Without You

Life has been really crazy lately. Very stressful at home. But family sticks together.
Apology is important. Forgiveness is important. Changing is important.
Showing up and seeing it through is important.
Change is hard. Changing with change is hard too.
But that’s life.

There’s always sun after the storm. And sometimes a rainbow too.
A great reminder of God’s promises.

Last night Mark took me out for a nice dinner and some shopping to relax and just not think about anything. We saw this rainbow on our way to dinner. The weather turned out to be really nice. It had been in the 70s all week, but the rain brought a cold front and I think fall might be here to stay. We had dinner at Duck Sauce in Newtown and then walked to Starbucks and sat in the window watching traffic go by. It was exactly what I needed.
I’m so thankful for him.

When we were driving home this came on the radio and it was the first time Mark had heard the song. I think it might become one of our favorites.

Hope you’re having a great weekend!!

Sundays are the best…

Wanna know why?

Because it’s the one day out of the week that I get to spend legit time with Mark. It’s the most fun-filled busy day of my week. I always look forward to it. And I always fall asleep with a smile on my face on Sunday nights.

AND ALSO because it was fifty-something degrees outside and it finally felt like fall.
Yes – it was mostly that. I could wear a scarf and not feel like an idiot.

This past week consisted of church, Mark’s brothers soccer game, watching the Eagles dominate despite their lack of urgency, cheese steaks at half time, watching Andy Reid let the Eagles lose, going to the mall and Wal-Mart, realizing my ankle is bleeding from a blister I had no idea existed, watching House Hunters, giving Pugger a bath, eating Carrot Cake, and the driving home in complete silence. Basically – it rocked.

Poor Pug has fleas. Which totally grosses me out and gives me something else to add to my list of reasons why I can never own an animal BUT Mark loves this dog more than anything so I choose to have compassion instead of disgust. The cutie got tired of trying to escape the bath, that he finally just sat himself on down and put up with it. Sadly, he was awake all night scratching. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

He really was the cutest puppy ever. And when his family comes home he’s the happiest dog in the world. Also that cheese steak was delicious. And I love Mark’s shirt.

Young Love

Disclaimer – This post is sickeningly cute and lovey dovey and very verrryy sappy.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you :)

August 21, 2009

…Was the day after I moved onto campus for my freshman year. I was sitting outside my dorm watching some people play foursquare with my roommate when three boys walked up. I don’t remember much about that specific night: how long we talked, what we were wearing, or introducing ourselves at all… but when it was all said and done I had Mark Kikendall’s phone number and he had mine. I actually got his number for my roommate because she thought he was hot but didn’t want to seem too desperate. I played the outgoing, fun, friendly roommate that just happened to get it for her… The next day the entire freshman class and student leaders that were on campus took the annual trip downtown for a scavenger hunt through Philadelphia. It poured at the end of the day, so we all got seated on the busses early and my roommate and I just happened to sit right in front of Mark and one of his friends. We made plans to hang out that night and unfortunately I don’t remember it at all… but I do have pictures…

From there on out we spent every day together. Taking notes in the library because we were sharing a psych book, walking the mall, driving to Wawa in his Civic, singing at the top of our lungs…

walking around the campus together at night…

and sitting by the pond during our breaks… (I was WAY in over my head… *swoon*)

ahh those were the days :) Freshman year. No job. No real schoolwork. No responsibility. Just time, sweet time. We sat together in chapel every day. We texted every day from 1-2 while he was in Intro to Theology and I was free, which is probably why he didn’t get such a great grade in that class. And we spent many hours on benches by the pond talking about life. It wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. In fact, there was quite a lot of turmoil. And it’s all because I was finally free on my own and decided I was going to do what I wanted and not listen to a single thing my parents said, which did come back to bite me in the butt. But somehow Mark and I made it. I’m glad we are where we are today. We’ve been through a lot. And I’m thankful for every storm we’ve weathered. Today I still proof his papers, I still help him study for tests when he asks, we still walk the mall to window shop when we have time, we still sit around talking about life, and he’s still my best friend. It’s nice to travel back through time to the days when I hardly knew who Mark was at all and everything was so new and exciting because I tend to forget the people we were when he was 18 and I was 17… we’ve both learned and grown so much since then.

I’m also thankful for August 21, 2009. And I can’t believe it’s been two years :)

^^Seriously… I had no choice. No choice.

Thank you for working so hard. Thank you for being so sweet and kind. Thank you for putting me first. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for loving me.

Happy 100th to GG

This is my 100th post. How Craycrayy is that??? Where did the time go?! I have no idea… but I’m happy I’ve stuck with it long enough to get this far!!

And in honor of the wondrous occasion I’m making a list of 100 things I love.
Heck why not? If you’re bored you can skip right to 99 and 100.
They’re the only two that matter anyway.

1. Summer
2. the beach
3. starbucks
4. books books books
5. Philadelphia Museum of Art
6. Philadelphia
7. rain, especially at night
8. sushi
9. steak
10. broccoli
11. chocolate
12. chocolate cake
13. crocheting
14. fall
15. September weather
16. scarves
17. boots
18. sweaters
19. leather jackets
20. Halloween
21. Harry Potter
22. Candy Corn
23. Keane
24. Lady Antebellum
25. History
26. Dancer in front of a Window by Degas
27. Wanderer Above the Mists by Friedrich
28. Thanksgiving
29. Pumpkin bread
30. Christmas lights
31. Christmas music
32. Christmas Eve church services
33. Watching the light show at Macy’s on Christmas Eve
34. Decorating the house for Christmas
35. Pretending to ice skate in my socks on the hardwood floors while listening to Andy Williams Christmas album
36. Snow Days
37. Coffee
38. Snicker doodles
39. Window seats
40. Pandora radio
41. The radio in general
42. My yellow rain coat
43. Skype dates
44. driving with the windows down
45. listening to my Dad play the piano
46. singing in church while my Dad leads worship
47. Twitter
48. my egg-crate mattress topper
49. sleep
50. my down-feather pillow
51. Rita's
52. daydreaming
53. calla lilies
54. guacamole
55. flying in airplanes
56. planting flowers, or ahem, watching my dad plant flowers in the spring
57. Brown’s Donuts from the OCNJ boardwalk
58. blogging
59. pitchas
60. Disney World
61. interior design
62. libraries
63. running (sometimes)
64. Pride & Prejudice
65. old school Mariah Carey
66. shopping, shopping, shopping
67. thrift stores
68. pajamas
69. swinging
70. friends (implied)
71. family (implied)
72. mail
73. paychecks
74. driving on the turnpike in the middle of the day with no traffic
75. learning
76. cheetah
77. Tostitos
78. family pie night
79. scategories
80. pearls
81. glee
82. babies
83. the 4th of July
84. wearing my retainers to bed (HAHAHA, gross)
85. my 2007 Chevy impala
86. Duke Basketball aka Nolan Smith, let’s be real
87. Get Smart
88. 12:00 am on January 1st
89. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel
90. nicknames
91. high heels
92. memories
93. the dream of being married and having a house and a family
94. going to the movies
95. laughing
96. the church in Manayunk
97. home
98. Jewish apple cake
99. salvation
100. love

 

Happy Friday!!

Thanks for reading, today and every other day :)

My Best Friend's Wedding

Here are a few of my favorites… it was such a beautiful wedding and an amazingly fun reception. Highlight of this year for our family for sure :)

I was waiting for people to e-mail/facebook their pictures so I’d have more to choose from, but these will be good for now. Once the photographer edits hers, I’ll post a link to her blog. I can’t wait to see them because she was such a fabulous photographer!! Hope this wedding bliss brightened your Monday!!

Are you getting up at 4am tomorrow?

Well if you’re living on the East coast/Eastern Standard Time you should be! If you live in California you might just be staying up all night!! And if you have no idea what I’m talking about – yah crazy. And you might live under a rock. No offense. Seriously. But over the pond here in America we’re pretty much obsessed with everything about British royalty. So if you don’t know that Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married tomorrow… we’ll you’re a little oblivious ;)

But it’s not too late… you still have a few hours to get all ready for the big event!!
And there are like 20 channels running Royal Wedding programs as we speak, or type/read, so don’t get too stressed.

I’ve come to realize that I’m pretty much obsessed with Kate Middleton. And I’m ok with that :) She’s gorgeous. She’s classy. She’s a commoner. She’s flawless. And she’s living a modern day fairy tale. Someone at my mom’s work made this fake invitation for me… I got a kick out of it!! And people all over the country are having viewing parties with their friends and relatives… but I’m still sick so I’ll probably be watching alone… not quite as cool – but I’m not gonna miss this ‘cause of darn strep throat!!

I think all the speculation over Kate’s dress is pointless. We’re all gonna see it in a few hours anyways!! But I LOVE the fact that this wedding is couture and the guests will be showing up in hats… I wish that was cool over here :)

 

Hope you’re planning to watch with friends and some tea… and possibly a British accent. That’s one thing I’ll definitely be using – the fabulous British accent :)
Happy wedding watching!!

words, pictures, & numbers

If you love something, set it free; if it comes backs it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was.

8.20 9.9 11.27 12.24 3.24 4.23

30 Memories

So a bunch of bloggers have been doing the 30 photos thing…  It’s kinda like the 30 day challenge on facebook – and so I figured why not?! I love taking pictures and I love looking back at them… they’re snapshots of really great memories :)

1. Someone you spend a lot of time with – Marky Mark

2. A picture of you – On the way to a wedding in a literal blizzard… so fun!! and pale… especially compared to the first picture!! HAH!

3. Random picture of you and your significant other – I miss summer…

4. Something that makes you happy – Michele and I sang a farewell song, accompanied by my dad, at our Senior Ceremony the night before graduation… think my gown was a little too big :)

5. Old picture of you – I was obsessed with Barney… hence the coat and gloves…

6. Picture of siblings – This is old but is my favorite picture of them!!

7. Picture you’ve never put on the blog before – My 18th birthday – Brother-in-law-to-be jumping over me with only a running start… I was really scared he was gonna knock me over and we would look like complete idiots as everyone waiting in line at Target watched us through the front window!!

8. Someone you miss – college roommates :( SAW THEM THURSDAY and Seeing Rah Rah TONIGHT!!!!!

9. People you know now and then – Catherine and I have been friends since middle school… We go to the Phillies together every spring!!

10. Picture of your favorite place – Ocean City, New Jersey – Sarbear told us “look sassy”

11. Someone you can tell everything to – Maja and Faja

12. Everyday life – the fam all sitting around the table, playing a game, or talking after dinner :)

13. A place you love – home – ESPECIALLY at Christmastime :)

14. Picture that reminds you of great times – I love weekends in Lancaster!!

15. Picture of one of you favorite foods – Pesto grilled chicken sandwich with red roasted peppers – and basically ANYTHING from the Manayunk Brewery – if you’re in/near/driving through/visiting Philly it’s a MUST!!

16. Best day of your life – not really sure I have one best day but this was Christmas Eve/Mark and I’s one year… Every Christmas Eve his family goes downtown and then we go to church with my family… It’s one of my favorite days of the year :)

17. Picture that makes you laugh – DOOT DOOT doot doot

18. Spare time – spending the day at Mark’s with Pugger

19. Picture from a great night – Not much I can say about this one… just a really really fun wedding!!

20. The Closest people to you

 

21.  Someone you always have a good time with – Kelsey Lynn :) since first grade!!

22. Parents when they were your age – Momma was 19 when they got married :)

23. Picture from last summer – WOODSTOCK!! Mark’s parents were born and raised in Liberty, New York so we spent the weekend there…

24. Closest friend of opposite sex – not significant other – Definitely my Dad :) Other than him and Mark, I don’t have any close boy friends…

25. Picture on a  favorite vacation – Disney Disney Disney – everyone in Italy at Epcot – so bummed I lost my Kardashian sunglasses :(

26. Picture of an Accomplishment – Graduation – cliché but true

27. Closest friend – We spent like $10 at the quarter game at the Memorial Day Fair

28. Photobooth picture – OCNJ boardwalk this past summer…

29. Picture that makes you smile – the day after they got engaged :) Mark and I took the night off from homework and surprised them!!

30. Someone you will never let go of : la familia

Hope you enjoyed the little trip down Memory Lane… Let me know if you do the 30 photo challenge! I’d love to see your favorite pictures!!