Colonial Williamsburg

It's taken me a bit to get these up, but here are a few pictures of our day in Williamsburg. We drove up with Rem, Traci, and Sawyer and had lots of fun even though the weather was peaking into the 100's. The city is all historically preserved and the people are dressed up in colonial attire. We didn't want to pay to go in some of the homes...but we still had lots of fun just walking down the streets and peeking in where we could.
On the way home we had a Jelly Belly competition to see who could eat the grossest flavors. Someone would eat a bean without looking what it was, and then we'd laugh as they were forced to swallow or spit out jelly beans that tasted like vomit, rotten egg, moldy cheese, booger, pencil shavings, and skunk spray! If you've seen Traci's blog, these pictures will look very familiar!

Back Home, Barfing, and Batman

Now that I've had a few days to recover from my travels, (and more importantly-I found a spot where my computer will finally connect to the internet) I thought I'd record my experiences getting back home.
A couple weeks ago I had the chance to fly home for a week of visiting my family. My dad's side of the family has a camp out reunion every summer and since I missed it last year, I really wanted to be there. The fact that Cade is leaving us in less than a month also played a big part in the return.
The actual trip home was a story within itself but I don't really want to say much more than I now have a strong dislike for Dallas, Texas. (In particular, one American Airlines worker in Dallas)
When the Wallentine family gets together there's no lack of good food, laughs, and story telling. My dad has 7 siblings and they all have large families of their own, so dinner time with 40 relatives is normal. I love it! Here just a few of my favorite camp traditions:

Wallentines NEVER cheat at games ;) Some more action shots. Yes, that is my Dad.
And here is the close up. Watch out Cade!Uncle Chris reading the famous "left/right" story.
My Nana, with help from lots of others, gets enough gifts for EVERYONE to pass around the circle while listening for all the "left" and "rights".
And of course, sitting around the fire. I love listening to all the hilarious stories!
While I was home I caught a 48 hour flu bug...or something...so I had to leave the first night of camp to go home due to a upset stomach. (I won't mention any names of who I contracted this sickness from...ahem, Ashley :) ) However, I didn't have to miss too much of the reunion so it all worked out.
I had lots of fun at home and I'm glad I went, but it also made it hard to leave my family again. I was excited to come back to Virginia to of course be with Nate, and it won't be long until we head back for Cade's farewell.
Soon after I got back, Nate's sales office made their goal for the day and his manager paid for all of us to go to the midnight premiere of Batman. I haven't seen any of the other Batmans, but I loved the new one! It also helped that Christian Bale is VERY good looking. :) Heath Ledger was freakishly awesome as well.

July 4th - East Coast Style

Nate worked until 5 on the 4th of July. I think that is the only day they get a slight break...(?) because they usually go until 9. As part of the festivities, his company is awesome and pays for a huge BBQ dinner. It's a BYODC event (bring your own Diet Coke) , which to me, is basically any event.After dinner we went down to the beach with 95% of the population of Virginia (the other 5% was packed into a park a few blocks from our apartment). Then parked 10 blocks away from the action, walked behind slow people for 10 minutes just in time to catch the firework show, and walked the 10 blocks back with the same slow people who were ironically then in a hurry, all after a max 20 minutes of fireworks. I'm used to Romney Stadium's 45 minute celebration duration, so I was completely NOT ready to leave after the so-called grand finale.

I know I probably sound a bit pessimistic/sarcastic, but Virginia Beach really did put on a good show and it was a fun night. The fireworks were set off on boats out in the ocean and therefore reflected in the water when they exploded, so it was like a double dose.
(If you're like my sister, you notice my shirt changed colors. Just think clumsy, BBQ, ketchup, and white shirt...but Nate is very festive)
(This doesn't do the water reflection justice, but I tried)

We missed our families and their parties (and Nate's dad's birthday, Happy Birthday Darrell!), but we also realize this is such a great opportunity for us. It's a time of our lives that we'll never be able to duplicate. The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays because it's not focused around spending money or other such things, but just a time for everyone to celebrate our country. Happy 4th!

Princess Laci

I've seen this on a few people's blogs so I decided to try it. I'm very sure if it's accurate...but entertaining none the less!


You Are Mulan!

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

just for fun

I know I have posted more than usual lately, but things have been slow. (oh how I love to say that) This is just a cool thing I saw on my blogging rounds.

It is a bit time consuming but still fun. Here is what you do:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the FIRST page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Here are my answers:

1. Laci
2. Italian
3. USU
4. blue
5. James McAvoy (right now at least)
6. Diet Coke
7. Hawaii
8. chocolate covered strawberries
9. mom
10. Nathan J
11. changing
12. lbutta, but it didn't work so I tried "buttars" and it pulled up my nephew!

Then Nate participated as well:

1. Nate
2. Mexican
3. Sky View (I guess he thinks of his high school glory days....haha)
4. blue
5. Kate Beckinsale - she's gorgeous I'll admit
6. Dr. Pepper
7. Hawaii (yes we are a lot alike)
8. pizookie
9. retired
10. Laci Jae (notice the freaky/dominating cartoon woman he chose, love you too Nate) :)
11. fun
12. n8

Go ahead, try it!

A Jane Filled June

One of my friends, Dani, brought her copy of Pride and Prejudice to Virginia. I know P&P is a classic, but I found it to be slight coincidence because I had a pile of 4 or 5 books I had intentions of bringing and P&P was one of the lucky few...that is until I forgot them all. Once I heard she had her copy I asked to borrow it. Since that moment we've immersed ourselves in what could be described as "A Jane filled June"--Jane Austen that is.

Our first trip to Blockbuster resulted in a quick concurrence of Becoming Jane. Yes, it has been out for quite some time, but neither of us had seen it. Long story short--we both loved it. I loved it so much in fact, I took it home and nicely forced Nate to watch with me again...the same night.A few days later Dani and I were spotted leaving Barnes and Noble with every Jane Austen book available from the $5 classic collection shelf. Obsessed? Just a little.

The Jane-maina has also resulted in two $5 movie purchases of P&P (the new version with Keira Knightley) and Sense and Sensibility. Turns out Wal-Mart is good for something.
Yesterday, after many hours locked down in my dark apartment, Dani and I finished the A&E 6/7 hour P&P miniseries. And yes, I'm reading the book.

Some might be concerned of a Mr. Darcy overload. On the contrary however. The hours and hours of Janeisms eek out of me in more discreet manners. I just catch myself before I ask Nate, "Pray tell me what be most agreeable for dinner, sir?" :)

Or then of course, I just blog about it.

Allie Elizabeth

I am the oldest of four kids. All things considered, I love it. Besides being the "experiment" as I like to say to my dad, I enjoy being the oldest child. I'm bossy, yep shocker. Whenever my parents would leave me to babysit, I remember loving to throw around the phrase, "Well too bad, 'cause I'm in charge now." (Nate doesn't ever hear that I promise)

When I was 11, my littlest sister Allie was born. I'm pretty sure the term "little mother" would have described our situation. She is, after all, my spitting image. I always joke with her that she better think I'm beautiful because she's going to look just like me.
Well the other day I received a text message...
(she uses my Dad's phone so sometimes it takes me a second to decipher the sender)

"why dont you ever blog about me youve done cade dad mom nate and bekka but not me"

After a good laugh I responded:
"Haha you're funny Pals. I'll do one just for you. How's that?

"ya i would like that very much"

So here's to you Al. I miss you lots when I leave for the summer, but it also makes you realize that you do kinda like me after all, right? Nate wanted me to tell you that I only blog about him cause I have to, so don't feel too bad. :) Hope you're having a fun summer, and I'll see you in a few weeks!