We do what we can

Well, Josh and I had to get our passport pictures done a couple weeks ago. I sat down to get mine taken and the employee taking our photographs said, "Oh, no you can't smile." Very matter-of-fact like and serious. So then of course I try. "They want this to look as close to a mug shot as possible.". Oh! Well, Josh and I thought that was ridiculous. But we agreed. No smiling. Josh was particularly disappointed. According to the photographer, "No one smiles in airports anyways so you want your picture to look like you do. To make it easier for the government officials."

We decided after we looked at our pictures that we would go even one step further to help them out, should we ever need to be visualized as criminals.




We get to the Passport office and they took one look at our pictures and new exactly where we got them taken. "They told you that you couldn't smile?" "Yes." "They lied, you can." "Great." "I don't know why you wouldn't, people are always smiling in airports." Sheesh.

PS- I have no idea why my picture is sideways, I didn't take it that way. And it's not that way on my computer. So, I'm confused.

Kansaw

I know you've all been awaiting anxiously this post which you are about to receive. The following is a sneak peek to the past. A rare look at a relationship only 3 people and 1 dog really understand. I invite you to join with me, not to see from afar, but to experience for yourself a little bit of the Buddy-Erin-Josh-Will weekend o' fun.

Let me just say that there was one guest there who was not in the least bit welcome and hindered my absolute enjoyment of the weekend by creating the most heightened sense of paranoia I think I've had in awhile. Despite this:

I think I survived well. I will say that each and everytime we entered the apartment or before we went to bed, Josh and/or Will had to check and make sure that THAT was still securely in it's cage. I will never have a roommate with one of those. EVER. I don't know how Will does it. Josh will share some videos pertaining to that sickness some other time on here I think. I will move on, having spent entirely too much time on that piece of sick.

I'll move immediately to the newest addition to our weekend of fun. Buddy, Will's puppy, responds to nearly any and every name you could think of to call him. Will calls him Sniffy, Sniff, Snuffy, FatFace, Puppy, and about 500 other things and it's hilarious because Buddy will just look at you all cute and wag his tail furiously. Will likes to 'grab' his fat. Here's some pictures of that. He finally talked Josh into doing it, too. Turns out, it's super cute. Now, if anyone ever attributed any of the last two sentences to me, I would probably choke them. But here's Buddy!






Will took us on mobile tours of Manhattan, including Aggietown and Herp's. We also toured Ft. Riley pre and post work out. We all were getting after it at the gym and Josh and I finished up a few minutes before Will so we decided to shoot some hoops. After some warm up shots, we battled it out to see who could hit the most free throws out of 10. Josh: 6 out of 10. Erin: 0. WOW. Yup, not a one. I will have you know that I did make several shots that day, just none of them when it mattered. I'm really hoping my BIL does not get wind of my misfortunes, he would be horribly embarrassed for me. Who am I kidding, I'm horribly embarassed for myself. BUT, I made up for it by showing Will my LeBron impersonation. Who am I kidding again, I actually probably made it much worse. It was really funny.

Now we get to the main event. Will introduced Josh and I to ROCK BAND. Ooo and we were good. And thus, The Dreamboatz were born. Here are your stars, in no particular order:






So it was rather funny in an unfortunate sort of way, when we started our band, I was playing guitar and I made my own character.... RoxEe. She was hip. And from Berlin- how appropriate! So RoxEe and I made it about 1 or 2 songs together and I was failing everything, tuns out, I had the 'special needs' guitar and it would work fine for ANYONE other than me. Probably even Buddy. So, Josh was RoxEe. I was then Will's snake-loving roommate's character. Tony S***thouse (two t's). Yes. For some reason we were forced to have him in the band. And I was him. Nearly the entire game. But we did get better. We rotated instruments, and I will say, there isn't a much funnier thing on this green earth than watching someone who's really concentration on playing rock band drums. Oh my. It was hilarious. And, to make our rock band craze last longer, we had eye drops that we all used multiple times, so we could stare intently at the TV even longer. I was laughing so hard. Enjoy this...


You should just go get Rock Band. Or at least make a friend who already has it. Way Way Way worth your time. And for those of you who love kareoke- you know who you are (Cher)...there is a vocalist part. :)

Presidents/Valentine's Day Weekend

Where do I begin! Josh and I had a great 4-day holiday. Friday morning Josh went and ran at his usual PT time (0530) and I slept more. Then I woke up, packed, showered, got ready...etc. And we were off. I had a cardiology follow up appointment in KC so we drove our 4 hours and arrived about 45 minutes early. So, we ventured around to little shops around the area, and unfortunately bought a lot of chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company. You should have seen Josh's face in there. It was hilarious.

Then off to my appointment, where the doc says I'm A.O.K. :) I cannot even begin to explain to you how smart my cardiologist is. I've never met a more impressive Dr. I'm going to miss him. I should email him and tell him to move to Germany. :) Yeah, he knows a ton of other specialized cardiologists there. So we were off to ran some more Kansas City errands, did a little more shopping, and our day was only beginning. Imagine our luck when we caught wind of the 2nd Annual Saint Luke's Bowling Outing...and you better believe we crashed it. :) I bowled HORRIBLY. It think I got 63. Seriously, I'm not sure I've ever bowled that badly. But it was oh so fun! If you ever get a chance to spend some time in the new KC Power & Light district, you should do it. Here's some bowling pics!



What a pro!

Seriously girls, I miss you!!


Here's Josh giving Gwen some lessons...however, Granny style proved much more effective for her. :)

Then it was off to supper at the Plaza with a couple important additions- Kristy and Chandra! Fitness Source reunited! We had sooo much fun.


Yeah, this guy made us fresh guacamole at our table. It was soooo good. Ry- you would have approved. :)

Wow, this is long. So after supper, Josh and I headed to the Demmel's for more fun! We got to catch up and sleep in a super comfy bed and eat amazing food with the elderly! Lots of fun. We have such great friends!

Ok so that was Friday of our 4-day. Maybe I should make this a 2-parter. Yup, will do. See you next time for the next installment of Josh and Erin Travel: Kansas Edition.

Tardiness. Defined Clearly.

Well, two WEEKS ago, Josh and I ventured to St. Louis to see my sis compete in a barista competition. I think I might have mentioned it on here back when it happened, but I wanted to share some pictures.






Josh and I really enjoyed learning more about 'barista-ing'. How complicated! Dallas did a wonderful job!! She's a natural! We went out to eat at a yummy Mexican place and on the way back, Josh made a friend. Sick. We had a great time!

And for more sibling love/news, just wanted to give a few CURRENT updates...so that I feel at least a little caught up with the times!

Levi, is the new emcee at the Campus Crusade weekly meeting at UNL, and he also broke his nose sledding.

Dannan just got her nose pierced and it looks really cute. Little tiny stud. :) Her nose hurt a little, but not as bad as Levi.

Evan spent several hours sorting out food waste in the on-campus dining facility the other day. Yum.

Cale works back stage at Kimball Recital Hall moving lights and setting up things like that. And he gets to listen to great music/shows for free. Jealous.

Martha is on a two day streak of randomly talking to adults from our childhood. My husband is to fault for the first one. She enjoyed both conversations a lot. Ooooh the memories. :)

And Dad is in Ohio. Not a sibling. But very current. And unexpected.

Just South of Worms

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So, we found out that our orders tell us to report to Mannheim, Germany. This does not however mean we will be there. We just get to go there to find out where we are assigned. :) We found that piece of news 'helpful'.

But, it's true, Mannheim is just 10-15 kilometers south of Worms.

This Made My Day:

First of all my sister rocks. Here's the top two reasons (for today anyways)

Check THIS!!!! out...believe me, it's worth your time

And, she told this joke:

What did zero say to eight?


Nice belt.

A Couple Weekends Ago!

Here are some pictures from our trip to our friends the Arasmith's! You can read a very detailed account of our little trip on Todd's blog. You can tell who's not behind the power curve by who posts things in a timely matter. I hope to catch up soon! Germany put a crink in my post scheduling. :) Enjoy Olivia...she's such a cutie!

Good Game.