Life got really busy all of the sudden at the end of last year and then all of the sudden here it is, February 2009! Here’s the quick rundown of the major events since our last post:

Steph successfully completed Bikram’s Teacher Training and returned home - November 2008.

The O’Hora’s hosted another fantastic multi-family Thanksgiving - November 2008.

Kerry and Steve welcomed their twin daughters; Harper & Lylla - December 2008.

We all celebrated Christmas and New Year’s - December 2008.

We inaugurated a new President - January 2009.

Parker turned 24 and Steph and I turned 30 - January 2009.
Holly and Keith are busy planning their September wedding.
Stacey passed the exam and obtained her CISA certification.
Steph is now teaching Bikram Yoga in Reston and Falls Church.

I think that is it and I resolve to post to this blog more regularly!

I swear these are muffins and not cupcakes! I based these Chocolate Raspberry Muffins on this recipe from Hannah Kaminsky’s Bittersweet blog. I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and I doubled the raspberries since I couldn’t find fresh currants.

Happy Birthday Laura!

I had the opportunity to see John Mayer for the first time with several seasoned veterans in July. The whole day was a blast; fun in the rented van, champagne and brewskis, umbrellas and ponchos, and lots of singing, dancing, silly happiness.

John’s encore song was a cover of Tom Petty ‘Free Fallin’ and it is dope. Video credit goes to the one, the only, Chris Frame (aka Bu). Turn your volume OFF around 2:43 where 2/3 nerd start howling like dying cats.

I will post my full album of funny pictures to Facebook later.

My main squeeze and I have been together for 6 years as of today. I wouldn’t normally write a post about it but I wanted to show you the funny card I got him. The card features a real quote from Cleopatra. More quotable cards here.

Melissa and Justin wed over the Fourth of July weekend in Jekyll Island, GA. The weekend was lots of fun and included bike rides, pool time, beach time, and a fireworks show.  More importantly, their wedding was absolutely beautiful. See all of my pictures my Shutterfly collection (link to the right).

That beautiful bride is my cousin, Laurie. She and Nick tied the knot last weekend in Toledo, OH in front of an audience of family and friends. (I omitted last names to prevent random people from finding this site via Google). I had a great time hanging out and catching up with my Warner family.

I also took this shaky video on my digital camera of my Uncle Don giving Laurie away. (best viewed over high-speed)

To view all my pictures, check out the Shutterfly link to the right

I’m still working at a summer pace (read: lazier than usual). We gathered last weekend to help J & J prepare to welcome their first child. I had a great time…and as far as I know, everyone survived the 100 degree weather. Pictures are posted in the Shutterfly collection.

I have been MIA lately - busy with work and spending more time outside in the warm weather, leaving less time for the bloggy blog. I just posted my pictures from the recent Memorial Day weekend trip. I’m going to harass HZ for her pictures because I think she has the best ones.

Get on the floor and move your booty, mama. That song just popped into my head when I started thinking about Mother’s Day. On Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom and my BFF (my mother-in-law). I still need to catch up with GB and DR. Once again, I forgot to take pictures, well I took 2, here they are.

Rob and Mom eating brunch at Steph’s House

Steph and I cooked up Santa Fe Huevos on Polenta, a recipe I borrowed from the
Gluten-Free Goddess. I love this recipe. We also made lemon-blueberry pancakes - I think Steph adapted a recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance.

In case you’re wondering, since my wonderful FIL asked me this question which made me realize that readers of this blog could be confused.. I have not gone vegan ..yet. I’m not sure about Steph. I end up eating a mostly vegan diet because I don’t meat and can’t eat dairy. I still eat fish and eggs. I don’t know the official classification for me in the vegetarian world. I’m sure there is one, but it is probably a long difficult-to-use-in-everyday-conversation kinda word.

To my mom, my MIL, GB, DR - Happy Mother’s Day! (names omitted to protect the innocent)

Stace,
Thank you for being my best friend. You make me so happy. I know that we practice yoga asanas a lot and so many may call us yogis. But, asana is only one limb of the eight limbs of yoga. Some of the other limbs provide a way of living and without even studying these things, you lead a life along this path. Your compassion for all beings, your pure-hearted generosity, your playfulness, and inherent optimism. All of these things create happiness for others especially me.

Thank you for all of these things.

Did I mention playfulness?

P.S Thanks also for helping me move the couch.

The Higgins Twins!

I went to see Ally Higgins (formerly Herndon) who has taken up residence at Fairfax Hospital. On the day of my visit it was exactly the halfway mark of her stay. 35 days in and her spirit was high and I have to applaud her, and John both, for being such troopers. I had the privilege of watching a sonogram and learning about the personalities already developed in the womb. These girls are going to share everything.. They are mono/mono twins which occurs in about 1% of identical twins where the splitting occurs late enough to result in a shared placementa and sac. Learn more here.

Just look at that big beautiful belly! Thinking about you Ally! To hear more about the girls send Ally an email at allyhiggins@gmail.com.

We just got back from California where we spent Valentine’s Day celebrating the wedding of R’s friend, Don Handfield, to his lovely bride, Tressa DiFiglia. We left Dulles on Wednesday, 2/13/08 and didn’t get to San Diego until about 12am West Coast time because our fight was delayed due to the icy conditions. When we got there it was rainy and cold. After a minor snafu with our hotel room, we found some late night fast food and settled in for the night. Thursday, Valentine’s Day was the day of the wedding and it was still rainy and chilly. We were hoping the sun would come out by 6pm in time for the ceremony. The wedding ceremony and reception were beautiful.

Friday we woke up to a beautiful sunny day, took a long walk on the beach, ate fish tacos and margaritas, explored a few towns down 101 and walked around Coronado. We stopped at a Mexican place in Coronado and shared the shrimp ceviche in the photo - yum That evening, we returned to the bride’s family home and hung out with their friends and family.

Since we were booked to fly out of San Diego on the red eye Saturday evening, we woke up, checked out of our hotel, and decided to explore as many beaches as possible before our flight. We had brunch at a cute little place in Encinitas that was packed with locals. I love how in California - you can ask for avocado on almost anything and it is no problem at all! I was also AMAZED at the 60-70 degree weather in San Diego and the large number of people out on the beach in February! As a Washington DC - lifer, it was such a cool thing to see. A few other cool things/places we learned about and explored were: Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Coronado, the Ocean Palms Beach Resort, The Vine - Wine Bar & Cafe (our last meal in CA), the Green Flash (we tried but didn’t see it).

Now we’re back in icy snowy NoVa - dreamin’ about California weather.

Deb & Doug - Thanks for the Plate !!!!

This is so cute - I can’t wait to bake a pie and then show off my cool pi plate to my friends. This post would be incomplete if I didn’t note that pi = the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle; approximately equal to 3.14159265358979323846… Yeah I went there!

We’re heading out shortly to the The State Theatre to check out a Bruce Cover Band, Bruce in the USA.

Can’t wait! Happy Friday!

Yesterday was February 6th - the saddest day of the year for my family. February 6th is the day we lost our favorite son, brother, cousin, friend - Art. Miss you, love you Art.

Arthur William Smith IV: 10/13/76-2/6/02