Always Remember

10-years ago today, my amazing state of NY and all of America suffered a lost greater than we have ever know.

Kind of like the famous "where were you when Kennedy was shot" of my parent's generation, "where were you on 9/11" is the question of my generation.

I remember so clearly that day.  It was my second week of my sophomore year at our local community college. I was in my first class of the day, Journalism 2, and we were actually watching CNN, listening to the news so we could write a story based on a new report.

There was a breaking story of a plane flying into one of the World Trade Center buildings.  We sat there stunned. My teacher ran out to other classrooms and other students came into our room: it's like he knew something was very wrong.

As we listened to the reports come in, a second plane hit the other World Trade Center building... we watched it happen.

Again, our teacher left the room and soon the Dean came on the load speaker to announce, due to recent events and security issues, classes have been canceled for the day and he advised us to go home and remain up-to-date on the events that were unfolding in NYC.

I remember walking numbly down the halls... seeing the TVs mounted in the lounges, halls and cafes with horrific images of a city close to my backyard, and even closer to my heart, in a panic.

First responders were just getting on the scene, people were running and flames were building.

As I drove home, the radio stations had switched over to news reports and it was obvious that the USA was under attack.

I got home, grabbed a small TV and went to my mom's office: I couldn't be alone. 

I watched everything unfold with my brother and sister while my mom and her co-workers worked quickly to cancel appointments for the afternoon.

We went home, held each other close, and prayed for all of those in NYC, PA, DC and all of America. 

Today, 10 years later, we again are watching the images from that day, holding each other close and praying for those lost, those who survived, those left behind and for peace.

Always remember 9/11/01

Sunday Morning

(Totally thought I posted this last week!... so double post day it is)

I love our Sundays. 

Typically they are slow, mostly lazy days filled with nothing big but totally special.

We start off waking up a little late... or maybe early... whenever we feel like! 

Then we go off to our favorite neighborhood diner for breakfast.  We are basically regulars but only our drink orders are regular: Diet Pepsi for him and a Jamaican Me Crazy coffee.

For breakfast, I typically do eggs (over-hard, egg white omelet with cheese and veggies, scrambled with cheese), bacon, sour dough toast and home fries. So much bounty for $4.99!



G tends to get the French Toast special with sausage and steals half of my home fries.



Yeah, it all looks like a lot of food but we typically don't finish all of it and ALWAYS skip on lunch.  Ahhh... a good breakfast!

Then we go home or to the store to get groceries.  And the rest of the day is light cleaning, lots of resting and tons of enjoying our time together.

How about you? 

Not Going As Planned

I am a planner.

I am damn good at it. 

I always look for the opportunity to plan something.  Weddings (duh), birthdays, anniversary parties (knee-deep in planning one for next month!), room schemes, grocery shopping, our days/nights/weekends, you get the point.

But there is one thing not going as planned.  And I am planning, and planning, and planning yet I can't pull off this event.

I feel like I keep restrategizing, reorganizing, recalculating, re-praying, re-hoping. 

And then, in less than 3 minutes, a month... 30 days... 720 hours... 43,200 minutes, of planning, waiting, praying, hoping, gone.

And then.  I am left.  Heartbroken.

I am blessed in many ways.  And I guess this is God's event to plan and not mine.

Working on Our Fitness

We took the plung and ordered an elliptical!
Geo and I have been talking about getting an elliptical for a few months now.  After lots of research, we decided on the PrForm Adjustable Stride Elliptical...

It had rear-drive, which offers a more natural stride and has less electronic components to potentially break. There are 3 levels you can set the stride to, allowing you the ability to focus on different target muscles. You can also use the iFit cards to get a custom workout, which is a nice plus. 

I am so excited to have the option of working out in the privacy of our home.

We ordered it from HSN.com with free shipping and handling.  We were tempted to get it from the store but HSN had better warranties.

Yay for getting healthy... again :)

I will let you know how it goes!

I Am 29.

I turned 29 this month.

It is almost surreal! 

I keep thinking about my early and mid-twenties.  In my early twenties, I fell in love for the first time. It was hardcore, crazy-stalker love.  When the love was gone, I was devastated. 

But I was 21.

So I did what any single, 21 year old would do: I took it to the bars!

I moved from the peaceful suburbs to the city.  Dated like it was my job.  I was careless and fun and confident. Not reckless: I paid my bills and went to work but not playing-it-safe either. 

It was me, my friends, cute boys, cocktails and dancing.  Every weekend. Every year.  For 2 years.
So 104 weekends of living it up to the max.  And the weekends started on Thursdays in college.  So that is 312 nights of partying.

I am exhausted just thinking about it!

At 23, I met Geo.  I was ready to calm down and he was ready to break out of his video-game-focused life.

I wanted to show him the world and he wanted to give it to me.

A year later, we moved in together. 

For the next 3 years, we bounced around to different apartments but settled into our routine.  Had our ups and downs and ups.  It was bliss!

We got engaged when I was 26, almost 27.

I panicked.  I had always worried about divorce and  not making it as a couple/family but getting engaged took my natural-panicfilled-life to the next level.  I went nuts. I got better.  We moved forward.

We got married when I was 27, almost 28.

Our first year of marriage was wonderful!  I can write that in past-tense because we are techinically on our second year :)

It's so interesting to see my twenties come to a close.  I'm not sad or scared about getting older... I'm more interested in seeing what curves and turns and twists are ahead.

Thought I am still dipping my toes into 29, I am excited to see what will have this last year for my twenties.  It was a deadline for many big events (married by 29, have a baby by 29, go to Europe by 29) but now that it is here, I see it as a "goal line" and less definate.

How are all of you with aging?  Do you take it in stride?  Do you get a little freaky when big events take place?  Tell me I am not the only one!!