I'm baaaaaack!

Hi Everyone!
So my New Year's resolution was to blog more often... oops.  Oh well, you know me well enough to know that I'm not the best at this :)  I hope you all have had a wonderful summer!  Timmy and I sure have.  Lots of things going on.  Here we go...

The summer started out with a bang for my family! Laura and Carter welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their lives :)  Charlotte Paige was born June 9th so yeah... we are birthday buddies.  My sister was always better at giving gifts than me.  She was the best little present ever.  Laura was not supposed to have her for several days but Charlotte had other plans and Aunt Ally made it to Texas just as fast as JetBlue was willing to fly.  Once I saw her, it was love at first sight.  She is the most wonderful thing that I have ever seen. Below is the picture from my birthday.  Sweet angel in one hand and a coke the same size in the other.  Welcome to Texas!  My job was wonderful and let me work from Texas for 2 weeks when she came and I took a week off, so I got to spend some great Aunt/ Niece bonding time. Spending time with my wonderful family is always the best use of my time :)  

While I was home, I also got some very fun news that I passed my BCBA exam and I am now officially a Board Certified Behavior Analyst!  Woohoo!  No more studying! That test was nuts. Now my weekends feel longer, my evenings are free to watch TV just like I have always loved haha.  It was really nice to be home with my family in TX when I got the news.  They are the best!

We also got to spend then a few days with Timmy's family while we were home.  We got to see his immediate family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and some others mixed in while we spent some time at the beach.  Most importantly, we got so spend some super fun time with our other 6 nieces and nephews.  That's right... there's 7 total.  We had a blast at the beach and we remembered just how much fun 6 kids under 7 can be.  Remember all of those tricks that people played on you as a kid at the beach?  Guess what... now we get to be those people!  You get to say things like, "Oh my gosh, I just saw a mermaid" and they totally believe you because you are an adult and Aunt Ally surely wouldn't lie about that. It did backfire when I was in a float with Phil who is 4, and I said "Oh no, here comes a crab" and tickled his feet under the float.  Poor thing screamed and was terrified.  I'm a horrible person.  I told him it was me, and he looked at me like "that is not something to joke about crazy" but forgave me as we bonded over calling Uncle Timmy crazy and talking about awesome ice cream is.  So yeah, we're good now :)

I also got to see my friend Jessica and her sweet angel baby Mason while I was home.  Mason is already 1 and is so stinkin cute I can't stand it.  It's a cool feeling to see the people you love turn into awesome parents with fun kids.  Jessica has accomplished this feat and I couldn't be more proud of her!

That time at home helped me come back to NYC refreshed and happy.  I needed it. But now we are back to the same old same.  Smelly city, hot subways, rats, you know... normal stuff. Timmy and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary when we got back and decided to check out the beaches that NY has to offer.  We went out to Long Island and found a very nice beach.  Only in NY will there be pigeons on the beach!  Stupid sky rats.  All in all it was pretty cool.

I have been acutely aware of the fashion that is all around me.  80's fashion is back people... and I have something to say about it.  First- neon being back is awesome :)  Love it! Keep rocking hot colors, it screams summer and happiness.  Second- I can get on board with skinny jeans.  They are pretty much a new version of stirrup pants which I think we all can agree ruled. Tunics are the new oversized sweatshirts to go over said stirrup pants which again... ruled.  Third- Toms are pretty much the new keds.  But I've also seen keds, so I'm not sure what to do with that.  What I cannot get on board with is ACID WASH JEANS!  We must draw the line somewhere people!  I like Kelly Kapowski as much as the next girl, but we need to admit, though it may be hard, that she did make some mistakes.  What is next?  I dare not even think about it.  Anyway, lets make a pact right now... no acid wash jeans or pull over sweater vests.  Deal? I digress.

I got to go home again for a quick trip recently to see my family and sweet baby Charlotte.  No one told me that babies get bigger so quick.  Not cool.  Charlotte is so big with so much personality already.  She has a boyfriend that she flirts with (the fan on her ceiling), a favorite song, and couldn't be more precious.  She smiled at me a lot, or at least I choose to believe that.  It was probably gas, but I think we have a great connection as birthday buddies which trumps gas.

That's pretty much it.  I know it's not all that much since I haven't written in 8 months but all I did up until my exam was study.  No fun there.  Oh we also moved to Wall St, so... that's cool haha.  Anyway, that's all for now.  Sorry that there aren't any outrageous stories to tell, maybe next time :)  I miss you and I love you and I hope to be back in Texas to see you soon.  The holidays are just around the corner!  Have a very happy Labor Day weekend!  xoxo ~ Ally

I didn't forget!

Hi friends,

So, it has been wwwwwaaaaaayyyyyy too long. Apparently getting a job + being lazy does not = blog updates. But here I am. I have a little incentive because I am on my brand new Mac :) It's so shiny! Now let's see.... where to start....

Ah yes, the fall. This fall we got to head down to Texas to see two of our besties get married. The lovely Kristen and Bryan got married in the hill country in a BEAUTIFUL ceremony. We had so much fun with our friends and we even got to see (for a very short time) our families.

For Thanksgiving, my WHOLE family came! We were so lucky to have Mom, Dad, Laura, Carter and Craig join us for several days over the Thanksgiving weekend. We saw Grand Central Station, Bryant Park, SOHO, Little Italy, the statue of Liberty, the 9/11 memorial, Times Square, Central Park, FAO Schwartz, and soooo much more. We were busy, but we made sure to eat our way through the city :) We had so much fun, and the weather did pretty well. Not too cold, but good for fall weather. Oh, and how could I forget to mention... we went to THE Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. That's right my friends, and it was glorious. Be jealous. I really thought I might faint when I saw Santa. Everyone should feel joy like that as an adult :) It was a very cool experience and I'm glad we braved the crowds. Then came Thanksgiving dinner. I was very nervous seeing as how I have never even brought a side dish to Thanksgiving, but with the help of Mom and Laura, we did a pretty good job. We had a wonderful time and it was so sad to see them go. The only comfort was that the end of Thanksgiving meant the beginning of Christmas... and if you know me, you know how I feel about that :)

Christmas in New York was certainly interesting. The tree at Rockefeller Center was breathtaking. I could have just stared at it for hours. The store windows were also spectacular, especially the ones at Bergdorffs. B-E-A-UTIFL! The cold weather actually made it feel like Christmas should be coming. The night we went to the tree, it did not get above 25. 2 pairs of pants, a hoody, and a bubble coat were no match for the cold. I even enlisted the help of two grandmas. Grandma Minnie's knit hat and Gongy's knit scarf were my best defense. So, I had a warm head and neck, and the rest of me was an icicle. How do grandmas do it? I prefer to think that it is the love that makes it so warm :) We also had the unique experience of purchasing our first NYC Christmas Tree. Wow... that was something. If you don't already know, we do not own vehicles. You aren't allowed to take a tree on a city bus, and a cab driver would literally kill you if you even thought about asking to put it on the roof, so that left one option... carrying it to our apartment. Luckily, 600 sq ft of apartment only allows for so much Christmas tree so it wasn't too heavy. In the 10 minute walk from the tree lot, approximately 5 people stopped and took our picture, laughing at how ridiculous we looked. I would have done the same thing in their shoes. Good times.

Then, on December 22nd... we flew HOME!!!! It's funny how much being away from home around the holidays can mess with you. Christmas songs that I have always enjoyed and never thought twice about now turned me into a sobbing mess. "I'll be home for Christmas" and "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" and "There's no place like home for the holidays" were all written by monsters. Because if you think about it, if you are already home, then the song is merely a song. If you are not home... TORTURE. I will also throw the writer of "Christmas shoes" under that bus, because seriously???? That was just written to be mean to everyone. Anyway, I digress. We finally got to go home and spend time with EVERYONE. We spent two days with Timmy's family where we got to spend quality time with our 6 nieces and nephews, 2 of whom I'd never met (because the are babies, not because I'm a horrible person). I was so worried that they would not remember us. On Friday we went out to run a few errands and meet another new baby the lovely Isla, my friend Patricia's sweet new addition. When we got back, the kids were at the house (we hadn't seen them yet) and we walked through the door and Abby, who is three and hadn't seen us in months, screamed "AUNT ALLY!" and ran to me with a big hug. I about lost it! Then when I asked Wendi, 6, if she remembered us, she looked at me like I was an idiot. All in all, I feel better about the whole memory thing :)

Then we got to head to my parents for a few days. We got to see everyone on my side too. It was so nice and relaxing. It was a generally quiet and relaxing break from the noise of the big city. I say generally because there are these birds that only come out when I come home and sleep in my bed. They feel that I would not feel at home if they didn't wake me up at 6:30 with a beautiful song outside my window. My mom swears they never come any other time. They are probably in on something with those song writers... Anyway, we had a blast and got to hang out with everyone, eat wonderful food, and spend quality time with the people I love the most.

For New Years Eve, the lovely newlyweds, Kristen and Bryan came for a jam packed, super fun visit. We ate and rested, and ate and toured, and ate... and we went on a boat that took us to the statue of liberty for fireworks at midnight on NYE. That's right, NYE in NYC... OMG :) We went to the Museum of Natural History which was pretty sweet. We spent most of our time with the dino bones, and if you know me, you know that this is one of my biggest fears. After seeing them in person, I'm pretty sure I could take a T Rex. I'm still not comfortable watching Jurassic Park though. We also to to see The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes. Let me tell you something, they do not throw the word "spectacular" around. It was awesome. We also got to see my other friend named Kristen and her brand new awesome fiance Jace. Kristen and Kristen... what a great way to start off the year!

That brings us to now... Timmy and I have been playing with our new toys (laptop and apple TV) and enjoying a wonderful Sweatpants Saturday. We have also become addicted to the Hunger Games books. No snow yet, besides the freak storm in October. That really freaked me out. But we have been getting some cold weather. The other day when I walked to work it was 12 degrees. That's right 12. With the wind chill they said -1! What the crap is that? I really do not know how my face didn't freeze off. I'm dead serious. I half way just thought about sitting on the sidewalk and seeing how long it would take my veins to freeze. But instead, I went to Starbucks. Thank goodness Santa brought me some sweet sweet Uggs. Otherwise, I would have quit my job and hunkered down.

Sorry this was so long! A lot to catch up on. One of my New Years resolutions is to blog more so hopefully I will stick with it. We miss you and love you all! Happy New Year! and GOOOOOO Texans!