Merry Christmas!

I hope each of you had a very merry Christmas and are on your way to a fabulous new year!!!

We kicked off the holiday season this year with a visit to ICE! at the Gaylord National Hotel.  We've been in past years, but this year they set it up differently and completely oversold the tickets.  We waited in line for AN HOUR AND A HALF for a 10 minute walk-through exhibit.  None of us were very happy :( Also, it was raining outside and you had to walk through the rain to get to the actual attraction and because it was 9 degrees in there, the rain froze immediately upon entry.  We made the best of it though, and snapped a few shots:

A Love and Ryan, our next Disney Trip Victims (come on, FEB!)

Aren't we cute? (and COLD)

Joey's homemade Ugly Christmas Sweater.

TAXI!!!

 We also got to participate in several events such as work holiday parties (4, so far), Joey's Mom's annual Christmas Shopping Spree for needy families, and my favorite event- my book club meeting for December.  We each brought a book from our shelf or the store and wrapped it up and we did a White Elephant exchange for new books!  IT WAS SO FUN.  I ended up with a Disney World Mystery book.......... so obviously I'm pretty happy :)

Christmas eve we headed down the street to Joey's Parents (I'll be seeing my parents in a week for ALEX AND CORINNE'S WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) where we opened gifts and consumed adult beverages.  The "gift of the night" was Joey's gift to Jason- a blow gun.  Basically blow darts, and it came with everything from rubber practice darts to wood skewers to metal pointy blades that would absolutely maim/kill a Min Pin on contact.

Of course, the guys HAD to test it out. In the house.

Nobody got hurt thankfully.

Christmas morning, Joey and I opened gifts under our tree.  I snapped the below shot trying to be artistic but instead I captured a huge orb.  Joey says it's the light coming through the window but I'm not so sure.  I wonder who was sharing Christmas with us?

The Pins really enjoyed their presents- we actually caught Doc under the tree a few days before Christmas playing with his new ball.  Still in the wrapping and everything.  Hilarious how he managed to find the gift with his name on it.  Maybe he can read?? ;)

After opening gifts and watching the Disney Christmas Parade we headed down the street again where there was more blow gun action (and some roof action, when they were told to take it outside and a dart ended up in the gutter) and some delcious feasting!

We had a great Christmas.  Joey got a new watch (if you remember what happened to the last one) and I got a new iPad which I'm pretty excited about playing with!! I got to talk to my family and we will be seeing them VERY SOON at my brother's wedding.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!

Feelin' Frosty

Brrrr!!! The winter weather has arrived and I have to say, I was much happier posted up in the bar drinking cocktails under the palm trees Old Key West Resort...

But now that we're back from Disney and Thanksgiving is over and Winter has arrived (and bringing the holidays with it!), the trees are covered in ice, there's snow on the ground too cold for little Min Pin paws, and we even had a rare power outage :(

Today I just wanted to write a quick Ode to Grandmother Willow- you may remember her from other posts like this one.  The old woman has made it through countless storms including hurricanes.  But apparently the ice was a little more than she can handle:

Poor thing.
We'll be working hard to see if we can save her at all.  Either way, I'm looking forward to some great evenings around the fire pit this winter :)

Hope you are all staying warm and cozy.  Bonus points if you live somewhere where it's always warm and cozy.

~SG

Corinne & Co.

Hello friends!! Goodnesssss my last post was "Hello November" and here it is almost Thanksgiving. 

Joey and I are back from yet another wonderful Disney vacation.  We enjoyed some beautiful WARM weather, a nighttime half marathon, some early Christmas celebrating, and some realllyyy good eats (oh my... I think I need to get on that treadmill stat).

Since we've been back from Florida, we've been busy getting our lives back to normal.  We're also watching this little nugget for a few days:

This is Lucy.  Lucy's Mommy had a baby and she's hanging out with Doc and Chlo until it's time to go home!  Needless to say, it's been an exciting week.

Last weekend, Joey and I returned from Florida with one extra passenger.  Once we landed in DC, my sister Laura and I headed up to PA for the weekend so we could shower our sister-to-be, Corinne.

The theme was Corinne & Co. and everything was fabulous, darling!  We had brunch at the Shannondell club in Audobon, PA.  All the girls wore black and their finest pearls, while our bride wore the cuuutest white dress and turquoise heels!

Nametags my Mom made

Some of the presents

 

Favors: Water bottle in pearls, little wine bottle, and some candy in a dress

Cousin Jaime modeling the Banner

Can't wait for her to become a Davis

Cake and Mimosas. What more could we want??

Toilet paper brides.

Corinne with Timon and Pumbaa....

CUTEST SHOES EVER

Nice hat ;)

Alex showed up right at the end and I made him help cut the cake

Of course it was a delicious brunch, with lots of mimosas ;) and some fun games and prizes.  Corinne was appropriately showered and now the only thing left to do is... get married!!! The wedding is fast approaching and we couldn't be happier for the future Mr. and Mrs. 

Counting down the days!!!

~SG



Bride and Bridesmaids

Hello, November.

The Halloween decorations are put away and I'm trying to hold off Joey from racing down the basement steps and bringing up 5 crates of Christmas....

The weather has turned crisp and the leaves are crunchy under my feet.

Sigh. I love Fall.

First things First.  Gotta carve pumpkins! We made it to Oct 30th before we decided it would probably be a good idea to carve the pumpkins that were sitting in our kitchen.

I tried really hard but Joey is just better at this than me...

Bonus: check out our new(ish) dishwasher!

Super artsy photo edited with Snapseed

 

Then Halloween happened.  It was a Thursday and it was raining :( So we didn't get too many trick or treaters.  We didn't dress up, either.  But I went and pulled out some old costumes for the dogs.

Oh look! A Third pumpkin!!!

This past weekend, Joey went hunting again and I didn't have class for the first time in a month.  I really enjoyed relaxing around the house.  Saturday night, I went over to A Love's for a little Halloween get together.  Nobody could have predicted where the night would go...

Somebody brought face paint

A photo shoot ensued

Between the shenanigans and the DELICIOUS food, I'd call that party a success.

Bonus: I was able to get up and make it into DC for a 10K the next morning.  (The extra hour of sleep did not hurt either.)

What's on the docket for November???

-Our Disney trip is fast approaching
-Corinne's Bridal Shower!
-Thanksgiving (Duh!)
....and... I think that's it.

And I am really OK with that!!

~SG

MCM 2013!!!

This weekend was the 38th running of the Marine Corps Marathon.  Joey was initially registered to run, but after aggrivating his stress fracture from the last marathon during the Shamrock half this March, he decided to defer to next year.

My sister, Laura, flew up from Orlando, FL to run the race.  Joey and I (and Laura's boyfriend Chris) went along for the fun as well as to cheer on our friend Mike and help him out along the way.

The morning started bright and early with a 4:30am wakeup call. (Hey! It's better than 2:30am at Disney!)  We headed to the Springfield metro station where we met up with Mike and got our tickets and boarded the slowest moving metro train EVER.  It finally picked up speed after an agonizingally slow first 20 minutes.

We arrived at the Pentagon and walked with thousands of our new best friends over to the start area.
Security was TIGHT.  All bags were searched.  I heard at the expo, people were actually patted down and scanned.  I'm actually glad for that. I don't mind at all. When we got to the finish line at the end of the race, NO BAGS whatsoever were allowed.  I'm so glad we read up ahead of time and followed directions! I stuffed everything into my jacket pockets!

It was also FREEZING!!! It was sooo cold :*(
We did all the usual start line activities- wait in 45 minute bathroom lines, get confused about where to go, take stupid pictures, etc etc etc. 

 

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Laura and Mike, and me, Joey and Chris headed out past the start line to get a good vantage point for the starting gun!

BOOM! The Howitzer went off and the race began!

We scanned the crowd, watching the pace groups, and finally we saw Laura and Mike!

After they passed, we headed off to the Lincoln Memorial to post up at Mile 10-11.  We had some time to kill, but we didn't want to stray too far.  We watched the hand cyclers pass and finally, the front runner of the marathon.  He was FLYING.  He was way ahead of the other runners.  Slowly but surely, more runners started coming through.  We cheered and yelled encouragement.  I kept checking my phone waiting for the first splits to come through, but I guess the system was overloaded because I only got one person's 10K split all day :( (I was tracking a ton of people!).

My friend Teresa is a freaking speed demon and I got her 10K split (45 mins!) and knew to expect her soon.  Joey and I spotted her amazing American Flag shorts and Joey had to jump in front of her to get her to notice us.  (Sorry Kanye)  She lives in Colorado and is a Marine wife. It was so great to see her, even though she was totally in the zone and almost missed us.  I'm going to brag for her because she finished in 3:17!! HOLY CRAP. GREAT JOB T.

While waiting for Mike and Laura to run by, I was also noticed by two of my sorority sisters who were running!!! I didn't realize it was them until they had almost passed- I jumped up and started yelling anyway! It's great to know SO many people out there.  They both also killed it in ~4 hours. 

Since we didn't have splits, we had to base our whole day off of the pace groups.  We saw the 5 hour pace group and shortly after, there was Mike! Joey ran in to give him his first gatorade refill.  He ran with him for a bit and then it was back to waiting.

A little while after, Laura came by! She was looking strong.  She had been running the entire time and actually ended up running the entire first half before her first walk break.

After they passed, it was time to head over to the gauntlet at the Mile 17.5 marker (aka the dreaded Mile 18).  We actually had to cut through the course to get there, which I HATE.  I hate it when people cut through the course in front of runners. It's rude.  Joey had a genius idea, though.
 We were all dressed in running clothes anyway because we anticipated that we might have to run for a little while to help out our friends.  So we waited for a natural break in the crowd, and hopped into the race!! We crossed diagonally, basically running at speed with everyone else- sort of like merging onto a highway.  Please remember this if you ever spectate a race- do NOT cross straight across like a crosswalk. That will make people angry.  If you MUST cross the race course, merge in like you are a car into traffic.  And use your turn signal/look behind you. These people are TIRED. They should not have to waste energy trying to avoid your dumb a$$.

ANYWAY


We got to the gauntlet area and Chris and I went to a food truck because we were all STARVING (next time, we're eating breakfast).  We got hot dogs, sausages, pizza, soda... omg. It was amazing.
We posted up around 17.5 and waited for Mike to come along.  We finally saw him and Joey jumped in again and ran with him a bit, helping him refill his gatorade again and encouraging him.  Mile 18 is the hardest part of the marathon for most people. 

We waited for a while and then we saw Laura.  She was in tears.  Did I mention she did little to no training for this marathon?!?! She is CRAY CRAY.  Her knee was killing her and she was so upset and frustrated.  I jumped in and walked with her up to the medical tent where they sat her down and she had a chance to calm down.  We waited outside for a little and then suddenly, she popped out and had her game face back on.  She was so determined, I have to admire that.  She jumped back in the race and said she'd see us at the finish!

At this point, we had walked all over DC.  We headed to the nearest metro station and rode back to the start/finish area (7 metro stops. holy. mileage.).  When we arrived at Arlington Cemetary the Marines were turning people away who had bags or backpacks of any kind.  I was thankful for the added security.  We went in and posted up right before Mile 26.   I had a great time cheering on the runners who were about to accomplish their ultimate goal.

We watched for our telltale pace groups, and we were actually getting some splits by this time, so we were ready when Mike came along! He was tired and sore, but we screamed and made a scene and Joey actually went running along side of him (through the crowd, not on the course) yelling all the way through the last .3 mile to the finish line. 

 

Now it was just time to wait for Laura! We finally saw her, and she was ALL SMILES!! I don't know what happened between  miles 18 and 26, but she was happy as a little clam.  We screamed and yelled and she went off running into the sunset, er, huge hill that is the finish (terrible. just terrible).

 

After everyone collected their medals and goodies, we (slooowwlllyy) walked over to the metro- the line was terrible.  We decided to get lunch at Quiznos instead.  After lunch, we made it to the metro and after a really long day that started at 5am, we got home around 5:30pm. 

CONGRATULATIONS to all of my friends, co-workers, sorority sisters, fraternity big brother (Mike!) and sis (Laura!) on such a huge accomplishment.

<3

It's Fall Y'all!

Instead of titling this post as "Random Updates and Tid Bits of Information that you Probably Don't Care About" (which is what it is), I figured I'd get a little festive for ya.

1. Even though it's been in the mid-80's all week, it is really, actually FALL and I'm thrilled.  When it was officially September, I pulled out the "Fall" box which has all the autumn decor in it.  When it was officially October (this weekend), I pulled out the Halloween box and danced around to "Boo to You!" and nobody but the dogs was there to judge me because Joey was off hunting for opening weekend.

2.  I'm going back to school! (Sort of...) I'm getting a Certificate to enhance my knowledge at work.  So that means going to classes on Friday nights and Saturdays.  It's not my favorite thing to do (I've already freaked out a few times because I didn't understand which formula to use) but I am determined to pass with flying colors!

3. It's hunting season! Well, I don't care much, but Joey went out for bow season for the first time this year, and he got a doe! His Dad was suuuper proud of him, which of course is really cute.  Bringing home more deer meat meant that we needed to finish up last years, so we had deer stew for dinner last night.  You know? It's not too bad.  Think tender meat with potatoes, corn, onions, peppers, etc in a thick broth. Pretty tasty actually.

4. Currently Reading: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown I'm (impressively) still going strong with my book club.  I always wanted to be more of an avid reader, and being involved with the book (and wine) club has made it a fun and rewarding thing to do. (Read the book, Drink the wine. Simple.)

5. Disney in 1 month!!! We have (about) one month to go until our next Disney trip!!! We're heading down for the International Food and Wine Festival and the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  I have no goals for this race other than to finish because Joey and I are both still recovering from injuries sustained during marathon training (it's no joke, yo!).

6. The NFC East.  I just had to mention it.  If you are totally out of the loop: I'm an Eagles fan, Joey's a Cowboy's fan, and we live in DC.  But this year it doesn't matter. Because we all suck. And I hate to say it, but the Boys are the best looking team we've got.  And that's not saying much...

7.  Our Anniversary: Is coming up in a few days!  Three years! Woooo!

8. The Great Gatsby.  We read the book in school, we re-read it for book club, but I hadn't made it out to see the movie yet.  While Joey was away this weekend, the pins and I cuddled up with a blanket and some popcorn (to share, of course) and watched the latest version of the story with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.  I loved it and would definitely recommend it.

That's all for now.  I'll be back later this week (maybe) with a post about Joanna/Joe's wedding :-)

~SG

NASCAR!

Another September, another chance at Nascar tickets.  And why, why would we not take this chance?!

This year, we went to both the Friday night Nationwide race and the Saturday Sprint Cup Race.

One of Joey's fraternity brothers from George Mason was racing on Friday and the fraternity was actually sponsoring his car.  How freaking cool is that?!

He made the big time!

Gorgeous sunset w/paratrooper

View of the race track

Whee!

Saturday was the Sprint Cup race and Joey, A Love and I headed down to the track nice and early so we could have a few beverages before meandering around the trailers and trying to win free things such as hats, free samples of 5 Hour Energy, and cups.  Joey played a game where you throw a ball and try to knock things over and he got kicked out because he almost broke it...

We took pictures IN Clint Bowyer's car, which A Love was thrilled about, and bought Chik Fil A sandwiches to bring in with us.  One of the most awesome things about Nascar races (besides it being a redneck good time) is that you can bring your own food and drinks (yes, alcoholic ones) into the stadium with you.

Dale Jr. My hero <3

We had absolutely GORGEOUS weather.  The race was unfortunately, not too exciting. And by that I mean there weren't too many wrecks... near the end, the three of us decided to head back to the camp site where we Joey built a fire and we partied well into the evening.

Happy NASCAR Everyone!

Til next time, 

~SG