Stefan Graduates High School

Last week was a crazy one for sure. I worked Sunday and half a day Monday, then I got the Dup and we got in the car to drive six and a half hours to go to my parents' house in Western NC. It is a long drive, 410 miles or so, and unfortunately with Ryan in cycle it was just the two of us.

We had a rather uneventful drive for the most part. It did storm really badly at one point so I got in the right lane with my flashers on and drove 30 miles an hour, but it didn't last long! I also got my first audiobook (Billy Crystal's Still Fooling 'Em which I highly recommend!) and that helped the ride go by a bit quicker. The reason I am driving out there?

My baby brother graduated high school

That little dimpled face is how he always seems to appear in my head! But he isn't five, he is someone who is nearly six feet tall, crazy strong, super intelligent, and just all around amazing. And he is totally worth driving 800 miles in less than three days for. I got in late Monday night and Tuesday evening was the graduation. His high school actually used the auditorium at Western Carolina University, hence the giant purple cat thing in the background.

I am so ridiculously proud of this kid. He was in the technical honor society (hence the white chord) and was the only student to graduate with perfect attendance... all four years. Who does that?! My baby brother, that's who. He also has had over $150,000 offered to him in scholarship money. I remember when he was in elementary school, struggling with his dyslexia and dysgraphia, frustrated when it slowed him down. But with tutoring and some of the hardest perseverance I have ever witnessed, he rose above it. Honors classes, amazing honor roll level grades, top notch ACT scores... he has been living proof that learning disabilities only hinder you as much as you let them. I look up to him for that and I am so incredibly proud of him, I cannot say it enough.

We got there a little early... so we did have to sit for awhile. My parents look thrilled as does Emilio, Stefan's best friend from growing up that flew in to surprise him! But finally the ceremony started.

The ceremony was good... I don't really know how to judge these things since the last high school graduation I attended was my own ten years ago, but it seemed decent. 

My mom teared up when they played Baby of Mine and displayed baby pictures of the seniors (see the clothes basket above) followed by their senior portrait, but we all held it together pretty well. Their valedictorian was a sixteen year old who skipped two grades and in her speech referenced both Harry Potter and Taylor Swift (sigh) but otherwise everything went well. All too soon my little buddy was swaggering his way across the stage.

HE DID IT!

As the ceremony ended he held up his diploma to us, waving like crazy and giving us the thumbs up... he was the only one who did and I made sure to get a picture of it. He was so incredibly proud, as were we, and he was the only one who did such a thing. Because he is just that amazingly awesome.

Still proud!

I also finally got to meet Halie, his girlfriend, who is an absolute sweetheart. My baby brother has chosen well. They were best friends for nearly four years before they finally started dating, even though Halie is a year ahead of him in school they made it work. Stefan decided to go to school not too far from where Halie currently goes, so they plan on staying together for the foreseeable future. 

Since Stefan picked me up at my college graduation (on the left in 2009 at the WWII Memorial) I had to recreate the picture on the right in reverse. I did kick off my heels first! He was convinced I couldn't pick him up but I showed him! We all went out for a nice dinner afterwards and had a great night.

Wednesday came way too fast and before I knew it it was time to hit the road. My parents are moving at the end of the month so this would be our last time in their amazing mountain house. The view above is the view from their deck and one I am definitely going to miss. The six and a half hour drive will now only be a two and a half hour drive, which is awesome. My family only moved to the mountains about five years ago, so I didn't grow up there, but it is the house Ryan and I spent our honeymoon in and we still have a lot of great memories, it was sad to leave.

But Dup and I hit the road again and for the first time in her three and a half years she stuck her head out the car window! I had to take a picture to send to Ryan as proof! My mom was driving behind us and even called me incredulously saying, "Is the Dup sticking her head out the window?!" 

Yes, my dog is weird.

The drive home was long, especially when we hit traffic, but I am glad I made the trip and got to celebrate this milestone with my little brother.

I'm proud of you buddy!

New Year's

Since we spent Christmas at home on our own we decided to spend New Year's with my family at their house in the mountains. I was really looking forward to a few days off and spending time with my family, so naturally five hours into the six and a half hour drive I get hit with a vicious gallbladder attack. I was instantly horribly nauseous and for the first time in some serious pain all across my back and stomach. I was worried I wasn't even going to make it to my parents' house without being sick so I was taking my zofran and trying to close my eyes and hope I made it. The thing with my gallbladder attacks has always been if I actually throw up it continues in that vein for days and days, so I was really hoping to avoid that. We eventually made it to the mountains and less than a mile from my parents' house it started to snow. It was gorgeous even in the dark. We made it and I sat up with my mom a bit (who plied me with more stomach medicines she had) before we went to sleep. The next day, New Year's Eve, we woke up to a beautiful dusting of snow.

 

And I still felt awful.

I laid on the couch (mistake 1) to nap on and off. My mom and Ryan went to the Cherokee Casino to do some gambling and have lunch and I knew I was in trouble when even that didn't want to entice me to get off the couch. I took a bath in the amazing bath tub at the house and still felt awful. We planned to go out to a fancy dinner that evening and as I sat up to get ready the pain that shot through my stomach and back was enough to make me sob like a five year old. So no dinner for me. We had reservations, and I felt terrible messing everything up, and was trying to get everyone to go. Ryan insisted on staying home with me and my parents and brother went for the dinner. Since they had made reservations and it was price fixed people had to go or pay anyway. It turned out the dinner wasn't that great and they got some BBQ for Ryan and came home with that later on.

 

I sat up on the couch and dozed all evening. Laying down apparently is a big no no during an attack (at least for me now) and my mom said she had the same problems. We all watched the ball drop at midnight and I went to bed drugged up and sick. New Year's Day I sat up on the couch all day barely moving. We watched football and I napped on and off before going to bed early.

 

Happy New Year, right?

 

Friday I was finally feeling better, I managed to eat a bit and shower and my mom and I even ventured out of the house. She took me to get my nails done and the color was a bit darker than I normally get but I love it. It is the shellac (no tips, my natural nails but the gel over it) so my nails still look great a week later.

 

 

I also discovered my eighteen year old brother can do hair better than I can. He did an elaborate braid for me one day when I was feeling a little better and it was way nicer than anything I can do! Apparently his girl friends all taught him how.

 

 

The rest of the weekend I wasn't up for much but I was up and moving. Stefan and Ryan got some guy time too. Mainly to watch football and talk Marine Corps stuff and working out... things like that. My family also celebrated a late Christmas together and we exchanged gifts one afternoon. My parents got us some much needed lotions and perfume/colognes, ornaments, candy, and some things from my grandparents like a knitted hat from my Babci.

Frick and Frack watching football

Ryan and my dad hiked a lot and took the Dup with them. I think out of any of us the Dup had the absolute best time. I swear my dog is part billy goat, she can climb straight up the side of a mountain like it is nothing! My dad took her to the ski slope one morning and she happily dragged him over the ice in excitement.

One of the days when I felt better Ryan insisted I go with him and the Dup on an easy walk. I wanted to get out of the house so I went, and it started raining naturally. We were all bundled up and under my parents' large umbrella but we had a wonderful time. The Dup climbed straight up and down the sides of the mountain and even jumped into the freezing mountain stream regardless of the fact it  was absolutely freezing!

 

Rylie was more concerned that we stopped than anything.

On a rock after hiking with Ryan and my dad.

Part mountain goat, part Dup.

Ryan managed to take some gorgeous pictures of their hikes and the scenery too since I wasn't exactly up and able to most of the time.

 

The creek that goes through my parents' back yard.

 

Part of a very difficult hike I did not go on! Ryan, my dad, and the Dup did

 

Yes, she climbed all the way up (and down) there by herself and absolutely loved it!

 

Dup on a log

The days I spent feeling better went by too fast. We went out for sushi one night all together and had a really great time. Lots of football was watched, Frozen was watched (since my mom had never seen it and got it for Christmas) and all too soon it was time to go home.

 

Such a gorgeous view from their driveway

I managed to drive a good portion of the way home before my stomach decided to roil a bit again and Ryan finished up the drive. Sunday we got home semi late and rushed to unpack and get ready for the week ahead.... which is now over and I am already behind blogging! Ryan picks up his first class this week as a Combat Instructor and our "new normal" for the next three years will begin. Wish us luck! And I hope you all had a Happy New Year.

 

PS - Gallbladder removal in T-17 days!

Christmas 2012

Every year Ryan and I rotate holidays with our families, we do one family for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas. As we spent Thanksgiving in South Carolina we went out to western North Carolina to visit my family for Christmas. For the first time we hit some traffic on I-40 driving west but it was rush hour near Raleigh and Durham so we should have known better! Even this rush hour was nothing compared to traffic in DC so we didn't mind too much.

When we got up to the mountains on Friday night it was cold! We left the coast and it was in the 60s, by that night it got down to 19 degrees and there was some leftover snow dusting the ground. Brrrrrrr. We unpacked our huge bag of presents and suitcases and settled down for a nice dinner with my family.

The next few days were relaxing and exciting as we waited for Christmas to hit. Ryan went running with my brother Stefan almost every day trying to build up his endurance with the altitude and Mom and I kept going into town for last minute Christmas surprises and stocking stuffers!

Lake Junaluska looked gorgeous with wreaths and candles. It was actually warmer this day, but still cold.

 In downtown Waynesville! Gateway to the Smokies.

 We had dinner at JRs one night and they had a gorgeous 40 foot tall Christmas tree.

 We also had some wonderful rainbows during the weekend. This is the view from my parents' deck.

 Driving back up the mountain later we saw this at the bottom.

We had some nice relaxing down time too. Ryan and the Dup had some fun....

 And Stefan stole my phone and took about thirty pictures...

 Rylie of course went running in the backyard and swimming in the stream regardless of the cold. The first time she jumped in was hysterical because she was not expecting the cold! But she gave up that worry quick enough and was digging up rocks and sticks to play fetch with us.

And then it was finally Christmas! Be ready for more of a massive photo bomb... sorry!

 Dad and Ramon staking their spots for the snacks!

 Chips, hummus, dip, crackers, olives, peppers and smoked trout with sour creme onions and capers! YUM

 Fettucini galore! There were six of us and we still had left overs. Crazy.

 Its an Italian tradition to burn a noodle in rememberance of those family members no longer with us.

 Our Christmas Even dinner set up. My mom wanted to start a new tradition and got us British crackers.

 The pups! Rylie was such an instigator and kept bugging Dippy.

 We all wore our paper crowns for the meal. We also got jokes, shoe horns, zipper pulls and large paper clips!

 My mom got a lobster bake on groupon for all the adults! YUM. Lobster tail, corn, scallops, shrimp, mussels and crab claws. The boys wouldn't touch it so they had calzones. Italian and Polish tradition calls for a meatless Christmas Eve so with the bake and the pasta with my dad's mushroom sauce we had a darn good meatless dinner!

 We wore our finest for Christmas Eve mass. Sad this was blurry but Ryan does not have the patience for multiple pictures on a camera.

 The love of my life... he looks so dashing in his suit!

 Siblings! I cannot believe he is taller than me. Sigh.

 Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

 The Dup in her Christmas Collar.

 Family picture!

 Christmas morning means watching A Christmas Story over and over again.

 Look at all those presents!

 And stockings are a big thing in our family!

 My mom knows me too well, this was my wrapping paper this year.

I got an Eli Manning jersey, Uggs, a gorgeous signed Biltmore drawing (with our wedding date, names and song), a Kate Spade giraffe bag and a gorgeous crystal giraffe. I love giraffes!!!!

 Ryan said he purposely wrapped this ugly. 550 cord included. Oh boy....

 Mom got a shotgun... you put a Jersey girl in the South and she sure does acclimate!

 Daddy opening Rylie's stocking with her.

 Post breakfast casserole coma with presents. Ryan got a fishing pole too.

 The Dup couldn't handle the excitement and passed out.

 Our yummy dinner.... beef wellington with mushrooms or horseradish, caeser salad, and stuffed baked potatoes. Oh yum.

 We wore the crowns again.

 Dessert was a ton of cookies and summer berry trifle.

Rylie loves to cuddle with Uncle Stefan.

Aaaaand that's it! We left early the day after Christmas and unpacked everything. Now we have to undecorate. I do love this time of year, it is a bit of a let down when it is over! I hope you had a Happy Holidays and enjoyed time with family and friends.