Halloween

Another great Halloween this year! It has to be my favorite non-holiday! I love dressing up as something fun or crazy!
After taking my best friend to see Wicked for her (big) birthday last summer, and me finding my sister's prom dress from 1988, we decided to be Galinda and Elphaba. We couldnt' get Matt to join us as the Tin Man, Lion, or Scarecrow, but that was ok once we got to one party and realized some of our other awesome friends had it covered!

Andy's Wedding!

Ok, next summer trip - Andrea's wedding in Seattle, Washington! Kind of... With Field Hockey under way and school starting that Monday it was a bit of a crazy time to travel to the west coast, but you can't miss your sister-in-law's wedding, so off we went! And boy are we glad we did! We spent a day in Seattle helping Andrea get everything ready to go, got some sushi, hit Pike Place Market and then packed up the rental cars the next day to head for Mount Rainier! After Dad's death-defying trip out there a few years back, I was equally excited to experience it as well as celebrate Andrea's nuptials.
She picked the cutest location just off the National Park. Matt and I got a little log cabin all to ourselves complete with fireplace, kitchenette, and private hot tub! There was a large lodge which housed many of their friends, but the overflow consisted of tents in the clearing just at the foot of the reception site. Yep, camping at a wedding! Never would have imagined that, but they clearly had fun too!
Before hiking up into the woods for their ceremony, Matt and I got to spend the day walking Rainier and it was absolutely beautiful! Not quite how my dad had described it, but then again, we weren't attempting to summit it! Instead we walked the picturesque trails and I made sure to take plenty of flower photos with the mountain as a backdrop!
It was an intimate ceremony up in the woods and we happily welcomed Greg, ironically from outside Hanover PA, I think, as a member of the family! Congrats, Percy!

Honeymoon

Hmm, yeah, it's been a while since the last update. Here's a picture from my honeymoon to Mexico this past summer. After just shoveling some snow outside, what a welcome sight this picture is!
While Matt and I did stay in Cancun we took a day trip out to Machu Picchu in order to see some ruins. That was one of my requirements for the destination and scuba diving was one of his. We did both! The ruins were beautiful but it was hot - stand there and sweat kind of hot! We didn't let that get us down though, we walked all over and saw as much as we could. I got some great pictures that I'm pretty proud of!
The scuba diving was also fantastic. Despite having gone diving in Guam, Fiji, and Puerto Rico, which each had their individual perks, I must say the the fish we saw in Mexico were the most I've seen anywhere. Matt had a minor mishap in that he sort of forgot how to control his air intake and ended up getting carried away in a current, he did pretty well for only his second time out in the open water! LOL! Yeah, I did get a little nervous when he was barely a blurp on the radar screen and the dive guide was tapping for him to come back down, but he was fine. His great sense of humor allowed us to laugh about it plenty when we got back up on the boat! Overall it was a really nice trip to get away and have some time together. With lots of relaxing by the pool, dinners out and a night downtown in a hotspot for the locals, who wouldn't have fun? It was a blast!

End of the Year Video

One of my 8th graders, who also worked in the TV Studio, spent a lot of time on this Karaoke video at the end of the year, and I'm very proud of the wonderful job that she did! Check it out!
(I can say for sure that all of the teachers had a blast filming it, and I think she enjoyed seeing her teachers in a different light too.)

Summer!!

Ok, soo, long time, no posts, but, I guess I've been busy. (That excuse gets so lame, doesn't it? I know, I apologize. )

Actually, the year finished up a little chaotic, as usual, I guess, but overall it was successful! My teammates and friends are always helpful and sometimes the best lifesavers! Thank you!
My students might not believe it, but I will really miss (some of) them. It's always the students who fought me the hardest that finish with a simple "thank you" which means the world to me. Thankfully, in what was a challenging year, there were more than the usual number of those and to those wonderful young ladies, I thank you for being so wonderful to me. (I knew they could do it!)
Back in April I did a training to start some volunteer work. Since then I have been volunteering 1-2 nights a week at a barn up in Snydersville for Equilibrium. The program provides equine therapy to children and young adults with special needs. While my allergies and the horses aren't always the most cooperative, the "students" certainly are and I genuinely enjoy my time there.
So far my summer is off to a wonderful start! I enjoyed a week at the beach with "the Girls" while Matt finished his school year. Smoothly, of course. I also hosted a going away party for my brother-in-law who graciously will be serving our country in Iraq for the next year. I was able to help my sister spend some extra QT with him by taking their beautiful children for a day and then again for the 4th of July while she flew off to TX. They are absolutely wonderful and, as you can see, I enjoyed my time with them! However, it will be a long year awaiting his return.
Finally, one more wonderful week, almost, was spent out in Erie, PA, ok, East Springfield, relaxing with my BFF! We got in some good girl chat over the 6 1/2 hour drive (ugh)! We also got some more sun while laying out next to her sister's pool and, of course, the beach at Lake Erie. We took in some beautiful sunsets and made the most of some visits to three of the local wineries. (I didn't get to the wine festival on Lake Seneca this year, but this was just as good!!!) We returned in time for our own 4th of July celebrations and now I'm back to work teaching the TV Studio to prospective students. The benefits of which I reap once the school year begins again.

Our New Home!

Well, here we are at the new homestead! It's not the best picture of the house, but if you notice the date, you can see why we're dressed this way. It seemed like the perfect picture to post first! No, we haven't scared the neighbors away either by dressing this way too regularly! At least the brick and walkway give you a nice idea of "home."
There aren't any interior pictures yet, but I'm working on the house one room at a time. I'm pretty much down to figuring out the dining room and basement, but overall I'm very happy with how everything has worked out. I believe the house was meant to be the way all of our furniture matched up so nicely in it!
The picture below gives you a nice idea of what the back patio could look like, if we just got rid of all those crazy men! But doesn't Sue look fabulous?! This was the St. Patty's Day Van Tour! Special thanks to Herman for being DD and toting us all around safely!
I'll get around to that housewarming thing soon, especially now that the weather is warming up!!

So outdated!

Ok, so things have been a little busy since we decided to make the big move! I realize my last blog was months ago but unfortunately I have no new pictures to add, but yes, I'm working on it!
We moved over Christmas break with a tremendous amount of help from our wonderful friends! (Thank you, thank you!) The sorting of boxes and painting, and unpacking, and organizing has pretty much filled my every moment, but I'm getting there! Making the move in the middle of Matt's basketball season was difficult but I think we both managed quite nicely.
We also didn't sell 32 but have decided to rent it in the hopes of the market improving in another year or so. Thankfully some more of my girlfriends were in the hunt for a new place so there should be very little stress associated with our new tenants! They move in next month!
We're hoping to set a date for a housewarming once the weather clears, and I have a few more jobs finished!