In remembrance

Today my family and I remember my Uncle Michael - one of the most lovable, kind-hearted men that I ever knew.  Marking the 4 year anniversary of his death, I think fondly of the jokes he used to tell, the hugs he used to give and example he showed of living for the benefit of others.

My Uncle Michael was always expressed that he was proud of what I accomplished and I remember trying to impress him with everything that I did both in school and all my activities.  

I miss him dearly and I know that he is happy in Heaven - and making everyone laugh up there!

Love and miss you,

Kathryn

Frenchie Fridays

No, not the beauty school drop out..

In honor of Regina's study abroad trip - for the next 6 weeks - I wanted to post a little something interesting about Paris, France every Friday.

Since this is Regina's first week there, here are a few facts:

Did you know...

-the average visitors to Paris, France is over 25 million people per year!?!

-the city of Paris is broken into 20 districts?

-the number you call from any phone in France for the police is "17" and medical emergencies is "15" (this one is for Mamma Noons)

Profitez de votre Memorial Day Week-end!

A French blog

...in the eyes of Regina Noonan.

Follow Regina's time abroad here!

Pardon my French

Already so funny and totally Regina!  I'm going to look forward to reading her posts!

Join me as I live vicariously through her and remember my time abroad!

Cheers! :)

Au Revoir

Regina is headed to Paris for her 6 week study abroad trip! 

In a word - jealous!  But extremely excited for her!!!

Wishing her a safe trip, lots of fun and many great memories!  Can't wait to hear all about it!

Mamma says...

We all have read the stories of some of my Mom's most funny sayings - from Redwood trees in California to landmarks in Ireland - she has a way about her that well, you just can't help but love her.

Rosie, Mamma Noons, Jack-of-all-trades - I've called her it all - but there is no name or title that can sum up how wonderful she is and how much she has given to each of her children and everyone she meets.

So, as a much delayed Happy Mother's Day message - I would like to dedicate this post to my Mom.

College graduation day

 I thought it would be fun to do a list of the top 10 things that my mamma says.

1. "I call a spade, a spade." - she is always honest and pretty much just tells it like it is.
2. "I'm telling ya." - see point number 1 :)
3. "Just do a quick 1, 2."  - always taught us that if you maintain your home with a frequent cleaning, you save yourself time and effort in the end.
4. "LOL, j/k, call up the email, etc." - she does her best to stay with the times by keeping up with her technology lingo - well, not really!
5. "Johnny law - the PO-lice." - whenever she sees a cop car on the road (though she swears she never said the PO-lice, but I have at least 4 out of 5 kids as my witnesses that she did...)
6. "Jesus, Mary and good St. Joseph" - keeping the faith! :)
7. "Well, that stunk." - after "watching" (aka sleeping through) 95% of a movie, waking up for the last little bit of the movie and disgusted with the ending.
8. "Aw yeah baby" - usually followed by semi-fist pump for when something goes particularly well
9. "This is so easy a baboon could do it" - usually referring to folding laundry, making beds or doing other household chores that the five of us learned how to do.
10. "Keep moving forward." - my Mom has kept our family afloat throughout our most difficult times and without her, we would be lost.

So, if I may, the one thing that I would like to say to you, Mamma - I love you and thank you for being the best Mom anyone could ask for. Happy Belated Mother's Day :)

Here I go again...

Well, life seems to get busier and busier lately.  I reported a month ago that I was sorry for not posting as much for a while - and here I go again - taking a month to post!  Please forgive me :)

From my last post - I wished my grandparents a Happy 60th Anniversary - and here are some photos from the mass celebrated for them and their party:

Grandmom and Grandpop - looking sharp! 

My grandparents and their 6 children

Most of the grandchildren were able to make the mass/party as well - so we snapped a picture too:

We had tons and tons of delicious food at my Aunt Diane's house and enjoyed spending the time together.  Here are a few more pictures from the day!

Toorrrrrrrrria and me

me and Tommy G 

Doll, Toria and me

My grandparents and me

Again, I want to wish my grandparents many, many more years together and thank them for their loving example to our family!

Unfortunately, I was really sick for a few weeks with a cold that I just could not get rid of.  I coughed most of the night - so sleeping seemed to be a novel idea rather than a reality.  But I gradually felt better and better and I finally caught up on the sleep that I so dearly missed! 

Then, the weekend after my grandparents party was Easter.  Since I was home for the anniversary party, my Mom and I talked about it and thought it would be okay if I did not come home the next weekend for Easter and spend the weekend on Long Island with Tom's family.  

Since our families live so far away from each other, seeing each other on holidays is not really an option for us just yet.  So - it was somewhat out of the ordinary but very fun to spend the holiday together on the actual day of the holiday.  We had a really nice time at Tom's aunt's house and it was definitely a fun first holiday together!

Throughout the weeks after that - it seems as though time just flew by with work.  I was signed on as a full time employee after 9 months of working hard as a temporary associate.  I am very excited to officially be a part of my team and look forward to all that is to come!

Oh and Tom and I play on a kickball team for Hoboken - we won our first game last week! :)  It is a nice break from the craziness of work during the week and we look forward to our games!  Hopefully we can add a few more "Ws" to our record in these last weeks of the season!

Other than that - things seem to be same old.  I have some thoughts for some posts for this week - so I will save those for now!

Just wanted to say hello and hope you're still interested in reading - I apologize again for the delay!

Check back soon! :)