Beautiful Maryland

It was such a beautiful 3 day weekend in Owings Mills! Just in time ... last week was freezing. I actually had to turn the heat back on. It is sad to use both the heat and air conditioning within a 3 day period but what can you do? Well the weekend was great. We managed to be productive (very cute paint job in the bathroom), get some rest, and have some fun. Who doesn't agree that we need more long weekends?

And - who knew the tree behind our house had these pretty flowers on it? I had no idea until two days ago. And here is the tree in front of our house ... except this picture is from earlier this spring. Now the tree is just leaves. Doesn't show the peak of the blossoms, but still pretty. I had the thought of doing a day by day shoot to document the changes (they happen so fast!), but it was a busy month so I only got this one.
And here is the lovely reservoir by our house. Joe and Nate, and even Lori, practically drool every time we drive over it because it is perfect glass and would be a wakeboarder's dream. But it is our drinking water so no swimming or motor boats allowed! What a crime.

This weekend was actually the first time I had taken a little walk around the reservoir. There were people fishing and Nate got the scoop on all that so hopefully someday we will get a license and go fish! Only one problem . . . I told Joe and Nate that I remembered how to skin, de-bone, and fry up fish from my long summer days spent fishing in Louisiana. Yeah. It is pretty sad that when I was 10 I could wind a hook through the body of a live worm, grab the live, flopping fish off the hook without getting finned, cut off the fish head and help clean out the insides . . . . and now that I am 24 I am probably way too scared to do any of that. I am a disgrace to my Southern roots!
Also my rock skipping skills seem to have failed me as well. The most skips I could get was 3, although I am blaming it on the rocks because they were terrible. Although Nate and Joe somehow managed to get like 10 skips! Guess I will have to practice.


Well now that Tuesday is almost over I feel like a need another weekend. That could be a problem!

An Anniversary of Sorts ...

Well, it's not really the anniversary of anything, it just happens to be Memorial Day again. This got me thinking back to last Memorial Day! That was the day we sent the Millers (Nate & Lori) packing (back to AZ) after they had been out here for a few days looking for a place to live. Over the next couple months they would pack up their stuff and head out to join us on the East Coast. At the time we were excited for them to move here and knew we'd have lots of fun, but we did not know just how great it would be to have them so close by.

So much has happened since last May. At times Lori & Nate did not like all the changes. For example - going from a brand new, beautifully finished and decorated house to one they partially tore apart and are in the process of putting back together. Going from Brett & Shireen (who are super fun and fixed them ribs and orange rolls all the time) to me & Joe (we're a little fun, but we don't cook that well and sometimes we (I) go into hiding for weeks at a time). Also they had to leave many other friends and family, as well as the nice AZ winters and experience the long, depressing winter many of you reading this blog may associate with Maryland.
But anyway, I am glad they decided to come. I don't know when Lori and I would have had the chance to become such good friends if they didn't! We are totally in the same stage of life and we can complain, laugh, and wish for many of the same things. I can also tell her funny secrets that otherwise I would have to just keep to myself. Nate and Joe can also both relate to the joys and pains of dental school, fixing up our houses (which they love to do), and wishing for things like boats and wakeboarding. So thanks for coming to MD you two! I promise it is way better than Buffalo or that city of the much-hated Spurs.

Good times

This is just a quick update ... because I have a feeling I won't get around to doing anything more anytime soon. Even though I am done with school, life is still crazy-busy! Work has been pretty intense lately - I worked late the last two nights and then woke up at 4:45 this morning so I could make it to a 6:00 meeting! The 6:00 meeting was for some last-minute prep for a 7:00 meeting with some very important clients so I felt pretty lucky to be sitting in. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure this schedule will not be the norm.

Last weekend I made a quick trip to AZ for my sister-in-law Franchesca's wedding! Joe and I flew out Friday night after work, and I flew back Sunday. It was a whirlwind of a trip, to say the least (I'm pretty sure I spent at least as much time traveling as I did in AZ). But it was so fun to see everyone! Besides the wedding, the highlights were: Cafe Rio, and Shireen's ribs! Wow those were amazing. I didn't get too many pics ... for more see Lori's blog!
Lori had to try like 10 different times to finally get this picture of Joe and me - we kept getting sucked into talking to so many people I felt like it was my own wedding! But it was fun.

Luckily, I excused myself from all the conversing and made it to the BEST part of the night - dancing with my girls! Joe's sisters Angelica and Michelle are so fun to dance with! And Eva is the best dance partner ever! We had so much fun ... although I definitely got sweatier than I think you are supposed to get at a wedding reception. It's that darn AZ heat!

Joe stayed a few days longer and I am picking him up at the airport tomorrow night. I can't wait to see him! Hopefully this next weekend we will finally get to relax a little ... we will see!

As for other news, right now I am listening to some of my sister-in-law Maria's (Scarlett's) new songs and loving every minute of it! And it is now 12:40 so I think I should probably go to bed!

Back from the Dead

No, I did not die!!! Maybe after Joe's post, you can start to appreciate that this, in and of itself, is something to be quite pleased about. I am still here and while the bright light hurt my eyes at first it does feel good to be out of my cave. I had my last final on Thursday, turned in my big paper late Friday night, and then . . . . basically collapsed. It feels so weird to be thinking and doing anything besides school! It's so great. Basically, my mind has already started to repress the memory of what these last few weeks have been like. That is my 'coping mechanism,' and it's what keeps me going back for more! I am actually really good at remembering the good and partly blocking out the bad. Yes, I will always remember that I worked harder in law school than I thought it was possible to do. But when I look back, instead of focusing on all the stress-filled sleepless nights, I will mostly think of how much I learned, the great classes I got to take, and the great professors I had. (Not all of my classes and professors have been amazing, but I will remember the amazing ones!) It really fun to think about how much I have accomplished. I can definitely say that law school has not been a waste of my time because I have been pushed to my limit and learned a lot along the way. Anyway, thank you everyone for all your support! It means a lot to know I have family and friends who care so much about how I'm doing! I couldn't have made it without you.

So . . . tomorrow morning I will start my job as a summer associate at DLA Piper! That feels pretty crazy because I have been so overwhelmed with school I haven't even had a chance to think about work yet! But I am definitely looking forward to the change of pace. Being a summer associate presents a different kind of stress, but it is also fun. I'll fill you in more on that once I actually get started.

Anyway . . . I just wanted to make this post and prove that I had come back to life. Yesterday we just took the day to have fun. We went to lunch, went shopping (I had to buy some black heels for work since last summer I wore down my heels way past repair). Lori and I also had to find something to wear for the wedding (Joe's sister Franchesca) next weekend (we happened to find matching black dresses - won't we be cute!). The next part of the celebration day was this:

FUNNEL CAKE. If any of you have been driving by the little ice cream place on Liberty Road on the way to Eldersburg and wondering about it, well THIS is what you are missing out on! The funnel cake ice cream sundae. It is huge and it is sugary but it is a fun treat to share. Joe and I got vanilla ice cream with cookie dough and hot fudge. It was worth every bite! I hadn't eaten sweets for a couple months so this was quite the way to jump back in.

Joe is happy to have me back! He is a trooper and we are looking forward to a fun summer.
Joe also had tons of fun playing with our friend little Avary. Aren't they adorable? Avary is so cute and so happy, and we love her!
Learning to walk! Almost there, Avary!

Well, it is good to be back, people!! Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!

She Can't Cause She's Studying!

The blog has been neglected of late and apparently it's all my fault. I continue to state that this isn't my blog and that I have NO responsibility to post; however, that only gets Lindsey to force me to take the 5th by further examining me about what exactly my responsibilities are. Lindsey's studying to be a lawyer and man is she good! And man is she studying!

December and May are finals months. Anybody who hasn't been to law school really can't comprehend what a law final is like so I've decided to dedicate a post to her crazy life. Obviously this is from my observation from the outside but here it goes.

Law school consists of a lot of reading and writing. Lots. Here is a stack of her books...for one semester. These babies average about 1400 pages and NO PICTURES. They have these weird symbols in them that mean something like act or statute and a bunch of latin terms as if English wasn't hard enough. And unlike dental school, law students are required to read almost all of the book so something like 1400 X 5 = 7000 pages a semester! Notice the box of tissues to the left, she goes through at least 7 boxes of those a semester as well.

So she reads all of the books, highlights them and tabs them. Then in the computer she types out notes about the readings. She then attends lectures prepared to be called on like in the movies and takes a bunch more notes about what her law professors say. I imagine many of them are lies, but she'll deny that (of course!) Blue highlighter means something, yellow something else as well as pink. No scented ink with this girl.
So then getting ready for finals really starts about 6 weeks before the exams actually take place. Before that she studies most of the time, but once that 6 week panic starts she studies all of the time. She gets invited to baby showers, enrichment, dates with me, birthday parties, to hang out with friends friday and saturday evenings, and more dates with me, but can't go to any of them. Instead she sits in this very spot and takes all of the readings and lecture notes and organizes them into outlines. The first draft of these outlines range from 60 to 80 pages long, but after they are finished she'll condense them to a more practical 40 to 60 pages. And then study them and tab them.
So what to I do while she's doing this? Well I can't say that I'm super productive, but I seem to know most of what's going on in the sports world and I know what I can get a luxury car for on ebay. But for the impressive part, I do all of the grocery shopping for weeks straight. I try to buy fruits and foods that will keep the girl happy. I usually wash more of the laundry and then get around to folding it once it's piled up. It's a good thing she's upstairs in the office because I usually don't keep the house as clean as she would.

Then about two weeks after the point she's about to shoot herself the big weeks come where she has 3-4 hour finals for each class. Something like, Friday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. All of the grade comes down to this period of intense typing. She takes a test, comes out mentally exhausted and comes home and starts studying for the next one. I'm lucky if I get 10 minutes of holding her on the couch. I live for those ten minutes. I also live for not saying the wrong thing or should I say I die if I do. I've gotten good.

So many of her friends might feel a little neglected when Lindsey gets into finals mode. She really loves all of you and wishes it were different, but for her this is her dream and she doesn't know how to do it any other way. So thanks for the support. A special thanks to several people who have gone out of their ways to make her day (and mine.) In about a week it will be all over for now. According to her, next year will be different. We'll wait and see cause you really can't tell whether a lawyer is being truthful or not. Right?

I'm really proud of her, and love her.

Family Dental Service, Inc.

Yes, that's me, on the couch. Yes, that's Lori with a mask, glasses, and sharp instruments. And yes, that's Joe standing by with a flashlight to assist. I like to call it "Family Dental, Inc."

These pictures are actually from a month or so ago (luckily it is close enough to spring that we're not buddled up in bulkly sweatshirts anymore). Anyway, one night I freaked out because I saw calculus on my back molar. I had never noticed having calculus before - maybe because I used to go to the dentist regularly - and I was terrified of it. So the next Sunday when Lori came over, I slipped my frightening experience into the conversation (not hard - I'm outnumbered 3:1 when it comes to dental people so the conversation often heads in that direction). Immediately, we whipped out Joe's instruments, and Joe and Nate prepared to learn from the best.
Lori really knows what she's doing. She had all the calculus scraped off in no time - whew! She said my mouth was one of the best she's seen since starting work here in Maryland - apparently some people don't freak out when they see calculus taking over their mouth! It was so fun(ny) to watch Joe and Nate analyze and try to soak in what she was doing. (They may do a lot of fillings and crowns, but apparently the hygienists at the school don't know what's up.) Thanks, Lori, what would I do without you??? (Neither Joe nor I are ready to have him work on my mouth just yet .... not that he doesn't do a good job, but because we tried it once at home and I starting whining when he "hurt my cheek.")

Little Bro is 22!! (Guess I'm getting old!)

It just didn't seem right closing out April Fool's Day w/o a b-day shout-out to my brother!! Yes, my brother was born on April Fool's Day. I'm not sure why, but for some reason it seems to fit! I don't think he knows I have a blog ... but this will be a good reason to tell him!

Yes, Dave ... aren't we cute. My brother David is 2.5 years younger than me and we had LOTS of fun together when we were little. I especially remember: playing 'lava,' playing with Sara the trike and Michael the bigwheel, Saturday morning cartoons, hours and hours playing in the 'sub-basement,' and much more. It was always good to have a sibling so you could sleep in their room when you got scared (yes, I think I was scared of the dark).
Yes, it looks like we even held hands once! Bet this picture is priceless. Anyway, I'm glad I have a brother that was nice enough to put up with me over the years! I think I cramped his style a little in high school since he had to be connected to his 'nerdy' older sister (I'm sorry, I just study a lot!). He was always a great athlete and really got into music during high school. Now he is a great guitar player! He has great taste in music and clothes and I hope in other things as well (like girls! haha). He is a great guy and I am so sad not to get to spend any time with him these days.
Hope you had a good birthday, Dave! And I hope you know we love you!

If I Were a Billionaire?

Lindsey finally gets her wish: I'm posting. I've noticed a "tag" going around the blog community with a question which has been sorely misunderstood. The question, "What would you do if you were a billionaire." Now I'm sure many responders don't want to be taken as materialistic, but the question wasn't what you would do if you were a millionaire. Try 1000 times that. Ya, $1,000,000,000. The yearly interest alone on a billion dollars is a very conservative $50 million. That's a lot of money. So here is what I would do if I was a billionaire. If you want to think that I'm materialistic you don't have to be friends with me, although I'm sure my friends would really like me. First of all, I would finish dental school. I might never practice dentistry, but I would finish. It's not only so Lindsey can call me doctor, which she has agreed to for two months, but mainly since I value education and don't like ignorance. In fact I would also go to business school after that. I could go on about investments, and the "nice things" I could do with all that money, which I would definitely do, but here is a few more fun things I would do. Gosh, I hope I never have this much money though because I'd rather go to heaven.

My House $26 Million
Paradise Valley, AZ

It looks like there is enough room there to do anything I wanted. Is that a golf course? Come hangout whenever you want.

Summer House $1.2 Million
Montana

I've always had a dream of living on a lake. This house literally sits on a lake with the private boat dock right behind where the picture was taken. I'd post the picture but Lindsey gave me a picture limit for this post.

Kind of a Third House
Lake Powell Houseboat $500,000

I've been fortunate enough to spend several weeks on a houseboat at Lake Powell. If you haven't been there it's a great time to spend with family and friends. This boat seems amazing but some of the best times I had was with friends on "The Rainbow Connection" which went down the lake tilted because one of the pontoons had a leak in it and was full of water. Amazing memories and can't wait to make more!

Forms of Travel:
Jet $3 million

I decided it would be nice to have an airplane to not have to put up with all the frustrations of airline travel. I guess I could have this one if I was a billionaire. Fuel on this probably cost more than $1000 an hour. Looks like it holds 14 people so some of you can come.
Porsche 911 Turbo $9o,000

I've loved this car since I was five years old. My dad took me to the store and he bought me a picture of a red porsche for my room. Funny thing is that he also bought himself a huge 50 gallon plastic trash can for the yard, but I thought this was for me as well. So he was nice enough to go along with my innocence and let me have it in my room for a few days. So yeah, I didn't have to empty the trash very often.

GMC Kodiak 4500 $60,000

This is actually my dream truck and maybe just maybe it's a little big. It could be the little guy sydrome I was born with but I really hope to have a reason to own this truck some day. How will Lindsey get in? Not my problem!

Mastercraft X-star $90,000

When I was 14 my dad bought a 1978 boat for $3,000. It was a fixer upper for sure and our family put so much time into getting that boat into tip top condition. We all had a blast going to the lake and learning to ski. It was a good experience but I think I'm going big baby! It seats 12 people.

Just One More Boat
Yacht $3 million

So maybe you can tell that I love boats and water. I'm not sure why, but water just calls to me. Water does to me, what chocolate does to women. I think it would be amazing to be able to go from city port to city port on a yacht and dock for a day or so to see what the city has to offer and then continue up the coast. There's lots of room for friends and family so free up a week or so and we'll go.

And since I've only spent about $35 million so far, for the rest I would become the majority owner of the Arizona Cardinals NFL Team for $400 million and turn them into winners instead of losers and then build several high rises in the Phoenix, Los Angeles area and lease them out. I might throw in a golf course or two as well, and maybe a resort. It would be fun. Golf would be free for friends.

It looks like it would be fun to have $1 billion. Materialistic? Nah! For those that actually know me know that the thing I want to do the most in life is to help others out that are really in need and make a significant difference in their life. I see so many kids every day that were born into a hopeless situation and it really tears me apart. It really isn't fair. Someday I hope to make a big difference and not only in their smile, but also in their reasons to smile. It's something I want my future children to experience as well. But maybe we can have a little fun along the way, right?