Kristy & John's Page

Jack, 6 months old!!!

2009-04-06T17:11:00.009-04:00

I have to be honest, I have been completely addicted to Facebook lately, I haven't checked this blog in almost 2 months!!! I thought I would update it just in case anyone still checks it :-)

Jack has been doing really well, we are really blessed with a good baby!! He has been sleeping through the night since he was about 10 weeks old so mommy and daddy are getting plenty of rest at night! He has been sitting up very well and has even started doing the "worm" when he is on his belly. I have a feeling mommy will be losing the last few pounds of her baby weight pretty soon when he starts crawling! He has his 6 month doctor appointment tomorrow so we will see how he weighs in. He was 16 pounds about 6 weeks ago so I am guessing it will be around 18 pounds? Its crazy to think that he is twice the size of what he was when he was born!

John has been working like a madman lately, his job has been very demanding and he is now working from home which means he is pretty much at work 24/7. I am looking now for a job that I can work a few hours a week - I feel like I need that social outlet now and since Jack is a little older I feel comfortable with leaving him for a few hours a week. I tried going back to work in the "professional field" but it just got too crazy, so something simple that I don't have to stress about would be good.

Here are some pics of the little guy - there are more on Facebook, that usually where I try to post everything.

Little Jack Update!

2009-02-01T13:03:00.003-05:00

Sory we haven't updated in awhile to those of you who still check the bog :-)
I have beco quite a bit of a Facebook addict lately! I also went back to work part-time so it has been quite busy around here. John has been working from home but it isn't as easy as you think - I actually find it more difficult because I have to kind of stay out of his way which isn't easy in a tiny house!! His work has been super busy and he has been travelling almost every week.

Jack has hit so many milestones since I last posted. He has been sleeping through the night (10pm - 6am) since about 9-10 weeks and he rolls from his stomach to his back (about a month ago he started that) - he won't even stay on his stomach now for tummy time he just rolls over!!! He also just got cereal today - not so sure what he thinks of it yet!

He is almost holding his head up without much support but I am still nervous to leave him in the Bumbo chair unattended. He grabs at anything and everything - nothing is off limits to him (thats why mommy had to chop her hair)!

Our camera broke a few weeks ago so I have been borrowing my mom's - I just have to take the time to figure out how to get the pics onto the computer. In the meantime I will be posting most of or pics to Facebook, so if you haven't joined, sign up!!!

Babies Update

2008-12-03T03:10:00.002-05:00

Just an update from my previous post on all of our peeps who were having babies this year. Everyone had boys!!! Except for our friends Brian & Maureen, they had a little girl. I don't know if it is just us but it seems like everyone is having boys around us.

Congratulations Everyone!!! Can't wait for all of the babies to meet each other!!!

New Pics

2008-11-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

Here are some more pics of Little Jack

MOHAWK!!! (Jack's hair is so long - no haircuts until he is one!!)

Jack & his puppy

Big Smiles!! (or the beginning of a cry???)

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T20:52:00.000-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving and so much to be thankful for. John will begin working from home full-time starting January which means more time with the family and we have been blessed with a healthy little boy which we can't get enough of!! Here are some pics from Thanksgiving and the day after.

Big Boy!!

Daniel & Jack

Aunt Danielle with Jack's cousin Brian (we joked because we hardly have any pics of ourselves with our babies!!!)

Daddys with their boys!! (John and James)

Little Ella with Jack

Mommy & Jack

Too much Turkey!!!!

Falcons Fan???

2008-11-26T20:40:00.000-05:00

Looks like Daddy's trip to Atlanta confirmed his hatred for the stinky Eagles...

Random Pics

2008-11-14T16:16:00.006-05:00

Here are some recent pics we've taken of our little munchkin. He is doing so good, sleeping great at night and eating well. He is already up to 10 lbs. as of this past Monday. This is really good for him considering he lost a whole pound a few days after birth! John and I are really enjoying being parents, it is like Christmas every morning to wake up to him!

Kisses from Daddy!

Uncle Sean with Little Jack and Little Brian

First Bath

2008-11-13T15:34:00.003-05:00

I'm a little late in posting this, but here is a picture of little Jack's first bath. As you can see it wasn't a great experience for mom and dad!!!

GO PHILLIES!!!

2008-10-12T15:24:00.005-04:00

Here's a picture of our little pumpkin. We've decided to call him "Jack" to not have two Johns in the house (and also after his Pop-pop). He is doing great and we are enjoying every little bit of parenthood so far!!!

Welcome John David Quinn

2008-10-07T08:31:00.000-04:00

Born 10/07/08 @ 5:51 am
8 lbs.
pics will be posted soon!!!

Today is the Day!!!!

2008-10-06T06:37:00.003-04:00

Whether Baby Quinn likes it or not mommy is getting induced today!! I guess all of our "natural remedies" for induction didn't work :-)

We will keep you all posted on mommy, daddy and baby's status!!! Please keep us in your thoughts!

Last Belly Pic!!!

2008-10-03T15:09:00.004-04:00

No I haven't had the baby yet!!! If nothing happens by Monday we are going in to be induced. I am 3 centimeters and almost completely effaced, the baby just doesn't want to leave it's cozy little home :-)

I was not too good about taking pics of my belly - mostly because it is very unattractive with the nice line down the middle and the peeling skin! But, I did take these last pics just so I can remember how big I was! The good thing is that I only put on 25 lbs. which is what I am told a very healthy weight gain.

The funniest thing is that none of my shirts fit anymore!! None of them are long enough so I have been dealing with my belly creeping out from underneath (not a nice sight for short people!)

What the ????

2008-10-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

This is a typical scene in our house when we decide to eat a meal in our living room...poor John!

Mobile Blogging!

2008-09-26T20:15:00.000-04:00

I am so proud of myself right now - I think I have successfully joined the world of mobile blogging from my phone! Yeah!!! I can now blog from anywhere...

We're Making Progress!!!

2008-09-06T07:32:00.002-04:00

So I went for my 36 week check-up this past Thursday and we are 1 centimeter dilated and 75% effaced (meaning cervix is almost all thinned out)!! Woo hoo!! The doctor seems to think this baby is going to be here much more sooner than October 3rd. She told me that the baby's head is down real low (I could have told her that considering my bladder does not belong to me anymore!) and depending on how much more I've dilated by next week we could have a baby in about 2 weeks.

According to most of my "mom" friends, the doctors don't usually tell you that unless they really think it will be sooner because they don't want you to anticipate something that isn't going to come for awhile.

I have been having quite a few contractions (Braxton-Hicks ones I suppose) but they are definitely getting more intense, starting low and moving to my lower back. We just need to get them a little more regular!

Other than that everything has been swell with us. I have put myself on semi-house arrest, meaning I am not traveling anywhere outside a 20 mile area. I made my last trip up to the Lehigh Valley labor day weekend. I just can't handle the car rides - way too uncomfortable!!

We will keep everyone posted on my status after this next doc's appt.

Happy Birthday Riley!!

2008-08-28T07:15:00.002-04:00

Today is my nephew Riley's 6th birthday. Now I have one nephew's birthday on the 27th of August and one on the 28th!!! Should be easy to remember!

I hope you enjoy your day buddy!

Congratulations Danielle & Brian!!!

2008-08-27T21:10:00.000-04:00

Danielle had her little baby boy tonight, Brian Christopher at 6:19pm. He weighed in at 8.5 lbs. Everyone is doing well, we saw her shortly after. More pics to follow tomorrow!!!

Alien in my belly?!?

2008-08-18T16:40:00.005-04:00

I am so glad that I got the 4D ultrasound done a few weeks ago. I swore from the previous 3 ultrasounds and the various body parts poking through my belly at different times that there was an alien from another planet trying to escape from my body!!!!! It was nice to see a cute face!

It's funny because a lot of people post their moving bellies on YouTube but every time I try to record it stops.

I'm sure all you moms out there know what I am talking about as far as the belly movements!! It is so incredible to feel those first movements but once the space starts getting tight you start seeing knees, elbows, butts, fingers - you name it poking though. The entertainment value on a random night is the best though!! Just the train ride with my mom to NYC 2 weeks ago was the best - she didn't stop talking and poking little little baby Quinn the whole time and he/she LOVED it!! It's incredible how they respond to sounds they recognize.

NYC was fun, we got to stay at the Ritz Carlton thanks to some gift certificates earned through my old job at Mars. We saw the Jersey Boys show on Broadway and it was the best - what great music!!

As far as the "morning sickness" or "any time it wants to strike sickness" goes, it still comes and goes once in awhile. I was just in the ER twice for kidney stones, once at 28 weeks and again at 33 weeks - I guess that is just another pregnancy thing - but PAINFUL!!!

The nursery is almost put together, we have the furniture and our baby shower was last week. Thanks to everyone who was so kind to John and I and the baby, and especially to Grammy Jones and Mom-Mom Quinn for organizing everything (and hand-making my invitations)!!

"Aunt Danielle" is due with her little monkey this Saturday so we are hoping that she doesn't go "late" and everything goes smooth!

Sorry its been so long since I last posted but it has definitely been a crazy 3rd trimester for John and I. We just can't wait to meet this little baby!!!

Baby Calendar

2008-08-16T14:04:00.001-04:00

In addition to my previous post about the "baby boom" I would like to recognize a good handful (or two) or our friends/family who just had or are about to have babies

Sean & Kris - baby boy Sean born 6/08
Marc & Amber - baby boy Jackson born 7/23
Brendan & Aimee - baby boy Brendan born 7/24
Danielle & Brian - any day now!!!
Kristen & James - due 9/12
Maureen & Brian - due 9/21 with baby girl
Shannon & Kip - due last week of September with baby boy
John and I, due 10/03
Jim & Nicky - due last week of November with baby boy

Anyone see a trend here?? Lots of boys!!

Crazy, huh?!? These are all people we see pretty often and are pretty close with. It will be so fun to have kids all around the same age, especially with John and his sister having kids so close together. These will be the first grandkids for Jack and Pat (John's parents) so they are super excited!!! They will definitely be broken in quick!

Baby Quinn in 4D Ultrasound!

2008-08-01T22:59:00.009-04:00

STILL SHOTS

VIDEO CLIP OF THE BABY

BABIES, BABIES, BABIES!!!

2008-07-31T20:45:00.001-04:00

Congrats in advance to all of our friends/family members who will be having babies in these next few months!! It is so awesome because it feels like all of our friends are having children at the same time - they will all have friends to play with when we want to hang out with each other.

Is it just me or does there seem to be a "baby boom" happening here in 2008? I feel like so many people I know right now are pregnant!!!

Good luck to all of the women out there who will be giving birth soon. It truly is an amazing thing and the biggest (and toughest) job you will have as a woman!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!

2008-05-20T22:49:00.000-04:00

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday. We celebrated by staying in and cooking a nice steak dinner (we are preparing ourselves for parenthood!!). Our neighbors came over and enjoyed some ice cream cake with us.

Oh, and update on baby that I forgot - I am consistently feeling him or her move this week - what a reassuring feeling!!! It sure took long enough!

Pics and Baby Quinn Update

2008-05-19T17:05:00.008-04:00

Finally I look pregnant (and not like I've been spending a lot of time at the bar) to strangers!!! I was in Target the other day and the checkout lady asked me if I knew what I was having. We ended up having a five minute conversation about pregnancy and babies, etc. My family has been telling me that I "popped" about 2 weeks or so ago, but it's nice to know that strangers can now tell! I think that is one of the most frustrating things about pregnancy when your regular clothes stop fitting and the maternity clothes are a little too big and you just don't look pregnant yet.

Well, we are over the 5 month mark so we were able to give a huge sigh of relief especially after having our anatomy ultrasound this past Friday. The baby looks very healthy and was waving to all of us. It was funny because we had an entourage with us at the doctor's office - me, John, my mom, and both of his parents. What an emotional morning!!! We didn't find out what we were having (as per John's request - this will also give me the upperhand on deciding the boy's name, which we haven't agreed on - hee hee!!)

Here is our little pumpkin waving (it is facing forward with its arm up in the air)!!!!

Here is the side profile of the baby

Anyways, everyone has been bugging me to post pics of my belly so here are some that I took.

Pre-pregnancy

19 weeks!!!

I Have A Confession...

2008-04-04T09:56:00.003-04:00

Recently, about 2 weeks ago I had a huge craving for a cheeseburger. As most of my friends and family know I have been a vegetarian (only eating fish) from about 2001 - 2006. I started eating turkey (could no longer resist mom's Thanksgiving feast!) in 2006, then chicken, then that was all I was eating. It definitely made it a lot easier to cook for John, he loves almost all chicken dishes.

So, in about my 12th week of pregnancy it was about 8 o'clock at night and I was sitting on the couch and could not stop obsessing about a cheeseburger - it was sooo weird! That's one of the things about pregnancy though - when you want it you have to have it - no matter what! So we had some homemade frozen burgers that I had made John and I got one out and fried it up. Needless to say I got very ill (I will spare you the details) at about 2 am.

The following week I went to my brother's for Easter. I looked at the smoked ham they had in disgust, and ate everything else in sight. On the way home, with our container of ham, we got stuck in turnpike traffic. I said to John, "I think I am gonna eat some ham" - he just looked at me, since he thinks I'm pretty much a weirdo for not wanting to eat meat anyway. Him and I basically devoured the meat and I was satisfied.

So now my diet faithfully includes Jr. Whoppers, Big Macs (sometimes), cheeseburgers, whatever I am feeling that day!! It's crazy, but they say when you are pregnant your cravings are telling you something - like for meat you may be low in iron. So cravings are a good thing!!

The good news is that I have not gained a pound yet with this pregnancy, all of the fat is moving to the front of me!!! Just kidding, I will probably eat those words at my next month's appointment!

House of Bethesda

2008-03-31T11:37:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday my good friend Erin came to town and I was able to accompany her and her husband Jermaine down to a women's transition house, the House of Bethesda, that they are sponsoring. Erin and I went to IKEA and purchased bedding, curtains, etc. to donate and headed on down to the house. It is an amazing home that they are fixing up to house women in need. It has 7 bedrooms amd 3 full bathrooms so it can fit quite a few women.

I started talking to the two women who are running the program, April and Beverly and listened to some of the struggles that they are having. It is very trying when you start up a recovery home, between all of the paperwork, trying to get the grants you need and putting your name out there to rehabs, hospitals, and organizations that can refer women in need. Because of my educational background and the work that I have done in multiple rehabs I have offered my services, however they can be used, to facilitate some meetings on recovery and addiction at the house once it is up and running. I am very excited about being able to help. In the meantime, if you know anyone who is trying to recover from an addiction and needs a place to stay please contact the house directly or pass along the information.

Here is the website with the contact information
House of Bethesda

It truly is an amazing thing thing that Jermaine's Aunt April is doing to help these women and I am so glad that our family can offer our help.

*above image copyright of Erin M.

Spring is definitely HERE!

2008-03-26T17:01:00.005-04:00

As I am cleaning the house this afternoon I decided to open all of the windows since it has reachedd 65 degrees here today!!! I love being able to open the windows, you get the fresh air, fresh breeze, and it's almost like the outside air is it's own air freshener. I went to the store and came back and the house smelled great!!

Anyways, to the point of my story. A lot of people have asked me and John lately, so, do you want a boy or a girl? I am torn between this, I love boys and most of my experience with rearing children is with boys (for how much time I spend with my nephews!!) and I think they are quite easy. I haven't been around girls too much to compare personalities but my first impression is "WHINY"! (Although they are so absolutely cute & adorable) This has been confirmed today with the kids in the neighborhood. Out of the 50 houses in yelling distance around us, I would say that 30-40 of them are inhabited by little kids, which is great for us! It's nice to know that you are in a neighborhood where there are lots of kids and you don't have to worry about finding friends for your children. I didn't have that when I grew up, my mom or dad had to drive me to a friend's house for a playdate - so you know they didn't happen that often! That's what you get when you live in the sticks! Now, boys on the other hand, they are dirty - not whiny (we hope!), but they are simple. And if our son is anything like his father he will be the easiest little boy anyone can ever have!

But back to my point, there are some little girls right now playing across our yard and I don't think one word that they have said to the boys or their parents so far has been said without a whine!!! Why do they have to whine so much?!?!? I do love hearing the sound of kids playing, it just confirms that summer is almost here! But whhhhyyyyy the whhiinnninng....

When I was growing up I was a bit of a tomboy - minus playing the sports (I danced & cheered), so I am going to vow today that if I have a little girl she is not going to be allowed to whine, she is not going to be a "princess", and she is not going to get something if she whines - did I say whines??? She will also dance and play sports - so she can learn how to lose gracefully!! I don't believe every child should be told that they are a winner. That's just misleading. She can and will wear pink, but we will have to make her tough so she can stand up to the boys!!!

I know I am going to eat my words!!!

Ok, I am finished ranting!

Easter

2008-03-25T08:24:00.017-04:00

This year we went to Davey & Annie's for Easter dinner. Of course we got there late, partly due to my still lingering nausea and the turnpike traffic!! It was nice to see everyone, my Pappy was there (and stayed for a little while!), and it was great weather.

The boys as usual were in their rare form and Alysa is getting sooo big!! She has the cutest little chubby legs and you just want to gobble up her little toes. Aiden & Riley didn't have the chub so we are thoroughly enjoying it with Alysa!! She didn't enjoy her bunny ears too much, we were able to get one good pic with them on thanks to my mom.

We watched "I am Legend" - great movie for anyone who hasn't seen it. John still hates it, we saw it in the theater a couple months ago. We hope everyone had a great Easter this year!!!

After looking at Erin's pictures, I just realized that we don't have a big "family" picture anywhere (except for back when my brother and I were little teeny boppers)!! :-)
Soooo, we have to remember to do a big family picture at the next gathering!

JONES' DON'T LET ME FORGET!!! - we'll do it when we are down in OC, MD this summer - that way we will be all nice and tan - not pasty looking like we are now :-)(except I will be all fat and stuff!!)

Is Blogging Safe?

2008-03-24T13:57:00.002-04:00

Recently it has been brought to my attention that some people who hardly ever read my blog are concerned about the safety of it. Among some of the security features on my blog, one is called a Sitemeter. This allows me to tell who was on my blog, how often they check it and how long they stay on my page. So I know.... (hee hee)!

I would like to hear from my fellow "bloggers" what they think about this. Do you think my blog is safe, and what would you consider not safe to have on a blog?

This seems to be a controversial issue - especially with the commercials on TV with the safety of MySpace pages, personal websites and blogs. I think that I have put a lot of work into my blog and it allows my friends and family who I am unable to speak to as often as I would like a chance to see what is going on with us. Most people I talk to think it is a great thing, and they wish they had the time and talent to be able to put together a blog - in which I ususally respond with how easy it is!! I believe that people overreact to things - for one reason or another. I think that applying for credit cards, your doctor's office using your SS# as a reference number, and online banking can also be dangerous - but who is refraining from participating in those things???

If someone wants to "steal your identity" or "rob your house" they are going to do it if you have a blog or not.

I would love to hear back from everyone about this!!

Easter too soon???

2008-03-22T13:58:00.003-04:00

This year I was very curious why Easter was in the same week as St. Patty's Day!! Especially about how guilty one must feel throwing back all those drinks on Monday, then having "Good Friday" a few days later!! So much for being "good"!!! Also, my mom's birthday has never been the same day (or even close) to Good Friday...Pretty weird!

So, this is what I found out through John's Uncle Patrick about the dating of Easter - it was very interesting:

-Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
-This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around in date on our Roman based calendar.
-Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22)but that is pretty rare. Here's the interesting info. This year (2008)is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see for the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here's the facts:
1)The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now)
2)The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
3)The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now)
4)The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

So, no one alive today has, or will ever see it any earlier than this year! And, by the way, the latest date that Easter can fall is April 25th. The last time that occurred was 1943 and it will happen again in 2038,so it is more common for a late rather than an early Easter date.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-03-21T08:39:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to the most influential woman in my life! John and I can't wait to see you tonight! I hope you enjoy your day mom!

Pregnancy Amnesia

2008-03-20T08:08:00.004-04:00

Ok, I do not believe any woman who says they had a "wonderful pregnancy".

I think pregnant people just get this amnesia after they deliver a beautiful baby and they forget every little bad thing that possibly happened to their body.

I am really hoping that happens to me. During these short (but painfully long) 12 weeks I have already had two colds (I am suffering from one right now), a tooth that needed to be pulled (your teeth go to crap when you are pregnant), morning sickness that seems to go away but has come back three times in the last 5 days at 1 am, problems coming from the other end if you know what I mean, a chest that can't be touched or even graced by anything, and my clothes have not fit since I found out I was prego (which by the way was like 7 days after conception!!), not being able to sleep normally, among some other things I would rather not share on my blog :-)

The best thing about pregnancy is that when you crave something so bad and finally get to eat it, it is like you are tasting it for the very first time. John just looks at me like I'm nuts when I'm eating something saying "ohhh, this is sooooo good!!"

Anyways, I am not complaining or anything, just documenting in case I do get that "pregnancy amnesia" after I have the baby!! And I can assume that even though these symptoms may get better there are probably more other ones to come!!! And, I have to say, that being able to grow a life inside of you trumps any discomfort that I could possibly go through!!!

So, I have finally succumbed to the fact that this baby owns my entire body - my body is no longer mine. I have no control over what it does, how it feels and what it is about to do next!!! It really truly is amazing, but to experience this, I am truly indebted to my own mother!!!

Baby Update

2008-03-18T17:58:00.003-04:00

Here are some new pics of our little peanut!!

Spring is coming!!!

2008-03-13T06:57:00.003-04:00

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this time of year. Let me start by saying how wonderful it is to live in an area where you have the season change. Even though I would love to live in an area where it is a nice mild 75-80 degrees all year round, I think I would never feel the way I do this time of year! It is good to have the changes, I think it gets you excited because you know what is to come.

John and I have been joking around about just taking one of those last minute vacations you see on Expedia real cheap, just to get away somewhere warm. We have been talking about Hawaii non-stop (where we had our honeymoon) and trying to scheme up a plan for our whole family to go next year - in January!!!!

I guess the reason I love this time of year so much is the excitement of the longer days, the little tease of kind of warm weather days, and just knowing that it is going to be spring/summer soon!! Oh, and Rita's is open!!! I had the worst craving for it last night at about 7:30. I didn't know if they were open or not, since it is still ranging about 40 degrees lately, but sure enough I called and heard the soothing words, "Rita's may I help you?" I did my little dance, grabbed Bailey for the ride and headed on over there! Of course, I had to taste John's lemon ice and it tasted so much better than my cherry (why is that?? it's like everyone else's is better than yours!!)

Our Little Planters Peanut

2008-03-08T08:23:00.005-05:00

Well we had our first ultrasound yesterday, it was amazing!!! This is our baby at 10 weeks. Baby Quinn has a heart rate of 163 BPM, which is very strong!!!

Here is our ultrasound photo. John and I think it looks more like a peanut shell than anything else!! The baby is about an inch big. It's crazy how I feel so much more connected to this little human growing inside of me after seeing it on the ultrasound. It truly is an amazing experience!

We will have another ultrasound at 13 weeks (for the neural tube testing) and the baby will be much more developed then. You should actually be able to see arms and legs!

The head is on the right and the body on the left

This is what is actually going on inside...

Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure"

2008-03-04T11:52:00.005-05:00

John and I formed a team this year for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Philadelphia Race for the Cure. We had a great team put together of friends & family and walked for this cause in 2006. Click here for a summary of that event - Race 2006 Unfortunately we missed it last year, but we are very excited to participate this year! We would like to start making this a yearly tradition!

The race will take place on May 11, 2008 (Mother's Day) @ 8:00am down by the Philadelphia Art Museum. I have provided some quick details below, but please visit the website for more details - Race Details

Here are a few details:
-We have formed a team "Pink" please click here to join our team or make a donation
- It is an hour long 5K walk or run, or 1 mile fun walk - whatever you prefer
- The reason I formed a team is because I feel that there is more enthusiasm in a group setting and it is fun for everyone to get together for a cause like this!
- There are various registration fees depending on your status, please refer to the website for more information
- I would like to set the goal at 10 pledges per participant ($10 each pledge) - but whatever you can raise is appreciated!
- If you or someone you know is a breast cancer survivor and would like to be recognized, there is a special hat/shirt that you can wear the day of the race and you will also be invited to a special breakfast before the race. There will also be a march for survivors down the Art Museum steps
- Every race participant will receive a free race day shirt and be provided with refreshments at the conclusion of the race
-For those of you who are interested, John and I have a group of participants meet at our house, eat a quick breakfast then take the train downtown - it beats the congestion and parking down there!! We also get togther back at our house afterwards and feast on a nice Mother's Day meal. If you are interested let us know!

Sorry for the information overload - please let me know if you have any questions. I feel that this is so important, and I am very passionate about raising money for breast cancer awareness. I have seen too many people who are close to me suffer with many types of cancer and if we can help to cure one, it is one step closer to curing them all!!! Please let me know if you would be interested in participating or just donating to our team.

If you are unable to participate, please pass this along to anyone you may know at your church, work, school or community!!! Thanks!!!

Please Vote!

2008-03-03T20:05:00.002-05:00

To the right you will see some names that we have brainstormed. It is a "rough draft" I just want to see people's opinions! Please pick a name from the boys and one from the girls. If you have any comments or any other name ideas, please let us know. We would love to name our kids all Irish names, but it is really hard to find some good ones (and ones that haven't been taken by other family members :-)

We Have a Heartbeat!!

2008-03-03T19:18:00.002-05:00

Well, I got to hear baby Quinn's heartbeat today!! I was so beside myself going to my first doctor's appt. We are 9 weeks, and this was right around the time we lost our first baby last year, so it just made me very emotional.

I couldn't even finish my sentences with the doctor, I broke out into tears just telling her how much this pregnancy means to John and I and this is all we want in the whole world!!!! After my very uncomfortable internal exam (to those of you who haven't been pregnant yet, it is no different from your annual - OUCH!!) the doctor said my uterus feels right on target with my due date and I think she really felt my uneasy emotions. She asked me if I wanted to have her try to hear the heartbeat. Usually you can't hear it until 10 weeks or so, but she felt confident that my uterus was tilted forward enough that she would be able to hear it. She made me promise that I wouldn't get more upset if she couldn't hear it, it would just mean that I am not far along enough to be able to pick it up with the doppler. We went ahead with it and at first she only picked up mine - then all of a sudden I heard this superfast beat - the doctor started smiling and was like "you hear that"!?! There it is, she was so excited! I started crying and laughing - which made her have to find it a second time. It was the most wonderful sound I have ever heard!!!!

So, the reason we didn't get the ultrasound today is because the u/s people are only there on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. We are scheduled for 10:30 am on Friday. I cannot wait!!! I do feel so much better that we heard the heartbeat today, it is a very good sign that the pregnancy is progressing well!

I cannot wait to post a picture of our little Quinn on Friday!! Stay tuned...

Yuck!

2008-02-18T17:25:00.004-05:00

So, here is an update...

I just started having "any time of the day sickness" about a week ago, around the same time that I caught John's cold, and a few days before I had to have one of my back molars pulled. No, not a good week for me (or John)!!!

I am happy to say that I kind of love my new best friend (the toilet) only because the sicker you are with pregnancy studies have shown that the healthier your pregnancy is. I keep reminding myself that this is a good thing!

As far as cravings are concerned, I want fruit, fruit, fruit!! I just ate a grapefruit about an hour ago and it is the best thing I think I have ever eaten! John is bringing me some stuff home from the grocery store on his way home from work! My list included: lemons, lemonade, popsicles (the fruit kind), fruit salad, bananas, peaches or nectarines...yum!

So, we are almost at 7 weeks, 2 weeks away from our 1st ultrasound - I can't wait to see that little peanut! I don't want to start to be a complainer this early in the pregnancy, I am sure there will be more things that will be unpleasant soon! I will try to update at least once a week I promise!

NEWS!!

2008-02-01T17:07:00.000-05:00

Well, we weren't going to say anything until we got our first ultrasound March 3rd, but I cannot keep this inside me any longer - I can keep other people'sx secrets well, just not my own! Especially something as joyous as this! If someone asks me "Are you pregnant?" or "when are you guys gonna start having babies?" it is going to be really hard to fib right now!! Plus, my cousin Shannon just sent an e-mail that her and her husband just took a home pregnancy test...most likely due the same time as us!!!

So, I am almost 5 weeks pregnant!! If most of you don't know, John and I had the misfortune of experiencing a miscarriage last March. We told everyone early - at about 8 weeks, and 2 weeks later we learned that the pregnancy was not viable and I had to have a D&C. We are hoping that was just a fluke thing and this time around we will be blessed!

My stance right now is that the worst thing has already happened to us and if this pregnancy fails, I am better equipped to handle it this time around.

I have to say to anyone who is just pregnant - DEMAND an early ultrasound at 8 weeks, it will save you the heartache of waiting until the end of the first trimester to be sure that your baby is healthy! This time around I will get one because I am considered "high risk", so as soon as we see that little heartbeat in a few weeks we know everything will be OK!! It's a shame that you have to be considered "high risk" to get extra medical attention. I guess it is an insurance thing...

So, please think of us and hope for the best! The expected due date of our little bundle of joy will be October 9th! I will keep you all posted of our progress.

New Bail Bail Pics

2008-01-28T23:22:00.000-05:00

Here's our silly little girl! She is getting so big, she's about 40 lbs. right now and she's only 5 months!

Congratulations Brendan & Aimee

2008-01-22T16:54:00.001-05:00

Congrats to our friends on their marriage this past Friday! We wish you guys the best and a wonderful life together!!

Pics of Alysa

2008-01-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

Here are some cute pics of my new baby niece

Bailey Has a Website!

2008-01-17T13:38:00.001-05:00

Click here to see!

If you have a dog you can join the site too and become one of Bailey's "friends"!

We're still here...

2008-01-17T12:23:00.000-05:00

Hasn't been much to blog about - I know, excuses, excuses...

I will post some new pics of my new baby niece - she has some beauiful blue eyes - must get them from me :-)

Other than that everything has been good!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-12-31T20:21:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

I always reflect on this day of all the things I would like to improve on. This year I am choosing my resolutions a little more carefully, thinking only about the things that I should be doing right anyways and setting more realistic and attainable goals. I thought this website was interesting about the history of resolutions

I hope everyone sticks to their resolutions, and have a great year!

We will be at home watching Dick Clark...I know we are pretty boring people :-)

Congrats to the (Not Quite So) "New" Hairdresser in Town

2007-12-30T19:59:00.000-05:00

I want to post a past due congratulations to my dear sister-in-law Danielle for completing her exam and becoming an official Licensed Cosmotologist a few months ago! She has worked VERY hard and has become an awesome stylist!

CONGRATS DANIELLE!!!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

Happy Birthday Seanny!

2007-12-27T17:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful brother-in-law Seanny Quinn!

We celebrated at Chickies, here are some pics:

Seanny

Erin (Sean's "friend") and Brian (Danielle's boyfriend)

Danielle and Lauren

Jeremy (Lauren's husband)

Jack & Pat

Sean's gift from Kirby

Christmas Pictures

2007-12-26T17:41:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics from Christmas:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2007-12-25T09:22:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We were so blessed to have so many of our close friends and family over this past Saturday for our annual Christmas party. Thanks to those who brought us little somethings, it was very nice!! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures :-(

I will make sure to take my camera today and post some pics of our family in the next few days! We hope everyone has a great Christmas.

We just Elfed Ourselves....

2007-12-21T07:40:00.000-05:00

Click here to see...

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

We have just been shopping, cleaning, decorating and working on the basement this week. It has been so hectic I haven't been able to post anything lately. Plus, I just started using Facebook, so I have been on there lately. It's a fun site to connect with friends and network.

Well, I hope everyone has a safe holiday, I probably won't blog again until Sunday (I'll have pics from our Christmas party then!)

Networking

2007-12-15T12:31:00.000-05:00

Hello All! Sorry I haven't been blogging so much, I have started working more and I just recently started working some hours outside of the house - I couldn't take being at home 24/7! It's just not for everyone!

For everyone who I haven't told, I left Mars and I will not go into detail why, I don't want to start bashing a company on my site - it's just not the right thing to do. If you want details I would be more than happy to let you know what kind of a company they are :-)

Anyways, I am doing consulting now for a company called Manpower, some of you may have heard of them - they are a leading Recruiting/Temporary Staffing firm. My office is literally 10 minutes from the house so it is very convenient for me. I work with the best group of women - couldn't ask for much more! And all women know that it isn't often where you can find other gals who aren't petty and immature like most young women these days! What is it with that anyway?

I am going back to school in January and John and I are trying to have a baby. Hopefully now with the stress taken off of my plate by leaving Mars it will happen soon for us. Please have us in your thoughts, it has been really hard for us these past few months in the baby department. We are trying to stay strong!!!!

I sent some invites to our friends - John and I have recently joined Facebook and LinkedIn. If we haven't sent you an invite or the invite we sent expired, please go on and join. It is free and gives you the ability to network with friends and family while also being able to share photos and videos. Don't worry about your privacy, on both sites you can mark it so that only your listed "friends" on the site can view your information. You can view the links by clicking above or by clicking on the links to the right --->
So, that's about it. We are decorating and putting up our tree today. Oh, and Christmas shopping. Neither of us has purchased anything yet - We are true procrastinators :-)

The Quinn's Zoo

2007-12-07T21:28:00.000-05:00

So, not too much has been going on here, just working, fixing up the house more (we've moved on to the basement project!! woohoo!!) The waterproofer is coming Monday to do the work, then we will drywall all of it and put down new floor. We will probably wait until the spring to do the painting, decorating, etc. I can't wait, we are going to have this HUGE area to have a nice family room. Our idea is to not have a TV in the "living room", just a stereo, which is nice because then hopefully we will watch less TV. We want to get a fancy dancy HD flat screen hang on the wall thing for the basement. Anyways, enough babbling...

Oh, by the way, don't ever use Value Dry to waterproof your basement. We found them and thought they might be good - they sent out some young punk salesman and quoted us at 3 times the price that my mom paid to have her's done. We called up my mom's guy and thankfully he is travelling down here to do ours. What a rip-off these big companies are!!

Our house has literally been like a zoo with our new addition. Bailey is the sweetest thing ever, except for her "accidents" and her mouthing. She goes to Puppy School every Wednesday so she has been learning a lot and being able to play with other pups. She is getting really big, she has been gaining about 2.5 lbs. a week now and she is about 4 1/2 months old. The vet thinks she will be between 60-70 lbs. full grown. It's funny she has these super long legs right now, she looks so silly!

She loves John the best, she is definitely a daddy's girl! Yes, we have succombed to calling ourselves "mommy" and "daddy" and to be honest with you I like it :-)

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T10:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to Everyone!!! This year we didn't get to cook
:-( ...Although we did get to spend the whole day with John's family at his parents' house and we got to spend time with our "other family" (all of my in-laws' friends & their kids). It's a shame, when I first met John, we spent so much time with them, but these days it seems so hard for everyone to get together.

We had a nice day - here are some pictures of our baby! (I guess we've fallen into that category of treating our puppy like a baby - hey if it is all you can do right now, it works for me!!)

No caption needed!

2007-11-15T19:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Alysa Helen Jones

2007-11-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

Born November 9th at 10:45 am - 6 lbs. 1 ounce 20 inches.

Yes, this is my first niece!!! Congratulations to Davey & Annie, and Aiden & Riley.

We are going up to see her today, so I will have many more pictures!!

Mom and Dad and baby are doing great!

I FINALLY GOT TO MEET RACHAEL RAY!!!

2007-11-08T12:46:00.000-05:00

Yes, I finally got to meet Rachael yesterday at the Moorestown mall!!! I was so excited. My friend Nicky went with me. It was crazy, we got there like 3 hours early, she was a half hour late - it was nutz! We were both glad that we did it though. It's funny, because I haven't been this passionate about something for such a long time (except for planning my wedding 2 years ago). I know everyone, make fun of me, it's ok, all you RR haters!!!

Anyways, I have had a non-sexual crush on Rachael since her daytime TV show aired. She is just so inspiring to me, and watching her really lifts my spirits. It was funny, I was so excited the night before and the morning of, I guess I didn't really know what to expect, the only kind of famous person I ever met was Pat Croce (does anyone care about him anymore?) He was signing his new release when I worked at Atlantic Books. So, I was like, what do I say, what will she say, just not wanting to say something stupid like it was even going to matter! This is how it went down...

I got up to the line (my friend Nicky and I had to say we weren't together or we would have only gotten 1 picture taken :-(

One person took my book, one person took my camera, I walked up said hello and how nice it was to meet her, she said "honey turn around so the guy with the camera can see you" and she giggled and gave me the autographed book back. For the picture we had to stand in front of the table, turn around and lean in to her - not a very forgiving position to the female body!

Bailey Quinn

2007-10-29T18:22:00.000-04:00

Meet the new addition to our family!!!

Introducing Bailey Quinn...

We adopted her from Peaceable Kingdom yesterday. She is a Black Lab Mix and is about 10 weeks old. We're not sure what she is mixed with, maybe some Rotty, Shepherd or Pit. She has some brindle on her legs and some brindle beauty marks on her face :-)

We are so grateful to have her part of our family, since we've been trying to adopt for a few months now.

So far, in the 24 hrs that she has been here the cats are taking well to her. Delilah comes down (believe it or not!) but when the puppy jumps, she hisses a little. She has already learned how to sit and got to go to PetSmart and get her first bath today!! I can tell she is going to be a little mama's (or daddy's) girl, she is just too sweet!

Still Here!

2007-10-21T03:04:00.001-04:00

We're still here! Been a little busy, here are just some random pics I thought I would post...

AIden & Riley - Aiden supporting the Phillies with his red hair, and some pics from our "camping night" in our backyard a few weeks ago!

Some pictures from Prague (I never could get the Photoshow to work again :-(

London Photoshow

2007-10-09T17:46:00.001-04:00

Here is a link to out pics from London, enjoy!

London

GOOOOOOOOOO PHILLLLIEESSSS!!!!!!!!

2007-09-30T20:24:00.000-04:00

GO PHILLIES!!!!

2007-09-29T00:55:00.000-04:00

So John and I managed to score some Phillies tickets for last night's game. It was another sell-out due to Phillies promising chance of making it to the playoff (more props to the Marlins for taking the Mets down tonight!).

Thanks to LB for getting us her Aunt's season tickets that were in the 10th row right field!!

Oh, and my highlight of the game was the Phanatic "streaking" out on the field :-)
Priceless!

We're BACK!!

2007-09-28T23:32:00.000-04:00

Hello All, Well we are back, again, and boy does it feel good to be back at home!

I had to go to Prague for a 3 day Global Peronnel & Organization Conference with my buiness unit. Since it was from Monday night to Thursday morning and you had to fly to London firsts to get to Prague, we figured we would have a 3 day getaway in London especially since it was right around our anniversary and we only had to pay for one night in the hotel (the company picked up the rest). So for one night at the Marriott Park Lane and John's flight ticket we were able to have another discount European vacation!!

Friday night we left PHL at about 9PM (which I suggest to anyone flying internationally - take the latest possible flight) We were actually able to sleep 5 out of the 7 hrs there. When we arrived in London local time 9am, our time 4am. We went straight to the hotel dropped pur luggage then grabbed some breakfast.
We stayed right by the Marble Arch so we were conveniently located by the TUBE (their subway) that takes you everywhere - even though we basically could have walked to almost everything including Buckingham Palace and the London Eye.

Monday I went to the Basingstoke, England Mars Drinks office to meet everyone - it was great to see all of the people in person I have been working with for the past 6 months. Monday night we all flew to Prague, Czech Republic. It was nice having John with me - made me less homesick!

Unfortunately, Prague was not as much as I expected it to be. There were a lot of really neat castles, almost like the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, but besides for that it is just a really old town. It was neat to learn of the history from the plant manager at the Porici, Czech site when we got our plant tour. Basically, up until 1989, Czechoslovakia was a communist country and when the Berlin wall was torn down they became free. Their unemployment rate is actually crucially low because of the industrial boom.

I have to admit, seeing towns that are really old are cool, but there were no official landmarks that we were looking for that really caught our eye, except for the Astronomical Clock - that was neat! Definitely not a place I would go back to, but glad I had the opportunity to go. We would however go back to London, we had so much fun!

I will post a link to the photos soon!

Little Jack

2007-09-18T19:00:00.001-04:00

Hopefully our friends Bryan & Max don't mind us posting this, but this is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen!!

And he is actually a miniature version of his father - too cute!!

My love, My life, My everything!!

2007-09-18T04:45:00.000-04:00

So this weekend we had a little party to celebrate the End of Summer. It was nice to have our family together since it marked one year from when all of our close family and friends were with us when we pledged our love for one another. I couldn't find my camera so I am hoping that some people can send me a few :-)

Everyone had a great time, I think at one point there were about 15 little rugrats running around giggling and playing! Aiden & Riley thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well as the McLaughlin bunch.

On Sunday John and I ended up going to Valley Forge Park to celebrate our 1 year anniversary - boy, where did the time go?!?!? The only thing (besides for my pink sapphire right hand ring (hee hee)) I wanted for this day was to have a picnic in the park with my honey. The day was absolutely gorgeous, you could not have asked for better weather! So we packed up the leftovers (yummy!) from our party along with some champagne and fancy glasses and drove out to Valley Forge. I think we are going to start a "tradition" and try to do this every year.

Looking back, I can't believe it's been a year! I remember the morning of my wedding waking up in the Luxurious Hyatt down on Penn's Landing with my mom and Annie thinking, I am not going to see or talk to John until 5:00pm tonight! As I looked down at the Moshulu from the hotel window, all these thoughts ran through my head and I was so anxious!! I was so nervous for the first time since we got engaged. It all changed once the Trolley picked us up and took us to the Moshulu for the ceremony. Once I saw John as I was coming down the aisle I knew that I was going to be truly happy for the rest of my life!

Wrigley Field

2007-09-02T11:27:00.000-04:00

John and I went to Wrigley Field in July when we were out in Chicago for my work and to visit Missy, Greg and the girls. I know, it was like over a month ago when we were there, but my digital camera battery had died and we had to buy a disposable. With that being said, I am not very good at the whole dropping off of film and picking it up, etc. since all of my pictures go from my digital camera to my computer. What's really cool is that you can just get a disc with all of the pictures on it for about $5 and your disposable camera is instantly turned into a low quality digital camera (the pics didn't turn out that good!)

Besides for its popularity for being one of the oldest fields and having its "brick wall" in the outfield there were some pretty cool things we found out being there. Across the street from the stadium on right field and center field, the people who own the buildings actually built patios on top of their roofs so that they could view a "free game" at their leisure.

We were almost jumped by Cubs fans because we were representing Philly on their turf. John did sport Emily's Cubs hat just in case. We also hung out with the "unofficial mascot" there, finding this out about him when we got home

"The Cubs have no official mascot, though a 'polar bear' looking mascot, which had no name, and was not popular with the fans, was used briefly in the early 1990's.[Currently, however, the Cubs' un-official mascot is a formerly homeless man named Ronnie Wickers, who goes by the nickname of "Ronnie Woo Woo."[6] Wickers is not employed by the team, but is seen daily at games and outside the park, dressed in full uniform, usually with a hula hoop or jump rope. Wickers is the second fan to reach this status, the first being "Gary The Drunk" in the 1980's thru mid 90's.Wickers, however, is much more popular. He is known for his trademark yelling, for example "Mark.... Wooo! Grace.... Wooo!," and has been adopted by fans as a part of the culture at Wrigley Field"

So, my question to all of you out there who may be Cubs fans - Who the heck is this bear we were hanging out with and why can't I find any info about him on the web. From the research I did below, he is not "Ronnie Woo Woo" (Ronnie doesn't wear a bear uniform", he is not a homeless man and according to this website, the Cubs do not have a mascot at this time.

Hmmmmm......

Walking With Dinosaurs

2007-08-20T12:50:00.000-04:00

Most of you know John's infatuation with dinos. It is almost as bad as Ross from Friends. Everything was dinosaur this and dinosaur that when he was growing up, almost similar to the Strawberry Shortcake and Cabbage Patch craze that I went through as a child!!

So I thought it would be cool to surprise John with tickets to see the "Walking With Dinosaurs" show that was going on at the Spectrum this past weekend.
Since the tickets were about $50 a pop for the crappy seats I thought that it would be a pretty good show (and more "adult" oriented). Boy was I wrong! The show was only about an hour and a half long and I think we were the only adults there without children in tow.

I have to say that it was neat how they brought out these dinos that were scaled to actual size and you could actually see their muscle tone. The best was the T-Rex - of course he was the "grand finale" and they messed with everyone bringing out a baby one first. It was actually cute.
Two other dinos started messign with it, then the "MOM" T-Rex came out to protect her young. Boy was she pissed!! This video shows how they brought everything to life.
Not worth the $100 though, I would have paid about $25 each ticket but no more! And it was kind of scary, I wouldn't recommend taking a child under 12 to see it.

Almost There!!

2007-08-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

So, many of you have been asking for a kitchen update, and I have finally had the time to snap a few pics (which I am glad I waited until today because John just put up our "island lights"). The following things still need to be done: floor needs to be finished by the back door, window/door/floor trim needs to be put up, back door needs to be stained/painted and the back wall needs to be painted. Pretty good for where we were a month ago!! It felt great today when we received a compliment from a total stranger about our kitchen today. A couple came by to purchase some dressers we were selling on Craig's List and when they came in the back door they were like "wow" this is nice! It's funny because the only people who have been here in thelast few months has been just family, so now that it is 95% complete it is liek a real brand new kitchen! Very exciting!

Much thanks goes out to the following people for helping to make this kitchen so awesome!

Jack, Joe , Jim , Mike, Sean, Pappy, and Davey

Family "Reunion"

2007-08-12T22:20:00.000-04:00

Every year in August my mom's side (the Cannon's) gets together in Lewes, DE at my mom's cousins Mary & Robby's house. We have been doing this for 3 years now and every year it gets better! The usual things we do is drink, eat, go out on the boat to do either skiing, tubing, or this year "hot dogging". This year the following were in attendance: Me, John, my mom, Aunt Brenda, Uncle Davey, Cousin Davey, Jen, Aunt Natalie, Uncle Robin, Tanya, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Irv, Ashley and her friend?, Aunt Dolly, Mary, Robby and Cousin Billy. Missing were (Have to point them out! There are NO excuses!) Mike & Colleen and Cousin Matt. Matt has never came down all three years (shame on him!) and Mike & Colleen have missed the past 2. Their Loss!!! Well here are some pics to highlight the weekend!

One thing we all realized and discussed is how fortunate we are to live in such a versatile area of the country. We can drive to the beach and do any type of water sports we like or drive to the "mountains" and do any winter sports all in a days time if you really think about it. Some people are never fortunate enought to see the ocean or snow and if they really want to make plans to do so, they generally have to fly or drive a long distance to get there.

The Zoo

2007-08-12T05:19:00.000-04:00

Okay, I just realized that I never posted this, it has been sitting in my drafts for a few months now...

This past weekend I had some interesting bonding time with my two nephews. On Sunday the three of us went to the Philadelphia Zoo. We got up at 6 am, ate breakfast, watched cartoons, saw Uncle John off to softball and then hit the road.
It was so cute, we went to Wawa to order sandwiches, packed up our lunch in our backpacks and headed off by 9 am. The kids had a great time, although the complaint from Riley wss "can we go soon, my legs hurt". He is infamous for complaining about his little legs!! Thanks for the great weekend boys!

All Work, No Blog

2007-08-11T03:15:00.000-04:00

So, it's really only been a week. I'm not as bad as some bloggers I know (hehem!) This past week has been pretty nuts for John and I. My Pappy came down last weekene and installed our countertops and helped John install the sink. Hopefully, he wil only have to come down one more time to do all of the trim! I will take some pics and post them on Monday. We are also going to our "family reunion" in Lewes DE rhis weekend so I will deifnitely have some pics from that!! Just thought I would post a random pics of Lewes DE in 2005 here!

John

2007-08-03T06:55:00.000-04:00

John just informed me that I did not post a picture of him OCMD. Boo hoo to him, but here is his picture:

Not too much different from when we are at home!!

Penny Schladt

2007-07-29T15:05:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday after work John and I drove up to Aunt Brenda's house to see the Schladts before they headed back to Chicago. On their trip to PA they stopped off at a breeder around the Penn State area to pick up their new puppy (Penny) a Goldendoodle (Poodle & Golden Retriever Mix). It is the cutest puppy I've ever seen!

Here are some pics...

Also, just to give some of you an update, John and I are going to try to have another baby. I did want to wait awhile because of what happened a few months ago and get a puppy to keep myself occupied for awhile, but after some discussion we decided to just go for it! Please keep us in your thoughts and hope that everything goes a lot better this time around

OC,MD

2007-07-24T20:16:00.000-04:00

Some of you may think I am crazy for saying this, but I am pretty much VACATIONED OUT for this year!! I don't know how John feels but I feel as if I've been away more than home!!

Anyways, at least we have had the opportunity to spend some quality time with our family on most of these getaways!

We took a long weekend from Friday to Monday to Ocean City, MD, our family's old summer stompin' grounds. My mom and I were calculating it and we had gone there every single year from the time I was 2 up until the year my father got sick. We only missed one year and that was because we went to Myrtle Beach, SC.

It was fun and sad at the same time. All I could remember was our whole family being there, me, mom, dad, my brother and his rugrats. Most of this past weekend was reminiscing about all of the summers we all shared down there! My mission this week is to scan in pics of some of those old memories.

So, a few things I thought I would note from this vacation:

1. My mom almost got us arrested for crossing a major intersection when we were not permitted to. She was disapointed for 2 reasons - the first is that she really wants to be arrested by Sean Quinn, not a MD State Trooper. The second is that we actually didn't get arrested or a ticket just a warning slip.

2. I think my mom actually had more fun with John than with me. I took a catnap after being out in the sun all day and woke up to find myself all alone - low and behold they were down the boardwalk once again at the 'ole Sandbar and they actually cleaned the bar out of their Coors Light!

3. Fishtails - No explanation necessary! Didn't make it to Seacrets - but I'm sure that will be our Lewes, DE Rendezvous with Dave & Jen like we did last year!

Bittersweet is how I would describe this vacation. Ocean City will never be the same without my dad and his Scribblers!

Little Jack

2007-07-21T04:53:00.001-04:00

Two nights ago John and I had the honor of being visited by our friends Bryan & Max. They just had a little son named Jack William about 2 months ago. He is absolutely the cutest thing I have ever seen! And, he is a spitting image of his daddy. Not just that "oh, doesn't he look like his dad" or "wow, he has the same eyes as his mom". He seriously looks just like his dad (scary!)

Unfortunately, since I was holding Jack the whole time they were here I don't have any pics of him or Bryan so that you can see for yourself! I just love holding babies, especially when they are that tiny. It is the greatest feeling in the whole world! It's funny though, almost like riding a bike with holding them. At first you're a little shaky then you get more comfortable the more you do it. I will never forget the first time I held my nephew Aiden - I didn't move, I was like a statue because I was afraid of hurting him, or not supporting his head properly. Now it is a piece of cake!
He was so cute but because he had just gotten his (5) - ouch, shots for his 2 month so he was a little cranky when they arrived. Not too bad but just one of those little uncomfortable cries. He would cry a little, then stick his bottom lip out real far, then just stop crying. He must have done this about 5 times and all we could do was keep laughing. It was so funny!

So, just a little congrats to Bryan & Max for bringing this little handsome boy into this world!

Down By The Seashore

2007-07-16T20:03:00.000-04:00

Everyone knows John and I LOVE the beach and both for different reasons!
I love the sand, the ocean and sunbathing, John loves the laid back atmosphere, the drinking and the smell of the ocean (one scent he can actually smell!)

This past weekend we went down to my in-laws house in North Wildwood - This is the week that all of their friends get together. We had a great time on Saturday, there was an awesome Bar-B-Que fest going on so we got to hang out there til all the other nerds showed up.

Here are some moments we captured...

Bunch of NERDS!

John eating a mound full of horseradish

Beautiful Sunset on the Bay

DIET (and 104th post!)

2007-07-13T14:50:00.000-04:00

So, I am writing to this blog as a reminder and committment to myself that I am going to start my weight loss/fitness plan on July 16th, 2007. I need to do this as a committment to myself and a reminder that I need to stay on track.

Just a brief history of where I've been:

2003 - Comfortable with my weight, never worked out, wore a size 4 regularly, used to be called "skinny" sometimes wore a size "2"!

2004 - After meeting John and getting comfortable I went up to a size 6, which still looked good on my body!

2005 - Started getting worried about my weight going up, so Erin & I decided to join the gym down the street from our work. I faithfully went everyday and started getting comments from people like, "wow look at how defined your arms & stomach are!"

2006 - After getting engaged and going through a rough time with my dad being ill, working out and eating healthy were not on my priority list. I was slowly trading in my size 4/6 for a 6/8 - yikes! Later this year, I reached a plateau and my weight stabilized (even though I was a size and a half bigger than I wanted to be) thank god, though because our wedding was in September

2007 - Oh, my god! Boy did the weight come. There were a few reasons after thinking about them, the loss of a job, dealing with the death of my father, the other loss John and I had a few months ago that some of you know about, just too much to deal with that ultimately leads to feeling depressed and wanting to fix it with food.

Also, I was thinking about some other factors that I think may have had an influence: After being a vegetarian for 7 years, I started eating poultry because John and I were trying to get pregnant so I thought it would be better for the baby. Also, I quit smoking in mid 2005, so that may also have contributed, and the lack of exercise - who wants to work out when you are this stressed?!?

So, now I feel like my life is on a stable road - I got a good job, John's doing good, our house is almost complete, we are starting a family - all these good things and I am having a hard time enjoying them because I hate the way I look and I feel unhealthy.

This is my pledge to myself and to the world that starting today I am doing the following to feel better about myself:

1. Keep a diary of everything that goes into my mouth (believe me once you start tracking it you eat much less!)

2. Start working out 3 times a week to start (no excuses, there is a full service gym 50 feet from my desk - and there is a personal trainer here at my disposal as well, all for FREE)

3. Eat fruits, vegetables, high protein drinks and Cheerios with skim milk only for the first two weeks, then go on a low fat sensible meal plan

4. Do all of this not to look like Nicole Richie, but to feel good about my body and to fit into the entire size 6 wardrobe that is in my closet!

Heat Wave...

2007-07-11T05:58:00.000-04:00

The past few days have been awful hot! I thought I was going to keel over on Monday while walking from the office to my car. It was like the air was "thick" and unbreathable. Thank god for air conditioning! They had actually put an "Excessive Heat Warning" in effect. I think we may have hit the 100 degree mark, but it may have hovered around 99.

I know blogging about the weather is BORING...but the more I think about it, the blog is where I get my news! Between people blogging about things going on in their personal life or issues in our society, nothing is so sacred (or boring) that constitutes being left out of the blog! So for you non Northeastern Pennsylvanians out there reading this, here is the weather we have been experiencing over the past few days!

Erin, this one's for you...

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

We wish everyone a Happy July 4th and hope that everyone had themselve's a good time today

We had a few people over to our house to Bar-B-Que today, including my British counterpart, Claire, who I work with at Mars Drinks. She has been here in the US for a few months now, so I figured she was American enough to enjoy a good 'ole July 4th party :-)

John thought it was kind of funny that someone from England would want to hang out with us in this day - I told him he reads into stuff too much!

We ended up going to the Glenside Parade in the afternoon, almost getting poured on. Unfortunately, after waiting around for the Fireworks for 9pm, it was still raining. I actually think I might hear them now, unless those are the M80's people set off in their driveways. Still pretty damp for some good fireworks.
..

CHICAGO!

2007-07-03T06:01:00.000-04:00

This past week I had to go to Chicago for a work trip, so like all of the other "work" trips John and I have been going on, we decided to make it a vacation/work trip!

I flew out last Monday, then John joined me on Wednesday night, but it was more like Thursday morning with his 8 hour delay!

We were in a great hotel, it was in the heart of the city right by lake Michigan.

On Thursday night once my training endedx John and I strolled out on the town and hung out at the House of Blues.

Friday morning we headed out to our cousin's Mis, Greg, Emily & Olivia. They live right outside of the city, so it was convenient to make this a nice family vacation. It was the first time that we had been out to visit them so we were very excited!

Friday afternoon we all went to the Arlington Park Racetrack and we hung out in the picnic area. It was a lovely day and the girls had so much fun taking pictures of the horses &v the track (and us of course!) That evening we sat around the fire back at the house eating pizza and playing games. It was fun watching the girls try to stay awake as long as they could, it was just like Aiden & Riley. In fact, it was so cute when we first got there, they thought we were bringing Aiden & Riley with us because whenever they are in town from Chicagp we are usually with the boys and they are attached to us by the hip.

Saturday we went to a Civil War Encampment in Barrington, IL. The girls had a lot of fun asking questions to all of the people working there about their lifestyle, what they ate & wore and their living arrangements. Saturday night we saw an awesome Fireworke display.

Sunday we all went down to Wrigleyville (pics to follow, had to buy disposable camera) and we hung out around the Stadium. Unfortunately, John and I had to catch our flight at 6pm, so we couldn't go to the game, but it was neat to be hanging out down there at all the little local bars/restaurants. You could even catch a glimpse of the game near the right field corner. And I got to high five a Cub!

We had a great time visiting our family this past weekend and we can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks!

Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

2007-06-24T20:31:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to post so that everyone knows I am still involved with Stampin' Up! I honestly thought with all the craziness of the wedding planning last year that I was not going to make it, but here I am 2+ years as a demonstrator and going strong. I have made it to Sr. Associate, and have hit 2K plus sales this year. I have built a strong customer base in my area, plus I have been holding a "stamp club" at my house for the past 2 years.

Please check out my Stampin' Blog, I am trying to post there as much as my personal blog, it is a little harder :-)

There is also a link here on the right hand side ---->

If you would like to have a demonstration, please contact me - it is much more involved than some of the others that people attend, because no matter what, your attendees will go home with something hand made that they made themselves! The hostess package is very nice and there is a new catalog coming out in a few days!

A visit from the Okies!!

2007-06-24T07:16:00.000-04:00

This weekend our (John's) family from Oklahoma came to visit. They had planned a driving vacation from OK, with some stops on the way to see some sights, then to Philly. Then to NYC, Wildwood, then it's back on their way out west.

Aunt Barb, Uncle Nip, Cousin John and Paget, and their sweet kids Keira & Camden.

Yesterday was John's dad's side "family reunion" it was nice to see everyone that we don't see that often (and it was right down the street from our house!!)

Unfortunately I didn't take too many pics yesterday, but I did capture a few moments.

Camden's surprise 13th birthday cake

Our other little "Ryleigh"

And her daddy (Uncle Patrick)

More Pics soon to come...

TV Shows

2007-06-22T04:28:00.000-04:00

I feel like there is nothing good on TV to watch right now!! We don't typically catch anything when it is actually "on" TV, we rely heavily on our DVR to tape everything for us, so that when we do get time to sit our fat lazy butts in front of the tube, there is something there for us to enjoy. Except for the Sopranos of course, we planned our Sunday schedule around that!

Anyway, here are the shows that John and I enjoy watching, what are your favorites? And what is on right now that I can watch, because I am re-runned out!?!

The Office
Grey's Anatomy
Creature Comforts (You probably never heard of it, but check it out, it is hilarious!)
Entourage
House
Family Guy
The War at Home
Rachael Ray (30 Minute Meals/Tasty Travels/$40 a Day, etc.)

Flavia® The Café of Choice

2007-06-19T16:11:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to post a little blurb about the company that I work for. Most people have not heard of our company, everyone has heard of M&M's, but that is not the division that I work in. I just get their free candy (which I don't need!)

We just recently went through a name change, so instead of Flavia, we are now Mars Drinks North America. Since "Flavia" is a brand, this was a good business decision to unify our names across all business units. Anyways, enough with the boring talk!

Here is a link to the MyFlavia Website where you can find information on our drinks.

Basically, though, it works like this. We are mostly a business to business driven company, so most of our sales are to office buildings, car dealerships, company lounges, etc. We offer a single serve coffee, tea & indulgent drink variety that is not "instant coffee" as some think, but fresh brewed drinks.

What is really nice about these drinks is that besides for being fresh (being exposed to oxygen only once through packaging) it is convenient. In one packet it contains its own filter, product, and nozzle. So this means that there is no cross-contamination from one drink to the next. You will not get hot chocolate residue in your next cup of green tea. Unlike the other machines that use the "pods" you have to clean the macine thoroughly or you will get the residue from the last drink. It really is an amazing product and it is delicious!

We do have at home brewers, they are called the Fusion and are available for purchase at any of these fine department stores (Macy's, Bloomingdales's, & Linen's & Things, in-store only). Remember if you are going to Linen's & Things you can use your 20% coupon!

Please check out our website and if you work in an office building where the coffee is never fresh or you like to have a variety of drinks to choose from then Flavia is for you! Please contact me if you would like to have a free trial in your office. We have reps all up and down the east coast (and for you New Englanders, we have an office in Boston)

I wrote this post because I am convinced that Flavia coffee is one of the best out there and I would like to share this with everyone!

AWFUL!

2007-06-17T19:25:00.001-04:00

"Take me out to the Ball Game..."

2007-06-17T11:10:00.000-04:00

Last night John and I went to the our first Phillies Game of the Season. Thanks to my good friend Diana from Adecco, we got some complimentary tickets.

It was a great night out for us, one much deserved for all of the hard work we've been doing with all of our home renovations!

The Phillies were playing the Detroit Tigers and it was an intense game. We had the "wave" going for about 30 minutes!! The final score was Phillies 6-3.

Afterwards, we went to the "Original" Chickies & Pete's (my favorite one) on Robbins Ave in the Northeast to have some mussels, hot shrimp & crab fries. Yummy!

Anyways, I took some great pics last night and just as I was typing this I was loading them in to the computer. Unfotunately (and those of you who have Comcast probably know this) it asks you right away of you want to load them into Photoshow. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but every time I do that I run in to problems. So low and behold, it just crashed on me and to make it worse, my pictures deleted off of my camera as they were exporting. I HATE technology! Anyways, sorry for no pics, just another blog entry. I did though find these pictures and thought they were worth posting!

Congratulations Seanny!

2007-06-16T17:12:00.000-04:00

I would like to congratulate my dear brother-in-law for graduating from the Philadelphia Police Academy this past week. He has been working for 6 long, hard, months to earn this honorable title as a Philadelphia Police Officer.

Sean will begin his assignment in the 15th district, which thankfully is not too bad of an area!

Congratulations Sean for all of your hard work and dedication!

Unfortunately, I don't have pics yet from the ceremony, but here are a few from Flukes Irish Pub.

I'm getting Better...

2007-06-11T09:52:00.000-04:00

So, I put my sitemeter back on the blog, and it was very sad to see that hardly no one goes on it anymore since I haven't been updating it regularly. I know this is the reason because of the constant disappoinment you get when you check the blog and there are no updates! I have that with a few people (I won't mention their names...)

Anyways, I think I am going to go the EM way and post my thoughts and feelings like a public diary - in advance I am telling everyone that I am welcome to your opinions of I discuss certain subject matters, but if you get offended easily I would suggest keeping your comments to yourself because this blog is in no way intended to intentionally hurt anyone's feelings or put anyone out there.

Just a little about me which m ay explain some of my view points. I am not a super religious person, I believe in abortion to a certain extent in certain circumstances for certain people, I do not like or agree with anything George W Bush does or says, and I still go to a tanning salon. I love my family, especially my dear husband, I am still angry because of some things that have happened to me in my life recently - but I LOVE to laugh these things off when I get the opportunity!

Anyways, this is me, something I get from my mother, the "tell it like it is" attitude. It is very hard for ne to try to be something I am not.

So, read my blog, don't get offended (or disgusted if John decides to post something - hee hee!) and leave comments if you'd like! You know I'm always up for a hot debate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!

2007-06-10T12:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I gave John a SURPRISE 30th Birthday Party at the Oreland Inn. His actual birthday was on May 20th, but with all of our travelling and everything else going on, I decided to have the party a little late. It really threw him off because he was not expecting me to do something after the fact!

I felt really bad because I didn't give him anything for his birthday, I kept saying that I had to "order it and it wasn't in yet"! It takes a lot of work (and a lot of white lies) to put together a surprise party! I was so damned & determined to not have him find out!!

Anyways, the party turned out to be a great time and John really enjoyed himself. We had about 50 adults and 10 kids in attendance. I made T-shirts for all of his buddies, and of course Aiden, Riley and his cousin Kyle!

Here are some highlights of the party:

-Aiden, Riley & John all sticking their face in the cake after the candles were blown out (and yes, they did discuss this beforehand!)
-Joe Bohr using the girl's bathroom and Sean barracading him in their with bar stools
-Joe Bohr actually climbing over them to get out!
-Jim McPhillips telling everyone he was "hippie-loving tree hugger"
-Someone (hmmmm?) poking the eyes out on John's picture on his Birthday cake!
-Sean poking my brother's butt????

All I have to say is "GOOD TIMES"!!

Pictures from Our Trip

2007-06-07T13:13:00.000-04:00

Here is the Photoshow of our pics from Europe. It has a really cheesy song, I couldn't figure out how to change it so I would suggest turning the volume down! Enjoy!

Europe 2007

Europe

2007-06-05T12:10:00.000-04:00

Well, we are finally back! I never thought I would be so happy to land in Philadelphia Airport!! Saturday was a looong day! 11 hours total on a plane, 4 hrs sleep the night before, 6 hours sitting in an airport, and when we arrived in Philly, it was another 6 hours of time that we gained.

So, here is a rundown of our trip. We first went to Paris, France. John's sister Danielle went with us for the first week, so while John was working we got to go and see all of the sights.

Day 1
Mostly Travel, we lost 6 hours getting there, so we just unpacked, caught up on sleep, got room service and watched a movie

Day 2
Danielle and I went to the Musee D'Orsay (lots of Monet, Van Gogh, etc.), had lunch at an awesome cafe and figured out the Paris Metro system (their subway)

Day 3
Danielle and I took a full day tour of the Louvre (where the Mona Lisa, Turkish bath, etc. is), Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. We had lunch in the Tour de Eiffel restaurant Altitude 95, very nice view. I got a drawing of myself outside of Notre Dame by one of the street artists, ver cool!

Day 4
Relaxed in the morning, John came back from work early and we went to a nice restaurant down the street, drank wine

Day 5
Eurodisney, or Disneyland Paris as it is called now. VERY BAD! Do not go to this place! IF I was Disney, I would be ashamed to have this park under my name

Day 6
Unfortunately for John, this was his last day to get a chance to see all of the sights and it rained. We did manage to take the Bat-O-Bus (a boat/bus that runs down the Seine river and stops at all of the tourist spots) and walked around the Eiffel tower with him

Day 7
Danielle gets her flight home :-(, we take a plane to Dusseldorf, Germany
Arrived in Remscheid, Germany, met up with John's co-worker Adrian, had dinner at the hotel

Day 8
Lounged around in the morning, finished my book, walked around the town
John came back from his meeting, we went out to dinner with the Faiveley Transport Group

Day 9
Packed up, left for the airport in the afternoon (glad to leave Remscheid, it is a stinky, smokey, dirty little town!) Flew from Dusseldorf to Copenhagen Denmark
Arrived in Denmark, took train to Landskrona, Sweden. Pretty cool, we took a train across the ocean.

Day 10
I took a walk around Landskrona in the morning. It is beautiful, right on the Baltic Sea. I took a boat over to the little island of Ven, very nice. John and I went out to dinner with the Faiveley grpup. Good times, great people! ALso, most of them spoke English which was a plus!

Day 11
John and I hung out, we met up with his co-worker Yohan (John in Swedish) and his fiancee. The four of us went out to dinner and for some drinks.

Day 12
Travel back to US, boy has this been a long trip!!

So that was a shortened version of my diary from the trip! I wanted to keep a diary for our kids to read someday. I remember reading my Memmy's from all of the trips that she'd taken and I just loved reading all of the stories!

Here are some more pics...

"On the road again..."

2007-05-10T05:38:00.000-04:00

My first try at using a song title for my blog entry!

I told you all I had a valid excuse for not updating my blog! For the past three weeks, I have been traveling almost every day for work. Thankfully, except for our own personal trip to Europe in a few weeks, I will not have to do any more traveling for awhile!

I haven't been to many cool places these past few weeks, except for McLean, VA (our company headquarters) which is right outside of DC and our Masterfoods plant in Hackettstown NJ where they make the plain & peanut M&M's (nothing like a fresh M&M right off the production line - even without the candy coating!)

I was also working at out Mt. Olive office, where our Information Systems International business unit it (not as interesting!)

The nice thing was that John was able to accompany me to McLean, VA because her has some customers in DC, sp that was nice, especially because my company put us up at the Ritz-Carlton (boy did we feel a little out of place!) It was the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! I will post a few pictures of the suite we had there.

Anyways, next week I am finally in the office all week, very happy about that (along with all of the employees I serve!) It's nice when you work in HR and feel needed as much as we do!

I also took the boys to the zoo this past weekend, so I will definitely report on that tomorrow!

More Kitchen Pics

2007-04-22T08:55:00.000-04:00

I was going to wait until our new backdoor was in and the countertop was installed, but that might not be for another week. So, here it is (so far) the new kitchen.

hmmmm...

2007-04-09T20:52:00.000-04:00

I just have to share this with everyone because it cracks me up. Yesterday while at my Pappy's house, I gave my two nephews their Easter baskets that I put together for them. Of course, there was M&M paraphernalia in there, amongst the Spongebob pencils, coloring books, candy, etc.

After their mommy tells them that Aunt Kristy works at the M&M company where they make M&M's their wheels started turning...

"Aunt Kristy, is this your boss?(pointing to the blue M&M on the front of a toy I got them)"

I reply, "No, I work for the red one"

I couldn't help myself, I kept going..

Aiden, "You work for an M&M?" Me, "Yup, he's a pretty cool boss"

Riley, with his smirk "nuh uh, you don't work for an M&M"

This went on for a few more minutes, had me cracking up just the thought of it if I really worked for an M&M! Would be pretty cool though!

I just love having conversations like these with my nephews

A little Trivia

2007-04-08T22:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, here is a little game to play. You are not allowed to use Google, or ask any of your co-workers, friends or family! Only respond if you have a good answer for this question or a reasonable educated guess (or you just want to say something funny)!

If Easter is about Jesus and the Resurrection, where did the Easter "bunny" and coloring eggs come in to the picture?!?

We had a big discussion at work the other day, and I was just wondering if anyone has thought about this before. The reason I said not to use google is because first of all there isn't that much solid info out there about it (I already googled it) and it still doesn't make sense to me! I guess it just goes back to Santa Claus...

This was the only decent thing I could find online, among all of the weird ideas that people had! (But don't look until after your take your guess!)

Anyways, HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE!! Enjoy your chocolate!

Miscellaneous Thoughts...

2007-03-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

So, I decided to do a little miscellaneous post since I don't really have anything to blog about. I don't really like to post things that aren't good, just happy thoughts!

These past couple of weeks have been extremely stressful for us, between having a few road bumps with our kitchen project (which I will get to later), I had to have surgery last Friday (which I would rather not upset the people who don't know by going into details)but we are both okay about it, and starting a new job (which it's not the job that's stressful, just going back to work in general)

So, thankfully, the kitchen is about halfway there. The last three things that need to be finished are: our new patio door, the hardwood floor and the counter top.

These pics aren't current, but I thought I'd post the progress anyways. The next ones you'll see will be with the cabinets and floor (hopefully)

So, we had to pick out a different patio door for various reasons, research "downdraft retractable vents" for our drop-in oven range that will be in our "island" which we forgot about the fact that we need to ventilate our kitchen (especially for when you burn your food!), re-figure out cabinet spacing because our cabinets are not "custom", pick out another floor sample for the umpteenth time (don't even ask me why, it is between John ans Mike {he is our friend/contractor}), and last but not least pick out our granite counter top. I'm trying to convince my dear husband that it is perfectly normal for this to happen and no one ever stays with everything they originally decided on.

View from the corner of the kitchen where all of our new cabinets will be

View from the living room (this is where our "L" shaped kitchen cabinet layout will be)

This is where our new patio door will be, basically twice as wide as the door you see there now, we are knocking out the back wall on the left hand side of the existing door (and our new window there on the left)

This is the new entrance to the basement

I wish I could take a bird's eye view snapshot, it is so hard to capture a room this large and point out where everything is

So, I think that's about it for the update, we are definitely going to have a picnic/party as soon as our house is finished. On another note, we are getting the opportunity to go to France, Germany & Sweden in May. John has a work meeting, so I am going to tag along - not too often that you get the chance to travel abroad (especially when it is paid for)! I am hoping to be able to visit the Mars site that is right outside of Paris which will be nice to put faces to the names of people I am working with. I am also going to be traveling to the UK sometime this fall, so it will be another nice visit for John and I. Well, it's late and I'm babbling so I'm signin' off!

Erin Go Bragh! and other phrases...

2007-03-17T13:27:00.000-04:00

Erin Go Bragh! (Ireland forever!)

Céad Míle Fáilte (One hundred thousand welcomes!)

Tá mé air meisce (I am drunk)

Fad saol agat (long life to you)

These are just a few of my favorites (some of which appear on things in my house...)

Anyways, just thought I would give you all a little taste of the Irish language on this beautiful St. Patty's Day!

Five Guys and Five Hours Later...

2007-03-10T18:38:00.000-05:00

I know I wasn't going to post any more pics of the kitchen til next week, but since I was surprised to see how much they tore down today I have to post a few! Here is our "gutted" kitchen/dining room...

Dream Job!

2007-03-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

Since some of you have been asking me how my job search is going, I am pleased to let everyone know that I received a job offer this past week with Flavia (they are a division of M&M Mars) in West Chester. I couldn't of asked to work for a better company, from an onsite gym, free medical coverage, nice PTO policy, not to mention they sent me a Flavia drink station upon my acceptance of their offer!

I am finally where I want to be in my career, this job search (and waiting, patiently) has certainly paid off! I definitely would not make a very good stay-at-home mother/wife (John would agree)! It is also my passion for chocolate & coffee that has me excited to work for a place that manufactures both!

On another note, demolition of our kitchen/dining room is going on beneath me as I type this blog entry. I snapped a few pics for the "before" it probably won't be until next weekend for the "after" pics. Our contractor is coming to install the cabinets on Tuesday.

Cabin Fever

2007-03-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

Since I haven't blogged for awhile and my last (probably the most boring post) just won the award on my blog for most comments, I've decided to post another boring entry!

I don't know if anyone else is suffering from this phenomenon this year, but I certainly am. I cannot take another flurry, wind chill and day that the temp is below 50 degrees. Maybe it's because I'm not working right now and I have no stimulation whatsoever but it is really taking a toll on me and is triggering the laziness to come out.

What makes me even more frustrated is the tease that we've been getting with the few days we have here and there of really nice almost 60 degree weather. I actually went down to Wildwood last week with my mother-in-law, to check on the Quinn's beach house. It was so beautiful, the ocean, the sun - I can't WAIT til the weather breaks that we can just spend every weekend down there!

So, ultimately I think I am suffering from "cabin fever". I have to admit, I do like living in this area because of the season changes, but I think the best time of year is when Spring hits! There is just a freshness about it, you want to be outside, you want to deep clean your house, sit out on your back porch with an ice cold beer (you get the picture)!

So, I will suffer through March with it's unpredictable, unforgiving weather patterns with all of the promises in my head about a beautiful Spring/Summer (and mom's pool)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

For us here around here it should be a nice cozy evening trapped inside because of the weather!