Wednesday, December 31, 2008

There It Is...Excalibur



Ok, not really. But isn't it beautiful?? I named it Red Ryder - after the Red Ryder BB Gun from "A Christmas Story." I absolutely love this thing. It plays so beautifully and it is just so pretty. I look forward to rocking out on it, either at church or elsewhere.

Pardon all the weird stuff in the picture - our house is pretty cluttered and I couldn't find a spot of bare wall to take the picture.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Mom and Aunt Gail!!!

Today is a very momentous occasion. My mother turns 50!!! That's right, 50, the golden year. She is officially over-the-hill. But yet, you would not believe it if you saw her! Most people don't believe that she has a 25 year old daughter who has been married for 3 years. Which brings me to my next point, this is the ONLY year that I am half of my mother's age. She is 50 and I am 25. Isn't that cool?
Here's a pic of my lovely mommy holding up a bracelet that Frank got her.


Today is also my Aunt Gail's birthday. Now, she is not my real aunt, she is actually just a good friend of our family. She is also my mom's godmother. I'm not really sure how old she is, but she doesn't look a day over 60! In this picture, Aunt Gail is on the left, her daughter Dawn in the middle, and Aunt Gail's husband Uncle Walt on the far right, who passed away earlier this year. I give Aunt Gail a lot of credit because this was the first holiday season without her husband, and it sounds like she is doing very well.


Love you both so much!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Friday, December 26, 2008

And Just Like That, Christmas is Over

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas yesterday. I know I did.
We opened presents in the morning when we finally managed to straggle down the stairs. Evan played Santa handing out the gifts one by one. We opened all our gifts within about 15 minutes, and then it was over....sort of.

I devised a clever scavenger hunt for Evan to go on for his presents. I sent him all over the house, and even out to my car to retrieve his gifts. He thought it was silly, but I'm sure he had fun.
Now, we were all done opening gifts, and I was feeling a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the gifts I got and was extremely thankful. But you see, I had asked for a new bass guitar. That was the one thing that was not under the tree. I wasn't too disappointed because I understand that is an expensive gift, and it may not be feasible this Christmas. So, I made peace with it.
Then, all of a sudden, Evan comes out of the spare room with another gift, shaped remarkably like a bass guitar! It was a total Red Rider BB Gun moment. I even cried a little. I opened it up, and sure enough, there was my shiny new bass. It is a red wine color and it is a Fender Jazz Bass. So nice. Just what I asked for. It was perfect.

Evan and I went over to visit Grandpa W. and Aunt Mel, and chatted for a while. That was nice. He was really happy to see us. Then I came home, cooked a splendid ham dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert. It was a nice quiet Christmas. We even got a brief, but nice visit from Uncle Brian and Aunt Debbie.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Day is Almost Here

Usually, around the holidays, I find myself feeling very sad. Last year, I was actually deeply depressed due to some bad seasonal affective disorder. This year, I feel like I am ok. I am feeling a little disappointed, but overall, pretty good.

The reason I usually feel sad is because the true meaning of Christmas has gotten so lost over the years, that no one really knows what we are celebrating anymore. Lately, it seems that we are celebrating the willingness to kill other people just to get your Christmas shopping done. The commercialism of Christmas has gotten so bad. It's starting to butt it's head into Halloween for goodness sake! It has also gotten to the point where you can't even wish anyone a Merry Christmas anymore because God forbid you "offend" someone. You have to be PC and say Happy Holidays. Bah humbug.

The real reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This helpless little baby, who can't even talk is born to a couple who are poor and giving birth to their child in a stable. This helpless baby will one day grow up to be the greatest man who ever lived, and will die on the cross to save the sins of the world.
Now, this is Jesus we're talking about here. He could have been born in a palace, on a warm day in a warm bed, to a rich couple who would raise him like a prince. He could have chosen ANYONE to give birth to him. But no. He chose sweet, innocent Mary. Her being a virgin made his birth that much more miraculous. He didn't choose to be born with pomp and circumstance, but humbly and quietly in a manger. Sure, people knew he was being born and traveled miles and miles to come see him. But that night, Jesus was born so that one day, you and I could come to know him as our personal Lord and Savior.

That is why we celebrate Christmas. To quote Linus from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special (or more realistically, Luke 2:8-14):
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Monday, December 22, 2008

10 Things....

10 Things I Love About Christmas:
(In no particular order)

1. Celebrating the birth of my Lord and Savior
2. Getting pleasantly surprised by presents I didn't ask for
3. Being with my family
4. Snuggling with Evan after all the presents are unwrapped
5. Cooking an awesome meal
6. Watching Christmas specials (The Grinch, Rudolph, Frosty, etc.)
7. Singing Christmas carols
8. Watching "A Christmas Story" for the millionth time
9. COOKIES!
10. The joy of seeing other people open the gifts you got them

10 Things I Hate About Christmas:
(In no particular order)

1. The commercialization of everything
2. The fact that Christmas starts showing up before Halloween now
3. People willing to kill each other over a Christmas gift or a spot in the checkout line
4. Santa Clause
5. Feeling fat after just eating that awesome meal
6. Wrapping gifts
7. Faking a smile after you just received a hideous gift
8. Shopping
9. When Christmas is in the middle of the week (guess there's not much I can do about that though)
10. Seasonal affective disorder


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Merry Christmas?

OK, maybe I'm wrong, but isn't Christmas supposed to be a season of joy and happiness? If it is, I met one lady who is sorely mistaken.
So, I'm in Bed Bath & Beyond shopping for some presents. I am all done, and I proceed to the checkout counter. I see a line that only has one person in it, and she only had two things in her basket. Sweet! I thought to myself as I hopped in line. Then, from out of nowhere, I hear this lady going "'Scuse me...SCUSE ME!" So I look, she was talking to me. She points behind her and says, "Uh, there's a line and people are waiting." I pointed to the line where I was standing, and said, "I'm in this line." (duh). She says, "No, there is a line where people are waiting to be called for the next person," - insinuating that there was this imaginary line that people just started and were waiting for the next open register. I replied, "Are you sure? They don't usually do it that way here." To which she said, "Mmm hmm, you have to get back here in line." 
Wow, I didn't realize she was the president of the line. I reluctantly shuffled to the back of this retarded line where she apparently was first. All the while, she is glaring at me as though I had murdered Santa Clause. She was called up next and began to check out. At that same time, I got called over to the customer service desk where I was helped by the nicest checkout clerk I have met in a long time. Bada-bing, bada-boom, I checked out and made it out of the store before that crazy line lady. 

Bah humbug. 

Friday, December 12, 2008

Merry Christmas - That's right, I said it.

Love to play along with Beth! Enjoy!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Neither - Since Evan and I have been doing our best to "Go Green," we have agreed not to wrap our gifts. They already come in a bag when you buy them - use that. 

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial - sadly. No clean up afterwards. Although you do have to be careful of the cats climbing the tree :)

3. When do you put up the tree? We don't have a tree at our house - no room. But typically, after Thanksgiving. And we MUST watch A Christmas Story while decorating the tree.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually after the new year.

5. Do you like eggnog? No - and why does this stuff only make an appearance around the holidays?

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My own phone line. Funny story actually. My mom had gotten me a leather jacket. I was about 13. Not quite ready for a leather jacket. She thought I would be thrilled, but I was not. She even saved that gift for last because she thought it was the best one. Nope. So, she took me back to the mall to return it, and I got my own phone/phone line instead.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My step-father Frank.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Oma. 

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - but it is packed away at the moment.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail mail, but I don't think I am doing those this year since I haven't even ordered them.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I once got a twin set (sweater & tank top) from my aunt. It was PINK. She knows I hate pink, and yet something compelled her to buy this for me. Since I was a bit bratty at that age (about 11 or 12), I told her exactly how I felt about it. Maybe not the nicest thing I ever did, but since then she has not gotten me anything pink.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Frosty the Snowman

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Throughout the year, really.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Kugel!

16. Lights on the tree? Yes - I'm particularly fond of blue lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night", and "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? STAY HOME!!! I love it when the holidays are quiet.

19. Can you name all of Santa's? SANTA IS NOT REAL (sorry kids)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Although angels are beautiful, I really like stars.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning. Although, our tradition is that we get to open one gift Christmas Eve. 

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercialism. And the fact that there are people trying to sell cars as Christmas gifts. If my husband got me a car as a gift without telling me, I would be pissed!

23. What theme or color are you using? Umm, the theme is Christmas. Duh.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham, potatoes, cranberry sauce. You know, Thanksgiving, except with ham.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new bass guitar.

Passed Over - This has nothing to do with Easter

I just got a phone call from my boss telling me that she had some exciting news and she thought that I would be excited about it too. When I get a phone call from my boss saying things like that, I get very excited because it usually is good news. Last time I got a call like that, I got asked to make the presentation about my trip to Mexico in front of all my colleagues. So naturally, I was excited.
Then she laid it on me - my co-worker (and professional "other-half") has been promoted to "Product Team Supervisor." She is now my boss. Along with two of my other colleagues. Don't get me wrong, I like her as a person. But now that she will be my boss, our relationship will be different. She is the type of person who loves to impress people. She loves the spotlight to be on her. She loves management to be watching her and seeing "what a good job she's doing." I don't like working with people like that. It makes the rest of us look bad. We are a team and should work as such.
My boss asked me how I felt (I'm sure she could hear in my voice that I was not cool with this decision). I reluctantly told her that I was OK and that it would be good. I lied. But I went on to say that I feel that I would like to eventually get away from what I do now to move on to other things where I feel more comfortable and most confident. She accepted that...good.
It was clear, also, that I was not even a consideration for this position. I am not happy right now.

I'll just keep saying it: Greater things have yet to come.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

And We're Done

Thank the good Lord - the house drama is officially behind us. Allow me to set the stage a bit before I go any further.

We had met with our mortgage guy a couple weeks ago, and it was then that we realized that we really couldn't afford this house like we had originally thought. So after taking some time to think about it and pray about it, we decided to stop the contract and not buy the house after all.
So, we let the owner of the house know so that he was aware, and we also let our mortgage guy and our lawyer know the story so that everyone was in the loop. Bottom line: We don't want the house anymore.

So, our fabulous lawyer wrote a letter to the other guy's lawyer stating two things: We wanted the owner of the house to make all the repairs listed in the inspection report (like fixing the foundation of the house, replacing the windows, replacing all the outlets, etc.), and, that our mortgage application was receiving "unfavorable attention."
The other guy's lawyer came back and said that we should be more clear in what exactly we wanted repaired, to which our lawyer responded with a clearer answer.

All that being said, yesterday, we got an e-mail from our realtor saying that the other guy's lawyer signed off on the request and said forget it. The deal is off. PHEW!

So...while we are disappointed that this was not our time to finally have our own place, we know that "greater things have yet to come" (are you seeing a theme here?). God is awesome and He will be faithful in whatever He has in store for us next.

Here's a little cartoon for your giggling pleasure.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Not Unlike Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"

So, I was not home when this happened, but Evan told me that now three times in two months there have been these giant turkey buzzards that fly down by our house and just hang around for a while and then leave. Like this guy right here:


Something must have been dead near our house in order for these guys to fly down like this. The funny part is, they freak the heck out of the dogs - they don't know if they should bark or run and hide. Especially when they land on the house like this:

I'm getting a little nervous that these birds have been back three times in the past two months. Is there something going on that we don't know about? I'm feeling slightly like Tippi Hedren here. Scary huh? (Hint: I recommend clicking on the photos to get a good close-up look at these crazy birds)

Monday, December 01, 2008

The Dresser Project

Ok, so here is the dresser BEFORE:














And here is the dresser AFTER (with paint job and new knobs):














Pretty nice eh?

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?


People who use the handicapped stall in the bathroom who are NOT handicapped.

Now I understand if you are a "large" person and you need to use the handicapped stall because you don't "fit" in the normal ones...that's tolerable. Or if you have such a severe case of claustrophbia that you have to go in there, by all means, go ahead. But if you're going in there simply because you like the roominess of the stall...now that is inexcusable. What if a handicapped person rolled into the bathroom while you're in there, and they are forced to wait simply because you like the space.

Sorry, just had to get that out. I see it all too often.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

NaBloPoMo comes to an end

Well, I admit that I wasn't the best NaBloPoMo'er...I did skip a couple days here and there, but tried to make up for it by posting multiple posts in one day. I did enjoy the challenge of putting up a post each day. Sometimes, I really didn't have anything interesting to write about. I hope that I can continue in this tradition to keep my blog going strong and keep my readers interested.
So long NaBloPoMo - hello December!

Here's a little political cartoon for a Sunday giggle:

Adventures at Hot Dog Johnny's


Back at the beginning of the month, as you may recall, we took our youth group paintballing. On the way home, we were going to stop for something to eat. The choices were: Burger King (blegh), or Hot Dog Johnny's. Not knowing about the amazingness that is HDJ's, naturally the kids picked Burger King. So, as we sadly drove by HDJ's on the way to BK, I promised some of the kids that I would take them to HDJ's at another time.
Now, we tried all month to work that out, and it finally came together yesterday afternoon. Three girls: Becky, Alge and Erin met me at the church and we excitedly headed for HDJ's in Buttzville, NJ. That's right, Buttzville.
It was about a 45 minute ride, and we played the "punch-buggy" game, as well as a new game I had never heard of. You give one punch for every new state license plate you see. For example, if you see a New York plate, you give one punch to everyone in the car, and then if someone else sees a New York plate, they cannot punch again. You get the idea. We made the ride fun and short.

We finally made it to HDJ's in all it's glory. It was rather crowded, but we shuffled in and ordered our hot dogs. We also got Birch Beer floats, which were amazing. The hot dogs and french fries warmed our bellies as we basked in the hot dog glory. We were also sitting at the table that had a picture of Hot Dog Johnny himself. We were at the king's table. (Well, sort of)
All in all, it was a worthwhile experience. Lots of fun. Maybe next year after paintballing, we will be able to go there instead of yucky Burger King.

Friday, November 28, 2008

A Meme for You

Ok, so my cousin-in-law Beth explained that there's this thing called a "meme" which is: "in blogspeak, an idea that is spread from blog to blog." Sounds like fun! So, following in Beth's footsteps, I will try this one:

Go to your sixth picture folder
Select the sixth picture
Tell the story behind the picture

So here's the picture:
This is a picture of Wrigley Field. Evan, Karl and Steve went to a worship conference back in June which took place in Chicago. So, while they were there, Evan and Karl decided to go to a Cubs game. Unfortunately, they were not playing the Mets, but the Mets' all-time rivals - the Braves. So they went in hopes that the Cubs would beat the Braves, which they did. They had never been to Wrigley Field, so this was an exciting thing for them. And apparently they got a little lost on the train coming back from the game. They misinterpreted where the train was headed and got a bit turned around.
So that's the story! Hope you enjoyed it!

Bad News

So Evan and I met with our mortgage guy this week, and we started crunching some numbers. We had already been pre-approved for the mortgage, so we were optimistic. So, the guy asked us a bunch of questions, we started putting the numbers together, and we realized that we cannot afford the house. Well, we can afford the house, but nothing else. Plus after seeing the house again when we got the house inspected opened my eyes to a lot of things. The house needs a lot of work. There is foundational damage that needs repairing, the windows need replacing, the outlets and electrical work needs replacing, there is some sort of asbestos in the basement. The list goes on...
Of course, our realtors are going to do everything they can to try to make the sale, but after careful thought and prayer, I'm not even sure I want this house anymore. There's too much work that needs to be done, and we can't afford it. And all that was counting on the fact that our families would help us out with the down payment. I hate begging for money because I'm a big girl and I should be able to take care of myself. And, even if we did get some help with the down payment, it wouldn't help with the monthly payments.
It all just seemed too good to be true. All the signs seemed to point in the right direction. Maybe this is a lesson in perseverance or patience. Maybe God has something even better in store for us. Who knows. But please, keep praying for us - this is not going to be easy.
So long house...we hardly knew ye.

Happy (Late) Turkey Day!!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was very nice. Just four of us, and me cooking. It was great. So, I told you about the "salting" technique that I was trying out this year. Well, it turned out great!! The skin was nice and crispy and flavorful, and the meat was nice and juicy and tender. It was perfect! We actually only ate about half the turkey, but that's fine...more for soup and sandwiches! I do not have a picture to share with you, sadly, but just know that I would HIGHLY recommend the salting technique. Just rub the seasoned salt on your turkey the day before, shove him in the fridge overnight, rinse him off and dry him off, shove him in the oven and roast as usual and voila!
I have also decided that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. So there.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

A Salted Turkey


Last year, my mother and I tried a technique for cooking turkey that we had never tried before: brining. This is a technique wherein you soak the turkey in a seasoned broth so it soaks up all the nice flavors and makes for a moist turkey after it's done cooking. I must say it worked very well. The turkey was flavorful, juicy and tender. Altogether a hit.
This year, I am trying a new technique that is all the rage in Bon Appetit magazine: salting. Basically, you make a seasoned salt (mine had salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and lemon zest) and rub it all over the turkey, let the turkey sit overnight like that and then roast as usual. Apparently it makes for a nice crispy skin and a juicy tender meat.
I am always up for new challenges when it comes to cooking, so I hope this one proves to be a success. I will let you know how it turned out!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Turkey Day is Coming...

I have often referred to Thanksgiving as the "Superbowl of Cooking," for me because it's the only day besides Christmas where I can go all out on the cooking and make tons of food for my family. I love Thanksgiving. I love cooking, I love being with my family, I love eating pumpkin pie, I just love it.
This year is going to be rather quiet. Evan and I are staying home and I am cooking for us, Evan's mom, and Grandpa Price. May I add that Grandpa is still talking about the stuffing I made two years ago. That was one of his two requests for this year: lots of stuffing, and lots of gravy. OK - no problem!
I think I love the leftovers even more than the meal because I get to make turkey stock, cream of turkey soup for Evan, a post-Thanksgiving casserole with what I've got left, and any number of turkey sandwiches depending on how much turkey we've got left. This year we got a free turkey thanks to Mom's frequent shopping at Acme. We have a 15 lb. bird to feed 4 of us. That's more than 3 lbs. of turkey EACH! Leftovers, here I come.
I hope that each of you are planning a wonderful Thanksgiving with the people you love, and know that our thoughts are with you, and we are thankful for each and every one of you.

Here's a shot of me from 2005 - my first turkey after Evan and I got married. Looks good eh?


Saturday, November 22, 2008

We've been inspected...

So, we are yet one more step closer to getting our house. Today, we had the house inspected - inside and out. We also got to meet the executor of the estate, which was nice. Apparently it was his aunt that owned the house, and she never had children so he wound up being the executor. We learned a lot about his aunt. Her husband died back in the 70's, and so she became a world traveler and took up painting. We saw lots of things that she had collected from Egypt, Japan, Paris...all over. We also learned a lot about houses that were built in the 50's, which our house was. Turns out that there aren't a heck of a lot of repairs we have to do to the house. Everything was in pretty good shape.
Anyway, the real magic happened when Ron (the executor) started asking us which of the things left in the house did we want. He pointed out the things we could have for free - the mirror in the dining room, the bookshelf in the living room, all the paintings in the bedroom, an original Victrola record player (whoa), all the little knick-knacks hanging in the kitchen, and some others. Then we bought some things from him - another set of bookshelves, a secretary's desk from the 1930's (wow), a rocking chair, an 18mm camera, another mirror and umbrella basket. All in all, we spent $60 for all of it. Most of this stuff is worth way more than that. It just kept getting better and better.
WE LOVE THIS HOUSE!!!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

We're Officially Under Contract

Got a call from the realtor yesterday - we are out of attorney review and the house is officially under contract! Not really sure what that means, but I'm told it's good. Now we have to get the place inspected. We're one more step closer!!

The Clam Chowder was a hit!

The soup supper went really well, and my soup was the first one to be gone. People were ordering multiple bowls of it and it was gone within 20 minutes. It was so good, in fact, someone PAID me to make the soup again and bring it to her. She is then going to bring it to her father who lives in Boston where he has New England Clam chowder all the time. She said, of all the N.E.C.C. she's had, my soup was the best she's ever tasted. Wow! That's the best compliment I've ever gotten about my food.
Ok, I'll come down off of my soapbox now.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Soup Supper is back!!!

Well, only for one day, and then it will go away again until Lent. Each year, our church has Soup Suppers: one every week during the Lent season, and one the week before Thanksgiving. I LOVE soup suppers because it allows me to show off my culinary prowess as a soup-maker to somebody besides Evan and perhaps Karl. Whenever there is a soup supper, they always ask me first because they know I will say yes.
During Lent, I try to make a different soup each week so as to show of my diversity as a soup-maker. I have made everything from Pasta e Fagioli to Tomato Bisque. I also try to make a not-so-well-known soup because everybody makes Chicken Noodle, Split Pea, and something called "Presbyterian Soup."
I did have one flop though - I made Garden Vegetable soup and loaded it with veggies. It was good until I decided to put some dried rosemary in the soup as an added seasoning. MISTAKE. Now, instead of tasting like vegetables, it tasted like a pine tree. Evan and Karl claimed they liked it, but I will never make it again.
Anyway, for this soup supper, I made my famous New England Clam Chowder.
Last year I made it right after the Superbowl, and called it "Big Fat Loser Clam Chowder." (Get it...cuz the Patriots are from New England and they lost to the Giants in the Superbowl) It was a big hit.
Making soup is so much fun. And eating the soup is even more fun.

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Saga Continues

We got a letter from the lawyer today about the house and our contract. It's just a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo that I don't totally get. I just hope our realtors can help us through it.
We're one step closer to our house!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

My Latest Project

Since Evan and I will be moving into a new house soon, and we won't exactly be able to afford new furniture just yet, I have decided to give my dressers a "makeover." These dressers were my mom's. She bought them when she and my dad got married back in 1981 because they didn't have a place for all their clothes. She passed them on to me when I was in college, and I have had them ever since. They were originally gold, and my mom painted them white, and now they are still white, but rather, um, "weathered" let's say.
So, I decided that I would sand them down, paint them a nice new color and give them new handles. I started with the little one, so just in case I didn't like it, I could stop there and hide that dresser in the basement. So far, so good though! I am painting them "Lemon Ice," a nice bright color, and I picked out shiny silver knobs for the drawers as opposed to the dreary brass ones that have since turned almost black.
This should be fun! I'll post pictures once I finish.

By the way...don't forget to vote on which color you think Evan and I should paint our new bedroom!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Adventures in Babysitting

I babysit my pastor's kids fairly regularly, but tonight was special. There are three kids: Natalia, Jhony and Angela. Natalia and Jhony are twins and Angela is the youngest. Tonight, Angela was going with her parents to see High School Musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse, while I got the opportunity to take N&J to see Madagascar 2. I was only half looking forward to seeing the movie, but was excited to be taking the kids out. They always say that when I take them places that people must think I'm a really young mom. I love that! 
Anyway, we sat down with our popcorn and bottled water that cost $4 a piece! and waited for the movie to start. Let me tell you, this movie was hiLARIOUS! I think I liked it more than the kids. There were lots of great jokes for adults and tributes to some old movies. It was great. We had a blast. Plus we realized that we got way too much popcorn for the three of us. At $7.95 a bucket, we made sure we ate every last bit. 
I highly recommend this movie. Grab your kids and go see it. If you don't have kids, go see it anyway - it's hysterical!!!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Josie and Slinky

Allow me to introduce to you, our two kitties.
Josie:












and Slinky: 













We got Josie for free when I saw an ad in the Courier News for free kittens. I jumped on the opportunity and we headed out to Neshanic to get her. She was so cute - she still is. 
Evan found Slinky at PetSmart. He called me and said there was this little black & white kitty that was nuzzling him and totally wooed him. So I said, get it! A week later, she was ours. Originally named "Paris," we decided to change it to Slinky because that's what she does...she slinks around. 
Both cats have very unique personalities. Josie is clearly the queen of the house. She is a Jersey cat through and through - you don't mess with her. Slinky is more timid and spends most of the day hiding in various crannies throughout the house. She has the most high-pitched meow you will ever hear. And it's not really a meow, it sounds more like "kee-koo!" She loves to jump on the bed in the morning after I get up to get ready for work and head-butt Evan in the face, as if to say, "Ok, you get up too!" 
Josie likes to snuggle in between Evan and I at night, and I can't tell you how many times we have rolled over her or inadvertently knocked her off the bed. 
Both cats bring so much joy to our lives, and they are excellent listeners. I hope they like the new house :)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Movie of my Life

My cousin-in-law Beth posed the question, "Who would play you if your life was made into a movie?"
I didn't have to think very hard about who would play Evan. It's pretty obvious that it would have to be this guy:


In fact, sometimes Evan says that people stare at him in the city because I think they think he is Adrian Brody.

I did have to take a minute or two to think about who would play me. But then it hit me. It would HAVE to be:


I have always loved Drew Barrymore. And as my fellow "Angels" will recall, she is my Charlie's Angels alter-ego as Dylan. My favorite movie with her is "Riding in Cars with Boys." Aside from the whole getting pregnant as a teenager, that movie reminded me a lot of my own life.
I also think that Drew would totally embody my personality. She would be perfect.
And Adrian would really be able to portray the melancholy, struggling artist that is Evan.


Who knows, maybe one day when Evan makes it to Hollywood, we can actually make this movie!

This is so cool....

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

OMG - We Got It!!!

So, the long and arduous journey of looking for a house has finally come to an end. But yet, this is only the beginning! Evan and I - though discouraged from our recent lack-of-luck with houses - went to look at some more houses last night in Manville. The first one we saw was pretty much the same as two other houses we already looked at, plus the people were home, so we were out of there pretty quick.
Let me sidebar for a moment. At lunch yesterday, I was telling my coworkers that Evan and I hadn't yet found a house that we felt was "THE ONE." Every house we've seen, even if we liked it, there was always one or two things that we thought about later and didn't like. Like, the kitchen was too small, or the bedrooms weren't big enough, or there wasn't enough space for all our stuff...you get the idea. So we were still waiting to walk into a house and say, "This is IT!"
Ok, back to the story. So, the next house we looked at was just around the corner, and of course it was dark out so we couldn't read the numbers on the houses. Once the realtor found the lockbox, she let us in, and immediately we both went, "Wow." We went in the side door which led into the kitchen. I remembered seeing this online and remembered that this was the one with the nice kitchen. Then we discovered that there was a dining room - I've never had a dining room!! There was a beautiful chandelier in the dining room and beautiful window treatments. Then we saw the living room. Spacious, bright, nice hardwood floor. The master bedroom was perfect. Not too big, not too small. Plenty of closet space. There was a half-bathroom next to the bedroom. Nice. Upstairs was the full bath and two extra bedrooms. Both very spacious with lots of opportunity. Plus, all the appliances are included! The basement was nice. Clean, spacious, and complete with a washer/dryer.
This was it. Our realtor immediately called to find out the scoop on the house. It was recently lowered in price and had been on the market for over 5 months. There were no current offers on the table - yay! So, we hung around and soaked up the house for a little while longer and headed right back to the realtor's office to make the offer.
I got a call today right after a meeting at work. Our other realtor Paul said "I have good news and bad news." "Ok, gimme the bad news." The bad news was that we are going to owe him $1000 soon, but that also meant that they accepted our offer and we got the house!!! AAAHHHHH!! Here it is:


So, please make your checks out to Evan and Aubrey Walter this Christmas because we're going to be broke!!! But we got a house!!! I will let you all know when the party will be.
Thanks to all who prayed for us!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Cats

And now some fun with kitties....

Too stressful...


I didn't post yesterday either! Here comes another two posts in one day.

I didn't post yesterday because I was too busy watching the Giants almost lose to the Philadelphia Eagles. They played a great 1st half, with the Eagles only having the ball for 90 seconds in the 1st quarter. They started to lose a bit of momentum in the 2nd quarter and they began to play rather sloppily. (Is that a word? If it's not, I just made it one.)
They came back after halftime and managed to stay ahead of the Eagles for the whole 2nd half. I had to avert my eyes a few times because the Giants are great at making me nervous when they play.
But thankfully, the Giants went on to win 36-31. They are now 8-1. Thank God.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

My Life as a Runner's Wife

My husband Evan occasionally runs in 5K races in our area, ranging from the Dunellen 5K run for education to the Draft Day 5K at Giant's Stadium. I try to go with him as often as I can. The Draft Day 5K is rough because it starts at 8am, and we live at least 30 minutes away. Most races start at 9am, which is nice. The races are all generally the same. They usually give away t-shirts and sometimes a goody bag with pens, and other random trinkets. They always have doughnuts and coffee and water for the runners. When it's time, the gun goes off and so do the runners. Evan gets very serious when it comes to the races. He wears special racing shoes, a racing outfit complete with short-shorts. (Ooh la la!)
I love to go with him to the races. I usually take pictures of him running, and have got some pretty good action shots over the years. I just love to be there at the finish line when he comes in. He typically runs the race between 19 and 21 minutes, which I think is good. Much better than I can do, which is why I take pictures. Karl sometimes comes with us, and I take pictures of him too. Once in a while, we get one of the men from our church to run. Our friend Mike Heffernan ran in the Columbia Park 5K, and did really good! Our other friend Tony Schatz ran in the Watchung 5K, slowly, but he made it to the finish line!
It's a lot of fun going to races with Evan. He usually wins 1st place in his age group. I'm just waiting for the day when he wins 1st place overall!!
Go baby go...

Forgot to Post Yesterday!!

I was out all day yesterday and when I finally got home, I went right to bed and didn't post a blog for the day! So, I will be posting two blogs to make up for my loss yesterday.

So...what was I doing all day yesterday, you ask? Well, I went with 20 students from our youth group to my first ever paintball trip! I got up at 6:45am and threw on some clothes so Karl and I could go get the rental van that I would get the privilege of driving. I was hoping to get the black one, but sadly, they gave me the red one. Poo.
We left church at about 8:15 and headed for Jim Thorpe, PA. The drive was about an hour and 45 minutes. Loooong drive! And I discovered that Karl is not a good driver when he's driving the church van.
We finally got there - by the way, this place is called Skirmish, in case you ever want to go - and we had to check in and get all the gear and stuff. I wasn't planning on playing, so I had to sign a waiver that said, if I get hit with a paintball, I can't sue. I was planning on taking pictures of the kids getting lit up with paint balls.
We took the hike up the hill to get the guns and masks and stuff. They even gave me a mask and a bright orange crossing-guard-type vest so I could walk on the fields to take pictures, and the kids wouldn't shoot me.
There are over 50 playing fields at this place. It is amazing. Here we are at "Tippmann City" - the first playing field. They played a total elimination game.








Then we went to "The Castle," where they played a capture the human flag game.








Then we went into "The Thicket" where they played a Kill the President game. Karl was the President and he won the game without a splatter of paint on him.








Then, they went to this field called "The Pentagon" where they played capture the flag.








Lastly, they went to "The Airfield" where they basically played a game where they could waste the rest of their ammo. They played a game where if they got out, they had to come tag me and I could "respawn" them.








It was a good day. Next year, I will definitely play. But I was glad I got such good pictures.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Watching "Ghost Hunters"


Every Wednesday night, I am home alone from the time I get home from work until about 11:45pm. Evan is at school during this time, so I consider this "me" time. During said time, one of my favorite shows, "Ghost Hunters" is on. In case you don't know anything about the show, it's basically a group of (mostly) guys that go investigate supposedly haunted houses. They videotape, do voice recordings, use thermal imagaing, all that good stuff. Then they watch all the tapes, listen to all the audio, and pull out anything they believe to be "paranormal" and then bring it to show the homeowner or whoever owns the building they are in.
Last night, they were showing the results from the live broadcast they did on Halloween. I don't believe in ghosts, but I do believe in demons and they are capable of doing some crazy things. While they were showing the results, they had caught three separate incidents of one of their investigators getting his coat tugged on by an unseen entity. There didn't appear to be anything like fishing line or like they somehow faked it. Ok, so I'm a little freaked out.
The second thing they caught was what they call EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). This is where they have a digital recorder and they ask random questions and hope to catch voices that cannot be heard by the naked ear. Twice they caught a "inhuman" voice saying, "You're not supposed to be here." rather angrily. Ok, now I'm REALLY freaked out!!! I was really missing Evan, and he wasn't due to come home for another 2 hours!
I had to change the channel. I don't know how real everything was, but it freaked me out.
Let this be a lesson to all you wives....don't watch Ghost Hunters alone at night.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Election Day - The Aftermath



OBAMA WINS!!!!
I can't tell you how privileged I feel that I was alive to witness the first African-American president. Watching the news last night, I began to feel slightly guilty for not voting. People had been standing in line for hours just to push a few buttons to cast their vote. That hit me hard. In retrospect I probably should have voted, but the guy I wanted to win, did!
I pray that Obama will be able to turn this country around and that he will make an excellent president.

Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done....

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election Day!!!


Ah yes, another 4 years have gone by and election day is here again. They say two things you should never talk about is religion and politics. Which is precisely why I regretfully did not go out and vote today. I rarely ever watch the news, and I especially do not follow politics. Therefore, since I did not know nearly enough about either candidate, I felt that my vote would not be fair. Besides, voting for the President is just a glorified high school popularity contest. Why do you think John McCain chose Sarah Palin? I know that there are plenty of people that will yell at me and tell me that it is un-American to not vote (most of them in my family), but that is not the case here. I don't feel that it would be right for me to vote because I am not knowledgeable enough about either candidate.
It would not be fair of me to vote for Obama because he is better looking.
I'll come down off my soapbox now.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Why A Minor is the best chord...

My husband Evan believes that A Minor is the best chord that one can play either on guitar or other instruments that allow you to play chords. He is quoted as saying that "Stairway to Heaven is nothing without it!"
I would tend to agree that A Minor is a nice chord. But the best? Go find a guitar or a piano and find out for yourself...
Here's our friend Cory...probably playing an A Minor chord.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Shout out time....

I recently received a letter - yes a LETTER, not an e-mail, not a note on my blackberry, not a text message - a letter from my dear cousins Hens and Nancy who live in Holland. They told me the reason that they snail-mailed me was because they didn't have my e-mail address and they weren't able to post a note on any of my blogs. But how cool is that, my blog is being read overseas! Someday, I will be able to take Evan to Holland. I haven't been there since I was a little girl.
So, greetings to my Holland family!! Hope to see you all soon!!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

It was in the kitty!!!

What are the odds of getting three Aces in the kitty when you play pinochle? You decide...

Meat cake

I'm not sure what goes through your head when you hear the word "Meat cake" but for Evan and I, it conjures up a pound of ground beef wherein the beef has been shaped to look like a pancake, and cooked as such. Apparently, this was an Evan's Dad Creation back in the day, and it turned out to be quite good. It's basically an over sized hamburger. We cut it like a pizza and enjoyed it. Dare to try it at home? By the way, that's Velveeta on top.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Why I don't watch the news


Evan goes to school in NYC. I saw a news brief just an hour ago that said something about a shooting in the city that left some people dead.
I wish I didn't worry so much.....

The Healing Begins Now....

It's kind of ironic how even at a funeral, God is still able to breathe life into a long dead relationship between a father and his daughter. Maybe it's not ironic, maybe it's just that God is always moving, even if it's in a seemingly difficult situation.
I was at a memorial service for one of my old Sunday School teachers who recently passed away. During the time that friends of the family were allowed to share their thoughts about "Aunt Barbara," my mother got up to say a few words. When she sat back down, she leaned over to me and whispered, "Your father is here."
Now, anyone that knows even a little bit about me knows that my parents divorced when I was about 12, and it has been ugly ever since. My relationship with my father has always been rocky, and needless to say, for many years of my life, I felt that I didn't even have a father.
After the service, I said hi to a few people I hadn't seen since I was about 5, and then sheepishly approached my father. As though nothing bad had ever happened between us, we hugged and said hello. During the 10 seconds of that embrace, it was as though he understood how I had felt for all those years, and it all seemed to melt away.
We were able to talk civilly and he even gave me advice about the talk I was about to give to my youth group that night.
For years, I had let the pain that I believed my father was causing me invade my life and affect all subsequent relationships. And yet in this humble moment, God took it all away. God truly is awesome.
Greater things have yet to come...

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

House Hunting...

I always dreamed of this point in my life. Searching for that perfect house, with the white picket fence, a view of the ocean, and a kitchen that would make Emeril jealous.
Evan and I have started house hunting. And I must say, it is a grueling process. There is not much on the market (that we can afford) in Dunellen or Middlesex, so we have expanded our search in other towns like Manville and Bound Brook. Since we unfortunately have a rather low budget at the moment, it is slim pickins all around. We have to either settle for what we like to call a "tiny house" or move in to a real "fixer-upper." Once you start saying things like, "Oh you can just knock this wall down, and make this a bigger room. Take out this section here. Move out this section here." (you get the idea), I immediately do not want to move in.
We saw a house that we LOVED in Manville, and we immediately put in an offer. The listing did say "Accepting All Offers" so, why not? I was excited to hear back. I had a good feeling about this house. I thought perhaps this could be the one. Evan told me that he prayed that if this wasn't the one, for God to show us. Sure enough, the next day our realtor said that the owners would not even consider the offer we had made (which was not unreasonable for what it was listed at). So that was that. It was a no.
We looked at another house around the corner that was similar in setup and size, just not as "new" let's say. Still nice though. We put an offer in on that one, and now we are hoping for the best. All we can do is pray. You would think it would be easy to get a house these days with the way the market is.
Hopefully we will have a place of our own before Christmas.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I did it!!

I woke up last Thursday morning with a nervous tummy. Today was the day. In 4 hours, I would give my presentation to the entire Business Administration staff at IEEE - which is something like 200 people.
I got myself ready, suited up, and headed for work. I barely had time to even turn on my computer, let alone try to prepare for the presentation. I quickly grabbed my speech printout, and headed down to the conference room.
The moderators were there, ready to get everything started. I looked at the clock, and realized that the meeting would start at 8:30, and I wouldn't go on until 11:30 or later. I had 3 hours to sit there and stew in my nervousness. Great.
So, one by one, my colleagues got up and spoke with not a hint of nerves in their voices. All the while, my supervisor sitting behind me telling me that everything would be fine. Easy for her to say - she doesn't have to get up there.
We took a break in the middle, and somehow I had managed to choke down 1/4 of a bagel. I had six more people to go, and then it was me. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...it was my turn. I took a deep breath and had at it. I introduced myself and my portion of the presentation. I could feel myself shaking. Thankfully, my power point was set to run itself, and all I had to do was talk about the pictures every now and again. The nervousness gradually subsided and before I knew it, I was finished. I soaked in the applause and took my seat.
The head of Business Administration got up, and before I could get comfortable, he was thanking me for my presentation and handed me a Hess gift card to show his appreciation. $50 worth of gas for free...ok by me!
The real fun started after the presentation was over. People approached me and told me what a great job I did, and people also gave me their business cards and expressed interest in donating to next year's Mexico trip. Another person e-mailed me and told me they would like to do a feature story about my trip to Mexico and have it posted to be viewed around the world!
I couldn't believe it. 15 minutes in front of 200 people, and God is still working through this Mexico trip. God is moving in ways I never imagined possible. I never thought in a million years that I would be telling my colleagues about a mission trip. I also never thought that I would be shooting the breeze with the head of Business Administration.
God is truly awesome. He never stops working - and neither should we.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Praise God!....But not like that.


Since when have Christians become so objective about the way other Christians worship? If I want to hold out my hands, then I should be able to do so without thinking, "Gee, I hope the guy behind me doesn't think I look stupid." If one wants to jump around while playing in the church worship band, then so be it. How dare anybody tell you to do otherwise. 
I've been learning about this concept of "genuine worship." Basically, however you choose to worship God, you should mean it. It should be genuine. You shouldn't lift up your hands so the guy behind you thinks, "Wow, she must really love God!" You should lift up your hands because that's the way you want to worship the Lord. 
Last time I checked, this was a free country, and I'm pretty sure that the bible is explicit on the different ways to worship. (Here's where I direct you to Psalm 150 for some examples.) Nowhere in the bible does it say, "Praise God with a stiff upper lip. Praise Him with hardly any excitement. And, rebuke those who do otherwise." 
This is GOD we are talking about. You know, He sent His only son to die for the sins of the world. And, if we ask Him into our hearts, we are free from sin and death! Why wouldn't you want to jump up and down and clap and dance and sing loud??? And why should anyone feel so inclined to try and hinder you from that kind of worship? I agree that everyone has their own "style" of worship, but it is not within anyone's rights to tell others how they should worship. 

And that's my soapbox for the day.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Got my haircut...

It was time. On the plane home from St. Louis, I noticed that I had lots and lots of split ends in my hair. I am trying to grow it out, which is taking forever, and now will take even longer because I cut my hair. I had a picture for reference so that my hairdresser had no excuse.

I will admit that I am a stickler for a bargain, especially when it comes to something like a haircut. So, yes, I go to Great Clips. Can't beat $12 for a haircut!

Now, the question boggling my mind is this: Why is it so awkward to get your haircut? They put that cape over you and you feel like you've been tied to the chair. They always snap that thing around your neck just tight enough so that you're not choking to death. You tell them what you want to look like, and suddenly your life is in their hands (or scissors for that matter). If they screw up even a little bit, you are doomed to wear a hat or some ugly hair clip for the next two weeks until it grows back.
And why can you never think of anything to say to the hairdresser other than how great the weather's been? Granted, there are people out there who are like friends with their hairdresser (or barber) so you always have plenty to say. But otherwise, it is nearly impossible to come up with a discussion topic. My conversation with my hairdresser this time began with her asking me, "Do you have any plans?" How do I answer that? Of course I have plans! I have plans for tonight, plans for the weekend, plans for the future? Whadya wanna know honey? So I rebutted, "What, for tonight?" She answered, "Yeah, sure." I proceeded to tell her that I had minimal plans for the evening due to the fact that my husband was away at school for the night. Then we continued with menial small talk, and somewhere in there she called me "girlfriend" for some reason.
And why is it that once you get home from the haircutters, you can NEVER style it the way they did, and it will never look as good as you want it to again. Are they some kind of hair-wizards or something?

All in all she did a good job on my hair. It looked pretty close to the picture I had showed her. Once I got past the awkwardness, it was a pretty enjoyable experience. We'll see how my hair looks tomorrow once I get done with it.

Monday, September 15, 2008

How Awesome God is

Back in July, Evan and I along with 11 of our friends from church were given the great opportunity to go on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. We were sent down to build a house for a family with less-than-adequate accommodations for themselves. We're not talkin' mansions here, just a simple 11X22 one-room house. But to our Mexican family, it was more than they will ever have. The experience was something I will never forget. (If you want to hear all about it, you will just have to contact me!)
When I got back to the U.S., I was reluctant to go back to "the old grind" because I knew that God designed us for so much more. How can I carry out God's work sitting in a cubicle all day? Much to my chagrin, I headed back to work. I began to feel a bit forlorn, but I knew that God had brought me to my job for a reason, and maybe I just needed to listen better to find out what that was.
A month of two went by, I got back into the normal routine, and had almost forgotten about Mexico. I was in the middle of some busy-work when my phone rang. My desk phone rarely rings, so I was a bit surprised. I was even more surprised when I heard my boss's boss Donna on the other line. Am I in trouble? Does she sound mad? What is this about? Well, here's how the conversation went down:
Donna: Hi Aubrey, how are you?
Me (nervous): Fine Donna! How are you?
Donna: OK, I just had a quick question for you.
Me: Ok, what's up?
Donna: As you know, we are having our department All Hands meeting in October.
Me: Yep.
Donna: Do you remember last year, how Samantha from facilities did a presentation on her trip to New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity?
Me: Oh yeah, I do remember!
Donna: Well, Dick (our department head) likes to feature IEEE employees that have done volunteer work, and he was asking about you and your trip to Mexico. (Pause) Would you be interested in doing a presentation for the meeting about your trip?
Me (Nearly squealing): Really? Oh wow, I would be honored!
The conversation continued with more detail, but you get the idea by now.

This was it, this was why God brought me to IEEE! I do my presentation on October 2nd, purely by the grace of God. It's great to be able to relive the Mexico experience even months after it happened. God is making an impact everywhere - keep your eyes open!!
God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.

The Spirit of St. Louis!!!


What a perfect way to end the summer. I have been known to follow my favorite football team, the NY Giants - of course, all the way to Europe. But this time, we stayed state-side and followed them to the great city of St. Louis - home of the 1999 Superbowl Champions, the Rams. My hubby Evan is a Rams fan, so we thought this would be a perfect "mini-vacation" and we both get to see our favorite teams play each other.

Before the game, we were able to sight-see a little bit in St. Louis. Once we landed after a VERY bumpy flight, we settled in and headed to the famous Gateway Arch, which overlooks the city and provides a "gateway" to the west. Hence then name. The Arch doesn't look that big from far away, but once you get up close, that thing is HUGE!! We bought tickets to go to the top - yep, you can go up! They put you in these little pods th
at only seat 5 people and the ride to the top is about 4 minutes. I became quickly aware that even if I wanted to, I couldn't get out. Thankfully it was a short ride. There isn't much at the top because it's only about 10 feet wide. You basically look out the windows, take some pictures, if you're into that, and then get down. They also make you lean over this ledge to see out the windows, so it's a bit unnerving. When we got back down to earth, we visited the museum and the gift shops.
We had dinner at Landry's Seafood house - waaaay overpriced for what they were offering.

The next day, Evan and I visited the St. Louis zoo. I was excited because the weather forecast said rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day! We saw lots of great animals and we had a great time. Lots of walking though. I think the penguins were my favorite. They're just so much fun - although the penguin building was really cold!


That night we had dinner at supposedly the best Italian place in town - Lombardo's. It was mediocre, at best - although the fried ravioli was good.

Game day was finally upon us. Hurricaine Ike greeted us in the morning, but nothing was going to stop us from seeing those Giants! We rode to the game with Otis Anderson and got dropped off to our "tailgate party." We went into this big private room where they had tons of food for us to eat and free drinks. We had our fill and then went to find our seats. Rams' stadium is nice! We had club level seats, so they were a little more "upscale" than the rest of the stadium. Great seats too. We were about the middle of the stadium in the corner end-zone.
At first it was a little awkward being Giants fans in the midst of so many Rams fans, but the tables quickly turned as I realized that the fans know their team stinks. So the Giants fans were cheering their team, while the Rams fans were booing theirs. The Giants went on to beat the Rams 41 to 13. That's 2-0 for the G-Men!

This was the perfect little getaway for me and my hubby. Just what I needed to refresh my energy and get back into the swing of things.

Pictures coming soon!

Friday, September 05, 2008

Opening Day!!


My favorite time of the year - football season has begun. As season ticket holders for the NY Giants (2007 season Superbowl Champs!), I always go to the home opener. This year they were playing the Washington Redskins. The Giants were pretty much guaranteed the win.
I love the first game of the season. I took my best friend Karl to this game since it was his birthday. I don't love parking at the stadium because even with a pre-paid parking pass, we still had to park in east bumble-dorf. But I just love the smell of tailgate parties and the fans all pumped up, ready for game-time. I love getting into the stadium, and walking through the concourse to get to our seats. My favorite part is when we reach our section, and you come out of the little tunnel and you can finally see the field. The grass is nice and green, untouched yet by any cleats or a pile of defensive linemen trying to sack the QB. The players are usually warming up on the field and there is usually some crappy rap song echoing through the stadium. And then we finally get to our seats. Section 306, seats 24 + 25. 
It may be the upper deck, but we get a pretty good view from up there. I take it all in. My seat welcomes me back from a long summer. Little by little, everyone shuffles in, already sauced of course (not me!). Fans trying desperately to defend their manhood hollering "LET'S GO GIANTS!!!" as they climb the stairs to the top of the stadium. Recognizable faces join me in the section surrounding our seats. Like a happy, drunken reunion. 
This game was special, not only because it was opening day, but because these were the defending SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!!! They brought in a big float shaped like the Lombardi Trophy, and they let off some pyrotechnics while out popped Michael Strahan from inside the float holding the real Lombardi Trophy. He gave a short, yet impressive pre-game speech mentioning how NY fans are "by far the best fans in the NFL!" Finishing with a resounding "Now let's STOMP 'EM OUT!!" 
Here we go, kickoff. Giants win the coin toss, they will receive. Duh. Redskins kickoff, Giants bring the ball back. Took a few drives, but finally - TOUCHDOWN! It has officially begun. 
Giants played a good first quarter, a lousy rest of the game, but go on to win it 16-7. 
LET'S GO GIANTS!!! See you guys next week in St. Louis!

I love this game....

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Here I Am!


Ok, I finally caved and started a blog. Having grown weary of the whole "MySpace" craze, I decided it was time to move on to bigger and better things. I'm not sure if starting a blog falls into bigger and better, but here we go.
I guess it would be appropriate to give you a little taste of what to expect here on my blog. You will notice that the title of my website is called "Life in this small town." I currently live in Middlesex, NJ, but I tell everyone that I live in Dunellen. Mostly because I grew up there, and now I spend most of my time there. Anyway, Middlesex is a relatively small town, but Dunellen is even smaller at only 1 square mile. That being said, I will be writing, musing, ranting, etc. about my life in this small town that we call home. 
So, allow me to tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Aubrey, and I am a 25 year old female who has been married for over 3 years. My husband's name is Evan - he's so dreamy! We live in Middlesex, as I said, and we live with Evan's mom in the upstairs part of the house. It's cozy and we kind of have our own little apartment up here. We have two cats, Josie and Slinky. I will be talking more about them another time. Evan's mom, Barbara, has two dogs, Max and Wilford. They are dumb...'nuff said. Evan and I attend the First Presbyterian Church of Dunellen where we have been members for over 2 years. I am also involved in the handbell choir, the nominating committee, the "Tech Team", the youth program, and the board of Deacons. I also play bass in our praise band from time to time - more on that some other time. If you couldn't tell, I am also a Christian. I am not a Presbyterian, I am not a Baptist, I am not catholic. I am a Christian - a follower of Christ. It's not always easy, but Jesus died for me, the least I can do is read His book and do what he tells me to do. On Mondays, Evan and I go to a weekly bible study started by our friends. We call it Plasma, though to this day, we're still not sure why. 
I work at IEEE - The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers - where I am an Automated Data Management Specialist/Product Analyst. What exactly do I do? Log on to ieee.org and click "Shop." Start clicking around until you see some products that you can buy. I set up and maintain all that information for the products. Well, a lot of it anyway. What does it mean? I don't really know, but it pays the bills. 
I love to cook, I love to eat, and I love to travel. I will include some travel stories at a later date. 
So, that's about it in a nutshell. A very large nutshell, but a nutshell nonetheless. 
Stay tuned, there's lots more fun on the way!!!