Anyway, I don’t know if you know this, but I am the oldest of 15 cousins on my Mom’s side.  (No cousins on my dad’s side!)  Even though I am only about a year and a half older than the next cousins, I look at them all as my little chickies!  Thus, when I was invited to my cousin’s graduation from… WEST POINT… I welled up with pride and immediately made plans to trek to NY.  On top of that, we found out that Obama was making the commencement speech, and I got really excited.  I mean – who cares about political orientation? Whether you voted for him or not, how often do you get to see the President make a speech?!

On that note… time for some pics!

Mom, Robert, and I stayed with my grandfather (GP for short), and traveled about an hour to get to Michie Stadium.  There was traffic everywhere!  If I were a local, I’d book vacation during graduation week every year

When we walked into the stadium, I was so excited to see this sign!  You can bet your bottom that I tweeted the whole time

The stadium was pretty full, even an hour prior to the ceremony.  All the underclassmen lined the top sections in a flood of white.

Finally it was time for the cadets to march into the stadium.  I admired their sweet marching skills   Every graduate and cadet from West Point are a part of the infinite continuum called the Long Grey Line.  Everything at West Point is so steeped in tradition!  I loved it.

After all the students, faculty, and military marched into the stadium, it was time for El Presidente.  We’d heard rumors that he was being transported by helicopter, and sure enough, 10 minutes after the cadets marched, the Obama-rama parachuted down from a helicopter to the main podium.

Ok, or maybe he just marched in too.  But it would have been awesome if he dropped from the sky!    He gave a great speech too – he even absolved all the underclassmen of any minor infractions!  He was great and personable, and really supported the graduates.  He also mentioned that the number one cadet and the valedictorian were both female – for the first time in history!  Girl power!  Here is a link to his speech.

Anyway, all of the honors graduates received their diploma from the President.  How cool is that?!  I wish I’d received my diploma from the President!

Here’s my cousin getting his diploma – I was so proud!  West Point is a tough place, but I know he made the best of it

After the graduation ceremony, we stopped for pictures, and then headed to his commissioning into the Army. 

I love touring college campuses, so I had to snap some pictures on the way to Trophy Point!

My uncle was in the Army as well, and got to issue the oath to Mark.

And there were some sweet moments too.  My littlest cousins never knew my uncle when he was in the Army, and it was so cool to see their reaction to him in his uniform.  They were amazed!  And the very youngest says to his brother “Wow, Mark, I’ve never seen you wear that uniform before!”  And Mark goes “I know – I’ve never worn this uniform before!”  And you could tell how excited they both were.  It was the cutest thing ever

Of course I insisted on taking a picture with my “little” cousin:

(ps can we take a minute to discuss this “million dollar view”?!  could you imagine walking past that on your way to class?!)

After the festivities, it was time to truly celebrate!  My uncle’s friend donated their house for party purposes, and we all gathered ‘round to toast to Mark.  It was the first time in ages that every single cousin was at the same party!

I am so grateful for my family – I love that we all get together to celebrate the good times with each other!  I am so proud of Mark, and I wish him all the luck in the world.

Do you have any family members in the military?  My dad was in the Navy, and of course my uncle and now cousin are in the Army… and my younger cousin is about to join Mark in the Army!  Hoo-rah!

I have been neglecting you bloggies again, and I really apologize!  We got hit AGAIN with snowmaggedon v 2.0, and my life has been a whirlwind of snow!  But first let’s back up…

Remember this…?

Yesterday morning I brought my car to the body shop to get the repair process started.  Showing how much of a novice I am at this whole car-accident thing, I totally thought the repairs wouldn’t be more than a few hundred dollars.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw the estimate!  We’ll put it this way… I’ll need a rental car for TWO WEEKS.  Whoa!  Thankfully the insurance company will be taking care of it. 

Since I had my estimate appointment before work in the morning, I opted against the gym to save time.  I chose to do the “Yoga for Runners” podcast from yogadownload.com.  I was floored by the routine - it wasn’t overly hard, but felt kinda tough at 6am   I was even a little sore when I woke up today… I guess I need to pump up that lower body strength!

Work was rush rush rush so that we could get home before the snow.  We left “early” at 7ish, and I high-tailed it to the SJU basketball game.  Who cares about a little snow?!  Plus I got to park right on campus, and I had flashbacks to night classes on campus.  I grabbed this shot of my favorite building in the snow…

This morning I woke up to a whole new fresh blanket of snow, and the decision was made to work from home.  Gotta love having work-issued laptops, right?  Ugh.  Robert was home too, and we worked together in our pj’s.  It was a fun day as far as work days could go – but I wouldn’t have minded being able to go play in the snow again!  We had big plans to walk to the gym at lunchtime, but they were closed   I couldn’t sit still anymore, and busted out another yoga podcast to shake out my limbs.  I settled on the Gentle Hatha Flow #2 from yogadownload.com, as I didn’t really want a full blown workout, I just needed to open up and relax.  You guys - I love yoga.  I feel silly doing it sometimes, but once I actually get down to it, it’s always worth it.  I love how loose and calm I feel afterwards, and I think I’ll sleep well tonight as a result! 

Anyway, thats really all that’s gone on for the past few days.  yoga + snow, snow + yoga… hopefully the snow is still a nuisance in the morning so we can crash in our pj’s again!  Even if I have to work from home, it’s still better than working from the office!

Gratitude Journal 2.10.10

1)  I am so thankful that I made it home from the game safely last night.  There were a few hairy encounters with a hill and the curb, but somehow I made it.

2) I am eternally grateful for my fiance for digging my car out (as I type!) just in case we have to go into work tomorrow.

3) I am thankful for the homemade strawberry pancakes Robert made this morning!  Perfect work-from-home breakfast

(Whoa did anyone just have flashbacks to their 4th grade diary?!)

Yesterday was one of those days that I knew was just going to suck.  Bad hair day, bad commute day, and it was Monday.  Nothing good comes of that combo.

The first part of the day was fine.  I was grumpy, but it was Monday after all.  Then I get an instant message from my Senior Manager: “can you call me at xxxx?” 

Oy.  When I called, he even said “well you probably know by now that a phone call from me is never really a good thing,”  and I think I saw my life flash before my eyes.  But really what he was doing was paying me a “compliment.”  You see, it has been decreed that since I “am such a good staff,” I will be spending the next 6 weeks of busy season splitting my work hours between two jobs in two separate locations.  This will require longer hours, and more stress to get everything done by all of our deadlines.  It’s a very inefficient situation, but one that tends to happen when there are so many jobs going on in the office at the same time.  They don’t call it busy season for nothing! 

This of course caused me stress to think about, but I put it on the back burner to think about after work.

Jump 3 hours ahead to “after work.”  I’m walking back to the parking lot with a friend, and like a 5 year old go “OHMIGOD I PARKED NEXT TO YOU!  HOW FUN!” (note the foreshadowing.)  We walk up to our cars, and they are literally 6 inches away from each other.  (disclaimer: i am a GOOD driver.  i am a meticulous park-er.) 

I’m holding my key in one hand and thinking to myself “if I’m holding my key, how could someone have moved my car?”  when it clicked.  Someone… or something…. must have pushed my car.   

Yes, someone ran into my PARKED car in the lot last night… at what looks to be approx 35 mph!  The guard at the lot said that the man was backing into a parking space, and missed.  Maybe he didn’t miss – maybe he just wanted my spot?  I don’t know!  Either way, this was the last thing I wanted to see at 9:45 last night.  And I might have freaked out a little bit.  But then I had a break through.  This wasn’t the end of the world.  I decided what I needed to do…

I let myself break down in the car a little, enough to get it out of my system.  Then I [wo]manned up, and dealt with it.  I started to look at the positive in things – this new opportunity at work will give me the chance to work on a hedge fund, which I’ve never done before.  I’ll be working with people that I’ve only met once or twice, which will give me the opportunity to develop new relationships.  My car wasn’t totaled, it just had a few dents.  The parking lot attendant had filled out an incident report and gathered the driver’s insurance and contact information.  And I wasn’t in the car at the time – I was alive, and still able to drive home.  These are the things that matter.  Yesterday really put things in perspective for me.  Busy season will be over in a few weeks – it doesn’t matter if I have to work late for a little while.  I need to deal with the things that don’t actually matter, and focus on enjoying my life!

Gratitude Journal 2.2.10

1)  I am grateful for one of my best friends from work who stayed with me while I took pictures and hugged me while I freaked a little, even if it was 17* outside.  And grateful that my car didn’t end up getting pushed all the way into hers!

2)  I am grateful for the parking lot attendant who was able to get all of the driver’s information for me. 

3)  I am grateful for the insurance companies (no, seriously!).  They have handled this whole issue, and made it so easy for me.  I have never been in an accident, and didn’t know what to expect.  This process has been much more efficient than I ever would have guessed.

4)  I am grateful that it was sushi night at work   yum!

p.s. the source for the picture above is this:  artsy fartsy on etsy.  my linking got all messed up, so I didn’t source it above. 

2) I’m grateful that it’s staying lighter later… spring is so soon! 

3) I’m grateful for vanilla chamomile tea from Celestial Seasonings… I had to find a new decaf tea to replace my beloved Candy Cane Lane Green Tea from Trader Joe’s, and this hits the spot.  This is something else to look forward to after work tonight!  I love tea time with my fiancee.  <3

Have a great night blog friends!

1) I am thankful that Robert and I were able to get season tickets to SJU basketball games this year… or else I wouldn’t have seen SJUbeat Dayton in the fieldhouse, and my Saturday wouldn’t have been nearly as fun

2) I am thankful to have a fiancee who is as encouraging and supportive as Robert.  If it wasn’t for him, I probably would have blown my ‘saving money’ resolution out of the water last night at the outlet mall!

3) I am thankful for my first commenter!  Shout-out to Heather at Side of Sneakers!  Thanks for stopping by – it’s fun to have readers.  I hope everyone that stops by leaves a comment!!

4)  I am thankful for Bob at the Ardmore Apple store.  I had a mini freak out Saturday, when I tried to have a dance party in my bedroom with Lady Gaga, and Lady Gaga didn’t show up.  My ipod just wouldn’t turn on, even though it had been on 20 minutes prior and it was fully charged.  I tried to reset it, I tried leaving it plugged into my computer overnight, and still no response.  My poor purple ipod!  I took it to the doctor (aka genius bar) on Sunday morning, and Bob replaced it free of charge- even though my warranty had expired last month!  (isn’t that typical?!)  I am still in shock by the generosity of the store and the company, and have nothing but good things to say about Apple.  I didn’t even ask for a replacement, he just offered up the exact same beautiful purple ipod for free.  So to Bob and Apple I say “thank you thank you thank you!”

what were you thankful for this weekend?

I know I’ve been slacking with this lately, so today my gratitude journal gets a special post to get back on track:

Gratitude Journal 1/22/10

1)  I’m grateful for actually listening to myself this morning when I couldn’t sleep.  Instead, I got up and did some yoga – and I am much happier and energetic than I would have been if I stayed in bed and stressed about not sleeping.  Also, my shoulders are resting at their proper place instead of up by my ears like they have been

2)  I’m grateful for my dear friends and their families who have been showering me with lovely cards and texts and phone calls since I got engaged.  They make me smile each day when I go home and see all my cards.  It’s like each one of you is there with me, and I really need that during this long busy season.

3)  I’m so thankful that I got to talk to my family last night, and listened to daddy tell me a story about how he and the dogs ran into an owl on their walk last saturday.  It was an awesome story, and it was awesome catching up with my dad!

It’s beautiful today here in Philadelphia – almost 50* and sunny!  I’m a little bummed out because I’m stuck at work right now, but at least I’ll see the sunshine later this afternoon.

Yesterday was gorgeous too.  I started off the day with a run – but it was inside.  I ran on the treadmill, doing Fitness Mag’s Bikini Body “Slim with Intervals” podcast from Motiontraxx. 

[ 1.67 mi : 10:05/mi ]

I was planning on running for 2.5 miles, but my knee started bothering me again.  I really don’t want to push myself too hard and really injure my knee so I walked for a while after that.  It really sucks not being able to finish a workout, but one of my goals for the year is to be better at rolling with the punches.  Sometimes life just doesn’t go as planned!  I made myself feel a little better by taking a little walk at lunchtime.  I hadn’t seen the sunshine in a few days (I’ve been eating my lunches at my desk lately), so it was good to move around… and it was GORGEOUS weather.  I’m hoping to take a quick walk every day I eat at my desk now.  (remind me I said this when it’s 20* outside!)

Lunch was good too.  I’ve come to rely on Annie Chung’s noodle and soup bowls for quick lunches.  I was getting a hunger headache so I supplemented the light soup it with some snap peas, one slice of roasted chicken, and asparagus from the salad bar next door… oh and two dark chocolate covered pretzels!

After work… well thats when things started to go downhill.  Remember date night?  That didn’t work out so well.  I went out with my friends to get a mani/pedi right after work so I’d miss the traffic out of the city, and Robert went to the bar with his work friends too… where I met him after my mani/pedi.  And had 2 beers on an empty stomach.  (Ithaca Apricot Wheat beers at least… my favorite!)  Well I’m usually not the biggest lightweight, but when there is no food in my belly, it hits me like a wall.  Needless to say, I didn’t drive home. 

We were still going to go out and get something healthy-ish… but by the time I got home to get changed, all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch… so we got delivery!  Unfortunately it wasn’t my brightest moment, as we got the cheesiest meal ever – mozz sticks and chicken parm stromboli.  Whoops!  It was SO GOOD though… and I guess you could say I did alright… I mean I used to wolf down half of the HUGE stromboli… last night it was only a quarter.  Plus three mozz sticks.  Umm… baby steps towards healthy changes, right?  …Right?!  Oy.

Anyway, we ended up watching some tv (Robert wouldn’t let me watch jersey shore )  and passing out so I could wake up on time for work today.   It was still a great night… tonight will be more fun though!  The asset management teams at my firm are having a beer pong tournament, and then we’ll be celebrating a friend’s birthday later.  I can’t wait!

Gratitude Journal – 1.16.10

1) I’m grateful to have a fiancee who is so willing to come into the city to hang out with my friends from work this afternoon!

2) I’m grateful for the millions of people who have donated their money, time, manpower, and prayers to the people in Haiti. 

3)  I’m grateful for the thought of spring weather… winter always seems too long!

Today I woke up and was so happy it was friday.  Yes, yes, I have to come into work tomorrow.  But we will get out of work at a normal time, and it’s date night with my love! 

It will be good to catch up with him because I was feeling a little jittery last night when I got home, and to help me relax we snuggled on the couch (I know, gross!).  We ended up passing out at 9:30pm!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  We eventually dragged ourselves to our real bed, but we didn’t have much time to catch up on our day. 

To catch up with you all though, the day was good.  I had the most wonderful salad last night with roasted vegetables and goat cheese over spring mix and a red wine vinegarrette dressing – and a few mini cornbread muffins!  The engagement team had a lot of fun joking and laughing, so the night was pretty bearable.  No dessert – we passed out too early!

Anyway, I came up with this tip for surviving busy season on the ride home last night.  It is inspired by one of my favorite vegan bloggers – Val from Chicago Marathon Val!  I’ve seen her frequently include three things that she is grateful for each day on her blog posts.  I’d like to start to do this on my blog as well.  I’ve come home too many times angry over something that happened at work, or frustrated at not having enough time in my day to do certain things.  I think that it is important during busy season (and every day!) to remember and be thankful for what we have been given.  Hopefully this will help us stay level-headed and counter-balance those awful moods that take over when one has been at work for too long!  Let’s give this a try:

Gratitude Journal 1/15/10

1)  I am grateful that I have a fiancee who is so willing to snuggle and pass out with me when I’m feeling jittery from being at work too long…  who said quality time had to be spent awake?!

2)  I am grateful for the sun shining off the Philadelphia skyline this morning – it gave me such peace on my drive into work.

3)  I am grateful that it’s Friday!  (that counts, right?!)

Have a great day friends!