This month....

Can you believe it's almost the end of June already?? I guess that means it's been several weeks since I posted anything, but I am finding it hard to document our recent activities with NO CAMERA! I have always been the picture taker in the group and unfortunately that makes me the annoying one who is always yelling at you to turn and smile, and then tell you to smile better on the next one and try not to make that weird squinty face and can you please tilt your head up to avoid the chin rolls? So not having a camera for the last 2 months has totally sucked. Plus, this blog is a nice way to look back and see what was going on in our life. And according to the lack of pictures, we were very bored. But, here's whats been happening and sorry for the written update, but this is more for me to look back on than for you!

Pool: Opened up the pool the weekend we got back from Crunk. The backyard is good to go, the grass survived the winter and apparently grows successfully with rocks instead of soil. Joe set up the new shed we got for free off of CL (high five Mike). I am very proud of my little basil plant that I nurtured from just a little seed and I hope to eat it with some tomatoes and mozzarella very soon! I planted two topsy turvy tomato plants for the first time, but was very disappointed to learn that I will not be seeing any tomatoes until September. I am a tomato addict and I need my summer fix NOW!

Beach: we went to OC for a few days with family. Joe and Kev were able to come for the weekend and Steph and I stayed till Tuesday. It was a really fun weekend.. thanks Mom and Dad! Mom and I walked 3.5 miles every morning and I completed my 20 miles by the end of June goal super early! On one of our walks, I ran into The Kite Loft to grab a small little cheapo kite to fly just for fun. After sunset is my favorite time on the beach and I thought it would a cool thing to do on the last night. There was a super cute butterfly kite for $16 that I was eyeing up and then Mom found a $50 trick kite that she convinced me I absolutely needed. She said she would split it with me, but I was the only one with any money!!! She must have learned that trick from me as a teenager. Anyway, the kite ended up being super awesome and everyone mastered the loops but Mom. She has many talents, but kitecaptaining is not one of them.




Father's Day: We had both of our families over for lunch today to celebrate our Dads. It's always been easy to host both of our families together for holidays and dinners, which we probably take for granted. It's been 12 years if you can believe it since that first time the Iskows came over to take pics of me and Joe on Prom Night and met my family for the first time. In honor of this special day, we thought we would let our Dads battle it out to fix the bathroom light that stopped working this week and the hot tub which wasn't cycling correctly. All kidding aside, I don't know what we would do without our Dads. They know so much about EVERYTHING in our house, cars, and yards. I couldn't even begin to make a list of all the projects they have graciously helped us with over the years and multiple houses:) Thank you Dads and we were happy to celebrate you today!!

Crunk XII

We went to Deep Creek Lake over Memorial Day Weekend for our biannual Crunk at the Creek trip. We stayed at "The Good Life" this year, a smaller house than normal, but it was a smaller group this time. We had 18 people and our trips usually range from 20-26. We had 3 nights to party, dance, laugh, and do ridiculous things that only happen at Crunk! We had a spaghetti dinner, tacos, and chicken/pork/veggie kabobs. Steve brought a 100 ft slip n'slide that we soaked with water and dish soap. We competed in Beer Olympics, played poker, golf, and watched our video power hour. We always have a theme night and this year was called "Top Secret". Usually we have plenty of time to create awesome outfits and people go ALL out for these themes. But the trip just snuck up on us this year and all of the sudden it was 2 weeks away and we had no theme. So what we did was pull names out of a hat and you were responsible for dressing your selected person. There were no rules, just whatever you wanted to dress them in! Most people included pieces from previous crunk outfits which was easy to put together in a short amount of time and cheap! I always have a better time at the spring trips because we can be outside almost the whole time. And the weather was HOT! Joe and I went swimming in the lake for a little bit before an army of gigantic spiders on the dock attacked the entire group. I have never seen grown adults so scared before in my life. Here are some pics from our weekend! I haven't gotten a new camera, so I was totally dependent on other people for pics, which many of them have not posted to the Crunk account yet. Move it people!!

Lindsey, Misty, Katie, and me on the first night.

Mark, Jim, Dorsey, and Matt.

Jim created some custom made scoreboards for beer olympics and beer pong.

Group shot from theme night!

Steph made Chris a Teenage Mutant Turtle outfit and her cup looked just like her!

Mike in spandex, Misty in sparkes, me in polka dots and fishnets, and Kevin in fiesta wear.

If you are reading this, please take the time to comment on what you think about there being a BEAR in our front yard!!

This is the day after theme night and Matt continued to wear his hat, wig, and carry his leopard print purse ALL DAY! It was pretty awesome until something awesomer happened... he changed into an adult onesie!

This is the view from our deck. It happens to be overlooking exactly where Mike and Emily are getting married in September! The two houses you see are where family and the bridal party will be staying and they are going to get married in the backyard, which you can't see.

We tried to get one nice picture. At first I thought it was a shame that Misty's "Ho fo Sho" cup was in the background, but it wouldn't be Crunk without something like that behind us.

Emily and me on the last night trying to summon the Crunk energy!

I think I needed to borrow some of what Joe was drinking!

1

1 more nightshift
1 more day to CRUNK.....

Uhhh...

My best best best friend Erin, who is very upset at me for leaving nightshift was reading this blog and very nicely pointed out how I misspelled the word "Poured" in my Kentucky Derby post (and by nicely, I mean doubled over laughing and called me stupid). I spelled it "Pored". This is very embarrassing for me because I literally just sent an email to some people bragging about my vocabulary score on an online quiz. And I put PORED in all caps. Uhhh. I blame this error on nightshift.

Quiet Waters Park

On Sunday we wanted to go for a bike ride, so Mike and Emily suggested Quiet Waters in Annapolis, which I have always heard of, but have never been. The bike trail was about 6 miles, but totally shaded and with lots of places to stop and look around. We rented a paddle boat, which sounds like it would be a good time, but it was miserable! Don't ever rent a paddle boat, no matter how much fun your friends tell you it will be! It was harder than peddling a bike up a mountain while lugging a backpack full of rocks. After a nice long workout and exploring the park, we feasted at Fuddruckers. Which is ironic since the last time we ate there was after our first 5k. We like to work out and then soothe our aching muscles with ground beef I guess.

*this is just a reminder to myself when I look back on this picture to remember how Emily decided to get onto this fallen tree:) And in the future to remember to assist her should we ever go horseback riding.

Another Samsonite Blizzard album cover photo shoot. But I don't know why we even bother anymore since they haven't played together in months!

I think I mentioned how much we like jumping action shots.

I really did used to play volleyball and jump occasionally.

What is so funny Emily?

Wedding

We went to Jason and Amanda's wedding this weekend. Jason and Joe were roommates at Salisbury for 3 years. Joe and Bryan were co-best men and both gave great speeches. The reception was at Savage Mill, which was a really cool place and even cooler place for an after party!

Since my camera broke while we were in New Orleans, here is the one picture I have of me and Joe together courtesy of Holly's camera! Thanks Holly!

Enjoying the open bar.

Pretty ladies: Lindsey, Emily, and Steph. Notice Steph's cute braid and curled hair. She came straight from school with perfectly coifed hair...so jealous.

And I am behind them still enjoying the open bar.

We take a lot of pictures together, but we usually don't smile at the exact same time! Yea for us and Mike's inflatable flash attachement!

A horse is a horse of course of course

Joe and I biked 14 miles today and found a horsey friend along the way. I think he is wishing he was racing today at the Preakness. He galloped right over to the fence to say hi, but it's probably cause I am wearing red and he thinks I am giant apple. I look scared of him, but he licked my arm and it was gross.