THE NEWLYWEDS

WINTER 2009 EDITION

2009-04-27T15:13:00.002-04:00

Welcome to our Winter 2009 Edition . It was a fairly Bittersweet winter for us, mainly the month of December. That is the month we lost a beloved part of our 3-unit family, Hank. December 17, hanky-poo passed away with me by his side. Still after 4 months now, he is on my mind more than you may think. I miss him so much, he was my first baby in my eyes. As for that "Sweet" in the Bittersweet part of winter - just 10 days later I found out I was pregnant!!! I was so bummed out from a depressing December I didn’t even care at the time if “it happened” or it didn’t…. but it did and we are just so so thrilled! Somebody knew I needed something so happy and wonderful to pick me up & get me back on track to my old self again. So - I couldn’t have accomplished my goal anymore on target than with this one let me tell ya. The plan for years was to have a baby by the time I was 35, I’m talking I came up with that like before Justin was in the pic. Because god forbid, per all that crap they print out there, you have a kid when you are older than 35. I know, that has all changed now. But that was my original goal, than that goal changed quite effortlessly to "OK BE PREGO WHEN I’m 35 not “by 35", anytime in that year just be pregnant. Well – the way the pieces all fell, I got pregnant THE VERY WEEK OF MY 35th!! (and we had been trying way before that….so it's kind of funny how it all worked out so "on target" like it did).

Read below for retrospective look at our Winter 2008/2009. And until next edition – have a bloom-ful Spring!

We're Pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-27T15:12:00.007-04:00

We found out on Dec. 28 that I was pregnant. Oh if you could have SEEN my face when i read the results on that pregnancy test...we had been trying for quite a few months and so i really thought nope, not this month, but when that wonderful 8-letter word appeared in front of my eyes....well my jaw dropped down to the bathroom tile floor and just hung there, while probably seeping out some drool and than my hand went over my mouth in disbelief and i stared at myself in the mirror and i think i kept saying....oh my gosh! oh my gosh! OH. MY. GOSHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Than the smile overtook me. i was just SO SURPRISED I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE IT - it worked! It was like magic :) Now the next thing to do was to TELL JUSTIN! He was at work, hitting up his late and LONG hours of Florida Auction Prep at the Toledo office. So i debated - do i call him! OH MY GOSH, DO I CALL HIM!!????? And i was like waiting for somebody to answer that question or something. I was by myself though so i needed to make an executive decision. So i drove to the grocery store, i got a packet of buns. hamburger buns. and i had my whole plan all laid out - i was going to wait till he got home and tell him his dinner is in the oven heating up if he wants to go get it. I was going for this: Justin opens Stove, sees nothing but a Bun...IN THE OVEN - and puts two and two together. ok - well SCRATCH THAT - i opted for this delivery instead. I placed the Pregnancy test, with it still reading the word "Pregnant" on the screen, in a long skinny black box, a box that seemed as if it were constructed for this EXACT purpose - that pregnancy test stick fit like a glove in this skinny box. Then i tied a bow on it and i just waited, and waited, AND WAITED ever so anxiously for him to come home. I had it sitting on the coffee table, he came and sat down on the couch next to me as he always does when he gets home - and i shoud have won a friggin' Academy Award for this let me tell you, i ever so non-chalantly said ' - "so when i was cleaning up around here, i found a xmas gift of yours that i totally forgot to give you" and i steared my eyes over to the little box on the coffee table. So he opened it - and it took about a second or two, a good hefty second or two, for him to comprehend that 8-letter word. Than he said: "Really!? Really!" i said "yup, we did it. Than i said something like "Well, One could say we did it...than we did it, huh ;)

We than waited 3 days to share the news on New Year’s Eve with our families. Over the phone at Midnight with the Clark’s (mind you i gave up after the third time Justin and I yelled into the phone "Happy New Year's Grandma To Be!!". JoAnne seriously missed our SHOUT not once, not twice, but yep, THREE times she didn't catch it! So later Justin eventually got the message across to her, it was hilarious! We told my family in person at our New Year’s dinner while up north in Leland with my parents, sister, aunt, uncle and cousin. Justin wore one of his techy toys, a hidden shirt button camera to capture the moment. We re-watched the video with them a dozen times, it made us laugh so hard, here is why:

When we sat down at the dinner table, I told my mom, dad and sister that we forgot to give them one of their xmas presents, so I handed a small box to each of them just as we sat down for dinner. and when they opened it each one of them had a special note saying “You Are Going To Be A Grandma!” or Grandpa or Aunt!

Unfortunately the video cannot be edited down to posting size but i'll share these details of it with you:

My Mom: My mom’s lips...well apparently when she screams in excitement her lips suddenly turn into these crazy duck lips.

My Aunt Janice: Well, you’da thought she was the grandma to be honestly, her reaction is priceless & hilarious! I think her jaw dropped down and stayed down the entire time once she realized what news it was that we were sharing with them

My Dad: He doesn’t even have the attention span to read a SIX-word sentence (You Are Going To Be A Grandpa!) instead he shouts “do we gotta do this now THESE STEAKS ARE GONNA GET COLD!) He still didn't even read the flipping note in the box! But by the reaction of everyone else after they read their notes, he had figured it out & smiled.

Meet "Fig"!!

2009-04-27T15:10:00.001-04:00

The 3-D beige color ultrasound pic you see above is of “Fig” is at 11 weeks – it’s one of those 3D ones, and just check out the cheeks on our baby! Oh I hope they get their daddy’s poofy cheeks that he had when he was little. And the B&W ultrasound is at my half-way point, around 20 weeks. Just look at those precious pouty lips and perky little nose!!
Now what is this "Fig" you may ask. Well since we are not finding out if our baby is a boy or girl, we have resorted to calling him or her “Fig". An email during my 11th week told me our baby was the size of a Fig and that was just around the time I was getting pretty sick of saying “he or she, he or she”. So just a little FYI: This is just a nickname for during my pregnancy, ok :)

Our Beloved Hank: A Tribute

2009-04-27T15:09:00.001-04:00

HANK "Mr. Hanky-poos" (1994 – 2009)

We Miss Him :(

I Miss Him, SO MUCH.

The above pic is Hank at my office on "Hat Day". Hank went to the office every day with me & there is definetly something missing at work every day now....

For anyone that didn't read this already - Justin wrote a poem the day hank died - my husband is incredibly sweet. I also received a ton of replies to my hank email that day and i want to share a few of the special memories my family & friends shared with me about mister hanky-poos, as well as a really precious 20-second video of Hank & a Photo Gallery.

Video: "Raw Hide Car Ride" - just a month before he passed away. On our way to Vermont.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz5VqOuqXNw

Poem by Justin - he was very sad as he was not in town unfortunately when Hank died.

Saying Goodbye to the most faithful of friends - Hanky-Poo,
a loyal pal to the very end.

Losing a best friend is a hard thing to bare,
When it's a great companion like you, it's almost unfair.

I regret so much, that I wasn't around,
But the great memories we have, will always abound.

Your Mom and I loved you, more than you'd ever know
Today, we mourn you, beating the grief will be slow

Your suffering is over, you're in a new Place
We'll miss you forever, especially your face.

Big head like a Newfy, curly tail like Chow,
Id bring you back in an instant, if I only knew how.

Car rides and walks were your favorite things
Now you'll do them forever, and do them with wings.

Oh' how I'll miss those precious times with you
You enlightened our lives, that much is true.

You were the greatest of dogs, you "glowed" like an ember
These are the things we’ll always remember.

You bounced like a rocking horse, with excitement and glee
I wish we could walk forever, just you, Jen and Me.

SPECIAL MESSAGES ABOUT HANK Worth Reading:

"I will never forget that one summer when Jen left to go visit Emiliee for a few days. I was living in the bedroom next to hers. Well, she couldn't take Hank for some reason. Hank just lay in front of her bedroom door the whole time she was gone. I mean, he did not budge at all. I layed on the floor and gave him kisses and tried to tell him that Jen would be home soon. That was one loyal dog!

Some people can categorize themselves as dog-lovers, cat-lovers, or pet-lovers in general. I am none of those types. However, I can truly say that Hank was that one rare dog that was able to change my point of view. I will miss you Hanky-Poo. You were such a good cuddle dog!"
- Jodi, my cousin

"Hi Jen - I just wanted to find a way to get in touch and tell you how very sorry I am about Hank.... I can't believe he was as old as Jack...He was such a sweet, gentle giant...I will never forget when he sat on the deck and it started snowing and he just sat there and sat there, waiting for something to jump out and run and chase and nothing ever showed up and he just slowly became white with snow - not totally, of course - like an old man slowly graying....he was such a cutey...And when you first brought him over and he wouldn't walk on the hardwood floor - he tried to do it on his tiptoe toenails....remember? What a goof! I'm just really sorry for your loss - our dogs are truly our best friends!"
- Chris J.

"We're so sorry for your loss. We were only around Hank a few times, but saw how easy it was to absolutely love him. He was one of the coolest dogs we ever "met".
- Linda & Dennis Clear

PHOTO GALLERY of HANK:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=cce4pp5d.62mmgf2p&x=0&y=-3oo4sa&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

New Year's Eve 2009, Up North

2009-04-27T15:08:00.004-04:00

We had a wonderful time bringing the New Year 2009 with Aunt Janice & Uncle Mark from Georgia and Cousin Ryan & his wife, Lindsey from Tennessee!

It was a Winter Wonderland in Northern Michigan for sure - snowboarding, sledding, showshoeing and lots of lounging by the fire! Oh, and dance party u.s.a at the hill. Check out the video Aunt Janice, Amy and me. But especially check out Amy's sweet-ass dance moves on the ice....it's a bit into the video but hold out for it because it is fantastic, hee hee!! She even calls it out....

Click here for video

YOU WANNA FIGHT?

2009-04-27T15:08:00.001-04:00

So one night this winter, on my way into our local grocery store, Krogers, I was minding my own business, actually having a sad day, as I was there to get hank ingredients to make his own dog food (this happened to be our last night together unbeknownst to me). So I was walking into the store, in my cute cute, even got a compliment just hours before at work, black knit dress. Now it’s a little short, above the knee, but I wear it with my black tall uggs, it’s winter cute fun. Well some 20-yr. old beotch with her thug of a boyfriend shouts out loud “put some pants on”. At first, I didn’t know where this voice was coming from and whom it was directed too, but when I looked almost straight ahead of me, they were coming out of the grocery store and I was about 30 feet away, I thought, oh, it must be a joke to her friend or something, until I realized they both had PANTS ON – so hmmmm….it was clearly directed towards ME. and I caught her as she just said it but she didn't even look at me when she said it, she was all tough to shout it but NOT TOUGH ENOUGH to say it to my face! Let me tell you, this was not the night to give me shit. So I non-verbally confronted both of them with my “if looks could kill eyes”, calling them out on it, and he realizes that I am doing so as I’m walking closer and closer to the entrance of the store, and he was kind of surprised given the look, and he didn’t know exactly how to react so he says to me “are you cold?” and smiles. So I say in a normal but very numb straightforward tone, “No.” and then I look at the girl, who at the same time noticed I was looking at them with the evil eye and I proceed to say “WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT YOUR MOUTH.”

Omg!!! I thought i was gonna fight someone in my Lambertville Krogers parking lot. Hahahaha! She kept walking, said nothing to me, kind of actually had an embarrassed look on her face. She was this cocky young dipshit of a girl who thought she could get away with shouting something rude and so BLATANT to a stranger and not have them say anything back. Well – if someone is going to make a crack at me and my SUPER CUTE WINTER DRESS – ya just really ought to “shut your mouth.” ☺

After my shopping, I called justin while I was waiting in line to cash out and I tell him the story and I tell him how I just kept walking but I was ready, ready to brawl! Not really, I’d freak out if that happened. But he responds with: now do I need to worry about you when you leave there, are they gonna be waiting for you” I reply: bring It on, I’ll pound someone! He says: jen. You have about the strength of a flea.”

And I present to you...Mr. Snuggles

2009-04-27T15:07:00.002-04:00

This is Mr. Snuggles. A stray cat, A.K.A. Hank reincarnated as Emilee pointed out to me, who could not have been any closer to our front door one very cold winter day end of January (if he were any closer to it he would have been on the other side of it, in the house!). He really did have alot of the same habits as my precious Hanky-poo had (like beg for food! have you ever met a cat that begged for food!???) Anyway - i rescued this cute cute cat, fostered him for the next two months (don't worry about the pregnant thing - per my baby doctor you basically gotta rub their cat poop in an big open wound of yours to get the overly warned rare condition of toxomosis from a cat, sounds pleasant huh!). Other foster parent duties of mine included wrapping him up every single day in a towel & fed him medicine from an oral syringe like a little baby (eventually the towel was not needed, he would happily come to my lap and take his medicine), feeding him and SNUGGLING with him on the couch all the time. That's where he got his name - he was quite the snuggler. I'm happy to say Mr. Snuggles has been adopted by some friends of mine, Barb & Gene, pictured above holding him along with Barb's mom, and i'm so happy to hear that the three of them absolutely ADORE him. And i've already been there to visit him, i do miss him, but i certainly do not miss that litter box!

FLORIDA 2009

2009-04-27T15:06:00.000-04:00

Another Florida Auction comes and goes. The sunshine was wonderful in mid-winter, Justin's work schedule sucked the big one though with this one, and i had another WONDERFUL week visiting with my friend Britny....and a special bonus, my sister flew in for a week too!!! Britny came down for her 3rd annual Florida gal trip. Amy overlapped towards the end of her trip it was so much fun hanging out with the Clark's while down there, lounging by the pool, taking a break in the hot tub (don't worry, my pregnant butt didn't get in there for more than 10 min), shopping for maternity clothes at the outlets and just visiting with each other.

SNOWBASH 2009

2009-04-27T15:05:00.000-04:00

Justin enjoyed a well-deserved week in in Vail, CO again for his annual Snowbash with his friends - too bad i can't post the video from the head cam he used while boarding.

Amy Makes It In A National Magazine!

2009-04-27T15:04:00.000-04:00

Here’s an article that came out in the National Magazine, "Elegant Bride". Featured is Amy's letter press company, Alice-Louise Press, and her Peacock Invitation. It hit newsstands on March 23rd!

Terry Makes Cover!

2009-04-27T15:03:00.000-04:00

My dad made the cover of a local magazine called In Toledo. It featured his graphic design/adverstising company Lesniewicz Associates. Good Job dad! Oh, and a special thanks to my sister Amy and my Dad for making the rest of us feel like schmucks, with you know, all of your coverage & everything in magazines lately!

BLAST FROM THE PAST Feature

2009-04-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

Leland, Michigan. 1991.
Justin and his girls: jen, amy & bridget

My cousin Jodi emailed me this note below after she took a look at the Fall Edition of our blog and this is what she said:

"I love these "blast from the past" photos of you and Justin. Let me share a moment with you. If you were 17 that means I was 8 years old (we're 9 years apart). I remember you had this mirror in your bedroom and you had written "I love Justin" in lipstick across it with your lip print. haha. I just remember everyone talking about how cool Justin was and how he liked snowboarding. We were all like, "what is this thing you call snowboarding?" Obviously this was back in the day before it got popular...!" - Jodi

SHOUT OUTS

2009-04-27T14:46:00.005-04:00

Sorry, but as far as this Winter 2009 Edition of our Blog goes, i've been really slacky. Must have been the bummer winter with losing Hank and now I'm so excited & working so much on getting our house ready for Fig - so my apologies if i missed anyone in the shout outs, as i've got only a few here....and a brain full of Baby Prep To Do Chores!!

January 2009
I got nothin'

February 2009
I got nothin'

March 2009
• Jill & Jeff: Congratulations on the arrival of their first born, son, Davis! 3/20/09. Can't wait for our play dates with you Davis!

FALL 2008 EDITION

2008-12-07T23:59:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone!! So here we are, approaching the Holidays. Wow, seriously why does time fly by like this. I guess because you’re havin’ fun, isn’t that how the saying goes ☺ And so this brings us to the FALL 2008 EDITION of the Newlyweds Blog. Another retrospective look at the previous season, as we look forward to the next one. Justin & I hope you all enjoyed your Fall. And until our next edition – Have a WONDERFUL Winter & Happy Holidays To All!!!

SEPTEMBER: 3 Postings....

2008-12-07T23:58:00.004-05:00

WHAT A WAY TO BRING IN THE NEW SEASON!

2008-12-07T23:57:00.006-05:00

Wow. So what a way to bring in the Fall....with a bonar that just wouldn’t quit. And NO. I am not talking about Justin! As I am certain at this very moment all you readers of our blog are relieved to know that key point of information. But I am talking about Hank. (yikes, did you just revert back to your cringing given THIS piece of info. now!)

Poor Hank. He must have something to prove. Like he’s still got it in him, and don’t let the 91 human years under his little doggy belt fool you. One Sunday afternoon, end of Sept, I had noticed “something” very “unusual” with Hank when I was taking him for our daily walk. And it wasn’t the normal run of the mill “doggy lipstick” one might happen to come across – oh say like when he’s sitting in the car and I have to tell him “put that away hank!” Fellow dog owners, you know what i'm talking about, unfortunately. Anyway, so my doggy motherly instincts landed hank and I at the Weekend Emergency Vet’s Office. I will spare you the nitty gritty details of it all….as i'm sure you'll wonder have i really spared you, as you read on, but believe me i really have :) Basically, undetermined by both the ER Vet and Hank’s regular vet later in the week, poor Hanky-poo was experiencing what they refer to as a prolapsed penis. And THANK GOD the vitamin supplement he now takes on a daily basis along with a hefty dose of GOOD LUCK – he hasn’t experienced it since! But here's where we get to the funny part of this....the ER Vet seriously looked at me and asked “So do you have any KY Jelly at home Jenny?” I was like "Um. Huh??? Um…yeah, I’m not even going to answer that question either way! You're my dog's Vet!!" I was just thinking to myself how this converations with the Vet was so wrong in so many ways. I was waiting for the hidden cameras to be revealed and the wacky host of some practical jokes show to pop out and scream "you've just been played!" Anyway, so I was able to, in so many words, dodge the question. I basically reciprocated with “what is your point Doc?” And she noted that if this problem "visitor" of Hank’s reappears and does not disappear within a few hours, like it did this one sunny fall day, that I would be instructed in detail of how to take care of the “situation” as they did in the ER. Lets just say it would have involved a homemade sugar paste and some lube. Oh. My. God.

And again, I must say Thank You that his vitamin supplement worked because I was really starting to question how much I loved this precious pooch of mine as I was driving away from the ER with Hank A.K.A “Bonar Bob” and this giant $3 tube of medical lube the vet sent me home with “just in case”.

Summary: It would suffice to say that Hank had one “hard” day back in the Fall. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun)

JEN'S WORKOUT "PROGRAM"

2008-12-07T23:56:00.001-05:00

THE DAY: Friday, September 26th. THE TIME: 10:34 pm.

This Fall, Step #3 was Checked off my list & marked COMPLETE!

What was Step #3? To take the workout “briefcase” (composed of Weights & a DVD) called “The Firm” OUT OF THE BOX! And the steps that preceded this monumental one were, well naturally, Step #1 & Step #2. And you may find the time frame of all these steps as interesting as they are pathetic....

STEP #1: JULY 1st (Yup, that is THREE months prior to the above mentioned Step #3, this would be the pathetic part): Move the box that contains my Workout Kit “The Firm”, UNopened mind you, from the front door step where the delivery guy dropped it and put it in the laundry room (to then just get lost on me).

STEP #2: AUGUST 21st, almost 2 months later, finally discover the shipping box in the laundry room & move the box from there into my “workout room” (our tv room), slice through the packaging tape to then simply PEEK inside the box & quickly view the contents inside, but then shut it back up until Sept. where i took it out of the box. I have one more Step to complete. Step#4: which involves actually using this & WORKING OUT! If i could only look like this chick on the cover, ha! I suppose this is what Bob in What About Bob would refer to as the very subtle, yet very important, “Baby Steps.”

Wow. Am I making progress or what? ☺

Oh, and when i mentioned above that Step #1 was the pathetic part - well who am i kidding this entire entry is pathetic.

WHERE'S JEN'S NOOSE

2008-12-07T23:55:00.001-05:00

In Sept., we finally re-painted our Front Door – and I Love Love LOVE the new color! It used to be a grape purple but now it’s this yellow/green, chartruse is what they call it - it's the color that we used for our wedding logo (the rolling green hill & tree that was on EVERYthing). And let me tell ya, it's a ton better then the first green we put on it - i explained that color by calling it "Kermit Frog on Crack." It was horrible!!!

So this new paint job brought me to sprucing up the rest of the front door area before I jumped into decorating our house for Fall. And when we were hanging stuff out by the front door I kept saying to Justin “ok, can you hang this…” and he would do so and then I’d immediately say again “ ok and can you hang this thing too” and this went on for what seemed like forever to Justin, I think. And around my 4th “can you hang this” he very subtly & non-chalantly, with a hint of smile you could just barely catch, chimed in with “…and where’s the noose we’ll hang….FOR YOUR NAGGING ASS.” Aaahhhh, to be so in love, isn’t It grand ☺

NOTE: The pic above of the white flower basket & the 3 pink petunias is from Nov. 2nd! Miracle Grow isn't kidding when they say their Moisture Control soil is all you need.

OCTOBER: 5 Postings...

2008-12-07T23:54:00.001-05:00

LOLA VISITS!

2008-12-07T23:53:00.004-05:00

Emilee and Lola came to town for a visit & a high school football game in October where we joined Sam & his cute daughter, Kaitlyn. We showed Lola where our old high school stomping grounds were.....it was kind of wierd to be there as 30 Somethings. This is the biggest game of the high school season in Sylvania, Ohio: Northview (our alma mater) VS. Southview (the enemy, sorry Em i know you like SV cuz you worked there but our loyalty really lies with the Wildcats!). Too bad NV got creamed. It was quite dreadful actually – but at least we had the opportunity to peal our eyes away from what one could just barely call a football game and set them on the cuteness that Lola brought to the field that night. She was really into it; it was her first football game and it was really really cute! Lola is 1 ½, and she was thrilled to watch NV get their butts kicked, clapping and yelling in excitement!

SAM & ERIN GET MARRIED! OUR PORTLAND, OREGON VISIT

2008-12-07T23:52:00.008-05:00

We went to Portland mid-Oct. to Sam & Erin’s Wedding!! This is a college buddy of Justin’s. During the 5 day visit, I was able to gorge down some of the best pancakes in the world at the 24 hour Hotcake House, of which I would often indulge in when I lived in Portland with my sister 10 years ago (I did my internship for Recreational Therapy at the Spinal Cord & Head Injury Hospital out there). While we were visiting P-town, Justin gave me a tour of what I’m imagining is probably one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country – his alma mater Lewis & Clark. Although it did remind me of Hogwart's School of Magic or something, I think there is something they all are not telling me... Anyway, Portland it is the best! And even better when you can spend time visiting with a bunch of friends.

BTW - did you know apples have many uses?

Click Here for the Entire PHOTO GALLERY of our trip to Portland!

OUR FAMILY COMMUNE

2008-12-07T23:51:00.005-05:00

Oct. 19 we had my mom’s side of the family over to visit with my sister Amy who was visiting from Cali and the Miller’s (Aunt Janice & Uncle Mark) who were in town from Georgia & to celebrate Grandma Alice’s 83rd Birthday. Oh, and yeah, we also had them all over for a good ol’ fashioned Family Commune Work Session! Seriously, I need to have these family members over more often. If it wasn’t the shed building weekend my Uncle Mike helped out with then it was the pruning of trees my Aunt Joyce was doing, the sweeping and cleaning up of our cruddy patio by Aunt Snookie, the re-organization of my mess kitchen sink cabinet by my mother, or the buffing out my really dinjy subaru headlights by my Georgia car detailing Uncle Mark (air compressor involved and all!) . They all were working the land like we were the Amish or something. I do think the only thing missing that day at our house were the ugly dresses adorning the female family members and the beards & hats on the guys. Oh and of course the lack of an electrical current ;) And an apology out to the Amish, you know I love ya and that yummy cheese & folky furniture you whip up but them dresses have GOT TO GO!

Click Here for the Entire PHOTO GALLERY of our Family Commune Day!

GIRLS TRIP UP NORTH

2008-12-07T23:50:00.006-05:00

Amy and I, along with our mom & our 3 aunts went Up North to my parents lake house in Leland, MI this Fall. First we want thank them for letting us impose on their Annual Sisters Weekend! We all had such a blast together while we went hiking, window shopping, stone searching at Good Harbor Beach & how can we forget....playing Guesstures! The only disappointment was that i didn't lose any weight from my Strick gut given all the laughing we did, i thought for sure something would have shed! When I think back on this trip, the one thing that really sticks out is my Aunt Snookie walking on the beach with us, she looked like a frickin' bag lady with that crazy (but cute!) scarf and hodge podged winter get up she had going on....she may as well just walked off of Madison & Adams street in Downtown Toledo. But she was missing one thing, a shopping cart, if only she would have been pushing a shopping cart in the parking lot at the beach. I bet people at the beach thought the rest of us were soooooooo nice to have picked up a bum and showed her the beauty of Northern Michigan. Hahahaha! Seriously, look at her in the shot above! ok, i can't talk much, with my makeshift turban there (it was cold!)

So, it's about a 5 hour drive and my sister and i headed up with our 3 dogs - drove through a flipping blizzard towards the end of it. But once we emerged out of the vertigo flurries and entered Traverse City, we put the music back on, since i didn't need to concentrate anymore on getting us there alive. I of course chose my "Love The Lionel" playlist on my iPod. Now i will tell you, there was a time when my sister thought i was quite the tool for wanting to listen to Lionel Richie on our pontoon boat one summer. But she came around, how can you not, it's Lionel, probably the best love ballad songwriter/singers EVER! So this night, while we were driving through T.C. Amy looks at me and says at first in a joking manner but ends her statement with complete dead on seriousness & a shaking of her head in disbelief "Wow. And the hits JUST KEEP ON COMIN'." I replied with "If this isn't Easy Listening, I seriously don't know what is." It was really hilarious, after we exchanged these words with each other we just totally busted out in laughter! And I don't care who you are - there is no denying Lionel's Greatest Hits. You can try to be cool and say you don't like it, but ya'll will come around like Amy did, whether you admit it or not, I do guarantee it. So now get on your iTunes and download some Lionel.

Click Here to see the Entire PHOTO GALLERY of AUNTS/NIECES UP NORTH TRIP 2008!

EUCHRE HALLOWEEN: 1st Place AGAIN!

2008-12-07T23:49:00.006-05:00

This year for our Halloween Euchre get together I went as a French Street "Arteeest", named Jean Pierre Marcieux. I had the French accent, the French music playing from my iHome which was hidden at the bottom of my bag which had several bagguetts sticking out of it, a beret (straight from Paris when we went this summer!), and an art easel equipped with a large drawing pad stocked with characteratures sketches i did of each Euchre member. If i don't say so myself, it was hilariously ridiculous. And yup, as my Mrs. Roper, (from Three's Company) costume walked away with First Prize last year, so did my Jean Pierre Marcieux. (You can go to our Archives to the right, click on October 2007, for probably one of the most unflattering photos of me, as Mrs. Roper).

As far as this year's costume goes - All i can say is: "Zees whaz zee, ohhhhh, howz doo yoo say? zee best!"

And once again, after I think i can't reveal much more of the tool side of me....i do.

I can't believe i'm posting this video....you really had to see this in person to appreciate it, and hear it (the background noise is loud). And to see more photos, click on the 2nd link below (sorry Joyce, I don't know what happened to your hippy photo, i can't find it on my computer anywhere!)

Click Here for my Jean Pierre Marcieux VIDEO

Click Here for Entire PHOTO GALLERY of Halloween Euchre 2008!

NOVEMBER: 2 Postings...

2008-12-07T23:48:00.001-05:00

FALL VISIT TO VERMONT

2008-12-07T23:46:00.002-05:00

Justin had his annual fall auction and so I tagged along this time. We spent a few weeks up in Vermont at the house and it was really nice & we saw our first snow for the year while up there. And it was great hanging out with Peter & JoAnne, visiting with our Vermont friends/the Castros, spending time with the Clark Cousins at Uncle Michael/Aunt Susan’s & visiting with Hadley in Boston. We also did a hefty sum of loungin' which is always our preferred choice. Oh & let’s not forget the hot tubbing it outside. And so how do ya like those matching robes, can we get any gayer? Well maybe, like with the matching jogging suits we have ;) j/k of course.
You know, aside from the one-weekend case of food poisoning that shot out of Justin both ways – it sure was grand!

So back to the hot tubbing: just before we hopped in, we received a word of wisdom from Peter (my most most MOST wonderful Dad-In-Law). As he was in the middle of showing us how to work the hot tub; he looks at justin and seriously says to him, and mind you i am quoting him word for word here, “...and Justin, your balls are gonna get hotter then shit.” He then proceeded to carry on into his next sentence of instructions like nothing at all was going on. I looked all around, as if other people were outside with us listening to this. It seriously was HILARIOUS!!!!

Now Peter, I know you print out our blog and read it (which i love!) but when you get to a computer, Click Here for the Entire PHOTO GALLERY of our FALL TRIP TO VERMONT!

CHRISTMAS TREE FARM 2008

2008-12-07T23:45:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving weekend we headed to a Christmas Tree Farm up in Michigan here near our house. It was great because we were the ONLY people there! Unlike the CHAOTIC Carnival Disneyland Feel To It tree farm that drove by first, the one that resides about 5 miles from this farm where they had everything from our local Lambertville Fire Truck to a Helicopter (hello, can you say 100% kid friendly! all we wanted to do was just get a tree!) It was peaceful and quite at this one and we had our choice of any tree. Don't get me wrong, i'll be the first one in line at the Fire Truck when we have kids ;)

So now let me back up just a few minutes. So here we are, at home just before we head out, I’m totally geeked about this and justin starts telling me how he’s just gonna go out to the pole barn & get his saw-zaw. For any of you that are not familiar with this fine tool - it is a gas powered saw. My hands went up like a cop directing traffic - I’m like “STOP!, Nooooo" Come on, don't you all agree with me here that that so defeats the purpose of a nice day hunting for our xmas tree and cutting it down! It has to be by hand with a regular manual saw. And I insisted. Wow, can i be a pain in the butt or what :) End Result: I got my way. We got our tree. I got a sore arm muscle. no not really.

Click Here for MORE PICS!

DECEMBER: 2 Postings....

2008-12-07T23:44:00.000-05:00

TRIP TO D.C., VISIT WITH FANTLE'S

2008-12-07T23:43:00.002-05:00

We went to D.C. with Peter & JoAnne. As my dad puts it "going on Tour" since we've been traveling so much this year. It was great visiting with the Fantle's & the Kuser's. And we got to meet baby Mikala - she's so cute!!! P.S. Betsy, Thank You so much for the Truffles - did i really need 3 bags, ha! They are so good though i couldn't help it, sadly I will be through these things before Santa shows up at our house, yikes!

JEN'S 35th

2008-12-07T23:42:00.005-05:00

12/12 - the best bday ever (12th day of the 12th month does it get any cooler than that!) This was a special one, it was my 35th! omg - in my eyes i am half-way to 40!!! Half-way when you look at Point A as Year 30 and Point B as year 40. No wonder i did horrible in math.

We celebrated that night with dinner & friends then headed out to meet up with more friends & listen to a Blues band. It was SO MUCH FUN! Thank you to everyone who lined up the sitters for your kiddies or just planned to hang out with us - it made my 35th GREAT! (See link below for all the photos of us.) And what a bonus - my friend Missy totally surprised me by showing up (i didn't think that would happen Missy! you are awesome!) And Chad....this shout out is for you - since we met just for the first time that night & you told me you read my blog! i love it. But next time, no goofy face during pictures! And the BIG BONUS: my friend Lindsay hung out with us! She is the one we visited in England, she is back home & unexpectedly here till now March due to a Work Visa delay. GREAT for me, Not So Great for her (as her hubby is back at home in England waiting for her to return). Damien, as i know you are a kind friend who reads this kooky blog of ours - you were missed, too bad for that ice storm in Cleveland. You would have fit right in with all the others....as we didn't get home until 5 am :)

Also, Thank You for all my gifts! And Amy, the cards you letter pressed form me of Hank are the best ever, I love them so much!

If anyone is interested in beautiful stock or custom stationery, invites, biz cards, check out what my sister does, Alice-Louise.com

Justin's bday is one week after mine, on 12/19. We are exactly one year & one week apart. Justin is not 35 yet, not until next year. He will be in Florida working for the week so unfortunately his late nights will not be due to celebrating his bday but instead due to work. I love my necklace baby. Thank you thank you so much it is so beautiful and you are sooooo sneaky aren't you.

Click Here for Entire PHOTO GALLERY of JEN's 35th!

BLAST FROM THE PAST Feature

2008-12-07T23:41:00.001-05:00

Sugarloaf, Michigan. 1990.

Here we are - young and in love. i was 17, justin 16. He was the cool skater boy snowboarding while i was on my trusty skiis. And to think we just celebrated my 35th!!! In fact, that night i wore the bracelet justin had made for me back then for my bday, 18 yrs. ago. yeah, i'll wait right here and hold up on writing anymore, give you all a chance to go grab your puke bags.

RTB SUPPORTER Feature

2008-12-07T23:40:00.002-05:00

This Edition's supporter of RealtimeBid.com is m'wa! Best Friend & Loving Wife of Justin, the founder of RTB. I am very proud of my hubby. He's been working a year now full force & working his butt off to get this up and running. I'm wishing him all the luck in the world (you see, I know he has the brains so all he needs now is the good luck). One year down....hopefully a ka-trillion more to come.

Click Here to visit RealtimeBid.com

SHOUT OUTS

2008-12-07T23:39:00.004-05:00

October 2008
• Sam & Erin: Congratulations on Getting Married! Oct. 9
• Grandma: Happy 83rd Birthday! Oct. 16

November 2008
• Uncle Michael, Vermont: Received Lifetime Achievment Award for Firefighting. Nov. 6
• Damien: Kudos to you, your book was excellent! Good Luck on publishing! Don't forget the small people like Lindsay and Me when you make it big.
• Grandpa Shorty: Happy 91st Birthday! Nov. 25
• Ryan & Lindsey: Congratulations on Getting Married! Nov. 28

December 2008
• Justin: Happy 34th Baby!

SUMMER 2008 EDITION

2008-09-21T14:00:00.007-04:00

Hello everyone!

So as the Autumnal Equinox bares it's face to us all.....so does the Summer 2008 Edition of our Blog☺ We had a really great summer this year! It was bountiful with fruit from our trees, veggies from our garden and good times from our travels. So until next season, enjoy catching up on what we were up to this summer & of course, enjoy your upcoming Autumn Harvest ☺ xoxo Jen & Justin

JUNE 2008....

2008-09-21T13:59:00.004-04:00

"FRUITS OF OUR LABOR": Part 1

2008-09-21T13:58:00.015-04:00

"WHAT IS UP........CHERRY CRACK."

So maybe, just maybe….“Life IS a bowl of cherries.”

Summer 2008 marked for us the “Year of the Produce.” We thoroughly enjoyed our seasoned Fruit Trees & the Veggie Garden we planted for the first time back in May.

We plucked approx. 25 pounds of Cherries off our cute cute CUTE little Cherry Tree! This little tree resides in our gated front yard. Justin, however, discovered this summer that we also have another type of cherry tree, a Rainier Cherry Tree, in our backyard! It was the first time, in 4 years, that we actually noticed there were cherries on this tree (it must have not produced in the past four yrs. for some reason or we just always missed the cherries each year since the tree is not easily visible when we’re in our backyard??) Anyway. So it’s safe to say that i basically I went ape shit with the Cherry Crisp this Summer. I’m surprised Justin didn’t get freaked out by me during my slight obsessive case of “the cherry”. It was a 3-week episode (mind you I am really not exaggerating here with this!) where I may as well had been repeating out loud robotically in one-word sentences with a blank stare “Must. Pit. Cherries. Do. Not. Rest. Must. Pit. Cherries. Must. Make. 100. Batches. Of. Cherry. Crisp.” I spent so many flipping hours picking and pitting so many flipping cherries that I seriously pulled a muscle in my back. OH MY GOD. can you say lame! Or maybe retarded should be the word!? i don’t know but I do know it sounds ridiculous! **Beginning of Self Defense Notation: Now I feel I must explain this – that the position I kept myself in to pit all those damn cherries, as I did in my obsessive way, with my neck bent down for several hours for several days, FOR several weeks apparently did not set well with my already previously irritated right shoulder blade muscle! **End of Self Defense Notation ☺**

Now the other part of this going ape shit on the cherries involved the transformation of Jennifer Clark into…well…..that really swell quintessential homemaker we all know & love so much. One day mid-summer, I sent in my homemade Cherry Crisp to both of our offices as well as personally delivered batches to each and every one of our 5 close neighbors, and I did so in my June friggin’ Cleaver fashion, just smiling away as I approached each of their front doors & rang their bell. Shit, the only thing missing that day was that bright white 1950’s “Twinkle & TING!” from my big infamous all-teeth smile! Justin looked at me when I walked back into the house from completing all my “deliveries” that day and in the same way he pointed out to me 2 yrs. ago in December that I was on “Christmas Crack” and back this May that I was on “Garden Crack”….well he said it again, but stressing this time each and every word in his statement: “WHAT IS UP CHERRRYYYYYY……CRACK.”

In fact, during this cherry obsession of mine when Justin would say to me, as he often does, “Shhhhhhhut Your Pie Hole.” I suggested he may want to change that to “Shhhhhut Your Cherry Crisp Hole” ☺ At least for the time being, since I did make a bakery’s worth of the crap. That’s all I was making, baking and eating in June & July.

Now, if interested, here is the recipe for any of those who actually read this flippin’ blog of ours (wink). Mark your calendar next summer and whip up some of this stuff. Not to toot my own horn - but Toot Toot, it is good!

RECIPE: Cherry Crisp

Filling:
* 4 cups pitted sour cherries
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar * 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Topping:
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup old-fashioned oats
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup of butter (which is 2 sticks)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cherries, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, and 4 tablespoons flour. Pour into 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Sprinkle over cherries.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

“FRUITS OF OUR LABOR”: Part 2

2008-09-21T13:57:00.014-04:00

KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED

So the garden we planted back in May produced beautiful fruits & veggies (considering the tomato is actually a fruit right – whatever I don’t buy that). And since Justin doesn’t much care for delicious, perfectly ripe, HEAVENLY homegrown tomatoes (too bad for him, all too good for me), I indulged in them almost every day. OMG I’m surprised I didn’t break out in a hivey rash like someone would if they rolled around naked in a spread of poison ivy – I seriously ate SO MANY damn tomatoes. And thankfully, it looks like I’ll be able to enjoy them into the beginning weeks of October.

Since there were so many, I couldn’t keep up with all of them so like every other gardener I gave away a bunch. And the bonus, I canned for the first time! Thanks to my “garden mentor” Raymond, I was able to can our delicious tomatoes, in a puree form, for our future winter cooking. For recipes such as goulash, chili, homemade cream of tomato soup, & anything else that involves a homemade marinara sauce (like spicy goat cheese lasagna, stuffed peppers, yum!). So let’s just cross our fingers and why not just go ahead and cross the toes too that this canning process of mine will prove successful come winter when I unscrew one of these pints ☺ and not UNsuccessful – as in no good & causing some horrendous case of the schineetoes, like that gas station hot dog back in 96’ proved to me (another story that I may or may not share with you all – let’s just say it involves a case of the worse upset insides one could imagine, my Nissan Pathfinder & me on the highway stretch of 23 North cruising in the dark of night at what could have been 120MPH….oh, and me falling down a grassy hill off of the highway). Yeah – you get the picture. In retrospect, fucking hilarious. At the time – quite horrendous.

Anyway, back to the post here :) Other veggies in our garden included: Gypsy Peppers, Hot Hungarian Wax Peppers, and Cukes. So we thoroughly enjoyed this summer with all our homegrown fruits & veggies. I can’t wait till next Summer! And with that, I leave you with my grandma Alice's delicious Cucumber Salad Recipe. And yes, it calls for Miracle Whip, which some people had noted numerous times as being strange. So when I called up Grandma Alice to confirm her 83 yr. old mind wasn’t deteriorating & that she REALLY MEANT to tell me Miracle Whip, she replied in her standard harsh no bullshit irritated manner “Now dammit. I TOLD you Miracle Whip! I USE MIRACLE WHIP!!” And, she was right on the money. I made it when up north with the Clark’s and it was just as it always was….delicious! Well, I may have made it a little more runnier then usual but it was my first time. And Grandma, sorry for doubting you. NEVER AGAIN ok :)

RECIPE: Alice's Cucumber Salad

She keeps it basic, no measurements, so just go with your gut on this:

Cukes, peeled & cut thin
White vinegar
Milk
Sugar
And do not forget:
the Miracle Whip (and I am not usually a fan of it but trust me on this, it's good)
Salt & pepper to taste

"PETALS OF OUR LABOR"

2008-09-21T13:56:00.014-04:00

ANNUAL BUST ASS SESSION

Another summer of great annual flower blooms and one big busting my ass session to get them there. Of course, all worth the end result ☺ Every year i change out the color of my annuals that go in our window boxes. The previous years i've done magenta, white, purple/orange theme, and this summer i brought back the magenta. I am going to try combo Purple & Red next year.

SISTERS

2008-09-21T13:55:00.009-04:00

CUTEST SISTER PHOTO EVER!

I’m just posting this pic because it happens to be the cutest Sisters shot ever! This is at our friend’s annual Pre-Fourth of July house party. Thanks Huss’s – we had a great time end of June with everyone & the Point Place fireworks were awesome as usual. My sister moved to Berkeley, Cali a few months after this photo was taken....i miss her & can't wait to visit her someday on the west coast!

RTB SUPPORTER Feature

2008-09-21T13:54:00.009-04:00

THANK YOU AGAIN, JACK

This is Jack. The longest standing Graphic Designer at my family business, Lesniewicz Associates He marks his 25th year with us in November!! I think i will call him a Graphic Designosaur instead ;)

Jack designed Justin’s logo for RealtimeBid.com and he did one damn fine job! And let me tell you, he created this brilliant logo under one very tight time frame. Thank you Jack, we so appreciate it! And thanks for sporting the RTB shirt ☺

AUNTS & NIECES NIGHT OUT

2008-09-21T13:53:00.014-04:00

"OH MY GOD!"

June 20th was a night spent with the “aunts & nieces”. That would be me, my sister Amy, my mom and her sister (my aunt) Joanne A.K.A Aunt Snookie. Unfortunately, aunt Joyce & aunt Janice weren't able to join us. So the original purpose of this night was….ok get ready for the introduction of really what a dork I am……to watch my previously recorded program of Celine Dion LIVE. OMG – I know, when you just thought I couldn’t be anymore of a dork – I prove you terribly wrong! Poor Justin (I know you’re saying it) ☺ Listen, I don’t want to have to defend Ms. Dion, nor myself, BUT I promise you no matter how much you think she sucks, she is so talented vocally & quite the entertainer! It’s no wonder her show in Vegas brought in more then 400 million dollars – yeah, that’s 400. And for the record, I do not own any of her records (can you see, i'm trying to pull myself out of the big black dork of a hole i fell into here.....probably too late, huh). But I admit, I like to watch her perform. Anyway – due to a random act of god, a lightening storm killed our electricity and thus killed my dion night with my aunts. Geez, do you think even god hates dion? Hee hee. So with my recording nowhere to be found in our DVR library we opted for the plan B. Go get the best BBQ Ribs in Toledo - which happens to be in Michigan, just over the line, just a ½ mile from our house. And then hit up some dessert at the best ice cream parlor in town (Handel’s) & head back to my house for a Chick Flick.

So after dinner we headed to Handel’s for the ice cream. And something quite ironic happened. My aunt Snookie had never enjoyed the homemade ice cream of Handel’s so as we walk up to get in the big ordering line, she was getting all googley-eyed over this fabulous huge homemade ice cream cone, and she says, mind you Very Loudly, “OH MY GOD”, as her eyes are trailing the ice cream cone like a hound dog on the hunt for a meaty rabbit. And then just as the “d” in the Oh My GOD utters out of her mouth – the cone is handed too – uh yeah. A NUN. They locked eyes. And the nun looked at Snookie like she’s, well…..not very churchy.

NOTE: pic above is from another day…..the day I called Handel’s, upon my return from Europe, telling them it would be a dream come true if they could add to their lengthy list of ice cream flavors HAZELNUT because i love it so much & it’s all I ate when in Italy & Paris, Hazlenut Gelato! The manager laughed at me on the other end of the phone, he thought I was playing a prank on him. I said “no, I actually could not be ANY more serious, why?” he proceeded to tell me that I called at the exact moment he was staring at this “new flavor I received from Germany” debating heavily on whether or not he should make a batch of this super expensive flavor or try to get a refund from the German vendor. Well, guess what that new flavor was....Talk about beautiful timing. He said to me "I will make it then, for you." And he made it that morning just after we hung up. So I swung by on my way home from work and bought a quart. When I pulled into their lot that’s what their new sign said ☺ When i told my friend Matt about this he simply texted me and told me i'm "Hazelnutty". I suppose there really is no denying what a nut i am. And there is also no denying how good the new flavor at Handel's is - god damn that shit is good!

OUR FBI AGENT FRIEND

2008-09-21T13:52:00.007-04:00

SCULLY

Here’s a pic from June. My sister & me visiting with our friend Erin, FBI Agent/Special Task Unit. I prefer to call her Scully. She’ll kick any one of your asses on any given day. And she’s MY FRIEND. Need I Say More? ;)

Erin, you’re the best, it was great to see you this summer!

JULY 2008.....

2008-09-21T13:51:00.001-04:00

OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY, Best Gift Ever!

2008-09-21T13:50:00.005-04:00

OUR WEDDING IS ON VIDEO NOW!!!

For our First Anniversary, our friends, Brian & Julie Visser (of whom have just welcomed into the world their 2nd child, a girl this time! Teaghan) gave us a very big surprise!!! Brian managed to video our wedding from his digital camera and we never knew it! YAY!!!! Since we did not hire a videographer for our wedding nor knew of any existing recording of it this was very exciting for us! He wasn't sure if the audio was going to turn out but it completely did and you can hear us exchange our vows. They put it on a DVD for us for our First Anniversary.

THIS IS THE ONLY VIDEO WE HAVE OF OUR BIG DAY :)
Thanks you Brian & Julie!!!

In order to get this uploaded we had to dissect it into 4 separate video links. The grand total to view it all is only 16 minutes so don't worry ;)

Also, the first link, just listen to our friends in the shuttle taking them to the wedding, it's cracking us up so bad! Huss - you are quite hilarious i must say.

WEDDING (Part 1 of 4)

WEDDING (Part 2 of 4)

WEDDING (Part 3 of 4)

WEDDING (Part 4 of 4)

VISIT WITH SHORTY

2008-09-21T13:49:00.007-04:00

BE CAREFUL WITH THAT THING AROUND MY FACE!

One afternoon in July, actually it was the day of our first anniversary, I went over to spend some time with my 90 year old still kickin’ it pretty good grandpa, Shorty.

Let me just explain the scene for you here. That yellow “racket” thing in his hand is an Electrified Bug Swatting “tool”. We were chilling on lawn chairs, mid-afternoon, Toledo Ohio, just outside of his garage in the front yard, BLARING A.M. Radio Polka (my maiden name IS “Les-Nev-Vich” you know). We were yick yackin’ about who knows what for more than an hour, and all the while Shorty was batting that damn stun gun of a racket around at I don’t even know what! i guess there were some nats in the air?? Shit though, I could barely enjoy my conversations with him because he would swipe that thing so damn close to my face while on a mission to kill the tiniest nat in the world that I was scared he was gonna braze the side of my face with it. And I’d get jolted or something. It was SO Shorty. BTW take notice of his t-shirt.

On a more personal note - the reason I visited with my grandpa that day was because he had just lost his last of 14 siblings that week, Uncle Leo. Now my grandpa is the only one left out of 14! And he was the “baby” of them all.

For any of you Lesniewicz’s reading this, you will want to click on the pdf below “It's August Again” for a nice write up & a 1986 Lesniewicz Family Reunion Photo. Pure Lesniewicz Nostalgia. It was sent to me this summer in August from my 2nd cousin once removed, to be all technical :) - Denny Beck.

Click here for Denny Beck's "It's August Again"

EUROPE

2008-09-21T13:48:00.013-04:00

CLARK'S GO TO EUROPE!

As most of you know, we went to Europe this summer. We visited with friends in London & the Countryside of England, then we headed to Paris, Ireland, Italy and Amsterdam. Above pic is Ireland. And many of you know that back in August we sent out a Special Edition of our blog: The Newlyweds Go To Europe! If interested, you can click on the link below which will take you directly to our Europe 2008 Edition. And if you want to see each of our photo galleries, one for each city we visited, just go to the bottom of each posting & click on the links that are in orange font - again, each posting has it's own photo gallery link.

This was a trip of a lifetime; it was really really wonderful! And when in Paris, I couldn’t resist buying baby berets for by our friends’ little girls, Sterling & Lola. And Asa, Sterling’s brother, being the soccer fanatic he is, is sporting an Italian “football” jersey we got him while in Florence, Italy. I only wish I could have brought home more gifts for every one of our friends & family but unfortunately my suitcase was only so big!! Next time....

Click Here for our EUROPE 2008 Edition!

UP NORTH WITH THE CLARKS

2008-09-21T13:47:00.019-04:00

“wow, I sure am parched. What’s Your Pleasure?”, Jeanne Lesniewicz - Leland, MI

This August, the in-laws headed Up North to spend 5 days at my parent’s cottage on Lake Leelanau in Leland, Michigan. We had a such a great time – shopping stores & galleries in Suttons Bay, Northport & Leland; hiking the Lake Michigan bluff in Glen Arbor; pondering the thought that i really really want 2 Scottish Highlands (cute hairy cow above from nearby ranch), eating great dinners at home & out, fishing on the pontoon boat and campfires at night. We are so very lucky, our parents all get along so great & when the 6 of us get together we always have such a great time and we’re always cracking up at something! Hence the sub-title of this post. After my mom gave JoAnne & Peter a tour of the house she came down the stairs with them and this is when I happened to just walk into the house from the backyard and I happen to catch this southern-like hospitality coming out of my mom's mouth (mind you we are UP NORTH) & she's directing it towards JoAnne & Peter (of whom we are on a VERY CASUAL basis with….). She says: “wow, I sure am parched. What’s your pleasure?” And that’s when the plain I’ve-just-been-lounging-outside look on my face turned into a big fat “HUH???” look. OMG – it was so funny! and when she said it, she did a little hop up from the heal of her feet to the balls of her feet, and she clapped her hands once when she said “pleasure”. I don’t know, maybe you had to be there – but as I often do say…it was HILARIOUS!! And we didn’t let up on my poor mom about it the whole time we were there. In fact, one night at the dinner table, as we were dying laughing about it – JoAnne chimes in with “oh Jeanne – you don’t WANNA know what our pleasure is….”

Justin & I have the best family ever. Can’t wait to make Up North with the Clarks a tradition! ☺

Click here for our Photo Gallery of our trip Up North with the Clarks!

SEPTEMBER, Summer's Last Month....

2008-09-21T13:30:00.001-04:00

HANK HAS BEEN BANNED!

2008-09-21T13:29:00.008-04:00

How Can Something So Precious Be Banned!!?

So this summer, just recently, Hank was banned from PetSmart Grooming Salon. It is very sad but all I can say is SCREW EM’! No really, I can understand, kind of. Their Reason: Due to Hank’s age, he is a senior dog, so they will no longer groom him. Detailed Reason: his back legs gave out on him, as they were getting ready to spray him down with water, this happens to him for no reason other then he’s “old” and his legs get week some times out of nowhere. Well, it freaked them out I guess. And although my vet was willing to talk to them and tell them he’s perfectly healthy and not in pain when it happens and that this is just something that happens (he gets right back up and will chase a squirrel immediately afterwards at what seems like 50-MPH for god sake!) they said No and they BANNED HANK. But no worries, the groomer next to our vet said she’d have no problem grooming him and she knew right away what happened when I explained it to her – no big deal she said, she’ll watch him well & make sure he doesn’t hurt himself if the same incident presents itself when she's bathing him. Poor Hanky-poo. Seriously, look at how precious he is – how can you ban something so precious!!? Corporate Groomers – get some balls & bath an innocent old "senior" dog without fear the owner would sue you for millions if something happened!

EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER IN TOLEDO!

2008-09-21T13:25:00.009-04:00

TOLEDO'S 15 MINUTES OF FAME

Yep, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was here in Toledo making over a home! And when I mentioned to Justin I’d like us to go check out the house during the renovation week he responded with this: “I don’t need to go with you – and watch you share your own nightmare home make overs on national television, cuz then I’d have to kill you.”

Hahahahaha! For those of you that know about my very own personal extremely challenging time with the “EXTREME” Make Over of our own house…..you will understand his reply.

Some time in November the Toledo one will air.

Click here for the Toledo Blade article on the Frisch family's Extreme Home Makeover

REMEMBRANCE DAY: 09/11/08

2008-09-21T13:20:00.001-04:00

REUNION, AFTER 22 YEARS!

2008-09-21T13:10:00.009-04:00

"You, know...I Can Take A Dump And Make It Real Funky"

God love the Facebook. It has reunited me with a dear friend all the way back from elementary school! Lindsay (my friend whom we visited in England this summer), was back home in Toledo for a few weeks and we met up at the Elbo Room for some pizza & brew and had a great time re-meeting our dear friend, fellow Hillview Hawk, Damien.

Towards the end of our dinner when we were pondering what to do next...we decided to go to my house. Linsday started going on to damien about how you gotta see my house “jen is so artsy; she did everything in the house.” so i look at Linday, and tell her "She's too kind" and then I look at Damien and say to him "Really, she's being too kind. I am not an "artist' i'm more "crartsy", as I call it, a mix of crafty and artistic." hee hee. Then, as i'm envisioning in my head how justin's house USED to be, i con't to blab on as i do in my blabby kind of way & i say to damien "You know, I can take a dump and make it real funky.” OMG - they both looked at me with this really confused look but never laughed or anything, just kept looking at me and listening to me yack. Well, a few minutes later, I was still running it through my head at the table….WHY did those two give me that weird look when I was talking to them about my house??? and then I figured it out! The way that sounded - oh no! They thought I was seriously saying I can take a crap and make a crap look really funky! After I explained what I REALLY meant….take a fix-me-upper of a house and make the interior funky, we all about lost it! Damien must had been thinking to himself “what is this chick from my elementary school into?? She's gettin' all Jackson Pollock with her poop!?!”

Thank god I noticed something was up with that whole conversation because otherwise i don't think Damien would ever want to hang out with me again. We will definitely be staying in touch though! Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the reunion evening, I’m so bummed about that. That's ok - i'll get one at the Halloween Party, right Damien :)

SUMMER SHOUT OUTS

2008-09-21T13:05:00.010-04:00

JUNE:
Ryan & Gia’s First Wedding Anniversary: June 30

JULY:
Brian & Julie: Congratulations! Baby Girl, Teaghan! July 23

AUGUST:
Cousin Gia Turns the Big "Three-Oh!" August 2
Uncle Billy, Turns the Big "Six-Oh!": August 20
Dad is recovering well (yay!) August 25
Amy Moved to Berkeley, California. ☹ August 29
Click Here For Amy's California Grape Picking Photos!

SEPTEMBER:
Tracy & Brian: Congratulations! Baby Girl, Mikala! September 5
Jesse & Maricel: Congratulations! Baby Girl, Dahlia September 8
Uncle Mike, Turns the Big "Five-Oh!" September 15
Jill & Jeff: Congratulations! Due in April
Congratulations Lindsay! Passing ALL your boards for Homeopathic Medicine

UNTIL NEXT SEASON.................

2008-09-21T13:00:00.008-04:00

Enjoy Your Autumn Everyone!
xoxo Jen & Justin

THE NEWLYWEDS GO TO EUROPE 2008!

2008-08-10T23:59:00.022-04:00

HELLO EVERYONE!

WELCOME TO THIS "SPECIAL EDITION" OF OUR BLOG: THE NEWLYWEDS GO TO EUROPE 2008!

First, let me start by saying this. If you think I don’t know, I knowwwwww. I know our blog shines ever so brightly that big ol' you-cannot-miss-it-even-if-you-had-a-blindfold-on DORK light upon Yours Truly!! But now comes out the dorky “Martha Stewart” in me. TRAVEL TIP: Send yourself postcards from each vacation you go on– it’s a nice diary of your traveling experiences that await your return home in your mailbox. Great idea, isn’t it ☺

So this whole European Trip started out because our friends, Lindsay & Leon and Justin’s cousin, Kelly all invited us to visit with them in England when they were at our wedding in Vermont last year. WARNING TO ALL: if you invite justin and jen to visit with you just out of sheer politeness or simply as a way to spice up the current conversation with us, watch out, because the next thing you know you’re listening to your doorbell ring & watching this couple (us) park it right at your door step with two big fat smiles on their faces & two big fat pieces of luggage in their hands saying “We’rrrrrrrrre Heeeeeeeeere!!!!!!!!" Actually, I did really well, our luggage didn’t get over packed until the end of the trip - after the shopping I did throughout our travels. And actually, I did really well in that area too I think, didn’t go too crazy as I am known to do at times ☺ .

We were gone for three weeks and our feet sure covered ALOT of ground!! And be it WISHFUL THINKING that all of that walking we were doing on this vacaton (an average 4 miles a day) completely CANCELLED OUT that twice a day indulgence of Hazelnut Gelato I had in Italy over the 8 nights we were there – uh, NOT. But then again one can only hope, right ☺

WITH ALL OF THAT SAID – PLEASE ENJOY THE FOLLOWING BLOG POSTINGS & PHOTO GALLERY LINKS COVERING OUR TRIP TO EUROPE!

ON OUR WAY

2008-08-10T23:58:00.008-04:00

So here we are on July 13 at 9:30 pm on a Sunday night – making our way overseas. Mind you I have only flown within the continental U.S., Canada and Mexico. So needless to say I was feeling a bit nervous. No actually – I was not – I was totally fine – swear. But I had justin take this pic because I was cracking myself up! I look at him, and he’s just so chill and SIMPLE – with just his computer bag & iPod. I looked like a flippin’ travel freak – with all the shit I had going on with me in that ridiculousy small and cramped plane seat. I was adorned with my Ipod & wires trailing up to my ears attached to my headphones AND not only did I have the friggin’ POINTLESS hot pink travel pillow I so adamantly NEEDED to go get at Bed, Bath & Beyond just before we left for our trip, but also had my big pillow FROM MY BEDROOM. I also had a book or two, a word search book, oh shit I had everything but our kitchen sink. I had so much shit with me on that plane that the girl next to me said with a smile “well, you look prepared”. OMG it’s cracking me up so bad still thinking about the scene! And, let me just tell you – within just the first TWO minutes of that flight that stupid blow up pillow got deflated and shoved under the seat in front of me (it was horribly uncomfortable), I barely read a page of the book I brought along & the word search never got touched by my pen. Turned out all i needed was my iPod, bedroom pillow & the movie playing on the plane. Now, I feel I need to justify why I would drag along my bedroom pillow with me for 3 weeks across Europe. I had pulled a muscle in my back which was extremely painful & quite severe (visited my doctor for muscle relaxers days before of which I have never done before (by the way they didn’t do squat). anyway, so I couldn’t risk getting my neck & back kinked up while using hotel pillows (which often happens to me). So there :)

ENGLAND: Countryside

2008-08-10T23:57:00.011-04:00

THE TRUMAN SHOW GONE ENGLISH??

We arrived in England better then on time, one hour early & were greeted immediately by our friend, Leon, at the Gatwick Airport. He drove us back (on their CRAZY COUNTRY NARROW left-sided driving roads) to where they reside, on this ever so CHARMING English countryside farm. It was truly unreal. 400 acres with a landscape that included: beautiful English gardens with box shaped boxwood bushes & perfectly blooming tall lavender bordering the front entry walkway of the main house & the ever so English looking brick silo bedroom which overlooked the tiniest cutest mini mini pond in the quaint backyard which is home to the coolest grass...almost like astro turf but real of course. i could have sworn this was just The Truman Show: England Version ("jen & justin have arrived, CUE the cows out in the pasture, get all the tiny tiny cars out on the road, come on now, hurry, roll out that vibrant green tough super duper short grass, and fill up that cute little pond next to their castle tower-like bedroom!). it really did look like a movie set – it truly was LOVELY (as the brits say). So prior to our arrival we did not sleep a friggin wink on the plane, so by dinner time our first night we were going on 32 hrs. But that didn’t stop us from having a great time and enjoying everything the countryside of England had to offer and throw our way. We had a delicious dinner yummy yummy it was - really good gourmet food in a super old English pub with ceilings so low i had to scrunch my average to short 5'4" frame down a bit to get into the dining area. No joke. And if we only would have known the food we were going to eat during our 5 nights in England was going to be better then Italy (OMG is that a sin to say!!!! Don’t send me to hell please) then we would have scarfed down an extra meal before we left. Stay tuned for more details on that subject under the Italy posting below. Other things we did while visiting with Lindsay & Leon: visited Rye, one of the very oldest town in all of England, I think. Oh shit, everything over there is old who are we kidding. It was during this part of the trip when I truly came to appreciate the phrase “America is just a baby” - when we would walk the old cobble stone roads and walk into pubs that had signs on it posting something crazy like “Since 1547”. The four of us visited the coast, just about 30 minutes away from their farm. We took a nice hike on the farm grounds, through the fields, over a creek and into the woods. And…… I walked a cow. Yep, you read those words correctly. Lindsay introduced me to her baby, well more like teenager cow, Buddy. He was adorable. And being that I have been wanting a cow, just one cow, all black please, for the last 3 or so years….i was loving Buddy! Although, when you have a ton of cows, like this farm did, the desire to have a cow started to fade a way a bit (they sure do smell like, well how do I put this........SHIT.). BUT, I will continue to hold onto my dream of owning just ONE cow, in hopes and assumption that just one cow wouldn’t set off the Stink-O-Meter like an entire herd of them clearly does ☺ And I know in the pic above it looks as if we are treating Buddy poorly by forcing him to go on a walk, but what it comes down to is this one thing – cows are not that smart. We were doing him a very nice thing by "urging" him to come out of his pen and go on a little walk because due to some good reasons Lindsay explained to me Buddy cannot mingle right now out in the pasture with the other larger cows so he needs to be penned up. Eventually he figured it out and walked out.

JoAnne & Peter…..you guys need one black cow for your land in Vermont. Pleeeeeeeeeease. Come on! We can name him” Hank Jr.” ok!

On our second night Leon, who has been intensely studying Reiki over the last few years (or maybe it’s months), invited justin upstairs while lindsday and I were down in the family room to teach him the basics of Reiki. He specifically told all of us “Uh, yeah, this is not for Justin as much as it is FOR JEN”. Meaning I am the one in this 2-person relationship who probably needs to RELAX! Ha! He couldn’t have hit the nail harder on it’s head. In fact, he crushed the nail with that allusion. So as the two of them make their way upstairs for Justin’s lesson in Reiki – I glance over at Lindsay and say “He’s not going to ask him to take his clothes off is he?” hehehehe, I was ONLY kidding! Leon gave justin a Reiki instructional booklet and I intend to have Justin share his recently learned skills on me soon. Cuz if anything is right here, it’s the fact that I could stand to be de-stressed at times!

Lindsay & Leon, Thank You SO MUCH for your awesome hospitality & the delicious meals. Our stay with you was short but VERY SWEET and truly WONDERFUL. And you can bet on it that we will be visiting again, but for a longer stay of course!!! Not to invite ourselves or anything, but we will ☺ hee hee

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our ENGLAND, COUNTRYSIDE visit

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.cc8o3v2d&Uy=-9hurno&Ux=0&UV=852198271404_370880677605

PARIS

2008-08-10T23:56:00.014-04:00

SCOOTERS, SCOOTERS, FRENCH KISSING, AND MORE SCOOTERS!

We headed on a train from Headcorn, England (just outside of the farm) making our way for Kelly’s flat. I was waiting for Harry Potter in his orange & black scarf to whip on past us on his flying broom stick just outside the train window. Once we arrived in London, we only had a short amount of time before we left her with our luggage and packed just an overnight bag & headed on the Euro Star for Paris.

Aaaaahhhh…Paris. The city of Romance. Hell yeah it was – I cannot tell you how many couples I saw literally French Kissing, whether it be 12 Noon or 12 Midnight, whether they be 26 yrs. Old or 62 yrs. Old, on the benches overlooking the Seine, at the Eiffel Tower, or at the walk way waiting for the go ahead to cross the street. I was seriously looking around for the Offficiate of the Guinness Book of World Records figuring these people are being timed for some International Contest or something!! It was “SO PARISl! “ I should mention to you, that all of these public displays of affection we often were witnesses to brewed up this tiny thought in my husband’s head: “Jen, So, Like I Want Five Daily Displays of PUBLIC Affection While We Are Here In Paris” Sorry to say, I didn’t meet my given quota…..i am just not used to doing that in front of everyone and whomever in public!!! I’m such a prude, huh!

Our Hotel was beautiful, Hotel Lutetia. The shopping was fun (I got the cutest pair of black flats that I have ever laid my hazel eyes on!). The day we arrived we walked to Notre Dame & hit the street vendors for touristy shopping. And of course, like a big fat Amercian nerd, I got myself a beret. Now, come on, how could one not fork over the measily 5 Euros for one when being in Paris! Plus, doesn’t justin look cute in it? He cracks me up. For dinner we stopped at one of the numerous outside cafes and had dinner (where I was served a mojito with a flipping firework in it!) and watched the people walk by. The second day we walked to the Eiffel Tower & took the elevator to the top. Awesome view, not so awesome crowd (felt like I was in line at Cedar Point, waiting to get on yet again another roller coaster claiming it’s fame of being the biggest, baddest, fastest ever in the world). BUT the line was worth the view and the great memory that will stay with us forever. We took a boat down the Seine, it was a nice chance to check out more architecture & not to mention rest our feet (mine were starving desparately for a rest). The highlight of Paris…..dinner our last night at Maison Blanche (click on the word Design on the home page & check out the 5 pics of the inside, so cool!) www.maison-blanche.fr/maison-blanche-us.html I had chosen this place 4 months in advance and specifically booked one of the few tables that reside right up against the large panes of glass which overlook the city from about 7 stories up. It was a phenomenal view….the food – well lets just put it this way, it was a phenomenal view. ☺ hee hee. Reallly though, it was good, we have just realized that Gourmet FRENCH food is not our favorite (and I like all kinds of food!) – our first time was on our honeymoon in Montreal. That restaurant was called Toque, pronounced Toe-Kay….and we kept saying “Toque was….uh……Okay” ☺ But Maison Blanche, in Paris, I would still recommend it – it was fabulously contemporary, great atmosphere, unbelievable presentation of food, and they had great “Butter Sorbet”. You may ask, what is Butter Sorbet? Well….let me tell you. In between courses we were served this small bowl of something that was orangey yellow in color, and a spoon. So justin says “oh, sorbet!” figuring it was served to us to clean our palate before the next course and he digs right in and immediately whispers to me “uh, yeah, NOT sorbet. It’s butter.” We were cracking up so bad!! I mean HONESTLY, WHO serves butter with a SPOON in between courses like that with NO bread to accompany it.

So just as we finished up dinner the clock ticked 11 pm & we headed to the outside deck and watched the nighttime blue glowing Eiffel Tower turn into the most beautiful hypnotic white sparkles. It sparkles for 10 minutes on the hour every hour at night then turns back to the blue glow. We were greeted with another fabulous view of the sparkling tower when we left the restaurant and walked outside and down a small park like boulevard, where both sides were lined with big green trees & no one else to be found except for justin, me…..and the Tower, smack dab center in front of us. What a sight. It was just fabulous – and I never really cared much about the Eiffel Tower, but there is something about being in Paris, walking hand in hand in the evening with your husband and having that kind of view. Again, can I just say, and with a big fat grateful smile, “Paris is So Paris” ☺ We topped of the romantic evening with a champagne toast in our hotel’s piano bar.

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our PARIS visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.8r9d4ixx&Uy=epbdtc&Ux=0&UV=940086420719_727867677605

ENGLAND: London

2008-08-10T23:55:00.017-04:00

ANNNNNND, WHERE'S GWYNETH?

We took the Euro Star, through the Chunnel, and headed back to London to visit with Kelly for 3 nights in her fabulous flat. When Lindsay spent the night with us she informed Justin and I that it’s pretty much unheard of to have such a large flat AND also with the beautiful rooftop terrace. It really was awesome. Our first night, The three of us took one of those cute London cabs to the Theater to see the Play, The Lord of the Rings. Kelly’s friend David met us for the play and Lindsay & Leon took the train in from Headcorn and joined us as well. The play was wonderful!!! And we had the best seats in the house I felt, pretty close to being smack dab front and center. I suppose that was a result of me having that detailed planning gene in me – asked Kelly to get the tickets for us well in advance. It was great. AND quite DRAMATIC i must say....we left the theatre wanting to talk in a theatrical shouting-like tone the rest of the evening, as Lindsay belted out while throwing her fist in the air "STEER FORWARRRRRRRD ONTO THE RESTARAUNNNNNT!". We all headed to Asia De Cuba for a late dinner after the play. This is Kelly’s stomping grounds & it was fabulous. Very Chic & Extremely Hip & Cool! They have one in NYC I believe. This leads me to my favorite part about Europe….you can actually order just a GLASS of Champagne! Hello – that is all I ever ordered during this entire 3-wk. vacation. I am picturing it now, like a movie where all the best clips are edited into one long string for viewing….and all it is is me sitting at a table at each restaurant we ever went to during this vacation, of course in each super quick flash of a clip I am wearing a different outfit & my hair may be up in some of the clips & or down in others, but I’m always saying the SAME EXACT THING to the waiter “yes, I’d like a glass of Champagne please, thank you!” The States need to get on board, what’s this “only the entire bottle can be ordered”. Whatever. I suppose in large cities like NY this may be possible, but not here in T-town.

Other things we did while in London visiting with Kelly: Dinner at a Morrocan restaurant where it was very dark, very hot, and very cool! We sat couch-like cushions, pretty low to the ground and a belly dancer entertained us mid-way through the evening. The food was just as great as the unique atmosphere. We enjoyed the Saturday market and got our fill on the best cheeses, balsamic vinegar, breads, tomatoes and lamb burgers. Yum. Walked to The Eye, opted out of the line to get on though….the Eiffel Tower line killed it for us. Did a “walk by” of the Buckingham Palace en route to Hyde Park where we enjoyed a picnic in the park with Kelly & David, all the goodies we purchased at the Market that morning. This is also where I was searching high and low to see someone like Gweneth Paltrow, Madonna or Gwen Steffani, you see I am an avid reader of the People and US Magazines, in fact they are mailed to my home each and every week. But no such luck, they were nowhere in sight during our entire stay in London. Ha ha. Visited Kelly’s “club” – in London they have these Social Clubs, but they are not like a Country Club is here, they are so much cooler. One late afternoon we took a break from all the walking and sight seeing and chilled outside at a table on the roof at one of her clubs. And guess what I ordered to drink….you got it, I eagerly said to the waiter “Yes, I’d Like A Glass Of Champagne Please, Thank You”.

Kelly, THANK YOU for a wonderful stay in the city & all the dinners & cab rides! You’ve made for a great life in London and we can’t wait to come back again….but for a little longer of a stay, if that’s ok with you! Your flat is awesome, can’t wait some day to see the one you buy. Are my hints making their way from my keyboard to your ears……we want to visit again definitely! hee hee

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our LONDON visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.4ne0aqlh&Uy=g07c6j&Ux=0&UV=838482809930_797316777605

IRELAND, Barberstown Castle

2008-08-10T23:54:00.022-04:00

WOULD SOMEONE POINT US IN THE DIRECTION OF STRAFFAN PLEASE!!!!!

Oh Ireland. It’s simply beautiful. Vermont’s long lost twin. And oh the joy of driving in the city of Dublin…….NOT. Ireland was the only place during our whole trip where we rented a car....and almost killed each other. In retrospect, it seriously cracks me up so bad! Needless to say, it started out a tad frustrating. Ok, tad? How about more like a Tad TIMES A THOUSAND. BUT, we figured it out and eventually got ourselves the hell out of the Dublin area and on our way to our first destination, Barberstown Castle. We later went back to Dublin but not until our last day there, after we dropped our rental car off, and took a bus into the city (the way to see Dublin, it was a very plush bus, not a city bus, and it only cost us around 4 euros). We spent 3 nights in the Barberstown Castle. When we arrived we were greeted by the castle’s Golden Retreiver “Harvey". Yay! I got my doggy fix! Barberstown Castle was so very very charming & cool. However, we didn’t actually stay in one of the original castle stone walled room. Our suite was really beautiful. And, It turns out its ok we didnt get that original room because when they were giving us a tour of the castle, per our request, (which was very small, not like you would think of when you think castle) they told us one time, in one day, 3 couples went in and RIGHT BACK OUT of Room #10 as quick as you could blink, ha! i guess the stone walls freaked them out…..AND THE SMELL. We can attest to the smell (bordering Stench!!!) that original castle walls emit - it is kind of gross!! we came across this quite a few times when we visited some castle & tower ruins along the way – I kept saying to justin that the smell of all of these old stone walls & ruins, the ones that were enclosed still, reminded me of what old bones or stale blood would smell like – sounds great doesn’t it? They were still so cool!

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our BARBERSTOWN CASTLE visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.28haa2bp&Uy=ugdjt2&Ux=0&UV=935355252653_901430877605

IRELAND, Powerscourt Gardens

2008-08-10T23:53:00.021-04:00

SHHHH......THE SECRET CEMETARY

The gardens at Powerscourt are probably the finest in Ireland, both for their design and their dramatic setting at the foot of Great Sugar Loaf Mountain. The house and grounds were commissioned in the 1730’s by Richard Wingfield, the 1st Viscount Powerscourt. Now this name, remember it, I’ll bring it up again when talking about one of the highlights of our entire vacation. The gardens fell into decline, but in 1840 the original plan was revived by the 7th Viscount (Richard Wingfield, the 7th Viscount). It is open to the public now for walking the some 300 acres of meticulously cared for gardens. We spent about 3 hours here, walking down all the many paths which took us to a beautiful Japanese garden, an ancient Rose garden where they were in full bloom for us, an old castle watch tower which you could walk up inside to the top, an old family pet cemetery, and now we come to one of our biggest highlights of our trip: the secret & private cementary of the Wingfield family!!!!!!! As the picture above communicates: Shhhhhhhhh, we weren’t supposed to be there really! But technically there was no sign telling us otherwise. So when Justin discovered this tiny skinny not obvious old trail, off the beaten path, our eager & inquisitive selves mosey’d their way down this inconspicuous path where it lead us to a stone wall, but nothing we couldn’t hop over (see above pic, ha ha). Inside the stone walls was a very very old and grown over small private cemetery. It was in the middle of the woods, where only a few of the many trees were generous enough to allow at least a little bit of sunshine down within to peep its way through over the old woods. We read a lot of VERY OLD tombstones dating back as far as the 1600’s and guess whose we came across…..Richard Wingfield, the 7th Viscount Powerscourt! It was SO COOL!!!! There were also some small ruins in this secret cemetary, perhaps a stone walled chapel resided in this spot at one time. The hour we spent in this secret place in the woods was one of our favorite little adventures of our entire trip. If it sounds creepy to any of you – let me, the person who refuses to watch ANY scary movies, tell you it was NOT, it was like walking back in time and to do so in secret like we did was so cool I can’t even tell you! And we were also, of course, very respectful of this particular hide away. This was justin’s favorite part of the whole trip. We snuck back out of the cemetary and continued on with our walks in the gardens, we came across another cemetary...but this was right on the path and it was a Pet Cemetary of all the family generations pets - even including the family cow "Princess" - ha! After we finished walking the gardens at Powerscourt we made our way to Powerscourt Waterfall then off to Glendalough.

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our POWERSCOURT GARDENS visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.4y333yat&Uy=igqs8p&Ux=0&UV=53634812822_999328877605

IRELAND, Glendalough

2008-08-10T23:52:00.014-04:00

MORE RUINS!

The steep, wooded slopes of Glendanlough (pronounced by the locals “glen-duh-lock”), the “valley of the two lakes”, harbors one of Ireland’s most atmospheric monastic sites. Established by St. Kevin in the 6th century (yeah, SIXTH!!), the settlement was sacked time and again by the Vikings but nevertheless flourished for over 600 years. The age of the few buildings is uncertain, but most date from the 8th to the 12th centuries. This was a great hike leading us to a beautiful untouched lake & ending at some really cool ruin. One ruin noted to be thought of as the oldest church in Ireland. It was really cool – and unfortunately my camera battery died on me when we got to this very last and coolest ruin and just before we headed back home through "Braveheart Road" in the Wicklow Mountains – what a bummer! ☹ So the photo gallery for Glendalough only consists of a few pics.

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our GLENDALOUGH visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.bcughov9&Uy=qnelj6&Ux=0&UV=233912216894_271369877605

IRELAND, Wicklow Mountains

2008-08-10T23:51:00.009-04:00

WHERE IS WILLIAM WALLACE?

We were really happy we got the rental car come our beautiful drive through the Wicklow Mountains where we made our way back to the castle after a very explorative day out in the Ireland country. They called the road we took from Glendanlough to Straffan “Braveheart Road”. They filmed parts of the movie Braveheart in Wicklow county where we drove – Go Figure right, William Wallace was SCOTTISH Not Irish – but the movie execs must have determined it to be prettier in Ireland. The only thing we were missing on that sunset drive home was the soundtrack playing in the background. It was beautiful and quite resemblant of Vermont. Justin’s grandmother was certainly right in her comparison of Ireland & Vermont – they could be twins ☺ So another episode of "LOST" peeked itself in our car….once the night sky began to fall upon the big beautiful green mountains we were having a hard time finding our way back to the castle. We stopped for some dinner then eventually without straying off the road we were supposed to be on we saw the castle in the distance – ah, “castle sweet castle” – we made it home (after questioning ourselves many times – is this right? I think we were supposed to turn left back there….it was getting stressful again & we were having flashbacks of the day before when we first arrived!).

Go figure, my camera battery died unexpectedly (something was going on, it only held a charge for 4 hours) and i didn't come prepared that day with my back up battery - i was kicking myself!

So Unfortunately no photos to share of our Wicklow Mountain drive.

IRELAND, Dublin

2008-08-10T23:50:00.006-04:00

“MY GOODNESS MY GUINNESS”

So before we could take the bus into Dublin we had to go get myself a new piece of luggage. What an annoying thing to happen when you are traveling like that in another country! The zipper was tearing away at the seams and I had no room to risk traveling onto Italy….because I knew I would be shopping there! Luckily, with a suggestion from one of the staff at our hotel, we drove only 5 minutes into a cute little town of Swords and hit up TK Maxx around the corner. Yeah – it was TJ Maxx, same logo and everything but for some reason in Ireland it’s called TK Maxx. So I found a ridiculously large piece of luggage for a good price….and I left my original luggage behind in the room when we left.

After we took care of the luggage ordeal we headed into Dublin and got a dose of the city life in Ireland. We walked all around Dublin, taking in the city sights. We visited Christ Church Cathedral, Trinity College, and of course would it really be a trip to Dublin without chilling out in an Irish pub taking down a tall smooth milkshake-like pint of Guinness – NO! And hence, i have rediscovered Guinness. I forgot what a great stout it is ☺ Though we could have done without the crazy irish speaking guy that wouldn’t stop talking our American ears off…..even the local irish bartender was getting annoyed with him and asked him “where are you from” – he knew it wasn’t Dublin. Turned out it was Belfast. So once I finished my Guinness, we escaped crazy irish man and hit the pavement for more city exploring. We had dinner, per a recommendation from one of the young girls working at the Castle, at a fabulous quaint, super small off the beaten path, Thai restaurant called the Chili Club. Thai in Dublin – it was great! The entire day & evening was great.

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our DUBLIN visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.7air5oat&Uy=kf89xt&Ux=0&UV=604046948294_442762977605

ITALY, Florence

2008-08-10T23:47:00.018-04:00

"OH BE STILL MY BEATING HEART”

To second what Justin's mom said when we told her we would be going to Florence...."Oh be still my beating heart." Florence was my favorite part of Italy; I absolutely loved it. And given our short stay in Rome where Justin feels he didn't get to really poke around as much as he would have enjoyed, Florence was his favorite part of this trip to Italy. We arrived in Florence, Italy after a brutally early morning flight from Dublin (our wake up call was 3:30 am and as most of you know, justin and I are NOT morning people!). But it was all worth it. Florence was wonderful. I loved Florence personally. And the boutique hotel we stayed in was so charming – it was my favorite out of our entire trip (aside from the castle in Ireland) – Hotel Cellai. Although we were pretty beat from the late night and early wake up call in Dublin we had to kill one hour before we could get into our room because it was not ready so we wandered the streets of Florence with no particular destination in mind and ended up at a cafe, sat outside and ate a lunch (some yummy Macaroni Pesto – warm like macaroni & cheese but pesto instead of the cheese). Then we came back and actually napped a bit. Seems sinful doesn't it, being we were only there for 2 nights! BUT after monsterous days of walking around all over the place in Ireland and taking in the sites we so needed the rest. so, we napped for 3 hours and got up around 7pm refreshed and ready to hit the beautiful florence pavement yet again. We had dinner at outside cafe, delicious gnocci. and for any of those who have not had Italian gelato before – I swear the heavens shine down uponeth it. IT IS Glorious. So could i BE more dramatic about it? hee hee! Hazlenut flavor specifically. I had my dose of heaven almost twice a day while in Italy for the 8 nights. The next day we hit the sights & the market (shopping, yeah!). We saw beautiful squares which were homes to beautiful statues and fountains, beautiful cashmere scarves and ponchos and beautiful Italian leather purses, need I say more? It was fantastic. And to top the day off we had dinner reservations at what turned out to be the best place in all of Italy. My dish was a hand tied pasta that was stuffed with some rare Tuscan cheese and pear – it was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten for dinner! And Justin's dish was fabulous - savory hammered down so flat you'd think it was flatbread, not a chicken dish. This dinner is what i'm talking about! If only all of Italy was like that....

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our FLORENCE visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.2tgpazet&Uy=j9pele&Ux=0&UV=610511285899_272506977605

ITALY, Camolgi (Italian Riviera)

2008-08-10T23:30:00.021-04:00

THE VACATION "OF" THE VACATION

We took a train out of Florence and headed to Camogli which is near Cinque Terra, Italy. So Florence needs some work on their train station, it is nowhere near par of their gelato (which by the way have i mentioned it was fabulous?) ☺ in fact their train station kind of sucked the big one to be honest. No workers to really guide you, I don’t know how the hell we figured it out. Oh wait, I know – I found an American girl that was able to assist us.

Camolgi. This was the place that was to be the "vacation OF the vacation" if you will. We set aside 4 nights there which was the longest we had stayed on any given part of the entire vacation. And although the view there is really beautiful, i mean UNREAL Beautiful and our room was really really nice....the immediate surroundings (again other then the view & our room) had ALOT to be desired in our eyes! I’m sure you are thinking what could be so bad about Camolgi when you see the pics. It was just way more touristy then we expected & the topping on the cake, the food sucked, every single meal was becoming a joke between the two of us! At least we found humor in that part. But with the unexpected disappointments we did figure our trip could not have gone without SOME kind of bump in this glorious road we had been traveling for almost 3 weeks. and that bump was called Camolgi. You know, actually to come think of it now, as we were arriving, gazing out the train windows, they should have had one of those bright yellow diamond shaped street signs with a black curvy line signifying a bump in the road and under it should have read CAMOLGI! Ha!

The plan was to stay in Camogli and relax alot & do a day trip into Cinque Terra where we would hike the 3K trail that takes you from each of the five towns that are only accessible between each other via boat or this footpath. But we opted out of the 45 min. train ride back into Cinque Terra simply due to the weather. It was BLAZING hot – so hiking in that kind of weather, no thanks. Lounging and being able to jump in the ocean, yes please!

So sparing you all of the details of our disappointments of this place & the 5 bad first impressions we encountered one right after the other when we first arrived - I will jump forward to tell you it eventually got better (we did arrive on a Saturday, we didn’t realize that fact for awhile so that had something to do with it). And regardless of the totally unsatisfying food that every meal ended up being (well justin had a few good steaks), the gigantic cliffs that go straight down into the calm peaceful warm ocean water was Extremely Beautiful & Relaxing – and so we met most of our goals with Camolgi we’d both say. But we wouldn't go back again.

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our CAMOLGI (Italian Riviera) visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.6tyuvnit&Uy=mdrcv3&Ux=0&UV=98210010763_462910487605

ITALY, Rome

2008-08-10T23:20:00.030-04:00

WHERE IS MAXIMUS?

We were in Rome for a very quick but very jam packed sight seeing 2 nights. We had an excellent private tour of some of the sights, given to us by "Gieuse", her name pronounced like "Juicy". We went to the Bascillia Santa Maria Maggiore, Roman Forum (panoramic view of ruins – awesome view from the top), Colosseum (kept thinking of the movie Gladiator!), Panteon, Paletine Hill & various old OLD OLD churches. All of what we saw was really amazing. We opted out of a last minute afternoon tour to the Vatican due to the overwhelming heat and because frankly, i don't think Justin and I could have bared another MINUTE with that ROMAN BREATH!!!! God love "Juicy" but man oh man. Inside i was cracking up while on the tour. I found myself standing 3 feet from a particular thing she would have been up close to pointing out to us and talking about and it wasn't until she moved away that i would smile nicely at her kind of giving this look like, ok you and your breath are out of the area, now i'm gonna make my move in to check out the fabulous million year old piece of art. hee hee, no i was very sly about it actually! THEN there's poor Justin. After we declined the afternoon tour, we're headed back home, just the two of us, and he looks at me and says "was THAT MY breath!!?" hahahaha! I said, oh my god NO. He told me the entire tour he was seriously running this sentence through his head "my god, is THAT ME?" And I found myself at times actually holding in my own breath, in attempts to not breath in, when she would talk - putting myself on the verge of passing out due to that damn Roman summer heat that was going on that day! Oh what a ball any security guard would have had while monitoring any of the many security screens if they had actually really paid attention to the three of us as Justin and i were constantly dodging any situation that would have put us within 18 inches of her yet doing it without having to sacrifice what the tour had to offer & ever so politely with the charming American smiles on our faces and our often swift sly moves. So, needless to say, we’ll save the Sistine Chapel for another visit to Rome, and perhaps another tour guide. hee hee. Really though, Juicy was a sweet sweet Italian lady, i almost wanted to tell the driver to take us to our place, tell them to hold on, while i skipped waiting around for the elevator & just bolted up the 5 flight of stairs, grab my travel Listerine, get back in the car and hand it to Juicy and in Italian miraculously say...."Qui provare questo." (Here, try this)

And besides of all that, we had seen enough for one day we felt anyway. So we wanted to go do some exploring on our own. We went to lunch at Santa Christina, a nice small hidden restaurant that was recommended by our tour driver. Then we headed back to the hotel for a much needed afternoon nap. Awoke just in time for dinner reservations at Tre Scaline in the Piazza Novona where the square was full of artists, musicians, african dudes trying to sell confiscated designer purses then grabbing all their illegal shit in one quick 2-second swoop and hauling ass through the square when a friend got word of the cops (we never saw the cops). This pretty much marked the end of our European Extravaganza….SO WE THOUGHT. But oh were we wrong. En route to Detroit, our layover flight the next afternoon dropped us off in Amsterdam for a fun, fun, FUN 24 hours!

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our ROME visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.8mca7zxx&Uy=mdsjph&Ux=0&UV=20741258502_895934387605

AMSTERDAM

2008-08-10T23:15:00.021-04:00

COFFEESHOPS, HERE WE COME.....AND NOT FOR COFFEE :)

First let me start this last posting by saying we WILL be going back to Amsterdam again and for MORE THEN 24 hours!!!

So we arrived via Rome to the Amsterdam Airport at exactly 4:20 – I took a pic of the airport clock - how VERY appropriate!

Aside from what Amsterdam is best known for, it truly is a very beautiful, charming, clean city with people all over riding the cutest bicycles, electric cable cars to take you where you need to go, and great food….oh yeah, and great “coffee” at a reasonable price, even given the shitty conversion to US dollars.

I am not going to say all that much about Amsterdam, except this: we did not visit the red light district, we visited Blue Bird Café, we then headed to a local bar where I, not justin, had 2 guinness, 2 shots of tequila with the super fun bartender & a mojito & boogied for 3 hours into the night while in my bar chair to Bob Marely, various American 80’s tracks (they love the 80’s for some reason) and a bonus track of Snoop Dog – ohhhhh yeahhhhhh. And we got to bed at 4am. FUN! Amsterdam was the big fat red cherry on top of our European Sundae!

Please click on the orange link below to view our PHOTO SLIDESHOW of additional pics from our AMSTERDAM visit

www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=cce4pp5d.83wfymvp&Uy=x2rec&Ux=0&UV=300253823250_459136387605

ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR SUMMER!

2008-08-10T23:10:00.003-04:00

Our FIRST Anniversary!!

2008-07-07T22:05:00.014-04:00

We made it! 1 year of marriage down and hopefully 68 more to go. That would put Justin at 101 years old (I figured I’d add that extra year on there for good measure) and it would put me at 102 – that sounds wonderful to me. So we are officially on our way to no longer being considered “The Newlyweds”, however our blog will remain titled that - goal intended: to feel like Newlyweds throughout our entire life together ☺ So far so good on reaching that goal. NOW, I know this sounds all PEACHY and everything….but OF COURSE we do have our moments, let's not kid anyone here. And hence justin’s Indian name for me when he responds to my ever so many requests (dim the lights please, would you please not blow grass into my mulched garden area when mowing, and so on), Justin responds with: “Yes, Oh-Incessantly-Nagging-One.” I suppose my Indian name for him would be “One-Who-Never-Shuts-Kitchen-Cabinet-Doors” and put a fucking exclamation mark on that one please! But we wouldn’t change a thing (well, i do suppose i cannot speak for justin.....hee hee). Thank you to everyone who sent us congratulatory messages!!! We had such a great One Year Anniversary night - dinner at Sofo's in Sylvania.

OK - it's been about 20 min. since i sent out this blog link....and already an update. We opened our anniversary gifts! Contemporary First Anniversary Gift is: Clock. Justin followed it...and he got me the iHome iPod Alarm Clock - it's really cool! Part of my gift to him followed the Traditional First Anniversary Gift: Paper. I wrote him a love letter - and this was when the four eyes in our living room started to well up. Justin also got me something to do with Paper. He had my sister, Amy, get printing plates for his vows and he asked her to letter press his vows onto the same paper that we used for our wedding invites & he also asked her to letter press the rolling green hill & tree at the bottom - these were on our wedding invitations & all other printed materials for the wedding. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. I should say "they" are - he gave me two of them. I'll frame them & keep one here at home & one in Vermont in our room there. It's been a tear-y night needless to say. Oh, I also gave justin an Antique exact miniature replication of the Willys Jeep, it was made in 1945. The tiny frog you see on it in the pic above is the the litte frog with a gold crown that i had his best man give to him just before we walked down our grassy isle on 7.7.7 (because he is my prince). The wrapping paper for his jeep was quite time consuming but well worth the gigantic smile that emerged on his face when he realized what i did :) I wrote I Love You. Happy 1st Anniversary. I Love You. Happy 1st Anniversary over and over again in the form of a border around every single edge of the entire wrapped box (about 80+ times). It was a holiday weekend, i had the time & he's worth it :) AND it looked cool!

And now, for your gagging pleasure....our vows, for any of you who never heard or read them. Justin's are wonderful. He's wonderful.

Justin’s Vows: 07.07.07

A Second Chance for First Loves

Where are we? Are we really here?
How lucky we are, after 17 years.
As I think back to the days of our past,
I dig deep in my heart where the memories last.

Click, click...click, click...Did I catch your eye with that trick?
Bam, Bam...Boom, Bum...Surely you heard the sound of those drums?
What’s that? What did you lose? Of course I’ll help you find your shoes.

That’s where it began, such a long time ago.
Now you’re back in my life, who could have known.

We made such a good team from the start,
I should have realized you’d end up with my heart.

I found you again, this time it’s forever.
Would you believe life could be so clever?

We’ve been through some thick, we’ve been through some thin,
But nothing compares with being together again.

You’ve brightened my life; I’ve calmed all your fears,
Today is our day, we’ve waited for years.

Like the dual bands of the rings we’ve designed,
We’re bound as one - heart, soul, and mind.

My Love,

You are the light that guides me when all else seems dark.
You are the muse that inspires me when my canvas is blank.
You are my wings when I take flight. You are the nest to which I return.
You are my logic when I am in doubt.
You are my Freedom when I am constrained.
You are the rock I cling to in this chaotic sea of life... You are my Everything.

When you are stressed, I will calm you. When you are unsure, I will support you.
When you are weak I will carry you. When you are strong I will follow you.
When you are happy, I will smile for you. When you are sad, I will cry for you.

From this day on, I promise to walk with you, side by side, hand in hand, through the beautiful life we will share.
As time goes on, we will teach each other and we will learn from each other.
We may frustrate or confront each other, but we will motivate and empower each other as well.
I will always cherish you as my companion, my lover, and my best friend.
Neither time nor distance, nor age nor sickness will ever diminish my feelings for you.

I will love you as I have never loved before.

-----------------------------------

Jen’s Vows: 07.07.07

Justin,
From the very first time I saw you, 17 years ago, skateboarding under the neighborhood streetlight,
I couldn’t get you out of my mind. And although just after
I met you, you left for the summer...
every single day that you were gone,
I thought about the curly dark-haired skater boy I just met, named Justin.

Then you came back at the end of the summer and that’s where this all started.
We fell in love.
I always said that having you as my First Love was the best thing that ever happened to me...
so I thought.
But today, now knowing, that you are not only my First true love
but you are also my Last true love...
I can now tell the world that THAT truly is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

So today, I vow to you, Justin, to never get you out of my mind.
Just like I couldn’t do 17 years ago.
I will love you for the rest of our lives just as pure and simple as I did when
I was that high school girl falling head over heels for you.
I will also love you in a new way -
accepting what and who you will become as we both continue to grow through the years.

The beauty of it all is that you really sure do make this easy on me -
you’re so easy to love with every ounce of my heart.
And so I vow, to you, today, to do my best from this day forward
to make it easy on you to love me with every ounce of your heart.

I will respect you as the person you are today and
I will respect you as the person you continue to grow into...
and, I will respect Us as we continue to grow together.
I will cherish you every day and not take what we have for granted.
I will learn to become more patient and understanding.
I vow to adore you for the rest of our lives as I always have
since the first day I met you (under the neighborhood street light).
In anything that we may encounter, baby I vow to love you “oh’so”.

SPRING 2008 EDITION

2008-06-20T23:00:00.011-04:00

Winter was truly starting to feel far far behind us when Spring finally arrived!! Thank goodness – I was beginning to get over the record breaking snowfall we had this year at home! We hope everyone enjoyed their April showers and May flowers. And thus, we welcome you all to the SPRING 2008 EDITION of The Newlyweds Blog.
And until next season's update....enjoy your Summer everyone!
xoxo, jen, justin, and hank
P.S. Feel free to post a comment!

SPRING CLEAN UP: Jen Goes Pyro

2008-06-20T22:00:00.005-04:00

Who says I need Justin or others around to have a burn party? One overly ambitious night, in April, when Justin was at work late, I decided to finally get to it. Another year had officially bitten the dust as i cut down & cleared last years ornamental grasses and all the rest of the shit in our yard that I blatanly ignored LAST spring. I was quite proud of myself, however that proud feeling trailed behind my initial feeling of True Fear. As i did this by myself with several massive squeezes of the Lighter Fluid and those gay 12-inch long matches. Now – check out the fairly confident Jen in the first shot. It’s cool – I’m cool, this is fun I'm thinking. As you can see, I’m in the frame of the shot. Now the flames were actually larger just seconds before the click of the auto-timer went off on my camera. Ok, now check out the Thumbs Up i'm giving in the 2nd pic...yeah, keep looking you'll see it, over to the left. HOLY CRAP that went up as quick as the boner of a virgin getting his first lap dance! Yeah, so i had the lighter fluid in my hand and fully thought i was SO close to the flames for that shot, apparently I was not. I was everything but confident that time around. I swear I felt the peach fuzz on my earlobes curl up, frizzle and fry. I was having fun, all by myself. Sorry mom, it doesn’t look like I learned much from you when it comes to your life lesson of “jen, don’t play with fire.” Burn baby burn. that’s what we Michiganders do, here in Bedford County, come Spring, when our husbands are away at the office working late & we have a yard full of work to do. It’s called Productive Boredom. (My husband was proud when he came home to find my massive burn pile of ashes & the house still around & no firemen called to the scene)

SNOWBASH 2008, March

2008-06-20T21:00:00.007-04:00

End of March, another framed pic of Snowbash goes up on the walls of Colin’s Vail condo. Justin thoroughly enjoyed his winter get-away this spring – his annual reward after the brunt of florida & the auction. Oh, of course, this reward is right in line with the reward of coming home to his loving wife......and her ever so growing HONEY DO LIST she's managed to almost effortlessly add to during this period of time. Anyway, back to Snowbash. We, as in the wives/girlfriends/fiances of these guys have been pondering a little bash of our own, and OH do we dare call it “Maxi Bash” per Rachelle? or better yet, as Tamara suggested this month “Bush Bash”. I love it. It needs to happen. “Period.” (and yes, pun intended on that last word noted). And boys, don't get your panties in a bunch (as justin often says to me) we wouldn't do Bush Bash anywhere near you guys ;)

MORE COWBELL

2008-06-20T20:00:00.003-04:00

When doing spring cleaning throughout our house back in april, I came across a Mix CD that i made my friend Tim years ago titled “More Cowbell”. I immediately jumped on You Tube and executed my search. Enjoy this classic skit from SNL. Hail to the chief, Will Ferrell! Oh how I do love Will. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvqB0uwLj0k

TERRY TURNS 60!

2008-06-20T19:00:00.003-04:00

My dad turned 60 this April. And from the looks of this pic on his bday – he doesn’t give a shit. Dad, you look seriously GREAT for 60!! But then again, as 30 is the new 20 (I do feel 24), 40 the new 50, I guess 60 is the new 50 then, huh ☺ One of his gifts was a big box of old style candy from back in the day....like the candy cigarettes you see in this shot.

RTB SUPPORTERS Feature

2008-06-20T18:00:00.007-04:00

Justin is still building on RealtimeBid.Com's success from the Februrary Florida auction rolling it over into the Spring auctions for the first time. http://realtimebid.com Currently he is fine-tuning his business plan, fielding interested client prospects & excited about what the future has to bring in terms of Live Video Bidding Online. I think Justin could be real successful if he would just offer Live Video Bidding of Overseas Brides. Now THAT is a niche to fill – screw the construction equipment! This edition’s Supporter of RTB: Dougy, salesman for the NorthEast region, Yoder & Frey, and one fantastic guy.

HANK'S FRIENDS Feature

2008-06-20T17:00:00.004-04:00

This edition of Hank’s Friends features Tralee, Emerson & Kaya. Tralee was my Uncle Rick & Aunt Linda’s 9 year old black lab. Unfortunately Tralee had to leave them & this world this Spring. I really hope she’s having fun romping around up there with Emerson & Kaya (my very very VERY precious golden retrievers who left me years ago). Emerson was my first love (shhhh, don't tell Hank!) and that was in my early 20's when i didn't have a digital camera - i'll soon scan a photo of Emerson for this feature & post it. God knows i have enough of them.

BLAST FROM THE PAST Feature

2008-06-20T16:00:00.002-04:00

Sylvania, Ohio. My Junior Year, Justin's Sophmore, 1990/1991. It was the year of love, oh yeaaaaa. Me, at my highschool sweeheart’s house (that would be justin) with Peter, his dad. Let’s hear it for Peter and his big fat cigar & me and my big fat curly hair and my what-the-hell-kind-of-shoes-are- those-shoes! They’re kind of sick. Oh and the total gay crossing of my arms, why am I sitting like that!?

“YET ONE MORE THING JUSTIN DID NOT SIGN UP FOR”

2008-06-20T15:00:00.011-04:00

So one night in December 2 yrs. ago, in front of Justin lounging on the couch enjoying a movie, I obsessively yet VERY JOYFULLY decorated our xmas trees & put up all our xmas decorations around the house. I started at 8pm and went continuously through the evening breaking through into what we all know as those wee hours, 5 am. That was around the time when Justin, after falling asleep on the couch for several hours awoke, gazed up at me, and said (or more like sleepy-ly mumbled) “What’s up Christmas Crack”. And then went right back to sleep on the couch. It was friggin’ hilarious!! And it could not had been a more appropriate-dead-on evaluation of the situation. I was clearly flying high on my christmas cheer, flying high on it straight through the night till the winter sun peeked into our windows again for another winter day.

WELL. Two years later, this Spring, in May, while I was digging incessantly with a shovel into our backyard for several hours straight, denying myself of even the tiniest break, like a flipping marter or something, Justin walked on by me, never stopping & with a smirk on that cute face of his he looked at me and said once again ever so appropriately but this time replacing the word "christmas" with "garden": ”What’s Up Garden Crack” as he continued to just walk on by to do whatever it was he was doing that day outside. And again, the statement was hilarious! So there it was, I did it again. Obessively…YET Joyfully, i jumped deep into another seasonal “task” for hours on end. Which brings me to the actual title of this posting: Yet One More Thing Justin Did Not Sign Up For.

Sure Justin signed on that dotted line on the Marriage Certificate that one beautiful Vermont sunny day back in July last year. But throughout our PRE-married and now BLISSFULLY married life (wink), justin often finds himself involved in, what I now refer to as, “things he did not sign up for”. Always with bells on, he jumps right into these often over planned “projects” of mine, and usually at a fairly last minute’s notice, again all with never having signed up for any of them ☺ And THANK GOD I have a husband like that because more than not I’m discovering I could never complete these goals of mine and put that big-ass check mark next to it that signifies “DONE”, if it were not for all his help! Justin, once again, props to you. So this time around - it was my vegetable garden. We now have our very own vegetable garden! well it’s mine, he doesn’t even like tomatoes and if things go as successful as planned we’ll be eating, drinking, canning & sleeping friggin’ tomatoes (YUM! 6 varieties of tomato plants). Oh, and we'll just be eating cucumbers, hungarian hot peppers and gypsy peppers. but I just don’t feel right saying it’s all mine when during all of my digging out of this garden he wheeled away over THIRTY VERY HEAVY wheelbarrows of sod & dirt (“very heavy” being the instigator of why Justin was putting time into something, once again, “he did not sign up for” ☺). And this was just the beginning of this little project of “mine.” There were SEVERAL other stages of the garden that my hubby helped me out with or flat out just did himself.

Now, I speak casually about all of my husband's help but I want everyone to know this: I did acknowledge to Justin, after one of his final stages of helping me (he resourcefully bent, wiggled & broke old wire hangers in half and made these handmade loop things that I would shove into the ground over the soaker hose to keep it from popping up in certain areas) and i looked up & said to him: “my love, thank you for all of your help over the last month, I know you didn’t necessarily sign up for this”. He giggled in a tone that conveyed no problem it was my pleasure & cutely said: “well baby, I would venture to say there are a lot of things with me you didn’t sign up for either.” And we both smiled. It was actually really sweet. Awwww us newlyweds, are you puking yet?

Oh. ONE MORE THING. After all of our hard work, justin did something …..you got it……one more thing "he did not sign up for." He willingly, and with a smile, escorted me with a flashlight over to my plants around 11pm at night, the first day I had planted them, so I could “talk” to them before I called it a night, as was adviced by my inspirational “Garden Mentor” & cultivator of my greenhouse’d veggie plants, my 2nd cousin, Raymond. Yeah – I just couldn’t go to bed without giving my fragile baby plants a little initiation pep talk (grow for me and don’t let me down now dammit!!!) No, it was more like “my sweet sweet veggie baby plants, so fragile looking, I’m wishing you well - now you grow good for me, ok? Because i have never done this before. And this was ALOT of work to get you here.” I spoke those words in my soft high pitched hank-tone voice, so if they’re anything like my dog then they’ll gaze up at me every time I near them, always with so much love in their little baby plant eyes, and they’ll live on this earth with the main goal of wanting to make me happy. If only I could win their love (& ensurance of heavy veggie production) with treats, like I do with Hank – I suppose that would be called WATER, huh ☺

You can check out the link below for an Updated Slideshow of our Garden.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=cce4pp5d.3fwbs5sd&x=0&y=-whwake&localeid=en_US

DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR, You Thirty Somethings

2008-06-20T14:00:00.003-04:00

So this post is for all those friends of ours that are those "Thirty Somethings". Do all yourselves a favor - and bust out the Rage. Rage Against The Machine, what a way to bring in the morning sun at 5 am when driving through the Green Mountains. This spring Justin and i headed to Vermont & NYC. We didn't set out to drive straight through, because like the morning slackies we both are we got on the road at 5 PM, duh! But we found oursevles in a pickle, no where really to stay so towards the 10th (of the the 12th) hour of this drive we found ourselves a replacement for Justin's Mountain Dew Code Red and my, well i don't drink coffee so my quick-wake-me-upper. What a great 50 minutes & not to mention very effective way of waking one's ass up during a long drive! It had been way too long since that angry, dreddy, venting, u.s. government despising kick ass band played through our stereo. so bust it out!! i do think ya'll just might thank me for the suggestion. Complimentary Preview link, Bullet In The Head, Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkuOAY-S6OY&feature=related

HOLY SCHNEETOES: David Cook

2008-06-20T13:30:00.001-04:00

So i am one of those. One of those people that watched American Idol through the winter into the spring. And Justin would oblige me towards the last few weeks of the show and watch it with me too. Often times he would find me raising my voice in either complete joy or utter disgust after a performance of one of the finalists. The disgust i can tell you ALWAYS followed that idiot dreddy white boy Jason Castro (thank god america didn't crown him the winner otherwise i would have had to boycott the show next year, 4th place for that dipshit was enough to give me the dry heaves more then the Dragster coaster at Cedar Point). Anyway....David Cook - Holy Schneetoes! He could not have been more deserving of the May victory. On the April 15 show he was forced to choose and perform one of Mariah Carey’s songs. Now, you wouldn't have to force me i am a BIG fan of hers & have no problem admitting it, as you see i have a very wide range of music taste, Rage & Mariah, does it get anymore polar opposite then this? however, i thought to myself, how the hell is this rocker dude going to pull this off, doing a song that usually involves a five-octave vocal range, without sounding ridiculous. Well, he managed to pull his style into it and it was awesome! He chose to perform Carey's “Always Be My Baby” & not only got a standing ovation from yours truly in her living room with Hank next to her side wondering what the hell his mom was clapping so hard for but he received the first standing ovation from one of the judges, Randy. Check it out....and if you don't like this please keep it to yourself rather then posting a comment on our blog that will only upset me tremendously ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM4Ct-64PGk

SHOUT OUTS

2008-06-20T13:00:00.012-04:00

• April. Lola’s 1st bday! Lola, you are so sweet. And i do believe, with your very first year behind you, that you have successfully bumped Marylin Monroe out of the "most photographed female" slot - this of course could have never happend without the help of your mom & her non-stop snapping of her digital camera! I know, I will be the exact same way don't any of you worry!

• May. Amy’s NYC National Stationery Show! Congrats to my sister, it was as TRUE Success!

• May. Raymond – you are awesome! Thank you for answering my countless emails of questions & for all your advice & guidance during this whole gardening venture! And let's not forget one of the most important things....the plants you greenhoused during the winter.

• May. Sam & Erin ENGAGED! Congratulations! We can't wait! Wedding Date: October 11, 2008 in Portland, OR

• May. JP & Boot welcomed their second son! Congratulations you guys!

• May. Justin's cousin, Erin, Graduated College with Honors! Congratulations Erin!

• June. Kelsey is an official Northview High School Graduate (with Honors)! Talk about feeling kind of old, i went to Northview and to think i was up on that stage 16 years ago being handed MY dimploma - it is really weird to me.

• June. Rhonda adopts her 3rd doggie! Hank can't wait to meet her some day :)

• Julie & Brian are expecting their second baby soon! Congratulations you guys! And this time it's a girl, one of each how perfect :)

• Tracy & Brian expecting their first baby soon! Congratulations you guys!

Until Next Season......Enjoy Your Summer!

2008-06-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

JEN, STEP AWAY FROM YOUR SHEARS: Weapon of Destruction

2008-04-05T19:00:00.000-04:00

Uh, yeah – so how hard can it be to trim your own bangs? And why spend the $12 to have it done by your stylist in order to get that perfect slanting angle effect you have going on? Well I can now tell you why. I suppose because in the process of utilizing the “vertical cutting technique” with your professional haircutting shears you so happily purchased at Sally’s Beauty Salon you may just slide up INTO your right eyebrow each & EVERY time when you THINK you are only sliding up in under your bangs.....AND....... proceed to cut away half of your right eyebrow down to virtually nothing. All unbeknownst to you. Then, leaving you with the daily morning task of metamorphosing yourself into some kind of Hollywood Professional Makeup Artist in order to apply just the perfect amount of eyebrow pencil to the area where bare flesh now reveals itself, where just days ago there were brook shield-like eyebrows. Let’s just say I have an appt. next week with my girl at the D.Broadway Salon. And I was SO into the bang trimming process, let me tell you. I was just going to town…..snip snip snip snip. Snip. Snip. Didn’t even notice until I was all finished, stepped back from the bathroom mirror, made my Zooolander-model-face-look feeling all proud of what I had just accomplished free of charge – and then it came out “WHAT THE #*!#*!!?”

Justin's Exciting News!

2008-04-05T18:48:00.005-04:00

For any of you that actually read through our blog when I launched it back in February, Pre-Florida Auction, I had mentioned to “stay tuned for some very exciting news about Justin in our next update”. Well here it is – Justin launched RealtimeBid.com – and it was a success! I’m extremely proud of him and I’d be lying if I didn’t say also very “over it”. Let me clarify: I’m over his strenuous winter work schedule because this little iddy biddy tiny addition to his already normally INSANE winter workload with Yoder & Frey (do you sense the sarcasm?) was CRAZY this time around!!! BUT lets bring this back around to the positive, right!? RealtimeBid.com was a success and HE DONE GOOD, REAL GOOD! And he looked even better in his custom RealtimeBid.com sweatshirts that i got for him & his crew. Oh and yeah – a special thanks to my dad’s design firm (also my employer), Lesniewicz Associates, who had a little something to do with the logo, branding and identity of this whole thing (wink). For more details click on justin’s website http://www.realtimebid.com/

“JLo MOMENT” #1: February

2008-04-05T18:46:00.002-04:00

So I am lucky enough to occasionally experience in life what I refer to as a “JLo Moment”. Something someone more like Jennifer Lopez or Katie Holmes would get to do – NOT ME. And I do not mean to come off as presumptuous or bragging when (on the rare occasion) I have an opportunity to share these on our blog (I would like to hope you all know me better than that). And I think we all have had our JLo Moments here and there at SOME point during our lives. This time, I was especially fortunate enough to have two JLo Moments, one in Feb. and one in March. This February it presented itself when I slid on my new designer shades at the sunglass counter at Neiman Marcus in Orlando, Florida while in the middle of Britny and I’s 2nd annual florida shopping spree (I do believe the two of us do bring a new meaning to the phrase “shop till you drop” – holy schineetos it’s fun!). And Yes, I went on a serious mission this year – TO GET MYSELF SOME DESIGNER SHADES. Period. No messing around. I’m sick of the cheap ones I’ve settled for over the last 25 years. And I wanted something beautiful! While some people might choose to get an ipod or perhaps laser hair removal in their I’m-very-hungarian-bikini area– well I chose shades with this one. And here they are in the pic above and I frickin’ LOVE them. I didn’t want a lot of bling on the sides, my requirements were NO large letters or obnoxious branding anywhere on them. It wasn’t about what brand they were – I could really give a shit. but it WAS about having some kick-ass stylish shades! Well, thanks to Britny for telling me that I would not be walking away that day without those shades on my face as my own – so, Mission Accomplished. And as brand new moms for the first time often say “I didn’t think I could love something so much” – I sure do love these babies! And I am also aware of the fact that I may just now resemble Mary J. Blige with these things, well if it weren’t for my white skin, true lack of a singing voice & ZERO dance moves. My best purchase over the last 5 years by far!

“JLo MOMENT” #2: March

2008-04-05T18:45:00.003-04:00

Flying First Class for the first & very more than likely the LAST time ever, to Las Vegas was a true JLo Moment! Thanks to my mom & dad-in-law. But sadly & to my ONLY disappointment during that flight, as once seen in a classic episode of Seinfeld, I did not enjoy a hot towel on my face NOR were we served hot fudge sundaes. However, I was served water in this fancy glass – you do not get that in coach now do you. It was luxurious I must say, any of you who have flown 1st class before know what I’m talking about; the extra room on a 4-5 hour flight was wonderful! I truly appreciated the experience. BUT. I shall not get used to that kind of treatment I know (Justin, you can relax now). so NWA coach look for the return of Jennifer Clark cuz I’m heading back to my reality next time! BTW – if any of you go to Vegas you should do yourself a favor and go see LOVE (The Beatles Cirque). It was fabulous & you may just find yourself like me – fighting the urge to cry on two separate occasions while taking in the mind-blowing music of The Beatles as it playfully coordinates with the theatrical skits being performed on the stage just a few feet in front of you. As much as I wish I was joking (or more like as much as YOU probably wish I was joking here) I am dead serious ☺ it was awesome. The Beatles are truly the best band to have ever existed and will be the best band in history to ever exist. I don’t even know who could argue that one – an idiot I suppose. ☺

Night out on the Town: Florida

2008-04-05T18:39:00.004-04:00

1st pic: Hadley, Jen, Rory. The night out was great other then the fact that my feet felt like they were giving birth to my shoes. It really sucked my ass (that S.M.A reference is for you Brian M. & John Jr.). Yea, this time the "fashion over function" philosophy that i often find myself living by was NO GOOD that night. Dancing was the function part of that evening & the shoes weren't cuttin' it. 2nd pic: If Justin doesn’t look HOT in this shirt that I picked out for him in Winter Park, FL then slap my face hard.

“The Reunion”

2008-04-05T18:37:00.002-04:00

After being gone for almost 3 weeks in florida back in Feb.….Hank & I Reunited. I love him so much and I’m still waiting around for that shot you can give your dog that will let them live on forever with you. Come on research team in somewhereville, get on that please.

Anti-Pessimistic Training 101

2008-04-05T18:35:00.006-04:00

Anti-Pessimistic Training 101. Instructor: Justin. Pupil: Jen.

So Justin thought it was a good time to condition his wife to not think so pessimistically (i like to refer to myself as a “realist” not a pessimist” thank you very much!) and he did so by placing his ever so full glass of apple juice on the tiny small barely there edge of our couch right next to us. Lets just say I felt continually tense through our “you are FINALLY home” cuddling session while catching him up on the season finale of October Road. For real though, it only took a few minutes for me to forget completely about the “reality” of that glass spilling all over us and instead enjoy having my adorable husband HOME - FINALLY. Special Note: in addition to seeing LOVE, The Beatles Cirque show in Vegas, do yourselves another favor and get Simply Apple – it is so good and good for you, pure unconcentrated real apple juice. Try it it’s super yummy.

“BLAST FROM THE PAST” FEATURE

2008-04-05T18:33:00.002-04:00

We are so “money” in this shot. 1988. Toledo, Ohio. Me, my sister Amy, one of my very best friends, Britny and her sister Ashley, Paige…and lets not forget a special mention to…..OUR PERMS. oh yeah, and Eddie Money. Need I say more?

Kelly, the Barn…..and THE BOOTS.

2008-04-05T18:32:00.002-04:00

Contrary to this photo, there actually was a ton of snow on the ground. But this was inside the arena of the barn where my aunt joyce works. My sister and I went to go visit the 4 baby horses (sorry to the horse lovers out there for my apparent lack of horse terminology). During our little field trip I found myself in somewhat of a dilemma. Well two actually. ONE – that the blonde hair you see on my vintage ski boots is…..well…..horse hair. Yikes. I was kind of feeling bad as I would pet the horsies in the stable while at the same time rationalizing my xmas gift from my sister 5 years ago with the assumption that they don’t hurt any horses to make these boots. Right!? It’s just their hair??? And my 2nd dilemma – I didn’t want to get them dirty having to go across all that dirt in the barrel arena of the stables. so Kelly, Joyce’s co-worker, was nice enough to carry me across after he had met me for the first time just seconds earlier. Thank you Kelly, next time I’ll be sure to show up in my shit-kickers and maybe I’ll even throw a pinch of chew in my side cheek. Not only so I don’t have to be Paris Hilton worrying about my damn boots getting dirty but also due to the fact that with that getup of mine that day at the stables & barrel arena – the only thing missing was the trailing sound of that song from Sesame Street “One of these is not like the others” as I would walk on by passing everyone else in that barn that day. FOR SURE I’ll have some shit-kickers on next time. so perhaps I have the chance of blending in at least a tad bit.

Hank’s "Friend of the Month Club” Feature

2008-04-05T18:21:00.006-04:00

Figured for this feature, Hank's Friend of the Month Club, I could "kill four pets with one stone” using these photos – oooo, that doesn’t sound good. Anyway – this is around xmas time at my parents house. Hank's Friends are: my parents dog Max, my sister’s dogs Ben & Maizey….and then there’s the “black sheep” of the family, or shall I say Black Dog…Hanky-poo.

Jodi & John Are Engaged!

2008-04-05T18:09:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to my cousin in Denver, Jodi and her now fiance, John!

Meet My True Love For The First Time - Or Again

2008-02-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

WARNING: May Need Your Vomit Bag for the following two introductions. Justin, 33 years old, recently married – to me! IT Dude, Sales Guy, and other things i know i'm forgetting for Yoder & Frey Auctioneers, Inc. http://www.yoderandfrey.com Currently he is working very hard in preparation for their 34th annual florida auction. I am missing him so much but will see him soon in the sunny state & i cannot wait!! If i had to choose one word that describes my husband, in my eyes at least (and in many others i would imagine) it would be this one simple word: WONDERFUL. You can look for some very exciting news about justin's current project in our next blog update!

Meet My 2nd "true love"

2008-02-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

LAST WARNING for vomit bag, after this one you can put it away. This is Hank....he's my 2nd true love. He is the most precious dog you could ever know (even if you have your own. - hehe). Hank is a very busy dog - he currently holds a position at Lesniewicz Associates as the company mascot http://www.designtoinfluence.com where he has enjoyed this job going on 2 yrs. now. His duties are to sit down, sleep, beg for food from all the employees come lunch time, greet our clients and visitors when they come through the door.... but his most important job responsibility is to look cute while doing all of this - let's just say he has "job security" because he never fails at his job tasks!

People might think i'm nuts about this dog but you must know a little history. I rescued him back in 1998 from some farmers when he was 4 years old; they were giving him away because he "....is lazy and doesn't do anything around here." ok - i'm thinking isn't always looking cute alot of work, geez, "doesn't do anything"! Hank was terrified, never had been in a car, wanted to go back home....but eventually he turned around and now he makes such a great friend. He's been by my side through great and tough times and he's great company while my husband travels. And any dog lover would understand that i am NOT nuts. I just love my dog. How couldn't you love Hank....just look at this photo of him!

2007 Recap #1: Our Rehearsal Dinner Night

2008-02-05T23:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, i plead guilty to public intoxication. This was 19 hours before i said "I Do" and approximately 4 hours before i unexpectedly passed out in my hotel bed and locked my VERY SOON to be husband out of our room for the rest of the night – or what was left of it at least! Now remember this was all by accident - i'm not sure what i was thinking when i did that shot with Justin (he really should lay off of the booze). Yep, you read it, Justin did a shot– the first and ONLY time i have ever seen my husband drink. As you can see by this photo it is probably best only one of us dabbles in the cocktails once in awhile. In my defense, this is a rarity. Luckily Justin, after trying unsuccessfully for 45 min. to find somebody at the hotel to let him in our room, bumped into the janitor who had the keys to any and all rooms. Good thing that janitor trusted the RIGHT guy, my fiance, and NOT some lunatic! I love you Justin and i apologize again for the mishap there. Phew – i'm glad you showed up to meet me at the ceremony, i think i almost blew it huh!

2007 Recap #2: Shorty Turns 90!

2008-02-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

My grandpa, Sylvester Lesniewicz A.K.A. "Shorty", turned 90 this past November. He hammed it up at his big party - playing air guitar with his cane! Uh yeah, makes you wonder if he REALLY needs that cane if he can play it as a friggin' guitar for 3 minutes straight to a polka song. It should be know that his cane actually functions as an air guitar as well as the stick that he uses to beat away all the chickies that are after him (he is a very popular bachelor on his street in west Toledo!). Grandpa you are the best & we love you so much. And soooooo do the ladies (as evidenced by the dame in this video trying to dance with him but watch as he completely ignores her - he has no time for that, he has an air guitar to play! Click on video above.

2007 Recap #3: The Honeymoon....Are You Still Smelling Horse Poop?

2008-02-05T23:00:00.000-05:00

We drove from VT to Montreal then made our way across Canada to the Upper Penninula of Michigan then back home. Montreal was wonderful. The drive across Canada was beautiful. The U.P./Mackinac Island - well, we bolted after just 12 hours from Mackinac Island because one can only smell so much horsesh*t and fudge - or should i say two can only......thanks but no thanks! So we headed down to my parents place on Lake Leelanau.....aaaaahhhh no horse poopy (Hank of course missed it).

2007 Recap #4: If You Got It Flaunt It.

2008-02-05T22:58:00.000-05:00

If you got it flaunt it. Or if you don't got it, pick some oranges in florida, stuff them in your shirt AND THEN flaunt it. Britny came down to play in florida last year when i was there with Justin. This is the backyard of Justin & Hadley's house in Zepherhills (their grandmother left them her house) - we picked key limes, grapefruits and oranges. Oh yeah, and i got to know what it felt like to have big boobs for a change. Brit, i can't wait for Florida round #2 see you soon!