Not so Invincible

It’s funny how things in life can creep up on you. You know how your mom always said “you’re not invincible!” (at least my mom always said that!)… somehow, I never really believed her. Sure, I thought I believed her. I honestly thought I was being careful. I always thought that I was taking enough precautions in my life. I studied hard, played harder, and thought “I’m a good person, so I’m good to go.”

Now I’m not all about spreading other peoples business, so I won’t go into detail… but recently I had two big eye openers. Two of my very close girlfriends are going thru life changing events, very different types of situations, one good & one bad, but life-changing none the less, and it has really made me think about my life, and what I would do in their situations.

To be honest, if I were in either of their situations, I don’t know what I would do. I guess I would pull myself together, and move on, or prepare (if you will)…but there are so many what-if’s. Maybe instead of thinking about what I would do, I ought to be more concerned with appreciating everything I have in my life, and simply be there for my friends when they need me.

This has been a very vague entry, and I apologize..but really my point is that sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routines of life, and forget about what really matters. Matt has never missed a day of work in his life (other than when he had emergency surgery) me on the other hand, I love my free time and take advantage of it. Now don’t get me wrong, Matt has plenty of leisure time, and he is great at balancing personal life and work life… but a very smart man, probably the most influential man in my life, keeps telling me “there isn’t one person in this world, that on his death bed said, “ I should have spent more time at the office”” Again, it’s not about having poor work ethic ( I like to think I’m a great asset to my employer!) but it’s about realizing what’s really important in your life, and not letting that slip away. Trust me, you always have 5 minutes to make a phone call – tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone and bad things really do happen to good people.

Change...is a good thing?

So first of all, I’m sorry for never blogging… I feel like I’m that horrible person in a relationship, you know, the one who is always sorry and constantly making excuses? That being said (this time, I promise..for real!) I am going to really spend some time keeping up with my blog this year. In fact, I’ve made it a 2011 resolution to actually work on it…hopefully it works out better than my 2010 resolution to lose 15lbs…

Anyhow, I really thought 2010 was my year of change. I officially left Northern MD and bought a house in Calvert County, I spent a full year working for at the American Diabetes Association, and oh yeah, I got engaged! Lots of big things happened for me in 2010, but here we are, starting a new year and already there are lots of big things happening for me in 2011!

First, and most importantly (according to Matt..) my commute to work is about to be cut by about 60%! Woo hooo! Unfortunately, that means I’m leaving ADA. Although working for the American Diabetes Association has been a great learning experience, I think it is time that I found a position a little closer to home, and that is a little more marketing focused. So, I recently accepted a position with Community Bank of Tri-County as a Marketing Specialist. I start the new job next week, and I am super excited to start this next endeavor in my life. It’s funny, but the number one question people are asking me is…what are you going to do with all that free time?! Even though getting up early is pretty much horrible, I’m fairly sure I’m going to try and keep my early bird schedule, that way I will be home in plenty of time to take advantage of the evening hours. Maybe I’ll even join a gym…ha let’s be honest, probably not! But really, I’m excited to cut the commute and actually be pleasant at the end of the day (I’m sure Matt won’t mind either!)

Second big change of 2011…this is my last year being Erin Sell…come September, I will join the ranks of the Brown family! I’m very excited about the wedding (and there is a ton of planning left to do) but I’m sure by the time it gets here, everything will fall into place, and my day will be as wonderful as the man I’m sharing it with!

Going to the Chapel and We’re….Gonna get married!

Although I’m terrible at blogging, I think by this point it’s common knowledge that Matt and I are getting married!!

On August 25, 2010 (also Christines birthday!) Matt took me up to his grandparents cabin, where he asked me to marry him. I’ve told the story about 200 times, but every time I make sure and end it with “it was absolutely perfect, and the entire thing fit Matt’s personality, I wouldn’t have had it any other way” – basically because to someone else, the proposal on the front porch might not have been quite how they imagined… but if you know Matt, you know he loves being outside, four wheeling, camo hats, and basically loves just enjoying the small things in life – which is exactly how it went, nothing fancy (although the ring, is absolutely breathtaking!), but simple and quaint, exactly how our life together is, perfect – for us.

Since then, all bets are off. I have been in full wedding planning mode. I immediately booked our venue for the reception and ceremony for September 3, 2011. It will be outdoors, in St. Mary’s County, on the water. I am absolutely I love with the site! I have also decided on a dress. After trying on lots of dresses, I found one that really gave me the “this is the one” feeling. Although I didn’t really expect to have that feeling, I knew the dress was it the moment I put it on. Won’t elaborate too much tho – if you want to know more, just ask! I also decided on our wedding party, colors, food, etc. If you ask Matt, I’ve slightly turned into a bridezilla. Thankfully I have a wonderful family, great friends, and an amazing finance (ahhh finally getting used to that word!) to keep me from getting out of control.

All in all, its been a busy couple of months- but basically I’m the luckiest girl in the world, and I can’t wait to be Mrs. Brown!

Life in Calvert County

First, let me apologize for my lack of blogging. The past few months have been crazy with moving and such, but now that I’m firmly settled into what I will be calling “home” from this point forward – I guess I need to step up my game, at least with keeping up on my blog.

Life in Calvert County is nice. It’s quiet and it’s a bit slow; what I would call a happy medium between St. Mary’s 7th District, and Baltimore Cities Federal Hill. All in all, I am loving the new house, loving living with Matt, and moreover absolutely in love with the natural beauties that are found right in my back yard. (not literally, but close enough!)

Now let me preface my next statement with – I love working at ADA. But (yes, there is always a but) sometimes things can get a bit overwhelming, and after what I would call – being on the verge of a freak out- Wednesday, I decided it was a good idea to take a personal day. So I came home Wednesday night very chipper that I could sleep past 5:45am on a weekday, woohoo!

Wednesday night Matt and I went in search of a public beach near our house. I have been aimlessly driving around for weeks, with little to no luck in finding any sort of “public” recreational area for lounging. Surrounded by water…literally we are nestled right between the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay, it would be logical that a public beachy area would be easy to find. Not so much. After another failed attempt at searching for the beach, I was slightly disheartened. Non the less, after a great night sleep, we headed out again to search for the sand.

After finding 2 other small beaches, Matt, Ginger and I stumbled across Flag Pond Park. We had to pay to get into the park, and then walk to the beach…but after so many failures, we figured, hey what’s one more walk? After a leisurely walk for about ¾ of a mile we came to the clearing on the beach, and WOW was about all I could say. The beach I have so anxiously awaiting to find, has finally revealed itself.






I can’t take credit for these photos, however this is exactly what I saw when I came through the clearing. It was most certainly worth the wait. In fact, we almost immediately went home and got our swim suites, and the three of us spent the day lounging on the beach. (Ginger was a little confused & didn’t love that we tried to make her swim – maybe next time she will be a little more brave when it comes to the water)

Anyone who knows me knows I love the beach. And somehow, I think Calvert County just won my heart.

Spring has Sprung

Spring is finally here (although I heard something about flurries on the radio this morning…) and I can’t believe how refreshing it is to just be outside. Maybe this Winter felt exceptionally long – 3 major snow storms can give just about anyone cabin fever if you ask me – but I know when the first signs of Spring started appearing a few weeks ago, it was like I turned into a totally new person! Daylight savings time came early this year, but if you ask me, it couldn’t have gotten here fast enough. Now that it’s actually light out when I get home from work, I feel like I have my life back. I am motivated to exercise, run errands, and just generally stay awake past 8pm. I feel like I have been more productive in the past 2 weeks, with my home life, then I have in months!

With the new beginning of Spring, comes new beginnings for Matt and me. We have our pre-settlement walk-thru on our house today, and we move in permanently on Wednesday. I can’t believe that Matt is actually buying his first house! I know I have been there every step of the way, and I have helped with just about everything, but when it comes down to it, Matt is the one signing the papers, and I am so proud of him. Most people our age aren’t even thinking about buying homes, and he has really made my dream become a reality.

There are so many things to be excited about with this new house of ours, so maybe highlighting the most important things is the best route to go:
- Matt and I can have time together
- Ginger will no longer bother her aunty Kirby
- I will have my own Walk-In closet
- Our commutes to and from work are going to be much shorter!!!
- The HUGE bathtub

We are planning a house warming part-tay; details to come.

Shopping Attempt - Fail

So the contract on the townhouse has been ratified and accepted and so now should be the fun part – shopping for house ‘stuff’. Mom and I went out this weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) with intent of purchase. After about 8-10 hours of shopping split between two days, I returned home defeated, only purchasing a small shelving unit and a spaghetti strainer.
As I trucked up to Bel Air on Friday night, traffic was a nightmare and it took Ginger and me about 3 hours, I anxiously awaited the weekend ahead. Mom and I had a list of stores that filled an entire 8 ½ by 11 sheet of paper that we were going to go to. Everything from Target and Bed Bath and Beyond, to Goodwill and antique flee markets. Now I know that sometimes these type of stores are hit or miss, but really? How is it possible for all 12 of them to be a miss?! We strolled thru shop after shop, and I eagerly awaited something to ‘pop’ out at me. You know that feeling when you see the perfect dress, and you think “this is it!” Well that is what I was waiting for, on just about any and all house stuff…and all I got was a strainer.
Although slightly disappointed, I came home knowing that the stuff that is meant for my house will come eventually. So if anyone is getting rid of any household goodies, don’t call the truck before checking in with me! So far, the best treasures I have gotten have been from other peoples garages!

Business Travel

So this past weekend, I went on my first business trip. My travels took me across the continental US to the lovely state of California, San Francisco to be precise. To be quite honest, I wasn't that excited about the trip. First of all, it meant I wasn't going to be having a weekend, and secondly the 'biggest snow storm to ever hit MD' was occurring within hours of my departure. Being the worry wort that I am, I was a bit nervous about traveling in the big snow, and even more nervous about being stuck in San Francisco. Despite my worries, I made the trek to the airport at 2 a.m. on Friday morning, and after several mishaps (to avoid whining I'll just leave it at that) made it San Francisco at 6 p.m. local time (9 p.m. in Baltimore)

The trip was a big success! The 57th Annual Postgraduate Course, the conference I have been working on since I started at ADA, went off with flying colors and raving reviews, and I loved San Francisco! I can't wait to go back! The city was gorgeous, the people were nice, and the weather was a perfect 60 degrees. Coming from the 25 degrees in MD, it felt like a taste of Spring...which was just enough to put a little pep in my step.

I spent Saturday night out on the town with ADA's newest intern, Cassie. We had dinner at a cute little place down in Fisherman's Wharf, had Irish Coffee at the famous Buena Vista Cafe, and rode the Cable Cars up to the top of the hill. All in all, it was a great time and we did some fabulous sight seeing!

After several problematic phone calls with the airlines (mostly non-weather related) I finally made it back to MD on Tuesday around 2 a.m. (again to avoid whining, I'll leave it at that)

Although I was very unhappy about missing the big snow, I think in retrospect I'm glad I wasn't here. The latest and greatest 'blizzard of 2010, round 2' has got me stuck inside with cabin fever and longing for Spring time. Not to mention the heaping piles of snow just waiting to be shoveled.