Rematch Wanted!

I have to say, I love our Memorial weekend tradition of Duck Beach! Every year there are surprises, fun times, adventures, drama and well...SUN! 2009 was not a disappointment in the least. Friday adventures started early. To start any trip, we find the nearest (or most timely located) Chick-fil-a and grab a bite to eat. I love this tradition and must thank Fred for the introduction to my favorite fast food delight! Next is the Costco run. We would be lost w/out Kim. Seriously- the girl knows what is needed. We were wandering and guessing until she caught up to us. She walked in, delegated (with specific amounts) and the job was done in minutes! She's amazing!

We finished the drive (while texing fun thoughts between cars - what did ppl do before cells?) and unloaded everything into the house.


Friday night kicked off with a little glow in the dark football. I think we missed the point just a little. The ball wasn't 'glowing' so much as it was just a little lighter than the sand. BUT, our team rocked. There were a few insane catches and fun trick plays. One such play belonged to yours truly and I'll admit that if we were to review the play (in daylight), I may have touched the ball to the ground just a smidge before snapping it into my arms and rolling mid air to make the snag! As dark settled upon us it became increasingly difficult to see the ball once it left the qb's hands until it was w/in feet of you. So basically props go to our qb's for placement.

Saturday is V-ball day. Though it is not my favorite or best sport -Duck brings out the desire to play. Our team -- B.M.M.S. (Bumm Super P, Bumm Kim, Bumm Dani, Bumm Mike) had a great run and a great time playing together.



The vball lasts all day and by the end you are exhausted. Luckily I was able to jet for a little while and remove a portion of the sand that was clinging. When we came back to pick up Kim and Merc we found this creation...



We had many fun times throughout the weekend - for a little more sport- Kim and I decided it would be fun to play a little bball. 'Fun' was right until I was paired with a S.W.G. (short white guy) who didn't know girls could play (let alone want to admit that I could easily kick his trash. He was also half of Wade's size, so though I hated losing, I laughed just a little inside each time Wade made him look like a tool! Next day we had a rematch and though I had a much better teammate, we still lost. Shocker. Merc made me look good in some pics though -



And even though we know its a little funny, Kim and I always need to have our matchy match time. Usually there are 3 of us in the JAM but since one ditched to get a wedding dress (good call M) AS much as we missed...it was still a good time.


(some things tried were not so successful)

The only thing I wish I had from our trip is the video of me beating up Ben for putting crabs in our bathroom. Seriously? And I don't mean a love tap. Maybe its better that I don't have the video... and now the summer officially is here and I'm more than excited for it.

Play Hard!

Rising Tennis Star!

So last year my new passion became tennis! Its the best. It includes my favorite things. Sunshine, sport-o competition/fun, and a friend! You can't really play alone, right? So grab a pal and have fun!

Well, one chance warm day in February I decided a day off was acceptable and instead of going back to work after my b-day break, I spent the day with a new friend. This friend happens to be the most competitive person I've ever met...okay maybe not 'most' but definitely a little crazy about not wanting to lose. We decided it would be a great day to play some tennis. I pitched a little fit about not wanting to play on crappy courts so we tested out my hoods new courts. To die for btw!

The catch was that we had to hope her daughter would cooperate with us. She totally was the best 6monther ever! We were able to play for an hour plus. When we were finished, we realized she only became cranky bc she wanted to play... so welcome to the tennis world Addie. It's your turn...

Out of Touch

So it has been months again. I do this. Blog for a month straight, and then take a break for a while. Its catchup time, but shortened version and hopefully something worth reading!

Anyhow, last time I wrote was in December before the birth of Carmie, my cute little niece. My sister nicknamed her boulder since she has grown rather quick and well...babies are always a little on the pleasantly plump side! She is super cute, but I haven't visited since MLK day in January. Bad Aunt, I know! Here is a pic, but i'm sure she's totally different almost 2 months later.

In January, we began another sport season ---my favorite, Basketball. I'm fairly certain I am way more into this season of "church-ball" than I should be since it is supposed to be more about bonding as women and having a good time. Whatever! My team is awesome - I mean wicked awesome! Here's the thing. Everyone claims we are stacked. In a way, you could say we are. Take a group of 30 single girls, all respectable athletes (some way more than others) and split them into 2 teams. Its bound to happen... they are gonna rock! The other teams in the league are dealing with babymama's, old age, and simply being out of shape! Mind you those teams are better than ever before, but still. Its not our fault they are hurtin' for talent. Anyhow, say what you will, but the 2 teams from Colonial 2 are kinda beastly! Now, I will admit - my team is a little more hardcore than the other. We all show up, we all want to play as much as we can, and well...we're all totally into winning! Its fun just playing, but way more fun to win. And, our team is totally stoked to play together. We're all super tight and really just love being out there together. Plus, we have the best T's ---

We are 6-1 on the season and so far in 1st place (closely followed by DC2). We have controlled most games with an awesome 3-2 zone. One team had the right idea of how to stop us, but their ability to actually follow through with such a genius plan just wasn't there for them. Maybe they'll get another chance in the playoffs. They won't want to see us full strength though.

3 more weeks to go and hopefully all wins. Call us what you will folks, but you know you wish you were on our team!

Other news:

I just passed the big fat 2-8. I so never thought I'd make it this long. So many goals gone, so many new goals to hopefully meet. It was an awesome birthday. We went to VA Beach (another house organized by Kim Mah). It was an awesome weekend of goofing off taking random pics on the beach. It was freezing, but the games were worthwhile. Glow in the dark football, beach games w/ a big yoga ball, and so many other fun times. My friends are awesome. That's all there is to day! Best of pics...

Monday was a snow day! Yes, it wasn't a super strong snow, but it was enough to shut down all motivation to drive to work! 6 inches is a ton for DC! It was a great day. A lot of sitting on the couch watching So You Think You Can Dance Canada on VHS, yummy Panera for lunch, and lots of relaxing until bball later that night. That's right, it was clear by 9 so we played ball! Awesome day! We took a few goofy pics while playing (for 2 minutes) in the snow. The best is that Tasha and I did snow angels with full intentions of laying down, jumping up, and then running into our house to change since it was 3 feet away. Too bad we dropped our phones in the snow, got snow down our pants (who wears jeans to play in the snow anyhow?), and we couldn't stop laughing. We were soaked thoroughly by the time we made it in the house! Fun Day!

Well, hopefully I'll find more fun things to write about soon since I'm a total bumm and don't keep up--peace out friends!

Nothing to Blog About!

Well, I have had many things happen over the last little while. Like, once again - our awesome softball team made the playoffs! I struggled terribly in our last games and pretty much single-handedly threw the games! That's not very fun to write about.

I had a mishap with a speeding ticket, but thankfully I'm still driving and am not going to think about that any longer ---not fun to write about either!

I spend most of my free time at the gym - not that exciting, but I feel fabulous!

Oh- one bit of excitement! My sister is just about to have her baby...forced to have it tomorrow if it comes to that (and it appears it will come to exactly that). I'm so excited to have a little girl in the family! 1. They are so cute! and 2. hopefully this means my sister will let me steal my nephew for a weekend now and again! That would be fabulous!

Probably the only thing that I am SUPER excited about is Basketball Season! Every year- same thing! Stake ball comes and the competition gets fierce! It should be another excellent season. Hopefully C2A will rock it out this year and take the championship! We shall see! I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures about that.

Anyhow- that's all for now. I'll try to put up some fun pictures of the latest friend adventures asap!

Don't Change The Schedule!!

Okay, one thing that bothers me more than anything else right now....Schedule changes! Seriously people, my DVR is about to burst most nights as is. Now you go and change the nights on me? That's incredibly unfair. Its your fault that I'm being forced to give up at least 2 shows now. I guess 2 of 12 isn't too bad, right?

Fall television is in full swing. I have my:

Favorites:
- Heroes
- Pushing Daisies
- Grey's
- Bones
- One Tree Hill
- Private Practice
- Smallville
- Fringe

Feel guilty for watching so much trash:
- Gossip Girl
- 90210
- Prison Break
- Desperate Housewives

The newcomers to my playlist:
-The Unit
- NCIS

and honorable mentions go to all the others I just don't have enough time to watch, but will sneak in if possible.

This season is packed full of fantastic treats. I can't even begin down to list all of the positives about each show. That would just take too much time. However, in one word answers:

1. Best Plot - Heroes
- The world is going to destroy itself. Too many people with powers. Good turns bad. Bad turns good. Its all there. Blood, tricks, drama, romance, suspense! Love it!
2. Best Cast - Pushing Daisies
- Ahhhhh! The pie-maker needs to get over Chuck. Although I love that storyline- I love Olive even more. If not the pie-maker, someone else needs to come along for Olive. That girl needs some 'Touching.' I'm not so secretly praying that she gets more singing scenes as well. The underdeveloped Sound of Music throw back just barely dripped water in my dry mouth! Bring it Cheno!!!
3. Best Sets - Pushing Daisies
- Have you seen those things? Insanity!
4. Best Action Hero - Smallville
- Tom Welling as Superman. I cannot wait until the tights come about.
5. Hottest Guy- Smallville or Private Practice (although when Grey's has special dead-guy visits from Denny- they get #1)
- Tom Welling vs Taye Diggs - Okay, so on that comparison - its Tom. However, Taye has a special special place as well.

6. Hottest Girl - One Tree Hill - B. Davis is hot w/ bruises!
- Always looks good, always sassy, always Hot. Okay- so maybe Eva should be in the competition as well....

7. Dirtiest - Gossip Girl
- Kinda gross actually.

8. Show on which I want to see/hear people singing - Pushing Daisies (I know Private Practice has good ones too...but whatever -Cheno takes them all). See Above!

9. Slightly dull - Grey's ---- I pray you return to honor and glory in my #1 spot soon!
- I love MerDer, but seriously? Seriously- lets just have you get it on and be freakin' happy for once. I'm done with that part of the drama. and PUH-LEASE bring McKidd back! Yang needs to loosen up too!

10. A touch disappointing but still watching in hope that it gets even better - Fringe
- I'm not giving up on Pacey yet. Its growing on me!

11. Best Make-up - Private Practice.
- They ALL look good this year! California Glow I guess! Congrats to the make-up artists for their work...it can't be THAT easy.



Thoughts? Any other awesome show recommendations? Obviously I can squeeze them in somewhere......

Driving Arizona (Hello Jose!) - More food than a girl can ever handle!

Not long ago - shockingly with my lack of blogging time as of late- I went to Arizona! I did not take on this adventure alone! No, I went with the Mahster Trip Planner. The trip was awesome. Rushed, a TON of driving, lots of drinking, and way too much bad food! My kind of trip! Wait, I meant drinking water - don't go reading into things. Sheesh!

Anyhow, our adventure started with our flight- it was soooo early. Thanks to the fact that I've taken Ani to the airport a dozen times or so, she was able to pick us up at 5am and we were at DCA in plenty of time to see the sunrise....Ouch!

Dani discovered 'mountains' - I still call eastern hills Mountains, but these were definitely bigger and well....Uglier! Eastern mountains are so Green and alive. Western mountains look all dry and pointy! Now, just cuz I say Uglier, doesn't mean I don't love them just as much if not more than those I'm so used to seeing. Actually, Brown is my new favorite color! When you grow up in green country, it becomes boring. To tell the truth, for years I've noticed weeds and underbrush and just thought- these woods have become too green! Fall is my favorite season for a reason! Everything changes colors and then DIES! Maybe I should live in the desert.

Okay, enough about that. Anyhow- we took a few fun pictures from the air, and even came up with a fun game of 'keep the jet in the center' - its much harder than it sounds!

Anyhow, we took off in our fabulous gas-guzzling Jeep Liberty (which was pretty comfortable) - and headed to the Grand Canyon. We made a lot of stops along the way. Chick-Fil-A for lunch, Montezuma's castle, Sonic for drinks, and Sedona for the red rocks! We drove the route that took us through Sedona, that was a little strange, but awesome country side. I think we stopped at 3 lookout points...Loads of fun and pics!

We drove, and drove, and drove, and suddenly we were in more flat territory and were wondering when we would see the canyon. Its kinda crazy, you're driving along and then BAM! There's a HUGE Canyon on your right.... Seriously!!! Who saw that coming!? I didn't! I mean, I was anticipating something, but I do believe my heart skipped a beat or three when it just opened up into view! Wow!

We checked in and headed out for sunset! The walk was a little farther than we expected, but we saw many critters on the path...Deer in Az are HUGE compared to my little white tailed button bucks in PA. Still super cute though...their little, and by little I mean HUGE, ears! Too Adorable!

We scoped out our spot for sunrise, a cool little ledge that not too many people go out on apparently-I guess it wasn't as much of an adventure as we though...it was still fun though and made for great pics. Then we went to get food....I don't think we were hungry or anything- we only spend $48 for food which we thought we would use on a short morning hiking experience. That's right - $48. Okay- so in the long run, that food ended up getting us through all of our long drives, midnight munchies, and we had loads of fluids which were more than a must, but we may have taken the pamphlet just a tad too seriously when it read 'eat plenty of Salty foods and drink lots of water.'

That night I slept through the premiere of Grey's Anatomy and 5am came way too early, BUT we managed to get up and get the early bus to our sunrise spot! A large slow-moving cloud damaged our view for the initial moments of sunrise glory, but it finally moved and we were able to see some great colors and take some fun shots! We moved around some after that, and jogged maybe 30 steps up a slight hill...I about died! My lungs felt as if they were not getting any Oxygen at all... SAD!

We met our friend Rory at our next stop, and decided to spend our morning adventures with him rather than the unexciting trail hike we had originally set out to take on that morning. Rory was a cool guy- UK born but living in Kentucky, Rory told us of his many adventures and then treated us to breakfast! Can't beat that! [Again- you find us eating]


After checkout- we headed back to Phoenix...yes, another long drive! Remember though, we had loads of food and drink for the trip. Good times! Phoenix was surprisingly small to me, but not too bad. A stop at ASU (for some shorts), a visit with Dave, and a quick moment to relax - and we were off to see Blackbeard! A rather popular show amongst the LDS in Phx. It was quite good... 'If you wanna be a pirate!'

We tried to stay up talking with our friend, but I was unsuccessful. I finally gave in and literally did not wake until morning. Not even a little. I didn't even put on blankets I was so tired! Next day, I needed a workout. I was craving sports, but there were none to be played. Our guy pals didn't even have a football to toss around! So we walked....and walked...and jogged a little. That felt fabulous. Dave took us to TC Eggington - that little place rocked the house! I got the 'Piglet Special' Omlet. I did take away 2/3 of the Piglet within, but it was still not good for me! I'm sure.

Next it was off to Tucson (Tuck-sun). Long, Flat, Boring drive! It was good though. First time having In-N-Out Burger...not my favorite but tasty nonetheless. Our hotel was awesome (esp. for $50). The pool was small, but wet! And Matt caught up with us for some late afternoon poolside chatter! I miss that Guy! Then it was a quick get ready to go, a stop at a terrible bbq joint (food, yet again), and then a UofA Women's Volleyball game. It was a lot of fun, although the game went on forever and UofA tanked when it counted most.

Ice Cream, and then Bed - Finally!

Up with the sun, I went for a jog. I needed to work of at least a little of the mounds of food I'd been eating. It felt so good to jog without humidity! If I had been in shape- I could have run forever.

We went to church with 1 mission. To meet Jose! I'm not usually one for LOVING the visit to foreign wards, but we new we just had to hear the accent so humorously impersonated by Matt. Mission accomplished within moment of sitting in the chapel. Piano playing Jose (See yo-yo's videos for impersonation) gave us plenty of entertainment to get through the painful ward conference sacrament meeting! Tucksun's people were not very friendly. Do you think they knew we were mocking one of their own?

Post church -more food, a visit to the UofA bookstore (bought xl pants so I had something comfortable to wear), and we were back on our way to Phoenix for our flight home.

It has been settled in my head that I am not ready to move to Arizona. Not yet. I love the fact that you can get lost in DC. I love the fact that people are ACTIVE. I love that I can play sports every night w/ friends. I would miss that too much. However, I do really like Arizona, and could see me living there if I had a family!

Peace out- and happy border patrolling.

Batman- I have a warm fuzzy feeling for you!

I have this random/lame tendency to fall asleep during movies. I chalk it up to the fact that I rarely sit still, so put me in a dark room and in a seat where I can't really spread out--- doesn't that mean bedtime? I've made many-a-friend upset with this habit. Its strongest on Friday nights...come on now, who isn't tired after a long week? Truth is, I can't really help it. If I'm not completely into the movie or obsessed with its release, then there is a chance I could relax a little too much!

Regardless of this ability of mine, there are a few movies that warrant a LATE LATE viewing. Harry Potter being the #1. I've waited in huge lines prior to the 1st showing, just to see it. I'm not ashamed at all.

This weekend-Batman was another Midnight viewing that couldn't be missed. Although, it was the Friday at midnight, not Thursday Midnight showing. We figured it would be sold out for all other shows, and at the earlier viewings lame watchers would bring their poor children to scream, cry, and interrupt throughout. Anyhow- FANTASTIC! I wouldn't have understood quite so much without the help of my coworker Erika who explained the difference from the past 'comic book' movies to this 'graphic novel' rendition. The relationship between the Joker and Batman is best summed up in one of the classic funny lines delivered by the Joker himself. 'I can't kill you- you complete me!' - Classic!

In the spirit of all things Batman, the history channel had an awesome show about Batman and his Villain friends. Apparently they are the most psychotic of all evil characters in comics. They actually have certifiable mental diseases. Awesome! Before you see anything else...go see this flick! Its ridiculous! Mind you- the Joker is FREAKY! not like the usual. Its truly crazy!

Crushed our way to the Semi's

Who would have guessed? Remember how I thought we wouldn't even make the playoffs? WE DID!!! Shocking! Not that we were a bad team, by any means. We were quite solid, but we were in the toughest division possible. Coming in 4th place doesn't often make you feel as if you are star quality.

Anyhow- we made it to the playoffs. We won the first game on Thursday, solidifying our chances of playing on Monday- which came and we won 2 games that night- pushing us to Weds night. We won the first game of Weds night to play in the Semi's. Sadly, in the semi's our magic ran out and we just didn't have quite enough to keep up with Happy Hour as they were well on their way towards their own championship!

Overall- 5 wins in a playoff do-or-die run is pretty special. The other teams did not have to play as many to get as far!

A few special notes from the run:
1. We beat Triple Threat, who beat the NERDS in one of the craziest games ever earlier in the season. I was subbing and was about to be the first female ever kicked out of a slow pitch league. 3 dudes were tossed from our team, as well as 2nd base was tossed. Ump was drunk, as was Triple Threat. So, kicking their trash, quite handily at that, was wonderful. The NERDS thanked us for handing them their seats!

2. 3 of the final 4 teams were from out Tuesday -Red division! Woohoo---no wonder we were 4th!

3. Our guys rock!
4. The girls are all way better than we give ourselves credit!

5. Crush is my favorite softball team ever! Clique was pretty cool...but we lost a lot and it was way more stressful to get people to show up for sure!!

Once again- timing sucks!

I'm late again- no time to write, no super creative thoughts to ramble on about, and no super adventures...I'm sure in no time- this will come back to me.

Regardless, there is always SYTYCD during lazy days of summer. Although, I wouldn't call my days Lazy, by any means.

So- jessica/out Comfort/still hangin' on AND at this point -Kherington/Out. Why did she get so teenage *itch last week? Her 2-step sucked and the other dance wasn't hot either. Imagine if she'd been in Jessica's shoes for weeks now--she'd be in tears and maybe suicidal by now. You've been the golden child...just don't get on Mia's bad side...she'll get you!

Mark SNUCK by this week...he should have gone, Gev should have stayed. I liked both of their 'Final' solos better than the 'dance for your life' solos. Regardless...the two best PARTNERS were in the bottom. I don't care how cut Will, Twitch, and Joshua are...they aren't great partners....Okay, Joshua is! I'm just venting!

I'm out for now!

xoxo

SYTYCD 4 Top 12 - Katee and Joshua - Bollywood

Yes, so SYTYCD has completely taken over my blog. I have nothing else to write about at the moment. Other than-- GO CRUSH! We play our playoff game tonight- and hopefully can kill it enough to keep moving forward. Back to point- SYTYCD rules and its more fun to keep watching over and over again. If you aren't into it- you should be, for sure! I'll be writing my summary momentarily, but while I do that--please enjoy the best dance of the night (mind you- others were great, but i don't think any can match the effort of Katee and Joshua).