2012: Our Year in Review

2012 was good to us! Here's a look back..

This was our second year living in Baltimore, and we just keep loving it more and more..

view from a water taxi

we enjoyed Derek's company seats at Orioles games!

Kaiah turned 3!

baby girl and her cupcake

We got engaged!! I turned the corner in our apartment one evening.. absolutely unsuspecting.. and there Derek was.. on one knee! It was such a perfect, intimate, and special moment between us that I will cherish forever. 

I can't wait to become Mrs. Ziese!

THE ring!!! An endless circle of diamonds

We celebrated our engagement in Jamaica a few weeks later!! 
We spent four days on the famous 7-mile beach in Negril..

..and four days on Negril's cliffs! 

Our villa on the cliffs was built atop a huge cave, and we spent our days in complete privacy, jumping into the water 30 feet below.

We moved into a beautiful new apartment. We are looking forward to having more visitors in 2013!

our view of the sunset from our terrace!

This is my favorite picture of 2012..

I adore them <3

October 8th, 2012 marked 8 years together.

Derek turned 24!

We enjoyed fancy parties and celebrated all the successes that 2012 brought us.

Derek surprised me with a trip to New York City the day before Christmas Eve!

I can't wait to see what this year brings! 

Happy 2013!!!

eight years..

Eight years ago, on the most perfect fall evening, Derek took me to the movies and asked me to be his girlfriend. 

It seems like just yesterday that I was picking out the perfect outfit and spending hours in front of the mirror getting ready for that night. I was full of butterflies, but I felt like I had already known Derek for my whole life. 

If you had asked me then if I thought that one day I would walk into our living room and see Derek on one knee, asking me to be his wife, I probably would have just giggled.

Well here we are, eight years later, and a few months ago I turned the corner in our apartment, truly, completely, absolutely unsuspecting, and there he was..on one knee! He was smiling from ear to ear, with the most incredibly beautiful ring in his hand, and I’m sure he said some very sweet words but I don’t think I was listening to them very well. All I remember were the four words that I had dreamed of hearing for so long... “Will you marry me?"

Eight years later and I love him more than I ever thought possible. 

Eight years later I still wake up and pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming and that this is real.

homecoming -- October 2005

Christmas 2006

Cologne, Germany -- Summer 2008

Summer 2009

Negril, Jamaica -- August 2012

I am so happy that I met Derek when I did, and I am grateful for all the years of memories that I got to make with my best friend.

This year, we got engaged! We celebrated our engagement in Jamaica. We moved into a beautiful and spacious new apartment and Derek was admitted to graduate school.

Our eighth year together was pretty amazing and I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

a peek inside our new home

These pictures were taken when we were just barely moved in, so please excuse the lack of decoration!

living room ...which is actually even bigger than it appears in this picture!

kitchen

terrace off of master bedroom

view from terrace

We absolutely love it already!

We ended moving day watching the beautiful sunset!

moving day

We have so many amazing memories in this little apartment.

A year ago, we got a big opportunity in an unfamiliar city and we took it. We took a little leap of faith, trusting that everything happens for a reason.

We came to Towson for Derek's interview on a Tuesday, he got the job offer on Wednesday, and we came back to Towson on Thursday so that he could attend meetings and so that we could house hunt. We stopped by the building that we now live in and were told that no apartments were immediately available. The next day, Friday, we got a call from our building to tell us that they had worked it out and a 1 bedroom was now available. We drove to Towson on Saturday, signed our lease, picked up our keys, and went straight to our rooftop pool! On Sunday, my wonderful parents brought Kaiah and some more boxes. Monday was the Fourth of July, and Derek started work on Tuesday. Whew! Did you follow that? It was a whirlwind of a week.

But we couldn't be happier with how things have turned out.

We feel at home in Towson and we really love this charming city of Baltimore.

I found a job that I absolutely love, and that constantly challenges me.

Derek and I grew closer while we shared 600 square feet and 1 closet with an 80 pound bear dog. We learned that more is not always better, and that we didn't really need so much 'stuff''.
I would not trade that experience for anything.

This was the apartment where we had our first real Christmas Tree.

This was the apartment where Derek proposed.

We grew a whole lot in this apartment, and it is bittersweet to let it go.

But as much as we’re going to miss this place, we are so beyond excited for our new place and what’s to come. More room. An office space for Derek to study without distractions. Four timesas much closet space. A balcony where we can watch the sunset in the evenings, where I can plant a little garden, and where Kaiah can spend her days watching the world go by 15 stories below. A guest room for our favorite people to come and visit.


The best is yet to come..

Exciting news!

"If you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

Something huge happened!

DEREK WAS ADMITTED TO GRADUATE SCHOOL!!!

He will be getting his Masters degree in Structural Engineering while still working full time, and we are shooting for a Spring 2014 graduation!

We have been anxiously awaiting this notification for weeks. It has been torture, but the good news finally came. I still can hardly believe that my fiancé is officially a grad student!

I am SO proud of him and we are both thrilled about this new adventure!!!

Kaiah's 3rd Birthday!!

Kaiah has been such a blessing in our life, ever since the day she chose us to be her family at a run down kill-shelter in West Virginia.

That day, after spending a few minutes with Kaiah and the rest of her litter, we left the shelter to get some lunch and think about whether we would take one home. We talked about the one puppy that was sticking out in our memory.. the chubby one.

That chubby one was our Kaiah.

After lunch, we walked back up to the kennel that the puppies were in and saw all of the puppies piled on top of each other, sleeping in their little dog house.

All of them except for one.

Kaiah saw us and ran up to the gate, the exact same way that she now runs up to us every day when we come home from work. At that moment, we knew that she was meant for us and we were meant for her.

I can't even believe it! Our girl is now 3!!

Since Kaiah is a shelter puppy, we don't know when her actual birthday is (we've tried really hard to get her to tell us) so we usually celebrate it for the entire month of May.

Kaiah's favorite thing in the world is having her whole family together, and on Mother's day weekend that is what she got. Derek and I got together with both of our parents and brothers to celebrate our engagement, and Kaiah was a very happy girl. She didn't even mind sharing the attention with us. She got plenty of love and treats, and even her own birthday cupcake!

Three years ago, we named Kaiah for that pretty face of hers. Her name stems from the Native American word which means, "Rare Beauty". We know now that we chose the perfect name for our little bear, because she is not only beautiful inside and out, but she makes our lives more beautiful each and every day.

Congrats, Jan!

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. 
If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

I have had this post in draft for far too long, never feeling like I could find the perfect words to describe such a momentous occasion.


This fall, Derek's wonderful mother, who is every bit a second mother to be, accomplished something truly remarkable. After years of hard work, she walked across the stage at Constitution Hall on October 1st and obtained her undergraduate degree! With grace, she had juggled her family, working full time, and a heavy course load. She showed me what it means to be determined, to have resolve, and to be brave.


So here's to Jan, to never giving up, and to running however many miles it takes to chase your dreams.


(click the play button below to see her walk across the stage!)

2011: Our Year in Review

2011 was full of incredible experiences and blessings. It was the year that we truly began building our nest!


In May, we became Virginia Tech alumni! We also moved out of our apartment that month.

In June, we celebrated both of our graduations with family and friends! Our parents planned a beautiful party. We had a margarita machine, a taco bar, and best of all, our picture on the delicious cake!

In July, Derek decided between 3 job offers. He accepted a great offer at a company in Maryland as a Structural/Architectural Engineer, and we moved to Towson! With just four days until his start date, we were incredibly lucky to find a beautiful, pet-friendly apartment just 2 miles from Derek's office. We moved in just in time to watch the 4th of July fireworks from our windows! And by "moved in", I mean we brought a suitcase and slept on a sleeping bag because we had not had time to move anything more! It was actually a lot of fun and one of my favorite memories of the year.

We spent the rest of the summer getting settled and exploring our new city. We discovered a reservoir nearby, where we go running and take Kaiah to swim! She has now been accepted to the dog park where she can swim AND play!

In September, I joined Derek on his business trip to Boston! We went shopping and drank Sam Adams in Back Bay, and we stopped at the famous Mike's Pastry for cannoli and toured the Old North Church in the North End (Little Italy).

In addition to the city of Boston, we spent time in Newport, Rhode Island! Newport was my favorite part of the trip. We walked along the cliffs in the evening, taking in the view and gawking at mansions. 

 Did I mention that we bought our first house?!?! Just kidding ;)

In October, Derek and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary! We did a lot of reflecting that day. 7 years ago we were just trying to make it home by curfew and not get in trouble for flirting in Mrs. Modugno's physics class. Look how far we have come! I have watched him grow into a wonderful, loving, hardworking man, and I am so thankful that I have him by my side every single day.


We also watched Derek's mom walk across the stage at Constitution Hall in DC to collect her degree that month! Congrats, Jan!

November and December were a whirlwind. We officially put ourselves on the waiting list for a bigger apartment in our building! It will be twice the size of the one we are in now with a guest room and a dining room! The weekend after Thanksgiving, we drove to a Christmas tree farm on the eastern shore to cut down our first real tree. Kaiah got to come with us and she enjoyed sniffing out each tree, one by one.

The next weekend, we spent the day in Baltimore and watched the holiday parade of boats and a light show!

The highlight of December was that I accepted a job offer! I will be working as a Data Architect/Ontology Engineer for a semantic technology consulting company in Hunt Valley, about a 10 minute commute! It is absolutely my dream job.


We ended the year spending a relaxing few days with our families for Christmas.

I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store! Happy New Year!!