Goodbye Summer!

This was by far the best summer of my life! Now it's time to go back to work! It's going to be very weird to introduce myself using my new last name! That's going to take some getting used to from both faculty and students (who don't come till 9/9).

Hope everyone has a great week!

Thank You Cards

Part of our photography package was to get 100 thank you cards with a photo of our choice. Here's the one we chose:

It will be in black and white on the card because the photographer said those print nicer, and I loooooove black and white photos! We're also in the process of designing our album and the getting the parent albums set. The only one left to do is my MIL's, and we will see her on Friday to get that done! It takes FOREVER to go through over 600 pics and narrow it down for an album and I will be happy when that's done!

I called in the order for the cards today, so hopefully they will be in soon so we can get started on thanking all of our wonderful wedding guests!

*Photo courtesy of Visual Concepts Photography.

Back!

Baltimore was great! We got there really late Wednesday night, and switched hotels early Thursday morning. I spent a lot of time in the hotel relaxing, reading, surfing the web, and watching TV while Jeff worked! People have asked me why I didn't go out and do anything, and my answer to that is that I didn't know the area and didn't feel comfortable going around there by myself! I did in the hotel what I do at home on my days off, so it was fine! 

Jeff and I went out to dinner Thursday night, and I got to meet some of his co-workers at lunch on Friday. Friday night, we were invited to go to one of Jeff's co-worker's houses to have dinner with him and his wife. We had a delicious meal of tortellini with zucchini and garlic bread. I had a great time meeting some of Jeff's Baltimore co-workers! They are a lot friendlier than the CT ones and I had a blast! Before going to dinner, we stopped by the mall and had bubble tea! Has anyone ever had it before? We got green tea, and we found the drink VERY odd! The tapioca-like balls in the drink kind of grossed me out! I don't think I'll have it again!

You can tell Jeff wasn't a fan!

I just laughed at the weirdness of this drink! You can see one of the dark blue ball things stuck in my straw!

On Saturday, we went for a fabulous brunch at a place called First Watch, and then headed off to PA to see my FIL and Step MIL. We got to chat about the wedding, look at all the pro pics, and have Jeff's dad and stepmom pick the pics they wanted in their parent album. It was nice to see them, even though the visit was short! We plan to have them visit us in a month or so.

Sunday, we went to Church, lunch at Charlie Brown's Steakhouse (which was awesome,) then home! We sat in GWB traffic for an hour, which sucked, but it was nice to get home and get everything in order!

This is my last week off for summer vacation! I start preservice on Monday and have it every day that week, then I have a 4 day weekend, and my students come to school September 9th! This has been a busy and amazing summer, and while I'm sad it's coming to an end, I have an awesome teaching schedule and great kids, so that makes it easier to go back to work!

This Friday, we head to LI for Jeff's 10 year high school reunion and then, at my insistence, we are coming back to CT Saturday afternoon so we can go to my friend's birthday BBQ! A lot of the people going are friends I haven't seen since my wedding. As bad as it sounds, we have spent SO MUCH time in LI between the wedding and VBS this summer, that I am kind of tired of being there and want to see my friends! Luckily, Jeff agreed with me, so this visit will be short. I want family members to start visiting us! I am tired of packing and unpacking all the time!

I hope everyone is having a great week! Check out my Recipe Blog for a delicious, easy chicken recipe I learned from someone at work!

Off To Baltimore!

*Picture from here.

Jeff has to go to Baltimore for work for a couple days, and since I don't have work till the 31st, I decided to tag along! We're leaving tonight around 7:00 to avoid traffic, and while Jeff works all day, I will get a workout in, read, surf the web, and watch TV in the room (basically what I do at home!) We're going to stay till Saturday and then drive to Pennsylvania and spend the night at my Father-In Law's house. 

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week/weekend!

Sunday Meme!

Stolen from Kimba!

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Balsamic Vinaigrette

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
I have a few: P.F. Chang's, The Melting Pot, Cheesecake Factory

What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?
Cheese fries with bacon.

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Cheese and chicken cutlet

What do you like to put on your toast?
Peanut butter

How many televisions are in your house?
3

What color cell phone do you have?
Pink Blackberry Curve

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Nope!

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
My suitcase was pretty heavy. I pack way too much stuff when I go anywhere!

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
Absolutely not

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I'm happy with Melissa. I hated my maiden name because people spelled it and pronounced it wrong all the time! That name is gone now and the new last name is easier I think! I'm not a huge fan of being called "Mel" but it doesn't bother me enough to say anything about it.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Nope, but my husband would!

Last run-in with a cop?
I think it was when Jeff got pulled over in NH twice within 20 minutes for a headlight that was out! The cops up there are pretty bored I guess!

Last person you talked to?
Jeff, telling him our clothes are almost dry and the new towels we bought today are finally getting washed!

Last person you hugged?
Jeff

Favorite Season?
Fall

Holiday?
Christmas and Halloween

Day of the week?
Saturday

Month?
October and December

First place you went this morning?
Bathroom to shower and get ready for Church

What's the last movie you saw?
Finally got to see Bride Wars! It was really cute!

Do you smile often?
Yes

Do you always answer your phone?
I'm pretty bad about it! My Blackberry is almost always on vibrate, and if I'm at home and don't have it next to me, I probably won't hear your call!

It's four in the morning and you get a text message who is it?
Can't tell you the last time I got a 4am text

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I wouldn't. I have blue eyes, I love them and I get lots of compliments on them! Jeff has the blue eyed gene (his dad has blue eyes, Jeff has brown, but blue is recessive, so that's all his dad could give gene wise) and I pray that any children we have get my eyes. All 3 of us got my mom's eyes and my dad has brown, so there's hope!

What flavor drink do you get at Sonic?
I've never been to a Sonic. It looks delicious and I want to go so badly! It's so mean that they show all the commercials around here in the North East, but there's no Sonic anywhere nearby!

Do you own a digital camera?
Yes

Have you ever had a pet fish?
Yes

Favorite Christmas song?
Oh, Holy Night

What's on your wish list for your birthday?
I'd like a few new Coach wristlets. The ones I have are pretty small and I can't fit stuff in them! I'd also love a new pearl necklace, but that will probably be a wedding anniversary gift someday!

Can you do push ups?
Girly knee ones

Can you do a chin up?
Oh no

Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Excited!

Do you have any saved texts?
My Blackberry keeps everything

Ever been in a car wreck?
Not a bad one, and not one when I was driving

Do you have an accent?
I don't think so!

What is the last song to make you cry?
Our wedding song! "From This Moment" by Shania Twain and Bryan White

Plans tonight?
Folding laundry, watching "Bridezillas," going to sleep!

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
No

Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
3 shirts from J.Crew on sale. I got a dress as well!

Have you ever been given roses?
Yes

Current worry?
Nothing now! When we got home earlier, I discovered that my brother tried to be helpful when he was over the house taking care of the cat during the week by turning the washing machine on (Jeff had to come home during the week while we were in LI to play softball and brought home all the dirty stuff with him and threw it into the machine) but never put the clothes in the dryer! They smelled SOOOO bad and I had to wash them with detergent and color safe bleach 3 times before they didn't smell like mold! I had lots of my cute sundresses and shirts in there and I was worried we'd have to toss everything!

Current hate right now?
That I still have clothes to fold!

Met someone who changed your life?
Yes!

How did you bring in the New Year?
It was FREEZING and we went to another married couple's apartment with a bunch of friends and had some finger foods and drinks! It was fun, but we want to host New Year's this time!

What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Getting ready for bed!

What was the first thing you thought when you woke up?
I do NOT want to be up right now!

Pro Pics Are In!

Our photographer called the other day to get my shipping info to send the pics, but we have been in LI all week, so I told him we'd come pick them up! We're beyond thrilled with the results and can't wait to build our wedding album! We have almost 700 pics to choose from! For this post, I tried to stick to pics that I haven't shown you guys something similar to already. 

I know I keep going on and on about the wedding, and I am totally done now, but I am still in awe over how beautiful everything was and how well it went!

All photos courtesy of Visual Concepts Photography.

THE dress!

Close-up of the front details.

My shoes got a little beat up from the dance lessons I guess! The "I Do" was my something blue!

Back details of my dress and sash.

I was on my Blackberry checking the time to see when the limo would be coming!

One of Jeff's favs of me.

Jeff and his Best Man Bret.

I was crying and you can tell!

Jeff's reaction to seeing me come down the aisle. We chose not to see each other on our wedding day until this moment.

Unity candle.

The kiss! We're married!

Happily walking back up the aisle!

One of my favs. This one is going into the Kate Spade frame we got as a wedding gift!

Completely candid.

My shoes!

Love this one of my girls and I.

Groom, Bride, Maid of Honor, Best Man.

This is the first page in our album right now and I think it's going to stay that way.

Another picture that's definitely going in a frame.

Our toasting flutes.

Cake knife and server.

Laughing during my MOH's toast.

Our wedding bands!

Girls' Night

Jeff went back to CT for part of the afternoon/all evening to play softball. I was going to go, but his sister was off of work, so I decided to stay and keep her company. We wound up going to the mall, where I spent way too much money at Sephora and Bath & Body works, then we met up with my MIL for a delicious Italian dinner. We topped off the evening with Italian Ice and a viewing of "Bride Wars." I loved the company and the movie! I am so lucky to have such awesome in-laws that I am completely comfortable with even when my husband isn't around!

However, now he needs to get back to LI so we can go to sleep! VBS bright and early tomorrow!

Things I've Learned Today

This is totally random stuff.

* Water balloons were a terrible idea for VBS! They took forever to fill and we never would have had enough for all the groups we had! Thank goodness I remembered that we had these squishy "water bomb" balls to use instead! Saved us tons of time!

* One of our VBS rec. helpers told me I came up with really good ideas. I told her I'm a teacher and I'm used to stuff going wrong and having to think on my feet to come up with something else! I think the girl was the age of the kids I teach during the school year.

* Not everyone knows how to play dodgeball. Weird.

* My own grandmother doesn't know how I spell Missie (lots of family members call me this and anyone who knows me at all knows how I spell it. Grandma wrote it Missy several times on Facebook.) It annoys me that she pretends she knows me so well and that she cares so much when she had nothing to do with me from childhood to age 16, then I didn't see her again till my wedding. She will soon lose interest in me again until I have a baby, and she will only care if the baby is a girl. That's how she is. I know I sound bratty, but don't act like you care when you never did before. Don't even get me started on her.

* I've been married for a month already! Time flies!