Bitten

I don't know when it happened, but I have an obsession with traveling. I know a lot of people love to travel, but I feel if I don't then I'm wasting time staying in one spot. A little back story, growing up my parents and grandparents took us all over the NE. Seriously, a day trip to VT, PA, NH, was normal. We were not travel neglected in the least. But, the farthest I had ever been from home (besides the NE coast), was in 8th grade when my mom won us a trip to Disney World. It. Was. Awesome! That was my first experience on a plane and I was hooked. We didn't travel that far again where we took a plane.

Fast forward to graduating from high school and looking at colleges. I decided to go to the University @ Buffalo. 1) Because it was the only SUNY school that had an architecture program and 2) it was the farthest school away from home. As soon as I was there this fascination came over me. I wanted needed to have a million life experiences under my belt. I wanted to do it all. First step, get out of the country. Oh look, Canada is 15 mins away...and the drinking age is 19! Let's go! (Yes, Canada is America's hat, and I don't really consider it going out of the country, but baby steps people!) Then I was like, I want to be a bartender...so I got a job downtown on Chippewa and met a bunch of amazing people in the process. Ok, take that off my list. Oh..you want to go to Toronto to watch the Blue Jays play the Yankees? Ok, let's get in the car and go. And this was my mindset all throughout college. I didn't want to miss an opportunity!

That's when sophomore year, I applied to be a camp counselor in PA. I got the job working as a lifeguard/camp counselor in Greeley, PA. To date, it has probably the craziest/greatest summer of my life! And to add more excitement...guess what camp was right down the road from us? Does Camp Anawanna ring any bells?

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That's right people, Salute Your Shorts was filmed basically across the street from us! I was there for 3 months with people from all over the country and world. After leaving there I think I can seriously say I know someone on every continent.

This is a third of us, who all had the same 18 hour period off. Jersey shore, and yes, we all slept in one room. This is what I mean by crazy summer!

After that, a lot of the foreigners travelled the US. I had them staying with me in Buffalo before traveling west. This prompted me to begin my own traveling of the world. From there, there was no stopping me. 

I visited friends all over NY, in every college imaginable. 

Me with the Cortland mascots head on during the Cortland/Ithaca game.  (How I got it, I still don't know)

I travelled to Colorado to visit fellow counselor/lifeguard Marcy...every January for 3 years. (First time on a plane by my own)

Went skiing for the first time and fell in love with Fat Tire!

We went to the Dominican Republic.

I got into a study abroad program, where I lived in Italy for 3 months. I was able to travel all over the country...for this I am truly blessed! (Pisciotta, Florence, Rome, Amalfi, Ischia, Pompei, Ravello, Napoli,   Vatican...basically everywhere but Venice, Tuscany, and Regio Callabria)

I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, twice, in Buffalo.

Built a universal boardwalk in North Padre, Texas.

From there:

Brazil with the family

Ohio for Grad school

Cruise to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica

Minneapolis and the Mall of America

Then I backpacked across Europe:

Dresden, Germany

Yes, Gordon Gee was with us...we are tight like that!

Poland for the best pirogue ever!

Keepin it classy!

Switzerland

France

Spain, where I ran with the bulls!!! (I've done a lot of crazy things...but probably the craziest!)

New Orleans

DC

Now if you stuck through this ridiculous monster of photographic memories you deserve a cookie....no really....go to the kitchen or the store and get a big one on me! Now I'm sure you're wondering what the hell this has to do with anything, besides me being nostalgic. Well, I'll tell you. Did you notice that Kevin wasn't in any of these pictures besides the cruise? That's because he never travelled until we started dating....and I mean never...okay, he went to Colorado when he was little to visit his aunt. But besides that, nada. We went to Canada and a Bills game within a month of being together because I needed to take him someplace!

The cruise was his first time out of the country, and his first time on a plane in probably 15 years. So I think he has finally also caught the travel bug. From a person who is so compulsive and never stopping....to not being on a trip in months...it makes me stir crazy. So I am slowly converting him.

We have a trip at the beginning of April already planned for DC, for cherry blossom season, to visit our lovely friends in the photo above. The weekend after that we are heading to Boston, and then of course Mexico in July for our honeymoon. Then flying halfway across the country to Iowa in October for his cousin's wedding. That should tide me over for a little while. But we have already begun planning for the years to come. Another cruise next March, LA in April, and Ireland sometime between next summer and fall. Then Chicago and maybe Disney and Vegas the year after. And then I am squeezing in a trip to South Africa sometime before we decide to have a child. I really can't wait to travel all over with him, it is really something I look forward to!

Is anyone else like me and can't sit still? Is there something you love to do that you want to share with your partner? Am I the only one crazy enough to take on this many trips?

Love Letters and Vino

This idea grabbed my attention as soon as I came across it. I mean, it deals with wine...I love wine...this project equals winner! What I am talking about is a wine box ceremony.

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The idea is that before the wedding you take the time to write your partner a letter, expressing your thoughts about the good qualities that you found in them, the reasons you fell in love with them, and your hopes and dreams for the future. You then place them in sealed envelopes. You pick out your favorite wine (preferably something that can last over the years), and two wine glasses to include in your box.

The Officiant will usually be the one to place the items in the box and then will seal it shut themselves, or with the help of you family. You can do it by lock and key or nails are the most preferred methods. Then you open it on a key Anniversary, like your 5th, 10th, 15th...really whenever you want. Couples also open them early if they are going through a particular rough time in their marriage, and it is used as a sort of saving grace.

Although I love the idea of opening letters down the road, we already have our unity candle and are happy using just that.

Then I thought, why not do this ourselves, in our home. And we could pick an Anniversary to open it on. We don't need a priest to do this. So that was my game plan. Lucky for me, Michael's was having a 50% off sale on the box I had been eyeballing for a while....are you seeing the trend with Michael's here? It could also be that it is less than a mile from my work and I drive by it to go home, but I digress.

Here is the lovely that I picked up for $12!

This will definitely fit a bottle of wine, two glasses, and letters. I plan on getting some styrofoam and satin to make a nice inside. The box has two latches and two snaps, I think that will be sufficient enough, we don't need anything fancy. And we can keep it somewhere out of the way, but in sight in the house. 

I was completely sold on the idea, until I came across another use for it...damn me and constantly looking at wedding websites! We would still be able to use the idea of opening it on an Anniversary, but this would involve more people. In particular, all the people that come to our rehearsal. We would give each guest a numbered card (1-50?, or some variation of that), they write a short letter to us on the card and seal it in an envelope. The envelopes go in the box, then on the Anniversary corresponding with the number you open the card and read it while drinking some awesome wine. 

Sold! What I am thinking, is handing out numbers 1-9, then every 5 years, so 15, 20, 25, 30, and on and on. We would still write each other letters, and open them on our 10 year Anniversary! Then of course every Anniversary you open it and drink the bottle of wine you buy another one to put in the box for next time. 

It would be a great way to read letters from our family and love ones over the years!

Is anyone else incorporating a wine box? Are you doing something different for your ceremony?

High School Sweethearts?

I'm getting so ahead of myself with DIY projects and wedding details that I never mentioned how we actually met! I know my head isn't on right sometimes!


Well it's actually a story you have all heard over and over again. Boy meets girl, girl wants to date boy, boy and girl hang out, boy dates someone else, girl hates boy, girl moves four hours away for school, girl comes back home five years later, boy wants girl.....you know, pretty basic. 


We met for the first time in 11th grade social studies. Because of our last names, and how we sat alphabetically, he sat right behind me. He had gone to a Catholic school until 8th grade, but knew my best guy friends and cousin from playing little league football with them growing up. I was smitten the first time I had to hand papers back to him. But back then I was shy when it came to boys. I just assumed fate would take the reigns and he would ask me out and it would be wonderful. Dumb highschool girl. 


(**Warning: You are about to witness cheesy highschool pictures in all their glory! And because I was too lazy to scan the pages you can deal with my crappy camera pictures of the book itself, enjoy!)

Acting tough football pose

He was on the football team, so during season I would always go to the games..to "watch the game" of course. I was also a jock in highschool, I was always involved in sports my whole life and could never sit still. In high school I was on the track team and swim team. Conveniently, our swim practices got out the same time as football, so we would hang out or he would drive me home. 

Me in my sweet track uniform

Swim team picture

Everything seemed like it was going great, and I expected to be Mrs. Football player any day. (I know, looking back I laugh at the story and how young we were too!) Then he goes and does the unthinkable, he starts dating someone else, an older someone else. I did what any highschool girl does....bitch to her girl friends, and all her guy friends on the football team. And when that didn't work, I steered clear of him like the bubonic plague. 

 

That would be me on the right...even a goof back then.

Fast forward about five years. I was just about to graduate with my Bachelor's from the University @ Buffalo. I was going to live home over the summer before leaving in the fall to start grad school at THE Ohio State University. (yes the THE again) I would come home occasionally, and I would always see him, since we were in the same group of friends. We had both grown up and moved on with our lives, but there was always still that attraction there. He started working right after highschool and had a pretty secure job. We would always hang out with no problems or grudges, it was all good. 

That March before graduation I came home for spring break. Being from a small town there isn't much to do, and being we have two bars in town, that's where I was with all my friends. I said I was going out for a quick drink, I had to get up early to catch a flight to Texas; I was working on an alternative spring break project in North Padre Island for a week. Well one drink led to two and more...this is what happens when you never see your friends! He texted me and came out to the bar. He offered me a ride home, and I took it. As I was getting out of the truck, preparing mentally for the hour of sleep I would be getting before having to catch my flight, he grabbed my hand and kissed me. And seriously that is it, we talked over the phone every night I was in Texas and then hung out everyday from the moment I went back home. We made it official and have been on this crazy ride ever since.


In retrospect, I'm glad nothing ever happened in highschool. We were both too immature and had a lot of growing up to do. We both needed to find our way before we could have had a strong, healthy relationship. We talk about those old days now and laugh, he always tells me that he knew we would end up together somehow. He was just waiting for the right moment.

See, totally grown up!

Going The Distance

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Yes, I did steal the title from the romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. Here is a rough storyline for ya, girl meets boy, boy and girl become inseparable over the summer, girl leaves state for job, boy and girl try to work out this whole long distance thing, let comedy ensue.

So why is this important? Well, this is a very similar situation that FI and I were put into. Although we have known each other since high school we didn't begin dating until I graduated undergrad. I came home for the summer, we clicked, we started dating...with a little help from my cousin's wedding that put us into a love filled, drunk induced state, but hey whatever helps right? Well, I was only home for a mere 3 months when I had to head out to the midwest to start grad school at THE Ohio State University (yes the The is in all caps, mainly because hardcore OSU fans/alum do not like the fact that I omit that word when saying where I went to school) O-H!

So lets factor in a 9 hour commute into a brand spanking new 3 month relationship....if you had asked me back then that I would now be engaged to this man I would tell you you're nuts. Not for the fact that I didn't love him, I did, but after partying hard for 5 years of undergrad and never settling down, to come home to a relationship and a big move, where I would be starting fresh. Didn't think it would happen.

I'm not going to lie, if any of you are contemplating a long distance relationship IT IS HARD! And a lot of work! Communication has to be a major key, every day. Now throw in an unforgiving major, where I was constantly stuffed in a studio, while working full time for the city and attending city meetings, while my boy friend was at home working second shift. Communication existed through rushed text messages and 3 minute long phone calls while driving from work to school or work to studio. I would not wish it on anyone.

The visits were worth it though, especially when we saw each other about once a month. Whenever we could scrape up the cash for him to fly out or vice versa, the weekends were like mini honeymoons. But when we fought, we fought hard. Trust was a major instigator, and throw in exhaustion, and not a lot of face time and you have arguments.

But before I knew it two years had gone by. And I was sitting with thousands of other excited OSU students waiting to graduate on a sweltering June day. Would I ever do it again? Probably not, but i will say that it made us stronger and a better couple because of it. So if anyone out there is wondering if it's worth it it most definitely is, but it is hard work. And sometimes you may feel like giving up. But in the big picture scheme of things I wouldn't trade it for anything!