calling all our blog fans

So...you may have noticed that we have a site visitor map on our blog. I love getting to see who visits our page (well...not really who as much as what part of the country or world!)

I'm a little baffled by some that I have seen lately though...so I am calling all our blog fans to give us a shout out if you like reading our blog. I know we have some regulars in Shreveport, OKC, and Paris...but there seem to be a lot of other cities popping up....such as Euless, TX....come on fans...give us a shout out!

reasons to love texas...

Each day we come up with another reason why we love living in Texas. Today my reason is...there is a chill in the air! Can you believe it? I walked out this morning to take Grace and there was a definite chill in the air...it was amazing...felt just like NYC! I am hoping it stays around and makes all this rain and thunderstorms go away.

This past weekend our reason to love Texas was because Orie got to spend a fabulous weekend with some of his best friends right here in Dallas...I was grinning from ear to ear watching them fall back into old times like he had never been gone. It was a day I didn't have to remind Orie that we were going to have a great time living here...he knew it himself!

Hope your week is great. We are looking forward to a wedding weekend with friends...I'm sure there will be pics to come!

more to catch up on...

I've been a bad blogger lately but here is life in a nutshell..

We had a fabulous last weekend in NYC. We celebrated Camille's birthday with Geoff and friends, went to Harlem to walk around and have some soul food at Amy Ruth's, and toasted goodbye to some of our favorite spots. It was magical!

The Apollo

Lenox Lounge (Orie thinks it's famous?)

One of the many pretty churches

On the MJ tribute wall outside the Apollo

The Apollo sign

A final farewell toast to Gotham

Geoff and Camille (birthday dinner)

Di and Orie (birthday dinner)

Here is what packing and moving looked like in our studio apartment....yikes!



Where's Grace?




Dallas pics to come soon...moving truck arrived yesterday...I wish I could say all went well but sadly it did not. More on that later! Enjoy your weekend!

the movers are coming...the movers are coming

I am anxiously awaiting Allied Movers and the rest of our stuff today! YIPPEE! They were to be here at 8...it is now 9 and still now sign...very typical of their previous performance in NYC. We shal see when it arrives!

I love unpacking the boxes and putting everything away. It will be amazing to finally put things away in an apartment that actually has storage. I can't wait!

I have already arranged the furniture and artwork in my head long before we ever even moved so that won't be hard! As soon as it's all in and settled we will be sure to post some pics of our breathtaking 904 square feet that we now call home!!!!

we made it!

We finally made it to Dallas and are somewhat settled in our apartment. We don't have any of our things from NYC yet but we do have a few pieces of furniture from Shreveport and some boxes of things from my house in Zachary. It was so much fun unpacking!

For those of you who don't know me well, I RARELY give/throw/whatever things away. It's just too hard. Mom came down to Zachary before I moved to help me purge for my garage sale. She was the pits...everything I owned had a convincing story for us to keep it and we ended up with a 17 foot U-Haul loaded to Shreveport! I was glad to have the help and moral support though!!!

I have been so thankful for that these last few days. Imagine unwrapping stuff from a box and finding the most wonderful pictures of your family and friends, the Bloomingdale's box that held the gloves and my engagement ring Orie gave me in NYC, a cross your dear friend's mother held as he fought for his life, rocks from the French Riviera your sister gave you almost 10 years ago, a program from the presentation honoring your grandfather and the many Veterans of WWII....and the list goes on and on. I was on top of the world!

I recently read a book that was very hard to digest...it spoke of our possessions as only being just that...possessions...not really having any meaning in our lives to fulfill our purpose. I struggled with this while reading because my possessions mean everything to me and I don't feel guilty about it. Each one tells a story and reminds me of someone very special...picking one up or glancing at it on my shelf or table brings a smile to my face and takes me back to the time I received it. I love getting to have my "things" back in my home! Thanks Orie :)

We have spent these last few days hanging out with Kat, car shopping and getting our apartment "livable". We finally found a car that Orie loves and today did the Target run for some apartment goodies...what could be better? (well Wal-Mart of course but they don't have that!!!)

We're looking forward to many new adventures in the Big-D and are very appreciative of all our family and friends and your support. We know today more than ever the importance of family and we love you all very much!

so...

I really wanted to post our favorite moments from NYC on our blog the night before we left....this has proven IMPOSSIBlE...there are too many!

We have had so many favorite moments since Orie began in this city in July of 2006. I think maybe listing a few are more appropriate than posting a gazillion pictures...

2006 - our 1st visit to NYC together...finding an apartment...the amazine Upper East Side "neighborhood"; a fabulous Thanksgiving trip for Diana, full of sights and sounds; several guy trips; Geoff "moving in" and the friendship continuing; a fabulous New Year's Eve celebration with friends; and so much more

2007 - wow....an engagement in Central Park; an engagement celebration that meant more than the world; bachelor parties; moving in day withe only 2 suitcases; lost luggage; fabulous new friends; the excitement of a new job for Di (short lived); another fabulous New Year's celebration (sans amis) and so much more

2008 - loving our new "big apartment"; having Grace here means the world; learning lots of local sights and sounds; meeting new friends (heart); sharing memories; fabulous road trip home for the holidays and so much more

2009 - wow...fast; a beautiful winter full of snow; a fabulous spring full of the the most wonderful colors; Grace and her precious moments in the park; learning more about each other and having fun each day; learning that we were moving to Texas; saying goodbye to friends; realizing how hard this would be...

Thanks to each and every one of our friends and family who have made our time in NYC and our time as husband and wife so A-M-A-Z-I-N-G....we owe our world to you....stop bye anytime and experience it with us!

never forget....

We are so blessed....I know this every day but still have to remind myself of it every night.

Dear God please help me remember each moment how special our lives are and how truly blessed we are every second of every day!

Still saying goodbye....to NYC...one step at a time....

Starting to Say Goodbye....

We have had some great moments this last week in NYC.

Last weekend we met up with Laura for a last night out on the town. We had a great dinner at Canyon Road and then went to a local karaoke bar for some fun....no singing from our table....but lots of fun. I'm even impressed with myself for throwing an outfit together when I still had no bag from my flight home on Thursday. We loved it Laura...thanks for celebrating with us!



Sunday we walked around town taking in some last parts of the city. It was a gorgeous day and we then decided to head to TOP of the ROCK for some "sightseeing". We had the most beautiful views of the city and sort of said bye to all our favorite parts. What an amazing afternoon!

It's crazy what the park looks like from up above. Some of our best weekends spent right there!

This is a pic of the Intrepid...kind of blurred in the bottom...



The amazing Empire State Building...I have been to both...I think the atmosphere and view from Top of the Rock are better.


WOW....

You can see it was a little windy at Top of the Rock!

We'll see what's in store for us this weekend....besides a lot of packing!

Catch Up...

What a fantastic trip we had to CMP the first week of August! We had great weather all but one day and fabulous moments of happiness. Check out our ride....

Yep...that's a 2 door Toyota Yaris...it's almost as small as a Smart car. We pretty much laughed every time we rode around in it! Oh well...it fit our bags and made it to the beach....SUCCESS!

We had some awesome beach days....check out the sunshine...

We made every day count...staying almost until "closing time"...I love those last moments on the beach each day. So peaceful and beautiful!

We even took Grace over to Sunset Beach so she could play in the water and sand. She really didn't want much of that nonsense...especially being on her leash. It was still fun though!



She was a tired girl after 8 days of running around in a backyard and with 4 other dogs...


We even had a visit from mom and dad in CMP. This was on our traditional lobster dinner night. Dad and Beth treated a full deck to lobster and clams....oh what a great way to end a fabulous week!

We love going to CMP and we hope that our move to Texas doesn't stop us from going back each year!

Farewell from the beach...


Now....Diana is off to Louisiana for some fun!

It was a great visit full of family and friends. I soaked up each day....not really knowing I was going to be back so soon!!!!

We "cheers"'d to Orie



Had a fabulous date night at Superior Steakhouse with Kat and Brooke....

Did putt putt and video arcade with Ethan....watch out Jeff Gordon and Tiger Woods...



and soaked up as much of Ethan as one can possibly do...

So glad my goodbye this trip isn't for long! See you all very soon...and like I told Ethan...next time I'll bring Uncle Woo Woo and Grace....big smiles!

Something New....

Check out a few new songs for our Texas followers....