What Have We Been Up To???

Our apologies that this hasn't been posted before now!!!

So, it’s been a very busy first 7 months for us, with many, many stories that so many people want to hear about which is why we decided to set this up! To begin at the beginning, the wedding was amazing; with both of us wishing the day wouldn’t end when it was finally over! The next day, bright and early, we flew up to JFK on the first leg of our honeymoon trip to Ireland. We spent the day with Krista’s cousins, Keith, Susan and Megan, just hanging out which was nice since we hadn’t been able to relax in quite a while! That night, we took off around 9pm on our second flight of the day, to Shannon, Ireland.

We arrived very early (Ireland time) and quickly made our way through the comparatively small airport, claimed our bags and went off to pick up the rental car. Dan O’Dooley Rentals-yes, that’s right, an Irish car rental company-Stephen was the designated Ireland driver and Krista was the designated white-knuckled map reader. We spent the next week, driving all over Southern Ireland, stopping to see castles, churches, friaries, and anything else that happened to catch our eye. Bunratty Castle was our favorite, set up with the surrounding manor as it would have been back when it was actually in use. Very interesting to go and see the peasant houses all set up and decked out with Catholic paraphernalia, something we certainly wouldn’t run into over here.

We both agreed that Blarney Castle was a bit of a disappointment and neither of us “kissed the Blarneystone.” Krista pointed out that because it was just another piece of the castle, not a separate rock, we could always just walk back down to the bottom and kiss the castle on the way out. Stephen busily took (fabulous) pictures. We saw the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced: more, mo-her, any ideas? We’re still not sure….) They were beautiful and the water was an absolutely breath-taking shade of blue. We saw crazy Irish sunbathers, who believed it was a good idea to lay in their bathing suits on concrete in 60 degree weather. We wore light jackets and called them crazy.

Anyway-those are some highlights from our whirlwind trip to Ireland. We have plenty of pictures and stories…just ask, too many to put down here! We both absolutely loved our time there and have been wishing we could go back ever since we came home!

After we got back to the states, Stephen’s parents picked us up in Jacksonville and we spent some time there with them, picking up some of the pieces left from the crazy few days surrounding the wedding. We heard various stories about friends and family who did some…interesting…things before and after the wedding. It’s crazy what weddings will do to people, we’ve decided. We left Jacksonville and headed down to Krista’s parents house, spent a few days there, picking up more wedding items and storing quite a few wedding items in Krista’s parent’s storage closet. The closet which became “the wedding present closet.”

We headed back down to Naples in our incredibly packed out car and moved into the “dorm room” apartment that Krista had been living in before the wedding. We had an interesting first few days, trying to set up in an apartment we already knew was temporary and doing things quickly because Stephen was set to leave for two weeks of training out in California a few days later.

Krista started working for the Registrar/Financial Aid department (at that time, it was only one office) and Stephen went off to California. And thus started out married life.
Stephen finally got back and we both worked our way through the rest of the summer.

In August, we moved out of our fun little temporary (comfortable) apartment dorm home and moved about 40 minutes away to the Ave Maria permanent campus. The move was a big downsize for us, going from two bedrooms, with a full kitchen, two bathrooms, and a nice size living room, into a 300 sq. ft. room with (thankfully) the handicapped bathroom which was almost half the size of the room itself. No kitchen. No living room, other than the corner or rather space in which we put the small couch we had brought with us. We were optimistic, or rather tried to be optimistic, reminding each other, “This isn’t so bad,” “We can do this for a little while,” etc. But by the end it was terrible.

School proceeded on-Stephen taking a full load and working full time and Krista taking an overload of classes and working part-time. Stephen was taking Intro to Political Thought, Constitutional Law, US Presidency and, our only shared class, Physics. Krista was taking Physics, The Russian Novel, 20th Century Literature, and Moral Theology: Living in Christ.

Then, in early October, came the biggest surprise of our lives thus far. About a week after getting back from Stephen’s brother’s wedding, we found out that Krista was pregnant. Neither of us, obviously, was planning on it, but we’re happy to accept it! The next few months were a bumpy ride, as morning sickness took a toll on Krista and in turn Stephen. In November, we went up to MD again for Stephen’s sister’s wedding and then later that month we went up to Norfolk, VA to spend Thanksgiving with Stephen’s family at his brother’s house. Neither trip was wonderful for Krista, as she spent a lot of the time just trying to keep it together. Finally, after everyone she came into contact with offered their advice, none of which seemed to help much, she was prescribed a nausea pill which did the trick. Just to give you an idea of how bad it was, this pill was originally developed to ease chemo patients dealing with nausea…yeah…intense.

Things finally started to look up after that, so for most of December, Krista has been feeling well, just a little tired and achy, now and then. We made it through classes, Krista with a few absences, all completely understood by her professors. She was surprised and happy to find that they offered any assistance they could to make things easier for her.

The week before finals our townhouse was (FINALLY!!!) completed and we moved in. We were lucky enough to have both sets of parents come down to Naples, bringing with them packed out cars and a moving truck full of furniture that they so generously donated to us. Both of us were so grateful to have all of it, especially with our parents’ help to get the house in some semblance of order!

We finished up the semester with finals, none of which went incredibly well but both of us did well this semester considering the circumstances! People have asked whether or not it’s been easier to deal with school now that we’re married and both of us pretty much feel that it has been, because we don’t have to divide our time the way we used to have to when we were dating. Of course, that time that we saved was then put into other things, like moving and moving and moving…ha. But it’s been great!

Christmas was fairly quiet, not that either of is complaining about that! Krista’s family came down to our house and we baked and ate our way through the few days that they were here. Everyone had a good time! Stephen got lots of shirts and ties for Christmas. He got a really nice briefcase/computerbag from Krista. (Which he loves, of course, as Krista does have impeccable taste) Krista’s parents gave them a fun digital picture frame, which Stephen has since had a great time setting up. It was the first time we had to go out and buy our own Christmas tree and ornaments, which was a blast! We loved having the tree, it reminded us of living up north, which is something we think of often. Sadly, we were hardly home long enough to enjoy the tree! Krista’s family left the day after Christmas and the following day, we left to go up to Stephen’s parents house for New Year’s. While we were up there, friends of ours, James and Kait, got married. That was also a great time, as Stephen was James’ best man and Krista was one of Kait’s bridesmaids. The first few days in Jacksonville were spent helping the couple get ready for their big day, this being the third wedding we’ve been involved in since our own, we figure we’re pretty much experts now! The wedding itself was beautiful and reminded us of our own. Then we spent time with Stephen’s family, which is always a good time. We had a second Christmas with them. Stephen's parents gave us some really great decorations for the house, which was much appreciated since we had nothing at all!! For New Year’s the whole family went on a casino cruise and though most of us agreed that we wouldn’t do it again, it was a lot of fun!

We left and came back to Naples on the afternoon of the 1st. Early on the second, we went to the doctor’s for a usual check up. The doctor checked the baby’s heartbeat again and she said that because it’s slower, she thinks it may be a boy. In the same breath, she cautioned that she’s only right about fifty percent of the time. So…we have a fifty/fifty shot of it being a boy…hmm those odds sound...like maybe we could have guessed that!!!! Haha, but we are set to go back again on the 16th of January to have a sonogram done to see. Hopefully we’ll figure it out then!! In case you’re wondering, Stephen is hoping for a girl and Krista is hoping for a boy. Stephen is a little cautious though about having a girl, as he knows that it means he’ll eventually have to pay for a wedding…hmm…and Krista wants a boy because it means much less emotional drama in the teen years and beyond, but thinks that pink things are always so cute! So, bottom line, we’ll be happy with whatever we end up with!

After we got down to Naples again, Stephen’s sister, niece and brother came down to visit for a few days. Then two days after they left, Fr. Scroggin, who concelebrated our wedding mass and Br. Stephen who was also at our wedding mass came over for dinner and to bless the house. As Fr. was about to bless the house, Krista’s aunt and uncle (who had let us know they were coming beforehand, no worries…) pulled up outside the front door! They came in for the blessing and then stayed for a few days to see Naples and our new home.

Finally, everyone left. We have had a solid week of no visitors! We worked our way through the last week of Christmas break before classes start. Sadly, the week went too fast! Now it’s Friday afternoon, classes start Monday and Stephen left this afternoon to go to drill at Camp Blanding. No worries, Krista is fine (It’s not Iraq and it’s not even California!!! Wahoo!!!) Stephen will be busy as he will be “in the field” this weekend and Krista’s mom arrived late this afternoon to spend the weekend with her at our house!

This semester promises to be an interesting one! This is Krista’s last semester, she graduates May 10, 2008 (provided of course that she makes it…mentally…through the next few months!) She is due June 8, 2008…or so they say. Originally we were told May 30th. So who knows: at some point between May 30th and June 8th there should be a baby happening.

Stephen will still be in charge of security and taking his classes. Right now, Stephen is scheduled to take a directed study, with his favorite professor, as well as Catholic Political Thought, Moral Theology: Living in Christ (wait…that shouldn’t be too hard, since Krista already took it) and our new shared class, biology. Krista is scheduled to take her senior Thesis course, a class on Samuel Johnson and Jane Austin and dum, dum, dum…biology. She just found out that she has to register for another course because the directed study she thought she was going to be doing fell through. Sad. Very sad. VERY SAD!!!! But oh well…as we have learned oh so well in the past 7 months, everything happens for a reason and while we may not know that reason yet, we’ll see what it is eventually.


Que sera sera.