Meme's Fun House

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10 years = a century

WOW sounds pretty long doesn’t it? What did you do in the past 10 years? I know what I did. Here is recap!

2000 -

Celebrated my daughter’s first birthday April 16, 2000 – Celebrated 1 year of employment at TPG Direct November 1, 2000.

2001 -

Celebrated getting my driver’s licence. Yes I waited until I was 25 to actually start driving.

August – My sister, BIL and two nephews moved to Florida

2002 -

July 28th invited friends out for my 26th birthday. I rented a cheese bus we went to various clubs in Philly. I remember to this day that birthday was amazing. Why? Well that is the first time Michael and I kissed. Sounds childish but it was the best night of my life. I remembered that kiss like it was yesterday.

September – Invited Michael to be my date at a co worker’s wedding. It’s official we started dating!!

December – Michael invited me to PAND a New Year’s Eve celebration at the Radisson Hotel.

2003

Celebrated 1 year of courtship with Michael. The funny thing was our gifts to each other were scrapbooks of our first year together.

The first page of my scrapbook included the following -

I always knew that falling in love would be very special and true.

I am the luckiest woman to have fallen in love with you.

everyday our love gets strong, strong enough to last our whole life long.

Here is my gift to you on our first year anniversary. Its filled with Joy, Happiness and Love, all of which you have given me every minute of everyday.

Even though I had many things to be thankful for in 2003 I also experienced some sad times. My best friend Koryn lost her boyfriend/the father of her child that year. I remember getting the phone call and just dropping to the floor when I heard the news. Shawn was a great father and a good friend. He is still missed greatly to this day. 

2004

July 28th celebrating my birthday in Fort Myers Florida with my sister and her family. Another memorable birthday. Michael proposed to me! I was shocked and excited and I couldn’t believe I was going to get married especially to this man who not only adored me but adored my daughter just as much. He knew we were a packaged deal and he wanted a family.

After a few days of letting the excitement soak in and our trip back home we set a date. The last week of May of 2006,however, we didn’t know that Michael’s good friend also got engaged and picked the same day we did….now what? Well I was very upset, my emotions were running high. I just enjoyed a fantastic vacation, my sissy got to share one of the best nights of my life and now I may have to change my wedding date! It was very important to me as well as the other couple who picked that same day. As always to make everyone else happy we decided to move our wedding back a week to May 13th. We not only got to celebrate our wedding it was also my mother’s birthday! The gift to my mom on that special day was for her to walk me down the aisle.

We also lost two great people this year. My good friend Heather lost her dear bubby and Koryn had another devastating year and lost her cousin of brain cancer.

2005

I spent most of my time planning my wedding in 2005 so its kind of a blur.

2006

My wedding year.  All of the planning paid off well. My bridal party included Diane Garcia ( my bff mom) Alexis Javardian (Tron’s cousin) Stephanie Clerkin ( my cousin) Karen Anderson ( my close friend and also my private hair stylist) Koryn Garcia Maid of honor (my bff since freshman year of hs) and Jennifer Santelle Matron of honor ( my sissy). We had 3 flower girls Victoria (Koryn’s daughter) Victoria ( my cousin) and of course Queen Isabella. The groomsmen included Ralph Garcia, Antranig Garibian, Rasteen Norwoozie, Tim Lawrence and Mr Hollywood himself Vahan Paretchan ( Best man and brother of groom)

We had the ceremony at Holy Trinity Armenian Church and also for conveince we had the reception in the church hall. It was wonderful.

We honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I can’t wait to go back someday…soon

2007

This year included many weddings,birthdays as always, our first wedding anniversary.

2008

This year we lost a dear co-worker to cancer. My boss for 8 years of employment at TPG Direct lost her battle with cancer. Gale was a great inspiration to many. She was an awesome boss and a wonderful wife and mother.

2009

The year of trips – Poconos ( annual ski trip with friends) California (visited my husband’s brother) Rhode Island (my husband’s cousin wedding) Disney World.

Also we got to witness Don and Judy’s wedding. Michael’s aunt and uncle.

Elected to Holy Trinity Women’s Guild board member

We got a puppy – Bubba

We got the swine flu

Celebrated 10 years at TPG Direct. Time flys by!

2009 was a busy year and along with plenty of ups to fill our glass we also had a horrific tragedy that struck four families and tons of friends. Both Michael Sanders and Jay Stef along with two of their close friends died in Oct in a major car accident on Interstate 95.

RIP to all four guys that lost their lives too soon.

So that’s it. A decade in the life of Meme’s Fun House.

2010 is looking up for me. I plan for this upcoming year to be about me! I plan to shed lbs. kick the habit and maybe just maybe working on giving Isabella and Bubba a little brother or sister. Now wouldn’t that be nice.

Enjoy all NYE celebrations and be safe!!

It’s been a while since I last added a post why? Well I forgot my password and I have been really busy. But now as I enjoy my mini vacation before Christmas I have lots of time to write and be merry.

My vow during these three days off was the relax and not be stressed out. I was really working on overtime there for a while. I remember during my daughter’s Christmas play I just sat there crying. Of course I was to happy to see Isabella growing up everyday and now she is in 5th grade singing her little heart out on the altar of her church, but I was so stressed. So many things to do and not enough time. As my husband held my hand and told me everything would be fine I was just trying to wipe away my tears so my daughter wouldn’t see me crying.

So of course work had to add to the stress I was trying to get everything done before I took my time off and before our annual Christmas Party. I did get it done and the Christmas party was fantastic.

It was at the Chart House in Philadelphia.

The food was very good. I chose the Baked Tilipia and it was yummy! I definitley recommend it. Not only was the food good the view was fantastic. The Chart House is located on Delaware Avenue right on the river.  We also had a chance to win several prizes. 3 Net Books, 5 I POD Touch, 1 GPS, 1 Kodak Digital Camera, 1 Kodak Mini Video Camera, 1 Sony Reader and 10 $25 American Express Gift cards.

And I won…..

an I POD Touch!!!!

After the Christmas party I headed home to start preparing for our first annual family baking and Christmas tree decorating night. It was so much fun. We ordered pizza and made snowman, gingerbread, candy cane, teddy bears, stars and hearts sugar cookies. It was a great time. My mom and her partner in crime joined us.

My mom even wore her holiday shirt

Our Christmas Tree decorations

My very own personalized Christmas ball from Karen

My favorite – Snowman with Bella

I love Snowmen

and reindeer especially when they are made by Isabella with popicle stickes

Our new addition stocking

Our center piece we are all monkeys…

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays and have a safe and fun New Years!!

When I was in my 20’s  I would enjoy gathering at a local bar or friend’s house to enjoy drinks and great company on the eve before Thanksgiving. Now in my early 30’s I sit here with a cold bottle of Miller Light in hand wondering if I forgot to purchase something for my Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. Boy! how my life has changed. My priorities are no longer going out the girls and partying till the wee hours of the morning and stuffing my face the next day with good eats. Now I rush here, rush there and rush everywhere. I start my preparation for the feast the night before trying to get as much done just so I can watch some of the Thanksgiving parade with my family! And to tell you the truth I am having a lot more fun now then I did way back when or it’s the place in my life right now I most enjoy. Family gatherings, great food and I nice cold brewsky keeps a smile on my face. The simple life I lead now = The happy life!

The menu is coming along great! I found a recipe online for make ahead mashed potatoes www.whatscookingamerica.net

The recipe is quite simple and will be sure to free up alot of time and space tomorrow.

Shirley’s Crock-Pot Mashed Potatoes
5 lbs. potatoes (9 large)
2 3-ounce packages of cream cheese
1 cup dairy sour cream
2 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter

Cook peeled potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. Mash
until smooth (meaning no lumps. Nobody likes lumpy mashed potatoes, right?). Add the rest of the ingredients, beating until light and fluffy.

Cool mashed potatoes slightly, cover and then refrigerate

Crock-pot Variation: Cooking the prepared mashed potatoes in the crock-pot is a great way to keep the oven freed up for the other dishes. Take the prepared mashed potatoes out of refrigerator about 3-1/2 hours before serving time. Spray non-stick spray inside your crock-pot add mashed potatoes in crock-pot. Cover and cook on low heat for approximately 3 hours, stirring once or twice. After potatoes are cooked, stir, and then add some additional dollops of butter just before serving.
 

Maybe not the most healthiest of dishes,however, the taste so good and sometimes that is all the matters.

Next up tonight homemade Apple Pie!

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and for all the nuts that will be out on Black Friday look out for me I will be there too! Good Luck and stay safe.

Peace out – Meme!

http://www.comcast.net/video/burka-barbie/1339100026

What is going on here? Burka Barbie?

What will they come up with next.

Tomorrow will be one week since Bubba came into our life. He is the best puppy any owner could ask for. We are now in training mode and this will be sure to be the hardest thing to do since potty training my daughter. Even though Bubba is potty trained already we need to get back to basics and teach him the common cues – watch, sit, down, stay, come, drop it, leave it, make the bed, etc. Well I don’t know about the last one, but we’ll see

Right now along with puppy training I am getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. We were invited to my husband’s Aunt’s house for dinner, however, we decided to have a small gathering at our house instead.

I love to entertain and I especially love it when my family comes to visit. I do not belong to a huge family. We only have about 11 family members in all and some live in Florida and Alabama. I guess it’s for the best since our family is as dysfunctional as they come. That is another story or another day. Stay tuned!

I only have 3 days left to prepare so I better start now.

Our guest list includes -

Mom and Joe

Stephanie (my expecting cousin) and her fiance Scottie to Hottie

Albert and Lil Al (his son)

My husband Micheal, our daughter Isabella and myself .

Thanksgiving 2009 @ The Paretchan’s  menu is as follows:

Of course I had to add some Armenian flare to the dinner so for mezza or appetizers (we non Armenians like to call it) I will serve: Lazy Choreg (made it myself), Non Lazy Choreg, String Cheese, Pita and humus

20lb Turkey – compliments of Mom & Joe

Homemade Mashed Potatoes – I found a recipe online where I can cook the mashed potatoes and bake the in the crock pot.

Roasted Veggies – Recipe taken from my MIL Tanya

Stuffing

Cream Corn (for Bella)

String bean Almondine

Brocoli Rab and Olive Dip – Compliments of Joe

Dinner Rolls, House Salad and Pumpkin Pie – Compliments of Stephanie and Scott

Homemade Apple Pie – I made my very first homemade apple pie last week and I can’t wait to make one for this feast.

After dessert and dinner we will be sure to end the night as we did last year. Hours upon hours of Rock Band!

I hope all my readers enjoy this festive holiday!

Peace Out – Meme!

We made it through the week with Bubba our new pup. Yes, it wasn’t a whole week since he became a member of our family on Tuesday, but it feels like we had him forever. He is well trained..thanks to Koryn! (my best friend for 18 years)  She did a fantastic job training this young pup since the age of 3 months.

Although it has been a joy to have Bubba around I have to admit it does take time to get used to the fact that I have this 10mth old puppy that I have to follow around the house and take him for walks every couple of hours. The good definitely out weights the bad because we have this cute adorable pup that loves us no matter what.

New puppy log – Thursday and Friday

Thursday our second day with Bubba mirrored our first day with him. We have been keeping Bubba in his cage at nights which means up early for walks.

Breakfast at 6:30am

Another quick walk before we put him in the cage and we headed off to work and school.

12:45pm Left work again at lunch to come home and walk Bubba.

5:30pm we came home took Bubba right out for another walk

Dinner at 6:15

Another walk at 7:00 pm and then one last walk at 10pm.

In bed by 11pm.  Today was another good day!

Thursday night – We decided to try and let him sleep with us tonight. I know this is probably not a good idea to let your dogs sleep with you, but I can resist he is so perfect in so many ways plus Koryn informed me he would sleep with her at nights. So we tried it and it worked out great…of course!

Friday morning – TGIF!!

We got to sleep a little later since Bubba did not wake up at 5:30am! Instead he woke up a 1/2 hour later…but I am not complaining. He did not bark when he woke up this time. He was so gentle and sweet and just gave us kisses.

Instead of walking him I decided to put him in the yard. We have a pretty nice size yard. Grass covers the sides of the yard, however, not enough for him to run free but  it still helps though.

Breakfast was served at 6:30. I am finding out he doesn’t eat or drink too much in the morning.

7:15 a quick walk around the block with Bubba and Isabella gets our morning started on the right foot.

12:45 I return from home to walk Bubba at lunch. At this time I notice he ate some of his food. I keep a little bit of dry food in the crate with him when I leave for work in the morning. I think he is already getting used to me coming home at lunch. He definitely enjoys the afternoon walk in the sun.

5:30pm we return from work and school to find Bubba waiting for us as always ready to go out and explore our concrete jungle. I wish we had more grass around for him to run but we have neighbors lawns that have been working out well. I make sure I bring a plastic bag with me for the waste.

6:30 dinner – Bubba doesn’t waste time eating his dinner. He loves that I mix the dry and wet food together. He loves it a lot more than breakfast. (dry food only)

7:30 and 10pm we walk him two last times before going to bed.

Bedtime – Bubba is now sleeping with us every night.

Yesterday we got a puppy!! He is so cute and so good…so far that is. His name is Bubba and he is 1/2 puggle and 1/2 Pikingese

My best friend had two puppies and they were dominating her life and had to make a decision whether she should keep them or not. I stepped in and decided I wanted to help. Living with my mom we had a share of animals dogs, cats, birds, and an iguana. While married to my husband we had two guinea pigs. The guinea pigs did not last that long since I found out later I was allergic to them. We gave my daughter a hermit crab July 2008 and she did a great job caring for him unfortunately he passed on last week.  A dog  just seemed to be the next step. After a long discussion on the pro and cons of having a dog with my husband and we decided to  try it out.

Day 1 -

Woke up 1/2 hour before my normal time to walk him. My daughter also woke up just in time to meet us for the first walk of the day at 6am.

Breakfast at 6:30am

Another quick walk before we put him in the cage and we headed off to work and school.

I decided the rest of this week I would leave work at lunch drive home (15min away without traffic) and take Bubba out for a walk just so he wasn’t home the entire 8 hours my himself.

5:30pm we came home took Bubba right out for another walk

Dinner at 6:15

Another walk at 7:00 am and then one last walk at 10pm.

In bed by 11pm.  Today was a good day.