The Beginning

*Warning - Videography skills are slightly amateur and some videos may induce

motion sickness.

If you begin to feel ill while watching any of the below videos, look away from your computer and the feeling

should pass. Do not drive if you feel dizzy or lightheaded.*

Yes, we do need a video blog.... We've been in Staten Island, NY for 2 months now. We have been meaning to start this blog/vlog to share our experiences, but are only just now getting around to it. We'll try to post the fun from the past 2 months.. We've had a lot! :)

Timeline:

June 19, 2009 - We got married!!!

June 20, 2009 - We said goodbye to Dallas and left for our honeymoon in California, flying into San Fransisco and driving up windy highway 1 to the Redwood Forest. It took us about 11 hours to drive to Trinidad, CA, where we spent most of our time. We did stop a lot for a leisurely lunch and frequent photo ops, but driving 20 mph around curve after curve doesn't get you anywhere fast. The ocean views and trees were a spectacular sight, which made it all worthwhile. Plus, we had good tunes since we stopped at BestBuy to get an auxiliary cable for the iPod. :) Here are some Honeymoon Highlights:

June 26, 2009 - Arrive at our apartment that we've never before seen in Staten Island, where we hung out for a few hours until Michael's dad and brother arrive with our stuff after having driven for 2 days straight with one rest break to sleep on the side of the road for about 3 hours. Here is us arriving at the new apartment:

About 30 seconds after I turned the camera off, and Michael tried the lock ~5 more times, our downstairs neighbor opened her front door in her robe. We had been trying to enter HER apartment repeatedly. We live in apartment 2, which had been described to us as the 2nd floor apartment. It's actually on the 3rd floor! We walked up the other flight of stairs and the lock code worked just fine! This video is dedicated to Katy Rehm.

A little tour of the place:

While waiting for Michael's dad and brother, we walked down to the corner store about 1/4 of a mile from our apartment to get some drinks and snacks. We walk in, and there are about 4 gangster looking people doing their morning shopping at 11 am on Friday. I was a little scared, but trying to convince myself that it was all okay, when the 'boss-looking-one' says, "I'm about to kill some mother f***ers up in here." Michael was an aisle away silently wishing I hadn't heard. That was when we realized that we did not live in the best of neighborhoods. Mark and Jason arrived shortly thereafter, unloaded, stayed the night and left at about 6 am Saturday. (While they were unloading, I was opening the gifts from the wedding! :) )

Then on Saturday afternoon, Mickey arrives with Dora and Cinderella, the car, after having driven for like 7 days. She took the Canadian route to get to Staten Island. She and her friend, Beth were a little delirious, but still having fun. We rode the ferry into the city and ate at a little restaurant. They stayed the night and left for the airport the next morning at a much more reasonable hour. Here is Mickey and Dora's arrival. *Squeal warning*

Then we unpacked!