Well, as of today I'm a 24 year old married college graduate. (For those of you keeping track, that would make today my 24th birthday.) It really wasn't a super eventful day, I had an eye doctor appointment this morning at 7:45, in an office an hour away from Concord. So at 10 of 6 I had to get up and get ready to go. John came with me, and it was a good thing, because the eye doctor dialated my eyes, so I couldn't see for a while, so he drove back home afterwards. While I was there though, he and my mom (who works at my eye doctors office) gave me my birthday gift - they got me the digital camera I wanted! That was very exciting and I got to start using it today! After my appointment, we went to my parents house for an hour. No one was home though, so we just vegged. Then we went to see my dad who was working up on the land my parents own, so we visited with him for a couple minutes. Then, around 11, John took me out to lunch at the Sampan, my favorite Chinese restaurant that is between Concord and my parents house. The food was SO good. Good Chinese food is good. =)
This afternoon I had to take my car for an oil change, and I was at the stupid dealership that I bought my car at for an hour and a half. For an OIL CHANGE! Fortunately, part of the reason it took so long was because they handwash the car and vacuum the inside, so that pretty much made it worth it. At least I had a book with me. Then I bought some rechargeable batteries for my new digital camera =) and came home to charge them and eat some dinner, because John had a concert with Carter Mountain Brass in New London. The concert was good, and it was outside at the bandstand in New London, which are always fun types of concerts anyway.
Very exciting news on the wedding photo front - we got back our photos from the photographer yesterday, and they came out SOOOOO great! I'm thrilled with how they came out. There are some that I cannot wait to get enlarged and frame, so I am just thrilled to get them back! Hopefully (emphasize strongly the word hopefully here) John and I will be getting a scanner soon (emphasize soon too) so that we can get them scanned in and uploaded to share with the world!!!
Last night I just spent the evening getting all the pictures into albums and everything, so that was a lot of fun. John was at a rehearsal and dealing with photos is really my thing anyway, so I had a blast (when Molly wasn't trying to attack the album or pictures or my hand or my foot or... or... or...)I got to talk to Sarah Cass which was really nice, because she and I haven't had the chance to really connect since we... graduated high school. It was good to catch up and hear about all of her wedding plans and stuff. I miss her - she's my big sister! I've got to try to keep in touch with her better! Sarah, if you're reading this - I miss you!!!!
I wish I had other exciting news to report, but I really don't. Married life is still treating me well, although it's been an adjustment for both of us. But we've been communicating openly and working through everything so I really can't have any complaints about it at all! =) With out a doubt, this has been the best thing in my life thus far, and I know with time everything will get easier and we won't have the awkwardness of what everything was like at the start of our marriage...
Friday, August 19, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Life as a married college graduate
Well, first off, the wedding went so smoothly! I couldn't believe we didn't have a single problem the whole day! Everything went fine, everyone showed up when they were suposed to, we ended up with really good food at the reception, and we got rave reviews about our DJ! All of the pictures are up on http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/mcardin81/my_photos and just follow the one that says wedding. As soon as we get some back from the photograper and can get them scanned in, I'll upload some of the great professional ones too.
Our honeymoon was fantastic also! We drove to Searsport, ME, and stayed for two nights, then on to Port Elgin, New Brunswick for two nights, then on to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. While in Searsport, we ventured up to Bar Harbor, took a trolley tour of Acadia, which was really nice, and got a lot of great pictures. We did a small amount of shopping while we were there, too. Neither of us had ever been to Bar Harbor, so it was nice to visit. The next day we drove up to New Brunswick to stay in this REALLY nice place in Port Elgin, which is about 1/2 an hour north of Moncton, and maybe 45 minutes from Fundy National Park. This inn was AMAZING. They had the best food and the suite we stayed in was so nice! There are some pictures of it in the Honeymoon part one photo album at the same website. While we were in NB, we went to Magnetic Hill, which is a hill that you drive down, get into the left lane, put the car in reverse and then get "pulled" back up the hill! Want to know how it works? You won't hear it from me! =) It is an optical illusion though, but still cool none the less. Then we went to Fundy National Park for the afternoon, which was also great. The weather was nice while we were there, for the most part (we got some rain just as we were getting ready to head back out of the park), and we did a lot of hiking around in the woods. We went to see a waterfall and got some nice views while we were there. The park is about 80 miles, give or take, so there was a TON we didn't get to see, which was kind of sad. It would be very easy to spend a couple of days or a week exploring it. John and I both got tee-shirts at the visitors center, so that was a fun way to commemorate our trip there.
After Fundy, we went to see the Hopewell Rocks, which are these rocks that, when the tide is out, you can go explore the caves and crevices of them, but when the tide comes in, look out! It rises about 20-30 feet, and you can go kayaking around the rocks instead! There are some great pictures of them on in our photos. We made it back to the inn an hour late for dinner, but the innkeepers were great about it.
The last phase of our trip included Prince Edward Island. So, when we left Port Elgin, we stopped at Cape Jourimain, which had a lighthouse we could hike out too, plus some really nice pictures of the Confederation bridge, which is the 8 mile bridge that crosses into P.E.I. We hiked around there for a bit, then hopped back in the car and crossed over the bridge into P.E.I. Our first stop there was at Gateway Village, which has a tourist center for people coming into P.E.I., plus lots of little shops. We picked up some brochures, then drove around that part of the island to Charlottetown. After lunch and exploring Charlottetown for a bit, we headed up to the place we stayed in Cavendish. That place was really nice too. The suite we had was great and had this HUGE whirlpool tub in it. We went out to dinner in New Glasgow that night, to a really fancy restaurant. I tried muscles for the first time, and John had salmon that was cooked on a piece of cedar wood. The dinner was good. The next day we saw the Green Gables house, from the Anne of Green Gables books (NOT the one from the movie - not to be confused, this was not that house) and hiked through the "haunted" forest. That was cool. Then we moved on to Avonlea. This was the town from the Anne of Green Gables books and they have people that dress up like all of the characters and play the roles of them there. Every 15 minutes or so they do another skit somewhere around the town, so that was kind of neat. Next we went to the Cavendish Boardwalk. There are a bunch of little shops there, and John got a "Red Dirt Shirt" there, and I got a PEI Dirt Visor. They're dyed with the red dirt and mud in PEI. Then it was lunch time for us, and then we headed to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. There was some really cool stuff there! After that, we drove to Kensington to go to Woodleigh Replicas, a place that has all scale replicas of medieval castles and chapels and houses and such. Some were large enough to go into, some were only like up to our waists, but they were all really cool. After that we went back to Cavendish and went to the beach. We have some beautiful pictures of Cavendish beach up on the photo site, so check those out. All of the dirt, more or less, is red, so a lot of the beach is red. The sand was brown, like normal beach sand, but the beach itself was just gorgeous. After that, it was dinner at Rachel's Restaurante, and then we went out to the Boardwalk again so I could get a visor for my sister and some chocolates for my parents.
When we went home the next day, we made a couple of stops so that the drive didn't feel as long. We went to the reversing falls in St. John New Brunswick, then we stopped in St. Andrews for lunch, then it was on to Bangor, ME to get gas, then on to Dover to swing by John's parents house to pick up our wedding gifts, and finally home by 10:30 that night. It was such a great trip though, we got to see and do so much by driving! I'm so glad we did it that way. Maybe next year we'll take the Scotia Prince up to Nova Scotia to get to see that part of the Maritime Provinces.
So this week I've just been dealing with name change stuff and let me tell you: that has been the biggest hassle! Since I wanted my name to be Melissa Streeter Cardin, I figured I would just go to the social security office to change it. Well, apparently I can't just change my middle name, I have to go to probate court to do that. Not to mention, we (me and the woman that works at social security) discovered that social security and the IRS had my date of birth as September 19 instead of August 19, so that alone has caused enough problems. So for two days I was walking around with a legal name of Melissa Marion Cardin, and since my date of birth was wrong, they have to verify from the state (even though I had my birth certificate there) that I was really born Aug. 19. So it's going to take like a month to get the new card. So today I went to probate court and had my name legally changed from Melissa Marion Cardin to Melissa Streeter Cardin, and then I went back to the social security office, and waited two hours to have it changed again. Then she told me that they would put it in the computer, but since they still had to wait for D.O.B. verification, I probably won't get my new card for like a month. SOOOOO if I get hired on by the state, I'm going to have to bring like... my old SS card, my form from them stating my name was change to Melissa M. Cardin, my marriage certificate, and the court order that my name was changed to Melissa S. Cardin. But most of the major stuff is done anyway... not much more I can change. I just need to mail the stuff to the bank for my car loan and UNH and my student loan company. Then when I register my car, I'll have to take care of the name change there.
So, that's how I've been spending my time as a college graduate... still looking for my DCYF job, but I called the Rochester office and they said there should be two openings waived next week. That means that everyone HAS to start praying really hard about that =)
Okay, I'm going to wrap this up, my fingers are sore, and I've been working on this entry for about 40 minutes now. I'll catch up with everyone in due time! Oh, and in case you didn't know - mcardin81 on AIM!
Our honeymoon was fantastic also! We drove to Searsport, ME, and stayed for two nights, then on to Port Elgin, New Brunswick for two nights, then on to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. While in Searsport, we ventured up to Bar Harbor, took a trolley tour of Acadia, which was really nice, and got a lot of great pictures. We did a small amount of shopping while we were there, too. Neither of us had ever been to Bar Harbor, so it was nice to visit. The next day we drove up to New Brunswick to stay in this REALLY nice place in Port Elgin, which is about 1/2 an hour north of Moncton, and maybe 45 minutes from Fundy National Park. This inn was AMAZING. They had the best food and the suite we stayed in was so nice! There are some pictures of it in the Honeymoon part one photo album at the same website. While we were in NB, we went to Magnetic Hill, which is a hill that you drive down, get into the left lane, put the car in reverse and then get "pulled" back up the hill! Want to know how it works? You won't hear it from me! =) It is an optical illusion though, but still cool none the less. Then we went to Fundy National Park for the afternoon, which was also great. The weather was nice while we were there, for the most part (we got some rain just as we were getting ready to head back out of the park), and we did a lot of hiking around in the woods. We went to see a waterfall and got some nice views while we were there. The park is about 80 miles, give or take, so there was a TON we didn't get to see, which was kind of sad. It would be very easy to spend a couple of days or a week exploring it. John and I both got tee-shirts at the visitors center, so that was a fun way to commemorate our trip there.
After Fundy, we went to see the Hopewell Rocks, which are these rocks that, when the tide is out, you can go explore the caves and crevices of them, but when the tide comes in, look out! It rises about 20-30 feet, and you can go kayaking around the rocks instead! There are some great pictures of them on in our photos. We made it back to the inn an hour late for dinner, but the innkeepers were great about it.
The last phase of our trip included Prince Edward Island. So, when we left Port Elgin, we stopped at Cape Jourimain, which had a lighthouse we could hike out too, plus some really nice pictures of the Confederation bridge, which is the 8 mile bridge that crosses into P.E.I. We hiked around there for a bit, then hopped back in the car and crossed over the bridge into P.E.I. Our first stop there was at Gateway Village, which has a tourist center for people coming into P.E.I., plus lots of little shops. We picked up some brochures, then drove around that part of the island to Charlottetown. After lunch and exploring Charlottetown for a bit, we headed up to the place we stayed in Cavendish. That place was really nice too. The suite we had was great and had this HUGE whirlpool tub in it. We went out to dinner in New Glasgow that night, to a really fancy restaurant. I tried muscles for the first time, and John had salmon that was cooked on a piece of cedar wood. The dinner was good. The next day we saw the Green Gables house, from the Anne of Green Gables books (NOT the one from the movie - not to be confused, this was not that house) and hiked through the "haunted" forest. That was cool. Then we moved on to Avonlea. This was the town from the Anne of Green Gables books and they have people that dress up like all of the characters and play the roles of them there. Every 15 minutes or so they do another skit somewhere around the town, so that was kind of neat. Next we went to the Cavendish Boardwalk. There are a bunch of little shops there, and John got a "Red Dirt Shirt" there, and I got a PEI Dirt Visor. They're dyed with the red dirt and mud in PEI. Then it was lunch time for us, and then we headed to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. There was some really cool stuff there! After that, we drove to Kensington to go to Woodleigh Replicas, a place that has all scale replicas of medieval castles and chapels and houses and such. Some were large enough to go into, some were only like up to our waists, but they were all really cool. After that we went back to Cavendish and went to the beach. We have some beautiful pictures of Cavendish beach up on the photo site, so check those out. All of the dirt, more or less, is red, so a lot of the beach is red. The sand was brown, like normal beach sand, but the beach itself was just gorgeous. After that, it was dinner at Rachel's Restaurante, and then we went out to the Boardwalk again so I could get a visor for my sister and some chocolates for my parents.
When we went home the next day, we made a couple of stops so that the drive didn't feel as long. We went to the reversing falls in St. John New Brunswick, then we stopped in St. Andrews for lunch, then it was on to Bangor, ME to get gas, then on to Dover to swing by John's parents house to pick up our wedding gifts, and finally home by 10:30 that night. It was such a great trip though, we got to see and do so much by driving! I'm so glad we did it that way. Maybe next year we'll take the Scotia Prince up to Nova Scotia to get to see that part of the Maritime Provinces.
So this week I've just been dealing with name change stuff and let me tell you: that has been the biggest hassle! Since I wanted my name to be Melissa Streeter Cardin, I figured I would just go to the social security office to change it. Well, apparently I can't just change my middle name, I have to go to probate court to do that. Not to mention, we (me and the woman that works at social security) discovered that social security and the IRS had my date of birth as September 19 instead of August 19, so that alone has caused enough problems. So for two days I was walking around with a legal name of Melissa Marion Cardin, and since my date of birth was wrong, they have to verify from the state (even though I had my birth certificate there) that I was really born Aug. 19. So it's going to take like a month to get the new card. So today I went to probate court and had my name legally changed from Melissa Marion Cardin to Melissa Streeter Cardin, and then I went back to the social security office, and waited two hours to have it changed again. Then she told me that they would put it in the computer, but since they still had to wait for D.O.B. verification, I probably won't get my new card for like a month. SOOOOO if I get hired on by the state, I'm going to have to bring like... my old SS card, my form from them stating my name was change to Melissa M. Cardin, my marriage certificate, and the court order that my name was changed to Melissa S. Cardin. But most of the major stuff is done anyway... not much more I can change. I just need to mail the stuff to the bank for my car loan and UNH and my student loan company. Then when I register my car, I'll have to take care of the name change there.
So, that's how I've been spending my time as a college graduate... still looking for my DCYF job, but I called the Rochester office and they said there should be two openings waived next week. That means that everyone HAS to start praying really hard about that =)
Okay, I'm going to wrap this up, my fingers are sore, and I've been working on this entry for about 40 minutes now. I'll catch up with everyone in due time! Oh, and in case you didn't know - mcardin81 on AIM!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)