spoiler alert: we drank the diet coke.

sean did the honors of popping open our memorial day drink.

nothing wild.

nothing crazy.

just...diet coke.

he also made us some delicious bacon cheeseburgers.

i made curly fries. 

and then we watched a marathon of "impractical jokers."

if you have not seen this show, you should.

basically these four guys go around doing ridic things

and hidden cameras capture the hilarity. 

well...we didn't drink it all, but we drank a lot.

(and by "we," i mostly mean him)

happy memorial day to us ( :

diet coke.

last memorial day was a memorable one.

i was scheduled to shoot an event around sunrise...

about two hours away from wausau.

after that, i had two or three other stories to shoot 

and needless to say, it was a Very Hectic Day.

i drank many diet cokes that day.

in fact, i had been drinking many diet cokes on a regular basis.

every time i stopped at a gas station, 

every time i went to the grocery store, i got a diet coke.

it wasn't a super-big deal but i could tell i depended heavily on it...

almost to the point that i decided it was a little unhealthy.

those diet cokes i drank last memorial day were some of my last.

after that, i decided to cut pop (diet cokes included) out of my life.

saying it was a rough break up would be an understatement.

but here i am -- nearly a year and only three pops later.

my first time having pop (since then) was when 

this guy took me to a brewers game in milwaukee.

i had a diet coke and it was still delicious.

my second time was a diet red pop on this guy's last day of work.

(it was one of our traditions to get them together).

i heard the color comes from ladybug shells but it tastes good.

my third and final time having pop (another diet coke) in the last 365 days was when sean took me to a badgers game.

this is our view from the press box at the kohl center.

a few short weeks ago, i got a coupon in the mail for 

a FREE 2-liter bottle of diet coke.

so...i got it.

it's been sitting in my fridge ever since.

i'm not really sure what to do with it. 

i guess i could drink it.

and maybe tomorrow (on memorial day) i will.

#photoadaymay.

for those of you who don't know,

instagram is a picture-sharing app for the iphone.

if you're artsy (like a certain sister of mine), everything looks cool.

for people like me, you have to really try to make stuff look neat.

anyway, there was a challenge called "photo a day may."

you take a picture each day of the month using a certain theme.

 #peace.

the wausau #skyline.

#something you wore today. 

#fun.

fancy napkin that looked like a #bird.

#you (in a nutshell).

#someone that inspires you -- anderson cooper.

#a smell you adore -- chocolate chip cookie dough.

#something you do everyday (or twice).

#a favorite word (or two).

baking pinata cookies in my #kitchen.

natural flower bouquet for #mum on mother's day.

well...i made it through 12 days.

instead of trying to make up for lost time, 

i figure i'll save my energy and just do better next month.

you found what on the trail?

i updated my "running rib mountain" facebook photo album.

(click here for the link)

i've seen a lot of crazy things on this mountain.

some are funny.

some are random.

and some i am not brave enough to post on facebook.

the view of downtown wausau from near the top.

 tree fell down on the trail!
(don't worry. i jumped over it)

 random electrical equipment.

pretty sunshine through the trees.

my name etched in the lookout tower.

(no, i did not put it there)

sunset from the lookout tower.

 wonder who dropped this...oops.

and finally...UFO's? 

 

in short, rib mountain is cool and full of adventures.

i highly recommend it.

my favorite wausau tradition.

i know it's been a long time since i updated you on 

how awesome it is to run to the top of rib mountain.

here is how it has looked the past few weeks.

kind of crazy to see how much it's changed lately ( :

 

  

i think today was my 22nd rib mountain run. 

holy cow.

boston part 5: leaving on a jet plane.

on tuesday, ruth, dani, baby D and i went for a walk to find horses.

RUTH STILL HAS NOT SENT ME THESE PICTURES.

luckily, i do have this one of my nephew making gang signs.

baby D decided he wanted to wear my socks 

(my last clean pair, no less) and it was adorable.

after that, it was time for a quick photo shoot -- 

a goodbye kiss and hug -- 

and then this little guy went to bed.

then my sister took me to the airport and i went back to wausau.

boo. 

CAN'T WAIT TO BE BACK WITH YOU

GUYS IN A FEW WEEKS!!!

boston part 4: race day!

on monday (back last month), there was a marathon in boston.

apparently it was a pretty big deal.

when i think of boston, i'm reminded of all the crazy, mean people who cut you off and honk and yell if you are in the street.
but apparently there are also a handful of nice people and they like to come out on marathon day.

a few pictures i took during the race:

the back of ruth (too fast to get one from the front!)

baby D making friends with some puppies

the group of us trekking around to various points along the route

and daniel eating a donut.

...because what else would you order when it's like 90 degrees out?

if you want a complete photo overload (including some very funny signs), you can click here and read ruth's blog post about it.
one my favorite runners (besides ruth) was this guy with
the "running sucks" shirt and matching thong.
i cannot imagine it was a comfortable 26.2 for that guy. 

i also liked these guys with cowboy hats but can't find their picture.

my favorite sign said, "if you haven't pooped yet, you've already won."

my sister finished the marathon like we all knew she would and then she was super-nice and let us take a lot of pictures of her when i'm sure she would have preferred to roll over and take a nap or something instead. she is a trooper.

this was a cute picture afterwards too. 

we took the T back to where we left the car. despite leaving after my parents did, we still managed to beat them there. the parents and daniel left for NJ and the rest of us headed back to the house. 

burritos for dinner which we ate out in the front yard
since it was so nice out. 

and that was day 4.

boston part 3: plaid baby shirts, almost-kisses and a toothbrush.

sunday was pretty chill. 

i took pictures of baby D's chocolate face at church 

plus a silly sideways one with my fav little brother.

also here's a cute picture of medium D and baby D 

then an almost-kiss from my fav nephew.

did i mention that i love his plaid shirt?

most of what i remember about sunday was getting ready to eat food and then eating it. that literally took most of the day.
baby D also put crayons in his toes and ate a banana.

afterwards it was pretty much time for bed. 

i wonder if some kids just know they are adorable 

and they make faces like these on purpose.

naturally, baby D had to help his mom get ready for the big race.

even though she posted it first, i take photo credit ( :

sometimes when i think i'll never get married or have kids, 

i think about how cool baby D is and how i would like one like him. 

i suppose i will need to find a blonde husband.