I don't have any new pictures to post this week, so I thought I would just write about what I've been up to lately. I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving because I definitely did. My grandmother, who recently had surgery, is recovering well and was able to enjoy the holiday with the rest of the family. I was also one of those people crazy enough to venture out Thursday night for the Black Friday shopping. I'm happy to say that I got all of the items I went for and half of my Christmas shopping already completed. This weekend I'm looking forward to the local Christmas parade and doing some Christmas decorating.

Hunting in NY

This Thanksgiving, we went up to Silver Creek, NY (outside of Buffalo) where my husband's family hunts for deer every fall.  The Saturday before Thanksgiving is opening day and we were able to make it for that.  My husband got one deer that day and the rest of his family got 4 others!  There was a lot of meat to process, and we stayed busy.  This is the one afternoon we all went out "hunting" - my husband is the only one that carried a gun.  It was a lot of fun, but I'm not too big on shooting poor deer.

Here are our kiddos...they got their game faces on.

My Life!

Since this little girl was born she has become my biggest hobby. I never thought that something so little could hold such a huge piece of your heart. This is what I do every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. She has just begun to realize that she has a voice but is unsure of how to use it. I spend hours just laughing at her, and the funny expressions that she makes. I love having the luxury of helping my sister raise her baby, and being such a big part of her life.

Getting ready for Christmas!

My husband likes a traditional Christmas tree with colored lights and I would love to do a straight white light tree. After 24 years of marriage, I have learned that Christmas is one of my husband's favorite time of the year and I can live with a multi color light tree. My husband loves to put lights up and when we lived in Hawaii we had lights everywhere on our house. The only thing missing was the cold weather, but to enjoy Christmas at the beach was a memorable experience. My youngest, Noah, loves Christmas and when we start decorating he gets all excited and watches his Christmas movies over and over. Home Alone, Santa Claus 1, 2 & 3, Jingle All The Way are just a few of his favorites. As long as Noah has the innocence of a child in him we will enjoy Christmas for the rest of our lives. Here is a picture of Noah enjoying putting on "Ho, Ho's" hat.

Thanksgiving

Hola everyone! Since I just moved to Wilmington from CT in May, it would have been too much money to go home to see my family for Thanksgiving and then again for Christmas. However, my boyfriend's family drove all the way down from Vermont and rented a beach house in Surf City to spend Thanksgiving with us. It was a very low key, relaxing Thanksgiving. We collected seashells on the beach, watched the sunset and we even saw a few dolphins each morning!! I was able to Skype my family and see my extended family which was great :) (Thanks for technology!!) Here are two pictures: me and my boyfriend, Mike, and then one of his family and myself. I hope everyone enjoyed their break before finals!

It's still warm out! I took a trip to Southport and decided to take the Ferry. It was lovely and my first time! This was before Thanksgiving, so I need to go again to see all the decorations being hung :)

'Tis the Season

Aside from being a student, I also work a full-time (how many hours is that?!) job where I live, here in Durham. I am the Assistant Director of One World Market, a fair trade non-profit retail store. We sell handmade, fair trade items from artisans who live in developing countries all over the world. I truly love my job, but this time of year is truly special.

Being a non-profit, we often make it through with very little; that includes staffing. In fact, we only have two staff: myself and the Executive Director. Everyone else who works with our organization volunteers their time. From the cashier to the sales person, we depend on volunteers to drive our work. Fulfilling and limiting, working with volunteers is something that I love!

Our store does 60% of it's sales in November and December...which is mind boggling! We have to dig deep to stay committed to our work without burning out, but when I reflect on all the men, women, and children I am helping I feel rejuvenated!

"Birthsgiving" Celebrations

This Thanksgiving was fun and very exciting because it was not only a national holiday were we get to eat a lot of food and watch football all day, but it was also my goddaughter's birthday :-) My cousin's daughter (my Goddaughter) had her 1st Birthday on Thanksgiving day. So we had a giant celebration for both "holidays." We called it Morgan's "Birthsgiving Day" (haha i know its cheesy, but we thought it was clever lol)

Happy Birthday & Thanksgiving

This week I've been preparing for my daughter's 3rd birthday. Her actual birthday is the 21st but we're having the party this Saturday to accommodate friends and family who will be out of town next week for Thanksgiving. Isabella is super excited about her party which will be princess themed. I'm also looking forward to Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house this year. She has recently suffered some health problems, but had a very successful heart surgery last week and is recovering. All of my family is looking forward to spending some time together and have much to be thankful for this year.
(I would like to post of picture of me & my grandmother but she refuses to take pictures. So instead, here is a picture of Izzy's "happy face.")

Happy Thanksgiving

Hola everyone!! I don't have any pictures to share but I enjoy seeing everyone else's pictures. Jorge those pictures are beautiful- the fall colors are awesome to look at. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy your families, your reunions with husbands and/or fiances, and travel safely and return safely.

Family Time

I am so excited about the upcoming holiday next week! I come from a BIG family, and I enjoy every minute I get to spend with all of them! The picture above is from our family reunion this past summer. Every two years we have what is called a "Cousin's Reunion" and our entire family gets together. I love that I get to spend time with and meet some of my more distant relatives, who I wouldn't necessarily meet otherwise.

But I'm definitely MOST excited to spend time with my nieces and nephews! The picture above is one of my sisters and our niece Chloe. Like me, Chloe also has a twin brother Gabriel. They live in SC, so I don't get to see them as much as I would like to, but I can't wait to see them next week!

Survivng Deployment

I know one of the first post I ever did was about my fiancee's (boyfriend at the time) deployment. Well it's almost over! I am so excited. We count the days and we are finally in double digit numbers and getting smaller. Obviously since we don't know the exact date he will be home we are just doing a rough estimate with the counting. When he gets back a lot of changes will be happening. First off, obviously he will be back, I will also be starting the new Spring semester, and lastly we will be moving to a new place. It is all going to be a lot to take in. I know these last few months will fly by for me. Especially with all the holidays that are coming. I will be the happiest girl in the world when he is home. This pic is just of the two of us sometime before he left.

Thanksgiving Festivities

Because the Holiday season is right around the corner, and we are all going to be spending our vacations about, my friends here at UNCW all decided to get together and have a Thanksgiving Potluck. About 20 or more of my friends met at one house and brought our favorite Thanksgiving dishes. We also decided to be festive and dress up as Pilgrims and Indians :-) It was an amazing time, and really felt like home.

We also played a game called "Turkey Bowling." If you have never heard of this game, you should! You have a frozen turkey and throw it towards a group of soda cans! If you hit the cans hard enough they may explode :-) It's a fun Thanksgiving game that everyone will definitely enjoy!

Warmer weather

The nicer weather allows for outdoor activities! This photo of my boyfriend and I was taken this summer, but we recently did another trip where we walk around local gardens. Here we were at Princeton University exploring the gardens and buildings, and here in town we explored Airlie Gardens. I love this great weather!

Marine Corps Ball

This is me and my husband at the ball this year.  Although I had strep throat with tonsillitis, I was still able to attend the dinner/ceremony part and be in bed by 9 pm...not the most ideal Ball situation, but I did get a night away from the kids to sleep, sleep, sleep.  I told my husband we'll just have to make up for it next year and I'm sure we will.  I may even wear the same dress since I only wore this for about 3 hours!

These last two weeks have been busy and I don't think it is going to stop until December 17th when I leave for Christmas vacation to visit family in Ohio. Last Friday night my husband and I attended the Marine Corps ball in Wilmington, NC and enjoyed a night out without the kids and stayed all night at the Hilton. I am getting a cold and I realize that I am too old to stay until midnight at the ball. We did enjoy getting to Wilmington early and walking around and eating 1/2 price appetizers at Front Street Brewery. I recommend the Beer Batter Nuggets and Fried Pickles! I also realized last week that a few of my online classes will end the first week of December! WAHOO!!! I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

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I'm very thankful for the fall colors. This is my wife, our daughter and me in the Cliffs of the Neuse park. It's awesome that this area has been preserved for everybody to enjoy for free! 

Busy Busy!

This is a super busy week for me and my husband! Tomorrow we are moving to Pennsylvania to our new house that we just bought! This is our first house so we are SO excited. However, along with all this excitement comes a lot of stress! It is not easy pack up a house and life in North Carolina and moving 400 miles- especially at the end of the semester. Wish us luck!

Halloween Fun

So, even though I am twenty years old and living on my own, I am still a child! This Halloween I took the kid that nanny and a few other neighborhood kids trick or treating, fully dressed in costume :-) The kid that I watch after school dressed up as a Robber and I dressed up in my onsie and was ready for bed. haha This is a picture of Ben and I after trick-or-treating after he tried to steal my candy! And yes, some families did give me candy :-) It was a lot of fun and a realized how much I miss childhood!

Here's my little Cinderella! (And my mom in the background.) Izzy and I got in about an hour of trick-or-treating this year before finally giving in to the cold. Apparently we timed it just right since as soon as we got in the car, it began to rain. Despite the bad weather, Isabella had a great time, got plenty of candy, and finished off the night by visiting Daddy at work.

This was this past Sunday down at Wrightsville Beach. That's me and my precious bundle of joy, Nalu at the kite festival. It was beautiful, I recommend everyone going next year if you could not this year!

New Cat

Today was a very interesting day. I got up and went out only to get my paper and to stop by staples. However, on the way to staples I passed Petco and they were having the adopt an angel program and of course I was sucked it. LOL. I looked through and found an amazingly sweet cat. She is 4 years old which is perfect because I really don't have time to deal with a kitten with work and school. I paid 45 dollars and she is fixed, up to date on her shots, and surprisingly already declawed. I considered this a good deal. The name on her paperwork says Blotchy but I didn't feel this was a feminine enough name so my fiancee and I decided to name her Milkshake. I was a little nervous about getting her but I wanted some company until my fiancee gets home.

Halloween Baby

On Halloween I had my niece for the day, and had bought her this outfit. It was her very first Halloween, and I had a blast taking pictures of her even though she grew tired of this quickly. She is growing up so quickly and already four months old. She is a hand full at times but when I have had the worst day ever one little smile from her and everything else fades away. I know I am in the right profession because when i look at her I know that making a difference in a childs life is important.

Soccer is over!

This is the cake and cupcakes I made for my son's soccer team end of season party.  They just finished and had the pleasure of being in the play-offs, but unfortunately lost 3-2 in overtime.  They were in 3rd place and the championship was this weekend.  We'll be having his party tomorrow, bowling, pizza, cake and fun!  I'm so proud of my kiddo and his team, they played so well this season!

Gluten Free

Three years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, which I've actually had my entire life without even knowing. When you have Celiac Disease, your body basically attacks itself whenever your ingest (eat) anything containing gluten. Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat flour, malt, barley, and rye. So basically, if I eat pizza, bread, pasta, etc. the micro-philli in my stomach and intestine, the same little guys that attach to your food to absorb nutrients, attack each other and die off.

Eating gluten free isn't easy. I only have a handful of restaurants that I know I can safely eat out at, so most of the time I cook all my meals at home. I have found a few good gluten free substitutes, but for the most part I eat things that naturally don't contain gluten, like veggies and fruits.

When I received my diagnosis, I started a blog called Gluten Hates Me. I really enjoy writing and sharing my knowledge with the gluten free community. I share personal stories, recipes, and product reviews.

This is a picture of my son and myself as I take him out for trick or treating Halloween night on New River Air Station. Noah made it to three of our neighbors houses and then said "go home" he was finished! Noah will not put on a costume so he has worn Sponge Bob pajama's in the past as well as a football jersey. This year he went in a football jersey with mom supporting the team as well. I thought we should Cincinnati Bengals stuff while the team is still winning. My husband and I enjoyed handing out candy and seeing all the different costumes the little ones had on. Now it is time for me to start preparing for Christmas and beginning my baking shopping list. I already have to make 300 buckeyes for a bake sale on November 18th. I love this time of year!

First Day of School

This is a picture that my Dad sent to me the other day. It is of me on my very first day of preschool. He was mostly just being sappy and nostalgic because I'm going to graduate in approximately 1 month and 13 days(!!!) The picture, however, got me thinking about how crazy excited I was for my first day of school. Notice my big cheesy smile? And it made me SO excited that some day soon I'll get to be a teacher and every year I'll get a new group of excited and eager students and it will be my job to make them really fall in love with school just like my preschool teachers did. Then, hopefully, a few of them will be getting ready to graduate and go be amazing teachers :)

P.S I blame my goofy haircut, outfit, and socks with sandals on my Mom 100%.

My family.....

This is a picture taken last summer of my mother, sister and I. We are very close even though my sister moved to Charlotte she still comes to visit and we go visit her. This was after we got back from the beach and were grilling out for her birthday!!! I love my mom and cherish every minute I have with her as she is the only parent I have left. I look at things differently now, especially when my dad can no longer be in the pictures with us. 

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This is a picture of the UNCW open house event on October 27th. That day was very hectic because the night before I hit a pot hole in Wallace that damaged one of the front rims of my car. I was supposed to attend the open house session in the evening but I couldn't since I had to go to a car salvage to get a new rim. It took me 54 hours to go back to "normal". That's when my car had the new rim and tire installed. 
It was a learning experience. I learned that:
- Welders can fix rims but it's easier for them to work on aluminum. Of course, mine was a metal one. So it was "unfixable".
- It's good to carry something valuable with you, in case you have to leave it in a shop that doesn't take credit or debit cards easily and you have to get cash in an ATM :) I left my Canon Camera in the welding place while I was finding out if I had to get a new rim.
- Car salvage sites have a network where they can get auto parts from other places. The rim I got was shipped from Greensboro over night.
- The Department of Transportation can reimburse you for the expense you incurred if you have a legitimate claim.