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Eric's rack of beer at the Newes From America Pub

At the Leeside in Oak Bluffs, waiting for the ferry

John Belushi's grave in Vineyard Haven

Matt and Eric after dinner at Atria

Martha's Vineyard

Beach.

Beer.

Cape Cod Potato Chips.

Perfect.

um....yeah...been slackin' a little

Well, I apologize for the lack of posting in the...oh, last 6 or so months. Oops!!

We've been very busy lately. Emma started pre-school in September. She absolutely loves it and is in a small class of some really great kids. She goes two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday, for 3 hours. I love having a few hours twice a week to run errands, go to the gym and get things done around the house. Emma is learning so much in school! She can now count to 30, and she no longer includes 'eleventeen' as a number! She has started writing letters, so far she can do an 'E', an 'M' and a 'W'. Emma has also perfected the temper tantrum. She can rock a good blood curdling scream anytime she doesn't get her way...typical. She's also becoming even more of a character, if you can believe that! She is so funny and has us laughing constantly!

Emma on her first day of pre-school!

Also in September, Jessica (my best friend) moved back into our spare room. We love having her live with us and of course, the rent money is a bonus! She is currently in culinary school and is always bringing home yummy treats...especially homemade bread, my weakness!

Fall/Winter brought lots of sniffles, along with the SWINE. Yes, Emma and I had the swine and were down and out for about a week. It was absolutely awful and I don't wish the swine on anyone! Luckily Eric never got it and was able to take care of us, as well as my mom who helped out too.

In December my mom and I took a trip down to San Francisco for a good friends birthday. Sydney used to babysit me when we lived in California. When she first started watching me she was 9 and I was 4. She turned 30 this year and her sister and a few friends threw her a fabulous birthday party. We had a great weekend catching up and celebrating the big 3-0. Shortly after returning from CA I got a phone call from her with BIG NEWS! She was accepted to UW's nursing school and is moving up here in April. I am so excited for her arrival and thrilled to have another awesome friend so close by.

So, that's pretty much the catch up on all that has been happening with us! One of my New Year's Resolutions is to update my blogs more often. Hopefully I can follow through with that, wish me luck!

Let's just get the laughter out now before you continue reading....

Better? Ok. Yes, I bought these and yes you're reading it correctly. It does in fact say TOENAIL. However, I won't be using the flower art that came with. I am going to be sandal wearing all weekend (glorified camping at Sun Lakes) and don't have time to get a pedicure, let alone slap a coat of pain on and wait for it to dry. So yesterday at Target I threw these bad boys in the cart and will most likely apply them in the car on the way to said camping trip. Check back next week for my review!

SBUX drive thru

A few weeks ago, two days in a row, as I was driving to the morning walk I stopped at Starbucks for a breakfast smoothie (and blueberry muffin for the little kid in the backseat). I chose the Lake City one as it was on my way, and the right side of the street. Both days I drove through the same girl was working the window. That first day she was super nice and chatty and I left feeling pleasantly uplifted. The second day she remembered me and was even more chatty, telling me that it was her birthday and how excited she was to celebrate with a night of karaoke. Something about that conversation and how genuinely happy of a person she was left me feeling like she had completely made my day. She put me in such a great mood with her upbeat attitude and the rest of my day was actually better because of my brief morning encounter with a friendly barista. Do you ever have those moments, when one short meeting or even a smile from a stranger just makes you feel happy?

Our Summer In Photos, part four

REI Photo Shoot

In July, Emma was chosen to be part of the winter REI catalog. We went down to the REI headquarters in South Seattle where they shoot all of their products and Emma got to be a diva for the day! And diva she was! She asked for water and wouldn't drink it until she had a straw! Uh-oh!! These photos can also be seen on the REI website.

Our Summer In Photos, part three

Emma's new 'Big Girl Bed'

In July we were lucky enough to get an awesome deal on a super cute twin bed for Emma. We hadn't originally planned on getting her a twin bed, she was doing great in her convertible crib, but we (ok, me) decided that laying with her at night to read stories was getting a little cramped and a bigger bed would be nice.

Our Summer In Photos, part two

Girl's Night Out

Jessica invited me along to help celebrate her friend Taylor's 21st Birthday. We met up at the Red Door in Fremont and had a blast! Although I didn't take many pictures, I did get a few of Jessica and the birthday girl taking shots...lovely!

Jessica and the birthday girl, Taylor

Washington Apple shots

Jessica and I

Our Summer In Photos, part one

Norm's Trivia Night

July 2009

Eric and I have been going to Norm's since December 2nd 2005, the night of our rehearsal dinner. That's right, we are so awesome that we hosted our rehearsal dinner at a bar, more importantly, a bar that allows dogs. A dog bar. For the first year of being married we would go to Norm's every month on the 3rd, our anniversary. Once Emma came along though our monthly outings became sporadic and then non-existent. But we still love Norm's and go there whenever we can (afford it!). Norm's does a trivia night every Thursday so we decided to meet up with some friends and bring Emma long. She had so much fun and didn't want to leave- as you can see by the last photo!

Jessica and Emma

Jessica and I

Two Teams

(Left, Jeff and Clint, Jessica, Me, my mom and Bill)

Emma was not a happy kid when she had to go home!