Anniversary

Well now we've had our first anniversary. And a lovely time it was... we were once again very blessed to have family and friends with us to share the joy, and we were given some wonderfully generous gifts... life is pretty darn good! Let's see... what else in June..... we enjoyed several BBQ's... to be honest my husband actually admitted he was getting tired of BBQ as we've had or been to so many! Sacrilege, I say! :) Sharrie had a great party, Father's Day was a bit of running around but fun, we got to meet Lily (who is just too adorable for words!), we're taking care of Java for Rob's dad.... we went to see the sand castle sculptures at Hampton Beach, we saw the end of the Sopranos (VERY disappointing), and Nicky (our godson) had his first birthday!
Rob enjoys a corn dog at Hampton Beach.

Steve Smith demonstrates one of the perils of drinking beer.

A Mardi Gras float - complete with flashing - made out of sand!

Another beautiful sand sculpture

Java HATES bathtime.

Could he look MORE pitiful? Honestly.

Rob's hand is bigger than Lily's head! The CLAW!

Lily, Molly, and Auntie Barb (or Mimi as Abby calls her...short for Grammy... :)

Miss Lily

Clearly I have comfy pillows... :)

Bobby celebrates 39!

Michael and Sharrie

Sharrie's newest dog... Barzie.... isn't he sweet?

Matt, Sarah, and Jake

Princess Sheridyn turns 4!

Nicky doing the requisite adorable cake smear picture

Nicky's cake....

Rob once again gets his revenge.

Note the miniscule droplet of frosting on Rob.

Sharing a toast and a kiss.

Stephen Derek and Woodstock enjoy adult beverages.

Derek, our resident grillmaster grills in the rain....god bless him

Rob's gift to me... an engraved anniversary frame with our wedding picture.

my gift to Rob.... rain visors for the Jeep...installed by Derek!

A gift from Grammy, Marge and Sally (courtesy of Mom) which now graces our living room.

Shore line collection of dishes (they have shells on them!) From mom and dad.

our cake...made by the same lady who did our wedding cake, as well as my shower cake!

We're looking forward to July 4th...I always loved this holiday - mostly for the fireworks!

Some more pictures from the year...

Steve Smith does penguin impersonations.

Gene and Stacey gather 'round the fire.

Charlie at his birthday party

Jess and Alex celebrate another Red Sox win.

Jenelle and Michelle at the Post.

Rob and Jennelle share a birthday moment.

Dad reads to Bumpa in the nursing home.

Derek passes the torch to Demi.

New Year's Eve

The original Will and Grace...Eddie and I.

The whole fam damily..will Bill and Kirsten at Uncle Charlie's "celebration of life".

Kacie Joel and Abby at Thanksgiving...before the fall heard round the world!

Sharrie and I, as taken by Sheridyn

Sharrie Sully and Marshmallow.

Momma 2 Dad 2 at the Hampton Beach Seafood Fest last summer.

Sunset in South Boston

Chloe at her birthday party

It's nearly a year.....

My god I can hardly believe it. Such a roller coaster. Let's see if I can do this in sequence.... We went to Jamaica for our honeymoon, such a beautiful country....with a very proud, but poor, people. The resort was amazing... liquor dispenser in the room, a swim up bar, all inclusive drinks and food... sunsets on the beach, and letting us doing what honeymooners do best... (grin) We returned from our honeymoon with a one day recharge day before going back to the reality of work. Rob's parents picked us up and we went to the Post for drinks... an all inclusive resort kinda turns you into an alcoholic! There were visits to Cindy and Joe's place as well as my parents that weekend... and life was pretty good for awhile.

Then in August I left Circles...which was very sad for me, but had been a long time coming. Also in August we lost Grammy and Uncle Brad...on the same day no less... but Rob was wonderful and held me up through the whole time. We found out that Molly and James were expecting a baby... truly another instance of God closing a door and opening a window.

In mid September I started working for Comcast, and one day during training in October, Mom called Rob and said they were going to look at a condo and would we want to come along. So we motored to Lowell and fell in love with the condo, and were staggered to find that Mom and Dad would pay for it and we would pay them back "a mortgage". Compared to our little apartment, it seemed a mansion... and plans went into high gear, as we were due to move the last weekend of October. Moving day was windswept rain...why is every major event in my life consumed with rain? Rob's mom even with one leg, managed to get up the stairs all by herself. We settled in, and as the holidays approached we got out first tree....enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations... spoiled eachother rotten...and life as newlyweds continued to be quite wonderful. I turned the big 40 and Rob cooked this amazing meal for me, and got me a blue teardrop pendant which matched the blue earrings that Mom and Dad got me.

In January I lost my voice, and it turned out to be quite the ordeal, and me being out of work. Rob is commuting to Boston from Lowell, and hating the hours and commute, but loving sales, even when his paychecks are not so great.

February brings the possibility of us taking in our godson Nicky as a foster child... his mom was changing him and he broke his arm, so the overzealous doctors called DSS and had him removed...but the judge saw no reason for such a drastic measure, and Nicky is returned to his parents. Our first Valentine's day was met with a HUGE snowstorm, but we had a wonderful day together. Sharrie's husband while recovering from a quadruple bypass, falls and breaks his leg in two places. So now we come to spring time... in late March Rob's mom goes into the hospital for a nasty leg infection and is home in about 1 1/2 weeks. Rob's birthday arrives (April 6) and we enjoy a wonderful time with family and friends over the weekend.

In late March, Rob makes the decision to leave car sales and gets a job at Comcast, and begins training. He loves it, and loves the steady paycheck! I had a procedure done at the hospital to look at my throat, and am relieved to find no nodules or cancer. I start voice therapy. Molly and James welcome Lily Anne Ferguson to the family!

In mid April, Rob's mom goes back into the hospital, and this time it is not so good. her leg has gangrene, and she's in the advanced stages of vascular disease, and gains 20 pounds in a week of all fluid. As I am still out of work, and Rob and Jenelle are both working FT, I go to the hospital every day to sit with her, to help her out. My mother in law is not the most patient of patients, and is very weak, to the point I end up feeding her. I am signed as her alternate health care proxy, and meet with doctors about her care and condition, which continues to worsen to the point she is highly medicated and a decision made to transfer her to the ICU... Rob and I stay the night with her and the nurses begin to warn me about what may happen... and the doctor asks us to sign the DNR form. On April 21, Darlene passed away with my father in law as well as her best friend Maureen in the room with her. I was just outside as it happened... and those moments were truly a moment I do not want to ever have to go through again. I ask a priest to come in and help the family, and her brothers and other family arrive, along with Mom, Dad, and our wonderful friends. It was a horrible time for all of us, especially when her brothers began showing their true colors. I wont waste words on them, except to say that my in law family is drastically reduced. I organized a fitting funeral for Momma 2, and read a eulogy about what she meant to me. Rob wrote this wonderful letter as well.

So that brings us to May....we are healing. It's been a tough time for Rob and his dad and sister, but we are getting through it together. I often remarked to friends that when I said the vows on June 10, it was in good times and bad, in sickness and in health... but I really didn't think ALL the vows would be put to the test in under a year... I did one of those "how stressed are you" tests and had nearly all the stressors in a year... moved residence, deaths of family, job change, marriage... but through it all there's always been Rob.... who told me he cannot sleep unless he's curled up against me... who strokes my hair when I am having a bad dream....who tells me that he will always protect me and love me, no matter what... I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband.

On Saturday we're having a one year anniversary party and condo housewarming, which we are both really looking forward to. Onward we go! I've put in a few pictures for events over the year.