Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Day. We sure did!

Volleyball...

We came real close to winning the tournament this time around, but came up just a little short in the third game in a best of three. Game one we killed the other team, game two we lost by a few points, and same story for game three...so close...unfortunately close doesn't count in volleyball. According to what my Dad taught me, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades...

Dinner Party

Mike, Nicole, Sarah and I have been to a restaurant in Williamsburg called Chef's Kitchen a couple of times and had a great time. Each time you go it is an interactive live cooking show and dinner where you walk away with a recipe booklet of what you had that night. I have learned some interesting techniques, from chopping, to not stirring as much as I would like, but what has been really nice is the extension of our recipe book. After being there for dinner, the wives decided to go to a cooking class and guys went to a wine paring class. So with some new recipes and a little wine paring knowledge we decided to put our talents to work with a dinner party.

We invited a number of our classmates out to Mike and Nicole's house for a dinner party (menu below). It was the first time I had tried to pair wine with an entire meal...this was actually harder than I expected...I think we were pretty successful and when in doubt everyone just found a wine that they liked, which is important.

MENU
Appetizers on the Patio: Sparkling White Wine/Champagne or Muscadet
Oysters on the Half Shell
Grilled Vegetables

Starter: Chardonnay
Asparagus and Artichoke Salad

Main Course: Pinot Noir, Bardolino, or Brunello
Pork Loin with Risotto and Green Beans

Desert: Black Muscat or a Zin
Apple Pie & Ice Cream

Shenandoah Valley

Who would have thought that the changing of the leaves would be so popular? People actually track when Fall will go through the East coast much like when the cherry trees bloom up in DC. Well we thought it was going to be an East coast trip to remember so off to one of the Meccas for Fall color changing!

However, this story starts about a year ago when Sarah made reservations for us to go up to the Shenandoah Valley and stay at a hotel in the park. Not only were we trying to go during a popular season, there are only a few places to stay in the park. We were nearby mile marker 51 at the Big Meadows Lodge. Being in the park was awesome during peak Fall color time because there are tons of nice and entertaining people, you are surrounded by the bright leaves, and there are lots of hiking trails within a few miles.

At night there was a little pub downstairs in the lodge that had some local entertainment, which was very fun. The first night there was a guy who had been playing there for around 25 years. That night was his last so he was going to play what he wanted...He was very musically talented and got the crowd involved by teaching us the chorus to the song he was singing then he would listen to the crowd and harmonize with us. Very fun!

On our way home we stopped by the Luray Caverns, which turned out to be nice one mile walk through a beautiful cavern filled with stories from our tour guide. Good weekend!

Sarah's Mom Came to Visit

My Mom (Sarah's) came to visit for a week in September. It was great! She was a lot of fun to have around. I still had to work and Brian had school, but she added some excitement to our evenings. Plus, we she helped me cheer on the MBA softball team...and some games, they needed it. It was fun.

We explored one of the plantations in the area. Anyone remember Shirley Plantation that Pastor Mike spoke about during our wedding? He spoke about the giant pineapple that travelers could see from the river. It served as a sign of hospitality and welcoming, so travelers knew they would have a place to stay. Here it is:


You'll have to trust me, that it's a pineapple on top. It was very cool to see! Thanks for the memorable homily, Pastor Mike. On another day, the three of us drove to Smithfield to see the Virginia countryside, try some country ham and she-crab soup. It was a fun morning.

We love having visitors -you're more than welcome to come!

NYC

A nice long three day weekend in NYC with our friend Anne! Anne, thanks for letting us stay with you. Also for showing us around the city even though we taunted you with large touristy maps and destinations that you would only give us directions to.

Scottish Festival

The name says it all except for the fact that there were actual people tossing caber for a competition!

Virginia Beach exploration

A day at the beach with our favorite Boston College fans! The four of us figured we should go to Virginia beach, since it is so close to us and classes hadn't started yet... We threw the BC football in water, went swimming in the crashing waves, tried some food on the waterfront, and just enjoyed the day!

Rock Island Adventures

Late one night Mike, Caesar, and I went on a little adventure hike. We had rations (Doritos and Bud Light) just in case we didn't make it back...we figured we could survive out there for at least a few hours with what we brought with us. In fact it was about a few hours when we were signaling the house from the rock above...mores code from the rock along with a flurry of text messages yielded no more rations. Probably a good thing, but we did manage to sneak back undetected, get some water, and watch a few shooting stars before being found.

Great adventure and a great trip all around!

Rock Island Boating

Boating and laying at the pool were a couple of the favorite past times while at Rock Island, but boating doesn't always equal boating. Sometimes it means rope climbing, bridge jumping, wake boarding, tubing, floating in the boat towards the dam, swimming, and of course seeing real live super heroes!

Of course of the activities listed above wake boarding and tubing seem to be the most logical fit. Here are a couple highlights from our wake boarding experience featuring Mike, Brian, and Pam!

Rock Island Arrival

After a wonderful summer in SoCal I had a trip planned to join up with some old friends in Eastern Washington at the Villa.

After being picked up at the airport by Angela, we went to grab Mike so that we could load the car and boogie over the Mountain Pass and start a nice long weekend of relaxation...so we didn't get on the road exactly when we expected, but I didn't have anywhere else to be so I wasn't concerned about when we got there at all. Mike and Angela were a little concerned, but once we got to Monroe we saw the big DQ in the sky and started the vacation with a Blizzard.

This DQ was a classic sight since there was one manager and a bunch of trainees on shift that night. The manager essentially did everything, but the random antics going on the in background were enough to just keep all three of us laughing as we waited for our frozen treat. One of the best moments was watching one of the trainees ask the manager to help him find a top for a sundae (it was for a drive through customer). He looked around for a little bit, found something that looked like it would work, but couldn't get it to fit...he then asks the manager for some help to find a top, the manager grabbed the one out of his hand and just pushed it on top of the container and ta da a perfect fit!

30 minutes after we walked in the door we actually had Blizzards in hand and were still cracking up over the DQ antics. But, with a Blizzard in hand everyone was a happy camper! Now just a little more driving to see the rest of the crew at Rock Island...

New Friend - Morgan

Where should I start? This is Morgan...

Morgan and I have been spending a lot of time together the past few weeks, and it's been a blast. Morgan is dating Sage, one of the guys in the program, and she has just moved to Willyburg to hang with the kool kids. (really to be with her man and work as a high school teacher and volleyball coach) I have been joking with her that she's my pity case because our friends were worried about her moving to town without knowing anyone, so I took her under my wing. hee hee The boys are out of town, and we really have had a good time hanging out.

Girls, remember the days when you had that friend that you called every day to see what they're doing and if they want to play. Seriously. We've gone out to eat, gone shopping and just hung out. We've figured out my new nav-system (thanks, dad!) and explored the area. The picture here is our excursion down the Colonial Parkway and lunch in Yorktown.

And with every good thing, it comes to an end...
Yesterday, Sage arrived back in Williamsburg, so I've started going through my Morgan withdrawal. But, Brian is back in Williamsburg tomorrow - YEAH! So now we can all hang out. And I have no doubt we will. The start of school will bring intermural softball and now I have a friend to go to the games with. (I was solo-spouse last year.) pictures to follow...

For now, I'm off to dinner with another couple here in the complex - wonder if I'm the pity case this time?! =) No complaints from me!

Chics Ahoy - Summer Volleyball

This summer, Monday nights were reserved for Volleyball - Women's 4s with my team, Chics Ahoy. It was a fun change, especially since it's been years since I've played on a women's height net. These girls were a blast to play with and playing fours keeps you moving. Let's just say, Sue, Kristen, Lisa and I did walk away with a new t-shirt, but we always got a few great laughs out of the night.

I'm sure some of you appreciate the old-school team photo shoot. You know I couldn't resist!

Sarah in Seattle - Monday

And all of a sudden it was Monday - my last full day in Seattle. I met with the photographer first thing to finalize our wedding album (interested? check it out...) and the Rhiannon and Eli met me on Capital Hill. We walked around a bit, stopped for Thai for lunch and then hung out for a few hours in Volunteer Park. What a beautiful day!










I had to include this picture - because this sign is so NOT Virginia.







And what's a Monday (or any day really?) without happy hour?! Mikelle and John (married on August 11, 2007 - CONGRATS you two!) met me for a few drinks, and it was great to catch up with them. Mikelle and I have been good friends since college, and John completes her. Okay, little cheesey, but really they are a great couple! I can't wait until all four of us can hang out together!

Erin was back for a drink (can't keep that girl down!) and Ki and Seon picked me up. Ki, Seon and I hung out for the evening and it was so great to see them. We always have so much (life, work, diving, traveling) to talk about, there is never a dull moment. And they always know the good places to eat - which is such a treat!










THANK YOU - to everyone that took time to hang out with me! I had such a great trip! And if didn't get to see you - hopefully, we'll be back soon. Brian is officially done working today (Aug15) and he'll be back in Virginia on Monday. And I can hardly wait! Two months is a long time to go without seeing each other - and I have really missed him. Work is going great for me, and he starts year 2 of the MBA program in two weeks. Which brings all of our VA friends back to Williamsburg - so let the good times roll. AND, yes, Brian will start his job search for when he's done with school in May...stay tuned for those developments.

Love you all!

Sarah in Seattle - Sunday

Not to be out done by Saturday - Sunday was just as busy, and I loved it. I was able to attend mass at St. Benedict's, which was fun because I hadn't seen Father Steve since the wedding. PLUS, two couple that we know from church had babies that were baptized. I was so glad I was crazy lady on vacation that just happened to have her camera in her purse...










The bonus was sitting with the Suarez's (remember them from Saturday?) and seeing other friends of ours, too - so many reasons to be thankful!






After all the "Congratulations" and hugs, I was off to lunch with Kori, Colby and their little bundle of joy, Sydney. Isn't she adorable? Her mom and dad are just as cute (okay, kind of =) but I'm not so good with the camera, so no picture to prove it.




After lunch, was the drive to L-town. I had plans to spend the afternoon catching up with the Stewarts. They have two little girls that are just adorable. Shelby and Cory are our 500 card playing, wine drinking, work talking, career discussion friends. Bug (Siena is three, as she proudly will show you with her fingers) and Sydney are their girls.










Talk about a cute bunch. I was talking with Shelby, but Siena is all about having me read her a story. I hope our kids are as excited about reading! And if this action video of Syndey doesn't make you crack up, you are working too hard....Crawling is SO OUT!


Sunday evening was all about family. I headed over to the in-laws - which was a blast. We started the evening with mojitos while we got caught up, and dinner was fabulous. Now I've totally forgotten what Carry and Nick are doing in the picture (which might be just blocking the sun from their eyes)- but it's still cracking me up!

Sarah in Seattle - Saturday

Saturday morning started off perfect! Erin and I were up early and off to breakfast with the Suarez's. Mike and Nicki are right around the corner and are truly welcoming when bringing guests into their home. Breakfast was fantastic and the conversation lively. Eliana was the first of many babies that I'd be visiting this weekend - and what a cutie!

Saying "See you later" was always the theme when I left someplace. And this time, Erin got to be my date at the volleyball team get together. I love these guys! And we're starting to complete the lineup with kids! Maier (Sara & Burke's) is a riot - not even 18 months and he was all over the facial expressions. Mac, short for Mackenzie, (Jaime & Mike's) is a precious *little* one (5 months). You should see her go crazy in the jump-thing! Even when she's crying, she keeps on jumping. Curt and Amanda have Johnny (the cutest chiwawa you ever did see).












And how can you not love a crowd that spoils you with cake?!? Bri, babe - if this continues...we might have to move back!






Not that we were hungry, or wanted to leave...but it was time for girl's night! Erin, Karissa, Beth and I met up at the Pink Door. Only my FAVORITE place to meet the girls for dinner. The servers let you sit as long as you'd like. The house wine works just fine and the Italian food is always tasty. It was SO good to catch up and talk, miss you guys!

Sarah in Seattle - Friday

Brian and I are really enjoying our time in Williamsburg, but I had the chance to sneak back to Seattle for a few days. I didn't get to see everyone and, of course!, I would have loved to stay longer. I'm going to post just a pic or two of everyone I did get to see. I miss you all! And thanks SO MUCH for working with me and my "schedule". Love you!


Amanda picked me up at the airport (sweetheart!) and we went into Freemont. We caught up over coffee and dinked around the shops, before getting lunch at Nickerson Street Saloon. Mac and Jack's, Seattle, sun - talk about a great "welcome home!"

Curt (Amanda's handsome husband) met us for lunch and even Erin was able to sneak out of work early. YEAH!


Erin and Mike have a new home that is absolutely fabulous! Erin hosted dinner for Erin, Jen and I. It was great to catch up and hear all the happenings....

Venice Beach...

This beach is a great example of what happens when people reach critical mass...I saw everything from your regular Joe's to street entertainers along the long stretch of boardwalk. Besides for the wild people, on the boardwalk and beach, one could buy just about anything they might want here at Venice beach...

amazing biker


dancing, on roller skates!

Night out with the Girls!

Okay, it was a few weeks ago now, but I wanted to make sure that I got these pictures posted because these are the peeps we have been friends with the longest in Willy-burg. To the right is Elizabeth (in yellow) and Bruster (the big dog), and Becky with LuLu.


Here is Will (Brian's carpool buddy last year) with his wife and their baby. (Yes, we are called Aunt Sarah and Uncle Brian) We left LuLu and Will in Williamsburg and went into Richmond.


The three of us went into Richmond for a night out on the town. It was fun to relax and enjoy the night scene. We went out in "the Fan" - think the casual bars that you can walk between...Fremont-ish. It was a blast! Then it was up early to attend the Nordstrom Sale and get back home.

While the Husband's Away, the Wife will...SHOP!

Miss the Nordstrom Fall Sale?!

NEVER! Just a new shopping buddy....

US Open Surf Finals at Huntington Beach

Being in Huntington Beach to watch surfing is very cool. Essentially, every shop in the main part of town is related to surfing or is a restaurant...long story short, surfing is king in this town.

Oh and the beach is really nice too. Imagine people on the beach basking in the sun, playing volleyball, building sand sculptures, and just hanging out with friends. Behind them is a nice little boardwalk for walking, biking, and roller blading. And in front of them is the water, a nice blue green with people swimming, playing, boogie boarding, and of course surfing!

The day I was there, Sunday, they had the Men's quarter finals, semi finals, and finals for the Jr's, Long Board, and US Open. Everyone was sitting on the beach until the US Open finals came on and then you had to work your way to the waters edge to get a decent view on the beach. Everyone else was camping out on the pier or in a VIP (purchased ticket) area, which means I was officially in the water with surfing professionals! All of them did some pretty cool tricks out on the water, but part of their runs depended on the waves, which I heard weren’t as high as they have been in the past. One of the coolest things I saw was a surfer come out of the wave onto the top of it, bounce off the wave, and get back into the wave...and this was the start of his run...it was ridiculous! He scored pretty well on that run too, but the scoring system is a bit of a mystery to me.

Here is a quick guide to surf scoring, which would have been helpful before I went, but it seems like judges have a lot of wiggle room for their final decision. This leads to guys having a sweet run and recieving a 4.25 and then other times he would have a decent looking run and get a 7.25?...This is apparently worked out through averages and having enough judges posting scores for the surfers.

Outside of surfing they also had a couple of huge skateboarding ramps/bowls setup for competitions during the day and a huge motorcycle jump where they had sponsored riders doing tricks at certain times during the day. BTW, these guys are certifiably crazy!

Would I go back and watch surfing again? Heck yeah, in a heartbeat!

AVP in the LBC

It started off as an early day where I was on the road at 6:15am. This was so I could try out a new coffee shop in the area, they sent me a coupon in the mail for two free drinks, and get to Long Beach by the time the gates opened at 7:30am. Not only was it an early start, but the sunshine decided to sleep in a little. Not to worry because the sun came out for the final and the day turned into a scorcher.

For the women's final I was in sitting in the South end first row by a lot of photographers. I bounced around a bunch during the earlier games trying to find a good spot, decided that I really liked the end zone area, and I figure that all of those photographers can't be wrong, right?

Throughout the tournament and the final, May/Walsh killed the opposition. They were leaps and bounds above the rest of the group...it almost wasn't fair! Maybe it was because they had to take time to relax and meet some of the fans...This wasn't just womens play for the entire day, the Men were still jockying for position for their final the next day. So that means I got to see some of their tournament play too. All I can say is WOW! It is amazing to watch some dude get roofed (aka blocked)! Rogers/Dalhausser played really well against Lambert/Metzger, but I thought that Rosenthal/Gibbs were going to win it after watching them play on Saturday. I was curious so I watched the replay on AVP.com and Rogers/Dalhausser won the tourney.

I also accomplished a couple of California missions while I was down in LBC. I was on TV, since the game was televised, and I was in a movie called "Match Point." Now my part was small, person in crowd at beach volleyball game, but I just might make it onto the screen! With that in mind I might be cut too, who knows...I guess only time will tell.

A neat new way to listen to music!

Not exactly an adventure, but check it out!
http://www.seeqpod.com/

But what is it?
"SeeqPod is the home for playable search results. SeeqPod's vertically targeted crawlers crawl the deepest parts of the web to enable internet-wide search & discovery of anything that can be played or shared with friends."

Another great way to try out some new music is to sign up on LaLa. I was introduced to this neat site by a friend of mine in Seattle. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks great. LaLa has a great feature, that I just read about. LaLa allows one with an IPod to sync it to their website and get some new tunes, all you need is an internet connection. My friend said that LaLa is a great way to discover some new music and keep his CD collection up to date by trading some of his old CD's that he doesn't listen to anymore...

Got a favorite site or place to find new music? Fill us in in the comments section.

Weekend time, what are you going to do?!

I'm going to Disneyland! Not just the morning, or afternoon, but all day!

A good friend, Steve, and his wife Reyna were down in California at a wedding. I was convinced they came for E3, but I was wrong...it was a wedding and then an internal calling brought then to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland!

Steve and Reyna are Disneyland professionals! They have been so many times that they probably know the fast pass system better than the person who invented it. Because of this expert knowledge we covered a lot of ground during the day and had great seats for the show, Fantasmic, at night! With that in mind I had a few nostalgia missions that included Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, and Splash Mountain...but I left the direction up to the pros.

We started the day with a fast pass from Space Mountain! This is a great ride that is completely dark except for a few stars all around you. The stars don't provide enough light to show you which direction the track is going to twist, turn, or dive at next, but they sure make it feel like you are going faster than you really are. Mix that with the wind blowing in your ears and it is a screaming good time.

Next we hit the Indiana Jones ride, which was one of the coolest rides in my opinion. Essentially, there are thousands of combinations that the ride can take since there are many random decision points throughout the ride. These decisions include different directions that your car can go and Indy's speeches. Sweet ride with a great ending!

A couple other highlights were Pirates of the Caribbean, California Screaming, and Astro Blasters!

Pirates of the Caribbean got a nice update with the release of the new movies, but I miss the pirates chasing the ladies and their ale, but still a nice relaxing ride.

California Screaming was a new experience for me and this ride gives a cool twist on your traditional roller coaster. Instead of being pulled up to the top of an enormous height and being dropped, this coaster stops you about 100 yards from the first big hill. Then the speakers on the coaster by your ears countdown to launch! Once you launch you are pressed back into your seat only to get lifted out of it at the top of the first hill. Somewhere in the middle there is another great spot where the first car gets held over a nice big drop before the coaster lets go! Three letters for this ride...F-U-N.

One of my favorite rides at Disneyland was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters! This is a cool interactive ride that gives you and a friend a ray gun to aim and shoot and different targets throughout the ride. Each target is worth a certain number of points, but if they are lit up they are worth even more. Then at the end the ride takes a picture of you and your friend in action, which you can email out once you are off the ride!

Watch out bad guys, these Space Rangers are good!

A day at Disney wouldn't be complete w/o dinner with fireworks in the air. They apparently have a fireworks show every night during the summer. We weren't to concerned with the fireworks because our last stop for the day was the show Fantasmic. This show has a mixture of live actors dressed as your favorite Disney characters and projections onto walls of water all over by Pirate Island. The show uses Mickey as our main character and his battles with some of Disney's most notorious villians create a great show.

Wow, this was a fun filled day, but how could it not have been? I was at the happiest place on earth with some good friends!

Williamsburg's Saturday Market

It's our version of Pike's Place. Every Saturday morning and Tuesday afternoon in the summer, we have Williamsburg's Farmer's Market. There's no flying fish, but plenty of soft shell crab, crab cakes, crab meat, scallops, fresh locally grown vegetables, herbs, plants, cookies, goat cheese (a few booths to choose from, even though I don't like any of it) and mushrooms. Yum! (At this point, you all have realized that it's Sarah writing this post because Brian is not into mushrooms.)

People mill about with coffee, talking with friends, while the dogs all sniff each other. It's a casual meeting place, and there are treasures abound. The fresh scollops have made it home with me a few times. The vegetables are fantastic. And my must stop, is at Dave and Dee's Homegrown Mushrooms. They are gernous with their samples, smiles, and they have converted more than a few non-mushroom eaters. The big question is can they convert Brian!
Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)