A Delayed Reaction and Some Recent Happenings

As mentioned a few posts ago, the weekend preceding Memorial Day, Dan and I played host and hostess to our good friends Greg and Erika. They stayed from Wednesday night to Monday morning and for the most the time, we were like ships passing in the night as Dan and I ran to and from work, and they traveled to see friends and to a wedding a few hours west in PA. However, we did get spend some quality time together before they had to head home to Maine. We had our traditional cook out with the fire pit and then moved inside to play games and, of course, watch some Family Guy.

While the fire was burning us some prime cooking coals, Dan and Greg decided it would be fun to explore the barn in the woods near our house.

Erika and I waited safely outside


They came away with some treasurers - a little Star Wars figure (can't remember what it's called) and a crow bar. I think that classifies it as a successful trip.

This past weekend, we traveled out to Ohio to celebrate Jasalyn's 2nd birthday and spend some time with Carlee and Jason.

Testing out Uncle Dan's Crocs =)
Carlee and Jason set up a party at their community pool for Jasalyn and her little buddies. The theme was "Lamby" inspired (Lamby is the stuffed lamb/blanket combo that is Jasalyn's best friend... she even has a "Car Lamby" for whent the real Lamby fails to make it along for road trips).
Carlee ordered a lamb cake and my Mom made a Sand Cake (a vanilla version of the classic Dirt Cake - and just as yummy!)

Getting a kiss from Daddy after he smeared cake on her nose

Opening some more presents at home - the men look thrilled!

Aside from partying it up, we also took Jasalyn to a local water park called Breezy Point. It was definitely a place geared towards little ones, but we had a good time none-the-less. It was entertaining to watch Jasalyn frolic through the water squirters.

It's hard a photograph a toddler on the move!

We wrapped the weekend up with a double-date to play mini-golf and race go-karts at East Gate Adventures with Carlee and Jason. Much to Jason's dismay, Carlee kicked all our butts at mini-golf.

Back on the homefront, Dan and I are in the process of re-arranging our entire house... We got the hair-brained idea to turn our back "entertainment room" into our bedroom, and it's consequently turining into a bigger project than we anticipated and is pretty much affecting every room in the house. Our bedroom is the new TV room, our dining room now also has a sitting area with couches, his office is now our office, my office is on its way to becoming the guest bedroom, and the guest bedroom will soon be the cat room. *Phew!* By the time we get everything in order, it will most likely be time to pack everything up and start over in our apartment, but we're having fun with it anyway.

Happy News

DANIEL GOT THE JOB AT EASTERN!!!  Woohoo! *^.^*

For those of you who don't already know, Dan interviewed for a Grounds Keeper position last week at Eastern and got the call yesterday that he was the man for the job. He starts Monday, June 15. We'll be commuting to PA together and will finally be able to enjoy our weekends on the same days- yay!!! We're both looking forward to this new stat.

Thanks for all the prayers!

More updates to come soon (maybe with photos?). Stay tuned =)

Catch-Up and Mustard

Where to begin...

Let's see, my last "real" update was back in February... Quite a bit has happened since then!

At the end of March, I finally received my offer letter from Eastern and am now officially on staff full-time. I'm still working on the alumni website, the Eagle's Nest, and have also taken on the role of Prospect Researcher. Several weeks ago, I went through training for the latter of the two roles, and thus far, I have really been enjoying the new responsibilities. It's not a job little girls dream of doing when they grow-up, but I'm finding it to be a really fascinating field. Coming up in June, I'll be attending the Mid-Atlantic Researcher's Conference, where I should learn a whole boat load more about the profession and get the chance to network with other researchers from around the area.

Daniel is still at the Mansion, but has been looking for another job over in PA. He's been on a few interviews so far. Most recently, he interviewed for a ground's keeper position at Eastern. We're both praying that this job comes through - Dan would absolutely love to be working at Eastern, and of course, I'd be ecstatic, too!! This would also mean that Dan would be working more regular hours and we would have weekends off together (woohoo!) and we could commute together until we move over to PA.

Speaking of moving to PA, Dan and I had plans to move in July, but due to some unexpected circumstances, those plans have put on hold. Currently, we are looking to move around September and although we are casually looking, we'll fully resume our apartment search around June/July when apartment complexes will have a better idea of how many units will be available in the fall.

Even though we were looking forward to the move, we're feeling content about staying in our house for the summer. Daniel has done a lot of work outside constructing a fire pit for us. We've had several cookouts and have been enjoying having the best part of a camping trip in our own backyard. Yesterday, Dan also put up some torches that were left by the previous renters and the whole area looks very inviting. We're hoping to find a cheap table to keep out there as well so we don't have to keep using our nice fold up tables from inside.

Last week Daniel and I celebrated our 6 month "anniversary" with a dinner at Iron Moto, a favorite local hibachi restaurant of ours. *^-^* It's hard to believe that we have been married for half a year already! I know it's not that long, but I still feel like it was just yesterday that we started dating (rather, I began assuming that we were dating... ).

Tonight, our good friends Erika and Greg from Maine are coming to stay with us for a few days. They have a wedding in PA on Saturday and are taking a few days off to spend time with friends down in this area since they can't make it down very often. It should a fun few days!

Back From Unplanned Blog Hiatus

This blog is in sad shape... I really did have the best of intentions when I started it! Somehow, I always let time get away from me....

Earlier I was thinking that I haven't updated because our life has been pretty uneventful since the last time I posted, but thinking back - that's a bold-faced lie! Quite to the contrary, life has been pretty busy as of late and perhaps that's why the blog has suffered. After working 10 hours and commuting at least an hour to and from Eastern (usually more), I'm pretty much beat by the time I get home and blogging is the last thing on my mind. But, I really do want to stick with it. So, I'll try to post a little something each week, even if it's short.

Now is not the time to play catch-up, but it will come soon (well, ok... it will come eventually. "Soon" may be too optimistic of a word). Anyway, let's see how long I can keep this up before I accidentally abandon it again for another 2 months =)

Our Furry Friends

2 weeks ago (man, I'm really horrible at updating!), Dan and I welcomed 2 new furry Weldings into our clan! We adopted Edward and Bella, a brother and sister kitty duo, from Furrever Friends (the rescue I have been working with at Pet Smart on Sundays). They are incredibly shy, but have slowly been coming around. Bella is a bit braver than her brother, and they are both very sweet. Unfortunately, Phoebe has been less than pleased to have these two have intruders on her turf. This means that they have been living in our back room with limited time to explore the rest of the house lest Phoebe decides to pick a fight. Although, I'm optimistic that they'll learn to get along in time.

Edward is the gray and white kitty on the right and Bella is on the left (photo creds go to Kellyn for this shot):

Also speaking of furry friends, Dan spent Monday building a nice little enclosure for BunBun. My office is now much more rabbit friendly. I think BunBun enjoys have the extra space, however, it has not succeeded in making her less of a brat >.<

And, if you're wondering, there will no more furry additions for a while. We are planning on getting a dog, but need to wait until we have a yard and a little more income. These stipulations, however, have not stopped us from scoping out petfinder.com and the local shelters. ^-~ After the pup, our animal population will be maxed out.

Hello, 2009!

January was quite a busy month for us. We had two weddings two weeks in a row. The second one happened to be in Disney World, so we decided to go a couple days ahead of time in order to get some park time in. I have quite a few photos from Disney, but I'm only going to put up a few favorites.

The first wedding we attended was on January 10th down in Maryland for two of our good friends from Eastern - Vickie and (John) Wyatt. They had star themed reception, complete with constellation table markers and one of the best cakes I've ever eaten (it was first time I've sampled gum paste, and let me tell you, I'm a fan!).




The next wedding was that of our good friends (and huge Disney fanatics!) Katie and Eddie. The wedding took place January 18th in Disney World! It was everything a Disney wedding should be - magical and romantic. Dan and I flew down to Orlando the evening of the 15th for our mini-vacation and came home on the evening of the 19th. Daniel also had the privilege of being the only guy at Katie's bachelorette party. :)

Dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater:


I love this ride! It's a Small World:

Daniel poses with baby Mickey and Minnie in a shop on Main Street, USA:

My favorite shot from the bachelorette party at Fantasia Gardens mini golf (Dan is pretending to swim, but it looks more like he's sleeping)

This wedding had a lot of character! (haha- get it?? yeah... that was a pretty lame pun. I just couldn't help myself!)



My favorite part? The pastor said, in a Jamaican accent (or, close to it): "Go on and kiss 'dee girl":


gettin' our swing on... it had to happen! :)

December Photo Wrap-Up (aka - my photos are horribly out of order!)

I finally got the photos up! Woohoo! Well, half of them anyway (January will have its own post)... Here, in some kind of wacky order (because, blogger drives me crazy with the way the photos upload backwards) are the rest of our photos from December:

Our wine glass shelf that Daniel put up shortly after Christmas:


Rose blowing out the candles on her strawberry birthday cake on December 31st:


After honing our skills on the Wii, we decided it was time to actually go bowling:



"The Captain" with his beautiful granddaughter, Ellie, on her first Christmas:

Erin decorating Gracie on Christmas morning:

One of my Christmas traditions is the "Stair Picture" - my siblings and I would sit on the stairs with as many pets as we could gather and my mom would take a picture of us before we opened presents. Dan and I don't have stairs, so we took a family portrait in front of the tree. Mama Smith took a Stair Picture for us on Christmas Eve sans Phoebe:


Mama Smith opening her Dyson from all the Smith/White siblings and significant others (unfortunately, she wasn't very surprised, but she was still excited!):

Our nieces, Jamie (right) and Ashley (left) at Mama and Papa Smith's house on Christmas Eve; seconds later, chaos ensued as all those presents behind them were opened:

Gingies made by myself and Mama Smith and then decorated by Daniel and I (these are some of the cuter ones):

Christmas Eve! Dan and I exchanged Christmas Eve presents (i.e. pajamas):

Daniel was excited because it was his turn to move the mouse on the last advent calendar day- definitely a moment that needed to be documented:

A feta cheese snowman that I made for the Ugly Holiday Sweater Party hosted by our good friends Genevieve and Kara:

Papa Smith was a councilman in Woodbury Heights for 10 years. He retired this year, and we were invited to his last council meeting as a surprise to watch him receive a "proclomation" and a few other parting gifts. Here he is with the mayor, Harry, and his running mate, Jake:

Dan had nothing to do with this, but I felt that these truffles, made by our good friend Amy for our friend Vickie's wedding shower, needed to be shown off. They were a little taste of heaven! And I was priveledged to assist in their creation:

Super Massive... BLOG POST!

Well, "super massive" might not be quite the word for this particular post, but I have fantastic news: I am currently downloading all 697 photos from my camera onto my computer! WOOHOO! (also, today I was listening to Muse - "Super Massive Black Hole"; obviously, I was inspired!)

I would absolutely love to play photo catch-up tonight, but it is getting late and, alas, tomorrow is Monday which means that I am back to work. *pout* The unfortunate thing about weekends is that they just go by too fast!

As far as I can remember, photos will be appearing from:
-Christmas!
-Dan's handy work (aka the shelf behind our bar in all its glory)
-2 weddings - Vickie and Wyatt as well as Katie and Eddie
-Disney
-and... probably some more random things.... who knows; it's been so long since I uploaded, it will be a surprise to me, too! YAY! (ok, maybe I'm a little too excited... or just over tired?)

Hopefully *crosses fingers* there will be a series of posts up by tomorrow. Hold tight, NA Fans (I just decided that's the new name for anyone reads this. NA = Newlywed Adventures) (edit: ok, I think I should ban myself from posting right before bed time); the blog will not be vacant for much longer! *^.^*

A Quick Look Back

I'm always a little thrown off by January. It comes creeping around the corner after Christmas and blindsides me every year. You'd think I'd be used to it after 23 years? I don't know what it is about the new year, but it always makes me feel all sappy and sentimental. Especially after this past year. No doubt, for Daniel and I, 2008 is a year that will be remembered forever. I mean, holy cow! It was a freaking whirlwind!! Wonderful, of course, but still... so much happened, I think my head is still spinning.

It all started with a swing proposal on Valentine's Day, just a month and a half into '08. That was quickly followed by the beginnings of wedding planning. We both graduated in May and then spent a week in the happiest place on earth - Disney World! The summer brought new jobs for both of us (and of course, ensuing employment drama for yours truly), and a multitude of weddings for friends and family. We began fixing up the house near the end of the summer and I moved my butt over in September. The next few months were chock full 'o planning, which was wrapped up on what I like to classify as the best day of my life... November 15th (our wedding day!). After that, naturally, was the honeymoon in Bear Creek, PA (and 4 new tires for Pearl). From there, it was straight on into the holidays and beginning to settle into married life. *Phew!* Like I said, what a year!

I don't think 2009 will be able to top it, but Dan and I are looking forward to seeing what it holds for us. It will be our 1st full year together, so I'm sure it will be full of new discoveries and lots of adjustments as we become more adapted to this whole marriage thing :)

The day that started it all! *^.^*

Hodge Podge

I don't have any photos at the moment due to a lack of USB cable (hopefully, I'll be remedying that quite soon!), however, I did promise a new post! It's unfortunate that it needs to be sans-pictures because I was really hoping to show off Dan's handy work on a recent project. With any luck, I should be able to post some within the next week. Anyway... on with the post!

Part 1: Christmas! (and New Year's, too! Happy Birthday, Rose ^-^)

Ah, our first Christmas together - a major milestone of our first year together, all gone so quickly! I probably say this every year (as we all do), but I can't believe Christmas is over already! To me, it is by far the highlight of the year. Time to start counting down to next Christmas!

I'm going to try and keep this as short and sweet as possible (I could really get carried away if I let myself... Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house with Chris, Stacie, Jamie and Ashley, Darren and Jenn, and Nana. There was a lot of food, some boogie-ing down to Christmas toons, and present opening (mostly by Jamie and Ashley, the little ones). Also, Daniel finally saw The Christmas Story all the way through (he still doesn't understand all the hype). Post dinner and presents, we met up with the Welding side of the family at St. John's for the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.

Christmas morning we opened stockings at home and took our family Christmas portrait by the tree. We then went over to the Weldings and spent the day with everyone!! All the siblings and the extras were present as well as Aunt Sallie and (of course!!) Dan's parents. We had a wonderful present filled morning, a traditional Christmas afternoon nap, and a lovely dinner in the evening.

Saturday was the Welding Christmas party, which Dan could unfortunately not attend due to work. It was at Aunt Betty's convent in Bryn Mawr. The highlight of the party?? I won a prize while doing an activity!! It was a combination radio-calendar-calculator.

Sunday my parents and Nana came over for dinner and to do presents (we didn't get a chance to open gifts from my parents on Christmas Eve). It was the first time Nana saw the house, and she was tickled :)

The days leading up to New Years are a Wii-filled blur.

New Year's Eve also happens to be Rose's birthday (this year was her 21st!!), so we spent the night over at 450 again celebrating both holidays.


Part 2: Home Improvement

Dan has been all about improving the house lately. He has also been on a re-design kick and has been plotting ways to combine our bedroom with my now office and add in a larger master bathroom. Until we can properly plan (and afford) any major work, he has been concentrating on small things here and there, which have been making a big difference in the house. The latest project was a shelf behind the bar. It has metal hangers for our wine glasses underneath, which cleared out some cabinet space where they used to be. Also, it looks really pretty with the glasses hanging upside down. It's practical, and a nice statement piece in the dining room. I'm very pleased with our bar area.

We also acquired some new furniture. We were given two blue leather sofas from Chris' parents, which are extremely comfortable and are exactly what we needed in the entertainment room. Darren gave us an island for the kitchen. He had it in his old house and hasn't found a use for it since moving to his place in Woodbury Heights. It's an amazing help when preparing meals.


Part 3: The Newest Welding

As you all know, Phoebe is our baby. She is the cat that was able to win Dan's heart (a large feat, indeed!!). Hopefully, our next pet will also be able to work it's furry magic... Dan and I are getting a bunny!!!!!! I'm definitely more excited than my other half. I've been wanting a bunny for as long as I can remember. Dan is being a fantastic husband by allowing me to live out this dream ^-^ (I think it helps that the bunny and it's cage are free).

The bunny is coming from my brother's co-worker (whose wife happens to be an Eastern alum.... small world!); it is a 1 year old black mini rex and it's a girl! Her current name is Blackberry Buttons, but I'm planning on changing it to Bun-Bun (yup, I've already caught a lot of flack for that name from Dan and others, but I'm sticking to it!!). Hopefully she'll be here within the next couple of days. I can't wait!!


Well, that was much longer than I intended, and I feel like I left so much out! C'est la vie, that's what I get for waiting half a month to update.

Look for photos soon!