Photos Galore

Thanksgiving Catch-up

2012-01-07T14:46:00.008-05:00

We met my family in Kansas to spend Thanksgiving with my Grandma Dot and Aunt Gina.

They took us to an "authentic" Kansas City BBQ joint and wow it was good. Snead's really knows how to cook their ribs!!!
Adventures were had by all and we got to relax and catch up. Playing football and in the leaves were first on my nephew's agenda and we got some fun shots.

Kyle having fun

Love these faces of concentration. Way to keep your eye on the ball guys!!

We also had a family photo shoot galore!
And we had lots of fun with Carrie's family... I can't decide which one is my favorite because they are all so fun!

Then we had dinner and it was OH so good. I was full for hours!

This is only half of the group. Hope we can do it again sometime sooner rather than later!

Audrey and Brian

2011-09-29T21:03:00.005-04:00

Audrey is a friend from when I worked at Graham Staffing and she married her sweetheart Brian at the Stonewall Golf Club in Manassas, VA. I would say that there couldn't have been a better day after a week of rain that we got. Congrats!!

Lindsay and Sterling

2011-08-07T23:28:00.004-04:00

Hello all, here are some more photos from Lindsay and Sterling's wedding in May. I have more on my facebook page "Sydney Kearns Photography". They were so fun to work with and we had TONS of great photos.

Stay tuned for more to come...

This should NOT be possible

2011-07-22T17:39:00.003-04:00

Do you see that 102 right around where Baltimore is? That's me, at 5:45PM!!! (I don't know why this text is underlined)

See this close up view? I live about 10 minutes from BWI airport and as you can see, the heat index there today was 118!!!!! Ugh, it is just terrible.

I never thought that I would be excited for 90 degree weather.

Table Before and Table After

2011-07-13T23:45:00.003-04:00

Our new table has finally arrived! It's new and shiny and silky smooth. I don't want to eat on it! Well, it also doesn't help that we have our metal folding chairs which when you sit in them at the table it seems like you are at a restaurant with a high table... or that you are a kid and are short. So, when ever we can get the chairs to go with it, it will feel normal. But isn't it so pretty!!!?

Love it!

Here is our before table...

And here is our new table. It's also nice and wide so that it can fit a place mat on each side and also have plenty of room for dishes in the middle.

Birds!!

2011-05-06T17:10:00.003-04:00

So there is a bird's nest on top of our front door. I don't know why it chose that spot since we come in and out all the time! We think it is an oriel. When ever we come home and she is sitting, she stays as long as she dares and then swoops away. Sometimes at the last minute (in the dark) and it scares me quite often. Well, there are bright blue eggs in it.

See!?

Well, now we have a new surprise! I saw her standing there staring at me through the window of our foyer (on top of our doorway) and she had a worm in her mouth so I had to check it out...

and this is what I saw!!!

Three of them are hatched and one is left unhatched. You can barely see the blue egg that the other ones are sleeping on.

Just had to share this with you! Happy Mother's day to all you awesome mothers out there!!!

Table!

2011-04-20T16:19:00.004-04:00

So most of you may not care, but Mike and I are getting a new table. It's pretty and it's amish... and it will take 10 weeks to get to our house. My favorite thing about it is that it will last our entire lives. Nothing fake or pressed or glued. Just solid wood.

Here is is:

I'm going to order the chairs a little later (I may need a few suggestions on some good sturdy ones because I don't know if I love any of the ones they have available.)

So that is what is new with us.

P.S. Have I mentioned that my nephews are adorable??? They are. Check out my sister's blog and you'll see.

We're alive! I promise :)

2011-04-10T18:41:00.007-04:00

So did you think I disappeared? Sorry! It's crazy how time flies and you can find a million other things to do besides blogging.

We have been busy with home projects and me with photography. It's starting to pick up so that's exciting!! I'll show some recent examples later, but now for your viewing pleasure I decided to upload the pictures from my phone to give you a taste of what random things I take pictures of.

This is a neat little craft that I made my friend at church. Thanks sister Daybell! I may get some stuff for me now! I think it turned out very well, unlike the picture shows. I sanded the edges so it looked professional!

This is the view from my desk at Lifetouch. The pile of boxes is a bunch of school supplies that our territory "Won" to give to a deserving school.

This is a gravy boat that I found at a flea market that is very similar to my sisters pattern. I was pretty proud of myself for finding it, especially given that it was in a lady's shop that looked like a hoarders paradise... Yikes!!

This is my nephew Alex with their dog Ben.

This was my set-up when I went to take pictures of all the little munchkins.

NOW! For the before and after of our recently re-done bathroom vanity.

Here it is before. Please notice the tiny vanity, floor and walls.

Drum roll please!!! :)

So this is taken with my phone, but you can see that we've replaced the floor, painted the bottom half of the wall and best of all, got a very nice double sink vanity! We still need to put the handles on the drawers but it's in!!

Also, yesterday we working on our front steps and I got to help at the end. Maybe I'll post pictures of that in a few days.

So, this is what we've been up to. If you want to see pics of my photography lately go to facebook... Mike is cooking dinner and it smells so good that I can't concentrate anymore. hahaha!

Better late than never!

2011-01-25T21:12:00.004-05:00

So back in December, Mike and I went out to Manassas and he used the gift certificate that I got him to go drive a race car. It was a Loooooong time in the planning but we finally made it. Mike had fun and I had fun watching him. It was a fairly small track so speeds stayed at a loud roar.

Here are some pics to enjoy!

This is Mike before he put on his helmet.

After he was done, he got to be the passenger in a car while a liscenced NASCAR driver drove him around the track a way faster speeds.

Proof that I was there. :)

Christmas in CA

2011-01-01T19:20:00.008-05:00

We got to spend Christmas with my sisters family in CA. My parents were already out there so it was all of us and it was so much fun.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking...

Here's cutie Cade. He is the most chill baby I've ever met.

Seriously

Sean with one of the toy guns that the boys got for Christmas on the hill behind their house.

Sean on the rope swing

Ryan on the swing... with a little perspective on the view

Close up of Ryan

Kyle

Kyle catching up with Gma and Ry at the top of the hill
Their friend got a cool mini dune buggy and graciously let the boys ride it for a little.
Gma and Gpa

Me and the hubby... minus make-up and with interesting hair on my part :)

Sister's family

Cade again, he's SO CUTE!

The boys overlooking their elementary school

Cade got lots of lovin while we were there, I'm sure he's been spoiled beyond repair

He also got a new walker thing which he liked very well.

Can you get enough of this face? I think not!

We also got to visit my grandma who lives near SF.

Cute Kyle... he's a firecracker!

We ALSO got to meet up with some friends of mine from my mission... the Busby's!

Ahhh, the memories!

And here we all are (with Cade in the car seat...) at the Oakland temple.

Thanks for a great California Christmas!

It's Christmas Time!!!

2010-12-09T15:51:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas! Can you believe that it's already the end of the year? I sure can't!

I wanted to share what our first Christmas tree looks like and the wreath that I made and the manger that I recently acquired from my mom. (If you have been following my blog for a while, you may remember this post. I am happy to report that I finally have my ornaments "legally"!)

Here is our first tree.

By far, my favorite ornament representing my childhood. I've had this as long as I can remember.

I made this one on my mission at a "Super Saturday"

Another new favorite. My mom and I got matching angel ornaments when we went to my friends wedding near Cape Cod, MA.

My mom got us this cute "Our 1st Christmas" ornament. Awwww!

I got us this one on our honeymoon in the Bahamas. I love that is all shells.

I believe this one was on my great-grandma Mary's tree

The wreath that I made. The ones in the store were all a bit over the top so I took some extra trimmings from our tree and a few color coordinating apples and had fun. It's simple and home made so I love it. I have no idea if the tree part will last but if not, I'll redo it.

Here is the whole door.

And last, but certainly not least is the manger that my mom gave us. This is the one we had when we were kids.

(Taken with my new "fish eye" lens that Mike got me for my birthday. SO FUN!)

We have the outside lights all ready to go up... but the bitter cold that is now upon us is severely deterring my desire to put them up... stay tuned if the weather warms slightly.

Merry Christmas to ALL!!

What does your tree look like??

My website is UP!

2010-11-18T16:48:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone,

If you haven't already, check it out :)

www.sydneykearnsphotography.com

It's finally here!!!

New website!!

2010-11-05T16:45:00.002-04:00

I have a little bit more tweeking to do and then my new website will be ready to launch!

Be on the lookout, it will be up in the next few days!!!!! I'll post the website address here when it's ready.

:)

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-30T21:13:00.009-04:00

Or class room trick or treat. Tonight was our branch's Halloween party. I made a LOT of clam chowder for the potluck before hand and some of it went, but we still have enough to bring a very full pot to a small get- together tomorrow night. I don't have time to edit the pictures how I'd like because I have to prepare a lesson for tomorrow so here they are...

Here I am making the clam chowder. It's a good thing that Mike had this enormous pot to steam crabs in. It was a little over half full when it was all put together... and yes, we put that many cans of crabs in it.

One of the tricks to this recipe is that you HAVE to stir it constantly so that it doesn't settle and burn the bottom, so I was whisking this for about 20 minutes until it started to boil, then hefted those two big pots of veggies into it. It was a hit, both with Mike and the branch, so I will be making this again, just not on such a large scale. We did the recipe x5. I think I want to copy our friends the Allen's and make this for each Halloween. It's very fall fitting and is mmm mmm gooood.

Here's Sister Dogbe (pronounced Du-bee) as a pioneer. She is simple hilarious. She teaches primary so before kids could get any candy from her they had to sit and listen to her tell her story of being from Nauvoo and being run out but having faith to over come her trials. She is awesome.

Here are about half of the kids. The others ran off before I could take the picture. They are so cute.

These are Termain's kids. The oldest girl has a singing solo in the primary program tomorrow and she is GOOD! They have all memorized their lines and are great kids.

This is our friends daughter Cameron. She is so cute and giggles so much that this is an amazing shot to have gotten because she can't keep a straight face for the camera.

Here's Mike and I at our door. We didn't do much except stretch some spider web in the room a bit.

These are my Young Women and a few of their friends.

They are such great girls and are so much fun.

We are a small branch but we had a great turnout tonight. We should have candy at parties more often! ;)

Catch up!

2010-10-15T09:37:00.003-04:00

Here is what Ive been up to... in no particular order:

I got to go see Adam and Laura get married in the Mt. Timpanogas temple. They are so cute. All of the guys in the wedding party (kids included) wore kilts and it was so much fun!!

Here's me with the happy couple.
Their photographer had a marvelous idea to get a "Paparazzi" shot so they asked all of us with larger cameras to attach their flashes with the infared sensor on it. So i looks like all the cameras are going off at the same time.
This one is my favorite that I got. They got better ones because they were the ones coordinating it, I just got what I could.

Then, Mike and I got to go down and see his two brothers drive in the demolition derby. They both won third place in their respective heats. Here they are before it all started.
#44 was Matt's car.
And #73 was Martin's car.

Here is Matt with his trophy.

So, we've been keeping pretty busy and with my additional calling at church (making that 3 now) and waking up for work at 3 and 4 am, I don't make it on my blog as much. I'm going to try to post a little more often now though because I love to stay caught up as much as I can with you all.

I hope everything is going well!!

2010-09-26T08:32:00.001-04:00

I had fun with Scott and Nancy. It was a gorgeous morning and we got some great shots.

This is my favorite of the temple that I've taken in a long time.

My new nephew!!

2010-09-26T08:28:00.003-04:00

My new nephew is here!! Cade Ellis Motley.
My sister's cute family! Can't wait to see you at Christmas. :)

Cambridge, MD

2010-09-25T17:21:00.005-04:00

We were invited by some friends of ours to spend some time in Cambridge, MD so we took advantage of a day away and went. We got to go over the bay bridge and I forgot how long it is!!
We got to go on an old oyster boat in the bay and learned all about the oysters. We even tried to drudge some up but got a slimy jelly fish...

EW
We also saw a bald eagle get some lunch!

Mike helped with the sail

I can never not take artsy pictures when on a boat

And then we went to the Suicide Bridge restaurant and had some delicious jumbo blue crabs (yes there was a bridge right by the restaurant which was on a small inlet of water and the menu had the history of it which had frequent people plunging to their death somehow. The bridge wasn't even that high.
But the crabs were delicious!!!

NOTE: If you are ever in Easton, MD please go to "The BBQ Joint" You will not be disappointed. Everything on their menu is amazing!

Snorkeling pictures

2010-09-09T10:05:00.005-04:00

This is one of the fun things that we got to do while in the Bahama's! There were tons of fish and the life guard even freaked out that I was wearing my diamond ring. He told me to get away from him because the Barracuda liked sparkly things!!! Needless to say that after that I turned my ring around and tried to swim with my hand tucked in my neck and the other arm flailing about. I am happy to say that we did NOT see the barracuda though.

This one is sideways but can you see the pretty purple thing? I loved it.

Here's Mike.

Unfortunately they didn't have the spray that keeps your mask de-fogged so we had a few issues but it was manageable.

Mike and me

Mike and me on the small island for the water sports activities where we went snorkeling, para sailing, jet skiing, a banana boat ride and lunch. It was SO much fun!

Here is the boat that we came on. It was run by a bunch of Bahamian teenagers who seemed to know what they were doing.

I highly recommend going to the Bahama's to anyone who can make it!!!!

Honeymoon = BAHAMA'S

2010-08-03T10:20:00.016-04:00

Hold on to your hats... this is a long post! (Oh, and don't be fooled. You may have to hit "Older Posts" to see the bridal shots and reception post from yesterday)

Mike kept it a surprise until we were at the reception that we were going to go to the Bahama's for our honeymoon. We left Sunday afternoon and had a lay over in Miami (which is a very small airport and not at all convenient if you're hungry). We stayed at the Hilton and he got us a room with an ocean view.

This is the lobby of our hotel. The ceiling is glass but this was taken at night so you can't see the natural light shine through. It was gorgeous.

Here I am in our room with my new Bahama's beach towel right before we went to the little private beach.

And how can you not try these out when you pass them.

Here's Mike in front of our hotel.

Here we are on the boat to go out to the Blue Lagoon!!

The water was really this blue!! I couldn't get over how clear it was!

Oprah's house.

This is when we are approaching the Blue Lagoon. It is a cove on a very small island which is set aside for being a tourist trap.

We paid for a "beach day" and we were sad to find out that didn't included the fun looking water park...

You can see through the trees the fun blow up things in the water. That was extra, along with most everything else. But we got to relax and have fun in the water for most of the day.

This is on the other side of the island and it had great views!

Then after we were sufficiently crispified, we went on a dinner cruise along the main water way and met some fun people and had a great time.

After dinner, we met this lady, all she did was shake and shimmy and scream. She was doing some sort of authentic Bahamian dance but it was pretty crazy. There were kids there, but I guess they liked the fire part.

She even went around to everyone and gave them a hand at some fire.

This was the sunset on our dinner cruise.

Then there was this guy. His name was "ACTION" and he was crazy. For real. He did fire as well. but he added a few tricks.

See that bar behind him? I thought it was going to be some simple fire limbo thing, but lo and behold, he brought people into it!

I would have been very nervous if I were those two girls.

He made sure to include everyone. The guy in the gray t-shirt on the right was completely drunk and the girl in the yellow was trying her hardest not to punch him. It was sorta entertaining as well. The kid behind "Action" was supposed to be the helper I believe but the other guy didn't know the difference. Ahhhh, fun times.

Mike even got to help.

Then he got the kids involved. Look how folded up he is! So crazy.

Then the next day we went to have fun with a "Water sports" day. Notice our shirts. We were very burned so we didn't want to expose ourselves to more torture so we tried to cover up.

Here we are on the bus. Man they are crazy drivers!

On the boat

A small island on our way out to snorkeling

I'll have the rest of the snorkeling pictures in a later post. I left the cd of pictures in Mike's car.

We also got to spend some time at their small zoo. They had parrots out and there were signs to NOT touch them. They did look like they would eat your fingers if you got too close. hahhaha!

We also got to see a flamingo show and I got to participate.
Basically we just stood in there with them on one leg. See that one behind me? I think it thought I was it's friend due to the color of my shirt. It came up behind me and poked it's beak at my hair.

They were very pretty.

There weren't many animals at the zoo but the ones they did have were behind chain link fences.

Comforting isn't it? I think this leopard wants these kids for dinner. It hissed at them.

It was eying me as well.

We also stumbled upon the Police marching band practicing for their Independence celebration. It was very fun and entertaining.

We got a tour of the town. This is the queen's gardens... I think.

Due to limited time we weren't supposed to go all the way down, but it was gorgeous!

This is one of the rooms in the fort. They were never invaded so they ended up having a LOT of time on their hands so they chiseled these rooms out by HAND! You can even see the chip marks on the ceiling and walls.

And here we are again on the stair case of the lobby.

It's much better in the daylight.

So from the air, our hotel is just over a quarter inch to the left of the big cruise ships. It has the red roof. Miraculously, we didn't see as much crowding from the cruise ships as you'd think. At one time, there were 4 of them!

We would definitely recommend the Bahama's to anyone and everyone who can go. The people are amazingly nice and it's a beautiful place.

Bridal Shots and more Reception

2010-08-02T17:36:00.007-04:00

So after many attempts by my lovely sister and family, I am posting some more of my fav's from the reception and bridal shots. I'm still working on everything and getting the honeymoon pictures ready for debut as well. It may be old news (sorry for the delay) but I L-O-V-E them. :)

My mom read us a peom

Here is Matt (Mike's brother) giving a toast.

Mike's other brother Mason helped with the music.

One of the pretty centerpieces.

And this is the only time that Sean got up to dance... He wasn't feeling well at all!

Here we are having fun and dancing

I think this picture of Ryan trying to do the Cupid Shuffle with us is adorable!

Here's another one of me and my dad dancing

I might have already posted this but now it's B&W

My sister Carrie giving a toast. Look at Mason's face (he's making a face at Kyle who I'm sure was eying all of the wires and stuff that he could get his hands on. It's hilarious!)

It was such a fun day. I will do a better job of posting more pictures, they may be out of order but they will get up!

Mr. and Mrs. Kearns

2010-07-09T13:54:00.004-04:00

It's official!
At long last, I am finally posting... and I get to post our wedding pictures! It was a beautiful day and a ton of fun. Here are some of the highlights of the day.

Everything was perfect and we had a blast. We are enjoying just living life and being together. (If you know of any jobs in Baltimore, give me a shout!)

We went to the Bahamas and got to relaaaaax and have fun. Pictures coming soon!

Invitations...

2010-05-13T14:25:00.002-04:00

Who knew the FONT would be such a big deal?

Proof #4 here we come. I hope it's the last one.

Cake Tasting...

2010-04-29T14:39:00.004-04:00

A delicious activity. I ate at least the equivelant of 3 pieces. Hey, I had to fully taste 3 different flavors.

Sugar overload on my wedding dress diet doesn't help but was worth it. :D

And for your viewing pleasure here is the cake I'm getting, but it will have purple/violet flowers not pink.

June 26th

2010-04-21T15:01:00.004-04:00

... is coming fast! Dresses, dresses, tux's, flowers, invitations, food, cake, decorations, music.

Anything I'm missing?

Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. It seems to be under control so that's a relief.

We had our engagement pictures taken by my amazingly talented friend Tiana so I'll post a few of those when I get the cd.

It's been a whirlwind so far, and I imagine time will only fly faster the closer the BIG day gets.

I tried on wedding dresses a few days ago... crash diet, here I come! :D

Drum Roll Please!!

2010-04-12T00:16:00.003-04:00

There has been a lot going on in our neck of the woods lately, that's for sure! Yes, I still remember I have a blog. Phew! After some "gentle" prodding from my lovely sister, I will update everyone as to what I've been up to lately.

Work is going well and getting busier as the days go by. Mike and I have stayed busy having fun hiking, going mini golf, having BBQ's and the MOST fun of all is that we just got ENGAGED yesterday!!!

Yes it is true my friends! I am getting MARRIED!! I knew it was coming but Mike caught me completely off guard and popped the question yesterday after our friends left from a fun day of BBQing and hanging around Baltimore. He hid the Ring box in the BBQ and asked me to help him clean the grill. I thought nothing of it because we had had a similar conversation earlier in the day. Again, complete surprise. Tears, calls to parents, siblings, and extended family followed and then we settled in to watch a movie.

I have been uncharacteristically not taking many photos lately so you will have to bare with me as I share what I do have. :)

Here we are after the bbq and before going to Baltimore

If you want to see singing teenagers making fudge, go to the "Fudgery" in the Baltimore Harbor. They put on quite a show and give out small samples. YUM!

Mike picked it out himself. The first thing my parents did when they saw me today was to take pictures of my hand. I will get better pictures (hopefully with Mike and I in it) with my camera at some point, I just have other things on my mind :)

I really can't begin to describe how lucky I feel in so many ways. I am blessed.

Snowpacalypse round 2, a month late...

2010-03-13T10:23:00.003-05:00

WARNING: the following pictures do not accurately represent the ground at this very moment... they were taken two days and two additional feet after the previous post back in February.

Staying home from work for a week was nice, but being snowed in and not able to go ANYWHERE, except trekking around the neighborhood in our snow pants and shoveling our driveway, was not.

As you can see from the photos, I had to shovel the mountain of snow by our driveway to make room for the new snow. Grrrr.

I'm ready for spring, and it's starting to feel like it. Hallelujah!

This is our front yard with at least 5 feet of snow piled high.

Our cars were dwarfed by the snow in our back yard. Luckily it's gone now and I hear bird's chirping.

Soon the cherry blossoms will be out and I can post spring pictures. :)

"Snowpacolypse"

2010-02-06T17:00:00.005-05:00

Well. We're snowed in again. I think there's more snow this time, AND it still snowing! My roommate and I are going to watch a movie on my computer so I'm going to put up the pictures from our walk to 7-11 to get milk. We lost power last night from 11pm-8am so it wasn't too bad. I knocked off the snow from our large bushes on the side of our driveway because the ones in our front yard fell onto the sidewalk. Then I made a snow angle and now we're taking it easy again.

Just thinking of shoveling our driveway makes me tired...

What we've been up to...

2010-02-01T01:06:00.003-05:00

I've been able to help Mike fix and paint his entry way in his house. I have a few pictures of the before/during and I'll get some of the finished product soon.

This picture is actually from December and you can see behind us the wall board before the baseboards and primer went up. We drew and painted a piece for their ward's Christmas program.

Here I am standing on the scaffolding sanding the ceiling.

And here is Mike punching nails into the trim so I could put wood putty on them.

The walls are painted and Mike is putting away the ladder and scaffolding and it looks great!!! I'll have him email me some pictures so I can post the after photos.

Kim and Mark Flanigan

2010-01-30T20:20:00.002-05:00

Another new post of Dan and Thais Glenn below....

Dan and Thais Glenn

2010-01-30T19:48:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year... three weeks ago :)

2010-01-19T23:49:00.003-05:00

Happy new year to everyone who reads my blog!! I had an incredible 2009 and am ready for what 2010 will bring. I still work at AIAM as a Government Affairs Assistant and like it there. I moved to Crystal City and live 1 minute from all the fun and hustle and bustle around town but I spend most of my free time up in Lansdowne, MD. Mike and I do a lot of things together. Lately we've worked a lot on preparing to paint his foyer at his house. It's fun. We also like to get out and go hiking when we can and have even strolled along the Baltimore Harbor and National Harbor in freezing temperatures.

This is why I haven't posted anything in a while. I also did a wedding and reception shoot so I'll post those when I have them all edited.

In the mean time, enjoy this. My dad took this when we went over to their house for dinner a while ago.

I went to Kansas for Christmas and got to see my Grandma and Aunt Gina. Like she said, good times were had by all. Even after my canceled flight and snowy drive back to Ft. Scott, we relaxed and had plenty of time to catch up.

If it weren't so late, I'd write more, but I must go to bed, so good night all. I'll post more soon!

I've never seen so much blue and purple!

2010-01-07T11:02:00.001-05:00

Yikes...

Small Problem

2009-12-19T22:04:00.003-05:00

It has now stopped snowing... but I have a small problem.

Where is my car?!?!! (this picture was from a few hours ago which is why there is still snow falling.)

Also, I stayed in my pj's ALL day and now my roommate and I are going to watch Pride and Prejudice. Ahhhh, always a great movie!

I should get snowed in more often! I may post more. :D

Oh Christmas Tree...

2009-12-19T13:36:00.005-05:00

As many of you know, last year I had a campaign to receive possession of my Christmas ornaments even though I'm not married. If you need a refresher, go here. I am happy to report that my mom willingly handed over my prized ornaments after a few months of campaigning. A stuffy head may or may not have played a role in her decision to let go of them, but I was successful either way. :)

This year, Alicia made sure that our tree was gorgeous. It's real and it smells real good! She also got creative and put some of my white house ornaments on the banister. So not only do I have my ornaments on the tree at my apartment, but they are all over the house. Ahhh, memories. :)

This one is one of my favorite. We got this cute little guy in Tennessee on a trip to I think Gaitlinburg.

This is my long-time favorite. I've had this as long as I can remember.

I made this snowman on my mission in Rangley at a Super Saturday event for the Relief Society.

This is from a few years ago when my mom and I went up to MA to attend a friends wedding. We just had to stop by Cape Cod.

And our banister with even more ornaments.

I've even received a few more ornaments from my grandma but I haven't taken pictures yet of those. I will post those later today.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday. If you're snowed-in, going shopping, taking a trip or already home have fun!

Another new post below... my snowed-in pics.

Snowed in...

2009-12-19T13:24:00.004-05:00

We are snowed in... and it's still snowing. I love the snow, but wish this could have happened on a weekday so that maybe I could have had a rare snow day from work. Who knows, maybe life on the east coast will still be paralyzed on Monday!

Last night when the snow started, my roommates and I threw a fun little Christmas party and everyone was supposed to bring appetizers. My friend Miran and her hubby Eric brought REAL Turkish delight. From Turkey! It reminds me of Narnia and is perfect with the winter wonderland we are having here! It was a fun party and lots of people showed up with LOTS of yummy food. We have a lot of left-overs.

Here are some pictures of around the house from last night and this morning.

Erin with the stuffed mushrooms I didn't eat.

Our living room, kitchen and our tree.

My car is at the end of the driveway. Can you find it?! :)

Our back yard and parking lot.

Our stockings under the window which has an even higher snow drift now.

The only thing that would make being snowed in better is if Mike were here. Then we could watch movies all day. Oh, and I was also planning on doing some Christmas shopping today, but that's not gonna happen. It looks like it'll be very last minute shopping for me!

The Sound of Music - Belgium Train Station

2009-12-16T23:27:00.002-05:00

If you want to see something fun and smile and dance in your chair, follow this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k

Quick update

2009-12-13T12:07:00.004-05:00

So since Greece, I haven't crawled into a dark hole and disappeared. I have been BUSY! Mike and I have kept busy and with work, FHE and the temple it seems I barely have time to sit at home let alone accomplish something like posting an entry on my lovely blog. I haven't even started my book yet for my Greece adventures.

Here are some pictures of the past month and a half. Thanksgiving, birthdays, and Carrie's family in town for a fun visit. So much fun! Oh, and I think some pictures are on my mom's camera so those will have to wait.

Mike and I went hiking up near his house. It was very pretty. We didn't find what we were looking for "Lost Lake" (I think), it did a great job of being lost!

We found a very large tree that was hallowed out so we took a few pictures of course.

Here we are at the Reston Holiday Parade trying not to freeze.

I will try to get more pictures up here. I just upgraded my storage space so I have PLENTY of room pretty much forever now. Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. I know I did!!

Patmos, Greece

2009-11-18T20:27:00.004-05:00

Well, I'd say it's time for an update on this here blog. On my last post I noticed that I am precariously close to running out of storage space, so I've been having a dilemma on what to do. If what my sister says is true, I'm just going to pay a few bucks and get a few gigabytes of additional storage so I can continue my fun stories and such. But, in my panic, I started a wordpress blog which I think I will keep and turn into a photography blog/website (it's not ready yet). At least it will get me started...

Ok! So who wants to hear about Patmos?! I do, because I want to go back!! Buuuut, right now I'm not willing to take the 7 hour trip to Athens, 1 hour trip to Kos, and three hour ferry up to Patmos... call me crazy, I know!

Patmos, Greece

We arrived at the Athens airport before daybreak and as you can imagine we were also very tired. Luckily the plane ride was less than an hour long and I slept the entire time. Well, until we were approaching Kos. I'm so glad I woke up because out of my window, I saw whales, fishing boats, coast line and AMAZING sky. Ahhhh. Waking up early was worth it just for that. Touch down at a tiny island airport is interesting. I wouldn't say we landed, but dropped out of the sky. Our approach was normal until then and I am happy to report that the landing gear didn't collapse from the impact. Phew! They opened the front and back doors and we descended the stairs and boarded the buses only to be bused literally 100 feet to the terminal. Rules I guess. I had to chuckle about that. We got a taxi and made it to the port with a few hours to kill before our ferry to Patmos. So, we walked in circles around the fort and docks and messed around taking pictures and such. Oh, and we started to get very hungry so we stopped at a cafe and asked for gyros to go. Well, we both started to wonder if they could handle our large order with the empty rest of the cafe. Even though it took longer than we would have liked, we made the ferry with plenty of time and ha our YUMMY gyro's with fries IN it and all on the deck with the wind in our hair. Wow, that wind was something else! For the first part of our ferry journey we stayed outside and enjoyed the crystal clear blue water, amazing islands and fresh air... buuut after a few hours the wind took it's toll on us and we retreated to the seats inside. I dozed on and off while Julie read the book that we both couldn't put down (The Lost Symbol). After a while of that too, we started to wonder when our island was coming up so I went to ask a nice looking fellow. He didn't speak much English but did understand "Patmos" and waved me away which I guess meant we had more time to kill.

We arrived in Patmos and were greeted by people trying to get us to stay at their hotel/guest room. Thanks to Julie we already had a place to stay so we asked them for directions. We were told it was only 20 meters away. Well after about 50 meters we turned around and headed back to the port. We found a phone and called the number they had given us. The nice man on the phone said he'd call the owner and have them come meet us where we were and we were NOT to move. So, after a few minutes a lady scooted up on a scooter and in a very jolly greek way, said "Yassas!" and told us to follow her to her shop which was half a block away. We met her at the shop and she said that her husband would drive us up to the house. "Great! How nice." I thought. Then they started pointing at the scooted and for us to get on the back of it... WITH all of our bags on. ummmmmmmmm. Really? I stood there stunned trying to figure out if they were serious while Julie cheerily hopped on the back of this guys scooter and shouted "PICTURE" while they drove away. If you know me, and now that I was too stunned to even think about getting my camera out, you should know what was going through my head. I was half laughing, half worried while I watched Julie drive off on the back of the husbands scooter laughing hysterically back at me. After a few minutes he came back with an empty scooter so it was my turn. I was so excited... or rather nervous. I had a lot of bags. So he took my small back pack from me and put it on his wrist, and I moved my camera bag over to the side... and I hopped on and held on for dear life to his shoulders. The ally's/streets were so narrow and with other motorists flying past us he gunned it a LITTLE and it was enough for me to dig my fingers more into his shoulders so he said "OPA! Sorry!" I had to laugh. At that point, I just couldn't stop laughing and in no time we were coming up to the hotel and Julie was standing in the middle of the road ready with her camera to document this hilarious moment in time. So, I'm sorry Julie that I didn't get a picture of you on the back of Anthoula's scooter. It was certainly a sight to behold. We pulled up to a very cute gate with pink flowers EVERYWHERE and two friendly dogs happy to see us. They showed us to our room which was through a little courtyard and up a few steps. Ahhhh, I could get used to that! There was a palmagranite tree outside our window and they picked two off and gave them to us and said we could have as many as we wanted. They were SOOOOOO nice. So after they left i plopped down on the bed and rested and enjoying the breeze through the open window as Julie toured the room, when all of the sudden Mr. Anthoula's head pop's up through the window and say's "Hello! Here you go! From my wife!" and hands us a bag from a pastry shop. They bought us Greek pastries!! I love them.

So, we rested for maybe a half an hour, changed and headed out to walk to Chora, which is the traditional village. We had asked someone and they said it would only take 20 minutes or so. Well after 30 min. and we knew we weren't even close we just kept going and enjoyed the scenery. We were walking on the side of the road up switch backs and up the mountain. (We found out later that there is a walking path that goes almost straight up the mountain, which would have taken near 20 min if we had taken it. We liked the scenery way.) On the way up, we stopped at the cave where John the Revelator received many revelations which comprise the book of John in the Bible. Since we were wearing pants (think back to the monasteries) I wasn't sure if we should go in and was voting we wait until the next day, but brave Julie walked right in and assured me it was ok that we wear pants. We entered in a very small gift shop and out to a courtyard, down some stairs, around a corner and there we were. We walked in and there was a priest praying and a few women scattered around. It was small, and enclosed, with a lot of shrine type of artifacts around, but I found it very peaceful and the spirit there was very special. They had built a chapel around the small cave in the mountain, which really looked more like a very small overhanging rock. With the few people there, it was completely silent, which was very nice.

We continued up the mountain and made it up to Chora red faced and winded. We took a breather and then set out to get lost in the maze of alleys and stairways in the CUTE town of Chora. People still live there. Permanently. In the same houses that their families have lived for hundreds of years. That's all they know. They look down on the port and thank the tourists for coming and buying their food, art and trinkets. We ate ata very nice restaurant overlooking the port of Skala and had great food. Again. Greeks can certainly cook! The owner was very nice as well and talked to us about America and Patmos and even called a taxi for us. I was so glad we didn't have to walk down the mountain! hahhahaha Especially in the dark! Our taxi driver was a young guy and pretty funny. The entire island is busy in the tourist season, but in the off season, everyone's on vacation and relaxing away. Our taxi driver was planning a 4 week cruise in Africa. WOW! So we arrived back to the room and crashed. Ahhhh, sleep!

The next morning, due to my miss calculation of time on my phone, we woke up at 9am instead of 8am. Oops... an extra hour of sleep. I really did misread my clock! So we got up and dressed and went straight to the taxi station and hitched a ride up the mountain to the monastery, which is also in the town of Chora. Taking a taxi up the mountain is MUCH better than walking it. We went in and found the museum which was supposedly one of the best in the Agean. Sadly I couldn't take pictures in the museum! It was GORGEOUS! The architecture itself was incredible, then add the manuscripts, artifacts, robes and paintings and you've got one of the best museums in the Agean! ;) Wow. We took our time and roamed around to see everything and enjoy it. It was awesome. Then we roamed around the monastery and thinking we couldn't take pictures we didn't. Then we saw an elf like looking priest and he said we could take pictures in the courtyard, but not inside the chapels. Oh. So we took a few of the pretty courtyard and one of him. He's so cute! He kinda reminded me of Santa Claus. We loved it. We were prepared this time and called a taxi to come pick us up. Up pulled the same guy who had driven us the night before. He was just as funny. We found out that he was born and raised on the island and did not go to college because he didn't need to of course! He had a job, his family, friends and the beach. Plus, why leave and take the risk of meeting a non-local girl when you want to stay on Patmos your entire life?! His logic was so confident and even though I loved Patmos I couldn't imagine living on a teeny tiny island my entire life. He also said that the population of the island is about 3,000 and the gossip ran wild which made dating difficult. Which made me think of the mormon world. We don't even have to be stuck on a tiny island for it to be a small world in the church. When you meet someone it's incredible how often you find out that you know the same person out west somewhere. So funny.

We made it back to our room and Antony and Anthoula were making lunch. Fresh fish and calamari. It smelled divine. We went to our room to relax a bit and before we knew it Anthoula came up and gave us a plate of fish and calamari and fresh baked bread. Julie doesn't really like fish but tried it anyway. Imagine a small fish about the size of your hand, cooked, eyes, sclaes and all, staring up at you from the plate. Yeah. I had two, but couldn't take the scales after that. But I did LOVE the fresh calamari! After de-junking it of course! Deeeelicous! So after the yummy lunch, we headed to Maloi to take the afternoon off and we found a beach on the other side of town and over a hill that suited us just fine. It wasn't a swimming beach but there was a very old pier so we plopped down and put our feet in the water and chatted the afternoon away. We did see a naked person walking around on the other end of the beach but couldn't really tell if it was a man or woman. We didn't look to hard. After they got dressed and came closer to us to leave we figured out it was a woman. We just sat there for hours. Not a care in the world, hours by boat to any real civilization (airport, haha), and half a world away from home. It was an eye opener. After a while we headed back to town for dinner. On our way back the wind seemed intent on knocking us over and I was momentarily worried the ferry wouldn't make it that night... at 2:30am! Yeah, that was the last ferry of the season until the next Wednesday which we couldn't wait for. Yikes!.

We had dinner at a little place in town and half way through a guy came and sat across the room from us. He was yelling and carrying on so we were ignoring him. He was behind me so I couldn't see what he was doing. After a while our waitress came over with another huge bottle of water (you aren't allowed to drink the water on Patmos... everything is bottled water) and said that the guy behind us is yelling at her to give us the water. Like buying a drink for someone at the bar. Then she chuckled after we gave her a weird look and she said in her Australian accent, "It's a little different isn't it!" Oh and Julie asked her if he was crazy or something and she replied that he has just had a little too much to drink. We really didn't know what to do so we were relieved when he went down to the other section to sit with his friends. But hey, we got free water from it!

We turned in early that night because much to our dismay we had to catch the 2:30am ferry back to Kos. Turns out we picked the VERY last day of tourist season to leave Patmos so we had the very last ferry of the regularly scheduled boats. This one was gigantic! A semi drove in and everything. There were tons of Greek soldiers everywhere so I guess they were being transferred somewhere or going home. We were able to check in to our hotel in Kos VERY early and we slept until 10:30 that morning. It was oh so nice.

Meteora, Greece

2009-11-04T22:07:00.003-05:00

What can I say about Meteora... spectacular. It was by far my favorite place we visited while in Greece. We arrived by bus to an overcrowded main street where our bus driver and every other driver around was yelling at a lady blocking traffic. I felt bad for the lady but in true Greek fashion, she parked her car (half in the lane of traffic) and got out to pick something up at a bakery all the while yelling back at everyone. Ahhhh. But this was Kalambaka. So we bade farewell to the bus and nice people we met on the bus and set out to find our hotel. We were lead to believe that it was only a little bit up the road. So, we start walking. Then we walked some more. Then, we got to the end of the town and started walking UP. We found a very nice tavern who gave us directions and let me use their bathroom. Relief. That's all I have to say. So, we found the road they told us to take and then we walked some more up a mountain road, eventually stumbling upon some houses and then finally on to our cute little hotel, nestled in the crevasse of some stunning rocks. The hotel guy (owner) was very nice and spoke pretty much perfect english. So, he told us everything we needed to know about all of the monasteries and which ones to see and which ones would be closed. We freshened up a bit, enjoyed the amazing view out of our balcony and changed into our skirts to go make it to one monastery before it closed. I can't remember the name of the one we went to, but it looks french but the way they say it most certainly isn't french. Our first monastery was very pretty and had an amazing chapel. Our taxi driver was very nice and waited for us for 30 min to take us back to town so that we could have dinner. We found a fun little place and ate on the patio. It was getting chilly so I didn't mind our walk back to the hotel. It wasn't very far this time. Luckily we were away from the hustle and bustle of Kalambaka and were able to enjoy the serene, peaceful village of Meteora.

We were so wiped out that we turned in at around 7 and I emailed everyone some updates from the community computer and Julie read the book. After my lengthy email I stole my book back and retreated to our room and read before going to bed. I could definitely get use to that. Oh, and this room had a LARGE and very nice bathroom. More points for Meteora :)

So, the next day we got ready and decided to wear pants since it was supposed to be on the more windy side. All of the monasteries provided wrap-arounds for women to wear. We got a taxi to the most popular one, "Transfiguration of Christ" and were awed at it's size and beauty. It was at least 10 times bigger than the one we saw the night before. There are lots of stairs to climb down and then up, so they certainly gave us a workout! I took lots of pictures so I'll let them do some of the 'talking'. After the large one, we walked down to the monastery down the road a bit. This one wasn't quite as big but not as small as the first. But, it was partially under renovation or something so we couldn't see much. Our hotel guy told us of a path that connects that one to another small one that is on our way back to the hotel. So, we (Julie) asked around and we were pointed in the right direction so off we went! It lead to a very cute trail through the woods. So, we went hiking through the woods in Greece! LUCKILY we were going down the mountain and not up. I would have cried if we had to go up. But, going down was awesome and it was beautiful. For being October, it was still very green everywhere.

We got to the last monastery we were going to "Niklas" and climbed the bazillion stairs up to see it. At least it seemed like a bazillion. After our treck the day before and our hike down the mountain, I was getting pooped. At least a nice German couple was struggling as much as I was, and they came in a car. hahaha! I must say, the views from the tops of these monasteries are breath taking. We saw the entire valley, a few goats, and even some rock climbers.

So. After Niklas, we started our walk back to the hotel so that we could pack up again, and head to the train station... by TAXI this time. We bought our train ticket and stashed our bags in a locked office and set out to find some dinner. We found a 'fast food' place that had gyro's. YUM. We devoured the gyro's and after a little walking around we came back for a second. They looked at us and laughed. They were soooooo good. Maybe we were just starving, but they were mmmmmm-mmmmmmmmmm good!

Our train ride back to Athens was pretty much uneventful, except for the lady across from us who Julie said stared at us almost the entire trip. It was 5 hours long. But, I didn't mind because I was reading most of the trip or doing my SuDoKu puzzles. Those are pretty addicting! One thing I must say... I. HATE. train. bathrooms. I held it as long as possible and I even went before the train left the first station, but after a bottle of water or two, I had to go. It was awful. That's all I'll say.

So this is Meteora. Enjoy :) (Captions coming tomorrow)

Meteora, Greece

Delfi, Greece

2009-11-02T23:03:00.002-05:00

We woke up EARLY on Monday morning to make it to the bus station by 7:30am to head on up to Delfi. We somehow got turned around and sped walked in the wrong direction and took two taxi's to make it to the bus stop. We ended up taking the 10:30 bus, which worked out well. The ride up was great and we got to see a lot of pretty country side.

Almost immediately after getting to Delfi and checking into our cute hotel with the cute little old man who told us everywhere in the US he'd been to, we ventured out and went to the museum and ruins. Delfi is certainly a beautiful place, but they were very riskay to put it mildly. Yikes!!!!

We walked around and went window shopping. We had dinner and a nice family restaurant that apparently a large group from a cruise ship decided to go to as well. It was great though. I had yummy fresh shrimp with bacon. It didn't taste like shrimp I'm used to. I compared it to tasting like how ocean air smells. Mild, fresh, and salty. Yum!

I'd write more, but I must go to sleep. This set of pics has captions so it will tell a little more of the story.

Delfi, Greece

Athens, Greece

2009-11-01T23:55:00.003-05:00

We arrived in Athens and found our cute little hotel and set out to see the city at night. None of the night pictures really turned out since I tried to take a shot with no tripod. So, I didn't put them in the slide show. The entire way around the Acropolis is a walk way with hundreds of vendors and cafe's. Also, everywhere we went there were these random guys sitting on the ground with a board and a jelly type toy that they would throw on the board and it would flatten like a pancake and then slowly regain it's shape. People must have bought them, because they were everywhere... we didn't buy any of those.

The next day was Sunday so we went to church (we met some missionaries the night before and they showed us where church was) and met the very nice members. There was an awesome lady who I think is a 'typical' Greek woman. Now, when I think of 'typical' Greek woman I think of the mom in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"... "The man may be the head of the house, but the woman is the neck. She can turn the head which ever way she wants :D." Ahhh. Soo funny. This was that lady. She pretty much ran the branch from what we saw. She was a fireball.

After Sacrament meeting we ventured out to the Acropolis to see the ancient wonders of Athens. Wow! What a view, and what amazing architecture! To think that has been standing for thousands of years. Woah. I learned about the Parthenon and the surrounding buildings in my Art History classes, but sadly I couldn't cart the 15 pound books to brush up on the plane. I did have my Dan Brown book "The Lost Symbol" though, so never fear. The building across from the Parthenon with the four ladies as the columns was beautiful. It was roped off so we couldn't get too close to those, but that is what a zoom is for.

We met a very nice English couple who talked with us for a while about Obama, America, England, their Yatch, traveling, and health care. Actually, he and Julie did most of the talking. His wife and I chatted a little and joined the conversation every once and a while. They were nice chaps.

We found a lovely cafe and had Greek food and watched people pass by and had smoke clouds passing our nose. Smoking is definitely accepted pretty much any where, any time. AND, the old men flocked to the street corners and cafes like you wouldn't believe. They watched the world go by on their little street corner and chatted until the sun went down... and then some. People in general were always out and about. Always out side.

We were only in Athens for Sunday and then we got ready to leave for Delphi the next morning.

So, be ready for the post of Delphi (Delfi) tomorrow and our adventure getting there. Or at least to the bus station to get there. All of the pictures are done, but I will try to do at least one post a day, maybe more.

Enjoy the slide show!

Athens, Greece

Another reason I haven't edited my Greece pictures yet... :)

2009-10-25T13:51:00.004-04:00

Mike and I went to the Renaissance Festival in Maryland yesterday and had a blast!

Here we are at a comedy show.

Here we are as King and Queen of the festival!

Mike hit the bell 10 times in a row and got the hammer prize! Woohoo!

Me with a princess hat on. I should have taken pictures of the people all dressed up... wow!!

Here are the Stocks. I was a "Fop" (excessively vain)

And poor Mike was a Sloth. They didn't have very good choices.

Greece... The flight over

2009-10-21T19:15:00.004-04:00

I'm home!!! Greece was amazing and I have tons of stories to share. I was going to start tonight, but this darn jet lag is catching up with me so I will start with what we started with, the plane ride and amazing views once we closer to Greece,

I love getting stamps in my passport... oddly we went through customs in Madrid and not in Greece so no Greece stamp. Bummer.

My awesome travel companion and amazing deal finder... Julie

Blue sky

Love it

Amazing

Ok, and here is Athens in all it's crowded, polluted, beautiful glory :)

And me at the Parthenon! Who'd a thunk I'd make it here in my lifetime?!

So amazing!

More to come soon...

All my bags are packed.... I'm ready to goooo!!

2009-10-09T01:26:00.002-04:00

I'm off to Greece tomorrow night after a full day of work and wrapping things up and getting things ready for a temp to fill in a few days while I'm gone. Phew! I will be so glad to go on vacation!! I haven't taken many days off this year so they've built up and I'll still have a few more to use before the years done. Yippee!!

I'm sure I will get access to the internet a few times while I'm there so I will post travel updates and stories when I can.

See ya when I get back!

Serrano's

2009-09-22T00:25:00.003-04:00

Oh what a difference candy makes. If you want active, impatient little boys to smile for the camera at least most some of the time, candy in your pocket will do the trick. I became their best friend and every time I looked at my camera either to make sure I had the right settings or angle, they came running thinking that shot was done. How cute! And this is only the first round of editing I've done.

Love you guys! I love taking family shots too. It's very fun. As you can see I do more of a candid style, which I thinks shows off your true personality.

Road Trip to NJ... and NYC

2009-09-11T23:29:00.007-04:00

So my best friend and her family moved to NJ over the summer and I was finally able to drive up there and see them. They are only 3-4 hours away (depending on traffic). It was so much fun to see them!! I got there Friday evening just in time for dinner and we had lotsa time after the kids went to bed to catch up and have fun talking about "way back when". Saturday, we packed up and drove into NYC to see the Air Craft Carrier, Intrepid, and a submarine. It was very fun! I'll let the pictures do the talking :)

Here is the awesome flight deck

Michelle and me... oh what we've been through in 20 years :D

I think it's awesome that pilots could paint their helicopter or plane. This guy opted for the more intimidating monster teeth.

I wouldn't want this thing coming at me, that's for sure

Part of the mess hall. They had sections decorated with saddles and such to make it more like 'home' I guess. Did you know the Intrepid was home to 3,000 men and was the ship that picked up the astronauts from Mercury 3.

Hallway near the navigation deck

Helping Kevin down the steep stairs

Serrano family on deck

In the kids area on some bunk beds

In a row boat

The helicopter was a hit as well. They could push all the buttons they wanted in this part!

Timi in the submarine

The top. Ooooo Ahhhhh

Lots of controls. Yikes, try keeping those straight!

Me going through a very small 'door'

Officers eating table on the Sub.

Tall people should be warned. You would need to lean to the side for six months! It's a very tight squeeze

It was so much fun. I can't wait to see you guys again!

Coming up next... Serrano family photo shoot. I was the Candy Master. Mwahahaha

FORBIDDEN

2009-08-22T00:44:00.008-04:00

Tonight, my friend Julie and I got together to plan our most exciting trip to Greece which is coming in 7 weeks. While perusing our travel books and websites dedicated to making any traveler wish they were staying a month to go to ALL of the Greek Islands, we came across this beauty.

This magnificent monastery is in Mt. Athos in the northern part of Greece. Before learning how far away it is to every where else we will be, we salivated and gasped at the possibilities of being able to stroll these pathways and meditate at the 20 monasteries at Mr. Athos.

We found it because we read that you can sometimes stay in convents/monasteries and were looking up such possibilities. These "cells" would have been beyond amazing and historic... if only...

... if only we were men. That's right. You heard me. Only MEN are allowed on the island. The only people who live on the island are the Monks who live in the Monasteries. I have never been forbidden to enter someplace just because I was a woman. When we were at the Vatican, we had our sleeves and knee length skirts on so we were good to go. But here... they are so far held in their traditions that the entire island is dedicated to prayer and spirituality, which evidently, women aren't as capable of... or some religious belief they have that I can't remember at 1am.

I mean seriously, how would you have liked THAT view?!

I have never wanted to be a man as much as I did tonight as we learned that "Only men are allowed to visit Agion Oros (or Mount Athos), according to the Protocol of the monastic state."

How Ruuuude (Think Stephanie from Full House)

These pictures I grabbed from the internet don't even do this place justice. We found a lovely site that gives you a 'virtual walk' with the monks. Please go to this site and see how amazingly beautiful these monasteries are and how GREAT it would be if we could go. Oh, and make sure your speakers are turned up.

http://www.athenshop.com/en/inathos.asp

Ahhh, there. Doesn't it feel like you've been there and partaken of this beautiful place?

NO!

The cartoon man was in front of me the whole time blocking my view. Sheesh. Men.

;) If you would like to learn more go here and scroll to the bottom to find links telling you all about the place you can't visit.

Marine Corps Silent Drill Team

2009-08-15T13:44:00.005-04:00

On Tuesday Anna, Adam and I went to the Iwo Jima to enjoy the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team. It's not so silent due to the fact that the band is there, but that made it fun. And we had to stand a few more times than I remembered from a few years ago.

Everyone wanted to see. This guy in front of us had kids all over him... and it was hot and MUGGY.

Actually, I went to see the Marine's

In uniform

They were everywhere, and behaving themselves impeccably.

It was a fun thing to do on a Tuesday evening. Although I wouldn't suggest getting hot pasta for your picnic dinner on a hot muggy day. You just can't appreciate it.

Hail to the Redsiiiiins... Hail Victoryyyyyy

2009-08-09T14:13:00.008-04:00

So yesterday I went out to Ashburn with Adam and we had a grand ol' time. It was fan appreciation day and there were a few things to do and see while we waited for the scrimmage to begin. His cousin is married to Lorenzo Alexander (79) so we got VIP passes and free ice cold water.

Proof of our VIP status

Super Bowl Trophies... There were guards near by.

Little did you know that I play football in my spare time.

cute little kids kicking the ball.

Attempting to throw a football. I was way high and to the right. The guy in charge even ducked... :D

This guy signed autographs for a long time. He was super nice. I don't know who he is...

Adam and Zoey... She is adorable

The Chief. We don't know if he's the official mascot or just an awesome fan who gets VIP treatment

We were there to root for Lorenzo. Look for #79

Yeah!

Zoey and her cute little friend Brooklyn had matching onsies

I even took a picture for their friend and their baby... Still don't know who that is. I know he's a Redskin though and his daughter is adorable!

After the scrimmage we retreated to the tent and chatted and waited for the crowds to die down.

It was tons of fun! Woohooo!!!

Motley's in VA... the final days

2009-08-04T21:06:00.007-04:00

So here's the end of my sister's visit. Finally. They left a few weeks ago and I haven't gone through these pics until now. Park visits, playing in the back yard with Grandma Dot and Aunt Gina, DC concerts at the Capitol, and walks in Walney (i don't have pics of that amazingly enough) filled our last days with them.

I would like you to notice how happy Kyle is to be going down the slide.

Now please notice that his aunt at the bottom of the slide is busy focusing and taking pictures, that could have been better :), and can't put down the camera in time to give a flailing little boy a hand. He bonked his head on the plastic slide and made his feelings known but went right back to the shorter slide and kept having fun.

I did that to Ryan when he was about 2 as well but that was in Sacramento with a much taller slide and I think he flew off the end of the slide and landed in a heap. He was ok as well. :)

Moral of the story is that I probably shouldn't have my camera when on slide duty.

See... Happy boy. :)

Family picture in the back yard. Oh this is the silly one. Even Kyle got in on the action.

Carrie took this picture. Way to go!

Boys loving the concert... before it started with the rockin music on the sound system.

Boys after the actual concert started... while it was still tons of fun...

it was VERY loud. We were right next to the speakers. I covered Kyle's ears which seemed to help but then he got tired of the confinement and would want my hands off of his head but then started to cry because it was so loud.

We ended up retreating to the side where the speakers weren't blaring in our faces and the boys could run around.

It was a lot of fun and the boys even got US Capitol Police badge stickers from a real police officer.

We went on a walk at Walney park and followed some streams. Kyle wanted SO BADLY to jump all the way in and was gladly going for it, but with out my camera and near water I'm more on the ball so I was probably not his best friend at that moment while I was keeping him from wading through the water. When we did let him get a little water time he was completely offended when it was time to move on from the water. It was actually kinda cute.

I miss you guys and can't wait to see you again... whenever that may be.

Thanks Grandma Dot and Aunt Gina for joining us. It's fun to create new memories and see the boys play and remember summer days at Grandma's house in Duarte. Sooooo fun!

GREECE

2009-07-30T15:28:00.004-04:00

For those of you not of Facebook where I have already announced my exciting news, I am going to GREECE in October for 10 days. We don't have specific islands yet, but we will narrow our choices down soon. YIPPEEE!!!

If you've been or have heard of great places to go, any tips would be great!

And then we had more fun...

2009-07-17T00:11:00.005-04:00

Then next day we took a stroll through some of the monuments. It was a little chillier than usual for July, which is why I'm wearing a sweater in some pictures.

Kyle

The Fam after three attempts at a self timer with three kids. We have them well trained to take pictures. hahaha.

All three nephews.

Ryan's favorite spot

Our new trick...

Viola!

Awww.

These boys loved being thrown in the air and made it somewhat difficult to catch them on the way down.

I think at this point, Carrie was bitting her nails :)

Another hit was going all the way around when we swung them. Their little shoulders got a work out for sure.

Kyle LOVES his blankey.

It was tons of fun and we have had tons of fun since. I am way behind on what we have been up to so bare with me while I sort and edit the photos.

Fun times ahead!

Happy Fourth!

2009-07-11T11:45:00.006-04:00

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. What made it even better this year is that my sister and her whole family are in town and got to enjoy the DC fireworks. My nephews were entranced and loved the huge booms that you could feel in your toes.

Before that, we went to a friends house and had a BBQ with their family and kids. There was a bounce house, slip-n-slide, water balloons and bubbles. How much more fun can you have?! It was great watching the kids play and I remember when I played like that not too long ago. Man, time sure flies!

There was even rocket slip-n-slide. Kyle even took a turn and probably would have loved it if it weren't for the sliding on the grass the last bit. So funny.

Ryan also tried surfing down the slide but didn't get very far.

Bubbles always entertain.

After a few nervous tries, Kyle loved the bounce house and even got the hang of standing up.

Cuttie Kyle

Me and the munchkin

I realize I'm wearing dark and derpessing colors on our nations birthday... please forgive me.

Having fun

Yay for fireworks. The finale was one of the best I've seen in recent years.

I didn't have my tripod so these aren't the best, but still fun! We were sitting in a great spot between the Washington Monument and the fireworks so the were practically right in front of us.

Walking to the car. It wasn't so bad! I am glad we didn't take the metro with three tired boys, even though they were surprisingly happy for such a fun packed, sleep deprived day.

My sister and all the crowds of people.

We had a blast!

Miran and Eric

2009-07-11T11:37:00.003-04:00

This is my great friend and former roommate Miran and her fiance Eric.

I Moved!

2009-06-28T13:26:00.002-04:00

I'm finally in my new place and mostly done packing. I LOVE it! I didn't use my flash with these pics because I was in a hurry, but you get the idea.

I'll post pictures of the rest of the house later. So far, Crystal City is great.

Kim and Mark Teaser

2009-06-19T09:29:00.004-04:00

On Wednesday, I met Kim and Mark at the WW1 (not to be confused with the more well known WW2) memorial and had tons of fun with them taking their engagement photos.

Here are some cute candid photos.

Random...

2009-06-09T15:11:00.006-04:00

Haha, so by suggestion from Lex I will explain why my companies logo is randomly on my blog. I had to send out a letter today and in order to attach our logo to it in an email through the system we use I needed a URL for it. Our website has our logo, but there is a different color behind it. SO, I put it up here so that I can have a URL for it and in my rush did not put a title or an explaination.

So... please disregard this post and see below to my sailing trip last weekend. :D

Sailing Trip to Lusby, MD

2009-06-08T10:45:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, the ladies in my church and I met up in Lusby, MD at the house of one of our High Counselmen's parents who happen to live on a river that leads to the Chesapeak Bay and have Sail boats. This is an annual trip we take and I was able to go this year. It was sooooo much fun. We got there Friday night and had a nice devotional and then played games and watched a classic, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Love it. After that, I was all tuckered out so I headed to bed. We woke up bright and early at 9:30 and had breakfast outside on lawnchairs facing the river. I could get used to that.

Then!!! We headed out on the said boat. There was ONE experienced skipper on board and 10 'willing to help' ladies lounging on the deck. I was the first one to learn how to steer the boat and guide us out to the bay... only problem was that I didn't know if we should turn left or right. So, there were a few panicky moments, but my deathgrip on the wheel made it all better. The scary part is that there were no breaks and we were heading toward the marina... I know. Scary right!? ;)

Anyway. It was an overcast day so I went out in my sweats and stayed nice and warm. I loved it, but the only thing that made me nervous once we got the sails up was the fact that it's "normal" for the boat to lean violently (ok it's not actually violently, but REALLY far), to the side when the wind is blowing and moving the boat forward. You will see this example in my pictures. We had three boats full of ladies on the water and many people stared at us as they sailed by. One boat of fisherman even asked if there was room for more, awww isn't that sweet. I of course took TONS of pictures, so here they are in slideshow form, again.

RS Sailing Trip

Duck Beach 2009

2009-05-28T23:30:00.003-04:00

Ok, so there were so many photos that I had to revert to my Europe style of posting and do an album.

Duck Beach 2009

We had tons of fun and lots of relaxing time. For any ladies looking for a good book, I HIGHLY recommend "Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

Saturday we went to the beach to hang out with the hundreds of singles that flock to the area.

Sunday we went to church at the local branch and on our way back learned all about flying from Wilbur and Orvile. I was in the group in charge of Sunday dinner and we had Hawaiian Haystacks and we almost burned the rice, but saved it just in time.

Monday... relax at the beach again with a few stalwart volleyball players. I did not play, but finished my book which was great. Thanks Ann Marie!

Tuesday, yummy lunch at a deeeeelicious burger stand on the side of the road, sailing, mini golf and way too much food for dinner at a supposedly great pizza joint. I'm sure there was better pizza around. Oh well. It was good enough :)

Wednesday, clean up, nature hike, even yummier lunch at a local BBQ place. ...Pigs... They sell their products online and I am going to have to do some research. It was SOOOOOO good.

My trip home only took 4 hours, which should have taken about 4.5 with no traffic... but with zero traffic and the traffic that was there moving at an extremely rapid pace, I had no choice but to keep up. Actually, I made sure I used my cruise control most of the time to not speed, so all is well mom and dad.

Teaser - Duck Beach

2009-05-27T23:40:00.004-04:00

I made it home safe and sound after 5 glorious days at the beach. Ever since I walked in the door I've been editing my pictures and I'm about half way through. Well, maybe a little more and I thought I'd share this fun one of the sunrise I saw. The pier is some type of research facility and was barbwired off so I couldn't go on it. Bummer. I have pictures of me as well, but most of those are on my friends cameras so I will have to wait to get those. So, until then, I'm forcing my self to go to bed and hope you enjoy. :)

Sneak Peak... Sara and Tony

2009-05-20T23:37:00.005-04:00

First round of editing... awwww

Road trip to Shannendoah with Anna

2009-05-15T00:17:00.004-04:00

Anna and I took a road trip a few weekends ago to Skyline drive. It was the beginning of spring up there in the mountains so the foliage was still pretty sparse, but still beautiful.

Here's a little of us having fun and of the scenery.

High's & Low's...

2009-05-10T23:44:00.003-04:00

Saturday, I went to Great Falls National Park with Sarah and Tony to take their engagement photos. I haven't done any photos from those pictures yet, but while we were there, I couldn't help but notice the difference 10 days of rain makes on a depleted river system.

This is last December...

This.... was this weekend.

Oh what a difference rain makes.

Experimenting like John Paul Caponigro

2009-05-09T13:30:00.001-04:00

Sandy & Dane

2009-05-03T00:26:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Sandy, Dane and I ventured into DC to take their Engagement photos. It was SO much fun. Although I must admit that I've never had allergies my entire life and was introduced to that horrible world when we went to the Arboretum. Wow. I thought my head was going to explode.... But on to wonderful Sandy and Dane!

Here are some cute candid moments.

Never Fear... I'm still here!

2009-04-18T16:36:00.007-04:00

So you've probably thought that I've fallen off a cliff, and into a black hole. Rest assured I'm fine and I'm still kicking it here in VA. I've been lamenting or postponing this post, because it seems like I haven't been doing much lately. Well C'est la vie bad attitude!! I just finished editing some MORE portraits that I took of my old bosses because they begged me to come help them, and was sifting through my photos. Oh how I have so much to tell!!! I won't even try to go into detail since there are a lot of pictures I am going to share but I will try to cover everything! Here it goes...

First, I went to a basketball game at the Verizon Center with a few friends.

We rode the metro in and had lots of fun...

... a little too much for 'locals'. I'm sure everyone else thought we were tourists. It was great.

This was our view...

The half time show was much more entertaining than the actual game. I must have ADD when I go to sporting events. Or, maybe it's the lack of oxygen we have in the rafters that makes me loopy... hahaha. Yes that is a guy flying through the air and he proceeds to slam dunk the ball. All of his friends showed off their skills and we were duly impressed.

Then, my friends Darin and Melanie got married. It was a beautiful Sealing and very fun Reception. YAY!

Here's the happy couple during their first dance. Aren't they so cute!!

Melanie surprised everyone by singing a lovely Norah Jones song for her new Hubby. Awwww

Me and the happy couple

Michelle and I

Tearin up the dance floor

And, lastly, I went into DC to see the cherry blossoms at night. Fun was had by all. We ended up walking around the tidal basin and ended up at the FDR memorial.

So, there's what I've been up to for the last month. Earlier today I went to see Zach Efron.. I mean "17 Again". It was very funny and I recommend it. Now I'm off to the institute choir performance that I'm in. It's fun, interesting and yeah, we need more practice. But hey! With a smile and a chuckle all of the messed up parts just make it better... right??!

My Favorite

2009-03-22T10:24:00.002-04:00

Teaser... Milu and Kevin

2009-03-15T01:25:00.003-04:00

Last weekend I went to DC with Kevin and Milu and had lots of fun shooting their engagements. We went to the Jefferson, the FDR memorial and the Bell Tower by the Iwo Jima.

I've just started editing them so here are a few of the first ones. Milu, I know you are out of the country, so maybe this will hold you over until you get back and I finish editing all of them. :)

Teaser... Freda and John

2009-03-06T23:58:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics from last weekend when I shot Freda and John's engagement photos. At one point, I was hanging over the railing of a bridge, then was sitting on the rail and almost tipped over. Ahhh, the pains photographers take to get the right angle. :) Luckily though i didn't fall.

We had a blast and I took the most pictures ever... so far. I took nearly 900 pictures in about 2 hours. I think I was just as surprised as they were. Although part of that may have to do with John talking through most poses and me trying to get the 2 seconds he was smiling. hehe jk John. You did great and there are tons of great pics. I haven't edited then all yet so here are some of the finished ones so far.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2009-02-28T01:17:00.003-05:00

Today, well yesterday, is my Grandma Dot's birthday and I wanted to let every one know how wonderful she is.

Hi Grandma! You are amazing in every way. So many of my memories during my childhood include you and Grandpa and I'm so lucky to have you. Whether it was when you came to our Kids Are Music performances, which I now realize must have all sounded the same ;), slip n slide in your back yard, roller skating in your driveway or Sunday dinner with the family on Sunday's, you were always there to hug and kiss me and tell me "I love you, Dolly Babe."

Thanks for coming to my Missionary Farewell and Homecoming. It meant a lot to have you there and I love it when the whole family gets together and we sit and tell stories for hours and laugh our heads off.

This one is super small, but this is my proud grandma when my cousin Thomas was born. I remember going to San Diego with you, it seemed like a lot, to see him and my Aunt Tracy and take care of him.

Here we are last year when we were all with you for Grandpa's funeral. Even though all the sadness it was a good memory.

All of the Vanatter women.

I Love You!!

Happy Birthday

Love,
Your Dolly Babe

Ice Skating with the NOVA Institute

2009-02-23T23:31:00.004-05:00

So, since I haven't posted about what I've actually been up to, mainly due to the fact that I haven't taken any pictures of anything I've been to lately, I stole these pics form my friends facebook to finally post something. Thanks Emma!

Last Saturday, the Northern Virginia Institute of Religion rented our an ice rink in Balltson, VA and let us skate for free for an entire night. My friends and I arrived an hour late and the pizza was alll gone. :( BOO!

So we strapped on our skates and took to the ice. It was fun dodging the TONS of people that were there. I held hands with a friend of mine... but wait, it was a GIRL friend so that doesn't count... sorry for the false hope mom. hehehe ;)

We got tired of skating in circles after an hour and a half so we tried our hand, or should I say feet, at any tricks we could do. I can do a little turn when I'm stopping and that's about it. Sometimes I get lucky and I make it around two or THREE times, but only when I'm sufficiently brave and going the prefect speed. Not to fast, not too slow.

Then, we just had fun with the camera. My friend Dustin was jumping over the cones so I got him doing that. How figure skaters and hockey players move around and jump so easily in ice skates I will never know, but it is darn cool!

Here are some pics.

Always gotta goof off. :D

Friends

Somehow, Adam fell right in front of us while he was just standing there. His ice skates came precariously close to my leg. Glad you're ok Adam. Maybe it's Karma for throwing the shaved ice at me that somehow ended up down my shirt... that was an unwelcome surprise.

Emma, Me and Natalie

Dustin somehow jumping over cones. And he landed! Very impressive!

Kasey and Alexis

2009-02-18T21:41:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, when the weather was like spring, I took Kasey and Alexis's engagement photos. Kasey is my Home Teacher, and he's awesome. I might have to protest him moving wards when they get married because he's been my only Home Teacher that has actually come every month! Thanks dude!

Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy :)

Cota Family Pics

2009-01-31T21:51:00.005-05:00

Over Christmas break I took my sister's bishops family pictures. They are a great family and were fan to shoot. Here are some of my favorites.

New Orleans

2009-01-26T23:31:00.005-05:00

Last weekend I was able to go to New Orleans, LA for a business trip. Most importantly, I went to set up and organize the rooms for our two meetings at the NADA convention. All went well and I survived. The fun part was that on our down time, which was much more than I expected, we got to walk around, shop, and see the sights/culture of a fun, southern town. Everyone was SO nice and helpful... I'm sure they just wanted us to buy there $60 t-shirt at their cute boutique, but it was not meant to be. We went to the French market and the artists along the square at the awesome Cathedral. I indulged a bit. :)

I bought a painting from a painter of the cathedral that looks like it is dancing to the jazz music all over town. It's fun. I also bought a Mardi-Gra mask at the french market and am excited to put it up on my wall. I of course bought some christmas ornaments to add to my collection, which I have in my posession now (THANKS MOM!!!). Besides that, I bought some awesome spring clothes that I want to wear tomorrow. Too bad it's supposed to snow tonight. Oh well, I'll have to wait a few months.

OH yeah, and a creepy fortune teller looked at me while we were walking to a restaurant all dressed up and tried to waive me over. It just was wierd. Then at dinner, Kim asked if I wanted them to read my palm. Ummm, no thanks. hahhaha.

Here are some highlights of what we saw.

Inside the Pretty Cathedral. They had a recording of monks chanting playing and it was very peaceful.

A building with Hanging plants on the veranda. hanging plants were everywhere and it reminded me of Europe.

The Cathedral with artists lined up around the square. They are there every day.

Yay! Color!!

Mississippi River.

Same view... different day. Sunday it cooled down a bit so the River had something to say about it. It was very pretty.

Oh yeah, and the only picture I got of me the whole trip. It's not too good with the sun in my eyes.

I want it to be spring!!!

2009-01-26T16:47:00.002-05:00

I love Ann Taylor Loft on business trips...

Pictures of New Orleans coming soon. :) Think 75 degrees in January. ahhhhhh...

I should go to bed...

2009-01-14T00:01:00.005-05:00

So what have I been doing lately since I bought my new iMac you may ask? Well, it's not sleeping that's for sure!!

I found some photoshop actions that I LOVE and bought some so I have been experimenting with different photos ever since. It's addicting. Oh so addicting.

I took a photo of mine from the Vatican that I thought was a good photo, but it was just lacking something. Well, after playing with these actions, I can't choose a favorite any more than I can tell you I love getting out of bed on a cold morning.

1. Here's the original image. Nice, but predictable.

2. Here it is with a nice little 'pop' of contrast.

3. Here it is aged up a tad...

4. B&W.... Niiiice

5. Cross-Processed... Totally AWESOME dude!

So Tell me which one YOU like best!

Calaveras Forrest

2009-01-06T23:12:00.008-05:00

So during my trip to CA to see my sister and her fam, we took a drive up to the Calaveras big trees. It was totally worth it! Not only were the boys pretty good on the car ride up there, the trees were AWESOME! The higher we got, the more snow we saw. Which I didn't mind at all since I've missed the snow terribly! lol, well sorta.

I've never seen the huge Saquoia's or Redwood's so this was what I wanted to do. YAY! The second we parked and the boys had on their coats and gloves, they were in the snow playing. I remember going up to the mountains the day after Christmas to play in the snow when I was a kid and we lived in Irvine, CA. On one such trip I face planted in the snow and somehow got snow EVERYWHERE and I was freezing. After trying to help me warm up for a while, my parents told me to walk it off (moving will warm you up!). So there is a picture of me walking circles around a tree. hahahha.

So, there was SO much snow on this trip that we couldn't see the wooden walkway, that we didn't even know was there except that my sister told us and we would sink a good foot or two if we unknowingly stepped off. Ryan found a stick that looked like an ice pick and he 'helped' all the other hikers by clearing off every sign that he saw. So, here are some fun pics of our journey through the big trees.

Oh yeah. This is Ryan after he announced in the car that he had to puke. Seeing as we were on a somewhat hilly / windy road, Scott pulled over rather quickly so he could get out and walk around... he really seems sick eh? Actually, a little further down the road when it really was windy we had to stop again and he really didn't feel good. He sat on a rock on the side of the road and I was telling him all sorts of tips to not get car sick in the car. He seemed to like that fact that he wasn't the only one who got car sick. hahha, cute kid.

Oh the fun you can have from the piles of snow left by snow plows!

Me with my nephews! So cute!

Kyle in his Eskimo suit in the backpack that he loves.

Pretty sun light

Woooahhhhh, those are some TALL trees...

Mom and Dad

My sister and me

Since the stairs disappeared under the snow and it turned into a slide, Sean and I had some fun.

The ENOURMOUS stump of a huge tree...covered in snow. Wow!

Sister by the sister trees... awww

Some fo the trees had twisty bark

The fam

Ryan and his ice pick

Pretty moss

Mom, sister and the boys

Pretty

Cute... enough said..

oh don't worry, there's more..... :D

The fam again.

Sean and me by a tree that was hit by lightning.

Me inside a tree

Kyle didn't make it to the end. He didn't make a sound the entire time. Scott even said they bonked heads a few times and Kyle just kept looking around and didn't care. SO CUTE!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-02T00:38:00.006-05:00

What a fun time I had in California with my whole family. We played with my nephews, hung out, played games, went shopping, drove up to Calaveras Redwood forest, and just had a grand ol' time! My nephews are SO cute and I miss them already.

I got there Christmas Eve and promptly played with my nephews and then made the yummy green beans wrapped in bacon that I made for Thanksgiving. Sean ate about four of them and was begging for more while Ryan didn't have anything to do with them. hahha.

Christmas morning was fun to see the boys reaction to all of their new toys and candy.

We had lots of fun spending time together, shopping, hanging out, watching movies (I looooove Kung Fuuuuuuuuuu!!!), and just plain ol fun. We were able to go up to Calaveras (SP?) Big trees forest which I will do a separate post about. The boys also made 'ginger bread' (graham cracker) houses and loved eating the candy more than putting it on their house... of course! heheh

We also visited my grandma right before I left to come back. I only get to see her every few years so it was good to see her. I think she recognized me but was more interested in my baby nephew. She loves babies and is very cute.

Oh, and this is what happens after nearly a decade of marriage. He only objected once to his wife trying to 'help'... lol. ahhhh, good times.

Dilema

2008-12-15T13:52:00.006-05:00

Background: As is tradition in my family, we collect Christmas Ornaments where ever we go. Whether it's a special occasion, vacation to the grand canyon, or visiting Mt. Vernon for the hundredth time (only a few ornaments from there), we always get an ornament to remind us of this memory. My mom's ornaments are prize possesions and I hope to someday have a collection as beautiful as hers!

That being said...

My christmas ornaments are being held hostage! WHO, you wonder, would deprive my poor soul of having my own Christmas ornaments (now known as CO)on our own tree?! My dear mom. THAT's who. :) (This is all in fun btw) I'm sitting at work sipping my soup, and I pondered the fact that I was not granted access to my CO's. I find this rather displeasing. My mom's rule is that my sister and I can not take our CO out of the house and off of her beautiful tree (it really is awesome), until we are married. My sister got her CO at the ripe age of 22 (right??), or was it 21? I don't know. But, she got married and excitedly took her CO to her own house and put them on her own tree.

If those of you who read this don't know, I'm now approaching the dreaded 3-0 and am still single, much to my dismay, and my parents... just read their Christmas letter. HEHEHEHEHHEHEE!!! (I must admit that when I found it on their table this weekend and read through it, I was slightly disturbed of the mention of my name front and center under "New challenges". Now, it's just funny) This means that I am not permitted to take my ornaments, even though my roommates and I have a tree this year. A REAL tree. With lights and REAL ornaments. Just not mine. OH, I take that back. I have a few from my Europe trip that my mom doesn't know that I have. SHHHH!! (Pretend you didn't read that mom ;) ). It's not one of those fake fiber optic trees that sits on your window sill and changes colors with plastic needles too limp to hold a piece of yarn let alone ornaments. (note: I'm not against fiber optic trees... I had one during college once) It's a real, big tree, that smells nice and has sturdy branches to hold real ornaments. I don't like however the real pine needles falling off this real tree at an alarming rate!

So back to my original dilema! My mom's reasoning for not giving me my CO is because she doesn't want them to be mixed up with my roommates ornaments. My rebuttal was that they all have my name on them and I personally picked out 90% of them so I know them by heart and the story/vacation that goes with each one. I'm not going to accidentally let one of my ornaments slip into my roommates possession. Sorry girls. Not gonna happen. ;)

So starting now, I'm campagning. It's title is Operation Ornament - 2009. As nice as it would be to be able to get my ornaments 'legally' by next Christmas ;) I must be prepared for my single right to have my own ornaments on my tree!!

So what do you say! Who's with me!!

I love you Mom. :)

UPDATE: (12/18) I just got a White House Christmas Ornament in the mail at work from one of our consultants. They are on MY SIDE!!!

Melanie and Darin

2008-12-09T23:20:00.006-05:00

I took my friends engagement pictures on Saturday and I finished editing them yesterday. It was absolutely freezing but they were troopers and posed for shot after shot and smiled for hours straight. I'm sure their cheeks were hurting, and their other cheeks were numb from sitting on the cohooolld marble.

Here are some of my favs...

It was so fun to photograph these two and there are a lot of good ones, there are also more funny ones but I'll let Darin the Babushca (?) show those to you. hahahhaha

Congrats Melanie and Darin!!

I made this for Thanksgiving dinner

2008-12-04T23:41:00.004-05:00

Green Beans in a delicious garlic, red pepper, onion sauce, wrapped in bacon. Each flavor so subtle it just melts in your mouth!

Thank you Kayotic Kitchen via The Pioneer Woman!!!

Soooo yummy! I also made an apple pie with the help of my friend's recipe but I cheated and used Pilsbury crust. Hey! It was AWESOME! I should have taken pics of the rest of the food that I made, but I didn't. oh well, next year.

Great Falls, VA

2008-12-04T22:51:00.009-05:00

I've been waiting for others to post their updates of their exciting lives growing more and more impatient as the days pass with still no updates. Then I figured out that I haven't posted for a while so here is my attempt at an update. :)

Quite a few weeks ago, I went hiking with some friends of mine. (it seems like I've been hiking a lot lately) I was very fortunate and was the only girl with three strapping men. It was a fun day!! We headed out to Great Falls, and parked above the falls so that we could hike down and see the river along the way. I had never seen the river before the falls and it was a very peaceful hike/jaunt.

Instead of giving you a commentary on each photo, which I would prefer to do, I'm going to just say that we had fun along the way, took a lot of pictures, and went to each look out at the falls. There were a few 'professional' looking photographers at one of the look outs and they had ginormous cameras and I was itching with jealousy. One day, I will have a sweet camera like that!!

Here are a few pics so you can see how pretty VA is in the fall. This is at the end of the pretty colors so they are mostly orange and yellow, but still, oh so pretty.

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed taking them. Ok, I'm ready for your updates. ;)

I found another one!!

2008-11-19T14:20:00.002-05:00

For those of you who love Shabby Apple, I'm sure you will LOVE MIKAROSE too!!!

I think I've heard of it before, but it's always fun to rediscover cute clothes.

I've been tagged...

2008-11-17T13:31:00.002-05:00

I would like to celebrate my 100th post with a tag!

Lists of 8

8 Favorite TV shows…

1. Jon & Kate Plus 8
2. What Not To Wear
3. Army Wives
4. Friends re-runs
5. Fox News (I don’t watch a lot of shows…)
6. CNN (ummm yeah)
7. Dancing with the Stars
8. Friday Night Lights

8 Things I did yesterday…

1. Slept in
2. Read a book
3. Went to church
4. Attended ‘Why I believe” fireside
5. Watched while friend changed my windshield wipers. It’s AMAZING!!!
6. Played Rockband
7. Ate spicy leftovers that no one ate at the Ward Thanksgiving dinner
8. Finished book.

8 Things I look forward to…

1. Michelle’s B-Day party
2. Thanksgiving (FOOD)
3. My Birthday
4. Christmas in CA with my sisters family (a week and a half off of work)
5. For the month of November to be done at work
6. Travel – just let me know when and where
7. Shopping sprees
8. the Future!

8 Favorite Restaurants…

1. Cheesecake Factory (Avocado Egg rolls and Chicken Medera YUM)
2. California Pizza Kitchen
3. Chipotle
4. Panera
5. Costal Flats
6. Five Guys
7. Logan’s
8. Cosi

8 Things on my Wish list…

1. Better economy
2. Car paid off
3. Time and nice weather to do yard work
4. More sleep
5. More time to play
6. New computer and printer
7. A bigger savings account
8. A MAN! :D