Summer Top 10

An unfortunate side effect of having a blog is that it is one more thing in life that I feel like I am not keeping up with as well as I should. Is "blog guilt" a phrase? If not, I am coining it currently. You read it here first, folks. Moving on.

During Summer 2010, we (roughly in chronological order)...

1. ... went to Utah (twice)! Richard celebrating getting a job by jetting off to Utah (sans wife) in May for a week (well, I did join for an action packed 36 hours later that weekend). In July, we returned to our tribal homeland for an equally action packed week full of family reunioning, fireworking and lots of playing. We also took some family pictures on both sides of the family. I spy, with my little eye... 9 cute cousins who call me Auntie Em, a funny expression on Rich's face and a nephew doing secret sign language...














2. ... went to Reid & Amy's wedding. We were so happy to go to the MacHargs' wedding at 2941 Restaurant in May. Richard and Reid have become good friends through law school, and we loved seeing them tie the knot! Oh, and we were only a taaaaaad bit jealous of their 2-week honeymoon to Bali...

The happy couple!


Reid & Rich



Law school peeps. For some reason, Jake's pose/expression in this picture really cracks me up.


3. ... ran the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in Seattle! In June, I went to Seattle to visit my sister Kristen. I inveigled my other sister Michelle and her baby Caleb to come as well, by telling her I couldn't make it to the family reunion. Later, I showed up anyway (bwa, ha ha!). The main focus of the trip was on Saturday morning when Kristen and I ran the Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon (my 3rd, her 2nd). Unfortunately, Kristen's back was hurting pretty badly during the race, but she still managed to pull through and finish. Way to go, Kristen! (Pictures to come when I get them from Michelle.)

Now we are training for the Richmond FULL Marathon in November... wish us luck!

4. ... attended various book clubs! We decided to declare June a "TV Free Month," complete with a Soup Nazi "No TV For You!!" sign displayed prominently on our TV. This left us with lots of time to read. Luckily, around this time, we co-started a Man's Book Club and a Ladies Book Club with some friends. The menfolk read and discussed The Brothers Karamazov and Bourne Identity over root beer and Costco pizza while we read Hunger Games (AMAZING. DYING FOR MOCKINGJAY TO COME OUT.) and These Is My Words (also amazing) over cookies and fruit. Richard and I also started the very exclusive Peterson book club, which consisted of Anna Karenina (Levin and Kitty make me smile) and Great Expectations (meh).



5. ... hung out at Eaton Square! In our Alexandria Ward, Eaton Square was considered to be "Little Provo" because so many young couples from our church lived there. I also tried to coin it "Little Italy" because the streets are named Milan and Florence, but that never really caught on. Partly for that reason, and partly because they had a pool and we didn't, we hung out there a lot. Incidentally, the Eaton Square equivalent of our new ward is Masonvale (on GMU campus), but we were too cheap to live there. Oh well, at least we have a pool now!

6. ... moved to Fairfax! We made the trek out west in July to be closer to the Fairfax campus for my MA program. We LOVE our new apartment (especially the dishwasher and washer/dryer). Video to come soon! A BIGGGG thanks to Richard's mom who flew out to Virginia for 2 days just to help us move. I think she probably loves us, or something. Richard and I commented several times during and after the move how it probably wouldn't have been possible to complete the move without her. Thanks, Linda!! There are no photos of the move, which is probably a good thing since we didn't shower for several days...

7. ...spent a week in Hoboken! The morning after I finished work, Rich and I hopped on a bus to go to Hoboken. Richard left to go back to work early Monday, but I stayed until the following Saturday to host Auntie Em boot camp for Thurman and Nico. I think Neeks took the term "boot camp" a little literal, as he wanted to run laps for me around the track at the park every day! We had lots of fun eating at Biggies, going to the Liberty Science Museum, hanging out at the water park, Church Street park and the "big" park by the Lincoln Tunnel. On Friday night, Carma treated me to a VERY special show on Broadway called Promises, Promises. Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes together... how could you go wrong?



8. ...got new callings in our new ward! Since there is no paid clergy in our church, members of each congregation are asked, or called, to serve in various positions (scripture study classes, working with the youth, playing the organ, leadership roles like the bishop, etc.). In our old ward in Alexandria, Richard worked with young men in scouting and I worked in the nursery during church services (18 months to 3 years). Well.... I was called again to the nursery, wahoo!! I love getting my baby fix each week. Richard was called to be a ward missionary.

9. ...welcomed a new niece to the family! My sister Jenny had a baby girl on August 6 (their 5th anniversary). We are so excited to meet Courtney Lynn as soon as possible! We now have 13 nieces and nephews.





10. ...got really excited for school to start! Richard actually started his third year of law school yesterday, and I start my graduate assistantship training on Monday. Let the games begin!

What is the moral of this blog post? That I need to start taking pictures and documenting our lives (exactly zero of these photos came from me, and all of them were stolen off of Facebook and blogs). The end.