Birthday dinner at Ichibon

Brian took me to Ichibon Japanese steakhouse (like benihana) for my birthday dinner. This was the early "birthday dinner" since he was unsure if he would be able to take me out the night of due to his ortho rotation schedule.

Sunflower Fields

After receiving my fabulous canon rebel XSI camera as an early birthday present, we decided to go and test it out! Near our house there are huge fields one after another full of sunflowers! BEAUTIFUL photo op!

can you see my freckles?

Nikki and I hanging out at the pool, one of the last days... :( I have had so much fun this summer laying in the sun but wow do I have a lot of freckles!!

pool day

Before the pool closed down for the summer we took one last pool day, mia too! The lifeguards even let us take mia in the water to practice her swimming skills. She had a blast and was so tired by the time we got home she fell asleep on the floor!

practicing swimming

mia practicing swimming in the bathtub after her shower :)

the friendly bat

Much like our Montana trip, we found ourselves the neighbors of a friendly fruit bat. At least that is what we thought it was... He was sleeping above our next door neighbors house for a good week or so before we called about him, unfortunately they did not help him back to his home in the woods because he appeared to be injured.

Rudolphs Rival??

This shot of mia tends to make her look more reindeer than dog like...if only she had a bright red nose, she could fill in for Rudolph the red nosed reindeer!

Puzzles, Puzzles EVERYWHERE!

we have been accomplishing many puzzles lately in our free time (hahaha!) although this particular one was quite DIFFICULT! It was from my mom (thanks mom!) and it was some I Spy puzzle, but by the end I did not care to keep it around so that I could spy anything... anybody want this one next?? :P

Sweet Water Bottle!

I have a few friends that are thinking of traveling to Africa in the new future and I wanted to try and find them something to help keep them safe on their journey...I FOUND IT! A water bottle with a built in purifier to make drinking water safe from almost anywhere! This bottle with the build in purifier lasts for up to 200 refills! and its only $25 at www.thewatergeeks.com

the unbreakable vase

I know whenever we move, the hardest thing to move with is glasswear. And more importantly, pretty glass vases. I have a hard time moving them and then finding them a new home. These collapsable vases are both space savers and earth friendly! you can get them all over, my favorite are the printed ones at http://www.treehugger.com/!

the pringles thief!!!

This afternoon I was enjoying a tasty snack of pringles chips...I got up to do something and when I returned soon after my stack of pringles and the naptkin were MISSING!! I blamed Brian first since he often finishes my snacks without my knowledge, but he said he did not do it! Then we turned to Mia...her breath smelled like sour cream & onion...THIEF!!! she looked truly guilty too! that is always a dead give away with her!

Then and now...some things never change!

Brian loves when Mia snuggles on his legs in such a ladylike manor. :P the top photo is from February when we first got Mia and below is most recent...awwww! our puppy is all grown up!

McD's Sundae's

there is something odd about the McDonalds here...they DONT serve STRAWBERRY SUNDAE'S!! as many of you know Brian and I LOVE the strawberry sundae's from McD's. But for some reason, here in NY they only make chocolate fudge and caramel...weird right? we've asked around and people here have NEVER even heard of them having strawberry sundae's...EVER!!

the new nerdy family photo

we figured that it has been awhile since we took a photo of the three of us together, Brian hates having pictures taken when he is in his glasses but oh well!

WE HEART PHELPS!

Brian and I have been constantly watching the OLYMPICS and we really enjoy watching Michael Phelps swim and break all of those world records! and win the gold of course!

baby rivalry

This week I had the opportunity to watch a baby at our house...mia had some issues with sharing the attention but in the end she became great friends with baby richie. Here they are napping together and mia eyeing his toys, trying to get him to share!

a new puppy...?

After talking about it and talking about it we went to visit a petstore with mia to see what she thought of another puppy. There were so many cute dogs to look at and play with but our hearts went out to the toy fox terrier. We went into a playroom with the new puppy and took turns playing with her since one of us had to watch and hold mia at the same time. Mia was not happy! She kept giving us this look like, "mom/dad what are you doing with another puppy? love me, love me!" And so, that only being part of the decision, we decided to wait a bit longer before we add another family member. :)

Happy Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!!! It has come to my attention that we know a lot of people with August birthdays! I mean we are talking more than 10 people for this month alone! So...while we have sent out many birthday cards I also wanted to announce on here for everyone to have a very Happy Birthday!! (now only a month to go before mine!)

don't forget your sunscreen...

Since it's been so nice and sunny here lately, we have been hanging out poolside. Yesterday Brian came with me to the pool to "study" while I lounged with a friend. And, well...he fell asleep with no sunblock on and got extremely burnt! I got a little burnt for lack of re-applying suncreen, we won't make that mistake again! UGH! I HATE SUNBURNS!

THE BEST DESSERT EVER!

Brian and I had UNO's for dinner last night...and dessert!! I had their "deep dish sundae" and it is TO DIE FOR!! I am somewhat hard to please when it comes to the dessert menu at most restaurants but all I have to say about this is...WOW! Go to UNO's and TRY IT!! you won't regret it!

we heart eggrolls! Thanks Gerard Girls!!

Thanks to the Gerard girls; Nina, Elise &Gaby, I was inspired to make my first EGG ROLLS! They are so much easier than I thought they would be and soooo yummy!!

R.I.P. Teddy Bear

we just retired mia's very first toy, her itty bitty brown teddy bear, "bear". the picture kinda makes him look creepy like the scarecrow guy from batman, its just because he's turned inside out and missing half his body...

this is going on my wish list!

I have been craving Smore's lately and I saw this awesome Smore's maker, you just add water and it steam melts the chocolate and marshmallows perfectly! Enjoy a Smore with NO BURNT MARSHMALLOW!!

I LOVE NUMB8RS!

My crush is on Don Epps from NUMB8RS! But I have a new show that I love almost as much! It's new, called FLASHPOINT...seen it?

fortune cookie says...

I like this one better! Brian and I had chinese food, here's what our fortunes said... Brian: "A smooth long journey! Great Expectations"... I KNOW RIGHT!?!? Christina: "Time and patience are called for, many surprises await you!"...SERIOUSLY!!!!

scuba diving

I have been thinking a lot about vacation ideas lately and one activity that I think I might like to try is scuba diving... can dogs really scuba too??

a new kind of superhero

mia needed a new cape, more gurly than her blue one! it even has an "M" for mia. she sure has that "dutduhduhduh!" look on her face doesn't she? maybe she was a superdog in some other life...

Last Comic Standing

Anyone else out there watching the popular new show, "Last Comic Standing?" ITS AWESOME! Brian and I are really into comedy these days, not that Brian has time for anything but residency right now :) But, this is Jeff Dye, he is a Seattle, WA native and we are VOTING FOR HIM!!! He is new, has fresh material, and ultimately makes me laugh so hard that I cry! Another top contender that I love is Iliza Schlesinger! Why? Because she's the only girl...and she's FUNNY!!

oops!

Funny story... while I was mixing the ingredients to make a chocolate, chocolate chip bundt cake I decided to try and be "cool" and try cracking the eggs like you see them do on cooking shows...you know by pulling the egg apart rather than hitting it on the edge...and yeah well, I am obviously NOT a professional because it ended up mostly inside the mix. I did not realize this until I started eating it after it was baked. EEWW! I had to toss it, I just couldn't eat something with eggshells in it no matter how chocolatey it was...boo hoo hoo