December's post I guess

Earlier this fall there was a BJJ tournament in Portland that I didn't compete in but I went and helped out at it and "cornered" a few of my friends from class. Dan and Mike (aka Nebraska) both competed in their first tournament and did quite well. They both won their first match by submission which was very exciting. Dan took second place and Nebraska tied for third.

After the tournament Amie, who won her division for Gi no Gi and absolute Gi , took us all out in a Stretch Hummer Limo!!! It was lots of fun! We went to dinner and then drove around to the bars in the Old Port. This is Amie and me with our instructor Bruce. Bruce could only come out with us for a little while because he was having 6 boys between the ages of 8-12 for a sleepover that night with his sons. So we took pity on him and took the boys out in the limo with us for awhile.

This next one is later that night after we had dropped the kids off. Amie, Juan, Brian (Amie's brother in law) and me. I could seriously get used to riding around in a limo and not having to worry about who's driving or where to find parking!!!

My friend Erin, who is living in NC, came home to visit for a week before Thanksgiving. This is Erin, Megs and me out at the Great Lost Bear, a local restaurant and brewery that Megs works at. They have some great micro brews and over a 100 beers on tap. It's def a fun place to go, but only if you're not in a hurry :)

This is me and Juan at the Bear a few days before he left on deployment for Quitar.

A very random picture that was still on my camera from this summer. It's a tomato from Mom and Dad's garden, and it's almost as big as my head!!!

MWAHAHAHAHA

CUTE KID

Things have been interesting for me lately. We got a new Manager at work and my martial arts classes have been crazy as usual. I'm finally getting around to posting some pics from this summer and a Halloween party from last weekend.

A good friend of mine that I know from YYLC, Mary, is in the Navy and stationed in Maine. We hadn't seen each other in almost 6 years,. My friend, John Gorie, is there too. Yes, we're that short, and he's that TALL!!

A friend from college, Stewart, came up to visit for a few days in August, and we decided to drive up to Acadia National Park and go hiking for the day. This is us at the top of Acadia Mountain.

Juan and I at the "Heaven and Hell" Halloween party at my friend Sarah's house.

Look, I can get in to the pearly Gates!!!


Sarah, whose house it was, Ryan, a friend from class, and me.

Foxxy Lady Weekend

The last weekend in September Stephanie Thompson, Joette Witan and I all got together for our Foxxy Lady Weekend. We all meet at YYLC and have designated at least one weekend a year for us to get together and have fun. This year Stephie's husband, Chris, also came. We stayed in Orlando, FL and had a GREAT time. This post will be more like a photoblog.

Amazing condo we rented.

1st night.

Joette, Me, Stephie, Chris.

2nd night.

We always have fun in the car!

Jojo took us to the farmers market. They had big carrots.

All our luggage :0 )

Our last night we got to see a show with dinner.

They thought it was a Japanese drive through.

Saying fare wells til next year!

I hope everyone is doing well...love you!

The End of Summer

So this will be a rather long post. Its been a while. In July I went out to San Diego to see an old friend, Katie Slusser, get married. I've known Katie for about 20 years and it was a simply beautiful wedding. I was also able to catch up with old friends and make new friends. We all had a wonderful time fellow shipping together.

This is my favorite picture of Katie and her husband: Stephen Jeltema.

This is our little east coast crew: Bethany, Dave, Me and Gavin.

I was able to head home to Maine again in August: Lily's from the garden. And thankfully caught up with an old high school friend, Luke. Hanny's house warming party was the same weekend so I got to spend time with her and her friends. She has a great little apartment in a fabulous location. Once I made it back to VA it was labor day. A group of friends from the gym decided to rent kayaks for the day and putter up and down the Potomac. It was a beautiful day! We had a lot of fun but as a small side note; the Potomac is not a clean river, please don't swallow the water and be careful swimming in it :)
A great view from the river.

Off we go! That is the Kennedy Center in front of me. They have very nice concerts. Last fall Tina and I attended the orchestra there. The ceiling looks like multiple benzene rings.

We pulled up to some rocks and relaxed in the sun for a while. I didn't rub my sunscreen in well enough and got some weird burn patterns on my legs.

Vivek, was going to swim but once he sunk about 8 inches into the mud he changed his mind. The same weekend Amy, Travis and I went out for a night on the town. We headed into the District to the K St Lounge.

Ames and Travis.

Ames and I like to goof off for the camera.

September was also the month that my company, CPA, took our annual Staff Outing. We had a guided tour of DC and got to hang out at the Crime and Punishment Museum. I highly recommend going if you ever get the chance. It is really cool. This is a photo of my entire company (minus 1) in front of the White House. The President wasn't in the office that day. I'm not sure where he was but he was hosting guest form Ghana. Random fact: there is a woman who has been protesting nuclear/biological warfare in front of the White House since 1984 or 1985. She lives in a plastic tent. You are no longer allowed to protest in front of the White House, anyways, she is allowed to stay because the clerk who filled out her protest permit never put an end date on it. She went to court and won. She is a bit loony but will converse with you.

Other news my Muay Thai instructor, Dave Kaplan, is fighting on Spike TVs "The Ultimate Fighter." He is hoping to win a contract to fight for the UFC. The UFC is basically mixed martial arts fighting that is done in a caged octagon. Dave is the one landing the punch. He won this fight by a rear naked choke.