Greatst Achievement of My Life #3: SO CLOSE!

I would just like to say that today I have FINISHED my senior paper. It is in two copies, in two envelopes, ready to be distributed (after Matthew's Dr.'s appointment) at the office AND place of residence of my professor.

Meaning I am that much closer to having a REAL degree and a REAL diploma to frame and hang on my wall.

It was a lot of work. Here's what I did:
1) I Rewrote every single paragraph in the twenty-six page paper one by one.
2) Numbered and reorganized those revised paragraphs for clarity and logical progression of my ideas.
3) Edited through those making sure there were transitions, and no redundancies.
4) Pushed PRINT

The space has been made in my list of life accomplishments to put "finished senior paper and received BA in English from SVU" at slot number 3. If you're curious...Number 1 would have to be marrying in the temple for time and all eternity to the most wonderful man, and Number 2 is Matthew Johnathan Griffin.

So, yes. This is a big moment for me.

The next step, which I also hope to accomplish today, is to schedule a meeting for next week where I will be told that the paper is brilliant and that it needs no further improvement! (keep your fingers crossed...)

Hobbes gets a haircut

So we have this rather hairy dog named Hobbes. Around the summer time I start to feel bad for him. Summers here feel like Jabba the Hut's armpit and it must be even worse for Hobbes having to wear that thick fut coat all the time. Every few months we give him a little cut so he doesn't look like totally shaggy and I decided today it was time to help, maybe just by 1 degree, with the heat by cutting off more than usual.

Hobbes! Time for a haircut! He is so expressive...and obviously thrilled.

He is such a good tempered dog. He is so gentle and was very patient with me as he got his haircut. This is how it turned out.

This is how much I cut off. I know, gross, but I had to prove it.

Hobbes liked it and did some of his tricks for me after we were all cleaned up. He can shake with both hands...

...roll over...

...play dead, with a smile...

...and be really cute.

Hopefully it will help with the heat and we won't have to do it again for a while!

Michael and Ashley's Viginia Receptions

After the wedding in California (which I still need to post) Michael and Ashley had two receptions in Virginia. Michael was raised in Northern VA so on Friday the 7th there was a beautiful reception up there to celebrate with old family friends that the Griffins have known for a long time. It was a beautiful location and it turned out to be perfect weather and hardly any bugs! Rare for an August in the area. Ufortunately, I only snagged one picture of the event. There were oysters at the buffet that was served and Lena was brave enough to try one. Really, she got one and wasn't anxious to try it, but when her 8 year old newphew, Alex, swallowed one without a second thought, she was determined.

The following day, Saturday, there was an open house at Ben's mom's house n Buena Vista, where Michael and Ashley went to school. It was really nice, and there were lot of friends from school there and from the ward they were in when they both lived here. Ashley used to work at a local cafe called Franks for the Memories, and they catered the lunch. It was delicious.

Poor Matthew was really exhausted after so much traveling during the past three weeks that he fell asleep at the open house and we set him up in Pat's room between two pillows.

Pat recently bought a red Smart Car and named it Clifford and the owner of Franks also has one. We thought it was funny to drive up and see Clifford gaurding Pat's driveway like this...

These were the center pieces used at the Northern Virginia reception and the open house. I thought they turne out beautifully. Pat and Mike's sister, Lena, put them together.

The yummy bbq buffet that we still are eating leftovers from. Yummy!

Pat has a gorgeous garden in the backyard and that's where tables were set up for lunch.

Mike is in the teal stripes. Ashley's parents are in the red and blue on the left.

Everyone had a good time and plenty to eat. Pat and Lena did a great job setting up their house and it was a lot of fun.

Super Genius?

I think so! Not only did I make an excellent tasty dinner, using produce fresh from Ben's Mom's garden but I figured out how to get the pictures off my other Nikon! I was looking at the camera my Step-Dad recently passed down to me and thought "hm...I wonder if I could put that memory card into this one...then maybe I could get these year old pictures finally off the old camera..." And guess what? It worked!! Be prepared for pictures of snow, my trip to Boston last March and many more! I'm so smart! This also means I can start telling of our most recent adventure to California for Mike's wedding!

Our little Jedi baby. So cute, even though it's blurry.

Ben's shot of a beautiful sunset that got even more gorgeous as the night wore on.

This is the action shot Ben took of me taking a picture of the same sunset. It was breathtaking. I haven't developed the film yet though...

Every year Ben goes back to Falls Church, VA to play in his high school's Alumni soccer game. It's awesome to watch Ben in his element.

Winter 2007 when it actually SNOWED and was worth anything. It was so beautiful!

This is what our dog Hobbes looks like during bath time...

Stay tuned for tales of last Christmas, my trip to Boston, the place we lived when Matthew was born and other adventures that have already happened.

Bouncer

We are all back from our long and exciting adventure. After Ben picked us up from the airport we stopped at Costco and Babies R' Us on the way home to pick up one of those jumper things that hang from a door frame. We tried it out this morning and here are some pictures of his first try.

He really seems to enjoy it!

With all the toys attached. We like think its funny that it says "Sassy" right there.

We all had a great time in San Diego at Ben's Brother's wedding. Matthew and I had a lot of fun after that, but we did miss Ben, as we went to Northern California and Utah/Idaho.

Once I get the pictures organized I will be sure to update with details of our adventures!!

Stay tuned for more pictures from this weekend where the newest Griffin (my new sister-in-law) will make another appearance at a reception in DC and then an open house in Buena Vista.