Love

One of my fav pics from the ceremony

Getting a new laptop has me moving files over from one system to the other. I have an old laptop and my old eMac. Going through everything I came across two files that had mine and Kevin's wedding vows and the readings from the ceremony. Unfortunately the files had been corrupted and I haven't been able to pull the info from them in quite some time aka... even look into the issue.

Tonight I sat down and opened the files in Notepad and dug through the crazy text and found the true text. I have my vows and readings back!! I've always wanted to print our vows and hang them in our home as a reminder to each other of what we're working towards and the love that we felt on the day that we married. Now I can!!! ...... If I buy ink for the printer :)

Enjoy the readings from our wedding.

Reading One:

Untitled

Spirit of love and life, out of the whole world, two souls have found each other. Their destinies shall now be woven into one design, and their perils and joys shall not be known apart. Kevin and Amanda, may your home be a place of happiness for all who enter it; a place where old and young are renewed in each other’s company, a place for growing and a place for sharing. A place for music and laughter. A place for prayer and a place for love.

May those who are nearest to you be constantly enriched by the beauty and the bounty of your love for one another. May your work be a joy in your life that serves the world, and may your days together be good and long upon the earth.

Reading Two:

On Marriage

Love one another, but make not a bond of love;

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone.

Even as the strings of a flute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.

For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together.

For the pillars of the temple stand apart.

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

-Kahlil Gibran

The Winter Wonderland Getaway

Kevin and I had ourselves a getaway this weekend with friends. It was a cold snowy getaway but that is just how Kevin likes them! I love to getaway on a beach and relax with my toes in the sand. Kevin likes to getaway and relax with his toes strapped to a snowboard.

I guess the good things about these differences is.... I don't mind resting by a roaring fire and watching the snow come down outside and Kevin doesn't mind enjoying a fruity beverage while reading on the beach under an umbrella.

Kevin headed up to The Woodlands in WV on Thursday morning with our dog captain. I stayed behind to pack our toddler and ALLLLLLLLLLLL his things to go spend the weekend with his Pop and Nan. Its amazing how much stuff I still had to send for him even with him being a toddler instead of an infant.

The plan for the weekend was to ride up with my friend and her boyfriend and meet Kevin up at the cabin. Them, along with other friends, would go skiing and snowboarding while I relaxed and enjoyed the quiet on Saturday. We would then pack ourselves up and head home on Sunday.

We didn't get to The Woodlands until just before or after 11pm. The snow was coming down harder and thicker as we ventured further and further through Western MD into WV. We had to make a few stops along the way for tortilla shells (I left the original I bought in my car!) and much needed beer and wine.

We arrived and unpacked then enjoyed movies, a fire in the fireplace and good conversation. I found that it was 2am I and was still awake, enjoying a beverage and not worried about having to get up and when our son was waking up.

Saturday morning fast approached and we had ourselves a VERY yummy breakfast brought to us by Pinterest. My friend prepped very delicious oatmeal in the crock pot and I made a breakfast casserole when I woke up. It was a great hearty breakfast to get our skiing friends off to a great start.

The skiers packed up and rolled out to Seven Springs, PA for some snowboarding and skiing. Other friends packed up and headed out for some errand running and hopes of cross country skiing. Me... what did I do you ask? Well I started off with a nap and movie watching, then I woke up ate lunch, baked a double batch of brownies while enjoying another movie, took the dogs for a walk in the snow, read, watched the snow fall, watched another movie while prepping dinner and then made dinner when I heard the skiers were on their way back home. It was perfect. Quiet. Relaxing. Perfect.

The endless driveway....

Walking the dogs in lots of snow!

Almost back to the cabin!

"Baby it's cold outside...."

I must say... we ate well that night. For dinner I made Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Taco flavored rice. YUMMY! And for dessert of course... we had brownies.

Our yummy dinner!

Bedtime came a lot sooner than it did the night before. Kevin was tired from snowboarding the previous 3 days in a row and well... I was tired from relaxing.

It was really nice to get away but also nice to come home to our super cute toddler! We got so much snow over the weekend at The Woodlands but coming home there was no snow to be found! I've gotten my snow fix in a very wonderful way!

Relaxed, Rested and I Have Returned

When I last posted, I was stressed, sick and going crazy while preparing for my vacation.

I'm back. I'm rested. I'm relaxed (for the most part... our dryer broke today...). I'm ready to get back into the grove of things.

We left for Myrtle Beach, SC on Sunday morning and came home Thursday afternoon. I'm not going to get into play by plays of our trip because we were really really low key on this trip.

We had a whole condo to ourselves that included a master bedroom, HUGE bathroom, full kitchen, washer/dryer, and a living room/dining room with an ocean view Our first day we went shopping at the grocery store. We bought stuff for yummy breakfast and lunch as well as munchy stuff. We also bought beer since it was a mommy/daddy only trip :)

The mornings were spent enjoying coffee and a brilliant breakfast then followed by reading until we decided what we wanted to do. From there we decided what we wanted to do and did it. What we did was wander the beach, wander Broadway on the Beach, Barefoot Landing, played Mini Golf, ate awesome food and drank beer. In the evenings we came back to the suite, relaxed on the rooftop hot tub, and read our books again.

Vacations away without a toddler are so much different than our vacations before we had a baby. Its not a bad thing really.... we really just appreciate the uninterrupted reading time, uninterrupted meals and the peace and quiet.

I love being by the water and we had the perfect weather. It was in the upper 70's almost 80's and mostly sunny more than half the time we were there. On our last evening there we watched a thunderstorm leave off the coast. I love love love having my toes in the sand. AND even though it was chilly.... I walked with my toes in the water on Tuesday.

Life was good last week. Life was better when we came home. I just loved seeing Connor's face light up when he saw me there to pick him up from daycare instead of my mom. I LOVED our snuggles the next morning.

We had Friday through today to get caught up on family time. Friday Kevin and I took Connor to Storyville in Woodlawn, MD and let him run and play with us. It was perfect family time until his mini meltdown at Chic-Fila.

Even though I'm struggling getting caught up on some housework, homework, labs and quizzes due to being sick before vacation.... its been nice taking time before having to head back to work. This work week is a three day work week so I'll enjoy the other long break that is coming to me.

I have to give a shout out to my mom for coming in and handling things with Connor. She said he was awesome be we all know toddlers can be a handful!

Soooo I'm back... I'll be blogging.... Enjoy the pictures from our trip!

View from our balcony

Another View

View from the front of our room

First day on the beach. We were right near Cherry Grove Pier.

We walked on Cherry Grove Pier

Celebrated our birthdays and anniversary at Joe's Crab Shack.

I'll have to scan the picture I have from the two of us many years ago in almost the same place.

Our golf balls kissed :)

COLD but worth it.

These birds reminded me of the guys from the movie City of Angels listening to the "music".

This leaf caused me grief....



Mini golfing nerds

This building will freak you out at night.... it freaked out Kevin while driving...

Where we spent most of our time reading.... It was WONDERFUL.

Eating Pasta and Howling at the Moon

Saturday night was date night for Kevin and I. Connor spent the night at my father's house and we had a night out on the town. We haven't had a night out on the town since our cruise last year. It was very refreshing!

Yesterday was SUPER cold. VERY VERY VERY cold. Between the icing and little bit of snow we got mixed in with the rain it felt like December. We shivered every where we walked.

After we dropped Connor off at Pop's house, Kevin and I ventured up to Baltimore for dinner at Chiapparelli's in Little Italy. Chiapparelli's is my favorite restaurant and I haven't been there in YEARS. We tried right before Connor was born for my birthday but it snowed and we couldn't leave the neighborhood.

Kevin and I had an awesome meal. I had a glass of wine with it and he had a Boston Lager. I ended the meal with a yummy dessert... CANOLI!!! LOVE ME some canolis! :)

Afterward we headed to Howl at the Moon in Power Plant. We were originally going to go but then remembered it was the weekend before Halloween and decided not to go. BUT dinner went so fast that the movies we wanted to see were still an hour and a half away. Soooooooo we decided to just get over ourselves and go to Howl at the Moon.

Howl at the Moon is a piano bar. Its not just a piano bar... its a dueling piano bar. They sing covers, have fun with the crowd and take requests. They of course were having a Halloween celebration and it felt like Kevin and I were the only ones NOT dressed up.... We did however enjoy some adult beverages and adult conversations. It was really great getting away just the two of us.

We scored a spot next to the big window that faces Power Plant's main area and we watched people arriving in their interesting costumes. We saw Pac Man and his ghostly friends, some Angry Birds, the Seame Street gang, lots of slutty anything and everything, super heros, doctors, and our FAVORITE was a guy dressed up as the Captain that fought off the octopus from the Old Spice commercial. VERY ORIGINAL.
In case you can't remember...


After we had a few beverages and the bar started to get over crowded and the people were becoming annoyingly drunk, Kevin and I headed home to an empty home and enjoyed sleeping the whole night through!

We both agreed that last night was a much needed escape from our every day stresses and normal events! I'm now looking forward to our adult vacation coming up in mid-November!

Kevin with his very large adult beverage

Me with my very small adult beverage

CHEEZE :)

Sooooo.... how was your weekend? Did you get stuck in the snow? Have beautiful weather?