Honeymoon Part 1: Paris, France

Now that the holidays are over perhaps it is time to get back into the blogging world a bit more and to catch you all up on what has been going around in these parts.  I posted a blog about my wedding oh over a month ago, so I am thinking that maybe now would be the time to start talking about my honeymoon.

For those of you who don't know... I had absolutely NOTHING to do with planning my honeymoon.  This was the one part of the wedding planning that I left completely up to MD.  I knew deep down that I could not plan a wedding and a honeymoon vacation all on my own, and I figured that my attention to detail would be better served in planning our wedding... so it was up to MD to plan this vacation.  After he did such a good job planning our anniversary (and engagement) trip to Williamsburg last year I knew that he was up for the task and that he would do a fantastic job.  And let me tell you... he did not disappoint.

So the honeymoon was supposed to be a surprise for me... but my future mother-in-law accidentally spilled the beans about part one of the honeymoon when the 3 of us were in the car together and she turned to MD and said "Did you get a lock to put on the bridge when you go to Paris?" and then proceeded to get a look of pure horror on her face as MD glared at her from the other side of the car.  Of course in the back seat I was ecstatic because well I LOVED Paris when I went there during my time abroad and I was so excited to be able to go back when I had money and could actually do some of the things I wanted to do the last time I was there.

As it turns out MD did get us a lock for when we go to Paris. And not only did he get us a lock...he got us a personalized lock!!

Our personalized lock for Paris!

So... first stop on the honeymoon... Paris, France!  We left from JFK the Wednesday after our wedding and it was an uneventful flight.  I think we both slept for the majority of it, so before we knew it we were in France!  We took the most expensive taxi ride ever from the airport to the hotel but it was worth it because although we had slept on the plane I was in no mood to try to figure out public transportation.  We got to the hotel... showered... and we were off to explore Paris.

Day 1 in Paris was just spent walking around a bit and trying to familiarize ourselves with where things were located in relationship to our hotel.  We walked along the river and eventually decided to check out the museum of natural history.  While there we saw lots of bones (MD seemed to enjoy this more than I did) and then we walked through the gardens before deciding to head towards Notre Dame.

Mural outside of what we later discovered was an art museum

Museum of Natural History

Giraffe!!

Lots and lots of bones...

Pretty flowers in the gardens

We found a duck!

The line to get in Notre Dame was INSANE so we decided that was something better left for the next morning, but that didn't stop us from taking a bunch of pictures of the outside because the sun had come out and it really just looked too gorgeous to NOT take any pictures. After taking some pictures we decided to walk around the city while heading back to our hotel to call it an early night.

Outside of Notre Dame

Chilling outside Notre Dame

Typical Paris building

Day 2 in Paris we woke up fairly late (didn't set an alarm but thought since we went to bed so early we would get up early... WRONG!) and headed back towards Notre Dame so that we could tour the inside.

Cool street lights while waiting to get inside Notre Dame

Rose Window from the inside... have like 30 pics of this!

Obsessed with the stained glass!

After checking out the inside of Notre Dame we headed over to the bridge so that we could attach our lock and throw the key in the river signifying our unbreakable love!  Let me tell you, it was not easy finding a spot for our lock, but we eventually did and of course I forced the hubby to take some pictures with it!

Our lock!  Notice it is NOT the personalized one... well that is cause this girl managed to forget the personalized on at home... whoops!

Us with our lock!

Next we headed to the BatoBus station to buy a 2 day pass so that we could take the water bus around Paris.  As much as we enjoyed walking, my ankle wasn't enjoying it too much so this way we were able to do some sightseeing from the comforts of a water bus.  The next stop was the Louvre! Unfortunately it was super crowded and since MD doesn't really enjoy art all that much we just walked around the outside taking pictures of the buildings and pyramids before heading towards the Arc. Thankfully I got to see the inside of the Louvre the last time I was in France, so I wasn't as disappointed that I couldn't go in this time.  Plus it gives me an excuse to go back so that I can drag the hubby all around. 

Waiting for the BatoBus with Notre Dame in the background

Hubby taking pictures outside the Louvre... doesn't he look like a pro!

Pyramid outside the Louvre

BatoBus!

We walked from the Lourve to the Arc as there were some neat buildings all around and the hubby wanted to take pictures of them. Can we just say he is a picture taking fiend!  The man took like 900 pictures almost every day of our honeymoon... ok well maybe not 900 every day, but I think the least amount of pictures he took for one day was like 400 maybe. 

Once we got to the Arc we decided that we were going to climb to the top.  Let me tell you... 284 stairs is A LOT of stairs.  We made it to the top though and the view was absolutely breathtaking!  I wish the weather had been better for us, but hey, the view was still pretty!

View from the top of the Arc

Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc

After climbing to the top of the Arc we were beat and decided that it was time to head back to the hotel and to dinner.  We wanted to call it an early night again because well we still had to make it to the Eiffel Tower and we knew that we wanted to get there early the next morning.  We actually did manage to wake up early on Day 3 so that we could get to the Eiffel Tower at a reasonable time.  Before heading to the Eiffel Tower we took a nice walk to the Hotel DeVille.  This was something I hadn't seen the last time I was in Paris, so I was curious to see what all the hype was about.  It didn't disappoint.  I so enjoyed looking at all the statutes carved out along the outside of the building and took a million pictures to prove it!

I LOVED this carousel

Next stop... Eiffel Tower!  So we get to the Eiffel Tower and it is all roped off, there are army people with guns and police every where... needless to say we were confused.  I of course hop on the internet on my cell phone to find out that some Greenpeace people are having a demonstration to protest the "Arctic 30" because the French Prime Minister was about to take a trip to Russia.  We didn't know how long the demonstration was going to last, but we were not leaving Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower so we decided to hang out and see what the morning brought.  Eventually they got the demonstrators down and we were able to go up.  This time we went all the way to the top and even had a champagne toast up there! (Most EXPENSIVE champagne toast EVER btw) After taking a bunch of pictures from all the different levels we headed to the park for a mini picnic lunch.  After lunch we walked around a bit more to just explore and kill some time before we went to our wine tasting

Champagne Toast!

The last thing we had to do on our Paris adventure was a wine tasting!  This was one of the things I was most excited about on our trip.  I LOVE my wine and I was super excited that the hubby had managed to schedule a wine tasting for us while we were there.  The tasting was super informative and of course we tried a bunch of new wines... and found the the hubby might actually like some of them!

Paris was an amazing first stop to our honeymoon!! We had such a great time and we know we definitely want to go back at some point because although we saw so much there was still so much more to see!  

Stay turned for Honeymoon Part 2 to find out where we went for the 2nd half of our honeymoon and to discover how the hubby told me what we were doing!  

Continuing the tradition... something I am thankful for...  Thinking about traveling makes me think about my time abroad.  I am so thankful for my parents and Professora Guerrero for encouraging my to study abroad during my junior year at Bucknell.  Through that experience I grew so much as a person... gained so much confidence in myself... and discovered my love of traveling.  I would not be the person I am today without having had this experience and I am thankful every day that they "forced" me to go! 

*Merry Christmas... from our little family to yours*

We hope you and your family have a very 

Merry and Blessed Christmas this year!!

*Tag You're It... Christmas Style*

Merry Christmas Eve All!!!!

Because I am the world's worst (ok maybe not the worst, but close to it) blogger and have had ZERO time these past couple of weeks I am finally getting around to the Christmas Tag post that Elizabeth from Army Ever After tagged me in oh almost a week ago. In fact I so bad that I didn't even realize that she had tagged me in it until a few days after I was tagged in it.  Here's hoping that 2014 will bring more time for blogging (both reading my favorite blogs and posting things of my own!) as I have so many post ideas... so many pictures on my cell phone that I want to use for posts and so many promised blog posts that I really need to get on this.  But for today I am going to work on the Christmas Tag post because well tomorrow is Christmas and I want to make sure that I get this up before Christmas!

1. What do you love most about Christmas time?  Geez... this is a tough one.  There is so much that I love about Christmas time, but what I think I love the most is having the time to spend with all of my family and friends celebrating the joy and magic of the season.  The hubby and I get to spend a few days with each family reflecting on the past year and overall just having a good time together.  I love to see the joy on our families faces when we give them meaningful gifts that they will treasure for the rest of their lives. 

2. Do you celebrate the season in style or is Bah-Humbug for you?  IN STYLE obviously!  As much as fall is my favorite season, Christmas may very well be my favorite holiday.  I love putting up on tree so that the house smells like fresh pine.  I love decorating the house with ornaments, stockings, pine, etc.  My house definitely has a TON of decorations up and I love each and every one of them! 

Just a few of my Christmas Decorations 

A few more of our decorations

3.  Are you leaving anything out for Santa this year so that he remembers to leave your presents?  As we don't have kids we won't be leaving anything out for Santa... but I do remember always leaving him cookies and milk as a kid... plus some carrots for the reindeer!!! When we would wake up in the morning I remember seeing the empty milk glass, cookie crumbs on the plate and the very bottom of the carrot sticks... I wonder which one of my parents actually ate the carrots.... 

4. What is the gift you are most looking forward to giving?  Every year we give everyone in the family a unique Christmas ornament and I love seeing their faces as they open them up.  This year some of them are extra special as we purchased them on our honeymoon.  It is so fun to give our families these ornaments and then to see them on the tree the following year.  We so enjoy remembering what Christmas we gave the ornament to them for and reminiscing about whatever Christmas disaster happened that year (because yes, there is almost always some sort of Christmas disaster every year... from trees falling over, to forgetting to put ingredients in pies, to ornaments breaking before they get opened... never a dull moment). 

5. What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie?  All time it is probably "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" .... but I also love the Hallmark Channel Movie "The Christmas Card" and will not turn it off if I see it is on.

6.  What is your all-time favorite Christmas song?  I absolutely LOVE "Silent Night"!! I also enjoy the "Christmas Shoes" song... makes me cry every time!  The hubby's favorite song is "All I Want for Christmas is You"... the Mariah Carey version... any other version he does the thumbs down on Pandora.  He is crazy but I can't help but love him!

7. If given the opportunity would you participate in an "Ugly Sweater" party would you and what sweater would you wear? (peruse one on the internet or even one from your own closet)  I would ABSOLUTELY go to an ugly sweater Christmas party... in fact I have always wanted to go to one... perhaps I will host one next year!  I love owls... so I would actually kind of like this ugly sweater T-shirt!

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8. Have you started any Christmas traditions this year that  you plan on carrying forward?  Every year we buy Christmas ornaments for each member of the family and we also always go to cut down our own tree.  We have been doing this ever since we have been together and it is something that we will probably continue to do for the rest of our lives.  Unfortunately we didn't start any new traditions this year... just carrying on ones from previous years.

The Hubby cutting down our Christmas Tree

The Hubby & Me after we cut down our tree!

9. It's Christmas morning... what does it look like outside where you live?  Well with the way the weather has been recently it is hard to say what it will look like.  Normally it is cold, but sunny... sometimes there is snow on the ground.  But seeing as it was just 70 degrees the other day in PA, I am unsure of what to expect this year... but the weatherman says we might get some snow today... so maybe a White Christmas morning?!

10. You just found yourself standing under the mistletoe... who comes up to give you a kiss first?  The hubby of course!! He actually did that to me just the other day when we were at my parent's house! 

Now... TAG, you're it!!  If you are reading this blog consider yourself tagged... but I am also going to tag some of my favorite blogging friends!

Tag Ladies... can't wait to hopefully read your posts!! 

Ashley from Our Mitchell Moments

Erin from Sugar Crumbs

Ashleyrose from A Nelson's Nest

Amanda from From E to V

Elizabeth from Get Busy Living

Trish from Olive Oil Overdose

Maddie Rose from Always Maddie Rose

As always... another edition of who I am thankful for.  Today I am thankful for my hubby.  Throughout the 7 years that we have been together he has ALWAYS been there for me.  He has been my rock.  He has seen me through some of the toughest things that life has thrown my way and he has helped me through all of it.  He is my best friend.  He is the one I can always turn to.  He completes me.  I can't imagine my life without him.  So thank you hubby for being one of the best men that I know.  I love you! 

The Blogmopolitian Quiz

So as I was browsing some of my favorite blogs yesterday I came upon a post entitled "The Blogmopolitian Quiz" and I was immediately intrigued.  It seems that Erin over at Two Thirds Hazel has put together a Cosmo quiz for those of us in the blogging world.  I mean who doesn't love reading the celeb's answers to the Cosmo quizzes... best way to learn some interesting stuff about whoever is on the cover.  Well I decided to take a stab at this quiz... so here you go....

I feel like this is kind of boring compared to the celebs, but oh well... I still had fun filling it out!

Before I go, today I want to say thank you to my parents and to let them know what they mean to me (if you read yesterday's post here ... it will all make sense as to why I am ending with this)

Mom & Dad, Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me throughout my 29 years of existence.  You have made me the woman that I am today.  Without your love and support I don't know where I would be or what I would be doing.  You taught me what it was to be kind, to be loving, to cherish  every moment.  You instilled in me so many great values that I hope that I can one day pass along to my future children.  I know I don't say it nearly enough, but thank you for being such amazing parents and role models to me.  I love you both! XOXO 

What Happened to the Mantra "If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anything at All."?!

I finally have a day off, finally finished writing all of my wedding thank you notes and was all set to write a blog post about Part I of our Honeymoon in Paris.  But before writing my post I decided to catch up on reading some of my favorite blogs and came upon a post that made me rethink everything that I wanted to write today.  Instead of filling you all in on what happened during my honeymoon, I want to talk about something way more important... bullying.

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When people think of bullying I feel like quite often they think of name calling, people being mean to each other, people picking on the "little guy" and things of that nature.  People think of bullying happening in school with children or in college with students being mean to one another.  But people, wake up... bullying is NOT something that only happens with children, adult bullying is a serious problem as well.  While bullying between children is often more physical than verbal/mental... adult bullying usually takes on more of a verbal form.  According to www.bullyingstatistics.org, "The goal of an adult bully is to gain power over another person, and make himself or herself the dominant adult.  They try to humiliate victims, and 'show them who is boss.'"  Often adult bullies were bullies as children or were bullied themselves as a child. Unfortunately it is hard to do things about adult bullies because well most people don't want to go down the road of taking legal action in order to make the bullying stop.  

Bullying has always taken on many forms... physical, mental, verbal, and now with all the forms of technology out there, "cyber bullying".  As of late I have come to realize that "cyber bullying" is a big issue.  

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People take to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, their blogs, other people's blogs, text messages, emails, etc. to at times do nothing but trash talk each other and that is not okay.  These social media outlets while they can do so much good, can also do a lot of harm.  They can make people feel like lesser of a person, they can make people question their decisions, they can make people do crazy things.  I would like to believe that people will only use these things for good, but we all know that isn't true.  I know people will criticize me and say that if people put their life out there in the social media world that they are opening themselves up to to whatever anyone has to say about it... good or bad.  But... Whatever happened to the mantra "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."?!

Why do people feel the need to comment on a picture saying that someone is ugly? Why do people feel the need to comment on a blog post and tell someone that they are living their life in the wrong way? Why do people post statuses about others demeaning them?  When did the world become a place with so much cruelty?

I am not saying that I am above all of this.  I know there have been times where I have said things that I shouldn't have, and usually after I make those comments I immediately regret making them and wish I can take them back.  None of us are above "bullying" at times.  But what matter is what we do about it.  I have decided that starting today I am going to make sure that I remind someone daily of how special they are and how much they mean to me or others around me.  

Today I want to take the time to let Kaitlyn of Wifessionals know how much her blog has meant to me.  Kaitlyn wrote a blog post yesterday that broke my heart and is what prompted this post today.  From following her blog for the past 6 months or so I have formed an opinion of Kaitlyn that was nothing but positive and I was so hurt to read her post and find that she has been the victim of cyber bullying.  Kaitlyn has such a huge heart and is someone who I believe would do anything for her friends and those that she loves and cares about.  She is the one who started the amazing Cara Box exchange that I participate in.  She is mamma to a beautiful little girl.  She is a woman who cares about her friends and family so much.  She does not deserve to be going through what she is going through.  So today I am thanking Kaitlyn...

Kaitlyn, Thank you so much for all you have done for me.  Without realizing it you have helped me to make some amazing new friends through your Cara Box exchange that I probably never would have met otherwise.  You have made me feel more comfortable in the blogging world.  You have made me realize that it is ok to open up on my blog and talk about what I really feel.  Whether people criticize me or not, I am who I am and I will always try to remember that.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for sharing your stories and for being an amazing mom and friend.  I wish you the best as you continue on the journey of life.  I am sure that God has some great things in store for you!  Please don't ever lose hope and know that although some people may want to bring you down, there are so many others that you have inspired to do great things. 

Cara Box REVEAL

That's right friends... it is that time again... time for the CARA BOX REVEAL!!!!! As many of you know, I first participated in the Cara Box Exchange in August and had a wonderful experience!  In fact I still e-mail quite frequently with my one partner and truly feel like I have made a friend for life in her.

For those of you who don't know what the Cara Box exchange is... it was started by Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals as a way to "Make Friends...Receive Gifts...Share Encouragement". It is basically like having a pen pal like we did when we were in Elementary school, only with these e-mail pen pals we send each other gifts after getting to know one another. The exchange occurs quarterly which gives us plenty of time to know each other and to create a box that truly reflects our partners.

This time around I was paired up with Elizabeth from Army Ever After AND Elizabeth from Get Busy Living.  Funny coincidence that this time I was paired with two wonderful women named Elizabeth because well I am an Elizabeth too!  I wonder if Kaitlyn did that on purpose. This month's theme was "Fall".  Now any of you  who know me knows that this is the PERFECT theme for me because well fall is definitely my FAVORITE time of the year.  I was so excited to be able to put together a fall themed box and was equally excited to receive one!

I sent a box to Elizabeth from Get Busy Living this month and you can check out her Cara Box post here.  Elizabeth is a former teacher who is a momma to an almost 3 year old boy.  She too loves fall and most loves it for sweater weather, celebrating her wedding anniversary and pretty much all things pumpkin (a girl after my own heart).  I thoroughly enjoyed putting a box together that she would be able to enjoy herself, but also with her family.

I received a box from Elizabeth at Army Ever After.  Elizabeth is an Army wife whose hubby is stationed in Hawaii (talk about jealous!).  She loves fall just as much as I do and of course shares my love of pumpkin spice lattes.  I think it was fate that we were paired up together.  I received my box from Elizabeth the other day... after a particularly bad night at work... I swear I always seem to get packages from my Cara Box partners when I need them the most!

Elizabeth sent me a very fun box filled with all sorts of goodies.  I got some chocolates and a charm from Hawaii so I will always be reminded of my new Hawaiian friend (The hubby is excited about the chocolates... in fact when I told him he could have one he responded with "mmmmm I'll have 6 or 7")!  She also sent me some ocean scented bath salts as I absolutely LOVE the beach and now my baths can remind me of sand and salt weather and summer days relaxing lazily on the beach.  She also sent me a fall candle set (I'm not even sure I told her about my candle obsession... so she is good) that smells just like fall.  I can't wait to burn it and have my house smell like all things fall!!  I also received a pumpkin spice sugar scrub for my hands.  I am super excited to try this out because my hands take a beating at work so hopefully this will help them out some.

Overall this was another fantastic Cara Box experience.  I am so glad that I have decided to become a part of this as I have definitely made some amazing friends throughout the experience.  Can't wait until the next one!

The Most Perfect Day... and the ROCKY Road it Took to Get There

Everyone told me that my wedding day would be absolutely amazing and that it would be one of the most perfect days of my life.  I have to admit... I was skeptical.  I was so stressed out in the days leading up to the wedding that I was convinced that it was never going to all come together.  The night before the rehearsal dinner was stressful to say the least.  M and I were up until all hours of the night (ok maybe only til sometime between 1 & 2am) finishing up last minute things for the wedding.  We had spent all day running errands and needless to say I was exhausted, but we had so much to do.  I spent most of my night tying knots... knots for the brunch invites we were tying to the out of town bags... knots around the cards we were tying onto the favors to let people know we were making a donation to charity in their honor... knots around the programs for the ceremony.  I swore that if I never had to tie another knot again it would be too soon! I was also freaking out because the table numbers I had ordered for the wedding that were supposed to arrive on Wednesday were STILL not at M's family's house, so we had to create new ones spur of the moment.  I think they turned out ok, but they were so NOT what I was hoping for!

Program making at midnight

Out of Town Bags

Table #s

Of course I didn't get the best night of sleep on Thursday night and Friday I was ready to go but also super anxious about how the day was going to go.  It did not get off on the right track and when we were driving to Pine Barn Inn I realized that I had no idea where my driver's license was.  Of course we had to check in and had some errands to run and things to do before the rehearsal so obviously I was freaking out that I had no driver's license.  Especially since I had to drive back to M's family's house to pick up my wedding dress and bring it to Pine Barn.  Thankfully one of my bff's and bridesmaids was already at Pine Barn so she was able to come with me to run some errands and to pick up my dress while M went on a search for my license.  Thankfully before we made it back to M's family's house, M got there and he managed to find my license... in the trash. After making it to Pine Barn with my dress things finally started to look up... well minus the fact that we were late for our own rehearsal because we had spent so much time driving back and forth between M's family and Pine Barn.  But all was well, because well the rehearsal wasn't going to start without us.  

Oh I also forgot to mention the during all of this we still had not found someone to play the organ for the wedding.  Our original organist informed us that she didn't feel confident playing the organ that Bucknell had so a couple of weeks before the wedding and despite calling every name that people had given us, we were still no closer to finding and organist.  As our luck would have it, there was an organ convention the weekend of our wedding and that was why we were having such a hard time finding someone.  Thankfully one of my amazing bridesmaids, AV, was able to secure us a Bucknell student to play the organ.  AV's father works for Bucknell and the day of the rehearsal he spent most of his day trying to find someone for us.  He found us an amazing Bucknell organ student who was available to play for us the day of the wedding... needless to say we were super psyched and I was sure that things were finally starting to look up. 

The rehearsal went well and I was very confident that the day of the wedding would go smoothly.  Part of the reason that I was so confident that things were going to go well was that my amazing wedding coordinator Courtney, of By Design Events PA, proved once again that it was one of the best ideas ever to hire her as a day of wedding coordinator.  Courtney was there making sure that the rehearsal ran smoothly and I knew that the day off would go just as smoothly with her there.  We met our organist for the first time at the rehearsal and OH. MY. GOODNESS. was he AMAZING! I know I have said in the past that things definitely happen for a reason, well we definitely couldn't have asked for a better organist to play for us for the big day!

Rehearsal dinner was a lot of fun... got to see a lot of friends from out of town and to spend some time with our wedding party and family members.  After the rehearsal dinner we all headed to Bull Run for a drink before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep for the big day!

Of course I didn't get much sleep the night of the wedding.  I was up to close to 2am writing thank you notes (yes I am that crazy) because I couldn't sleep and I was awake at a little before 6am and ready to get the day started.  I behaved myself and instead of going to get coffee like I had wanted to I texted Courtney to ask her to pick some up  before the day started.  At 7am my bridesmaids started arriving to my room to get ready for the big day.  It was such a fun morning getting ready... AV provided music for us (I wouldn't have expected anything less from her) and we had a great time just hanging out together.  My bridesmaids made me a photobook with pictures and letters that they had all written to me about our friendships and how they would always be there for me.  The book really made me want to cry, but I was trying to avoid it because I was afraid if I started crying too much and blinking that I would blink my contacts out of my eye and I was not about to do that.  Later on my bridesmaids made fun of me because they said I wouldn't be able to blink my contacts out but I was pretty convinced that I could!

After getting ready the rest of the day was pretty much a blur.  There was just so much going on that I can't possibly put it all into words.  A few highlights of the day that I remember included:

- M not being able to look at me because he would get all teary eyed every time that he did

- Dad forgetting to lift my veil up after he walked me down the aisle

- Tripping on my dress walking up the stairs after lighting the unity candle and giving our moms' their roses

- The incredible feeling of joy that I had once we were united in marriage

- Hanging out with our wedding party before the reception

- Seeing all of our friends and family enjoying themselves at the wedding and reception

Now for the part you have all been waiting for... here are a few of my favorite pictures that were snapped by some of our friends and family members throughout our wedding day!

And if you want to see some more pictures, feel free to check out the sneak peak of our professional photos via Carden's Photography here.