Honeymoon and Reading

Honeymoon and Reading

Well it’s been almost a month since my last post, which was the day before my wedding.  Everything went so perfectly the day I married Anissa; we couldn’t have dreamed of anything better!  This post will give you a little insight into the honeymoon, but I’ll do a full “wedding by the numbers” post later this month. 

For the honeymoon, we first went to Disney World in Orlando, FL.  We ran ourselves ragged for 3 days and nights (and by ragged I mean the first day consisted of almost 18 straight hours in the parks).  After Disney, we left for Cancun where we stayed at Secrets Maroma Beach in Riviera Maya.  It was the perfect sequel to our honeymoon – seven days of sun on the beach.  It never rained a single drop the whole time we were in Mexico – talk about luck!  While in Mexico, Anissa and I decided we wanted to stay at the pool or the beach and not do any of the excursions like kayaking, snorkeling, etc.  And we did just that! 

During our lazy days poolside and beachside, I rediscovered how much I love to read.  A few years back Anissa bought me a kindle and I started to read a lot (I’ve never really been a reader).  Then I had a year or so hiatus from reading with school reading dominating my life.  To have time to read on the honeymoon was so nice.  So here are some fast numbers on what I read:

·         I read 2 books - “Match Made in Heaven” by Robert Mitchell and “The First Phone Call from Heaven” by Mitch Albom.  I realized the last book I read before these was “Heaven in For Real” and it made me realize I might have a subconscious obsession #heaven

·         My favorite part about the Kindle is that is shows you how far along you are in percentage terms.  It gives me a great sense of accomplishment every time I look at it.  However, it deters me from reading long books because I hate reading 4 pages and not seeing my % complete go up.

·         I started 3 other books, but stopped reading them because they didn’t move fast enough for me.  I tend to like non-fiction or meaning-of-life/moral-of-the-story fiction (like anything written by Mitch Albom) and those tend to be on the shorter side. 

·         I am a slow reader – I used to try to pace myself at 1 page every 60 seconds.  Then I realized I wasn’t able to sustain that and really read everything.  Plus, I tend to go back a reread certain portions of the book and that slows me down. 

School starts back in 2 weeks so we’ll see if I can squeeze in another book before I start school reading.  Any suggestions?

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

This is it – the final 5!!!

5.  Monday 7/7 – Today I am happy for go-with-the-flow people, especially at work.  Most of you reading this probably know that I am not very go-with-the-flow.  I hate playing things by ear, I love to plan and be prepared.  Well we all knew today would be a manic day at work, with tons of stuff due and things having to go perfectly just to get it done.  Things did not go perfectly.  But everyone’s attitude stayed positive and it reminded me how much of a difference that can make, especially on a day like today.

4. Tuesday 7/8 – On the drive home from work today I saw a company (I think it was Safe Auto) flying a HUGE American flag.  There are a few select places on I-270 that have giant flags, and it just makes me smile when I see them.  Today in particular, the sky was bright blue with cotton-white clouds, and the red, white and blue just popped against that backdrop.

3.  Wednesday 7/9 – Today Anissa and I hit the moment in wedding planning where we actually felt close to completion.  The wheels are in motion and we are so relieved that it’s all coming together.  We went out to eat without even worrying about getting any tasks done.  It’s been months since we’ve been able to do that!

2.  Thursday 7/10 – Today has been fun – left work early and don’t return for 18 days!  Both the Casciato and Kent parents made it in town (and so did my little sister Laura who is just following my mom everywhere she goes – seriously, get a life Laura, you’re 24).  We were able to relax in the early afternoon and then get in some quality time with our families. 

1.  Friday 7/11 – So here we are, the end of my 50 days of happy.  And I am so happy because today we officially kick off our wedding events.  Everyone gets in town, we have the rehearsal followed by dinner, and then we get married tomorrow.  And I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…These are going to be short and sweet.

10.  Wednesday 7/2 – Listening to Pandora again today at work.  They played some old Blink 182 – took me back.  Good stuff!

9. Thursday 7/3 – Left work at 3pm today.  Those 2 hours make such a huge difference – love the gift of time!

8.  Friday 7/4 – Ah, Independence Day!  What a great holiday!  Tonight, Anissa and I lit sparklers and literally ran up and down our street with them.  It felt good to act like a kid!

7.  Saturday 7/5 – All morning and afternoon on the 4^th, Anissa and I were re-staining our deck.  Today I was so sore it was actually hard to walk at times.  It felt good, though.  I like the physical reminder that I kicked some total ass the day before!

6.  Sunday 7/6 – We hit up church early this morning.  Every time we go to the 7:30am mass, we see this very old couple.  The woman has a hard time walking, and they always walk up to Communion arms linked.  It’s really touching.  

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

15.  Friday 6/27 – My mom and youngest sister Laura came into Columbus for the weekend (and my dad arrived later this evening).  The three of us plus Anissa and Maddy went to BJ’s Brewhouse for dinner and just pigged out (and were later joined by Carolyn and Michael).  We got the super huge appetizer platter plus the corn fritters appetizer.  I indulged in some brews, followed by deep dish pizza.  It was gluttonous and delicious, and we had a great time just shooting the shit.

14. Saturday 6/28 – Almost every year my dad and I play in a golf scramble in Cleveland to raise money for a charity in honor of a deceased friend and former colleague of his.  It’s been a couple years since I’ve been and boy did I have a good time today.  I love the outing because the competition isn’t super intense; it’s just fun!  This year my younger sisters Amy and Laura joined our foursome and it was a lot of fun playing with them and my dad.

13.  Sunday 6/29 – My parents stayed at our house this weekend, and we all got up around 9am today.  We bummed around a little bit, and then kicked ourselves into high gear around 10am.  My mom helped us make some great landscaping changes that we’ve been wanting to do (mind you, she also stripped and cleaned our deck BY HERSELF on Saturday – thanks mom!).  We then piled in the car for 12:15pm mass at St. Paul.  A good morning I’d say – productive AND relaxing!

12.  Monday 6/30 – I had a new analyst start on my team today.  When I was an auditor for KPMG I really enjoyed onboarding new staff – I loved the teaching and mentoring part of my job.  This was my first taste of it at Victoria’s Secret and I have really enjoyed getting the new guy up to speed.  I can tell he’s going to do very well in our group.

11.  Tuesday 7/1 – Anissa and I have been having some troubles with our lawn mower (among other things – check out her blog about it here: http://sciatosrunningrecord.blogspot.com/).  We went to Lowe’s last night in a bit of panic as our lawn has become unsightly, at best.  You see, what happened was that yesterday we went to the gym and on the way called Lowe’s maintenance.  By the time we were parked at the gym, we were convinced we needed to go to Lowe’s right away and just fix the damn mower.  So we went in our work out clothes and just skipped the gym.  Regardless of how gross you think it is, we both wore the same workout clothes to the gym this evening because they were still clean.  Our next stop after the gym today?  Lowe’s, again.  To pick up more shit to try and fix our mower.  And yes, we saw the same guy we chatted with the day before.  And yes we were wearing the same damn clothes he saw us in the day before.  But you know what?  We both got a kick out of it.  There we were, pretending like there’s nothing weird about wearing the same clothes 2 days in a row, or the fact that we couldn’t solve our problem the first time into the store.  Cheers to laughing it off!

 

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

20.  Sunday 6/22 – A few days prior to today, our washer unexpectedly died.  This happened on a Thursday night before going out of town over the weekend.  When we got back this evening, my sister Carolyn and her boyfriend Michael were nice enough to let us crash their evening and do some laundry at their house.  It was such a huge relief to be able to get some much-needed laundry done before our new washer arrived – the week would have been a little rough otherwise!  Plus, it was great just to hang out at their place and catch up.

19. Monday 6/23 – As I mentioned above, we were out of town all weekend.  With the washer fiasco, we just didn’t have time to get to the grocery store and set ourselves up for the week.  Lucky me – Anissa is off work and was able to get our shopping done Monday during the day.  I came home and she had gotten fresh produce, chicken, cereal, everything we needed for the week.  It put a big smile on my face when I got home and saw it.

18.  Tuesday 6/24 – We have had some unsettled weather this week.  Today we had some really heavy rain and thunderstorms.  I got caught driving home in some of it.  Sure, it was a little scary.  But everyone actually slowed down and was behaving well on the roads.  The whole time I kept thinking how incredible the rain was.  I still am not sure why, but extreme weather is so cool to me.  Sure enough it rained and rained and rained all night.  There’s nothing quite like the sound of rain on the roof to lull you to sleep!

17.  Wednesday 6/25 – Anissa and I both really enjoy Christmas including all the related music.  On my way home from work today I couldn’t find anything on the radio.  So I switched to a random CD in my car.  It was the Polar Express soundtrack.  Yes, it is June and I still have Christmas CDs loaded in my car.  And yes, it made me happy and I listened to it all the way home.

16.  Thursday 6/26 – I noticed a lot of people out and about in my neighborhood today.  People were walking, biking, jogging, mowing, trimming, and just sitting on their porch.  This was just the kind of neighborhood we were looking for when we were house hunting last year, and I am so happy with where we landed J

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5 (a day late, whoops)…

25.  Tuesday 6/17 – Summer is finally showing up this week, with temperatures pushing into the 90s.  After I got home from the gym this evening I spent some time in the yard watering our plants and flowers.  I take a lot of pride in our yard and it felt good to have some time to maintain it.  Yahoo for having a yard!

24. Wednesday 6/18 – I work in one of several buildings at my company’s campus, and there are security guards that monitoring the traffic in and out of the campus.  Every morning (including this morning) I drive in and one of the guards waves.  Hundreds of people come and go from this campus each day, and the guards are always there waving and greeting everyone.  I really appreciate that.  It sets a good tone for the day.  Sometimes it really is the small things.

23.  Thursday 6/19 – I went to the gym today and I noticed a couple of extremely large women working on some of the machines.  I could tell they were trying to figure out how the machines worked, and what settings were appropriate for them.  I remember my first few trips to a gym, and how awkward I felt trying to understand the movements on each machine, and how much resistance I could handle (and all the while wondering who was watching and judging me).  I still feel that way sometimes.  So I had to give it to these ladies.  I know it took them a lot of courage to come to the gym and start to figure it all out.  Props to them, and thanks for inspiring me.

22.  Friday 6/20 – A few things made me really happy today.  Anissa and I are traveling to Iowa for a cousin’s wedding.  I was very happy that I could take a half day from work without using my PTO.  It made our travel arrangements so much easier knowing I had that flexibility.  What also made me happy was the drive.  Yes, the Midwest is covered in farmland.  But it is really quite breathtaking at times.  Large rivers, valleys, rolling fields, and picturesque skies.  On our last hour of the drive, the sun was setting and it was just incredible.  I couldn’t stop staring.  What could have been a terrible and boring drive actually turned out to be quite pleasant.

21.  Saturday 6/21 – Alas, the purpose of our travels was to see Anissa’s cousin Rebekah tie the knot.  So many things made me happy today.  But I think what struck a chord with me today was watching everyone’s excitement at getting to see each other.  Most of the cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. don’t get to see each other all that often.  I really enjoyed catching up with everyone, as well as watching everyone have such a good time with each other.

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

30.  Thursday 6/12 – I went to gym tonight.  There is a “Costume Vault” or year-round “Halloween Express” or something of the like in the strip center, and they have the creepiest mannequins dressed in costumes all along the front windows.  Tonight when I went by the store to get to the gym, the mannequins were lined up holding signs that spelled “W-I-L-L  Y-O-U  M-A-R-R-Y   M-E”.  I would never propose in that way, but I’m sure some lady did like it, because the next day the mannequins’ signs spelled “S-H-E   S-A-I-D   Y-E-S”.  It put a smile on my face, wondering about how this guy had planned out this special proposal, and then it got me thinking about when I proposed to Anissa.  J

29.  Friday 6/13 – Friday the 13^th and a full moon!?  Watch out!  On particularly quiet days at work, I often listen to Pandora on my phone.  I’m still old school in that I only listen to personally-cultivated radio stations inspired by very specific artists.  Today, my hip hop/pop-Latin blend station (featuring Pitbull most of the time) was just firing on all cylinders.  It put me in a great mood and made it easier to stick around the whole afternoon even though many others were taking half days.

28.  Saturday 6/14 – Today was my bachelor party.  I had a blast hanging out at the Clippers game and then hitting up my favorite Arena District bar (R Bar) for the rest of the evening.  Nothing wild or crazy, just a really fun night out with the guys!

27.  Sunday 6/15 – Tonight Anissa and I went to Yabo’s for some tacos for dinner.  We were just enjoying ourselves and then the song “Simply Irresistible” by Robert Palmer came on in the restaurant.  Anissa had never seen the music video before, and I had a lot of fun watching her reactions to it.  If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and go to YouTube right now.  (beware, some parts of the video may make you uncomfortable so be careful who’s around when you watch it!)

26.  Monday 6/16 – Today Anissa and I had time after I got home from work to run 2 errands, go to the gym, hit up Kroger for some fresh produce, and cook ourselves a tasty and healthy dinner.  Having the time to do all that, and still have time to relax the rest of the evening is invaluable.  I wish every week night was like this!