mr. nye’s birthday, and other happenings

This post was originally supposed to just be about Mr. Nye’s birthday get-together (which was Sunday afternoon), but so much has happened since then! Note: This post is in no way chronological.

(Edited to add: Yet again, I’ve delayed a day… It’s now Saturday morning and mom arrived last night to visit. We already made a Bed, Bath and Beyond run for a couple small items–blast! Andrew took my coupons in the Pilot on his trip to Ohio this weekend–and are planning lots of house-y things today. We’ve already reorganized my small kitchen appliances and it’s not even 10 a.m.)

And speaking of the Nye’s… I took Hadrian on his first walk in the village yesterday–I can’t believe it’s taken almost a week–to their house to stop by their yard sale. I walked away with a well-loved cookbook of Mrs. Nye’s in which she marked some muffin recipes. Those are always the best kind to have–the marked-up and splattered ones.

Getting him in the shot was surprisingly difficult…

This…

…and this is what you see when you round the park (which is across the street) on your way to the Nyes’ house.

What a beautiful view! I started off in a sweatshirt (can you believe you can wear sweats and pants here in summer?! I LOVE IT.)

In other news, we put our bed together. (I use “we” loosely here; I mostly watched.) And in true pet-fashion, Hadrian had to be in the middle of everything. We had to force him out of the bed so Andrew could finish putting the slats in!

Check out this pint glass. I LOVE pint glasses with fun logos and things, except that I need to curb my habit of ‘collecting’ things I love; my mug, glass, scarf and Le Creuset collections are getting dangerously large…

Anyway, I bought two of these at Hallmark (I much rather would have liked to have found them at some neat store or Goodwill or something, but oh well, Hallmark does have cute stuff) LAST SUMMER almost as soon as we moved into the hotel. I couldn’t bear to break them out until we were in our “forever home,” so they’ve been living in a paper bag shoved in a bin ever since.

I busted them out the other night as we ate leftover pizza and celebrated getting both the extra fridge and freezer into the basement. (There I go again with this “we” business; I had no part in that victory. Andrew, his dad, and a couple other engineer friends from Moog graciously helped move our appliances this past week.) And a victory it was! They had to take the doors off both of them, plus the basement door AND doorframe, and even get a special tool. But I’m happy with them in the basement, which is all that matters 🙂

Now, onto the party!!

We’ve been ‘adopted’ by the Nyes, especially since Alex had to go and move to Pittsburgh, just as we moved back to EA. We find ourselves over there once every week or two–invited or not–and Mrs. Nye force-feeds us homemade cookies and Kone King ice cream she keeps stocked in the freezer. We have it rough, I know.

So, when we heard Alex would be in town for his dad’s birthday and that his little get-together would be Sunday afternoon–as in, the Sunday we were in the middle of moving–there was no question we’d be taking a break to attend. These celebrations are always ‘intimate’ affairs–late lunches in which family (immediate, cousins and grandma) and Andrew and I–crowd into the eat-in kitchen. This time we feasted on steak, pork, potatoes, green beans, rolls and fruit.

I know posting this picture of Andrew is dangerous–what with the Nye boys being loyal readers and all–but I had to. Let’s just hope it doesn’t end up on a blanket!

We sang and Mr. Nye blew out his candles before we enjoyed some of the best chocolate cake (or should I say best icing) I’ve had in awhile. Mrs. Nye, I’m (almost) ashamed to admit that I single-handedly ate all the leftover cake you sent home with us…in one sitting. Do you have more? I might need some soon.

And the event wouldn’t be complete without one of Adam’s ‘Andrew creations.’ This time, Andrew’s blanket presided over us, hanging from an upper window, akin to a poster of Kim Jong Ill or something.

You just never know what you’re gonna get with Adam. You just never know.

i feel smart, and other things of note

So… Today in Chemistry, we tackled this equation:

E = mc^2

Like, as in the one Einstein came up with all that time ago. It has to do with energy, mass of nucleons (neutrons and protons) and the speed of light.

Can I just say that five years ago, I would NEVER have guessed I’d be where I am right now? In so many ways…

In other news…

1. Andrew comes home this afternoon! I feel all giddy inside… I guess absence DOES make the heart grow fonder 🙂

(Psst! I’m making bagels as a surprise for his return… Since he doesn’t have a smart phone, there is no way he can see this before he actually arrives home, so I thought I’d share–in a whisper voice–to add to the suspense.)

2. I have confirmed that I am OFFICIALLY finished with Microbiology, with A’s in both lecture and lab. Thus, I’ll be making bagels this afternoon when I would have normally been in lab.

3. It’s my birthday month! WOO-HOO! Birthday list is being made and tweaked as I speak… (That’s how Andrew’s family does it; they practically DEMAND a list two months in advance, and hound you if you don’t provide one soon enough. I. LOVE. IT.)

On the list this year: a pair of Crocs, better, non-warping baking sheets and other miscellaneous clothing items. (If you’re reading this and need “the list,” Andrew can provide it to you :))

4. Emily’s birthday is the same day as mine. God really knew what he was doing when he arranged our chance meet-up at a friend-of-a-friend’s bbq, in which Emily and her hubby were attending as friends-of-a-mother…

5. Pineapple boxers!

Andrew and I found these at Gap a couple weeks ago. It wasn’t even a discussion; I held onto those things for dear life. I mean, how could we NOT buy them? They have been washed and are currently in my jammie drawer, waiting for warm weather.

6. Andrew ate a 30-ounce steak last night at his final dinner in Texas, at some super-snazzy restaurant, I’m sure. Thirty ounces. THIRTY. People, 16 ounces is a POUND. He’s already requested salads for the forseeable future…

7. While I’m super excited for Andrew to come home, I don’t know that I’m ready to give up the clean, quiet, organized and peaceful house/routine I’ve enjoyed for the past week…

8. Here’s a good one: To those who continue to ask about whether or not we’ve found a house: Yes, we’re still house-hunting. We will continue to house-hunt until we find one. New houses are coming up on the market now that it’s spring, but it’s been a little slow. (No, I’m not upset, but I’ll admit that the question, “So, are you still house-hunting?” gets old. We’re in a tiny rental with gross carpet, no yard and no dishwasher–OF COURSE WE’RE STILL HOUSE-HUNTING.)

9. Speaking of houses, we’re seeing a fixer-upper tomorrow night, and one popped up just today that piqued my interest. A LOT. Prayers please!!

10. Cinco de Mayo is this weekend 🙂 Margaritas, anyone?

happy holidays

A couple weeks ago, Andrew asked me how I ranked the holidays, which got me thinking. How DO I rank my favorite holidays?

Well, here goes:

1. Christmas – obviously, number one. I love everything about it, from Jesus’ birthday (we always do a cake!), to new pajamas and snow and presents and family and cookies and stockings and time off of work…I could go on forever. My family growing up didn’t have many traditions, but we did have special things at Christmas.

2. Birthday – What other day of the year gets to be all about me? Just kidding… But since my mom’s birthday is the day after (and her mom’s is the day after!), I have happy memories of Memorial Day joint parties at either Bamma’s house or ours. Lots of family, lots of love, lots of good weather. Oh, and did I mention my love language is gifts? So, really, ANY day I get something makes me feel special.

3. Valentine’s Day/Anniversary – a close third to Christmas and my birthday is Valentine’s Day, and just three days later is our “dating” anniversary, so we typically do something big for one or the other. February is a good month for me.

4. Thanksgiving – I almost ranked Thanksgiving higher, and maybe I should have, since it’s food-related and all, but the top three are pretty big. I love Thanksgiving because of family, and all that once-a-year food goodness. Bring on the pumpkin pie! And let’s not forget it’s the start of “holiday season,” which gets me all sorts of jolly 🙂

5. Anniversary – Our real anniversary is Dec. 17, which is hard because it tends to get lost in the chaos of Christmas. Our first anniversary we flew to Chicago one week before Christmas…it was terrible. We’ve done all sorts of different things, from almost-nothing to trips to fancy dinners, and I have to admit, I’m not really happy with any of them. I’d like to pick something–anything–and make it a ‘tradition’ (there I go with my traditions again). Like, ‘every year we go to [insert restaurant here],’ or [every year we give each other [insert certain type of gift here].’ Guess we’ll keep working on that. We do have seven months.

6. St. Patrick’s Day – I’ll admit, this one’s out of left field. It’s green. It’s all about beer. It’s huge here in Buffalo–who knew?–but neither of us are, indeed, big drinkers… All I know is that I have a pair of bright green running shorts and a special “I’m not Irish but kiss me anyway” t-shirt that I wear proudly every year.

…hmmm, what am I missing…?

7. July 4th – …is always fun! Bbqs and fireworks and good weather and food and family and friends. And checkered tablecloths. And decorations.

8. Memorial Day – this one is obvious: my birthday, as well as bbqs and family and friends being off of work. At least they were growing up…in the military you get like EVERY holiday off, so I’m not used to Andrew working on days like Martin Luther King Jr. Day or President’s Day. I was so spoiled. But then again, it’s the military; I kinda think they should get the most time off of anyway.

9. New Year’s Eve – this one is a hard one. We aren’t big party-ers, so we aren’t really into clubs or going out. We don’t drink that much, or dance or really even stay up that late regularly, but we don’t want to be boring and you definitely need the right crowd for an occasion like this… So, it’s always a bit of a conundrum. Perhaps our favorite one was the year we went to Columbus with Heather and Silas and went to fancy-schmancy dinner all dressed up. Last year was an adventure…

10. And bringing up the rear is Halloween… Growing up we celebrated Halloween for awhile, then we didn’t celebrate Halloween for awhile, (during which time we went to the ‘Harvest Festival’ at church), and then when we got older we passed out candy and Christian tracts (our parents made us) at the door. Andrew and I have done everything from nothing (this past year…I think we went to Panera or something) to dressing up at a Halloween party the night we got engaged! I love dressing up, so this holiday only ranks highly if we have an awesome party to go to. Take notes, friends–someone plan a party!

And that’s all, folks. It was kinda nice strolling down memory lane as I recounted various holidays from my childhood…