Saying Goodbye to 2008

Before I get into my 2008 wrap up blog I wanted to first say that until last night I had never seen Office Space before. I know shame on me which is totally why Andrew so wisely gave this movie to us for Christmas. He gave us four movies he feels were lacking from our movie watching rotation and we watched two out of the four and he was right on both of those!! :)

2008 is coming to a close and though my dad always says not to wish time away I've got to say I'm not really sad to see this year end. It had a lot of ups and downs for sure and for me just an overall feeling of sadness, anger and an inexplicable case of the blahs. Not to sound like a broken record but most of all of those feelings were due to rocky road of trying to have a baby and being continuously disappointed. I took the year off from working so that adds to a certain feeling of uselessness in addition to the whole "not being able to give my husband a baby" that I dump on myself on a daily basis. I also underwent surgery for the whole baby thing and our doctor continued to blow smoke up our asses by telling us that he saw no reason after the surgery why I should get pregnant. Fast forward six months and still not pregnant. So naturally me being anti-Doctors, needles and now surgery I feel that much more angry having gone through all of this for what appears to be nothing. Hopefully in the new year I can put these feelings of anger in the past and be a little more calmer and patient and just move forward with our life and if that means without a child well then so be it.

In 2008 I've made new friends, reconnected with old friends, been surprised by people in both a good and bad way and have totally been disappointed and heart broken by people. I have thankful for all of these experiences because it helps to move forward knowing who you can count on and who will ditch you at the first sign of a disagreement and that happens and like the baby thing there is really nothing you can do about it just move forward and be happy with all the good in your life and say to hell with the bad.

In 2008 I read 14 books which is 2 more then I read last year but probably not as many as I read back in the days of commuting back and forth to the city but especially now with now job I find myself goofing around online and reading magazines more then I find myself sitting down and reading a book though today was a major exception as I sat and read the last 100 pages of Kevin Smith's My Boring-Ass Life which I absolutely loved and consider one of my favorite books of this year. Other favorites include: Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner, Needful Things by Stephen King, The Godfather by Mario Puzo, and Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. These are just the top of my list though I didn't hate any book this year I just liked these better then others.

In 2008 we saw a bunch of movies including the much hyped Cloverfield which made me so nauseous I couldn't really enjoy it. We saw Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day which I absolutely loved Frances McDormand and Amy Adams were so terrific! 21 which was just a fun movie but since I have spent a lot of time in Vegas I love any good Vegas movie. Forgetting Sarah Marshall which I thought was hysterical and we bought the day it came out on DVD! Iron Man and The Dark Knight which were different in that one was way the hell lighter then the other but I loved them both and Heath Ledger in my humble and non-professional opinion deserves the Golden Globe he has already been nominated for and the Oscare which I sure hope he's nominated for and not because he's unfortunately passed away but because he deserves it. And I'm thrilled that Robert Downey Jr. has hit it big because I have loved him for a long long time! The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was disappointing, Sex and the City which I really enjoyed more then I thought I would it's just a beautiful friend movie which I can't help but love. The Incredible Hulk which I loved and was happy I could replace my memory of that other Hulk movie with this one!!! Brilliant cast and I loved the throw backs to the show which I absolutely loved as a kid. Wall-E was brilliant, Wanted was pretty but the plot was lacking, Hancock loads of fun, Hellboy II way fun and just a pretty film. Zach and Miri Make a Porno what can I say about this film I'm a Kevin Smith Fan I've loved every movie he's made INCLUDING Jersey Girl and this ranked up there among the faves. What other movie can make you laugh hysterically, turning a movie about people making a porno into a beautiful and touching love story? More Kevin Smith brilliance in my opinion! Ok so those are the highlights some movies we missed, some movies I probably forgot and some movies I left out on purpose what can you do they all can't be faves right?

This year I got fat! Or should I say fatter, I'm at the highest weight I've ever been and well what can you do. When you are a sad, crazy Italian you turn to food for comfort and that's what I did so we'll see how I do in 2009 but hopefully I'll shed some of the poundage. Pounds aside I want to get healthy exercising and eating less crap though I say that as Mike is in the kitchen plating up a load of fried snacks we picked up in the freezer section of the grocery store and I'm drinking a glass of wine and there are chips and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream for later. Hell I'm already fat I might as well give 2008 a proper send off right?

In 2008 my mom had hernia surgery which she made it through with absolute flying colors and my grandmother had emergency surgery which I don't even like to think about because it reminds me how dangerously close to losing her we came and that's not something I like to think about. But happy to report that she is ending this year much healthier then she started it and I'm way thankful that she made it and I'm reminded that she's a tough and damn if I shouldn't be more like her.

In 2008 as with every year since we got together I'm reminded that my husband is the most awesome and patient man on the planet. How he's put up with me for yet another year is way beyond me but boy howdy am I glad he has been able to put up with me!

Well kids that's my 2008 wrap up! Hope the year has been good to all of you and now it's time for junk food, wine and the commentary of Clerks II since I'm way jonesing for all things Kevin Smith at the moment!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!

Christmas Recap

We Taylors are back in Orlando after a week in Ohio. Let me tell you the week just FLEW by. When we got to Columbus the temperature was in the single digits, we had rain and ice early in the week and then by Saturday it was 65 degrees crazy huh? The day we arrived in Ohio we ran some pre-Christmas food related errands and thus began the eating fest! That night mom made chicken sausages and then Nicole came over and made some amazing potato pancakes. So good! The next day mom and I ran to Whole Foods for yet more Christmas food and then my cousin Susan came over with her daughter Josephine and our cousin Francoise and we all went to lunch. It was so great seeing them and reminded me that I really need to keep in better touch with everyone. I'm for sure going to work on that in the new year. Tuesday evening after Susan dropped me, Mike and my dad back at the house Andrew came to pick us up so that we could hang out with him and Nicole for a while. We get to the apartment and decided it wasn't rainy enough to skip the zoo so we head out. Now due to the rain and the very very cold temperatures the parking lot and streets in the complex were iced over and we didn't make it out of the complex before hitting a patch of ice and skidding right into a fire hydrant! Poor Andrew's car was a bit of a mess so me and Nicole headed back to the apartment while the boys tried to change the tire but AAA ended up getting a call and our night at the Zoo turned into pizza and Wii at the apartment which was actually a lot of fun and me and Nicole couldn't stop laughing!



Christmas Eve Mom picked us up from Nicole and Andrew's apartment and off we went to the grocery store for you guessed it more Christmas food! Then we headed home and started getting ready for the evenings festivities. That night our friends Lisa and Mark came over with their adorable little boy Alex and we ate A LOT! Nicole made a cheese ball and this blue cheese dip that is to die for and she made her now famous rice balls! Mom made spinach dip and shrimp scampi and Lisa brought an artichoke and spinach dip that was also amazing! After dinner we opened some presents, we laughed a lot, everyone made fun of me for taking so many pictures and we all tried to convince Mark that a trip to Disney was in order! Then it was on to dessert! Yep because all that food wasn't enough we had dessert! Mom made cookies and Lisa brought her Ricotta Cake which I've actually had dreams about and this year she brought a brownie trifle and these cookie dough truffles that were seriously seriously delicious and we ended up fighting over the leftovers (not seriously fighting just a friendly tussle!) Christmas morning I woke up way early, I was like a little kid again waiting for everyone else to wake up so we could open presents! Me and my sister spent some time with my grandmother and when everyone else woke up it was time for presents. Part of our Christmas morning tradition is that me and my dad (and this year Andrew) have a cup of eggnog, we listen to Mario Lanza's Christmas album and midway through the gift opening mom presented us each with a delicious hot, fried meatball! Wheaties has got NOTHING on these true breakfast of champions!!! Santa was very good to all of us and there were smiles all around.






The rest of Christmas was spent doing more eating and playing games. Christmas dinner has always been traditionally mom's baked ziti with meatballs, sausage and veal spidinis. We ate like eating was going out of style and by the time dessert time rolled around we couldn't do it! So we saved it for the next day and I'm glad because I didn't want to be sick to my stomach while eating my absolute favorite dessert in the world - Cassata Cake! The rest of the trip was spending time with the family, watching football, shopping and playing games! It was a good trip and always good to be with the family at Christmas.



By the time we got home yesterday we were exhausted but we got unpacked and the laundry started ordered some food and relaxed. Today we've been hanging out at home catching up on DVRed TV shows and watching some of the movies Andrew got us for Christmas. We watched Just Friends with Ryan Reynolds - super funny and now we are watching Office Space which I'm totally digging.

I've been zipping through Kevin Smith's My Boring Ass Life and I'm loving it. I'm even more convinced that Mr. Smith is not only one funny guy but a genius on many levels. Have a bunch of books on the to read list after this one but I'm sure I'll be done with this book in a day or two. Mike is off work until Monday so we are going to hang out, watch movies and spend quality time with the fur babies who absolutely missed us I'm thinking since they've been attached to us since we walked in the door yesterday!

Now we are gearing up for New Year's as always we will stay home and eat junk and just be together, I plan on writing a 2008 recap tomorrow so stay tuned!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and that everyone is happy and healthy and ready to ring in the New Year!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!

Boy oh boy do I have a lot to do today but since I couldn't guarantee that I would be able to post a blog before Christmas I wanted to make sure I posted one before we headed to Ohio! We have been busy little bees lately but it's great to finally be over that ridiculous flu and getting into the Christmas spirit! This week I baked cookies, not as many as I would if we weren't going away for Christmas but I busted out a new recipe and for the first time ever I made Gingerbread Men! Mike is particular about his gingerbread and he made no bones about telling me that he likes soft and chewy gingerbread so I did a google search and I found these and they turned out perfectly! I didn't decorate them but judging from the fact that Mike has eaten all but 3 of them which he assured me he'll be eating this evening I say they were a success!! I also made peppermint bark which is a staple around here at Christmas time and Anise Pillows which are a huge family tradition and I'm sure there will be more in Ohio but it wasn't a chance I wanted to take.




Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with Mike's family so I made stuffed mushrooms and a fudge wreath to bring over. We had a nice time. Did a lot of laughing as with most families when this clan gets together they tell old stories and relive embarrassing but hysterically funny moments! Now today I got up bright and early to finish a couple of Christmas presents and now I have to get off this couch and get going. We have to show Mike's Aunt and Uncle the ropes of checking on the cats and then we have to drop Hooper off at Chez Leslie's where he will get lots of love and attention and walks! Then we have to pack. Trying to figure out what we are going to bring with us. I left my coat at my mom's when I was there in January so I am a little concerned that I will freeze to death as soon as we step out of the airport! So in my search that I will find something to wear I found my old NY Knicks jacket that my grandmother gave me back in high school. I wore the hell out of this jacket and was surprised to find that it still fit fairly comfortably so I might just bust that out and continue the trend that has been 2008 - reliving my youth! We'll see what I decide and I'm sure you'll all see because I'm certain I'll be posting photos!

I am excited to get to Ohio and start celebrating with my family. My sister has all the cooking planned out and me and Mike are planning all of our eating hehe! It's going to be a great time. And I love knowing that we are going to have a holiday full of nutty Leonetti Family tradition that would seem silly to others but mean the world to us.

I will admit to feeling a little sad, I so thought I would be pregnant by now and it's just another Christmas passing where we aren't parents or preparing to be parents. I haven't been mentioning the baby process much lately because there hasn't been much to say. We aren't really dealing with it now, I've all but given up and we are starting to research adoption but only casually to start and I'm sure as 2009 gets underway we'll move the adoption research into high gear but we'll see. Maybe we were just meant to be fun cousins or the fun adults that friend's like to have as babysitters - who knows. I will try not to let the sad feelings bog me down this holiday season.

Not to end this blog on a downer! I want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday. Remember the important things, love, family, friends and never underestimate the power of traditions! Enjoy, be safe and be in touch!!

More soon!!

Another Random Photo

at epcot

taking random pics

Posted via Pixelpipe.

With my fancy pants new camera I'm able to post pictures to my blog no matter where I am. However it doesn't let me write much just a caption and photo title so I will come back in when I get home and add just what the heck it is your looking at.

Yesterday I met Mike at Epcot. I got there about an hour before I had to meet Mike so I took some pictures and watched some of the holiday shows around world show case and I drank one of my beloved Frozen Mochas. After I collected Mike we walked around a bit, popped into some shops and came home.

I hope to post another, longer blog post later this morning full of even more pictures!

New Hair Do!

new hair!

what do you think?

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Christmas Time is Here

This picture doesn't even do the tree and resort justice!



So sorry for the delay in posting a new blog. Mike and I have been sick with the flu for 2 weeks now but we are finally finally finally starting to feel like normal people again. Due to being sick I've felt so behind in my Holiday celebrations, I felt behind in shopping, crafting, cooking and just enjoying all the things that go on here in Orlando at this time of year. This weekend we are managing to get some fun in. Friday night we went for dinner with Monika and Dave. We went to Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge which is always a beautiful resort but at Christmas time it is breathtaking. We took pictures, exchanged gifts and had a very yummy dinner. Yesterday Mike and I went to Downtown Disney and got the rest of our Christmas shopping done and then saw a movie. We finally saw Twilight. Now neither of us have read the books but we love a good vampire flick and we really enjoyed this one. It was a great day out.

Today it looks like we might have another day out, I just got a call from our friend Kerry who will be arriving in town this afternoon so I see a dinner outing in our future. I can't believe in a week we'll be in Ohio and I really can't wait. This time of year really reminds me how important traditions are and how important it is to reconnect. Due to being sick for so long I never started my December Daily album I wanted to work on along with Ali Edwards but I think instead I will put together a Christmas book with traditions, favorites and just the things that are important year after year. As if Christmas wasn't reminder enough of how precious time is last week my dear friend Matt's mom passed away. It saddens me to be so far away and not be able to be with Matt during this difficult time but I'm also grateful that I knew his mom, she was the sweetest woman, so understanding and so giving. I'm also grateful that she brought Matt into this world and raised him to be who he is because he's an outstanding person and has seen me through some of my darkest hours. This Christmas we have one more angel looking down on us and I'm honored to have had the Knell family as a part of my life all these years.

I have been trying to get a little crafting done. I made several ornaments - I will post pictures soon I'm waiting for Trisha to get her prize from the last contest first! I also put together a small canvas. I really enjoyed doing this project and it will always be memorable because while I was painting Banky jumped up on the table and right onto my paint tray! He managed to get hot pink paint on not one but all four of his paws! After he dotted my scrap room with hot pink paw prints I managed to get us locked in the bathroom so I could get the paint off. Thankfully it was my calm and sweet Banky that did this because though he wasn't happy about getting his paws cleaned he wasn't cranky about it, had it been Holden I would have been a bloody mess!



One huge bright spot on this week - we got our Christmas presents to each other. Mike and I decided to get the new T-Mobile G1 phones and that they would act as our Christmas presents to each other. I'm happy to report that I've been able to manage this phone easily I was worried it would be a little technologically advanced for me but I'm doing just fine. I look forward to being connected wherever I go!

On tap this week is preparing for our trip, seeing friends and celebrating Christmas with Mike's family. Should be busy and I hope to have more pictures for all of you before we head to Ohio! Enjoy the season everyone!

Big Winner!

Thank you all so much for participating in my little comment contest. I really want to try to get more of these going in the new year but since the holidays are right around the corner and our trip to Ohio is fast approaching this was the last comment for 2008! I will be thinking up new ideas for future contests but as always I'm open to ideas so just let me know what you think!!

Not to keep you in suspense any longer the winner of this latest contest is:

Trisha said...

Holy Caramel Nut Apple Pie!!!!!! That looks amazing! I baked a pecan pie smothered in semi sweet chocolate for Thanksgiving. It was so yummy. Next time I see you I will have to make it.

Keep an eye on the mailbox Trisha there will be a little prize headed your way!!

So I'm saddled with a bad cold, possibly the flu. I feel awful though not as bad as yesterday. Yesterday I was running a fever for the entire day today everything is running and it's very unpleasant. Mike has been great taking care of me when he gets home from work but I'm so done being sick. I want to get out and enjoy the holiday happenings. I so wanted to get to Epcot for the Candlelight Procession and we still have almost all of our shopping to do and there are so many craft projects I want to get done. I think today while I am once again couch bound I will work on some homemade ornaments - pictures of these creations to follow!

A lot of you commented that some of the pictures I posted last time did not show up so I tried to fix them and hopefully they worked this time let me know!!

Well I'm going to try to get something done here today - wish me luck! And congrats again to Trisha!!

More Soon...

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Here in Taylor Town it's beginning to look a whole lot like Christmas! Actually it looks like Christmas exploded. It seems so funny that not that long ago we weren't going to put all of our decorations out and now it's like a Christmas wonderland here. There are lights on the porch and a lighted wreath in the living room and the trees and candles everywhere it's very festive! I'm starting to definitely get into the holiday spirit! More then half of our Christmas cards are written out and ready to go, I have a list of crafts I want to get done and a few presents I would like to buy. As much as I love the cooler weather the sudden drop in temperatures has left me with a cold and I feel like poop but I will hopefully be bouncing back soon and enjoying the holiday festivities wish me luck!

Tomorrow I hope to announce the winner of my second blog comment contest! Be sure to leave a comment!! In the hopes to get you excited for the contest here are photos of the prizes I sent Tam for winning the first contest!



I will be posting often during this very festive season so be sure to check back often!! More soon...