Rest Peacefull, Gramps

Ralph P. Richley, April 4, 1934 - November 15, 2011.  Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.  Love you grandpa, you will forever be our guardian angel.

Read his Obituary

"I'm gonna love you forever and ever, forever and ever, Amen"
xoxoxo

Starting to Feel Like Home...

We FINALLY closed last Wednesday and spent the later half of the week and weekend getting things in order.  Greg, Matt and Jason got storage cleaned out Wednesday night and the unpacking began.  Last night was the first time we sat down on the couch to watch tv since Wednesday! The new house is starting to feel like home! 

I must say it is quite nice having a place to call home again, and having my own space again is the absolute best feeling ever!  My dad spent a few hours Saturday morning hanging the heavy things on the walls, while I waited for Direct TV and Time Warner to do their thing! Anyway, here are a few photos!

I absolutely love the kitchen and how the mackenzie child's stuff compliments it so nicely!  I am also in love with the living room as well and how "homey" it feels! I could sit on the couch and cuddle up with the hubby or dogs, watch tv or read a book there all day everyday!

I'm also super pleased with my new bedding that I bought.  I was a little nervous that Greg wouldn't like it, but he actually said he likes that it offers a little bit of color, rather than just neutral tones like we are used to!

Anyway, it's time to get back to work! I will post more pics once we are finally settled in!!!!

Finally.....

FINALLY closing on the new house Wednesday October 19, 2011 @ 10am.  It's only been a LONG 3 and a half months!!!!!!!!!!!! Will post pics of it once we are settled in. :)

Perfect Fall Weekend

Last week started with a trip to the airport to pick up my sister, Ashley!! So excited to have her home for a few days, even if we weren't moving.  We started her stay off on Wednesday with a girls trip to DSW, what girl doesn't love herself some new shoes?!?!  I of course bought 2 new pairs that I didn't really need, but HAD to have!

Thursday night we decided to all go to Ember Woodfire Grill in Livonia for a family dinner! My absolute favorite place to go!! The food is amazing, and delish.  It was Ash, Dad and Jared's first time there so we had to show them what the hype was all about! 

Friday night the "kids" went to the Haunted Hayride of Greater Rochester.  We had lots of fun and rather than scream at the ghouls that try to pull you off the ride we laughed the majority of the time! It was nice to hang out with my siblings for a few hours! That doesn't happen that often.  I must say that I did almost get pulled off the ride, and my sister and brother's friend Kyle had to hold me back from the ghouls!

Saturday was the annual Custom Brewcrafters Festival of Ales that my sister and my brother in law's girlfriend Courtney and I went to.  It was nice to attend the local event, but didn't really like any of the custom brews other than the Strawberry Blonde and Apricot!  Many of the brews were too "skunky" and resulted in me taking a sip and dumping them out!  Saturday night Ashley visited the local bars to hang out with friends she doesn't get to see too often, and Courtney and I went up to the Doan Fall Tent Extravagazna to see the boys and go out afterwards.  I was totally scarred when Dancing Derek started to dance in the middle of the showroom at the Dodge store and convinced 2 women to dance with him, club style, and then the women started kissing..... We soon got the heck outta there and went to TC Hooligan's at the mall at Greece Ridge for some drinks and apps.  It was overall a fun night!

Sunday was spent with mom and Ash shopping at the Galleria Mall in Buffalo! It's our annual fall trip out there to start the Christmas Holiday shopping! Scary to think we are so close to Christmas again! Where did the last year go?  Dad made his signature lobster mac and cheese for dinner and we had some friends over to end out the weekend on a great note!  Ash goes back home to GA Tuesday morning! :(

And lastly, we better be closing/moving this weekend!!!!!! Or else, the attorney's will see the bad side of Jamie!!! :)

Epic Fail...

How did I know that this was going to happen to us?  I just knew that we would have all our ducks in a row to close on the new house next Friday, and of course when I called the Attorney to find out if we are all set, I got the "Let me call the seller's attorney and get the paperwork that we are missing!" 

Let me just tell you that this has been the most torturous home buying experience ever.  Between the agent, seller, and now the seller's attorney, I'm ready to take the bridge. A day later I get a call from my attorney's paralegal saying, "Don't count on closing Oct. 7!"  PERFECT, just my luck!  So needless to say I will be calling next week for sure to make sure that this isn't going to happen for sure, as I have delivery of appliances coming that Saturday Oct. 8.  I don't want to go ahead and cancel all of this until I know for sure, because I will NOT live without a fridge!

On a brighter note, my sister comes home in less than a week for a few days, and now she doesn't have to help move, which I am sure she is happy about, but bummed cause she can't see the new house other than photos on FB.  At least she gets to come home and that just means we have more time to hang out rather than move! I think the plan is the Haunted Hayride of Great Rochester as well as maybe the CB's Brewfest! Did I ever mention that I love Fall?

Cross your fingers we can close early the week of October 10th?!?!?!?!?

19 Days and Counting....

Received the best news ever this weekend!!! My sister is coming home Oct. 5-11th!!!! While I'm anxiously counting down the days until her arrival (T-17 days) I am also counting down the days until we close on the new house!!! Getting so excited!!

Found a awesome new duvet cover and shams this past week at TJ Maxx, that I am dying to see how it looks in our master bedroom AND I keep going back thru the photos I took to see where I should arrange furniture or where I should hang things on the wall....I almost forgot what I packed and put in storage 6 months ago....It's going to be like Christmas all over again!

I am also excited for Ashley to see the new house in person and help me move. I'm sure she is about sick of moving boxes and unpacking!!! :)  It will be a nice 6 days moving and spending time with the family, and what better time of year but the Fall. 

On a side note, the MX season is drawing to an end. I'm happy but sad all at the same time. I enjoy going every weekend with family and friends, but I also will enjoy the weekends at home in the new house, making it ours!  Greg raced this past weekend and did well, not as well as he would have liked, but what can he expect when he moved up a class?  This coming weekend we are going on a wine tour of Seneca Lake wineries, which should be a blast! We plan to visit Fox Run Winery, Torrey Ridge and Glenora.  I absolutely love the fall in upstate NY!

How I Love Fall....

I must admit that Fall is my absolute favorite time of year (although I start to dread winter as I get older).  This weekend was jam packed with things going on. 

Friday night I went to the mall and dinner with my sister in law and her kids.  I started my newest obsession Pandora jewelry.  I absolutely love it.  They were having a promotion, where if you spent x$ you got a free bracelet.  So I got the free bracelet and started with 3 charms, the elephant for good luck, the soccer ball, and the forget me knot.  I cannot wait to add to the collection!! They have some really great stuff! If you need Christmas ideas, I can give you lots!!!

Saturday morning started the Fall Outdoor Women's Soocer League in Penfield.  Greg left for the MX races Friday night and I headed down after the game Saturday.  This is the first session of outdoor that I have played and I absolutely love it! The team is a great group of girls (most are my age and older) and we all seem to play well together.  The season runs til November 5, we might be playing in the snow by then.  Ugh, did I really just say that "s" word?  After the game I made the trek from Penfield all they way down to Silver Springs.

Saturday afternoon was spent relaxing at the MX track with the boys and Leah, and making a delish dinner that night.  It's so nice to get to the track well before dark and hang out and relax. It's not that often that we get to do that, as Greg has to work all Saturday's, except once a month.  But it seems like we've been missing out on those lately.  Greg rode the +25B (Am) class and was doing awesome, but went down on a corner in the back stretch of the track, but got back up and finished 4th.  He also got 4th overall for the summer series in the Plus 30C (novice) class.  THEN, the thunderstorms rolled in over us and second motos were cancelled for the day :(  I must admit I was bummed they got cancelled because Greg has been doing awesome riding in the Am class, but I was glad to get home early last night and relax.

I feel like this summer has been nothing but a whirlwind, and now we Fall is here in our faces, which only means the holidays and old man winter are right around the corner. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend as well! Til' next time!

Blondie

So....I decided it probably was a good idea to back into my cousin's parked car Wednesday afternoon.  I could not believe I did that!  I felt awful, the worst part was having to call my cousin to tell him, "uh I backed into your car and the damage is worse on yours than it is on mine."  Thankfully he wasn't terribly mad and he told me not to worry it was an accident...but still.  So today, I took my busted tail light and bumper over to my friends at Mendon Collision to get a quote, and thankfully I should have it done early next week.  BUT STILL, I feel awful...never even saw his car parked next to my dad's truck.  OH well, just call me Blondie!

On a happier note the weekend is upon us again! Oh, how I love 4 day work weeks!  This weekend we are off and running to the races again, but I won't be able to make it down til later Saturday morning.  Outdoor fall soccer starts and I'm so excited to be back at it and into the groove of playing 2x a week.  Get to see all the girls again that I've missed for a few months! :)

I'm going to try and make it the weekend without backing into any parked cars!!

So Excited.....

Well it was a productive Labor Day weekend, a great way to end the summer.

Saturday I spent the day/afternoon shopping with my mom. Got a few good things for fall, but the primary purpose of the trip was to by a birthday present for my little friend Riley who turned 1 years old yesterday!!! I don't even know where the year went.

Sunday the hubby and I went shopping for appliances and here is what we got...

Love this refridgerator and cannot wait to use it!!!

And we also got front load washer and dryer!!

I am so freaking excited, and October 7 cannot get here soon enough!

Today, we spent the day doing not a whole heck of a lot, the weather was pretty crappy here today so we went and delivered our present to my little one year old friend and visited for awhile and then came home and watched a movie and took a nap! Nothing better than fall weather! Looking forward to the short week this week. Headed off to the races this weekend and starting outdoor fall soccer!! Hope everyone had a safe and relaxing holiday weekend! School is back in session tomorrow!!

Labor Day Weekend

So, Labor Day weekend is the farewell to summer. :( I cannot believe how fast it has gone by, and how crazy busy our summer has been. Sad to see the summer go, but I absolutely love the fall (as I get older I'm starting to really dislike winter!) The fall brings many exciting things for us! We keep motocross racing thru October, and it's the perfect weather for that, and we can cook so many yummy things to eat at the races now that the weather is breaking from the intense heat! We've also got a wine tour planned with family the end of September which should be a lot of fun. We are doing Seneca Lake wineries, 3 Brothers, Fox Run and Torrey Ridge. I've never been on one before, so I'm a wine tour virgin!

Even more exciting news is the countdown until we move into our new house! It's in 35 days to be exact! So flipping excited to move in and make it our own!! I'm hoping maybe my sister can make it home in October and help if she doesn't have a job by then!! But we'll see, if not we will see them at Christmas time!

Now that I've gone on long enough about fall, this weekend we are staying home and skipping out on our usual visit to the 1000 islands with family. We are bummed that we aren't going, but we have more important things to do like....shop for appliances! We need to purchase a washer/dryer, refridgerator and stove for the new house. We are doing some price comparisons and shopping around, and most likely will take the plunge Sunday or Monday. We might also try to catch Xavier's football game if he has one Sunday morning. Other than that, it's mostly a relaxing weekend for us as we haven't had one of those in a very long time!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun long weekend!!! <3

Summer Recap

Wow, where do I even begin? September 1 and summer is now a thing of the past. 

The summer started back in May with a trip to Georgia to see my sister graduate from Mercer Law School.  The family (even Greg) took a 5 day  trip to GA to celebrate the newest member of the professional world, Ashley J. Morehouse, Esq.  So proud of her and all her classmates!  We celebrated with a night out on the town to the local bars.  She was thrilled to show us (especially Greg) the southern way of life!  Friday was filled with spending time with family (sans Jared who was nursing a serious hangover).  "I'm like the Japanese Tsunami!"  We all gathered with her friends at the local Fish N Pig to celebrate the attorneys!!  It was a fun filled night eating Southern Food (love my fave Sweet Tea) and listening to a local Bluegrass band!  Saturday was the big day, and we attended graduation for the afternoon and went to an amazing dinner that night.  Sunday it was back on a plane home to good ole Rochacha.  Sad to leave, but I knew a visit to her new hometown wasn't that far away in August!

June started off alright, until my grandma passed away early June.  An unexpected death for the family, but also an unexpected visit from Ashley and Garon as well as Timber and Buster for a few days! It was so nice having them home for those few days and especially because Garon got to see NY in the summer!!!  June continued on for the next few weeks and seemed to be ok until June 30th, 2011 a day in which I will never forget.  My sister lost her best friend from Law School to a brutal murder.  We are all so heartbroken over the loss of Lauren and keep praying daily for justice to be served.  We are getting closer, but it still doesn't fill that void of her being gone.  A day doesn't go by that Lauren and her family are not in my thoughts.

July was busy as well, my parents left for 5 days to go down to see my sister in Macon after the death of Lauren.  That was a welcome visit by my sister and her friends after this tragic loss.  They came home for a bit and then my mom was gone again for 10 days moving her to Augusta!  Greg and I purchased a new home late July!! We are so excited and should be closing October 7, just in time for the holidays and the weather shouldn't be too terrible by the time we move.  Ugh, moving all our stuff again...oh well, this time it's for good!!

August, what August? Just as the month got started it was over.  We started the month with a trip to Unadilla to see the pro MX races and Greg and my cousin raced in the Amatuer races.  That is always a trip for the record books!!!  We had so much fun, what happens in Dilla stays in Dilla!!!  Following Unadilla I left for a trip to GA for 5 days.  I went down and visited Ashley and Garon in their new town.  It was  a lot of fun we explored the new town, shopped, at lunch and dinner at some pretty cool little places.  We had the best soup at a little cafe called Sunshine Bakery.  It was delish.  We were spotted at a Greenjackets game as well!

The short trip to Augusta was lots of fun and I cannot wait to go back and visit again! I'm hoping thatwe will get to see Ashley and Garon real soon!!!  I miss them terribly and it's so hard having your sister so far away! 

Now it's September and fall is right around the corner! I love fall a lot, especially at the motocross races in the fall! Greg has moved up to the Amateur class, so the fall series should be very exciting! Dreading the arrival of old man winter :(