APRIL 2011

Matt with his 6 layer brownie cake!

MAY 2011

Visit from the family...we love these kiddos!

Think I could claim her as mine?.....

JUNE 2011

6th Anniversary

JULY 2011

Davis's 2nd Birthday

AUGUST 2011

Debris from Hurricane Irene that was in our yard

Labor Day weekend

OCTOBER 2011

Trip to Outer Banks with our "Boston Gang"

(minus the Sutterer's...who we missed like crazy!)

I have broken my record.....

...Of how long it has been since I have written ANYTHING!! I am over a year behind...I am ashamed. What inspired me to get back up to date?? My friend Jessica who has a blog of her own. She was behind on writing (not nearly as much as I am ) and did an update. So thanks Jessica for inspiring me to catch up! Now lets see how long it takes me to actually write everything and post it....cause I am sure I won't do it all in one day...

May 2010

We had a lot of fun times and travel this month. We started out the month with a trip to Vermont with our "Boston Gang" which was wonderful! The house we stayed in was actually on the border of Canada... and I mean ACTUALLY the border. The border crossing was just past the driveway and the fence in the yard was LITERALLY marking the border of Canada and US. We had a great time being on the lake and spent an afternoon going to some wineries in Canada.

Our next trip was more of a business trip. We came to NC for me to interview for my job and to find a place to live. We had a busy 3 days of house hunting but in the end were able to make a decision and put an offer on our house.

Our last trip was our longest and most exhausting trip. But, it was great also!! We went to Disney with my parents, sister and her family. Except for Matt and I, this was everyone else's first trip to Disney. My sister and I had tried when we were younger to convince my dad to take us but we never could. So...we used Lena this time as bait to get him to take all of us!!!! (Plus we found some REALLY good deals on hotel and tickets which helped..) My 3 favorite thing from this trip were: 1) swimming with Lena and Davis 2) Seeing Lena meet all the princesses at the Princess breakfast. 3) The moment when Lena saw the castle at Disney she turned around to me and said "Amy! Its like my cake you made me!" (background for this: I had made Lena a castle cake for her 4th Birthday this year...)

In between our trips was another great day for me. My last day of work!! I was REALLY looking forward to have a 2 month break from work!

Princess Breakfast

June 2010

This was another busy month for us. We celebrated Matt's graduation with his parents and our friends. It was an exciting day but also a sad day. Matt had worked so hard for the past two years to earn his two degrees. Yet, we also knew it was time to say goodbye to all the amazing people we had met. I have to say that we LOVED our time in Boston and I am so glad that we had the opportunity to go there!

We also celebrated our 5th anniversary with a trip to the Dominican Republic. We had a blast being lazy and taking in all the gorgeous scenery!

It was a good thing that we had some time to be lazy this month...cause it was time to move! However, since we had over half of our stuff already boxed in a storage unit, it wasn't too bad! We left Boston late on the same day we had our stuff loaded and shipped off. As we drove out of Boston I looked out the car window and cried!!! I was REALLY gonna miss that place and the people. Who would have thought that I was really a Northern city girl at heart! (my mom was for sure surprised!)

"Boston Gang" after graduation

So long Boston...

July 2010

Before we headed to our new home in NC. we spent a few weeks in AL with the family. We celebrated 4th of July with Matt's family and a GREAT neighborhood fireworks show! We also celebrated my Dad's and Davis's Birthdays, and got to spend an afternoon with my friend Jessica and her children. However, the highlight of these few weeks was skydiving!! Matt's parents had gone skydiving last year and Matt couldn't believe that his parents went before he did. After watching their video Matt turned to me and said "We are SO doing this!" My response to him was "We are so NOT doing this!" Well... turns out I decided to suck it up and do it....for Matt. So, that's what I got Matt for our anniversary, skydiving together. Matt's dad jumped also. It was great! I am glad I did it but I'm not sure if I have the guts to do it again. The funniest moment for me was as I was getting connected to the guy I was jumping with. He had hooked the harnesses together and was tightening the connections. I commented "Wow, I didn't think it would be THAT tight." Then the guy laughed and said, "Honey, this thing is gonna be so tight you are gonna think I should have bought you dinner first." He then quickly realized what he had said and apologized. I laughed and reassured him that I took no offense and thought it to be quite funny!

So then we headed to NC and moved into our new house and both started at our new jobs. The move went well and we only had a few insignificant broken items.

August 2010

Now we really started to learn what home ownership was about this month. Lets just say we went to Lowe's about every other day for a few weeks. Since the house was new there weren't any repairs to be done but we didn't have the basic house tools. I said to my sister one day "I thought we had all of the kind of stuff we would need." Her response was "No dear, you had all the APARTMENT stuff you need but not the HOUSE stuff."

October 2010

Julie and her family were coming to visit so we did some early celebrating for my 30th Birthday while they were here. We also celebrated Julie's Birthday as well. We had planned to have friends over for BBQ at the house...but Matt had a surprise for me. He had talked to my girlfriends and arranged a surprise visit! Two of my friends from Boston just showed up at the house the night before the BBQ. It was a great treat for me to have them there to celebrate.

Our annual picture with the Birthday banner!

December 2010

I took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit Britany and Jordan. Britany and I had been trying for several months to find a time for me to come visit and we finally were able to match up our schedules!! Britany is also a nurse and has an even crazier schedule than I do, so unfortunately it wasn't a very long visit. Even though I would have liked to stay longer I really did enjoy the time we had together!!

February 2011

This was another busy month for us. We traveled to Alabama for Lena's 5th Birthday! (we can't believe she is 5 now!!) She had a superhero themed party with games and a bounce house. I made her cake again this year (with a little help from Lena) but it was so much easier than the castle cake from last year!!

Later in the month we went on a Disney Cruise with another couple and their children. Let me tell you, if you have kids....a Disney Cruise is the way to go!!! However, being on a ship with soooo many people does have its frustrations. We decided that all the adults/parents on the ship were actually more annoying than the kids!! Regardless, we had a great time and would do it again. An added bonus from this trip is before the ship left port we were able to watch the final launch of Discovery! It was a great moment for this former Space Camp Counselor/Nerd!

This is how Kelly and I like to cruise!

March 2011

Our friends Steph and Mike who still live in Boston had welcomed their first child in January, so we took a trip to meet little Miss Maggie! We were also lucky enough to get to see several other friends on our visit. We had a great time being back in the city, but it made us miss it so much!!

PJ party!! Kelly's husband Paul was entertaining us!

Its time to play catch-up again!!

September 2009

Now, I know I included September in the last post but I have one thing to add. I went on my very first camping trip!! Granted it was only one night and it wasn't really hard camping...but I finally went. The thing that was hard about it is that is was COLD! There was a frost advisory that night and we definitely felt it! Oh and we didn't have sleeping bags.... they are somewhere in the abyss of our storage unit and that is where they were going to stay! We did take our air mattresses and blankets, but i also slept with my winter coat and hat on :)

camping

October

I had another first this month as well! We went to West Point for a football game. We had a great time seeing some of Matt's old friends and amazingly... ARMY WON!! Later in the month we had a visit from Valerie and her daughter Zoe. As well as Britany and Jordan. It was wonderful to get some time with my girls as well as to play and snuggle with Zoe. Let me tell you that Matt got major points during Valerie's visit!! One night he babysat so Valerie and I could have a girl's night out. THEN one morning Zoe woke up extra early and Matt got up with Zoe and sent Valerie back to bed with me!

Matt and Zoe watching for the train to come by

Valerie

Britany

November

I made a trip home (unfortunately without Matt this time) and got to celebrate mine and Julie's birthday together with the fam. Originally I was going home to see baby Davis because I last saw him the end of August and I just couldn't wait until January to see him again!!! It just happened to work out that I went home just after our birthdays.

VERY happy Aunt Amy :)

December

Because my work schedule didn't allow for much time off and it would be a NIGHTMARE to coordinate everyone's work and travel schedules...we didn't visit family for Christmas this year. We did however, get an early December visit from Pat and Jerry! We had a great time seeing some new sights in Boston, enjoyed a day at home watching Army vs Navy, and had a wonderful night out to see the Boston Pops Christmas concert. In fact, we had so much fun that we forgot to get a family picture during their visit!

Last year we didn't put up a Christmas tree because our apartment is so small...and since our apartment didn't get an bigger over the last year, we didn't put one up again this year. One day when i came home from work Matt had a small construction paper Christmas tree on the wall. I was impressed by his creativity because generally speaking when it comes to craft stuff, Matt is not that creative... I commented how I would have been even more impressed had he made some ornaments for it. Matt's response was "well, we still have to decorate it together" and he showed me his construction paper star and ornaments!! I absolutely loved it, and we even put our presents under the tree!

Since I had a few days off all together around Christmas, Matt and I decided to take a trip to NYC. One thing that I had said we had to do while in Boston wad to go to NYC and see the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. This was also my very first trip to NYC. We had a great time just walking around together and going to a few of the big tourist sites.

January 2010

I have yet to comment on the weather in Boston. Well, we didn't get near as much snow this winter as last. Seemed that whenever we did get a big snow, it would all melt before the next big snow. It has been cold and hit the single digits and negative wind chill which made for some very cold walks to work for me! (Matt calls me an Eskimo whenever I get all wrapped up.)

This month we had decided that while Matt was on his break that I would use some of my vacation time at work. Can you guess where we went? I know you can.... We went to Alabama. Since we hadn't been together at Christmas we did all of our Christmas "feasts" on this visit. We also got to celebrate Pat's birthday with her. While we were at Julie's we got a special day with just our Lena. Julie gave her the choice one day to go to "school" or to stay home with us...and she picked to stay with us!! Might not sound like a big deal but Lena loves going to "school." We had a fun day together going out to lunch and Lena helped to pick out some things for her birthday cake that I would make in Feb. We also made a gingerbread Christmas tree as a surprise for mom and dad that day. (by the way...the kit was only $5 at Michael's... 60 % off all of their gingerbread kits...for future reference!)

I had told Matt last winter that this year during the winter I was going to go somewhere warm and that he could come with me if he wanted. :) Well, he did decide to go with me! I had a long weekend off at work so we decided to go to Cancun. We never left the resort except to go to the airport. All we did was sleep in, eat, drink, and lay in the sun!! It was wonderful!!

<div>Hey...it's only been 4 months....</div> <div> </div> <div>September</div> <div>Now I know I included September in the last post but I have one thing to add. I went on my very first camping trip!! Granted it was only one night and it wasn't really hard camping...but I finally went. The thing that was hard about it is that is was COLD! There was a frost advisory that night and we definitely felt it! Oh and we didn't have sleeping bags.... our are somewhere in the abbys of our storage unit and that is where they were going to stay! We did take our air matresses and blankets, but i also slept with my winter coat and hat on :) </div> <div> </div> <div>October</div> <div>I had another first this month as well! We went to West Point for a football game. We had agreat time seeing some of Matt's old friends and amazingly... ARMY WON!! Later in the month we had a visit from Valerie and her daughter Zoe. As well as Britany and Jordan. I was wonderful to get some time with my girls as well as to play and snuggle with Zoe. Let me tell you that Matt got major points during Valerie's visit!! One night he babysat so Valerie and I could have a girl's night out. THEN one morning Zoe woke up extra early and Matt got up with Zoe and sent Valerie back to bed with me. </div> <div> </div> <div>November</div> <div>I made a trip home (unfortunately without Matt this time) and got to celebrate mine and Julie's birthday together with the fam. Originally I was going home to see baby Davis because I last saw him the end of August and I just couldn't wait until January to see him again!!! It just happened to work out that I went home just after our birthdays. </div> <div> </div> <div>December</div>Frozen and snowy Charles River

Pat loves baby Davis too!

February

Happy 4th Birthday to Lena!! We went home again this month for Lena's Birthday. She had a GREAT party at a place that has large inflatable slides, obstacle coarse, and bounce houses! Unfortunately, Julie and Mike were not able to make it to Lena's party because they were at home with a stomach virus!! It was very sad not to have them there but luckily there was plenty of family to run the party for them. Again this year I made Lena's Birthday cake. Let's just say this one was a little more ambitious than the other ones I did.... but it was worth all the hard work to make a special cake for Lena that she loved! (Lena had some fun helping me make it as well)

A plus for me this month was that all my Boston girls were now back together in Boston after being gone with their husbands for internship. We had a girl's night out and I don't think there was one moment of silence the entire time!! We actually were so excited to all be together again and were talking so much that we almost got lost on public transportation because none of us were paying attention where we were. :)

March

WOO HOO...I made it through that catch up!! So as we just recently announced... Matt has accepted a job in NC and we will be moving at the end of June or beginning of July. Now begins our hunt for a place to live! For the rest of this month we will be continuing with our regular school and work, and we have a trip scheduled to visit Matt's grandmother in Colorado.

OK ladies and gentlemen.....here I go.....

SEVEN MONTHS! Seven months since I have written ANYTHING on my blog! That is a new record for me....but not one to be proud of. There have been several times that I have sat down to write but I just wasn't in the mood. I don't feel like I am totally in the mood right now to write but I am determined to do it!! So I have decided I will break things up by month and fill you all in on what has been going on....

FEBRUARY

As evident from my last post we found out the sex of Julie's baby (who is now 2 months old!) and we were all very excited! But, I'm gonna back up to the beginning of the month when my precious niece Lena turned 3! We had a great time at her Birthday Party and getting to see some of Mike's family and seeing all of Lena's friends again. I was also excited to get to make Lena's Birthday cake again this year! Apart from the party we had a great time playing with Lena and seeing what crazy things she would come up with. The day I got to my sister's house Lena was sitting at the table eating lunch when I walked in. I told everyone hello then went to make my lunch. When I came back to the table to eat Lena looked at me with big eyes and said, "Amy, you have boobies like me and mommy!" My response to that was, "That's right Lena." Matt's response was complete hysterical laughter.

Matt also started his 6 month school internship. He was at a company about 30 minutes outside of Boston so he was able to do a daily commute. We were lucky that he found a local internship so we wouldn't have to move. I was especially not thrilled about the idea of moving for 6 months after we have been moving every year since we got married.

MARCH

Well, I did it...I SURVIVED my first New England winter!!! Still having to wear a coat or sweat shirt sometimes, but there is SUN!! With the help of our friends Stephanie and Mike, I found a new love in my life.... rock climbing! I have always wanted to do rock climbing...other than the kind you do at malls, on cruise ships, at the space and rocket center...etc.. So our friend Stephanie has been rock climbing since college and she and her husband Mike go to an indoor climbing gym. Well, they just happen to be going one day and I told them I was coming too! So, I got a crash coarse on climbing and off we went!! I absolutely LOVED it!!!! About a week later we were able to find a time when Matt was able to go climbing also. So then he got a crash coarse as well and off we went again!

We also welcomed a new member to our group of friends the end of the month. Our friends Kelly and Paul had their second child. Little girl named Claire!

Matt "falling"

APRIL

One thing about our group of friends here that I love is that all the husband are great about accommodating the wives for girl time! "My girls" and I had a Spa day which we really enjoyed. The two moms of the group especially enjoyed some time away from home! However, the newest member of the group (baby Claire) did join us later in the day so she could have her dinner.

Matt turned the BIG 3 0 this month!! For his birthday present I surprised him with a cooking class the week before his birthday. I didn't tell him what his birthday surprise was, I just told him to be ready at a certain time and what he needed to wear. Luckily he couldn't figure things out just off of that... So we took the subway (the "T' as they call it here is Boston) to get to the class and I told him to just get off when I said. After we were off the subway I gave him his birthday card which gave him a clue as to what the surprise was and the guessed it on the first try! The class wasn't exactly what I had expected but we did have a great time. Seeing that this was the BIG 3 0 for Matt I had to do something else on his actual birthday. I will try to give the short version here... One of his classmates and I conspired to do a surprise dinner out with friends. So I had been telling Matt that I was going to make his birthday dinner ON his birthday. (One thing my family does is we always have our special birthday dinner and Mom will make you whatever you want.) Well it turns out that I "didn't get that day off work" (ie... I lied to Matt and told him I was working but I really wasn't) so as far as Matt knew I was at work all day. So the day of Matt's birthday I actually did have to get up and pretend to go to work because he didn't have to leave for school until about 9am that day. Luckily my friend Rebecca was home that day so I just went and hung out with her until it was safe for me to go home. I even sent Matt a few text message about work stuff during the day to solidify the idea that I was actually at work....Now back to Matt's classmate, Juan. Juan was in charge of getting Matt to the restaurant where everyone was waiting. Well they ended up doing some group work that took longer than they thought and Juan had to almost force Matt to "go get a beer for his birthday" (ie...get Matt to go to the restaurant) because Matt was ready to just go home. So, it ended up all working out and Matt had NO clue!!

Spa day with the girls

MAY

My family came to visit for a week this month! My parents had gotten a small RV a little while ago and they decided that they would DRIVE to Boston! You will have to talk to them for all the details of their driving adventure, but they had a great time. Julie, Mike, and Lena however, flew to boston.... The first night everyone was here we had a giant slumber party at our apartment (that's 6 adults and one 3 year old.... in 728 square feet....) because the hotel rates for that first night were about double what they were the other nights. Even though it was crowded we had a great time. Just like last years visit, Lena didn't stay at the hotel with Julie and Mike. Instead she stayed with us at the apartment! Matt and I really enjoyed the extra alone time with her in the mornings before everyone came over. Just wish they could have stayed longer.

My favorite part of the trip was swimming with Lena!

Daddy is always happy to have all his girls together!

Duck Boat Tour

early morning cartoons

JUNE

Once again the husbands came through and let the girls get away from it all!! My girls (minus Rebecca) and I had an overnight trip to Provincetown, MA. We did a lot of walking and just enjoyed the culture of this town. We also did a lot of eating and drinking!!

Later in the month Matt and I went back home for my 10 year High School Reunion. I had left a few days before Matt which ended up giving me some extra time to spend with my BFF who was also in town for the reunion. It was fun getting to catch up with people I don't talk to on a regular basis. I was surprised at the large amount of people who still looked the exact same as they did in High School....but I bet that number will be less at the 20 year reunion!!

Drag show in Provincetown


Valerie and her husband Sam

JULY

4th of July was uneventful for us this year.... I had to work that day and the day after so we just hung out at home together when I got off work. We did manage to see some fireworks from our apartment window though. The great thing about me working on the 4th was I get paid a Holiday premium!!

We did however have some excitement the week after 4th of July....Julie was having frequent and painful contraction which she believed to be the real deal, so we hurried down to Alabama to be there for Davis' birth! BUT he didn't come..... The day we left to come back to Boston, Matt told Julie that Davis was to be grounded first thing since he had teased us all into thinking he was coming. Ultimately, Julie was scheduled to be induced and I made another trip home (without Matt this time) to be there for his birth. Well, Julie got induced and they found that Davis was breech. Thus Davis arrived via c-section. Both Julie and Davis did well. However, Julie probably did well because of the nice little morphine drip she had after! Lena was very excited to be a big sister and was so very sweet to Davis!

AUGUST

Well let's just say that this month I worked my butt off!! (look mom...I said butt, instead of another choice word, just for you!) I had several extra shifts which resulted in multiple 48 and 56 hour weeks in July and August. BUT is was all so that I could have off 2 weeks of work without using my vacation time. So the first part of my two weeks of vacation was spent in Colorado visiting Matt's side of the family. We hadn't been to Colorado in almost 3 years, so it was time for a visit! The other half was spent in Alabama....mostly in Birmingham with my sister. We spent most of our time playing with and helping to take care of Lena and Davis...and we loved every minute of it!! We also got a chance to meet up with my friend Jessica and her family while we were home, and got to meet the newest addition to their family. Getting to see Jessica made me realize how much I really do miss her! But also that I am glad we aren't studying for nursing tests together anymore!!

Matt also finished his internship this month and had a nice long break from school. However, he did use much of his time off to get most of his thesis written.....and he played some video games too :)

When you play legos with Uncle Matt...you don't just build towers...you build suspension bridges!!

SEPTEMBER

WOW! I did it!! I made all the way through the last 7 months!!!

Well, its back to school and back to work for us...... We have been spending a lot of time with our friends when we can and are excited to get to see some friends who have been gone for their internships. Matt is also working hard on looking at companies to work for after school.....recruiting is already starting!!

Well, I have said it before and I will say it again.... I am going to try to do better and write on here more often....but who knows what will happen.... Maybe I'll start with trying to write at least every 3 months!! Hey that is better than every 7 right??!