a true gamer

Hey everyone! We just finished packing for our trip to Cancun! I can't wait until we leave in the morning!

I finally was able to get to my charger and upload our recent pictures from our new camera and I thought I would share this photo to show how my gamer has gamer running deep through his being!

That's him, after we packed almost all of our belongings into storage. Obviously you can see that he still has his desktop out, and there he is, sitting in our empty office, just him and the compute, gaming away.

I just had to laugh!

saying goodbye

goodbye Raleigh!

Today is my final day here. Actually, by dinner time I'll be gone!

Three years have passed since I moved out here on my own. I have grown up a lot (and gotten married!) since I first got here. I've also had my first real job (and my very own office!). Raleigh will always hold a special place in my heart.

But it's time to say goodbye!

Before I moved to NC I lived in three states...NY, CA, PA. When I moved to Boone for college I lived there for three years. I then moved to Raleigh for three years. Now, we're off for a three month adventurous summer. After that, the gamer will spend three years in school and we'll live somewhere new (Elon..Greensboro..CH..somewhere) for three years.

I seem to be living in places in terms of three. I wonder if I'll ever live somewhere again for longer than three years?

This weekend we leave for CANCUN! Obviously, I won't be blogging or reading your blogs, but I've got all summer to sit on my behind and catch up on that!

I am soooooo excited for everything that's coming up this month!
Cancun!

Taylor Swift Concert!

A wedding!

My gamer-bro's graduation!

My other gamer-bro's ordination!

Dad's 50th birthday!

Leaving for Delaware!

Beyond my excitement is the fear that I'm also now homeless and jobless and moneyless. I have a bad habit of liking to control everything that goes on in my life. And living like this over the next few months means I have to let go and just live life in the moment which is soooo against my personality! I hope I can look back at this time and be thankful that I just lived by the seat of my pants. We shall see!

I should be back in the blogosphere in a week. Here's to us starting our summer adventure of the (semi)unknown!

Goodbye Raleigh! It's been nice knowing ya! :)

memories from Raleigh

It wasn't all bad times in Raleigh! I don't want you to think I hated the last three years of my life, because I absolutely did not! I did not go around every day thinking "I hate Raleigh" - it simply was that Raleigh just never felt like home...that's all.

I have some great memories of being in Raleigh. Here are just a few:

Just a month into my arrival in Raleigh I was able to see my recent-alum (Appalachian) play my then future-alum (NCSU) in an awesome football game from the Murphy Center.

For those first few months when I didn't know anyone in Raleigh I was truly living on my own for the first time in my life. I had moved to Boone when Chris was already there, but moving out here was the first thing I ever did completely on my own in my life. I had a lot of firsts that year - mainly figuring out the Wolfline, paying my rent and utilities, etc.

The first year I lived here I had graduate classes almost every night. I worked all day and in the afternoon I would start class. Most nights I wasn't home until 8 or 9pm. I still can't believe I survived that first year of grad school!

For my two years of grad school I took the wolfline to and from school (where I worked, and then went to class). Certain songs and playlists on my iPod still bring me back to that daily trip on the bus.

Since I worked with student-athletes I scored tickets to all the basketball games. Never considering myself a State or Carolina fan before I moved to the triangle it was definitely an experience to go to the State-Carolina basketball game with my Carolina best friend and watch State whip their butts!

A few weeks after Chris moved in we became obscessed with the Wii, but this was during the time that you couldn't get them at any store! We found a seller on ebay in the area, and then drove an hour to meet him in a Bojangles parking lot where we exchanged nearly $300 for the Wii from a complete stranger. I'm still surprised that the guy was legit and the game worked when we got home!

A month after we were married we had a party in Winston to celebrate the fact with our friends and family. Since we were gone a few days we left the air conditioner off so it was close to 90 degrees in the house when we returned. Still we were so excited to open our gifts we insisted on doing it as soon as we got home, instead of waiting until we cooled the place off. We broke out the world's tiniest fan to blow on us as we attempted to open all our wedding gifts on the living room floor!

One Sunday during the first summer Chris and I were married we came home after a weekend away to find that the air conditioner was broken. I considered this an emergency, and called the lease office, but unfortunately, they didn't deem it necessary to send someone out until the next day. It had to be the hottest day ever so Chris and I spent the day at the movies and out to dinner, took freezing showers and slept practically naked with no covers that night with the world's tiniest fan (see above) blowing on us. You think we would have learned and invested in a larger, rotating fan, but we did not.

We went to Red Robin one afternoon simply because we were hungry and it happened to be in the Walmart parking lot where we were about to go shopping. It became our favorite place to go, and even though we equated it with Raleigh at first, we eventually found out it is a national chain - thank goodness!

The gamer and I went to Reptile and Amphibian Day at the museum and I still can't believe I held a snake this big!
Not to be one-upped, the gamer did hold this big nasty roach the following year at Bug Day...

One afternoon, shortly after Chris started at a new job, I came home to find our ceiling leaking in our living room. Rushing upstairs my feet immediately landed on a soaked carpet as I came to find an inch of water in our bathroom because the toilet had busted. Thankfully the lease officed deemed this an emergency and sent someone quickly over. I didn't know Chris's new work number, so I called the main number and that then just pretty much cried to whoever answered that they just had to put me in touch with my husband, who eventually came to the phone and told me I'd have to handle this catastrophe myself. Our carpets were ripped up, parts of our ceiling came down, and we had the largest, noisiest, industrial sized fans placed throughout the damage to help dry out the wood. We were forced to sleep on a blow-up mattress in the office because our bedroom had too much of the floor ripped up and the noise was deafening. We couldn't watch TV or cook because it was just so loud in the house. I looked forward to staying as long as I could at work, and surprisingly we lasted a week like this!
That's the inside of our ceiling with the ceiling removed, which doesn't even do it justice to the damage that the flood did!

One afternoon at Lake Johnson I was literally attacked by about 50 geese when I was trying to be nice and feed them some horrendous Crazy Bread from Little Ceasar's. Let it be known that I have never forgotten their behavior that day and refuse to go back and feed them a thing! I wish I had pictures of this but I was seriously screaming bloody murder and the gamer couldn't get it on camera. He still talks about this event as one of the funniest things he's ever seen happen to me. Just picture these guys and about 40 of their friends swooping down on me as they heard the crumple of the bread bag!!

One Saturday after a trip to Trader Joes I heard a loud noise which I thought was coming from the car. Chris insisted it was another car on the road until we had driven several miles and someone finally motioned to us that we had a flat tire. I panicked because we'd never had to fix one before! We pulled over in a pretty secluded parking lot behind some bushes, but thankfully someone still was able to see us and helped us change the tire! I was so happy for such a good person that day!

My 22nd birthday happened to fall on the eve of the release of the final Harry Potter installment. We drove to the big Walmart and waited in line for nearly an hour just to get the book, and then rushed home to start reading it.

One afternoon while we were at the intersection of Gorman and Avent Ferry muddy water started rushing from the sewers. We managed to be driving through the water just as it started but it ended up being a water main that broke, causing a huge flooding fiasco in the area. I am so glad we only saw the start of that!

And last but not least, Raleigh also saw the evolution of the gamer's wife hair, which went from medium (Aug 06)...
to very long (March 07)...
to super short (Oct 07)...
to crazy curly (current)
The gamer has already determined that new home = new hairstyle, so we might be seeing some short, straight locks in the future!

So those are just a few of our memories in Raleigh...and I sure am going to miss the stability of a home, job and money! The future is a little uncertain it terms of employment and a home right now, but I am certain we'll have tons of new memories to make! And, ultimately I'm glad the gamer has the opportunity to go to med school so if nothing else, it should provide plenty of good blog writing for the next three years!

And the adventures of the ex-gamer (turned student) and former-gamer's wife begin!

Haha. I wish! :-)

how to move with a gamer

In my last update I told you that I got a new camera and I was all set to post up some pictures of moving day...BUT...wouldn't you know that I packed away my camera's USB cable?! I'll have to wait until Friday now to get it back, but I assure you we did have a successful, if not long, moving day!

Thank you to the gamer, the gamer-bro and P2 for all your hard work on moving day!

Here are some highlights of the day:

-It is possible to fit all of your belongings into a POD if you a) first freak out that it's not going to fit, b) spend almost 30 minutes getting the first piece of furniture in and c) start throwing things on top like a Jenga puzzle.

-I had to part with over 75% of my clothes (remember this is going into storage for a few months) and almost all my shoes and bags, but the gamer somehow was able to keep out almost 100% of his gaming gear. Fair? I think not.

-After fighting 1o minutes on the subject we all (the gamer, me, the gamer-bro, and P2) agreed we are introverts. No, really? An introverted gamer? Who'd have thought?

-Apparently two jugs of homemade beer, a half case of regular beer, vodka and rum don't mix with ibuprofen. Just ask the gamer who threw up all over my Rainbows and then passed out on the floor while P2 and I just looked on.

-Also, apparently the gamer's wife kicks ass at Mario Kart. I seriously was winning race after race and was basking in my gamer's wife winning glory, until I remembered that 5 hours of drinking was probably putting a handicap on the boys I was playing with. Meh, I'll have to try again when they're sober!

-A blow-up mattress, chair, lamp and no TV makes for a pretty sorry looking house.

-A blow-up mattress that has been your best friend for two years and has been there every time you've needed it and decides to crap out on you the week you send all your belongings away? Not fun.

-It is impossible for three gamers to move without taking breaks constantly to talk about all things game. If I don't hear another discussion on the merits of which Final Fantasy game offered which specifics I'll be happy.

So let's recap what the gamer did not pack away into storage:
Desktop computer, two laptops, Wii, Playstation, controllers, Wii wheels, dvd player, flat screen TV (that was sent to our first destination - my parent's house), every DVD and game cd that he owns, headphones and microphone, Guitar Hero drum set and two guitars.

So right now the gamer is upstairs, content in our empty office, gaming away on his desktop on the floor while I have nothing but this laptop to stare at and blog away. And I have two more days of this life...Friday can't get here soon enough!

it's been a long time

I know. I haven't posted in forever. I don't really know if I have an excuse...just that I've been busy at work (when I normally post!) and at home (when we are always packing!) so I apologize for my lack of existence in the blogosphere lately. I have been reading all of your blogs, and I'm sorry I haven't been commenting like usual!

Even though it's not Friday yet, here are my fragments since that's all I can muster up today:

The gamer and I went out to dinner one day last week and he actually suggested I go and change into something a bit nicer before we headed out the door. I was in shock considering he has not once in our entire life together made a suggestion regarding my appearance! Apparently yoga pants and a t-shirt was simply not acceptable for Red Robin (?!). Yeesh! Ever since he started wearing the horse he's been a changed man..haha.

My last paycheck was the most money I've ever seen on a single paycheck (of mine!) in my entire life. It's too bad this happens just as I'm about to go into unemployment. It figures.

It's finally here! Moving day is on Saturday. We have almost everything in boxes right now and I am so ready to load the storage unit! Then we officially move out of Raleigh next Friday...ONE more week here!

The other day the gamer was complaining that his arm was sore. He couldn't figure out what it was until I suggested that maybe Wii Baseball did him in? Sure did! I definitely had to laugh that the gamer got injured gaming.

I can't believe that in ten days I'll be in Cancun!

The gamer and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary two weeks ago. While I was getting ready he "went for gas" and I was surprised to hear a knock at the door since he has his own keys. When I answered it was him, with a dozen roses, ready to pick me up for our date! I had mentioned a loooong time ago that it sucks to be married since you don't get ready for "dates" anymore and he remembered! And wouldn't you know that the roses still look awesome?

I finally got a new camera! And it's funny because I've taken a bazillion pictures with it and haven't posted a single one! I really need to get on that. I fully intend to take photos of the moving process, but we'll see if I stick to my word.

So Saturday we move almost all our belongings into storage. Since we aren't leaving Raleigh until Friday that means we'll be living on an air mattress with no furniture and pretty much nothing else for a week! Wish us luck on this next week! I'll try and update soon! :)

happy happy day

Happy Mother's Day to my momzie!
You are the best mom and the best friend in the whole world! :)

And Happy Two Year Wedding Anniversary to my husband, the gamer!
The little girl in this picture (ME!) could have never dreamed of a better groom than you! I Love you so much! :)

what happens in vegas, THE WEDDING

The gamer and I were married on Thursday, May 10, 2007. I love that while most people are married on Saturdays that we have the uniqueness of getting married in the middle of the week!

The morning of the wedding the gamer lost his voice! Can you believe it? And I never was aware of this fact until days after! I also later found out that they were busy non-stop that morning delivering the cake to the reception site, moving our stuff into our honeymoon suite, and here I was with my feet up getting my hair and makeup done!

Finally the gamer had time to get dressed, and it probably took him longer to get his tux on then it did for me to step into my dress!

The gamer sent me such a sweet card to read before I left for the ceremony!

We took a ton of photos before the wedding, and my mom I are still stunned that throughout the entire day we never did take a picture of just me and her!

I’m not going to include any of the professional photos taken from the ceremony or afterwards (if you want my advice, purchase the rights from the photographer – we did, and I’m so glad I actually OWN all my professional photos) because I’ve already got all those on my photo site.

We got married at Caesar’s Palace so I had to take a shot of me with the scenery:

I was so thankful that everyone was taking photos that day…we ended up with some really great shots! Hundreds of pictures. But here’s just a few random ones:

This shot was taken as we were waiting for the limo…it’s become one of my favorite shots of the day, simply because I’m alone for a few minutes just digesting it all in!

This picture was taken of us in the limo on the way to dinner, and it’s also one of my favorite shots!

Here’s some of the rest of the limo:

Since we had such a small guest list, we chose to have our “reception” at a restaurant in a private room, which is typical of smaller Vegas weddings. We chose PF Changs, which is one of our favorite restaurants, and it was another great decision by us! The food was awesome and everyone loved it. Having just our close family there meant we really could pay attention to everyone, talk about the days events and really savor the food!

We didn’t even have the traditional white wedding cake either! We ordered a chocolate tuxedo cheesecake, since that is the cake we had on our first date and has become our cake over the years!

After dinner we put on our flip flops and said goodnight to everyone! But not before we all watched one last Bellagio fountain show, which was fitting playing our favorite opera song, “Time to Say Goodbye” You can see the fountains going off in the background:

We had a blast walking back to the hotel in our wedding gear – so many people said congratulations to us. Someone took this photo for us on our walk back to Caesars:

Our honeymoon suite was amazing, and they even upgraded it for us! Our room had two bathrooms! And a jetted tub. And a huge walk-in stone shower with two showerheads. I loved it! And we were so surprised when we walked in the room to find a beautiful vase of flowers and tons of snacks that our families had sent up for us! How thoughtful of them!

We had all intentions of going back down to the casino to gamble in our wedding clothes, but one look at the room and I was ready to call it a night!

The next morning when I called down for room service I was greeted on the phone with, “Good Morning Mrs. B2!” It was the first time I had been called by my married name, and I’ll never forget that phone call! :)

And so that my friends is the recap of our Vegas Wedding, and exactly how I became the gamer’s WIFE! I am so happy that we made the decision to get married there and make a week of it with our family and best friends!

Happy Two Year Anniversary Chris! I Love you so much, still!

what happens in vegas, part 4

The third day of wedding week was actually the day before our wedding. This is the day that the famous game over t-shirt made its first appearance!

The morning began with us all (minus the two brothers who flew in the night before and then stayed up late gambling!) heading over to the Bellagio to look at the indoor gardens.

I loved how pretty the pictures came out in those gardens!

We took a lot of pictures in front of the Bellagio lake – it has some of the best views!

Most of this day was simply spent relaxing…we did a semi-rehearsal at the chapel, spent time at the pool, I got my nails re-done, etc. Later on that night we all went out for our rehearsal dinner at one of the best buffets on the strip!

Then we all watched the Bellagio fountain show, which is my absolute favorite part about Vegas!

I still can’t believe how well I fell asleep that night, because the next day I’d be married!

Tomorrow I’ll post the final installment of this series – the wedding and the day I became the gamer’s WIFE!

what happens in vegas, part 3

On the second day of wedding week we had big events planned – our Bachelor and Bachelorette activities!

The day started off with the guys picking up their tuxes…

And the girls shopping at the Forum shops in Caesars!

Where we also got to see this:

Afterwards we met up in the afternoon, taking some pictures together on the way back to the hotel…

And before the nights festivities began we all went out to dinner to some awesom hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant!

This picture always makes me laugh, because I have no idea why I was making that face or why the gamer looks like he’s about to touch my boob!

And then the husband and wife to-be said goodnight and went our separate ways!

Me and the girls had an awesome time at Chippendales!

Where we proceeded to get quite a few drinks and enjoy the best show ever. One of the guys hugged me and I think I about died!

Afterwards we went to a club with an outdoor area on the top of the hotel where we could view the strip. It was pretty awesome, but my recollection of the night kinda stops about here :-P

Meanwhile, the boys were having a grand time seeing the ladies of some topless girlie show. I know! I still can’t believe the gamer (the most modest person ever) saw other women’s boobies!

They proceeded to drink a lot too and act generally foolish:

Later on in the night I apparently clearly crashed, making a drunken call to my drunken fiance:

Ash and I apparently met a few girls we wanted to go dancing with at Coyote Ugly, but when we got back to the hotel to change I was out. So the boys came over so she could join in with them for the rest of the night’s activities. Apparently the gamer came in to kiss me goodbye but he must have been out of it too. Neither of us remembers being photographed or even being together that night! We laughed so much when we eventually saw these photos!

Amazingly the gamer went back out on the town for hours following this, but I was sound asleep. For those of you who know us personally you know that is not our typical behavior to act crazy, so it definitely makes for some laughs from us looking back!

what happens in vegas, part 2

So on the first day of Wedding Week we all woke up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport. The night before I had a major freakout because I superglued my brand new manicured nails together! And instead of sleeping in my own bed for the last night ever, I ended up falling asleep on the couch! I’ll never forget that.

FYI the photo below is our wedding party, minus my brother (who must be taking the shot, and his two brothers who were arriving the next night). From the left is my maid of honor (Ash), my mom, me, Chris’s parents, my dad, the gamer, and the best man (Ryan, or P2).

We had a LOT of luggage.

We made the customary drive passed the Vegas sign…

Out first stop out of the airport was none other than In-N-Out, our favorite burger place, ever!

Then we settled in the hotel, went swimming, then dinner at the Rainforest Cafe..

Afterwards we had to take in the sites of the strip! After riding the NYNY rollercoaster we were exhausted from jetlag, and went back to the hotel, happy that the first day of Wedding Week was such a success!

what happens in vegas, part 1

Most of you know I write this blog, mostly for posterity. I used to journal (and have a collection of them that I wrote in from age 13 to 20) and truly, truly missed writing until I landed into the blogosphere! Since I missed out on journaling (and blogging!) during our wedding two years ago, I am going to do a recap here for you all (ok, really ME) to enjoy! This series will last all week since our two year wedding anniversary is this weekend!

But first you’ll need some backstory to answer the question, why did we choose to get married in VEGAS?

Vegas? The capitol of shot-gun weddings and Elvis?

The gamer and I had been together for YEARS already, so we definitely didn’t fit the random, drunken, quickie wedding. And Elvis? Sorry Mom and Dad, Elvis is NOT for me.

I am a planner. Seriously, the gamer and I even planned our engagement. Ok, not how it actually went down, but we did decide several months before to start setting aside some money, looked at rings together, and decided we’d like to get engaged at a specific time of year (the fall). See? I’m a planner.

So I only figured that when the time came to plan my wedding that I’d be ecstatic to do so. The weekend after we got engaged I bought several wedding magazines and books, and began to berate the gamer with questions, color choices, ideas, styles, and locations.

And after several months I had decided. We were going to get married at a small beautiful castle-like site in the middle of the woods in Jamestown, NC. We’d have the ceremony and reception there…all with a medieval theme…wood floors and candles…flowers..a lake..I’d wear a princess dress, and it would be perfect. I even paid the deposit.

And then I freaked out. You see, the gamer and I are introverted. I’m not a big fan of parties or big groups of people, and I was starting to feel anxious about the details with getting all of our family and friends together, and everyone looking at US.

So I bailed.

A few days after our deposit was paid I turned to the gamer and said…

What about a destination wedding? In Vegas?

And the gamer smiled a smile of relief and said, yes.

Until that point I would have never dreamed that I would have a destination wedding, instead of the traditional church wedding that I always thought I’d have.

And like I’ve told you before, Vegas held a special meaning for us. It was the destination of Chris’s first plane ride, first cross country trip, and OUR first vacation ever.

And my parent’s had gotten married there too, over 20 years ago.

Without them I don’t think I would have known that a Vegas wedding could be planned.

And so the next day I cancelled the castle. And the next week my dad and I were on a plane to Vegas, where we spent a day visiting every hotel’s wedding chapel. If I was going to get married in Vegas it was going to have to be classy.

And when we were done I had chosen my chapel, and within a month almost all the real planning was done. It was such an easy process. And all my anxieties were gone!

And that is how we came to get married in Vegas, in front of 9 guests, who we flew out to spend a week with us there before the wedding.

The gamer and I still talk about that week. And it still is probably the best decision I ever made!

the final countdown

I can't believe it's finally here. MAY! Moving month!

We made it. We survived graduate school, being engaged and then newlyweds, and the entire applying to PT school ordeal together all while we were in Raleigh.

I moved from Winston seven years ago, but when I left it's not like I was saying goodbye because I knew I'd be back there. Since my parents still live there, it's where I've spent countless weekends, vacations, time off, and holidays. Even when I left Boone I knew I'd be back - at least if not for one or two visits a year.

But Raleigh?

I just don't know if we'll be back. I don't feel any pull to come back here. I've made some really awesome friends while I've been here, and I'm going to miss them, and had some really great experiences as well. There are some things I'm really going to miss (mostly food related!). But I'm ready to move on.

In honor of our last month here the gamer and I are making our final rounds at all our favorite places/restaurants...Here's the list:

The Raleigh Farmer's Market
I love this place. We spent many a weekend with our totes stocking up on some awesome fruits and vegetables. And huge bags of peanuts. And fresh baked cinnamon bread. Yum!

Trader Joes
I am going to cry when I walk in here for the last time. And I'm definitely going to stock up on a TON of stuff. I know we'll be driving the extra distance to get to a TJ's every once in awhile, but here's to hoping they'll be opening up one in the triad soon!

New York Bagel Department
Dad and I found this place my first weekend in Raleigh. It's hard to find a good, authentic, NY bagel and my dad and I are always on the hunt for them. I've spent many a Sunday morning in this place. I was thankful that I found a place that felt a bit like 'home' even if the gamer wasn't a fan. I'm going to miss their poppy seed bagels. Screw you Brueggers!

Sweet Tomatoes
My dad had been to one on the west coast when he learned there was one here and took me on one of his visits to Raleigh. I love their salad bar! This is a rather large company, so I'm sure eventually there will be one in the triad. It's funny because over the last 3 years my dad and I have always raved about it, but for some reason we've never made it there with my mom. She's determined to go before we move!

PeiWei, PFChangs, and Cheesecake Factory
Again, all three of these restaurants are in other cities, but only PF is in the triad. Plus, these were literally 5 minutes from our house. I am going to miss getting celebratory cheesecake with the gamer anytime we made up an excuse to celebrate!

Tres Magueyes
On the recommendation of a friend we ended up at this local Mexican restaurant, and I still think it's better than any other Mexican place in all the cities I've been to! We're making it a point to get there on Cinco de Mayo next week for one last hoorah!

Noodles and Cameron Village
Cameron Village was so nice to walk around, a nice getaway from the ugliness that is the NCSU area. Noodles was a recent addition, but I've been there a ton of times since it opened. Another chain restaurant, I'm hoping this too will eventually reach the triad area.

So that's my short list of places I've got to go before I leave. Yes, it's all food related. Like I've said before, my mom always jokes that my next meal is always on my mind. And I agree - I just love to eat! I already know I'll be getting a hot chocolate chip cookie from the mall tomorrow in Winston. It sucks that the Cookie House is only a local establishment!

I guess everywhere I move there's going to be some great food place I have to leave behind!