Tied for Two

Happy Anniversary to us!

It's our 2-year anniversary today. Wow, does time fly!! In many respects it seems like the wedding just happened - I can recall so many parts of the day so vividly. Hopefully that will still be the case in 25 or so years!!

I love you, Shaun!

I got my ladder!!!

My hubby bought me a 6' ladder today - yippee! So, after work (and Jazzercize) I climbed up above our front door and put up the Christmas tree we got for decoration. :) Now all our holiday decorations are up. Here's a few pics of the holiday cheer I've put through the house.

(LEFT) Here's the Christmas tree I was able to put up above the front door with my new ladder!!! :) I know, I'm too overly happy about the ladder. I'm done being happy about it now, I promise!

(RIGHT) And here it is from the outside. Our neighbors have some kind of holiday elephant in their window but it looks like a blurb in this picture.

(LEFT) And now here's our Christmas tree that is setup in the living room.

(RIGHT) And finally, the dining room decorations with our stockings over the fireplace. YES, stockings on a mantle this year - woo hoo!!!

Random things in my head....

A bunch of things have been sitting in my head but I haven't had time to really blog about any of them but here's a few....

...My friend Jen has a lot of 2s in her phone number. I'm calling her now to wish my Goddaughter, NataLee, a happy 1st birthday and noticed that every other number is a 2. Crazy!

Okay, maybe not that one but it is kind of strange and I thought I'd share. :) Here's the real list...

...I'm becoming a strong believer in the idea that if it's really freaking cold outside, there should be snow on the ground. I'm not liking this bitter cold and nothing pretty and white to look at.

...I've been going to Jazzercise for the last month and trying to do Shaun's Cardio Tennis classes once or twice a week. I don't SEE a difference but my endurance is up so that's good. I think. Just wish I would SEE results. Oh well, I feel pretty good and I've been going 4 times a week for a month so I give myself a gold star for keep with it thus far.

...I keep looking for flights to South Korea to go see my cousin Rachel. It's sooooooooo expensive. What is up with that? I even checked the prices to go from Australia. Get this - it's more expensive to go from there than it is from here. I don't get it.

...Shaun is buying me a 6' ladder tomorrow and I'm very excited. Strange thing to be excited about, I know but there's good reason. We have this ledge above our front door and I have a tree all decorated that I want to put up there but need a ladder. Now that I'll have a ladder I can decorate for Chrismas but maybe put other things up there throughout the year instead of it just being this empty space. Either way, I'm excited about the ladder and I'll post a picture of the tree - inside and outside of the house once I'm done. Maybe then you'll get my excitement. :)

...This time last week I attended the funeral of a friend. He was 38 years old and died of pancreatic cancer. It was so hard to wrap my head around how quickly it all happened. He got his diagnosis and a little less than 3 weeks later, left us. His wife is so strong and I was so impressed with how well she was doing. The whole situation really made me think about how quickly your life can change.

...We're going to Australia again in January. We're both very excited. We didn't think we were going and had to give Shaun's parents the news. It was so sad but it was so nice to be able to tell her that things changed and we'll be there. She was so happy she cried. We're so loved! :) Georgia, our niece, will be going to her first day of school (1st grade!) while we're there so it will be fun to celebrate that with her. Oh and Shaun's sister bought a house with a pool - cannot wait to jump in!!!

...When is the price of food going to go down? I'm SUPER psyched the price of gas dropped but what about the sky-rocketing prices of milk and bread??? It costs too much to eat. I feel like I cannot go into the grocery store and spend less than $20 - even if I'm just getting milk, bread and maybe some eggs or cereal. It's RIDICULOUS. I love my milk but if this continues, I'm going to have to water down my skim milk. Wouldn't Shaun love that?!?!?!

And the last one because like the first, it's happening right now...

...my email has gone bonkers! I don't know what happened but I have gotten over 10,000 emails in the last 4 hours. All duplicates. I kid you not. I have gotten about a 100 or more of the same goodness knows how many emails and it's STILL going!!! I don't know what is going on but I cannot get it to stop and it's so frustrating. I am ready to throw my computer out the window. If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE call me - I'm desperate to make it stop.

Alright, time to go pick up my husband from work. Yea, carpooling! Boo fighting over who is going to decide what we're going to have for dinner and I can promise you that will start within minutes of him getting in the car.

Ta ta for now!

Celtics Game

We ended up going to an AWESOME Celtics game last week. The Celtics started out not looking so hot but once they warmed up, they were able to tie up the score several times. Of course, with the score so tight the last 10 seconds of the game were the best by far. The Celtics were ahead by 2 points but Atlanta scored a 3-pointer. With 7 seconds to go the Celtics got the ball and made a shot to put them ahead by one with half of a second remaining. Luckily Altanta couldn't score and Boston won by ONE point. It was intense!!!!

P.S. Uncle Kelly - sorry they the Pistons - maybe next time!

HUGE snowflakes

Driving to work yesterday was interesting. We left the house and it was raining/spitting snow. About 4 miles later we were surrounded by H-U-G-E snowflakes. The snowflakes were so big and falling so fast that the ground looked like it had been snowing for a couple of hours and instead it had been a couple of minutes. About 6 miles later it turned back to rain. It was definitely bizarre. Luckily I had my camera in the car so I snapped a few shots (don't worry, I wasn't driving and taking pictures - Shaun was behind the wheel!!!)...

Camel's Hump

This is a shot I took on the way to work yesterday morning. It's definitely hazy but I think that's why I like it so much. The mountain is Camel's Hump...because it looks like a camel's hump, I guess. Not so sure about that but thought it was pretty and was glad I had my camera.

Going to B-Town for B-Ball!

Next week Shaun and I are headed to Boston for a Boston Celtics home game. I'm very excited. I've only been to 1 quarter of a professional basketball game (the Portland Trailblazers last Nov) and Shaun hasn't been at all. We got the tickets through St. Michael's (my college) so I'm hoping to run into some of my friends from school since it's an alumni event. Hopefully it will be a good game - they're playing the Atlantic Hawks. Oh well, it's Boston - it will be fun no matter how the game goes. :)

Elections 2008

This year's election has been really cool in many ways. I got my first out-of-classroom experience in politics my junior year of high school at the National Youth Leadership Conference in DC and another one in Valley Forge, PA. I remember liking both and learning and ton. Same with Girl State. Then I did that "internship" experience during the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego. Now THAT was captivating. I will mark that event as what really lead me to have any kind of interest in politics. And it wasn't just becuase of all the cool freebies though the Republican Mac-N-Cheese was pretty darn neat.

Anyway, that's not the point. As a PoliSci major in college I felt like it was only the PoliSci students plus some other students that ever cared about politics. And then when I got out of school I felt like nerd because I was interested and people around me didn't seem to be so much. In the last year I feel like this election has created a culture where people care. Whether you supported McCain, Obama or even Nader, there was conversation. So much conversation it seemed like that people who didn't usually care wanted to know what everyone else was talking about so did their homework and got into the discussions. Now, I'm not saying everyone got involved and this was the election to make things perfect but it did make a BIG difference.

Shaun was unable to vote but he cared just as much as anyone I knew who could vote. I think this was an election he would have loved to have been a part of as a voter. History was made this week and no matter who you supported, if you voted you were part of that and THAT is pretty cool in my mind. I hope that this passion continues and people still care about what's going on for years to come. I think it's great that the stereotype of a US president having to be an old, white, Christian man has come to an end. I know not all change is good but I'm going that have faith that this IS good change.

And, I'm hoping this was enough to spark Shaun into getting his citizenship to be a voter in 2012 and really be a part of it all. :)

King - Queen - FULL (of beds)!

On Sunday we went over to New Hampshire to see the Stephensons again. Melissa and her hubby Sam generously gave us a king bed -with frame! - that they no longer needed. It was fun to see the kids again. Shaun joined Sam, Sky & Edwin on a little mission to move a motorcycle. While they were gone I took Ella for a walk and then visited with Missy while Ella "did the dishes." I have never seen a child so content at a kitchen sink before - she would have stayed there all night if we let her!

We put the new king bed in our room, the queen in the front bedroom and kept the airmattress/futon full-size bed in the office. Now we have lots of options for people when they spend the night. And, let me tell you, Shaun and I both loved our queen bed but this king bed is FABULOUS! We are so spoiled!!! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween was fun this year - we actually had some trick-or-treaters! Since we knew we'd have visitors we decorated a bit with carved pumpkins, glow-in-the-dark spider web, a door decoration and even some orange lights!

I carved both pumpkins so next year Shaun is going to have to help. Especially since he chose such a big pumpkin and then barely did anything to it because "it smelled funny." LOL!

Two of our favorite trick-or-treators were Kaelani and Anna. Oliver didn't quite make it but he sure was CUTE!

Silly Hill Pumpkin Glow

Thursday night the Hoppes invited us to join them at the Silly Hill Pumpkin Glow. Though cold, it was fun to see all the pumpkins. The one to the left is of a sailboat and was one of several that were setup on the top of a waterfall. It looked very cool.

One of the paths had the rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle carved out. Very creative. At the end was 4 pumpkins. 1 was the moon and then 3 others were situated to look like a cow jumping over the moon. Here's a picture of us that Dave so kindly took.

Welcome Home, Grace!

Miss Grace Elizabeth Lawrence came home from the hospital today! We're so glad she's out of the hospital and doing so well. Our thoughts are with her as she continues to grow at home with Mommy & Daddy.

We can't wait to see you!

First Snow of Winter 2008/2009

This is so depressing but we got our first snowfall of the 2008/2009 winter. Now, it's not unusual for Vermont to get snow before Halloween but THREE inches?!?!?! That's just nuts!!!!!

Luckily it's supposed to warm up and melt for kids to trick-or-treat on Friday but it's still sad that it happened. We have long enough winters as it is here, we don't need accumulation snowfalls before Thanksgiving in my humble opinion!!

Oh and OF COURSE...we got 3" at our new house...they got barely a dusting in Waterbury/Stowe where we work and used to live. LOL - the joke is on us! Oh well, I LOVE our house and if that means we get more snow, then I'll suck it up!

Dining Room

So, we've finally put some paint on the walls. We painted the feature wall in our dining room a really pretty blue to match a photo of Stowe I got as a bridal shower present. The rest of the room will be painted a gray or creamy white.

White Face Lodge - Lake Placid, NY

So this weekend we joined my old boss Melissa and her family at the White Face Lodge in Lake Placid, NY. We had the best time!

On Friday morning we headed over on the short trek, which took a little longer due to the stop we had to make at the new Target. The weather was great so the drive was beautiful! The resort is fabulous!!! We stayed in a 3-bedroom unit, which was so nice and plenty big for all of us (4 adults & 3 kids). The resort has an ice cream parlor, bowling alley, game room and even a 57-seat movie theatre that shows 3 movies a day! Oh and they had three hot tubs and an indoor/outdoor pool with a passage way that lets you move in or out.

Missy's kids have gotten so big. Skyler is now 7.5 (8 in March!) and the twins, Ella and Edwin are 2.5 (3 in April). Edwin perfected hitting Shaun in his manly spot whenever he tackled him, which was too funny. And Ella became my little cuddle buddy. Of course Sky has sprouted like a weed but still gives me good hugs like he did back in the day.

Miss Ella

Mr. EdwinMr. Edwin & Mr. Skyler

Grace Lawrence

I had a very special weekend this past weekend. I headed to Courtland, NY for my friend Lauren's baby shower. Lauren and I went to elementary school together in Yuma, Arizona. She was my best friend. We wore matching outfits, made up dance routines to John Cougar Mellencamp songs and did everything together. When I think back to my time in Yuma (up through the 5th grade), Lauren is probably in 95% of my memories.

Anyway, back to the weekend. I headed to Cortland for Lauren's shower with plans to drive over early in the morning, attend the shower and then spend the night so we could hang out a bit. I got to Lauren's house around Noon and Lauren was dressed and ready to go but said she was having some contractions (more intense than the ones she had been having for the last month). Her due date was Dec. 2nd so she was obviously early. She convinced us she was okay and we all went to the shower.

After the shower we went back to her house where her contractions continued. After an hour of contractions 2-3 minutes apart she called the doctor, who told her to come in. Good thing she did. About 30 minutes after she got to the hospital, which was around 5:30/6ish, her water broke. Lauren's husband Chris called and told me the news (I was at their house). Lauren's mom, Nancy, came over and I drove us up to the hospital. We got there about 7:30pm and Lauren was definitely in labor. Around 10pm the doctor and nurse came in and said Lauren was finally dialated. It was go time.

Nancy and I waited down the hall. About 10:30pm we got a call from Chris telling us Grace had arrived and that if we went and stood by the elevator we should be able to see her as they took her up to the NICU. Of course we ran to the elevator. A minute later they brought out Grace. She looked so good for being 8 weeks early. The picture above is her in her incubator as they were wheeling her to the elevetor. The nurse was so nice and stopped so we could see her and take a picture. Thankfully they did because it was all I got to see of the little one before I left.

Before I left on Monday I stopped by to see Lauren in the hospital. Grace was still doing really well and not hooked up to a respirator - just had some air being blown into her nose to make breathing a little easier for her. She looks so good. She was 4lbs 3oz and 17.25 inches long. She's got her momma's long legs and big feet. She's beautiful and I was so happy to be there with Lauren.

Here's a few pics that Chris posted. I just had to share some more of this little miracle. Shaun and I are so anxious to go back to Cortland once she's finally home from the hospital.

Grace Elizabeth Lawrence
Sunday, October 5, 2008
10:26pm

4 lbs, 3oz

17.25 inches

Rowan Beeman

Our friends John & Amy gave birth to their daughter, Rowan, on Friday, September 5th at 8:21am. She is such a cutie and we're so excited for them.


Of course Shaun has always been a big fan of their dog Katie who is now a big sister. LOL! The shot isn't great but here's Shaun & Katie.









Rowan Shea Beeman
September 5, 2008
6lbs 8oz
19 inches

The Keaton Girls

Today I got the cutest picture of my Goddaughter NataLee. It was the nicest surprise to see it come across my cell phone. The picture looks like an add for Rice Krispies - I love it! Jen must've been getting ready to my Rice Krispy Treats or just realized how freaking perfect that picture would be with a bag of marshmellows on the counter! :)

I haven't seen NataLee since I was down in North Carolina in April when I met her and her big sister, KayLee, for the first time. She's already gotten so big - I can't believe it! Here's a picture of KayLee and NataLee with me during my visit. I love these girls and their momma is such a great sister and friend. Love you, Jen!!!

With Andy Murray

This is the picture I referenced in one of my other posts of Shaun and I with Andy Murray. He's from Scotland and played Roger Federer in the final of the US Open this year after beating Nadal in the semis. This picture was taken after he lost the final. I thought it was really cool that he was so willing to take a picture with us AND smile after such a heartbreaking loss. But, he's a super nice guy so that shouldn't have surprised me too much.

Hola from Madrid...finally!

So, I am really not doing well with blogging while I'm away. Today is my last day in Madrid and I've FINALLY sat down to post a few pics. How sad am I?

Madrid has been awesome. The city is so beautiful, the people so friendly and the food so good! (speaking of food....the oldest restaurant in the world, Botin, is here in Madrid. Unfortunately we never got to eat there but I did get a picture of it!) The weather has been FABULOUS and I'll be coming home with a tan even though I was wearing SPF 45. Yesterday morning was a litte nerve-racking due to rain but luckily patience paid off and the clouds went away and the sun came out for a beautiful afternoon. This morning has been a little wet but I'm leaving so as long as it's not raining in Paris, I don't care.

I didn't really do anything tourist-y while I was here besides the city tour I had booked for our group. Other than that we did a lot of walking. One afternoon we came across a guy that had made himself into a statue. He was covered in clay and only moved if you put money down. Over the course of our few days we came across a few instances of this live art but he was definitely the best. I think it was the way he incorporated himself into the whole scene.

The only crappy thing about this trip is I realize now as I sit here going through all my pictures is that my dad and I never took a photo together this whole weekend. No one would probably know that we were even in the same foreign city at the same time if it weren't for some group photos. Oh well, I had a great time with him nonetheless - pictures or no pictures! Hopefully he enjoyed. It seemed like he was pretty into the tennis once he figured out the scoring.

And, the tennis. The tournament was held in a bull ring!!! It was VERY cool. The matches were UNBELIEVABLE and though Team USA lost, they did a great job. Four of the five matches were so good and the doubles match - the only one we won - was probably the best match I've seen in person.

Well, I'm in the hotel lobby waiting for airport transfers for my clients. Three are gone (including Dad's) with two more to go, including mine. Opps, strike that - 4 gone and mine's next. I'll try to post some more pictures from Paris. And NOT of the Eiffel Tower. LOL!

New Travel Update

On Tuesday I'm off to Madrid as originally planned for the Davis Cup. Instead of coming home on Monday (22nd), I'm actually heading over to Paris for a few days to check out some hotels for the 2009 French Open. Now I'll be home on the evening of Thursday, September 25th.

Don't know how much time I'll have to do postcards from Madrid but I'll try. If anything, I'll take lots of pictures and post them here.

New York, New York

Well, the rest of our time in New York City for the US Open went pretty quickly. Shaun came down Tuesday morning of the second week. It was so nice to have him there. We even put him to work! :)

Later that week I got to see an old friend I hadn't seen in AGES! Merritt and I were in the 7th & 8th grade together in Monterey, California. We haven't seen each other since Christmas of 9th grade when I flew back for a visit. Now she is an architect in NYC and we crossed paths online. Unfortunately we weren't able to meet up at the tennis but we did get meet over some yummy pastries and caught up over a nice sunny walk in the SOHO area.

The tennis was great. James Blake lost to another American, Mardy Fish but Mardy made it to the quarter-finals, losing against Nadal. At least he took a set off him. Another American, Sam Querrey also did really well. Scottsman Andy Murray kicked some butt and played Roger Federer in the final. That night, Shaun and I were lucky enough to meet Andy. He was so nice about taking pictures with people even though he had just lost the US Open.

Speaking of pictures, Shaun was almost part of a paparazzi attack. The day before we left he went shopping (without me!) and found himself facing a whole bunch of cameras. He soon figured out he must've been close to someone famous. He was. Turns out he was walking right next to Nicole Richie and her daughter. I don't know if I believe him since he's in NONE of the pictures online but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. HAHAHA!

US Open

So, the US Open is going well. James Blake is onto the third round along with Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish. Bob and Mike are onto the 2nd round and hopefully Robby wins his 2nd round match.

The weather has been HOT and the sun has many clients retreating into our air-conditioned suite several days already. I have been pacing myself in the sun and watching tennis - still another week to go! Can't burn out too soon. :)

I'm very excited for Shaun to come down on Tuesday morning. He has been working like a dog and needs a mental and physical break from it all.

Okay, time to run - I've got a few more emails to do and then need to focus all my positive energy on Robby since I can't be in the stands yelling support for him.

Check this out!

Yes, that IS a BRONZE MEDAL from the 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS!!! This is one of Bob & Mike Bryan's bronze medals from winning the bronze medal in Men's Doubles. While I really hate the picture of me, it was so cool that I got to wear it that I had to share it. Down below is a close up of the front and back of the medal.

That is probably going to be the coolest thing I got to do during this trip. And the closest I'll ever be to an Olympic medal - hahahaha!!!

Travel Update

So, I'll be hitting the road again soon. Next Sunday I'm headed down to NYC to the US Open for 2 weeks. I'm so excited because I have a pretty sweet job down there. I am the suite hostess in our luxury suite and even though I'm making sure our clients are well fed and having a great time, I also get to see some amazing tennis matches! :)

While I'm down there I'm hoping to catch up with an old friend I went to middle school with in Monterey, California. New York has proven to be a good place for me to reconnect with people from my past. First Lauren (my best friend from elementary school in Yuma, AZ) and now Merritt!!

I'm down in New York until Monday, September 8th.

USA vs SPAIN






Once I get home I'm only home for a week and then it's off to Madrid on September 16th for the Davis Cup Semi-Finals. The USA is playing Spain. It will be a TOUGH match for the USA but I am still optimistic that they'll do well.

On September 22nd I'll be home and most likely here until mid-January. :) Maybe then I can get a room or two in the house painted and some pictures on the walls.