California....knows how to party....

WOO HOO we made it out of New England! After weeks (ok, 4 days) of trying Todd and I finally got on an airplane and to our astonishment...it actually left the ground! ::claps:: If there is an award for holiday travel perseverance, I definitely think we should be in the running. ::takes a bow::

We ended up landing in California just around midnight on Christmas Eve and jumped into a week of parties and celebration. We had such a good time. We have so much fun hanging out with my sis, her husband, Adam and my folks and I loved being in a place that didn't have snow!

We are still so bummed that we couldn't make it to Seattle. Todd's family was never far from our thoughts, mother nature just had other plans, I guess. :( We will get there soon!

Cute family on Christmas eve.

Opening our gifts on Christmas morning, we were very spoiled.

The boys playing with their new GPSs

Hanging at Grandma's on Christmas day.

Grandma with all the grandkids

Cute grandma

Off to Disneyland! Its been a tradition for years to go to Disneyland at Christmas. I was such a spoiled kid!

Cheeky hubs on Tarzan's treehouse.

With my moms. Excuse the black teeth we were drinking red wine at the Disney winery.

Aren't they a beautiful couple?

Silly boys at California Adventure. They are too cute.

I wish we could do the whole week again. With all the flights we booked and all the waiting in airports it was so worth it. I would also like to thank the fine crew at Southwest Airlines. You guys seemed to pull off what no other airline was capable of by flying us out of RI. Now if I can just convince United to give us back our miles. ::sighs::

Snow Days!

Since we decided to forgo our daily trip up to Logan Airport we thought we might as well just enjoy the snow!

Hello!

Toddi making a snow angel

Building a snowman

Very handsome hubs

Our snowman

Seattle or Bust

A couple trips to Logan International Airport, a short time relaxing on the runway and we are still in Newport! UGH! I will never ever second guess the weather report again, this is just crazy. We thought we did everything right. We were so nervous about driving in the snow that we left work early on Friday and hurried up to Boston and arrived just a few minutes before the snow stated. Then we checked in for our 6pm flight to Boston and happily hung out in our terminal. 8 hours later we were still in our terminal. At around 10:30 we finally boarded our plane, got settled in, went through the emergency procedures, taxied out to the runway, de-iced the plane and then just after 11pm our flight got cancelled. Apparently our flight crew maxed out the amount of time they were allowed to fly in a 24 hour period. So the pilot turned us around and drove us back to our gate. Annoyed but not beaten, we drove through the snow back to Newport to decide what we should do next.

Flash forward to the next morning. We woke up, grabbed our computer and immediately booked another flight to Seattle. We reloaded the car and headed back to Boston. We were Coyers on a mission. Ten minutes after we got in line to check in, we were alerted that Seattle had closed their airport due to another storm and that our flight was cancelled. No flights were going to Seattle that day. UGH! This time, completely beaten, we gave up. We got back in our car and headed back in the snow to Newport.

We are so bummed. We had so many plans with Todd's family. I guess we will have to wait for another time, it just wasn't meant to be. :( ::sighs::

Very hopeful on the way to Boston

Defeated on the way home. :(

And New England Storm Watch 2008 Continues...

Ok this is getting serious. School has been cancelled, Todd's base has been closed, and my neighbor has wrapped a plastic tent around his porch and I have yet to see a cloud on the horizon. Now I realize I am no meteorologist however I do feel like I 'am smarter than the average bear' and I have no idea what the hoopla is about. We are in the northeast for goodness sakes, aren't we used to snow storms? People are seriously freaking out! Ugh I guess time will tell but I have been checking out the Doppler and so far I'm not seeing any storm.

Do planes take off in the snow?

UPDATE: This storm is definitely on the doppler now. I seriously do not give meteorologists enough credit.

I need a New England Storm manual...Where do we get a porch tent?

Gah!

I love snow and have been hoping for a good dusting for a few weeks now. Well it looks like my prayers have been answered...on the day that we fly home. I'm not concerned that we will miss it but I worry that our travels home may become a bit more difficult to see our families. I really hope this doesn't affect our flights. :( ::keeping fingers crossed::

Maybe this will pass by tomorrow?

And the redhead falls silent....

Dear Vocal cords,

Are you mad at me? Where did you go? I realize that we have been dealing with a cold for the last few weeks but going on strike is by no means the way to deal with this. We are a team. This morning I woke up, went to say good morning to my sweet hubs and nothing. I tried a little harder and just squeaked. No voice what-so-ever. This is totally unacceptable. I have things to say, comments to make. For example, this afternoon Todd did something really funny and when I went to razz him about it absolutely nothing came out...then in return I was razzed for not being able to deliver witty comments...is that what you want? I sincerely hope not. If you can see to it to heal yourself up, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks,
Shan

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

First snow of the season! Yea!

Brrr! I really need to find those gloves. ::smacks head again::

Good Wine and good friends...

I have the coolest coworkers. Every day at work we just laugh and laugh. A few weeks ago, bonded by our love for wine, we decided that we should have a wine tasting party. Due to its proximity to downtown (in case we wanted to take our party on the road) we chose Casa Coyay as our venue. The rules were simple: Grab your hubs, 2 bottles of wine and a dish that paired well with it. We ended up having a ton of food and ton of wine and a ton of fun. I love these ladies!

The set up before all the chaos started

Jess, Brett, Mike, Don, Paul and Todd all demonstrating the proper way of swirling wine before tasting

Todd and Amy

Time to eat

The ladies: Cyndi, Jess, Kathy, Shan and Amy.

We learned here that taking a picture after many glasses of wine is a bit harder to organize.

Cheers!

It's Christmas Time!

We love Christmas and this year we are so excited to spend it with our families. We also could not wait to bust out all the decorations that we had collected this past year. There is just something about a sparkly tree that just gets you into that holiday spirit.

Our pretty home

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. I love everything about it. Turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, pies...I'll take it all. It is by far my favorite meal and today I found out that my husband has a very special talent. I had no idea that when we got married that I had unknowingly committed my life to the best turkey roaster ever! Who knew?!?

Since Rhode Island insists on being so far from our families, we decided to scoop up our east coast family and host Thanksgiving at our house...we do have that fabulous dining table after all. Dividing up Thanksgiving prep, I tasked my sweet husband with the big job of cooking the turkey. Like any project you give to Todd, he took his turkey duty very seriously. This morning he got up at 4am ::yikes:: to throw our 14 pound turkey in a 8 hour bath of salt and vegetable stock. Then he stuffed the cavity with onions and apples for flavor and roasted it to perfection. It was the most moist turkey I have ever had. He timed it perfectly and had it ready, carved and on our table at exactly the right time. My husband is so dreamy. ::stares lovingly at hubs::

Even though we couldn't be with our families this year we still had a great day with great food and great friends. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

4am...yikes!

Taking a salt bath

Dedicated Hubs

Our festive table

Yum!

The crew

mmm...pie

Freezing in little Rhody!

Its cold. I mean really cold. 6 weeks ago we were dying of humidity and now we can see our breath in our living room. What happened? Gah! This morning it was 20 degrees outside and that did not include the wind chill! Gah! We are talking some serious cold.

We've also noticed that cold weather does not travel alone. It brings along a very special friend, static electricity. This has turned our loving home into a static mine field where we have become balls of electricity who mortally wound each other if we make contact. Gah!

Though we are only a week in (and probably have 6 months left), this is what we have learned so far:

1. Touching inside the our house is very dangerous.

2. Weight loss and weight management in winter is near impossible. Stuffing your face with casseroles, stews and soups are the only ways to stay warm.

3. Working a mile from your home almost always guarantees that your car's heater will finally kick on the minute you drive into your work's parking lot. brrrrrrrr. and...

4. Wind chill is not your friend.

As a California girl, I am totally unprepared. I happily drop kicked my gloves last May and now have no idea where they are. ::smacks head::. Apparently I didn't realize we had to do this every year...oops!

Wow that went fast...

Once upon a time (five years ago) in a land far far away (Irvine, Ca) a young redhead, fresh off her Australian adventures, decided to go out for a night on the town with her best friend, Nicole. Thinking that this was just a typical Friday night of drinks and dancing she didn't think much when a handsome young Marine struck up a conversation and made her laugh. Though she wasn't looking for love she could not deny that she and this marine got along 'like a house on fire' and gave him her phone number. The next morning he called and has called her everyday since...

Though we have replaced our dating anniversary with our wedding anniversary, 5 years is a fun milestone so I just couldn't resist posting a couple pictures. So in honor of 5 years of happiness (minus a couple deployments ::yuck:: )I would like to present Todd and Shannon: the early years...

Our first New Years 2003-2004

My cute Sergeant 2004- do we look any different?

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's day to my sweet husband, my fabulous Dad and my fabulous father-in-law. Today we honor you and everyone who has fought to keep our country safe. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

My Hero in Iraq :)

My hero (my dad) in Vietnam.

I wish I had a picture of my father in law. :(