Thanksgiving

Mom and I... and my slippers.

 My sister surprised the rest of my family this year by bringing me home! It was the first time I'd been home for Thanksgiving in 3 years! It was so much fun and I'm so grateful that I got to spend the holidays with my family!

Mary Ellen (my Mom) kept saying "oh my goodness!" over and over again when she first saw me, and then asked me if I'd gotten kicked out of college. I'm not sure where that thought came from! I quickly reassured her I was still a student in good standing. 

Things got a little bit crazy... Oh the Welch Clan.   

 

 

 

 

Surprised Faces!  

After Thanksgiving Sarah (my sister) surprised us with a trip to New York City and tickets to the see the Christmas Spectacular Show at Radio City, featuring... the Rockettes!!! I've always loved them since I was a wee little Kady who would wait all year just to watch them on the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The show was simply fantastic!!! It even had LIVE camels and sheep in it!!! Might I add that the weather could NOT have been more perfect. It was 70 degrees and completely comfy weather for no coat! This is certainly a rarity for the Grand Ole city.

Radio City Music Hall!!! All decked out for Christmas :)

 

Sarah and I in front of the tree at our hotel.

 We walked around Times Square and 5th Ave, bought Godiva chocolates for $14 (who spends that kind of money on chocolate?... We do.) We went to Central Park, the Plaza Hotel, I accidentally tried to break into a cupcake place and had a total blast. We had dinner at this fantastic little place called The Glass Tavern, and later Sarah and I had pizza right in Times Square. I LOVE NYC and kept yelling about how I could live there and be totally happy and content. I just love the fast paced way of life and the hustle and bustle of it all. If you've never been to the city of cities- well that is just crazy talk!! Everyone should make it their next trip!

Mom and I at the Michelangelo hotel. It was both fancy and fun!

Sarah and I... I know... We look nothing alike.

Our hotel room. I slept on that couch and give it 5 stars. Very comfortable.

Sarah really wanted this picture... I don't know why.

Hate

I would normally describe as an optimistic person. We all have things that we hate though, that annoy us or dare even say it? Just drive us "up the wall." To get some things out of my system I've made a list. 

#1. I hate that I use all of these vitamins and still get sick.

#2. I hate when your pants don't fit when you take them out of the dryer and you feel really fat for a couple minutes.

#3. I hate when you straighten your hair and wear a coat or hoodie and you get that funky bump and it looks like you missed a whole section. 

#4. I hate when people quietly mumble things and then get offended when you don't hear them. 

#5. I hate when you can't find that receipt you need to return something. I want my $3.88 back from that terrible Great Value ice cream.

#6. I hate when you really want to talk to someone and they don't pick up the phone... and their  voice mail is full.

#7. I hate when you're lonely and no one is home. So you're forced to make a blog post of things that you hate that you know no one will even comment on.

#8. I hate when people use papyrus or comic sans. (I hate that I notice when people use them).

#9. I hate when I hear things wrong- "your gums" does sound a lot like "you're welcome" though.

#10. I hate odd numbers. 

#11. I hate when you forget clothes in the washer and then you remember the next day and they smell.

#12. I hate when you're using toilet bowl cleaner and it starts randomly coming out the side of the bottle and smells all bleachy.

#13. I hate when you send a really awkward text... and then they never text you back. I believe the answer no is better than no answer! I also hate that I send awkward texts to begin with.

#14. I hate when you charge your phone at night and then somehow in the morning it is mysteriously uncharged. 

#15.  I hate when you start a countdown to something- it instantly feels further away, but for some reason you just have to make the countdown!

Maybe tomorrow I'll make a list of things that I love, in order to balance out the negativity here.

Just a little preview...
I love coke and ginger-ale when I do get sick, no thanks to those useless vitamins... 

Sisterhood Retreat

Due to some mishaps our typical Italian Wedding social was canceled this semester. So the E.C. decided to have a sisterhood retreat in the Fall! It was a huge success to say the least. We had it at one of our sister's Jaclyn's house and there was plenty of room for everyone. We played oodles of games and had the best bonding time. I feel more connected to the chapter and I hope our new initiates feel the same way! I love Alpha Phi and I always will! It was so strange to be the oldest member there. I'm happy and excited to graduate, but Alpha Phi has made my collegiate experience and I might be just a little bit sad to say good-bye.

A Mexican Wedding with Americans

The Allegro Cozumel Resort. Randy kept saying "Welcome to Paradise!" It's a pretty accurate description though.

This is my favorite picture with The Bride and Groom and my sister Sarah... Shows the world what we're really like

The Groom before the wedding. He was swimming in the the ocean an hour before the ceremony.

The Bride before the wedding. She was also swimming in the ocean... but two hours before the ceremony.

During the ceremony

All the friends and family who attended

My brothers wedding was beautiful and simply perfect! I wish Randy and Amanda all the happiness in the world!

Marathon

No. I did not run a marathon, but I did learn where the word comes from. It's a fascinating story that I'll share with those who are interested in their own private time. 
The important thing here is how I learned it, while studying for one of my three midterms that all happened to fall on today. Never in my whole collegiate career has such a thing even dreamed of happening to me. While normally it'd be more stressed than a worm on a driveway I'd like to think that I handled it all quite well. For the most part they landed on the same day because I just got back from a lovely trip to Mexico for my brothers wedding. Pictures to follow!

Blog love

In the ever classic upstate new york elementary school scene, there was about 12 years ago a little Kady attempting to learn math. We were taught that when goldie (< <-- that is goldie, the fish) was facing this way < it meant the thing to the right was what goldie wanted to eat more, and vice versa. In an attempt to delete a majority of wasting my time and energies on useless things I have since decided that facebook needed to go and that I love my blog more. We'll see how long it lasts, but its been 1 day and I could care less about it!
In other news I have recently read my friend Kelsy's blog. You know when you meet that one person who you want to marry and you're hopelessly in love with.... If Kelsy was a man she would be that person. Since she's not a man, I'll suffice for us being "twins." The sentence previous to the last one sounded a lil erotic... don't worry world, I still like men. Anyway! Just read her bucket list and so many of our things are the same! and she had a lovely piece on the miracles from her mission, which just gave me goosebumps. So thank you twin for reminding me what's really important out there. 
Thank you world for working in my over-all favor today.

A Few Thank You's

I have just a few thank you's to give out tonight.
- thank you roommates for being making this the best place to live. I love our happy home.
- thank you gingerberry for a second chance. I love my piggyback rides, trips to your work and late night kisses
- thank you math accuplacer test for placing me in math 1030 so I can graduate on time. I don't love math, but I do love that I only have to take 1 semester of it.
- thank you classes, for being easy A's.
- thank you Alicia for being the best big ever and hanging out with me before you went up to your cabin tonight.
- thank you Kaily and Julia for reminding me how wonderful Alpha Phi truly is.
- thank you SUU for providing me with the best four years of my life. I'm afraid nothing else will compete.
- thank you parents, you've always been so supportive. 
- thank you Dr. Ping, for letting me occasionally fall asleep in class... and for still giving me A's.
- thank you God, for just being wise ole' wonderful you.
  and last but in no way least...
- thank you life, you're wonderful.