New Years Vacation!!!

Hello Hello!!! So you may have seen my Facebook post that gave some vague details of the BEST weekend ever!!! But I thought I would give some more detail on all the fun Chris and I had!!! So, first...I was going to go to work on Friday, scratch that! Worked from home and took all the time in the world to relax, pack, and get ready to head to Connecticut! (ps - finished the edits of my CRP/dissertation before we left so didn't have that on my mind)....much to my surprise it is a fairly short drive to Connecticut, although I should note that I am the worst at geography so it's not saying much that I was surprised! So we checked into the hotel and then this was the weekend itinerary:

1) Head to the hotel bar for a drink while watching the Notre Dame game until it was time to...
2) Walk to dinner because, yes, it was like 55 degrees out....IN DECEMBER!!!
3) Enjoy a fantastic dinner!!! Best part of the meal was the spinach artichoke and goat cheese dip!!!! Or was it the NY Cheesecake....can't decide...
4) Came back and enjoyed some time in the hot tub, met some nice people, and then watched some more football
5) Watched the ball drop while sipping on some champagne
6) NEW YEARS!!!!
7) Slept in
8) Watched football
9) Ordered Chinese food
10) Massages
11) Hot tub (again)....not very nice people this time...more annoying...
12) Attempted to get some dinner at the hotel restaurant, however, no one cared to inform those who made reservations that they were closed, so instead of sitting next to the annoying people from the hot tub and have dinner we looked for another option :)
13) Joe from Hotel Services found us a spectacular restaurant where we had another great dinner
14) Headed back to the hotel for the Rose Bowl!

Now, would have been great if the weekend would have ended on that note, but let's be honest...Chris and I don't have that great of luck. So get up early to check out and head back to Massachusetts, headed out to the parking garage at which point I notice a dent in Chris' car (first dent in his car by the way)! Can't really do anything because there are no cars parked on either side of us...so just pack up our stuff and are going to head out.  Well we notice a note on the windshield that said "contact front desk for contact information"...at this point I was encouraged by the honesty of people and thought that was really cool that they left a note...yeah, well shouldn't have jumped to any conclusions because no one left information so the note was just a waste of time!!!! Then, we get back to my apartment and Chris starts looking for his brand new sunglasses he got for Christmas only to find that they are missing and the only place they could have gone is in someone's pocket when our bags were inspected on our way home from Chicago! Boo to people who are not honest!!!! Gotta hate those days when you realize that not everyone in the world has enough of a conscious to help them do the right thing!!!! Here's hoping we got the worst part of 2011 over early in the year!!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year!!!!

Wanted to end the post on a positive note with some pictures from the weekend :)

Driving to Connecticut...

Downtown Hartford (please ignore the dirty window)

This picture was entirely for Aaron (George) Bailey....he is a nerd ;)

Happy New Year!!!!

Pretending it is more expensive than it was ;)

Post massage....100% relaxed!!!

Better Late Than Never...

So, this post is a little late, but thought I would share some photos from my time home over Thanksgiving and Christmas! Loved seeing everyone and being able to enjoy the snow for a while!!!  Not going to lie though, there was something wonderful about leaving the snow behind and coming back to a place where it rains in January!! Enjoy the photos :)

Nothing like playing dress up!!!!

Story time with Danny! To be honest though: I'm not sure who enjoyed the book more....

Adorable!!!

Adyson Lou Weiss! 

Thanksgiving Crew

Just in case you can't find her...my mom is in the picture...just look a little harder...

Good times! 

Only took three tries to get a picture that my mom approved of!

Kapria's Christmas concert...SO FUNNY AND CUTE!!!!!

A Little Taste of Home....

So, I have to admit....I have been secretly enjoying all the Facebook posts about excessive snow and roads being turned into ice rinks!!! 1) I can say that because I have made sure that everyone I know back home is ok and 2) because I am still enjoying no snow, sunny skies, and excellent road conditions! Not to rub it in or anything, but anyone who is from Minnesota can truly appreciate how nice it would be missing a Minnesota winter from time to time!  That and I know my time will come, it is not like I moved to Florida!

Anyway, speaking of missing all the wonderful weather conditions...I will admit that I have been getting the homesickness bug more and more these days! Probably because Charissa had her baby (Adyson Lou Weiss) and I haven't been able to see her yet!  That and with Thanksgiving and Christmas so close I am so eager to get home and see everyone!! The Skype thing is alright, but I am going to need some serious face to face time with all the family and friends I have been missing like crazy!!! And I know Amanda will say the same thing after Chris and I attempted to have a conversation with her and Danny via Skype...let's just say there was a lot of laughing.  For those who haven't seen yet, here is Adyson and Kapria! Love this picture!

Despite all the depressing homesickness stuff...I got to see my MOM!!!!!! WoHoo!!! She was in New York for work and decided to fly down for part of the weekend!!! I was so excited!!! And we made the most of it...Thursday night was spent drinking Margaritas and enjoying some excellent Mexican food, spent all day Friday shopping (and I got to pick out all my Christmas presents so that I don't have to carry it all back with me....extra bonus!) and then met Chris for dinner and a sports bar! Here I thought my mom and I had been to this sports bar when we came out here for my internship interview, but when we walked in I realized I was VERY wrong and then Chris and her took every opportunity to remind me that I had been telling everyone that I had been to this restaurant and in fact was lying to everyone! Made for some good laughs!! We also became addicted to a game called KENO...I'm not sure how to explain it, but the important things to know is that we were certain we had the perfect strategy about 60 different times, never won, but did steal a bunch of the forms you fill out so we can try and re-create the game during Thanksgiving :)

Enjoy some pics from our less than successful gambling....

KENO!!!! (This must be strategy #38)

According to Chris this is the "pre-millionaire" picture...

 Mother and daughter together again....watch out world ;)

Sports Sports Sports!!!

So fun filled weekend of SPORTS!! (clever title don't you think?!?)  First, a trip to the Celtics game....but don't be fooled....we were there to cheer on the Chicago Bulls!!! Are you really surprised?!?! Like Chris would have it any other way!! Anyway, found a great pub to eat at before the game that was packed with Celtics fans, but we wore our red loud and proud! Got quite a few stares, but no worries, all very friendly people!  Later that weekend we went to go watch a soccer game at a local college out here! It was FREEZING, but still fun!! Ironically enough we showed up for the game where they played ARMY and the game we went to earlier this fall was against NAVY!!! Good times!!! Here are a few pictures from the Bulls game...

We snuck down the lower level to snap a picture! 

This is a view from our actual seats :)

Note the wall behind us...yes, that is because we were in the LAST row of the entire stadium!!!

Gotta love that smile ;)

Apple Orchard...

Random, but fun, trip to the apple orchard! Turns out you have to pay $18 to even get in to the apple picking area and Chris and I had no use for 10 lbs. of apples...so we settled for hot apple cider, apple cider doughnuts, and browsing of the pumpkins :)

Apartment Update

THIS JUST IN....The GIANT T.V. was delivered!!!!! Thought I would post some pictures of a few changes in decor!!! Some great gifts from some great people and a huge T.V. that makes Chris VERY happy!!! Took me a while to get used to it, but now that I don't have to move my head back and forth just to see what is going on I like it!

GIANT T.V.

Story People Quotes from Dr. Finch!!!! GREAT quotes too!!!

A beautiful crucifix and wonderful prayer from Brenda Cameron!!! Such a great addition to the bedroom!!!

These are just a few of the recent additions to the decor but there are so many people who have sent cards, letters, and called and have helped make this big move so much easier!! You are all so amazing and I miss you tons!!!! Thanks for all the support!!! It is appreciated more than you know!!! 

Adventure #2

So finally Chris and I got to go explore the Boston area! We lucked out with a BEAUTIFUL day and some sweet tickets from his cousin to the Notre Dame vs. Boston College game! But before those festivities we ventured out down the Freedom Trail that runs all though Boston and takes you by a ton of famous landmarks like the site of the Boston Massacre and Paul Revere's grave, etc.  We didn't walk the whole trail because our ADHD caught up with us and we eventually ventured to some other random parts of the city like the aquarium and some random park with a sweet fountain and kids just dying to run through it like it was a sprinkler!! But the portion that we did walk was really fun and made for a great history lesson on a Saturday afternoon! Here are some of my favorite pictures!

This is the Massachusetts State House

This is the grave of Samuel Adams

The grave yard that members of the Boston Massacre are buried along with Benjamin Franklin's parents, Paul Revere, Mother Goose, and a bunch of others 

Paul Revere's grave

Mother Goose (pretty sure they just say that because this woman's last name was Goose)

This is the Old Meeting House where the constitution was read to the public for the first time and this is also the site of the Boston Mas acre 

Off the Freedom Trail now and by the ocean...

The boat we will be on someday to go whale watching!!!!

Notre Dame vs. Boston College Game....Go Irish!!!

So that was our adventure!!! Tons of fun and definitely so much left unexplored!!! Much more to come!!!!