Sunday notes

I am currently watching the USA v Canada hockey game and these guys are crazy insane... it is so exciting to watch. Today for lunch I made this yummy sandwich I saw on realsimple.com. I made a couple of changes, like using a honey mustard vinaigrette on top...mmmmm. This weekend I have been catching up a lot, cleaning house and trying to get a little organized. I downloaded the new Corinne Bailey Rae album and was rockin' out to it while I was working around the house. I have also been working on finishing up our thank you notes. I. Am. Almost. Done. We had another snowstorm at the end of the week and it has been snowing on and off all weekend. I am so ready for spring. I'm off to have the last mint skinny cow ice cream sandwich left in the freezer.

Cheers,

Mary

31 to-dos in 31 days: the March challenge

In no particular order, following are the 31 things I need to accomplish over the next 31 days:

1. Collect all of my important paperwork and place in my fire-proof safe

2. Finish as much name-change paperwork as I can (still fighting with the Florida DMV about having to appear in person to change my name on my Driver’s License)

3. Go through the rest of my clothes and organize my donations

4. Put together my blog entry for my faves for spring

5. Finish and send out marriage announcement

6. Super-secret-spring project

7. Get my kitchenware in order

8. Make a list of new foods i’d like to try and then plan to try them

9. Make a list of parties i’d like to throw and then throw one by the end of spring

10. Collect all of my tax documents and then file my taxes

11. Check my fire extinguisher, smoke detectors, and change the light bulbs in my apartment (i’m currently running on just 1 of 5 light bulbs in my dining room light)

12. Buy, “Nesting, It’s Chick Thing” and enjoy

13. Update my security clearance paperwork

14. Have a bed day- I can work, read, eat, do whatever I want, but I will stay in bed all day

15. Plan with Bryan how we want to decorate our new home together

16. Try a new soup recipe

17. Tackle my linen closet

18. Tackle my storage room

19. Update my Christmas card scrapbook

20. Purchase my new outfit to celebrate my fave colors for this spring

21. Enjoy the release of the Twilight:New Moon dvd release!

22. Super-secret-housewarming-project

23. Visit Sweetiepie in NYC

24. Try to bake my own chocolate croissants

25. Spend and evening at a bookstore

26. Spend a quiet night at home with no tv

27. Continue work on my quilt of my sorority t-shirts

28. Tackle the corner of my bedroom where I throw stuff and my desk

29. Go to the The Pop Shop, the diner in New Jersey that features over 30 variations of grilled cheese.. yum!

30. Stock up on Fresh ink cards and update my Celebrations book and plan correspondence

31. Visit Border Cafe in Cambridge, Mass- where the combination of mexican food and country music is blissful

Cheers,

Mary

Strong to the finish

So February became sort of a sit around and enjoy month for me... it certainly hasn’t been so for Bryan who has been tirelessly working towards the finish of his Master’s program. Compared to all the other work he has to do, it seems like the thesis is just a small part of his last semester. He is working literally all day on projects, labs, and exams. It blows my mind how much work he has and how much of his life it consumes. We will both be grateful when he graduates on March 25th!

March is going to be very task-ful, but I kind of like it that way. I keep myself busy with enough stuff that I can be distracted from the fact that I miss Bryan more and more everyday... thank goodness this is almost over. First thing first- Bryan defends his thesis on Thursday. Then on Friday he flies into Baltimore and I pick him up on our way to DC. We will be staying in the guest suite of the building we are thinking of moving into in the metro DC area. To celebrate Bryan and his accomplishments (so proud!) we are going to be staying Saturday night at the W hotel in downtown Washington, enjoying some dinner and dancing with great friends.

The following weekend, i’ll head to Boston with some lovely ladies from NYC to spend some quality time with Courtney before she moves to Kentucky this summer after defending her dissertation in Clinical Psychology. The girls and I haven’t been to Boston together since 2007 so this is sure to be a trip to remember. We will also get to spend some time with the Stepura family as well!

March of course will come to close in dramatic fashion as I head to Dayton for Bryan’s graduation. We will get to spend some wonderful time with his parents and our Dayton family before everyone goes their separate ways the first week of April.

Cheers,

Mary

The past couple of months have been very busy...

I have been really been slacking in the blog department.

December and January were filled with what felt like daily tasks in preparation for the holidays and our wedding. Baking, card-writing, gift-buying, wrapping, and shipping gave way to program making, favor assembly, and more shipping. I had a goal to get as much wedding stuff done in January so that February could just be about enjoying our wedding and our time with our dear friends and family. These two months also brought crazy snowstorms to both of us. The earthquake in Haiti provided me some outstanding opportunities at work to learn new aspects of my job including deploying the personnel who went to Haiti to run the airfield and to work in our fitness center as we received over 500 repatriated US citizens over 3 days.

Before we knew it, it was February and despite yet another snowstorm threatening the Northeast, we both made it to Florida to get married! The whole weekend was absolutely amazing and dream-like. Everything was perfect. Bryan and I were also able to join some friends for a weekend ski trip the week following the wedding. Bryan also turned in his thesis- so proud of him!

As I reflect upon the past three months I can hardly believe all that we accomplished. God has blessed us immensely!

Cheers,

Mary