Love

Last Sunday Matt and I celebrated a big milestone. 5 years of dating.

5 of the best years of my life.

Since it fell on Easter, we didn't do too much to celebrate last week.

Yesterday we left VA after I got off work, and started driving to NC!

Matt's parents have a beautiful house in the mountains of NC so here we are.

Last night (really this am) we got in at 1:30am and at about 1:45 a HUGE storm came through. It kept me awake long enough to see the hail and lightning and then when it passed, I passed out.

Today we slept in and then went and got groceries. We came home and opened all the windows and just enjoyed the beautiful weather!

We played tennis  Matt hits the ball to Angela and she sends it flying all over the court (its fun really - maybe) then grilled some yummy burgers and veggie kabobs.

Tomorrow we will be getting up to watch some royal wedding action ( maybe, I also DVRd it so I can watch it at a normal hour) and then heading to Asheville to explore a little.

It is really nice to get away just the two of us and enjoy a slower pace.

I have pics to share, but my SD reader on my computer broke, so it will have to wait until we get home

Anyway, I never wrote the mushy love fest post I had planned in my head (Matt is probably happy about that) But it doesn't mean I don't know just how lucky I am to have someone like my Matt who loves me back.

I love you honey!

Happy Birthday Brother!

I am pretty sure my brother won’t even see this, I don’t think he knows I have a blog. But I am going to brag and embarrass him anyway.

But today is my little brother’s birthday!

He is spending it in Japan!

While I am bummed I don’t get to celebrate with him on his birthday, I am so super proud of him.

Because I have only communicated with him on email, and he can’t talk to me about what he is doing on there, I will share the Air Force press release.

"4/8/2011 - Pacific Air Forces -- A C-5 Galaxy transported Marines and their equipment from the Initial Response Force to Yokota Air Base on April 3. The Chemical Biological Incident Response Force is a 155-person team comprised of Marines from Naval Support Facility, Indian Head, Md. As a smaller element of the chemical, biological, and incident response force, the CBIRF is specifically trained in the areas of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosion operations. The IRF will support Operation Tomodachi by providing a rapid response capability, and if requested, can assist and advise Japanese authorities.”

There are 2 videos, one dark and grainy video of them arriving late at night, and another of them doing demonstrations.

(I think he is the 3rd one getting on the bus in the first loading scene)

(I sent him this – he wrote back “Haha I'm one of the dudes in the yellow tent standing at parade rest...when they zoom in on the dude from boot to head I'm the dude to the right of him”)

My little brother is the funniest person ever, and will always make you laugh. He gives the best hugs and I miss them.

He has really turned into a great man and I am so proud of him and who he has become. He is my hero and I love him.

Happy 22nd birthday Austin! I miss you!!

I heart DC

I live about 15ish mins outside of Washington DC.

Unfortunately, I don’t take advantage of that enough. That will be changing though.

I have decided that I am going to be a tourist in “my” city.

I am going to start exploring all the fun things DC has to offer.

Last weekend Matt’s mom came to town to see the Cherry Blossoms. Unfortunately we  couldn’t give her nice weather until Sunday, the day she left.

Thursday am we headed into DC, it was a little chilly and overcast, but the trees were amazing. The cloudy day meant we didn’t have to battle many tourists. I have been before when you can barely walk because of all the people. This was the perfect combination, pretty flowers and few people. It didn’t start to rain until we were in the car on the way home.

 

Even with all the rain and wind Friday and Saturday, they were still pretty for my race on Sunday!!

WOW!

Yesterday was amazing!

Here are the stats, taken directly from The Adventure Project's twitter @Ad_VenturePro: FInal numbers of our 1st ever #typeTAP: $11,390 from 321 people in 24 hrs. Plus $10K match. Quite an adventure. Indeed!


21,390 in 1 day! Amazing! Thanks everyone!

World Water Day

The Facts:

One third of all hand pumps installed in the last twenty years in developing countries are now broken. And 4,000 children die every day because of lack of clean drinking water. We feel that’s unacceptable. So we’re thinking differently.

Instead of drilling more wells, we’re using our charitable gifts for something revolutionary – to train and employ hand pump mechanics. The mechanics earn an income, bringing themselves out of poverty, and they save lives – turning water back on for thousands of people each year.

Before we were digging wells, now we are making sure they stay working!

On Tuesday, March 22, recognized as World Water Day, bloggers from around the globe will mobilize, asking their readers to take part in a Water Revolution.The goal is to raise $10,000 in one day to support a well mechanics program in India.This campaign is led by four volunteer bloggers from around the country

If we raise $10,000, we will help mechanics fix hundreds of wells for years to come, turning water back on for 300 people each month

But wait, it gets better!

If we can get 100 bloggers to join us in raising $10,000 on World Water Day, The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) will match our efforts – doubling the impact in India.

 

So I am asking, can you spare $20 for this cause? I know purses are tight right now, believe me, I know. Mine sure is. But this cause is a good one. For me it means one less dinner out this month or putting off getting those new sandals one more month. It is worth it to me. Will you join me?

DONATE HERE

 

LEARN MORE:

The Adventure Project

Follow on Twitter

Red Fridays

I saw this on FB - and sobbed.


I don't know if it is a true story, but it sure is a sweet story.


Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed One of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As t......hey began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.
When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and Cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our Service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi...'

The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her...

The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second... Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it..

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.

If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED.
The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is.....We need your support and your prayers.


So sweet. Just thought I would share. I am not campaigning for everyone to wear red, your clothes don't matter to me, but just remember the troops every once in a while, and toss up a prayer or good thoughts for them when you do. 

What a freak

I have been craving skittles for a few days now. I snuck them onto the grocery list when I sent Matt to the store and like a good boyfriend, he bought them. Score.

So I took my bag of skittles to my room to watch tv.

Then I realized how weird I am.

I poured a little pile on the bed, separated them by color, and then ate them in a certain order.

I took to twitter and commented  about this, and 2 of my friends said they do the same. We didn't agree on the order, but the common theme was Red was last.

Purple is the first to go (bleh) orange next, then yellow, then green and finally the best RED. (sorry for the crap pic- I took it with my cell because I was too lazy to go find the camera.)


So since my friends said they do this too maybe I am not as much of a freak as I thought... except, I do it with M&Ms too.... What does that mean?

What order do you eat your skittles? Do you eat them in an order, or just however they fall? Are you wearing green today?