| Pictures are posted! | |||
| 07:55pm 28/10/2008 | |||
|
So it took me over a week but I've finally got all of my photos from the Italy trip posted on Flickr. However...these are only the pictures from my camera and I still have the photos from Joe's camera. My pictures end right after we got to his families place so there is plenty more to come! As you will see from the pictures, the weather was perfect, the surroundings were gorgeous, it was wonderful to see all of Joe's extended family again, I was blessed to have my family and friends join us for a second ceremony and overall it just couldn't have been any better! Joe and I can't wait to go back again and welcome anyone to join us...there is always a free bed for you to sleep in! Someday we hope to have a plot of land of our own on the family property and build a vacation house. Enjoy! Italy Photos, click here, click here!! |
|||
| Post | |||
| USS Hornet - Glenn Miller Orchestra | |||
| 08:02pm 18/08/2008 | |||
|
Catching up on past weekend events... On Saturday August 2nd, Joe and I met up with my parents and drove out to Alameda for the evening. We first went out to dinner at a an authentic German restaurant called Speisekammer. Everyone except my Mom sampled the wonderful beer selection and we are all had wonderful German traditional dishes (all pork). After dinner we drove out to the North end of the island were the USS Hornet is docked. At least once a year they open the ship at night and have dancing all night long to the live Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Andrews Sisters. In addition, they allow you up on the flight deck of the shift where you get amazing views (on a clear night which it absolutely was) of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge in the distance. Before the band started, we arrived early enough to get some quick dance lessons of period dance moves. My parents definitely pick up the steps much quicker with their history in square dancing and recent dance lessons at Arthur Murry (I believe that's what it was called). Joe and I did our best and just tried to have fun with it at most. The music however was absolutely wonderful and kept your toes tapping all night long. On the lower deck where the dancing took place (and where the planes are stored), they also had other planes on display, a NASA test capsule, and the Airstream used to transport recently returned astronauts from one of the Apollo missions. We all had an absolutely wonderful time and I thank Joe for coming up with the idea. More than anything though, I am cherishing the time that I get to spend with my parents as they are getting ready to move as soon as their house is sold. Not knowing yet where Joe and I will end up, I'm not sure how close we will be living to my parents anymore. If you would like to see some pictures from the USS Hornet, I have posted them here: USS Hornet |
|||
| Post | |||
| Honeymoon | ||||
| 06:52pm 02/07/2008 | ||||
And then the honeymoon... In one word...Excellent! We had an amazing time on our honeymoon. This is where we went It is an all inclusive resort that feels like it is in the middle-of-nowhere-Cancun far removed from the main hotel strip area of Cancun, out on the Northern end of the Yucatan peninsula. The resort has only been open since the end of last year so the landscaping was still growing in and wasn't as lush as some of the more established resorts, but aside from that the views were amazing, the rooms were beautiful, the services were impeccable, the food was delicious, and the drinks were bottomless. We enjoyed our fair share of fruity tropical drinks and spent hours floating around the pools trying not to get sunburned (I only got a tiny bit red and it went away in a day. Joe got a little bit more burnt than I did but not very bad at all in comparison to some of our fellow resort guests that we saw). Though our main goal for the trip was to completely relax and enjoy one another's company, we did decide to go on one tour while we were there. We woke up early and hope aboard a van that drove us two hours south to Tulum. Unfortunately we only got a partial tour of about 20 minutes once inside the walls because it started pouring rain with thunder and lightning. We still enjoyed the trip down and have an interesting story about getting soaked to the bone while trekking a mile through Mexico. Oh, and I also thoroughly enjoyed flying first class. I told Joe on the flight back that I am going to have a very hard time going back to flying coach now that I know what first class is like. We even got ice cream sundaes on the last flight! I will post pictures once I have them loaded on to my computer. So now everyone is asking me if I feel any different being married. I do feel even more in love with Joe now than ever and I can't wait to spend every moment with him that I can. I do also feel more whole and complete now and such a sense of calm knowing that we have made this commitment to one another. I also look forward to all of the firsts we will have as a married couple and can't wait to see what happens next in our lives together. |
||||
| Post | ||||
ecstatic| As directed... | |||
| 11:53am 07/02/2008 | |||
|
1. Name: 2. Birthday: 3. Where do you live: 4: What are you studying/What are you working as: 5. What makes you happy: 6. What are you listening to now/have listened to last: 7. What is particularly good/bad about my LJ: 8. An interesting fact about you: 9. Are you in love/do you have a crush at the moment: 10. Favorite place to be: 11. Favorite lyric: 12. Best time of the year: 13. Weirdest food you like: RECOMMEND 1. A film: 2. A book: 3. A song: 4: A band: PLUS 1. One thing you like about me: 2. Two things you like about yourself: 3. Put this in your lj so I can tell you what I think of you. |
|||
| Read 2 - Post | |||
| What does my Friday night consist of... | |||
| 11:58pm 30/11/2007 | |||
|
Sausage Stuffing Party!!! That's right! I'm over at Joe's parent's house and we are making homemade sausage. First was the grinding, then the hand mixing of ingredients, and then the stuffing into pig intestines! 20 lbs worth of sausage! Some of the sausage will be dried and cured and the rest will be cooked and consumed as is. Delicious :-)  |
|||
| Post | |||
| Dear Santa... | ||||
| 12:41pm 29/11/2007 | ||||
|
||||
| Post | ||||
Dear Santa...![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
| My windsheild got cracked...again... | |||
| 08:58pm 24/11/2007 | |||
|
I was driving home through Pacifica and heard a loud crack on my windshield which nearly had me driving off the road. Since it was dark I couldn't tell what had happened until I got to Joe's in SF. Turns out there is a dime sized chip and spider crack in my windshield from a rock. Luckily it isn't in my field of view. Hopefully this means I can get it drilled and filled and won't have to spend $$$$ on a new windshield. *crosses fingers while waiting until Monday morning to call insurance co.* |
|||
| Post | |||
| Not too far off... | |||
| 08:42pm 17/11/2007 | |||
 Lets101 - Free Online Dating |
|||
| Post | |||
| Why us? | |||
| 10:20pm 15/11/2007 | |||
|
So I'm sitting in the second bedroom of our apartment and I can barely hear myself think...why you ask...because there is a high powered blower on full blast that I can't turn off for at least another hour...why you ask again...because last night when my landlord called and said she was going to turn off the water this morning for some repairs I let her know that I too may have a water issue. See, for the last few days I've been hearing non stop sounds coming from inside the walls of my bathroom in the shower surround that sounded like running water. So I brought this up to my landlord who came to inspect this morning as I was trying to get dressed...yup, loud knocking at the front door before 8am scares the shi* out of me! So I get a call back from my landlord late in the afternoon/early evening today letting me know that she had to have a rather large hole cut out in the wall of my second closet and that I should be expecting a large blower in my apartment when I return because my carpet got wet during the repairs. So tomorrow I will have more strange plumbers and construction folk in my apartment repairing a large gaping hole in my wall, repainting, recarpeting and cleaning my apartment. :-( Maybe I shouldn't have moved into an apartment that was numbered "13" |
|||
| Post | |||
| Busy busy busy busy...busy! | |||
| 08:05pm 28/10/2007 | |||
|
That about sums up my life right now! Every day this past week I either stayed at work or worked at home until the wee hours of the night (10 or 11pm). I have a ton of projects with current deadlines or very soon to be here deadlines. My new hire also started last Monday and I only had 2.5 days to get him situated in his new job before I had to go to 2.5 days of a sales management training course. This past Friday my friend Liz from Virgina flew into town for my engagement party and my friend Erin from Davis drove out on Friday night as well. We went out for dinner and drinks with Joe and then came back and watched a movie and passed out. Saturday the three girls went to David's Bridal to start looking at Bridesmaid dresses before the party. At 1pm we got to Joe's parents house and helped finish setting up before guests arrived. The rest of the evening was spent with wonderful family and friends celebrating our soon to come union as husband and wife. We had wonderful homemade food and plenty of wine :-) After the festivities the three girls drove back up to Novato. Erin had to drive home so Liz and I spent the night reminiscing of old times (I've known her since Kindergarten) and catching up on missed times. We had to wake up earlier Sunday morning (4am) to drive Liz to the airport. Afterwards, Joe and I went to his parents night to finish sleeping and then got up to continue cleaning up after the party. We then drove back up to Novato and got cleaned and changed for our Engagement Photos. We drove up to Petaluma to meet the photographer at his home. Our first stop was at the Petaluma Airport to get some shots with the planes Joe learned to fly in many years ago. We then drove up North to Healdsburg to the Ferrari-Carano winery (www.ferrari-carano.com) for the rest of our session. This is one of the most beautiful wineries I have been to. They have prize winning gardens that rival the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco. There is also a beautiful vista behind the tasting room with sweeping views of the vineyards and the vine covered hillsides in the distance. If it wasn't so far from SFO or Oakland International, Joe and I agreed we would move up there in a heartbeat. After the photo session we drove into Downtown Healdsberg for dinner to unwind. We found a cute little bar and grill and spent dinner talking and watching the World Series. I hope this week proves to be a bit less stressful at work as I am getting near my boiling point. And if you are wondering...I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY REVIEW :-( We are going on 6 months overdue... UGH! |
|||
| Post | |||
| Finally In! | |||
| 10:00pm 01/10/2007 | |||
|
The story begin Thursday afternoon when I rush home after a business lunch to sign our new lease with Joe and get the keys to our new place. I had to go back to work but Joe and his parents began moving furniture. After I got off work we moved a bit more before calling it a night. The next day I went back to work and Joe and his parents moved the rest of the big furniture pieces into the apartment. I owe them big time for their help :-D Saturday morning Erin (Davis roommate) and her Mom came to help me with the rest of the move. It took us 4 more truck loads to move the boxes, patio furniture and other random items into the new apartment (I still don't know where I put all this stuff in the old place...). Erin's Mom stayed till about 5:30 and Erin and I continued unpacking. At about 8pm we threw in the towel, went and got a pizza and a movie relaxed. Only 30 - 40 minutes into 300 we fell asleep... Sunday morning we woke up around 8am and went back to the old apartment to clean. We tore through the apartment and about 2 hours later were finished. We showered up, went out for a yummy brunch and then I said goodbye to Erin and I went work for a few hours. Afterwords Jodi and I went out for dinner and I gave her a tour of my new place. So I must say, I love the new apartment :-D It is so much bigger and has a rockin' kitchen with a DISHWASHER!!! (its the little things in life!). We also have a second bedroom/office and a large patio, BBQs!!! So next time you feel like coming to the Bay Area there is a futon with your name on it, so come on down! The only down side is that Joe left on Saturday to fly and when he comes back on Wednesday I'll be traveling to work and then to North Carolina to see my friend Liz. So we won't actually get to be together in the new place until Sunday night (unless he manages to get out of his reserve day tomorrow, *crosses fingers**). |
|||
| Post | |||
| Interesting... | |||
| 08:48pm 18/09/2007 | |||
|
My Mom just scanned and sent me a copy of my Baptism Certificate. I was baptized on Halloween! Even more interesting...the name of the church where I was baptized...St. Joseph the Carpenter! And what was the name of the Rev. that baptized me...Deacon Joseph Chesnok! Someone was trying to tell me something from nearly the day I was born...I was to marry a man named Joseph :-D |
|||
| Post | |||
| More Space! | |||
| 06:44am 05/08/2007 | |||
|
So we finally came to a decision yesterday...and we will officially be in a two bedroom apartment (same complex) as of October 1st :-D My apartment manager is giving us a good deal on rent and isn't raising our security deposit. We get a second parking spot, both of which are right outside of the front door. It is on the first floor and has a dishwasher and ceiling fan. The kitchen is HUGE!!!! We can actually fit a really kitchen table in the dining room. So for the last two weeks in August we will be slowly moving into our brand new place...together! This is our first big step towards marriage and the next we are talking about is combining our finances...wish us luck! :-D |
|||
| Post | |||
| In the middle of craziness...more craziness!! | ||||
| 07:41pm 25/07/2007 | ||||
So...he said of course they would reissue the card and I would have to create a new password and re-register online. He said it would take 10 days to get my new cards...10 days! I am in the middle of booking work related travel and that is the card I use and I am leaving next Friday! At my shock and dismay he offered that they could overnight the card but someone would have to sign for it...so hopefully it actually comes to my office tomorrow *crosses fingers* I made sure not to give out any personal information just in case he was lying about who he was...but he did actually call both my numbers and provided me with ID and first name. The other verification is that when I logged on to my account (which hadn't been shut off yet) it said that my account had been flagged as high risk. So now I am going to call my other credit card and bank and make sure they haven't had any high risk incidents...what a pain! But I am very thankful that it was caught and is being taken care of. |
||||
| Post | ||||
annoyed| My Celebrity Look-Alikes! | |||||
| 11:17pm 19/07/2007 | |||||
|
|||||
| Post | |||||
| 11:02pm 02/07/2007 | |||
|
|||
| Post | |||
| Wedding update... | |||
| 07:36pm 02/07/2007 | |||
|
So we spent a good portion of the weekend running around and checking out wedding reception sites as I start to realize that June weekends in '08 are filling up very quickly. Joe, my Mom and I looked at 2 locations on Saturday; one we liked and the other we were disappointed with the customer service we received. On Sunday Joe and his Mom met my Mom and I back at the place we liked to have lunch and taste the food and to let his Mom see the site. We all agreed that we liked the room and location and it was a great price. Afterward we went and looked at another location and had a tour. The room wasn't as nice as others we had looked at and part of the view was a parking lot again. Normally I am a very indecisive person when it comes to making big decisions involving large sums of money, but after the last place we all looked at each other and unanimously decided which place we liked best. Today Joe went to the church and confirmed that the date we wanted was still available. Now I just have to wait until tomorrow to get a call back from the banquet manager and pay a deposit to reserve the date at the reception site. Everything is coming together...*sigh of relief* |
|||
| Post | |||
| My first poll ! | |||
| 08:19pm 20/06/2007 | |||
|
Since someone was more on the ball than we were and STOLE our date away from us at the church that we had our hearts set on, what should we do... Poll #1007076 Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married... Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 2 Which of the following sounds like the better idea...
View Answers Try and figure out another date which most likely would be farther into the future so that we can still have the wedding at the church where Joe went to school/was baptized/confirmed/etc. and his parents were married at. Choose another church with no sentimental value but that would be able to have our ceremony on the date that we painstakingly chose. Just elope! Its so much easier and everyone is doing it! |
|||
| Read 6 - Post | |||
1 (50.0%)| Wedding woes | ||||
| 07:59pm 19/06/2007 | ||||
We had a back up date but wouldn't you know that the backup date is the one day in the year that the church has its festival. So back to the drawing board... One good thing happened though, we stopped by the florist near the church and Joe's house who Joe has known for years and we asked if they do flowers for weddings and he said of course and said that he would be so excited to do the flowers for our wedding. Then Joe said I could pick out some flowers from the shop. That still didn't completely cheer me up and I'll be in a funk for a while over the date. |
||||
| Post | ||||
| Engagment Party Fun! | |||
| 10:04pm 27/05/2007 | |||
|
Last night at this time we were wrapping up our engagement party at Joe's parents house by sharing our Italy slideshow with some relatives who hadn't yet seen it. There were 16 people in attendance and I was surprised that there house didn't feel overcrowded. The party guests included my family and my Grandma who is in town vising plus Joe's parents, aunt and uncle, two cousins, his Mother's two cousins and two of our friends. Joe's parents had the living room/dinning room area set up with two tables end to end to make a large banquet table. We all sat around and had our first course of homemade fuscili and ravioli that I helped roll out the night before. The next course was the first meat course; slowed cooked beef in sauce and sausage and meatballs. The next course was bbq'd new york strip along with the other sides: asparragus, corn souffle, salad, caprese and mixed veggies. During the meal we all polished off about 5 or 6 bottles of wine which we toasted to Joe and I as well as to my Mother for her birthday which was on Friday and to my brother Adam who graduates High School on Tuesday. After a break from food we brought out a special birthday cake from a North Beach bakery called Victoria Pastry. It has a crispy wafer on the bottom that is topped with a thin layer of chocolate. On top of the chocolate is a vanilla custard with hint of rum. The next layer is yellow cake topped with icing. Around the edges are cream puffs filled with the vanilla custard. The bakery put "Happy Birthday Lucille" on the cake and my Mom was really surprised and touched. Joe's Mom's cousin had also made a cake, so we had two cakes along with fruit salad for dessert. Even though I warned my family ahead of time about the Italian holiday/celebration meals, I think they were still shocked and definitely left with full stomachs. But overall the families meshed together really well everyone said they had a great time. Joe's relatives even wanted us to practice with the clinking glasses tradition...but we were too embarrassed... I feel really blessed that our families get along so well together. I am hoping that this makes the upcoming wedding planning run a bit smoother. The next step is to pick a date and this is turning out to be very difficult and on numerous occasions we have thought about eloping... |
|||
| Post | |||
|
lcole00 |
||
|
Friends Info Calendar |
||
| skip | ||
| Backward | ||