted tree.

Somehow, this simple get-together of a few people sporadically turned into a party. A few other people showed up, and in the end.. well, I think the last time I stayed up until 4am had to have been sometime in college, but I can't even remember doing it then. Pumptoberfest lasted into the wee hours of the morning with some really great company, Guitar Hero, foosball, lasagna, apple crisp, pumpkin seeds, and plenty of drinks. What started out as a simple get-together sort of turned into a bit of a bash, but it was wonderfully fun & I'm already excited for Pumptoberfest '10. Maybe I'll get tee-shirts made up!:-p

Matt & Joe... with all those empty bottles of tonic water....

Foosball
The love of my life<3>

Welcome Fall!

Fall is here! As much as I love the warm weather and the summer cook-outs, I love fall, too. I think it's because there's so much to do during this time of year and it flies by. There's apple-picking and pumpkin carving and corn maizes and little children in costumes... Traditions and families... There's beautiful foliage, comfort foods like apple crisp, and the holidays right around the corner. As soon as I could, I dragged Matt into the attic with me to pull down decorations. So exciting!

Damon with my pirate Scooby Doo

Our Bay Window

Growing Up

Bono's birthday was on Wednesday so some of us girls went out to Paddy Kelly's last night to help her celebrate. I didn't feel old when I turned 26, but going out for Bono's 27th definitely reminded me that I'm getting old. In my defense, it was a Thursday night and I knew I would have school in the morning. Regardless, I'm getting old. It took me only about five minutes to get ready because I didn't really care what I looked like. I didn't shower so I could redo my hair, I didn't blow-dry, I didn't put on flashy make-up. I put on jeans that must have shrunk because they always used to fit nicely but now are a tad tight. I wore heels that I used to be able to wear all day but instead, were hurting before we left the house. I was already exhausted. We left for Paddy Kelly's by 7:15, a time when Mal and I would just begin getting ready in college. We were seated at the bar by 7:30. We ordered food, I had one drink, and before 9, I was buzzed, exhausted, and ready for home. On top of that, our discussions are no longer about checking out hot guys or the newest movies. Instead, we discussed starting a book club so that we could meet monthly, have potluck dinners, and trade books that we voluntarily enjoy reading. We talked about weddings and babies (mine and PJ's respectively). We discussed getting together for an artist workshop. We griped about work and by 9:30, a time when Mal & I would just finish pre-gaming in college & begin to head out to the parties, I was home and asleep on the couch. What happened to staying up all night and partying? Maybe it's not possible without my cowboy hat on...

Back to School

Lately, I really want to go back to school. Matt is in school four nights a week and I am jealous of him. Trust me, I'm not jealous of the calculus and physics that he does for homework because those would never be my choice, but I'm jealous that he gets to be in school right now. I want to go back to school for a second Master's degree, or maybe for a CAGS. Either way, I miss school, and I never thought I'd hear myself saying that. School was great until I went to Salem State. It was nothing like Franklin Pierce. Some of the professors were fabulous (mainly Theresa & Donnalee) but most of them were horrendous. Classes were awful, parking sucked, and the hours I had to dedicate my life - UGH! Yet, I find myself missing it. Completely, totally, and fully missing school. I want to go back. I want to learn more. I don't want to do the traveling or hiking back to the Salem State parking lot (which is often lovingly referred to as the "Rape-Me" lot with no one around and not nearly enough street lights) but I don't even mind the writing of papers and the discussions and the *gasp* readings. It's been so long since I've applied to schools that I don't know where to start. I wish I still had my high school guidance counselor to guide me in the right direction. I don't know where to look, what schools are accredited, what degrees are in demand, or how to go about finding the money to fund the education... but I want to do it... so it looks like I might have to start doing some research on my own.

Wedding Plans

This weekend was the wedding of Matt's Auntie Kathy. It's only made me want to get my wedding planned that much quicker. I have so many ideas and things that I'm really interested in doing, but it's tough. Part of the reason we're not getting married until 2011 is because we need to save money. That being said, everywhere that deposits are required sucks because quite frankly, we don't have the money just yet to put down deposits. I was spending a lot of time on TheKnot.com for a while, working on at least generating some ideas. I've definitely found a few and I have a pretty good idea of what I want. The trouble now is finding people I can afford to give me what I want. Some things I know I'm going to have to let go by the wayside, but others I can't imagine having a wedding without.
One of the biggest expenses is going to be the catering. Not only do I need caterers to come to a backyard and serve, but I can't provide them with an industrial kitchen so they need to find a way to cook and prepare everything and have it ready to eat and hot when we're ready to eat the hot food. I definitely would like to some sort of Italian foods and go with either family-style or buffet-style. I found one caterer that came highly recommended on a few websites and was listed in the "affordable" category, but when I got their menu back charging upwards of almost $10,000, I probably almost fainted. I can't fathom spending that much money on a salad, some cheese and crackers, and 2 kinds of pasta dishes. Insane.
This weekend, at Auntie Kathy's wedding, the catering company was Executive Gourmet Services out of Wakefield. Not only have we had their fantastic food twice now (the wedding and for Uncle Mike's funeral), but they are very reasonable according to their website! Now I just need to find the time to make the phone call which will I'm sure lead to sitting down with someone from the company to discuss menus, details, and the like. I have a wedding expo to attend on the 30th and I'm sort of excited about that as well, although I feel like it's too soon in the wedding planning process to get too excited. I wish I could just hire someone, tell them what I want, what I'm willing to pay, and leave the rest to them.
Auntie Kathy & Uncle Larry's wedding took place at the home of some friends in West Newbury. It was small, beautiful, and I loved it. Even though it poured, the outdoor ceremony under tents was lovely and Auntie Kathy looked like she was having the time of her life. The food was fabulous, the set-up was great, and I also got to spend a lot of time with members of Matt's family that I don't get to see that often. I spent quite a while talking to Uncle Kevin, as well as a bit of time with Grandpa Bert and his two sisters. It was such a nice wedding and I enjoyed it tremendously. I hope that people will say the same when they leave our wedding.

Artist Trading Cards

An artist I am not, but I can be creative when I want to be and I do love to scrapbook... That being said, when Jen asked me to attend an Artist Trading Card workshop, I agreed. What better thing to do on a Thursday night then spend time supporting my best friend at her job. I went to the ATC workshop with few expectations. To be honest, I was more excited about spending time with J and being served cheese and crackers with pepperoni. (How can something so good be so bad for you?) That being said, I threw together a few ATCs and I'm thinking this may be a new hobby. Obviously, I love my scrapbooking more but sometimes, I run out of things to scrapbook.
Artist Trading Cards are miniature works of art about the same size as a baseball card. They can be about anything and made with any media, materials, or techniques. Sometimes I like to scrapbook on my little card, or doodle, or whatever. At the workshop, we trade them as well so now I have miniature pieces of work from all different artists.

So anyways, there's another one coming up on October 1st at LynnArts. I can't wait to go back!

Surprises

My mother is wonderful and threw me a surprise get together with a few of my nearest and dearest. She's super sweet and thoughtful and it was wonderful to spend time with people who are so important to me. On top of being able to celebrate my birthday, which to me is just an excuse to have friends get together, we also were able to celebrate Beth passing her nursing tests to become an RN/LPN (I don't know.. something like that).

Nurse Beth & Derek
Me with Baby Abbi!:)
J, Nurse Beth, & I
Emma, Liv, & I with the American Girls

My Birthday

Well, as it turns out, my fiance is one of the most thoughtful people in the world. For my birthday, he surprised me with dinner at the Brown Jug in Chelsea. Although it is a bit of a hole-in-the-wall, the Brown Jug has been my favorite pizza place since I was about a year old. My family always took me there and I loved it. I hadn't been in almost a decade and I always talked about it so the best fiance in the world took me to my favorite pizza place as a surprise on my birthday. Of course, I was more surprised to find I was utterly disappointed in the pizza to the point that I cried. How could my favorite pizza place not have the best pizza any longer? I'm still hoping it was a fluke and am praying that when I give them a second chance, I find that there was something wrong with the pizza I had that night and that the pizza is still as good as it always was. Keep your fingers crossed.
My fantastic fiance also picked up on all of the hints I dropped and was fabulous enough to get me the Wii for my birthday and with it, the WiiFit. It was truly the only thing I really wanted. I know it was an expensive thing to ask for but I figured, Matt has all of these gaming systems and I only wanted one. I also thought he'd just get me the Wii and then I'd use birthday money to get myself the WiiFit or save some extra cash here and there. However, I was wrong to assume my fiance would not come through and wonderful. I got the Wii and the WiiFit and have vowed to use the WiiFit every morning (or at least try to) in an effort to keep active at least a little bit. It was wonderful being able to spend my birthday with the love of my life, setting up a frustrating Wii gaming system from the comfort of our own home!

Reflecting & 26 on the 26th

It feels as though summer just started. I started back to work yesterday and I just don't feel prepared. The kids come back next week before Labor Day (for the first time ever in Peabody). There is no difference between last summer, when we returned to school on Monday, August 25th, and this summer, when we returned to school on Tuesday, August 25th, but it sure feels different. I don't know if it was the incessant rain and cold weather for the beginning of the summer or the fact that I spent so many of the truly nice days either waitressing or working on the house, but I don't feel like I'm ready to go back to work. I don't really have a choice and I'm going to do it regardless, but for the same token, I don't feel ready.
That being said, today I am 26. According to a friend, it is apparently a big deal when your age matches your day of birth. I guess being 26 on the 26th is a big deal; I didn't know. Regardless, turning 26 is no different to me than 25 or 24 except for that nagging voice in the back of my head reminding me of the life plan I so nicely set for myself. I always thought that everyone made these detailed life plans but as it turns out, they don't. I've spoken to quite a few friends who say they never planned ahead like I did. Who knew?
I think I had just begun high school and was dating my first serious boyfriend when I formulated my first plan. I was sure that said boyfriend was *The One* and so I planned my future according to our lives together. We would graduate from high school, I would go off to college, I would graduate from college and he would propose (probably within minutes from one another), we would buy a house together. I would be married by 23. My career as a second grade teacher would begin. By 26 or so, I would have my first child. By 28, my second. By 30, my kids would be potty-trained and I would be well on my way to living the comfortable, fabulous life I had planned. When said boyfriend broke my heart my sophomore year, I knew I had to change my plans.
I met Serious Boyfriend #2, found that he was actually *The One* and re-formulated my life plan. Not much changed. I decided that we'd probably get engaged while I was still in college (at Salem State), and that we'd be married quicker with kids quicker... maybe even three of them.. as long as I was done by 30 and ready to live my wonderful life. Somewhere along the lines, I realized that *The One* was not even close to what I wanted for the rest of my life. In fact, he was insane and psychotic and he had the makings of the antagonist of a fabulous Lifetime movie.
Senior year, I met *The [Third] One* and I knew that it was time. We planned our future (and he agreed to my crazy plan). His family loved me and accepted me as their own. We were set. My life plans changed and I left for school at Franklin Pierce College. I knew it would work out though. Everything was going according to my new and improved and possibly revised plan. Until *The[Third] One* was having a little too much fun without me.
Well, after that, I had to sort of put a hold on my life plans.... except that I always assumed they'd still work out. I actually thought that maybe things would work out with one of my past boyfriends so that, in the end, we would have the "high school sweethearts" story to tell our children (who, of course, would both be born before I was 30). As the commencement ceremony neared, I knew I was screwed. My life plans were not going to work out... or at least I wouldn't be marrying my high school or college sweethearts (Pfft... sweethearts! Haha). It was then that I decided to uproot my life and join Teach for America. Well, as it turns out, I had no leadership abilities whatsoever (or at least it didn't seem like I did in my application). My second idea was to join AmeriCorps. I applied all over New England and to South Carolina. Obviously South Carolina was meant to be because I got three job offers down there and none in New England. Off to South Carolina I went... sure that I would meet the man of my dreams, a true southern gentleman, probably in the military and wearing some sort of camouflage. We would fall deeply in love, get married, and again, I would be well on my way to children before thirty.
Had it not been for South Carolina, who knows if I ever would have met and fell in love with Matt. Lucky for me, I did choose to go to South Carolina and I did meet Matt and I did fall in love and I am now well on my way. I am 26 today, with a beautiful ring, a wonderfully loving fiance, and a house I love, but I still feel as though I'm behind the eight-ball. Maybe if I had never planned with such detail, I wouldn't feel that way. As make wedding plans for July 2011, I can't help but think that my kids will not be potty-trained by the time I'm 30... that they may not even be born yet... and I'm working to accept that. Luckily, the anxiety I normally feel when my plans don't work out hasn't set in yet (probably because I'm still hoping for twins 9 months after the honeymoon who are amazingly interested at potty-training at a young age!

Our New Toys

All my life, I've wanted a pool. I'm not much of a swimmer, but there is nothing I like more in the summer time than relaxing in a pool with a good book. I convinced Matt I deserved one. We wanted to get one of the cheaper ones, like the Intex Easy Set pools, because in two summers, when we get married in the backyard, I want to be able to take it down and have space for the wedding to be back there. We ended up getting this great metal frame 15'x42" above ground at WalMart. Matt put it up for me on Friday night and I love it. I've been in it everyday since at least once if not a few times. I can't wait for one day this week when I don't have to be somewhere so that I can relax and float around in the pool with a good book. It's fabulous!At our housewarming & engagement party, quite a few of our friends pitched in and gave us money to get our new patio set. We went out looking on Saturday morning and found a set at Namco marked down ridiculously. We really liked it, and at the price it was marked down to, we couldn't say no. Thank you to Jen for putting together the collection and to Rita, Jeanne O, Barb Ash, Emily S, Stephanie C, Sue Leck, Auntie Donna, Uncle Duane, Kerri, Bobbi, Sherman, Mary W, Amanda, Ashley, Betty, Spikey Jon, Sue H., Marissa, Josh, Joshy, Nancy, Susan T., Kathy M, Laura W., Steve the Butcher, Mariel, Rachel, & Langley for our new set, which we absolutely love!:) You guys are the greatest!To top off our backyard toys (for the time being)... we had registered for this conversation set from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. My mom's neighbors, Fred, Jean, & Samantha, were wonderful enough to buy it for us the day before the party so that we could use it for the party. I love it. It's comfortable & you can attach the seats to make loveseats, sofas, or whatever.
I thought it was really neat, and perfect for under our sunroom. It's comfortable, easily moved, and pretty. Well, Matt and I also got two really great gift cards to Bed, Bath, and Beyond from Steve & from Kathy & Tim, so we went back to BB&B and bought a second set. Now we can latch them together to make loveseats and sofas and we can all relax in the shade under the sunroom. I love the set!
Thank you to everyone who has helped us out and been so generous with us. We really are blessed to have family and friends like all of you!

Housewarming & Engagement Party

Our housewarming & engagement party was on the 18th. We lucked out with a nice day... a little stickier than I would have liked, but it was still nice and there was no rain - for this summer, no rain was all I was asking for! I think the party went really well. It was really important to me that all of our family and friends be there. I think a few peoples' invitations slipped through the cracks. Some people I think never checked their email invitations. Others I didn't have their addresses. But all in all, the people who we really wanted there, were there (minus a few who were missed). With over 130 people there on Saturday, I felt like I was going crazy trying to see everyone, give tours, be a hostess, and try to enjoy myself as well. By the time I was ready to sit down and relax with a drink, it seemed all of my friends were gone for the night! My cousin Michele and her two boys made the trip from New York out here, as did my friend Spikey Jon. I also had my friend Kelly come up from Connecticut which was really awesome to me. It was really important to me that we have all of our friends and family there with us to celebrate the beginning of our life together in our new home. It wasn't just a housewarming party or just an engagement party to me but a day to have all of our closest friends there to be with us. We had a really wonderful time and it seemed like most other people did as well. We can't thank everyone enough for being there for us, helping out with all of the hard work, and celebrating with us. I know it was especially hard for a few people to put their differences aside and be in the presence of other people where it might not have been very comfortable -- and that means the world to me! I hope everyone had as good of a time as we did. We love you all.

The beautiful and huge cake my parents got us

The 129 Jello shots I made to start us off right..
Our basement - finally (just about) finished!
The bar area of the basement!
Our moonbounce to entertain the kids! (Thanks, Chad!)
Some family & friends..
My friend Spikey Jon from NY was kind enough to remove our swing set for us. (Yes, we really wanted it removed.)
Some of the best friends a girl could ask for.