The Beast

For those of you who know the beast, she can be goofy too! :)
(P.S. for those of you who fear my life, The Beast approved this post)

Animal activists, turn away.

My (2nd) cousin Derek is the man! The other day he went out, sat in the cold for 3 hours, and got a doe with a bow and arrow! That's hardcore if you ask me. I don't want to get on his bad side :)

Needless to say, I love being in Kansas. You just don't see this everyday in good ol' Virginny.

Sweaters.

Haven't blogged in a while, and while I could do this in chronological order, I don't feel like it. Last night Julia and I went to my cousin Ryan's Christmas sweater party. We went to it 2 years ago and this was the 3rd annual party. Way to go, Ryan. See you next year. On second thought, come visit your cousins in Virginia!

Julia, Ryan, and Ryan's friend Aaron.
Julia and Luke armwrestling... in the air?

Plan B?

So the plan was to surprise Becky in Kansas for Christmas. We left Tuesday around 2:00pm and here we are at a Super 8 Motel somewhere in Ohio. Our car battery was acting funny, the lights weren't consistent and the windshield wipers weren't working. So, 7 hours from home and 18 miles away from Kansas. The roads are a sheet of ice and so even if our car was fine, we wouldn't be able to drive. Merry Christmas Eve from Super 8!

The only outlet was in the bathroom. No shame, no shame.

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Happy 23rd, Matt.

www.every365.blogspot.com

Lovely.

Today was my last meeting with these incredible women of 2008. Don't mind the kiddos running around behind us :) We had a Christmas party, sang some songs with the kids (meaning Julie and I sang to the kids) and ate some grub. Merry Christmas.

Just watch.

So true.

Pink&Green

Along with messing with Lars' boots, we also decorated the Girls House with streamers, balloons, and donuts. Well, we ate the donuts. Why? To celebrate Jess and Julia's graduation!!! We went to Wal Mart around 2:30am and were looking to buy streamers. Obviously we wanted Purple and Gold but of course those were sold out. So we got pink and green. Same story with the balloons. It's the thought that counts, right? While looking for some good deals on foods, we came across an aisle with JUMBO SIZED food. Perhaps it was the nighttime hours that made us think it was funny, but we died laughing.Mmmmm a life supply of mayo and tuna. What more could you ask for, really? Besides a barf bag?

Night Owl

I'm now off to work the night shift at LLBean. I will make the store look pretty while helping a total of 3 customers.

Nice to meet you, Lars.

So, MJ and I were up just a little bit later than most people, and the night hours got to us. Lisa's friend Lars was visiting and left his boots in the living room. So, of course we did something with them! Nice to meet you, Lars! I personally think that boots make a great Christmas ornament. It was also funny because he saw the one on the tree and thought they were both on there... wrong. Y'all come back now, ya hear? Oh and MJ, I cannot wait to live with you next year. Maybe then I will go rollerblading with you at 5 in the morning. Maybe.

Cold Toes

Jess, Kristen, and I went to the JMU vs. Montana game. The video here doesn't capture the spirit of the guy standing next to Kristen. He was going crazy yelling things and doing funny arm motions. So I was a little weird by trying to film him. The stadium was packed when we got there. We had to go all the way down to the endzone by the band, which wasn't bad at all. P.S. Good job, Katie! I love, love, love marching bands. I love people.

Scrumdiddlyumptious

Kristen, you are a great chef. Thanks so much. P.S. We should eat on the floor more often. "Hooolld brothersssss, hoooollllld. Attack NOW!"

Jess, FINALLY!

Don't lie to yourself. You know you're staying at the Girls House next year!
And good job carrying your hood on your right arm and dipping down to be hooded. Also, you're one of my favorite people on earth, so good job being yourself. And here's your cheer. Sorry I was busy yelling instead of focusing on filming you. You'll get over it in time. Notice how silent it is before Jess's name is called. It was so dead in the room. This old man in front of us covered his ears and said "is it safe yet?" after we cheered for Jess. Congratulations, Jess! "Everybody's gonna love today, gonna love today, gonna love today!"

Nice hat, Julia!

Julia graduated on Saturday and on Friday she was making phone calls to friends asking if they had their robe from graduating in May. Luckily she found a robe, but no purple hat. So every 30 minutes you would hear "Where am I gonna find a hat!?" Well she ended up buying one at the bookstore on graduation day. Saved a ton of money on the robe, though. We made her a sign that said "Nice hat, J-Lo" and held it up during graduation. Go Julia!

Backstock Blizzard

I'm in the process of converting the footwear backstock at LLBean to a Backstock blizzard! I only have 2 weeks to do it, and today I got started. I got a bunch of hangers, stapled together a bunch of gold cards that always fall out of the shoeboxes, and put a box against the wall. Voila! A tree. More to come later.

Grandpa Long

I will always enjoy playing guitar with Grandpa.

BramBramBram

Kristen hung out a day after Kristin Elliot's wedding. That meant a trip to the mall.

Crazy elves singing.

"Excuse me, photography is not allowed in this store" Oops. Big mirror.

Kristen for President!

Ruehl or however you spell that store.

Monopoly Round 2- DAD IS DEFEATED!

Heather, Dad, and I played Monopoly Saturday night and my dad is no longer champion. It was a long game, but the end result was worth it!

Now or never

That's what Heather and I were thinking Saturday night. We've been talking about camping out for so long and we just decided to do it! So when we got outside and there was snow, did that stop us? No way!
Well it only makes sense to sleep out on the coldest night we've had so far. Ring a bell, Jess?

Generosity

Heather, Julia, and I helped my mom do a skit for her lesson at church on Sunday. Julia and I were "Da Gift Rapperz" and Heather was a rich farmer. The lesson was on generosity, so we just set the stage for my mom to talk about sharing with others and helping out people.

Andrew Spotts

"so not gonna lie... every time i think about you, heather, and julia all living in the same house, i can't help but let out this really un-manly giggle" -Andrew Spotts

Violated

At work today, I went up to ask this woman if she needed help finding shoes for her kids. She hadn't seen me before I said hello and so it startled her. "Oh, I didn't see you" She grabs my hand, laughing. "Yes, we're looking for shoes." I help this woman and her friend find everything they need. "Oh and I need to return this bathing suit for a different color." We go online to look up the suit and which colors are still available. "Okay now let me ask you a question," she starts, while grabbing my hand and tapping/rubbing it. "My daughter is a little chubby. She has a belly, no big deal..." She persists to explain all these flaws her daughter has and points them out by touching me! "So what do you think I should do about the color to make it look slimmer" She rubs my stomach while saying slimmer. At one point I seriously thought they would stop and say, "Smile! You're on Candid Camera!" No such luck. She then goes on to say some other things, but since this is a family blog, I'll censor that :)

The point is: I feel violated! No woman I met at LLBean should touch me more than a boy has. Can I get an amen?

I took it as this eccentric woman whose personal bubble was a lot smaller than mine. Merry Christmas to you, lady.

Heather's computer is a chick magnet.

Don't tell it, but we just use it for the webcam.

You're as coooold as ice!

Heather: Ummm I act like a 6 year old all the time!
Me: I have hay hair.

JESS - HUNGRY.

I've discovered that my face is strangely NOT symmetrical.
I'm vain.

Thanks, Mom!

Alright, so I've been getting comments on posts from all these people I never gave my blog address to! And I feel GREAT because now the poll on the left says 11 people have answered, instead of 3! Turns out my mom sent my blog to friends and family. The power of e-mail is crazy. Welcome to my blog to all you new eyes out there! You've given me a reason to keep writing! (Don't worry, Jess, I would've still written just for you) Mom: The woman who brought me into the world. And you wonder where I get it from??

Edward.

I am a sucker for these kinds of books and movies. Lord, help me!
P.S. don't read or watch the movie unless you want to be consumed with it.
With that said, go read the book and see the movie. It's fun.

Woot!

Jess, I like this design a little better. I'm not crazy about the other one's picture. Oh, and never be ashamed of looking at Woot!

I like this one too.

Monopoly

Everyone should rediscover board games. Every time it's offered I ususally think, "man this will be lame" but now, LET'S PLAY ALL DAY EVERYDAY!!

However, whenever I play Monopoly with my family, my dad always wins! Somehow he ends up on the best property first and gets a monopoly. It's a minefield going around the board! Anyways, my dad gets all excited and everyone hates him for it.
At one point during the game I had $1. One. Dollar.

Typical Dad during any game right here.

Me llamo JUAN. Me llamo PACO!

So good to see you, Selma! Next time we break into Claire and Brigette's house, deal?

Blogritis

Jess King:

i worry when you don't post on your blog...

did you drown in the LLbean fish pond? get your eyes poked out making little kids try on shoes? lose your fingers in a tent zipper? suffocate yourself in your sleeping bag? get carjacked by someone who really wanted a 1989 ford escort?

seriously anything could happen; and when you don't post...

I'm alive, Jess! But it's good to know that someone would notice if I did disappear.
(note: crocs+mismatching knee highs+dress+dadscoat+annie=supercomfy)