Bad Blogger!

Dear Blog Readers,

I have been extremely unfaithful to blog writer over the past few months but I guess I have good reason........extremely busy! So here's an update on what Matt and I have been up to. I'll start with myself, because Matt's life is somewhat boring these days (haha)!

1. On October 24th, we were official homeowners for a year. I can't believe how fast a year can go by. It's slowly becoming home; some rooms have been repainted; the walls for the mostpart are bare without any pictures on display but its home; its our home. Our first big project will take place this spring; we are going to remodel our tiny 5x8 bathroom with a vintage feel of the 1940's; 1x1 black and white hexagon flooring with a classic subway tile backsplash with a brand new bathtub; to save some money, possible upgrade of the vanity to a granite top and reusing the toilet because they both look good. I think we're going to have to get an outdoor toilet for a few days unless we can demo and get plumbing updated in a day...now that would be spectacular! I promise to post some pictures of the bathroom so you can see how ugly it is now.

2. Wrigley has quickly grown to be apart of the family. In late September, she had her surgery to be fixes; something I really did not want to do. I guess my motherly instincts kicked in a bit. She is fully recovered and is back to her rambucious self. Matt walks her about 3 times a day to kill some of her energy. The best part of my day is coming home to her sitting at the front door waiting for me; her tail wangling wiping side to side so quickly, it moves her across the floor. "Wriggs...hugs!" I kneel down infront of her and she puts her paws on my shoulders and gives me kisses. Her strength is incredible; for a 7 month old puppy, she can pretty much keep me pinned to the floor; which Matt finds hysterical.

3. I bought my first car; a 2006 Ford Escape; white with black trim with about 36,000miles on it. Yes, I've had a few cars before this; a rusty old Ford Tempo that was great to me; briefly a Hyundia Elantra that my sister totaled and then my '99 Saturn SL. I needed something with AWD for the winter commutes to work; it has a V6 engine which means I have more pick up than I know what to do with. I get on 95 something and I'm going 75 MPH and don't even realize it. smooth riding!

4. I'm back at school; this time I'm on the other side of the room. I am now an adjunct professor at Sacred Heart 2 nights a week for the first years joint structure and function class. I'm not really teaching per say; I have a small group of 6 students in a tutorial setting; it's part of the problem based learning program that the PT department uses. Tutorial is a class where they students have a casse study to break down and report on each session; they provide a handout, visual aides, etc to teach their topics to the other students. I am there to facilitate discussion and make sure they are learning what they need to be learning. So far, it has been an eye opening experience for me in how much work teachers do and how undpaid they are...more to come on this!

5. Matt; well he's Matt; easy going as always! Underarmour has been good lately; he's had alot more days around the house but in a few weeks, his busy season will kick up again with trips to Vermont, Southern Mass and all over the state of Connecticut. He's playing flag football on Sunday mornings; luckily no major injuries yet but the season is still young. This is why I go to the games; they need someone wiht a medical background there! Other than that, Matt has turned into the ladies man of the neighborhood. He often hangs around with the outher females; walking their dogs togethers or going to the dog park. It's actually quite comical to me!

Other than that, that's life around here in a brief nutshell!

Again, where have we been?

Yeah, life caught up with me again; getting on the computer has not been a priority lately but here it goes with a recap of events:

1. I am officially a Leonhard. It took me over a year but I finally got to Social Security last Wednesday and took the plunge. Now all I have to do is update my PT license and my maiden name will be something of my past. Honestly, its weird and guys don't understand it but I have an attachment to that name! I got made fun of from elementary to high school with that name; people from my hometown identify me with that name. It's really hard to part with. I probably should have made it my middle name but I like Marie too much : )

2. One of my best friends from elementary school, Andria got married to her sweetheart, Steve on August 29th in a beautiful ceremony and reception in New Hope, Pennsylvania. The forever five were reunited and you can get more details from my BFF Kristin's blog (I"ll attach details later in this post along with pictures at some point)

More of my trip back to school when I have five minutes to write...until then...TTFN :)

We love our neighbors

This past week, I haven't slpe much at night and unfortunately, I don't have Matt to blame for it (hehe!). My cold progressed from a sore throat and slight congestion to a nasty cold and horrible congestion at night, to the point that for two nights, I slept for about 2 hours. The bronchial spasms were so bad that Matt slept on the Airobed in the spare bedroom for 2 nights. I really felt horrible about it; Mucinex and Robitussin didn't seem to do much and after another sleepless night on Friday, I decided it was time to go to the Dr. Well, sure enough, I had a low grade fever and a severe case of bronchitis. 4 prescriptions later, I walked out of the office and may my way over to CVS. The pharmacist looked pretty impressed when I handed over the 4 prescriptions; just a slight smile on his face but when I left out a pretty nasty cough, I think he knew it was for real.
The weather was absolutely beautiful Saturday, I took my book outside, a blanket and a big glass of water to stay hydrated along with my sidekick Wrigley. As soon as we got outside, Wrigley spotted her best friend, Amber, across the street. Amber is a 2 year old German Short Haired Pointer or as Wrigley knows her as, her wrestling partner. Lisa brought Amber over and the two ran around the backyard, kicking up dirt and leaving tracks in their path. Lisa and Brian are expecting their first child, a girl, in December. We bought them two very adorable outfits I found in Macys as a thank you gift for watching Wrigly when we went to Chicago; one was purple and yellow poca dots with a cute hate and pretty pink pjs with footies ( I love footies!) To repay us for the outfits, Lisa gave us a kiddie pool for Wrigley since Amber doesn't like the water. It was one of the best gifts Wrigley could have gotten. She was hesitant at first as we filled it with water; I think she thought it was a giant water dish becauase she kept on drinking the water out of the pool. Matt threw some of her toys in, which got her front paws in but it was a little too cold and she bounded away. She creeped closer again, gently touching the water with her paws. And since she seemed to be taking too long to adapt, Matt picked her up and put her in. She was in total shock; she just stood there, starring us down like we were the most evil parents ever. She soon walked a few laps around, jumped out, ran like a crazy, possessed dog around the tree and then dove back into the pool. I really wish I had it on tape because it was such a classic Wrigley move. We played out there for about an hour and she still wasn't tired...to be young again!

Saturday night, Matt and I were invited to a meet and greet of Rivercliff neighbors as well as the neighborhood dogs. The party was co-hosted by Rich and Sandy, who live about 3 houses away as well as Liz and Kent, who live around the block from us. We had the pleasure of meeting about 6-7 other couples, all around our age, that have moved into the neighborhood all within the last year. Some are couples, some engaged and others are newlyweds but none of us are native to Milford. It was great to see that eventually, this neighborhood will be packed with kids riding bikes, running from house to house and alot of gatherings amongst families and maybe eventually, a tradition of Friday night with the ladies of Rivercliff. Liz was my favorite, maybe because she is native to LI so we had alot to chat about. She is extremely outgoing, personal and an excellent cook; we exchaged some recipes last night and I'm super excited to try them! Overall, the evening really made me feel like Matt and I chose the perfect neighborhood to start our roots as a family. I just can't wait until the next party when I can drink!

Mama said there'd be days like this.

Well it wasn't actually a day, more like a week. This past week was the work week from hell. My boss was on vacation, which lead to myself and one of the other therapists responsible for her patient load. Lets just say 100 paitents later, a 50+ hour work week and multiple headache conversations with stupid insurance companies, I was beyond shot! I came home Wednesay night with the start of a sore throat and the stress of the week left my body and mind in complete exhaustion. So basically I've been a bump on a log this weekend, tyring to dewind before another fabulous work week!
I've spent most of my time hanging with little Miss. Wriggs. Wrigley is now 30 lbs, 4 1/2 months old and is developing quite the personality. In the mornings, when I left her out of her crate, she now proceeds to run up the stairs and jump into bed with Matt. She now likes up jump up to put her paws on the counter to see whats up there. Twice this past week, she has eaten half my egg sandwich or gotten some of my fruit salad. It really is messing with my morning routine. She hasn't been doing a very good job with listening to her commands, especially when it comes to calling her name. This week, she lost a tooth while chewing on a treat; I guess in most cases, you never know that the dog lost its tooth because they usually swollow it; though the tooth fairy didn't come and up a present under her pillow, we did go and get her some really tasty treats from Petco : ) I am such a good mom!
She's starting to act like a teenager; but then, there are moments in time, when she snuggles up into your neck, gives you kisses on the cheek and falls asleep on your chest. Those are the moments I love with her.
So as much as I wish this weekend could extend itself by a day, Monday is quickly approaching...

Hallmark says it all...

Last week, I made my usual trip to Stop n Shop for the usual groceries for the week. They are creating a new layout, which completely screwed with my usual aisle routine, but there is a reason for everything. The card aisle is now where I used to restock on my potions and lotions and a card caught my eye...black and white, shot from the end of a bed, with a pair of leg cuddling each other. Inside the card read, "My favorite place in the world is next to you." I laughed and put it in the cart; perfect card for Matt! I guess you can say I'm a sucker for a good card...

Matt deserves alot more than a card these days; he has truly become the domestic man of the house. Work has been a little overwhelming lately; walking in the door @ 9:30 is a late and yes, I don't start until 11 on those days but 20 patients in a day; yeah its a little crazy. Paperwork takes up most the hour or so I'm there later at night. On those nights, he makes dinner; most nights, waiting for me to get home to eat. Our conversation is typical...the how was your day, how was Wrigley, did she destroy anything...etc. Most of the time, he'll do the dishes, sweep up the floor and tuck Wrigley in while I get myself ready for the next day. Wednesday night, he surprised me with ice cream from Walnut Beach Creamery; a local stand with the most delicious homemade ice cream EVER! My favorite flavor is there Vanilla ice cream with cinnamon, vanilla and honey; Matt loves the Mud Pie. Thursday night, I arrived home with a bunch of paperwork still leftover. He massaged my low back as I laid with the laptop on the bed; seriously, you have no idea how good it feels when someones pampers you for 5 minutes when you work on patients all day...it is really a treat! TGIF brought a night of cleaning the house from top to bottom, with Matt doing most of the labor. Without him this past week, I would have been a more angry, stressed mess.

I truly do appreciate all the little things he does for me; a hug and kiss when I walk in the door; dinner on the table with the occasional glass of wine; assisting the the house chores and allowing me to vent. I don't need presents, a vacation, a new bag...I just need him.

This weekend, we were able to be around the house. Saturday morning into the afteroon, we did alot of yard work and created a spot in the yard for Wrigley to "do her business" so we can start to grow some green grass again! Saturday afternoon, we took Wrigley to her favorite dog park in Southbury and met up with Andy, Kelly and Jack. Kelly and I met in PT school; Matt and Andy hit it off because Andy is a football coach, Matt is the UA rep so they have formed a great relationship. Jack is their almost 2 year old son; the most adorable little kid on earth! He is a spitting image of Andy but a mama's boy at heart. Jack absolutely loves animal crackers so while I picked up the necessary ingredients for dessert, I picked up a box of the Barnum Animal crackers; you know the classic animal cracker box with the string to carry! Well, I walked in the door with those and we were instant friends. Jack showed me how to get into a football stance, snap the ball and run for a touchdown; he throw a baseball like his favorite Yankee and splashed in his liitle pool in his favorite Elmo bathing suit. We played airplane, draw lots of pictures and played with blocks. Jack even rubbed some lotion on my sunburn; he is a true lady's man!

Sunday Funday included a trip to Stop n Shop, Costco, Macys and Target; I actually found a Macys gift card with a $100 on it this morning at home so we bought some new picture frames, a new cookbook (for me!) and a hair trimmer for Matt. We also bought our neighbors, Lisa and Brian, some new baby clothes; before we left for Chicago, we found out that Lisa is 18 weeks pregnant and expecting a girl. To thank them for watching Wrigley, we bought the cutest bigs and outfits I could find! We also bought Amber some delicious treats from Petco to thank her for letting Wrigley wrestle her.

So here's to another weekend that went to fast and a work week that will last way too long!

Where Have We Been?

Wine Tasting

Andria's Bachlorette Party

Chicago Summer 2009

I have been a very bad blogger but I am updating you all of life over the last two months:

Matt celebrated his 27th birthday on June 9th. I went to Home Depot, with the help of my dad, and bought him a table saw! Sweet! I got the biggest kiss EVER! We celebrated with friends @ Buffalo Wild Wings while we watched UFC 99, which was an awesome card and had great fights!

July 3, we celebrated our first anniversary. I woke up to a beautiful day at my parent's house, very similar to the day we got married. As the day went by, I watched the clock and recalled the events by hour: leaving my house @ 8:30; 9:00-12:30: having a blast at Ulta getting our hair and make up done, being as calm and giddy as could be; 1:00: lunch @ the Attards; 1:30-3:00: putting on my dress; pictures with the best bridal party, my family and that bus ride over to the church, singing, Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married" while drinking sparkling champagne; 4:00: walking down the aisle as if I was walking on air: 4:45: "I Do", 7 pm: cocktail hour; 8 pm-12:00: danced our butts off. Our wedding day is one of the most amazing days of our lives; we are so blessed to have spent it with our closest family and friends.

July 4th: Wine Tasting on the North Fork on LI with my Bayport ladies

July 11th: Poll Dancing for Andria's Bachelorette Party

So we come to the present. This past weekend, Matt, myself and his mom traveled out to Chicago, Ill for a midsummer Leonhard reunion. It's the first time we've seen his dad's family since the wedding a year ago. For me, it was a much needed dose of relaxation and familiy time. Aunt Laurie and Uncle Mark played host; I think she finished the basement just for us so we would visit more often :) Saturday morning was breakfast at the Junction, trip to Schnucks, an awesome grocery store because they sell wine and liquor in it and a drive to Chrissy's for the famuly gathering at the local park. I kicked Matt's butt in baggo, played softball in flipflops, watched Matt strike out against a 10 year old pitcher ( I swear its true)and played on the playground with my new best friend, Clara.
If you never realized how long its been since you've seen family, look at the little ones! They have grown up so much since the last time I saw them; Parker running around and actually holding my hand as we crossed the street; Clara telling me she was so happy that Matt married me and Jack, Gordy, Will and Spencer playing baseball...it was a blast. I really miss having little cousins around because you can play little kid games again that adults really aren't suppose to.
Matt has always been the "favorite nephew" of the family, even before his father's passing from what they tell me. His father meant so much to all of them and his loss was tragic and sudden. Matt's cousin Erik and I had spoken a few months back about a scrapbook Anita had made him during the holidays. Eric has always been compared to Bill; his wacky personality for the most part and he was always very fond of him; which is why he named one of his son's Will. Matt and I don't have any pictures of him at the house so Erik rounded up the Aunties and gave us 2 books of pictures of Bill with various members of the famuly. Aunt Anita had an extra surprise; 3 yearbooks from when his father was in HS. It was something very sentimental; something I know we will appreciate forever. The more pictures I see of Bill and the more I get to know him, I think he'd be very proud of how his son turned out....
Sunday was all about the Cubs. Matt and I were on the road @ 8 am to travel from the Suburbs into the city to watch his favorite baseball team ever. I can see a twinkle in his eyes as we drove in; the excitement in his smile and overwhelming desire to just get there as he bobbed around in his seat. We hit a minor snag in the trip; when we got to the airport to get the train, we realized we let the camera at the hotel. No way we were making this trip without a camera; cabbed it back to the hotel, got the camera and we were on our way...Wrigley Field here we come...

Outside the stadium as we came out of the subway was electrifying; people were covered from head to toe in Cubbies red, white and blue. The streets were packed with fans of all ages, with dad's carryign their son's and daughters on their shoulders to the local bars packed with roudy college kids. Seats for the bleachers section wrapped around two blocks, two and a half hours before game time. As the gates opened, they run for the best seats in the house. Wrigleyville itself is an amazing place, with townhouses bought by corportation with bleachers on the rooftops, restaurants and bars inside with black and white pictures remembering the good old days. Wrigley field, a historic landmark of Chicago, was breathtaking. Walking up the ramp, behind home plate, you saw the old school scoreboard area with the empty bleachers, looking like the Alter of Wrigley field; the bright green ivy covering the walls reflected perfectly off the bright blue sky. It gave me goosebumps and it was the perfect day for baseball.
We sat in on the third baseline; section 7, row 7, seats 4-5; right behind the pitcher's dugout of the Cubbies. I've never been so close to a baseball diamond like this in my life. The players were within arm reach; handing out autograph balls to the little kids with their oversized jerseys and painted faces. Their faces were in awe of the players; probably similar to mine.
As the Cubs beat Cinncinati, I stood with Matt singing "Go Cubs Go" as they raised the white flag with a "W", a tradition that was starting when the stadium first open so that fans who did not attend the game, knew the final outcome. I was sad to leave such a beautiful place but it was the best way to spend it...just with Matt.

This vacation was shortlived but we'll be back in Chicago for Christmas this year; something that we are extremely excited about. Matt has never spent Christmas with his dad's side of the family; I think his dad would be happy to see us all together as a family, the way he always wanted it to be....

A Growing Puppy and Memorial Day Weekend.

Wrigley is growing into quite the neighborhood attraction. My parents, Matt's mom and friend Cheryl as well as friends from near and far have come to play and meet her. Her personality seems to grow daily. Here are a few updates on her growing personality:
1. Wrigley is no longer afraid of the hardwood floors so she follows us everywhere. 2. She is able to walk to the back door and use the steps without us carrying her into the backyard.
3. She loves to bite toes and chases after your feet when playing tag
4. She absolutely loves her dog bed. She often falls asleep, goes into convulsions from dreams and rolls off the bed fast asleep. She will abruptly wake up and move back onto the couch and fall fast asleep again.
5. Wrigley does not understand the word "No"; she is starting to understand sit and stay when given treats.
6. She loves to sun her belly in the afternoon sun and chew on her toe
7. She inconsistently sleeps through the night but her morning wake up call is around 5 AM; Matt does not like this at all.
8. Fireworks don't scare her
9. She loves to give kisses
10. She loves to chew on sticks, plants and dried leaves; she is also learning how ti dig...there goes my gardens!
11. Wrigley's little body fits through the picket fence; she loves to visit the neighbors

She is doing alot better with the crate training and house training. She only has accidents when she gets nervous or Matt and I are not paying attention to her. I just have to remember she is only 8 1/2 weeks old. I was determined to keep her off the couch but as you can see, its hard not to snuggle up with her on the couch. She really is growing by leaps and bounds. I can't wait to take her back to the vet this week to see how much she's grown. I wish I could keep her in this puppy stage forever, kinda like a baby.

We left her overnight for the first time on Friday with my Aunt Sally and cousins, Kelly and Shannon. My cousin Michael was getting married on Saturday so instead of overwhelming my ailing family dog, Nike, we decided babysitters would be a better option. Leaving her was quite difficult since I've gotten used to holding and carrying her around the house (is this a sign of motherly instinct?) It was a little disturbing going to sleep on Friday night without hearing any type of whining or crying or telling Wrigley; go nite nites...yes, I speak baby now too!

However, before going to sleep on Friday night I was able to FINALLY catch up with Kristin to see her new rock and officially congratulate her on her upcoming nupitals in April 2009. My parents came along to Kristin's parents house, which turned into a few glasses of pinot, a brownie and alot of laughs! Before we knew it, it was after midnight and definitely way past my bed time!

Kristin's father is extremely excited and obsessed that Matt and I got a German Short Haired Pointer; he grew up with one and when Kristin and her brother Robby were young, they had one. He was not happy that she didn't make her first trip to LI, but we now know we have a permanent babysitter when needed if "Grandma and Grandpa" are busy! Awesome!

Saturday morning, my cousin Michael married his girlfriend Joana in Northport with the reception @ the Riverview in Oakdale. The wedding was bittersweet; Joana is applying for dual citizenship for the US and the Philipinees and arrived in American about 2 weeks ago. The visa she was issued with a fiance visa which meant she had to be married within 90 days of being in the country. Her visa was approved; however her parents were denied on 3 separate occasions. Her sister, who lives in China, was her maid of honor and she is fortunate to have family that lives in Valley Stream there; her aunt and uncle walked her down the aisle. If my parents were alive and not in this country for my wedding, I have no idea how I could keep a smile on my face all day but she did. She was a trooper!

And so was Table #1. That was our assigned seats, along with my parents, Sarah (my sister) her friend Lisa and my Aunt Phyllis. Needless to say, Table #1 rocked the wedding. We were basically the only people on the dance floor for the short time the DJ played music. I really hate being at weddings were you sit the entire time and neither can my mother or sister. So we stared to party. It didn't turn into a crowded dance floor but we definitely kept ourselves entertained. The video will show it.

We drove back to CT following the reception to find Wrigley upstairs in our room crying. My aunt and cousins had left her blocked into the kitchen after she had fallen asleep. We assume her woke up to no one in the house, got herself very scared, scaled the baby gate, ran upstairs looking for us (by the way, she has never go up our stairs) and was too afraid to go down so she went into her crate. I felt horrible! She was shaking and had accidents all over the hallway and 2nd bedroom. We had no idea how long she had been up there but I think she found some shelter in her crate. Thank god she didn't get into the closet or I'd have no clothes today.

Sunday, we hosted a mid afternoon BBQ with some friends from SHU. I cooked up some BBQ chicken, a lovely green salad and a chickpea mandarian orange salad (new recipe), which was awesome! Always a good time and lots of laughs. Sue and Erik, friends from SHU and also newly engaged as well as neighbors, hung out until about midnight. I have to say, its soooooo nice to lounge outside with a drink in sweats. I just need a firepit for the backyard and I'm set!

Today, "Grandma" and "Grandpa" aka, my parents, came to visit. My mom was in St. Martin last week when my dad came (don't cry for her...she's tan) Again, I was an excellent host with grilling up some lemon rosemary chicken, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli and some leftover salads as well as angel food cake with strawberries and cool whip! YUMMY!!!!! Wrigley did alot of running around, showing us how much she loves to chew leaves and plants. She actually hit full stride at one point, which was amazing to see.

Now I'm finally getting a little bit of R & R, watching the Cubbies and snuggling with my little girl!

PS...I think Matt is getting jealous : )

Fact or Friction: Ticks only live in the woods?

I took a "half" day at work today so Wrigley didn't spend another whole day by herself! The weather was absolutely beautiful outside so I got up, put on my cozy after work outfit and scooped up Wriggs and brought her in the backyard. As we were playing tag, yes I play tag with my puppy, and she turned over on her stomach, I noticed something shiny on her side. As I got closer, I realized it was a tick and it had it creepy claws already dug into her! I have to tell you, my heart skipped a beat. Wrigley goes to the vet tomorrow and she hasn't had any of the tick or flee meds. I picked her up and ran inside to find my tweezers and like any mom with no experience, immediately tries to call my mom to figure out what to do! And like any time you need someone right away, she doesn't answer! During this time, I also send a text to Mr. Mom Matt ( I got about 6 text messages yesterday wondering how she did...can you say crazy?!)
So I performed some minor surgery with a little yelp from Wrigley and got that creepy tick out. A little tear even ran down her face! I tried to stab the tick to death but it wouldn't die so I saved it in a ziplock bag. yeah, I know its crazy but it was pretty big.
So if anyone ever tells you that ticks dont exist in suburban Connecticut, think again!

Wrigley Video

Wrigley and Us

At 6 am on Saturday morning, Matt and I made our 3 hour trip from Milford CT to Tunkhannock PA to pick up Wrigley, our 6 1/2 week old female German Shorthaired pointer.

When we arrived at the breeder's house, she picked Wrigley out of the litter and put her into my arms. She cuddled onto my chest, laid her head on my shoulder and just looked me in the eyes with her sleepy face. She had already melted my heart. Her smooth coat, wet kisses and desire to cuddle up next to you; I was in love! She sat in my lap the entire 3 1/12 hour car ride home. My chest area was extremely red from her scratching to climb up onto my shoulder area; it looked like I was attacked my a cat! She cried a few times, but spent most of the trip sleeping. You could tell she was having dreams because her body would go into complete spasms. I just tried to squeeze her a little harder. We made a little pit spot at a Wendy's parking lot to let her do her business and drink some water. She stepped on the grass like a baby learning to take her first few steps; she would walk on the edges of her paws.

We spent most of Saturday afternoon and night between the crate, eating, sleeping and lots of playing in the backyard. She was sleeping so well in the crate during the day we figured that Saturday night would be cake. Guessed wrong, big time! Wrigley started crying around 1 AM, 3:30 AM and 5:45 AM; each time, we took her outside "to do her business" and she went. I sent Matt back to bed around 6:15 AM since he was off to Baltimore this afternoon for his semi annual sales conference with UnderArmour. Yes, I'm a good wife, sometimes! Wriggs and I spent the morning snuggling on the couch, her sleeping and me attempting to nap. Instead, I felt like a mom; I slowly stroked her skin, listened to her heart beat, cuddled her up in a blanket and felt her fast shallow breath on my skin. This little girl has been around for only a day and I'm already hooked.

After Matt left this afternoon, we had a girls day. Wrigley got visitors and admirers from all over the neighborhood. She tried to help me weed; she just tried to bite the tops of the dandelions in the beds. We laid on a blanket in the sun and let the warm sun hit our bellies. We ate dinner and now we are cuddling on the couch together. I have to say, it's been a great 1st Mother's Day!

Oh, and Wrigley was meant to be ours. When we were looking at her AKC paperwork this morning, we learned Wrigley was born on March 26, 2009. This used to be our Anniversary Date before we got married. It signifies the day after my 19th birthday bash at SHU when Matt spent in the night in my room, making sure I was breathing. How great is that! Wrigley will always remind us of the start of our relationship and now she is the start of our family : )

One week until Wriggs

We officially pick up our new addition to our family next Saturday. Matt spoke with the breeder on Thursday morning and said she'd be ready to go! We have one tiny little problem...Matt will be leaving for Baltimore on Mothers Day, which means I have Wriggs by myself for about 3 days. Reason this is a problem...I work about 1/2 hour from here and I cannot come back on my lunch hour! So I am now looking to find some help on my first few days with my new pups...

In reality, having this puppy will be like having a child. We picked out a name.; we bought a crate, bowls, food, toys! We will both have sleepless nights, listening to her cry at night...wait..not really because Matt can sleep through anything! We've both been doing reading and research on how to crate train her. There will be lots of pictures and videos to post. I get the giggles thinking about her coming home with us; a new memeber of the family but nervous about what my house will turn into. We'll have plenty of laughs and times we will want to kill her for feeting shoes or killing a couch cushion. I've had plenty of offers to spoil her and watch her. But I can now say my life will revolve around a puppy for the next year and I can say, we are pretty excited for the road ahead!

To the Future Mr. and Mrs....

Matt and I are proud to annouce the engagement of our our best friends in the world, Patrick and Kristin! We are so excited for the both of you! Love you both!!!

Random pictures from the Last Two Weeks

A Cubs game, A Run in the Park, Dirty Work...And Easter!

In the last week, Matt and I have been very busy! On April 4th, we went to Yankee Stadium for an exhibition game between the Cubs and Yankees. And of course, I wore my Cubs hat and Matt was extra decked out in his hat, uniform and his official "Shut up and Drink Your Beer" bleacher shirt from Wrigley Field. We were really excited to go but that excitement died rather quickly for me...
#1: It was 32 degrees outside with a blistering wind. I tried to layer up as much as possible with cold gear and jackets but it didn't help.
#2: We took the train into Harlem and caught the subway to Yankee Stadium. We went early to tour the stadium so we bring out tickets up and we are about to walk in and they tell me we can't have a backpack. Now my backpack is an official UnderArmour backpack that is rather small. It was to hold an extra jacket, my wallet and keys. We tried to talk to ticket people into letting us in but the guy told us his boss wouldn't be happy...whatever. So we had to walk down the street to the BOWLING ALLEY to check out bag....ok, now I'm getting a little upset. We walk down the street, check out bag and walk back. Now we walk into the stadium and I see backpacks EVERYWHERE. On top of it, women are carrying in these HUGE tote bags, which are definitely bigger than my backpack, into the stadium. Now I'm at a 4/10 on the rating scale of being mad.
#3. We walk around the stadium as I freeze. Seriously, it was cold. So to try and warm me up, Matt buys me a pretzel. It's cold...like it wasn't even put in an oven...that was $4 for nothing...anger rating is now like 5-6/10.
#4. Batting practice is going on as we walk around. Matt wanted to take a picture so he steps down into one of the seating areas; one step. One of the ushers runs over,
"Sir, do you have a ticket to sit here."
" No I just want to take a picture...
"Sir, I cannot let you do that because you don't have a ticket to be in this area. I have to ask you to step out."
" I'm standing on the first..."
"Sir, you really need to move."
Anger rating now: 7/10
#5. We go up to the bleacher seats where our tickets are and I get a hot chocolate. So we are watching practice and Matt puts his hot chocolate on the ledge to fix his jacket and I heard this voice go, " Sir, you cannot put your drink there. Please move it." There they were again; one of those annoying Yankee stadium employees. Now I'm really pissed and my anger level is 8/10.
#6. So we go to our seats; I sit on the UA book Matt brought for signing so my ass doesn't go numb. Game goes into start mode with the signing of the National Anthem. Now this is a HUGE PET PEEVE of mine...TAKE OFF YOUR FREAKIN HATS! Its a respect thing...by the way, most of the people were Yankee fans!
So Matt and I sat through about 7 innings before I couldn't take it anymore because I couldn't feel my toes, legs or fingers and I felt like I had frost bite on my nose. We boarded the subway and headed back home. Apparently I passed out on the train from Harlem back to Stratford and enjoyed a nice nap...ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

The next morning (by the way, it was beautiful out on Sunday...ugh) Matt and I participated in a Lyme Disease Run/Walk at Sherwood Island in Westport. Orna, an amazing woman I have the privledge of working with, organized this event to raise awareness of the disease. Orna was bit by a tick in 2002 and suffered significant neurological symptoms including migraine, peripheral neuropathy and other musculoskeletal disorders. She currently continues to have gamma treatment to assist with minimzing the effects of the disease. Her year long dedication paid off very well with approximately 700 people in attendance.
Matt and I decided to run in the 10K. Now for me, this was a big challenge because I have never ever run 6.2 miles steadily. Playing soccer, you run/jog/run/walk/sprint...you know, its always a different pace. For Matt, it wasn't cake but he's a natural runner. So I started in the back of the pack and I am proud to say that I ran the 10K in 58 minutes and 21 sec! It was a freakin miracle. Matt ran the 10K in 53 minutes and 30 seconds. We were a little sore after but I was on such an endorphin rush that I couldn't wait to get home and work outside.

It was finally a beautiful day outside and I was so excited to get our there, use all my gardening tools and get our yard in order. We had a couple of tasks to do (1) rip out the rose bushes; (2) cut back the hemlocks and (3) clear off the vines from the hemlocks. I was in charge of the rose bushes and Matt was in charge of starting with the hemlocks. Getting those roses out of the ground required me to find some strengh deep down inside me after running for an hour. To take out 5 rose bushes, it took me close to 25 minutes because the root systems were so thick and rooted into the ground. I actually fell on my butt at one point trying to pull so hard that my hands slipped and I just fell back; I rolled over on my side laughing. After I was finished with my project, I started to help Matt. Unfortunately, our hemlocks are pretty diseased, which is common with hemlocks that are neglected. 5 hemlocks that were completely rotted and just fell when Matt touched them. Many of the branches along the bottom had no growth so much of the evergreens were cut back. We started this project around 12:30 and at 4:30, Matt and I looked at each other with exhaustion all over our faces. We pushed through and finished most of the work around 6:30. Bascially we showered and laid on the couch. We looked like our grandparents trying to get out of the couch to get a drink. It was a very labor intensive day!!!

It took us about 2-3 days to recover. I'm not complaining but I definitely know that I will have issues with my left knee and Matt with his back, as we get older. Now I know why my patients all tell me to enjoy my youth!!

Yesterday, we celebrated Easter at our house. It was the first big meal I had cooked for 13 people and let me tell you, it was delicious!!! I marinated filet mignon with a garlic/herb dry rub overnight and compliments the dish with spring spinach salad, lightly glazed carrots and roasted potatoes. Matt was able to cook the filet on the grill and he is perfecting the use of his grill very well. I am so excited for meals outdoors this year duing the summer time!

The best part of having a house... the Easter bunny still comes! He brought me two beautiful hydrangea bushes, pots to start an herb/salad garden and a beautiful potted plant (I cannot remember what it is) My garden will be coming together over the next few years : )

Most of all, it was great to have our families all together under our roof. I think sometimes I forget how significant it is to own a home. As my Aunt Sally walked up to the door, she just kept saying, "I'm at your house, its your house. I can not believe I'm at your house!" I know its a blessing to have a house, a loving husband and healthy family and friends.

An AHA moment...

As I"ve gotten older, I realize more and more that I am my father's daughter. I may take on more of my mother's physical features such as the Connelly thighs and chipmunk cheeks, but other than that, I am my father's daughter. I don't know how to describe my father; he can be a pretty complex guy, but he always told me I was born to do something great. I think I'm starting to see what that could be....

I consider myself a rather average person (Matt would obviously tell you otherwise...and you can see my true self esteem...not much there!) and always seem to have ideas but I never really put them into action. This has been especially true with my career. As most of you know, I'm a practicing physical therapist in an outpatient/sports medicine setting. I love my career; I meet alot of very interesting people and have the best patients in the world. But dealing with insurance companies, being denied visits based on what an insurance company thinks is unnecessary treatment and getting a pep talk about stats each month and how we need to bring numbers up...it gets really old. More than anything, I'm about patient care and the quality of care; not the quantity that walks in the door. When you are a business owner, the quantity seems to matter more. But don't you get people to come back based on getting them better and providing them with one on one care?

Basically this tangent brings me a little closer to my point. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to be introduced to the Met's PT/CSCS (certfied strength and conditioning specialists) who will be doing a lecture for our clinic on shoulder instabilites in overhead athletes. He is a very accomplished 33 year old guy doing what he wants to be doing because he knocked down doors, worked in ass off and was in the right place at the right time. I was almost mesmerized when he was speaking because it opened up my eyes again to being outside the clinic and working outside the box. So the question becomes, what do I want to do?

I am not the best multitasker in the world and after Matt and I got engaged, alot of focus was spent on the wedding and hating being away from home. And then we bought a house; getting things settled around here, which has taken a long time, became priority. Then discussions of starting a family with a dog and kids has come up. Kids will be the ultimate priority. So can I really do what I want to do because I really want a family with a fenced yard, friends over, relaxing at night....can I really be EVERYTHING I would like to be? Why don't I be the average person who does average things...maybe I'm not mean to do something special but be a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend. These thoughts are a little overwhelming to me. And believe me, this isn't about money. Yes, in the United States of America, everything is about money

So get to the point Colleen (see, difficulty staying focused) What do you want to be doing? There are many factors that play into this but here we go...the basis here is PREVENTION AND EDUCATION: prevention of injury, especially in young athletes; teaching them the basics of training and working hard, understanding nutrition and the importance of how you eat and how it keeps the body healthy. I want to be involved with getting kids healthier and educating people on how important gym programs are to schools and the well being of children. Even of the smaller level, I would love to get involved in the pediatric obesity epidemic sweeping that is nation.

Now, I have a plan...its now about getting myself back to books to get my CSCS, use some of the connections I have and see if my plan can actually become a reality. Sorry for the inconsistencies in thought but I had to get this down....

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Tuesdays are my early day out of work, like before 9 PM at night : ) The weather was absolutely beautiful! To burn off some calories, soak up some Vitamin D and breath in some fresh air, I used my birthday presents and put them to work in the garden!

I have bulbs popping up everywhere in colors of purple, white and yellow, especially along the front walkway to the front door. I started on the front beds. I cleared out the old mulch because it looked disgusting, removed weeds and pulled back the grass from the edging. The more I did, the more bulbs I started to see surfacing, wanting to get out in the sun. I was so happy! I'm not the most green thumbed but I'll learn. To just be able to go outside and be in my yard, I love it...it's a complete dream come true!

After clearing out the front beds, I proceeded to the backyard to clear off the hemlocks. Matt and I have hemlocks that line two areas in the backyard for privacy. Unfortunately, hemlocks are usually diseased and they really don't look that nice. However, Matt and I really do not have the money to be cutting them down this year to replace it with a fence. So I'm on a mission to save them. Being a physical therapist definitely has its advantage because I meet all types of people with various backgrounds and knowledge and I reep the benefits from it. I am very lucky to be treating a semi-retired landscape designer who is now my gardening guru. Just like a home, she told me, a garden doesn't happen overnight (Again, Rome wasn't built in a day) So she has given me some advice on improving the soil to help the plants and cut down any vines that are growing on the hemlocks to keep them from "choking." So I listened to my guru and cut down all the vine to the base of it, which is pretty big. Now I have to see what grows there.

I have also discovered 5 rose bushes along the fence line. The thorns were HUGE! Basically, Sunday we will say bye bye to the rose bushes because they are way too much work and I'm not a huge rose fan. I'd rather have hydrangea plants...come on...it's me : ) It may be the only plants I buy this year becaues I feel that my house needs one with beautiful deep blue colors!

So April...keep the rain coming but during the week only, so I can tend to my yard : )

Birthday Week Continues...

To preface this post, I have slept today for over 12 hours. I don't really remember the last time I felt the need to sleep so much but apparently, my body was telling me something. As I sit here writing this, I feel like I could go back to sleep! This is pretty sweet in my life because I have that crazy internal body alarm clock that wakes me up after sleeping for 6-7 hours. I have to thank my drug of course, Unisom, for making this moment possible today : ) Kristin...I know this would make you extremely proud of me!

Birthday weekend started out with a crazy end of the week Friday at work, a ferry boat ride over to Port Jefferson and a quick drive down Nicolls Rd to good old Bayport. But before I went home, I stopped @ my favorite liquor store to pick my sister up a bottle of Patron. Yes, I am a great sister but my sister really deserved this bottle. She got a promotion @ work to be in charge of closing her store at night as well as the director of merchandising. This is huge for my sister; who has battled her way up to this position and in my opinion, though she can be difficult, is something she deserves. Anyway, so I go into the liquor store, bring the bottle to the counter. Now I am dressed in fleece pants, zip up sweatshirt with my glasses on and my usual minimal make up look. I'm taking out my debit card and the man looks at me, "ID please." Ok fine, I know I don't look my age. "Miss, do you have a New York State ID." "No sir, I don't have live here anymore, I'm a resident of Connecticut." "Oh, Ok....hummmm." "Listen, my birthday was 2 days ago, I am 27 years old and the two rings on my left hand are real." "Haha, ok, have a good night." I got into the car and just laughed, mostly in disbelief that this guy wasn't going to sell to me. I still wish Brian owned that liquor store because I was buying there even before I was legal.
Anyway, my sister loved her bottle of tequila and I loved her presents. A planter with soil, seeds of flowers and some gloves for gardening. We went to Sonoma Grill for dinner as a family, which is always entertaining and full of laughs. I had a flirtini martini, which really helped put the weekend behind me. Saturday morning consisted of taxes and financial planning, which was pretty eye opening for me. He actually said that Matt and I are in a good position. I finally got myself into a Roth. I haven't been eligible for 401k at work because of when I was hired, which is really bogus but I'm eligible this July so I'll start contributing to that as well. We also did some bedroom furniture shopping at Stanley Furniture in Patchogue. We think we finally found one we like, The Hudson Street collection (visit www.stanleyfurniture.com) to comment. The cost of it makes me sick to my stomach; approximately $4000 for two side tables, two dressers and the bed. Yeah, spending alot of money is hard for me to do but I think the collection has alot of clean, classic lines though they consider it a contemporary collection. So now we just have to lay out the measurements, continue to look around because an investment like that, I want to be sure that this realy is the one...kinda like getting married!
After a full day in Bayport, we headed into Queens for Mexican night at Patrick and Kristin's. Lets just say that Patrick's skinny margaritas and Kristin's endless hours of preparation in the kitchen made for a great meal. We all played CLR and as usual, Matt and I never win and then we played Trivial Pursuit, the 90's edition. Jamie and I wish we had a video camera because Kristin was laying in the corner of the couch, with her cleavage popping out and with a few drinks in her, had no hesitation making comments; I know this is a very poor explanation but you had to be there to see it. At 12:30, Matt and I made our journey back to CT and slept until 10:30. Today is one of those days that getting out of bed just isn't going to happen and laying around napping is a priority!
I can say that my birthday week is not over yet because I have until Wednesday so some how I will make the celebration continue because just one day is just too short! But thank you to everyone who has contributed to my Birthday week so far!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, today is my birthday. Hallmark just forgot to put in on the holiday list of cards : ) As you can tell, I love my birthdays and birthdays in general. Today is an extra special birthday. I am up @ 5 Am getting ready to be @ work for 7; now usually I'd be leaving @ 3 but today, I get to work from 7 am - 7 pm; later to do paperwork. So basically my birthday will be spent with all my patients. Seems rather appropriate since I love most of them. Matt knew I would be DEAD when I got home tonight so I got early birthday presents last night and he did very well!
First, I got a mushy card, which I always love because no one says it better than Hallmark. In the card was a fake gift certificate for Ulta 3 to get a facial! Just what I wanted and really all I wanted. But as usual, Matt goes beyond the call of duty and gets something else. So out comes a super cute bag filled awkwardly with tissue paper (he's not really good with packaging items) In the bag was my first set of gardening tools and a pair of blue paisley gardening gloves! Now I can start to work in the garden, which isn't much right now but with some TLC, it will be beautiful if the steriod-using squirrels don't kill it first.
Now as a side note, Matt tells me he went to Macys to look at jewerly. Now I'm not a huge jewerly girl but a few weeks ago, we walked past the my birthday and I fell in love with this ring. It was breathtaking. Anyway, Matt went and looked at it this week....$700! Maybe my anniversary in 10 years : )
So please wish me a happy birthday and that my bosses patients and my patients are extra nice to me today so I can actually walk out of work in one piece tonight!

Matty and Coll's Domestic Bliss Getaway

Thank you Dustin for the title of this blog...

On Saturday, Matt and I had a gathering of friends at our house of a housewarming/Colleen's Birthday party! As usual, there were lots of familiar faces, drinks and food! I have to pat myself on the back for the menu: mozzarella, artichokes, red peppers and basil on a toothpick (so good!), marinated chicken, beef and shrimp on skewers with dipping sauces consisting of honey mustard, peanut sauce and a soy sauce mixture (again...delicious!) and some staples of mexican dip ( thanks to Sue and Erik) chips and pretzels. Everyone loved the food; Mike just wasn't thrilled with the honey mustard dip. I also made a huge pitcher of sangria which I thought was absolutely amazing! Matt got to use his grill and wears his Cubs apron while I got to use alot of dishes I haven't been able ot use. I also had a chance to see Dustin and Mike; two close friends of ours that live in NYC and Boston respectively and as usual, they are the life of the party. My girls from home, Kristin and Meghan, along with Brian (Meg's BF) came for a while. As usual, when I decide to do something, Kristin gets sick with an ear infection and stomach virus. She was a trooper and came with me to Stop n Shop to pick up the rest of the essentials including lemons, limes and tea to ease her stomach pain (which might I add worked very very well...YogiTea stomach ease works wonders...trust me!) Anyway, the night was everything I could hope for! Matt and I are getting a handle on this whole entertaining business and we are so excited to be able to get together our friends like this!

Next Party...the Pearsall/Costigan house in Forrest Hills for Mexican Night!
Next Party we host...Easter Saturday!

PS...pictures to follow : ) or please visit Dustin Ledda on FaceBook and view his pictures: )

The WAM effect

I had a patient recentlybring me in an article from the New Year Times in regards to the "WAM" effect, aka, What About Me effect. The article reflected on comments that were being sent into the paper in regards to the economic crisis, the bailout of bad mortgages and changes in the tax credit to first time homebuyers.

Now I have to say...I have every right to rant about this stuff. I was taught from an early age to be responsible with EVERYTHING...money, your life, your car, your friends, your family. Yes, the money thing again as usual! But over the course of the last 5 years, people bought houses they could not afford. Period. The end. There adjustable rate mortgage kicked in and they were crying that they couldn't make the payments. Cry me a river. Didn't you have all these details laid out to you? Didn't you get that piece of paper at your closing that broke down your monthly payments? Ok maybe you did, but maybe you didn't understand the paperwork. Or maybe you just decided not to have a lawyer at your closing to explain the details because you thought you could save yourself some cash. BAD IDEA! I know some of this stuff is out there but its been in articles that I've read and it really gets to me!

To go off this rant a little bit...I am a responsible person. I bought a house that Matt and I could afford, even if one of use lost our jobs. I pay my taxes every year. I pay my student loans, credit card bills, utilities and mortgage payments on time. I don't have a huge amount od credit card debt. I put a decent amount of money to the side to save. And if you do all these things, what do you get from the government? NOTHING! Why aren't good citizens rewarded for doing things the responsible way? To me, its like always doing something for the bad kid or not rewarding good work in school.

So Mr. President, if you want to make some other changes in policies, think about the people who are making positive contributions to society and give us a reward for doing something good!

Lets Talk About Sex!

I think I can officially talk about sex now without being out of context or shy about it, especially with this blog. I am an almost 27 years old married woman and yes, against the almight Catholic church, Matt and I had sex a long time before I had a ring on my finger or exchanged vows. So now that we've cleared the air with that, I can now discuss my current situation...

Last Wednesday, I had the "stomach bug." I was throwing up a majority of the early morning and passed out on the floor of the bathroom. I took a sick day and laided around a majority of the day, in my bed. I went to work for the rest of the week, still not feeling right. I felt nausous the rest of the week and really didn't have an appetite. So one of my patients called me on Friday and she asked me, "Colleen, I know you were on that tropical island the first week in January and we all know what happened. And you have felt sick for the last three days. Are you sure you're not pregnant.?" Though I didn't want to admit it, it was in the back of my mind.

I do take birth control, one to regluate my period and two, to reduce my chances of getting pregnant. On my trip to Queens last week, Kristin and I were talking about inconsistent the two of us are with taking it. Example #1: Matt found my pills on a Wednesday; packed was filled...he comes in the room and asked "Do you know what today is?" "Wednesday," I said. "According to your pills, its Sunday"...Big opps! So my inconsistency with the pill and not feeling too hot for a few days was making me nervous.

So this past weekend I was on Long Island for my grandparents 59th anniversary lunch at my house. I was in the bathroom and finally, my prayers above were answered. Aunt Flow had come to town! I let out a big Yes. I came out of the bathroom and my mom just stared at me;
" Is everything ok?"
"Matt and I thought we could have been expecting a little one but I just got my period," I said.
"I guess we should be celebrating."
"Yes, I would think so."

Please don't misinterrupt this excitement with the fact that we don't want kids. I really do want kids; 2 boys about 3 years apart and possibly with my first by the time I'm 29. These are dreams but not really realities. Kids take money and money isn't something we don't have on the side right now. 2006-2008 was dedicated to the wedding and then we bought the house so our savings has been minimal. Alot of people tell me you will never be financially ready to have children but for me, I feel the need to have some money on the side not just for the security of our kids but for security of Matt and I as well. I was always taught to put money on the side...save, save, save...pay yourself first. My father should be credited for drilling that into my head.

But to be completely honest, I am completely freaked, scared, terrified, horrified out about having children. I don't really have a reason for it; I've been searching for answers but they don't seem to come. I love kids; holding little babies and making funny noises, speaking in high pitched voices and playing peek-a-boo. Maybe someday I'll get over this fear. Maybe when there is a human life inside me my motherly instinct will kick in and the thought of being a parent will be settling, exciting and a whole journey of laugh, tears, achievements and being a kid again....

Until then, I will be sure to take my pill everyday : )

It's March!!!

In the Northeast today, we got hit with approximately a foot of snow; it was the biggest snow storm of the season. Right now, I'm so sick of snow but the best part...I got a snowday! Bad news...12 hour day @ work tomorrow (booooo!)

This unexpected day off gave me an opportunity to continue my painting. Since Saturday, I have been painting. Saturday night was the Bayport girls night down @ Kristin's in Forrest Hills. I got there early and helped paint her dining room. I did cause a slight mess when I dropped a gallon of paint on the floor. The color was a lovely shade of cranberry red and it was allllllll over her hardwoods. Thank god those are getting replaced. Sunday, I spent the day repainting the living room and hallway and now today, I was able to do all my cutting and trimming of moldings. So all and all, I think I put in about 13 hours of painting the last 3 days. As I was doing all this today, Matt was "working" aka sititng on his laptop on the couch, legs up with the Dog Whisperer in the background. The worst part...I kept bothering him! At least that's what he said. I will give him credit; he did get outside today to shovel and clean off the cars. I HATE cold weather so it's the one thing I really will not do! And the weather is frigid here today. Not the day to be outside.

But the absolute worst part of the snow is this...it's March. For those of you who don't know, March is my birthday month. And this does not fit into my birthday wishes. This year, I actually do have a list of things that I would like. Here's the small list:
1. A fabulous summer hat I saw @ the J. Crew outlet. I need something to keep my Irish skin covered when I start working in the garden or I go to the beach.
2. Bare Minerals make up. I never buy myself make up and I'm getting low.
3. Ugg boots. Matt doesn't like them, but I would realy like a pair.
4. Tools. I figured if I get some, Matt and I can start building some stuff in the house

That's about it right now. I know I'm going to be 27 years old, but birthdays are always my favorite. Special dinner, dessert and having friends and family around...it's the best! And now we are having a party on March 21st to bring our friends together again. Unfortunately, I can't have another wedding because that cost too much but to have everyone at my house...I LOVE IT! I'll keep you posted on my food choices as I make them!

Ok, I've been lazy...

I know, I know...I've been a very bad blogger and haven't posted ANYTHING in about 2 weeks! So what have the Leonhards been up to...here's a rundown of life:

1. We finally decided on a paint color for the master bedroom! After 6 sample paint colors on the wall, we finally came to the decision on Water's Lake Blue from Benjamin Moore. It has completely transformed our bedroom from cold to coastal! I love it so much!! And if I ever had to recommend paint to anyone, I would highly recommend Aura paint from Benjamin Moore! It dries very quickly, is low VOC and you don't need to prime! I like shortcuts, especially when it comes to painting.

We are now at the stage of trying to create the rest of the room...some moldings need to be repaired (we had to take the toe kick off off and discovered about 4 layers of paint on it...yuck!), we would like to put up some crown molding to finish the room; a desperate search for furniture as well as trying to create a headboard. Basically we will be recruiting my parents to come with tools; my dad with the big boy tools and my mom with her handy sewing machine. I actually have some plans to make a headboard from scratch thanks to my inspiration station, HGTV!

2. Lots of work! Matt and I have both been extremely busy with work. Matt has had a few overnight trips; one to Vermont, one to Mass. and an overnight this past week to Baltimore. My job has been pretty busy too; I've had about 13-14 patients in the last 2 weeks. So basically, my life has been sleep, gym, food, work and repeat. Yes, I have finally gotten back to the gym which is such a stress relief for me!

3. We have been planning my birthday party/housewarming party for friends for March 21st. So I have a large list of things I want to get done but most likely won't get there! If I can at least get the interior of the house painted, I will be happy. We really need to get the kitchen painted since the white patchwork on the wall from the leak looks bad.

We are very excited to have a party at the house with all our friends! We are reserving a family party for something a little more low key! But basically, I'm just excited that my birthday is coming. I love birthdays because its a special day for you. I think the love of my birthday developed in college. My 19th birthday was the craziest birthday that I will never forget!

4. Matt and I have FINALLY ordered our video from the wedding. We should have it for our viewing pleasure within the next month! The video will be about 2 hours long but we do get an unedited version which I think I will watch first.

Well folks, I hope you enjoyed the update. I think my family out in Illinois will be happy to see this!! Love you Aunt Lorr Lorr

25 Random Facts

Once you've been tagged you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Matt got hit with this on his facebook, so I figured I'd give it a shot! By the way, this is mostly about me, not Matt...

1. I'm not a fan of spending money. It takes a lot for me to depart with my paycheck on unnecessary stuff.
2. I love my career...not my job.
3. Ultimate Dream Job...Sideliner reports for Fox Sports or ESPN.
4. Feet don't bother me. I work on people's feet all the time. Going for a pedicure is awesome, but I don't do it often.
5. I still sleep with the blanket I slept with as a baby. Yes it will soon for 27 years but its my ultimate comfort. If I don't have it, I sleep horribly. No, I didn't take it on my honeymoon.
6. I wish I was a better shopper. Buying clothes and putting an outfit together is one of the biggest stresses for me.
7. I liked to kiss boys on the bus during kindergarden. After that, I lost my touch. I think I've only kissed 6 guys before I met Matt.
8. I am ALWAYS cold! I walk around @ work with a huge mug of tea everywhere I go.
9. I love to sing and chair dance when I drive.
10. Matt's car puts me to sleep when I'm the passenger. We could be driving a half hour away, and I'm usually asleep within 15 minutes
11. I read my horoscope everyday
12. Birthdays are my favorite holiday because it's about you for that one day!
13. I hate getting dressed on the weekend. I love to wear all my UA gear with a hat and run errands. I think one day I'll be on that show "What Not to Wear" because of my appearance.
14. I've always wanted to cut my hair really short but I'm afraid I'll look like a boy.
15. I have this freakish natural body alarm clock that wakes me everyday before my alarm goes off.
16. For dessert, I love eating Dole frozen mangos straight out of the bag.
17. I miss Friday nights. Friday nights were a tradition that started with my mom and friends of ours from the neighborhood. The ladies would get together for lots of drinks and the kids would eat fish sticks or macaroni and cheese. When I was in HS, sometimes, we would pregame with our parents before we jumped the fences and went to keg parties. I don't have anyone here to have Friday nights with except Matt.
18. Biggest Loser makes me cry every week
19. Even though I'm from New York, I know more about the Cubs now than I do the Mets.
20. I get excited every month when my period comes...one more month without being pregnant!
21. I love having my hair washed. It's the best part of getting my hair done every 3 months
22. I think Valentine's Day and New Years Eve are the most overrated holidays; St. Pattys Day, Cinco De Mayo and Thanksgiving Eve are the best hoildays EVER.
23. If I ever have the money, I would love to have a house overlooking the water.
24. I want to start a tradition of going camping with friends at the beach for a weekend every year.
25. When Matt and I decide to have kids, I want to name my first born Payton or Peyton.

New Years Resolutions

Over my honeymoon in St. Lucia, I spent the time reading the book, "Eat, Pray, Love." I am not a big reader and this book did not come highly recommended, but it did allow me to reflect on what life is. The book is a reflection of the authors year long journey to discover and reconnect with herself after a divorce. Many peoples lives to do present with opportunity to take a year off and journey to Rome to eat, India to meditate and to fall in love in a magical city, while getting paid for it to write a book. For the first time, in a long time, the book actually made me think of aspects of my own life. And since it is that time of the year, it made me think of some New Years Resolutions. Personally, I hate them but I did come up with some...

When I was in my teenages years and early twenties, I think I was still on a path of self-discovery. To family and friends, they would all tell you I had my head on pretty straight, but I really didn't feel like I knew who I was. Now that I'm in my early twenties, I definitely feel more comfortable in my own skin. I can admit, without feeling stupid or not my age, that I am a home buddy. I love coming home at the end of the day, putting on sweats, a tshirt and slippers to sit with the occassional glass of wine. I love sitting on my couch with a bowl of popcorn on a Friday night with my Giants fleece blanket ( Go Big Blue!) to watch a movie or my favorite TV shows I've missed during the week. I LOVE cooking! I look forward to Tuesdays, Fridays and the weekends, when I have time to whip up a meal. Matt does an excellent job substituting on the other days, but I hate doing the dishes, which is another reason why I love to cook. As this is why I love having a house; I can have people here for dinner, drinks or appetizers! Therefore, my first New Years Resolution is to host dinner for a group of friends or family once a month, just to have dinner. Being together doesn't need to be a special occassion...it can just be for the reason of getting together! Sooooooooo, if anyone wants to come for dinner, let me know!!

New Year's Resolution #2: Read a book once a month. I have NEVER been good about reading but I need another way to disconnect at the end of the day. I read one book on vacation and I have three other books from friends upstairs that I want to read.

New Years Resolution #3: Donate time to charity or get involved in a community project. I haven't decided what I want to tap into, but I have a few ideas.

New Years Resolution #4: This is more career related, but I would like to sit for my exam to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. It will allow me to diversify a little more into athletics. I'm still not sure where my career is taking me, but I know insurance companies drive me crazy!

2 week recap

Quick summary about life:

1. The leak is fixed!! My parents came up on Saturday afternoon and saved the day. When my dad went up into the ceiling and touched the pipe, it actually disintegrated into his hands! That's how moldy it was...yuck! The downside to this situation is that we galvanized pipe throughout the house, which in my father's expert opinion, is very unhealthy based on the erosion that can happen inside the pipe. I guess that's what you get for buying a house built in the 1940's.

2. I GOT A RAISE! This is the first time in my working career this has happened. I have worked hard and I truly believe I deserve it, but in times where people are losing jobs, its bittersweet.

3. Matt and I have actually made a list of projects we would like to do around the house in the coming year. We've decided to focus on giving the house a facelift, focusing on improving what we have structurally. The only other furniture we will buy is stuff for our bedroom. Matt wants to upgrade to a queen size bed and I would like some new dressers so we will have to compromise on this. I think I'm going to try to create a headboard myself to save us some money from fabric that I find. We are also going to repaint the entire inside of the house. We picked a blue gray called Buxton Blue, a historic color from Benjamin Moore, for our bedroom. We are still deciding on if we are going to change the colors in the hallway and living room, kitchen and dining room. My colors are inspired from a hydrangea wreath that our best friends, Kristin and Patrick, bought us for Christmas. But I have to say, it is still really difficult to pick the right color...you walk into Lowes or Home Depot and the shades are sometimes minimally different, it's hard to decide! All part of the learning process....

4. This past Friday, Matt and I met up with Tara and Justin for drinks in New Haven. It was so much fun!! Matt and I truly needed a day night out, which was don't do very often. I blame that mostly on myself because I'm the money conscious one.

5. We are hosting a party in March as an open house/birthday celebration so all of the above household mini projects, will need to be completed...thank god football season is over!

Daddy, I kinda have a problem...

So Matt and I officially have our first "unplanned repair" in the house. Prior to leaving for St. Lucia, I noticed some water damage on the ceiling of our kitchen near the chimney. We put off further investigation until yesterday and the results are not good.



On Sunday, Matt cut a small 2x2 hole in the ceiling to see what we could see. Well, our first surprise was to find out that there is no subflooring under our tub. I guess this is a bad thing and since this house was built in the 1940s, before building codes were established, we would eventually learn the downsides of building an older home. Anyway, we couldn't find where the water was coming from so we just put some tape over the hole...great fix, right!



So last night, I call Matt on the way home. He informed me that from us showering in the morning, the water had travelled down the front of the chimney and the wall causing the paint had bubbled off the wall....fantastic! So I get home and Matt has made the hole bigger in the celing, about 4 x 4 now. The ceiling is all over the kitchen floor, cabinets and counter. I hand him the flashlight and still no luck. So I decide to go and turn on the water upstairs to see if we can better determine where the water is coming from. Within 5 minutes, it is really coming out of the hole. So I run upstairs, turn the water off and we pull a little more of the ceiling down and bingo, found it....



A MOLDY T PIPE!!! ok honestly, totally disgusting!! Ok...so now, who am I going to call? DAD! and it went a little something like this..."Um Dad I think Matt and I have a problem...some pipe is all moldy and I need you to come up this weekend to come help fix it...here's Matt cause I don't know what else to explain to you..."



After a long talk with Pops (and if any of you know my father, you would know that conversations are never short), Matt and I try to put together a contrapment to catch the water becuase there is minimal room under this pipe. So I find some tupperware but after we get it up there, we really can't get it out without dumping out all the

Pictures from St. Lucia

St. Lucia

Back from St. Lucia

As I'm writing this, it is about 25 degrees outside in CT. It's snowing with about 2 inches of snow on the ground. About 24 hours before this, I was in 85 degree weather with bright sunny skies, a fruity drink in my hand, a bathing suit on with the waves crashing at my feet! Oh how sweet life can be!



We are officially back from our 6 months late 7 day trip, wait, actually, 8 day, honeymoon trip to St. Lucia (more on the trip extension as you read). It was a very well deserved vacation from the cold weather, work and excellent way to start 2009!



We left from Kristin and Patrick's new home in Queens in the early hours of New Years Day after a great New Years Eve night of food, games and of course, drinks made by Patrick...the perfect send off party! We arrived in St. Lucia around 4 pm, about a 4 hour plane ride; then we had an hour ride across the island to our destination, Sandals La Toc Regency Spa and Resort, around 5 pm. The hour ride across the island was the most interesting part of the ENTIRE day! They drive on the opposite side of the road as well as drive on what is our passenger side. The roads are narrow, very windy with significant changes in elevation. And if you don't drive fast enough, the locals fly by you. It was quite interesting on some of these turns at about a 90 degree turn, to actually watch people pass us by, with oncoming traffic!



Upon our arrival, the weather was slightly cloudy with a light drizzle. We went to bed early that night, exhausted from the day of travel and sitting on my butt. I prayed to my grandfather that night that the weather would be heavenly in the AM....



Well, the weather was not heavenly. All day Friday, it rained on and off with very cloudy skies; the rain wasn't heavy, just made it cold to lay on a beach chair and read a book. So instead of laying on the beach, Matt parked in butt at the swim up bar and we befriended a couple from New Orleans, Megan and John. Well, Matt and John decided that after a few fruity mixed drinks, that they would try and conquer "the board." "The Board" is a list of popular drink requests that they make. To sum it up, Matt had about 8 of these drinks in approximately 2 hours. This does not include the drinks he had before they started on "the board." Needless to say, I was starving at this point and asked Matt to get out of the pool to come eat lunch. He stumbled out of the pool with that glassy look in his eyes...he was drunk. We ate lunch @ the buffet and as we ate, I think I repeated myself within our short conversation a few times because Matt had no attention span. After lunch, it was drizzling so we walked over to our room and Matt literally passed out on the bed in a fetal position. He woke up 3 hours later and he promised to not try and conquer the board anymore. I said something about lunch and he looked at me with a blank stare and asked, "What did I eat for lunch?" Yup, that's my husband. Later on that night, we found out that John actually got sick and was sleeping in the tub of his room for a while. What a way to kick off vacation!!!



Again, I went to bed that night, praying to the heavens above for some fun in the sun. I went to bed that night, dreaming of floating in the pool with my sunglasses on and my Malibu BayBreeze in my hand. When I opened the curtains on Saturday morning, it was the same old story. Rain, clouds and minimal sun : ( I think Matt could sense I was ready to kill someone at this point. I was optomistic; I lathered myself in sunscreen, put on my bathing suit and cover up with my sandals, packed my UA bag with books and magazines, took the umbrella from the room and headed to breakfast. As we sat in the Pavillion, it started to downpour. It was unreal. I really thought someone from above was trying to punish me for something. Anyway, when it stopped raining, we claimed some chairs near the pool. I really refused to move at this point, even if it started to rain again. I guess you can say I was trying to put up a fight with the weather gods. After a few small little showers, the sun started to pier through the clouds after lunchtime. It didn't rain the rest of the day, which was a win to me!



I went to bed that night, confident that the next day would cooperate with me and did it ever! Everyday after that, the sun shined about 90% of the day. On average, St. Lucia gets an inch of rain a day. It wasn't unlikely to get some rain or drizzle at some point during the day. Laying there on a beach chair, it was somewhat refreshing when the hot sun was beating down on you for a while. It reminded me of when we were kids and you'd run through the sprinkler to cool off. The weather was absolutely perfect for the rest of the vacation.



Matt and I also made friends with an awesome couple from Indiana, Ian and Meghan. They were on the flight with us down to St. Lucia and experienced that crazy drive across the island after we landed. Not to embarrass Ian or anything, but he could seriously pass as Peyton Manning! I said something to Megan one of the days we were laying out on the chairs near the pool and she laughed, "He gets that ALOT." We all hit it off! We had dinner almost every night together with conversations recalling our days back in college, our weddings, how we met, our jobs...you know, the usual. We had a blast together people watching at the pool or the beach everyday; Matt and Ian usually had something funny to say about somebody.

Sunday night, Matt and I enjoyed a private 5 course dinner overlooking the beach, which was a wedding present from Diana. Oh my god, the food was amazing and actually normal American food size portions! The funniest part about the whole dinner was the salad. The salad was placed inside a bowl, made of what I thought was lettuce. So I cut into the bowl, took a bite...crunch...and immediately spit it back out. It was actually raw onion! I think I guzzled down my glass of champagne and water and still couldn't get the taste out of my mouth! Matt laughed at me the entire time as this little scene is going on. I didn't eat anymore of the salad after that!

On Monday morning, we all boarded a bus to one of St. Lucia's rainforests for a canopy tour to be Jane and Tarzan for the day. This sounds so childish but it was the coolest thing I've ever done in my life! It included 19 platforms and 12 ziplines, alot of hiking and alot of laughs, especially from me. On the video, you'll see how much I laugh and smile as I go down this zipline. Matt had the ability to hook my camera up to the harnass for videa. The views of the landscape were breathtakingly beautiful. While initating Jane, you had to remind yourself to look around and not necessarily infront of you or you'd miss out on the litte waterfalls, streams and huge trees. Again, absolutely AMAZING!

Wednesday, we had a couples massage....again, AMAZING. Matt has never had a massage and he was a little big nervous before it started. But after an hour of soothing music, tension reducing scents and a Swedish massage, Matt and I had gone to heaven and back. I looked over at Matt after it was all over and his words were, "I never knew it would feel that good." Yeah, apparently I don't do it for him : (

Now this is where the vacation gets interesting! Thursday our departure on AA 2018 was scheduled for 5:40 pm so we departured Sandals at 2 pm for our hour long trip back across the island. When we arrived at the airport, the line was rather long and didn't really seem to be moving. An American Airlines employee approached me and with a smile on my face says to me, "Did you know your flight has been cancalled?" I just looked and him and with a little laugh said, "Yeah." Like yeah, good joke. After a few minutes, I said to Matt that the guy had said something about our flight being cancelled but he seemed to be kidding. I took a stroll over to the board and in blinking red...

AA 2018 CANCELLED!

I couldn't believe it! We were there with Megan and Ian, as well as two other couples. We had no idea why the flight was cancelled, if something else would be coming in. So we stood online for about another hour and a half, playing out what we would say at the ticket counter and various situations that could arise. When we got to the counter, we found out that there were problems with the plane and our only option would be to fly out tomorrow....FABULOUS!

So now instead of a direct flight, we would have to fly into Miama and then JFK. But we couldn't fly into JFK because that flight was overbooked. So it was either LGA or Newark; obviously LGA. We were then informed that we would have to be back @ the airport when the counter opened @ 12:30 to ensure that we would get our flight to Miama...ok flight out @ 3:50...awesome! However, the greatest news ever was when the nice young lady at the ticket counter said this, " I've reserved seats for you in the emergency exit row for your flight up to Miama. I may lose my job for this but I bumped you up to Business class for your flight from Miama to New York." OMG...I wanted to jump over the counter and kiss this young lady. "Here are your vouchers for a cab to the hotel, back to the airport in the morning and a voucher for the hotel. You will be staying at Coconut Bay." Coconut Bay was a family all inclusive 10 minutes from the hotel. We walked into the hotel...this definitely was not the Regency. Our rooms was painted various colors with a run down couch, a very small chair and a bed that seemed to have a covering of plastic under it....oh yeah!

So to make a long story short, we finally left St. Lucia on Friday @ 3:50 PM, got into LGA @ 12 AM on Saturday; back in CT @ 2 AM. It was an extremely long day but lets put it this way...Matt and I will pay to fly First Class any day of the week. We got drinks as soon as we got on the plane, hot peanuts as a snack, burgers and salads, a large warm cookie, mints and a hot towel. This was in a 2 1/2 hour flight period! Absolutely AMAZING. Matt and I literally laughed with everything that came to us.

So to summarize it all, it was an absolutely AMAZING vacation. Unfortunately, reality is around the corner with an early morning wake up call tomorrow @ 5 AM...wippee!