Lots to look forward to until...

Busy Season starts in September and ends in February. These are months in which we will be unable to ask for time off of work. Until that time we have planned a few things that we hoping the memories hold us over until February.

On the books we have Christmas in July. This was to be held in Erie and we are (were) really looking forward to it. We barely get to see our families and this would be a nice, one day adventure. That's right, I wouldn't be able to take time off for it. Our manager is taking her vacation that week so we were planning on flying in on Saturday and flying out on Sunday. But Jonah has never been to Erie before and I was really looking forward to showing him where I grew up. Not sure if its still on but we are crossing our fingers. This is this coming weekend.

The we have a visit from Mandy. She is coming back to the states to become legal while in Spain, she needs a visa. She is planning on staying with us for a week. We are excited. Jonah has never met Mandy before. We are concerned because she is allergic to cats and we have 3 with LOTS OF HAIR. By the time all is said and done she might be staying in a hostel. Also we work all. the. time!! We'll never see her. Shes promised that shes great at keeping herself entertained.

Jonah and I have gathered up whatever vacation time we have accumulated and we will attempt to use it mid august. He and I need some time away just for us. We need out of the city and some time to pamper our romance. I think in all we will have 2-3 days off of work and use a weekend. We haven't made plans yet because we don't know exactly how much time I have. But that is something we are hoping to use to build and strengthen our relationship before busy season were we hardly see each other and we are over worked and exhausted.

Anyone know where we can find seeds to plant a money tree? We're apartment hunting and all the beautiful ones near midtown are expensive.

XoXo!
M

No, we were not kidnapped.

Wow are you busy when you have to be an adult. Blogging is something I thought of often but I barely have time these days to spend time cuddling with my Love.

Let play quick catch up. May was nice but stress from work gets the best of Jonah and I and then it affects our home life into June. June was tough. I got a promotion to team lead and it not only brought along a raise but more hours. It seems that busy season hours began for me without it being busy season. The life lesson here is that adjustent is the name of the game.

May and June went by so fast. Here are some photos. Pictures tell a thousand stories. Hopefully this does it...

*Couldnt get the rest to load... will load more tomorrow...

Toes in the grass

Our Saturday was beautiful. We went to Central Park and spent the day.

We finally explored the majority of the famous park in our "back yard". Perfect weather, so much so that I fell asleep toes in grass, head on Jonahs chest. To nap outside was magical. Its been a really long time since I was able to sleep outside or feel grass between my toes.

What a beautiful and inexpensive day. We will be doing this again soon!!

Princess of Brooklyn

We were walking home from the subway after work tonight and we heard loud meowing from the bushes. Jonah said it wasn't ours so don't worry about it but my curiosity got the better of me. So I started calling, "Kitty, Kitty" and sure enough... it was our princess. We were scared to death! We rushed up the stairs not knowing what we would find. Thank God, nothing. The two cats were fine. We weren't robbed. Everything was good.

No idea how Princess got out. All windows were closed. We can only imagine that she snuck out with one of us today on our way to work, went down 3 flights of stairs and out the front door into the bushes. Scary.

The other two are still growling at her. She smells different and has street cred now. But God is smiling on us and our family! We are so blessed.

We Love Sundays (and sundaes!)

Budgeting in the city.
That's what has been on our mind. We have a lot coming up in the next few years and its come to or attention that living in the city and having a savings account seems impossible. We are comfortable. Nothings wrong. But the plan is to spend one more year in the city and then off to the outskirts and become commuters.

Commuters. Not so bad. We would like to get married and start a family eventually. We want to have a yard for our family. Even if its a small one, it needs to be one that we can afford. Here, in the city we love, we will not be able to afford one anytime soon. If I have my way we will move someplace else cool before settling into family life but we'll see.

We tried to see a Tribeca film fest film. Sadly, it was sold out. But we're determined to catch it next year. We wanted to see this film called "The Infidel".http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecafilm/Infidel.html

Well, now that we have done the grocery shopping at 4 different stores, taken our laundry to be done, cooked dinner and lunch for a week, and cleaned the house I think I will finally sit down and enjoy some TV or something.

XoXo!
M

The Flair

The Flair is the name of our new Hoover vacuum cleaner. Jonah went to Mr. Vacuum to make this purchase, came home and put it together. We then prepared to turn it on with childlike excitement. It worked, of course.

This may seem like an everyday, mundane event but to us it was thrilling. We don't generally buy new, expensive things. Most things we buy are used or on sale so to get something new that was costly was such a wonderful feeling.

For Jonah he admitted that he was slightly embarrassed at how excited he was over this event. He always thought that people that got excited about these things were old and lame and now... he's one of them. He has graduated into a new phase in life. The Flair phase, as I have chosen to lovingly name it.

Ah to be an adult.

XoXo!
M

A leak isnt the only thing the neighbor knows about

The sun is out and bright. We were all geared up to take a walk next to the water again. Our favorite super calls and says there is a leak and needs into our place. So we scurry to clean up and I take the trash out. When I go downstairs I run into this older gentleman that asks me if we have a leak. He must be the one living under us, I figure.



Bernie, our downstairs neighbor invites me to his apartment to show me the leaks. Its true he does have a leak. We chat a little and I start to leave. As I'm leaving he grabs a handful of cough drops and tells me, "I hear you coughing a lot". Ah... so much for privacy. Just think about it. If he can hear me coughing, what else can he hear? Ek. Fantastic.


Oh by the way, the leak is not coming from our apartment...

Some Easter pictures

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. - Audrey Hepburn

On the couch with my pink throw and princess at my side listening to collaboration between childhood friends. A musical collaboration. Ben and Jonah are trying to write music. As Ben is playing something beautiful my Jonah breaks in with something that just pulls at the very core of my heart and I look up at him and wonder how in the world I got so blessed. This man holds my heart for all the right reason and even the wrong ones.

I am naturally drawn to my very best friend and I truly could not be happier. Not to say that we arent a normal couple with our mundane annoyances with one another. But my goodness if Im not the luckiest, and most of the time the happiest, darn girl in the whole world I wouldnt know what it even looked like.

This morning we woke up, had our protein smoothies, and took a long walk near the water and talked. We had a fantastic time this morning. We came home and cleaned the house and I went to get my hair washed and blown while the boys worked with guitars.

Tomorrow at the Dvorak-Quiah house we will be celebrating Easter by church and going to an Easter dinner party. We are really looking forward to it. God is so wonderful to us.

XoXo!
M

Weekend Update

Just sitting here on the couch listening to Boy discuss wrestling, "that's what I look forward to most this year", he says while talking about Wrestlemania.

We had a nice weekend. We went out with friends, went grocery shopping, took the laundry to the laundrymat, went to 14th and Union Square, went to Barnes and Nobel, and drempt.

New York is an amazing place where you can be surrounded by hundreds of people and still feel like you doing things alone. Doing things alone, together.

I needed something to look forward to 'this year' and now I have something as well I guess. Details to follow, eventually.

Match making is not for us. Too complicated. Eh! We were trying to hook up two of my coworkers, its all there. Can lead a horse to water but ya cant make it drink. True statement.

Could this weekend have been any prettier?

Alright, bedtime. I doubt it! Perfect! Thank God!!

When it rains it pours

This weekend was fantastic! We spent the entire weekend enjoying the rain, the couch, and a clean home.

There is nothing better than staying home on a rainy day and watching movies on the couch with the one ya love. We spent the entire day watching TBS movies and cuddling. Very relaxing, something we dont know much about.

Then we did the spring cleaning on Sunday! It was fantastic! It didn't take too long but it was way overdue. The whole house smelled of bleach, which I love. I feel like its really clean when its smells like bleach. Then when we were done we took a nap. Sadly when Jonah woke up he discovered that he may have caught a cold!

Boy did he ever catch a cold. Its a pretty icky one. I have loved taking care of him, returning the favor from when I had the flu. We arent sure that it isnt the flu yet. He is only on day one and a half. But we are resting, drinking plenty of water, vitamin C, and some cold meds. He'll be better in no time.

We have been making some "plans" lately. The details will be announced after its official. But we are both really excited!!!

XoXo!
M

We havent updated this in a while

Wow, February 1st was the last time I had time to post a thought. City life is busy and unpredictable. Let me give ya some highlights and give ya a quick update.

Life has been fantastic, aside from the flu I had last week. I found a crappy student doctor at a hospital that I still have no idea where it is. Lets work backwards, shall we?

So today we saw Alice in Wonderland. We have become avid movie goers. We probably see one movie a weekend. It is something we love to do. May sound boring but from two true appreciator's of the arts, movies are a fantastic creative inspiration. Here in NYC we spend $25 for two movie tickets unless they are 3D then we spend $30. We want to start going to more theatre based things. We are looking to join or make a group/ club for it. We are in the the most creative city, we need to start taking advantage of it.

The flu was fun. Finding a hospital that would take someone without insurance was even more fun. So I realized I was really sick last Sunday night/ Monday morning. I decided that I needed to go to the hospital when I started to cough up blood as well as all the other gross stuff. I knew it was because I had been coughing so much but blood is never good. Plus I was welcoming the end of the world.

So I had to look up clinics because I don't have health insurance yet. The health insurance through work is so expensive, really at odds. So I found one that would MAYBE take me and I headed out. I left my apartment at 10:30am and came home at 6:30pm. The place was nearly 20 blocks from the subway station, the doctor may have been a student, and I paid almost $100.

The doctor originally said it was asthma. I said, Ive had that for years and I don't normally have low grade fevers and body aches. So she ASKED ME if I have ever had a sinus infection and if it felt like that!?!?!? Yeah, eventually she said it was the flu. This determination was only made after I said I hadn't had a flu shot. She gave me two prescriptions, one that doesn't work and one that wasn't strong enough. Both of these were for my asthma.

The flu has done a number on my asthma.

The most wonderful thing about being sick is that Jonah took AMAZING care of me. He made sure that I stayed hydrated, had a bedtime, called out two days to rest, I took all the meds that he went and got. Fed me, waited on me, loved me. So sweet. Thank GOD for Jonah. He has been amazing.

We had a lovely valentines day! He took me ring shopping in Manhattan. He got me Tiffanys! He was romantic and more than I could ever imagine. I got him John Mayer tickets. First time Ive enjoyed Valentine Day, ever.

John Mayer concert was very exciting. We had horrible tickets until one of John Mayers staff came around and asked Jonah some JM trivia and HE WON! He got moved down to fifth row!! Unbelievable! The show was super. I was so happy to see Jonah so happy.

Those were the big events really.

Other than that... Work has been stressful. My body has been working against me due to the stress. Not sure why I'm letting it get to me. I wish I were able to just let it be what it is. I need to start saving for the rest of schooling, makeup or psych. I'm ready for a career and I don't see the current place having enough faith in me to move me along the ladder. I'm so glad that that they gave me the chance to move and live in the city I love. I want to do what I love and theres nothing wrong with wanting that.

We have been talking weddings a lot more now. We thought it was gunna be a cruise wedding and now we might be having a Central Park wedding. I don't know. We'll see. LOTS OF TIME! Not even engaged yet. But its what we're looking forward to. We want our dream wedding. So its going to take some time.

Eddie and Beth plus babies are coming next month and we are VERY excited!! More details to follow.

Off to bed.

Lots of Love,
XoXo!
M

So the weekend that I have been waiting for since December has finally come and gone. Virginia family weekend! Jonah and I planned to visit my family at the end of January, since Dads birthday is at the beginning of February, and his family at the end of February (Mom Quiahs birthday is at the beginning of March). We decided to relinquish our car. We got tired of moving it around and further more there was an actual puddle behind the passenger side seat.

Road trip.
When Boy and I started dating we spent the majority of the relationship on the road. We lived 3 hours from one another and tried our best to see each other once every week and a half. The last road trip we made was pretty exciting, so exciting that neither one of us remembered it. We were moving to NYC, the car was loaded, and we were on our way to live our dream, hand in hand. This road trip was different, it was made by two wiser and exhausted New Yorkers.

The departure time was 9pm but due to work issues Jonah closed my car door at 11pm. He jumped in the driver seat and we made our last gas purchase, $42!! We don’t miss gas prices. Seems fair that the last time we filled up the price per gallon would be almost $3. The trip was about 7 hours . We spent the majority of the trip talking about all the road trips we had made, more specifically the positives and negatives of owning a car. I think we both decided the greatest thing about owning a car is the lack of homeless people that have defecated themselves in the seat. I took 2 cat naps and Jonah did all the driving. When we were about an hour outside Richmond the sky opened up and the winter wonderland began. Jonah did such a great job keeping the car on the road . It figures that we arrived at Dads around 6:30am and it looked like Christmas. It felt good to be back.

Family.
We knew sleep was something we wouldn’t get much of this trip. We woke up at noon and went downstairs to say hello to Dad and Fred. It was so nice to see Dad first thing in the morning (or afternoon). We watched the snow fall and discussed going to get Eddie, Beth, and the Babies. We eventually went to their house and had a blast with them. Dad made pot roast in the crockpot for dinner.

The kids have gotten so big. Kayla immediately recognized us and ran into my arms. There are very few hugs that are better than that of a child that you love. She babbled so much at us until she saw Papa and then, “PAPA!!!”. He’s a celebrity over there. Then Beth handed over Crash (Landon). Oh my goodness that baby has gotten big. Such a smiley guy. He crawls so fast too. He follows Kayla around. He wants to do everything shes doing. Wont be long until hes running after her.

Eddie and Beth look great! They seem to be doing very well. They are such a great parents. Its really inspiring watching them with the babies. They always have the best junk food too!!! It was so good to see them and talk to them again. I have missed them so much. We left Beths bag at home by accident so we will be mailing that one back. Eddie wants a Rolex so it back to the streets again. How I love these adventures.

A Sunday Adventure.
We took Amtrak back home. We kissed Dad good bye as we took our late train to Penn Station. This was Jonahs first time on Amtrak. He is loving it! (We are currently waiting in Washington, DC) it’s a long trip but its very relaxing. He has been writing scripts and I have been editing photos to post here and Facebook. Leaving my family is never easy but leaving with the man of dreams and knowing that he will move mountains so that we can return to them make the goodbyes a lot easier.