Ahhhh, so after 27 years of on-again, off-again relationships with St. Valentine...I can finally be excited for the "Love Day" having a Valentine of my very own for the rest of my life <3
John and I had our very first Valentine's Day as a couple this year. It is still crazy that one year ago I was living up single-hood and today I am counting down the days until I marry my love. We didn't do anything too crazy, had a toast of Champagne thanks to our friend Liz Johnson and my Aunt and Uncle who gave us beautiful toasting flutes from Tiffany & Co. to celebrate our engagement! We exchanged valentines and then went to mass and dinner with some of our wonderful friends. It was a lot of fun!
On to other goings-ons around here. Maggie Smith left us last week to move back to the Mile High City. In honor of her going away, obviously her BFF from Texas was going to throw her a little going away party. Well Rowdy Raines is no regular bff. I had decided to spice the dinner up a little bit and warned all who were there to think of the most embarrassing story they could think of about Maggie since she had lived in Texas. After we ordered dinner, we all went around the table and shared her most embarrassing moments in Texas. It. was. awesome. Hahaha I seriously think I am too funny for my own good sometimes. Smith loved/hated me all at the same time about her going away shin-dig, but let's be honest. That is why our friendship is so great. Never before has the saying "opposites attract" been so true. Smith, don't worry, I won't share your embarrassing moments with the blog-o-sphere.
Let's see. What else? Oh, John survived his first "Gaschen Family" meeting this past weekend. My Godmother, Lulu, turned 50 this past weekend in Lubbock, TX. My Mom's side of the family has a huge party for each of their siblings (there are 8 of them) when they turn 50. So I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for John to meet my aunts and uncles on my Mom's side of the family. My Dad's side will have to be next...didn't want to overwhelm him with too much at one time. Long story short, he survived! And he even won over all the aunts by showing off his dancing skills <3 He's a keeper!
Well, hope everyone had a blessed St. Valentine's Day!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Saga of a Traveling Lady
Well, it's back to my life on the road this week. For those who don't know, I work for iKnowMed (an Oncology specific electronic medical record system) within McKesson Specialty Health. Right now, I am still working in implementation but will eventually transition into account management....what that means in layman's terms is that I travel, A LOT. Right now I travel 3 weeks out of each month (sometimes more, sometimes less) and you can pretty much call me the traveling queen, some would say diva. This week it is off to Staten Island, NY to train some nurses. And it is looking like it is going to be COOOLLLD. Awesome.
So this past couple weeks, since I was home-based (that's right, when I'm not traveling I work from home...don't be jealous. No seriously, don't be. If you know anyone who works from home, then you probably get me. I'll save all my funnies about working from home for another post!) I decided to tackle my next large get-ready-for-the-wedding task, which was......REGISTERING FOR GIFTS!
So, I have to start off by saying I have both pros and cons to this ridiculously harder than you think it is going to be task. So I'll start off with the negative and end with the positive. Always the best way to go.
Things that are annoying about registering for wedding gifts:
1. You feel like a total A-hole for picking out the nice stuff. I feel like I am saying, hello, thank you for supporting my marriage. Go ahead and drop some G's on us. Just saying, it feels a little uncomfortable.
2. If you are like me and research EVVVEEERRRYYYTTTHIIIINNNGGG to a T, it is soooo time consuming. I can't just pick out "pots", I have to research the best pot for your money. Let's just say I spent a lot of time online reading consumer reviews the past week.
OK, it wasn't that many negative...but those two are big!
Things that are awesome about registering for wedding gifts:
1. Contrary to my #1 for negative things, you DO get to pick out the nice stuff that my cheap ass would never normally want to dish out the dough for. haha
2. I have NEVER been more excited to be a domestic diva. Can't wait to cook my man some seriously delicious homemade meals and bake fun little holiday treats for his high school kidos.
3. I can't wait to decorate our home that we are going to have together. This could be a pro and a con for me because I will probably change my mind a million times on what color schemes I want to go with on things before our wedding...planning SO far in advance.
4. John and I had our first little tiff as an engaged couple, actually, I think since we have been together and we resolved it like veteran pros! Because I can look back and laugh on it, I will go ahead and share the story with the class:
So, John obviously isn't as interested in all of the registry stuff. There are a few select items he wanted to pick: barware, grill, TV, Blu Ray, anddd I think that may be it? Anyway, so this was great for me because that meant everything else I could just pick what I wanted. Ahhh, sounds like I shouldn't be complaining, right? Well, I spent HOURS...seriously, hours, picking out all of these things that we are going to have in our home. So, when I want to tell John all about everything I picked he seemed like it was no-big-deal. Well, my feelings were hurt. I mean I didn't expect him to scream like a school girl when I told him the pots and pans I went with were Tri-ply stainless steel and next to All-Clad are the best you can have (duh), but I DID want him to acknowledge that I spent all this time picking this stuff out and be excited about how I will be cooking some pretty amazing dinner for him on those pans!
Needless to say, there was another emotional contributing factor that was contributing to my emotions that day, but that did not matter at the time. I was upset. John immediately felt awful after I cried and told him how much he just hurt my feelings. He apologized and told me sweet things for the rest of the phone call. (I know, he's so sweet!). And when I woke up the next morning, I had an email from him titled: Things We Need. It had about 10 links from our registry site of items he thought we should have. I clicked on the first link from my phone and it opened up a University of Michigan bed-set. I BURST out laughing, got on my computer and looked at the rest of the links. They included: a kegorater, beer glasses, a personal massager, and other man items. HAHA. I was laughing so hard, there was no way I could be mad any longer :)
Since then, anytime I say ANYTHING about registry stuff he makes sure he is excited. Last night I was talking to Sarah and Jayne about something and he turned around to them and said, "I want you guys to know, I am SO EXCITED about all of this registry stuff. Just want to make sure EVERYONE (looking at me) knows it!" hahaha. Heart that boy.
Well folks, I'm off to the airport to probably get my rights violated thru security. Have a good one! Annddd, in case you were wondering, these were the pots and pans I went with. I know you wanted to know.
So this past couple weeks, since I was home-based (that's right, when I'm not traveling I work from home...don't be jealous. No seriously, don't be. If you know anyone who works from home, then you probably get me. I'll save all my funnies about working from home for another post!) I decided to tackle my next large get-ready-for-the-wedding task, which was......REGISTERING FOR GIFTS!
So, I have to start off by saying I have both pros and cons to this ridiculously harder than you think it is going to be task. So I'll start off with the negative and end with the positive. Always the best way to go.
Things that are annoying about registering for wedding gifts:
1. You feel like a total A-hole for picking out the nice stuff. I feel like I am saying, hello, thank you for supporting my marriage. Go ahead and drop some G's on us. Just saying, it feels a little uncomfortable.
2. If you are like me and research EVVVEEERRRYYYTTTHIIIINNNGGG to a T, it is soooo time consuming. I can't just pick out "pots", I have to research the best pot for your money. Let's just say I spent a lot of time online reading consumer reviews the past week.
OK, it wasn't that many negative...but those two are big!
Things that are awesome about registering for wedding gifts:
1. Contrary to my #1 for negative things, you DO get to pick out the nice stuff that my cheap ass would never normally want to dish out the dough for. haha
2. I have NEVER been more excited to be a domestic diva. Can't wait to cook my man some seriously delicious homemade meals and bake fun little holiday treats for his high school kidos.
3. I can't wait to decorate our home that we are going to have together. This could be a pro and a con for me because I will probably change my mind a million times on what color schemes I want to go with on things before our wedding...planning SO far in advance.
4. John and I had our first little tiff as an engaged couple, actually, I think since we have been together and we resolved it like veteran pros! Because I can look back and laugh on it, I will go ahead and share the story with the class:
So, John obviously isn't as interested in all of the registry stuff. There are a few select items he wanted to pick: barware, grill, TV, Blu Ray, anddd I think that may be it? Anyway, so this was great for me because that meant everything else I could just pick what I wanted. Ahhh, sounds like I shouldn't be complaining, right? Well, I spent HOURS...seriously, hours, picking out all of these things that we are going to have in our home. So, when I want to tell John all about everything I picked he seemed like it was no-big-deal. Well, my feelings were hurt. I mean I didn't expect him to scream like a school girl when I told him the pots and pans I went with were Tri-ply stainless steel and next to All-Clad are the best you can have (duh), but I DID want him to acknowledge that I spent all this time picking this stuff out and be excited about how I will be cooking some pretty amazing dinner for him on those pans!
Needless to say, there was another emotional contributing factor that was contributing to my emotions that day, but that did not matter at the time. I was upset. John immediately felt awful after I cried and told him how much he just hurt my feelings. He apologized and told me sweet things for the rest of the phone call. (I know, he's so sweet!). And when I woke up the next morning, I had an email from him titled: Things We Need. It had about 10 links from our registry site of items he thought we should have. I clicked on the first link from my phone and it opened up a University of Michigan bed-set. I BURST out laughing, got on my computer and looked at the rest of the links. They included: a kegorater, beer glasses, a personal massager, and other man items. HAHA. I was laughing so hard, there was no way I could be mad any longer :)
Since then, anytime I say ANYTHING about registry stuff he makes sure he is excited. Last night I was talking to Sarah and Jayne about something and he turned around to them and said, "I want you guys to know, I am SO EXCITED about all of this registry stuff. Just want to make sure EVERYONE (looking at me) knows it!" hahaha. Heart that boy.
Well folks, I'm off to the airport to probably get my rights violated thru security. Have a good one! Annddd, in case you were wondering, these were the pots and pans I went with. I know you wanted to know.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Good Bye to the Good Ol' Days...
OK- so let's be real. I love John with all my heart. And I can't wait to be his little Catholic trophy wife <3 But I'm going to put this out there...it is going to be weird living with a man. Now for some, this is no biggie. I know in the world today it is a perfectly acceptable thing to live with a man before you are married, but it is something that both John and I have agreed should wait until marriage. (cough, cough, among other things, cough)
That being said, before I had a ring on my finger, I couldn't WAIT for the day to live with my husband blissfully ever after. Then, BOOM, you have the ring and allll your dreams are suddenly becoming reality. Like, HOLY-MOLY-YOU-HAVE-10-MONTHS-TO-GET-READY-FOR-THIS-LIFE-LONG-COMMITMENT, reality. It's funny, I mean it isn't like I've had 27 years to prepare for this. I mean, come on, little girls start dreaming about getting/being married in 4th or 5th grade. And there are SO many things I am super excited about. But for some reason, there is one thing I just can't imagine: LIVING WITH A BOYYYY (as Monica put it from "F.R.I.E.N.D.S." when she was off to live with Chandler)
I remember attending a talk given by Kimberly and Scott Hahn @ Steubs...and I always remembered Scott saying how the older you are to get married, the harder the transition into married life would be. Not the lovey dovey part, but the realization that the longer you live on your own, the more set in your ways you both will be. So, coming into a marriage, you have to be prepared and open to changing the way you do things. Ummm, well I am not exactly proud to admit this, but the way I do things is ALWAYS the best and right way. Duh. Why else would I do it the way I do it if it wasn't the most efficient? So yes, that part makes me nervous. But I know prayer and making more room for Christ and less room for ME in our marriage will help me to transition through those changes.
The one thing that I am not afraid to admit I am sad to leave: The Babysitter's Club. That is what John calls my house. Currently, it consists of 3 other women besides myself: Audrey Jayne Smith (lived with her on and off for over 7 years), Maggie Smith (lived with her on and off for over 3 years), and my sister Kristen (obviously, there's a history there). As much drama as living with 3 girls brings, I love being able to walk in any of their rooms at pretty much any time of the day and vent about any number of topics which I find highly important to discuss. All of which they find important to listen to and discuss with me upon any needed amount of time. Yet, when I discuss any of the topics the Babysitter's Club deems important to my hubs-to-be, I see a thick glazed look cover his eyes and start to get generic one-word responses. I know he means well and he has promised me he will do better...but deep down I know it will never be the same...guess that is why God invented Skype! Yes, I will have my girl time and thoroughly enjoy wine happy hours like never before, but in a sense, it is an end to those single years "living it up" with the girls.
So here is to the last 9 months of the Babysitter's Club and other great girlie moments, I've included some of my favorite memories over the past several years....which obviously equates to A LOT of pictures, enjoy!
Lady Baron's Basketball. 6am work outs never felt soo good.
SB06. Where the Embassy Suites happy hour legacy began.
This picture sums up the classic Raines/Jayne relationship.
Our last attempt at pretending we were in "normal college". Fail.
Our first 1425 reunion post-Steubenville at the Houston Rodeo.
The addiction to yearly vacations together begins!
Jayne and I did Mardi Gras in New Orleans 2007. FUN!
Kaitlyn, Jayne, and I threw a 80s themed Halloween party. It was during our post-college, but let's pretend like we are still in college phase.
The beginning of the yearly Denver ski trip/1425 reunion. Here we are on top of the Continental Divide!
Another themed party...you guessed it, President's Day! I was Jackie O and Jayne was good o'l George.
One of my favorite vacations, ever. Our trip to Punta Cana! All-inclusive was the best thing ever created.
Jayne and I did our first social with the Catholic 20somethings in Austin. Camping. With people we had never met before. Whhhhyyyy did we think that would be fun? Well, we got a kick out of taking goofy awkward pictures of ourselves, that is for sure.
My first 5k! The Warrior Dash....so much fun with my seester.
Another ski trip to Keystone and Breckenridge. So beautiful!
The nursing home. I miss.
Halloween in Austin 2010, Popeye and Antione Dodson. Remember him?
One of my favorite events in Austin. St. Padrick's Day. Celebrated about 2 weeks after the ACTUAL St. Padrick's Day on 6th Street. Everyone was LOVING that :)
Another pic from Padrick's...this was on the stage at the Dueling Piano Bar!
Another race we completed on a girl's day out. This one was the JailBreak...I think you can tell how much fun we had by this picture!
Celebrating New Year's with my seester @ Natalie and PTs wedding. Good time.
That's all for now, stalk me on the FB and you can pretty much see my single life history in tagged photos.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
And we're off!
For a long time, I have thought about creating a blog for several reasons.
- It's a fun way to document your life and keep people caught up on the everyday.
- I feel like everyone starts a blog once there are married with a couple kids. Don't worry all you Mommies out there...I'm not hating, I love reading about all your crazy Mom stories. Seriously. I feel like in some weird way, it is preparing me for what to expect someday. In any case, I think it would be fun to have a blog started when I'm single to share those experiences with people. (Because obviously, the life of Rowdy Raines should be shared and thoroughly documented)
- Facebook is getting a little creepy. I don't want Mark Zuckerburg to know my every move. At least this FEELS a little more secure.
So, with that in mind, starts the blog of "It's a Rowdy Life". For most of you that creep me on the FB, you know that I just got engaged this past Christmas to the love of my life, John McCarthy! Before I turned into an old married woman...just kidding babe...I thought I would document my last year of a single lady and the transition into wife-hood/mother-hood (someday). I hope to capture some of my favorite and not-so-favorite moments to look back and laugh at myself.
So, herrreee weeee gooooo! Posted some important pics from the last year...
Couldn't start my blog without including these two knuckle-heads. Macy (left) is the most scared-y cat-damn-dog-you've-ever-met, but I love her to death. Bella (right) is an attention-dog-whore. No other way to put it. If a thief came into our house while we were gone, she would probably make a new best friend.
February 2011 --- Mary O'Keefe is officially the soon-to-be Mrs. Kevin Chierek! Kevo popped the question at the beginning of our annual 1425 ski trip in Keystone, CO. First 1425er to get engaged!
I love this picture of John and me. It was before we were "officially" dating...our friends decided to celebrate St. Patrick's day round II on a random night on 6th street. We had a blast!
The fam damily at the 10 year Wagner Family Reunion in Grandby, CO!
After the family reunion, we went up to our cabin in Cody, WY for the 4th of July.
Lizard joined the Raines family for some fun! p.s. We saw 4 bears in Yellowstone National Park! Ahhhh
In August 2011, my Mom and I took the trip of our lives to Europe with the St. Anthony of Padua Youth Group. We visited: Rome, Assisi, and Florence Italy; Nice & Lourdes, France; and ended our trip visiting Zaragoza and Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day!
My beautiful Mother and me in front of St. Peter's!
Here it is folks! The moment I became the future Mrs.
Here's to a fabulous 2012!!!!
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