The Christophers

Blog vs. Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:55:00 +0000

These days it seems like all our family and friends are just as addicted to Facebook as us. We think we accidentally threw our point and shoot camera away with wrapping paper over Christmas (not a big deal, it was super old and the picture quality was not up to par) but it has created some friction on Facebook. Cameraless, no photos of the baby have been posted to Facebook since Christmas.

The family is not happy.

This is how they see her grow up. Some have told us this is the only reason they go on Facebook. Other says it is the highlight of their Facebook experience. All of this is so sweet to hear. I have thought many times about taking anything related to the baby off Facebook completely.

The family would not be happy.

Instead, I use all the privacy controls available and only post her photos for viewing by my selected "close friends" list of about 60 family members and very close friends. These days, Facebook plain and simple wins over the blog. I am not getting rid of the blog though because social media is changing so rapidly, I have a feeling it will serve a purpose again in the future. If you find you are not seeing pictures of the baby in the next couple months, once we get a new camera and start posting again, let me know and I'll make sure you are on the VIP list.

See you on Facebook!

Clara’s birth story

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:50:00 +0000

I most likely went into labor on November 11, 2010, Veterans Day, at 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant (side note: by my own calculations, I was probably more like 39 weeks pregnant, which is what the OB measured my belly at a few days prior). I remember tossing and turning the night before, unable to get comfortable and sleep for more than an hour at a time. I woke up every hour like I had for a weeks leading up to that point. Thankfully, I was always able to fall back asleep easily.

Drew was off work that Thursday due to the federal holiday. He had various appointments scheduled throughout the day – the dentist, doctor and dermatologist- that he wanted to get out of the way before the baby arrived in a couple weeks (he was sure she'd be late). I started the day by walking the dog for 2 miles, like I had done every other day that week.

Crampy, tired and feeling overall just out of it, I decided to accompany Drew to his appointments. I should have recognized this as a sign that something was coming since I normally would think of a million other things to do besides sitting around waiting for him. But something told me to stay close and not let him out of my sight for too long. I felt especially huge and uncomfortable sitting and waiting at the dermatologist. I couldn’t stay seated for more than several minutes at a time without needing to walk around.

After the appointment Drew took me to the mall to pick up a few extra items (including a blue maternity velour track suit that I planned to live in the for next 2 weeks - I was huge) for my hospital bag which I packed that morning. He accidently parked across the entire mall from where we needed to shop so we did a lot of walking. I remember not feeling great. Again, this should have been a red flag for me. It had been about a week since I went from loving every minute of the pregnancy to feeling like I was ready for it to be over. We ate pizza and ice cream that night before I crashed in bed. Looking back, I was probably in labor all day.

“Um Drew, I think my water broke. Yea, my water broke” – this is how Drew woke up on Friday, November 12, a day he planned to be at work. “Huh?” he asked. I repeated myself, getting more excited each time, until it registered to him. Drew knew exactly what to do. First he went downstairs and opened a pack of Clara’s diapers to help me out – a tip we learned from our birthing class instructor. Then he called my doctor. We were given orders to come to the hospital stat- they didn’t even want me to shower. Thankfully my bag was packed. We threw a few things in a bag for Drew, fed and let Gia out, called our parents, and made it to the hospital in under an hour. By 6 a.m. I was lying in a hospital bed feeling great and ready to get the show on the road.

Once it was confirmed by a test that my water was in fact broken and that my contractions were 2 mins apart, I was officially admitted, changed into a robe and gown that I had packed, and Drew and I began waking the halls of Labor and Delivery. My OB was not on call during the day so another OB checked in on me later that morning. About 1.5 cm dilated, fully effaced and the baby being in somewhat of a dropped head down position, the doctor was happy with my contractions and said I was good to labor on my own without any medical intervention. Since I didn’t have an epidural, I was free to move around as I pleased for the most part but had to get back on the fetal monitor at least once an hour to make sure the baby was doing well. I loved the freedom of not being in the bed and moved around as much as I could.

Hours passed and I was still feeling great – which apparently is not a good thing when you are in labor. The OB on call decided that while my contractions looked great on paper, the fact that I was feeling so good most likely meant that they were not doing their job. Drew’s parents and brother had arrived by this point with the video camera in tow. We had fun being dramatic for the camera, but in reality I was feeling none of the excruciating pain you see in movies. So we started the pitocin (pit). As it increased, so did the pain. I was visibly uncomfortable by the time my parents and sister arrived a couple hours later.

The remainder of Friday was spent increasing and decreasing my pit, trying to find the magic spot to make my contractions productive. At multiple points I was given the maximum pit a person can receive. On several occasions my contractions were only seconds apart, which carries the risk of causing the baby distress. When this happened we took a break from the pit. I never received an epidural during this time. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest most unbearable pain, I was at about a 7 when lying down and about a 2-3 when rocking in the chair, bouncing on my medicine ball or moving around.

My OB, Monica, came in to check me sometime late that afternoon. We got very lucky that she was on call Friday night/Saturday morning. Having made very little progress (I was now at 2 cm) since the last time I was checked, she decided to break my water even more. She recommended I get an epidural but I chose not to. I continued to labor and Drew did everything he could to help make me comfortable, from rubbing my feet, to sitting with me while I bounced and rocked. Our families went to our house for the night and we promised to call if we had any news. It was looking more and more like a Saturday birth was the new plan.

As I labored on throughout the night, my contractions were getting closer and closer together and lasted for a long time. Monica and the nurses were concerned that I was getting no break or rest and that the baby could go into distress. While Clara never had any issues with the pit, they made a decision to take me off of it sometime during the middle of the night. By this time Drew and I were completely exhausted. It had been 20+ hours of labor, hardly any progress and emotions were running high. We each took a shower to try and relax but it did not help me. In my mind, I was just inching closer and closer to the c-section I strongly did not want.

Although I was clear that I did not want any pain medication during my labor, I finally gave in around 4 a.m. and agreed to take something to relax. At this point Monica came in to tell me that I had been in labor and my water had been broken for over 24 hours. I could continue laboring for another 24 hours but hardly any progress had been made and it was nearing time to get the baby out. Drew and the nurse knew I didn’t want a c-section and encouraged me to keep going. I was exhausted, completely worn out from the intense laboring brought on by the pitocin, and I knew it was time. I honestly felt like I had done as much as I could and now I needed help.

Monica was nearing the end of her shift but agreed to sleep for a few hours and stay on longer so she could do my c-section. This put me at ease because she is a phenomenal OB - nice, funny, super sharp, and definitely the Dr. you want doing your c-section.

After I made the decision for the c-section, I was finally able to relax (with the help of medicine). Drew and I called our families to tell them to come to the hospital, he painted my nails, and we took a quick nap. Our families arrived to wish us well, Drew changed into his scrubs (which he saved for painting), I was finally given an epidural (which was nothing after everything I had been through) and off we went into the OR.

I was never nervous during the c-section. I was able to move my feet and had some feeling in my legs so we realized pretty quickly that the epidural had not fully taken and I was given morphine. I felt some pain, tugging and pulling, but Monica told funny stories and talked with me the entire time. It seemed like just a few minutes had gone by when I heard Clara’s cry and they held her up for Drew and I to see. (Drew videotaped the entire birth but would not look anywhere beyond the curtain). I was so surprised at how much Clara looked like me. Drew was shocked at how big she looked, especially considering she was 2 weeks early and had such a small house to grown in! She was such a beautiful little newborn – perfect skin, fat cheeks, big head. She was given a 9 on the apgar scale and we were told her weight was 7 lbs. 8 ½ oz, 20 inches long. Her head was 14.5, which Monica said was big for me to have tried to birth. It ended up that Clara’s perfect little head was the issue and the fact that it was so perfect and beautiful meant that it likely never entered the birth canal.

Clara lay quietly while they cleaned her up and warmed her under the light. Drew and I just stared at her in shock and amazement. All I wanted to do was hold her and inspect her. I imagine this is what every new mother must feel. Never anticipating that a c-section would be our fate, the first few moments after birth were something I was looking so forward to. If I had it my way, I would have been one of those women that pulled their baby out themselves, immediately hugged her to my chest and let her figure out how to breastfeed – before anyone else touched her.

Clara and Drew left the OR about 10 minutes after she was born. Clara was off for a quick stop in the nursery and Drew went to the waiting room to give our parents the good news. He found them already hovering around the nursery glass, trying to figure out if the new baby brought in there was Clara. My mom even called the nursery from the waiting room to ask if it was Baby Christopher. Monica put the final touches on me and a very drugged Amanda was wheeled back to my labor and delivery room where Drew was waiting for me.

Most people would end the birth story here but not us!

The nurses knew my desire to begin skin to skin and breastfeed as soon as possible. God bless my labor and delivery nurses and the lactation consultants. Clara is still exclusively breastfed (in addition to solids) at 8 months and I don’t believe this would be the case, especially given the c-section, medication I was given during the surgery and post partum complications I encountered, if it were not for the amazing support I was given in the initial hours after birth.

Clara was handed to me about 30 minutes after we returned to the labor and delivery room. It was an amazing moment. She was placed naked on my chest and we dozed off to sleep together – peaceful and in love. I am so very grateful for this, although the snooze did not last long.

I ended up having a “mini hemorrhage”. No blood transfusion necessary – thank goodness. Just another 24 hours on pit and other extra measures taken to avoid serious blood clots. The lesson in all of this was that pitocin was not for me. The hemorrhage was most likely caused by being on pit for so long. But then it was also my saving grace because it helped stop the hemorrhage. Lesson learned, no pitocin for me, ever again.

Clara spent the night with Drew and I in our nice labor & delivery room – keeping these 4 star digs was one upside of having a post-delivery complication. Another was the lovely sponge bath the nurse gave me Sunday morning after I was finally able to say adios to the iv. Clara had her beautiful hospital pics taken and we were finally downgraded to a recovery room. I was sad to say goodbye to the labor and delivery nurses – we had been through so much with them. It turned out that the recovery nurses didn’t even compare. Our families were still in town and spent time holding Clara and helping us move. My feet were extremely swollen from the pitocin/iv but I was able to walk normally and no longer looked anywhere near pregnant. I weighed myself and I had lost 22 lbs in the last 24 hours.

We had a nice visit with friends, said goodbye to our families, and resumed our efforts to breastfeed. Despite being heavily sedated in the beginning, Clara and I had success breastfeeding from day one. It took weeks for us to perfect it but I owe this to the help of the lactation consultants, my commitment to making it work, Drew’s incredible support and keeping to my strict schedule of nursing her every 2 hours, day and night, for the first few weeks. It was harder than I ever thought possible, but we got through it and are 100% happy with the outcome of our efforts.

By the time Sunday evening rolled around, a very exhausted Drew decided to take his temperature to make sure the chills he was feeling were not from a fever. He confirmed our worst fears that he did in fact have a high fever, and immediately left to go home and get better. The last thing we needed was for Clara or I to get sick. Around the same time Drew had to say goodbye to us, the most frigid nurse showed up to take care of us. She informed me that neither Clara nor I were allowed to leave the room for fear that we might get others sick. Clara was not allowed to go to the nursery. This is where I lost it. I had slept about 3 hours in the last 48 hours + everything I had gone through + it was painful to even get out of bed – how was I going to take sole care of her?! Grandma to the rescue. I would not have survived the next 36 hours without the help of my mom-in-law. She stayed with Clara and I the entire time and was an amazing help.

Sometime soon after Drew left, a new, nicer nurse, discovered my blood pressure had sky rocketed. I still was not sleeping and my hormones + Drew leaving had left me a basket case. When Drew returned Tuesday morning, healthy and ready to take us home, I have never been happier to see someone in my life. We were discharged late that rainy morning. We had the room packed up in about 2 minutes flat after we found out we were finally getting out of there.

Despite some hiccups with delivery and post delivery, we were leaving the hospital with a healthy, strong, beautiful baby girl. We were completely exhausted, yet had never been happier.

I will never forget how great it felt to walk into our house for the first time with her. I immediately took a nap while Drew and his mom had Clara try out her swing for the first time. His mom left a couple hours later and Drew and I have been on our own for the most part ever since. We both have amazing families who have helped us out immensely and we could not have done this without them.

8 months later Clara is still strong and healthy and developing just the way she should. She is happy, curious and constantly in motion. She started out looking exactly like her mom and is now daddy’s twin. She rarely takes a bottle and still prefers to be nursed. She is the love of our lives and we cannot imagine it without her. Everything I went through was completely worth it and I would do it all over again.

Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/115625325435932605281/ClaraSBirth?authkey=Gv1sRgCKDokcLFpsSdew

Our Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:17:00 +0000

3 months old, 12.4 lbs, 24 inches. happy as can be but a little serious for the photo shoot. enjoy!

It's a GIRL!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:53:00 +0000

Get ready for baby girl c - arriving in 4 1/2 or so months! Hope everyone had a great 4th!!!

Baby C!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:21:00 +0000

As many of you know, Baby Christopher is slated to arrive around Thanksgiving!!! Official due date is Saturday, November 27. Thanksgiving is both of our favorite holiday's so this all makes sense! I am 15 1/2 weeks today and we find out the baby's sex on Monday, June 28. Feel free to take a guess! I am going with boy based on family history even though I was really thinking girl until a couple weeks ago. Drew thinks boy. We really just want a chubby healthy baby but knowing the sex will help us start planning a nursery, etc. Pregnancy has been going really well so far. Morning sickness first trimester, headaches second trimester- I have had every symptom under the sun but nothing too hard to handle. I've gained a whopping 4 lbs which my OB is fine with so I'll take it. I am eating healthy and the baby is growing great but I do suspect baby c is stealing all of my food. That's totally fine by me though. Here are some bump pics to check out. We are going to try and start taking these more often now that a mini bump has made an appearance. We can't wait for November!!! Will keep you posted :)

Bump- http://picasaweb.google.com/amandachristopher1/BabyBump#

Birthdays and St Patty's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:03:00 +0000

Enjoy the following pics...lots of Italians followed by a few wanna be Irishwomen (and one real one...can you guess who?).

food!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:36:00 +0000

the brothers christopher and ladies getting our eat on at Edo Squid in celebration of Ryan's 27th. i am grasping at straws for blog posts. we really have been laying low due to the cold weather. hopefully the spring will bring interesting adventures to post about. hope everyone is well!

Hibernating

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:41:00 +0000

...that's what we've been doing for the past couple months while virginia pretends to be buffalo, ny. hibernating, being obsessed with the olympics (seriously, we've watched every night), enjoying our new fireplace, getting used to life without caffeine (which I gave up for lent) and last but def. not least, enjoying many days off of work due to snow - here you have our life as of late. pics to prove it :)

The Christopher's Best Idea

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:56:00 +0000

The following blog post is dedicated to the vacation we took a few weeks ago and LOVED.

Why Wyoming and Montana?

After Drew completed his Masters last year all he wanted to do was go somewhere tropical and do nothing. This was completely understandable after the 5 years he spent chipping away at it while also working fulltime, getting married, renovating a house, keeping up with my desire to be on the go 24/7...you get the picture.

The Dominican Republic proved to be exactly what he needed (despite the almost death by imported mussell incident). So, this year it was my turn to chose. After a year of dedicating every weekend to grad school and missing out on social engagements left and right, I decided that I wanted a vacation where we got to do everything!

We also felt strongly that we should spend travel/leisure money in the United States this year due to the recession. I started thinking about Jackson Hole as a possbility in the winter. We first booked the trip in June and then pushed in back to September to spend time getting the house on the market. The last factor in chosing Wyoming and Montana as our destination of choice for our 2009 vacation was that Drew and I feel like we haven't even begun to see the United States. We were feeling pretty patriotic after the Inguaration this winter.

I decided to put it out there on facebook that we were thinking about taking a trip to Wyoming and Montana and it was only minutes before the suggestions started pouring in from friends. What to do, where to eat, tales of how amazing it was out west...we were sold. So after buying a book, doing a little online research, two iterations of itineraries that were accidently deleted, and a $1000 two night hotel stay that was accidently booked and thank goodness was refunded, we were off!

Drew suggested on our flight home from Jackson that we write down everything we did, so I could just transcribe it on the blog. This task easily got me through about an hour of flying without xanax, for which I will be forever grateful to Drew. We are including a lot of details, links, etc. because we highly recommend this trip from start to finish (well, there is one part you could skip but we'll get to that later). Enjoy!

Pictures-
http://picasaweb.google.com/amandachristopher1/WyomingAndMontanaSeptember2009#

The Trip

Saturday, Sept. 12

Flew from BWI (thanks Dad for the ride) to Chicago, to Jackson; landed in the Teton Mountains. Jackson Hole airport is tiny and looks like somebody's living room.
Avis surprised us with a cherry red H3 Hummer instead of the Trailblazer we were supposed to have for the week.
Checked into 49er Inn and Suites in downtown Jackson.
Dinner/drinks at the Cadillac Grill. My sis recommended it and it was great. We loved the Snake River Ale.
Called it a night- exhausted from travel and I *might* have been out until 2:30 a.m. with my girlfriends the night before!

Sunday, Sept. 13

slept in!
grabbed breakfast @ hotel
toured downtown Jackson Hole by foot
Taste of the Tetons- valley chefs, restaurants and caterers put their best culinary work on display for sampling, wine tasting, silent auction, and musical entertainment by The Jackson Hole Cowboy Jubilee- we sampled many different things but our favorite was the mini bison burger.
White water rafting down the Snake River! we highly recommend going with Jackson Hole Whitewater if you ever decide to take a similar trip. they are apparently the outfitter of choice for Hollywood too- they had thank you notes all over the cabin from celebrities, politicians, etc. Also, PLEASE ask for Captain Ron - he was SO much fun. You can read a little bio of him here. He is known as the best river guide in Jackson and has lived life to the fullest. He even wrote the most interesting book of his life which he signed as a gift for dad. Highlights of our 8 mile trip down the Snake River include- got drenched, saw a mountain goat high on a cliff, Drew jumped out into the Snake for a few minutes, and a few almost flips of the raft. It was a lot of fun and not too scary. If you want the biggest thrills, go in the spring when the water is the highest and its the most dangerous.
Dinner at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole, Westbank Grill. We did a 4 course dinner w wine pairings that was a great deal for such an amazing restaurant.
Ended the evening with the season finale of True Blood.

Monday, Sept. 14

Hiked Jenny Lake in the Teton Mountains (about 4 miles). It was a breaktaking hike with waterfalls, wildlife and an inspiration point. It was an easy hike for the most part with a few vertical spots.
Ate lunch at Signal Mountain lodge in Teton- every aspect of the lodge, food, etc. is certified green.
Drove through Grand Teton National Park into Yellowstone.
Once in Yellowstone we saw a huge Bison walking next to us on the road. The rangers say to stay far away from them but I could have touched this guy.
Saw a large harem of elk with a bull- it was rutting season while we were there.
Exited Yellowstone through the west entrance into Montana and drove along the Gallatin River through Gallatin National Park, Big Sky, etc. BEAUTIFUL
Stopped for snacks and wine at Albertson's (had never been to one) in Bozeman and arrived at our Bed and Breakfast - Howler's Inn before calling it a night!

A little about Howler's Inn- it is North America's only bed and breakfast and wolf sanctuary, set at the foot of the Bridger Mountains. They are set on 42 acres and are surrounded by majestic mountain ranges. Howlers is home to 7 wolves who live on a 3 acre enclosure that adjoins the house. This is the perfect place for nature lovers, fishermen, outdoor enthusiasts and those looking for beautiful scenery and a relaxing place to kick back and slow down.

Tuesday, Sept. 15

Breakfast at Howler's with other patrons- mostly from Europe. The owners are fantastic cooks. Every breakfast was gourmet quality.
Hiked the Bozeman "M" - not a long hike- only a little over a mile but VERY vertical so it was tough for us at the 6,000 elavation which we were not used to. There were two options for the hike and we chose the more vertical and difficult. Drew realized when we were almost to the top that he left our camera 1/2 way down the moutain. So down we went to retrieve it and rehike the steepest part. It was worth it though- the views from the top were amazing.
Lunch at The Garage (very cool and it literally was a garage)
Walked around/shopped downtown Bozeman
Drinks at cool wine bar Plonk where we chatted with a bartender from Richmond and found out we had mutual friends. This was a theme throughout the trip. One of our gas station attendants in Yellowstone went to Drew's high school. Small world.
Went to an amazing farmers market downtown (kicks anything on the east coast's butt).
Dinner at Naked Noodle - pretty good.
Went to the movie and saw inglorious bastards- highly recommend!

Wednesday, Sept. 16

Amazing breakfast at the inn, then walked around the wolves area. Howler's has 2 packs and a new baby!
Drove to Chico Hot Springs and went horse back riding in Pray, MT. We LOVED this place. Want to stay here sometime when we go back. This was both of our first times horseback riding. Drew liked it and I LOVED it. We had a private 2 hour trail ride with an awesome rangler. Drew's horse, J.D., was pretty slow and liked to stop and eat weeds every 2 minutes. My horse, Deuce (a Tennesee Walker), enjoyed breaking into a trot whenever he felt like it which I loved. We rode all through Chico, saw Old Chico- still a functioning gold mining town. It was awesome.
Drove to Livingston, MT - an old wild west town that was recently featured on Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations (which we love). A River Runs Through It was filmed here too (which we watched the night before we visited).
Amazing lunch of porchetta over cheese polenta at Adagio.
Stopped by vistitors center and then grabbed a couple drinks at the local bar where we were able to ask the bartenders for advice on where to buy boots.
Took the bartenders advice and headed to the Livington Mercantile where I purchased by cowboy boots.
Went to farmers market (not as good as Bozeman but still awesome).
Dinner at 2nd Street Bistro, which was featured on No Reservations. It is located in the historic Murray Hotel. It was excellent! Also stopped in the Murray Hotel bar. Very divey.
Drove to the North Yellowstone entrance (the original entrance) and stayed the night at Mammoth Hot Springs. The hotel at Mammoth is the only part of the trip I could have skipped. No harm was done by staying there but it is the oldest hotel in Yellowstone and the hotel room reminded me of my dorm room sophomore year.

Thursday, Sept. 17

Woke up and headed to the only hot springs you are allowed to swim in at Yellowstone. Drew swam for a bit while I stayed dry and drank my coffee.
Saw another harem of elk on our way back to Mammoth- stopped and watched for a bit. Ranger was upset because a few people were getting too close to the bull who had been seperated from his harem and was not happy. We couldn't believe people were that stupid! It was unsafe for them and the animals.
Ate brunch at mammoth and then walked the upper and lower terraces of the geothermal area. Mammoth is a large hill of travertine that has been created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flows into Mammoth each day in a solution).
Drove the from Mammoth around the Yellowstone Loop to Old Faithful - meaning, we went through the Canyon portion of Yellowstone (our favorite), all the way down through the Lake region of Yellowstone and back up to Old Faithful. It was out of our way for sure but we were able to see a lot of Yellowstone this way, plus Norris Rd was closed.
We stopped a lot on our drive to see waterfalls, canyons, do a few short hikes.
Checked into the Old Faithful Inn that evening which is simply spectacular. We stayed in the original portion of the Inn which was awesome. This Inn seriously represents everything great about our country and made me really proud to be an American.
Watched Old Faithful upfront, as well as from the bar at the Inn which overlooks the gyser. Had dinner at the fabulous Old Faithful Inn Restaurant. Sat by the fire and relaxed. I can't wait to go back here when we ski out west and relax in front of the fire with snow outside.

Friday, Sept. 18

Breakfast at Inn- wonderful
Hiked the entire upper gyser basin where we saw many erupt.
Got caught in a rain storm- thank goodness Drew brought ponchos.
Hiked up the mountain to see Old Faithful erupt from high.
Rented mountain bikes and went on a 10 mile bike ride through the woods to Lonstar Gyser which is located in backcountry. Saw lots of bear poop and not many people which was exciting but a little scary too!
Had dinner and drinks at the Bear Bar to go with the theme of our ride.
Hung out at the Old Faithful Inn relaxing on the leather couches, reading, sipping wine, listening to pianist. Could have done this for weeks. So comfy.

Saturday, Sept. 19

Drove back to Jackson, arrived around noon
Checked into Cowboy Village - cool place recommended by my sis.
Lots of shopping!
Watched the Hokies beat Nebraska in the last minute at a local sports bar.
Drew bought awesome cowboy boots!
Stopped at a Koshu wine bar for a couple drinks before grabbing a great dinner at Trio.

Sunday, Sept. 20

Woke up sad to go home, but we went. Long journey home- arrived at BWI around 11 p.m. My dad is the best - he picked us up.

There is so much more to write but I am tired so just ask me if you have any questions! Love, A&D

Quick Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:07:00 +0000

1. We made an offer on a house in the city and it was accepted!
2. We leave tomorrow on our wild west adventue in WY and MT!
3. We still need to sell our house!

Quick pic of new house- more to come later.

Please pray for me that I am not totally miserable on the flights. Have a great week everyone.

Last Wedding of the Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:09:00 +0000

Below are few cute pics from a recent wedding we attended in Tarboro, NC. My friend from Hollins, Liz Hull, married Vincent Szarek, a sculptor. The lovely couple is moving to Berlin for a few months before they make Brooklyn their permament home. It was a wonderful southern wedding with details that showcased the couple's fun and artistic style.

Carrington, Todd, Drew and I at the brunch hosted the day after by a wonderful friend of the Hull's - Ms. Amory.

Carri and I in the church.

Liz and Vince frisbee's were the favor.

The gorgeous couple dancing to their bluegrass band.

James Bond Christopher

House for Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:01:00 +0000

We have decided to take advantage of the buyer's market and sell our house! Here are some photos. Will keep you posted on any offers we make or bites we get on our house. We have a few things in the works :).

In Loving Memory of Our Dear Friend Wade

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Thomas Wade Ashburn, August 2, 1981 - August 16, 2009

beloved son, brother, golf super, music lover, ladies man, greatest hugger, dancing machine, dearest friend forever.

drew and i are overcome with grief over losing our friend. we can't believe this happened, don't understand why, and just pray for strength for wade's family and friends.

we are thankful for wade's friendship and the happiness, love and support he brought to our lives. i am thankful drew was able to spend wade's birthday with him two weeks ago and get one last bear hug. so it's goodbye for now but not forever. we will dance together again one day and when we do, you can dip me as many times as you want.

xoxo, amanda

wade at our engagement party at the christopher's, june 2006

wade at potts and meghan's wedding. june 2009

drew and wade rockin out

Dream Cuisine

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Everyone who knows me is well aware of my love of food (and carbohydrates in particular). I would never survive a low carb diet although I do try to eat them in moderation. Also, I am primarily a dinner kind of girl.

Breakfast
While eggs are one of the main staples of my diet and I absolutely love eggs benedict and soufflés, breakfast has never really been my thing. It’s usually option #1 - an egg or two, fruit and coffee, option #2 – oatmeal and coffee, or option #3- a non-breakfast food that is pretty healthy and of course, coffee.

Lunch
Lunch for me is mostly a necessity. I don’t like large lunches because they make me sleepy so I approach them primarily as providing me with fuel to make it through the rest of my day. Today I am feeling lazy and don’t want to go to the grocery store so lunch with be apples and peanut butter, maybe some sautéed zucchini or squash…or both. If I am going to eat leftovers, this is the meal I will do it. I honestly would probably skip lunch if my blood sugar didn’t require me to eat something. It’s just never that exciting.

Snacks
Snacks are few and far between too. If I am at work in DC, I’ll grab a piece of fruit or be bad and have a peppermint patty or whatever else my neighbor Maya and I are hoarding at the moment. I love to drink tea during the day- ginger usually because I try to only have caffeine in the morning, or green tea if I feel like I need a little caffeine.

Dinner
That brings us to dinner. Now that is where it’s at for me! I LOVE dinner. I love long dinners. I love cooking dinner. I love multi-course dinners. I am a realist and know this can’t happen every night, but I really love it when it does. And you can ask Drew, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people don’t put effort into making dinner. I rarely use our microwave but I honestly never use it when it comes to dinner. I love using whole foods for dinner and I love a balanced meal. I loathe highly processed foods in general but really can’t handle them when it comes to dinner. Drew has expressed his love of Stouffer’s lasagna several times but the thought of it just really annoys me to no end. Not in my house! Growing up my mom always cooked us a well balanced dinner so it is ingrained in me that this HAS to happen in my house. I love being the one to do it too.

Dinners at the Christopher’s usually consists of a protein which is almost always fish, chicken or turkey because I don’t eat red meat, brown rice and veggies. This might sound boring but we make it interesting, using recipes influenced by whatever type of cuisine we want that night. Lately we have been really into stuffed peppers, Indian recipes, light and low sodium versions of Chinese restaurant recipes and of course, always Italian.

I would be remiss if I did not admit though that we have been eating out a lot lately due to the craziness of trying to sell a house. Like most any other couple, when we are busy, we generally avoid cooking. While ordering takeout is not my favorite, we try to keep it healthy in sticking with wraps and meals from our local favorite thai place like basil chicken and lots of veggies. Of course every couple months Drew does sneak a pizza in there which I of course love to indulge in too. The fact that I am lactose intolerant and can’t digest pizza very well has been my saving grace – otherwise I think Drew might try to order it on a weekly basis.

Simplicity
Where my food comes from has always been important to me. Until this week, we’ve had all our produce delivered by local farmers in the area and all organic. I try to get to the farmers market every week to buy fruit and veggies as well. We are spoiled because we have a freezer full of wild caught fish from the many Christopher fishing trips this summer. We also buy fabulous wild pacific salmon from Costco that is affordable. We rarely eat Atlantic salmon. That’s a whole other issue but read about it and you won’t either.

When it comes to recipes, the simpler the better. It’s not that I don’t enjoy a challenge but I just love really enjoying and appreciating whole foods. Giada, the cook on Food Network, has some of the best recipes that fall into this category. You have to like Italian but generally her recipes are very healthy and very easy to make.

What’s the point?
So, this brings me to the real reason I thought of this blog post. I was trying to decide what to eat for breakfast and started thinking about what my dream cuisine for an entire day would be if I had access to any and all ingredients. I have so many different variations of this menu. Here is one version! Also, I should add that I would never be able to each this much in a day. Knowing me I would be full for the rest of the day after breakfast.

Dream Breakfast – inspired by breakfasts I used to eat at Grandma Mascelli’s

-shot of expresso, followed by some more strong café Americano (I am pretending I can have all the caffeine I want)
-plate of Italian cold cuts – soppressata, prosciutto, salami, etc.
-plate of aged Italian cheese
-fried egg
-hard Italian bread and butter
-blackberries

Dream Lunch – inspired by my love of southern food thanks to my husband

-small dish of shrimp and grits
-slice of bourbon pecan pie
-sweet tea

Dream Dinner – inspired by family recipes and one of the best meal’s I’ve ever had in Italy

- Italian wine pairings throughout
-1st course: mini salad w oil and vinegar and mini slices of homemade pizza margherita
-2nd course: porchetta or scallops over risotto
-3rd course: grandma’s homemade pasta and sauce
-4th course: Italian wedding cookies, limoncello

SO, what is YOUR dream cuisine? Have you ever thought about it?

Favorite Summer Picture

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:33:00 +0000

This is by far my favorite picture of the summer so far, taken on the 4th of July by Lindsay Conway. Looks like I am about to eat 100 hamburgers while getting spanked by Momma J at the same time. Now what Ryan and Drew are doing...who knows!

An Awakening Power

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:12:00 +0000

A friend recently gave me Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth (made famous by Oprah). I can't guarantee I will read the entire book anytime soon but I was blown away by the opening passage. Tolle describes flowers and their role in the evolution of our consciousness in the most spiritual and graceful language. I love this excerpt-

Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that recognition. Without fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves.

(From A New Earth copyright 2005 by Eckhart Tolle.)

I have always appreciated the beauty of flowers. I love sending them to friends and family, recieving my birthday delivery each year from Drew, and remembering the many arrangements that adorned every aspect of our wedding. My favorite bouquet of flowers will probably always be my wedding bouquet. It was so creative, fun and elegant - what I wanted in every way. When I smell the scent of gardenia's it takes me back to my rehearsal dinner night when I wore one in my hair.

My appreciation for flowers stops at admiring them though. I have never been interested in planting, cultivating and seeing the full potential of a flower come to fruition as a result of my care. I have always claimed to be too busy, to not have a green thumb, etc. I have never understood why my dad spends so much time planting and taking care of his flowers and garden (although I always admire them). Now I am starting to realize that I have been missing the whole point. Rather, I have been missing out on experiencing a whole other level of beauty.

As many of you know, we are putting our house on the market (tomorrow!) and moving closer to the city. Our intention though is to buy a house that still has a decent amount of land for us to enjoy. My hope is to be able to set aside some time to plant flowers at the new house and enjoy the process. I want to experience their awakening power and draw inspiration from them as well.

For now though, I am sad to say that our recent trip to Lowe's and subsequent purchase of a Jeep full of flowers had a purely business motive. We are hoping they will increase the curb appeal of our house. Here are some pics. (I hope to have some pictures posted of our house in the next few days too.)

The Mailee and Amanda Show

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Warning- the following pictures contain photos of me with no makeup on and no attempt at brushing my hair. I apologize if they blind you but I thought they were too cute not to share.

Drew and I traveled to Harrisonburg this past weekend to hang out with the Findleys and attend the wedding of Potts and Meghan in Covington, VA. Matt and Drew golfed The Homestead while I babysat Mailee and later shopped with the girls. We missed Mailee's 3rd birthday because of graduation so we brought a cake with us to celebrate. Thanks to Stephanie and Matt for the wonderful food and great company. And congrats to them on raising one of the sweetest most adorable little girls on the face of the earth. Enjoy the pics!

The girls

love this face.

i used to make this face when i was little - very attractive, i know.

monkey face!

mailee LOVES gia

silly

cake time!

sadie knows something will be dropped.

Birthdays and Graduation Season

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:16:00 +0000

While the past three spring/summers have been referred to as "wedding season" in the Christopher household, it appears that the tides are changing. With six family graduations and probably 10+ spring/summer birthdays (many of which are milestone this year), we've hardly had any time to think about the weddings we are also attending this summer.

To give you an idea, here is a quick breakdown of graduations (please let me know if I forgot any!)-

Aimee Seitz, Trinity High School, PA- off to University of Pittsburg
AJ Mascelli, Chatham High School, NJ- off to Penn State
Lauran Seitz, Penn State - off to NYC
Emily Seitz, Loyola MBA- employed by Northrup Grumman
Matt Christopher, Lancaster High School, off to VCU
....and me of course!

Then we have Meg Mascelli starting grad school at American and Colleen Gallagher starting her MBA at George Mason. I have it on good authority that many others are contemplating an advanced degree too. If you see my little sis please pester her about law school.

I won't even start on birthdays except to mention that we celebrated a few important ones this weekend. Momma J and Uncle Danny (who turned 50), along with Uncle Rick's sister Anne. Drew, Gia and I slipped home to White Stone Fri night to take Momma J out to dinner and then made our way Sat to Mechanicsburg PA to celebrate Aimee's graduation and birthdays. Here are some pictures of the weekend. It was great seeing the Lenzi fam. Spending time with family and friends is our absolute favorite thing to do and we have lots of lost time to make up after this past insanely busy year.

Momma J and I

Always coordinated Christopher fam

Thanks to mom for finding us a dog friendly hotel so Gia could visit PA too!

Congrats Aimee!

Virginia (grandma) and I

50 birthdays- Anne and Uncle Danny, and the adorable graduate Aimee

Red Cross, Mother Nature and Fate Align in Wake of Johnstown Flood

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:06:00 +0000

My parent's story of how they met! I was asked to write about it for the Red Cross Web site, as we are coming up on the 120th anniversary of the Great Flood. Here is a link to the story as well. http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/?vgnextoid=5f2be9a306381210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 — It was the summer of 1977 and Kathy Lenzi never imagined what was to come. An elementary school teacher in her mid-twenties, she was enjoying her summer break spending her days with friends at the lake, helping take care of her two younger brothers, and shopping with her two sisters.

Born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Lenzi knew at a young age that her hometown was associated with a disastrous flood. As a little girl at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic School, Kathy studied the Great Flood of 1889 caused by a dam failure which resulted in the release of 20 million tons of water into Johnstown. The flood killed more than 2,200 people and was the first major disaster relief effort handled by the American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton.

It was only natural that Kathy Lenzi would wonder about the chances of a flood happening again. According to The National Weather Service, a once-in-a-1,000 year flood in the Johnstown valley could result from 7.32 inches of rainfall in a 10-hour period. An 11.82-inch rainfall would be a once-in -a- 5,000 to 10,000 year occurrence. The odds left many unconcerned.

Lenzi remembers being at home reading on July 20, 1977 when a line of severe thunderstorms moved slowly over Johnstown. The entire Lenzi family lived in the hilltop Westmont section of Johnstown which became a residential area after the 1889 disaster when families desired a safer, less flood-prone place to live.

More than a foot of rain fell that evening over some areas of Johnstown. Small streams overflowed and several dams failed, causing history to repeat itself. Water tore through highways, homes, factories and stores. The first thing Kathy Lenzi heard when she woke up the next morning was that the town had flooded during the night. Twelve inches of rain had fallen in 12 hours.

Out of harm's way, Lenzi wanted to help her hometown cope and recover. She volunteered with the Red Cross as a local guide for the damage assessment team. When that assignment was over the Red Cross asked her to help staff the 14 nursing stations in areas impacted by the flood. They needed to be staffed 24 hours a day in 8-hour shifts. One of the Red Cross nursing administrators trained Kathy so that she was able to help recruit local nurses to volunteer at the Red Cross first aid stations.

The death toll would eventually reach 85 as a result of the flood. Property damage reached about $300 million. Hundreds were left homeless. A town was once again reminded of its tragic history, opening old wounds and inflicting new ones. But not all of the stories from this flood were sad.

The Red Cross and many other non-profit agencies, state and federal governments, and private individuals rushed to help with the relief efforts. Kathy Lenzi enjoyed meeting new and interesting people but there was one person in particular who made a lasting impression.

Armond Mascelli was a young Red Cross disaster worker who had been assigned to the Johnstown relief operation for more than a month. Armond and Kathy had not been working in the same office for long before he decided to ask her for recommendations on restaurants, what to see and what to do while in Johnstown. After several days of conversation, Armond asked Kathy for a date.

Mother Nature, a relief organization, and fate aligned that summer to pave the way for Kathy Lenzi's future. She and Armond Mascelli were married at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church on August 12, 1979. Their daughters, Amanda and Kristina, grew up visiting family in Johnstown, PA, and took many trips to the Johnstown Flood Museum.

Thirty years later, Armond and Kathy Mascelli reside in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Armond Mascelli is still with American Red Cross Disaster Services, serving as Vice President of Disaster Operations.

Kayaking

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:34:00 +0000

Drew and I spent Saturday morning kayaking in Dymer's Creek off of the Cheasapeake Bay where Mom and Dad C live. It was a gorgeous morning and even Gia got in on the action. We were surprised to find out that not only does she know how to doggy paddle but she actually loves swimming too. Momma J enjoyed the kayak as well as you can see below.

Drew spent the rest of the weekend fishing with Dad C and friends in the Outer Banks and I visited friends in Lake Anna and DC. I was thrilled when he brought home fresh yellowtail tuna they caught. Hope everyone had a great weekend. We are heading to Harrisburg PA to celebrate Aimee's graduation this weekend. I can't wait to see the fam!

Past Few Months In Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Goals and Objectives

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Shame on us big time for not keeping up with our blog, especially since it's 100% for our family and friends. This negligence on our part has led me to give a few minutes of thought to the purpose of this blog. The goal really is to inform friends and family of major highlights in our lives. Always has been, always will be. This, I feel, we have down. The blog objectives is really where I think we are having issues. And by issues, I mean that we really have no objectives. And what is a goal with no objectives to help obtain it? Nothing!!! So, it's time to set objectives.

For starters...

Objective #1 - to write at least 1 blog post each week for the next 8 weeks.

Another important aspect of objectives is that they be attainable and set within a specific time frame. 8 weeks is not reaching for the stars so I think it can be achieved and then perhaps we can write an even more exciting yet attainable objective...16 weeks maybe...!

In all seriousness though, we appreciate that our friends and family check the blog and we hope that in the future, as we dutifully post, that it will make you smile at times.

Some people like to use their blog to pontificate about social issues, others are clearly pushing personal agendas, and I am convinced that many just love to look at themselves. Our blog however is definitely for you. For Grandma Christopher, Grandma Mascelli, Aunt Darlene, Mom, Momma J, all our friends and family. We love you, we are sorry we haven't posted in awhile, and we promise to be better about it this summer.

Lastly, just a quick recap of the past few months-

I am a master!! Although I have to finish a research paper before they send me my degree. Boo!
We spent the most relaxing and fabulous week with the Christopher fam in Nags Head last week. 1000 piece puzzle, lots of sleep, shopping, fishing and beach time = happy Drew and Amanda
We said goodbye to our beloved kitty Chicken.

Much more has happened but we will leave that for other posts. Talk to you soon!

30 Days of Exercise!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:49:00 +0000

I am making a public pledge that for the next 30 days, I will take the time to exercise. No excuses, no complaints. I am in my final months of graduate school and feel pretty stressed so I think this will really help. In addition, we are heading to Nags Head May 9 so this will give me some inspiration to get toned and feel great wearing the new bathing suits I just purchased. Also, I think that if I can pull this off, anyone can! So hopefully it will be a little inspiration to those who check out our blog. Wish me luck!

Sign of the Times

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:18:00 +0000

This is from my old boss's mom...

To My Bank:

Dear Sirs:

In view of what seems to be happening nationally and internationally with banks at the moment, I was wondering if you could advise me. If one of my checks is returned marked "insufficient funds".............how do I know whether that refers to you or to me?

sunday mornings

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda and Drew) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:45:00 +0000

we love sunday mornings. most people probably prefer saturday mornings but when you have class on saturdays your admiration quickly turns to sundays. after a pretty disappointing weekend being sick, which caused me to miss my bestfriend Mary's horseback riding birthday, i woke up today with a much improved attitude. after making dunkin donuts coffee (our favorite), spending two hours cooking up a pot of italian wedding soup, and admiring our newly purchased kayak, i am ready to tackle a final project and group project for the rest of the day. here are some pics from our sunday morning.

Giada's recipe- it's fabulous but still doesn't hold a candle to grandma lenzi's. very healthy though and fairly easy/simple with whole fresh ingredients (which is why i love giada). i substituted the beef/pork with ground turkey for the meatballs since i no longer eat beef. i also used beautiful escarole and pecorino cheese.

Drew and Gia tried out the new kayak we bought used from a local kayaking tour guide. it's a 2008 and still in great shape. we were thrilled to get a good deal. we are purchasing a 2009 otter from bass pro shop as well. we decided to go for the no frills, small kayaks because we are familiar with them and we will primarily be using them in calm water on the bay. we hope to take gia with us on a couple spins around the creek at Mom and Dad C's before it gets too hot.

life vest is key as pugs sink like rocks rather than swim. although gia has been swimming and she can do a mean doggie paddle.