Fun
More than anything else, John and I enjoy spending our time together as a family.  We like to travel and take frequent vacations throughout the year.  We’ve already taken our son on two family vacations and we can’t wait until he is big enough to take to Disney.  We love to spend our time outdoors – whether it’s on the beach, taking a hike or tending to our garden.  John loves to play sports and can usually be found on Friday nights playing softball with his friends.  I love to cook in my free time and am always trying out new recipes. I am the resident baker at work – just drop a hint of an upcoming birthday and usually I make a cake.  Folks love my Hershey’s double chocolate cake. I also love to read and spend quiet Saturdays out in our backyard listening to music and reading a good book.  Since Christopher was born, I don’t have much time for reading anymore but try to read during my commute.  Mysteries are my favorite and I typically devour anything by James Patterson or Nelson DeMille.  It’s great to see if you can figure out whodunit before the end of the book!  My tastes these days seem to center around the stories I am reading Christopher before bedtime – so in all likelihood the last book I have read would have been Dr. Seuss.  John and I share a love of music and our radio is on all the time.  My musical tastes are really varied – I like anything from folk music (like Arlo Guthrie) to Classical (Vivaldi in particular) to the classic rock of the Stones – but if I had to choose one favorite, it would have to be Billy Joel.   John likes predominantly classic rock so most days that is the station we listen to, but he also has an affinity for the oldies. Christopher – well he seems to like just a good beat. 

Work

We have both been very lucky in our careers.  I have been fortunate enough to work for a large financial firm for the last 12 years, and I have worked my way up the ranks to a Vice President position.  John started his own business 3 years ago and has been very successful.  The beauty of both of our jobs is the flexibility it affords us.  John works out of the home office we’ve built and I too work from home 1 to 2 days a week.

Our Home
John and I have created a warm and beautiful home together.  Shortly after our marriage, we purchased our first home in the suburbs of New York City.  We have spent endless weekends making our home a place that we could be proud of and where friends and family would enjoy visiting.  Our home is fully renovated and is complete with 4 bedrooms, one of which is ready to be set up as a 2nd nursery, and 2 full bathrooms.  Our son’s room is bright and fun and decorated perfectly for a little boy.  It has wonderful blue wallpaper with moons and stars.  His room is already filled with tons of books and toys as well as a closet full of clothing.

Our Pets
John and I have a 2 year old Labradoodle dog named Holly and cats named Felix, Freckles and Oscar. Holly loves children; she is incredibly gentle and affectionate.   She has been incredibly gentle with our son, from the first day we brought him home and loves to shower him with kisses.  Likewise, he laughs and coos whenever she gives him one of her big kisses.  Holly has her own “best friends” – our neighbor’s two dogs and their sons.  On weekends we bring Holly over to play ball with the kids and their dogs.   All of our cats were rescue situations.  I adopted Oscar 4 years ago from a local shelter as a kitten.  He is a true lap cat and loves to snuggle with you when you are on the couch.  Freckles adopted us 2 years ago.  He was a local stray who decided he no longer liked the outdoor life.  When winter came we couldn’t bear to see him outside in the cold and decided to add him to our family.  Freckles is also very friendly and loves to chase after Oscar.   Lastly, we have Felix; we have had him for 7 years when he was rescued from being a stray in Manhattan.  Felix is more of a loner and pretty much keeps away from the action in the house, but likes to be cuddled and petted on his terms.   All the animals have been wonderful with our son.  Oscar, in fact, spends most of his time in his room.