Dave and Busters

Good times were had by at all at Dave and Busters. As you can see the four of us played game after game until we collected as many tickets as we could. It was fun to be a kid again.

The whole purpose of going to Dave and Busters for Staci is...this horse racing game. She has her own horse, "Jam Master Jay" that she's been training for months. She has a card that she inserts into the game and it loads up the horse into the computer. (Can you say addicted?) Anyway, she raced Jam Master Jay about 5 times and won every race. So far her and her horse have brought home over 10 million dollars. Ride 'em!

Staci is very focused and Mikey already has hundreds of tickets...wonder what kind of cheap toy he is going to trade those tickets in for???

First I kicked Mikey's ass, then Staci's. Sheesh, I just wish there was a little competition. Look at that form and follow through. My new nickname, "Baller."

Okay, towards the end of the night, Staci started playing Madden Football and Mikey was playing some kind of hunting game. He said, "c'mon Amy, play a round with me." My response, "I don't shoot animals." His retort, "its not real." Well as you can see in the picture on the right the screen says, "all animals are gone." He killed them all! It was fun to watch him shooting things while Staci was plotting her next pass down the field.

Christmas 2007

Every year, we celebrate Christmas Eve at my Uncle Joe's house and then Christmas Day at my Mom's. But first, my immediate family stops by my Aunt Linda's (Dad's sister) to say hello and to bring Grandma Rosie her Christmas gifts. Here she is with Tommy and me on the left and then my Mom, Dad, Tommy and me. The bottom picture is my cousin Carrie.Then off to my Uncle Joe's for some good 'ol fun. Uncle Joe's on Christmas Eve is a tradition. And I love traditions. So, its a good time. On the left is my Mom and on the right is Uncle Joe.

My brother decided that he wanted to wrestle my cousin, Brenden who is a wrestler at Kenston High School. He's a sophomore and kicked Tommy's butt. Here's one of the many pictures that I took of Tommy getting schooled. My poor little brother, I still love him. The bottom picture is my cousin Kaitlyn. And to the right is my cousin Sean. All of these kids are so beautiful.

Awww...Tommy and Maddie

Just look at these two...so handsome and cozy together. It's a Hallmark moment.

Noel's Birthday Party

The night started at Staci's apartment. Staci, Mike, Rachael and me were hanging out waiting to head out to dinner for Noel's birthday.

Gosh that dog is so cute. I love her.

Staci busted out her grill and Mikey slipped on his Diesel sunglasses. They're so hip and trendy.

Above is Meredith and below is Rachael.

Staci is singing into her Labatt Blue bottle some kind of bad music. Lucky for all of us, she has such an amazing voice!

Mike and Noel cut the rug with some awesome dance moves. The beer definitely helped. We all had a blast hanging out and celebrating Noel's 24th birthday.

Gosh, I'm sooooo thirsty

Good times in my life

The picture on the left looks like I am totally up to something naughty. I wonder what it was??? The top two pics were from San Francisco when I ran the marathon. The one on the right was when we were in Napa. Fun trip!

Below is my favorite place on earth...Bryce Canyon. It is so amazing there. I am totally in love with the the landscape and the way that it makes me feel to stand above the canyon.

To the right is Bryce Canyon and the Grand Staircase, Escalante in Southern Utah at sunset. We were climbing a switchback road called "Hell's Backbone." It's one of the most nailbiting roads that I've ever been on, but totally worth the ride.
To left is Mount Rainier. Gosh is it an amazing mountain. It's surreal to be standing next to something so huge and volatile and yet so calming.

To the right is my store...

To the left is the Devil's Garden just outside of Colorado Springs, CO. And below is Maddie as a puppy jumping around with Metro, her little brother.

This is my little brother, Tommy. We were at my cousin Laura's wedding in Chicago. He a handsome guy. I wish I would have gotten some of his height though (5'3" is way too short). Below is Leadville, Colorado when I was there for the "Race across the Sky" Leadville 100 Mile Mountain Bike race.

Below is my Uncle Joe at one of the functions that I hosted at my store to raise money for various charities. I believe this one was an art show for local artists.

Bedtime stories...

Just in case any of you are wondering where I am sleeping and with whom...

The Pacific Northwest

The week of Thanksgiving I jumped on a plane and headed out to Seattle. Some of my friends asked me to head out there and visit. I was in Seattle a little over three years ago and have so many memories from that trip.

I stayed with Heather, Diane, Jack, Andi and Sam. They were great hosts. Heather left me her car on the days that she had to work and I went into the city to check things out. I went up the space needle, toured around all of the museums and gawked at the mountains. I also visited my friend, Suzanne, for lunch a couple of days...which was great. I ate some really wonderful food while in Seattle and enjoyed a few microbrews.

Mount Rainier holds a special place in my heart, so I am including a pic of that great big volcano. I didn't have enough time to go there, but a few of the days that I was in the city I could see the mountain in the distance..."the mountain is out." You can barely see it in the distance, over the water, but its definitely there.

Heather and I visited a place called Snoqualamie Falls. It was pretty cool. This water fall was nestled into the mountain range. Apparently its a pretty awesome place to go skiing. We hiked from the top of the falls down to the bottom where the water was rushing by us. It was quite a climb back up to the top...somewhat reminiscent of Heather running the second half of the San Francisco marathon with me. HA!

Thanks for your hospitality Heather and Diane! I am still kicking around the idea of coming out there to live. Seattle is an awesome city and the mountains are phenomenal...but damn it's cold up there!