Meghann’s Wedding and Chicago

We were so excited that we got to go to my cousin Meghann’s wedding in Toledo OH this summer on July 3rd. We drove up half way on that Thursday before and finished up on Friday. We had such a blast getting to see the O’Mara side of the family. We were only missing a few, but catching up is so much fun. I think it’s more the stories and everything involved that keeps you laughing. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and Meg took my breath away walking into the most gorgeous Catholic Church I have ever seen. The reception was just as fun dancing and singing. We sure do know how to get down. I can’t wait to see everyone again soon!

 

So then Kyle had a great idea. He really wants to see all of the baseball stadiums and since we were already so far north we looked for the closest or on our way ball game. Which just happened to be at Wrigley Field on July 4th! What fun that was. We got there about an hour before game time and then headed into the coolest ballpark ever. We were lucky to get some good seat, the Cubs weren’t so lucky with the outcome of the game. Thankfully I was born and have close friends and family in Barrington not far outside the city. Our amazing family friend who is like my 4th sister Julie has a unbelievable house and was kind enough to take us in show us the town, take us to fire works, and grab some good deep dish pizza at Giordano’s. Delicious. We got to see here mom Helen and dad Harry too. It was so much fun to be able to hangout with them. It had been WAY too long! It was also great to just see her adorable kiddos and husband. We couldn’t have been so lucky or thankful for how that weekend turned out.  What a great surprise! Thank you everyone for some good family and friend time! 

 

Rafting Trip

The Adventurous Parker’s did it again. We took a rafting trip. Michael (Kyle’s Dad) and step mom Tonya purchased a gorgeous cabin in Blue Ridge Georgia last year and so we went up to spend some time with them on Memorial Day weekend. We had such a blast playing games and eating and going shopping! Tonya was decorating and making the cabin look beautiful so I got to run to places with her to look at cute things. Then we went up to the Ocoee River for a rafting trip. I knew we were in trouble when he explained “Summer Teeth: Some are here, some are there, some are in the river” ewww! I did not want anything to happen to my teeth. Tonya and I took our positions at the back of the boat. The least dangerous. We went through our first rapid fine and on the second rapid the boat behind us flipped and I pulled into our boat a girl that had “Summer Teeth” I kept my cool as I inwardly flipped out thinking we still have 2 hours of this left. Miraculously though we ended up having a great time! That is until the last rapid. Our guide asked us if we wanted the Hero or Chicken Route. Tonya and I being the only girls were over ruled by the boys decisions to be Heros! Great! I swear the guy was jumping out of the boat as he told us to “LEAN LEFT” The boat flipped so fast I ended up underneath it only to catch a breath and hear Colton (Kyle’s Step-brother)  saying “Save Yourselves”  we all made it back into the raft slowing. Tonya had a rough tumble and we were all a little shakin’. But I would do it again for sure. Didn’t that make you want to go?

Anyway I will say that it was worth it and I felt accomplished afterwards. I actually can’t wait to go again. Seriously!

New York, New York

Sooooo….. I have never been to the Big Apple and have wanted to go for sometime, so we decided to take a weekend trip up there. Our weekend is a bit different than most we have Sundays and Mondays to do our trips. So we took a flight Saturday night and headed home on Tuesday morning. It was such an amazing experience. How Blessed are we? We went to Times Square after a terrifying cab ride. Elf was right when he said “the yellow ones don’t stop”. We were driving in the middle of lasts for goodness sake. We stayed in Park Central by Carnegie Hall. In Times square we got a huge peice of cheesecake that we couldn’t finish because it was so rich that a friend had recommended. Then walked around and watched some amazing artists and went into some shops. We ended up at a little Mexican bar and it was so cool to just be in the City.  We walked back to our hotel to get some shut eye for the rest of the weekend.

The next morning was June 20th Kyle’s  birthday! I went to go get him his favorite. Some Starbuck’s coffee. I didn’t have to walk to far thankfully because there were about 18 right by our hotel. Then our good friend Chris Williams met us and walked us all around what I think was the upper side of the city? I am not sure my directions were all distorted. We walked by Central Park and some Trump Tower and then grabbed a bite to eat at Lola’s where You’ve Got Mail was filmed! SO COOL! I guess when you live there things like that rub off but man it was hard to soak it all in. After a fun afternoon catching up with Chris, and his being the best tour guide (THANKS CHRIS!) we headed to YANKEE STADIUM! That’s right we went to a Yankee game Kyle’s most despised team since he is a Boston fan, but it was awesome and such a Big stadium. People were friendly, and we got on the JumboTRON!  Yes, yes we did.  Oddly enough though I thought the subway was so cool. Besides being ripped off by a guy selling fake tickets. I felt like I could be on a show riding on that thing.

We left a little early and went to Grand Central Station. I loved the super market in there. No wonder people are so skinny up there with all fresh healthy stuff! I was a little jealous. Then headed over to Canal Street and Little Italy. We enjoyed some shopping along with a nice bottle of wine and pizza with some great friends who are now engaged as of last month. Amanda Abbott and Bryan Lassiter. It was so great to be able to see them too. They walked us to another resturant and we had a great evening.

The next day took a train to Ground Zero. Amazing how emotional it feels to be there. The church was gorgeous and they’re now working on building on the other side which was kind of cool to see. We then walked towards the Statue of Liberty. It was so nice to be able to walk and tour. We didn’t get to go up close because it would have taken too long, but maybe when we have more time we will. Then we jumped on a Red Bus tour that took us so many places I can’t even describe. I think that was  the way to go for my first time. We got some shopping in at SoHo and then headed out to dinner for Pizza AGAIN! YUMM! Then we went to Serendipity for dessert talk about delicious! I thinking I would have bled Chocolate for a week after eating there.We topped off our last night with a visit to the M&M Factory and a drink on the spinning room on top of the Mariott Marquis. Delightful!

We also found this cool place called Dylan’s Candy Store and thought it was cool because of my nephew Dylan so we bought some stuff and then forgot it.. we were so sad! But that was the only downer of the whole trip so I really can’t complain!  What an awesome trip! So nice to be able to experience NY for my first time. Now I just want to go around Christmas time to see the decorations!

Kris and Julianna Graduated

The next big news is that Kyle’s brother and step-sister graduated High School! Whoo!! Kris will be attending the University of South Carolina (Columbia) and Julianna will be attending  University of South Carolina (Upstate) Same school just different locations! We are so happy for them both and know that they will do great in college and where ever life will lead them. This just happens to also be Kyle’s Alma Mater, who just happens to be going to the SEC Championship here this weekend in Atlanta! What a great year for all of them! Hopefully they can just beat Auburn now (sorry Tiara). Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make it to Julianna’s graduation, but we were able to catch her at Kris’ and go out for a quick bite to eat with the whole gang! It was a blast and nice to have everyone in one location. Unfortunately, I can’t find the other pictures, but when I do I will post them immediately.

 

It’s Been Awhile..

So it has been awhile so I will slowly update you on events that have happened this past  year. Hopefully next year I can be a little bit better as far as actually keeping up. Maybe even once a month.

 

 

So I will start with my last post…

We went to Disney World with the Tompkin’s it was a blast. We went to Universal, Animal Kingdom (my personal favorite), Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom (which I didn’t get much time in but next time I will go for a whole day!) and Epcot. They made me ride he roller coasters. Talk about scary. My eyes were closed 99% of the time. But hey you can’t say I didn’t try. They faked my out in Hollywood Studio’s tough and told me that Disney rides can’t go upside down. Boy where they fooling me when we went on Rockin’ Roller Coaster and we did double flips and all these corkscrews. Wheew!! At least it was in the dark so it was actually kind of fun! It was nice to see the Tompkin’s wish we could see them a little more often. But Charleston is one of my favorite places so I am okay with visiting!

2010 is a new year!

We kicked of the New Year at home! Whoo hoo!! Actually again it was nice. We took down decorations and I made my New Years Resolution.

1.To Run a 1/2 Marathon. Yup that is right I want to run 13.2 miles. Not right now I don’t,  but I want to feel good about myself and I need a goal not just to “lose weight” or “eat healthy” or “exercise”  I want to hit a goal. So there it is. Who knows when I will be able to do it.  But this year at some point it is. Hopefully around Thanksgiving at the latest. If i could do it in the summer that would be great but that is a lot. Considering I am not a runner, but maybe I will become a runner!

2. To say no. I can’t say no to anyone ever. It used to just me simple things, but now it is turning into the fact that I don’t have a life outside or doing things for other people. I really need help with this and in setting up boundaries. I think what makes it difficult is that I want to please people, but by doing so I am stressed out a lot of the time and never really have down time. I need it to refuel! Hopefully I can do that this year. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I sure do need them.

P.S. We are going to Disney World with Jayson and Lindsay Tompkins next week! YES!!! I can’t wait!!!! I have never been to all the parks! I hope they are amazing! Maybe even a little swimming! Any advice on rides and the best parks?

Christmas 09′

We had a wonderful First Christmas in our new house! We started off the festivities by setting up the trees. We put on in the living room and another in the office room that has a Tonka sized desk in it.  We got to hang up stockings and Kyle put up beautiful lights. We headed to Lexington, SC to see Kyle’s Mom and family. We did Christmas with everyone there, it was so nice to get to see everyone. Corrine and I baked cookies with Jordyn and we seemed to make more of a mess, but that is always so much fun. We opened presents and all got spoiled. I love playing games with Kyle’s family we can always be silly. Jamie and I were on a team. I think we won, but no one will admit it because we had a few scraps over some words.  It was so nice to get away for a weekend it felt like a true vacation. We left on Monday and headed for Blue Ridge.

It took about 5 hours or so to get to Blue Ridge. What a beautiful ride though.  We were able to see Micheal’s new house and boy is it gorgeous! I can’t wait to take little trips up there! I love the little town too and I am really hoping that we will get to spend more time there this year. After some pizza and good conversation we drove back to our house. It was nice to have the boys here. We opened presents and watch

ed some funny movies. I was able to finish my baking and  pick up a bit. Michael left really early the next morning and we had work the next day.

The next set of adventures took place Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, I had to work the whole day. I couldn’t believe that people were actually getting their hair done that day. We went to Tiara’s house to have te best Beef tenderloin dinner and do our White Elephant exchange. What a blast it was  to listen to Avery sing sweet Christmas songs. She also told Jake was on the naughty list because he stole her Mommy’s gift.  She one of the best parts of this Christmas. I loved to see her open her gifts and get all excited. She is so wonderful. It was also amazing to have the two new additions in the family there. We got to spoil them rotten with kisses and holding them . They are already getting so big!

The next morning Santa had come to our house and it was so much fun to open each others gift and see what Lucy got. Kyle got me my first pair of real earrings. I feel like a grown up. I got hi some speakers which he already got to put up. We headed over to Mom’s house for our usual sausage twirls and quiche. YUMMY!! Santa had come there too and brought us all our favorite Anderson’s Candy from IL! He sure is a good guy.  We opened up presents together and  sang some more songs . We headed home late in the afternoon and got to just be lazy! how wonderful was that!

Times like all of these made me appreciate family more than ever. Being together is such an amazing gift! The stories, laughing, games, shooting bebe guns!  What a blessing family really is!