they came!!!

this shouldn't surprise you but my parents were really here. these are the only pictures that i can get to work and it is making me so mad!!!! there are some great ones. so anyway, the parents came on wednesday and i picked them up at the airport and we went to dinner. yummy indian. then we went to hang out at my pad because we were tired. mark came over to meet elv and dave. they liked him. on thursday, i had to work so elv and dave hit the city and went on the tour mobile and saw the delights of our nations capitol. then we met at my casa and went to dinner with mark and ben. on friday, i took the day off and we went to arlington cemetery. then we went to the supreme court and to several smithsonian institutions and to iwo jima. fun. we were tired. on saturday, mark joined us for adventure saturday and we went to williamsburg. this place "did not turn my dad on". he was not a huge fan of colonial times. so we went to jamestown. also not a huge fan but he was a trooper. then we decided since we had come this far, we might as well go to virginia beach, so we did and it was great. we didn't have swim suits but it was still a good time. then we drove and drove to get back home and sleep. on sunday, i had a meeting for church so the parents got up early and went to the mall and then we met for church. after church we went to the temple and on a drive and then we came home and i made dinner and we played games and they packed and then early monday, i took them to the airport. it was a whirlwind of activity and so much fun. they were easy guests and became experts at the metro! love them.

hairball

this shouldn't surprise you but i came across this in my camera. hahaha. mark and i have such sweet hair after watching a movie and nice eyes that react to the light funny. mark is going to kill me for this post but i couldn't resist letting you see how sweet my hair is after a blow dry and no flat iron. don't be too jealous.

great falls

this shouldn't surprise you but the other day, mark and i went "hiking" in great falls national park. it was so bloody hot but still very pretty. that frothy stuff in the water? just human feces mixed with other things. they had an informational sign all about it in the visitors center. blech.

this is us posing cute and cheesy. i am neither of those things but mark is both cute and cheesy. ha ha. j/k.
mark calls me maria when i get mad and says that the red comes out in my hair. he tried to document it with a picture but i am not buying it. no red in sight.

look who's the pissy one in real life.

on our "hike" mark pointed out this bottle and he said, i bet that is pee and so i dared him to smell it......and HE DID!!!!! it was disgusting and i gagged........a lot.

then, he pretended to drink it because drinking pee is always funny. i laughed and gagged.

great times at great falls. remember how i said it was bloody hot? well i had a wee bit of back sweat and then we saw a lady with a whole lot of back sweat and so mark decided to pour water down my back "to cool me off" but he laughed a little too hard at the similarity with back sweat woman so i figured out his evil plan and i will spare you the pictures from that. maria came out for sure though and mark could not contain his laughter.

hi so polo

this shouldn't surprise you but here on the east coat, we are pretty high society (hi so) so we like to watch games that portray that. like polo. horses and rich people and alcohol. what more could you want?
we braved a torrential downpour and a lightning storm to watch this match.

the girls: anne annie and i

the boys: russ, mark, ben and davethe couple: nate and janae

when i was paraplegic.

A HUMAN DRESSED AS AN ANIMAL!!!!!!!!!! EEEEK!!! WHY??? OH THE HORROR

but my very favorite part was russ's moves to wyclef's "perfect gentleman" and the fact that he knew all the words. go EQ presidente. Just 'cuz she dances go-go It don't make her a ho, no Maxine, put your red shoes on We going to the disco We gonna elope to Meeeexico Called up my mama, said I'm in love with a stripper, yo

piracy

i think that all you need in life is a friend that will be a pirate with you in a busy restaurant.

thanks dave-pirate friend. arrrrrrgggghhhhh

mjarn

this shouldn't surprise you but this is a shout out to my best girl in all the world. she had her birthday over the weekend and since i am not a weekend blogger, this is a little late. mjarn is my best sister in the world. if i think back on my life, i don't think i would be who i am without her in my life. love her. she is the best mom and her kids are the loves of my life. she always tries to do the right thing and she is damn funny. i look up to her in many ways and am so glad that i have her in my family forever. once upon a time, she taught me how to swear, told me santa was not real, taught me more about illegal substances than i ever cared to know, made me want to be a clogger.it seemed cool because she was doing it and was good at it. turns out, i a not quite as coordinated as she is. i was the envy of all my friends because she was such a cool big sister. she was always fun to be around. she was the "cool" older sister and she was pretty good about letting me hang around. thanks mjarn.there are many embarrassing stories i could tell you about her but since it is her birthday, i will hold back. i love you marn and am so glad you are my only sister and i don't have to share you with another. happy birthday.

hahahahahaha

this shouldn't surprise you but i was rad at 16. i just got this picture in an email from my linnea friend. she suggested i post it to my blog. well when i opened it, i had to laugh so i thought it might be funny for all of you as well. it is a tiny bit sad though because i think i am 16 in this picture. look at those GLASSES!!!!! why did no one tell me? also my retainer. and that bandanna. what the h was i thinking???!!!! it is a wonder i was not more ridiculed in high school and also i totally thought i looked good!!! oh man, make fun all you want. i deserve it for ever looking like that!

band battle

this shouldn't surprise you but a few weekends ago, we went to the marriott ranch for battle of the bands. it was a tiny bit lame. it could have been very cool but there were only a few bands and there was no battle. oh well the scenery is lovely in the shenandoah valley. while the battle of the bands was not that exciting, there were a few things to be excited about. for example, annie was excited about the kfc that she stole from someone.

mary was pretty excited about the water. there was tons of it because i think they were anticipating a much larger crowd.and i was excited that janette was there. apparently, so excited that i wanted to lick her.
this water fight was pretty fun and i was the least wet so i didn't get to be in the picture. sore losers.....
then, in a fit of boredom, i did something i promised myself i would never do in public again.....grape face!!! oh no. it is so scary. annie couldn't keep hers in because she was laughing so hard but i have become a pro at grape face and can laugh and keep them in at the same time. that is talent.

i posed while annie practiced

and.... finally her practice paid off!!!!

for a little minute anyway. thank you j.w. marriott for letting us play at your ranch.