Before & After

We are finally done with the dining room & living room! I am so excited :) Our couch came in yesterday so we did a lot of moving of couches last night. We borrowed my dads work van to pick up the new couch and then move the old couch out to East Aurora. I drove the van to pick up the couch and back to the house and I told Bob that I felt like Doug Heffernan from King of Queens. haha 

Here are a bunch of before & after photos! The dining room is first then the living room. Please ignore the mess in most of them. The house was a disaster for the week that it took to strip wallpaper & paint. 

 Enjoy! 

The wallpaper was a pain to take down!

Multi-colored walls

More wallpaper removal

All Painted 

Another angle

Finished! Carpeting out, area rugs in, new curtains & curtain rods!

All done! :) 

Good-bye wood paneling! 

Hello dirty wall!

All patched up above the fireplace

Before shot

Before 

View from living room to dining room

Almost done! Just need to replace the couch

All done w/ new couch!

Finished product

We hope to get matching chairs for the living room but will probably wait a few months to do that. Our plan is to get our Christmas tree on Saturday. I am so excited for Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year. I can't wait until there is some snow on the ground! :) As long as it is cold, it might as well snow. 

What are your holiday traditions? 

Thankful

Happy (early) Thanksgiving!!

The past week has been crazy between redecorating the house and work, I feel like I haven’t slept a wink! It will all be worth it though because the house is looking great!

I will post about the house at a later date; we are still waiting on area rugs and the couch. Today I want to post about Thanksgiving! I LOVE Thanksgiving! I love spending a whole day with family and friends while enjoying delicious foods. This year we are celebrating with both families. First we will have an early dinner with Bob’s family and then we will have dessert with my family. I hate having to do a lot of traveling on a holiday but it is worth it to be able to see both families.

This year I have so much to be thankful for. I spent half of the year in Europe earning a duel degree and making the best friends a girl could ask for. The other half I spent with my amazing family I friends in Buffalo. I am so lucky to have such a close family. We are always there for each other and I am so happy to have all these wonderful people in my life. The person I am most thankful for is my absolutely fantastic boyfriend! He is always there for me and supports me in everything that I do. I would be so lost without him.

I am so thankful for all that I have but I have not forgotten about people who are less fortunate. This holiday season remember to help out the people in your community who are in need. This could be giving money to a charity, donating food to a food bank, donating clothes to someone, buying a gift for a giving tree, or helping out at a soup kitchen. Last week I donated money to help buy a family I know who is in need  a thanksgiving meal and next week we put up our giving tree at work and I plan on taking at least one name to buy gifts for. These are both just small things I can do to help make a difference in someone’s life.

What are you thankful for this holiday season? 

What is your favorite way to give back to others? 

Only in America

Warning: This may make very little sense & is poorly written. I am just so angry which is why the font is red! 

Every year millions of people around America get up really early, some never going to bed the day after Thanksgiving to get a deal on their holiday presents. I have never really understood or agreed with this concept. I am usually a bargain shopper, it is all about getting a good deal in my book. This however is not a good deal. Black Friday is a day for Americans to act like the greedy individuals that they are however it is not long Black Friday, it is not turning into Black Thursday & Friday. I have gone out on Black Friday to get some things but I go after 10 a.m. when the craziness isn't as bad... these are the stores normal operating hours so I do not feel bad shopping when the store would be open on a normal weekday. 

This is where I draw the line. WHY DO THE STORES NEED TO BE OPEN ON THANKSGIVING? Plain and simple, they don't! By opening on Thanksgiving you are taking all the workers away from their families. This is supposed to be a day that we give thanks for all that we have and are supposed to spend it with our family & friends. Instead the CEO's and higher ups have decided that money is more important than being a descent human being. The people making these decisions are not the ones who have to work, they are the ones who will be home with their families celebrating the holiday. Now you have people who have to work because either their job depends on it or they are so broke that they cannot afford to miss out on the holiday pay. It is so sad to see the greed in this country. 

There is a petition started online by a Target employee who is fighting Target on this very matter. She works two jobs and was looking forward to her day off to spend with her boyfriends family however now she has to work. Sure once she got the publicity Target offered her the night off but she refused it saying that it isn't fair to her coworkers who were not given the same option. 

It is not only Target that is opening on Thanksgiving but also Walmart, Kmart and other large retailers. Some are not opening until midnight so it will technically be Black Friday but that is still pushing it since employees need to be there hours before opening to make sure the stock is in place and the store is prepared the madness that is about to ensue. 

A friend brought up that hospitals are open along with insurance carriers. Hospitals are different because they have no choice but to be open. Insurance I am sure could close but they don't. Retailers have a choice and are just being greedy. That is why I am saying this.... if you don't agree with me then don't sign and go shopping. 

What I am asking is for you to sign the petition. I have put the link below, please sign it to help show these stores that it is unfair to ask employees to work on Thanksgiving. I am also asking that when you are doing your holiday shopping this year you keep in mind that these people are working hard to please you as a consumer. Be kind and considerate to the employees! It is not the end of the world if they do not have what you are looking for or if they can't help you. Put yourself in their shoes and take a minute to relax if you start getting worked up. 

https://www.change.org/petitions/target-take-the-high-road-and-save-thanksgiving

I am ready to move back to Europe where the people get more than 2 weeks vacation, Sundays almost everything is closed, and there is amazing food & beer! Who is with me? 

Change happens very slow and very sudden....

What a great weekend! 

     Friday night we went to dinner at Mulberry with 3 other couples, the food was delicious, and the company was great! 

     Saturday was spent running errands and looking at furniture again. We found something we like at Ashley! :) Then Saturday night I babysat. 

     Yesterday we got up early and put the Christmas lights up outside. We aren't turning them on yet but might as well get them up on a sunny /65 degree day opposed to a cold day in December! After we finished our, we headed to Bob's parents to help with theirs and then went home to watch the Bills game. 

     We had been discussing taking out the carpeting in the dining room & living room but weren't sure what the floors underneath were like.  I decided to pull up a corner of the carpet in the dining room just to see... they are GREAT! I called Bob over to take a look and he agreed that they do look nice (at least where I pulled the rug up) He made me a deal, we could pull the carpet up if we painted the dining room first. I was not hesitant to agree to that deal because I have been wanting to take down the wallpaper in the dining room since we moved in! I started right then. I turned the volume up on the Bills game and sat there and peeled wallpaper all afternoon. Bob helped until he decided that since we are doing the dining room we might as well take down the wood paneling above the mantel. Here are the before and after pictures for that. 

BEFORE

AFTER 

Bob patched up the wall where all the nail holes were and we will paint that an accent color. We are thinking of using the greyish color from our bedroom. Our goal is to finish stripping wallpaper this week and paint this weekend and take the carpeting out soon after. It will be a lot to do especially since the top half of the wallpaper is putting up a fight but we want the carpeting out before the couch comes in which is 2-3 weeks. 

Last night before heading to bed we were looking at paint colors for the dining room and area rugs for the dining room & living room but could not agree on ANYTHING. This morning I took a quick look online and found a paint color I really liked which Bob agreed to and then he sent me an area rug that I agreed to. We are off to a great start! I will post pictures of the before and afters of both rooms when they are completed. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Any tips for redecorating the rooms? 

“So many books, so little time.” - Frank Zappa

First of all I must say, I am on a roll! Three straight days of blog entries? That must be a new record for me! I am usually terrible at keeping up with this.

The other day I was at Big Lots and I came across books marked down 70%, being the avid reader that I am, I had to check them out. I found a book called Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch for $3. Took a look at the summary and decided to give it a shot. I started reading it at lunch yesterday and really didn't want to stop reading when lunch was over. Last night I read as Bob watched the election coverage and I lost a little interest in the book because it was a bit dull but I am hoping during lunch today it will pick back up. Very rarely will I stop reading a book once I have started. I love following the story, seeing where it leads. I usually hope for a sequel because I want the story to continue. Finding a good book just makes my day. I have decided I need to make more time for reading because I haven't really read in awhile and it is one of my favorite ways to relax. Give me glass of wine and a good book and I am a happy camper! 
Any suggestions on what to read next? Anyone looking for a book suggestion? Let me know. I will help you out the best that I can. 

On a totally unrelated note, today I was washing my hands and looked in the mirror and realized my hair was a mess! It was everywhere and looked like it needed a good brushing. This was only an hour or two after brushing it right before I left for work. Anyone else have that problem? Constant knot filled hair? It is so much easier to handle when it is short but I think if I cut my hair short again my boyfriend might leave me. Not really because I don't think he is that shallow and wouldn't leave me after 4 years because of my hair but  I do know he prefers my long hair. Plus I can't cut it yet because I am planning on donating it to Locks of Love but it isn't quite long enough. It would be a little too short for my liking if I did it now so I guess I will just stick it out a few more months and then get a new do! 

Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday. I am looking forward to tonight. I have a tastefully simple party to attend then having a drink with a friend. I am looking forward to that drink because it is a German inspired restaurant! :) 

Post again soon. <3

Oh wait, it's election day?

Title of this post is quite clearly a joke and the only thing about the election you will hear from me. I do NOT talk politics with anyone, including my boyfriend. Moving on...... 

I can't believe I forgot to write about joining a gym! A few months ago there was a groupon offer for the BAC (Buffalo Athletic Club), 3 months for $33! I was trying to decide which gym to join at that point so I thought I might as well buy it and try the BAC out.

Well 3 or 4 months after buying the groupon I finally turned it in on Sunday. 3 days before it expired. haha. I know that if I wait until after work to go to the gym I will not go so I decided that my gym time is 6-7 a.m. I got up at 5:50 yesterday morning and headed to the gym. Thankfully it is a 2 minute drive. I did 4 miles on the bike, stretched and went home to get ready for work. I know that isn't a lot of exercise but keep in mind I haven't exercised regularly in about 5 years. Sure I get into kicks where I say "hey, I should go running" but it doesn't last very long. I skipped the gym this morning but plan on going tomorrow morning. Wish me luck! Any tips on being motivated to go to the gym and not hit snooze? I did take a tip from a fellow blogger & friend from EA, Lindsay to sleep in my gym clothes so I don't use that as an excuse.

Last night I made a pork tenderloin which turned out to be delicious! I was worried bout the cooking method but it was delicious. You take your pork tenderloin and make sure you have the exact weight of it. Once you know the weight you prep it with salt, pepper, and any other seasoning you want. Preheat your oven to 500. Once the oven if preheated you put the pork tenderloin in for 5 1/2 per pound. Mine was just under a pound so I cooked it for about 5 minutes. After that time you turn the oven off but KEEP THE OVEN DOOR CLOSED!! Let sit in the oven for an hour. After that hour take it out and make sure it has cooked all the way through and then serve! If you are a nut job like me and want to make sure it is all the way cooked you can turn the oven on the last 5-10 minutes. I put my crescent rolls in with it at 375 for the last ten minutes or so. It turned out great and was pretty moist!

Have a great Tuesday! 

Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils

November already?

Time is flying by! It feels like just yesterday I was in Germany getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with my friends. I am so thankful for this past year, it is insane to think of all the amazing things I have experienced. 

Lets catch up on the past few weeks. I had my major event at work, Corks & Forks. It went great and now I am working on our Poinsettia sale and starting the plans for our walk in May. I am pretty busy with all of that. 

I have been babysitting at least one night a week the past few weeks to try and get some extra cash for the holidays and to help pay off student loans. A lot of people ask where I find the time an energy to babysit after work but the only answer I have for them is that I love it. Sure kids can be difficult sometimes but the family I am babysitting for feels like family to me and watching the kids grow and learn is so rewarding. I am actively looking for another regular babysitting job so if you know anyone in the northtowns who needs a sitter feel free to give out my name and number! 

Bob's birthday was on Halloween and we celebrated this past weekend. Friday night we invited some friends over for drinks and snacks then headed out to the bar for the evening. It was a great night. I had a lot of fun and it was night seeing a lot of Bob's friends from growing up. 

Saturday we had my family and Bob's family over to watch the Notre Dame game and eat dinner. It was great having everyone together. We ordered pizza & wings and all hung out then finished the night off with an ice cream cake. 

Sunday we planned to relax all day but decided to go look at furniture for the living room. The couch that I bought for Bob's house is just WAY too big for the size of the room. We looked at some couches & love seats then headed home to watch the Bills game. I had Bob's 4 year old niece over to help put up some Thanksgiving/Fall decorations and after she left Bob decided that we should go look at more furniture. We ended up finding some stuff for a great price that we like so now its just a matter of deciding which set up to get. I am pretty excited about this. Definitely forward progress in getting the house together, which brings me to my next and last point.....  

I live in Bob's house. He bought it a year and 3 months ago. It is his house, not mine. I am aware of this fact and when I say "my house" I simply mean it as the house that I live in. Most of the time the word home sounds weird (at least to me) in a sentence. I know some people get confused as to why I call it my house when I don't own it. Just wanted to clear that up for anyone who reads this and said "wait, what?" :) 

Needless to say, it was a fantastic weekend! One of my favorite weekends yet this fall! It is so nice having Bob home. 

 What is your favorite part of November? Any recipes to share? I am making a pork tenderloin tonight for dinner using an unconventional style so I will try and remember to share tomorrow how it turns out! 

Happy November everyone!!

Sunday Night Dinner

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week. This weekend was a good one. Friday night we headed out to EA for the homecoming game because my brother Nathan and his girlfriend Hannah were nominated for homecoming court. Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go to the farmers market in North Tonawanda. It was a dreary start to the day but that meant less people at the market! After the market I went and got a massage from the NY Institute of Massage. It was wonderful! If you are looking for a cheap place to get a massage I definitely recommend it. $35 for a 50 minute massage and you aren't allowed to tip! Talk about a deal! The rest of Saturday we just hung out and relaxed. I caught up on some TV shows and then we watched the Notre Dame football game. They are having a great season. 

Yesterday I woke up really early like 7:30 and decided to prep and start the chicken for dinner. Friday was Pam's (Bob's mom) birthday and I had invited his family over for a birthday dinner celebrating. I made a roast chicken in the crock-pot, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and a loaf of bread. The chicken is SO easy. Take it out of the wrapping, take out the giblets, rinse with cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. After it is dry, rub with a little olive oil and then put whatever spices you want on it. To crisp the outside of the chicken I put 4 or 5 balls of aluminum foil on the bottom of my crock-pot and place the chicken on top. I let it cook for about 8 hours on low. Yesterday I decided to try putting it on high for 2 hours and then on low for 6 hours but it overcooked the chicken to the point where it fell apart when I went to take it out so from now on I will stick to 8 hours on low. 

After I made the chicken and cleaned up from that I made the ice cream cake. I love ice cream cake and Carvel is great but I like to make my own. It is really easy to do. I take a package of Oreo's and smash them really well and mix them with butter. I put them in a greased 9 x 13 in pan and pack them down. Then I take a 1/2 gallon of chocolate ice cream and spread that on top of the Oreo's. I didn't use all of the ice cream because I was worried about how much room I would have for the other layers. Next I crushed chocolate graham crackers in place of the chocolate crunchies you would have in a Carvel cake. Next I heated up some hot fudge and spread that on top of the graham cracker crumbs. The next layer is vanilla ice cream. I spread that on top, put the lid over and stuck it in the freezer. Right before I served the ice cream cake I put a layer of whipped topping as the last layer. 

Everything was delicious! Easy meal to make! Below are pictures from almost every stage of the process for the chicken & cake. Enjoy! 

Aluminum Foil Balls in Crock-Pot

Chicken after washing (gross) 

Chicken on top of aluminum foil balls with seasoning

Chicken starting to cook

Chicken all done & falling apart. (Oops!) 

All the makings for the ice cream cake

Smashed up Oreo's

Oreo bottom & chocolate ice cream started on top

Smashed up chocolate graham crackers

Hot Fudge on top of graham crackers. 

(When you put the vanilla ice cream on top it will spread out)

Vanilla ice cream on top! 

Still looking for your favorite crock-pot recipes. Share them by commenting below! Today I made chili in the crock-pot, I will post about it tomorrow!  

Girls Night Out

Last night I went out with my friend Denise for dinner, drinks, and a movie. We went to Melting Pot for dinner and drinks because I had a livingsocial deal that had to be used by next week. We ordered the flatbreads and both were DELICIOUS! I had the Love Martini which was amazing and adorable. 

After dinner we went to see Pitch Perfect which was hilarious. I think I laughed almost the whole movie. Of course it had your typical love story in the plot but it wasn't a chick flick. I think most guys would really enjoy this movie. I look forward to renting it when it come out on DVD. 

Work is crazy this week because Corks & Forks (our major event) is a week from today! Our facebook contest ends tomorrow so if you haven't entered to win tickets yet do it today! It takes 30 seconds and you can enter here: 

http://heritagecenters.pgtb.me/zZWQrT

If you are interested in buying tickets for the event or $25 raffle tickets for a chance to win a trip to Rome, you can do both here: http://www.heritagecenters.org/foundation.php?id=9&cid=156

Please consider support this event. All the money raised stays right here in Western New York. Heritage Centers serves over 3,000 individuals in WNY with developmental disabilities. We do great work that I am lucky enough to see every day! 

Tonight we are having a dog over to play and see if he gets along with Manny because if he does we will be dog sitting next weekend! I am pretty excited which is silly because I don't get to keep the dog but it will be nice for Manny to have a friend to play with for a few days. I really want to get another dog but we can't because we don't have anyone who can watch/walk two dogs for us if we have something going on or if we are of town. :( One day we will get another one but now is not the time. 

Happy Thursday everyone! Only one day until the weekend, and for most of you it is a 3 day weekend! Lucky ducks! What are you up to this weekend? Anything fun going on? 

"If you always give, you will always have." -Chinese Proverb

The title of this post first perfectly for what I want to say. As you all know I am working for a non-profit and give my time to helping others and it is so rewarding knowing that my work helps so many people.

That is also true for my personal life. I have always given all that I can to help others and I feel it has made me a better person. Last night I spent the night baking chocolate chip cookies for a friend or maybe more of an acquaintance that I felt deserved a little treat. I sent them out yesterday and I hope they get there before they go bad! By the way, if you are sending anything within the US flat rate shipping boxes are the way to go. I stopped by the post office and grabbed three because they come in different sizes and prices because I didn't know what container would fit in the boxes. They are free to take, you pay for whichever size you use when you sent it out. The guy told me "take all you want, go home and make a fort for all I care, they are FREE!" He was also very helpful in my questions about how long it would take to get there. Probably one of the most friendly government workers I have ever encountered! 

As far as the cookies go I just use the Toll House cookie recipe and cook them for 9 minutes and 30 seconds. If you leave them in any longer they will be too crispy. Also I make sure that I cream the butter and sugars very well. In my opinion it makes them softer. Here are some pictures of making the cookies :)

Manny is all ready to bake some cookies

My set up

Ingredients  

 Making dinner & cookies 

 Cookie Dough! :) Yum!

 Making cookies & bacon simultaneously 

First batch of cookies done

While baking the cookies I also was making dinner. I was making BLT's so I had the bacon cooking while making the cookie dough. Then while the cookies were in the oven I cleaned off the counters and prepared the lettuce and tomato (with the help of Bob) and made some guacamole for a side dish! Everything tasted great & it wasn't a bad clean up.

Later this week I am making chili in the crock pot and Sunday I am making a chicken in the crock pot with mashed potatoes and stuffing. I will post about it later this week. 

Any favorite crock pot recipes you have? Let me know! I love using my cock pot during the fall and winter! 

Weekend Craze

Happy Friday! 

This week has flown by! I can't believe it is already Friday afternoon. Work has been really busy with our event coming up. I am really excited for the event. It will be a great night, I can't wait to try all the amazing food and wine we have coming. 

Tonight we are going to a benefit for a friends sister at a church near the house. Last night I made oatmeal cookies to bring to the benefit as they were asking for donations for dessert. I got to use my mixer for the first time! It was great being able to just turn the mixer on and adding ingredients so easily! The picture below is of the mixer while I was making the cookies. Cookies turned out great, I usually am not a huge fan of my own cookies but there is something about my oatmeal cookies that makes me crave them. Next week I am making oatmeal, chocolate chip and pumpkin cookies! I am pretty excited :) 

Last night Bob ate the last brownie that his mom gave us, it was huge and I told him that I wanted some of it but he ate the whole thing. I even told him a second and third time to save me some but he thought I was joking. (Who jokes about wanting a brownie? NOT ME!) He felt guilty after he ate the whole thing and found out I wasn't kidding about wanting some that he went to the store, bought brownie mix, and made me brownies. They were delicious! What a good guy he is.. I think i'll keep him ;) 

This weekend I am watching three kids Saturday-Sunday while the parents are out of town. I am looking forward to it. Right now I am debating taking them to my company picnic. There will be about 400 people at the picnic and with 3 kids it might get kinda crazy especially since Bob has to work and won't be able to come help out. Decisions... decisions... decisions! 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! 

Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.

My 23rd birthday was last Wednesday but Bob had to work late so I didn't get to celebrate with him until last night. I was excited to spend some time with just him since we don't get to do that often!

Bob had the day off so he sent me a picture of my wrapped present and I couldn't figure out what it was and it drove me nuts all afternoon. When I got home I realized that he had tricked me, the picture he sent was of a box we had in the office not of my present. I opened my present and it was a..... KitchenAid Artisan Mixer!! :) I am super excited to use it! I have plans to make cookies with it later this week.

Right after opening the present

My mixer <3 

We went to Rizzo's for dinner which is a nice Italian restaurant not far from the house. We both got chicken parmesan and I enjoyed a nice glass of white wine.We are usually with family or friends when we go out so it was nice to go out, just the two of us. Once we got home we watched TV and relaxed before enjoying some Cassata cake from Panaro's. Panaro's is this great Italian restaurant that is open for lunch M-F on Delaware. After that we of course watch Monday Night Football. I fell asleep before the end of the game so I missed the touchdown/interception debacle but this morning when I watched it, it was clear that the ref's made a HUGE mistake! I couldn't believe it!

This morning on my drive to work I got in a hit and run accident.. I got hit, he ran! Thankfully I am okay and my car just has some scrapes on the bumper but I was SO MAD!! What kind of person hits someone then drives away? A coward that's who! I didn't file a report because my insurance is already expensive and I won't be getting the scratches fixed so I didn't think I should. While that wasn't the start to the morning I wanted I am staying positive that the rest of my day will go smoothly.

Anyone else ever get in a hit and run accident? What did you do?

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday! :)

I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch

Now that I have a big girl job and actually making (some) money I have been on a bit of a shopping spree. I really needed some nice new work clothes because what I had just wouldn't cut it. I was lucky enough to get 50% off at Banana Republic one weekend and picked up some great work clothes. I bought some staple items like; black pants, grey sweater, striped sweater, black/grey skirt, and a white blouse.

These will go with anything and won't go out of style anytime soon. I know a lot of people think it is silly to buy expensive clothes and I agree depending on what it is. If I want a shirt that will only be in style for one season I won't pay a lot for it. I will buy it for as cheap as I can because I don't need it to last forever. Staple items that I will wear year after year I am willing to spend the money to get a higher quality product.

My next goal is to buy some accessories to go with my new(ish) wardrobe. First on my list is a watch like this one (below) from Style&Co found at Macy's. I have a white swatch which I love but it doesn't go with my work outfits so this is a great alternative for only $30. Also on the list are earrings that aren't off the sale rack at Claire's and maybe a bracelet or two. My work wardrobe for winter is pretty scarce I will have to get some more sweaters and pants as the cold weather sticks around more. Luckily on Fridays we can wear jeans and sneakers so that has been helpful with my limited work wardrobe.

Just a short update on my life. Hope everyone has enjoyed September so far.

How about you, what do you like to splurge on? 

“You can go other places, all right - you can live on the other side of the world, but you can't ever leave home”

I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I last blogged. SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED! If you don't want to hear all about my homecoming and are just interested in my job skip a few paragraphs! ;) 

I finished all my classes, finished my thesis, finished exams, defended my thesis and passed which concluded my college career! WHEW. On top of all that I went on a trip to Munich to see my brothers, said goodbye to all of my friend,s and came back to the States. There is so much to write about with all those but this post is going to focus on my return to the States. 

I left Germany on July 21st to head to NYC where I met Bob at the airport. He flew in 5 hours prior to my arrival and waited for me with his brother. Once we made it back into the city with 2- 55lb bags, backpack, 30lb suitcase, and a large duffel bag in tow we ordered some food and all fell asleep around 8 o'clock that night. (Hey, I had a long travel day!) 

The next morning Bob and I headed out for our surprise trip to.... Atlantic City! The bus trip was quick and we made it down there around 11:30 a.m. The trip was great, we enjoyed the casino's and the scenery and just spent time relaxing. Monday we took the bus up to Manahawkin which is the town outside of Long Beach Island, NJ where my family was staying for the week. My family thought we were coming back later that night but we came up early and had my cousin pick us up to surprise them. My mom and dad were really surprised to see me, but SO happy! The rest of the week was filled with family fun. I will write a separate post with pictures another time. 

Once I came back to Buffalo I had a few days to regroup before having an interview for a Special Events Associate position at Heritage Centers Foundation. I didn't really post about this job before because I didn't want to jinx it. My interview was Tuesday, July 30th and I had the impression that it went well but it was between me and another candidate. I was confident in my interviews but you never know how the other candidate did. I was told a decision would be made within a day or two and I should hear as soon as they made the decision. Needless to say I was nervous and freaking out for those two days. Thursday at 4:30 my phone rang and I knew it was them. I braced myself for the worst while I hoped for the best. I answered the phone and the tone of the woman's voice made it sound as though they were turning me down and my heart sank but the next thing I knew I was being offered the job and I thought I was going to cry. I took down all the information about the offer package and asked if I could get an email with the information and get back to them the next day. They had no problem with that. 

I called Bob right away in tears, I was so happy! After filling him in about the offer package, I called my mom & dad. I was so stinking excited! It was the first and only job I interviewed for. It was the only company I talked to! I had applied to a few other positions, not expecting much to come of them. Obviously this job coming through was a dream come true. 

I accepted the position, took my pre-employment drug test and started right away. The first day was a lot of filling out paperwork and being shown around and meeting people. The second day we had a gift gathering party to prepare for. I ended up leaving work early to run some errands and then heading to the party. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of our board members. 

I have been at the job for a month now and I couldn't be happier. The foundation has a great staff that I really love working with and the company is amazing. If you know me, you know I love to help others which is exactly what I get to do in my job. As Special Events Associate I assist in the planning of our events and I am working on our social media. After a year or so in the position I will be promoted to the Special Events Coordinator. My co-worker who used to be the coordinator will be moving to a new position as the Development Coordinator. 

Heritage Centers assists people with developmental disabilities it is a GREAT organization. Growing up we had two group homes around the corner from our house and it turns out they are both run by Heritage Centers. Our consumers work in our building so I have a daily reminder of why I do my job. It's very rewarding. 

Our first event is coming up in about a month. It is called Corks & Forks. We have about 25 restaurants and 25 wineries come in and do sample sized of their signature items. We have a silent & live auction and a band. I am so excited to experience this event. There is also a raffle for a trip to Rome. Tickets are $25 a piece. For more information here is a link to the website, where you can buy tickets for the event or the raffle http://www.heritagecenters.org/foundation.php?id=9&cid=156 

We are also doing a contest on facebook to win a pair of ticket to the event. We draw a winner every Friday. To enter that click here http://heritagecenters.pgtb.me/zZWQrT You must LIKE our page then fill out the form which is just your name, email, and phone number for us to contact the winner. 

If you do not want to enter please go on and like our facebook page anyway. 

Okay well I think that is PLENTY for now. I will try to write again soon! 

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

First off thank you to everyone who has taken my survey so far! I have 61 responses! I can use more so keep them coming! You can only take the survey once per IP address so if you have more than one person in a household taking the survey you will need to take it on another computer. Sorry! The link to the survey is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DX8SSX7 Please feel free to pass it on or post it on facebook! 

My thesis is due July 5th however I have to send it to the printers on June 28th so until then I will be working on it all day every day! I can't believe that I am so close to being done with my college career. It has been a crazy adventure but I am so blessed to be where I am today. If you would have told me 5 years ago I would be in Germany earning a duel degree and making the dean's list, I would have told you you're crazy! Thank you to everyone who has made this all possible! 

Although I have been very busy with my thesis, I have made time to read on my kindle this week. I love to read and usually read a bit before bed to just relax and "get away" from life for a little while. Last week Amber Moorman, wife of Buffalo Bills Punter Brian Moorman announced the publication of her first book for Amazon Kindle. If you do not have a kindle you can download the  Kindle App on your iPad, iPhone, Mac computer, or Android device. "The Survivor's Game" is a thriller that you will not be able to put down. I loved every minute of reading this book however it is very graphic and dark at points. I enjoyed it however I do not think it is a book for everyone and would recommend reading the description before purchasing. It is a great bargain at only $2.99 and can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Survivors-Game-ebook/dp/B007B2SGFQ . Congratulations Amber on a great book! 

My brothers are coming to Europe with their school in July and I have decided to meet up with them in Munich! I am really excited because I haven't seen my brothers since the beginning of March and it will be great to experience Munich with them. It will be my first time in Munich and I am really excited. I didn't think I would have time to get there before I left and now I get to go. 

I will be back in the USA in 33 days! I can't believe how fast my time here has gone. It feels like I just got here. I am so excited to go home and see all my friends and family but I will also be leaving lots of great friends. It will be a bittersweet experience for sure. 

When I get back to the states I will fly into JFK. Bob is meeting me there and we are going on vacation for about 6 days before heading to Buffalo. We will stay in NYC on Saturday to visit his brother and then head to the Jersey Shore on Sunday morning. (Fist pump) My Aunt and Uncle have owned a house down there for years and growing up we would try to get down there every year for vacation. Bob and I went two years ago and decided to go back this year. My parents will be down there as well so it will be a nice to relax and spend time with my parents and Bob. Bob and I will head back to Buffalo on Thursday so we can attend our friends wedding reception on Friday. 

I am really looking forward to that little getaway before I have to start a job. I don't have a job yet but I have applied at a few places and I am hopeful that one of them will pan out. I am still looking because it never hurts to have a back up plan. If I do not have a job by the time I get back I will babysit to make ends meet until I can find a full time position.

The olympics are starting the day after we get back to Buffalo which is great because I LOVE the olympics. The Buffalo Bills Training Camp also starts when I get back. I have wanted to attend training camp for years but have never managed to make it up there. This year I am determined to make it to St. John Fisher for a training session. 

 I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating fathers! I was bummed to miss the celebration at my house because not only was it father's day it was my brothers 17th birthday. I can't believe my "baby" brothers are 17 and almost seniors in high school! Happy (belated) Birthday Andrew & Nathan! Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you guys and can't wait to see you soon! 

I just wanted to write a quick update because I haven't posted in quite some time and decided to take a break from studying for my german exam! Enjoy your week and check back in a week or two for another post! Don't forget to take my survey! :) 

Crunch time

I know it has been quite some time since I have posted on here but I have been so incredibly busy with school. I took two exams and wrote a final paper last week. Those took up quite a bit of time. I also had a visitor and the Euro 2012 tournament is currently going on. I will post again in a few days.


This post is short because my main focus of it is to have people take my survey for my thesis. My thesis topic is volunteer motivations. If you are a volunteer or have volunteered in the past please take my survey and pass it on to your friends and family. The more people that take it the more accurate my results will be. 


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DX8SSX7


Thank you in advance for taking the time to participate in my survey. 

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home" -James Michener

I am finally getting around to writing about Budapest. I got back almost 2 weeks ago but these past two weeks have been incredibly busy. Since my last post I have met with my new pricing tutor 3 times, handed in a paper worth 30% of my grade, applied for one job, spoke to another company about a potential job, and spend many hours searching for a job.  

Now I am focusing on studying, writing a paper that is 100% of my grade, and my thesis. This weekend I plan on setting up my survey for my thesis and I once I do, I would appreciate all of my readers taking it and sharing it with friends and family. 

Okay moving onto Budapest! I got back from Mallorca on Wednesday the 9th and spent the night in Trier at Sarah's house. In the morning I got up early to take the train back to Bad Honnef. I arrived in Bad Honnef around 12:30 and quickly unpacked and repacked. Luckily Carina had a washer and dryer in her apartment so I was able to wash my clothes as I planned on taking a majority of the same clothes. Claire and I grabbed some lunch before heading out to catch the 3:30 train. Once we arrived at the train station we noticed that our train was running late. After 15 minutes of waiting I talked to one of my friends who was also waiting and he told us that the train was not running anymore. They had just canceled the train and we needed to find another way to the airport. We contemplated our options which were either take a taxi or take a different train to Bonn then take a bus to the airport from there. We knew if we took the train and bus we would be cutting it close to making our flight. We decided on option one and the three of us split a taxi to the airport. 

The driver of our taxi was this hilarious man from Iran. He asked Claire and I where we were from and when he heard our answer was "USA" he quickly responded with "Ah, I am from Iran, but do not worry, you are safe." (Insert creepy laugh) 

Once we arrived at the airport we had no problem getting through security and catching our flight. We arrived in Budapest around 8 p.m. and my friend Emily and her boyfriend met us there. We headed back to her boyfriends apartment as that is where we would be staying since he was heading out of town for a few days. That night was pretty low key just made some food and enjoyed some great Hungarian wine. 

Friday, Claire and I went on a free walking tour of Budapest and explored the city while Emily was at work. After Emily finished work we went out to dinner with her and then met up with some of her friends for drinks. 

Love locks

In front of a pretty fountain

St. Stephen's Cathedral 

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Gate at the 4 Seasons

View from the hill

It was so hot, I am sure he was sweating

Matthias Church

Matthias church.. absolutely beautiful

 Late lunch at Hummus Bar

Outside of the market

Saturday was supposed to be really hot so we headed to Margaret island for a picnic lunch and to explore. We stopped at the store and grabbed some food for the picnic and headed out. Margaret island was quite close to where we were staying so we walked there and found a nice shady spot to enjoy our lunch. Things started out great, just eating and doing some reading on my kindle and then we were approached by a guy asking for money. Not a big deal, told him no and he was gone. After that men kept approaching us asking for money, ideas on what to do, and just general craziness. Our nice picnic lunch turned annoying quick and then all of a sudden it was back to a nice lunch with no other interuptions. Once we finished we decided to walk around the island to find the old ruins and a musical fountain. We found so many great things to see in the park but unfortunately the musical fountain was closed for maintenance. Here is a link to see what it does: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fs9E7M9Mvc


After we spent the day on the island we made a quick stop at the Parliament building before heading back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. Emily's grad school was having their reunion that weekend so we were going to dinner with Emily and her friends from grad school before they headed to their reunion.  On our way to dinner I took my camera out to take a picture and I also had my umbrella open since it was raining. When I took my camera out a huge gust of wind came and turned my umbrella inside out and in the process of trying to save my umbrella I dropped my camera and broke it. I was so upset as I only need this camera to last two more months and here it is broken.  We went to a fantastic restaurant where I got marinated chicken breast rolled with dried tomato, spinach and ricotta lasagna with cheese sauce. It was delicious! 
After dinner Emily recommended we check out Szimpla this amazing ruin bar near the restaurant. Unfortunately we did not get any pictures in the bar but here is the link to their website where you can check out some photos: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=hu&u=http://www.szimpla.hu/&ei=fCfBT4nhIYur-QaE3NX7CQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CHYQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dszimpla%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1281%26bih%3D578%26prmd%3Dimvns

 Pretty building

 Chain Bridge

 Margaret Island

 Ancient ruins

 Ancient ruins

Ancient ruins

 Pretty church

 More ruins

 Cotton candy that only cost $1

 My giant thing of cotton candy. Don't worry I didn't eat it all! I shared with Claire and then we ended up bringing it back with us.

 Enjoying my cotton candy

 Parliament

 Funny sign

 Parliament through the construction fence

 Parliament

Pretty building


Sunday, we had plans to go to the thermal bath houses with Emily but first Claire and I went to the Terror museum. The terror museum is a museum that shows the history of the two terror regimes that occupied Budapest throughout the 1900's. The building where the museum is located is the actual building where people were tortured and killed. The museum taught me a lot and definitely gave me the chills. I will not go into details about what happened in the building but I will tell you that it made my skin crawl. 

Bath house


After that we headed to the thermal baths which were really nice. Each bath was different and we got to experience about 7 or 8 different ones. We also enjoyed two different saunas. After the thermal baths we headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. We decided to go to Iguana, a mexican restaurant a short walk from the apartment. We got almost to the restaurant when I noticed the street was closed with a bunch of trucks and people in the street. For about ten seconds I was completely confused until I remembered that Bruce Willis was in town shooting the last of the Die Hard movies "A Good Day to Die Hard." I got super excited and quickly explained to Claire why it was closed. Luckily only one block was closed so we were able to walk around and still go to the restaurant. Iguana was AMAZING! We shared an order of chips and salsa and for the entree I enjoyed the Monterrey Burrito which was chicken breast, beans, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce and cheese wrapped in a large flour tortilla. Which came with tomato rice and beans. It was SO DELICIOUS. if you ever find yourself in Budapest I would highly recommend you go there after you try traditional hungarian food. 


As we left the restaurant we decided to go back around the block and check out the park where the street was blocked off. We found a statue of Ronald Reagan along with an interactive touch screen that showed movies and information about Reagan and what he did for Hungary. It was really cool. We noticed there were some people lined up along the fence watching the set of the movie. I wanted to check it out since it didn't look like much was going on. The only thing I saw was a bunch of people standing around a SUV. A group of people walked out of a trailer and a man and a woman got in the SUV before it sped off with another car following close behind. As soon as the SUV left everyone started to pack up and head out for another day. I didn't get a good look at Bruce as they were far off but it was quite obviously him. As Claire and I walked away we saw the two SUVs drive by. It was a great way to end the trip, that is until we got to Monday morning. 

 Movie Set

Ronald Reagan statue


Our flight was set to leave at 8:50. We were planning on taking the underground train to the end and then take the bus from there. Emily suggested we take the above ground train directly to the airport instead as the train station was close to the apartment and was a much shorter ride. We got the train station around 6:50 and got on the train we thought was set to leave at 7:03 (due to fact that an employee said it was the right train). It didn't leave then and so we knew there was another train at 7:09 so we figured that it was that train. At 7:11 we officially started to get worried and realized that it was the express train that was supposed to leave at 7:24 which would still get us to the airport an hour before out flight. Unfortunately at 7:30 when it still hadn't left there was an announcement saying that the train would be leaving at 7:50 which meant we would not get to the airport before 8:15 meaning we would most likely not be let on our flight. We quickly jumped on and got on the train that was set to leave at 7:38. At 7:45 it hadn't left and we found out that the train was also running late. We decided out only choice was taking a cab so we ran outside got in the first cab we could find and of course the driver did not speak any english so we did our best with German which luckily he did speak. At this point it is 7:50 and we are stuck in rush hour traffic in downtown Budapest. We finally made it out of the city and were just praying that we would make our flight. We told the driver which terminal we were in and hoped for the best. As we approached the airport I checked the meter and started taking out money. We were told it would be 10,000 forint which didn't seem too bad. When I checked the meter it said 13,000 which was more than expected but we just needed to get there. Once the driver parked (on the side of the highway) he told us it would be 17,000 forint which we did not have. I think he had some way of upping the meter because when we started pulling over it was only at 14,000 and there is no way in 30 seconds we racked up another 3,000! We were panicked because he didn't take credit card and we were out of money. He then informed us that it would be 20 euros on top of the 16,000 we gave him which is about 17 euros more than what we should have been giving him. We ended up caving because we had no choice, we were about to miss our flight because it was 8:15 and we still had to run across the highway and check into our flight. 


We handed him the money, grabbed our luggage and RAN! I am sure people thought we were crazy but we could not miss that flight. There was no other flight to Cologne that day and I did not want to spend any more money on flights. Thankfully the check in counter was still open when we got in and we made our flight. Thankfully, the rest of the trip home went great. It was definitely an experience and I am still a bit bitter about getting ripped off by the cab driver but there is nothing I can do about that now. 


I hope you enjoyed the crazy ending to a wonderful trip. Budapest is a beautiful city that you should visit if you ever get the chance. 


Happy Memorial Day to all my friends and family at home. Thank you to all the people who serve today or have served in the past. I am so thankful to those who gave their life to keep me free. 


This is the view I had tonight while writing my blog. You can't see the beautiful sunset that well but it is there. 

God Bless the USA!