HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

TODAY IS THIS LITTLE COUGAR'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!



To clarify she actually isn't on the prowl for younger men (29 years of marriage to my dad takes her out of THAT running!) but she is a gorgeous 40 something year old woman! ;)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!

CHEERS to ONE of my favorite people in the world!

One who lets me call her 24/7 to vent, cry or tell stupid blonde moments to

One who has supported me 100% in all of my crazy life adventures

One who has imparted more wisdom and love and hope than anyone else

One who can't tell a joke for the life of her but always seems to have everyone laughing

One who has taught me incredible strength and courage

One who opened my eyes to the world of scrapbooking, which is now special hobby we share

One who taught me how important it is to keep my chin up through bad times

One who taught me to act instead of just dream

One who is "spur"

One who will stay up until 3 am or later to listen, support or help put final touches on a project

One who taught me what kind of wife to be

One who taught me that it is a good thing to "fight like a girl" and stand up for what you believe

One who believes me and supports me when I tell her about my dreams, angels and faith

One who I consider a best friend

One who most of all deserves a margarita and a vacation for her birthday!!!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU KNOW MOM! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Tea Parties, Art Museums and Farmer's Markets

This weekend Chris and I got out in the perfect weather and explored Washington D.C.! On Saturday we hopped on the Metro with intentions to explore the Smithsonian American Art Gallery. When we got off at the Smithsonian stop we walked out into the Capitol Mall and were surprised to see tons of people dressed in red, white and blue with signs. After asking around we realized it was the "9/12 Tea Party". We had seen clips on the news about the rally but I guess we didn't realize it was in the same area as we were going. We checked the tea party out for a while, of course like anything in politics there are some things you agree with and some you do not, but it was amazing to see freedom of speech in play. It is so interesting to be in Washington D.C. with all of the major political issues all around us. We kept expecting to see Forrest Gump and Jenny because it reminded us of the scene in the movie! We did make it to the Art museum but we only got to look at a small sculpture section because the museum was closing...we will just have to go back soon I guess! :)

Today we went to the Eastern Market which is a huge farmers/flea market in D.C. We didn't buy anything, but we saw a ton of eye candy! I was SO excited about all of the fruits and vegetables, especially the baby pumpkins because it means it is almost fall! My favorite season of the year!!! I can not wait fo the leaves to start turning and the pumpkins to be sitting on the front porch of people's houses...I love autumn! So, I guess today was a preview of that! I was also on the hunt for anything unique I could scrapbook with, but there was only one lady with a jar full of buttons, and she wanted $10 for a single scoop! Ice cream is less expensive!! Plus the buttons were only in gray and beige...so pretty bland compared to all of the fabulous colors of the fresh produce! I do plan on going back soon though and buying up some veggies! I hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did!

Weekend at Bernies (or Colties)

My brother Colt came "home" to his apartment where Chris and I are staying this weekend. He came home on Sat. night and left at 4 am on Tues. This will probably be the longest we get to see him before he deploys again in Nov. But at least we did get to spend some time with him!
The first night he was home I made him Italian Firehouse Soup, banana pudding and chocolate macaroons. He opened his birthday presents and we watched "Sufer Dude". It was wonderful to have down time with Colt because he is always running around trying to pack as many things into a few hours as possible. It's one of the reasons I love him, but it also makes me dizzy how fast he moves around! ;)

Colt and his presents! He was so excited about his Japanese Swords!

He deserved this!!!!

Colt treated us to a VERY YUMMY brunch buffet on Sunday, at a little place right by his apartment. From there we went to Old Town Alexandria, which is SUCH a fabulous place! It has a million little shops with everything from vintage clothes and funky kitchen gadgets to antiques and a specialty Christmas ornament store! I love going down there, Chris and I have gone a couple of times, but Colt knows some of the "local" places. We stopped at a place called "Union Street Public House" to have appetizers and wine before we went to the movies. Colt really wanted to see Harry Potter on IMAX, but Chris and I have not read the 6th book and didn't want to ruin it. So, we saw Inglorious Bastards. For some reason I have always been interested in WWII movies and that time period, so I liked the movie, although one scene was so intense I started crying...which of course I was made fun of for later! ;)

This is a picture of fabulous Old Town Alexandria! It doesn't come close to showing all of the shops!

On Monday we went to another great breakfast at a place called Bus Boys and Poets in Shirlington, VA. It was amazing, I had the "Neptune Benedict" which was benedict with crab cakes and eggs...who would have thought it would be AMAZING!! :) Our waitress told us about a theater production dress rehearsal of "Dracula" put on by the Synetic Theater that night. So we went back to Colt's apartment, got dressed up and went to that. It was only a run through but it was excellent, we are hoping to be in this area in October at least in order to see the actual production! We then made our way over to Georgetown, to a place called Tombs. They had yummy finger food, plus it was trivia night! Colt, Chris and my team was "The Chicken Strips" because that's what we were eating...originial huh?! We spent about an hour there before walking back to Colt's apartment to have dinner, at 12:30 pm. Colt packed up after dinner and went to bed because he had to be up at 3 am to leave at 4 am. We had such an amazing time with him as usual...and we miss him already!

Dressed up for Dracula and Georgetown!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER BEAR!

TODAY IS THIS GUY'S 27th BIRTHDAY!!

Today is my brother Colt's 27th birthday!! He is pretty much one of my favorite people in the entire world!! I am SO beyond proud of him!! He is currently training for yet ANOTHER deployment with the Marine Corps. so we don't get to have birthday cake with him today...but Chris and I get to celebrate with him this weekend!!!!

He is pretty much the cheese to Chris and my macaroni, the frosting on our ice cream cake, the honey in our chai tea AND the strawberry jam on our pb&j!!!! Yep....we love him THAT much!!!!

OH LAY OH LAY OH LAY OH LAY.....CHEERS WEENIE BOY!

WE LOVE YOU COLT!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Puggy Love

Happy September 1st!!

I SERIOUSLY can not believe that it is already the 9th month in the year! I told Chris this morning that in Feb. when we moved back to the states from Okinawa, I wanted it to be fall so I could put out our autumn decorations in the house that I KNEW that we would have by now! ;) I know God has plans for us, just sometimes they take a little longer than others! ;) It's ok though because I know once we do get a place that is ours I will be able to decorate it all the time! ;) Little suzie homemaker anyone?

I think the thing I am having the hardest time with as far as displacement is missing my puppies Our two puggies, CoCo and Kona are living with their Opa and Oma (my mom and dad) while Chris and I are out and about. I know they are doing better there because they are in a stable, loving place. In fact they have lived with their Opa and Oma longer than they have lived with us :( Stupid Okinawa! I am just missing my little bears. They are our fur babies. They seriously act like little humans, they seriously expect to be treated like people. CoCo always comes up and sits by us (actually up on a chair) while we are eating dinner. She doesn't beg, she just sits there as if she is invested in the conversation. Kona marches into each room she goes into like she owns the place, and wants to know why YOU are in HER room. They both also are their Opa's nappy buddies, and LOVE to take naps for hours with him if he lets them! I just love my puggies! Anyways, enough puppy talk! I know to some people I am totally weird when it comes to my dogs, but I come by it honestly!!

P.S. CoCo is the bigger one (she is supposed to be on a diet but Opa and Oma keep feeding her table scraps!) Kona is the little one!