June 2006

My Cousin Joey

Joey graduated from HS this month and his graduation party was on the 17th. It was a nice party and it gave me time to sit and think about how little Joey used to be and how time really does seem to fly. He's an intelligent, handsome, friendly young fellow and I'm sure he'll love college as it will love him. I'm looking forward to seeing him over the holidays to get the scoop on dorm life and hear about his classes. Wish him luck everybody!

May 2006

Mama!!!

I got to see Mama a lot this month because of Mother's Day and it was her birthday on the 19th! It was great to see her at both dinners and I took a lot of pictures that I have yet to post. She's 99 this year and is the sweetest great-grandmother I've ever had! Her cookies, pies, and pastas are absolutely delicious, I can't wait till Thanksgiving this year, every time I think about it I drool. I love you Mama, see you next time I come up to Erie!

April 2006

Andy

Andy is the Man of the Month! Not really for any reason in particular unless its because he's particularly our neighbor, Kris's former fellow bandmate, current fellow party-mate, and just an all around lucky terd. He's married to Jen, a real honest to God sweetheart and you may have seen their wedding pictures on this site somewhere in there. Andy's potential heroes are Van Halen, Jack Black and George Carlin and he's a remarkable combination of all three. Welcome to the MOTM, Andy, glad to have you on.

March 2006

Aaron

Aaron Gall is the Man of the Month for March. He has been in Poland with Tristan and Dave, earning credits for college but we've been keeping pretty close correspondence through letters and emails. Lately he's been in Kiev, Ukraine celebrating Pascha. He says, "It is nice to celebrate here in an Orthodox country but I miss our little church in Crossingville. The midnight service was very beautiful with many nuns who sang angelically." I miss the three of them and am anxious to see them get back, look at all their pictures, and hear their stories. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time guys. My prayers are with you for a safe return and God bless.

February 2006

B-rad

Brad, Brad, Brad. What a laid back fellow. This is one of Kris's friends from highschool that we bumped into one night at a zydeco show. Turns out he moved back to Edinboro recently and we've been taking full advantage. He hangs out here at his 'second home' and even became semi-instrumental as the worst man on the horse-shoe throwing team this year at the tournament. He also has a knack for making touchy situations fun by saying "I dont know about you guys, but I thought that was hilarious"... His dog is Mack, a look-alike from Little Rascals but probably even better well-behaved.

January 2006

Chad!

Look at this great picture of Chad I found online! Wow, do a search for Chad Villella and see all the stuff he did in Pittsburgh, plays, skits, etc. It's only fitting that Chad is the Marble Faun for January because for one thing, I got to hang out with him at the beginning of the month (theres a vid) and for another, its January - the start of a new year. And Chad is giving up the East coast a new start on the West. We hope he does well with his acting career and who knows, maybe he'll be the next Punky Brewster! Ah, Chad. I expect to hear all about your going away parties and remember the cubby hole. I'll send you pictures from time to time, Bella has been saving up a few for ya.

December 2005

Aunt Kim

Uncle Tommy and Aunt Kim had a Christmas Eve party this year and it was a great party. They are wonderful hosts, welcoming, friendly, and entertaining. In fact, except for being Steelers fans, they are next to perfect. And Kris and I found out recently that Kim's a converted Steelers fan! She used to be a Brown's fan. Boo! Hiss! Oh well, we still love her. She's bubbly and warm and a wonderful Polish addition to an Italian family. I asked them to DJ our wedding and I cant tell you how much I'm looking forward to enjoying that. God bless you Kim and Tom.

November 2005

Granma KC

Kris's mom, KC, is the marble faun for November. Bella and I have been visiting her a lot this month. We eat apples from the apple tree, look for raspberries and blackberries, and go on hayrides with Granpa. There's a video of one of the hayrides on the video page. Granma even gave me a bunch of apples to make my first homemade home-picked apple pie! Thank you Granma, we love you! The picture is from a millbees game over the summer. It was a hard fought championship game that Kris pitched (although he wasnt feeling all that well) and that the team won in the seventh inning. Pretty exciting and a very good day.

October 2005

Gar Bear

This picture is different than most of the other MOTM picture, it has two instead of one! Gary is the real Marble Faun for October but since I never see one without the other, Gary and Yaya are both in the pic. They are inseparable and thank God my mom finally found the man of her dreams. It sure took long enough but believe me, Gary was worth every millisecond of the wait. They met in October, got engaged quickly and got married even more quicklier. They go to Hermitage sometimes on Wednesdays for business and that's where I get to see them most. We swim with Bella and laugh at Gary very much all the time. In short, he's 'so stinkin cute' and adds to our repetoire of malappropisms daily. Giup Minh.

September 2005

Robby Dan

I either met Rob in highschool or on a bridge. We went to the same highschool but I saw him on the bridge by my dads and thought Who's that kid on the bridge? And then he helped me make buttons. We watched the river. Somewhere in there we went to the Prom. We established the Barrax. We've tackled The Ninja. Once in a while walk in the rain. Keeping a pact for when we're thirty. The kid means more to me than air. Actually I think he's saved my sanity more than a few times. He never fails to amaze me. SWEET I KNEW I COULD DO IT. You better know.

August 2005

Chris the Dob

I don't know if bribery works for the Marble Faun but if it didn't, would Chris still be this month's marb? Probably so. He solicited me on Messenger and it was the first I've heard from him since our dreaded Calculus days at IUP. He had a motorcycle and that might have been the only reason I was ever seen in public with him. Oh come on, I'm just kidding. Geez oh man, Calc. Looks like you got a nice buck there bub. I like that picture better than the other one, shows your eyes nicely. Ol' smiley eyes. I have to say, it's good to have ya back in rotation.

July 2005

Cinderella

I haven't seen this gal in a little while but when I look over my pictures for July, I know she is the Marble Faun. Her smile alone would make a beautiful sculpture, of course a sculpture of just a smile would be a little weird. I wish I had videotaped her singing Brown Eyed Girl, I love her harmonies in that song. You're the worlds biggest sweetheart Cindy. Hope youre still doing those guitar lessons. Next time I'm on my way through town I'm gonna stop in. Love you babe.

June 2005

Tristan Gall

Tristan Gall, the drummer in GN and an absolute phenom. A prodigy. We've been friends for years but recently have had time to hang out more often. He's such a treat to be around whether we're discussing books, going to the beach, or I'm hearing about his darling in Poland. It sounds like she really makes him happy and I hope the two of them can be together soon. Tristan, you are truly inspirational and you will make an excellent priest.

May 2005

Mike and Sara

Haven't seen these two since college and now they're getting married! Wait, wasn't Mike allergic to Sara during our junior year at IUP? Back when Eric was a funny little man and Puddin was a dustmop and I had to read the directions on a package of koolaid. There were Aunt Sara Sandwiches galore, visits from Caroline & Theo, and trips to Yellow Creek. In fact, I wish I could pay someone to videotape their everyday lives, it would KA-rack me up to no end. Reeeeally looking forward to August 13th folks.

April 2005

Carrie Berry Vite

Guess who is moving back home! Thats right, Carrie Vite! Now she'll get to see Bella and be in my wedding. Er, I mean... We're just happy to have her home folks. Geezus, life is just too damn short, ya know? Gonna have some grand old times. I think she'll really like that I used her 11th grade yearbook picture. Haha! Tough! I'm eating spaghetti! And thats what you get for never sending me pictures! I love you Carrie Berry. Get home safe. Have fun camping. See you soon. I'll have a Stream Soaker 4000 ready and waiting.

March 2005

Lolo

It was staring me in the face all the while! My Aunt Lori (or Lolo to some) is the marble faun this month. She keeps me in hysterics when I'm with her and she's given me lots of useful advice about Bella. Now that she's made it to my Marble Fauns maybe she'll let me come over and soak in her hot tub!! Just kidding, I know the invite is always open. See? What a Great Aunt Lolo. And I dont think I've ever had quite that much fun picking up anyone from work before. Ain't she a doll? Stay on her good side though! And be sure to check out her Beach Glass Jewelry site.

February 2005

Nate

This one took a long time. A lot of people stepped up to the plate this month and I know Jen, Christian and Rachael were all wondering who it was gonna be. Kris came in at a close second but ultimately, this month was the most memorable because my brother Nate has been home from Korea. He has a 30 day vaca and we've been doing some traveling, playing a lot of dominoes and just catching up. 'Did you drop the map?... Oh I guess I forgot to hold on to it while we were falling 100 feet over a waterfall!... So you dropped it?'

January 2005

Jen

Jen is my first marble faun of the year! She lives down the street and is my best friend. Okay, mostly because she does the 'get outta my way!' and 'Would you like some koolaid? NO!' impressions. And also mostly because I can count on her to change Bella's diaper exactly like I do. She's such a little sweetie. If I had more energy to invest, I'd clean her house everyday and build her an Old Navy on our street.

December 2004

Christian

Christian and Rachael are in Arizona and every once in a while it's really hard to not think about how much we miss them. Will they ever come back? Is there really a guy named Wormtongue in the LOTR? Will GN ever get back together? We should all hope so because man that last album is phenomenal. Oh yea, its in the mail Christian. We miss you guys.

November 2004

Mum!

'No elegant words just constant thought of you, of us, of our family'. My mom is the woman of the month. She gave me the card above and wrote lots of nice stuff in it. Even though the two hour drive to Punxsy is a pain, seeing her always makes me happy. And going there is like a field trip, I always learn something new about just the thing I may or may not have known I was wondering about.

October 2004

Granny

Granny's birthday was on the seventh and everyone was in Erie to celebrate. Well, lots of people anyway. She's such a sweetie. I got her a glass candy plate because she needs plates to put all her goodies on. I love going to see her and munching on cookies and meatballs. I'm sure it will get lots of use.

September 2004

Buddy

Buddy moved in this month. Kris and I lived with him on Decker Drive last year and when Timmy moved out, Buddy moved in. He likes Jack Daniels, Clutch and playing poker. What is this, a personals ad? No, but Buddy is fun and the fall will be really fun with him around. (We both like to make fun of Kris, hehehehe). And he's GREAT with the Bean.

August 2004

Timmy!

Tim moved out this month, he's gonna make a go of it out in California with Mike Shannon. (Mike is the arrogant one and Tim is the smart one). =) Living with Tim was fun except that he drove Oshy away. Nah, not really. But I'll miss smelling his Ramen noodles cooking just the same.

July 2004

Bella

The little girl with a million faces, Kayleigh Bella. I find that I really don't want her to change a bit but then again, I love waking up every day and seeing her do something new. She smiles a lot in the morning or when Buddy sings the Mexican American song to her while I'm making dinner. Hehe, Cheech.

June 2004

Kris

OF COURSE Kris is the man of the month this month, don't you see Bella's picture on my homepage? Technically we've been parents for 253 days but the last 10 have been the best. Our little frogger gets more and more alert everyday and its almost scary because I'm having the time of my life and I know that before I know it, I'll be looking back and wondering where the time went. But for now, its wonderful. And so is Kris.

May 2004

Rog

My dad is the man of the month because he's spent more time at my house this month than anyone ever has. He's living proof that a man can patiently tolerate frustrating mishaps at work and be a help to his daughter by helping with laundry, cooking dinner, setting up deck furniture and just plain hanging out. I'm glad he's around. But for his own sanity, I hope things get straightened out at work, too.

April 2004

Meesha!

Michelle is one of a kind. I recently found out she got married!! Apparently she found the man of her dreams and since they are both ridiculously spontaneous, well, they decided why put off the inevitable? She was one of the first to welcome me as a latecomer to IUP and to the Gordon Dorm and ever since then she's been a great friend. Kooky, but great. I cant wait to go down to Florida and visit her soon.

March 2004

Timothy

What can I say that he couldnt say a million times better? I met Tim in Statistics class at IUP and he became the reason I went to class. First of all, he's not hard to look at. He also writes marvelous poems. He's a good friend and can almost win our pen gripper flingy flick game thing.

February 2004

Nathaniel

He's been everywhere but this year my brother the Staff Sergeant will be in Korea. Man, he's been in the Air Force for about 6 years now and still just loves where he is in radio communications. Here's a little from him:
"we went to seoul saturday. ever heard of it? it's like one of the biggest cities in the world. huge. we went to the hard rock cafe there. then we went to a place called yong-san. they've got the biggest electronics market i've ever seen. i bought a new camcorder. dvd camcorder with a memory card for snapshots. pretty sweet. got some good footage to show you of me and ryan on some of our more drunken nights. gud stuff lemme tell ya~!!!"

January 2004

Bradley

After 5 years of college, my best friend moved to Washington D.C. in January. Brad got a job with E4store.com, Inc., and started on February 9th. The company provides 'low cost software, licensing and computer solutions'. But mainly Brad brags about the sushi bars around the corner and thai restaurants across the street. I guess his apartment is pretty rad and it'll be fun to go visit him and his new kitty.