Month of June in a nutshell...

So the month of June flew by even quicker than May. The first weekend, Craig and I flew up to Boston for Lauren & Ed's wedding. I spent Friday running errands with Gina, while Craig slaved away on conference calls for work at my parents' house. Saturday, June 7th, was the big day! Even though it wasn't our big day, I still found myself stressing for no reason because I managed to leave the reading I was doing in their ceremony at home in Virginia. Friday I must have called Lauren 100 times trying to get a copy...finally I found her at her parents' house and was able to get the reading. I've done the reading before at regular Sunday Mass in the past, so I don't know why I was freaking out so much. Anywho, the wedding was absolutely beautiful - the day was perfect (a little hot, but bright blue skies and a slight breeze), the church was gorgeous, the reception was a blast, and Lauren and Ed looked like superstars. It was definitely one of our favorite weddings that we've been to. I've posted a few pictures for all to see...

Mr. & Mrs. Edward & Lauren Johnson

Group Shot at the Hyatt Harborside

A good shot of Lauren & her Westfield friends...

The token floor shot...minus the bride:(

The following weekend we packed the truck up to the max and headed to the Outerbanks, Corolla, NC, for a week a the beach with a bunch of our friends. We rented a huge house, which was only about 100 yards from the beach. It was a lot of fun to watch the little ones, Sienna, Scott & Shannon's daughter - our Goddaughter, and Ben, Jonathan & Kristina's son - our Godson, interact. Of course it was also fun to see Hudson, Scott & Shannon's son, making little coos and being so alert. I can't believe how big they have all gotten. Of course being around the children all week gave me a little bit of baby fever, but I'm continuing to stick to my "no children until we move rule". I have to commend the Longendykes and Leberts on their parenting - they make it look so easy! The kids were all very well behaved the entire week. Not like a typical Viola family vacation where someone causes some sort of drama by getting hurt, getting in trouble, ripping the cable dish off someone's condo...:) So here are a few pictures from the beach:

Lunch the day we arrived (The Longendykes & me)

Craig & I the day we went four-wheeling...

The group playing a game on game night...

Playing Flip-Cup...the girls won of course:)

Hudson & I, he's such a cutie!

Sienna & Ben playing together nicely:)

So as you can see from the pictures there aren't too many of me on the beach...that brings me to my next segment - Plumbline Training or Boot camp! I've finally had enough of not being in shape. Shannon told me about this program at Rivercreek that she was going to start in July, which sounded like it would definitely get me into shape and in my skinny jeans again. We tried a class out last week (last Tuesday), and it kicked my butt! I was literally hurting until Saturday. Since then we've had two classes this week. Each day it gets a little easier...what am I talking about, no it doesn't, but I guess my body will take a little time to adjust to working out. I am doing Weight Watchers again as well. My first week I've lost 4 pounds, which is pretty good for me. I'm still no where near where I would like to be, but I feel a lot better knowing that I'm actually working out for a change. It's kind of sad though - I'm kind of like the awkward kid in gym class, who's always trailing behind the group...every class I'm the slowest / weakest link. But I'm proud of myself for staying with it so far...Well that's it for now - I must go home and do my W-Y-A for the day (WYA is while you are away, the workout we are supposed to do on off days)...wish me luck:)

Don't worry, be Manny...

I can't believe it is already June! The month of May flew by so quickly even though we really didn't have too much going on. This weekend we were supposed to lay low and prepare for our next two trips - home to Boston for Lau & Ed's wedding and our beach trip to OBX. As probably every female in America knows, Friday night was the opening of SATC. Honestly, I wasn't as excited as most girls - I've only seen about 1 season of the show. It's not that I don't like the show, I just never got into it, and figured I'd eventually catch all of them on the CW and TBS. That being said, I freakin' loved the movie! I was kind of skeptical because most of the reviews weren't very positive, but it was truly entertaining. I've even added the series to my wishlist. Maybe I'll splurge and buy it soon so I have something to watch on the elliptical every night. After the movie, us girls headed over to Rio Grande in Reston Town Center for some margaritas (and I sort of caught the end of the Celtics' victory in the Eastern Conference Finals). I think I may have had one too many, however, because I didn't feel very well Saturday morning :(


Saturday afternoon Craig witnessed another example as to why we live in a "Red Sox Nation". He ran out to Panera to grab us some lunch, and just happened to be wearing his Schilling tee shirt. Out of nowhere, another guy in a Red Sox tee shirt tapped him on the back and asked him if he was going to the Red Sox game that night because he had two tickets he couldn't use. We were already going because I was given tickets last week. Even though we were all set, he still gave us his two tickets just in case. I knew one of my coworkers wasn't able to get tickets so I spread the love and passed them onto him.


At around 2 o'clock the skies opened up here in Alexandria, and every county in the area, including Baltimore, was under a tornado watch. I thought, "Great, I love watching the Sox in the rain!" At about 4, the rain let up, and we began the trek to Camden Yards (eh hem, Fenway South). It truly was just that - 85% of the people there were Red Sox fans. They were everywhere, it was fabulous! Here is a picture of us at the game...(I'm so pale - thank God the beach is right around the corner!!!)

We had pretty good seats in the first section behind homeplate. I was able to take lots of pics of my new fav (sorry Billy), Jacoby Ellsbury! The boy can run...he stole 3 bases on both Friday and Saturday night. After my boy hit a triple in the 7th inning, Manny decided it was time to be Manny. I think everyone there knew it, too - I mean there were enough flashes going off to send someone into epileptic shock. And just like that, Manny did it; he hit the 500th home run of his career. It looked effortless! He was the 24th player to achieve such a feat.

Well I've probably bored most of you with my ramblings but I'm excited because the Sox are making history, and the Celts are going to the Finals! All I have to say is Beat L.A.!!!! Next weekend there will be a more exciting blog all about Lau & Ed's wedding...I'll be sure to post lots of gorgeous pictures:)

Nothing too Exciting to Report...

I figured since I've been reading up on everyone else's lives through their blogs lately, maybe there are some people out there that might be interested in our lives, too. Not that we have much to share these days - but the wedding season is right around the corner (which means lots of fun bridal pictures) along with vacations, and trips to both the lake and Boston. This weekend I am heading up North for my cousin Sue's Bridal Shower. I am thrilled to be a part of her wedding in October, but I am also real excited to help with the shower, the bachelorette party and all the pre-wedding festivities. My dad will be in Vegas golfing with some friends while I'm home, so it's basically going to be a girls weekend - sorry Anthony! Hopefully I'll have a chance to meet up with Heather, the boys, and maybe even get a chance to stop by Lauren & Ed's house for the first time:)

While I'm away showering Susie with gifts, catching up with Marsh Vegans, and spending time/shopping with my mom and sisters, poor Craig will be at home finishing the painting of the 2nd Bedroom of our condo. He started this project while I was on my cruise in February, but has been so busy with work lately that he has not had a chance to finish. I'm excited because when I get home we'll get to put the new bedding on the bed, hang the new curtains, and switch out the brass hardware with the new satin nickel hardware. Well that's all for now...I'm sure if today is any indication of how busy I'll be this week at work, I'll be posting again soon...

One last thing...how 'bout those Sox? I'm thinking instead of Brady / Moss for President in '08 we could have Ortiz / Ramirez instead...:)

(Photo taken from Boston.com Red Sox Image Archives)