p . mj . jj

3 weeks

2012-02-11T12:00:00.003-05:00

2 weeks

2012-02-04T12:00:00.002-05:00

1 week

2012-01-28T12:00:00.003-05:00

4 days

2012-01-25T22:33:00.002-05:00

3 days

2012-01-24T12:00:00.003-05:00

baby jj

2012-01-21T12:00:00.003-05:00

39 weeks

2012-01-18T19:47:00.002-05:00

38 weeks

2012-01-11T20:43:00.006-05:00

37 weeks

2012-01-04T19:11:00.007-05:00

36 weeks

2011-12-28T17:11:00.004-05:00

paul's 29th christmas birthday!

2011-12-25T23:11:00.006-05:00

we enjoyed a quiet christmas eve at home. for lunch, we had orange-glazed pork chops, kale & baked sweet potatoes. for dinner, we had king crab legs, shrimp, crab cakes, pancit & rice. we hung out with mom, dad & justin on google+ and sang happy birthday before paul cut into his reese's peanut butter cup ice cream cake, with 29 candles!

on christmas day, we enjoyed a nice dinner at roc & scarlett's home. it was nice to spend time with them and their extended family, and also to catch up with chris & nikkii. =)

Greetings 2011!

2011-12-24T11:12:00.001-05:00

Dear Family & Friends,

We hope that this holiday season finds you well. If we have your address and we've heard from you in the past year, you should have received our greetings in the mail. We continue to be thankful for all of the great memories that we make with people we love.

Our little family is growing! We never considered ourselves pet people, but we now find ourselves in love with our kitty. He has brought us great joy this year and we can only imagine what we'll feel upon the birth of our first baby this coming January! We are so grateful for all of the support & thoughtfulness that our family & friends have showered us with. Thank you cards are on their way!

For now...

HAPPY HANUKKAH, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

..or as our friends' card says...

HAPPY EVERYTHING! MERRY ALWAYS!

love,

paul & marie

paul.n.marie@gmail.com

Please let us know how you are doing, too!

35 weeks

2011-12-21T20:52:00.003-05:00

34 weeks

2011-12-14T21:33:00.002-05:00

33 weeks

2011-12-07T22:04:00.003-05:00

puppysitting

2011-11-30T22:13:00.001-05:00

we got to have our friends' puppy, stuart, for a couple of weeks. so cute!

32 weeks

2011-11-29T19:30:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-27T19:53:00.003-05:00

we stayed home and relaxed for most of the weekend. we still cooked all of our favorite traditional thanksgiving foods as if we were having guests, but we enjoyed a quiet meal, reflecting on our blessings and dreaming about the future. then we made a "thanksgiving casserole" with the leftovers and packaged meal-sized portions to freeze until baby arrives.

we also spent some time working on the baby's room and setting up some christmas decorations.

31 weeks

2011-11-22T21:45:00.005-05:00

MmM...

2011-11-20T23:37:00.005-05:00

marie's mommy and cousin marielle took the train out to rome from lynbrook. we enjoyed quality time, especially cooking and eating with them. they even sat in on our birth class with us!

30 weeks

2011-11-15T23:13:00.003-05:00

29 weeks

2011-11-08T18:18:00.003-05:00

28 weeks

2011-10-31T20:11:00.003-04:00

27 weeks

2011-10-25T17:59:00.003-04:00

mighty mites

2011-10-24T22:45:00.008-04:00

my friend nikkii shared with me the opportunity to be an assistant coach this season for the whitestown mighty mites (ages 6-8) pop warner cheerleading team. i am so thankful for this experience and interaction with the girls and some awesome moms. i wish i had been involved in previous years! i had so much fun with these girls for the past few months, watching how quickly they learn. unfortunately for me, i missed out on most of the weekend football games, because of time conflicts with our birthing classes. fortunately for me, the team still made me feel welcome at practices and competition. i couldn't believe it when they surprised me with a little shower at the end-of-season dinner--can't thank them enough! i feel so much pride in this team. it brings back memories and makes me teary-eyed to watch them perform.

aren't they cute?

26 weeks

2011-10-17T21:47:00.002-04:00

Duck, Duck, Shoot!

2011-10-11T20:51:00.013-04:00

back when i used to play duck hunt on nintendo, i never thought i would get to hunt ducks in real life.

...and then i did.

we used a canoe to get to a good spot, where we put out some decoys.
it was a productive day.
yummm =)

25 weeks

2011-10-10T21:08:00.005-04:00

24 weeks

2011-10-02T13:00:00.003-04:00

23 weeks

2011-09-24T20:11:00.001-04:00

National Harbor

2011-09-22T20:11:00.009-04:00

we went to national harbor, maryland, for the annual AFA air & space conference and technology exposition this week. it was nice to have some time after duty hours to meet up with friends and enjoy the local area.

22 weeks

2011-09-17T23:57:00.002-04:00

9/11

2011-09-11T20:15:00.005-04:00

we were both cadets at the air force academy on september 11, 2001. this year, we participated in a tenth anniversary memorial tribute to the victims and rescuers lost on 9/11/01. we presented and posted the colors as part of the honor guard at the grace episcopal church in utica, ny.

21 weeks

2011-09-10T20:12:00.003-04:00

city of angels

2011-09-09T20:11:00.011-04:00

we went to LA for the wedding of Brandi & Brandon at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu. the ceremony was beautiful - set on a bridge over a pond, with a calming waterfall in the foreground. the officiant narrated their love story as written from brandi's & brandon's individual perspectives over their 15+ years of knowing each other. we enjoyed great dancing and company all night, including an impromptu performance by brandi and several of her dancer friends. congratulations and best wishes to such an energetic and thoughtful couple, whom we feel lucky to consider our friends!

...and of course, we couldn't visit LA without spending time with family & friends.

20 weeks

2011-09-03T20:11:00.003-04:00

family frequenters

2011-08-31T20:11:00.001-04:00

the favichia family drove to central new york as a precaution from hurricane irene. fortunately, the impact on long island was minimal. we really enjoyed quality time with them at the great new york state fair in syracuse, and especially at home in rome. they have visited us quite regularly over our (almost) 4 years in rome, and we will miss them (and the rest of the family on long island) very much when we move this coming spring.

19 weeks

2011-08-30T20:12:00.015-04:00

RRS annual summer picnic

2011-08-24T23:58:00.000-04:00

encore! same drummer, same bassist. new guitarists, keyboard & vocals.

18 weeks

2011-08-23T21:02:00.005-04:00

RRS dining out

2011-08-19T23:59:00.006-04:00

in conjunction with a change of command ceremony, our unit had a traditional air force dining out. paul played a few sets of music with the rat byte band. it was fun seeing everyone all dressed up. after the dining out, we went to lava (the club at the local turning stone casino) for some dancing. good times!

17 weeks

2011-08-17T19:40:00.003-04:00

Vegas!

2011-08-14T20:37:00.005-04:00

i enjoyed a weekend trip to vegas to celebrate the bachelor/ette festivities of brandi & brandon.

it was also nice to spend some time and share meals with my in-laws. this is their latest favorite pose.

16 weeks

2011-08-09T17:46:00.005-04:00

Yes, it's true!

2011-08-06T21:33:00.015-04:00

We're expecting!

It was really important for us to tell our parents in person, before sharing the news with anyone else. Being our first pregnancy and the first grandchild for both sides, we wanted to make it extra special. Though suspicions were rampant, we think our surprises were successful =)

For a while we weren't sure exactly how we were going to tell everyone, but a family trip to Maui and a short visit to LA presented itself as the perfect opportunity for us to tell our parents and brothers within a week of each other. We decided to print some pictures and make albums for our parents, to fill them in on our past few months of excitement.

The picture at the top of this post is from our engagement shoot in 2006 - we also used it for the cover of the album, and the quote is on the first page of the album. If you click on the 'baby' label below or in the 'stuff' box to the upper right of our blog, you can see the other contents of the album to date. Or just scroll all the way down the page and click on 'older posts' to see all of our backdated updates. Enjoy! =)

[inspired by weekly pictures with letters to baby, by Bridget]

Los Angeles

2011-08-05T23:06:00.004-04:00

after a red-eye flight from honolulu, ryan kindly took us to breakfast and a few LA adventures before a couple of office visits with dad and lindz. later that day, we went to an early celebration dinner for tita liz's 50th birthday. on friday, we caught up on sleep and laundry and then went to lunch with leo. then we hung out with raymond for a few hours. that evening, we went to henry's hat with molly, matthew & lindz, brandon & brandi. we had so much fun until we had to call it a night and get ready for our flight just a few hours later at o-dark-thirty.

Ooooahu

2011-08-03T23:03:00.013-04:00

we visited oahu for a few days on our way back from maui. we got to spend some time with several of marie's extended family, including great grandaunts, grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins. judy and ray graciously hosted the juan family dinner party and are expecting their first child in september. we also had fun also re-visiting some fun places with mom & dad and enjoyed quality time with them at our bellows air force station cabin right on the beach.

Maui Marriage

2011-07-30T22:58:00.010-04:00

we went to maui for the wedding of cousin Audrey & Nick. it was such a beautiful day and so wonderful to be with family and friends all weekend. we were honored to take part in their nuptial mass as the readers for general intercessions. the reception was exquisite, creative and intimate. congratulations and best wishes to such a sweet and fun couple!

14 weeks

2011-07-25T20:11:00.003-04:00

13 weeks

2011-07-22T20:11:00.002-04:00

12 weeks

2011-07-16T20:11:00.004-04:00

ladies' weekend

2011-07-12T22:49:00.012-04:00

lizette & miclynn came up to rome to visit for an extended weekend. we enjoyed quality time at home in rome, participated in the boilermaker 15k road race in utica, and then went sightseeing in niagara falls, new york & canada.

11 weeks

2011-07-07T20:11:00.004-04:00

10 weeks

2011-07-03T20:11:00.003-04:00

Field Exercise

2011-06-30T20:11:00.013-04:00

the month of June was 'tougher' than 'normal,' but we were lucky enough to spend it together.

oh, and our logistics staff was awesome.

6 weeks

2011-06-05T20:11:00.003-04:00

Memorial Weekend Long Island

2011-05-30T19:01:00.007-04:00

We took a short road-trip to Long Island to visit Grandpa and celebrate cousins' (Gwyneth's & Victoria's) birthdays. It's always nice to spend time with the family.

5 weeks

2011-05-29T20:11:00.003-04:00

Grey

2011-05-25T22:40:00.003-04:00

we got a kitty last week! he is so cute and we love to hang out with him =)

CeLebRaTioNs!

2011-05-23T20:11:00.000-04:00

Graduation Week, Syracuse University, 6-14 May 2011. [whitman school of management. a few classmates/teammates. marie & maria. functional cuisine capstone final presentation. annapolis buddies. master's convocation ceremony]

Orange Grad House Party, Rome, NY, 21 May 2011. [mj's favorite, chipotle themed buffet, including paul's buffalo burg, mango & corn salsas, red wine honey vinaigrette, chocolate flan cake, cake pop tower & carved fruit basket, by p&mj. grad cap sheet cake, by zalika. grad cap chocolate treats, by shawntee'. orange striped brownies, by amanda. friends/co-workers & families, at home in rome]

[so thankful for everyone's love & support!]

4 weeks

2011-05-22T20:11:00.014-04:00

Don't Stop Belize-ing!

2011-04-23T19:31:00.002-04:00

We were honored to be part of our friends' destination wedding in Belize, Central America! Congratulations, Marianne & Roy!! We enjoyed everything about this trip: family, friends, food, drinks, sun, water, scuba & snorkeling, fishing, hot sauce, lamanai mayan ruins, boat rides, kayaking, relaxing...

Fort-to-Fort 10K

2011-04-02T20:11:00.004-04:00

we remembered the camera this year...

TDY together

2011-03-18T20:58:00.019-04:00

we got to go TDY together for a planning conference at fort drum, the nearest army installation. we met a great team of folks, with whom we will be working this summer. our little cottage for the week.site surveys...before dinner at sackets harbor on lake ontario.

snow delay

2011-03-07T20:40:00.001-05:00

we got a 2-hour snow delay before work, so after breakfast we went out to shovel our driveway. our awesome neighbor drove over to help us with his plow. then we had more time to play in the snow! it was a magnificent monday =)

disney princess half marathon

2011-02-28T20:11:00.008-05:00

disney world, orlando, florida.

winter fun at brantingham

2011-02-20T20:11:00.007-05:00

table for 2

2011-02-14T20:11:00.005-05:00

inspired by brandion, we dressed up, stayed home and set the table for just the two of us. =)

las vegas

2011-01-29T20:11:00.011-05:00

The stars aligned when MJ got a TDY to Nellis AFB, Justin was PCSing to central CA, accompanied by Kuya Eric for the long drive, and Paul planned to surprise the familia. MJ asked Mom & Dad Roque to pick her up from the airport, so she could give them the buffalo meat from Paul's most recent hunting adventure--they just didn't know they were picking up Paul, too. ;) It was great to spend quality time with everyone!

supplies! Justin and Eric were expecting to hang out with Marie!Guys' Day Out =)Red Rock Buffet - yum =)the workings of the acclaimed Kuya E... a family picture at 0600, before Mom went to work and Justin left for the last leg of his drive from CO.we went to the range at the Clark County National Park to practice with all of Dad's guns at varying distances. MJ's grade school buddy Matthew was also in town, so we got to meet up with him the night before we flew out.

senior SUmester!

2011-01-14T16:54:00.005-05:00

NY NYE 2010

2011-01-01T20:11:00.008-05:00

New Year's was a blast! We had a rockin' time at Brian & Morgan's house. Maybe Optimus Prime got rocked a little too hard (Paul didn't help).Club Kropa was open and Wii danced 'til the countdown. That game is hilarious and fun to watch.

Happy New Year! and Happy Birthday, Morgan! =)

Paul's 28th Christmas Birthday

2010-12-25T23:01:00.015-05:00

We celebrated at the Aguinaldo-Juan home this year. Mom & Dad Roque, the Abrils and cousin Ryan were able to join us, too! =)It was a simple Christmas, with great food and quality family time - everything we could ever want and share with our loved ones.

...with a touch of goofiness! =)

engaged to B married!

2010-12-23T20:10:00.002-05:00

The "B"s had us over for dinner, dessert and drinks when we were in LA the week of Christmas - thanks, guys! Everything was Blicious! =)

We had a great time catching up and hanging out. CONGRATULATIONS on your recent ENGAGEMENT,

BRANDI & BRANDON!!

(click on their names to read about the proposal!)

Season's Greetings!

2010-12-10T20:10:00.001-05:00

Same deal as last year! =)

Dear Family & Friends,

If we have your address, you should have received our Christmas Greetings in the mail. As we look back through all of our pictures, we continue to be thankful for all of the great memories we've made. The pictures in the collage highlight a few of our favorites--all of which are recounted in this blog (just scroll to the bottom of this page and click on 'older posts' for more details)! We are so grateful for the time we have to relax and enjoy ourselves, especially with family and friends.

Full-time work and part-time school are still keeping MJ busy; while Paul gets to enjoy more of his hobbies after work hours, such as bow hunting and playing live music with other co-workers. To help us stay in shape, we joined the local running club (Roman Runners) earlier this year and try to run in local races regularly. We also picked up cross-country skiing, and look forward to getting out on the trails more this winter, now that it has started snowing again!

We hope that this holiday season finds you well. Please let us know how you are doing, too!

HAPPY HANUKKAH, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! =)

Love,
P & MJ
paul.n.marie@gmail.com

paul hearts hunting

2010-11-30T22:53:00.012-05:00

Ever since Henry (our next-door-neighbor) took Paul hunting, and they bagged a nice "7 point" buck with a bow, Paul has been hooked.

He has gone out into the woods almost every morning before dawn, and has slowly been gathering his own equipment, including his own bow. He even set up his own indoor and outdoor archery lanes at the house, so he can practice when not out in the field.

Just this month, Paul was able to game a monster tom and a decent sized doe. If you've hunted, you know that it's very difficult to get anything with a bow, and even more difficult to hunt on the ground (as opposed to using a stand). It could be beginner's luck, but Paul was able to harvest these two animals doing just that. It's entertaining to listen to him tell stories of how he stalked these animals and the moments leading up to the shot.

We're also glad that he picked up a hobby that doesn't exercise only this thumbs (video games). Plus, the meat is delicious! Special thanks to Kevin for helping Paul skin and quarter his first deer!

Baby Boy Ty

2010-11-12T20:10:00.001-05:00

Our friends Lok & Vicky delivered their beautiful baby boy this week! Congratulations, Vicky & Lok!

Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T22:43:00.007-05:00

We were honored to participate in a Veteran's Memorial Ceremony at the church.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:10:00.007-04:00

This is our first Halloween dressing up together. It was Paul's idea (and long-time dream) to be Nachoooo Libre! and his crush, Sister Encarnacion.Any suggestions for next year?

new york!

2010-10-29T20:10:00.007-04:00

Lindsay flew out to upstate New York for a week-long visit. She passed the CA Bar (on her first attempt!) earlier this year, and is considering sitting for the NY Bar to experience the attorney life in NYC! We took the train from Rome to the city and spent quality time with the family in Lynbrook. We visited so many places and had a great time just hanging out, eating and walking around everywhere.

Check out Uncle Bill's cool schoolhouse mailbox!

Thank you, Tita Lany, Uncle Bill & Gwyn for the delicious dinner and for taking us around! =)It had been just over a year since we last visited with Paul's buddy...St. Patrick's Cathedral...@ MOMA Grand Central Station...Fun with former co-LosAngelenos...Tickets to Liberty Island were sold out, but the Ferry to Staten Island was free and gave us a good view! Apparently, it's cheaper for them to charge nothing for the ferry than the cost/effort of collecting 25 cents per passenger.so sad...SeaportUncle Bill helped work on the Time Warner Center building on the right (Columbus Circle, as seen from Central Park)!Marielle (19 on the 19th), Lindsay (27 on the 25th), and MJ (27 on the 27th)! =)Thank you Tita Nene, Marielle, Selina and Victoria for the yummy birthday desserts!Thank you, Tita Glo & Grandpa for all the great cooking and for letting us stay in your house! =)Beautiful colors back in Rome...Showing Lindz the gravesite of the "dude who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance"...Ready for our birthday dinner! =)Z (28 on the 28th) made that cake for all of us! Yum!dinner at Delmonico's!Legend's OTB...lunch crew at China House on the 27thThank You for all the birthday wishes, cards, gifts, etc! <3

Mitsuba!

2010-10-16T22:10:00.003-04:00

with Mary & Marvin =)

Sweet Home Alabama

2010-10-15T22:10:00.001-04:00

I spent 5 weeks in Alabama with all of these awesome people...
We took a day trip to Atlanta, Georgia...
...and a weekend trip to Destin, Florida.
Good times! =)

a wedding celebration!

2010-10-09T22:10:00.012-04:00

I was honored to stand as the celebrant for our friends' wedding. Don't worry, the couple knows that I have no authority to legally perform a marriage. This ceremony was intended for close friends and family to share in the love and happiness of their "joining of forces," as they call it. =) I'm humbled that they thought I could say some nice words among an intimate crowd and help express their joy. It was a beautiful day, filled with good memories and great dancing into the evening. Congratulations, Bryan & Raina!

bathroom

2010-10-01T12:33:00.011-04:00

Since MJ's away in Alabama for 5 weeks, we thought it would be the perfect time to remodel her bathroom. We went shopping for everything before she left and asked Uncle Bill if he would come back for another project. We are so thankful that he came up for a week and let Paul help him. We forgot to take before pictures, but the first few are from before we bought the house. Then there are some of the destruction, work in progress, and finally the finished bathroom. Thank you, Uncle Bill! =)

San Diego Surprise

2010-09-15T20:10:00.010-04:00

Paul went to San Diego again - this time to surprise Dad for his 60th Birthday (He turned 60 on 9 September, but the surprise luau party was on Saturday the 11th). It was so fun spending time and reminiscing with family!

The Godfather...MJ's mom's 60th birthday was the 14th of September!photo credit: Thank You, Anchetas!

Happy 60th Birthday Mom (Juan) & Dad (Roque)!!

great NY state fair!

2010-08-29T22:16:00.011-04:00

Last year we missed the NY State Fair. So this year, we made it a point to attend this great statewide event with Mary and Marvin.

What's a state fair without fair food?! Marvin and Paul enjoyed the foot-long corndogs, fried oreos and fried PB&Js, while MJ and Mary enjoyed the fried pickles! =) We also enjoyed fresh milk for 25 cents a cup. We were all so full for the rest of the day.

The famous racing pigs were at the fair to include Sarah Jessica Porker, Be-oink-ce, Britney Squeals, Mia HAMm and Megan Hocks.

water safari

2010-08-27T22:15:00.009-04:00

We got to enjoy a free day at the local water park in Old Forge.

It was a slip-sliding good time.

Sooooo Relaxing. . .

SUmmer to fall

2010-08-26T22:15:00.011-04:00

semester 4 down and on to semester 5! schoolwork is what takes up most of mj's time (outside of work)! A night out in Armory Square with a few of her classmates...

To celebrate the end of summer finals and the fall residency week, Alison invited us over for dinner. We enjoyed the food, the company and their new home! Donovan was shy until we were getting ready to leave =)
Thanks, Alison! =)

Rat Byte @ RRS Annual Summer Picnic

2010-08-12T20:28:00.008-04:00

These guys sound pretty good! We overheard several people asking where the band was from, not realizing that we all work in the same place! This is the first year that the lab didn't hire a professional band!

Turn up the bass to hear Paul - enjoy! =)

Blue On Black

Interstate Love Song

Sweet Melissa

To hear more, check out the 'proque25' channel on YouTube! =)

Blueberries with the Birrers

2010-08-07T20:17:00.005-04:00

we went back to swistak farms for some more fruit-picking.

collectively, we picked about 17 pounds worth of blueberries! we have plenty to eat fresh for a few days, and we plan to freeze a few pounds to put in smoothies. bobby & shawntee' promised a blueberry cobbler for dessert next week - we'll make dinner =)

on parade

2010-07-31T22:20:00.005-04:00

Paul marched as part of the Honor Guard this year, in the annual Honor America Days Parade.

Gig at Bucky's

2010-07-29T23:57:00.008-04:00

Last night, Paul played in his first local gig at Bucky's restaurant & bar with Mark and his buddy Pauly. Mark (the guitarist/singer from the Rat Byte band at work) and Pauly play regularly at a few different places in the local area; and this time, they invited Paul to add some bass to their second set.

MJ's favorite song was when Paul sang Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance.' =) So many people had fun singing along with him. Paul is the man, and several people continue to request encore appearances!

to SD for TJ!

2010-07-20T21:18:00.028-04:00

we went back to san diego to celebrate T.J.'s 1st Birthday and Baptism. we arrived close to midnight on thursday evening, and cousin ryan picked us up from the airport. we always crave mexican food, so we stopped by a small mexican restaurant for some tacos and then spent the night at ryan's new place. the next morning, we woke up early and went to UCSD. mj had to work on an exam for her data analysis class, so ryan showed us to the library and then he went in to work (on his PhD stuff) for a few hours. we never knew dr. seuss's real name--the library is named after the creator of dr. seuss, theodor geisel, and his wife. we were delighted to take pictures with the statues.

around lunch time, we went over to the espinoza's to give T.J. his first haircut! he was so good and happy to be distracted by a cup of water.
it was also auntie eva's birthday, and she cooked up some delicious food!
later that evening, we met up for some karaoke with cousins scott, christine & mike, and a couple of their friends. the food, drinks and entertainment were awesome!
that night, we went home with scott & christine and stayed a night at their sweet first home together. it was great to spend time with them, since the last time we saw them was for their may wedding and they were busy busy! the next morning, christine had to work, and mj had to work on her exam again, so scott and paul got to sleep in a little. for lunch, scott took us to a bbq with his co-workers, and then we met up with christine for some frozen yogurt and boba before going down to coronado for a little surrey bike ride.
later that afternoon, we went back to the espinoza's and met up with mom & dad roque.

the next day, we helped with some prep before T.J.'s big event. food prep in this family is always quite an operation - it's amazing!
we were honored to stand as godparents for T.J. at his baptism.
mom, dad & brother eugene drove down for the festivities, as well.
monday morning, we relaxed at the house and spent more quality time with the family. after lunch, we went on a little outing to the mall and a bakery.

ryan came to pick us up after he got out of work, and we met up for sushi with lindsay, mike, molly & zack. happy hour sushi and sake were great, and then we stopped by molly & zack's for a quick taste of zack's home-brewed beer.
and then we were off to the airport for a red-eye flight back to the east coast. whew. we are so grateful for all of our family and friends who made time for us and made us feel so welcome in san diego! thank you! =)

Boilermaker 15K

2010-07-11T21:14:00.012-04:00

Utica boasts one of the biggest annual road races in the world, and we've been out of town the past 2 years, so we were really excited to run in our very first Boilermaker 15K this year. Paul was really nice to run a little slower, take pictures, and keep MJ company. There were a record-breaking 13,000 people there, and it would have been impossible to find each other if we separated. The top finisher was from Ethiopia, finishing 9.3 miles in 42 minutes and 46 seconds. There were so many people, we didn't even cross the starting line until about 13 minutes on the clock. According to the recorded chip times, we finished in 1 hour, 29 minutes and some change in seconds.

The after-party at the Saranac brewery was a blast. Can't beat free food, free beer and free music.

Later that afternoon, we went over to the Sova's for a little bbq and relaxed at their pool. Their two little girls schooled us in the pool! Too funny =)

three

2010-07-07T20:10:00.026-04:00

For the long weekend, Paul planned a short road-trip up to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to begin celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. We spent the first afternoon walking around the downtown Ottawa area, including Parliament Hill, the National Gallery of Canada, and Byward Market. We felt like we were in a place that was, in different ways, reminiscent of both London and of Seattle. We enjoyed walking around, seeing new sights and taking silly pictures. =)

The following day, we drove up to an Outdoor Adventure Camp and went on a day-long rafting excursion on the Ottawa River.
The Ottawa River level is considered between 3 and 5, with highest levels in the spring and decreasing through the summer. The trade-off is cold water in high levels and warm water in low levels. MJ was really scared of the whitewater, but everything turned out to be a lot of fun. The Canadian families that we met there had driven upwards of 7 or 8 hours to partake in these activities, so it was ironic that we were the only 'foreigners,' yet it only took us a couple of hours to get there. It was a hot day and it felt good to splash around in the water. MJ even got sunburned on her shoulders - who would've thought that could happen in Canada!
crazy paul...
The next day we went to IKEA in Ottawa on our way home. Paul had never been to IKEA before, so it was a nice experience for him, and we enjoyed a small breakfast from their restaurant before buying some cool shoe cabinets for the entryway and garage.

On the evening of our actual anniversary, we went to the Delta Lake Inn restaurant. They had all-you-can-eat steak that night, which was really good, but we both only made it to a 2nd steak and didn't even finish it. Lucky for us, they let us take our leftovers home.

Cheers to 3 years of marriage and 9 years of friendship!

combat dining out

2010-06-26T23:04:00.006-04:00

we had a combat dining out and paul was asked to be mr. vice (or the master of ceremonies). it was pretty funny, and everyone had lots of fun. this was the obstacle course to the 'grog'...paul also played music with the 'rat byte' band while guests were in-processing/arriving, and while we were all eating dinner. fun times!

swistak strawberries

2010-06-24T23:04:00.005-04:00

lok & vicky called us after they got out of work, so we went to join them after we got out of PT. the fields smelled so nice, and we only spent $8 total for both of our boxes!

Gettysburg

2010-06-20T23:01:00.013-04:00

we spent the weekend in gettysburg, pennsylvania with the ROTC cadets who are here for a summer program that paul is somewhat accountable for. our tours were led by a retired colonel who is a former national war college instructor - he really has a passion for the place. over 3 days, he walked us through the strategy and many details of the battle, relating it to leadership and even cyberspace. it was a lot of walking and intermittent series of lectures under the shade of countless trees and memorials. we also did a 6-mile battlefield run on our last morning, which was beautiful, but we can’t imagine what it must have been like for all of the soldiers back in the day - we were all so tired after 3 days of walking. mj still remembers having to memorize the gettysburg address about 16 years ago in 5th grade, not even understanding what it really meant, nor thinking that she might someday see the place where it was delivered. what a great experience.
The whole ACE crew at the Pennsylvania memorial after the 6-mile battlefield run.

flag day

2010-06-11T22:58:00.001-04:00

rome had a flag day ceremony and bbq with some local scouts.mj helped with set-up and honor guard details. paul played music with the band.

memorial minnesota marriage

2010-05-30T19:58:00.016-04:00

we went to the beautiful state of minnesota this weekend for john & amy's wedding.

the groom's/rehearsal dinner was on friday night. it was on a 5th generation family friend's farm, in a cool barnhouse. john gave his groomsmen and saber bearers huge boot beer glasses and then passed one around for some fun story-telling.

whoever held the glass had to tell a story of how they met john and/or amy, or just a funny story about them. marie went through basic training with john in 2001, so she told a funny story about that. john eventually just held the boot and told a bunch of stories about everyone else. he's a really good story-teller, so it was very entertaining.

it was neat seeing some familiar faces from school, catching up with old friends, and meeting some new ones - it was our first time meeting amy. john & amy are such a sweet and thoughtful couple. =)

the next morning we went to the mall of america! that mall has EVERYTHING! we got to ride a roller-coaster, which was much faster than it looked from afar!

paul is such a clown - he got a laugh out of several passers-by.

after lunch, we got ready for the wedding. john & amy did such a great job. we thought it was really special that the bride and groom were the ones administering communion to their guests.

another special idea that they had, were instructions in their program for everyone to remain seated following the mass. after their grand recessional, they came back into the church and personally ushered each and every one of their guests out of the pews. after we said our congratulations and exchanged hugs, photographers at the doors took a photo of us, and attendants had us sign our autographs on a small piece of cardstock, so that john & amy will make a scrapbook guestbook! how awesome!

the reception at grandpa's event center was a blast. check out that beautiful wedding cake that amy's mom made!

john & amy had a rule for the clinking glasses--the first kiss was free, but every clinking after that, john & amy named another married couple from the crowd who had to kiss--john & amy would then mimic the way that couple kissed. they named their parents first, and it was really cute. =)

they had dueling pianos for entertainment, and the pianists were both skilled and funny. dancing and singing was a lot of fun! we left just before midnight, because we had an early flight the following morning, but the party was still going strong. the caterers brought out midnight snacks, including pizza, popcorn, ice cream sundaes and candy at the sweets bar for guests to keep munching on--we took some for the road! these guys really thought everything through!

congratulations, john & amy!

oh deer

2010-05-20T20:36:00.003-04:00

it's not deer season, but paul still had fun seeing them up close. here is a video that makes him proud =) jim is doing the call box sounds.