Friday, July 27, 2007

Fantasy Football

YES!!! Football season is just around the corner.....the glories of hard-hitting, long-throwing, heart-thumping action are just weeks away!

Today I started my Fantasy Football League: The Year of the Mountaineer.

Pretty much all day I've been reading about players and preparing for my upcoming domination of all the poor and innocent souls who dared joined my league :) It's so exciting.....

This year is going to be great. We've got a great league set up and lots of knowledgeable entrants. I can't wait to see who might come out on top...of course I'm predicting myself as the victor!!

WVU football 2005 highlight video

Just a little video to get you pumped for the upcoming season!!!!!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

My New Apartment

Here are some pictures of my new apartment! We just moved in this weekend and are still putting everything together. At least you can see how big it is and the nice windows we have in the family room:) I'm very excited and am really happy to finally have a washer/dryer in my apartment not to mention that now I also have a dishwasher!!!!!











Thursday, July 19, 2007

The Coolest People I Know....

I was going through my photos on my computer at work and cleaning up a bit and found some pictures. Some of these are pretty old but thought I'd post a few pictures of some of the coolest people I know!!!!








































Monday, July 16, 2007

Patrick's Place

I talked to Pat today and he sent me a number of pictures from his Island. I wanted to post a few to let you knoaw where he is and what he gets to see every day.....

The Decemberists + Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

So Saturday Amber, Greg and I travelled to the Merriweather Post Pavilion http://www.merriweathermusic.com/ to watch the Decemberists in concert. We discussed we must really like them because this was the third time we've seen them in concert. Not only is it the third time, but it's the third time this summer!
Merriweather is gorgeous! I hadn't been out there to see a concert yet and was very excited to see how beautiful it is. The pavilion is completed surrounded by beech trees and has a great lawn area. While there I learned that the venue was designed so that it would not distruc the natural topography of the site. The acoustics are considered to be best among outdoor centues. Merriweather has played host to such iconic musical groups as Led Zeppelin in 1969 and The Grateful Dead in 1983.
The concert was great! They played songs that they originally intended to record with a full orchestra. It was like watching The Decemberists play out a full movie production. I kept thinking that everything sounded as if it could have been a movie soundtrack. The setting was perfect! Tucked away in the trees :)

If you haven't already heard of the Decemberists, please check them out. http://www.decemberists.com/about.aspx

The Decemberists front man, Colin Meloy is revolutionary in the world of indie music. He studied creative writing while in college and often writes songs based on stories that he's read. The Decemberists current album, The Crane Wife, is a story Meloy found when browsing the children's section of a bookstore in Portland. The Crane Wife is a Japanese folk tale that has been handed down in different variations and translations. Along with the rest of the band-- multi instrumentalist Chris Funk, Keyboardist Jenny Conlee, bassist Nate Query and drummer John Moen--The Decemberists are producing music that embraces experimentation and celebrates classic pop and folk. Their music is sometimes relative to an Irish Jig or a Sea chant. The band is original and their sound is energetic, expansive and all their own.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Transformers


I have been lagging on the movie viewing and last night made a split decision to see Transformers. Man was it the right decision! Very few movies make me drop my jaw, clap, and yell outloud. I loved every minute of the high intensity, action packed film.
I can't get over how much I enjoyed this film. If you haven't already done so, please see this movie! I loved the special effects! Every Transformer looked amazing. The movie was humorous and action packed. I always worry with movies like this that there will be a slow center to the film. This was not slow in any form.

I loved the audience interaction as well. People screamd and cheered during the film. After the film was over people stood up and cheered! I share their sentiment. What an excellent summer movie and a must see if you ever watched or knew of Transformers as a kid.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Alli

I had to post this because it is a very rare occurance that I found myself laughing outloud at the office from something I read online.

I was reading a blog today and I noticed an add for the new weightloss pill, Alli. I'm curious so I click. At first glance this sounds like the miracle pill the world of women have been waiting for!

"Forget the fad diets and gimmicks. The miracle offers, the empty promises. Welcome to Alli."

Hmm....please tell me more.

"If you have the will, we have the power."

I have the will! Please give me your power, oh great one Alli!!!!

At this point my curiosity is peaked. This the only weightloss pill that is FDA approved. It must work miracles! I decided to click on, "how does it work." Although I'm intrigued I am still skeptical.

The sight continued to tell me that Alli worked by preventing your body from breaking down all the fat that you ingest. That doesn't sound so bad. But then it went on to say, "Undigested fat cannot be stored and passes through the body naturally...In fact, you may recognize it in the toilet as something that looks like the oil on the top of a pizza." Excuse me? Come again? So you're telling me that pizza oil comes out of my bum and floats in my toilet? If it comes out while I'm doing my business does it come out when I least expect it????

I decided to read the side effects:

"you may have bowel changes that are call treatment effects:

-gas with oily spotting
-loose stools
-more frequent stools that may be hard to control"

I'm sorry, you said that the nasty side effects are that I'll:

-shart oil in my pants
-have diarrhea
-have to use the bathroom in my pants while I'm in that important meeting with my boss

Wow, I'm beginning to think this isn't the magic weightloss pill I've been hoping for.

Oh great Alli, I asked for your power, but please....not the power to poo!!!!

Radiology and Ambulances

Today I had to use my lunch break to go to the Radiology lab to prepare for my CT Scan tomorrow. I wasn't thrilled to be going there mostly because I'm not thrilled to be having a CT Scan. My Dr. isn't convinced that my ailment is an ulcer so he wants more tests done. GREAT, more needles!

If you are familiar with the D.C. area at all you know that travelling what looks like 15 min. away could some times end up being an hour away with traffic on the beltway. I had to make it from Alexandria to Annandale. I made it in great time, 25 min. My appointment for a CT Scan isn't until tomorrow. I had to go today to pick up the Barium that I have to drink tomorrow. From what I've been told it doesn't taste that great.

When I checked in and told them what I was there for they asked me what flavor Barium I wanted. I remember being a kid and drinking your medicine when you were sick. Any flavor you add always makes it taste worse! The flavor choices made me gag just thinking about them: berry, banana, or orange. YUCK!!!! I asked them which was least nasty of all the nasty flavors and that left me with orange.

I left the Dr. office and headed to my car. I put my car in reverse and just as I was backing up and ambulance with lights flashing pulled right behind me, parked, and the driver got out and walked away!!!!I was so angry! I stopped myself and said, "Emily, someone is in danger and you are complaining because you are late to get back on the road and get stuck in traffic? Stop complaining." I tried to calm myself down. I decided to use this indefinite amount of time to think. I thought about the other ambulance that pulled up and I watched them point at me because they noticed my despair and they parked in an EMPTY parking space before hurriedly rushing into the building. I thought about ALL the EMPTY parking spaces that flooded the parking lot and ALL the places this ambulance could have parked except behind me. I also thought about the gentleman that came to his car which was also blocked by the ambulance. I thought about how he must be in the same despair as me. I thought about all of this while he wiggled his little VW Golf back and forth until he could pull out from behind the ambulance because on the left of that little VW Golf there were 2 empty parking spaces!!!! I thought WHY ME!!!!! Everyone was leaving the building looking at my face thinking, 'how sad' as they got into their unblocked cars and drove away. My anger was brewing and all the while I couldn't help but think that someone was in trouble and how dare I get so angry.

A good 20 minutes later the driver of the ambulance moseyed on out and moved the vehicle to an empty parking space just literally 3 feet from his original location. He then got out of his car lit a cigarette and sat there until he was joined by the two people from the other ambulance! What kind of emergency is that!!!!!

So tomorrow I have to starve myself and drink this orange flavored chalk water and then go to the Dr. so they can inject me with a glowing dye while they scan my body for problems......I think I'll end up being an orange flavored glowing science experiment.....but that may be just wishful thinking....

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Nilla

I went home for the July 4th holiday to continue the wedding dress shopping and finish up some wedding details. My parents anniversary is July 4th and as a gift my dad got my mom a new baby lab. We call her 'Nilla.' She is roughly 8 weeks old and is beautiful. Her and Chloe (their other lab) get along so well. Chloe likes to take care of the little one and they love to play tug-of-war. Right now Nilla likes to eat and sleep. She will fall asleep anywhere. She loves to be all wrapped up and cuddled. I think she will be a big dog! Please enjoy this photos of her. She is the cutest puppy in the world!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Guinness Foreign Extra

Pat wanted to prove to me that beer is really cheap in the island. If you look closely at this pciture from their store you can see that the price is $.20 per can of Guiness. If you look even closer you can see that there is a bar code over the $.20. Pat has informed me that the bar code meant that it was on sale even more! The cans were $.15 each!!!

It's a new day

I just wanted to post a few more pictures of Pat on the island. Here is a recent picture of Pat working at the Post Office in Diego Garcia. Since Pat now has a computer it will be much easier to keep in contact with him. He has been able to send more pictures and communicate via e-mail. I talk to Pat everyday and a few times a day. It is strange to think that at this very moment he's getting ready for bed and I've only just begun my day.