More 4th of July pics

I just updated our Picasa picture page at http://picasaweb.google.com/amandachristopher1 with pictures from the 4th of July, our recent trip to Scranton to visit family and my 5th year Hollins reunion in Roanoke. Check them out! -Amanda

God Bless America

Happy 4th of July to all! Drew, Gia and I celebrated the 4th this past weekend in White Stone at Mom and Dad C's house. We actually arrived Wednesday evening hoping that by extending the weekend it would make us feel like we went on vacation since there will be no time for that once grad school starts in a week. We were astonished with the progress that had been made on the house! For those that don't know, Mom and Dad C have embarked on a home construction project which is going to completely transform their house on the inside and out. I am really bad at describing these sorts of things so I will have Drew do a blog post about it with pics soon but basically the house is going to be bigger and beautiful. The construction seems to be moving quickly so hopefully we can post some pictures before the whole thing is done.

The weekend was spent for the most part on the water. Drew and I hung out by the pool on Thursday and then joined our friends on Friday and Saturday at Cedars Beach where I am happy to report we got tan! Drew and I are usually the palest people on the beach but the Dominican Republic helped us with a base tan. On Friday night we had a little 4th of July cookout thanks to Mom and Dad C and then watched fireworks on the water with Drew's high school friend Bob and his wife Ashley. We spent time with family on Sat night when the little baby cousins stopped by and also picked crabs for a couple hours and talked politics. Great fun! By Sunday Drew and I felt we had been out in the sun enough and decided to spend the entire day glued to the television watching an amazing Wimbledon match to the very end. I am so glad my Spaniard won! We finished the day with an awesome pasta dish topped with crab meat and love by Momma J. As usual, Drew and I drove home fat and happy, promising ourselves we would work out all week. Of course Drew kept his promise and I haven't seen the inside of a gym yet this week. Gia is the only one who might have actually lost a pound or two. She is on a diet which for the time being means only her dog food. poor girl!

Here are a few pics.

Drew and I watching fireworks

Ryan, Gia and I sitting on the dock of the bay


Ryan and Drew on Cedars Beach

Dwight, Carri and I at Roses Steakhouse

Goodbye June...Hello Summer

Although it has been in the 90's since the beginning of the month, it's only technically been summer since the solstice on June 20th. So, here is what we were up to at the end of Spring...

First weekend of June:

I traveled to Roanoke for my 5th year Hollins reunion where I saw dear friends, professors and spent time on the beautiful Hollins campus. Here are a couple pics. Drew and Gia traveled to the Northern Neck to take Momma J out to dinner for her birthday.

2nd weekend of June:

We spent the entire weekend going through every room in the house collecting items to give to GoodWill or take to the dump. It took the whole weekend and resulted many truckloads of junk gone from our house! We even gave away furniture. I found throwing items into the pit at the dump to be so therapeutic that I accidentally threw away our trash can in the midst of it all - I was on a roll and couldn't be stopped! Drew and a couple of guys at the dump laughed at me. We also made a home recycling center in the laundry room after being frustrated for months that there is no curbside recycling where we live.

3rd weekend of June:

Trip to Hunter's uncles cabin in the woods, on the lake in Lexington, VA. We spent time with friends, including the newly engaged Hunter and Anne soon-to-be Moore!!! It was so relaxing to get away from it all. Gia even took a dip in the lake, in her life jacket of course, and we were shocked to find out she could swim. I've always heard that pugs sink like rocks!

Last weekend:

Billy Joel concert with Stet, Matt, Hunter and Wade in VA beach. We love watching that man preform...he is the best!

This coming weekend we are heading to Scranton to visit the fam. Then, we are off to the North Neck for the next two weekends in the sun! We promise to post more pics soon.

Love, Amanda and Drew

Happy Belated Birthday Momma J

A fun part of this blog is being able to give "shout outs" to our important people. So, this one goes out to Momma J who celebrated her birthday at the end of May. We are WAY overdue on this because of our recent blog negligence but better late then never! Happy Birthday! We love you!




Ps. If you feel you are a very important person and have not received proper visibility on the blog, please feel free to call and yell at Drew. He makes all editorial decisions!

just kidding...

We Are Back!

We are back for good. Sorry for the month hiatus- Drew and I have been really busy and have been experiencing computer issues. The past month has been great though. During our time off from blogging I successfully completed my 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles!) , Drew received his masters degree in Engineering Administration, we vacationed in the Dominican Republic, attended Foxfields and 2 weddings and celebrated our God daughter Mailee's 2nd birthday.

Here is a brief recap of everything we have had going on:

Vacation

We returned Friday from a 5 day trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with Mom and Dad C and our great friends Sarah and Dana. We stayed at the lovely Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana (http://www.riu.com/en/hotel-riu-palace-punta-cana-dominican-republic.html) which was an all-inclusive resort. Drew enjoyed never having to carry a wallet when ordering a drink or trying the different restaurants on the resort. The beaches were beautiful and we spent a lot of time either in the beautiful blue waters of the ocean or under a palm tree close by relaxing. We did experience a brief run in with some questionable shell fish but other than that it was a great vacation. Relaxation was the goal and that we achieved. The ocean side massage helped too!

A slide show of pics can be found here- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012752&l=1aae2&id=62700336. I've also included a few below.






1/2 Marathon

I completed my first 1/2 marathon, with my friends Sarah and Jennifer, just one week before we went on vacation. On hand were Drew, Gia, Mom and Dad to cheer us through the 13.1 miles. It ended up not being as bad as I thought it would be and actually rather enjoyable. I plan on running another one in the fall. Here are some pics.

Birthdays and Weddings

We celebrated Mailee Findley's 2nd birthday on May 3 at Stephanie's parents house in Harrisonburg, VA. Here are a couple of pics of the tot enjoying her barn yard themed party.

Also, here are a couple pics from Kim and Tristan's wedding on May 17 at Mount Vernon Yacht Club. They are high school friends who live in VA beach but came home to tie the knot.

We are off to the Northern Neck for Memorial Day Weekend but will be sure to blog all about it next week. Check back soon. Amanda

Countdowns and the Pope

Drew and I are fixated on countdowns these days with so many big events coming up soon. Here is our current countdown:

7 days until Drew turns 26 and we are again the same age
11 days until Foxfields (horse races in Charlottesville)
19 days until my 1/2 marathon
24 days until Drew graduates with his Masters
26 days until we arrive in the Dominican Republic
45 days until my 5 years college reunion
94 days until I start graduate school
364 days until I graduate with my Masters

I could add about 500 more items to the countdown but I think I'll stop here for now.

This past weekend Drew and I joined the Northern Neck kids for the Strawberry Hill races in Richmond. Much like Foxfields, we reserved a plot along the race track, and dressed up, grilled, played games, drank beer, and spent the day with friends and thousands of other Richmonders, at this yearly tradition. It was a fun day minus the early afternoon thunderstorm that drenched us. Drew was the designated driver for the day so he was in charge of grilling. Drew spent the entire day on Sunday doing yard work which was desperately needed. I stayed inside because pollen is everywhere! While weeding our backyard, Drew came across a plot of dirt that used to be a garden so he fixed it up for me and I plan on planting an herb garden this weekend since I cook with basil on a nearly nightly basis and fresh mint and rosemary is always a hit too.

In running news, I am now up to 8 miles, which is a record for me. I am going to get to 10 before the race and then pray my body and adrenalin will take me an extra 3 on May 5. Other exciting news is that the Pope just landed in the US and will be in DC for the next 2 days. I don't know if I am going to brave the crowds since we were able to have an audience with him while in Italy this past summer. I do love that he is in the US though - he's so adorable in person.

Unfortunately my computer is acting up so I have to postpone posting pics from this weekend. Check back later this week. :)

Amanda

Running!

This past weekend was the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10k which I ran on Saturday morning, along with 29,999 other people! The event is extremely popular in Richmond and takes over the entire city for the weekend. Dad and Kristina came to Richmond on Fri night and woke up very early with Drew to come cheer me on. They were troopers, standing in the pouring rain for over an hour. My running partner Sarah and I finished in just under an hour which was our goal. Since it was a 6.2 mile race, we ran 9:39 min miles. Also, I came in 8,341 place which I guess isn't too bad out of 30,000 people! I think I have been bit by the running bug and plan on continuing this hobby. My next race is a 1/2 marathon (13 miles) on May 4 on the GW parkway where I grew up. I am really looking forward to it. Here are some pictures of the race, lunch afterwards at Hill Street Cafe, and our evening out in the Fan. Thanks dad and Kris for making the trip- it was awesome of you!

Ryan, Dad, Drew and I pre race (8 a.m.)


Runners lined up and ready to start


The winner


Drenched right after the race

Julia and Kris at lunch

Dad and I at lunch

Carri and I in the Fan protecting ourselves from the rain

Drew and I Sat. night