10 Years Later

Last night Rob and I attended my 10 year high school reunion. I wasn't sure I really wanted to go, but I felt that I would feel regret if I didn't attend. Like I had missed out. So Rob and I got ready and headed into the metropolis known as Phoenix with our two stop lights and our one local bar where my reunion was happening.

We got there a little after it started and I immediately spotted Ryan who I haven't seen in about a year and was truly looking forward to seeing. I greeted him with a hug and he pointed out the "sign in location" where I was to get a name tag and my bracelet for the night. Our name tags had our senior picture on them which brought back some memories. Shortly after we greeted Shawn and Bonita. They finally got to meet Rob which was super nice. Then Megan showed up and joined us which was great. She and I were roommates briefly in college, but haven't seen each other since.

Throughout the night I got to meet and greet with some people who I wanted to catch up with, but most of them are mentioned above. I did get to talk with a few people that I was curious about how things were going with them, but largely, there were a number of people I didn't talk to in high school and it just felt bizzare to ask those people, "So, how have things been? What are you up to these days?!" I don't say this to be mean, but what do you say to someone that you never really knew? I got a lot of those kind of head nods and recognition, but that's about where it ended.

Everyone fell back into their own clicks, but I think it's only natural. Those were the people who you spent a lot of time with during our younger years. I wasn't really that surprised. There were some people who were really nice and some people who were still big snots, but hey, we all can't change for the better. :) There was a lot of awkward moments that were like, ummm ok, moving on. I wished there were a lot more people there that I wanted to see. Overall it was kind of a small turn out, although more people showed up after our event "ended". We left shortly after that because we were pretty much ready to go and thought we wouldn't get much more out of staying. We came back to our house and hung out playing the Wii and flipping through the yearbook. Honesstly, between all of us, I got more information on where people were than if I had stayed chatting with people.

I thought about what has changed with me since high school. There are some things that haven't changed like my hair color, my ability to laugh at silly things, and my parents home address. But there's lots that has. So I thought I would compile a small list of things that I thought of.

- I like sushi
- I have lived in big cities and survived (Washington, DC and Atlanta)
- I have moved more than a dozen times
- I have a pretty good career
- I have been skiing out West
- I made my first international trip
- I dated a few losers
- I found the man I will marry and whom I am very much in love with
- One of my most fun jobs was in college scrubbing dishes and mopping floors
- I have officially watched the all of the Star Wars movies
- I own a guitar I can't play
- I have two cats who provide much entertainment and comfort
- I have great friends
- I enjoy a dinner party and game night more than being at a bar and at the movies
- I don't dress like a dork anymore :)
- I wear make up
- I donated my hair to Locks of Love and will donate it again to Pantene after my wedding
- I practice yoga

I am sure this list could go on, but I have a house to decorate for the Christmas season. :) I had a good time, but I don't know if I am interested in going again. I probably will for the same reasons I went to this one. The hopes of seeing people I really would love to see. Let's just hope next time we don't plan on in the middle of the worst economic downturn/recession ever. :) That might help.

Kitty Cuteness

Since I don't have kids, occasionally I subject people to pictures of my kitties. Technically they are cats, but they will always be my kitties and sometimes are referred to as my fat fuzzies. Anywho, after Rob's nap the other day, my fuzz butts curled up on the blankets and didn't move after I grabbed my camera so I was able to snap a photo.

Where Did You Go?

I'll have to admit, since moving to NY, I haven't been very good at keeping up the blog. I am not counting the Germany posts because those were like a gimme. And even still, took a month to post properly. For everyone's knowledge, no I am not dead, just having a bit of writer's block lately. Mostly this stems from a number of things we are working on that we aren't telling people about. These things include some of the wedding decisions and some of the things we are doing for Christmas gifts. However, these things seem to take up a bunch of our time so that I have no easy topics left to pick from. :P

I suppose I could mention I have a new job. After 4 months of wanting to rip my hair out every day, I have been relocated to work in building 6 in production control. I basically release parts for sub assembly builds and then put them back into stock once they are built until the whole unit is made. In the meantime I track where the parts go, who has them and their status. So far I still like it. It's a lot more engaging than my last assignment. I wouldn't mind doing this work off program. We will see what the future holds.

I have been volunteering a lot lately too. Last Friday I raked leaves and trimmed hedges at the CNYSPCA for a few hours and then today I spent 3 hours after work hanging clothes at the Rescue Mission. This is on top of the extra time I have been putting in at work to coordinate people to volunteer for the Salvation Army events Lockheed Martin is hosting. It takes way longer to answer emails than I ever thought it would. But the good news is, all the events are being covered and we have a good turn out of volunteers.

So I have been keeping busy, but I am looking forward to a break. That's what the holidays are for right? :)

B&B Party

I figured it was probably time for the official B&B Party post. Everyone has had a chance to recover from their party escapades and to make it home safely. :) This year was a little different for Rob and I because it didn't involve getting on a plane and therefore we didn't have to figure out our costumes based on airport security rules. We were only restricted based on the size of the car. Also, we actually finished out Halloween costumes two days before the party. We are pretty sure that's a first. I have been known to sew leaves on a costume on a plane before or glue things on the day of.

And since we could drive, we were able to bring a pumpkin to the carving table this year. I haven't had as much practice as other pumpkin carvers (I haven't carved a pumpkin in probably 10 years), so I decided to kick it old school. This picture isn't the best, but I blame the bad lighting and a few drinks.

Our costumes this year required some creativity. We needed something that people haven't done before (getting harder every year) and something that wasn't going to take forever or cost $$$. All of this combined put our thinking caps to the test, but we found a pretty fun solution. We decided on costumes that "go together like". So we settled on Bees and Honey. I went as a giant bumble bee and Rob went as a pot of honey. Now, the added layer of fun is that all of Rob's friends call me Sarah B and Rob's my honey. Yup, just over the top sweet.

In the picture of Rob and I, you can't see it too well, but I have an extra pair of arms attached on string (left over costume part from years past) to make the 6 legs necessary for a bee. It shows up better in the picture of Melissa (flapper) and I as well as my butt. That was probably the hardest part of my costume this year, trying to figure out how to make that part proportioned properly to the rest of me and then how to get the shape. One of these years, I am going to get back to making a costume from a pattern. Rob's costume is constructed out of two wreath hoops and a large quilting hoop about the middle covered in fabric. My cats enjoyed laying in and on his costume as he made it. :)

We even got to make a few side errands (thanks to having our own car) while we were in town as well. We were able to meet up with Meredith and discuss wedding ceremony plans (it's going to be AWESOME) and also hit up Total Wine. It's nothing like the Total Wine in GA and yeah, I probably sound like a wino, but if I know I can buy wine at a 50% discount, you better believe I will. Also, to boot, I got free dress socks out of the trip by using a gift card from Banana Republic on the day it expired. Nothing like cashing in free money for a much needed clothing item.

All in all though, it was another great weekend spent with friends. We even got to see Rummy, although we are pretty sure he doesn't remember who we are anymore. That part was really sad. :( We must visit more often to make him remember.

Until next year, Happy Halloween!

Life in Syracuse

It took much longer to post all of the Germany/Austria properly than I originally thought (going through some 800 photos and getting the stories right was a huge effort), and therefore the rest of my normal posts have taken a back seat. I hope to catch you up a little bit with some highlights.

In the second half of September, we spent some time hanging out in the orchard picking apples and getting cider with my sister and brother in law. I forgot how delicious the apples were in NY. There are a lot of varieties that are not available in GA because they wouldn't survive the trip which explains why I could never find them. Candid shots are always so nice. :)

I also briefly started grad school and then decided that would be the worst idea of the year with all that's been going on. I would rather plan my wedding and enjoy the holidays without worrying about having passing grades. So my trip down psycho lane was cut short and I returned to the land of "normal".

In October, we made it out to an SU Football game with people from work. The game wasn't too great, but they dedicated the field as the Legends Field. Jim Brown was there and if I knew more about football history, I am sure I would have been more excited. As it was, they took so long that the marching band half time show was pushed until after the game was over, which was sad because all but a handful of people were left and it was the best part of the game! They did music from Michael Jackson including Thriller, which they actually did the dance for. It was fantastic! We don't own any SU gear, so we just wore the colors. :) Notice the UVA hat.

We spent a few weekends with family hanging out and enjoying meals. It's still weird they are all so close, but I like it. They feed us good. :)

Last Friday I got free tickets to the SU basketball game. It was only an exhibition game but they creamed Cal State. It was my first basketball game I have attended since high school. We even phoned a friend to find out how long the game was going to be. I sort of get the excitement of March Madness now.

I have also been enjoying watching the leaves change, although I know as the fall from the trees, winter is on it's way. Fall is probably my favorite season and I hate to see it go by so quickly. And of course if it's fall, it means that Halloween is right around the corner. Which reminds me, I still have so much to do!

Goodbye Germany!

The next morning we packed up and loaded the car for our final leg. Our host at the pension wished us well and even stood outside to wave at us as we drove away. On our way back to Munich we decided to stop in our arch nemesis town we were never able to navigate through - Mittenwald. Surprisingly, we didn't have much trouble in the car that day, just on foot. The Post was ever ellusive to us. We went back to the car and put it in as a point of interest to see where the heck it was. I think I take for granted knowing where these things are at home because they are not usually in obvious spots.

Anywho, Mittenwald is know for their history with violins. I think they make them here, although I am not positive.


The buildings in their town were painted with all kinds of things; flowers, people, decorated windows. The remarkable thing was how well the were upkept.


After spending our morning in the little town getting the last of our souvenirs and other memorabilia from our trip, we got back on the road to Munich.

Upon arrival into Munich, it felt familiar to be there after our prior visit just days before, but there was still so much we didn't see. We made the choice to try St. Peter's church again and were happy to see that the church was not in service so we could walk around.


This church was by far one of the more decorated churches that we visited on this trip. I am pretty sure this is the "main" church of Munich. Even with two other Catholic churches within a 10 minute walk of this one, I believe this one is the most popular. It could be because of their 3rd century martyr they keep locked in a box on the left side of the church. I wasn't entirely prepared to see a full skeleton hanging out in a glass box when we were reading the Rick Steve's description, but there you have it. I never knew how close relics and religion were until this trip.


From here we went in search of food for dinner. We walked around for quite a while trying to find food that interested in eating. We finally settled on an Irish pub off the beaten path. They did had some delicious food and of course good beer for our last meal. The picture of Mike below is capturing Mike in Germany, at an Irish pub, eating Mexican food. We thought it was quite funny.


The next morning we were up early and to the airport in plenty of time for everyone's flights. We were so early for our flight that our ticket windows weren't even open yet. That was interesting in trying to form a quasi line while waiting for the real line to open. Not much different than being in the states. We got our passport stamped one more time as we went through their customs check point and went on to meet the Pennock's who were already on the other side. I was quite proud of the fact that even without cell phones we managed not to loose one another during the course of the trip. We used up the last of our Euros on breakfast, Kinder Eggs, and a book. My Kinder Egg prize was pretty kick ass. The little dude on top of the turtle turns blue in the sunlight. :)


We settled into our seats and buckled down for a 9 hour plane ride back to the states. We at least got to watch The Proposal which was a good use of an hour and a half. :) We filled out our little cards for customs and managed to mke it through the Philly airport without much trouble. After a 3 hour layover and dinner, we were on our final leg to Syracuse.

We really had an amazing trip and saw a LOT. I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything and was glad to share it with friends. I know that if Mike and Amanda hadn't been with us, we wouldn't have seen half of what we did and their knowledge and experience with the German culture was a huge help in making the trip a success. Especially when we got to the pension and our host didn't speak a lot of English. :) A lot of great memories were made. But even after such a wonderful trip, it never felt so good to be home.

The Final Days

From Leutasch Valley, Austria

With two days left in our journey, the clouds rolled in and we all admitted we were pretty worn out. Not for nothing, but climbing a mountain probably contributed quite a bit. :) We went down for breakfast that morning and pondered our choices. We settled on popping into the nearby town of Seefield for some shopping followed by lunch and then came back for reading, town meandering and other such things.

From Leutasch Valley, Austria

I really enjoyed having a day to kind of relax even though we were hoping to go to Salzburg for a day. I have come to the conclusion that Europe has way to many cool places way to close to one another. Italy was only 2 hours away and the same with Switzerland. I wanted to see it all! But we recognized being popped and it raining wasn't really the time to go on another lengthy adventure so we hung around the pension and read and played cards and such.

From Leutasch Valley, Austria

I was enjoying watching the clouds. Normally you don't get to see how they hang in the mountains. You are usually in the thick of it or can't see the whole mountain to get the full picture.

From Leutasch Valley, Austria

This was our tiny road to our pension. Again, supposedly a 2 lane road, but not really. I have no idea what they do when the snow falls. The domed building is a tiny church. It had room for about 12 people. The Pennock's told us we should have just gotten married there. :P

From Leutasch Valley, Austria

At the pension we found a pretty good map of the area and where we hiked to. We hiked the red line that goes through the R in the upper left corner from Lehner. In fact, I think we got to the dot to the left of the R before you reach the I and then turned around. I think we figured we did about 10km. The Pennocks made it to the ridge where the red trail goes to a Y and then a little bit further from there.

From Leutasch Valley, Austria

We ended the night with happy hour and dinner on the porch. It was a little chilly, but still nice. Tomorrow we head to Munich for a night before hoping on the airplane back to the US.

From Leutasch Valley, Austria