Birthdays

You know, it's interesting this year. My birthday was Saturday and I think I'm at that in between age of life. I know where I'm coming from but just not sure of who I'm going to be when I really grow up. When your born your birthday is the happiest day in your parents life. On your first birthday you still don't really know what is going on, but your accomplishments really make your parents proud. By the time your six or seven it's all about you and what you "want" for your birthday. You think about how many toys and "things" you might get, and you still manage to make your parents proud. I have spent many birthdays in the past years without my parents around. This year, I was lucky enough to have them here for Thanksgiving AND my birthday. For the first time, I almost forgot it was my birthday. I wasn't worried about how many cards I would get, or how many calls. (although...i did make a big fuss about the mailman bringing the mail that day!) Let me be clear, those things make me glow with happiness and reflect on how lucky I am to have such great family and friends. This year was different though. For the first time I think I was more proud to spend the day with my parents and my husband than my parents were of me of my accomplishments. I'm not sure proud is the right word, but it was a real sense of completeness. There was nothing fancy, a big breakfast, time shopping and eating with my parents and Josh, and a relaxing evening in front of the Wii. There is no doubt that my parents are so proud of me and what I have done in life so far. They love to come visit, and it's always a relaxing good time. I think it's always going to be different now though. I think I'm a big kid now. One who is proud of what her parents have made her, how they have shaped her, loved her, and encouraged her to just be her. That is a whole lot to be Thankful for this holiday season. Josh and I also want to send a shout out to the family that we couldn't me with this Thanksgiving. We miss you tons and hope to see you after the first of the year! As I mentioned before, my mom brought her Wii out and the four of us had a screaming good time trying to play that thing! I have attached some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Be sure not to have anything to drink or eat while viewing these.....you may choke on laughter! Enjoy.

Here is my mom getting us all started on the Wii. She was the only one who had played the Hula Hoop game before!

This is my Dad trying to figure out Wii bowling. He may have thrown out a shoulder during our tournament!

(p.s. Right now, Mel has the all-time high score!)

Here's Josh really getting serious on the Wii!

And of course Carson had to get his Wii game on too. He would not leave the floor playing area, he really enjoyed watching how silly the rest of us looked!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

In the event that anyone didn't know the Webster's definition of turkey, I have included it in this post for your reading pleasure.
Turkey (tur' ke): 1. any of a family of large North American birds with a small, naked head and spreading tail, including a wild or domesticated species bred as poultry and a wild species of Central America, with eyespots on the tail 2. a failure: said of a theatrical production 3. an inep, stupid, or unpleasant person 4. Bowling three strikes in a row
All kidding aside, Josh and I want to wish everyone a happy holiday. We hope everyone is relaxing and enjoying time with friends and family and the beautiful weather.
Love,
Josh, Mel, and Carson

A Who Dey Revolution

This blog entry is definitely geared towards my Cincinnati peeps. However, any of you who have ever been a die hard fan of anything will completely understand. So my Bengals are in a rough patch.....well have been for most of my life. There is a group of rebels in Cincinnati who have put together the most amazing website. The website is geared at collecting donations for bill board ads like the one I will attach as well as other things to eradicate our current general manager Mike Brown. You have to believe with the amount of talent my team has had over the past couple of seasons that we could have a better showing than this. The main problem, the front office at Paul Brown Stadium. You have to start somewhere and this seems like the only logical option. I could go on forever right now about the problems with the team and what we need to change, but our biggest need is a change of attitude. We need to change the very way we think about the game, our players, and most especially our fans. Only fans like the ones that would make this billboard make an NFL team float in this league. We pay for the tickets, merchandise, and need I remind anyone Mike Brown's salary. Bottom line, this bill board makes me proud to be a fan of the "jungle". Hope you enjoy.
Josh and Mel
www.whodeyrevolution.com

Street Shout Out: Andrea Jenkins

Hi all,

So I have to admit with shame and embarrassment that I had no post on Veteran's Day. I have no real excuse, it was only an eight hour day at work. I really had nothing better going on I just simply forgot. It pains me though, I'm usually right on time with that type of thing, and there is no reason I shouldn't have added a post about my brother's first Veteran's day. The good news, he forgives me and he was safe and sound at home the entire day! I hope to have a lot more Veteran's days like that. My friend Andrea is miffed that there was no entry on the pumpkin carvings. Likewise, I'm miffed there isn't one and that she has never commented on any of the blog entries thus far. (note: Life got out of hand busy in the two weeks leading up to Halloween and Josh and I just simply ran out of time to carve pumpkins. We were just as upset and have great things planned for 09!) Now, let me remind folks that we have had this blog since July, and not one lousy comment from Andrea has been received. So, this post is just for her. I will add a picture of my beautiful friend and send her a shout out. We met my freshman year in high school. For those keep track, that was a helluva long time ago! We have been fast friends since. We have watched each other grow up and get married. We have spent many hours laughing so hard that our guts hurt, and not in a good way if you know what I mean Andrea! Wink wink! I could spend many entries talking about what a good friend she is, but for the sake of more embarrassment today, I won't limit it to my miserable writing abilities. Words won't do it justice. Hope everyone is well. Love you Andrea. Hope you enjoyed the post.

Andrea on her wedding day. She was such a stunning bride. I was so happy to see her and be a part of her day.

Happy Electing!

Hi all,
Whew, I have to say, I never thought I would make it through the line at my polling place today, but perseverance paid off. Happy Election day to you all. I went mid morning hoping to beat the lunch crowd and sneak in behind the early birds. Boy was I wrong. I rode my bike because the weather was just gorgeous here today. I stood in line for over 2 hours and actually saw an elderly man collapse. I am not sure if it was the heat or just his age? They had to call the ambulance for him and I think that he is going to be fine. They didn't have to transport him off the premises. I do hope he was still able to cast his vote. As I stood in line today I reflected on what a great thing being able to vote really is. I thought of the millions (yes millions) of people in this world who have never and will never have the right to vote in a democratic election process. I have to say, it made the wait a lot less burdensome for me today. In our parents lifetime there have been minorities who did not have the right to cast a ballot. It is utterly sad. I'm thankful that I haven't know that in my lifetime. I also felt proud to stand in a line, sure of who I am and my vote, and not have judgement cast upon me. Standing there in that line among hundreds of people, I was not Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Independent. I was simply another American citizen exercising her right and civic duty. Although I could spend hours talking about where I really stand, but I am perfectly happy to stand in anonymity and simply be an educated voter exercising a right. No matter which candidate you voted for, I hope you did just that.....vote. May the candidate to 270 electoral votes first...win. Hope everyone had a great day!

More Pictures

I couldn't fit all the pictures in the last blog, so here are the rest!




Josh and my brother doing the soldier boy, this was toward the end of the night, so use your imagination!



My brother and mom for thier dance, they looked great.



The bride and groom remained intact after cake cutting and eating.

Mel and Laura (one of the other bridesmaids)

The girls in the limo on the way to the ceremony, they all looked great!

I couldn't fit all the pics in the last blog entry, so here are some more to enjoy.

Ready or not, here come the bride and groom!

So it's official, my brother and his beautiful bride are off the market. Well, I suppose they have been off the market for a while now, but the priest has signed it in ink. I don't know where to begin. It was a fun couple of days helping Katie and Jason prepare and get all the last minute things together. Josh helped Jason get the rehearsal tied up and I helped Katie with the reception hall. The rehearsal was a lot of fun, and the dinner was even better. Katie's Aunt Sue hosted dinner at her house and there were easily 30 people there. I was so proud the way my brother worked to get all that put together on his own, it was simply great. Saturday morning, Katie and I with our moms, her sister, and cousin Maggie put the finishing touches on the reception hall. It was great when we left there, but that night it was so beautiful. The day of the wedding called for rain all day and as we awoke to the day, sunshine everywhere. We were even able to get pictures outside before the ceremony. I can't wait to see the professional shots, but I will add some of those that I was able to snag during the events! Their ceremony was full of tears for me as I watched my big little brother take such a big life step. I cried more at his wedding than my own because I didn't have anything to be stressed out about. It was a 45 minute ceremony and a Catholic Jesuit her father has known for years flew in from D.C. to officiate the wedding. He had the most beautiful homily for my brother and her. Katie was so stunning up on the alter with my handsome brother. Can I mention how easy it was to help this bride get ready. She wouldn't certainly flunk off the show bridezilla. She was cool as a carrot (I don't like cucumbers) and had nothing negative to say about the whole day. I should at this point let everyone know that I did almost have to harm the lady at the Clinique counter where we all had our make-up done, but the crisis was avoided (no thanks to the sales lady). On to the reception. Can I just talk about the food for a minute.....amazing, delicious, and the wedding party got to eat first! It was awesome. Their DJ was great, I don't know who he was, but with the drinks and the DJ at full throttle, we all had a blast. At the end of the night my brother and Katie headed to the airport and to Mexico the next morning. I hope they are having the time of their life and enjoying the first days of their marriage. They are the most fun, fun-loving couple to be around and I wish them love and luck getting through the adventure of life with each other. Here are some candid moments from the weekend. I hope you enjoy!

The future bride and groom opening one of their gifts from Josh and I. I think they liked their new drinking cups.

My brother and I celebrating the new cups. He had the pimp cup and he was letting everyone know that that made me 'da ho.

Mel in make up and hair before we assmebled the dresses at Katie's parent's house.

The bride on her way to get into her gown!

The beautiful bride sipping some wine before the big ceremony! She was stunning.