Friday, October 31, 2025

Sandy's Birthday Celebration

My best friend, Sandy, has been gone now for over 5 years. Just so crazy. It's become a yearly tradition to celebrate her birthday with her sisters and two of her other best friends. It's always a fun time. She would have been 60! 


Her sister, Anne, gave me some of her ashes the last time we were together. I cannot even begin to explain how much that means to me. I had no where to visit her. She was just gone. But now I have a piece of her with me. I decided to get this pretty little urn to hold them...


It was a gorgeous day last Saturday so I decided to transfer her ashes outside in the sunshine. While I was doing it, I was talking to her and said, "I know the veil is thin so send me a sign. Anything. Even a word or a thought." And wouldn't you know it...very specific memories started to come back to me...one after another after another. I was literally laughing and crying at the same time just remembering them! They were all so funny! We had so many private jokes. I swear I hadn't thought about these memories in YEARS and it really felt like she was putting them there in my mind! Call me crazy but I know what I know. 

Mr. Powell's class in 8th grade...he walked with a limp and we would joke about him scraping a piece of chalk along the blackboard while he walked making VVVVVVVVV across the board.

We sat at the same desk for Mr. Murphy's 9th grade math class. We would hide notes under the desk for each other. 

2,3,4 Pillsbury Dough Boy

And this one, I swear on my life, she put in my head because I had forgotten all about it!!!  She used to play cymbals in the marching band in our sophomore year in high school. We were preparing to march in a parade and during warm ups she fainted. She was fine but of course extremely embarrassed! But after that happened, we would sign our notes to each other with a stick figure of her laying on the back on the ground with her cymbals out to the side! I was crying laughing at that memory! 

I miss my best friend so much : ( 



Basketball photoshoot

I always look forward to these photoshoots...




Gianna's Buddy Group...


Gianna and her roommates...




Saturday, October 25, 2025

Night Game & Blast Off

Last weekend, Gianna had her first night football game. Always so much fun dancing under the lights! 

This was actually right before the game...Gianna's buddy group...




half-time performance...


Then the other night was the much anticipated Blast Off which is the start to the basketball season. It's always the highlight of the night when the dance team performs! Gianna looked amazing! I think she's a great hip hop dancer!



Gianna and her roommates...




Sunday, October 05, 2025

Homecoming

Started the morning with the banner ceremony....


Julia and Ava, captains from last season, got to pull the banner showing their 14th New England title... 




It was a beautiful day...but very warm. My beautiful Gull...


Gulls won big...

Alumni...


Julia's first homecoming as an alumni...



Monday, September 22, 2025

First Day

Of course I had to take pictures of Julia's very first day as a Registered Nurse! First up...orientation. Proud is an understatement!





Sunday, September 21, 2025

Football Game 9.20

Home game #3....















Saturday, September 20, 2025

BFF's trip to Long Island

I went away with the BFF's a few weeks ago for a five day long weekend in Long Island. Here we had just arrived off the ferry to begin our trip with drinks and a delicious lunch...


Our birthdays are all very close...April, June, July and two in August so we made it a birthday celebration weekend. Patty once again was our travel agent. She found this great house in Mattituck on the North Fork "known for its picturesque waterfront, vineyards, and the charming shopping street, Love Lane". The house was very roomy with five bedrooms and three full baths. So we each got our own bedroom, which was a big perk. Just look at the view from the front porch...



We had lots of girl dinners...


and wine of course...


Our first full day, we took a party bus to three different vineyards all very close to the house...



The pictures don't do it justice...it was so beautiful. This was the first stop...and our favorite out of the three...




This was the second stop...





and the last stop...


One day we took a ferry over to Sag Harbor. It was so pretty! We spent some time sunning at a small beach...



and then found a nice little spot to have some drinks on an outdoor patio by the ocean...


I guess I forgot to hold my drink for the picture...


Love Lane was so cute! It has the nicest little shops. We got homemade donuts one morning for breakfast and ate out for breakfast here too one morning. It reminded me a lot of the quaint shops and restaurants in Ogunquit...


We picked up a variety of slices of cakes at the breakfast/lunch place for us to sing Happy Birthday later that day...


Marcy bought us these...





60 sounds so old to me...but I'm just happy that we're all still here, healthy and enjoying our lives. We are very blessed to have these lifelong friendships...

 

That picture was something Michele saw on Instagram and wanted to try it. We did it on one take thank goodness because if you could only see how we got down there and then back up again. When you're 60...it takes a bit longer to do something like that. Haha! Cheers to us!! : )