2013 Favs!

Here are my favorite pictures of 2013...

January

Me & my dad right after we found out the Ravens were going to the SUPERBOWL!!!

Decked out in my Raven's gear holding Superbowl tickets!!  (not mine of course)

February

My dad welcoming & celebrating the Raven's Superbowl win at M&T Bank Stadium

Alana, Laura & I at Hibrewnation

March

Shelby & Dusty going for a walk together.

Best. Holiday. Ever.  St. Patty's Day 2013!!

April

Meg, Me & Monika on the west coast.  One of my favorite vacations ever -
click here to see more about my trip to San Francisco

Best. Smile. Ever.

May

My co-worker and I were orange color throwers at The Color Run in Baltimore. More pics and info here.

Mother's Day - Boh & Crabs... YUM!!

June

My friend Marci's son having fun at the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh... more fun here.

The same weekend I visited my friend Tracy & her girls... such cuties!

July

Shelby is very patriotic :)

My bitches.

August

Happy Birthday Alana!!  Love summer fun.

Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z concert - all the cell phone lights when he sang Forever Young.

September

Me, Wendy & Laura in NYC for the weekend.  

I saw Ray Lewis at the Raven's game :)

October

Wedding month!  First wedding was for my friends Ralph & Bryan.  Fantastic!

Second was for my friend Sara and her fiance Mike's wedding.
Sara is not pictured, but I've known these girls for almost 20+ years!

November

My dad's surprised face... yes, we surprised him.  100% surprised. :)

My mom and grandparents in front of one of my mom's paintings in her art exhibit.

December

My friend Jayme (from college) and me after Detroit Lions game.

Alana's Baby Shower

Laura & her polar bear friend...

Me & Monika... last pic of 2013 :)

Frankenstorm

Last year around Halloween, we had a snow storm, this year we have Hurricane Sandy - the storm of a century!  And she's coming our way...

I followed advice & am ready...

Filled my car with gas...

Went to the grocery store to buy non-perishables & water... 

Went to Office Max to buy extra batteries for my radio & flashlights... and water :)

MONDAY, 10.29.12

Here is the prediction from Foot's Forecast

* 8 AM to 6 PM: Winds increase to 40 mph
* 6 PM to 9 PM: Winds become sustained at 40-60 mph
* 9 PM to 12 AM: Occasional gusts to Hurricane Force (~74 mph)

Most businesses in Maryland have closed for the day to keep people off the roads.  The rain is supposed to come today with some wind and flooding.  My office has closed & implemented their 'work from home' policy... now I can watch The Weather Channel all day!!

8:45 am - Lots of rain and a little wind... waiting for the 'worst'

11:20 am - Wind is picking up and steady rain.  We are being asked to curtail water use until further notice. The York City Wastewater Treatment Plant is experiencing "extremely high" flow as a result of the rainfall, according to a Monday morning news release from York City. Areas that are served by the plant should not use water unnecessarily.

12:30 pm - Raining harder now.

"Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

3:30 pm - Wind is getting slightly stronger - more wind gusts.  Took Shelby out and the lawn is getting to be one big puddle!  Hard to see in this picture, but my feet sunk right down as I ran out.

5:00 pm - Sandy's picking up strength & speed... and coming right at ME!  I am the blue dot, the red line is Sandy... holy guacamole, hold on!

I thought I better take a video even though nothing exciting was happening, I had to document something!!  It's obviously not very impressive or of good quality, but you can kinda see the trees & rain blowing in the wind.

I tried to take a video later when the wind was worse, but it was too dark and you couldn't see anything :(

9:00 pm - Still laying low & waiting.  The rain is bad and there is flooding all around.  Cable/Internet has flickered off & on twice.  Sandy is no longer a hurricane and being referred to as a 'super storm.' Electric is staying on for now... but Sandy is supposed to be going through York at 2:00 am.  I gave Shelby the couch...

10:30 pm - Can't stand the waiting.  We went to bed!

TUESDAY, 10.30.12

Prediction:  12 AM to 8 AM: Winds are still sustained at tropical storm force and begin to decrease below by 40 mph by 12 AM Wednesday.

6:30 am - From Justin Berk, Meteorologist - "The center of (former hurricane) Sandy passed right over Baltimore after midnight. The former hurricane shifted direction after entering Maryland. Instead of heading to York PA it dropped SW along I-95 and then stalled over east Baltimore. Watch it enter the right side of the image and the expand. Winds were 50-70 mph, hail was reported as cold air entered the system. Flooding increased on the Chesapeake Bay from the additional water flow to the Eastern Shore and Harford County."

I slept pretty well - my thoughts & the wind woke me up a few times, but not strong enough to be scary and I went right back to sleep!  Now to see if work has electricity...

2:00 pm - Sitting at work eating a late lunch.  Flood & Wind warnings have expired.  Back to a normal rainy day for me!  I'm soooo lucky though after watching all the devastation... especially in NY and NJ.  My prayers go out to all the families!!  Now to the grocery store tonight to buy all the refrigerated products I did not buy on Sunday and to return the 20 batteries I bought :)

Here are some incredible & unbelievable pictures.  And here is some before and after.

30 Day Challenge (1) #4

Day 19: Tuesday, 3/20/12
Bright & early (and I mean early) on Thursday morning, I was flying to Texas with my parent's to visit some family & go to a wedding.  That means we had to drop the dogs off at the kennel on Wednesday night.  So, here is a picture of my Shelbinator on our last night together before vacay...

Day 20: Wednesday, 3/21/12
After work my mom and I packed up the car full of dog food and dog cookies to take her two black labs, AJ & Cody, and my lab, Shelby, to the kennel for their own little sleepover/vacay!  Needless to say, two people and three labs in one compact car made for an interesting... yet fun... ride :)

Day 21: Thursday, 3/22/12
After arriving in Dallas, we had to wait in line for a good half hour to get our rental car.  My mom & I sat with our luggage.  There was a little boy sitting next to us by himself (his dad was in line keeping an eye on him) and my mom decided to strike up a conversation.  Once she opened those flood gates, he couldn't be stopped!  Then he whipped out his dad's phone and started taking pictures of us... so I took one of him taking one of us! :)

Day 22: Friday, 3/23/12
Today we drove to Allen, Texas to visit my Uncle's Honda dealership.  While waiting for our tour, we decided to play on the bikes.  Mom picked out this one... I said it'd look better in hot pink ;)

Day 23: Saturday, 3/24/12
Today we went window shopping in Grapevine.  There were some great stores & we really enjoyed the town.  This cupcake was hanging outside one of the stores... I loved it!  So cute!

Day 24: Sunday, 3/25/12
We spent the day at my Uncle's house catching up and relaxing.  While sitting outside enjoying the great weather, I turned and saw this gecko lizard thing.  Surprisingly I did not act too girly & was able to take the picture :)  haha!

Day 25: Monday, 3/26/12
Our last day in Texas and I was so excited we went to eat Mexican!  I loved my blackberry mint margarita :)

Day 26: Tuesday, 3/27/12
I sat by the window on the way home... great view!

30 Day Challenge (1) #2

Day 5: Tuesday, 3/6/12
Today I went to a Celebrate & Connect meeting with my Thirty-One family.  It's always good to get together with everyone!  And, we all get a gift from Thirty-One just for coming.  This time we got an All-In-One Organizer in a print that is available ONLY in May!  Cute, huh?? :)

Day 6: Wednesday, 3/7/12
I took Shelby to the vet for her annual visit (all us girls gotta go through it! LOL!).  She did very well!  She gained .3 lbs from last year, but that's just winter weight. :)  Shelby loves the vet... not sure why... but she actually runs up to people... which if you know Shelby is very uncharacteristic!

Day 7: Thursday, 3/8/12

I took this picture while driving back to work from Towson, MD during my lunch break.  I was sitting at a traffic light, looked to my left and there was my first sign of spring!  I thought the pink buds were so pretty next to the gray bare trees behind it.  In just a few weeks everything will be green!!!

Day 8: Friday, 3/9/12

This is the toy I bought the morning I brought Shelby home.  I call her her "buby."  They bonded right away and she carries her buby around everywhere.  

Day 9: Saturday, 3/10/12

I went to visit one of my best friends from high school, Marci and her family, 'lil Caleb and Justin.  I got there at Justin's bed time so no pictures of Caleb, but she did give me a picture to hang on my fridge, so I took a picture of the picture :)

Day 10: Sunday, 3/11/12

I had such a fun day!!  Hit the dog park with Shelby and her new friend Buck, went to lunch with friends, visited the York Art Assoc to see my mom's artwork in the gallery (visit her blog: http://judygruppstudio.blogspot.com/), dinner with my parents, and then a whore-derv dinner with Desperate Housewives.  Here are two pictures I wanted to share:

Shelby LOVES the dog park!!

My mom & her art work at the York Art Association.  Visit her blog at http://judygruppstudio.blogspot.com! 

Day 11: Monday, 3/12/12

One of my co-workers brought in some yummy peanut buttery fancy treats to share with Shelby...