Moving and Phillies

The time has finally come for Pat and I to move back to California (well back for me at least!) We have had a great summer hanging with friends and family, visiting some great places, and just enjoying the summer. Along the way we packed up most of our life (but Pat still has quite a few things that will have to be left at his parents house). I can not believe how much stuff we own...a lot of it can probably be classified as junk. We basically packed stuff up all summer and started stacking it in the dining room of our apartment.

This picture is about when we were half way done...

The last few days the poor kitties have gone through periods of unrest as they realized something was going on. Here is Tigger in one of her many hiding spots as she adjusted to each change.

One problem with moving is figuring out what to do with unused food that you don't want to go to waste. After we finished packing up the entire kitchen, Pat decided he wanted to finish off his "Gadzooks" ice cream (it is so good with peanut butter brownie pieces). Well, when you don't have any silverware you are usually left to use whatever you can find. Luckily he was able to find a serving tong to use...pretty funny!

To get away from all the moving stuff, we decided to go to one last Phillies game this last Tuesday. They played the Dodgers (bummer of a game though losing 15 to 9) which I thought was very apropos for our upcoming move. We did also get a chance to watch the Angels play in Baltimore. Just a little bit of California before we leave the east coast! We took full advantage of our last Phillies game arriving when the gates opened. We were finally able to watch the home team take batting practice-usually we never make it in time. It was also so nice and relaxing to be able to not rush to eat. We ate at "Harry the K's" to watch batting practice while having some cold beer and ball park food. Highly suggested for some pre-game food. This game is the first time we purchased "standing room only" tickets and it was so worth it. We stood behind the lower field section just beyond 3rd base. What a great view!!! Plus the Phillies were not doing so hot so we got to sit in the lower section from the 7th on since so many people had left.

Even though the game was a loss pretty early on, we still enjoyed ourselves tremendously. We got to witness the first career home run for Dominic Brown, who will hopefully turn out to be a great ball player. Here is the bell ringing after the home run hit.

We really have had a great last couple of weeks on the east coast. It really has a lot to do with the great friends and family that Pat has and I have been lucky enough to get close to. Whether it was drinking with friends, going to family parties, or just hanging out; we really enjoyed every minute we have had. There really is going to be a lot that we will miss living out here with a lot of it being things you don't normally think about. It is the little things that really make the difference in your life and there were plenty of these I really enjoyed. We are definitely looking forward to the start of our life together in California, but I am grateful we had a chance to experience life together on the east coast these last 4 years. Thank you to everyone who has really helped to make me feel welcome so far from my home (and making Jersey feel like home while I was here) =)

Visiting Jere

Quite a bit has happened these last couple of months, and whether it was due to laziness, or just a busy schedule; I have a few updates to make. I wanted to start with our trip we took to visit my cousin Jere in Virginia back in May (I know...it should not take me 2 months!). He is in the navy and stationed in Norfolk on the U.S.S. Porter. We have both lived on the east coast for a little while but have never had a chance to meet up. Pat had already finished school and I took a sick day to make it a long weekend. Besides visiting with my cousin, we also were lucky enough to spend one day with his adorable son, Christopher!

Lucky us, we had a personal tour of a U.S. Navy Destroyer! It was such a great tour! Here is a big portion of the ship from the deck

The boys early in the tour

Pat in the captain's chair! He loved hamming it up for me.

Chris playing at one of Jere's stations

A look down the hallway standing in Jere's section.

I like this shot with the flags...it was such a beautiful day!

We also had a chance to go ice skating and watch Jere play some hockey, which he recently picked up. I warn you, the next picture is very awkward looking. Pat has never been ice skating before so I was helping him just after he started...he got a lot better by the end of the day!

Christopher didn't get to go skating with us but he did get to go on the ice in his sneakers after Jere's game-he loved it! He is wearing one of Jere's hockey undershirts here.

Watching the hockey game-so cute!

Father and son together after the game! We had such a great time. He also took us to a flight simulator where we got to fight with F-16's. Yours truly was pronounced the winner by the way! The only way I was able to win was that Jere let Chris fly for him...but still I was the only girl and I won! Also worth a mention was the great bar-b-q we had at a restaurant called Smokey Bones. Soooo good! I think it will only be topped by our upcoming road trip through Memphis. I only wish we had time for a few more visits before we move back west-thanks Jere for the great trip!

CA wedding, cats, and space bag

I was lucky enough to make a quick weekend trip to California for a friends wedding. This was definitely some much needed time off from school, I was able to use personal days to make it a 5 day trip. There really is nothing like going home and just being able to relax.

Of course finally having In-n-out and Miguel's after 3 months just hits that home-sick spot just right. I think Miguel's might actually be at the top of my list of foods to have when I get home. (even over in-n-out!) When you don't have the opportunity to eat the Mexican food you grew up with, it really takes precedence over anything else.

After a wonderful Saturday spent with my family, I had my friend Thanhthuy's wedding to attend on Sunday down in Mission Bay, San Diego. I have been lucky enough to know Thuy since 7th grade. We were friends all through high school and were even roommates our freshman year of college. I am so glad I was able to make it out for her wedding (using a free flight I have earned). Here are few shots from her wedding.

Her brother and sister walked her down the aisle part of the way.

They both are wonderful singers...here they are having two chimes join in song as one

What a beautiful cake!

Denise and I (another friend we met in college)

The beautiful bride and I

Now on to our cats. These two are our "kids" and I just can't help taking pictures of them, especially when they are nice to each other and lay together. We celebrate Gizmo's birthday on Cinco de Mayo so she is now 8 years old! I can't believe how fast it has gone. She was born the end of my freshman year of college and has been my cat ever since.

Here is a great one of Tigger. She LOVES bags and somehow managed to turn this one into her own personal cape. "What?" She just laid there for so long looking at us like we were the crazy ones. = )

And finally, a great invention I can't wait to use more of. I recently purchased the "space bag." We have so much stuff and not very much storage space. I have here the trial run of our attempt to clean up our bulky winter stuff. In the piles are a winter coat for each of us, a regular coat, 3 sweaters, 8 beanies, gloves, and 4 scarves.

I fit everything but the scarves and one sweater in the bag. Here it is with most of the air sucked out. I had to open it and work it again, but you get the idea of how much space we will save. I can't wait to try it on more things!