N-I-A-G-R-A wrong. N-I-A-G-A-R-A right.

OK I admit it! I was spelling Niagara wrong this whole time! Well, in my brain at least. I'm not sure I have ever had to write down the word. . . but up until a few days ago I definitely would have been corrected by spell check. I learn so much when I visit new places! Another thing I learned is that pretty much every attraction in Niagara Falls is closed for the Winter. It's a good thing Zach and I like eachother so much or else we would have been bored out of our minds. 

We finally arrived at the Red Coach Inn in Niagara Falls Wednesday night around 6:30pm. Right when we got there we were amazed at the giant billowing tower of mist that rose above the falls. Though we were a couple blocks away we could still hear the pounding sound of the water crashing down far below. The Inn is right across from the rapids that lead into the falls. At dinner that first night we looked over and saw the rapids thrashing along. So dang powerful. 

Thursday morning we woke up to an amazing breakfast. Seriously. Delicious. I had Eggs Benedict two days in a row. Now that's a vacation! After breakfast we grabbed our passports and drove on into Canada. We were immediately greeted by smiling faces and warm hugs. The Mounties were there to guide us on our adventure. Not really, but wouldn't that have been great. The day was spent staring at the powerful falls, driving deeper into Canada to visit a really cute little town, Niagara on the Lake, finding ourselves on Lake Ontario, "It's so foggy you can't even see the other side. . .. oh wait. . . " We even walked around a good ol' Canadian mall and drank some Canadian Starbucks coffee. We had a wonderful day. 

Lake Ontario

Niagara Falls is beautiful, even when all the attractions are closed. We did decide that we would like to return in the Summer one day. Though it would be packed, it's basically like a giant water park. Sounds fun. 

Miss you and love you all.

Lazy Daze

This weekend was wonderful. Lazifully wonderful. Well, part of me believes that. The part of me that longs for cozy hours on the couch under a heated blanket in front of an old movie. There's always that other part of me that nudges me out of my PJs and into some real clothes hoping to see the sunshine. Which is why I did manage to get my hair trimmed for a meager $18. Cheapest haircut in . . . .  14 years? Thanks to the haircuttery a block away from my house. Not a bad job either! 

Hair: Trimmed
Face: Pretending to have more energy. 

Before the weekend began I made a gluten free shmorgishborg for my co-worker Mary. We all take turns being responsible for eachothers birthdays and this time around it was my turn to make the yummies for Mary. So Friday morning I brought in Gluten-free cupcakes with chocolate icing topped with dried pineapple flowers, a pretty fruit salad, and nutella-peanut butter rice krispie treats (gluten free). I got the Pineapple Flower idea from a blog I follow, Fedish. You should follow it too! The spread made everyones tummy happy and made Mary feel loved. So job well done! 

Friday night I ended up going to Medieval Times with Mary and two other coworkers to celebrate her birthday. It was pretty hilarious and the food was good. An experience that everyone really should have. We all had a great time and it was nice to be able to hang out with fun coworkers outside of work.  

Tonight I finally booked our room in Niagara Falls. We will leave this Wednesday morning and come back Friday evening. This is where we will be staying: 

The Red Coach Inn! It is going to be our first bed and breakfast experience and I'm excited!
Zach and I are super pumped to explore Niagara (and get our swim on?). We are trying to see everything we can before we leave for Florida in June. Hopefully I will get some good pictures from our trip. 


Miss you and love you all!

Three Whole Years

On January 10th Zach and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. Best one yet. Or do they just keep getting better? Hard to tell. I took the day off--for obvious reasons. I slept in late while Zach headed off to his 9am class. Such a good student. After he got home(and surprised me with beautiful flowers) we finished getting ready for our Day-O-Fun and then we got in the car and headed to the Memphis Tap Room in Philadelphia. 

We added the restaurant to our day the night before because it was featured on Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives and it looked delicious. We ended up choosing the beer-battered kosher dills, beef and onion pasties, and the smoked coconut club. Everything was delicious and unique. After lunch we headed back to Princeton. We wanted to get eachother a pocketknife in celebration of another year together so we stopped by Eastern Mountain Sports and picked out our very own knives. I know, super traditional and romantic. Don't make fun of me or I'll cut you. Next we headed to the theater to catch The Adventures of Tin Tin. Zach and I both enjoyed it, the animation was amazing. 

Then on to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Princeton, La Mezzaluna. We took our time at the restaurant and had a wonderful evening laughing and enjoying eachothers company. And also listening to the crazy conversations going on around us. Can't help it. I love being married to my best friend. We laugh so dang hard together and we argue and we hug and we wrestle and I get tickled even though I hate it and Zach gets hurt because I hate it that much and we go on "adventures" together and I love it all and I love him completely. We are so incredibly blessed to have one another. So so good. 

I ended my wonderful week with a trip to visit my friend Cerstina Jangles Congi. Well that's what Zach and I like to call her. Our weekend was super relaxing and fun. We ate yummy food, watched Bridemaids, walked around Beacon, NY, sipped some delicious lattes at a cute cafe, and caught up with eachother. I always look forward to these visits. 

There's a mountain in the back but you can't see it
 because my camera is old and tired.

 I can't for Christina to come visit us in Princeton before we move back to Florida! Zach and I are planning on going to Niagara Falls next week so pictures to come! 


Miss you and love you!

Winter Cleaning

The other day I experienced a moment of clarity and cleaned out my closet. This is a very hard thing for me to do. I hate getting rid of perfectly good clothes, even if I haven't worn them in over a year. Maybe I will tomorrow! But I won't. Luckily though, at that time I was in one of those moods when I simply don't mind getting rid of things. Perhaps it helps that I live above a lovely girl who gladly accepts my slightly worn threads. Parting is much easier when I know the clothes are going to a good home. Hanger by hanger, I went through every bit of clothing I own. Some things I immediately threw in the "get rid of pile", others I tried on in hopes that they would still fit the exact same way they did 3 years ago. HA! I peeled off the sad piece of clothing and placed it in the "going away forever even though I don't want it to" pile. The gym and I have become BFFs. Well, actually right now we are in a fight, but I plan on mending our relationship this afternoon. I stood her up 3 days in a row. Tsk tsk. My closet actually has room to breath now and so far I haven't missed one piece of clothing. 


This morning I experienced another moment of clarity. I was on facebook while enjoying a delicious cup of coffee and I thought to myself, "Self, I in no way care about what these people are saying." So I unsubscribed from about 100 news feeds. It was refreshing and I plan on continuing minimizing the amount I read before I get to the people I currently speak with. I highly recommend this practice.

Now I am off to the gym. I acquired some new kicks for the gym that make my workout that much more enjoyable (less painful). 

These shoes are the most comfortable tennis shoes I have ever worn. Before these bad boys my ankles were killing me and I my hip was aching---basically I felt like an old woman. Knowing that the pain from working out won't come until after the workout makes going less of a hassle. 


Also, I am proud to say that I have gone a whole week without sweets! I decided that it was time to retrain my sweet tooth. The holidays totally screwed up my minds idea of a "normal" amount of sweets. All of our patients at work brought in goodies everyday. It was ugly. *Side note--If you google "bad sweet tooth" you get a lot of disturbing images.*


Man I keep thinking of things:


Right now Zach is in Lakeland, FL at an ordination conference. This is exciting because it's one more step closer to becoming an ordained Methodist pastor. I wasn't jealous of his trip to Florida---I know, ordination conference, what was I thinking...SO FUN!---until I learned that tonight he gets to go out to dinner with my parents to celebrate my dads birthday. My parents are great. Lucky. 


OK--now to the gym. Then it's time for girls night out. Watch out Princeton, it's gonna be a wild and crazy night! 


Miss you and love you all. 

Merrychristmashappynewyear

Normally at 10:30 on a Sunday night I would be getting ready to go to bed, but this little lady right here doesn't have to go to work tomorrow! Which is extremely exciting. However, it is the last day of my nice little vacation which is also kinda sad. I choose to use this time to blog about our holiday. So so lovely. This year our house felt supremely cozy. Everything was just right. See?

Zach and I were not the only two people who got to enjoy the coziness! Paula (Zach's momma) was here for a couple days before Christmas and Zeke (Zach's brotha) was here for about a week. Having more than two people in our tiny itty bitty apartment is a lot---for me, Zach could care less--- but Zach helped to keep my stress down by helping me keep things clean and somewhat orderly. While Paula was in town we walked around Princeton, Lambertville, and New Hope. She also made it to NYC with Zeke and Zach. Most of Zeke's visit on the other hand was spent here:

Playing video games for hours on end.

Which was fine. As long as they were happy (and the house was clean) I was happy. Good times had by all. Zeke was in town for Christmas so he joined us and the McNeals for Christmas dinner. So delicious and so fun. 

Brothers = Love

I made placemats for everyone. I thought about going out and buying them. . . but then I remembered that was a silly idea. Plus it may or may not have been one of my favorite Christmas activities and I may or may not be doing this every year. I was pretty proud of the meal I made. . . specifically these carrots that I loved way more than everyone else. I love holiday food, so much in fact that I will be taking a break from sweets until further notice. Oh yeah! Also, we did send out a Christmas card and if you didn't receive one I am just going to blame it on the post office. They are super busy. Here it is right here! 

After Zeke left I was in need of some much needed Zach and Kaley Super Fun Time. We slept in late and headed into Princeton to walk around and try out a new tea place. It ended up being a pretty blustery day so we decided to stay in the tea place the whole time and enjoy our chai. So delicious. What is it about reading in public with a cup of tea that is so much better than reading at home with a cup of tea? Perhaps we just feel like we are *accomplishing something--*not being lazy-- if we are out and about. Silly us. Whatever I love it.  That night we cozied up in front of Midnight In Paris. Also very good. 

At some point in time I got to play Phase Ten. If you know me at all then you should know that this is worth mentioning on account of how much I love this game. The night before NYE our friends the Heinemans (bottom right of the collage below) invited us over for homemade spring rolls. They were delicious and so easy. I definitely plan on making the exact same meal very soon. Then it was time for New Years Eve! The McNeals hosted a little get together at their place. We all enjoyed delicious food, laughed, and played some games. Rae brought back the old school game of Signs. Which was fun for a bit until we realized that we really didn't have enough people. Still good times. 

2011 was pretty good, but I don't think it's going to compare to 2012. I begin my journey towards grad school, Zach graduates, we MOVE BACK TO FLORIDA. . . I mean it just gets better and better. 

Also . .Happy Anniversary Cat & Dad! 16 years and going strong!

Love you!

We love you and miss you all!

Birthday week was awesome.

Once upon a time I lived with three other girls who every year, without fail, made my birthday something exciting. Whether it was confetti everywhere or giant homemade signs exclaiming their love and excitement for me. . . .it was always awesome. Therefore, Zach had some big shoes to fill. And this year, he did an amazing job. I mean last year he did a great job too but this year, this year was just amazing. The morning of my birthday I woke up to streamers all throughout the house. It's funny how something so simple can make my heart get all giddy. He even had a little fun birthday tiara. . . I didn't wear it, but it was so cute! Kudos Zach. An hour later I had to go to work. My coworkers made sure to make my day at work fun. They all pitched in and surprised me with bagels (homemade veggie cream cheese--favorite--) for breakfast, a delicious chocolate raspberry cake, balloons to mark my chair, and a Starbucks gift card. It was a wonderful day. That evening Zach and I stayed in and enjoyed eachothers company. We ordered in from Naked Pizza (delicious) and then opened presents. Zach surprised me with a few fun gifts but also informed me that, ". . .the real gifts are in the mail. . ." He also got me my favorite, a giant cookie cake! yummmm Oh Love-O-Mine. I heart you. ALSO---Cally and Dani managed to deliver a dozen cupcakes from the House of Cupcakes in Princeton. Thank you! Delicious!

The next evening Zach and I got all dressed up and went out to dinner with the McNeals. I love Salt Creek Grille. The atmosphere is so cozy and warm but also fancy. The food is delicious. There is always someone singing jazz or some type of really cool sounding music. Le sigh, it's so good. Plus, on your birthday they send you a really good coupon. :) Needless to say we all had a wonderful night. The McNeals surprised me with a yummy Anthro candle and some very pretty matches. I love candles. And the McNeals. 

 

Friday night was. . . well. . . .cray-cray. I requested that everyone came dressed in their PJ's. Which everyone did. Made me so happy! We were all so comfortable. That night we played I don't know how many games. Three Round Charades, Guesstures, Telephone Pictionary, and a couple rounds of Kings Cup. I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed so dang hard. I miss my friends from Florida, but I know that I am going to miss my friends from Princeton sooo much when we leave here (Yay McNeals for moving to Saint A! Dontyoudarechangeyourmind). So so fun. 

Katie made brownies. She also accidentally blew out some of the
candles because she was laughing/singing so hard. 

So many pictures. So little time. 

The Ackerhol spread.

Food Spread

 Birthday week was an extreme success. I love our family and friends. We are truly blessed. Our good friends, the Hedges, surprised me with a gingerbread house kit. I was so excited to make it. After I finally got the house cleaned up from that wild-and-crazy-night I sat down in front of an ABC Family movie and put that sucker together. I loved it. I plan on making it a tradition every year. Clearly not baking the pieces, just buying different kits. Yum and cute. 

Gingerbread house spread.

Miss you and love you all. Be on the lookout for your Christmas card !

White Lightening

My husband has a fantastic beard. It's one of those beards that constantly looks full and lumberjacky. He is proud of it and, quite honestly, so am I. Yes, it does have it's ups and downs. Down: When he decides it's time to have a baby smooth face it doesn't last long. He shaves in the morning, then by noon there's a whole new beard there! Super power? Possibly. Up: (Besides the aforementioned lumberjackiness) His face is a palette for numerous (comical) illustrations. See below:

I know I know. . .sexy beast.

With this talent in mind, every year the Seminary has put on a "Burt Reynolds" mustache contest, and every year Zach has been unable to participate. EXCEPT FOR THIS YEARRRRR!!
This year Zach knew all about it and he was going to be on campus that day. Everything fell right into place. So with buzzer in hand Zach prepared the award winning design, White Lightening. 


Before:

After: 

Awesome.

Needless to say, Zach won the "Burt Reynolds" contest. I am very proud. 


I also can't wait until his beard is back to normal again. 


Miss you and love you all!