And we're back!!

I didn't realize that it had been a whole month since my last post.  Since then, a lot has happened, and I think my overwhelming schedule has really gotten the best of me.  (FYI - I just starting singing Best of Me by The Starting Line in my head....)

Since my last post, a LOT has happened.  I'll give you a brief rundown.  And then hopefully my I can continue to move on with my blogging.

So....Here goes:

I spend most of the month of July packing up our Condo.  The rent for our tenants officially started on August 1, so we were really under the gun to get all of our stuff out of there.  This proved to be an extremely difficult task.  Why?  BECAUSE WE HAVE SO MUCH STUFF!!!  My mother was a huge help - she came over multiple times and helped me pack up my life.  And as she said, it really looks like we have been married for 20 years instead of 2.  Yes, that's really how much stuff we have.  We rented a storage unit at Mink Street Storage, which is a stone's throw away from the house.  We filled up a 10x10 unit with no problem, and we actually had to reserve a second 5x10 unit (and yes, we still had more stuff that couldn't fit - which is now spread out between my mother's basement, her garage and the storage unit in the condo building).  All of the furniture and some of the boxes were moved on Saturday, July 21 (My brother helped us quite a bit).  More boxes were moved during the week (Thanks to my cousin Carolyn).  The rest of everything we had was moved out between Thursday and Friday.  

To complicate matters even more, we had a contractor at the Condo ripping out the carpet from the 2 bedrooms and putting in engineered hardwood floors, as well as repainting the bathroom.  So we had to work around him to pack everything that was remaining (we finished around 11pm on Friday, July 27 - since we were leaving for Vacation on the 28th, we needed to give the tenants the keys a couple days early).  I think it's safe to say that I was about 2 degrees away from crazy.

We left the condo fully furnished for our tenants, and I have to say, it looked AMAZING.  If I were a student, I would want to live there.  The kitchen was left fully furnished with a table/4 chairs, plates, bowls, mugs, glasses, silverware, utensils, knives, a coffee pot and a few more extras I can't even think of right now.  The common/living area was left furnished with a reclining love-seat  reclining chair, coffee table, rug, television and stand.  Two of the bedrooms were furnished with a full-sized bed, dresser, desk and chair (the third bedroom was tenant furnished - and it doesn't compare to the other two rooms).  It really is a sight to be seen and we were really proud of the end result!!

ONe of the bedrooms set up with a bed (there is a desk to the left and a dresser to the right, too!)

Kitchen Table and Chairs

Living area with Sofa and Recliner...We added a coffee table in, too!

So Friday we handed over the keys, and that night we slept at my mom's house.  Since the house isn't ready yet, we're staying there in the interim (as I told one of my friends, we are temporarily homeless and staying at my mom's until the house is ready).  We still have a few things left to do at the condo, but since they are little things, we said we would get to them after our vacation.  

So vacation:  

I woke up Saturday morning with my ankles still hurting from all the physical work that I did on Thursday and Friday.  My ankles were actually swollen (YES SWOLLEN), and I was not a happy camper. We woke up at the crack of dawn and started packing for our trip, as well as running to the market for food for the week.  Our friends Mallory and Josh picked us up, and we were off to Woods Hole to pick up the Ferry to Martha's Vineyard.  Now, we went to MV last year with the same group of people, and I'd say we had just as much fun, if not more.  We did a lot of different things than last year, and it was really a great trip!  We brought Mal and Josh's car over (it made it so much easier bringing food - we didn't have to carry it on the boat) and we also brought our bikes (which we didn't ride AT ALL this year).  So here's a quick rundown:

Our Rented house in Edgartown!

Saturday:  Travel Day.  We got to the house, met up with the other couples who were going (we all got there at different times), played some yard drinking games, and Scott and I made a run to the liquor store for some stuff.






Sunday:  Nate's only day.  Kristen's husband was only able to stay for a full day, so we spent the day down in Oak Bluffs, walking around and doing some shopping.  We rounded out the night with Macaroni and Cheese - and even though my ankles were more like cankles and I was EXHAUSTED, it was my best batch ever.  

The Gayhead Lighthouse

The Cliffs at Gayhead

Monday:  Beach day!  We took a ride down to Gayhead, explored the cliffs and the lighthouse, and went down to the beach.  Gayhead is a dry town, but you're allowed to BYOB to the beach - as long as you sit in a specific area.  So that we did.  I think I got most of my tan this day...

Our Entertaining bartenders!

Tuesday:  Edgartown.  We spent the day in Edgartown, shopping and exploring.  The morning was beautiful, but when we all met up for lunch at the Seafood Shanty, it looked like everything was clouding over.  After lunch, we all separated again, and then ended up meeting at the bar at Seafood Shanty again, where it proceeded to POUR, the bar emptied out and we had a great time drinking too much and hanging out with our Lobster and Shark Bartenders.  Kristen left Tuesday night - we almost had her convinced to stay another night, but no dice :(

Scott and Me, at the Wasque Beach

Wednesday:  Mal, Josh, Scott, and I all went to Chappaquiddick on Wednesday while Ed and Courtney went to Oak Bluffs.  We took the car over on the On Time and got to explore more than last year (since we couldn't take the bikes on the dirt roads last year).  We got to see the the Mytoi Gardens, the infamous Ted Kennedy Bridge, and the Wasque Point and Beach.  





Thursday:  FISHING CHARTER!  I think this was my high point of the trip.  Mallory did all of the scouting for charters and we found a great boat that held about 30 people, and took us a few miles off the coast of Oak Bluffs.  We had an amazing time, and actually got to keep the fish that we caught.  It really was a great experience, and I'd love to do it again!!

Friday:  Kind of an everything day.  Courtney and Ed made themselves breakfast, and Scott and I headed out to have breakfast at The Edgartown Inn (which I would definitely recommend if you have the chance).  Scott and I did a little bit of shopping in Oak Bluffs and I finally found a hooded sweatshirt that I like.  We met up with the group in the afternoon to go out to Menemsha to see the sun set.  Unfortunately, as soon as we got there, the skies clouded over and there was no sun to be seen!  We'll have to add it to the list of things to do next year.  :)  We did find out, however, that Quint's cabin (in the movie JAWS), was filmed here!!

A couple of boats at the docks in Menemsha

Saturday:  Returning Home.  It was a sad day....The week went by so fast!!

The week seemed to zoom by once it passed, but we had a great time!!  We came away with lots of laughs, and lots of stories to share!

So I guess that's a good enough reason for not blogging for a month, huh?  It was just such a busy time, that I really didn't have two seconds to myself.  But for now, I think things are slowing down enough that I'll be able to get back to the computer and actually write about a few different things.  My ideas for the next few entries are Macaroni and Cheese (It's so delicious, why shouldn't we have another recipe for it??), different dinners, and naturally, more house stuff :)

Oak Bluffs on Dwellable

Martha's Vineyard....In more than a few words

So I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how I needed to write in my blog, and yet, I haven't done it.  Well, here is the long awaited post.

We recently got back from Martha's Vineyard, which I think was one of the best vacations we've been on since our Honeymoon.  Now that I say that, it is the first vacation we've been on since our Honeymoon.  Either way, we had a great time.  We rented a house with 3 other couples, and had a fabulous time! 

Noteworthy things from our trip I would like to share:

• Definitely bring your bike, as in your bicycle.  It's great exercise, and bringing my bike helped me lose almost 3 pounds on my vacation (I ate and drank what I wanted, but I tried to make decent decisions and count my points, but went over my daily quota almost every day...The exercise definitely helped!).  Although - I would research the directions before you try to go somewhere on the bike.  We wanted to ride to Aquinnah from Edgartown (which is a 20 mile ride), and after 19.5 miles, we were still only 2.5 miles away from home....So research would have been a good idea.
• I biked on 4 different occasions last week. 
• The first day, we went on a little adventure with 2 of our friends to find a beach, and rode about 4 miles. 
• The next day, we rode to Oak Bluffs from the house (in Edgartown), and while it should have been just 5 miles to get there, it took us 12 miles because we got lost.  Plus the 5 home, we totalled 17 miles. 
• The next day, we tried to ride to Aquinnah, and that was a lost cause, with 22 miles of going nowhere. 
• And finally, on Friday, we rode our bikes through Edgartown and into Chappaquiddick, for a total of 17 miles.  And since I calculate my weight-watcher activity points, and I get more points if I averge over 12-mph, I tried to keep my speed up so that I could get more points (and therefore not feel super guilty about my food/drink choices).
• Definitely go with friends.  I love my husband, but it's awesome to go on a trip with friends.  We knew everyone we were travelling with, but I really feel that we were able to make some strong friendships while we were on vacation, and that made me really happy. 
• Do everything you can.  We really had a ball.  We visited as much as we could, and we even jumped off a 15-20' bridge into the water - it was such a rush, and super fantastic!  I think next time, we'll be able to be more prepared, and have a specific list of things we want to do/see - things that we missed this time. 
• Don't kill yourself bringing food over.  So a lot of people had advice for us, where to go, places to check out - and these suggestions were awesome..  The only piece of advice that I didn't like (in hindsight) was to bring as much food as possible, instead of buying it on the island.  Why?  Well, we were told that the prices on the island were much higher, but they really weren't that different, except in the meats (and obviously if you were eating out 3 times a day)...I killed myself bringing food and carrying it on the ferry, etc.  Next time, I think the only thing we would bring would be the meats.  Everything else, I would buy there.  I was so frustrated with what I had to carry there, that I refused to bring anything home with me, and left everything (except the massive bottle of Kettle One that was on sale and a box of cookies I finished yesterday).

All in all, we had a great trip.  I m excited to plan another trip sometime soon...Although with all the weddings we have next year, I'm sure we'll be able to plan a vacation around then!