Weekend Review

This weekend was awesome. Ryan and I participated in LOTS of relaxing, some quality time with friends, and naps (which never happens)! 

Friday 

Friday started out fairly low-key. I spent the morning getting every part of my application ready to turn in on Monday to hopefully become a paraprofessional starting next fall! Fingers crossed!

After lunch, Rachel and I met up to get a mani/pedi and kick off the summer! We always have a blast together!

I knew that I should get my test scores back from my 2nd MTEL (Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure) sometime Friday afternoon and I was really hoping to get them before we headed into Boston to meet up with Kristen and Stephen. I wanted to know whether I passed or not so we could (hopefully) celebrate in the city! Fortunately, about 5 minutes before we left, I received an email with my scores in it. I PASSED!! I can finally put that test behind me and begin the process of studying for my 3rd and final test!

So, filled with relief, we headed into Boston for a fun night with the Kehners! We met them at Faneuil Hall (which I can never spell correctly without looking up) and walked around for a bit before heading to dinner at Mr. Dooley's Irish Pub in the Financial District.

Faneuil Hall  

Quincy Market! 

Mr. Sam Adams 

Drinking a Guinness and a Magners Irish Cider 

After dinner, we walked over to the north end for the improv comedy show. We had a bit of time to kill before the show began, so we decided to do a cannoli taste test between the two pastry shops on Hanover. We've only ever tried Mike's and Ryan wanted to check out Modern to see how it stacked up! We stopped at both places and grabbed two similar desserts. 

At Modern, we grabbed a vanilla custard cannoli with chocolate chips.

At Mike's, we grabbed my favorite, a florentine cannoli! 

After tasting them both, we both clearly agreed that Mike's had the better cannoli! The shell was the big winner for us! YUM!

The comedy show was HILARIOUS, as usual. The improv comedians pick people out of the audience, ask them a bunch of questions about themselves, and make a skit up about them which is always hilarious! This time they picked on a man at his bachelor party named Bow (like bow down).

Saturday 

Saturday morning, after breakfast, Ryan and I headed to Braintree to check out the Farmers Market there. Lucky for us, there happened to be an early 4th of July parade going right through the market that day! We enjoyed the Hingham farmers market a little better, but the parade was awesome and we ran into a bunch of our friends from church!!

Our patriotic snow cone! 

Saturday afternoon, Ryan and I participated in a BRUTAL run. We set out to run 4 miles, but I called it quits at 3.5 unfortunately. I stopped for water around 3.2 and could never get going again. The run took it out of us and we both passed out for about 2 hours afterwards!  Clearly, a low-key night was just what we were feeling! We ate dinner and watched a movie before heading to bed.

Sunday 

Today we went to church, ran some errands, and lounged by the pool (where we napped some more!).

This week will be super quick, since we're leaving Wednesday morning for Indiana!!!!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

-Sarah 

A Busy Summer

Hey Ya'll!

There are so many exciting events coming up for the Smith's!

Moving 19 hours away from home was tough. I've learned that it's easier to be away from your friends and family back home when you know when and where you're going to see them next- it helps pass the time in-between. Therefore, we have been planning like crazy and have some REALLY exciting trips coming up this summer!

July 3-7: 
Let's start with our first trip in July! In just 6 short days, Ryan and I will be on a plane to Indiana (Dayton, OH to be exact- but our final destination is Lawrenceburg, IN.) It is Schoeff tradition for everyone to meet in the Burg and celebrate America's Independence together every year. We are super excited to spend some quality time with my family, run our annual 5k, and watch a killer firework show!

4th of July 2011 

4th of July 2010

4th of July 2009

2009

2008 

July 16-23: 

A week after we get home from this vacation, my parents and brother will be coming our way to experience Boston for the first time! We have lots of fun things planned and can't wait to host them in our new territory! 

July 27-August 3: 

A little over a week after my family leaves, Ryan and I leave for St. Kitts with his parents, brother and sister-in-law! Ever since Ryan and I started dating, I've been lucky enough to go on the Smith family vacation and the trips are always unbelievable! This trip should be no different and we are seriously looking forward to relaxing and exploring in St. Kitts! 

August 16-18: 

This is probably my last trip of the summer, since I'm starting Grad School September 4th! One of my BEST FRIENDS, Lisa, is getting married in October and her bachelorette weekend is August 16-18 in NC! I can't wait to celebrate one of her last weekends as a Pucci! Lisa has been there for me since the beginning of our friendship 6 years ago and I am SO glad I can be there for her special times!! 

Love me some Lisa! 

Clearly, this summer is going to be a blast, and it all begins in 6 short days!!

Bring it on, Summer! 

-Sarah 

Wedding Wednesday: The Reception!

Warning: This post contains a TON of pictures of our beautiful friends and family eating, drinking, and dancing their butts off! 

Happy Wedding Wednesday! 

So, after we finished taking pictures, the whole group lined up outside the ballroom and waited a minute or two to be announced! As they were announced, our bridesmaids and groomsmen busted out whatever moves they wanted and it turned out hilarious! We chose "Pump the Jams" as our walk-out song. 

Vida and Miguel! 

Rachel and Eliot 

Alyssa and Ben 

Lisa and Jake 

Stephanie and Brandon 

After we were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Smith (so exciting!) we immediately went into our first dance! Our song was "Then" by Brad Paisley!

Next up was the Father-Daughter dance, danced to "Daughter" by Loudon Wainwright III:

Followed by the Mother-Son dance, danced to "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban:

Then, my dad gave his awesome toast. Seriously, I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the house!

My Godfather and Uncle Dave led an awesome prayer and then we opened up the buffet for dinner!

Some Dinner Shenanigans! Both of these good friends are getting married Spring 2014! So happy for them and their significant others!! 

After dinner, the best man, Brandon, gave his toast. He talked a lot about the mischief Ryan found himself in as a child but it was very heartfelt and wonderful! 

Then, Stephanie gave her toast, which was hilarious and again, made me cry. I love her to pieces. 

We cut the cakes after. We had our wedding cake and a grooms cake, featuring a design by Ryan's grandmother, Alice Abeln. Our wedding cake had four layers and all were different flavors. The grooms cake was as chocolate as you could get! 

And then... the dancing really began!!

This is my gorgeous friend, Vida, and her fiance, Joe. She has an awesome blog too, which can be found here.

Two WONDERFUL couples! 

Steph and my adorable ring bearer!! 

Getting down. 

The Wobble, of course. 

Best friend, Stephanie and her boyfriend, Ben! 

Papa still has moves!! 

The night went by way too fast, and before we knew it, everyone was lining up for our grand send-off. We chose to do sparklers and paired them with special matchboxes that had our names and wedding date on them!

 And then we were off to the hotel for some rest before we left for our honeymoon!!!

Next up: our trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica!

-Sarah