It's the little things...

You know you married your soul mate when he shoves a grape up his nose in the middle of a restaurant just to make you laugh.

SNOOZE DANG IT!

I have hit a very weird, chaotic time in my life. I feel it coming like a tidal wave while I am standing with the water slowly inching up above my ankles to my knees. You can't describe the feeling unless you have been here before. I used to laugh (on the inside) at women who spoke of this, thinking "I won't have that problem." or "No way. I have my job, and a good life so I'm set. That is all I need."

I can't really tell you when it happened, but it just...happened. I woke up one morning and hit the snooze button on my alarm clock; only, I could still hear it. That annoying, computerized, nails-on-a-chalkboard, high pitched ringing. But this was different...it's not that I could just hear it, but I could feel it. I realized quickly that this wasn't my same alarm. "What the...?"

Holy crap. I thought maybe I had dodged it like a super stealthy dodgeball player- Vince Vaughn eat your heart out. Who am I kidding?! I always sucked at dodgeball!! I should have known! Maybe I was complacent in hitting the snooze button for so long that I missed it this time? Maybe my snooze button is on the fritz and it'll reset on its own? Maybe not. Never the less, here it is. My biological clock....yelling at me for ignoring it for so long. I wasn't ready. I never really thought about it. I was and still am too selfish. I blame people. I blame friends. I blame family. I blame society. I blame...no one. This is all me. Maybe its a trend of things that has cut the wire to my snooze button. My "work spouse" (Troy) adopted a baby last spring and she is absolutely precious. My friend Stacy, that I hang out with a lot, has two completely adorable little girls. My SIL has three hilarious and precious little boys. I recently joined Facebook and have reconnected with a ton of old friends from college and high school...they all have kids (for the majority). I'm surrounded.

After a few days of this screeching in my body, I finally brought it up to Ryan. We talked for a long time about what we wanted. When is the right time? What if it doesn't work out? What if we can't? What if something goes wrong? What if everything works out perfectly? Are we ready financially? Are we ready emotionally? These are all things we don't know...still. All we do know is that nothing will happen right away. We just bought a house and are settling in. Basketball is kicking up. We are just going to roll with it and when we feel ready...we will just see. No pressure. No expectation. Just live our life together and see. It is something that we want and we know it won't be easy. Only time will tell.

Moving Stinks!!

You can call me an adult... officially, officially. I am married, I am 30, and I am now a homeowner. (Yes brother, I know what escrow means.)

The saga of closing day was intense and I will explain it the best way I can at a later time. I have a full day of work to catch up. Just know this: moving stinks and I don't want to do it anymore. (Insert temper tantrum here...a very adult temper tantrum).

The Tetherball Spider (Part 2)

Or so I thought.

The other night, I was sitting on the couch taking a break from...well, everything (packing, cleaning, work, etc). Rocky was staring at me and began to whine and growl. I asked him in my best excited voice, "You wanna go outside?!" His ears perked up and I took that as a yes. My whole day had been just shy of horrendous, so I should have known not to step foot back outside.

I took Rocky to the back door, flicked on the overhead light outside (not a bug light, I might add), slid on a pair of Ryan's shoes (so I wouldn't have to mess with laces) and opened the sliding door. It had been unseasonably cool lately so the bug factor was relatively low, and that night was no different. I walked outside with Rocky in tow and clipped him to the yard leash that is staked out in the middle of the backyard. Rocky immediately began running in circles as fast as possible for a few laps and then proceeded to relieve himself. Good dog.

I unclipped Rocky and he took off at a sprint into the house. The floor inside the back door is linoleum and everytime Rocky sprints inside he slides a good 5 feet into the opposite wall. Tonight was no different. THUNK!

I was walking back to the door, thinking how amazing it is that Rocky doesn't seem to remember running into the house results in the same outcome everytime. As I am thinking this I approached the back door not paying attention. I started to step through when I see it. There, hanging in front of me is a brown spider....twelve eyes, drool, the whole deal. Now, I am about 1 inch from this creature and I feel my eyes widen as I tried to stop my body from moving through the door. Out of pure reaction I immediately began to contort into a limbo type move, trying to avoid the eight legged assassin. My mind is screaming at me, "OH MY GOD! IT FOUND ME!!!" and my mouth is pressed closed so it doesn't try to go all kamikaze down my throat.

Being a person of habit, that fight-or-flight mechanism once again kicked in and my hand instinctually flew up and batted the spider away. This time it flew to the side, hit the doorframe and came back at me like a bullet. Now, I'm not super limber, so this limbo/Matrix move that I initially made is not something my body is able to sustain for prolonged periods of time. The amount of time that has passed was probably half of a second, but -since Albert Einstein said that time was relative- to me it felt like 30 minutes. My legs decided to straighten, my back decided to cramp, and apparently my head decided to weigh about a million pounds. Thus, I ended up flat on my back half in and half out of the back door.

So here I am lying on my back and my eyes have not left the stalking spider swinging wildly in the door. Because it's mission to scare the living shit out of me was fulfilled, it crawled back up to the top of the door and disappeared. I couldn't believe it...it found me. 7 years later...it found me.

Pissin' off Pulte

Ryan and I went to the house on Saturday to meet a guy about a fence in our new backyard. Our lot is a corner lot with a common area right behind it that no house will be built on. Score! You know how subdivisions are these days. They put up houses so fast and soooo close together. Your neighbor doesn't need to come over to borrow sugar, just stick your hand out a side window and you're in our house rooting through our pantry! Okay, okay, it's not that bad. Anyway, the fence guy was psyched about our lot because we are right next to the amenities center and there will be a lot of people passing our house. So, he is giving us a great deal with better wood than what we are paying for. Sweet.

However, the air conditioning unit is settling in the ground due to the foundation settling, so it's tilted about 40 degrees. And our kitchen sink sprung a leak so they had to rip up the hardwood floor and are drying everything out and replacing the hardwood. I didn't think much of it because hey, shit happens and it's getting all fixed this week. Ryan did think much of it. He fired off an email about it because the air conditioner wasn't mentioned to us on our weekly updates that we get, and he was concerned about the wood under our hard wood later on down the road. They are legitimate concerns and Ryan isn't one to really hold back on how he feels. I'm glad he is that way cuz I don't do confrontation so well (unless it is work related). So the construction manager fired one back. Nothing mean but both emails were to the point. But for me, I read into everything. So now I think the construction manager hates us and telling people we are "those people." He's probably not (WE'RE NOT THOSE PEOPLE I SWEAR!). Or he could not do as good of a job as normal or damage our house in some way. He won't though. These are just my irrational fears.

I just know he's gonna leave us a floater when we move in.

The Tetherball Spider (part 1)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
I graduated college. And like any other college graduate moved back into the house I grew up in, on Kent Drive, before leaving in a matter of months for grad school. My brother had recently left the house to move in with his future wife, so it was just me.
You know the expression: some things never change? Well, ever since I can remember we have always had a yellow bug light on the front porch that is advertised to "keep bugs away at night." LIES!!!! Every night that that light was on, I would walk up the porch steps and get smacked in the head and face by moths, mosquitos and other various bugs that I couldn't identify. So of course, where there are bugs usually a spider or two is not that far behind. Usually the spiders would create their webs the side of the front door in various spots. This was not something unusual to me but I would pretend like they weren't there, because I am scared of spiders. For the two seconds it would take for me to unlock and force our slightly warped wooden door open, I would keep my mind occupied with other thoughts while I started to hyperventilate at the thought of the viscious, drooling spiders with twelve eyes that I would imagine calling my name trying to lure me into their web so they could plant their egg sacks in my hair and suck my blood!!! (I have a pretty active imagination.) But usually I would get into the house without egg sacks in my hair and with just as much blood as I had two seconds before. Another close call.

Spiders and I have a unspoken agreement (I think anyway). If they are outside the house...I leave them alone. They eat up mosquitoes and other bugs so...have at it! However, if one gets inside my house...I consider that a suicide march. First, I gasp. Second, I shudder and give the obligatory "Eeeeew. Oh my God!" Third, I curl my toes (I dont know why) and run to find the biggest shoe available. Fourth, I muster up my courage and slam the shoe down on it to make it's death as quick and painless as possible. Fifth, I do the "Oh-my-Lord-that-is-so-gross" dance/convulsion, usually in a small circle.

This one night, I was leaving the house in the evening (bug light on) and I open the front door to go when I realize I need something from the table by the door. I turn around to get it, then turn to go out the door and see a big brown spider hanging down from the middle of the door jam, about the size of a silver dollar. No lie. It's just hanging there...staring at me. So of course, I slide around it out the door, praying it won't get me. As I slide around it, it crawls back up to the top of the door frame. I slam the door, lock it in a crouched position watching for it and run away.
This happens just about every night for the next three weeks. I would open the door and walk out right when this crazy spider would drop down and almost hit me in the face! You would have to have cat like reflexes to duck at the appropriate time! It's was like it was waiting for you to walk through, just to scare the crap out of you!!

One night, I wasn't thinking and opened the door to leave when here comes the kamikaze spider. It scared me (of course) and my hand flew up and I batted it away from me. The spider swung out and for a second I thought I was safe...until the laws of motion for a pendulum became clear in my brain. The spider started to swing back to me. "Crap," I thought. Luckily, addrenaline from the scare was still in me and I ducked and sat down in the doorway. The spider swung back and forth for about a minute. When it slowed enough, it crawled back up and disappeared. I never saw it again....

The House!

Well, the house is almost done! They are just working on some odds and ends but all in all...it is finished! I can't believe it. Now that is really a house- no, OUR house- I'm just flabbergasted. Ryan, God bless him, has taken the reigns and is making sure everything is in order for our closing. He is on the phone with our loan counselor and mortgage broker constantly, in between calls from coaches and athletes. He said his main goal was to make sure I wouldn't get stressed out about all of it. He knows me so well.

I can feel the stress bubbling in my stomach and I know what it is. Fear. Irrational fear for the most part. I mean this is scary for me and exciting all in one. I love the house! I hate the amount of money involved! Not that we can't handle it by any means. We will be fine, but geez! Knowing that all this money we saved up for so long is gone in one afternoon (Sept. 8th) just makes me nauseated. Then I start to wonder about "what happens if...?" What happens if for some reason one or both of us lose our jobs, etc. But the return is what I focus on. I can picture Ryan, Rocky, Dammit, and I all in this house....maybe a few more additions down the road (wink, wink). I can see us living our lives here for a very long time. So I know it will be a really good thing.

If I don't go crazy first.

Ryan is in Italy!!

I just got a call from Ryan. He is in Italy with his team for 9 days. They landed safely and he said Lake Cuomo is gorgeous. They apparently are going for a private tour of the lake and the houses around it tomorrow morning (their time). I'm so happy for him but also...very jealous. It was good to hear from him b/c I miss him all ready. QUIT MAKING GAGGING NOISES!!
Good luck boys!! Get a win vs. the Swiss national team tomorrow!!

Thank you Obama

I'm definitely a grown up. I got married and now...I'm about to be officially in debt up to my eyeballs for the next 30 years. Congrats to me. Thanks to the generosity of President Obama for first time home buyers, Ryan and I have "purchased" a new home. I put it in quotes because we haven't closed on it yet. The good news is that with the loan we have been approved for we only need 3.5% down at closing...check! Then, next April we will get that money back in tax refunds. Sweet.

Anyway, we decided- being we are now in our 30s- that we should grow some roots. We have no plans to move in the near future and wanted a house we could grow into. The new house is up the street in another subdivision from where we are renting now. It has an unfinished basement, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath. This will be the largest house that I will have ever lived in. Ryan and I have been driving by it every few days since the foundation was poured and I keep marveling at it. Then, I start to freak out a bit, but I keep it all on the inside. My insecurities start to speak up with, "Oh my gosh. It's way too big! You can't afford this! What are you thinking? Sure, you have a nice house but now you won't ever have the ability to put anything nice in it! And kids?! Forget it now. You won't be able to have kids for another 10 years at this rate!"

Thanks voice in my head. But then I take a breath and realize that we can afford it and that we don't need all brand new stuff. We have stuff and eventually we will be able to get new stuff. We are fine. And as my friend Stacy put it, "No one ever has enough money for kids. You just make it work." So then I become excited and then relaxed.

Ryan is like a kid when it comes to the house. He has had a vision for the basement since before it was even constructed. When asked about it, his eyes get bigger and he starts to fidgit with excitement. He knows exactly where he wants the bar located, what type of bar, where his White Sox pool table will be (that we dont have), his card table (that we dont have), his flat panel tvs (that we dont have but we do have a couple old school big screens), and couches and chairs (that we do have but will eventually be replaced with Chicago Bears furniture). I love this man.

Overall it has been awesome to watch the progress of this house being built and the speed in which it has been built. There is still a lot left but the outside is pretty much done minus shutter and the actual front door. Dry wall is up. Plumbing and electrical is in place. Now we need cabinets, sinks, toilets and doors with knobs. Its amazing that we have just over a month before we close and move in. September 8th. Let the countdown begin!

Anyone want to pack up our crap and move it for us?

Honeymoon

I'm finally putting some pictures up of our honeymoon!

This is the view from our hotel room. The mountain in the background is Mt. Etna, an active volcano. At night you could sometimes see the lava flowing out of it. It was beautiful!

This is Ryan in front of and in the saltwater pool. We went here everyday to relax and swim. On the other side of the pool is a dock that you can walk down to and jump right in the sea. We did that a few times but only when we were really hot being that the water was about 60 degrees.

Here is a typical street in Taormina.

We had gelatto (Italian ice cream) everyday! It was like heaven!

Here I am in a plaza in Taormina where everyone seemed to congregate in the evenings to visit with friends and families.

Here is Ryan sitting at a restaurant at the entrance to Corso Umberto, the main street of Taormina.

Here we are at the same restaurant, Trocadero. They have fantastic pizza and even better wine!

We loved this little spot. This cafe is located right next the plaza so you could sit and people watch for hours if you wanted!

This is the top of the hotel, where the bar is located. We would sit up there and watch the lights of the town and enjoy the weather and scenery.

Here we are snuggling on the plush couch on the rooftop bar (svevo).

I'll try to post more pictures later.

How's married life?

I can't wait til people stop asking this question.

Of course the next question will inevitably be, "Sooooo...when are you gonna have kids?"


Whoah people.....whoah.

things i learned in italy

So, Ryan and I went to Sicily for our honeymoon. I know...I know. The first question we get asked is usually, "Was it AMAAAAZZZING?!" I pretty much think that is a given, don't you? It was amazing and we had a really great time. We tried to assimilate into the Sicillian culture as much as two obviously American Americans could. Before we left, Ryan purchased some Italian phrase books and a dictionary. The plane ride there consisted of sleeping, watching movies, and skimming the phrase books.

I had to get the obligatory search for any and all cuss words and phrases out of the way first. I would sit in my seat, read, then pronounce in a moderately quiet voice, and being the mature 3rd grader that I am would giggle into the book so that I wouldn't look crazy. From the minute we arrived at Capotaormina Hotel in Sicily, we were amazed. It was an awesome place! The pool...fantastic. The food...fantastic. We liked it so much that we didn't leave the hotel for the first two days! That and we were really jet lagged.

Here are some of the things I learned from our time in Sicily:

1. It is possible to eat your weight in food!
Sicillian (pronounced Se-shee-yan) food is not as much pasta as it is seafood. And it is some of the best seafood you will ever eat. Their pizza is actually really light on the cheese and there are no pepperoni. Mostly ham and anchovies.

2. Drag queens wear Dolce & Gabanna.
We saw a drag queen twice in two days and he/she was the best dressed drag queen I've ever seen. Ryan didn't know what to do but look at him/her and say "Ewwww!" everytime. He only did this after I pointed out that she was actually a he.

3. Europeans are smarter than me.
Maybe it was because we were in a tourist-y town but it seemed that everyone spoke at least two languages. We went on a tour of Palermo and the guide and courier would say everything three times: in Italian, German, and then English. They would change over into these languages with ease and without any type of interruption. I was completely jealous!

4. I am very American.
Needless to say, I do not look in any way like a Sicillian. Ryan actually had a couple people start speaking to him in Italian, thinking that he was. He would just look at them with slightly bigger eyes and say back to them frankly, "What?"
Our guide in Palermo, who was actually very nice, told Ryan he could pass as Sicillian and then promptly told me I couldn't. No shit Sherlock.

5. Italians really are pretty laid back.
We were warned prior to our trip to not be surprised if you go to a shop between 12 and 4pm and find it closed. Apparently they take really long lunches. these Italians know how to do it, man. They know that work is just a job and not something that runs your entire life. We Americans could definitely learn something from them.
One thing that took some getting used to is how the waiters and waitresses act. Over here they come by every 2.375 seconds, refilling your drink, asking if you are okay, refilling your drink again, asking if everything tastes all right, refilling your drink yet again, and asking if they can get you anything else like dessert. Of course you are ready to have your bladder explode from all that you drank because every time it was refilled, you immediately drained it....stupid American. Italian servers will bring you a drink then come back about 10 minutes later to take your order, bring your food after another 10 minutes, not refill your drink, and then only bring you the check when you ask for it after waving them down from across the room. It's nothing personal and it's not neglect. Italians seem to enjoy not just the food but the experience of the dinner. They let you talk with your dinner companion without being interrupted every 2.375 seconds to answer the same questions. It was actually really nice.

6. You are insane if you try to drive among them!
Italian road rules seem to be...only the strong (and crazy) survive. They make their own lanes. I never saw a stop light and only two stop signs. They can wedge two cars down a narrow road that could be a one way road to us Yanks, going opposite directions! With other cars parked on the sides!
Ryan and I toyed with the dea of renting a car and driving around the countryside one day, but it took us only 2 minutes into our taxi ride to the hotel when we got there to forget that idea. Ryan is a much more aggressive driver than I, and he was staring wide eyed at the spectacle of vespos careening through speeding, veering cars that do not slow for pedestrians, who took their own lives in their hands when they cross a street. He looked at me and said,"IIIIII don't think we'll be renting a car here."
"Yeah, probably not." I said as our taxi passed another car by using the oncoming traffic lane, with traffic coming our way....sweet.

I'll post pictures when I can. Later!

I'M BACK!!!

Well, I finally feel like I've recaptured my life. It's been a long time since I've posted and a lot has happened! Most of you all ready know but..I got married. That's the big change in my life. After months of planning, the day arrived and WHOOSH it was gone.
Are you friggin' kidding me?! Now, I'm a simple person so I didn't go bonkers over planning some elaborate wedding. No "Platinum Wedding" or "Bridezilla" here. But let me tell you that planning a wedding can get pretty stressful.
"How much is this all going to cost?"
"When do I do that?"
"Are the flowers going to show up?"
"Is anyone going to come?"
"Will I trip down the aisle?"
"Will I vomit before or after I say 'I do?'"
"Will I faint and be on America's Funniest Home Videos? No, I didn't hire a videographer. Should I?!"
And I was even warned that it would go by so fast. I would nod- dumbly- at whomever would say this to me, not fully grasping what was being said. Sure enough, the day was here and then gone in a flash. But, I loved every minute.
Needless to say, I did not trip, faint, or even vomit. I had the time of my life and remember funny things through the pictures (which I will post up a lot of them when I get them on disc). I even saw some things that I didn't know occurred. I dont really remember the walk down the aisle, but I do remember being terrified before the ceremony of everyone staring at me. I dont like being the center of attention.

When those doors opened though, all I saw was Ryan. I didn't notice anyone else. I guess I made a B-line straight to him, because I remember my Dad muttering, "Why you walkin' so fast?" Sorry Daddy-o.
The reception was awesome! My mother, her friend Diana, and my MOH's boyfriend (Andrew)help decorate the hall. Poor Andrew. He was put to work! My mom looked at Sara (my MOH) at one point and said laughing, "Well, Sara, we're gonna make that boy gay yet!" After my honeymoon, I asked Sara if he had come out of the closet and she said he was still straight...as far as she knew. I guess he is more secure with his masculinity so he must not be phased. Good for him!
Ryan enjoyed meeting all my family members that he had not met yet. There was Uncle Jim whom Ryan at first thought was another photographer's assistant. "Nope, that's my Uncle Jim...he was probably told to take pictures upon penalty of death from my Grandma Dee."
He also met my Aunt Joanne and Uncle Rod Crevoiserat. Whenever he mentions them, he says, "Rod and Joanne Crrrevvvysrerearaa....." and trails off lost in a spiral of consinents and vowels.
He even met Magoo. My dad's buddy and partner in crime. He is one of my "other dads" that I have known since birth. He is also the reason I am so scarred in life...he knows why.

Everyone that was there became dancing machines and seemed to have a blast, from what I could tell. I certainly did. Brian Jones brought his son, Zach (~6 years old), who apparently told his dad the next day that he danced so much he almost puked, but didn't want to tell any girls (bridesmaids he was dancing with) because he didn't want them to cry. How considerate!

And who could forget my mother being shown how to booty dance from some of the older girls on the team I work with. This is the same woman who still dances "the bugaloo." That is burned into my memory forever. Haha!

Thank you to everyone who attended and I hope you had as much fun as I did!!!