100 Day Challenge - Day 79

 Underwater camera. Yes, I'm wearing sunglasses in the pool.

Day 79 - A picture of you in the water.

100 Day Challenge - Day 77

Day 77 - A picture of you and friends making silly faces.

 Myrtle Beach 2009. Senor Frogs dancefloor.

100 Day Challenge - Day 69

Day 69 - A picture of a crazy night out.

 I'll leave out the incriminating evidence. But this was just the start...

100 Day Challenge - Day 49

Day 49 - A picture of you and your best friend(s).

100 Day Challenge - Day 44

Day 44 - A picture that describes your life.

100 Day Challenge - Day 40

Day 40 - A picture of your friends.

100 Day Challenge - Day 37

Day 37 - A picture taken at school.

 Richie and Brad. Senior Year of high school. Circa Spring 2004.

100 Day Challenge - Day 31

Day 31 - A picture of food you made.

 Sweet potatoes made for "Friendsgiving 2010." Memaw's famous recipe.

100 Day Challenge - Day 27

Day 27 - A picture of your favorite night.

 I've had a lot of favorites. But most recent...

ACC Championship Game. Charlotte, NC. December 2010.

100 Day Challenge - Day 10

Day 10 - A picture of someone you do the craziest things with.

 College roommates.

100 Day Challenge - Day 5

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory.

 My surprise 18th birthday party. So much potential. So little to worry about. With all the people I cared about the most at the time.

Thankful Thursday: Thanksgiving Edition

On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for: (in no particular order)

My Pop. 99 years and 9 months. God-fearing, hardworking, lovable, funny. My inspiration.
My Momma. Best friend. My  hero.
My Dad. My rock.

My boyfriend. My love.

My nephews. Teach me new things every time I'm with them. Let me experience the world through their eyes.
My extended family. Who love me like I'm their own.

My high school friends. My first understanding of true friendship.
My college friends, who have become my "adult" friends. My confidantes. My grounding force.
My Riva friends. My world travelers. No matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, it's always the same.
My faith. My health. My job.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Run, Forrest, Run

This weekend Kenny came up to run in the Marine Corps Marathon. He started training 15 weeks before the marathon, his longest run being 21 miles. 

He and his friend Rob came up on Thursday night. I picked them up from the airport and we went over to Burke because they were both staying @ the Prindle's. On Friday morning, the guys, Christy and I drove into DC to drive the route a little bit. Our intention was to drive the whole thing, but after it took 1.5 hours to drive 6 miles (for being a Navigator by profession, Kenny wasn't being a very helpful navigator), I threw in the towel. We drove to the Convention Center where they had to register, get their packets, shirts, etc. After that the next day and a half was spent relaxing.

Sunday morning, Rob and Kenny were down at the race by 6 am. Richie, Christy and I left Burke around 7:30 and drove to my townhouse in Arlington. Parked there, walked to the Ballston metro and took that to the Smithsonian metro stop. We walked from there to the Lincoln Memorial (it's farther than it appears) to see them @ mile 10. We each handed Kenny, Rob and their friend Tim an open banana and gatorade. We then walked the few feet to Mile 16, where we waited for awhile to see them again. We handed Kenny (the other 2 didn't see us) another banana and gatorade and then made the trek back to the Smithsonian station. 

We met up with Natalie (her cousin was also running), saw them @ Mile 19 and then hopped on the Metro to go to the finish line. We got off @ the Rosslyn station to see them, and because of the powers that be, weren't able to actually see them cross the finish line. We did make it down to the area where they were and were able to give them congratulatory hugs.

I didn't manage to get any pictures of him running since I was focusing on handing off the food and drink. But we did a photo-shoot after the race. 

The BFF's

Rob and Kenny

Kenny and his parents

Kenny with people from his squadron

I'm so proud of Kenny, accomplishing a marathon is no easy feat. He did however say that this was his first and his last...better him than me.

That's why you play the game...

This weekend was the Navy vs. Notre Dame game at the New Meadowlands in NJ. Navy was the 7 point underdog. Navy ended up winning 35-17. And that my friends, is why you play the game.

We left mid-morning from Arlington. Jen, Susan and I crammed into the backseat of my dad's car. We managed to convince my dad to stop at Chik-fil-a for lunch...which was no easy feat considering my dad is all about convenience on road trips. And the CFA did not include a gas station. But, because he loves, us...he stopped so we could have our favorite meal.

Us, in the backseat. Jen assumes her normal position of not facing the camera.

After arriving at the hotel, we took a little nap and then got ready to go out to eat. After our photo-shoot (since we were dressed up nice), we headed to Panicos. The food there was super good, one of the best caesar salads I've ever had and the Lobster ravioli was delicious.

Our photo shoot in the hotel room

After dinner, we headed to the hotel bar to watch the Yankees lose (sorry Jen) and have a few adult beverages. Calling it a night after my dad and Uncle Joe finished their 2nd drink.

The next morning, we got up and ate breakfast as we were all getting ready for the game. We made the 45 minute drive to the stadium and walked from our not-so-good parking spot to the stadium. The New Meadowlands is really nice, puts Fed-Ex to shame. But that also might be the fact that we were in the club section for this game, and the last time I was at Fed-Ex was on my own dollar...so I was in the nose bleed section.

Anyways, after figuring out where our section was, we walked around and looked at all our options for food. My dad was nice and got my mom cotton candy (her favorite) and she shared with with me, Jen and Susan. One of Jen's phobias/dislikes is the way a cotton ball feels. Apparently, cotton candy feels very much like a cotton ball so Jen wanted to eat the cotton candy, but didn't want to touch it. Susan, passing the ultimate friendship test, fed it to her. We got many a looks from our giggling and the actual feeding. After stuffing our faces, we went to our seats to cheer on the Midshipmen. The first quarter was kind of nerve wracking, but then we realized the Navy came to play and Notre Dame not so much...so all in all it wasn't that stressful of a game. Navy ended up winning 35-17.

At the game

After our commute back to the hotel, we took a nap (shocking, I know) and then got ready for dinner. We ate at Tula in downtown Brunswick, next to the Rutgers campus. Once again, it was really good food. I'm always amazed that my dad finds these restaurants in places we've never been before that are actually good. His secret, he says, is Open Table. I'll have to try it the next time I go somewhere and need a dinner recommendation. After our delicious dinner, we once again made our way back to the hotel bar. Things went down hill in the conversation and we (meaning the younger folk) had to explain some nasty terms to the older folk. Kind of awkward, yet hilarious. It definitely made me appreciate my family (blood and extended) and how lucky I am to get along with them and enjoy their company.

All in all, such a great weekend!

Busy Weekend

Friday was Richie's Birthday but he also had to work. He works at our old High School as a security officer. So one of his duties is going to the football games to make sure those crazy kids stay in line. We joined him, and ended up posting ourselves at one end of the field for pretty much the whole night.

Going back to my old high school is so weird and definitely brings back nostalgia. I just look at all the kids who think that every bit of drama in their life is important. I remember those days and kind of wish I could go back and tell myself that it will be okay. That in 7 years I won't even remember who went to Homecoming, and who got to choose where we ate dinner. I'll just have vague memories of the good times I had with friends.

On Saturday, I went to Puppy Kindergarten with Christy. We were standing in the little gated area, letting the puppies play and get their energy out. All of a sudden, something flies @ Christy's shoulder and it hit her really hard. I was standing next to her and still heard it bounce off her. We both look over @ the guy standing across from her, thinking he had turned up with a slingshot to throw acorns at people. He was grabbing his head though. A murderous squirrel had thrown an acorn from high up in the tree, it hit off this guy's head and smacked Christy right in the shoulder. They'll probably both have bruises. But it was so funny! I had to try and contain myself, because the "adults" there did not think it was as funny as we did.

After driving back to Arlington, I went with Susan and Sarah to get our nails done. Came home, showered and got ready to go to Oktoberfest. The German Embassy hosted an Oktoberfest like shin-dig with good food, German entertainment and of course beer. 

I do have to say that the Embassy was not at all like I would expect. When I think Embassy, I think something that looks like the Capitol building, or a museum. This actually looked kind of like a high school gymnasium. But the food was really good, the beer was even better and we of course shook our groove things on the dancefloor (once the DJ came). So all in all, a good experience, I had fun and I'm glad I did it but I'm not too sure I would do it again.

Sunday morning, I got up (too early for my liking) and headed over to Aunt Sue and Uncle Joe's for some Pumpkin Patch time. We (read me and the kids) got to go down slides, go through the corn-maze, take a hayride, pet some farm animals and get pumpkins. I love making memories like this with my nephews, and I honestly can't wait to have kids of my own so I can start making family traditions with them :)

Better Late than Never

So I promised a post on the Boise State game last week. But to be honest, I've been really disappointed in Hokie football, so I put it off for a little bit longer. But I realized that the game was about football, but also about friends and memories. So I'll focus on the positive for now...

I spent the night over @ Susan's the night before to make carpooling and getting everything together easier in the morning. After we packed the coolers and got everything and everyone together, we made a quick trip to the grocery store for some ice and pasta salad.  After realizing one store didn't have it, Susan had to leave me and her brother to finish doing the ice while she went on the hunt @ another grocery store.

After securing the pasta salad, we drove to the boy's house and unloaded the cars and loaded everything onto the bus. Our friend Colin had rented a charter bus for us all, 57 of us, and Susan (with me as an assistant) were in charge of the food and other necessities. After some stalling as we waited for other people (and drink consumption @ noon), we all piled onto the bus and headed to Fed-Ex.

On the bus, with our "bus buddies"

After a quick bus ride, there was little traffic, we pulled into the RV lot @ Fed-Ex. There was some confusion as to where our parking spot would be. We were under the impression that it was really close to the stadium, so we didn't put anything out because we thought we'd be moving in an hour and a half when the other parking lots opened @ 4. So we amused ourselves by playing beer pong, cornhole and 'shoulders.'

Tailgating time

Colin soon discovered that if we were to go to the parking lot we had a pass to, it would've been farther away, so we decided to stay in our place and put everything out. It was like a feeding frenzy, I barely got my hand out of the way while opening something before someone would stab a fork in it.

After everyone was fed, it was about time to actually start packing things up to head into the game. We don't mess around with missing the first part of the game. You have to be in the stands in order to jump to "Enter Sandman." So, we packed up everything and made our way to the stadium.

Inside the game

The band came on and did the typical formations, but no one was paying attention. You could feel the anticipation, waiting for the team. When the opening cords of the song started, people started screaming and then 73,000 started jumping. It really was like Christmas morning...

We all know how the game went. We played like crap. We got the lead. We blew the game. And I was a sad, sad girl...but again, other than the actual results of the game, it was an amazing time!

Love my Hokies, win or lose.

Kenny's Promotion

Doing the Oath

Putting the boards on

Kenny got promoted to Lieutenant this weekend, which is a big promotion. We went down to the Navy Memorial in DC for the ceremony (which only took 5 minutes). Mr. Prindle (who is also in the Navy) gave a quick little speech, and then did the Oath with Kenny. After doing the Oath, Kenny's Mom and I put his new shoulder boards on for him.

Charlie, Heather, Mr. and Mrs. Prindle, Grandma, Kenny, Me, Brad and Jeff

Me and Kenny

The boys :)

We took a few minutes to do some pictures and then headed over the Penn Quarter Tavern for dinner. The place was a sports bar, so it had a good atmosphere. We got to sit outside and with the nice weather, it was a beautiful evening. We got to watch Jacksonville State beat Ole Miss and I got to eat the tater tots (which were SO good!). 

So yay for Kenny getting promoted, I'm so proud of him! :)