Anne(andBrian)ouncements

Don't Forget: NEW BLOG!!!

2008-10-19T16:38:00.002-04:00

Don't forget that I changed our blog site!!

http://ourmoopoints.blogspot.com

So an annoying thing about Blogger.

2008-09-20T18:36:00.001-04:00

Is that now that I have changed my Email address, it is annoying to get in and out of this blog. So, I have started a new blog, with promises to update it more. (yeah i know...:) anyway, you can check it out here: http://ourmoopoints.blogspot.com

sheesh! it's only been a week!

2008-08-05T22:08:00.004-04:00

since i am already in trouble for taking too long to post again, i guess i will post a little ramble, since i have nothing really exciting to post about...hmm..wait...

actually, that isn't true! last weekend was a lot of fun. Our friend Greg lives in VT, and though we saw him at the Bird wedding, we had yet to see him on the East Coast! So we met up with him at my mom's this past weekend. We waterskiied and tubed--Brian got up! For Real this time!! :) i still have yet to master the single ski...maybe next summer!

The weather went south and the guys were beat, so they ended up watching the big 10 network (i had never even heard of this before, LOL!) and we caught a little of my personal fa

vorite Redskin- Darryl Green-- getting inducted into the hall of fame! Woot!

Then on Sunday, Greg, B and I went up to Amherst, MA to meet up with another friend, Caitlin. Caitlin is from PA, works in Alabama, but was in VT for the summer...got all that?? :) we only got to see her on her way back to PA before heading to AL for the school year. But it was really good to sit and talk with her for awhile! We had a fun time, followed by a long, drawn out good bye...(You loved it Greg!).

We have another big trip ahead of us...actually several! Brian is gone right now for some training in DC..he comes home tomorrow (late) and then we turn around and leave again on Friday!! We are going to TN for 3 weeks for more training for B's work. I am excited to go with him (yea! for not working...!) this time, especially since we will be in the same town as Brian's parents. We had such a fun time when they came to visit us, i am really looking forward to spending more time with them. We are hoping to meet Micah Riley Gates on our way down, as well as B getting to meet our niece Charlotte-o for the first time.

While I am excited about all of our travels, we definitely could use some prayers! For safety of course..and for my poor kitties who will be home alone! :(. But also just that we would begin to feel a sense of peace. We have already begun to feel a little more at home here in plymouth, --and with each other-- than ever before... but with so many travels, it's just rough to really begin to feel settled in--in our house and in our life in general. I am really excited to see all that God is doing in our life..I am praying that I would be able to realize that it is ALWAYS ALL Him...I need to be more grateful for all that He has done for us. I know that all of our unsettled-ness has grown us and strengthened us in a way that I probably can't totally comprehend- and I am thankful! But, I'm definitely looking forward to a little more at home time! So i guess i want prayers for peace--but i know I should ask for prayers for His will to be done in our lives--it will be much better that way! :) And I know God is faithful...so while praying that His will would be done SEEMS scary--it actually isn't. His will being done is actually a really safe thing! God wants good things for me/us/you/all people!!!

I am currently praying that He would just cause B and I to fall more in love with each other, everyday... to bring us closer to His heart...that we would follow Him more closely, that we would seek to do His will. I want to trust God more, and understand how that security in Him will bring me security in all the places of my heart...

'K so I know the end of this post was a little more deep than usual! :)

New Furniture! :)

2008-07-25T19:45:00.012-04:00

So I am ACTUALLY updating again within a week! Go Me!

This past week has been a lot of fun! Brian's parents came to visit us for a few days before going to a wedding this weekend in MD. We went up to my Mom's again (she knows how to entice me with that boat!). I TOTALLY got up on one ski! WoooHOO! (okay, for like 20 seconds, but that is the longest i've ever done it!!!) And B *almost* got up (on two)! Much closer than last year! So hopefully we will have a few more weekends for both of us to master it! My aunt and uncle joined us for dinner and card games... the Tennessee Smith's fit right in with all our fun and games! We played a fun game called Left, Right, Center. Well, if you play for money it is fun! We also played a Smith family favorite, Mille Bornes! I highly recommend both!

Ann and I hit up the outlets, downtown plymouth, and the cape for lots of shopping! One of the highlights was picking up wine at the Plymouth Winery. (Where I had also taken Shani last week. The lady probably thinks I'm a wino...). I am hoping to become more of a wine connoisseur! But for now, I mostly stick to the really sweet stuff! Bruce painted our dining room for us (Thank you SOO much!) so it was finished in time for our delivery...

We got new furniture delivered today! :) Dining room, Hutch, and Couch.

In a few weeks we will get a chair, but that had to be specially ordered. Woohoo! Here are some pictures of the furniture. Not the best pictures, but they'll do for blogging! Also, ignore the blank living room walls...we haven't decorated much yet!! We love and Miss everyone! :)

yeah, uhm, so, before anymore time passes....

2008-07-18T08:10:00.003-04:00

yes, yes, thank you everyone for reminding me...i haven't blogged in quite sometime... talk to my busy life about it! LOL.

Well, after BEAUTIFUL Charlotte-O made her appearance, I actually stayed down there for about 10 days helping Mike and Laura out... it was GREAT fun, and I miss my sweet niece SO much!!
But, i didn't have too much time to be sad, since I came home, and two days later left for sunny CA!

I had never, ever been to California, so i was VERY excited!! We were gone for about a week. We flew into LA, where we stayed for a few days. We did a tour of LA, where we saw Venice Beach, AKA, Muscle Beach. We saw the original Gold's Gym, Arnold Schwarznegger's Compound, Venice Canals, Rodeo Drive, Mann's Chinese Theater, and of course, the Hollywood sign. I have pictures of all of these wonderful sights...but, my computer ate them. Hopefully it will be resurrected soon and I will be able to post the pictures!
We HAD to hit up some baseball parks, of course! Brian and I went to a Dodger's game, which was fun. While I did enjoy it, we were also supposed to go to an Angel's game later that week. Since neither time they were playing a team I knew anything about (RedSox...I have already been swept up..!!), we decided that I would stay at Disneyland (close to the Angel's game) while B went to the game. This saved us $, and I got to spend more time in Disneyland. I really enjoyed myself, it was SO fun. It was the most fun when Brian was with me though, and I beat him on the Buzz Lightyear ride... I was SO excited that they had this ride. It used to be in Disney World, but when I went back a few times, it had been taken away... i guess it just moved to Disneyland! :) at the end, you could email the pictures to yourself, so here is the one picture I can post... I am so proud... well, actually by the end of the day, he beat ME... but still, the first time, I WHOOPED him!!!

We also spent a day in Universal studios, which I really loved. It was neat getting to see where the action really happens! and we enjoyed the rides a lot! More on Universal when i have the pictures...

Then we trekked to San Diego, where we remained for the rest of our visit....and reached our purpose... the Bird Wedding! :) We got to spend a few days with Pat, Chelsea, and their families and friends up until the big day! I really loved a lot of Chelsea's friends (well, Pat's too, but I already knew his friends!) and hope that I can keep in touch with such an awesome group of Christian women. We really enjoyed running last minute errands, being introduced to "the bows" (Rainbows are a brand of flip flop that I am now addicted to!), a family BBQ, fireworks, a very beautiful rehersal dinner, and of course the wedding festivities. Chelsea looked, of course, AMAZING. Very 40s glam. And I loved every minute of their wedding. we had a blast! I miss them muchly!!!

The only regret I have about our California trip is that, other than at night, I didn't get to spend anytime on the beach! I only dipped my toes into the Pacific Ocean once!! So we will definitely be visiting again soon! :)

Since we came back from CA, the whirlwind hasn't stopped! Our carpets were replaced (yea!), I purchased (and put together myself! thankyouverymuch!) a guest bed, which Shani stayed on last weekend. It was SO good having her here. (picture stolen from Shani's blog!) We got to have a lot of great talks, much needed for both of us, I think. We talk almost everyday, but it isn't the same as the face to face time! God has really blessed me with a friend like Shani! He really reveals Himself to me through her... she keeps me humble, gives me great advice...I'm so lucky! :) We spent her first day here at my mom's enjoying waterskiing and tubing. Shani got upon her first try-- her first time in 12 years! And I finally achieved something i have been trying to do for years- I dropped a ski! Only for a few seconds, but hopefully I will be able to really get the hang of it this weekend! Speaking of this weekend...

So as I said, the whirlwind continues! Brian's parents arrive today for a few day's visit! We are so excited to have them come see our new place (though, it is definitely NOT how I would like them to see it for the first time! But as you can see, we haven't been here very much to unpack!!) We are going to spend the day tommorrow at my Mom's so she can see them, and enjoy the waterfront. Then I am not sure what we will be up to the rest of the week...

Okay, hopefully I have given you a decent enough once over to make up for my long lapses between posts.... :)

Making Up for lost time...

2008-06-14T10:41:00.003-04:00

So i'm a slacker...and i know it! We've had so much excitement around here lately! And I know everyone is anxious for updates!

I was in Genelle and Josh's wedding May 24th...it was a ton of fun, but i was too busy helping out..i forgot to take pictures! hopefully i will have a few to post soon!!

May 30 we did part one of our closing. Because it was all so up in the air (we didn't know when/if we were closing until that afternoon!), we closed too late in the day for the house to be actually ours. The owners were nice enough to let us come in and paint... Saturday (may 31), Brian had to drive all the way to CT (about 4hrs round trip) because we needed a bank check and we don't have a Wachovia here! I stayed behind and got help from my Mom, Uncle and Cousin painting. Monday (June 2) we actually became the official owners of the house! Woohoo! Pretty much every day we did a lot of painting and touching up.
Here's a slideshow of what we have done so far!

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Get your own

then on Tuesday, our stuff was delivered! Havent gotten too far just yet in putting it all away...but it will get there! Friday we had our new floor put in the foyer, it looks AWESOME! (pictures in the above slideshow!).

And as if all of that wasn't exciting enough...
my niece decided to cooperate and be born 3 weeks early so I could come down to Baltimore and help her Mom and Dad out! (She was due July 1).
Welcome Charlotte Olivia Wexler Subelsky! (that's right, she get's TWO middle names!) Born June 13, 2008 at 207pm...weighing in at 7lbs 3.8oz and 20.5 inches long! Laura spiked a fever, and Charlotte's HR got too high, so she was born via cesarean section. Both Mom and baby are doing great! I head down to Baltimore on the train on Monday. I will be down there till Saturday! SO EXCITED! :) Here's a pic of my most beautiful niece...

phew! not sure if anything else major could possibly happen to us right now! B and I are going to say goodbye to Ben and Becca (and Benjamin!) tomorrow. as they move down to PA for Ben's first pastor job! woot woot! Ben and Seth (Best Man and groomsman at our wedding) pranked Brian really well today! I had a supporting role in my first prank ever! I was really excited!

Alright, off to the gym! (Now that i posted it, i have to go!!)

1st Red Sox Game Ever!!

2008-05-21T10:55:00.003-04:00

On monday I scored some awesome seats to the Red Sox game on Tuesday night. I was actually able to get 6 seats together. So, my mom, aunt, 2 cousins and B and I all went to the game! It was soooo much fun! I have never been to a baseball game that was that exciting! We had a really great time.
I also finally figured out how to use the video feature on my camera. Sorry this video is pretty lame, but it was my first time...
enjoy!

From Crackle: 1st Red Sox Game Ever!!

The 6th house...

2008-05-07T22:54:00.003-04:00

So sorry for the long delay on updating the blog, but i wanted to wait until it was going to be a more cheerful blog.

This picture is from Easter 2007 when B and I went to visit our friends in Chicago, IL...it was the first picture i saw when i decided to add a picture really fast... ;) it's totally unrelated to the rest of the blog!

So here's a summary of what's been going on with us over the last few weeks:

Believed house #1 was good.
Moved to MA.
House #1 turned out to have mold and moisture...got money back from House 1.
House #2- after seeing about 30 more houses, decided to buy a house under construction...bid was accepted. 2-3 days later, turns out the builder of house #2 got another offer, basically got them to outbid us without ever notifying us. (yes, it was legal, just a mean thing to do).
House #3- Sellers unwilling to drop the price to our bid.
House #4- someone else bid on it the same morning as us, sellers took their offer.
House #5- Seller again unwilling to drop the price on the house.
House #6- seems to be working out so far! Inspection was good, signing our P and S this week! Praise God!!

I'll post pictures soon, gotta get to bed now!

House Hunting again... (yes, you read that right!!)

2008-04-27T09:49:00.004-04:00

Argh!

Well, we thought the home inspection went pretty well, right? Well, at the inspector's recommendation, we made an appointment to get an estimate from some professional cleaners. Our Realtor went back into the place on Saturday expecting it to look better, but in fact, it looked worse. The ceiling had started to sag and was incredibly moist. This was more than a small ice maker leak!

Basically, the plumber that also came to take a look said that it must be a minor, slow leak, possibly with the heating system. Normally, that would be difficult (and expensive) for a plumber to find, since you'd have to rip everything up. But the mold guy informed us that everything would have to be ripped up anyways, so the plumber would have no problem. Obviously, that didn't sound too much better to us, so, we are getting our money back from the bank, and we were on to looking for a new house!

We were definitely disappointed at first. I mean, hotel living is nice, but the idea of being at the hotel for another month or more is not so fun!!
We drove around a bit and realized, it's a buyers market, and there are plenty more houses! We'll be fine! Our attitude was turned around quite quickly. This sort of reminded me of the parable of the rich fool and the verses after it about not worrying. I think that being able to keep God's goodness in mind, and his desire to do good things for us, really helped us out. We were disappointed, but only briefly, and we were able to trust Him that he had a plan for us (a house!).

So I spent the next day or two pouring over the 200+ listings that our Realtor provided for us. I didn't know which way was up or down, i had looked at so many listings! So I trusted Tony to pick out the creme de la creme and on Friday (just 3 short days after we found out about the other house) we set out on our merry way.

The first house we saw was nice, but fairly pricey for an older house. Brian forgot his work cell so he went back while Tony and I made our way to house number 2...this house ended up being "the one". This house is still under construction but in a great location and the price was right! I was really excited. It's a brand new road, and I was worried that Brian wouldn't be able to find us there, so we went on and met him at house number three. Brian really liked this one, and the one after that he liked even more. But I was stuck on the location of "construction house". It was so close to the highway, but still in a quiet neighborhood. We decided to meet 45 minutes earlier with Tony on Saturday so we could swing Brian by my favorite house. Brian really liked it too, but we had 13 more houses to look at! Yikes!

We liked a lot of houses...but we ended up sticking with "construction house"! So we drove down to the Cape and watched as Tony faxed our offer over... the fax was barely finished going though when the builder called back asking to sign the P & S. (all of this was super familiar now, seeing as how we just went through it!) We can't go straight to P&S though, since our down payment is still with the previous house. (God was just so good, we got this house just 4 short days after we found out about the last one!) So pray that we get our money back by Friday! But we do have the house, he accepted our offer! We meet with him tomorrow to discuss our building "allowance". I get to decide the lay out of the kitchen (island or peninsula...what are people's opinions?), i think i get to decide bathroom fixtures, counter tops (in bathroom and kitchen), possibly have them paint, appliances, etc. Of course, anything beyond the super basic will cost more than our agreed budget, which means it will come out of our pocket. Our priority is to sink any extra $ into things that will increase the resale of the house- since we know we won't live here for 20 years. But I LOVE wainscoting and i hope we can get that put up in the bathroom or somewhere!

okay, this post has gone on long enough! here is a slide show of the new house...sorry there aren't more interior pictures, i was too excited about the house to remember to take lots of pictures. Also, there were doors and stuff laying around the bedrooms, so they wouldn't have been the best pictures! There is a room for guests, so pack your bags and come see us! (after may 30!) Oh, and there will be a lawn and real driveway when we move in!

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Get your own

Massachusetts Musings...

2008-04-17T22:41:00.005-04:00

Yup, we're all moved away.
Tear.

While I am super excited to start this new chapter with Brian, it's been very hectic, and therefore stressful, not to mention a little sad. So I write this blog with a major case of mixed emotions (doesn't that sound like it should be a drink... if i was a bartender i'd make that up!). Anyways, so please excuse the ranting raves of an emotional blogger! :)

Well, our trip was really good...thank heaven for kitty tranquilizers! The cats (who normally torture me with howls the entire time they are in the car) barely made a peep! Stuff fit neatly in our cars...Oh, and did i mention the government packed up the rest? It was AWESOME! I hope I never have to move my own stuff again!!

Now we are here, and until we move in the house, we are hanging our hats (well, clothes really...) at the residence inn in brockton, Ma. (about an hr from our future home/brian's work). Brian gets to the plant at 645 (AM!!) and gets to leave at about 330. Unfortunately, this means he has to get up REALLY early to be on time. So say prayers that he gets enough rest.

As for me, I am busy trying to decide what color i can paint everything once we finally get in the house. I did get to go to our house on wednesday for our home inspection. The guy who did our inspection did a great job, and was super helpful. If anyone is buying a house in MA anytime...let me know! Anywho, we got the great news that the moisture that is currently in the house was caused by a minor problem with the ice maker. (long story short: no major problems for us!! yay!) So we are looking into having professional cleaners come in just to make sure all the ick is out before we start living there full time.

When the movers packed us up, I had set aside some extra pans and some other stuff so that when we move in the house we wouldn't need to get our stuff out of storage right away. I figured it will be much easier to paint while the house is empty. Well, the movers accidentally packed up those boxes that were supposed to be separate--and by the time i noticed, it was too late...and one of the things they packed was our air mattress. Seeing as how we already own 2 air mattresses (darn target and their stupid return policies!), I knew we weren't going to buy a third, but i didn't really want to live on the floor until late may (when I estimate being done painting...i hope!) So i decided to scout out craigslist and freecycle for our guestroom (to be temporarily used by us!). After only one day of looking, I found my dream guestbedroom set (yay!). I go check it out on monday, but i think this is it. It's a mattress, boxspring, head and footboards, and armoir...all for a low price! WOOHOO!
So it looks like if you come visit us, we will have a place for you to stay relatively soon!

Speaking of visits, I can tell that I am already pretty lonely. I've run up our minutes on the cell...Already 1/2 gone and we are only 1 week in our month..yikes!! So I'm going to (*try*) to keep my calls after 9p. Everyone can pray for us that we will be able to make friends here pretty quickly...we both like to have a lot of fellowship with other believers! Although I am sad to be away from everyone, I know God is really using this time to help us grow stronger in our relationship with Him. I have already had many more opportunities to pray then I had had in awhile. So thank you, Jesus for that!

This weekend we're going to hang with my mom, but also hopefully get to visit our first church up here on Sunday. So we are excited about that!

Here's a slideshow of the house...just a few more pix that were missing from the last slideshow. I also included kitty pictures from the ride up (so cute while they are high!) and pictures of sunset on the bay of plymouth! :) Enjoy

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Get your own

Many Musings!

2008-04-07T20:37:00.004-04:00

It's been craziness around here!

I think I mentioned in my last post that I was supposed to go to MA for our home inspection this week. Argh! The water won't be turned on until NEXT week, which is probably better for us...but unfortunately we found this out AFTER we had already made the plans for me to go up, so Brian had to spend another hour undoing them! We will be SO glad when we finally own the house!

Besides house crazies, I had my last day at VHC on Friday. I was really sad to leave, and I felt the love from the staff before I went! God really blessed me with a nice, calm Friday- which almost never happens! It feels weird knowing I am not going to work for awhile. I mean, I'm only 25 and I don't have any kids yet! Right now, I just feel like I am on vacation...maybe after a little longer it will sink in. I really think this is the best thing for me and B for awhile. Having some time to root ourselves in MA without me having to work every other weekend (missing church), working odd hours (so we can't join a bible study), and being totally exhausted (not wanting to do anything!)...Having this time is exactly what we need! We need to make roots, not only in Plymouth, but also with each other. I feel so incredibly blessed by our marriage so far, and I want us to grow stronger. And we both feel a key way to achieve that goal, at least for the next few months, is for me to not work. I love Labor and Delivery, and I hope I can get back into it, but I love my husband more. I want to be the kind of wife that God wants me to be, be the woman that He wants me to be. That's the number one goal for me right now! I joke about learning to cook and be more neat, but truly, I want to take this time to learn how to become a Godly Wife.

any tips?!

Colossians 3:15-17

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

I hope that I can use this time to learn these verses and the following one...I want to learn them into my heart.
I want to feel at peace in my heart...I want to know His peace. I want to be more grateful, more thankful, and better at giving thanks to the One who has brought me to where I am--so incredibly blessed! I want to be in the word, letting it wash over me, I want it to breathe life into me, and I want to sing praise to my God... I want the Word of Truth to be alive in me! I need to be in the word more daily.

v. 18

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

I think that it is fitting that after verses that remind you to
1. be in the word
2. be thankful and grateful

that then we are reminded that we need to submit to our husbands! I am greatful for all that I have- and that includes my husband, and my role as wife! I want to be better at all these things.

whoa, long post...probably should cool it on the musings for now! :)

House Update

2008-03-27T07:32:00.006-04:00

So, apparantly some of you are anxiously "stalking" my blog for an update.

Believe me, I wish I would have been able to post one sooner!!

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Get your own

Anywho, after much odgda, we finally got the paperwork today for our house. They told us they would not turn on the water or electric for our inspection- (which was major stress!) but it turns out, they are going to! So next Monday I am planning on trekking up to MA to do the home inspection. If all goes well, we will be homeowners on April 28! (Pending the Morgatage going through fast enough!)

I'm at work now, but now I will be back to the weekly blogging now that i will probably actually have news to share!!

Yay!

Brian and Anne go House Hunting...Part 1

2008-03-11T08:16:00.007-04:00

Hello-there blog readers!

To the right are pictures of the house that Brian and I are putting an offer on today!

We got up here and looked at about 15 houses, and we found this guy on day two. He needs a little TLC- but in departments we can afford/handle! (some of the houses we saw were definitely above our heads as far as repairs go!!)

For example, the outside here appears to be green, but it is actually more of a gray color (we think!) The outside needs to be powerwashed. As almost all the homes here are, it's close to water, therefore susceptible to mold on the outside. But powerwashing will fix it right up!

The kitchen is great, with fairly new appliances and everything looks pretty much up to date. (again, unlike some of the houses we went to that had {i'm totally serious:} bright red and bright blue sinks in them!!). The hardwood floors probably need to be refinished, and most of the rooms need to be repainted.

It is 3 bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 baths- and the 1/2 bath has a spot that is ready to be turned into a full bath with the addition of a shower/tub!

Finally, the basement is partially finished, and we think with a little help we will be able to put down carpet/ceiling and paint it, and we will have a finished basement also!

So we are asking that everyone be praying that the bank (this house was foreclosed on) is ready to be rid of this house! Pray that if this is the house God wants us to be in, we get it in our ideal price range!
In other Smith-related news, we took a break from house hunting (since there was nothing else to do on Monday) and went skiing on the Beast of the East, which is Killington Ski Area in VT. We had a great time, and it was the inagural use of my skiis which i really enjoyed!

Alright already, i know this post was long. Pray for our house!! :) Part Two: If we got the house or not, coming soon! (really soon, we hope!!)

Anne goes to New York and Brian takes a morning off!

2008-02-29T11:28:00.013-05:00

So last week I finally got to meet Carly and Brian's handsome baby boy, Timothy. He was so cute and so much fun! Carly and Brian are great parents! I will be looking to them for advice someday! Carly has the patience of Job, and she was a great inspiration to me. I love going to visit them, it always bring some calm into my life! They have both been an incredible blessing to me.
Anyway, this is him...ain't he cute?! :)
I of course missed my dear husband terribly, but he was busy as a bee at work planning for our big move and getting prepared for his new job.

After working so hard, Brian deserved a little break! So he took the morning off one day and took some pictures of our new car:

I got to take the new car to NY so here's a picture of Carly cleaning it off for me after a big snow! (it then snowed even more, so our new car needs a good bath!!)

hmm. Other interesting Anne ponderings:
Later this week, B and I are going to go look for houses and check out our new town: Plymouth, MA. I am really excited for Brian's new job, and I'm excited to buy a house, but I am definitely going to miss my friends. Some of whom, due to wedding craziness, and husband travelling craziness, I haven't gotten to see very much! I am going to miss my family, I am going to miss my friends, a LOT. I have so enjoyed my recent get togethers with my friends. I am looking forward to moving, but I am feeling quite nostalgic lately. I have moved around quite a bit during my single years, and it never really bothered me to do so. Now, I have a built in roommate to move with, which makes it even better! I guess I just know we have been so incredibly blessed by the friends we have here, and I am sad to leave them. I hope we can find a few good friends when we move, but they will never replace any of our friends anywhere-- so all you all need to come visit us!! :)
Next week: Pictures of our trip to Massachusetts!

Just a few Updates...

2008-02-23T08:34:00.010-05:00

hmm, since i slacked off for a bit, i was trying to think of all things i had previously thought of as good blog posts...

if you know me. (and you do, if you are reading this).. you will know i am not good at remembering stuff.

(I've decided to put a picture at the top of each blog, of either Brian or myself... currently I only have wedding pictures on my computer, so that's why this is here... it's not totally random! This is one of my favorite wedding pic's)

So, since i couldn't remember my good ideas, here are some Smith updates (both serious and silly are included in the following list. be prepared!)

We started Weight Watchers together. we both wouldn't mind shedding a few pounds, but at least for me, it's mostly about learning to eat better- eating healthier snacks more of the time, and having a controlled portion when i have a "bad" snack. (for example, not eating an entire bag of UTZ salt n' vinegar chips, or drinking 3 Classic Coca-Colas in one day!) anyway, by day 2 i was ready to quit, but thanks to my more consistent, encouraging husband, I have been sticking to it, and now i am getting the hang of it! This week will be the first time I believe the weight loss is not due to H20 or whatever..if i have stayed down (weigh in is Monday), i will have lost 4 lbs so far!

We of course are getting ready to move, so we are packing in as much social time as we can! We had dinner with my aunt and uncle this week at Brian's favorite restaurant (and the site of our first date!), Houston's. (a very hard day to stick to the diet!) We really enjoyed it, and we hope to see them again before we go!! We also hung out with S & S this week, as well as Shani's friend Alexis, who, even though she seems to be replacing me (just kidding, Shani!) I really liked!

I also finally got to deliver the pampered chef stuff to two of my best girlfriends in college! we all three married guys who lived in NOVA. And now I am the first to move away! :( Here is a picture of the three of us in our classic pose. (one day, I am going to line up all the pictures of the three of us in chronological, order...there is probably over a hundred pix of us in this pose!!)

let's see... we also bought a new car! A gray 2006 Ford Escape, pretty much the exact one in the link. Hopefully B will take some pictures soon and I will add them on my next post. Hopefully the carmax one stays there so people can click on the link! I love the new car, b/c I hate sitting low to the ground like i do in mine. I've been eyeing it for awhile. It was sad to say goodbye to the Mustang, though. Brian drove the new car off the lot saying "I feel like a grown up now". Which is sad in a way, but we really couldn't be driving the Mustang in MA!

I also cooked! (yes, this qualifies as an update!)

The cats are cute as always.

We saw Clare get baptized, which was just so cool. I really think it's awesome to see God's work in her life, and i have been truly blessed to have seen it. Clare has been my friend since my freshman year of high school, and we have certainly been through a lot together! (Brian likes Clare because he hears lots of stories about me when I was younger. Of course, he likes her for many other reasons as well!)

This blog is long enough that you are probably bored, so i will stop here.

Next week I am off to NY to see Carly, one of my best friends from college, whom couldn't be in our wedding due to her being due! I have yet to meet her son, Timothy, who was born just 12 days after our wedding! until then...

The Smith's go to Florida & other stuff! :)

2008-01-29T00:53:00.006-05:00

yeah yeah, i have already fallen off the once a week wagon. in my defense, my computer died, and it had to go to west virginia to be ressurected. i will try to update you:

Around Christmastime, my Aunt Anne sent out an email inviting anyone in our family to come to Sanibel, Florida with them. They had rented a condo with the idea that others could come and stay with them. Well, it turned out that Brian and I and one of my Aunt's were the only ones who came! When I suggested the trip to Brian, I figured he would be sick of all the traveling, and it would cost too much $$, etc. But I was surprised when he enthusiastically asked me if we could please make it happen! He was anxious to take pictures at the J.N. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Preserve, which he had read about from his favorite photographer. anyways, so we went at the end of january and it was great fun! Brian actually went to the preserve 3 times in one day!

He was trying to catch a picture of the "ellusive" roseate spoonbill, which is a really pretty bird, but we just didn't catch many of them when we were out.(yes, now we are bird photography geeks. we were so "those" people who are like, "ooh, what's that over there!?")
here's a far off picture that he got of them:

We also enjoyed a day relaxing on the beach, and we did some bike riding and of course, lots of photography! We had a great trip, and it was a much needed vacation for B.

Anywho, another reason for the blog slacking is that we are getting ready to move, so we are trying to see friends and family as much as possible. We had a fun night with Shani and Stu (or Stani and Shu as I now keep calling them) you can read about here in Shani's blog. It reveals how Stu and Brian have been linked in quite a unique way. We also went up to my Dad's to watch the superbowl in HD on the big screen TV- and for the second year in a row, my dad's HD went out the day of the big game. (Football is the reason he pays for the HD, so he was pretty ticked!)

I am sure other things have happened, so i will try to catch myself up over the next few weeks, now that my computer is all better. I am going to try and get back on the wagon! :) Much love to all until next time! :)

relatively lame post...

2008-01-22T02:48:00.000-05:00

So this week was pretty tame.. I don't have too much exciting to share... but in the interest of blogging every week...!

i worked three nights in a row (boo!) but, on Friday before i went to work, Brian came home! YAY! This was truly the highlight of the week, especially because he's done traveling!!

the runner up highlight was having my Pampered Chef party on Saturday night. Clare did a great job, and we had so much fun shopping for the food and then eating it!! I can't wait to cook better! It was so fun catching up with all my other beautiful girlfriends that came! But I had forgotten why I usually don't attend these parties, or host them myself.

I never knew I really needed all this stuff!
This is what I find myself exclaiming over various items throughout the Pampered Chef catalogue. I am the Pampered Chef/Avon/Mary Kay/etc.. ideal target. I am a sucker for cool gadgets, cutesy items, all things that are sold by my friends...
sigh. I won't be attending another one of these anytime soon!

Well that's about it for this lame blog... but i promise next weeks will be more exciting, because we're going to Florida! Yay!

Snowy New Hampshire...

2008-01-16T00:33:00.000-05:00

Last week, I worked 3 crazy nights. These were my first official nights on my own as an L and D nurse. I really love it....but I am really hoping it calms down some! Every night I worked it was CRAZY.

Sigh.

Then, the last night i worked, I was feeling REALLY ill, and i then drove from work to BWI Airport where I flew to see my dear Husband for the first time in 15 days. (This was a slightly perilous drive, considering i hadn't slept in 17hrs, but fortunately I got there safely and scored a seat on an earlier flight!)
so I joined my husband in NH...but our joyous reunion was not quite as we imagined, due to my nasty cold and my having had two terrible nights at work. let's just say, I am blessed with a very patient man for a husband...i was quite cranky! After a quick nap, I started to get ready to meet my Mom for dinner with Brian (for her birthday), and I realized, in my haste to pack (just before going to work) I had forgotten something very essential.

Pants.

So I went to a fairly nice restaurant for my Mom's birthday dinner wearing, that's right, sweatpants. Sigh.
Anyway, we had a nice dinner with my mom, and went back to our hotel, where i then slept for 16hrs.
(this blog is not really too interesting, considering I slept for the majority of it...)
On Sunday, once i managed to drag myself out of bed, we went and bought me some new pants! Then we went to see National Treasure (yep, Brian missed watching the Playoff's for me!), and then we got to hang out with our good friends the O'Toole's (Ben was the best man in our wedding). We had a yummy dinner at a place called Not your average Joe's. I highly recommend.

So I don't have any pictures from this trip, due to some problems with Circuit City (I'm never shopping there again!).
But, these are some pictures taken with my new camera at Christmas... hopefully I will learn to upload videos, and then we can keep everyone updated when we move! (Thanks Dad!)

(Picture to the left is the way my brother and Sister-in-law told my Dad that they are having a baby!)

Oh, and it snowed like a foot on Monday, but fortunately my flight wasn't delayed! (in fact it only had 7 people on it!!)

until next time...

Post Wedding Post... ;)

2008-01-05T13:08:00.001-05:00

so, inspired by Shani, I want to start posting my blog more often...here's to once a week!
There is a lot to catch up on since i have posted in almost two months!

So, our biggest big news (which I think everyone knows!) is that Brian got a new job! We are so excited for this step in his career and in our lives. Brian has been hoping for this job for a long time! April 14th will be his first day as Resident Inspector at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, MA. (yes, we are living where the rock is!). We are really looking forward to moving and seeing what ministry opportunities God has for us there. What a blessing this whole move is, as we will be able to buy a house! We are hoping to go house-hunting in early March. Yay! The only downside is moving away from our family and friends that are here! We will miss everyone a lot!

In preparation for his new job, Brian has been traveling since the end of November to Portsmouth, NH. While the all the travel has been exhausting for Brian, and hard on us both, we are excited that it is almost over! Brian has enjoyed getting to see some of our friends in New England while he's been up there.

In December, we got to meet my newest family member, Babette Virginia Bradley. (My cousin Ryan's daughter). She is sooo cute! And it was great for Brian to finally meet Ryan and Betsy. Christmas was full of fun and good news. My brother and his wife are going to have a baby! Yea! We spent a few days before Christmas with Mike, Laura, my Dad and Robin. We had such a great time! I worked Christmas eve (boo) but had Christmas day off, so we spent the day with the Bradley family.

New Years was a BLAST! We went up to PA to celebrate with the Penn Staters. We got to see the very recently engaged Pat and Chelsea, who were visiting all the way from California! We stayed with Tim and Brianne, and watched the transformation of their kitchen/dining room in three days! Hopefully, Kriger will come help us next year! (Seriously!). We are so incredibly blessed to have all these people in our life! The fellowship was an incredible blessing... it is so wonderful to have so many friends (these and others) who are such an encouragement in the Lord!

One of the downsides of our move is that I will be leaving my job at Virginia Hospital Center... which is a shame, because I am really loving it! I finished up my last day of orientation last night actually (and since it was a crazy night- i was pretty much on my own!) and while it is still scary, I LOVE my job! Bringing babies into this world is SO cool. What a blessing God has given me! Plus, the people I work with are pretty neat!

Hmm, what else...
Other exciting happenings:
We went to two Redskins games, including the winning Cowboys game- where we ran into one of my friends from my old job!

Okay, this is the end. (finally!)
I will try and add pictures later, but my computer is having issues, so i will just post the link to our wedding pictures.
The event key : october27

enjoy!

Yay! We're Married!

2007-11-11T09:02:00.000-05:00

so awhile ago i had intentions of posting about my brother's awesome wedding...i'm so excited to have a sister-in-law! they had a great band at their wedding, and we had so much fun and yummy food!

Our wedding was AWESOME! i woke up on saturday morning, after 3 days of it pouring, and it was STILL raining! I whined "I REALLY thought it was going to stop!!"...and at 1030, it DID! so we got to have our wedding outside, and it was just beeeeautiful. God really blessed us!
Beyond the weather, God really blessed us with amazing friends who helped us soo much, packing up our stuff and taking us down to the resort, helping us straighten up our house, helping out on the day of, bringing home the gifts, watching the kitties....planning bachelor/bachelorette parties...i could go on and on! we are SO blessed by our family and friends! yay God!

On the day after the wedding, I had no idea that we weren't going to leave until Monday! Brian had arranged for a '54 Bentley to come pick us up and drive us around to the sites of our first dates! It was SOO fun! We ended up eating a Ledo's pizza for dinner in the back of the bentley... on our way to stay at the VERY fancy mayflower marriott in dc.

It was so fun, and a great surprise!

Then it was off to Mexico, where we stayed at the Shangri-La Caribe. we had a ton of fun, and really just enjoyed relaxing after all the wedding stress!

Now it's back to real life...sigh!

first blog post... learning to blog! :)

2007-08-29T12:50:00.000-04:00

Woohoo first posting!
Well, so, we aren't the Smith's yet, but I'm gearing up for it!
59 days! Woohoo!
we have lots of wedding details to do yet *eeek*! But lots of exciting stuff is happening in our family!

My cousin's had their baby @ 1201 am today! Babette Virginia.

Brian starts traveling in Region 1 to get qualified for a Resident Inspector Position on 9/10-9/13. Good for work, but we will miss each other!!
Mike (my bro!) and Laura are getting married on the 15th!
I start my new Job (So Long Hopkins!) @ Virginia Medical Center, Labor and Delivery Unit.

Well, this is just a blog so i can figure out how to blog... so i guess that's it for now! :)