Some Cute Photos

While I was up in PA before starting my new job I took some photos of my Mom, Grandma, Ben & Lexi while we were at the field watching the Jackets play. I forgot to post them when I got back so here you go... (Brother & Sister)
(Grandma & I)
(Enjoying being outside for the day)
(Begging from Grammie)
(My cute Grandma)
(My cute brother)
(Mom giving in to Lexi's begging)

Sister-In-Law Fun

Saturday morning I drove up to WV to meet up with my sister-in-law, Aurie, to go to a purse party. I also got to see my two nieces Arden & Skylar. When I was doing some cleaning earlier this week I found a couple bracelets that I thought they would like so I packaged those up & I also found a pair of shoes that did't fit me anymore so I gave those to them too so they could practice wearing high heels. They were very cute, a black & silver studded pair of stilettos by BCBG. Arden instantly put them on & was walking around with them. They were slightly big but they still looked cute on her. After visiting for a bit & being licked to death by their Chihuahua, Chi Chi, Aurie & I left for the party. When we arrived they were still setting up the sunglasses & jewelry so we went around & looked at the bags that they had. They had some cute stuff but instead of being designer they were designer "inspired". Their prices were reasonable but I really didn't find an actual bag that I had to have. I ended up leaving with a clutch that was one of the cutest ones there. Here's a photo:
The orange on the inside is super bright which I love for summer.
I'm glad I made the trip up for the party because it was fun hanging out with Aurie & having some girl time. When we got back to the house, I went over to my other sister-in-law's house, Kristen, to visit with her & my nephew Jackson. We got to sit & visit for a bit because Jackson was still sleeping when I got there. When he finally woke up he was in such a good mood & very smiley. When I picked him up for a kiss he instantly got distracted by my necklace, like always, but it was so good to see him & he's grown so much since Easter. :o( I told him before I left that he couldn't grow anymore & he needs to stay little.

When I got back home Dan & I went out to Don Pablo's for dinner & then went over to a bar called the Mahalo Cove in Sterling. We stayed for a while, had some drinks & watched the Pens game. We had a lot of fun just sitting & talking. :o)

I got up this morning with the plan of giving blood because I was a few days past my appointment date. Its been so busy with starting my new job that I just haven't had time to make it over there. I got there around 3:30 p.m. & after I filled out the standard form, one of the girls took me back to go through my answers. Like last time, I checked the box that asked me if I've ever had cancer & beside it I wrote "skin cancer". She asked me what type of cancer I had & I told her melanoma back in 2005. She pulled out a binder & showed me that anyone with melanoma, lymphoma, etc. are on the permanent deferred list of giving blood. This surprised me because I had just given blood several weeks ago & still had my reminder that Amanda, the other girl that helped me, gave me. The girl noticed that it was Amanda that took my blood last time & informed me that she was no longer with their company; in so many words she stated that I wasn't the first time a mistake like that happened when Amanda was working. I felt terrible. I wish I would've known that I was unable to give the first time. :o( Now I'm going to have to start from scratch to get that warm, fuzzy feeling again.

Appreciated :)

Today was administrative assistant day, which I had no idea, & my new Firm bought all the assistants a personal bouquet of flowers with a card that said, "Thanks for all you do, this buds for you! Many thanks, DLF" (Duff Law Firm). I thought that was so sweet. It instantly perked up my day & I was already having a good day. I love getting flowers, what girl doesn't? Here's a photo that I took of them sitting on my desk: Aren't they beautiful? I absolutely love them. All the assistants in the office got a different bouquet & I'm so glad I got this one. :o)
I'm getting to know everyone in the office a little more every day & I am definitely enjoying myself. On Monday afternoon I sent all the girls an email asking them what workout routines they were doing to get ready for spring/summer & I asked them if they wanted to join in on a workout routine with me & keep everyone motivated at the office. I received very positive feedback & we have officially started our weight loss routine. Yesterday was my first day doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD & I did much better than the last time I started it; I didn't die like I thought I was going to. I am sore this morning but I'm living with it. I plan on doing the DVD again tomorrow just to ease myself into it & then next week I'll start on it 4 or 5 days a week.
On another note completely separate from work, I was getting ready to leave the house this morning when my neighbor, Laura, called me to see if I could pick Finley up out of his crib because she has a herniated disc in her back. :o( Poor thing. I, of course, went over & got to see my 2 favorite kiddos before I went to work, Audrey & Finley. :o) When I took Fin out of his crib, he was all smiley & giggly...he's such a happy baby & so sweet. What a great way to start the day, the sound of a baby laughing. =]

Blonde Moment

On Friday after work I came home with the intentions of going to Dan's baseball game that started at 6:30 p.m. I got home around 5:30 p.m. & decided to take Lexi for a short walk before I left. We ended up walking down to the tennis courts & then took the long way back to our house; it was humid so she was dying by the time we got back to the house & in need of water. When I opened our storm door & turned the door knob it was locked. (!!) I couldn't believe I had locked us out; I didn't even think about taking my keys because the walk was going to be short. After a few seconds of trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do, Lexi started scratching at the door like, "come on Mom let me in, I'm thirsty!" Poor thing. So I went next door to our neighbors & told Laura that I had locked myself out; I asked her if she had a bobby pin that I could use to try & pick the lock. Haha. Yeah, like that was going to work. But I had to try & do something because Dan wasn't going to be getting home until at least 10:00 p.m. After several minutes of trying to pick the lock & having no success, Laura talked to her husband, Evan, & came up with the idea of him using his ladder to climb in through one of the windows on the second floor. Thankfully I had left one of our bedroom windows unlocked. Here is a photo that Laura took of the two of us: If it weren't for our sweet neighbors Lexi & I would have been walking/waiting around for hours until Dan got home. I don't know what I would've done without them. Thank you so much for your help, you guys are life savers. I owe you big time. :o)

New Job Update

I thought after my last post, "Catch Up Time" that I would be able to keep up with my posts but unfortunately that has not happened since I started my new job on Monday the 12th. It has been busy, busy around our house. Dan has barely been home with his baseball schedule this week; I have only gotten to see him 1 night & that's because his game got canceled. Usually by the time he gets home I'm already in bed & completely incoherent so our visiting & "how was your day" conversation has been put on the back burner. I was finally able to tell him about my first day at my new job on Tuesday night; I'm hoping this schedule does not carry over into next week. :o(

So getting back to the new job...on Monday I met everyone & was given the tour around the office. I was then showed how to use their computers/programs, etc. That took up the entire day because this Firm has so many rules/protocol for opening new cases, etc. As I have said numerous times this week, "this place runs like a well oiled machine" & its completely true. I have never been in an office that is so organized & team oriented. Its definitely refreshing considering I came from an office that was horrible with organization & that was because of my old boss. So by the time 5:00 p.m. rolled around on Monday I had a small headache, after I got home it was a borderline mirgraine; completely light & sound sensitive. I ended up not eating any dinner & going to bed at 7:00 p.m. Just miserable. I even woke up at 3:30 a.m. & the headache was still there but thankfully by 6:00 a.m. it was completely gone.
Tuesday was learning more about office procedure; Wednesday I went to the courthouse to do some filings & picking up orders that the attorneys needed - I really enjoyed doing that & getting familiar with the different courts. Because it was Angie's last day, we closed the office from 12 to 2 so we could have a going away luncheon at P.F. Changs. I had such a great time visiting with everyone. By 4:00 p.m. I started stressing because I was going to be on my own on Thursday. When I left the office on Wednesday I took home some procedure manuals & my notes so that I could study them before Thursday. Now these manuals are not just a small packet to look over, they are several hundred pages! Lots & lots of reading. By Thursday morning I was feeling confident & my nerves were gone. The day went by smoothly without any problems & today went well also. Before I left for the weekend, my office manager, Nancy, told me that she has been receiving very positive feedback from everyone in the office & they think I am doing a great job. I was so happy to hear that. I am looking forward to Monday & starting a full week of work on my own.

Happy Friday everyone & enjoy your weekend!

Catch Up Time

I have been so busy the last week that I haven't had time to post anything that has been going on; I thought I'd use this time to get caught up.

Dan had a great time in Myrtle Beach over spring break & absolutely loves it now that his buddy, Greg, is the head coach. Dan is the assistant & coaches the pitchers which he has been wanting to do since he starting coaching baseball at Herndon High School. Seeing him so happy doing what he's doing makes me happy so it makes me less annoyed when I see him maybe 2 times during the week due to games/practice/lessons. I have been to 3 games so far this season & that is a huge improvement from last year; I am to the point where I enjoy myself while I'm there & I'm not miserable like times before. I am definitely stepping up my wifely duties.
On Saturday, April 3 Dan & I had tickets to the Red Sox v. Nationals game at Nats stadium which we were pretty excited about. I had got Dan the tickets over Christmas so we have been waiting a while to go. The weather was absolutely beautiful & we had such a great time. After we parked we went to The Bullpen & hung out for a little while before we went into the stadium. They had a live band, beer & snack food so Dan & I just ended up getting beer. We then made our way into the stadium in time for batting practice which Dan loves to watch. After we grabbed some dinner, we made our way to our seats which were in the Stars & Stripes Conference Center. As we were walking through the door Dan had said, "we must be in the wrong place, our seats can't be in here". I was holding the tickets so he had no idea where we were sitting. We had access to the fancy bathrooms that they had there because of where our seats were. When we finally sat down Dan said, "wow babe, these are great seats!" I was so glad that he liked them. :o) Here are some photos from our day at the park:
(Right after we walked into the park)
(Dan watching batting practice)

(In our seats)

On Easter Sunday we drove up to Dan's parents house in WV with his Granny Bernie in tow. Dan's Dad had an Easter egg hunt set up in the basement for all the kiddos which was so fun to watch. Here's JT searching for eggs with his spiked hairdo like his Daddy: (He looked so cute in his Easter suit)
(He was later changed into more casual clothes after the hunt so he could play outside)
The weather was so nice so we spent most of the time outside on the deck after we ate lunch/dinner. We had a lot of fun visiting with Dan's family; it felt like it had been forever since the last time we were there. Lexi had a great time also running around the property with no leash on. She did so well playing with Sierra, Dan's parents dog. They always play well together; just like Lexi & Emma, my parents dog.
As most of you know, this week was my last week at O'Connor & Vaughn, LLC & I have to say it was an exhausting 4 days. I got everything caught up & made sure the calendar was up to date with reminders for trials/hearings to the end of the year. I wanted to leave the office knowing that there were no loose ends that my old boss could call me up & complain about. I didn't want to leave the office in the shape it was in when I first started working there which was a total disaster. There were so many problems & deadlines that were missed because of his old assistant. I am sure he will still find things to complain about now that I'm not there but at least my conscious is clear. I left the office on Thursday evening with my head held high, my overtime check in hand & my old office completely empty; it felt great. I can now look forward to starting my new job on Monday.
This weekend Lexi & I are up in PA visiting my family. I realized on our drive up this morning that I have not been home in 4 months! That is just way too long. I am so excited to be back in PA with my family & I am extremely excited to see my Grandmother who is also visiting from the state of Washington so I get to see her all weekend too. The only thing missing is my cute Hubby who had to stay home because of baseball games/practices. We wish you were here Lover!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter & enjoyed spending time with family & friends. :o)