OOOHHHRAH Sami

Sami and Caleb Dean

Well, I can't imagine how this slipped my mind and didn't create a post on this, but better late than never! Thank you Sami for inviting me to your wedding and having such a yummy looking wedding party. I especially liked driving into base and having the gate Marines salute to me (thank you Daddy for the officer's tags!) with their AK47s. Good looking men and guns are a great combination.

Bridesmaids

Sami and her dad

OOOHHH RAH...do you think that is one word or two?

This Daddy/Daughter dance almost made me cry.

Picture a girl, of course!

We've got this thing down.

Kisses :)

Dobratz dance!

Wedding Season

JB and Jason Scott

Who says wedding season is almost over? My season has just gotten started! Next up on the radar was the Scotts wedding: JB and Jason. Even though they ran off to Vegas to get hitched they still had a party this past weekend to celebrate. I had a fantastic time and I loved seeing everyone again! Congrats to the Scotts!

Next party up: Bree's engagement party. Sometimes I think I need to hire a PA to keep up my schedule. And I def just realized that I never covered Sami's wedding...what a crime! I will rectify this in the next post :)

Ah the sorority squat

Phi Mu Sisters and now Sisters in Law

Cutting the cake

YES THEY GOT ICED

I can only imagine the heartburn that accompanied this

Harrison 104 girls

(Self proclaimed) Masters of Flip Cup

Oh no you didn't! Mama Christine will get you!

Pimp Benli

This Day in History v.15

What a welcome to London! The first week were there was the August Bank Holiday and the Knotting Hill Carnival. Talk about ridiculousness! In 2007 and in 2008, there were 850,000 people (each year) who went to the 2 day carnival....crazy.

A little bit about it:

Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1966 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, London, each August, over two days. It is led by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Caribbean population, many of whom have lived in the area since the 1950s. The carnival has attracted up to 2 million people in the past, making it the second largest street festival in the world, only after the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

Its twenty miles of vibrant colourful costumes surround over 40 static sound systems, hundreds of Caribbean food stalls, over 40,000 volunteers and over 1 million Notting Hill carnival revellers.

This is the only annual event I got to go to twice during my year in London. It just happened to be the first weekend I was there and the week before I left the country. The first time I went with my new roomies and it was conviently close to where I lived and the second time I explored with Hannah. The music, the colours, and the smells were all delightful but thankfully I only went during the day because I think at night it gets a bit rowdy.

White boys in any country can't dance

WTF?

The music was so loud that my chest vibrated.

My roomie Van with some random chicks in the festival.

The costumes were ridic but colorful!

Uhhh????

Sooooo many people!

Crowds EVERYWHERE! Don't even think you can get on the metro or find a bus.

I was invited to my boss Melissa's friends house whose roof overlooked the carnival. Talk about craziness. It took FOREVER to get to. But it was awesome!

There were LOTS of kids everywhere...not sure I'd bring my kid, but whatever.

Lookie lookie what we found on a random wall.

Yeah...there was lots of of this......

People of all ages were in the carnival

Very interesting costumes everywhere

Colours!!!!!!

Ahhh so many people!!!!!!!!!

This Day in History v.14

L to R: Nayeli Vivanco, Hannah, me, Steph Geihe, and Liz Kearns

Wow, I can't believe that 3 years ago this week I took a chance, made a huge leap, and found the life of my dreams in London. You know, when I get down on myself for not being where I want to be in life, I take a step back and think about all the awesome things I've accomplished and all the amazing people I've met along the way!

Elder's Council

Just wanted to put up this oldie but goodie picture of the Phi Mu Elder's Council. Man, those were the days! Look how young we all look! Pictures like these make me remember why I still volunteer to this day...to help all the future women be able to experience all the things I was able to :)

Memorial Run

With my impending half marathon run coming up faster than I want it to, I've tried to kick my ass into gear and start running again. I've found a painful 7 mile run around the area and about half way through I get to see a few monuments...good excuse to stop and smell the roses (ok, more like rest my weary feet). When I start running longer distances I will be able to see more of the monuments along the way. Kind of interesting, I have to run across a bridge which is actually 395 South, don't worry...there is a pedestrian path with a guard rail!

Its kind of nerdy but I really want to find a walking tour of the monuments...I will get on that when the weather starts to cool off!

The first three that I've come across are the George Mason memorial and then the Jefferson memorial and the Washington monument off in the distance. And I always like to learn a bit about things so I wikipedia'd them:

The George Mason Memorial is a memorial to George Mason in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. It commemorates the contributions of George Mason, an important American Founder who wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights and served as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Mason is often thought of as the "Forgotten Founder." Mason, an Anti-Federalist did not sign the United States Constitution because it did not abolish the slave trade and because he did not think it had necessary protection for the individual from the federal government. He was sometimes known as the "reluctant statesman," which was also the title of a biography written about him by Robert A. Rutland. The memorial was authorized by Public Law 101-358 on August 10, 1990.

From a bit away

Well hello there George!

Next, I could see the Washington Monument but didn't get that close. A bit about it:

The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and sandstone, is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing 555 feet 5⅛ inches. The actual construction of the monument began in 1848 but was not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after the architect's death.

And then last but not least is the Jefferson memorial:

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C.that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States. Construction began in 1939, the building was completed in 1943, and the bronze statue of Jefferson was added in 1947.

This Day in History v.13

Anything I blog about Cinque Terre cannot possibly do it justice or communicate how in love with this place I am and how amazing it really is. This was BY FAR the best vacation I've ever taken because it was just so breathtakingly beautiful. What a way to cap off a year worth of traveling!

A little bit about Cinque Terre:

Cinque Terre, which means Five Lands, is five small coastal villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso and is located in the region of Liguria in the province of La Spezia in Italy. All the towns slope down to sea-level except for Corniglia, which is perched on top of a tall cliff.

We flew into Pisa and took a train to Monterosso and a local train to Corniglia, where we stayed. Remember how the description above said it wasn't at sea-level? Yeah, well we had to hike 377 steps to get to the top or catch the once every 30 minute bus up the moutain. We rented some lady's flat and had to meet her at her restuarant to get the keys. It was a perfect space for the 4 of us (Jessica Hill, Andrea Parsley, myself, and Laurie Gaulin); it had a loft with a full sized bed and a full sized bed on the bottom, fridge, and stove. All you really need in a summer jaunt to Italy.

Highlights of the trip: falling in love with Capressi salads and pesto, Jess's horrific infection from skimming up the dock from the ocean, beach rave at Monterosso, the hot lifeguards that Andrea ran off with, drinking off way too much vino on the beach because cabs don't run after 2 am, unblacking out at the train station, hiking, the beach and the views!

These are some of the pictures from the 5 cities:

Vernazza

The trains go in and out of the mountains. I will always remember the feeling of coming out of the first tunnel and seeing the beautiful sea.

Sunset in Paradise

No wonder why Italians are so skinny...they climb stairs like this!

Manarola

During our hike there is this place called Via Dell'Amore, a path between Manarola and Riomaggiore. The legend holds that this was a meeting place for lovers from the two towns; its now a favourite site for tourists to place their locks and throw the keys into the sea.

And then there is this chair thing...so of course I had to pose for a picture!

There were lots of graffiti and people's signatures everywhere.

The yummiest gelato...from what I remember it was lemon and chocolate.

Corniglia

So cool!

View from the train

Yeah, I'll take the blue one.

Monterosso

We ended the trip by going back to Pisa to fly out. Since we had about a half day or so to kill before catching the plane back to London, we decided to play in Pisa. Since we didn't have that much time and there was a few hour wait to go up in the tower, we had to settle for just looking at it and basking in the hot sun. All in all a PERFECT trip!!!!!

We found it!

Of course I had to do it.

Look at how much it leans!

Yes, this was our dinner. Wonder WHY I gained 20 pounds in a year????