I’m so excited to finally see lots of green and flowers blooming!  I love being able to run outside and take walks to get ice cream :-)  Providence has finally made the transition into Spring!

The winter here is pretty long so I tend to get over excited when it starts to warm up.  Matt and I have packed the car and headed to the beach TWICE only to find out it is only 65 and windy as hell at the beach.  Not quite laying out weather.  But we sucked it up and at least ate our lunch on the beach.  One day turned out to be a great surfing day so Matt surfed while I sat on the beach in my sweatshirt and read my book :-)  The weather was MUCH warmer in Providence…but I know the beach is always a bit colder.  I guess I was just too excited.

We’ve been enjoying the nice spring weather in Providence.  We have been able to go biking, running and walking a lot.  We were so excited about the blooming trees and flowers that we took a camera with us one day on our walk to get ice cream.  This route is also one of our running routes.

Matt and I went to San Francisco this past weekend to do some site seeing and visit Sofra.  I have been to San Francisco once before but, like most trips I went on from ages 13-22, it was for a swim meet and therefore I didn’t really get to experience all the city had to offer.

The first day we were there we took a trip to Alcatraz.  That was at the top of my “to-do” list.  We had amazing weather so the ferry to the island was great and we did the audio tour and walked around the island by ourselves for a while.  After Alcatraz we walked along the Pier, got lunch and then continued walking around the city…up to Coit Tower for an great view of the city.

Saturday we drove down the coast to Santa Cruz, visiting beaches and parks along the way.  Sunday we went to the old forts around the Golden Gate Bridge, walked along some of the famous streets in the city and had dinner in China Town.  On Monday, our last day there, went to Napa Valley to do some wine tasting!!!  The number 2 “to-do” on my list!!!!  We tasted at 4 different wineries.  The wine there was awesome and needless to say, I can’t wait to receive our shipped order

Liz got a weekend off from work and Matt and I were able to make a date to meet up with her and Rich!  We decided to meet half way between where we both live which ended up being Westerly, RI.  We did some wine tasting a really nice winery…

Then it was off to an awesome seafood lunch in Mystic…

We lucked out with some good weather and a nice little town to walk by the water.  Hopefully we’ll get to hang out a few more times before Liz and Rich leave to head back out to the mid-west!

LIzzy-sorry it took me so long to post these pics…i just got back from San Fran…those pics are still to come

My mom, dad and grandmother all have birthdays within a week of each other so Matt and I took them all out to a nice Brunch for their birthdays.  We went to the Old Mill in Westminster, MA.  Great food and free champagne with brunch!!!!  Can’t say no to free champagne…haha

I have been talking about getting a tattoo for at least a year now and I finally went through with it last week!!!

The remainder of the summer flew by!  Our wedding the in US was awesome…

Then me, Matt, my mom, dad, brother and memere all shipped off to France for round 2!

The wedding in France was amazing!

Then Matt and I were off to FIJI for a little over two weeks!  The best vacation I’ve ever had!

By the time we came back from paradise, the swim season had started and we both had to jump right back into work.  It has been very busy here but we still had time to make it back to Gardner for my cousin’s wedding!

Now we are already preparing for Christmas!

Hopefully I can keep up with the blog a little better now that we are back into the swing of things at home.  I know I enjoy looking at other’s blogs and keeping up with friends and family that way

My amazing girlfriends from IU (Colleen, Jillian, Liz and Meg) bought Matt and I an Espresso maker for the wedding! We were so excited we had to try it out ASAP…..and…..It was the BEST espresso I ever had! So tasty! I’m going to try to make a cappuccino next!

Thank you ladies for the wonderful gift!!!

So Liz and Richard moved to Connecticut almost a month ago but both me and Liz have been so busy we haven’t had the chance to meet up…..UNTIL last week! We were finally able to find a day to both drove to Newport, RI to meet for lunch and a bit of window shopping in all the fun stores! The rain held out just long enough for us to take a walk on the Cliff Walk! (A nice trail next to the water behind the Newport mansions)

It was so great to see her and catch up! After the wedding, I look forward to planning some more trips!

It has been a crazy summer with Liz and Rich’s wedding in May, Megan and Pat’s wedding in July and planning for our wedding in August….2 down and only ours to go!!

Both weddings so far have been so fun and we look forward to having everyone come out to New England to celebrate with us! Here are some fun pics from Liz’s wedding in Indiana and Meg’s wedding in Ohio. Enjoy

Here are some pictures from our wedding shower that Jill, my mom and my aunt put together for Matt and I. We had a co-ed shower which was great! We were so happy that so many friends and family were able to make it!

Thanks to everyone that came and sent gifts