Sorry So Long...

I'm a bad blogger, I know. But alot has been going on in the past few months that has really taken up all my time.

First off, about 1 month ago, Wells Fargo deceided they did not want to back our construction loan. Strike One. So I called First Niagara, and for the past month it has taken me talking to them everyday to get some work done. But it has payed off, the "unofficial" word as of 4:21 p.m. today - the apprasial came through! Now it's time to dot "i's" and cross some "t's" and keep the fingers crossed to get us to the closing table. Needless to say, I haven't slept well in about a month because of all this - it's taken it's toll on me.

Second, my modular home delivery date has been delayed. The house is ready - and apparently it is one very nice looking house! Everyone at the factory seems to love the red siding, the beige trim and the kitchen! Hopefully I love it just as much. It was delayed, well all in all, FUNDS. I have yet to close on my loan - so that is holding it up. Oh well, at this point - it looks like it will be held up next week as well (suppose to come the 16th - maybe pushed back to the 23rd). At this point, I'm tired of it all and I don't care anymore. I want my house here and I want my own space. I'm tired of sleeping in somebody elses' house and not feeling like I can do what I please. Maybe I'll get a house before snow flies - just maybe.

Third, I'm having one of those weeks, which has actually been one of those months that nothing seems to go right. Granted, I'm not sleeping - but I seem to really hate work right now. I know, I know - I bounce around jobs like I change underwear, but right now, I can't take my job at points. So that has gotten me thinking about school. Yes - back to school again. So I am debating between my masters in library science or nursing. So this would actually be the THIRD time I have thought about doing nursing - once when I worked at CVPH, but felt I was too far along with my business degree to switch, second when I was inbetween jobs, and now this time. So the thought process is on.... we'll see.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep shortly - and maybe, just maybe, next week I will have a house here.

Facebook Work...

The lovely social networking site, Facebook has now become part of my daily work. Why? Because we have two facebook pages for the Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System:



Our Main System Page
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Plattsburgh-NY/Clinton-Essex-Franklin-Library-System/115600902337?ref=nf

Our Bookmobile Page
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Plattsburgh-NY/Clinton-Essex-Franklin-Library-System-Bookmobile/111144333518?ref=nf

Please check both pages out and become a fan! It's a valuable resource for cancellations, new book titles and what's happening throught the system!

Construction Begins

Yup, construction began YESTERDAY! Ok, so not on my house, but on the road to get back to mine and Danielle's house. In about an 8 hour day, Tom and his workers along with my day completed almost 900' of road -wow! It looks really good, and the area where the brook is looks amazing!!

Tadpoles which were swimming and mass producing in the brook, now covered by a colvert and road:


View from the house:


Another view from my "house"


Construction:



So this morning the house was "lasered" and we can do our walkout basement, and put full sized windows in! I still can't get the picture in my head, but we'll see...

House Update

So it has been quite a while since I posted - and a lot has happened. We sold our house on South Peru Street at the end of June after much hassle. Geez... let's just say, you try to be nice and you get taken advantage of in the long run. But it's all said and done, and our lovely check cleared (thank god!).

As for the new house, we got our loan committment letter last week, and we are moving right along. We will order the house next week, for the simple fact that Ryan has to do some finish work inside and he leaves the first week of October for Sgt. School (so he can get a promotion with the army).

But for me, I have been slowely picking out colors and figuring out decorating schemes, as well as purchasing items, since I am currently without any heavy bills to pay. Color schemes so far:

(Olympic paint colors):
Living Room - Spiced Vinegar (a nice beige, oatmeal color) C14-13
Kitchen - Toss up between Shady Knoll (green C65-6) or Warm Mahogany (a nice warm red/violet color - C31-6)
Master Bedroom - Grape Leaves (C67-6), Holly Leaf (C61-6), Basil Pesto (my fav, B65-6), and a wall possiably in Black Magic (D58-6). The room is QUITE large, so a dark color will work.
Master Bath - Royal Palm (C62-3) or Delicate Mist (C61-1), both a light bright green (think along the lines of very very light green), and towels - EGGPLANT! Yes, eggplant. I will be picking those up tomorrow at JCPenny, can't wait!!

That's all for now!

Time for some Pictures!

Ok, so I have been taking pictures with my new camera and experimenting with a great FREE download paint.net, and here are some pictures:

A cute little picture of Jack (he was very into the Golf Tournament on the TV at that time:



Mommy and her little boy Jack:



And the rain coming off of the gutter - interesting!




Some grass:



And finally, Mr. Boone:





Hope you enjoy!!

New Look

Good Morning!! Today I am starting to unveil the new look to "Kate's Notebook", please let me know what you think. Currently, there is a new banner and a new background, but some more odds and ends will also be in the works. I have spent the last few days researching about blogs and things like that, and learning quite a bit. Let me know what you think of the new "do"!


HOME UPDATE:
Well we got our final price back on the modular, slightly over $175,00 - meaning slightly over budget (opps!) but we will pay for what we went over with in cash, and Wells Fargo seems to be working really nice for us right now. We have been told to keep reciepts for EVERYTHING we pay for out of our pocket, and Wells Fargo wants copies to give us credit (basically saying the house is worth more then what we are mortgaging), so that helps with the 10% we would need to put done, but don't need to. Complicated.

As for packing up the old house, I have deceided to clean & pack, instead of just pack. Last night I packed up the office and was left with closet full of items for a yard sale and 2 contractor bags of trash. Yea - trust me, I don't want to be brining trash to my new home!!

The Town of Beekmantown meeting occurs tonight, and let's hope all goes well!

Crazy Day

So I'm finally getting stressed about moving - mainly since the appraisal occured today and we have NOTHING, not a thing packed! We'll find out in the next few days if the appraisal went through ok, and if it did, we will close shortly after. YIPEE!! Now, it's time to pick out countertops and the last little pieces to the new home.

Side note - if you are looking for a new job, look no further:



Apparently it pays about $80k a year, but living in NYC or LA you def. need that kind of money.

As for me, it will be off to grad school hopefully in the Fall, if not the Fall, Spring. It will be a fully online program, Masters in Library Science. My director would like for me to go back to school to hopefully one day take her spot. So I'll be taking my GRE's next month and applying to so far just two colleges. Texas Women's University and Clarion University. Though I keep looking everyday for other schools with the program!

Under Contract

Yup - that's right, the house is now UNDER CONTRACT! We listed our house on Wednesday, May 13th at $134,900 - with us willing to pay for some of the buyer's closing costs.

Well, we never noted in the MLS that we were offering that since showings were being set up left and right! After C-21 came in on Thursday morning to preview (they all loved the home), one showing was set up for that evening, then 3 on Friday and 3 more on Saturday. Well the showing on Saturday at 10 a.m. went wonderful!

Both Ryan and I were working that morning, but Kenna sent me a text message saying "we may have an offer coming in!" Shortly after she called - an offer was being written up, FULL LIST PRICE, NO CONCESSIONS, NO HOME INSPECTION! Ryan and I were shocked!

So we signed the contract yesterday, and now it's just cross our fingers that financing goes through - expected close date, no other than Jack's birthday! June 26th. Hope this is a good sign!!

New House & City Home

Alright, so our current house in the City will be listed over the weekend. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with extra living space downstairs. A pool, shed, garage, and more..... so if you know anybody contact Kenna at Century 21 in Plattsburgh.

The New house - We heard back from Tom Maggy yesterday with a price, and well, it's way under budget! We are so exicted!! Frankly, we are making a lot of upgrades now since there is a nice cushion we have going for us. We are choosing to do in-floor heat in the basement, upgraded kitchen cabinets, looking into granite countertops, tile in the "wet" areas - and some upgraded siding. Yet, Ryan and I have wanted a red house for some time, but now I came across a nice Cypruss color. Um.... we are still debating. But I'm so excited about the new house, let's just hope our current one sells quickly!!

Pepsi "Throwback" Products

Pepsi has gone away with HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) in it's products and has switched to Natural Sugar.

Well, as an avid Mountain Dew drinker, Natural Sugar just does not taste the same as HFCS. It's actually, really gross in Mountain Dew. I used to be able to have about a can in the morning, for my "coffee." And now, I can barely finish one can throughout the day. It's just gross. I'm not a fan of the new throwback. It's got a very odd taste to it, it's not your regualar mountain dew. Actually, it tastes alot like Diet Soda.

Guess I'll be giving up Mountain Dew easier then I would have thought.

Georgia Trip

Onwards to my Georgia Trip experience. So we left WDW around 9:00 on Sunday night and still had about a 2 hour treck upto FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Traning Center) and Brunswick GA. And I-95 at night, not that fun. But anyways, we made it to the hotel around 12 at night (it took alot longer then we both thought - lots of traffic!)

So we checked in and once we got into the room, which was like a mini apartment, we both crashed. But not for long - there was a nice newborn baby in the adjoing room which cried for get this - like an hour straight!! And not a darn sole in that room got up to check on it. Finally, the baby fell back asleep and so did we. Ryan headed off to FLETC sometime in the morning, and I kept sleeping.

I eventually woke up and headed to see what Brunswick had. Let's just say - Plattsburgh is better. Yes, there is a town that is worse then Plattsburgh. So ok, it was warm and everyone there is friendly, but still. I found a Target, Publix, Harvey's and TJMaxx - I did some grocery shopping and bought some new tank tops for me, along with a salt/pepper grinder.

By then, it was back to the hotel for laundry and fix dinner for the guys. I cooked "Yankee" Spaghetti. Um.. yes, Yankee Spaghetti, which is big chunks of everything in the sauce. Seemed to please everyone though!

Tuesday was pretty good. Matt's girlfriend and I headed up to some town to an outlet, which is like Miramar when it was just about closed. Pretty bad outlet center. But for dinner, Rudy and his wife took us out to a great steak house. And then we all headed back to the hotel to celebrate the guy's graduation!

Finally - Wednesday was Graduation day! I sat around the hotel for most of the day, and then we headed to FLETC about 1ish. The ceremony was in a nice little chapel and I got to "pin" Ryan's badge on him for the first time. Pretty neat. I got some decent pictures of the ceremony - but my NEW CAMERA would have done much better.

Then, we headed out for our 18 hour ride back home. Wonderful.....

I hate road construction!!!

Disney Trip and Georgia Report

Alright, so I've been home for almost 15 days, and it has just been hectic! But it was a VERY interesting trip, and I'm sure you all would like to know.

So I left on Friday, Mary 27th - my mom took me over to the BTV airport, and I checked in super quick (if you use JetBlue - take advantage of online checkin, makes a world of a differance)! They just took my suitcase, and said have a nice flight. That was quick! So I waited like 45 minutes before I boarded, I waited till the end to get on the flight, and it was a decent flight. Really quick, just to NYC.

When I landed in NYC I had no clue where my next terminal was, well it was the next boarding location over! I just walked about 100' and there was my gate. How nice was that. I only got to read about 2 pages of my book - and BOARDING CALL. Nice. Now, this flight there was some turblance, but I got my drink, and it was FREE!! Ha! They forgot to charge me. How awesome is that?? And I munched on the famous Blue Chips, they are actually quite good.

So I landed at JAX, and wanted to go back home. Why? Cause when I left BTV it was SUNNY - now, JAX was RAINING. Eww... I had to wait about an hour for Ryan to come pick me up, so I just keep reading my book. Then we headed down to beautiful ORLANDO, FLORIDA! We checked into the faboulous Coronado Springs and headed over to Downtown Disney for Dinner. Now, Ryan never being to Disney - had NO CLUE with where everything was and the AMOUNT of space DISNEY takes up. It was cute. We were heading out of Planet Hollywood (which he was so amazed by everything in the restaurant, it was funny!) and he was like, oh all these people are here for the fireworks? No, Ryan - they are here to enjoy Downtown Disney, we are not even close to Magic Kingdom. It was late, and we were tired so after dinner we just headed back to the hotel.

On Saturday, the weather was HOT HOT HOT! But on the first bus ride to EPCOT, we both fell in LOVE with Disney Transportation!! When we arrived at EPCOT, we looked briefly at the lovely flowers before heading in - we can look on the way out, we had to hit rides NOW! So we went to Soarin'. Which, ok I don't like heights (afraid of falling), but this ride was better than I remember! And Ryan seemed to love it too!! Then we went and got a FP for TEST TRACK (YEA!) and ate a little and did some other little rides to pass the time. Overall, we were making REALLY good timing in EPCOT. I did my homework, and it paid off! Finally, TEST TRACK - What can I say? I was nervous at first, but WOW! I want to go back just to ride that ride, over and over again!! It's a MUST for anyone!! You can't describe it, you just can't.

We walked around the world, and Ryan of course wanted a beer - but after seeing the price, opted not to. Then it was time to eat at Le Cellier. Yummy.... let's just say, Disney Dining Plan is AWESOME! $39.99 a day, per person - and we ate that amount in the first meal! And still had a counter service and snack left. Sweet! Our bill was like $90 there. But heck, what did we care?

On the way out we took several pictures of the gorgeous flowers and headed to the Monorail, who can resist a ride on this?? Ok, so we kept "stopping for traffic" along the way, but Ryan was able to see the Disney grounds and the Contemporary Resort (oh I want to stay there one day)!!

Magic Kingdom, was PACKED, I mean PACKED. We did the Carousel of Progress, Stich's (dumb ride), and then headed over via the train to PIRATES. Oh yea!! It got really good now, Johnny D. is in there (animated of course) - but it's good!! Then we wanted to go on the Jungle Cruise - 2 hour wait! Are you nuts? So we opted to share some pinapple float thing. Pretty good. We also walked the Swiss Family Tree House. We walked some more, trying to find something to ride, and went to see Mickey's Pixarmagic! WOW - Awesome 3D Show! I mean this was the BEST one down there (we saw all the 3d shows). Then off to a DISNEY KITCHEN STORE. OMG! How awesome? We only bought a mug, cause everything was kinda pricey. Then while we waited for the parade, we went into the Country Bear Jamboree. Everything else was REALLY LONG LINES. After that, we grabbed our spot for Spectromagic. Very cool - Ryan liked it. Dinner at Casey's (yummy hot dog) and watched the fireworks. At one point, Ryan was like "is that it?" No, Ryan DISNEY has a way better finale then that!! OMG - Words, can't describe this firework show either - it was AWESOME!!

Sunday - RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY. But we headed over to Animal Kingdom, and did alot of stuff, the safari ride is AWESOME in the rain. All the animals were out, it was great. Oh, what happened at Animal Kingdom? My camera didn't want to let me see the 97 pictures I took! Yup, all of them GONE! Great. I had some good ones in there too. Very upset. But we ate at the Flame Tree BBQ, a must while you are there. This was good food. Serioulsy, the DDP has a TON of food.

We headed over to "Hollywood Studios" I still like the name MGM. Did a little walking, lines were crazy again! But we managed to see the Backlot Tour (they cut like 1/2 out and now it sucks!), and an awesome stunt show! Lights, Motor, Action - I mean awesome!! Then we had dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Another very very good meal. Um.... Mom's PotRoast, wow! Followed by a Brownie Sunday which was made for 4!! It was 2 large brownies and like 6 scoops of ice cream, covered in whip cream and sprinkles, etc. It was good, but we left alot of it on our plate. Then it was time to head home.....

Well to GA anyways. I'll write about that trip later.

Birthday!

Ok, so it's been a long time since I posted, but I will update on the trip later - right now IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Yup, 24 today.

And for the first time in 2 YEARS, YES, 2 YEARS - Ryan remembered my birthday! So, he hasn't bought me my present yet, cause frankly it's too expensive (a new camera, but he wants to get one of the Digital SLR ones for me, but I think I can do with just an advanced Digital camera), but he remembered!!

I also got a text from my mom and a cute little video of Jack saying Happy Birthday Katy from Danielle. That was cute!!

Thanks everyone!!

Pre-Disney Trip Report

Ok, so it is the "eve" before my trip to Disney (YEA!!). And this one is long overdue by now. Frankly, work has been crazy this past week and a vacation is coming at the perfect time!!

T-24 hours before my first flight leaves. And let's just say, the plane is FULL - I mean FULL. Since I am traveling by myself, I don't really like to sit in a row with strangers, cause you never know who that stranger is or how much room they actually need!! Yuck. So far, I am in an aisle seat on my first leg, with a seat in between me and the window passenger. Not bad. Then the second leg, I am again by myself (so far) - but way the heck in the back of the plane!! Yucko there. Oh well I guess. Faster to be served maybe? But good thing, drinks aren't that outragous and they have Directv.

Then I get to sit at the Jacksonville Airport for about 1 1/2 hours waiting for Ryan to come get me. Well at least I will have to find my luggage at that point (I'm nervous they are going to lose it!!) or I won't be able to tell which bag is mine (haha!!). And frankly, I'm gonna look lost coming off that plane, so I will follow the hurd of passengers to the luggage round about.

Then it will be the drive to DISNEY! Yea!! But I have to call Disney today to make sure everything is set, and to ask if I am really staying at Coronado Springs. The package says "Pirate" and frankly, there is no "Pirate" rooms at CSR. Um.... could be staying at Caribbean Beach Resort. I dunno, I booked CSR, well have to call to find out.

Another perk - I switched my Chase Freedom to a Chase Disney Rewards card and today they announced FREE DISNEY DINING in the fall (savings of $400). Just around the time we would have a week off. And probably due for another vacation!! We would still have 3 days left on our disney cards, plus the water parks and more. Then, Ryan wants to go to SeaWorld - and what did I find today? FREE TICKETS TO MILITARY AND THEIR SPOUSES to SeaWorld, are you kidding me?? That right there would save us $200!! Wow! So what would a 5 night/6 day trip to Disney and a stop at the NASCAR race in Dover cost us? How about less than $1400!! Of course, that is with driving, since there are NO AIRPORTS in DOVER DELAWARE! Hello, even Plattsburgh has an airport! If we don't do the race, it would be only $900 to drive down and about $1300 to fly (need to rent a darn car). So we will see if I can talk Ryan into it!! Hopefully... another vacation will be needed!!

Bad part, it's suppose to be 91 degrees on SATURDAY in FLORIDA! Yuck! I don't like that heat - especially when you are trying to walk around the parks and your stuck in the sun, eww. No fun. But I guess I will make it as fun as I can!!

Almost Vacation!!

WooHoo!! Yup, almost vacation time here, and I am pretty sure I am annoying everyone with my vacation. I can't stop talking about it. Well, I do have a good reason.

First, the last vacation I took was last year in April in Myrtle Beach. But, no husband - I went with my family. It was fun, but very short. I drove down with Danielle, Mark and little Jack on Friday after work and we got there sometime on Saturday (no stopping). And then I flew out on Wednesday. Wonderful flight minus the 1 hour taking off late and waiting on the pavement at PLB for one hour. And the trip was GREAT! Ok, so it was cold - but it was GREAT.

Second, I don't think I have EVER been on a vacation with my husband. When we were dating we went to Maine (great shopping), but that was almost 3 years ago. And we all know I have yet to have a honeymoon. So this vacation is LONG OVERDUE.

Well, so more good news with the vacation. I went to make my Advance Dining Reservations (ADR) last Monday, and since it was so close to vacation time - almost everything was booked! We really wanted Le Cellier Steakhouse in Epcot, and the Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot as well (Epcot seems to have THE BEST food), but both were BOOKED SOLID! So I settled on Tony's in Magic Kingdom at 8:05 on Saturday, and Rose & Crown Pub on Sunday. Oh well, still good food. But then I found www.disboards.com - great resource for EVERYTHING DISNEY - from WDW, to DL, to Disney Cruises. And I posted on the ADR that Ryan and I are going on our honeymoon and looking to dine at those two places. Wouldn't you know it? A wonderful lady offered me her late lunch at Le Cellier on Saturday. I picked it right up, since after looking at the MK schedule - we couldn't eat dinner and see the fireworks! Oh no! So now, lunch at 2:15 on Saturday at Le Cellier and I changed Sunday's dinner to the 50's Prime Time Diner at "Hollywood" (the new name for MGM). Le Cellier is a french steakhouse, and 50's Prime Time Diner is a "home cooked meal" with Mom, Dad, and the rest of the family serving you dinner! How neat? And if you don't eat your veggies - NO DESERT! That should be a neat one!

Better news - I will have to confirm this when we get there, but you can check in online now for your WDW Resort Hotel. So I did, of course. And what room do we have booked? A water view room! Now, I payed for a standard room (cause water view would have been like $100 more), but um.... maybe a nice upgrade for the honeymoon! I will find out on FRIDAY! Another plus - WDW does cakes! Yes, cakes - and they can deliver them to your room. So I ordered a cake (small one) for $20 - it is DOUBLE CHOCOLATE... yummy. It will be in the room before we get there on Friday. Yea!

Vacation

Alright, so you all know I am heading down to Georgia at the end of the month to see Ryan graduate. Well, I am now flying down on the 27th of March (next Friday) and we will be heading down to the Coronado Springs Hotel (WDW Moderate Resort) to spend 2 days. Why? Military Discount. We wouldn't have been able to afford this without what they are calling the "Disney Salute to Military." Ryan will recieve a FREE 5 DAY PARK HOPPER PLUS (Visit the 4 disney parks plus Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, blah, blah, blah), and my ticket is $99 plus an extra $25 and tax to make it the 5 DAY PARK HOPPER. We are opting out of the PLUS option, since we have only Saturday and Sunday to spend at the 4 parks. And we proably won't see half of all of them!

Now the reason behind staying "on property: Since we only have the two days, it would be a hassle to bring in food or leave to eat a nice dinner. If we would have stayed "off property" the hotel would have run from $60 a night plus ($120), then pay for your parking at the parks $6 a day ($12), now put a snack/beverage in (2.50 - 5 each), then count in lunch and dinner $15 each for lunch, and upwards of $35 each for dinner ($120) and that is on the low side. Now, factor in that you have to drive there and wait for the shuttle, and leave when the park "closes." Add in a tank of gas ($30) All in all - roughly $357 - and that is a low ball figure.

Now "on property" costs a total of $447 (tax included) for two nights. Now, the Coronda Springs is a 4 star property, and normally runs during peak season about $205 for the standard view room. Which is the room we opted for. We added in the Disney Dining Package, for $40 a person for each night we are there. What does this cover? Each day we both get a snack (mickey ice cream bar, popcorn, soda, water, etc.), a counter service meal (the fast food joints of WDW), and a table service meal (even at Le Cellier Steakhouse or Coral Reef, which dinners start at $25). What is in the meals? A non-alcholic beverage, an entree, and a desert! Wow - that's alot of food! I have read that you can use your snack for a pretzel or something light for breakfast (or gee - grab granola bars to eat before you leave the hotel), and you can change your counter service dessert to a water. Not bad. We will see how it works for us. But we do plan on eating at the Coral Reef, where the Maui Maui is $26, and the prime rib is $31 - before you add soda ($2.50 each and dessert). So that night, we have ate more then $40 each in food. Another perk - well the regular's who stay off property have to leave when the park closes, WDW resort guests stay later. So on Saturday, MGM opens an hour early for us, and Disney stays open till 12 am!! Wow! Another perk - leave the truck at the Coronda Springs Hotel and take the Disney bus in to the park. Ahh, no driving!

Here is our hotel: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/coronado-springs-resort/

Can't wait!! I'll fill you in as it gets closer!!

Going "Green" with Alka-Seltzer

So I was reading my Women's Day magazine the other day and came across a great article on alternative uses to Alka-Seltzer. Now, I don't use Alka-Seltzer for its intended purpose, so I figured I'd give this stuff a try!

Cleaning the toilet: Drop the two tablets in the toilet and let the fizz go to work. Wait 15-20 minutes then swish it around with the toilet brush and WOW! Your toilet is CLEAN!! (It really does work - did it last night!!)

Clean your flower vases: Ok, so flower vases are super hard to clean! So drop two tablets in the vase filled with warm water and wait an hour. Clean as a wistle.

Unclog the drain: Drop 2-3 tablets in the drain and let warm/hot water run for several minutes (3-4 minutes) on the tablets. And then let the Alka-Seltzer do it's job. Great alternative to Draino or harsh chemicals.

There are tons of more alternatives out there - simply do a quick search online. You'd be surprised at how "Green" you can get!! Happy cleaning!

Another week

So here it is another week, and only about 4 more weeks till vacation! I can't wait!! Ok, so maybe it's not a real vacation, since I will be vacationing by myself on Monday and Tuesday of that week while I'm down in GA. But still - I will make it to the beach and to the outlets in Darien, which Ryan says are really nice.

So it's finally MARCH! Yea! And it snowed. Nothing new here, but I don't want to shovel the inch of snow I got, so I am hoping that the sun will melt it. If not, I guess I will have to shovel since I live in the city and heaven forbid if you don't shovel your sidewalk. I can't wait till I'm out of the city!! Hopefully by next winter would be wonderful!

I finally ordered some prints from Jason & Vanessa of the wedding. And now I just have to go and pick up one frame from Michaels and then the rest my lovely co-worker Karen gave me will be used up. I ended up ordered 15 4x6's, 4 5x7's, and I got 2 8x10's in the package. Which for some reason, I know I will be ordering more since I had a hard time picking out which ones to get!! Ryan and I spent about an hour on the phone choosing pictures for the frames and what not.

Yup, it's another week in Plattsburgh, and it's already Tuesday!! I would like to say Sorry to Danielle, Mark, Justin and Joan for having to put down Marble yesterday. Marble was a 15 year old Beagle who was wonderful to be with. But Marble had some health issues, and was sadly put down yesterday to be with Missy, my family's beagle who was put down several years ago to due to health issues. Here is a great picture of Marble and Missy hanging out:

Amazing Meatloaf

Ok, so you're thinking how can Meatloaf (the food) be amazing? Normally its pretty yucky and well you only make it when there is nothing left to cook. Well last night I was craving meatloaf, go figure, but its been close to 2 years since I've eaten any! So I figured I'd open one of my numberous cookbooks and find a meatloaf reciepe. While in the cookbook, "ANYONE CAN COOK" Yes, that means me too!! I found one, and I modified it as follows (since I am only cooking for one):

1 egg
1/3 cup of ketchup (so I didn't measure, so ballpark to how ketchupy you want it)
1/3 cup of ITATLIAN bread crumbs (again, didn't measure it out, ballpark it)
1/3 package of LIPTON Onion dip in a packet
1/3 lb of 93% lean ground beef
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350F, then place some aluminum foil on the bottom of a baking dish or cookie sheet (I used a pyrex 9x11 baking dish). Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, place either a large ziplock bag or wax paper will work (I used wax paper). Crack the egg and mix it with the ketchup in the bag or paper. Next, mix in the bread crumbs and onion mix. Then put your meat in there and mix it all up. If you have the bag, at this point close it taking all the air out and squish it around. You can probably use your hands too, it's just REALLY messy.

Then place the mixture on your baking dish. With the reciepe above, it's a really small loaf, so if your cooking for more than 2, def. modify the ingredients. Cut the loaf in half, making two small "meat loaves" and place in the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes and check, and keep cooking until the meat is no longer red inside.

Now to finish it off, this is optional, but is SOOO Good, put some shredded cheese on top. YUM!! I ate it with green beans. Yummy. I can't wait to make more!

Yea! Pictures are up!!!

Ok, so the pictures are up!! And they look awesome! Minus the ones that I appear to be drunk, which I could actually be drunk in them. Check them out, http://www.gcphoto.exposuremanager.com/g/katy__ryan !!!

As for the weekend - it was crazy! Between working Friday night till 2 am, and then trying to clean the house Saturday and then back to work till 1:30 a.m., the cleaning fell right into Sunday. But, I am happy to say that the upstairs office is clean, minus the trash I have to take out and the dining room is clean. I cleaned the closet in the "hallway" and cleaned up several kitchen cabinets. It's just really early spring cleaning.

And funny part from the weekend - I bought my dog's new food, so I mixed it in with the old food to get rid of it. And what is left in their dish, the old food!! It seems they only want to eat the new food now. Crazy dogs.

No pictures yet...

So no pictures yet, but I'm sure they will be up soon!! I can't wait to see them. But I was checking out Vanessa's new blog, When Mama's Happy and she had a link to a GREAT website -
Hillbilly Housewife This site is AWESOME! You need to check it out, especially if you are trying to stay on a budget or just need some new ideas for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

I am going to try to "plan" my meals out now. Even though I am just cooking for myself, I think it will def. pay off in the long run. And this site helps you do that! As well as cook "Emergency Meals" for less than $45 (for 4 people for the week!) Crazy, I know. But it doesn't seem that bad, just high in sodium but you can lower that easy. And though I wouldn't want to eat some of the meals on it, it is great if you really are in a pinch! Worth checking it out......

Second post of the day

I'm getting pretty good at this blogging thing. It's actually really relaxing to do. Now, who invented Thank you cards? I mean don't get me wrong - they are wonderful but it really sucks when you have to hand write them all out! Oh well, I would still like to have them all done in about 2 weeks, but there is a board meeting next week so we will see how quickly it gets done.

Yes, I changed the name of my blog since I would like to share things with all of you rather than just blog about my boring life. But here is one thing I would like some feedback on. Ryan and I are now searching for a new home, a modular home. Please check out this link: http://billlakehomes.com/PDFFiles/Standard%20Ranch%20PDF/MOHAWK%206%202854%20Elev-Plan.pdf and let me know what you think of this floor plan! Keep in mind, we will be having a full basement and our first floor of our current home could fit in this house twice! Crazy........

That's it for now, I'll let you know when the photos are up from the wedding!

Long Overdue....

Ok, so my wedding was this weekend on the 14th - and it was beautiful! I couldn't ask for anything more. We did have some problems on Thursday evening and into Friday morning, but it got taken care of.

So on Thursday night, Ryan's dad went to pick up the tuxes at Needlemens in Burlington and when he got back, I grabbed my dads. Kenna and I went out to dinner and then I brough the tux up to my dad to find that he could SWIM in the thing!! I'm taking HUGE! And by then, it was too late to call Needlemens. So Friday morning came along, and I had to wait till 10 am to call! OMG! And then it wasn't till 11:45 that they finally decieded to order another size and ship it to us overnight from the company. What a mess!!!!! I then had to do some last minute running around before the rehearsal.

Then after the rehearsal it was off to Danielle's for food and some quiet time. But we played Apples to Apples and did the "speed round" which is the best way to play the game!!!

So here comes Saturday - I thought I was ready, and nope ask anyone who went. Ryan and I were both a wreck at church. But other than that, everything was PERFECT! The flowers were gorgeous, everyone looked beautiful - my photographers were AMAZING!!! And people had fun! Some probably had too much fun, but I think it was well worth it!! And my little nephew Jack, which you can find on my sister's blog My Little Monkey http://mylittlemonkeyjack.blogspot.com/ tore up the dance floor like he owned the place. It was soooo darn cute.

I want to thank EVERYONE who went! I hope everyone had a great time and thank you for everything!! It means so much! Ryan and I greatly appreciate everything. And a special thanks to my bridesmaids, the groomsmen and both parents. Most of all - thank you to my parents for hosting a wonderful party! It was well worth it!

Now for some pictures (thank you Danielle):

On the way to church -

Ryan and my flowers, how cute!!

Check out more pictures, http://greercicarelli.blogspot.com/ Thanks Jason & Vanessa!!

Stressed just isn't the word

Ok - so I am beyond stressed out right now. It just feels like I won't have enough time on Saturday to get everything done that needs to be done.

Luckly, I was able to change my hair appointment from 9 am to 8:30 am, leaving me plenty of time to get the the church to do the paperwork at 10a.m. And the last girls hair appointment has moved from 11 am to about 10 am. Making it much easier on me. Thank god! So that helped with some stress. But now, I just have to make sure everything gets done that needs to be done. I'm about ready to pull my hair out!!!!!!

I mean there isn't much left to do (thank god!), but I still don't feel like I've done enough. Which I know I have - I think I'm actually overduing everything!! Oh well I guess.

Left to do before Saturday:
- Have dress steamed
- Cut out "secret item" (I don't want anyone to know what this is!! But everyone will love it!)
- Purchase favors for the two reserved tables & head table
- Start and finish tags for the favors
- Wrap all presents for my bridal party
- Toasting Glasses are needed
- Place favors on the tables
- Put batteries in the lights
- HAVE A DRINK!!!

Thursday....

Happy Birthday to my sister, Danielle!!! Happy Birthday!! Again thank you for the lovely bridal shower this past weekend, even though I was a pain all the way leading up to it and complaining about not having one. Thank you!

So we got hit with another "wonderful" snowstorm yesterday. The news says we got about 8 inches of snow, yet I think it was closer to 10 - cause it really sucked cleaning up! Luckily my dad came over and plowed my driveway, cause there was no way I would have been able to shovel all that snow! Seriously, if Ryan is gone again next winter I'm gonna think about a townhouse for a few years - would just make more sense and would be a lot easier for me.

I did book my flight for my trip down to GA in March, not a bad price either $89. I'm only going one way and riding back with Ryan - but it will be a nice 5/6 day vacation!

Wedding Update: the gifts are still piling in! Everyday it seems like someone else is dropping off a present at the house. And THANK YOU EVERYONE! Now I can finally throw away/give away all the inexpensive items that I bought for the house just to hold me over till now. THANK YOU!

Bridal Shower!!

Finally! My sisters and my two bridesmaids, along with family threw me a pretty awesome bridal shower on Sunday. It was up at my sister's mother-in-law's house in Rouses Point. There were quite a few people there, and I got some very much needed gifts for the house. Things I have been putting off for over a year now!

Here's just some of what I got:

- A programable Slow Cooker (yea! "Set it and Forget It")

- A popcorn Popper (one of the old school style ones!)

- A toaster (with a cord that is retractable - easy storing!)

- Beer Mugs (yes, we will one day have a bar and they will be used - ALOT)

- Bed sheets (2 sets of theses super soft ones in a great color!)

- Scones (they look pretty awesome, but now where do I put them??)

- A 17 peice pyrex clear glass set (with lids!! They will be used alot!)

- Chip and Dip Set (Now, no more using plates for both - awesome set)

- Hand Held Blender (finally pureed soups can be made!)

- Cheese cutting board (comes with a knife and part of the board flips - neat!)

- Bread tray (in this awesome old world yellow color - perfect!)

- A HUGE giftbasket filled with everything needed to bake up a storm (I mean EVERYTHING - All in red yea!!)

- A wine rack (small enough to put on the floor, but elegant and holds ALOT of wine!)

- Glasses - both everyday glasses and fancy ones (they have these awesome "air bubble" look)

- Dish Set (its all white so it goes with everything!!)

- A family size griddle (time to cook breakfast without smoking up the house)

- A bag of kitchen goodies (baking dish, wooden spoons, peelers, peppercorns, it was a bottom- less bag!)

- Gift Cards (yes! Now I can buy some pots & pans that are long overdue!)

I think I forgot some stuff, I know I did!! This was just off the top of my head, I haven't even had a chance to go through most of the gifts yet! You know you open them at the shower, and then its right onto the next one. You really get to "reopen" them when you bring them all home! It's great!!

Thanks to everyone for the awesome gifts! Ryan and I will use all of them!

Here's a pic from the shower of little Jack (my ringbearer) making a strange face as they were putting my "hat" on.......

Ok......

Ok, so I wanted to start this back in October, but then just so much has been happening, that I def. forgot about it! So here goes another try.

To start, my "wedding" is in about 20 something days - and boy oh boy it's getting crazy! For those who don't know, my husband and I got married before he left for Iraq almost 2 years ago, and now, we are finally tying the knot (again) with all of our friends and family present. This has been long overdue! Side note - Ryan isn't home! He is back from Iraq, but now he's done in Georgia for work and will be flying up the night before the wedding (geez).

Wedding Recap - almost everything is set! The girls dresses finally came in (after about 5 months of waiting), some of them didn't fit - but they fit now (thank goodness!). My dress is set, the guys tuxes have been ordered, the flowers, photographer, dj, and blah blah blah...... all done.

What's left? MAKE SURE RYAN'S PLANE LANDS AND LANDS ON TIME! Plus some other little details - but nothing major. Plus, I am pretty sure the local newspaper is going to do a story on our little "love story" - a reporter is suppose to be contacting me before the big day. How neat is that? It's a story must people have heard during this time of war, but hardly know it actually happened to a couple in Plattsburgh (and I'm not the only one!) - so it's just about time that the news is spread on what the war is doing to couples, but on a positive note!

For those of you coming to the wedding - THANK YOU and I look forward to having a GREAT party! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO can hardly wait!