Take Me Out to the Ballgame

You know, a girl has to occupy her time while she waits for football to come back. Just as I thought I was going to slip into serious depression, I was offered great tickets to go watch the boys of summer! Who am I to pass up great tickets, Italian sausages, cotton candy, and ice cream so off I went with my Peruvian princesses Shirley, and Silvana to have a little girls time amongst the boys at the Cubs vs. Nationals game on July 5th.

 The surprise of the night; Michelle Obama was at the game! It was pretty cool, Security however, not so much!

 Shirley's future husband (he just doesn't know it yet) Ryan Zimmerman

 CAN'T wait for Strasburg to come back

 Such a beautiful stadium on such a gorgeous night! Great times had by all, Thank you ladies! xoxo

Baby You're a Firework!!

It never gets old! The fourth of July in Washington DC is like no other that I've ever experienced and just like every other year there is always a family or friend who wants to share this magical time with us. This year we had Darreal's cousin India, her adorable son Braylen, and her boyfriend Jeremiah here as our guests. Two firework shows, pool time, and site seeing kept us pretty busy, not even the thunderstorms and HOT humid weather could keep us away! We're a family that likes to keep going and that's we did :)

 National Harbor Firework Show

 Swim, Swim, Swim

 A busy little boy must sleep sometime!

 A stunning view of the George Washington Masonic Temple, on our way into the city

Until Next Time

Graduation

Some people say life is about the journey not the individual achievements and I can totally side with that in most cases, and on most days but 3 weeks ago I watched my husband walk the stage at his graduation. I know at times he felt like a hamster on a wheel, he likely thought he'd never see the end; but 6 years, two transfers, and countless semesters of not knowing whether or not he was going to be able to afford to go to school he did it! IT being completing our dream of setting a standard of college education for our kids, because you can't seriously expect your kids to do it if you didn't, IT being breaking the generational cycle of not even pursuing a higher education let alone completing it, and best of all IT being inspiring his younger cousins to follow in his footsteps for it would not be easy but it could be done if you wanted it bad enough. As I was chasing him around First Mariner Arena snapping pictures like I was the paparazzi all of a sudden all the emotions hit me like a brick, I started crying (I didn't even cry at my own graduation). I know his struggle and its probably very similar to a lot of students but when you don't have to live it because you were on a scholarship, or had parents (one or both) who wanted to or did help through school you just don't get it. Through the 5 years of our long distance relationship he'd talk to me about it, and I said I understood him but when he moved here and transfered schools to complete the last of his degree I saw first hand all his ups and downs, frustrations and even tears and it made me realize how amazing he really is. He's kind of my hero, and watching him walk out of the tunnel with his cap, gown and his sigma stole on made me so happy for him that it brought me to tears, still does as I type this, because on that day 3 weeks ago, it wasn't about the journey it was all about the achievement! It just goes to show that really can do anything you want, and if you don't its because you talked yourself out of it! 

 signed, proud wifey! congratulations honey bunches :)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.....

Oh how I love Christmas, although Thanksgiving is slowly becoming my favorite holiday I just love the spirit in the air the, the kindness shown to one another, and the DECORATIONS!! Last year was my first time EVER having a real Christmas tree, and Darreals first time picking one himself, so as fun as it was to go Christmas tree shopping and buy decorations and all that good stuff it was also very overwhelming ( the freezing temperatures, and rain snow mix didn't help either). This year we were ready; with hat, scarves, boots, gloves, camera, and better weather we marched over to home depot to get our perfect tree!

 The sea of trees

nope! NOT that one, it's not full enough 

 Ahhhhhh, the perfect tree!

 my Paul Buinyan

 Fits perfectly in the corner, and will be even better when the branches fall down

 Time to light it up

  And put the GORGEOUS ornaments on

 

  

  

 

 and the NEW tree topper, the one from last year was close to hideous

The finishing touch

and the house is officially Christmafied, the only thing missing is a fire in the fireplace. Neither one of us were scouts, so we struggle when it comes to fire making!

So gorgeous, so warm, so homey. Happy Holidays everyone :)

Home for the Holiday

Ahhhhhh, there's nothing like being home for the holiday.... this trip however was probably the best trip home that we've had in a long time. We didn't get to see everybody that we wanted to but those we did get to see and spend time with it was an absolute blast. This trip was also the start of healing other relationships as well. Gotta love it when the family finally comes together :) Life is good

On our way back from MSU we stopped by the University of Toledo so Darreal could be reunited with wonderful men from the Lambda Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Sigma. Steve, Earl, Darreal & Jamal aka 4.M.W.O.B.W.

I was most excited to get home so I could hang out with my nieces! I haven't seen the oldest one play soccer in 3 years and I've never seen the youngest play soccer, so we went to the park to play and they got to show me their soccer skills

My silly girls! Love spending time with them

And there is NOTHING like sliding down a the playground slide with your arms up like a little kid again.... Although the slide was so cold it kind of hurt, but it was still fun!

A little pre-thanksgiving, thanksgiving dinner with the fam! Tristan, Nayia, Aunt Tonya, Ty, and my sissy, love you all!

And just like that we're on the road again, from the Ohio turnpike through the Allegheny Mountain tunnel in Pennsylvania, down the scenic hills of Maryland... back to DC, back to real life.

My Big Ten Champs

Well at this time they weren't "officially" big ten champs but they were well on their way! We started a new tradition last year of driving back to MSU to watch my beloved Spartan football and meet up with two of our favorite people in the whole world that we never see enough of, Jen and Brady. Last year was the awful loss to Penn State but this year was an all but heart attack win over Purdue.

With this game being the weekend after veterans day, their was a fly over in honor of our troops. Darreals never experienced a fly over so this was really cool for him, and even though I have this was still very special. Gave me chills!

Love our troops, thank you for all you sacrifice to be there for our country

Let the game begin

The touchdown the sealed the deal!

Victory Formation

Two happy Spartan Fans

Go Sparty!

Great times had by all; last year was a great trip, but this year for some reason was even better... Probably because we won! This was the last home football game of the season, *tear* I can't believe it went so fast but what an AWESOME year our Spartans have had! So until next year, farewell Spartan Stadium.