All the things this year has brought....

So, with our wedding quickly approaching, we've decided to add yet another stressful (but good) thing to our life....becoming homeowners.

We found a VERY charming 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in a new neighborhood. The location is PERFECT and better yet, the house needs NOTHING done to it! The paint colors are perfect for us, and it's only 2 years old....no upgrades or anything needed yet. Plus, it has a fenced-in back yard that backs up to the woods---PRIVACY!

We are beyond excited!

Thoughts of Buffalo from a homesick Matt......

"I'm from Buffalo.

We eat chicken wings, not buffalo wings.
Jack Kemp is a quarterback, not a politician.

We drink Labatt Blue and love it.
Mighty Taco always has preference over Taco Bell.


Pop, not soda and Pepsi, not Coke.
They are sneakers not tennis shoes.
It's a sucker, not a lollipop.
Bison Chip Dip,

La Nova Pizzeria,

Aunt Rosie's Loganberry,

Chiavetta's Chicken,

and Ted's Hot Dogs are all too familiar...

not to forget Anderson's Shakes.

A fake ID is unnecessary when there is always Canada... but we have them anyway.
Our bars don't close until 4:00 A.M.,

and we DO sell beer in a grocery store (Tops or Wegmans ), which always makes for early starts and late nights.
Jim's Steak Out at 4 in the morning is calling it an early night...
We never cuss, but we swear entirely too much.
We know that a 65 mph speed limit really means 80. We will cut you off, swear, and give you the finger if you are not keeping up AND do it all in the snow, while expecting nothing less from you in return.
Driving in the snow not only comes naturally, it is fun.
We start the weekends off right at Thursdays in the square enjoying beer,

free music, and an interesting crowd.
We lived through Wide Right, The Forward Lateral, and No Goal.

Dubbed by Dan Marino as 'the meanest fans because none of us actually wanted to live here'... we all know he couldn't survive one winter up here.
We love the Bills (no matter what) and accept that it takes 2 hours to get home from a game.
Nothing closes in 3 feet of snow or -20 wind chills... in fact, that's how we prefer to tailgate.

The 2001 Christmas Storm that dumped nearly 7 ft of lake effect snow we still think it's a mere 2nd to The Blizzard of '77. We can correctly pronounce, spell, and identify Chippewa, Scajaquada,Lackawanna, Cheektowaga, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Olean and Tonawanda without hesitation. When giving direction it's not "take I-90 to Route 33 east" it's "take the 90 to the 33 east"..."the" is not an option. We are 30 minutes from another country, one of the seven wonders of the world, and even a few beaches. It's the second largest city in New York. I AM FROM BUFFALO, a beer drinking town with a Big sports problem, and damn proud!"

Save the Date

June 25, 2010 in Key West, Florida.....

That's our date!! We are so excited we can hardly wait! Our wedding will be at 7:30 (sunset) on Smathers Beach. We have picked out Save the Date cards, wedding invitations, a steel drumer for the ceremony and reception, and we've chosen our attendants: Della (matron of honor) and John (best man).

Here are some engagement photos.

These were taken at Falls Park in Greenville, SC. My brother, Kevin, was the amazing photographer.

Mom

Mom passed away Tuesday, December 15 at 2:04 a.m. She fought for 3 weeks. She is no longer in pain, and that comforts me and my family. We were so fortunate to have her love for the short time we did. Thank you to all of my family and friends who have comforted me during this extremely difficult time. Thank you especially to Matt. He has been amazing through everything. I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend the rest of my life with.

It's official!

We're engaged!!! Matt propsed Friday night/early Sat. morning!!
Here's the details....I know you want 'em!

Matt lit all the Christmas lights inside and outside our house after we got home from a friend's Christmas party. I thought this was a little weird, but didn't mind. :-) We sat down on the couch replaying the night's events of our fun times with great friends. He told me that I needed to check my stocking because it looked a little weird. "It's fine," I told him....not realizing what exactly was going on at first. He said it again....and then I got it...maybe there's something in it I need to see. So, I checked my stocking. Inside was a Timeline that Matt had written chronicling the major events of our relationship. It was 8 pages!!!!!!! I read through each milestone with tears in my eyes. It was so sweet! He's a wonderful writer. The last line said "I think you forgot something in your stocking....." I went over to my stocking to take it down, and I realized there wasn't anything in it. I turned around to tell him, and he was down on one knee. He spoke quickly holding back tears "I cannot live without your love. Will you marry me?" Of course I said YES!!! I got down on my knees so I could hug him. We hugged, laughed, and cried for what seemed like forever until FINALLY I realized that I needed to see my ring! He got it out and put it on my finger....and I gasped! It was beautiful!!!!!!!! He did an amazing job, and I was blown away. We still can't believe we are engaged!

We are planning a beach wedding in Key West for late June. Stay tuned for more details!

Update on Mom

Here's the latest.

On Monday, my brother discovered my mom bleeding and very confused/disoriented. He called 911 and got an ambulance to take her to the ER. I arrived around 7:15 at Spartanburg Regional to find mom extremely confused and very out of it. They kept her overnight Monday. Her kidneys were beginning to fail, and they made the decision to transfer her to MUSC on Tuesday. My family visited her during the day Tuesday before they transferred her. She rode in an ambulance down to Charleston Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, Kevin, Lynn and Jordan came to Charleston to be with mom. Matt and I were spending the day in Spartanburg with my dad. We got a phone call at 6:30 Wed. night from Lynn saying that we really needed to get down to MUSC as soon as we could. When we arrived, Mom was very out of it, and was having trouble breathing. They decided to put in a central line because her blood pressure was critically low. We left around 12:30 Wed. night to get some sleep after the nurses reassured us Mom would be OK throughout the night and they would call if they needed anything from us.

On Thursday (Kevin's birthday and Thanksgiving), mom was not doing well. We talked to the kidney doctor about her condition. He told us that, basically, even if we got her kidneys functioning better that she most likely wouldn't be a candidate for a liver transplant anymore because of her condition. She just wouldn't survive the surgery. So, after many tears and phone calls, we tried to make it through the day without breaking down....it wasn't easy. Our family--my uncle Mike, his wife Denise, and my cousin Michael--came down to see mom and be with us.
Thursday night was better than Thursday morning. She improved steadily throughout the day and was even being a little silly with the staff. This thrilled us!

Right now (Friday), we are pretty much in the same situation. Her kidneys are slightly better, but it's not looking good. We are trying to find out how much time the doctors think we have left with her. Her breathing is sitll very labored.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. My family is going through a lot, and it's the worst time of year to experience something like this.

November....so far....

I know it's been a while...so here's the latest on Matt and Amy:

*Mom came home from MUSC after spending nearly 2 weeks in the hospital with pneumonia (among other things) on October 28. She is still really week, but is all set (hopefully) for her transplant. The transplant board met on Nov. 4 to discuss her case. She should now be listed. The average wait time for a liver is 3 months. Let's hope that she gets that liver soon!!

*Matt and I helped our best friend, Della, celebrate her birthday last week. We went to Strike City to bowl and then to Whiskey River to dance. We had a BLAST!

*We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving in Spartanburg with my family and celebrating my brother's birthday--which is on Thanksgiving.

*I have started a new workout regimen: P90x! It's intense and has left me more sore than I've ever been in my life, but I love it! Hopefully the results will show VERY SOON!

*We're looking forward to Matt's family visiting for Christmas!! Also, my brother, his girlfriend, and my brand new niece are all visiting from Germany over Christmas, too! I'm really looking forward to meeting Maddie. She's precious!

*There might be an announcement coming soon......Matt and I have looked at rings! :-) Keep checking back for an update. :-)