moving.

for the two people who read my blog...
it's moving.
new look. new site. (hopefully) new posts. same title.

www.carynleebee.blogspot.com

mostly i wanted my new last name/email to coordinate with my blog.
also, i kind of wanted an excuse to have a fresh start and maybe post more than once every two months.

so here we go. cheers to fresh starts.

you're lucy. lucky?? YESSS lucky.

up until my move to delaware i have been lucky enough to go through three simple steps when i have needed a job:

1. decide on job i would like to have
2. apply/interview
3. get job offer

i'm lucky. i know. delaware, however, has proven to change things up.

as a military wife, i don't have a lot of control over where i live and when i move. actually, i have no control. when you are in the education field, it is not the best timing to move to a new state in the middle of the school year. it also does not bode you well when applying for new teaching jobs to try to obtain one in january, knowing you will probably be moving within a year...in the middle of the following school year. so i thought, i will just get a "fun job" for the year we are in delaware....

attempt #1: williams -sonoma. apparently january is also not the best time to apply to retail stores, as they tend to keep on many of the "extra holiday" workers they took on. boo
attempt #3: pottery barn. they are renovating the building from january through april. fantastic. i'll just sit around for 4 months.
attempt #3: a perfect position at the local YMCA overseeing the childcare program. or so i thought. the "local" YMCA i thought i was looking into turned out to be over an hour commute. not quite worth it.
attempt #4: subbing. still working on it.

more perks of being a military wife...small towns with ample job opportunities. i'm lucky!

"day" one as a military wife

fly boy left this morning. for oklahoma. for a month.

good news is he is in the states, so i can actually talk to/text/skype him.
bad news is i am still in delaware.
welcome to the air force!

today begins my first real day as a military wife. aka my husband is gone.

he left at 6:30am to catch his flight out of philly. i cried.
we had a friend visiting from syracuse for the weekend, so after i had the house to myself later that morning, i cried again. (note: in general, i cry a lot anyway.) i spent the afternoon eating chocolate, taking a nap on the couch with our new puppy, eating more chocolate, then giving in to retail therapy. totally normal.

i did however get the ball rolling for one of my new years resolutions: make one photo album per year with my favorite pictures of the year. michael's did not have the selection of photo albums that i was hoping for, and pottery barn discontinued my favorite photo albums....so i did it. i gave in and become one of those people. i bought my first scrapbook.

with you (my two readers) as my witness(es), i hereby promise not to become one of those ridiculous scrapbookers. i promise not to spend 30-40 hours a week perfecting every last detail of the scrapbook. i promise not to incorporate "cutesy" phrases and logos on each page. i promise not to make this a blog devoted to scrapbooking & the like. and i promise not to make this and/or any future scrapbooks "matchy matchy."

i'll update you once it is complete. for now, here is phase "one"



[lucy helped]




stay tuned for phase two (aka complete.)

new year. new town. new house. new last name. new post.

updating my life in pictures:

the last 40 days of 2010 proved to be exciting....


got married...check.


moved into our new house...check.


thanksgiving in the new house...check.


honeymoon...check.


navy beat army...check (9 years running!)


got our puppy (lucy)...check.


christmas...check.


my little brother got engaged...check.


here's to 2011 being even better.

wedding week

it's here. it's finally here. the week before my, i mean, our wedding.

two weeks ago i moved everything i have from roanoke, virginia up to delaware. and i was sick. my fiance was out of the country flying a mission in the middle east or western asia or something (i can't keep track), so my parents and i were left to load the u-haul, drive it up to delaware, and unload it ourselves. i helped my dad load the truck, but by the time we got to dover, i was hurting. i spent the rest of the move sitting on the couch, half out-of-it, watching as my dad piled the boxes higher and higher in my new living room. after we finished i got spend the afternoon in urgent care, it was a fun weekend! matthew came home from his mission, forgetting i had moved all my stuff in, and walked into a living room with floor to ceiling stacks of boxes. needless to say he was a bit shocked. (for the record, i tried to warn him about how much stuff i have...he obviously didn't believe me.)

last weekend i was blessed to have two wedding showers. saturday was in syracuse (where i grew up and where the wedding will be) and sunday was in columbus (where matthew is from.) it was a LOT of driving. i got to spend the 8 hour drive to columbus with my mom and nana. let's just say not only was it a lot of driving, but it was a looong car ride. 3 generations of women in a cadillac for over 16 hours...you can only imagine the conversations that took place.

this past weekend i actually got to spend with matthew and get some final details ironed out for the wedding. final dress fitting, get the program ordered for the wedding, pick out music for the reception, make sure the organist is still playing all the music we choose, pick out gifts for our parents, discuss the marriage book we need to finish for our premarital counseling...things normal people do weeks before the wedding, not 7 days before the wedding. good news: it's done now.

and now, it's just 6 days until the big day! brides-to-be out there, hang on, it goes by quick. i know everyone tells you your engagement will fly by, but believe them, it really does.

i am hoping i will actually post a little more this week before the wedding. but knowing me, i probably won't. so next time you hear from me, i will be 9 letters lighter in my last name!! i can't wait!

things they don't tell you when you get engaged

according to the various wedding movies i have seen over the years, being engaged is synonymous with joyfully frolicking through a field of daises in my favorite pale pink sundress. reality - on contraire. so for those of you who are engaged, may be getting engaged soon or someday hope to be engaged, i have complied a list of things you might want to keep in mind that the movies do NOT clue you in to.

1. your fiance may want his groomsmen to wear tails instead of regular tuxedos, even though you are NOT having a black tie affair. boys do not understand the rules of dress...that his uncle joe from the back country of ohio is planning on wearing cargo khakis and a polo may feel a bit out of place if everyone else is in black tie.

2. your grandmother, though she already planned your mother's wedding, may still want a say in most of the decisions you make. if you don't let her have a say, she will still state her opinion: that choosing black and ivory as your colors will look like a funeral processional walking down the aisle.

3. random people you have not seen in the last decade will offer their congratulations (or best wishes) followed directly by a request for an invitation. this could be done in person or via facebook. both are equally awkward.

4. no matter how big of a wedding you are planning, the guest list is the hardest part to plan. they are always more people you want to invite, always more distant relatives or friends of your parents that you have never met, but somehow people expect you to invite. brace yourself. the guest list is difficult.

5. your fiance may believe that by registering for items, he is expected to buy you anything that is not purchased after the wedding. thus, he may encourage you to NOT register for the kitchen aide you have always wanted because he does not want to buy it if no one else does. you may have to have multiple conversations with him.

6. when your brother's girlfriend drags your brother to the bridal shoppe you are looking at wedding dresses at with your mom and grandmother, your grandmother may loudly exclaim how inappropriate it is for a boy to be looking at the wedding dress. other people may turn and look at the posse you have brought with you to go wedding dress shopping and give you the look.

7. after already shown your future in-laws your ideas for rehearsal dinner sites, as well as the church and reception, your future-father-in-law may want to go back and take a picture of every possible location you might have the rehearsal dinner. your own father may be expected to chauffeur him around the city. this can take up to 3 hours.

8. your grandmother may buy you a christopher radko wedding cake ornament and stand that she wants you to proudly display in your home through the wedding day. though it does not fit with the decor of your living room, she will insist that your roommates will love it, and that it goes with everything.

9. not all invitations come pre-assembled. just be ready that you may have to assemble invitations yourself. this saves money, which is good, but takes extra time. be sure to plan in advance, assemble a team of workers, get a bottle of wine, whatever it takes.

10. if you don't register early, you may end up getting some gifts that you did not know you needed. this can include a 3-foot-long wicker picnic basket

11. your grandmother may dictate what others can buy you after you have registered. stating that after clearing out an entire section of your registry, you will ONLY think of her when you look at those items, and she doesn't want anyone else to purchase any item from that section.

12. your fiance may disregard that the one thing you said you do NOT want to do on your honeymoon: go to a sandals resort. he may continue to attempt to persuade you that you do in fact want to go to a sandals. that even though you think they are cheesy, they are on the water, all inclusive, and the best deal. good luck.

13. your florist/wedding cake woman/manager at the reception will all have different opinions on what your wedding should look like. even if all three know each other and work with each other, you will have to act as a liaison between them. again, good luck.

14. after receiving their invitations, some guests may call other guests stating that the invitation was "nice, but not what i would have done."


seriously, why don't they tell you this stuff the cheesy romantic comedies? :)


*disclaimer: the grandmother comments are only applicable if your grandmother is emily gilmore. i love my nana dearly and she makes me smile everyday. i wouldn't trade her for the world.

No Excuses

I thought I was the blogging type. Apparently not.

After a month + of not posting anything, I don't feel that I can call myself a true blogger.

This is my attempt to get back in the game.

It's been a busy summer with weddings, my own wedding planning, and driving up and down the east coast between Syracuse, Roanoke and Dover. I know everyone says the same thing every summer, but seriously, where did the time go? How is it half-way through August already?! And my real question: How is it that my best friend has been married for over two weeks?

She had quite the wedding. Really the whole week of festivities were wonderful. Between the bride and her family, the groom and his family, there was no chance at not having a fabulous wedding. It lived up to all my dreams. Great dancing, great company, a beautiful ceremony (I cried throughout all of it), and a perfect couple.


Contrary to popular belief, I am not the greatest public speaker. Somehow when Karina and I agreed to be each others maid-of-honors back in kindergarten, I never thought about the fact that I would have to give a speech. Reality set in the week before the wedding.

I had been working on a speech for several weeks, but was nowhere near ready to say it in public. I may have waited until after the rehearsal dinner to really sit down and finish the speech, maybe. Somehow, despite my lack of wit and lack of an ability to make people laugh, I pulled of a pretty good speech. I thought I would take this opportunity to share it. (I know I'm not the "funny" girl, so I went for "witty" in hopes someone in the crowd would at least snicker at my comments.)

Peter, after 21 years of friendship with Karina, I wanted to give you my best advice. So here are my Top Ten Ways I've Learned to Love Karina.

10. Mornings are not Karina's forte. So if you MUST wake her up before 8 AM, have coffee ready. Cream only please.
9. Though Karina is not nearly as competitive as she used to be, she is still better at most things than you are. Don't try to one-up her. She will win. Learn this early.
8. Karina Time can run anywhere between 10 minutes early and 15 minutes late. IFFFF it happens to be the latter of the two, don't rush her, it will only maker her later and get you into trouble.
7. Come to terms with the fact that you will probably retire and/or live in New England at some point, where Karina's Rhode Island accent will become more prevalent. It's inevitable.
6. Once a Pipes, always are Pipes. Know that youa re now more a Pipes than a Hagan no matter what NYS says your last name is. Karina will always be a Pipes. In fact, it is a true honor to become one (just ask Megan, she's been trying for years and now her last hope is Owen.)
5. There are few people in the world that are more stubborn than Karina, but know that you are not one of them. The earlier you learn this, the fewer "discussions" you will need to have.
4. Since 4th grade in Mrs. Olson's class, Karina has not been partial to skirts and dresses. Use positive reinforcement anytime she does opt for one of these by telling her what a "smoking hot wife" you have.
3. While buying a gift form Pottery Barn or Williams-Sonoma is very respectable, if you find something BLUE from any of your favorite stores, you will score infinitely more brownie points with Karina. Personally, I think a little blue box from Tiffany's could satisfy both your go-to stores.
2. Peter, holding hands is not considered a form of PDA. The more you do this spontaneously, the greater reward you will get. On the same note, you are married now, it is fine, normal, even expected for you to cuddle with your wife. Do this often.
1. My best piece of advice you already know, but will spend the rest of your life learning. You had Karina's heart before you want on that first infamous DTR date at Pastabilities regardless if she will admit it or not. Keep Christ at the center of your relationship and love her more tomorrow than you did today. I know she will spend every ounce of energy she has loving you.

Here's to you Peter and Karina. I love you both dearly!