2007 is in the Can!

Tony's Christmas Decorations! :)


We made it folks! It feels like the holidays passed in a blink, and we are STILL trying to recover from the whirlwind!

Tony and I wanted to start some new Christmas traditions, so we started by hosting Christmas Eve dinner at our house. My mom, grandmother, dad, sister, and her boyfriend all came over for dinner. I finally had an opportunity to use all of the beautiful dishes and other paraphernalia that we received for the wedding. We did the usual pressies and dessert after dinner, and were joined by Tony's brother and wife, Darryl and Ellen. The next morning, we drove down to San Diego to celebrate again with Tony's family. We had dinner there with his parents, sister and her husband, their kids, Tony's grandmother, grandfather and grandfather's wife. Again, we never have enough time in San Diego, but it was certainly fun while it lasted. Tony spent most of time playing puzzles with our 4 year old niece, Lydia. Our nephew, James, is talking more than ever, and spent most of HIS time crawling out of/onto/through various pieces of furniture.


We spent New Years with our good friends, Tim (the best man), and his wife, Nicole. We went to a local bar/restaurant wife my sister and her friends, but made sure we were home in time to ring in the New Year. On New Year's Day we all went to our other good friends', Gavin and Julie, to watch the bowl games (don't ask me which ones...football isn't my thing).

The only downer is the nasty cold/flu that Tony contracted. He was knocked out for a good three days, but is slowly on the mend. I am starting back to work on Monday (goodbye freedom!), and Tony is gearing up for his next six months at Razorgator. All in all, we had a great holiday, and are looking forward to what 2008 will bring!

Back to School...

Its official, everyone. It seemed that I was only talking a big game (heck, even I was starting to doubt myself...), but its finally happened. Starting January 22nd, I will start classes at Cal State, Northridge for Masters degree in Literature.

"What is this, Laura?", you may be asking yourselves. "Didn't you already do this? Are you mad?"

...The answer is, yes. I have already done this. Yes, I might be mad. The bottom line is, I LOVE being in school. What is more, I love learning. And after being soundly rejected from every, (yes, EVERY) school that I applied to for a PhD program, I decided that I needed to regroup and approach this from a different angle. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I took my cues from my friend Melanie, as I had not a clue how to pursue a graduate degree after having my ego crushed by the UC system.

So, I am excited. Very excited, actually. I can't wait to be back in school again. I can't wait to start feeling like I am actively working on this thing I had been so set on. I want to read, I want to write, I want to wax philosophical on a bunch of dead guys' writings. So in the words of the great Billy Madison..."Back to school, back to school, so my dad won't think I'm a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight. I hope I don't get in a fight!"

A Gobble-licous Holiday

Can you believe how the time is flying? It seems like only yesterday Tony and I were donning our 80s paraphernalia and tripping off to Halloween parties, and now we are sleeping off triptophane hangovers. Who would have thought?

Our Thanksgiving was festive...and busy. We celebrated the day at my mom's house, California style. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that concept, it means sitting in the backyard and soaking up the 80 degree weather. Its rough being a California girl sometimes... Thanksgiving evening was spent at my best friend's parents' house, which has been a tradition of mine since I was in middle school. There was wine, there was pie, there was good conversation. Really, it was everything a girl could ask for for kicking off the holiday season. Tony was able to extend his day well into the evening, which is part of his tradition, and I was able to see friends who I haven't seen in a couple years. It worked out well for everyone.



Unfortunately, Tony had to work on Friday, so I spent the day lazing about and working up the energy to brave the shopping crowds. Because of his work schedule, we had to delay our trip to San Diego to see his family for the holidays. I took the train down on Saturday, and Tony met up with his family and I after work that night. Although short, our San Diego stint was fun filled. My sister-in-law and her family stayed the night, as did my brother-in-law and his wife (it took A LOT of convincing to make that happen...Darryl and Ellen were facing a 160+ mile drive back home in holiday traffic...no fun). My niece, Lydia was on her game and performed a song and dance act at dinner, and my nephew, James showed off his extensive vocabulary (he's 2). All in all, Tony and had a great weekend, and can't wait to make another trip down for Christmas and/our New Years.



I hope that this post finds everyone safe and well and recuperating nicely after Thanksgiving. Much love and hugs to everyone we didn't get to see, and for all of you who did celebrate with us, thank you for making our first holiday as a married couple memorable! Thank you, and good night!

Its a Jaeggmeyer Halloween, Charlie Brown!

Greetings again, devoted readers. I know that it has been too long since our last post, but things have certainly been busy these last few weeks. In addition, my laptop is now possessed by Satan, and I can no longer log into our blog account at work. WTF?!

In other news, Tony and I are doing GREAT! He is loving is job (although his commute is nothing short of awful), and really seems to be making his superiors take notice of all of his hard work. YAY! I am loving working part-time. Truly, there is no other way to fly when it comes to teaching. My work load is a fraction of what it has been in years past, and I for the first time in a long time feel like I have time of my own again. A girl could certainly do worse.

October was eventful at our house. As many of you know (mostly because you were living it as well), there were about 13 devastating fires burning their way through Southern CA. The Buckweed Fire came within .6 miles of our house (we could see the flames cresting the hills North of our house--yikes!), and Tony and I were ready to evacuate at a moments notice. Thankfully, we are fine, and his family in San Diego (where some of the worst of the damage was) is fine as well. Thank God for miracles big and small! Speaking of San Diego, a friend of mine is raising money for disaster relief for some of the worst hit areas in SD. Check out the following websites for more details:
www.witchfire.etsy.com
www.witch-fire.blogspot.com

My sister, coincidentally, rang in her 27th birthday by watching all of the greater Santa Clarita valley burn. Goodie for Amy! :)

Halloween was also an adventure. Tony and I celebrated our friend, Jenno's 30th at an 80's party. I paid homage to the lead from the movie Flashdance, and Tony was a republican yuppie named Kip. We also made it over to our friends' Jana and Mike's 2nd annual Halloween Spooktacular (their words, not mine). There were ghouls and matadors aplenty, and a good time was had by all.

I've included some of the pictures from the past month, but be sure to check our our snapfish account for complete details. www.snapfish.com See everyone in two weeks for Thanksgiving!

The Invasion!

Ahh, how time flies when you are busy! Tony and I haven't seemed to be able to take a breath since he moved in. He really likes his new job--traffic not withstanding--and has definately been putting himself on the map with his superiors. He was working 16 hour days for about two weeks, which was beyond crazy, but things seem to have been settling down now. He's also looking into taking computer programming classes at Santa Monica College to continue his IT studies. As for myself, I am back in the mix at Verdugo as though I never thought of leaving. Part time DEFINATELY has its perks, although there is an adjustment to being in the wings as far as English department life goes. I am also back at school, slowly and surely plugging my way through Medieval poetry and L'Morte de Artur. Hot dog! In between Beowulf and Cantebury Tales, I am also dilligently practicing my downward dog (yoga class, that's it!). I love being back in school, but I am definately anxious to start my coursework for my Master's program.

In more recent news, Tony and I had guests this past weekend. My sister and brother in law, Dannie and Doug, came up last weekend with their two kids. Lydia and James are 4 and 2, and are the CUTEST kids in the entire world. We spent most of the weekend chasing the cats around our house and listening to James' sing-song "Hi kitty. Hi Sappho. Hi Pretri (he couldn't say 'Petri')". Needless to say, Tony and I loved every waking minute. We spent Saturday night at our friends, Gavin and Julie's, house. They also have two kids, so it was like a toddler extravaganza. Throw in our friend, Jen's, four month old and it was like being at the zoo.

I've included a couple picutres here, but definately check out Snapfish for the rest. I've also (finally) posted our honeymoon pictures for your viewing pleasure. See everyone next month!

P.S. Stay tuned for pictures in the next few days!

Domestic Bliss....

Hello folks! Well, its been a whirlwind since Tony and I returned from the honeymoon. Probably the most exciting news is that Tony just recently--literally, last Friday--accepted a job working at a company called Razorgator. They are located in West L.A., and are a ticket broker for everything from concerts to sporting events. Thanks to the powers that be, and a little birdie named Jana, Tony found out about the job and interviewed on August 13th. By Friday, he was hired. Coincidentally, he will be working under our friend Mike Onori. Its not what you know, my friends...

That said, Tony and I are finally (finally, finally) cohabitating! Who would have thought?!?! I can't express how excited I am that I can finally share a living space with my husband. Granted, living with my husband also means that I am living with a boy, but I am certainly not complaining (at least not yet! hee hee...). We have moved most of his things up here from San Diego (in the matter of about two days...while still working). Like I said, its been a whirlwind. We are settling in, and just enjoying being a REAL married couple.

In other news, I am starting back to school next week. It is going to be a bitter slower of a process than I had originally intended, but I am starting to work on a second masters degree (this time in American Lit). which will eventually translate into a PhD in Post/Modern American Lit. It sounds fancy, but mostly I just want to sit in class and learn things forever. I will be returning to Verdugo part time so as to make sure I have enough time to devote to my studies. If all goes according to plan, I will do Open Enrollment as a full time student at Cal State Something in Spring.

Between jobs and school, honeymoons and moving, Tony and I spent most of July in San Diego. I lazed and enjoyed the sunshine while he worked, all the while reading the last installment of Harry Potter (fantastic...truly a great book). Tony started pursuing his IT studies again, and intends to do something computer-y soon enough. I taught three weeks of summer school to earn some extra cash and to keep myself out of trouble.

All in all, its been a busy two months. Its been great, and Tony and I can't wait to see what the next two months will bring. :)

Jaeggmeyers in Paradise!

Hello folks! Well, we're finally back from our honeymoon. Tony and I have had a whirlwind adventure globetrotting these last two weeks. I make our trip sound a little sexier than it really was, although we did have an absolute BLAST. We left on June 24 and flew to Minneapolis/St. Paul. From there, we drove down to Ames, Iowa to visit one of my best friends, Ryan (who also had been gracious enough to officiate our ceremony...thanks Ryan!) and see his new digs. Iowa is gorgeous (despite the rumors to the contrary...hee hee) and Tony and I had so much fun hanging out with Ryan and getting to see his life at Iowa State.

The next leg of our journey took us to beautful Evansville, MN (population: 566). While small, Evansville is scenic, and is home to my mom's side of the family. Tony was a trooper and held his own while being bombarded with my extended family coming at him from all sides. No joke...at the reception my cousins Elaine and Char hosted for us, Tony met AND remembered some 60 relatives that came to meet and greet. That's no small feat! Between visting, fishing, more visiting, and the occasional relaxing moments, Tony and I stayed pretty busy for the five days we were there. It was great to see my family, and its always hard to say goodbye when I only get to see many of them once a year.

Our last stop was the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, good things sometimes come to people after a very (VERY) long wait. After spending six LONG hours in the Miami International airport, and consuming copious amounts of alcohol at the Jose Cuervo's in the airport terminal, we finally found ourselves winging our way to the sunny beaches of Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Jamaica is everything everybody has ever said it would be. Beautful, sunny, lush, tropical, beautiful some more. It truly is spectacular, and I am afraid our pitures hardly do it justice. In any case, Tony and I spent seven glorious days relaxing poolside and beachside, tasting the fare of the area, partaking of the local rum (well, Tony, not me. Rum and I don't get along very well). It was incredible, and the perfect way to truly spend our honeymoon. We had time to just spend with eachother and be...well..married. Between our tans (read: sunburns), the food, the site seeing, and the various wildlife that took up residence in our villa, Tony and I had a truly memorable week in Jamaica. We can't wait to go back for some soon anniversary.

It was sad to go, but its always great to be home. We have quite a few photos from our journeys (I'll be posting all of our trip pictures on snapfish), and lots of great memories for our adventures. Who could ask for better?